A car horn behind them made Soph jump. Eli pulled away from her and returned his attention to the road. How long had the lights been green for? He put his foot down, and they shot away.

The feeling of anticipation was heavy; Eli's hand remained on her thigh and when she exhaled a low breath, his fingers tightened against her skin. It took all her self control not to lift her fingers to her lips and brush across the tingling sensation he'd left there.

It seemed like forever before they pulled into the car park beneath Soph's building. It also felt like no time had passed at all. They didn't speak in the lift to her apartment, nor did they look at each other. Eli held her hand, however; his index finger hooked casually through hers.

They got out on her floor and Soph searched in her clutch for her keys. The suspense made her ache. For the several moments it took her to find her keys and put them in the lock, she was aware of every beat of her heart, of every breath Eli drew behind her. He stood close enough that she could feel his body heat. The lock clicked under her hand and she hesitated. This was it. The moment they went inside, everything would change. Eli was a vampire. She let the door swing open.

Eli's hands found her waist and in a blurred heartbeat he had her pressed against the far wall of the dark lounge room. He pinned her there with his body while he cupped each side of her face with his hands and kissed her. Her own fingers closed over his wrists and she kissed him back, jolts of seductive electricity pulsing at every point that they touched. She pushed his hands down and he grasped the top of her dress, his knuckles pressing hard into the tops of her breasts. With a single jerk, he ripped the front of her dress open.

"Oh fuck," She gasped. Eli pushed the dress off her shoulders and it fell to the floor in a pool of ruined red material. Eli was relentless. His hands moved back to her face and this time his fingers buried in her hair. His lips touched hers again briefly, then his grip on her hair tightened and he yanked her head back, exposing her neck.

Soph couldn't do more than pant. Distantly, she could feel his shirt clenched in her hands, but whether she intended to push him away or pull him closer, she didn't know. She was at his complete mercy.

Finally he paused, though he still held her hair. She met his eyes - grey and smoldering in the city glow that filtered through the window - and something passed between them. Trust. He had once saved her and she had reciprocated. She had admitted her trust of him, and she had to stand by her instincts. If he was going to bite her, there would be nothing she could stop him. But she had to trust him when he did it.

His head lowered to her neck, and her pulse jumped under his lips. For a heartbeat he hovered there, and Soph felt as if every muscle in her body had seized. Then he kissed her.

The heat of his lips against her throat trailed like fire as he moved to the cradle of her neck and then across her collarbone. He loosened his hold on her hair and she relaxed under his touch. He wasn't going to bite her. Not tonight.

Goosebumps rose over her skin as adrenaline transferred to desire. Groaning softly, her fingers found the buttons of his shirt and she plucked them open from bottom to top, raking her fingers over his skin as she did. When she reached the last one, he moved away briefly to shrug out of the shirt. She admired his chest and abdomen; smooth and defined.

"Do you work out, or is that a vampire thing?" she asked and he laughed, but didn't answer her. Instead, he moved in again, this time grabbing her ass, lifting her and pressing her back against the wall. She wrapped her legs around his waist to steady herself and he worked on her bra, slipping a hand beneath the under wire to grasp her flesh. His sense of urgency had lessened, and he now seemed content to take his time.

"I think you should take your pants off before I get more undressed, even the playing field, you know."

He eyed her. Then the hand that had closed over one of her breasts pinched her nipple and twisted. She gasped, her back arching. "You were far less chatty when you were frightened," he reprimanded.

"Look, all I'm trying to say is, ah!" he twisted again, putting a stop to her words. They were still for a moment, and Soph's chest heaved. When she remained silent, Eli pulled her bra aside and took the nipple he'd just brutalised into his mouth. She groaned at the abrupt change in sensation, gripping his shoulders, her nails biting into his skin. His hand slid across her back and he undid her bra, pulling it away completely, tossing it over his shoulder towards the lounge.

He took her hands away from his shoulders and pinned them instead above her head. Holding her was effortless as he immobilised her against the wall with the weight of his body. She was once more at his mercy. His mouth moved to her other breast, and she shuddered as his tongue circled her nipple before sucking it between his lips. Heat travelled from her breasts to her core, which she pressed against his hips, seeking relief.

"Please," she groaned. She didn't know why she begged - for more or for him to stop - but it seemed to be what he was after. He released her, and she slid down the wall, staggering as her feet hit the floor. Eli steadied her, and she smacked him, the back of her hand cracking against his chest.

"Asshole," she growled. The smug look he gave her was infuriating. She shoved him towards the bedroom and this time he submitted to her.

