Party Vamps

by Jennifer North

  The Stoked Bacchanal, as it had come to be known, was a colossal, orgiastic success. In fact, as Caro walked through the jet hangar they’d rented as a venue, she wondered if it was too big of a success.

  Several Immortal Council members were participating in the free-for-all orgy that had erupted in the grape-smashing pit. Bits of grape clung to the ornate columns surrounding the pit. And bits of grape clung to the bodies of several Councilmen and women, all revered, elder statesfolk of immortal politics.

  She turned her head away from a pair of old guys comparing the purple tinge of their balls. One had leaned down for a taste to see if the stain would come off with saliva. Eww.

  It was just one bizarre scene among hundreds. But hey, that’s what a million dollars worth of the King family’s wine would do for a party of five hundred. Throw in food catered by the most elite caterer in Greece—who’d been given an unlimited budget—a personal appearance by Dionysis’ granddaughter, a couple dozen nude dancing boys, sixty well-trained slave girls, a set like something out of the movie Spartacus—and you had yourself a party.

  But Caro got her biggest surprise of the night when she let herself into the trailer they’d rented for the planners and organizers. She’d thought everyone had gone home—tired didn’t even begin to describe the condition of most of her friends and colleagues. They’d all been up for forty-eight straight hours or more putting together the final awe-inspiring product.

  She stepped up into the trailer, turned on the lights and found Jack and Lenny. Naked. Together. Well, Jack was wearing a toga, but it had mostly fallen off. Lenny, in full, hairy, half-tailed-and-horned glory, was leaning over the desk being serviced by Jack’s sensationally huge cock.

  “Ohmigod! Sorry!” She turned off the lights and stepped back outside.

  Not to put too fine a point on it, but that was a good sign that the party had been successfully put to bed by its chief planners.

  A Stoked exec wearing a wine-stained toga walked her through the parking lot to her rental car. Her only regret about the evening, she thought as she drove back to the hotel, was that Alex had already been sent Underground, the cushy equivalent of a mortal prison. That was the punishment they’d handed down at midnight when they’d declared Stoked the winning party. Six months Underground.

  No communication. No visitors. Two conjugal visits per month to allow for feeding. Caro had a feeling she’d only be half-functional between those visits and his release.

  She got into bed at her hotel and let the tears she’d been holding back all night begin to fall. She hadn’t wanted to cry at the party. And she’d wanted to be strong during her final phone call with Alex.

  Now that she was alone for the first time in days—weeks really—her mind felt half-formed. Alex wasn’t there. In mind or body. She felt utterly lost.

  But it was ridiculous to panic, to feel so fractured. Alex would be pissed.

  As he liked to say, their essences weren’t less without each other, they were simply more with each other.

  He’d promised her a private party when he got released. Something really special, just for the two of them. Because love was the ultimate party, after all. And yeah, Alex truly loved her. Just yesterday, he’d emailed her more plans for the McCarthy wedding reception. He was determined to make it the best wedding Party Mavens had ever done.

  Letting those happy thoughts squelch her tears, she rolled over, went to sleep and dreamed sweet dreams of her half-vamp, all lovable lover.

  Epilogue

  “Folding chairs!” Mrs. M. was screaming at a beleaguered-looking Lenny. “We can’t possibly sit on folding chairs for the entire ceremony and then be expected to sit on them for dinner as well. Our asses aren’t made of cement! Good God. Do you know who’s attending this wedding?”

  “Good afternoon, Mrs. McCarthy.” Caro kept her tone even and calm as she approached the volatile scene. She placed a steadying hand on Lenny’s twitching forearm. “Len, how’s it going?”

  “Caro!” Mrs. McCarthy didn’t wait for Lenny’s response. “Thank God you’re here. We didn’t agree to this! We did not agree to this, I say…” Mrs. M.’s eyes were bulging dangerously.

  Winking discreetly at Lenny, Caro gently led Mrs. M. away from where workers were unloading chairs from a wheeled cart. “We’re using the linen chair covers for the ceremony, remember? And for the reception, the wedding party’s table will have the padded seats.”

  “Well, I hope they look suitable. I hope they aren’t those stackable things you find in taverns—” Mrs. M. paused suddenly and looked Caro up and down. “My God, Caro, what are you wearing!”

