What was she doing here? In a place like this? Did she work for Circe?
I needed to look through that damn book I’d been given earlier. I just hadn’t made the time. I hated the idea of shopping for a person like this—like they were no more than something to be bought and owned. I tried to convince myself this was like a temp agency, placing employees with employers who had a job to fill. But knowing all the fine print of the contracts, I wasn’t a skilled enough liar to really believe this was more than meat shopping.
As much as I needed to, I couldn’t bring myself to look away from her long enough to flip through the pages of my rolled-up copy of the book. If she did work for Circe, I had to put in an offer on her. I had to win her. The possibility that I could see her in the privacy of my home was too tempting to pass up.
I snarled low in my throat when a suit-clad body stepped up to her, blocking my line of sight. I took a minute to flip through the pages of the book. The further I flipped, the more I was convinced she must be here by mistake. But then there she was, smiling up at me from the last page.
Celesta Winston peered up at me from the glossy paper. My eyes rapidly devoured her information. A couple of nuggets of data caught my attention. The first, she was working on a degree in marketing. That gave her the perfect knowledge to help me fix my image and market myself to the current generation. The second, she was an untasted, AB-negative. Though I wasn’t looking to utilize the clauses in my contract that entitled me to sex and blood, the thought of sampling AB-negative from a living source had my mouth watering. I’d only had this rarest of blood types from a bottle, and not often at that.
When I looked up, I found her surrounded by several men. Her gaze collided with mine over the shoulder of one of the men. I tried to read her expression.
Was she enjoying being the center of attention? Did she ever imagine so many powerful men would be vying for a moment of her time? Did she need rescuing from the throng?
Deciding she looked in need of rescue, I strode over to her, elbowing my way to her side.
A small smile lifted the corners of her mouth as a soft sigh escaped at my approach. Her heart rate, slow initially, increased when I stood next to her. The scent of berries and vanilla was heavy around her, like someone was baking a dessert nearby.
My hardened glare traveled to each man standing before her. Jamison, a distinguished older man who I’d done business with many years ago, had her delicate hand sandwiched between both of his as he regaled her with his latest business acquisition. Ace, a heartthrob by any century’s standards, stood in front of her, trying to summon her eyes to his so he could turn on the charm. I’d only interacted with him sparingly over the years, though she’d probably be impressed by all his Hollywood stories. Victor, a man I knew well, waited his turn at her attention. We’d worked together for over fifty years in one compacity or another. He was moderately wealthy, but nothing like the other men who were clients here, so his presence surprised me.
Beautiful eyes peered up at me through thick lashes.
“We meet again,” she commented quietly.
“So, we do. This time you didn’t knock me over,” I teased.
“Yet. The night’s still young, and I am in high heels,” she said with a chuckle.
“I didn’t catch your name yesterday.”
“Celesta.”
“A beautiful name for an exquisite woman. I’m Toven.”
Ace interrupted, “I must go speak with some of the others. I’ll be back, Celesta, my sweet . . . when you are . . . less engaged.”
My blood raged a bit at his possessive phrase. His sweet, indeed. Not if I had anything to do with it. I had a ton more money than him.
“It was nice to meet you, Ace. I’ll be sure to check out your new movie when it releases,” her voice held a trace of awe.
He winked at her and walked away.
She looked down and realized Jamison still had ahold of her hand. She tried to tug it away, but he wasn’t about to release it from his sticky grip.
She winced a bit as he tightened his hold. “Please, sir, you’re hurting me.”
He looked down and pasted a fake look of shock on his face. Then he forced a look of chagrin to his features as he mumbled an apology to her and dropped her hand. She flexed her fingers as he walked away without speaking a word to her. Under his breath, he murmured, “When the night is through, you’ll be enjoying the pain I can inflict.”
I barely repressed a growl at that. No one would be inflicting any pain on her if I could help it.
I wasn’t sure how I knew it, but I just did. She was precious and fragile. This girl had no business being in a place like this with the likes of us. Celesta was too good for every person in this place, me included. Something fierce welled up in me that I didn’t have a name for and couldn’t understand. I only knew I had to stand between her and any harm that sought her out.
“Toven, I didn’t know you were a client here,” Victor said with curiosity.
I didn’t want anyone to know why I was here. There was no way I could risk it leaking to the press that I was hiring a girlfriend to fix my image. I had to be careful what I told him, even though I felt certain I could trust him with anything.
“I’m not usually. But I have some . . . um . . . needs I thought could be met through B.I.T.-10’s services.”
He chuckled at my discomfort. His pleasure at my unease made me loathe him at that moment.
“I think you’ll find B.I.T.-10’s services to be top notch. In. Every. Aspect,” he stated as his eyes roamed up and down Celesta’s figure. “Celesta, I believe you were about to tell me about yourself before so many people came over, vying for your attention.”
Celesta looked up at him with a hesitant smile. Her eyes flickered across his handsome, angular face.
When his eyes locked on hers, I could see the charm shift in his eyes. She watched the whorls hypnotically. I needed to find a way to caution her without alerting anyone I was doing it. Indecision filled my mind as I ran through possible scenarios where I could give her a discreet warning.
