“I’ve rented RVs, on occasion. Sometimes, I need to get away from the city and be alone but can’t go to Scotland. Not to mention, you have to remember the time I grew up in. Anything approaching ‘roughing it,’ to me, is still a luxury compared to back then. I refuse to lose sight of that.”
Her hand comes to rest on my right thigh. “I can honestly say I’ve never met a vampire like you before.”
I take the chance to let my hand rest on top of hers, lacing fingers with her. “And I can honestly say I’ve never met another human like you before.”
Fight Club is located in a neutral zone of sorts, as laid out by the treaty Lucius struck with Garrett Green of the Tucson werewolves. It’s in an industrial area, a large, nondescript warehouse building. The parking lot is maybe three-quarters full.
I normally would drop her by the door and go park, but I refuse to let her wait alone. Especially since a large, muscle-bound guy stands watch outside the door. Probably a shifter.
I park. Before I get out to open her door for her, she stays me with her hand. “Let me lead, please? I know the guy at the door. He’s one of the wolves. No pissing contests. Right?”
“He’s not the first shifter I’ve dealt with, and he won’t be the last.”
“Is that a yes? My rep is on the line, here.” I sense her anxiety isn’t just because of me but because we’re out at night. I didn’t miss how her head was on a swivel as we drove, and several times she reached over to confirm the door was locked.
“Yes, of course, I’ll behave.” I get out and open her door for her, holding my arm out for her the way I did that first night. I love the warmth from her touch and slow my strides, so she doesn’t have any trouble keeping up with me across the parking lot.
From the way the bouncer’s nose wrinkles and how his stance tenses, I know he’s already scented me.
“Hey, Perry,” she calls out.
That apparently throws him off-balance, and he scowls. “Connie? Is that you?”
“Yeah, this is Dexter. We have an appointment with Alpha Green. He’s expecting us. He asked me to bring Dexter and said he’d leave word.”
He still regards me warily, but he nods. “Boss said you were coming.” He opens the door for us, but I suspect if he had his preference, he’d stake me.
“Thanks!” she brightly says and leads the way in, releasing my arm once we’re inside.
I fight the urge to grab her hand and pull her back against my side. All eyes momentarily turn, taking her in, and I could easily murder every last one of them before the first one even hit the floor.
Shit. I do have it bad for her.
She walks over to the bar. “Hey, Alpha Green’s expecting us,” she says to the bartender.
He nods and picks up a phone, even as his wary gaze remains on me.
I get it, why she’s using his title. Trying to soothe ruffled scruffs and warn people that it’s official business, not a social call.
Eventually, attention turns away from us and to a fight getting ready to happen in the cage farther back in the space.
While we wait, I glance around at the gathered crowd. There are shifters of various species, mostly wolves and coyotes, but at least one bear and a cat of some sort. Panther, perhaps? Humans, too. I sense no other vampires here tonight, although I smell the occasional hint of previous visits. The dingy warehouse’s exterior belies the feel of the bar’s interior. Like it’s deliberately spartan and industrial, designed for a rougher crowd not looking for or needing a manufactured grungy hipster vibe to assuage their egos. But it’s clean and looks like there was care taken to choosing the tables, chairs, high-tops—the bar itself. It’s not a haphazard dumpster-diving mishmash.
I lean in so I can speak in her ear. “You know, I could hire several of Garrett’s men to protect you.”
“Yeah, like that’s not overkill? I go from an overprotective vampire to several overprotective wolves? That won’t draw the slightest bit of attention to me. Not at allll.”
“I sense sarcasm.”
“You sense right.” She turns to me. “I don’t want bodyguards.”
I can tell there will be plenty of times, just like now, when I’ll want to flip her over my knee and spank her until she agrees to let me take care of her. “You’ll take them if I tell you to.”
She plants her hands on her shapely hips, the hem of her dress swirling around her knees and distracting me. “You and what fricking army, dude?”
