Vampire Sugar Daddy

Ariana POV

No.

How did they get to Aunt Sally and Uncle Bill so fast?

Aunt Sally had brown eyes and strawberry blonde hair turning to gray, while Uncle Bill was becoming a silver fox. Both looked fit. Aunt Sally had had a colon cancer scare, but it turned out to be a false positive.

Dimitri glared at Irina. "It was a decent ploy--but you're vastly outnumbered, and this isn't Lammas. Right now, the Rostovs we captured are spilling their guts about your little plan with my brother. Say what you will about my parents, but they view the Rostovs as something to scrape off the bottom of their Ermendigldo Zegna and Christian Louboutin shoes. I doubt they'll endorse this plot of yours."

Dimitri waved a string of garlic, unbothered by the traditional vampire Kryptonite. Ariana had noticed garlic pills in his bathroom. She didn't have time to think about the medical mystery, however. She aimed the stake right at Irina's heart.

Smug, Irina said, "You shoot me and I'll have my man give your aunt something worse than that colon cancer misdiagnosis."

Uncle Bill tried to kneecap the vampire henchman. The element of surprise caught the immortal being off guard, and he let go of both of them. They dashed to Ariana and stood on either side of her.

Aunt Sally growled. "I'm a Wilberforce, you horrible woman. I'm not afraid of you."

Uncle Bill raised his fist. He did Crossfit and played golf several days a week, and it showed. He looked like the poster boy for health. "You put us in a cargo hold and haul us here like you're some shipping company and we're freight. We have to have a talk about manners. I normally wouldn't hit a lady, but you're no lady."

"No, I'm a royal princess."

Aunt Sally snorted. "Princess is as princess does, girl."

Dimitri's lips twitched. "Toy?"

"Yes?" Her crossbow shook.

He took the crossbow from her, targeting Irina. "Take your aunt and uncle inside and stay there. Don't move till I give you the all-clear."

Ariana darted out, grabbed Sally's arm and Bill's, and pushed them toward the front door of the villa. "On the double! Sorry about the accommodations on the flight over."

Once safely inside, she and Elina retreated to the living room with Aunt Sally and Uncle Bill. Always thoughtful. Elina slipped off to the kitchen to get some coffee and soup for the new arrivals. Ariana hugged her aunt and uncle hello. "You're safe now."

Sally and Bill wrapped their arms around her. "We're so sorry about all this," Sally whispered. "I told your parents that they needed to tell you about the deal with the bloodsuckers ... sorry. I told them that the Lyunovs would come after you when the fifth decade arrived."

Ariana buried her face in her aunt's hair. "It doesn't matter. Whatever it is, we're Wilberforces--we'll face whatever comes. Just like William Wilberforce did. I still think we're related ... I haven't proven it yet through those DNA test kits."

Bill snorted. "Well, no test is completely foolproof. Your aunt's colon cancer misdiagnosis should have proved that."

Elina strolled toward them with the coffee and soup on a tray, the steam rising and making patterns in the air. The soft silver-colored sectional sofa pulled Ariana down, and she sank into the luxurious, heavenly fabric. So different from Aunt Sally's and Uncle Bill's re-covered orange couch at home. Orange, Sally's favorite color, managed to look tasteful and cheery. Ariana made a mental note to buy Sally an orange sofa.

"Elina, do we have an orange sofa in this place?"

Elina responded seriously. "No, but I can have one delivered here tomorrow."

Sally frowned. "I liked my old one!"

Bill swatted her arm. "Sally, we re-covered it twice."

"They don't make the wood frame like that anymore!"

"This is Europe, Sally! We can probably import a couch from France or Scandinavia!"

"I am NOT getting some IKEA contraption you have to assemble," Sally groused.

Bill elbowed her, and Ariana had to smile at their cheerful bickering and bantering. "I'm sure that Prince Dimitri can get some ancient master craftsmen to make you a custom piece."

Ariana cleared her throat. "I did have that old piece shipped, Aunt Sally, but you could always use some chairs to go with it."

She couldn't believe this. Her aunt and uncle just got threatened by vampires after being dragged halfway around the world like human cargo, and the concern of the moment was an old sofa!

But on the other hand, she'd give her aunt a hundred sofas if it meant Sally felt safe in Dimitri's home after the terrible ordeal.

Smiling, she said, "A lot of your belongings have been packed and shipped. Dimitri even has people house-sitting."

Uncle Bill's big brown eyes widened. "You mean we could go home sometime?"

