“Anyway, sing your heart out, girl. I’ll talk with you later.” She sauntered off the stage, across the crowded room, and into her husband’s arms.
Asa moved in front of Christian and Tiffany and gazed at Chelsie with some confusion, as if he didn’t recognize her. Lord, he looked fine. He wore a black western-style shirt, cowboy boots, and a pair of faded jeans that fit him oh-so-right. His shoulder-length blond hair was tied back. A crazy daydream flashed through her mind. She envisioned herself reaching up to release the tie, then her fingers combing through the curly, silken strands as she smiled into those beautiful green eyes of his, shimmering with vampire lust. She imagined herself going a step further, too, pulling his head down and pressing those fascinating lips to hers. She knew they’d be as soft and talented as she’d always imagined.
Those melting thoughts, his presence, had Chelsie so unnerved that her entire body trembled. He smiled at her, and she returned a weak one. Then his gaze raked over her, similar to the way Randy’s had, only he took a whole lot more time with his inspection. Suddenly, she felt very exposed because most of her was, thanks to Tiffany. But the gleam of male appreciation in his eyes when his gaze again met hers bolstered her confidence. He’d noticed her. He’d honest to God literally noticed her for the first time in a little over a year.
Maybe she wouldn’t strangle her sister after all.
“Hey, Chels. We’re about ready here,” Chad hollered over the loud music being pumped through the bar’s sound system.
She let out a shuddered breath then walked across the stage to her guitar case lying next to Chad’s. She took it out and began to strum it, concentrating only on the sound, a soothing gesture for her nerves. It did the trick. Chelsie began to calm and so did her perpetual headache. For some reason the pounding had stopped, which—based on her stress level a few moments ago—was nothing short of a miracle.
She ventured a glance toward the audience, toward Asa, now seated at a table near the front with Tiffany and Christian. He smiled at her again in a friendly way, and she returned one in kind.
Chelsie felt so awkward. She had mixed feelings about Asa viewing this facet of her life. On one hand, she wanted him to view her as his equal, which perhaps he had up until now. On the other, she wanted him to view her as a woman. Either way, he was going to view her as he chose, because in five minutes the band would be performing for every person in this place. So Chelsie slipped the strap of her guitar over her shoulder and prepared herself for her moonlighting job.
***
Asa couldn’t believe his ears. Chelsie had missed her calling. Her voice was siren beautiful and put many a female country singer to shame. She looked the part too. When he had first laid eyes on her, he had done a double take. Not just because she was sexy as hell—he’d always thought that—but because he hadn’t recognized her with her thick, auburn curls falling around her shoulders, her face void of glasses and wearing that little red scrap of a dress. His fangs had released in that moment, he’d been so turned on. He still was. In fact, at one point during one of her more salacious numbers, he’d gone to the bathroom to get control of his male vampire urges.
Just looking at her again, Asa began to feel a tingling in his upper jaw. He clenched his teeth and glanced away from Chelsie, who was still performing on stage, as he mentally battled the urge to let his fangs extend. For a vampire male, fang extension was equivalent to a hard-on for a human male—nearly impossible to control when extremely attracted to a woman. He had one of those too. Asa squirmed in his chair because he was so damned aggravated and uncomfortable.
He heard Christian laugh, and Asa glanced his way. “What?” he snapped.
“Troubles, buddy?” His grin was huge, telling Asa he’d witnessed his struggles and enjoyed giving him a hard time.
Asa scowled at him. “Shut up.”
That retort made Christian laugh. Tiffany, too, because the shit had probably mentally conveyed to her what he suspected Asa had been suffering. Asa felt his face flush, which made him even madder. A one-hundred-twelve-year-old male vampire shouldn’t be blushing. And no decent vampire should be thinking about fanging a female colleague who had never shown an ounce of interest in him romantically. Yet the need to taste her burned through his veins like fire in a gas main. Every reason he’d given himself for keeping things professional between them—and there had been plenty—drained out of his head as if it had sprung a leak. All he knew at the moment was he had to pursue her.
A few minutes later, the song the band had been playing ended, and the lead male vocalist said, “Thanks. You guys have been awesome. We’re going to take a little break. Get ready for some Florida Georgia Line when we come back.”
Chelsie shed her guitar, rested it against a huge speaker, then proceeded to exit the stage. She was a few feet from the steps leading to the dance floor when the human male who had made the announcement caught up with her and took hold of her hand. She turned to face him, and they spoke. She seemed irritated, which concerned Asa. He saw Chelsie trying to tug her hand from the human’s, but he wasn’t releasing her. He could tell the man upset her because her expression was furious.
A vampire growl rumbled in his throat. One moment he was sitting beside Christian, the next he had jogged up the stairs of the stage and was standing behind Chelsie. Asa realized he’d used vampire speed to cover the distance and humans present may have been witness to it, but he didn’t care. Protecting Chelsie was his only concern at the moment.
