“Glamour.” I sighed. “You know, controlling someone’s mind? Putting a suggestion in their thoughts or letting them see a fantasy—”
“You mean glam-sex?” he interrupted.
I nodded. “I can’t do that at all. And honestly, even if I could do it, I wouldn’t want to. You should hear all the disgusting things people want you to describe—it’s like being a phone sex operator except you’re actually seeing and feeling the things they want you to talk about. Ugh.” I shivered.
Victor looked thoughtful. “I can see how it would be fucking nasty with some jerk you didn’t even know. But it doesn’t sound so bad if you were with someone you wanted to be with.”
“Yeah, well…” I sighed and looked away. “It’s actually the best way to get blood from a human but I’m no good at it.”
“Which means that once you and I, uh, go our separate ways, you’re going to be starving again?” He frowned at me.
I stiffened. “I’ll get by.”
“But you shouldn’t have to. Look, why don’t you practice?”
“Practice—how?”
“On me.” He shrugged. “Weres have a natural mind shield but I could let it down enough to let you in.”
“Well…” I looked at him uncertainly. “I don’t know…”
“Just try it,” he urged. “You seem to be getting better at the biting thing—at least from my point of view. Maybe you can get better at all of it now that you’re someplace safe. Someplace you know nobody’s going to hurt you if you mess up.”
He had a point and I was sorely tempted. I had been doing better at what my friend Addison called ‘the vampire basics’ lately. Maybe Victor was right. Maybe I just needed a little practice.
“Okay,” I said at last, making up my mind. “But this will have to be a strictly G-rated fantasy. I’m not up for anything else.”
“I know it.” Victor gave me a level look. “Believe me, I’m not offering to let you glam me because I want to cop a mental feel or anything like that. I just thought you could use the practice.”
“Thanks.” I smiled at him. Despite his rough exterior he really was turning out to be a nice guy.
“Okay.” Victor cleared his throat. “So how do we get started? I’ve never done this before.”
“I haven’t either—not successfully anyway,” I admitted. “But I think we just hold hands and look into each other’s eyes.”
“Okay.” He held out his hands to me and I took them, feeling my pulse flutter at his touch. God, he was so warm. I leaned forward and looked into his eyes, which honestly wasn’t easy to do. They were a deep, chocolate brown and so intense. I felt like he was the one looking into me and not the other way around.
“Now what?” Victor asked, as we continued to stare at each other.
“Um…concentrate on dropping your shields.” I wished my voice didn’t sound so breathless. “And then tell me…tell me what you want to see.”
“Hmm…what I want to see.” I could see a small smile twitching around the corners of his mouth.
“G-rated,” I reminded him hurriedly.
“Right. G-rated. Okay.” He nodded. “What I want to see is you, standing in front of me wearing that same dress you had on the night we were bonded.”
“Oh, that,” I said, remembering the cream-colored gown he was talking about. It had clung to me in long, silky waves, emphasizing my curves. I hadn’t known why Corbin had ordered me to wear it until I entered his office and found out I was supposed to be married to a complete stranger.
Not so much of a stranger anymore, I heard Victor rumble inside my head.
With a little shock I realized I had done it—I was in. Inside his head. Or he was in mine. Whatever—this was my first successful glam-session. Or it would be if I could manage to project the images he was asking for.
I concentrated hard for a moment and then Victor and I were standing in the small back room at Under the Fang where we had been blood-bonded almost two weeks before. I was wearing the cream-colored silky gown and the white rosebuds in my hair and Victor was dressed as he had been also—in the too-tight black jacket Corbin had loaned him for the occasion.
Hey, come on, I heard him say. At least put me in a tux.
Oh, okay. I concentrated again and there he was, looking surprisingly suave in a tailored black tux and bow tie. Better? I asked.
Victor growled approvingly. More like it.
Now what? I looked around the room, wondering what else he would ask me to show him.