Lily

I have to run. But there was nowhere to run. And I won't be able to get far in my heels. Even if I could somehow get past him, there was no way I could get the door unlocked and opened before he caught me. The office was nearly empty. No one would hear me shouting for help, and there were no witnesses.

I was cornered. Trapped. As good as dead.

Atreus Rhodes took a sauntering step towards me, his cruel, tormenting laugh filling the room. "Lilian Clark. That's right," he snapped his fingers. "What's the matter? Are you surprise to see me?"

"I- I killed you," I stammered. "I watched you turn to ash!"

He stopped two feet away from me, looking down at me with those terrifying eyes. "Really?" he chuckled. "That's not what I remember."

I had one chance. Balling up my fist, I swung as hard as I could. It didn't matter how long he's been a vampire, the human instinct to duck was deeply ingrained and couldn't simply be outlived. That was what my parents always told me. My mom, my dad, uncles, aunts, brothers...

They were wrong.

Atreus didn't dodge. He didn't even flinch. He caught my wrist before it made contact. As easily as if I were a rag doll, he shoved me back up against the windows with both arms above my head, trapped in one of his large hands. I fought against his grip, but a second later, he had his body pressed up against mine, and all I could do was stare up into the face of death.

And what an incredibly handsome face it was. The way he smirked at me, while deadly, was undeniably mouthwatering. Not for the first time, I was overwhelmed with the desire to run my hands through his hair and feel the stubble of his five o'clock shadow scrape over my skin. My treacherous heart fluttered, and I bit down on my bottom lip to quiet my trembling breaths.

That didn't even begin to describe how my body was reacting to his. His legs were positioned on either side of mine, preventing me from finding any wiggle room. Every hard inch of him—and I mean every inch—pressed up against me. Heat crept up my cheeks as my imagination started to win over my common sense.

His nostrils flared, and his smirk grew wider. "Well, well, well," Atreus purred. "Does my slayer have a kink?"

The red in his eyes started to glow a little brighter. My limbs felt heavy, and it got harder to keep up with my feeble struggles. I tried to turn my head to break eye contact, just for him to wrap his free hand around my throat and force my eyes back to his. His nails suddenly grew into sharp points, digging painfully into my skin.

"Eyes on me, Lilian. No need to be shy."

When his grip loosened again, I couldn't move my head anymore. Claws trailed down the front of my chest to the collar of my blouse. With one swift movement, he sliced through the buttons, sending them scattering across the floor. His tongue slipped out from between his fangs and swept across his lips.

"Pretty little thing, aren't you?"

His words seemed to come from every direction. I squeezed my thighs together, desperately trying to ignore the pleasurable tingling between them. This was wrong. This was so wrong. But it felt so good. Shit!

"I didn't know slayers could be so pretty."

That hand pushed through the opening of my torn blouse, exposing my bra, and caressing the bare skin along my waist. His touch was like fire. Hot. Strangely alluring. All consuming.

"Or so desperate to be touched."

He pressed closer, his lips just hovering over mine. The way he held me kept me from closing the space between us. I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted him to shred the rest of my clothes and fuck me right here against the window where all of Miami, could see.

"And I've never met one with such piss-poor mental guards."

Realization crashed over me like ice getting dumped on my head. Slamming my eyes shut, I withdrew into my mind and forced everything else out.

All at once, Atreus vanished. My arms dropped to my sides, and I slumped over to brace my hands on my knees, air rushing back into my lungs. The office felt cold without his body against mine, even though my blouse was fully intact again.

It was all in my head. A carefully crafted dream or illusion cast by that accursed vampire. The slayers call it persuasion, and for the first time I can really understand why. A few moments longer and I would have agreed to just about anything.

He was still laughing, and I looked up to see him sitting behind the desk with his legs crossed and hands folded politely in his lap. The glow in his eyes was fading back to the same color as the ocean behind me, but that god-forsaken smirk never wavered.

I knew vampires could create false thoughts and experiences, but... shit, I didn't know they could feel that real. He must have done the same thing the night before, making me think I had killed him while really, I was just flailing around on the ground in an alley. But what about the blood that had soaked my dress? He couldn't have followed me into my apartment so... how long did those false memories last? Or were the slayers wrong about needing to invite vampires in, too?

"You know," Atreus chuckled. "It's been a while since I've come across a slayer. But I remember them being smarter and not so obvious."

"Coming from the guy sucking on a janitor's neck in a public bathroom," I spat back.

"Well, I had to give you something to work with. You were careful, I'll give you that. But your cautious approach wasn't going to get you anywhere."

I got fucking baited?

"So, you just wanted an excuse to kill me?"