  Caro smiled. In celebration of the wedding, she’d decided to forego the usual country-clubby fare and was wearing a pale pink suit that had a short, flouncy skirt. The last time she’d worn it had been for the fateful cocktail reception at Stoked—the party where she’d walked in on Alex and Sherene and Jack.

  When she’d unpacked all her stuff from Chicago, she’d pushed it to the back of her closet. Then, while looking for spring clothes last week, she’d immediately deemed it perfect for the McCarthy wedding. Now Mrs. M. was taking it all in—from the plunging neckline of the suit jacket to the tips of the matching pink pumps.

  “You look absolutely fabulous! I knew you were an attractive girl but I didn’t realize you were so…so…striking.”

  Caro let a giggle escape at the look of shock on Mrs. M.’s face. “I know I was all business during the planning phases of this event but for the actual occasion, especially for such a beautiful wedding, I thought I would pull out all the stops.”

  “And those earrings! My God, they look real. Where did you…how did you…?”

  Caro ignored her rudeness, feeling magnanimous on the day of Party Mavens’ very last wedding. “Actually, they were a birthday present from my boyfriend.”

  “Boyfriend? You’ve been holding out on me! Those earrings look downright serious. Is he a local boy?”

  Caro shook her head.

  “Dear God, I hope you aren’t relocating! Because it’s looking like my niece is about to become engaged. My sister-in-law is counting on you and Len doing her wedding too.”

  “Actually, Lenny and I will probably be moving the business to New York. We did a few successful events in Manhattan over the holidays and we’re thinking about relocating the business there permanently. But I can recommend some friends who would do a lovely job for your niece…” Caro’s smile was brilliant as she led Mrs. McCarthy toward the parking lot.

  After patiently listening to a hundred and one new and old complaints, Caro convinced Mrs. M. to go to her salon appointment and with great relief, went to help Len. The set-up went like clockwork and when the wedding guests began to arrive, all Caro and Len had to do was sit back and admire their work. They agreed that it was some of the best stuff they’d ever done. And they also agreed that it was for the least-deserving clients they’d ever served. Even the bride looked good. They disagreed on the looks of the groom—Caro thought that he looked slightly ill and Len thought he looked like the cat who swallowed the canary.

  Dinner was nerve-wracking but ultimately uneventful and as the wedding reception kicked into full swing, Len began to celebrate their freedom from the McCarthy’s a few hours early. Jack was his guest and they spent a considerable amount of time at the champagne bar and on the dance floor. As twilight fell, Caro sat at one of the gorgeously turned-out guest tables and talked to Mr. McCarthy, who was the most incorrigible flirt she’d ever met, at least of the older variety. She liked him immensely.

  When Mrs. M. came over to rather tipsily cajole him into dancing with her, Caro smiled and sat back in her seat. It really was a beautiful wedding. The McCarthys should give Alex a big bonus for making them choose the Botanical Garden. It was pretty, peaceful and perfect. The evening was full of summer’s promise and hope for a happy life together for the new couple—maybe.

  A few of the guests were beginning to leave. She stood up, thinki
ng she’d better consult with the staff about clean-up details. As she wended her way around the dance floor, she felt a hand on her shoulder and heard a very familiar voice whisper in her ear, “Got room on your dance card for me, princess?”

  “Alex!” She turned around, laughing with delight. He laughed too as she flung her arms around his neck and began to press kisses all over his face. He pulled her body close and took her for a quick spin on the dance floor.

  “I can’t believe you’re here.” She couldn’t stop laughing. He was making her dizzy in a dozen different ways. “I thought you had another month to go.”

  “I got to come up early. For good behavior, if you can fucking believe it.” He flashed his fangs in a very misbehaving smile. “I couldn’t miss the wedding of the century, after all. Especially since I was so instrumental in pulling it off…”

  Caro giggled. “I’m happy to say it’s gone fabulously well. And you’ve just upgraded my happiness to outright effusion.”

  “No problems with the bridegroom?”

  “Not so far. But he hasn’t seen you yet.”

  Alex laughed. “I’ll be sure to steer clear of the john if I see him headed that way.”

