Dimitri POV
"WHAT?"
She sounded so adorable in her disbelief.
Ariana Wilkins, also known as Princess Ariana Wilberforce of Trenholm. A humble biology major. A lost princess whose mother, Princess Amalia of Trenholm, fled rather than give her only daughter up as a sacrifice to the Royal Family of Merak.
A beauty with gorgeous gold hair the color of the autumn leaves that surrounded them during their first meeting, and lovely blue-green eyes. Not quite turquoise eyes, but almost. Slender figure, full breasts, an athletic body from all her yoga and swimming. And a first-class brat. He'd enjoy taming her. It would be fun.
He'd known about the plot to steal her and bring her home to Merak once they found her on the Internet. Some science blog that she was featured in. Dimitri wasn't called the geek of the family for nothing. He could find out information on anyone. He'd found her, and instantly been captivated by her cocky smile. She and her Bioscience Club on campus had won some competition or other, so she looked smug. Her perfect pink lips were parted in a grin.
He could only imagine how those lips would taste. How she would taste. He looked at her, clad in the ridiculous silk teddy for the ritual, and imagined her wearing designer gowns and expensive jewelry as his sugar baby. She had an iPhone that was practically an antique. She shopped in thrift stores. It was really quite charming--but he was about to change all that.
"Do you remember the tech company that sent you money for your tuition?" he asked.
Her eyes widened. "YOU?"
"Yes. I knew you wouldn't take it if I came up and offered to be your sugar daddy. So, I created a grant that would allow you to stop killing yourself with work-study jobs. And yet you still insist on doing things the hard way. That's about to change. But first, I'm saving your life."
He could smell her desperation and see her determination to fight. Good.
"Why do they want me?" she whispered. "They seem cruel. Why do they need a sacrifice? Why from my family? What did we ever do to them?"
He shook his head. "Because vampires are bastards. I'll explain later, but I have to get you out of here and to a safe place. My villa in a charming small city, Ampero, on the border with Greece. It has a college, and my family doesn't particularly like going there. You'll be reasonably safe there."
"I'm never going back to America?"
"That is the first place they'll look," he muttered. "They've smelled your blood. They took a sample of it while you were asleep, for the ritual."
She shuddered. "They can trace my blood?"
"Oh yes. They're merciless."
His fingers deftly untied her and pulled her out of the chair. He threw a hoodie over her and she shrugged into it. God, she was spunky. He guided her out of the room, and his human servant and best friend Louis darted in with a sex doll they custom ordered from Japan. Lifelike. And the best part was, she that bastard Luc bit the doll's neck, he'd taste the blood that Dimitri had also taken from a sleeping Ariana. He'd paid enough that the Japanese company didn't even question the order. They did, after all, cater to vampires.
By the time Luc figured it out, Dimitri and Ariana would be long gone. Thank the gods for Dimitri's and Luc's sister Mirabel, who hated the barbaric family practice and was sympathetic to Ariana.
Louis nodded at him with a small smile. "Court won't be any fun without you."
Ariana seemed not to notice Louis. She seemed bewildered, and focused solely on escaping.
Dimitri smiled at Louis. "Who knows, maybe I'll return to take over the place someday."
Dimitri winked, and guided his Ariana out of the ritual space, through the endless Gothic corridors to the elevator to the garage where his black SUV with tinted windows waited.
Arana said nothing, even when they made it to the car. He fastened her seatbelt in the front passenger seat, closed the door, and darted around to the driver's side. He climbed into the driver's seat and gunned the engine, backing out of the parking space and driving out of the garage. The SUV had a transponder, and the gate opened without hesitation.
Freedom.
Dimitri drove through the streets of the capital, all draped in blood-red banners with a smiling innocent virginal female on them.
"Seriously?" he muttered. "How cliche can you get? This whole act went out with silent films. I happen to love silent films. I don't love this."
Ariana said in a soft voice, "I know what you mean. I love silent films, too."
"I have quite the collection," Dimitri said, making conversation just to keep her calm as they drove through the streets.
It was going to be a long drive. Several hours.
"Why did you do this?"
Her quiet words struck at his heart.
"Because I want you alive. As my toy, my sugar baby, for as long as you please me. And I have so many ways for you to please me, sweetheart."
He'd planned it for months, ever since his family located her. How he'd spoil her. How she would please him. How he'd completely wreck her and make her unable to live without him. How he'd feed from her and enjoy her luscious body.
"Why me?"
He laughed, trying not to let her sweet ways slip into his heart. "You amuse me. You're a little brat, but you'll be good for me, won't you?"
A snort. "Don't flatter yourself."
His hand went to her thigh, stroking it. She shuddered, and not in fear or disgust.
"You'll be a good little pet," he murmured. "I'm risking a lot to save your life. My family would stake me. That's one myth about vampires I can verify. We can die from a stake to the heart. The other stuff is complete fiction. And I don't sparkle like Edward Cullen."
"Of course not."
He grinned, recognizing her intelligence. "You are going to be so much fun. I'll enjoy taming you and making you my perfect pet. My good little pet. My sugar baby."
He passed her a new model iPhone, the latest one. "Here. Amuse yourself, it's going to be a long drive."
Blinking, she stared at it like an explosive. "I can't--"
"You can."
He pulled off the road, since they'd just cleared the city limits, and stared at her.
The defiance in her gaze irritated him and warmed his heart.
"I'm going to spoil you, because I saved you from being a sacrifice. If you have a problem with that, I can always tip off my family."
Her heart sank. "That's not fair."
He smirked and caressed her face. "I'm an undead creature, sweetheart. I've seen more history than you humans remember. You think I play by the rules? I assure you, I don't. So, accept the d*mn iPhone."
"I could look up the latest biotech news," she whispered.
He grinned. "Excellent, Ariana. My toy. And since I'm hundreds of years older, I want you to call me 'Daddy.' After all, your own royal family sacrificed you to save their own skins. Say it. Say, 'Yes, Daddy."
"Yes, Daddy." she whispered.
He pulled her face close to his and kissed her, savoring her delectable lips. God. She tasted incredible. Like a banquet for a starving man.
Her moan of pleasure fired his blood, and he tore his mouth away from hers. "Good girl," he whispered. "Relax. It's going to be a long night. There are snacks at your feet. All your favorites. Get comfortable."
"And ... what about you?"
His eyes glinted with desire. "Oh. You want to know if you're my snack? Well ... you are. But I have enough blood in my blood bag to sustain me. When I feed on you the first time, it's not going to be a quickie in a car ... same for the first time we have sex."
He started the car again and resumed their journey. "Relax," he said in a soothing voice. "We have a long way to go."