by J. L. McCoy
“Yes, live bar. We have in-house specialty donors that get paid to work here. You’ll understand more when you read the menu,” he smiled knowingly at me before kissing my lips. “If you need anything at all, just ask Matilda, okay baby? I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
I nodded my head, unsure, but agreed. Archer signaled to Matilda and let her know that anything I needed was on the house. Archer picked up his bottle of whiskey and kissed me one last time before he headed to some double doors that were off to the far right of the club.
I quickly downed my full glass of whiskey and looked around the club. Les Oubliette easily housed twice as many customers as The Mausoleum and I felt like a single snowflake in the middle of a raging blizzard. It made me a little nervous.
“Can I get you something else, dear? You look a bit wide-eyed,” Matilda smiled, drawing my attention back to her.
“Um, can I have a pint of Johnnie Walker Blue and a Sam Adams?”
“Coming right up.”
Matilda set the drinks in front of me and reached over to pat my hand reassuringly. “Drink this down and then go have yourself a dance. Loosen up, child. This place is a blast.”
I chuckled and thanked her before quickly downing the Johnnie Walker in one chug. It was just enough liquor to give me the buzz I was going to need to relax and solo the club. Grabbing my bottle of Sam Adams, I slipped off the stool and went to check the club out.
Humans and vampires alike swayed and writhed together on the dance floor to the driving, industrial sounds of Nine Inch Nails. Trent Reznor’s sensual, sexy voice growled out the lyrics to ‘Sin’ and I found my body eager to join the others on the dance floor.
Sliding through the crowd, I found the perfect spot to dance towards the middle of the packed space. I gripped the neck of my bottle and shut my eyes as I lost myself to the beat. The smell of vampires, blood, humans and sweat was a heady, erotic combination and one that I found I enjoyed very much.
‘Sin’ slowly morphed into Reznor’s cover of ‘Get Down, Make Love’ and the dance floor got a lot more interesting. Bodies packed tighter together as hands roamed. I had just turned up my beer and was swallowing the last mouthful when I felt cool hands slide around my hips.
I glanced over my shoulder and into the eyes of one of the most beautiful vampires I had ever seen. “Whoa,” I mumbled lamely as I stared.
Turning around, I got an even better look at him. He was around Archer’s height, had long black hair and wicked green eyes. His chest was broad and muscular and his tight pants and shirt left nothing to the imagination. If I hadn’t known any better, I’d think a young Peter Steele was standing right in front of my eyes. Hot damn!
“Here, let me take that for you,” he purred in a deeply masculine voice as he took the empty bottle from my hand and passed it to some random human next to us.
“T-Thanks?” I managed to breathe as I looked up at his towering figure, his striking green eyes drinking me in.
“Dance with me,” he whispered and I immediately complied, my Johnnie Walker making me bold.
He turned my body and pulled my hips up against his hard front. Our bodies moved, rolled, and rocked to the beat in perfect harmony. I was fairly shocked that he was such a good dancer. He seemed kind of dark and broody, mysterious and indifferent, but in a cool sort of way and I dug it completely. We danced silently, our bodies doing all the talking we needed.
The beat started to slow and morph into another and my mysterious dance partner never missed a beat as ‘If I Was Your Vampire’ started playing. Grabbing my wrist, he spun me out and pulled me back, this time facing him. He dipped me slow and low, my hair sweeping the floor, before he pulled me back up just as unhurriedly. I placed my hand in his and we began a suggestive, sensual gothic waltz. I’d never danced like this before, but with him expertly leading me, my body had no trouble following. I caught sight of the dance floor as he dipped me again and I couldn’t believe what I saw. Everyone had stepped back to allow us full run of the floor. Coming out of the dip, I looked up at my partner with wide eyes and he smiled a sexy, satisfied grin.
“You are a vision,” he purred, “and have made me the envy of every vampire in this room.” I wanted to scoff at his cheesiness and ask ‘Does that line really work on girls?’, but held my tongue and finished the song.
When it ended, my partner bowed to me and tenderly kissed my knuckles. “Won’t you join me for a drink?”
