Jaded Blood

“Yes,” Alicia answered a little too quickly. “Give me some time to get dressed and grab a few things for the poor girl and I’ll be down.”

She hung up the phone and a wide grin spread across her face as she rushed around getting dressed. It was nice to have something to do while Damon was away. At least now she felt useful and, with any luck, she might be able to prove to Damon that she really could do things on her own.

Throwing on her favorite pair of jeans and one of Damon’s black button-up shirts, she got out a black leather duffle bag and removed two set of clothes from the closet. One set in case she liked soft frilly things and another set that would make her feel tough and in control. Why not give the girl a choice between dressy or badass. Besides, Damon had stocked over half of her closet with bad girl outfits so she would match the bad boy act he had going on.

Once the clothes were packed, she went through some of the new undergarments she hadn’t worn yet and something for the girl to sleep in before putting them in the bag as well. She figured after being held prisoner, any girl would appreciate the little things like clean underwear, toothbrush, and maybe a little makeup.

As an afterthought, she took one last look around the room to make sure she hadn’t missed anything. Spotting her collection of hair things, she grabbed up a comb and brush along with a few hair ties so the girl could put her hair up if she wanted to.

Alicia smiled as she put the strap of the bag over her shoulder and headed toward the bedroom door. It felt good to know that she was going to be seeing Micah again even though it had only been a few days. She missed him.

The fact that he’d called for her help specifically was exciting enough. Putting someone under her thrall for legit reasons, and the fact that her target was a werewolf and not just some human would mean a challenge for her.

Humans were far easier to place under a thrall because they had no real immunity to it unless the human was psychic or wore a charm like her necklace. Damon had told her that shifters were harder to penetrate because all of their five senses were higher. Unfortunately, she hadn’t had much of an opportunity to even test it out on humans with Damon barely letting her out of the bedroom.

Alicia squared her shoulders. This was a prime opportunity for her to get some real practice in without the sexual distractions. Just as she walked out of her and Damon's bedroom, Kane stormed in the front door muttering under his breath.

“Is something wrong?” Alicia asked.

Kane didn’t appear to hear her and continued muttering about a woman named Olivia. Suddenly he froze and cursed loudly.

“Damn it!” Kane shouted. “Not Olivia… Victoria.”

Michael and Damon walked in at that very moment, both snickering at Kane’s antics.

Alicia almost groaned at Damon’s timing. While she was happy to see him back safe and sound, she’d hoped to have time to go to the police department and be back before he returned.

“So, you’re the man who remembers the name of every woman he’s ever been with,” Damon drawled.

“I do remember them,” Kane growled.

“Then who’s Olivia?” Michael asked.

“Go to hell!” Kane muttered before heading toward his bedroom.

“Guess that’s the answer to that question,” Michael stated and headed toward the stairwell but paused seeing Alicia standing near her bedroom door looking a lot like she’d just got caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Kane shut the bedroom door behind him and saw Tabatha standing there with her arms crossed over her chest.

“So, who’s Olivia and Victoria?” she asked.

“Damon and Michael’s ex-girlfriends,” Kane answered with no hesitation and sealed his lips over hers.

In the main room, Damon’s gaze was instantly drawn to Alicia and he almost smiled when he saw her wearing one of his shirts. However, the way she was biting her bottom lip made him frown and he slowly looked her over. His eyes narrowed dangerously when he saw the overnight bag that she hadn't zipped hanging from her shoulder.

Alicia blinked when Damon suddenly appeared less than a foot in front of her, blocking her path by putting a palm on either side of the doorframe… effectively trapping her against the wooden surface. He leaned forward and studied her without saying a word but she’d be damned if that look in his eyes wasn’t speaking volumes.

She felt herself becoming a little nervous and tried to hide it by smiling, “I’m glad you’re back.”

“Are you?” Damon asked unable to keep his dark side from raising its head. “If I had been a few minutes later… would you still be here waiting for me?”

