born to die // connor

[hblood]

She woke up nervous, because she knew it was the day. It was the day where she agreed to meet Connor at his house for dinner she would make and sex – their usual and normal arrangement. It was the day where she would go into his house wired to policemen listening to their entire conversation and they would get to know what a “whore” she was. However, now Juniper had a change of heart. For quite some time it was true, she had no morals and she preferred no strings attached sex with Connor, long after she gave up with the policeman who sent her here. Now she had an odd relationship at home with her “bodyguard,” caretaker, and vineyard hand. Rafe was everything to her now, but she was still paranoids she would lose him to his wife. It was bizarre, sleeping with a separated married man and knowing the feelings you felt borderline a very instant and intense love. Juniper was probably the biggest fool around in this town, but she was one of the richest and most empowered. After tonight, people could bow down and kiss her pedicured and high-heeled feet. She would be a town hero.

Or at least that’s what she was telling herself. Juniper had little interaction with the town around her, but she expected that to change in the near future. Approached with the offer to have her own reality television show, Juniper didn’t pass down the offer because she felt it would only add to the brand that was becoming her name. Juniper didn’t know if and when she married if she would ever change her last name to her husband’s surname. It was a sort of way she felt he would be claiming her. She would just keep her own last name and if she pushed out any kids then they could have their father’s last name. She didn’t find it truly offensive if you saw marriage as business contract and that it was just for legal purposes. A piece of paper held very little impact on what would be their relationship. Well that’s what she heard people say, but she knew every person changed a little when they got married. They fell into traditional and nontraditional roles, cooking, cleaning, going to work, and splitting bills. She didn’t really worry about bills; she had more money than they could charge her.

She grabbed the groceries she had bought for their dinner. The first night she slept with Caleb she made him dinner, so the last night she would sleep with Connor she would make him dinner. She didn’t really have any desire to try to cater to his heritage when she could cook perfectly good steaks for the both of them. Not that Juniper had an appetite for anything lately – it was bizarre for her. She felt sick most afternoons and would lie in bed and work instead of her office. She heard that it was bad for your mind to do important things in bed, but she ignored them lately. She didn’t need the room to flow and have a natural vibe so her already screwed sleeping pattern would not be thrown off. This week was a week full of terrible decisions and this was one of them; she felt bad vibes just knocking on the door. She began to doubt Caleb’s reassuring her that they would have the place surrounded. Bull shit, she thought angrily, because she was in the middle of nowhere at a huge-ass mansions and it would take them forever to find her – dead or alive.

[CONNOR SELWYN]

CONNOR SELDOM INVITED WOMEN TO THE MANSION, AND THAT WAS WHY IT WAS A LONG, DRAWN-OUT PROCESS FOR FEMALES TO EVER SPEND TIME WITH HIM. HE HAD A FLAT IN DOWNTOWN THAT HE USED FOR HIS CASUAL FLINGS AND SOME BUSINESS DEALS, AND THAT WAS WHERE HE'D MET JUNIPER FOR THE FIRST SEVERAL MEETINGS OF THEIR ARRANGEMENT IF THEY WEREN'T AT HER HOME IN THE COUNTRY. ALLOWING HER TO COME TO THE MANSION WASN'T NECESSARILY A SHOW OF TRUST IN HIS EYES, IT WAS A MATTER OF CONVENIENCE. THEY HAD BEEN SLEEPING TOGETHER LONG ENOUGH THAT HE WAS, HONESTLY, GETTING A LITTLE LAZY AND DIDN'T WANT TO TRAVEL INTO TOWN FOR WHAT HE WANTED. THIS TIME WOULD BE LIKE THE REST, SHE WOULD COOK HIM A DINNER (WHICH WAS ODDLY TOUCHING IF NOT ENDEARING IN THE EYES OF THE IRISHMAN), THEY MAY TALK FOR A LITTLE WHILE (ALTHOUGH HE HATED TALKING WHEN HE WANTED TO FUCK), AND THEN THEY WOULD SCREW UNTIL THEY BOTH WERE TIRED AND MOVED ON. IT WAS A PLEASANT, MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL ARRANGEMENT. SHE'D INFORMED HIM ABOUT HER PRIOR ARRANGEMENT WITH THE DEPUTY OF POLICE, CALEB HAYES, AND IT ENTERTAINED HIM WHEN SHE'D ADMITTED HIS DICK WAS SMALLER SO THEY'D BECOME FRIENDS AND SHE'D CHOSEN CONNOR AS HER CURRENT PLAYBOY. CONNOR ALWAYS APPRECIATED AN EGO BOOST, AND COMPLIMENTING HIM ON HIS SKILL IN BED AND/OR HIS TOOLS OF THE TRADE WAS A GOOD WAY TO BOOST HIS ALREADY INFLATED EGO. JUNIPER WAS RATHER SKILLED HERSELF, HENCE THE ONLY REASON HE'D COME BACK TO HER MORE THAN ONCE. WITH THE CONCUBINES HE HAD AROUND THE MANSION, HE USED ONE UP AND DISPOSED OF HER, LEAVING HER FREE FOR JETT OR SOMEONE ELSE IF THEY WANTED HIS SECONDS, BUT HE NEVER REUSED THEM. HE LIKED TO KEEP THINGS FRESH.

