The Lady Has Needs by Imari Jade Page B

while they were parked at a red light. He was really handsome and she dug his accent. And he looked like he had some nice muscles under that tailored suit.
    “You’re taking a vampire to your apartment. Are you crazy? You know, once I find out where you live, it might be impossible to get rid of me?”
    “I’ll take my chances,” Lillian said. “Maybe once you get there you might not want to leave.”
    “What?”
    Lillian smirked. She had absolutely shocked him. After hearing his name, she had realized who he was. He was one half of a powerful vampire team that owned one of the only casinos in the area making money. They also owned a couple of hotels in New Orleans. Lillian had been interested in them for a long time since they also controlled the vampire population in eastern New Orleans, but she’d never had the privilege of meeting them until now.
    The light turned green and Lillian started driving again. “What do you do, Dominick? Do you have a job or are you independently wealthy?”
    “Both,” Dominick answered. “I help manage a casino, a couple of hotels, and I own a club in the French Quarters.”
    She did not know that part. “What kind of club?”
    “Jazz,” he answered. “What about you? What do you do at the lab?”
    “Technically, I study blood, blood-forming organs, and blood diseases. I’m a medical technician.”
    “And you like working with cells and blood protein?” Dominick asked.
    “Yes,” Lillian answered. “I’m also studying to be a hematologist so I can help with cancer research.”
    Dominick looked over at her. “I’ve never met anyone like you before. “
    Lillian drove into her driveway and parked her car. She got out and Dominick followed her up the walkway and up the stairs.
    “Do you live here alone?”
    “Yes, so don’t think about doing anything stupid.”
    Dominick laughed. “You’ve invited me to your home. I think you’re missing some cards in your deck.”
    Lillian laughed at him and opened the door. “Wait right here until I turn off the alarm.” He couldn’t come inside anyway unless she invited him or turned off the wards she had set on the house. She wasn’t magical but her family did know a powerful voodoo mambo that helped them out with charms and incantations to protect themselves with. The house itself was enchanted and Lillian would know in a few seconds if she had made a big mistake. Lillian entered first, turned off the alarm, and headed back to the door. Dominick stood just outside looking simply elegant in a black suit, shirt, and tie. “You may enter my home.”
    Dominick stepped over the doorsill and the house allowed him to enter.
    Well, what do you know? The house likes him. Normally, it wouldn’t have let him inside and would have automatically tossed him into the yard. Lillian was far from being a fool. If she didn’t trust him, he would be dead by now.
    “You have a lovely home,” Dominick said looking around as they left the foyer and front room.
    “Thanks.” She took him to the den. “Would you care for a drink?”
    “You keep blood in your home?”
    “A synthetic kind,” Lillian answered. She walked over to the mini bar and fixed him a drink she had invented for her vampire friends. She walked over and handed it to him. “You don’t have to drink it if you don’t want to. Most vampires I know only want to drink the real thing.”
    Dominick accepted the glass. “Thank you.”
    “I’ll be right back,” she told him. “I just need a quick shower and then we can get down to business.”
    “Mind-numbing sex?”
    Lillian nodded. “But you will have to be the judge of that.” Lillian walked away and left him. He would be okay. The house had her back.
    §§§
    Dominick sampled the drink. If she was trying to poison him, he would know it immediately. It tasted like blood…the real thing, heated to body temperature and very tasty. He moved his tongue around in his mouth. It didn’t leave the rusty taste that normal