We have a stare-down that ends with me literally blinking first. “Why the hell doesn’t that work on you?” I mutter.
She grins. “I don’t know, but it’s annoying, isn’t it? At least you don’t have to worry about some other vamp staking a claim on me like that.”
“Can we use another word?”
“What word, vamp?”
“No—staking.”
“No. That word amuses me. Oh, there he is. That’s him.” She points. I spot Garrett Green emerging from an office in the back of the building. The Alpha immediately heads our way, three large guys shadowing him. “Stay cool and please let me do the talking, huh? Remember, he’s my friend, my best friend’s mate, and he’s my landlord.”
“I could buy that building for pocket change and give it to you,” I mutter.
“Shut up, and do not get into a pissing contest with him, or any other shifter.”
“Yes, dear.”
Garrett walks up and shakes hands with her, but his intense gaze remains on me. His men view me with undisguised loathing. “Connie. Thanks for coming. I know you don’t like to travel at night. I appreciate you being here.”
I hate that she tips her chin to him, exposing her throat in the wolves’ tradition, denoting submission.
Even though she’s not a wolf, and she is most definitely not his. “Alpha Green. This is Dexter Van Sussex.”
I don’t give a fuck who he is—I’m not showing him my throat. I do extend my hand as I keep my gaze no higher than his nose. No, I likely couldn’t compel him, but that is the level of respect and deference I will give him. Courtesy.
Despite wanting to throw him across the fucking building because Eilidh showed him her throat. “Nice to meet you, Alpha Green. Connie and Lucius have both spoken quite well of you.”
One of the men behind him lets out a low growl and spits on the floor at the mention of Lucius’ name, but Green holds up a hand to stay him. “She showed me her throat,” Green says. “But I’ve never seen her in a dress before, like this. I can smell the two of you, like honey and syrup together. Yet her throat’s not marked, and I can tell she’s never been blooded or drank from a leech, either. So…what the fuck’s up with that?” He tosses a glare her way. “Did you suddenly pick a team to be more loyal to?”
I keep my hand extended. This is dominance posturing on his part, and I won’t budge. I keep my voice low enough only Eilidh, Green, and the men with him can hear. “I’m here to form a lucrative alliance with you, not piss on fence posts. If it were up to me, the only person she would ever show her throat to would be me, and my fist would now be halfway down your throat for disrespecting her by talking to her like that. But she’s your mate’s best friend, she actually said you’re her friend, and you know damn well what’s going on. I am a man of my word. You’ll either do business with me, or you won’t, but we’ll do it as equals. And you will apologize to her right now for the disrespect, after she came here tonight, in good faith, at your specific request. Not because she had to, but because she considers you a friend.”
Finally, a smile breaks free and he shakes with me as his men relax. “Amber was right about you.” He makes a point of looking at Eilidh. “My apologies, Connie. You know I had to test him.”
“Not a problem, Garrett.” She glances around, at all the eyes on us. “Can we go talk now? Or would you two like to go pee on a few tires in the parking lot first to celebrate not killing each other?”
The Alpha’s laugh sounds like a choked howl, and even his men snicker.
“Let’s go back to the office where we can have some privacy.”
I let Eilidh follow Green, and I stay close behind her, throwing warning glares at anyone who so much as looks at her in more than a passing way. Green has his men wait outside the office door. He settles behind the desk, and I do wait until he sits first before I take my seat.
He leans back, beefy hands laced behind his head. “So, Mr. Dexter Van Sussex. What are your intentions with my mate’s best friend?”
“Garrett!” she snaps.
He grins. “What? You’re wearing a dress, hon.”
“You’ve seen me in a dress before. What was that bullshit?”
“Uh, I’ve never seen you in a dress here. At a wedding or cocktail party, yeah. Outside that, no. I figured you’d show up in your shit-kickers and jeans, not walk in here all hot and looking like I need to have my guys guard you to protect your honor.” He chuckles. “A little warning would’ve been nice.”
