Night's Promise

by Sandy Lynn

  “No. And don’t think I didn’t notice the fact that you changed the subject. Now, are you going to tell me what happened?”

  “I’m not sure. I don’t know the whole story.”

  “Damn it,” Bram began.

  “It’s been handled. Damn, you know as well as I do that Melissa isn’t a shit starter, so drop it.”

  “Mel? Yeah, she can get a pass. This once. Next time, she’s out. I can’t go around showing favoritism.”

  “Understood. Now, if you don’t mind, I believe that hot new bartender you just hired is about to strip in the back room…” Duncan turned his attention back to the monitors as he watched the voluptuous blonde enter the room, as though on cue.

  “I’m gonna make you start paying to have this room cleaned,” Bram said, a mixture of humor and disgust in his voice. “Do you know how much I have to pay someone to get come out of the keyboards, off the walls?”

  “Hey, I figure they all know about the cameras. So if they’re gonna give me a show, I’m going to enjoy it.”

  “So what’s your excuse when it comes to getting off with the patrons?”

  “Someone has to watch them to make sure the situation is handled properly,” he answered with a smile.

  “You are such a freak.” Bram chuckled a second before the door closed. Despite the words, Duncan knew the other man was teasing him when he used the term.

  Turning his attention away from one of the few men he considered a friend, Duncan gave his full attention to the beauty on the screen.

  As his cock hardened, he quickly unzipped his pants and spread them open before stroking himself as he watched the bartender begin to strip. As he’d explained moments ago to Bram, all of the employees knew about the cameras hidden throughout the club, so he didn’t feel the least bit guilty about watching her, or jerking off to her little show.

  Hell, if she didn’t want people watching her, she’d change in the bathroom like everyone else does.

  His strokes quickened, and he groaned when he saw the woman pinch her nipples with one hand as the other moved between her legs. With a groan, Duncan tried to catch all of his come in his hand. The last thing he wanted to hear that night was Bram bitching—again—because Duncan had to bring the mop in there. Again.

  His eyes still on the screen, he saw the blonde’s head fall back as she twitched from her own climax. Looking at the camera again, she blew him a kiss before she dressed.

  *

  After entering Club Strigoi, Melissa was pulled immediately to the side by Bram.

  “How are you doing tonight, Mel?”

  “Fine,” she lied. She couldn’t seem to get her bastard stepfather out of her head. She could hear him taunting her, promising retribution for walking away from him, for injuring his pride and daring to think she could free herself from him. But he didn’t need to know that. No one did.

  “I know things got a bit…heated last night. We won’t have a repeat of that will we?”

  “You know me, Bram. I put a stop to shit, I don’t start it.”

  He nodded. “That’s good to hear. Have fun tonight and tell the bartender to give you a drink on the house.”

  Melissa laughed. “You know I don’t drink.” On impulse she kissed his cheek. “But thank you.”

  “Go have fun.”

  With a lie that she would do just that, she headed for the usual table, feeling anxious. She wasn’t sure if she did or didn’t want to see Gareth. On the one hand she wanted more than anything for him to wrap his arms around her and tell her everything would be fine, just like he’d done when she was younger. But on the other she didn’t want to burden him. She didn’t want to ruin his happiness by telling him her stepfather was trying to nose his way back into their lives.

  All afternoon she’d been unable to concentrate. Every shadow seemed to have his form, to be waiting patiently for her to be alone so he could jump out and grab her.

  I’m not a baby, I can do this myself. I don’t need him to fight my battles anymore. Her mind made up, Melissa was determined to not allow her past to intrude or to disrupt her brother’s life again.

  Approaching the table, she was relieved to see Diane was nowhere around. Mona, however, watched her very closely as she sat down.

  “Are you going to tell me about it?”

  “There isn’t too much to tell.”

  “Not much to tell? I saw you last night, baby girl. You do not meltdown, Mel. I can’t remember once ever seeing you lose control in the four years I’ve known you. You’re the one that keeps Gareth from going nuclear. Last night I didn’t think you were going to stop. I thought you were going to kill that woman.”

