Tommy bumped me with her hip. “Did you just say grashioushly?”
Laurel’s eyes were alight. “She did.”
The alcohol didn’t appear to have affected the vampire one bit, but I was glad she was having fun. Even at my expense.
We threw back the free shots.
That D-floor was mine.
Tonight, I was dancing away a week’s worth of shit and a lifetime’s worth of shock. Laurel and Tommy were hot on my heels, and as the music switched over to a thrumming, seductive beat, we all began to move.
“Holy shit, Laurel’s got swagger!” Tommy yelled in my ear.
I hadn’t known hips moved that way. I wondered if Kyros’s could move like that too.
Bad!
He was part of the issues I was dancing away. Lifting my hands in the air, I let my ponytail swing to one side and began to move with the music. I honestly wasn’t much of a dancer unless super drunk—maybe I was uptight—but at sixteen, I’d scoured YouTube and had twenty moves I mashed together in random order. I knew them well enough now that I guess it was my own kind of dance.
Tommy, like everything she did, danced in unique elbow-popping style and nailed it.
Laurel bumped and grinded like she’d just left the set of that dance movie with far too many sequels.
The song ended and shifted to a faster beat—a remix of a Drake song. Hells yeah! Tommy herded me toward Laurel, who’d drawn a ring of men around her like fucking moths to a flame. The vampire peeled out from between them.
They sandwiched me, hips wiggling against mine.
I rolled my eyes at them, standing ramrod straight.
“Uptight Basi. Uptight Basi,” Tommy screamed in my ear between hiccups.
Laurel took up the chant.
Scowling, I wiggled my butt once and shoved my boobs in Laurel’s face to satisfy the hussies. They didn’t let me go until the song ended, so the effort was wasted.
Another remix came on.
“No,” I hollered, forming a cross with my forearms. “I’m not dancing to this shit.”
Tommy was already snapping her arms like a crocodile while singing “Baby Shark” at the top of her lungs.
“Baby Shark” could fuck right off.
Laurel was doing it too. A vampire dancing to “Baby Shark.”
I categorised the sight.
“Nope.” I backed away double time. Out of here. I’d find my bartender again. Maybe slide my number over.
I didn’t have a pen or paper, but I could get creative.
Reaching the bar, I leaned across so I could kick my heeled feet up again and give my toes a break. Even cloud shoes had a comfort expiry.
“Give me tequila,” I bellowed to no one in particular.
Large hands appeared on the bar either side of my raised hips.
I hated being hit on by drunk guys. In general. There were exceptions. But for the most part, I hated it.
Lowering my heels to the ground, I spun so my back was against the bar, my eight out of ten scowl at the ready.
Green eyes slammed into mine.
My breath hitched. “What are you doing here?”
I didn’t yell the words, but he heard me anyway—being a damn vampire and all.
Why the fuck was Kyros in this club?
He leaned forward. All the way forward.
True, I didn’t have his hearing, but my listening ability wasn’t bad enough to necessitate him brushing his lips against my ear.
A shiver wracked my body at the contact.
“I get two days off every month,” he spoke over the pulsing bass. “And someone recently told me I need to get out more.”
Yeah, I didn’t mean he follow me. This was my night away from him.
Swallowing, I glanced at his body as per my usual. It was impossible not to—some vampire trick I was sure because I’d never had a problem pretending physical indifference. My gaze lingered on his bare forearms. He’d rolled up his sleeves and ditched the waistcoat and tie. The top two buttons of his shirt were undone.
“Right. I didn’t mean here specifically,” I managed to say. “Is there a reason you’re standing so close?”
His eyes hardened. “I thought I’d be a gentleman and cover your ass—that every man and several women have been looking at for the last minute.”
“Perhaps I want them to look,” I shot back, hands landing on my hips. “It’s my body. Don’t cover it without my say so.”
Kyros’s gaze dropped to my breasts and hips, then lower.