I squeezed her shoulder gently to get her attention. She blinked rapidly and looked at me with confusion. My fingers felt as if they’d been zapped with current where they lay in contact with her bare shoulder. I reached my other hand to grasp hers in a soft handshake.
I forced my voice to sound casual, “It was very nice to see you again. I do hope we’ll get a chance to talk some more. I’m interested in hearing about your pursuit of a marketing degree.”
Her eyes lit up at the interest shown in her education. “I’d love to talk with you more after I speak with Mr. Victor.”
“That would be lovely.”
I leaned in as if to kiss her cheek. Instead, I planted my mouth directly at her ear, so it’d seem as if I was whispering to her. But I couldn’t even whisper a warning to her. Any ears in this room that focused on us would still be able to discern what I murmured.
No, I had to use my own powers to convey the message. Hopefully though, my proximity to her ear would make her think I was whispering to her.
“Celesta, do not look directly into any vampire’s eyes. The eddying colors you see is our way of hypnotizing you. It would enable us to control you. It wouldn’t be safe for you. Nod if you understand.”
She gave a small nod. I brushed my lips across her cheek, feeling her skin warm with a blush.
“We shall dance later,” I promised.
Her eyes lit up, and a dazzling smile graced her lips. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a frown play across Victor’s face, but he quickly wiped it away when I stepped back from her.
“Later, my shining star. And remember what I said.” I quirked an eyebrow at her.
“I will.”
As I walked away, she turned her attention back to Victor, but I noticed she trained her gaze near his nose and not his eyes.
Good girl.
I stepped to the refreshment table and mingled with a couple other
girls to give the impression I wasn’t only interested in one girl here.
Circe meandered toward me in a skintight white dress. It left nothing to the imagination, which I was certain was her intent. Circe, much like her creator, had not a modest bone in her body. It used to be what turned me on—about 160 years ago. After a while though, it had gotten old.
When she was inches in front of me, she reached out one hand and trailed it down the front of my shirt. It took everything I had in me to keep from recoiling.
“What do you think of my dress, Toven?” she purred.
“It’s something. A bit ironic with the color choice though, don’t you think?” I sneered.
She laughed. “Why, whatever are you implying?”
“A virginal color on someone far from virginal.”
“Touché. You would know about my purity or lack thereof. Find anything that sparks your interest tonight?” She turned her head, surveying the room.
“I’ve only just begun to mingle. But there are a couple who seem like they may be able to help with my marketing and public relations dilemma. Do you have any recommendations?”
There was no need to let Circe know only one woman had stimulated my interest. It wouldn’t bode well for me or Celesta to put a target on her.
“Let’s see. Allison is one I was telling you about who’s incredibly active on social media. She’d know what sorts of things to post to generate the most positive attention for you. She’s really beautiful, type O, experienced, willing to try most anything. No one has ever complained about her.” She pointed to an auburn-haired girl in a black dress on the far side of the room, chatting with a couple other clients.
“Very nice. She seems at ease around us.”
“She is. Then there’s Tessa, the young lady with very long blond hair, dressed in red by the balcony door. She’s only been with me for a couple months now. Type A-positive, still shy, but she works in the hospitality industry. That should mean she knows how to put your best foot forward with the public.”
I hated red. Now at least. “I’ll be sure to speak with her before I put in an offer.”
“If you only wanted a pretty face, any one of my girls would work. But the marketing angle narrows your options. The only other one I know for certain would be able to help your public face is a bit of a gamble on your part.” Circe twisted to fully face me.
“Why is that?” I frowned.
“Because she’s new. She just signed on yesterday. She has no experience with our kind. I’m not certain how she’ll react when the fangs come out, so to speak. But she has a lot of positives in her favor. She’s beautiful and an untasted, very rare blood type. But most importantly, she graduates next year with a marketing degree. She’ll know all the tricks to boost your image.”
I had to play dumb. “Which one is she?”
“Celesta. The ravishing beauty in green tonight.” Circe looked around, seeking out the heavenly vision.
“I did catch a glimpse of a green gown earlier. I’ll make sure to speak with her. Thanks for your recommendations. I’ll talk with each girl.” I was eager to get away from Circe.
“Enough business talk for now, come and dance with me. It’s been so long since you’ve held me in your arms and waltzed me around a room to one of your melodies.”
“One dance, then I really must mingle before time slips away from me,” I said, giving in.
I was loathed to touch her intimately, but there wasn’t a polite way to refuse her. I followed her to the dance floor. A sickly, sweet tune about love was playing. I took her hand in mine and rested the other at the small of her back. She closed the space between us.
“Do you remember the way we used to waltz around the music room all those years ago? It was our own form of foreplay. Moving to the music you created was such a turn on,” she adopted a seductive tone and rubbed her body against mine before I shifted her back subtly.
“Music seems to have changed a little since then,” I said, wanting the subject changed.
“That it has,” she agreed with a laugh. “Speaking of the past, I spoke with our mistress the other day.”
She let the statement hang in the air. It took all my will power to keep my muscles from tensing beneath Circe’s hands. I knew I had to appear indifferent.