  “She just struck a nerve.” Melissa shifted uncomfortably.

  “I’m going to find out. You pulled me into that conversation and I deserve to know the truth. Now, do you want to tell me, or…” Mona’s voice trailed off.

  She didn’t need her to finish the statement. Mona would find out whatever information she wanted to know, whether Melissa wanted her to or not.

  “Please, just trust me. It won’t happen again. I know what to watch out for, and I won’t allow myself to lose control like that again.” She looked deep into the other woman’s eyes. “You know me, Mona. Trust me.”

  “I thought I knew you, Mel.” She lifted her hand, moving it closer to Melissa’s arm. At the last second, she shook her head. “A scratch, Mel. If I see as much as a single scratch caused by you on that woman, Diane, I won’t stop next time.”

  Relief coursed through her body. “I won’t touch her,” she eagerly promised. The last thing she wanted was to see pity from yet another of her friends because they’d learned the truth about her. She got to see more than enough of that growing up and didn’t think she could handle seeing those looks return.

  Thankfully, her brother chose that moment to join them. Sitting beside her, Gareth put his arm around her shoulders. “Hey Mel, beautiful night don’t you think?”

  “Wow, you get laid and suddenly there’s a whole new you. Remind me to send La some flowers for putting up with your ass,” she teased.

  Gareth’s smile vanished as he looked at her. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” she lied.

  “Mel, don’t you lie to me,” he growled. “Did someone touch you? I’ll kill him. Who was he?”

  “It’s nothing. I had a nightmare, that’s all. It’s really nothing,” she tried to convince him. Please gods, let him believe me and drop the subject.

  “Little Bit, why didn’t you call me?” he asked, pulling her closer into a hug.

  “Why, so you could burst into flames? No, I enjoy having my brother alive and walking around, not in an urn on my mantelpiece, thank you very much.”

  “Melissa…” he began to argue. It was never good when he used her full name. “You know I’ll do it,” he threatened.

  Annoyance coursed through her. That was the only downside to having a vampire for a brother and a sorceress for a friend. They could essentially enter her mind whenever they chose.

  That made twice in a single night someone had threatened to take a tour of her brain. One little meltdown and suddenly they acted like she was unstable.

  “Then you’re going to have to do it because as far as I’m concerned, nothing happened.”

  For a moment he looked as though he believed her, and she fought a sigh of relief at her bluff. Without giving her a chance to relax, he spoke. “You never look like this when there’s nothing going on.”

  Before she could move, he had her finger in his mouth. Melissa felt his fang pierce the skin and hissed from the slight pain. Her eyes narrowed as he sucked on the digit then closed the wound. Pulling her hand back from him, she had never wanted to slap him so badly.

  “That hurt,” Melissa complained. She could feel him looking around inside her brain. She tried to shield the previous night’s events from him, but she placed the walls up too late. He’d already seen what he wanted to know.

  Eye
s narrowed, Gareth ignored his sister and looked at Mona. “Where the fuck is she? I’m going to kill her with my bare hands,” he growled.

  “Who?”

  “That bitch Diane.” He began to stand, but Lalita arrived in time to stop him.

  “What’s going on?” she asked in a deceptively calm voice. “Leaving me so soon?” One look at Lalita’s closed expression told Melissa all she needed to know. Her brother got the same look on his face when he was angry.

  Looking back at Melissa, Gareth opened his mouth to say something. She knew he was going to tell La what was going on.

  “No,” Melissa screamed through their link. When his attention shifted to her, she continued, “Please don’t. I don’t want everyone looking at me like that. I couldn’t bear it if they knew… Please, Gareth, she’s my friend. I don’t want to see pity in her eyes whenever she looks at me.”

  She could feel the tears welling, both in her eyes and in the link that bonded them, but made no move to wipe them away. She held his stare, praying he would understand.