I grabbed his face and forcefully redirected his gaze to my face. Correction: he let me redirect his gaze.
My skin tingled where I touched him and my chest rose in shocked surprise. Warmth pooled deep in my stomach and his green eyes flashed as he inhaled.
I severed contact and whirled back to face the bar. What the hell was that? My hand crept up to my throat as I tried to steady my erratic breathing.
Hoping the bartender might be around so I could ignore the vampire at my back, I glanced up and looked straight into Kyros’s eyes in the reflection of the mirrors lining the back wall of the bar.
His gaze heated me from the inside out.
I couldn’t look away.
My topaz eyes were huge, bright from the alcohol—my face pale.
Kyros stepped closer and his warmth seeped through the thin material of my dress. His green gaze dropped to where my hand rested against the base of my throat. Curling my fingers, I lowered my fist until it rested over the valley between my breasts.
Kyros caught my gaze in the mirror again, and sighing, I leaned back against him. The medium of the mirror made me feel like I could look my fill, forbidden though it was, like the glass was no man’s land—a place where we could meet in peace.
It filtered my hate for the man pressed up against me, leaving only the attraction I’d denied since first meeting him.
His lips brushed against my other ear and I shivered anew, knowing he was close enough to feel my reaction this time.
Kyros’s deep voice rumbled through me. “Can I buy you a drink?”
My aching body begged me to say yes.
“Strawberry mojito, wasn’t it?”
How did he know that?
I turned around in the cage of his arms again, tipping my head back. “It’s really messed up that you’re hitting on me, listening to my conversations, and reading my texts.”
The words bounced off his ego. “After the little show you put on draping yourself across the bar, I can confirm the last text wasn’t true. And you told me about strawberry mojitos when I found you passed out in the elevator after you raided my wine cellar.”
My underwear was much smaller than I’d described, true. But that wasn’t important—other than the fact we were both thinking of the lack of barrier now.
“You put me in bed? Weren’t we still under the thrall?”
“It had just ended.”
“Shit. Sorry about that.” I’d hoped my first guard had retrieved me.
He moved to my other ear. “Was there a reason you were in the elevator?”
I dropped my gaze and peered along the bar at the throngs trying to get a drink. Whether instinctively or not, the humans avoided a good metre either side of the games master.
His finger under my chin drew my gaze back. His eyes were so hard to look at when his control slipped—which I couldn’t fail to notice was a lot around me.
“You haven’t answered my question,” he said, during a lull in the music.
“Which one?” I hadn’t replied to his offer of a drink either.
I bit down on my lip in response to his growl.
I fanned my lashes down. “Why are you really here, Kyros? You’re nearly one hundred and fifty years old. I don’t want you here. You don’t want to be here. We don’t even like each other.”
“I like you just fine, Miss Tetley.”
I blew a strand of my ponytail off my cheek. “I’d hate to see how you treat people you dislike.”
; His face dropped. “I sincerely hope you never have to see that. You’re frightened enough of me as it is.”
Kyros reached for the strand of hair I’d failed to blow off my cheek. He drew the butter-blonde curl back to the rest and then ran his hand down the length, right to the silky ends. He pressed his hot palm against the base of my shoulder blades.
He was really close. I was sandwiched between him and the bar, except this was a sandwich—unlike Tommy and Laurel’s—that I was becoming more okay with.
I didn’t want to be okay with it.
He’d hurt me.
I placed a hand on his chest. Kyros caught it in his free hand. I turned my face away again, and he used our clasped hands to draw it back.
“Beautiful Basilia,” The vampire ran his nose up his favourite track from my jaw to temple. He was inhaling the scent of my blood, I assumed, but the sensation set my body alight.
What had he done to me to make me hate him? I scrambled to remember it all because I knew it was bad.
Kyros captured my mouth with his, nudging my head up in the same movement to grant easier access. A sigh left me at the feel of his lips, firm and commanding. Warm with promise. I’d never been kissed by someone with obvious experience. I tipped my head farther back to deepen the connection. He didn’t waste time. A low snarl left him as he wrapped his hand in my ponytail and ran his tongue along the bottom of my top lip.