“How’s she doing these days?” I asked in a nonchalant manner, never missing a step in our dance.
“Very well. She misses you, though.” Circe ran a finger along my jawline.
I scoffed. Cassandra was incapable of feeling any such emotion that suggested tenderness.
“She does. She understands you had to sow your wild oats and all, but she’s ready for you to come home.” Circe’s expression seemed sincere, as if she truly believed the words coming out of her mouth.
“Home is such an odd sentiment for our kind, don’t you think? Too sentimental of a word. We don’t typically form attachments. Until recent years, we had to constantly move around every couple of decades in order to hide what we are,” I said dismissively, though I very much valued the idea of home.
She shrugged. “Years ago, I would’ve agreed with you. But now, I feel like I’ve found my home. It may not always be what I want, but I’ve found my place in this world for now.”
“It seems you’ve done well for yourself,” I agreed, spinning her around the room.
“Yes. I took an existing industry and tried to figure out what could be added to make it more enticing to humans. Though their lives are short in comparison with ours, they’re often very goal oriented and seek means to further those goals. Vampires have a lot at our disposal which could help humans. They could benefit from a lot of what we take for granted,” she explained passionately as I spun her away from me then brought her back in.
“You’re right about that. You’d think longevity would make us more goal driven. However, it seems to do the opposite with most of us.”
She chuckled and closed the distance between us even more. Now her front was pressed against my front. Her pulse rate increased, and her scent filled my nostrils as she pressed her cheek to mine. “This feels so natural,” she crooned in my ear.
“To you maybe. That ship has sailed for me many years ago.” Once again, I inserted space between us.
“Too bad.”
Thankfully the song ended, and she stepped back. “Go mingle, find the girl you think will work for what you need.”
“Thanks for your help, Circe.” I smiled as I turned away.
It wasn’t her fault she wasn’t the girl for me. It was me who’d changed, and Cassandra who’d been too blind to see it. Circe was just collateral damage in the battle over my will.
I scanned the room. Celesta was speaking with another client. It pleased me that she was still following my advice and not looking anyone in the eye. I had to keep up pretenses, so when my gaze fell on Tessa standing alone, I walked up to her and introduced myself. I made meaningless small talk with her about her work in the hospitality industry. Her answers were quiet and short. Circe was right, Tessa was shy—shy to the point where she just might get eaten alive, literally, by the likes of some of the men in this room. Why would a girl like her turn to a job like this?
At that moment, I noticed Celesta was finally alone. I quickly excused myself and strode purposefully to her side. Her eyes were cast downward, so she didn’t see more than my shoes initially.
“My shining star, you’re finally free of the riffraff, so I can talk with you.”
She looked up and met my eyes. A small chortle sneaked past her plump lips. “Did you come to claim your dance?”
“That I did. May I?” I held my hand out.
“I’d love to dance.”
When she wrapped her small fingers around my long ones, something small and barely perceptible inside me shifted. The rhythm of my heartbeat changed. The way it felt changed . . . Little things changed. Maybe everything changed. I couldn’t be sure.
I had no explanation, and for a man who made his fortun
e finding words for things, for the life of me I had no words for the shift. But I was as certain of it as I was certain that I was Toven Adams, formerly Thoven Attems.
When you spent nearly two hundred years examining the quality of your heart, you knew it well. And I knew mine had a new beat. I wasn’t sure I liked its new song though. I didn’t really care much for change at all.
Some soft song was just starting as we weaved our way through the other couples spinning around the dance floor. I couldn’t focus on the lyrics. I knew it was a popular song, though because I recognized the tune as one I’d heard frequently on the radio.
♪ Perfect by Ed Sheeran
When we came to an open spot, I spun around to face Celesta. She stepped into the circle of my arms, and there went another little imperceptible shift. Her right hand remained linked with mine as she placed her left up on my shoulder. The heat burned through the layers of fabric separating my skin from hers. What would her small hand feel like on my bare skin? Would it feel like an oven to my lower body temperature?
I’d never paid much attention to the body heat of human girls before now, except to appreciate that it warmed their blood to the perfect temperature. But that one small area of fire on my skin was consuming my thoughts. Perhaps there was a song buried there somewhere.
I placed my free hand on the small of her back and marveled at how my fingers nearly spanned its entirety. She’d be easy to hold with two hands. I began to lead her in time with the music. It was an intricate dance with steps long forgotten, but it created such a beautiful image to anyone watching. She followed along perfectly.
“Where did you learn to dance like this, Mr. Adams?”
“Please call me Toven. My mother taught me how to dance many years ago, so I wouldn’t embarrass her at the events she held in our home.” I smiled with fondness at the memory.
“Well, Toven,” she said, drawing my name out like she was tasting it, “your mother did a fantastic job. You lead flawlessly. I was convinced I’d step on your feet when you asked me to save you a dance.”
“You don’t dance?”
“I do. I love to dance. But I don’t often do anything in heels this high.” She glanced down at her feet. “It makes me a hazard to myself and others.”
Blood Song: Prelude (Blood Song Series Book 1) Page 9