***

Soph felt wretched when she woke. Groaning, she pulled the doona over her face. Who had left the blinds open?

"Morning."

She yanked the covers back down to find Eli standing in his briefs in the doorway. He smiled at her, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned on the frame.

"You're still here!" she exclaimed and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"You seem surprised. Do you normally bring home the walk of shame type?" she glowered at him, but he didn't stop. "I don't blame them, to be honest. I'm trying to make you breakfast and all you have is four eggs and two slices of bread of questionable age. Plenty of alcohol, though. Do you just live on a liquid diet?"

"I normally get take out," she retorted, though she couldn't deny that his efforts were sweet.

"Hmm," he said and came into the room. "It's probably for the best that we don't go out in public today." he crawled up the bed and for a moment she thought he was proposing that they have sex again, but he merely lay beside her.

"Why, what's happened?" dread settled in the pit of her stomach.

"You better check the entertainment news."

She grabbed her phone from the bedside table and opened her browser, ignoring the five missed calls she had from Luie.

"At last night's Sincere unveiling, CEO of SinCorp and this year's most eligible bachelor, Eli Damiani was spotted with an unknown mystery woman," Soph read from Goss Spot. "His standards appear to have fallen from his usual choice of actresses and models..." she trailed off in dismay, looking at the accompanying photos of her getting out of Eli's car and being shielded by his bouncers. They really knew how to make a girl feel great.

"Here, read this one instead." Eli passed her his phone. Soph read aloud from EntertainMe.

"Is this year's most eligible bachelor not so eligible? Eli Damiani was sighted at Sincere opening last night with a new brunette bombshell. The leggy delight had commentators suggesting that Damiani was punching above his weight. Her name is yet unknown..." she skipped down to the pictures of herself, standing beside Eli in front of the sponsor's wall. In this photo, she looked great. "That one's a bit nicer," she said, then she groaned. "What are we going to do? This is madness! My face is all over the internet!"

"We'll say it was a work thing," Eli suggested easily. He took his phone back and tossed it on the bedside table. Soph eyed him.

"Do you take all your work things home and fuck them?"

He rolled towards her, propping himself up so he could look down at her. "I believe you were the one who took me home."

She gave him a frank look, which he returned with a smirk. This close, she could see marks on his shoulder that looked like crescent shaped bruises. "Anyone would think you're the vampire," he said, following her gaze. "You are one feisty girl when you're getting your rocks off."

"Oh my God," she groaned. "I was drunk!"

He rolled over and straddled her, sliding his hands up her sides and pushing her arms above her head. He leaned down so that his lips almost touched hers. "I bet you scream just as loud when you're sober," he whispered.

"I can smell something burning," she whispered back. Eli sat up, then in a flash his weight was gone and the room was empty. She heard him curse from the kitchen. She sighed and picked up her phone again. This time she read her text messages. There were four from Luie.

- OMFG Soph! Eli Damiani? Why didn't you tell me?

- Will you pick up your fucking phone? We need to discuss!

- I swear to God, Soph, if you don't tell me every little detail, I'll hate you forever!

- Please Soph, pick up your phone!

Soph bit her lip, then wrote a reply.

- Chill. Was just a work thing. Nothing going on between us x

Luie texted back almost immediately.

- Both disappointed and relieved. Felt bad for Marco for a sec, but Eli is so damned hot!

Soph tossed her phone aside and pushed back the covers as guilt punched her in the stomach. She hadn't thought of Marco once the night before, even though her evening had started as a double date with him. He'd almost kissed her. And then you took a vampire home and fucked him, she berated herself. Eli returned to the bedroom door.

"Dreadful news," he told her. "The breakfast is burnt."

"I'll order some burritos and get Harvey to bring them up."

Eli raised an eyebrow." Your doorman? Can you trust him?"

"He's very discreet," Soph informed him as she wrote the text. Eli came back to the bed, once more crawling over it to straddle her.

"So you really do bring a lot of guys back here."

Soph set her phone aside and crossed her arms before Eli could pin them above her head again. "Not as many as you claimed to have been with in your bachelor article," she replied tartly.

He smirked but didn't disagree with her. He did kiss her, however.

She melted under his touch, her arms falling away from her chest. This was all so wrong, and yet she didn't want to stop. His touch was magic.

"Wait," she said, putting a hand on his chest to still him. "Just so we're clear, this is just for fun, right? It's not going to happen again?"

"Just a work thing," he agreed. "Nothing more."

"Good." she looped her arm around his neck and pulled his lips back to hers.