  “For sure. Especially since you’re wearing that particular tie. You’re the only guy I know who can make a tie look sexy.”

  “You only say that because you’re the one who gets to take it off.”

  She stroked her hand down his lean cheek. His emerald eyes were glowing suggestively.

  “Mm. I’d like to take it off sooner rather than later but I might be tied up here for a while. Oh God. I don’t know if I can wait.” Her body was humming, jumping, popping with need for him. Oh man, oh man. He was here!

  He discreetly danced them around so that Caro’s back faced an empty corner of the tent. He smoothed a hand down over the curve of her hip, pressing her hard against his lower body.

  “Even the wedding planner can take a little break, can’t she?”

  She sighed as he brushed his lips over her hair and then down to nibble on her diamond-studded earlobe.

  “Nice earrings,” he whispered.

  “Thanks,” she whispered back with a smile. “My boyfriend sent them to me for my birthday.”

  Alex pulled her wrist up to his mouth and gave the skin around her tattoo a teasing lick. “Well, my gorgeous girlfriend, how about that break? I swear I saw an empty conservatory around here somewhere…”

  “Follow me.” She led him out of the reception area. Guests were mingling among the flowers adorning the hallway that led to one of the main conservatories. They discreetly slipped by them and hurried through a set of glass doors.

  “Don’t they lock these areas off for an event like this?” Alex asked as they walked down a dimly lit frond-covered path. The moist, warm air caressed them as they found a secluded bench behind a drooping palm.

  “I guess not,” Caro murmured as they sat down on the bench. Lights sparkled in the trees outside the windows.

  Smiling up into his eyes, she loosened his tie and smoothed her fingers back into his hair. She gave him a long, slow, passionate kiss. They were both breathing hard when she came up for air and began to nibble along his chin.

  “You know, after last week’s visit I thought I might be sated for a while. But I discovered a few days ago that that particular fix has definitely worn off…”

  He brushed a finger down her neckline and quickly undid the buttons of her suit jacket. When he carefully released her breasts from her lacy camisole, his hum of appreciation reverberated through her body. Her hands ran up under his suit jacket as he bent down to tease a nipple with his tongue. He parted her thighs, seeking other sensitive spots. Thank God she was wearing stockings and not pantyhose.

  “So what are our chances of being interrupted?”

  Caro gasped as he found wet flesh with his fingers. “Oh God! Minimal, I hope.”

  Alex laughed huskily. “I’d take you behind the tree but palm bark looks a little unforgiving.” Caro bit her lip as he sunk a long finger inside her.

  “Let’s try it this way.” She quickly unzipped his fly and released his cock. After giving it an affectionate stroke, she swung her leg up and over to straddle his lap. She pushed her thong aside and quickly guided him between the folds of her pussy. His groan drowned out her sigh as she slowly sank down on his length.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he murmured when she began to roll her hips in the slow, sinuous rhythm he liked best.

  “Anytime,” she whispered. She held on tight to his shoulders as he stroked the sleek spot of their connection, laving her juices over the base of his cock and around the throbbing hood of her clit. Within moments she was gasping out his name in a feverish climax. She felt Alex convulse in quick succession, his words of sweet satisfaction a luscious hum against her breasts.

  He was stroking the hair away from her neck, making her shiver and sigh, teasing her with the sharp points of his canines when he paused suddenly. “There’s somebody coming,” he whispered.

  “Yeah, I know. It was me.”

  He laughed softly. “Shut up, you goofball. I mean there’s somebody here in the conservatory.”

  Caro slid off his lap and onto the hard concrete bench in time to see Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy walking down the path toward them.

  In a moment they would discover Alex and Caro under the shielding frond. Alex quickly zipped his fly and smoothed down Caro’s skirt while she tried to repress uncontrollable giggles.

  “Went off pretty well, considering our daughter decided to marry a mental lightweight,” Mr. McCarthy was saying. They stopped to look at a group of plants not ten feet in front of Alex and Caro.

  “God, I’m just so happy it’s over. The incredible relief that they didn’t elope. Or do some other flaky thing. I’m overwhelmed with joy. And I’m a little bit drunk. Ben…do you remember our wedding night?”