I gasped at the intimacy of the action, slipping my leg between his strong thighs. He leaned closer, pressing me against the bar. I arched back over the lip and kept contact with his lips. Not even his lips—his tongue.
What was this?
Ice poured over me and I shrieked, bumping Kyros’s nose with my forehead.
His hand shot out, gripping a college guy by the throat.
I grabbed at Kyros’s forearm, spluttering from the cold. “It was an accident.”
His eyes blazed.
Not good.
I turned and nabbed some napkins from the bar, dabbing at the wet patch down my side. Beer by the smell of it. The dress was a goner. “Kyros. It’s fine. Let him go.”
His eyes snapped to mine. A packed nightclub wasn’t the best place to rile his vampire. “Please,” I added quietly.
He released the guy, who had the sense to scramble away as fast as he could.
“Basil,” Tommy slurred, edging next to me. “We need more drinks. Don’t we, Loz?”
Laurel danced behind her and nodded obediently, sliding a look at Kyros.
Tommy noticed him for the first time. “Hey! It’s one level.”
“One level,” Kyros mouthed.
He shot a veiled look at me. Ah nuts, he’d put it together. Was he remembering the penthouse part too?
His lips curled.
Yep.
Tommy’s comment was all the reminder I needed to regain my composure. So maybe Kyros had three levels. So what? That wasn’t enough. I needed all sixty-six. And that was if I swept the needle in the thigh, the threats, the blood compulsion, the top-level nudity episode, and a whole bunch of possessive shit under the rug.
Which I wasn’t doing.
“He was just leaving,” I said, avoiding his gaze.
Laurel’s eyes glittered.
“He isn’t,” Kyros countered. He jerked his head at Tommy. “She’s going to be sick soon.”
She was. I only knew that from experience, not from enhanced senses or whatever he was using. My night was over, and not a second too soon.
“Come on, Tommy babe. We gotta get you home.”
I looped one of her arms over my shoulders. “Laurel, could you give me a hand?”
Kyros halted the Indebted vampire’s movement with a look. “You’re done for the night. I’ll see they get home safely.”
The vampire dipped her head—a concession to our surroundings, perhaps. I got the feeling she was used to bowing far lower to him.
She lifted her head and stared directly at me.
I shrugged a shoulder, unsure what she was looking for. Had I snapped out of the lust cloud? My brain had. I couldn’t speak for the rest of my body.
Or was she checking I was okay with the change of plans? Not like I had a choice. Neither did she.
Her eyes glittered again before she strode off into the crowd.
Kyros wasn’t driving me anywhere. “I’ll—”
He picked Tommy up. “Miss Tetley, for once, don’t argue. You have no way of getting your friend home. Swallow your pride and accept my help.”
Whoa, someone was shitty the tongue thing ended.
Kyros started for the exit, and I hurried after him, slipping into his wake. The crowd parted for him and we crossed from one end of the club without stopping or altering our path once.
His car was directly outside.
Of course.
I reassured the bouncer we were okay as Kyros rested a lolling Tommy along the back seat, shutting the door carefully.
He was driving the same car he nearly ran me over in. Had I expected to one day be sliding into the vehicle? Nope. Though at the time, part of me definitely hoped for it.
“Where does she live?” he asked as I buckled up.
… Shit. “Can she stay in the tower with me?”
“No.”
He already had her address; he just didn’t know it.
Fuck! Sighing inwardly, I rambled off Tommy’s home address, extending my legs and crossing them at the knee.
Kyros pulled away from the curb, pausing every few metres to allow small groups of unaware drunk twenty-somethings to cross the road.
I stared out the window, hands twisting on my lap.
“I won’t hurt your friend,” he said so softly I wasn’t sure I’d heard right.