He heard Chelsie say, “I mean it, Chad. Let me go. I’m in no mood to deal with you right now. I want to talk to my sister and Christian in private. I’ll introduce you to him later.”
“Who’s that guy with them?”
Chelsie huffed. “My partner and Christian’s.” She tugged at his hold again. “Let me go, Chad.”
Asa stepped up on the stage and peeled the man’s hand from Chelsie’s, using just enough force to cause pain but not injury. Chelsie and the man gasped almost in unison.
To the human male, he said, “She asked you to let her go.”
“Who the hell are you?” Chad demanded.
“A friend who doesn’t appreciate seeing Chelsie upset.”
He snorted. “Chelsie’s not upset, are you, baby?”
“Yes, I’m very upset with you, Chad. And for God’s sake, quit calling me baby!”
He twisted his lips into a pensive sort of pout. “Fine. I don’t know why you’re getting your panties in a bunch. I just wanted to meet Tiffany’s new husband. He’s got to be some man to take on that little barracuda.”
“That right there is precisely why I don’t want you meeting him. Tiffany doesn’t like you, and if you start dissing her in front of Christian, you’re liable to lose a couple of teeth.”
“Whatever. Screw it then. I always thought your sister was a snob anyway.” With that, he spun around then stalked off across the stage.
Asa looked down at Chelsie. Her pretty brown eyes were focused behind him and sparking with worry.
“Oh dear, Asa. You shouldn’t have come up here and confronted Chad. Do you have any idea what you just did?” She glanced behind him.
Asa turned. Bar security, to the tune of three very large human males, almost equal his size—and he was six foot six—were marching straight toward them. He was in trouble—not because he couldn’t handle the trio, but because he had made a scene involving a member of the band, on the stage no less. Unless he came up with a solution quickly, those three were going to bounce him.
Asa knew of only one way to contain the situation. As soon as the three men converged around him, he enchanted them and wiped their memories of the incident. They blinked at him then glanced between him and Chelsie with confusion. One, a skinhead with tats covering the majority of his bald head and arms said, “Hi, Chelsie. How are you?”
She smiled sweetly and replied, “Oh, fine, fine. This is Asa. He’s a friend. One of my partners at the medical clinic where I work. We were just chatting.�
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Asa could tell she was nervous. He could also tell by the chiding look she shot him she knew what he had done, and she was now trying to contain the situation. Asa felt bad.
The skinhead nodded then returned a smile. “That’s right. Sometimes I forget you’re a doctor. By the way, you look smoking hot, girl, and the band sounds great tonight. Cajun Refugees is really lucky to have Twisted Dixie.”
“Well, we’re happy to be here, Josh. And you are super sweet for checking on me, but I’m going to use my break to spend some time with my sister and her husband, so if you’ll excuse me, Asa and I are going join them.”
The bouncer gave her a nod then turned and headed toward the front of the house, his bouncing buddies in tow. Chelsie drew her lower lip between her teeth and shared a frown between him and the three men he’d just enchanted.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes. No harm was done, thanks to that handy little trick of yours.” She gave him a reproving frown. “I appreciate your concern, but I don’t need rescuing, Asa. Chad is my friend. A sometimes pushy one, but I’m perfectly capable of handling him.”
Asa realized he’d overstepped his bounds and was embarrassed. “I see. Well, I’m sorry, but it looked like you were in trouble.”
She huffed. “If you hadn’t enchanted those bouncers, you would have been the one in trouble. But never mind that now. What’s done is done. Let’s join Christian and Tiffany.” She took off toward their table then stopped abruptly and turned to face him again. “Oh, and thanks for coming tonight, Asa.”
“My pleasure.” He didn’t feel pleasure at the moment. He shouldn’t have made a scene, but that damned singer had been way too pushy with Chelsie. What kind of man held a woman in place when she asked to be let go? Not a respectable one. That was for damned sure.
Asa followed her across the dance floor to the table he’d been sharing with Christian and Tiffany. She took a seat next to her sister, he between Chelsie and Christian.
“What the heck was going on between you and Chad?” Tiffany asked.
Chelsie rolled her eyes. “Chad was just being Chad. No big deal. You know I can handle him and his craziness.”
Asa glanced at Christian and gave him a querulous look because he didn’t understand what Chelsie meant by craziness. Apparently he’d gained sympathy from Tiffany, because she offered an explanation.