  She knew Lalita was his mate now, or close enough that it made no difference. Deceiving her would be wrong, but she just couldn’t stand knowing that the other woman knew the horrible truth about her past.

  “Gareth wants to kill Diane.” Mona filled Lalita in while brother and sister stared at each other. “I’m not sure why, though.”

  “Why do you want to kill her? Not that I’d actually mind, per say, but I’d still like to know why,” Lalita said, her voice still incredibly calm.

  “She, um…” He hesitated. Melissa gave the barest shake of her head. “She insulted Mel last night.”

  “She did?” Mona’s expression was stunned. “I’d have thought she would steer clear of her after—” She stopped in mid-sentence, quickly bringing her drink to her lips so she couldn’t continue.

  “She uh, met me outside. She didn’t exactly like what I, um, said to her inside the club. We’ll leave it at that. She had a right to feel that way, even if I wish she had chosen a different way of expressing it.” Melissa shrugged, hoping they would accept her lie.

  “O…K…” Lalita said, allowing the subject to drop. But it was clear from her tone, she wasn’t satisfied with the answers she had gotten. Looking at Gareth she said, “Dance with me?”

  “Next dance, I promise, La, baby. I want to have a chat with Mel first. I’ll be out there soon.”

  Melissa didn’t look back at her friend but assumed La must have agreed when she heard her working her way toward the floor.

  “Mona, would you give us a—” Before he could finish, Mona stood.

  “Why don’t I just get us all some drinks.” She looked at the pair and added, “I’ll take my time.”

  When the other woman was no longer within hearing distance, Melissa asked, “So, how are things with La? You going to change her? Have you set a date yet? Do I get to be a bridesmaid? But I refuse to wear pink, though I don’t think I have to worry about that with La. She seems more a dark purple kind of gal to me.”

  “Things are fine with La. Or they were until we got here,” he added grumpily, a pointed look at her. “I don’t need to change her. She’s—well, let’s just say we have a lot more in common than I thought we did.”

  Her eyes widened. Lalita was vampire? She’d have never suspected it considering the way the woman acted. Shrugging, she decided it didn’t matter. She liked La because of who she was, weird quirks and all, not because the woman was human—or in this case vampire.

  “And we haven’t discussed marriage yet. Now, no more changing the subject,” he told her in a no-nonsense tone. “You should have damn well called me the minute that bastard’s name was mentioned.”

  “You’d just left with La, you were so happy…”

  “I don’t fucking care. Damn it Mel, how can I protect you if you don’t tell me?”

  “I don’t need your protection,” she screamed. Closing her eyes, she was thankful for the loud music the club played.

  “Your nightmare was about him, wasn’t it?” Gareth growled, eyes narrowing once again.

  “You already know the answer to that. Why do you ask me questions when you just go inside my head for the answers anyway? What am I, in high school again? What’s next? Are you going to ground me?”

  “Yeah, I know the answer. But I didn’t have to look inside your head to find it. It’s all over you.”

  Melissa looked at him and snorted as she rolled her eyes.

  “Don’t believe me? Go look in a mirror, sis. There are bags under your eyes, you’re wearing loose fitting clothes, and you’re constantly looking over your shoulder. I remember perfectly, how things were when you first moved in with me. I remember being able to walk past your room at any time of night and schoolbooks were littered around you, the catnaps you took. I should have killed that bastard the night you came to live with me.” His voice was filled with disgust for the man that was her stepfather.

  “I’m glad you didn’t,” Melissa told him softly, placing her hand over his. If anyone else did this, Gareth would see it as flirting. He’d probably rip their hand off before a word was said. “You were my hero. You are my hero. I needed to be rescued from a monster, not think I had traded one demon for another. Though, I’m sure you know I’d have practically sold my soul to get away.” She ignored the tears that began to flow down her face. “I’m going to go. I don’t care what you tell La, as long as you don’t tell her about my past, not yet. Please, just give me time to adjust to her finding out about it first.”