“I’ll take it from here, Corvus,” I heard someone say behind me and spun around to see that someone was Jameson.
“I’d love a drink, Corvus,” I smiled, turning my back on Jameson. I was still mad at him and not nearly drunk enough to want to have another conversation with him.
Corvus held out his elbow and before I could take it, Jameson pulled me to him. “She belongs to Archer, Dark One,” he growled fiercely, his pale green eyes rapidly fading with anger. “Run along now.”
Corvus smirked and held his hands up in surrender. “As you wish. May I at least have the pleasure of her name?”
“It’s Skye,” I smiled up at him. “Skye Morrison. Thank you for the dance.” Corvus’ eyes flashed briefly in recognition as Jameson pulled me away.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Jameson asked me, his eyes still faded in anger.
“Whatever the hell I want,” I spat, jerking my arm out of his grip. “What the hell business is it of yours anyway?”
“You’re my sister! It’s my job to look out for you,” he growled.
“Ha! Oh, so NOW you want to claim me as family? Fuck that…and fuck you too, Jameson.” I turned on my heel and started for the bar, desperately needing another drink now that Jameson had arrived.
I’d barely made it five steps before Jameson grabbed me around the waist, lifted me, and carried me off to the leather sofas by the blood bar. I wanted to throw a fit; pound my fists into him and demand that he let me go, but we were drawing looks from all around us and I didn’t want to make the situation any more awkward than it already was.
After he set me down on the sofa, I crossed my arms and scowled at him. “You ever do that to me again and you’re a dead man,” I hissed under my breath. “What the hell do you want, anyway? I thought we were clear at the club. I have nothing more to say to you, Jameson.”
“I’ll have you know that groupie almost shredded my dick thanks to you,” he growled as he sat down next to me. I smiled with deep satisfaction as a waitress came by to see if we needed anything.
“Two bags of A-negative,” Jameson ordered.
“And a bottle of Johnnie Walker, blue label, please,” I added. I figured I might as well get drunk if I was going to be stuck with Jameson for a while.
“Do you have any idea who that was you were dancing with?” he asked as he ran his fingers through his long brown hair.
“Corvus, obviously,” I rolled my eyes.
“Smart ass. His name is Corvus Frost and he’s the son of Atticus Frost, the current leader of the Dark Ones.”
“So?” I asked, bored.
“So,” he growled, grabbing my face so that I’d look at him, “you are Archer’s chosen mate and Archer is one step away from governing all Day Walkers currently residing on the American Continent. The last thing he needs is his woman grinding all over Atticus’ son! People gossip, Skye. First you’re dancing with him and the next thing you know, you’re fucking him. You may not understand vampire politics, but you will understand this: if you are to be his mate, you will conduct yourself with honor and that includes keeping your hands to yourself and especially off Dark Ones!”
“We were just dancing!” I exclaimed angrily, pulling my face away from him. “I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I didn’t even know who he was.”
“Well, now you do,” Jameson growled as he sat back.
The waitress appeared with our order and dropped it off before quickly leaving again. I poured myself a tall glass of Johnnie Walker and downed it.
I could see Jame
son staring at me out of the corner of my eye and I slammed my empty glass down on the table in front of us. “Why are you staring at me? Don’t you have groupies somewhere to fuck?”
“Probably, but Archer wanted me here so I’m here,” he smiled at me. I wanted to slap that satisfied smirk off his face. “Why, are you jealous?”
“You wish,” I scoffed as I grabbed the bottle and sat back on the couch. To hell with the glass. “Been there, fucked that, and all I got was a lousy breakup song.”
“So you heard our new song, huh?” he smirked. “What did you think of it?” During the concert, I’d noticed that Jameson swapped the song about our breakfast with a new one. It didn’t make me happy to hear the angsty lyrics, but at least it wasn’t the love song he wrote for me. I don’t think I could have handled hearing him sing our song again.
“You want to know what I think?” I seethed as I stood up. “I think you’re an asshole; a straight up prick. How could you treat me that way at your show? You completely embarrassed me! I’ve done nothing but apologize for breaking up with you. I’m sorry I hurt you, I swear to God I am. But you want to know something? I’m glad our relationship is over because now I get to see the REAL Jameson Doyle! And you know what I think? I think he’s a real sonofabitch.”
