Rogue Darkness by Dianne Duvall

“What do you mean?” he countered.

“You’ve been weirdly quiet and sullen lately. Why?”

“It’s nothing,” he muttered, unwilling to tell her. Sometimes Nicole could be a little too discerning.

“Come on. I’m your Second. You can tell me anything.”

“Not anything.”

“Anything,” she insisted.

“Fine.” He released a long-suffering sigh. “I need sex.”

“Anything but that.”

He laughed. “Well, you asked.”

“I did, didn’t I?” She was quiet for a moment as she tucked into her meal. “Yeah. I do, too.”

“Do what?”

“Need sex,” she confessed, surprising him. “I love this job. But it has put a serious dent in my love life.”

He snorted. “At least you have a love life for it to dent.” Not that he had ever seen her date.

He fought a frown. Wait. Did she date?

If so, how did she do it without him knowing? And why did the notion trouble him?

“Oh please,” she scoffed. “As handsome as you are, I doubt you’d have trouble finding a woman interested in getting naked with you.”

“Thank you. But one-night stands don’t interest me.” Sean had resorted to those a few times, when Krysta’s vampire hunting had crimped his dating life, and hadn’t liked it. He didn’t just want sex, he wanted companionship. “Even if they did…”

“Yes?” she prompted.

“I can’t keep my damn eyes from glowing when I’m turned on.” Usually brown, his eyes glowed bright amber whenever strong emotion—like anger or lust—gripped him. It was an involuntary response he’d had no luck bringing under control.

“Oh.” Her brown eyes met and held his with an almost clinical stare. “Right. I guess that would be a little hard to explain.”

“Exactly.”

She chewed another mouthful. “Maybe you could find someone who’s into dominance and submission and blindfold her.”

He smiled. “That’s not really my thing.”

Her lips twitched. “Me either. I hate being ordered to do shit.”

“So I’ve learned,” he retorted dryly.

She laughed. “And if any man spanked me, I would kick his ass.”

An easy feat for her, thanks to her intensive training. “Since it took me so long to get used to sparring with you, I’m sure you know I wouldn’t get off on spanking a woman. I would much rather have her climb all over me and ride me hard than submit to me.”

She pointed her fork at him. “That’s an image I could’ve done without.”

He smiled.

“Well, if all else fails, you could always… take care of your own needs.”

That had better not be a blush he felt creeping up his neck. Sean knew he was supposed to be able to discuss anything with his Second, but this? Really?

Hoping Nicole wouldn’t notice, he shook his head. “Masturbation depresses me.”

“Because you wouldn’t have to do it if you had a woman?”

“Yes. And…” He hesitated, unsure if he should say it.

She raised her eyebrows. “Let me guess. Your hand can’t compete with a warm, willing woman?”

“Exactly. In the end, it just makes me feel more lonely.”

She chewed thoughtfully. “Yeah. I get that. Masturbation depresses me, too.”

A statement that, of course, brought images to mind of her touching herself. Nicole was a very desirable woman, something he’d had a hard time ignoring. Standing five feet six to his six feet two, she had a toned, slender build with curves in all the right places. Imagining her naked and writhing on a bed while she touched herself, one hand cupping her breast as she slid the other down her pale, flat stomach and—

“Great,” he grumbled as his body responded. “Thanks for that. Now I’m hard again.”

Her face lit with surprise. “Because I mentioned masturbating?”

“Yes, damn it.” That image was now burned into his brain and was not how he should think of his Second. They were friends and work colleagues. That was all. Chris Reordon had made it exceedingly clear that sex was not a duty he should expect his Second to perform. If Sean tried to pursue anything intimate with Nicole, Reordon would flip his lid.

Seth would, too. And Sean did not want to end up on the Immortal Guardian leader’s shit list.

Nicole stared at him, something he couldn’t quite pin down in her expression. Curiosity? Intrigue? “I see what you mean about your eyes.”

He swore silently. “They’re glowing, right?”

“Super bright amber.”

“Wonderful.”

She bit her lip. “I can’t think of a way around that.”

“Me either.”

“What do other Immortal Guardians do?”

“You mean the ones who aren’t married?”

“Yes.”

“Based on everything I’ve heard, they abstain.”

Her eyebrows flew up. “Really? They’re all so hot.”

He didn’t know why that rankled, but it did. “Nevertheless.”

“That sucks.”

“Yes, it does.” He hadn’t thought about sex when he’d asked Étienne to transform him. He had instead been focusing on finally being able to contribute more to eradicating vampires and saving lives.