Page 38 of Three Bites

He licked his suddenly longer fangs. His eyes were blown as he tracked my hand. The fabric bunched to reveal just a glimpse of the crown jewel of the pantyhose; the lacy top that the suspenders were clipped to. After that tease, I let the fabric fall with a dramatic whoosh.

“If you want to see more... earn it first,” I said and turned my back to Matthias, revealing the ribbon tying the back of the dress.

He reached for me eagerly. His big hands were tested against the small fastenings but he managed to undo the double bow Tristan put in and loosen the rest of the ribbons.

“That’s enough,” I said, clutching the dress to my breasts. “Can you take my clothes out of the dryer?”

I followed Matthias into the bathroom and made sure to be artfully poised on one of the counters when he turned around. He nearly dropped my clothes at the sight of my dress raked upto above the line of my pantyhose. I dragged my hand up just a little, showing a hint of blue of my underwear.

Matthias fell to his knees in front of me and I slowly placed my foot on his shoulder and dragged it in a caress down his arm.

“Please let me, please—” Matthias begged, his hands shaking as he reached for me. He wanted to push his head between my legs so badly. I knew he would please me for hours until I could come no more if I only let him.

I pushed him away with my foot.

“No. Now give me my clothes and get out,” I said.

Matthias whined.

He truly looked like a beaten dog but I stood firm in my conviction even as I watched him deposit the clothes in my hands and skulk away with his tail between his legs. This was the sort of power I longed for; a power to say no and be listened to. It made me feel safe.

But I also liked playing with the big man. Sometimes the delayed pleasure tasted that much sweeter. If the vampires were truly going to keep me, there would be ample opportunities to reward Matthias for his patience.

I dressed in my plain clothes quickly and took care of the dress, trying not to wrinkle it too much. I left it in Tristan’s room for now, then made my way to the place appointed for the talks with my brother. Matthias followed at my heels.

Cindy greeted me with her familiar neutral expression and deposited a phone in my hand. When I opened the door to the room Matthias made to follow me in.

“Excuse me, you can’t go in there—” Cindy said in her monotone voice.

“Eh? Will you try to stop me?” Matthias loomed over the poor woman.

“Matthias, stand down, it’s alright,” I calmed him down with a hand on his arm. “It’s part of the deal. I speak to my brotheralone. There’s no one in this room, see? Now, stay at the door. On this side,” I pointed to where he and Cindy stood. “I will be out in an hour.”

Matthias frowned but stayed in place when I closed the door. A thump informed me the massive vampire leaned his back against the wood, blocking the path and making eavesdropping easier for himself. The joys of dealing with supernatural creatures. Privacy? What privacy? Fortunately, I didn’t expect to find that here, as I knew I was likely being spied on by the Cornello family.

Exactly at two o’clock, the phone buzzed and I eagerly accepted the video call.

“Brother,” I greeted, and felt like a weight had been lifted from my heart.

“Sis. It’s good to see you, as always.”

My eyes scanned Will intently. He looked tired but that was on par with what I expected; me being a hostage here not only gave him metaphorical gray hairs but also took away his support. He relied on me in both business and personal life and suddenly I was gone. Sure, I probably got the short end of the stick, but sometimes I still felt guilty about leaving him to fight for the company all alone, even if I didn’t have a say in my stay here.

“What kind of shows have you been watching lately?” I asked. “You know I have to live vicariously through you. Tell me about something fun.”

Will launched into a retelling of his newest sci-fi obsession and I listened eagerly, making myself comfortable on the couch in the small room. We both loved fiction in all its forms and our grandmother had cultivated our love for storytelling by sharing her stories with us. This was our tradition, to talk about inconsequential matters first. We did it to have that easy connection where we could laugh together for at least a while, and in the hopes that whoever listened to the conversationwould grow bored. Only when our time together was nearing the end did we switch to the heavier topics and we tried to mask the transition with the storytelling references.

“You know, there is that one book where I’m not quite sure what to make of the characters... There’s this meerkat who looks cute and acts friendly and tries to help everyone... but surely that’s too good to be true,” Will said and I had to force myself not to react too visibly. A cute meerkat. That sounded like one of Grandma’s stories. It sounded like our code.

“Well, it’s sometimes hard to judge without knowing the person,” I said carefully. “Does the meerkat have any friends? Any... companions? What does the company they keep say about them?”

“Well, he certainly doesn’t like frogs,” Will snorted. The various bad guys in the children’s stories of our youth were often used by us in place of the Cornello family. “And there’s this... thoroughbred, elegant cat hanging around the meerkat. They seem to be pretty close but the cat is definitely calling the shots. And, you know, it’s one of those fancy cats, with lustrous black fur, so I don’t know if it isn’t a bad omen.”

A friendly meerkat. An elegant black cat.

My breath caught for a moment. Theo and Tristan had made contact with my brother.

“You know better than to think black cats are bad luck,” I chided. “In fact... I think this cat may turn out to be lucky for y... for the people in the story,” I stopped myself from saying ‘you’ at the last moment but it seemed Will still got my message loud and clear.

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