Captivated (Deep in Your Veins 6)

I felt my brow crease. “Yes, his. Why? What am I missing?”

“He doesn’t take women to his apartment, sweetie,” the redhead replied. “Like ever. It’s a no-no for him.”

Jude nodded, making some of her rich brown hair tumble over her shoulder. “I’ve heard a few females complain about it. Apparently, he’s willing to make an exception for you.”

Ava’s eyes lit up. “Ooh, how interesting.”

“Don’t go reading anything into that,” I said. “He asked for seventy-two hours, which makes it pretty clear he isn’t looking for anything serious.”

“True.” Ava pouted, setting her empty bottle on the coffee table. “Bummer. I had hopes that you two would get together. You might not seem like an obvious couple, given he’s a little … domineering while you’re not the type to tolerate such shit. But Salem and I aren’t an obvious couple either. I’m chirpy and giggly and full of energy. He’s surly and growly and more homicidal than most. But we work.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “But that’s because you both want the same thing. Max and I don’t. Hence why he suggested three nights—he knows I have no interest in a fling, and he’s probably worried I’d get attached if we were involved with each other for too long.” I couldn’t even say he’d be wrong. He was the kind of guy a girl could easily fall for.

“What are you going to do?” Maya asked.

I hesitated, biting my lip. “I want to say yes to his suggestion.”

“So say yes,” Ava blurted out, leaning forward in her seat.

“But,” I went on, “I don’t want to be one of the multitude, you know?”

Keeley’s nose wrinkled. “Yeah, I get that. But I don’t think he views you as one of the multitude, or he wouldn’t want to break this personal rule he seems to have about not having women in his apartment.”

Her eyes on me, Imani pointed at Keeley. “That’s a good point. Another good point? He said he’d make you come over and over and over.”

“That is a noteworthy point,” agreed Alora.

“Definitely goes in the ‘Why you should totally do it’ column,” said Cassie.

Maya nodded. “Orgasm Central is a wondrous place to be.”

Keeley sighed, tilting her head. “I kind of miss it.”

Jude gave Keeley’s hand a comforting pat as she said to me, “You should also consider that the rumours of him being a man-slut might be just that—rumours. I know a lot of guys resent how much female attention Max gets purely because there are far fewer women than men around here. It wouldn’t surprise me if some of them spread disparaging rumours about Max to put women off. I mean, that’s what’s happening with you, right? So I wouldn’t let the stuff you’ve heard factor into your decision. Especially when we’re only talking three nights.”

The rest of my squad nodded or murmured their agreement.

I swept my gaze over everyone, taking in their expressions. “You all think I should say yes, don’t you?”

“You are going to say yes,” said Imani. “We know it. You know it.”

Yeah, I did know it. I’d done nothing but think long and hard over his proposal ever since he made it. While a few issues had made me hesitate, none had carried enough weight to drown out his statement that forever was a long time to spend having what you want so close yet so out of reach. I didn’t want to carry on like this—imagining, wondering, fantasising.

It made more sense to finally satisfy all our … sexual curiosities, for lack of a better term. Fantasies were never better than reality. There was no way sex between us would live up to what my imagination had conjured. It would definitely be fun, though. And like he’d said, we were single adults. We knew the score. Knew it would just be three nights of pleasure that carried no strings. By the end of it, the sexual tension between us would be a thing of the past, and we could move forward as colleagues. Hell, we might even become friends one day.

“I tell ya,” began Keeley, twirling a strand of her blonde hair around her finger, “it’s gonna be an intense seventy-two hours—minus the parts where you’re not inside his apartment, of course. You can just tell that he’ll be a rock star in bed.”

Imani smiled. “Our girl’s gonna get so supremely laid.”

“And then she’s going to give us every detail.” Ava did a little clap. “I can’t wait.”

I snorted. “Now I think we should move off the subject of me and Max. In fact, I think maybe we could ask Maya if she’s looking forward to Ryder returning home.”

The shapeshifting vampire tensed. “Why would I?”

“Well, the fling you guys indulged in before he left seemed pretty intense,” I said.

“It was,” said Maya. “But he made it very clear that it would be short-lived. He ended it two nights before he left The Hollow. Or did you forget all that?”