Was she frigid? Was that the reason why she hadn’t pursued sex and why it hadn’t bothered her that her father didn’t want her to date yet?

This wasn’t going to work, not with Eric. He was a nice guy and all, but for her first time she wanted to be wowed and not feel like it was a chore. She wanted to feel weak in her knees with her heart fluttering; she wanted a man who robbed her of her breath when he kissed her and whose touch made her skin sizzle. And Eric wasn’t that kind of man.

She was about to extricate herself from his embrace when a sudden tingling on her skin arrested her heart. Another vampire had entered the bedroom she and Eric had found to have some privacy. Portia knew the signature of the vampire’s aura only too well.

A split-second later, Eric was yanked from her and slammed against the wall. Her father’s eyes glared at her when he pointed his finger in her face. “You, young lady, home. Now.” His voice was a low growl, one she knew well enough.

He was angry. But so was she.

Portia lifted her chest and raised her head, adding another two inches to reach her full height of five nine. With her two inch heels she was almost eye level with him. “You can’t tell me what to do!”

“I’m your father, and you’ll listen to me!” His hand clamped around her wrist like a vice, and despite her own vampire strength, she was no match for her father. He was older and stronger than she.

“No! You have no right to order me around anymore!” He’d lost that right when he’d betrayed her.

“You’re not of age!”

Portia froze. In vampire society, parents remained the legal guardians of their children until the child’s body had reached its final form, which occurred on its twenty-first birthday. Only then was a hybrid considered mature. How could she have forgotten that her father had been the one who’d told her about this rule many years ago when she was a child? He had every right to issue orders. But she was done following them.

“I won’t remain a virgin!”

“I’m not going to have you throw yourself at some dirty lowlife who doesn’t deserve you! You’ll only mate with someone your equal! Someone I’ll choose for you.”

She shook her head in quiet disbelief. No! She wouldn’t bend to his will anymore. She was ready to rebel. Better late than never.

Her father yanked her toward the door. Portia glanced at Eric who still lay on the floor. He stirred, groans of pain coming from him. She extended her mind to him, directing her powers to erase his memories of the last half hour. She needed no witness to her humiliation.

Chapter Five

Samson motioned his friends Gabriel and Amaury to take a seat in his study as he continued pacing.

“He needs to be punished,” Gabriel started.

Amaury shook his dark mane. “I disagree. Punish him and he’ll derail completely.”

“A crime like this can’t be left unpunished.” Gabriel shot a pleading look toward Samson, silently asking for support.

“I’m not saying that we won’t do anything about it, but if we punish Zane outright, he’ll go off the deep end. What he needs is rehabilitation,” Amaury insisted.

A short knock on the door interrupted.

“Come,” Samson answered, sensing who requested entry.

The door swung open and Thomas strolled in, his heavy biker boots scraping loudly against the wooden floor. He gave an apologetic smile as he pulled his second leather glove off and shoved both of them into his jacket pocket. Then he combed his fingers through his sandy blond hair, fluffing what his helmet had flattened. “Sorry I’m late; I had some problems with the bike.”

Samson motioned to the couch, and Thomas let his leather-clad frame fall onto it, making the furniture groan. His leather outfit easily added fifteen pounds to his weight.

“I thought your Ducati was in top shape,” Amaury wondered.

“I didn’t take the Ducati. I was taking the R6 for a spin.”

“That thing is a pile of junk,” Gabriel commented, shaking his head.

“It’s a World War Two antique,” Thomas corrected. “I’ve been fixing it up for the last two months.”

Samson smirked. Thomas’ passion for bikes was legendary, and he spent every free minute tinkering with one of his many acquisitions. “As much as I’d like to discuss your talents as a mechanic, we have more urgent things to talk about.”

Thomas nodded. “What are we gonna do about Zane?”

“Amaury was thinking rehabilitation rather than punishment.” Then Samson addressed Amaury, “What did you have in mind?”