by Maria Amor
“Seriously, I’m good. Just getting my bearings.”
“I bet I could help you with that, too.”
“Why, do you like, own this place or something?”
“No, he doesn’t.”
Delaney was in the process of trying to avoid another attempt at physical contact from her unwanted admirer when the sound of a male voice interrupted the both of them. Even before she looked to see who he was, she was beyond grateful. He could have been a seventy-year-old man with three-inch-long fingernails and she would still have welcomed the intrusion. Hell, she would’ve bought him a drink and had a conversation.
Anything to keep her from being stuck with this man for any longer than necessary. Who would have thought that the creepy guys who came on too strong existed in the world of vampires as well as the world of humans?
When she actually did look up, however, she saw that this guy was anything but an old man. He was, instead, the most gorgeous guy she had ever seen in her life. Not one of the most, not maybe the most, but the most gorgeous guy she had ever seen in her life. He was probably a good six inches taller than her, towering above most of the other people in the room.
He had thick hair that fell across his forehead casually and bright, intelligent eyes looking out at her with such intensity that she couldn’t maintain his gaze. She had to look down and hope that this guy didn’t sense how crazy nervous him even standing there had made her. Her companion, on the other hand, seemed to be far less impressed with his arrival.
“Who asked you?” the pushy one snarled, lashing out in what Delaney was pretty sure was his normal way of behaving. “Who asked you to come over here and interrupt at all? We were having a perfectly lovely conversation, just getting to know each other. No need to insert yourself. No need to be so bloody rude.”
“Not being rude, just waiting for a drink and happened to hear her question. I thought I would be polite and give her an answer. You know, just in case you didn’t remember the right one.”
“Didn’t remember? In case I didn’t remember?! Of course, I remember! I know who owns the place.”
“Do you?”
“Well... no, not exactly. But I know it isn’t me. Now why don’t you go ahead and shove off, will you? Leave us back to our conversation.”
“Of course, not a problem. I just want to check one thing first.”
“What? What is it, what?”
“I want to check and see if she really wants you here talking to her in the first place.”
“I don’t think it’s any of your business.”
The man snarled with the words and, for just a split second, he looked exactly like a monster. Delaney wanted to take another step back, but she was already pushed right up against the bar. She couldn’t go anywhere, couldn’t do anything to get herself away from this stranger who looked like a madman.
She was sure he was going to consume her and that there would be nothing she could do about it. It was the crazy good looking man’s arm that stopped it from happening. He extended it in front of the angry stranger’s chest almost casually, like he was hailing a cab or something instead of stopping a man from coming after a woman.
Stop him was exactly what he did, though, stopped him as if the guy had hit a brick wall. He snarled again, his hair falling in front of his face and making the slightly dishevelled condition of his clothing all the more apparent. Not only were they dishevelled, they were also strange, like he had gotten them out of a costume box at a theatre and made the decision to wear them on a dare.
They didn’t look like they belonged in modern day Austin. She wasn’t sure where they belonged, but it wasn’t there. Still, despite all of these mounting oddities, the handsome stranger didn’t seem to be even slightly miffed or thrown off. For him, it looked like this was just a normal Saturday night.
Delaney wondered to herself what kinds of things she would grow used to if she started frequenting The Shade and then had to suppress a laugh. There wasn’t even anything funny! She just couldn’t control it. The angry man who’d been trying to chat her up bore his teeth, exposing the full extent of the weapons he was equipped with.
“Something funny here, little girl?”
“No! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I just... I just do that sometimes.”
“I’ll wipe that smile off your face, see that I don’t.”
“See? That’s kind of what I thought. It definitely didn’t look like the two of you were getting along and I think it’s time for you to move on now.”
“I’ll tell you when I’m ready to go.”
“No, I don’t think so. I think you’ve proved that’s a decision you can’t make for yourself.”
The movie star looking rescuer lifted his chin, grabbing the attention of someone Delaney couldn’t see, and in no time flat there were two guys there and ready to take hold of the strange, angry vampire. Behind them came the door guy from out front, who looked at her with widening eyes and an expression of bewilderment.
“Hey! It’s you!”
“Um, yup. It’s me.”
“How the hell’d you get in here? I watched you drive off!”
“I don’t know, I just did.”
“Sorry about this, Jack, for real. I’ll get her out of here. I swear, I don’t have a fucking clue how she got in here. I watched her drive off after talking to me for a spell. Should’ve known she was bad news, the way she just run off like she did.”
“No, she’s not the problem. He is. In fact, he was pushing this girl around when I decided to step in. Not the kind of hospitality this place wants to develop a reputation for giving, I don’t expect.”
The door guy’s eyes bulged out even further, so huge now that the awful image of them just popping out of his head swam into Delaney’s mind and made her feel momentarily sick. She took another long sip from her drink and was surprised to hear the sound the straw made as the last of the liquid was sucked out of the glass. She was mostly just jangling ice cubes at that point, which wasn’t going to help her nerves any.
