Page 11 of The Virgin and the Vampire

“Too many diamonds,” I shrug. We both come from an era where absolutely nobody but the holiest of monks would make that statement.

Etienne rolls his eyes but waves me off.

Thankfully, Sol has the items ready and neatly boxed in a black velvet case. They’re starkly simple by my estimation, but instinct says Gianna will love them. The collar is a simple band of silver metal about a quarter inch wide with oval cutoutsstrung through with faceted ruby beads. My fangs would never fit through those holes, but it’s a nice nod to tradition and symbolic, if nothing else. The bracelets and anklets match, but the overall shape is more oval, so they can’t slide off.

I’m whistling as I return to the club to finish up for the day. There’s always paperwork and a roster of vamps that need scheduling to feed in the inner sanctum. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen Etienne put himself on the schedule, but he must eat at some point, right?

Not brave enough to ask the man in charge about his personal habits, I stack the papers neatly on my desk and head home.

Gianna is there waiting for me, nibbling on a sandwich.

“Finish that and come here, baby.”

She eyes the box in my hand suspiciously. “What’s that?”

“Your new collar and cuffs.”

“Oooh! Can I see?”

I shake my head. “No, not until they’re on, so finish eating.”

She gobbles down the sandwich so fast it has me frowning in concern that she’s going to choke. Gianna bounces over to stand in front of me. I extract a length of black silk from my pocket and set the box down on the coffee table. Wrapping the silk around her eyes, I make sure she can’t peek and then unseal the diamonds from her with a sigh of regret. I can feel Gianna rolling her eyes behind the blindfold.

The new collar seals into place in an instant. It does look lighter and more appropriate with her plaid shirt and jeans. I roll up her sleeves to repeat the same process on her wrists and lastly her ankles, although that takes longer because her socks have become tangled with the prongs holding the stones.

“I still don’t know why you insist on all five pieces,” Gianna mutters.

“Because,” I curse quietly as I bend down to the ground to seal the anklet with my tongue, “it’s a symbol of my ultimate love and respect. Anything less would indicate I still had more to give.”

“Oh,” I glance up to see Gianna smiling broadly. “In that case, I guess I don’t mind so much.”

“Good.” I rise smoothly to my feet and slide the silk over her curls. “Now take a look.”

She glances down at her arm first instead of running to a mirror. “Oooh! That’s gorgeous, Kade! It looks so expensive!”

“More than diamonds?” I query.

“Oh, definitely. Those belong in a museum somewhere. This looks like it came straight from Cartier.” She rushes over to a mirror in the corner to swivel in front of it and admire the collar.

“Well, I still like you in diamonds,” I’m pouting and I know it.

Gianna dances back to give me a swift kiss on the side of my mouth. “I’ll wear those for very special occasions, okay?” She’s placating me and I’m not too proud to take advantage of it.

“Then I think we should redo the claiming ceremony with these.”

Gianna rolls her eyes. “Which consists of fucking and biting me, am I correct?”

I nod. What else would it involve?

“Can I be on top this time?”

I stare at her. “No. Nothing has changed in that department, little thrall. You’ll cum when I tell you to and not before,” I growl.

Gianna’s smirk of satisfaction alerts me to the fact she was baiting me to elicit precisely that reaction. I pick her up by the waist and toss her over my shoulder so she understands the modern veneer only goes so far.

EPILOGUE

Three years later

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