Page 328 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 1

Dom buried his head in his hands. “Fox…” he said heavily.

He dreamed about Roxanna. He was having sex with her standing up, her long slender legs wrapped around his waist, her back pressed against the wall of the kitchen at No Return—obviously it was the redux of the sex he'd had with Kate there.

He was ready to climax and he struck her vein. She struck his at the same time, drawing deeply. When he realized she wasn't going to stop, he drew her blood with renewed vigor, not about to stop until she did. Her fingernails were digging deeply into his arms and he could feel her writhing like a snake against him. There came the realization that she was not ever going to stop drinking and that made him wonder if she'd be his creature, then or if he would be hers? Did the oldest blood win? She had the combined blood of at least ten vamps older than him. He felt a burning all over, a feeling he'd entirely forgotten from his first turning. He forced himself awake then with a grunt, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

He got up and peed and splashed his face with cold water, then headed upstairs for a cup of coffee. Kate would be gone already, she was giving piano lessons all day. He opened the door at the top of the stairs and was instantly scorched with a blinding light. It seared his eyes and smote his flesh, causing him to yell out loud. He slammed the door closed again, feeling the heat of burnt skin, unable to see anything. His eyes were burning, his heart was pounding.

Roxanna.

He stumbled blindly downstairs and into the bathroom to splash cold water on his eyes. It soothed them a bit. He closed the toilet lid and sat on it, calming his breath. It could be an accident. He didn't think Kate would make that mistake, but it was possible. He still could only see a blinding light with his visual field, so he felt his way into the bedroom to locate his phone. The trouble was, he couldn't see the display. In this day and age of cell phones and stored numbers, the only number he knew by heart was Stella's. He ran his fingers over the phone. Unfortunately, it was a touch screen, which meant there were no buttons he could sense with his fingertips. He'd have to try to go by memory. He turned it on and started touching around the bottom of the screen. It took a long time, but eventually he stumbled on the voice dial feature.

“Please speak the name or number you wish to call.”

Thank god. “Kate,” he said urgently.

She didn't answer. He left a terse message. “Kate. There's sunlight in the living room. I need to know if you left something open. Call me right away. We're trapped in our rooms until it's fixed. But listen carefully—DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT come here if you didn't leave something open yourself. Call me.”

He hung up and suddenly felt a stab of fear. Stella and Fox. They could be in imminent danger. He needed to warn them before they woke up and walked out of their rooms. He tried again to locate the voice dialer. Damn. He should have called Stella first to warn her. She could have called Kate for him. Now he was wasting precious time while she or Fox might wake up and get burnt to a crisp anytime. He finally stumbled on the voice dialer function again and practically shouted Stella's name, his hands trembling.

“Dom?” She said groggily.

“Don't leave your room. There's sunlight in the living room. I just got burnt.”

“How bad?”

“Indirect light. First and second degree. Biggest problem is that I can't see. Call Fox to warn him then call me back.”

Thirty seconds later he heard Stella gasp and Fox curse. They had materialized into his room. Why hadn't he thought of that?

“You okay?” Fox's voice was deepened with sleep, but clearly worried.

“Yeah. Blinded. Temporarily, I hope.” He heard Stella walk to the bathroom and run the faucet. When she returned, she pressed a cold washcloth gently over his eyes.

“What's going on?” Fox asked.

“I don't know yet. I left a message with Kate but she's teaching all day so her phone's off.”

Stella blew out her breath. “We could call Marta. Then erase it from her after she shuts the blinds or door or whatever it is.”

Marta was their house cleaner who came in twice a week to clean and do laundry for the three of them. They paid her well to come in the evenings, rather than the daytime, and he'd planted the hypnotic suggestion that she never touch the blinds. “No,” he said sharply. “First of all, I don't think she can fix the blinds when I've got her programmed not to touch them. Second of all, I don't want her in danger if it was not Kate who opened them.”

“Okay, let's be rational here,” Fox said. “Roxanna wants your blood. You're of no use to her burnt to a crisp.”

“We don't know that for sure,” Stella said.

“Fox, you keep trying Kate. I'm having a helluva time using my phone when I can't see. Keep me posted. I'm going to take a cool shower.”

“Okay, I'll keep you posted,” Fox said. “If you need anything, just materialize to my room. Are you able to transport that way?”

“I don't know. I was so shaken up I didn't even think to try.”

His two friends dematerialized and he stood up. His body was still trembling from the shock of the burns. It was mostly his face and arms that had been affected, but his eyes were causing him real pain. He could feel tears running out of the outer and inner edges and since vampires cry blood, that was going to be messy.

The more he thought about it, the more it seemed that Fox must be right. It had been Kate. He'd jumped to the conclusion it was Roxanna because of his conversation the night before with Fox and the dream he had woken to.

But Jesus. How could she? He'd thought he'd made it perfectly clear how dangerous it was to let light in the house. Well, if Kate had wondered what a real punishment spanking was like, she was going to find out. He felt his way to the closet and picked out a wide, flexible leather belt. He tossed it on the bed. Then he went to the bathroom and stood under a cool shower, trying to calm the burns on his skin. He air dried, because the thought of rubbing a towel over his blistered skin was too painful. He wet the washcloth again with cool water and lay down on the bed naked with the washcloth over his eyes. Nothing to do now but wait. His belly rumbled.

It was three hours before Fox called him. “It was Kate. She's on her way.”

---