Hot Water
Tales of the Darkworld

Excerpt

She needed a drink before she contemplated the choice of partners offered by the club’s patrons. As she elbowed herself a space at the end, her nose twitched. The scent of vanilla filled her senses, and her dragon suddenly itched to break free. Holy shit. Who the hell would walk into a social meat market smelling so innocent?

The smell came from her right. She wriggled in the tight quarters, trying to turn. Based on the sweet scent, she expected to see a woman. Instead, she found a tall man with midnight blue eyes smiling down at her.
“You just go right on trying to move,” he quipped. “I’m enjoying it tremendously.”

Eden’s eyes narrowed. Every time she moved, her body rubbed up against his. Her hip dug into his groin and she could feel a slight telltale swelling there. Despite the fact that the man smelled all girly like a sugar cookie, the bulge held promise. She sniffed again. Sweet smelling. Smiling easily. No display of arrogance. A mellow and amused expression, eyes dancing with humor. Beta. He had to be. Her dragon stretched inside her, urging her to take him.

“Oh, really?” She raised one brow and wriggled against him again. The size of the ridge against her hip increased. Oh, yeah. He just might work out after all, she thought as she realized his more than adequate proportions weren’t fully erect yet.

He nodded, his dark blue eyes gleaming as they raked over her from the top of her raven head to the tips of her designer boots. “Of course, we’d both enjoy it a lot more naked in my bed,” he told her candidly.

Eden’s pupils elongated as Blue Eyes roused her dragon. The scent of vanilla intensified. “You don’t believe in wasting time, I see.” She turned, deliberately rubbing against him, breast to chest. In her boots, she almost matched his height.

He quirked a dark blond brow at her. “And you do? You can’t tell me that the dragon in you isn’t clawing to get at my dick.”

Eden began to smile. He might not be a dragon, but he obviously knew them intimately. Good. One less thing she’d have to train him on. “You’re a bold young thing, aren’t you?”

He laughed. “I’m not as young as you think.” His smile revealed vampire fangs.

She pondered the fangs for a moment. People often pretended to be vampires at Carpe Noctem. He could well be one of the wannabes. After all, she’d never met a vampire who smelt of vanilla before. Usually, the real ones smelled of blood. He didn’t smell like a human either though. That vanilla scent masked his true nature and it annoyed her a little.

He shifted his hips against her and the hard ridge of his erection bumped against her belly. Her dragon poked her with its claws. Her thong grew damp as she rubbed against him. She finally decided he must be a real immortal, an Acerbian vampire.

“I just have a feeling I’m older than you. Indulge me,” she said. “I like being a cougar.” She reached down and boldly stroked the front of his jeans.
His engaging smile widened. “I’ll be teacher’s pet, I promise,” he joked.
Her eyes narrowed. “Not a bad game. Have you been bad today? Do you need a spanking?”

As the words fell from her lips, she could have kicked herself. Tonight was supposed to be about vanilla sex, not toys or fetishes. However, the blond man just shrugged. “I’d rather just screw you. All that other crap isn’t necessary for me. As you can tell, I’m pretty much good to go.”

His eyes gleamed preternaturally, answering her earlier questions about his status as an immortal. One hand cupped the side of her face, the long elegant fingers sliding into her dark hair. Angling his head toward hers, he dropped a quick kiss on her lips. An electric tingle went through Eden’s body and her dragon came rushing to the surface of her skin.

When he deepened the kiss, parting her lips with his tongue, she sighed into his mouth. His free hand slid over her hip and curved over her taut buttock. She rubbed herself against him again as that sugar cookie scent grew stronger. Lifting her arms, she draped them over his broad shoulders, feeling the hard muscle and bone beneath his silk shirt. He sucked on her tongue and heat pooled deliciously between her thighs. Gods, he was hot!

“You know, at your ages, you should really get a room,” a snarky voice spoke behind Eden.

The blond man lifted his head, his expression tinged with annoyance that only lasted a moment. Recognition bloomed in the midnight blue depths of his eyes and his lips twitched into a smile.

“Hey, I know you. You’re…”

“Karl with a K… that elf with the internet gossip show… yeah, yeah,” the elf said with a sarcastic laugh. “Everyone knows me, kid. Especially here.”

Eden turned and looked at the man on the bar stool behind her. He had a half empty glass of Guinness in front of him and a bowl of bat-shaped pretzels. His grey-green eyes stared at her unblinkingly from behind wire-rimmed glasses. She frowned.

“You’re immortal. Why are you wearing glasses?”

Karl gave her a look that would have withered most people. “I’m told wearing glasses gives you character. Since I don’t have any character, I figured I’d manufacture some,” he drawled.

Her blond hunk openly grinned now. Apparently, he found Karl’s snarky sarcasm amusing. “I watch your show all the time. You have plenty of character. You’re funnier than all the shows on TV.”

“Tell that to my producer. He bitches daily that he’s gonna fire me.” Karl took a sip of his ale. “I meant what I said, you know. Get a room. All this grinding and humping is for the kids who got nowhere to go. You two are obviously old enough and wealthy enough to afford the room. So go there and grind. I don’t like having to protect my drink from elbows that are in the throes of lust,” he complained.

Mr. Sugar Cookie Scent chuckled. “Sure, Karl. Nice meeting you.”