Ariana hesitated. The possibility seemed remote. but Aunt Sally and Uncle Bill had a life back home. It was bad enough she'd had to uproot them. 

Aunt Sally put her slender arm around Ariana. "Wherever you are is our home. The bloodsuckers are welcome to our house. I don't care."

Dimitri's voice sounded like soothing music as he rejoined them. "And our home will always be your home."

* * * * *

Dimitri POV

He didn't blame the older couple, Bill and Sally, for looking a little lost at sea. Curse Irina for trafficking them and using them as bargaining chips.

And d*mn his lousy aim.

He'd shot at her, point-blank range, and she'd evaded him as if she were a performer in Cirque du Soleil, arching her spine and going low like Keanu Reeves in the Matrix movies. 

Laughing mockingly, she said, "Oh, Dimitri. Just a little taste of that human and you're weak. She's weakened her with her little--"

"Watch your mouth," he snarled. 

Smirking, she said, "You used to like my mouth. You used to appreciate so many things about me, before SHE came along. She's just meat, do you realize that? She was dead the minute she took her first breath."

He gritted his teeth. "Get out of here, and never come back. You have nothing else you could hold over my head or hers."

"What about her whole pathetic kingdom?"

He kept his face neutral. "She has no loyalty to it. She's American."

Red eyes drilled into him. "Her college, then."

"Don't be an idiot. You cause mass pain and suffering at an American college--"

She laughed, her peals of mirth mocking. "Oh yes, because the world would miss a few drama majors and so-called biotechnology majors like your little human. And those dry, dusty, pedantic professors!"

"I doubt your father will appreciate your cavalier attitude. He's an old-school vamp. He prefers to avoid the human world as much as possible, and he doesn't like anything that makes the news."

Hitting her below the belt felt good. Satisfying.

Her eyes narrowed, and she seemed out of ammunition. "You're going to be mine, Dimitri."

"You're fixated on the wrong brother. Luc has been in love with you for years. It galls me to say anything remotely flattering about him, but he loves you dearly." Dimitri stepped toward her. "But you couldn't control him, any more than you can me. Luc is proud. He wouldn't let you dictate his every move."

Her eyes narrowed to cherry-red slivers. "You have quite the imagination. I could have Luc--"

"Then why did my parents try to betroth me to you?" Dimitri challenged. "I'm the youngest son. Not even a contender for the throne, and less so now. I don't care about the throne."

At least, he thought privately, not with the rest of his family in charge.

Scowling, Irina shot back, "You picked a woman whose name is close to mine. Irina. Ariana."

Dimitri threw back his head and laughed. "That's what passes for deep thought with you? We would never have worked. Luc is more your speed. And the sooner you realize that, the better. He may be playing my parents' script, but he wants you. You'll be unleashing a tiger, but I think you can handle him--better than you could Ariana."

He strolled toward the villa, and Irina moved to pursue, only to have a wall of his men block her. "Leave now, Princess," Ervin warned.

Thanking the Elder Gods for loyal soldiers, Dimitri tossed the garlic in Irina's direction, and heard her shriek as she raced towards the gate.

Now, in the present, he smiled at Ariana's Uncle Bill and Aunt Sally. Bill had the charming habit of blinking when he was bewildered. Uncle Bill reminded him of a big, lovable koala. His ears stuck out like the Australian bear's, and he had silver tufts of hair surrounding them.

"This is your home now," he said smoothly. "Have some soup and tea or coffee, and then Elina will get you settled. I need to speak to Ariana about the events of today." Subtly, he added, "I know that Bill is like a daddy to you, Ariana, but Elina will look after him."

Ariana picked up on the hint, her cheeks flushing. "I'll be with you both in a little bit," she said to her aunt and uncle.

Escorting her into the music room where no one would just walk in on them, Dimitri shut the door and gathered Ariana into his arms. "That was gutsy," he said with an overtone of desire.

"Thank you. What about the city?" She gazed into his eyes, with the expression of a nervous doe. "Are they--"

"I'll reassure the citizens later. I have an excellent team that will take care of them."

He pushed her up against the wall, the baroque-patterned wallpaper a classy backdrop to her beauty. "I want you," he said thickly. "I want to make sure you're unhurt. And I want to show you that there will never be anyone else for me as long as you're my pet ... I need to feed, and I need you."

Breathless, she agreed. "I'm yours, Daddy."

A primal thrill swept through him, and as his lips crushed hers, he vowed that no matter what, he would keep his sugar baby.