Well, he earns more respect from me for that. “We’re in discussions,” I say, interrupting this interplay before it derails the purpose of us being here tonight. “And it’s our personal business. Nothing will happen unless she wants it to. I’ve already told her that, and I mean it.”
“Garrett, we’re cool,” she says. “Seriously. Dexter’s been very sweet, and a gentleman.” I notice her hand automatically plays with the ring, where it hangs from the chain.
A silver chain.
Well, hopefully that means no shifters will be trying to sneak a quick bite of her neck tonight. I’d hate to start a war during a business trip because I had to kill a shifter for trying to snipe her out from under me.
His smile fades, and his attention stays on her. “No offense, but I don’t trust leeches.”
She groans. “Garrett. Be my friend, that’s fine, but you don’t get to insult him like that. Especially not when he’s sitting right here.”
He shifts his focus to me. Even though his hands are laced behind his head, I can tell he could easily leap over the desk and try to kill me. He’s an animal, a wolf, and it’s right there, just below the surface and barely constrained.
Instead, he blows out a long breath. “Sorry,” he says. “That’ll take some getting used to. But Amber’s right—there’s crazy chemistry between you two.” He sits forward and clasps his hands on the desk, and I see his wolf sink back down as the man takes over. “What are we discussing tonight?”
I get to the crux of my offer and outline the main points. Then, moving slowly, I pull a thumb drive out of my jacket and hand it to him. “There are PDFs on there with more details.”
He studies it in his hand, then grabs a laptop and plugs the drive in.
I wait while he skims through the information, feeling a little satisfaction when his brow furrows then rises as he processes what I’m offering.
As he reads, I hold my hand out to Eilidh.
I’m pleased that she takes it and wraps her fingers around it, so I offer her a playful smile.
After ten minutes, he sits back, relaxed and thoughtful. “I’ll admit when Lucius called me, I was skeptical. I wondered what the catch was. This looks…doable.”
“I’ll tell you the same thing I told him—I won’t pay tribute. We’re businessmen, and a legal enterprise like this, a lucrative legal enterprise, only helps all of us. I’ll sweeten the pot a little. I know your pack recently helped resettle a large group of shifter refugees rescued from one of those secret labs.”
He scowls. “Who told you that?”
“I have sources even Lucius doesn’t know about. But you and I are absolutely in agreement those labs must be destroyed. Create a legal nonprofit I can funnel a considerable donation into every year to help fund those efforts. Or some other legal entity I can fund, however it needs to be handled to keep the IRS out of it. With the goal being the destruction of any other labs you locate and to care for shifters displaced by them. We can even create a program to integrate them as employees at the hotel and casino, provide immediate emergency housing, all of that.”
I don’t blame him for his skepticism. “Why do you care?”
“Programs like that threaten all of us, not just shifters. Do you really want the government—any government—making shifter-vampire hybrids?” I take a risk. “Lucius’ decision to turn Selene was completely based on his love for her, but he made some enemies by doing so. Fortunately, she’s a good person with a good heart, and has no desire to take over. Lucius has her well in hand. I say this as a friend to them both, by the way. Keeping both your and Lucius’ operations strong here in Tucson means taking power away from rogue vampires who want to sow mayhem, and from rogue shifters who want nothing but war.”
He rocks back in his chair, which groans and creaks a little in protest under his bulk. “Connie? Thoughts?”
She’s watching me. “I don’t know the details of the business proposal. I can’t give you an opinion.”
“About him.” He points at me.
“You know me,” she says. “I stay neutral. But…” She smiles. “I like him. So far, he hasn’t done or said anything to make me not like or trust him. If he does, you’ll be the first to know.”
“All right then.” Back to me. “You know I own the piece of land you’re looking at buying.”