Jameson reached out to pull me back to the couch but I slapped his hand away. “Don’t you dare touch me. We may be forced to be family now, but we’ll never be friends again; you saw to that tonight. God, how could you do that to me, Jameson? Haven’t you punished me enough? You know what, forget it! Enjoy your fucking meal. I’m out of here,” I growled as I spun on my heel and walked back to the other side of the bar.
I needed to get as far away from Jameson as I could. I was so angry and hurt; angry that we fought and hurt because nothing I said or did was good enough for him. I didn’t know what I could do to make him finally forgive me, but I wasn’t going to try anymore. We were completely over; our friendship wasn’t even salvageable. Archer was going to kick both our asses if he found out. I prayed Jameson stayed away for a few days until we could each cool off, otherwise Archer would know that peace negotiations never even got off the ground floor.
Chapter Nine
Hugging my bottle of Johnnie, I made my way over to the leather couches by the liquor bar. I found a spot to sit and got comfortable as I gulped down a few shots. A few seconds later a man sat down next to me.
“Bad night?” he asked and I glanced over at him with a sigh.
The man was dressed conservatively in tan slacks and a dark green sweater. His hair was short and auburn, his eyes green and smile friendly. He appeared to be in his mid-twenties and I was a little surprised to see him in such plain clothing; most of the people here wore gothic club wear.
“Not really. Well, sort of. Yes,” I frowned thoughtfully. Tonight had been bad for the most part. The only highlight was Archer. Where the hell was he?
“I thought so,” he chuckled. “You’ve got a death grip on that bottle.”
“Oh,” I breathed, embarrassed, realizing that I was clutching it tightly to my chest like it was a lifesaver and my surroundings a sinking ship. I took another swig and held the bottle in my lap.
“So what are you drinking?” the man asked.
“Johnnie Walker,” I smiled tightly, holding up the bottle.
“No,” he chuckled and waved a small laminated card. “I meant blood. What are you having? Have you decided?”
“Um, no,” I shook my head. “Is that the menu?”
The man smiled and handed it over to me. “I recommend the fruit fusions, if you’re a purist like me.”
The menu had about twenty different blood options to choose from and offered just about anything a vampire could want. They had everything from Carnivore’s Delight, which stated that the donor ate nothing but rare beef for optimum pleasure, to Cocaine Cowboy, which said that the donor was guaranteed to be high on the finest Columbian cocaine available. I grimaced when I read that and wondered why Archer would promote drug usage among his employees, never mind hire them. Tonight’s special was listed as the Kiwi Kiss. The description stated the donor had been on a strict kiwi diet for the last ten days.
I handed the menu back to the man and chewed thoughtfully on my bottom lip. “That was…interesting.”
“Yes,” he chuckled. “But like I said, I’m a purist so I stick with the fruit fusions. You should try one. They’re very good. Pineapple is my favorite.”
“Good evening, monsieur, madam,” a woman nodded as she came to us. “What will it be tonight?”
“I’ll have the Pineapple Paradise, please,” the man replied.
“And for you, my dear?” she asked with a polite smile.
“Um, well, I guess I’ll try tonight’s special. The Kiwi Kiss?” I answered, a bit unsure. Truth be told, I was still a little freaked out about the Cocaine Cowboy.
“Very good,” she nodded her head once and turned to leave.
“Um, miss?” I called. She turned and stepped back in front of me. “Archer Rhys told me say that anything I wanted was on the house. Is that okay?”
“Yes, madam,” she smiled patiently. “Mr. Rhys previously informed me of your needs. If there’s nothing else…”
“No, ma’am,” I shook my head. “Thank you.”
“So the Kiwi Kiss, huh?” he nodded his head. “Good choice.”
“I was tempted to go with the pineapple, but kiwi was a favorite of mine when I was human.”
“Pineapple was my favorite,” the man smiled knowingly before he stuck out his hand. “My name is Lucian.”
“Nice to meet you, Lucian,” I smiled, shaking his hand. “I’m Skye.”