  “I don’t want you out there all alone. What if you see him?”

  “You bit me remember? If I think I see so much as his shadow jump out at me, I’ll be screaming for you,” she said, a small smile on her face.

  “No, you won’t.” He smiled sadly. “I know you’re more stubborn than that. I know you can take care of yourself it’s just, with him…”

  “I know. But you can’t protect me all the time. I promise, Gareth, if I need you, I’ll yell.”

  “You won’t worry about interrupting anything?”

  “As long as you promise to be at least halfway dressed when you get there, I won’t,” she teased. Her voice sobered. “If I really need you, I’ll call.”

  Gareth nodded. She knew him well enough to know he wasn’t comfortable with allowing her to simply walk off into the dark night alone. He, more than any other, knew what hid in the darkness, in the shadows, waiting for her.

  Leaving the table before he could change his mind, she took a detour through the club, pulling Lalita to the side.

  “It’s my fault Gareth can’t answer all of your questions tonight. I promise, you’ll get the answers, but not now, not yet. It’s something I have to work through. He cares about you, please understand that he’s only trying to protect me if he refuses to answer you.” Melissa hated the vulnerability she knew shined in her eyes tonight. But she’d caused enough problems for her brother for one night. She could easily swallow her pride for him. There wasn’t a single thing she would not do for him, if he asked it, and practically nothing she wouldn’t do even if he didn’t.

  Lalita stared at her for a moment than accepted her explanation with a hug. “I trust you, Mel. I’ll try to be patient.”

  “Thank you.”

  “But that doesn’t mean I won’t still make him sweat for it.”

  Walking away from her brother’s mate, confident everything would be fine between the lovers, Melissa slowly left the club. Sticking to well lit streets, she walked through the entire night, alone but for her memories. As the sun rose on a bright new day, Melissa was grateful she had once again survived the darkness.

  Chapter Two

  “Damn, I’m horny,” Duncan grumbled as he sat down in front of the monitors. After her little show in the back room, the busty bartender had begun to change in the bathroom. Not even Gareth and Lalita went into the back room to fuck anymore.

  If not for a few video files he’d grabbed from the s
ecurity discs and kept for his own personal use, he’d be ready to strangle someone. As it was, he was more than ready to feel a pair of warm legs wrapped around his waist as he thrust into some woman.

  Calling one of the other bouncers up into the room to keep an eye on things, Duncan decided to scout things out in the club.

  Passing through the crowd, his eyes scanned in every direction for that blonde Melissa had tried to knock unconscious. There’d been no sign of her since the incident, just over a week and a half ago. He continued surveying the room, looking for someone who could help him out for the night. He did not want another case of blue balls.

  “Okay, this was definitely a mistake,” he said, half under his breath, watching Gareth and Lalita grinding on the floor right in front of him. Of course, it didn’t help that he knew exactly what it looked like when the two began to really fuck.

  Lalita was hot, but not at all his type. She was just too—Duncan shook his head, unable to place his finger on what it was that made him only look at her as a friend.

  A hand touched his arm, forcing him to stop watching the two vampires in heat. Duncan turned his head to the left when he felt a touch on his forearm. His gaze started at the small hand on his forearm and traveled up the peaches and cream arm to an angelic face.

  Melissa. And damn she looks good enough to eat.

  He wanted to feel her in his arms again. Hopefully this time she wouldn’t be struggling to get out of his embrace to rip someone’s hair out.

  “Evening, Mel. How’s tricks?”

  She rolled her eyes but tilted her head to the side, indicating she wanted him to follow her off the floor. Cock flexing slightly inside his pants, he nodded.

  “I wanted to thank you, for the other night. I would have done something I regretted if you hadn’t stopped me.”

  “You’re welcome.” Taking a closer look, he noticed the bags under her eyes, smudges that not even her expertly applied makeup could conceal. Noticing his scrutiny, she looked away. “Are you sure—”

  “Shit.” Her eyes darted back to him. “I gotta leave.”