“No, sure, you’re right. Not the kind of hospitality. Sure, you’re right. Come on, Lucas, you gotta come with us.”
“But you just said it! She isn’t even supposed to be in here! The little bitch should be the one leaving here, not me!”
“The way Jack says it, you were just fine with her being here, up until she turned you down. Come on now, you can either come with us willingly or I’ll have these big ol’ boys drag you out. Your choice, but I’d go with the first one if I was you. Save you the embarrassment. Maybe next time you come in, people won’t remember this scene so well.”
“The next time I come back? Like hell I’ll be coming back!”
“All right, sure. That’s your prerogative. Come on now.”
And with that, the beefy bouncers took the man whose name turned out to be Lucas by both of his arms and led him towards the exit. Delaney stood there, feeling floored, without any clue what to do with herself next. She felt like she couldn’t even look at the guy who had come to her rescue.
For starters, she couldn’t remember his name, even though the door guy had used it only a couple of seconds ago. She knew she needed to say thank you, that saying thank you was the appropriate thing to do, but she felt frozen in place. She knew that the longer she stayed quiet the worse it got, but she couldn’t make herself speak. If her mouth had been filled full of concrete, it couldn’t have been any more silent.
“So,” the man said in a light conversational tone that gave no indication to the fact that he’d just been in an almost fight, “from the looks of it, you could use another drink.”
CHAPTER NINE
His name was Jack Swells, a name that sounded to Delaney like something that would come straight out of an action film. Or, and this was a much more accurate mental comparison to make, a supernatural film. Like a vampire story. And he was, he was most definitely a vampire, which made his appeal all the greater. He was what she had always imagined a vampire wo
uld be like, for as long as her brain had been consumed with such imaginings.
Everything about him was suave, too, so suave that she felt light headed. Part of it was the way he looked, of course, which was almost more than she could take, but that wasn’t everything. It was also the way he spoke, the way he moved. It was the way he would lightly place his hand on her shoulder while they spoke, something that made her body feel shot through with liquid lightning.
She kept expecting him to tell her that it was nice to meet her and he hoped she enjoyed the rest of her evening but he really needed to be going. He didn’t do it, though, didn’t even act like he was thinking about it. He stayed with her, right beside her, with all his attention focused in on her like she was the most interesting thing in the world.
After two or three more drinks, all of which tasted and felt as strong as the first one, Jack turned to her with a question written all over his face.
“Uh oh, what is it? Is this the part where you ask me how I snuck in here in the first place? Because there’s no use. I’ll never tell.”
“Oh yeah?” Jack chuckled, the lit a cigarette and took a drag that drew all her attention to his disarmingly beautiful mouth. “That good at secret telling, are we?”
“I don’t know. I like to think so.”
“Interesting. So then let me ask you a question.”
“Okay…”
“Why did you come here?”
“I don’t know. Why does anyone come here?”
“For lots of reasons. All kinds of reasons, reasons neither of us would guess. I don’t care what anyone’s reasons are. I care what your reasons are. What did you come here for?”
“Just to see what it’s like. I saw the sign for the place and wanted to know what it was like.”
“And do you know what this place is?”
“It’s a bar, right? Why, is it not? Because if it’s not, it’s doing an awfully good impression of it.”
“It is. You’re right about that. So why don’t I ask you a more direct question? Would that be all right?”
“I think so.”
“Do you know what I am?”
“You’re Jack. Jack Swells, right?”
“I didn’t ask you if you know who I am. I asked you if you know what I am. The difference may be subtle, but it’s there.”
Delaney’s heart was jack hammering in her throat, beating so brutally that it might just rocket right out of her and land in the middle of the floor. She wanted to ask him if he could hear it, but he’d already asked her a question and for her to answer with another question would be rude. She wanted to run, to turn away from this place and never look back.
She wanted to pretend she’d never been to The Blood at all and maybe just haul ass out of Austin altogether. The bigger part, though? The bigger part wanted to follow this to its conclusion, wherever it might lead and no matter how dangerous it might be.
“Do you really want me to say it?”
“I do.”
“Even if it’s stupid?”
“Even then.”
“Vampire.”
She whispered the word, felt it rattling in her chest before it ever made it out into the air for his ears to hear, but she said it. She was sure he was going to laugh in her face. She was so sure of it that she actually winced, like she could hear it the same way he had heard the answer. It was only when she felt his rough hand lifting her by the chin that she realized he wasn’t laughing at all.
His face was inches away from hers, so close that she could have reached out and licked his incisors. For a moment, the urge to do so was so strong she didn’t think she was going to be able to stop herself. Even when she did, she could feel herself trembling with her desire for him.
Never in all her life had she wanted a man so badly. She’d thought she knew what lust was, what that wanting felt like, but the feel of Jack Swell’s hand on her face, his thumb running lightly across the soft flesh, gave a whole new meaning to the want of another person’s body.