Alicia couldn’t resist the self-preservation instinct and raised her hand to touch the necklace that was no longer around her neck. She suddenly remembered she’d given it to Nick and inwardly cringed when she noticed Damon’s eyes had followed her nervous movement then flashed back up to pin her with a darkening amethyst gaze.

At this point, Alicia knew lying was liable to set him off and with that came the risk of many things… including a repeat of a spanking. Feeling the hot blush rise to her cheeks at the visual, she lifted her chin in defiance and calmly told him the truth.

“No.”

She sighed when Damon turned the doorknob and backed her into the bedroom. She flinched when he slammed the door behind him. The split second glance at the expression on Michael’s face before it was blocked was definitely enough to make her worry.

“Where were you going?” Damon asked making sure to put the question in past tense.

“I was just going to go see Micah,” Alicia said in an attempt to correct the misunderstanding before she found herself face down across his lap again.

“Did you think you were going to spend the night with Micah?” Damon demanded softly.

A confused look crossed Alicia’s face before she jerked her gaze down to the open overnight bag. She saw the pretty black underwear and hairbrush lying on top in plain sight and sighed. Okay… she could actually see Damon’s point of view but that wasn’t going to stop her from giving him a tongue lashing for his perverted thoughts.

“He needs me,” Alicia wanted to growl when he immediately cut her off.

“I just bet he does.” Damon took a quick step closer, towering over her smaller frame. What Micah really needed was a priest to reside over his funeral.

“You know what?” Alicia said slowly as she lifted her eyes to meet his head on. “You’re… an idiot.”

“If stopping you from leaving me makes me an idiot… then so be it,” Damon countered.

“No, you’re an idiot for thinking I was leaving you,” Alicia snapped feeling her own anger grow at the fact he was still jumping to conclusions. “The clothes… are not… for me… Damon,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Oh yeah, well let’s go see how they look on Micah,” Damon threatened, already visualizing himself strangling Micah with Alicia’s lacy black panties.

Alicia wanted to growl in annoyance but refrained because there was glass in the room. Actually, she was proud of Damon for not shattering all of it already. She flinched when the vanity mirror beside her cracked… Murphy’s Law at its best.

“Damn it Damon, stop being so stupid!” Alicia hissed stepping even closer to him and grabbing the front of his shirt to pull his face down to hers. She’d learned how to intimidate from the best teacher in the world… him. “Micah and his detective team rescued a female werewolf from slave traders tonight. I was taking the clothes to her so she’d have something to put on when she shifted back. I was about to go meet them at the police station because I’m a big girl Damon and would have been just fine.”

“Oh, you think so do you?” Damon demanded knowing she’d completely forgotten the fact that this city was full of demons.

“I know so. You just finished helping your brother… now it’s time for me to help mine. And since when is it illegal for me to help my family when they ask for it?” Alicia raised an eyebrow daring him to tell her no.

“Then you don’t have a problem with me going with you … right?” Damon growled not liking the image of her standing there clutching the makeshift suitcase like a little runaway.

Alicia smirked, “Fine, and when I prove your first theory wrong… you have to let me handcuff you to the bed.”

“This isn’t a negotiation,” Damon stated crossing his arms over his chest.

“No, you’re right… it’s a bet,” Alicia shot back with an arrogant expression on her face. “And if you follow me out that door… then you are agreeing to the deal.” With that said, she raised her chin a notch higher as she moved around Damon and out the door.

Damon's lips thinned and his eyes darted over to the mirror when a few more cracks appeared across its surface. He calmed his anger, glad he’d misunderstood what she was doing. Besides, he had to admit letting Alicia handcuff him to the bed was a rather interesting prospect.

Michael couldn’t stand the confines of four walls and headed up to the roof once Alicia and Damon disappeared back into their room. He smirked at the door that no longer shut correctly and knew they’d have to fix that before long. The early evening promised to be a cool one and he closed his eyes in bliss as the breeze swept over him.