“I’ve heard the name whispered quite a bit over the last hour. You wouldn’t happen to be the Skye everyone is talking about, would you? Skye Morrison?”
I sighed and took another long drink of whiskey. “What are the chances that someone else in here is named Skye?” I asked hopefully.
Lucian chuckled and patted my knee. “Slim to none. I know most of the vampires in here and none of them are named Skye.”
“Well, crap,” I sighed again. “What was everyone saying? Was it bad?”
He looked thoughtful for a moment before he answered. “No, it wasn’t all bad. Mostly everyone was talking about how they’d heard you defeated the Dark Father. A few women said that they’d heard you were dating the club owner. So, is it true?”
“That I’m dating Archer?” I asked.
“No,” Lucian laughed. “I’d figured that out already since you’re blood’s being comp’d. I mean about defeating the Dark Father.”
“Oh,” I frowned a little. I hated talking about Amun. All I wanted to do was forget about him and it seemed like everywhere I turned, someone was bringing him back up again. I just couldn’t get away from him. “The rumors are true,” I said softly and left it at that.
“You must be a remarkable woman,” Lucian said, equally as soft. “I didn’t mean to bring up a bad subject. I apologize.”
“It’s okay,” I smiled tightly at him. “I’m just not used to the notoriety of it yet.”
“Well, if I were you, I’d be screaming it from the rooftops. You did what no man or vampire on this earth could do. You are an incredibly special girl. I hope you can see that.”
“That’s sweet of you to say, Lucian,” I smiled crookedly and patted his knee. Remembering my manners, I extended the bottle of Johnnie Walker to him. “Would you like some?”
“Oh, no thank you dear,” he chuckled, holding out his hand. “I fear it’s not compatible with my needs.”
“You’re a Dark One,” I whispered, figuring it out way too late to take back the insulting offer. I wasn’t positive, but I figured it was pretty rude to offer liquor to someone who couldn’t drink it.
“Yes,” he smiled kindly. “And you are a Day Walker. I believe Mark said it best. ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself’. We are different, but we are also the same.” His at
tention was drawn by the arrival of our donors. “Ah, my blood is here. It was nice chatting with you, Skye. I hope to run into you again.”
“It was nice talking to you, too, Lucian,” I smiled as he got up and escorted his pineapple flavored donor to another couch.
“Your feeder, madam,” the attendant smiled as my donor sat down next to me on the couch.
After thanking her, I turned to my donor and smiled timidly. He was around thirty-five and was tall and slim with sandy hair and brown eyes. He held his wrist out to me and I held it in both hands as I brought it to my mouth. Running my nose up his forearm, I could smell a strong kiwi influence.
Calling forth my fangs, I bit into his vein and sighed as his blood pooled in my mouth. Just like the menu promised, my donor tasted of nothing but kiwi. It reminded me of the kiwi and strawberry summer salads my mom would make when I was a kid. They were a favorite of ours during the hot summer months.
My donor sighed heavily and started to writhe on the couch; the sound bringing me back to the here and now. Uh-oh. I was accidentally giving him the full whammy of my venom. I tried holding it back, but it was too late. My donor started panting and climaxed before I even got my third mouthful swallowed. I knew I needed to stop before I got carried away, so I withdrew my fangs with difficulty and sat back as far as I could from him.
“Oops,” I breathed, trying to shake the hunger from my eyes. “I’m really sorry about that, mister. I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
I heard whispering around me and looked up to see that most of the room was looking my way; gossiping about what they’d just seen. How totally embarrassing. I glanced over at Lucian and saw him staring my way, too; a look of surprise and something else I couldn’t place.
Thank goodness Archer picked that moment to reappear again. He helped my donor up and took his spot next to me. “Did you have a good time, cion?”
“Um…it was…informative,” I said diplomatically. Truth was, I was not happy about Jameson making a scene earlier on the dance floor, and I was even more unhappy about Archer employing drug addicts to service vampires. We’d be having a conversation about that, but not tonight. Tonight I was ready to go back to Archer’s penthouse, take a shower, and put this day behind me. “I’m kind of beat, baby.”