She wanted him, no matter what the cost. She had come here looking for an adventure, all but demanding one. Now she knew that her adventure was Jack, if only he would consent to be that for her.
“So then you do know,” he said in a low voice that was something between words and a growl, “and it doesn’t scare you?”
“No. And yes. And then no again. I don’t know what it makes me feel. I just know that, for right now, I don’t give a damn.”
“You’re sure about that?”
“I am.”
“That’s exactly what I was hoping to hear. Come on, we’re going for a ride.”
He took her by the hand, walking so quickly she could hardly keep up with him, and allowed him to lead her out the front door. The door guy was still perched on his stool, and from the look on his face, he hadn’t gotten over the ordeal with Lucas. His expression was sulky like a child’s.
Delaney’s guess was that he wasn’t thrilled with the fact that she’d not only made him look like he couldn’t do his job, but that Jack had chosen to take her side over his. Maybe the fact that she’d taken his side over Lucas’ too, although she didn’t get the impression that there was any kind of love lost there.
“You leaving Jack? You sure? What about-”
“Yes,” Jack interrupted him with a voice that was calm but also incredibly firm, allowing no opportunity for discussion or questions. “We’re leaving. I trust you’ll be all right up here Seth? Or should I find someone to relieve you?”
“No, I’m good. Real good. You two have fun, you hear? Don’t do anything too crazy.”
He followed that statement with a lecherous laugh that made Delaney roll her eyes. Was this guy for real? It probably would have bothered her a little bit more if she hadn’t been leaving with Jack. Feeling his fingers moving reassuringly over hers went a long way toward making everything else bearable.
It was distracting, so distracting that she couldn’t even remember where her car was. She just followed behind this stunning man, like he would somehow just know where she was parked. It wasn’t until they were out in the field passing as a parking lot that he stopped and looked at her with his face cocked to one side.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, as far as I know.”
“Then why are you looking at me like that?”
“I was just wondering if you had a vehicle somewhere or if you would rather take mine.”
“Oh! Shoot, I do. My car is back behind the building.”
“Ha! Why on earth would you park it back there?”
“Um, I don’t know. I was trying to be sneaky?”
“You really are an odd girl, aren’t you?”
“I guess I am. You can just leave me here. I’ll go around and get my car. You don’t even have to walk me to it.”
“Don’t be insane. I don’t plan on letting you out of my sight. Your car will be safe here until morning. We’ll take mine.”
“But won’t I get towed?”
“No, there’s no need to worry about that. Let’s just say we’ve got an agreement with the authorities. They don’t get themselves involved with the business of The Blood, and we don’t cause any kind of real trouble. Now come on, get it. I’m getting impatient for you.”
The way he said that, Delaney knew it was true and she felt a quiver of desire between her legs. He was getting impatient for her. Not with her, but for her. This man, this vampire, was going to take her home and have his way with her. At least she hoped he was.
She was desperate for him to do it, desperate like a girl being offered water after a week in the desert. The want was so strong that it pulsed in her temples, so loud that she heard almost nothing he said to her as he ushered her into his car. It was a beautiful car, too, which didn’t surprise her. It was some kind of foreign car, something that looked incredibly expensive and smelled like leather.
He put the key in the ignition and started the car, making a low purring sound as it made r
eady to move. She should have been nervous to be leaving a strange bar with a guy she didn’t know at all. The fact that the only person who might have the slightest clue as to her whereabouts was a wacky recluse should have worried her even more. Seeing as she wasn’t a flighty girl, it probably would have, too, in any other situation. But as the idea to be worried entered her consciousness, Jack took one hand off the wheel and placed it on her knee.
Where their skin touched, she felt pops of feelings as the nerves beneath his fingers began to dance with excitement. His skin was cold, so cold that if she had felt it on any regular person she would have suggested driving him straight to the hospital. Seeing as he was a vampire and she didn’t have a clue what sort of temperature they were supposed to have, she figured it was nothing for her to be bothered about.
Not that she could have concentrated on being bothered about it for more than a millisecond, not when his fingers were moving slowly up her thigh. Each little bit of ground it covered she was sure would be the last, but he kept going. As they slid around to the inside of her thigh, she opened her legs a little, then a little bit further. His hand continued its slow, sure climb until it was tugging on the zipper of her jeans and working its way inside the open v.
Her breathing increased, so quick now that she thought she might actually hyperventilate with the anticipation of what was coming next. The moment he found her clit, she threw her head back against the car’s headrest and let out a gasp. They hadn’t even made it out of the parking lot yet and she could already feel her body on the verge of an explosion of pleasure.
By the time Jack was driving her past her car, looking forlorn and forgotten, she was in the throes of one of the most intense orgasms of her life. She didn’t even notice the car. She didn’t notice anything at all except for the feeling of his fingers sliding inside of her over and over again.
CHAPTER TEN
“So this is where you live?”
“No, I just decided to break into a place, find something you would think was impressive.”
“Very funny. Aren’t you going to give me a tour?”