  “How could I forget? The night I discovered my wife was a firecracker beyond compare.” They grasped each other in a clench that rivaled the best heroes of the WWF.

  A noise that was half snort, half gulp escaped Caro’s mouth and Alex belatedly pressed his fingers against her lips.

  The McCarthys turned their heads, their faces stricken with incredibly similar expressions of dismay.

  “Caro! And—my God, Alexander! What are you doing here?” Mrs. McCarthy’s voice had gone from sexy to shrill in point-two seconds.

  Caro and Alex stood up, Caro quickly buttoning her suit jacket and Alex straightening his tie.

  “Umm, we were just taking in the sights while I took a quick break.” Caro was still on the verge of laughter. As Alex grabbed her ass, she had to bite her lip to keep from busting into fresh gales. She dipped her head, furtively trying to straighten her skirt, knowing that what they had really been doing was written all over her face.

  “Ah,” said Mr. McCarthy knowingly. “Weddings bring it out in all of us…that need for those particular kinds of breaks.” He winked broadly at Alex.

  “Mr. McCarthy, I don’t think you’ve ever met my boyfriend, Alex.”

  Mr. McCarthy reached out to shake Alex’s hand and then jumped as his wife shrieked, “Alex is your boyfriend? But I thought…well I…”

  She blustered for a moment as her husband looked at her in annoyance. “You thought what, my dear?”

  “Well, I thought he was a gay vampire. I thought he was Len’s…you know…boyfriend. Oh my God, does Len know about this?”

  This time Caro couldn’t help herself. She laughed out loud.

  Alex reached over and patted Mrs. McCarthy comfortingly on the arm. “Yes, Len knows. In fact, he’s going to be the best man at our wedding.”

  Now it was Caro’s turn to gasp. “What?”

  Alex pulled a small, black velvet box from his pocket. “You have to take the ring. It matches the earrings.” His voice was a priceless combination of imploring plea and regal command.

  Caro took the box and touched his face. She
couldn’t really see his expression, couldn’t look at the ring, her eyes were too filled with happy tears.

  “Say yes this time.” His whisper caressed her ear.

  She wiped the tears away and nodded. “Yes.”

  His lips brushed hers with an impossibly tender touch. “Thank you.”

  “But, but…” Mrs. McCarthy was still sputtering. “Caro! Why ever would you want to marry a vampire? And one who so obviously swings both ways? I’m a dutiful watcher of vampire reality series and I can tell you right now that you’ll never, ever be able to trust him!”

  Caro laughed incredulously. Unbelievable, but Alex had actually made her forget Mrs. McCarthy’s presence.

  “Darling, what in the hell are you talking about?” Mr. McCarthy was beginning to look more than a little irritated.

  Alex looked down at Caro and grinned. “It’s okay, Mrs. McCarthy. It was Caro who changed my wicked ways. She changed my whole life, in fact.” Alex took the open ring box from Caro and slipped the righteously royal-looking rock on her finger. “I walk the straight-and-narrow line now. Because she’s mine.”

  “Oh.” Mrs. McCarthy opened her mouth and then shut it again.

  “Good for you, my boy.” Mr. McCarthy winked at Caro and slapped Alex on the shoulder. “In my estimation, Ms. Connery is as much a firecracker as my wife. You’ll never regret marrying her. That is, if you can manage to keep up with her.”

  Alex took Caro’s hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss. “It’s going to be my second challenge. Right after convincing her to plan one last wedding party.” He gave them a little bow. “Great meeting you.”

  As Mr. McCarthy turned away and led his baffled wife down the conservatory’s leafy path, Caro drew Alex back beneath the palm tree’s sheltering fronds. Twining her fingers into the black satin hair at his temples, she pulled him down for a kiss—a kiss to welcome him home, a kiss to show him how much she loved him, a kiss to celebrate their future.

  He pulled back, breathless and smiling, and said, “Damn. Let’s do that some more.” Grinning, she tugged him closer, moving one hand down to reopen his zipper. “Mm…” he moaned against her lips, finding the bare skin beneath her skirt with his clever fingers. “But let’s do it somewhere more comfortable. Like at home. In bed. Where I can love you properly for the next week and a half.”