"Oh, pretty girl, I don't need an excuse to kill you. But that wouldn't be any fun. There's no challenge in just killing you."

"Great. Thanks for letting me know."

He wasn't going to kill me. But the risk of him going back on that would only increase the longer I stuck around, so I pushed off the windows and took long, confident strides towards the door. I had just reached out to unlock the door when Atreus hummed disapprovingly. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Why not?"

"Because if you leave this office now, you'll never find a job in another law firm in the country."

My hand trembled slightly, hovering over the lock. I could afford to lose this job, but only if I was sure there was another firm, or even a public office, would be willing to take me on. Did he have that power? He had the money to buy in as managing partner. Which meant he had enough money to buy influence with even the seediest, bottom-of-the-barrel, criminal lawyer.

Not criminal as in representing criminals. Criminal as in those lawyers belong in jail right next to their clients.

"What do you want from me?" I hissed.

"I want to hire you."

I turned sharply to stare at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Haven't you heard?" Atreus smirked and stood up. "I'm the new managing partner. As such, I get to hire, fire, and promote whoever I please. I can even make new positions if I want. But that takes too much paperwork and luckily, I already have an open seat that would fit that tight ass of yours perfectly."

"You threatened to derail my career ten seconds ago, now you're offering me a job? Slowly, I turned back to fully face him and crossed my arms over my chest. "What job is this, anyway?"

"Paralegal. But now you work for me. Only me. You report to me and work on the cases only I give you."

"And if I refuse?"

There was another flash of fang through his smirk. Again, he stepped closer towards me and, again, I had the feeling of being trapped. I don't like that feeling. "Then I'll derail your career anyway. They're not separate issues, Lilian."

Atreus's hand brushed across my cheek, tracing the line of my jaw. Leaning in closer, he braced his free arm on the glass wall behind me. This was the real deal. No illusions. No fake experiences. His hand was cool, and I could feel the careful yet brutal strength beneath his fingertips. His breath was warm, tinged with an acrid scent that could only come from the venom oozing from his fangs.

Little butterflies started to flutter in my stomach. The other slayers said that vampire venom was the ultimate drug. Ten times the relaxing effects of heroin while giving twenty times the stimulating effects of meth. But that was nothing compared to the euphoric effects that were supposedly a hundred times stronger than ecstasy.

All the stories about how vampires were masters of seduction made me curious as a child, and now that I was face to face with one... did it feel as good for them as it did for their victims?

"You know," he purred. There was a hungry look in those stunning blue eyes. Like he wanted to eat me alive. "The things I made you see may have been fake, but your reactions weren't. You want this. You want me to play with your body. Pleasure you and give you everything and more than you could possible handle."

"You're wrong."

"Am I? So, if I were to rip your skirt off and check, you wouldn't be dripping for me?"

"What do you want from me?" I gasped again.

"I want to play a game."

"G-game?"

"It's simple. If you sleep with me, you lose."

He was so open and brazen about it, and I couldn't stop a giggle from bubbling up my throat. "Is that it?" I snorted. "I just have to not sleep with you?"

"Do you want to play?"

"Every game has a win state. I know yours. What's mine?"

"Me giving up, of course."

"Nuh-uh. You literally have all the time in the world. I want a timeline."

"Six months."

"Two months."

"Six months, and I'll double your salary."

"What do I get if I win?"

"Your life, for one. For another, I'll leave your career alone, all raises remain until you leave the firm, even if you go back to the cubes."

"You'll leave me alone too. We start over with a clean slate. No vampire or slayer shit. Just Mister Rhodes and Miss Clark."

"Deal."

Atreus backed away just enough to hold out his hand, but I didn't take it. Could I put up with his shit for six whole months? Was it even worth it when the alternative was completely starting over... again?

"Deal," I finally said, taking his hand.

"Excellent. No reason not to get started right away, then." He walked back to his desk, looking like the cat that caught the canary. "We need to meet with my top clients next week to fill them in on being brought into the firm. I need you caught up on their files by Monday."

He opened one of the cabinets on the lower shelves of the bookcase and pulled out a standard filing box to drop it on his desk. Hesitantly, I crossed the room and cracked open the lid. "This is going to take me all weekend," I gaped at the completely full box of files.

"Then you'd better get started."

I expected him to leave then to go and enjoy his weekend while I drowned in last-minute homework. But in a flash, he was against me again, pinning my backside against the desk. His hand cupped my chin and forced my head around to meet his burning red and black gaze once again.

"Enjoy your weekend, Lilian. This will be the last moment of peace you ever have." His words were low and husky, making my eyes flutter and stomach start turning all over again. "I'm going to break you, pretty girl. I'm going to make you beg me to fuck you. And when you do, I'm going to feed from you until your veins run dry."

~

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