“I do. That was a deliberate choice on my part after researching several options. And as a show of good faith, Lucius is willing to convert some of his territory to neutral territory, provided the shifters don’t antagonize vampires at night in those territories. A day/night usage split. He’d also be willing to introduce you to some of his contacts about maybe expanding Fight Club’s operations. And both of us will help fund your preferred local political campaigns and issues, as well as apply our special kind of…influence, when necessary, to protect all our interests.”
“You’ll pay full market value for the land?”
“It’s all there in my proposal.”
He takes the thumb drive out and tucks it in his pocket. Then he offers me his hand. I shake with him.
“We have a deal, Dexter. I’ll get with my attorney to go over this in detail, and we’ll set up an official meeting in a couple of weeks to handle the sale and get things rolling.”
“Thank you, Alpha Green. All my contact info is in the PDF.”
“Garrett.” He smiles but displays his canines. “You break her heart, I’ll kill you myself.”
“I think you’d have to get in line behind Lucius and Selene, and your own mate, but point taken.”
“Oh, good grief,” she mutters.
17
Eilidh
My nerves are shot by the time we leave Fight Club a little after two a.m. after the two of them finally finish talking.
One bonus?
Garrett gives Dexter and his men a permanent conditional exemption to be in their territory, as long as they’re there to see me or going to see Garrett. Garrett, Dexter, and Lucius will sit down and work on revising the treaty deets in a couple of weeks, once Dexter and Garrett close the deal for the land.
“I think that went rather well,” he says once we’re back in the Audi and heading away from Fight Club. “What would you like to do now?”
It’s a nearly full moon, and it hangs in the gorgeous, desert sky where it lights the landscape with a silver, shimmering glow. “Well, it’s going to be dawn in just under three hours. As much as I’d like to do something, it’s late, and I’m tired, and I don’t want our first time together to be rushed.” That’s disappointing as freaking hell, though, because I was reeeally looking forward to getting boned tonight.
After several years, I can wait one more day, I suppose.
“What is that?” He points to Sentinel Peak, where the large A is visible in the daytime.
“That’s ‘A’ Mountain.” I start to explain what little history I know about it when I realize he’s changing direction, heading toward it. “Where are we going?”
“I want to see it.”
“We
ll, the park’s closed, but we can drive up there.”
“Why drive?” He smiles and pulls into a street parking spot across from the hospital just north of the peak. “Trust me?”
In this moment…yes, I do. He looks happy, and for some stupid reason, I can’t bear to tell him no.
Mostly because I’ve heard some of his history, and I personally understand how grief and loss can change a person for the worse. I saw Mom mourn my father, and if he’s really not dead…
I stare into Dexter’s eyes, which look dark grey in the dim light. “Yes. I do trust you.”
I can only hope that won’t be my undoing.
His smile does things to my lady parts in a way no other vampire—or human or shifter, quite honestly—ever has.
He gets out and comes around to my door, helping me out. “Leave your purse and wear your wrap.” I do, and he locks the car and puts the fob in his pocket. Then he scoops me into his arms. “Hold on, sweetheart.”
I drape my arms around his neck. “What are we go—HOOOOOLY SHIIIIT!”
The crazy fucker actually laughs as he blurs, racing up the side.
Of the.
Freaking.
MOUNTAIN.
I mean, yeah, it’s not Everest, and it’s not like it’s heavily forested, like in the Pacific Northwest or something, but damn. I’ve seen vamps blur before, but I’ve never been held by one during the process or seen it happen over such long distances.
I close my eyes and press my face to the side of his neck as we race through the desert night, deftly avoiding cactuses. After what feels like forever, but is probably less than twenty seconds, I feel the breeze ease up as he comes to a stop.
He chuckles, the sound rumbling through his chest and warming my girlie parts. “You can look.”
“No,” I mumble against his shoulder. “I’m not sure I can.”
He chuckles and continues holding me. “It is a beautiful view. Such a shame not to look.”
Finally, I peek.
We are on top of the freaking mountain.
Her Vampire Obsession Page 16