I turned to stare at him before returning my window vigil. Kyros sounded like he believed his words—good on him. He would absolutely harm my friend if she got in the way of Ingenium. And that’s what I hated about games. They weren’t real, and yet real people got hurt when others played them.
People like Tommy.
People like my parents.
People like me.
He increased the speed as we turned onto the one-way out of Grey toward Orange. Just. Kyros drove far less like Katerina and far more like a seventy-year-old.
The vampire broke the silence. “You may be interested to hear that Clint left town.”
What? He’d dealt with that already?
My mouth dried. “That isn’t street talk for you murdering him, is it?”
His expression darkened. “Clan Sundulus does not break the law. He was simply encouraged to leave everything he owned and leave within the hour. He won’t be back. Your belongings were transferred to a storage cage in the lower levels of the tower. I’ll make sure Angelica gets a key to you. And the bond you paid is in your room.”
Encouraged to leave. That had to be illegal despite his reassurance.
I took a steadying breath. “... Thank you, I suppose. I’d rather you hadn’t interfered at all if I’m honest.”
“It is my duty to care for those in my tower.”
We’d argued about this before. I wasn’t part of his damn clan. I wasn’t in his tower by choice, and therefore didn’t fall under his protection.
Too tired to fight, I leaned my head against the cool glass, watching as we merged onto the freeway.
Tommy let out a sudden snort. The silence after lasted until Kyros took the off-ramp for Orange.
“Do you really hate me so much?” he asked, his tone curious. No more invested than if he was watching a science experiment.
Did I hate Kyros?
I frowned and shifted.
Yes.
… Then there were parts of him I could appreciate. His passion. His vulnerability in the face of a battle being fought over his existence. That he was indirectly teaching me to drive—even if he probably just offered to slip me a guard while I was outside the tower.
“I don’t know you, really,” I replied, staring
at the beer stain covering my front. I hugged my arms around my stomach.
Kyros turned up the heat, but I wasn’t that kind of cold. No heater would warm up the part of me that had frozen. That he froze.
“I don’t want to know you,” I added. “I might have come across any Vissimo—your siblings, your parents, or one of your workers. Any of them might have done the things you did to me—nearly frightening me to death, strapping me to the chair, and pumping me full of adrenaline. They might have compelled me with a blood exchange.”
“But?” he asked, guiding us at a sedate pace through the uneven streets of Orange.
I was surprised my words hadn’t angered him.
“It wasn’t anyone else,” I clarified. “You did all of those things. You hurt me. You scared me. At the centre of every bad thing that has happened to me recently is your face.”
The sound of our breathing and Tommy’s soft snores filled the tiny cab of his overpriced car.
“Don’t kiss me again, Kyros,” I said wearily, resting my forehead against the cool glass again. “I don’t want you to touch me. Not really.”
20
I was certain most people didn’t spend their weekend receiving driving lessons from vampires.
At this point, I had no idea what the rules of my tower trial were. He’d let me out clubbing—albeit with a guard. And he let me out for driving lessons and prelim visits. I took that to mean I could go anywhere if Laurel was with me. If it was up to me, I’d be spending the day snuggling with Tommy while watching a movie, but she had work today. I’d called an hour ago to make sure she made it to her Saturday shift.
Laurel had a firm hold on my keys as she led the way through the garage. “I’ll take you out to Gerry’s parking lot.”
“Who’s Gerry?”
Laurel cast me an amused look. “Gerry’s is a hardware store.”
Oh. Right. Couldn’t say I’d had the pleasure. “You go to Gerry’s a lot?”
She nodded.
By now I’d cottoned on that the Indebted really were mercenaries. They got paid to do the things Vissimo didn’t want to do. Who knew what that really entailed. “For stuff to kill people with?” I asked.
“Rarely. Tools for interrogation, yes.”
Again, legal, my butthole. Pretty sure any mercenary job that necessitated a trip to a hardware store was as illegal as it got. Kyros was full of it.
Blood Trial: Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers Book 1) Page 23