BUT JUNIPER HADN'T BEGUN TO BORE HIM. SHE WAS A BUSINESSWOMAN, SHE WAS SMART, AND SHE WASN'T JUST A WHORE ON HIS PAYROLL. HE WAS INTRIGUED BY HER PSYCHE, AND HE ENJOYED STUDYING PEOPLE EVEN IF HE NEVER ADMITTED IT. MOST PEOPLE (THE ONES WHO ACTUALLY KNEW THE DARKER SIDE OF HIS LIFE) CONSIDERED HIM A MINDLESS SOLDIER, A KILLER, A MURDERER, BUT HE HAD GRADUATED FROM CAMBRIDGE. HE WASN'T AN IDIOT, HE JUST CHOSE TO KEEP HIS KNOWLEDGE TO HIMSELF.

DESPITE THE FACT HE HAD FINALLY ALLOWED HER TO COME TO THE MANSION, HE DIDN'T FEEL THE NEED TO GET ANYONE ELSE INVOLVED, SO HE HAD ORDERED THEM OUT ON ERRANDS AND VERY OTHER THINGS SO THEY HAD THE MASSIVE ESTATE TO THEMSELVES. THEY WEREN'T ENTIRELY ALONE, SINCE CONNOR WAS RARELY EVER TRULY ALONE AND HIS CLOSEST REGALIA HAD HOLED THEMSELVES UP IN THE BASEMENT OF THE MANSION, NOT DARING TO INTERRUPT THEIR MASTER IN HIS PLEASURE. BUT TO JUNIPER'S EYES, THEY WOULD HAVE THE PLACE TO THEMSELVES. PERHAPS THAT WOULD SEEM ROMANTIC. CONNOR MUSED AT THE THOUGHT. TO THINK ANYONE WOULD FIND HIM ROMANTIC. IT WAS ALMOST LAUGHABLE. MOST PEOPLE THOUGHT HE WAS A HEARTLESS DOUCHEWAD, AND THEY WEREN'T FAR OFF FROM THE TRUTH.

WALKING TO THE FRONT DOOR HE RARELY ANSWERED HIMSELF IF SOMEONE ELSE WAS THERE TO DO IT INSTEAD, HE OPENED THE DOOR AND TOOK IN THE DELICIOUS SEXINESS OF JUNIPER CHARLAND. HE SMILED AT HER, HIS HAZEL EYES DANCING WITH THINLY VEILED LUST AND A MILD HUNGRY LOOK. HE LOVED TO EAT, LIKE MOST MEN DO, AND JUNIPER WAS A GOOD COOK. THE MOMENT HE SAW HER FACE, HE REGISTERED FOR THE BRIEFEST OF MOMENTS THAT 'SKITTISH RABBIT' LOOK AS IF SHE WAS BEING HUNTED, BUT IT PASSED SO QUICKLY THAT HE PLACED THE THOUGHT ASIDE AS HE OPENED THE DOOR TO ADMIT HER.

"YOU LOOK EVEN MORE RAVISHING THAN USUAL, LASS," HE COMPLIMENTED HER AS SHE ENTERED, AND HE DIRECTED HER TOWARD THE KITCHEN. "THE FOOD SMELLS GOOD," HE COMMENTED AS HE GUIDED HER THROUGH THE HALLWAYS TO THE KITCHEN HE'D RECENTLY HAD REMODELED FOLLOWING A HEATED ARGUMENT AND HIM SHOOTING THE DOOR OFF OF ITS HINGES. "YOU'LL HAVE TO EXCUSE ANY MESS. THE KITCHEN'S RECENTLY BEEN REDONE."