“Once upon a time, Chad was a decent dude. He and Chelsie were an item back in high school and her undergrad years. Somewhere along the line, the limelight from the band got the better of him. He got a worm in his brain and started doing drugs and chasing anything that would hold still long enough for him to screw. Chelsie, as you know, is too smart and worth more to put up with that BS, so they broke up. But that breakup, coupled with her starting med school, messed up Chad’s plans for the band. After that, his carousing and drinking got seriously out of hand. Long story short, he moved the band here to get Chelsie to rejoin them, which she agreed to do because he claims to be clean. Unfortunately, Chad thinks they’re back together. She puts up with Chad’s nonsense because she loves to sing.”
“Oh my God, will you please shut up, Tiffany.” Chelsie’s face was beet red, and she looked primed to strangle her sister. He understood. He’d spent enough time around Chelsie to realize she was a very private person. He’d also spent enough time around Tiffany to realize she didn’t have much of a filter. She tended to say whatever was on her mind to whomever she wished.
“What? What did I say that wasn’t one hundred percent true?”
“I don’t need you speaking for me, Tiffany.”
“Whatever.”
“Enough drama,” Christian said then stood and held his hand out toward Tiffany. “Come on, baby. Let’s dance.”
Tiffany spared a parting concerned glance for her sister then smiled up at her husband and took his hand.
Once they were gone, Asa said to Chelsie, “I’m sorry if I butted in where I shouldn’t have. I was just concerned.”
“What?” she shouted.
Asa realized her human ears wouldn’t pick up his normal speech over the blaring canned music, so he repeated himself louder.
“As I said, there was no need for you to rescue me, Asa, but thanks for being concerned. Tiffany was correct about Chad, but he’s also like extended family in a way, as are the other guys in the band. I’ve known all of them since kindergarten. Chad is no threat to me, but he can be a pain sometimes.”
Asa nodded, but was not entirely convinced the guy posed no threat to her. “Your voice is amazing, Chelsie, and you look incredibly beautiful tonight.” He’d embarrassed her. She glanced toward her lap, a smile tugging at her lush lips.
“Thank you,” she muttered, not meeting his gaze.
Shit! He was insanely intrigued by the woman. He always had been, but tonight had revealed a side of her that Asa would have never imagined existed in Dr. Chelsie Peebles. Truthfully, he’d been attracted to her since the day he met her during her interview with the partners a little over a year ago. However, once he’d been assigned to teach her vampire medicine, he’d kept that attraction in check because he was her mentor. It wouldn’t have been proper for him to court her. Now she was a full-fledged partner, and nothing really prevented him from exploring possibilities with Chelsie. It had been a long time since he’d been this hot for a woman, human or vampire. Attraction was always sign number one when looking for one’s life mate. And no vampire stopped searching until he or she found theirs.
If Chelsie allowed it, he would pursue her in order to find out if she was his true soul mate. Attraction aside, a vampire never knew until first bite. Damn, what he wouldn’t give to taste her!
She intrigued him on other levels too. Few people, human or vampire, possessed strong talents of both the right and left brain. Chelsie was one of those rare few who did. He was curious to find out more. “So you and your friends really started a band back in high school, huh?”
She nodded. “It started out as a garage band, just for fun, but by the time we were all juniors and seniors, we started playing for money.”
“That’s fascinating. Why the name Twisted Dixie?”
She smiled reminiscently. “I was a nerd in high school. All of us were except for Chad. I came up with the name Southern Dixie, but Chad didn’t like it. He used to say we were all a bunch of twisted nerds. Long story short, we decided to call ourselves Twisted Dixie.”
Asa chuckled. “So you were a nerd, huh?”
“Full-fledged. I was in marching band, the chess and science clubs. Of course, I looked the part too.” She pointed toward her nose. “I’ve always worn thick, nerdy bottle pop glasses. That didn’t help.”
Asa laughed some more. “I think they’re cute.”
She shook her head. “They suck. I had planned on Lasik surgery, but once I become vampire, I won’t need to worry about my nearsightedness anymore.”
That comment sobered him. “You know it’s a very dangerous procedure, Chelsie.”
She hunched a shoulder. “There are many elective surgeries that are dangerous, Asa, but healthy people come through them just fine. I’m confident and my mind’s made up. Tiffany’s agreed to be my donor, and I plan to do this one way or another. So if you’re thinking to talk me out of this, save your breath.”
She could be stubborn; he’d give her that. He could tell she didn’t like the turn of conversation, so he decided to do something to lighten the mood. “Would you like to dance, Chelsie?”
Her gaze shot to his. She stared at him for several moments with a mixture of surprise and delight then said, “Okay. Sure.”
Asa stood and extended his hand. Chelsie blinked at it then placed her hand in his. The instant their skin made contact, something akin to an electrical shock scored through his system. She gasped, and he knew she’d felt it too.
In all the time he’d known her, he’d never touched her. Damn. He’d been missing out. He led her to the dance floor then drew her into
his arms, the front of their bodies flush. He proceeded to guide her into a waltz. He could feel every breath she took, the rapid beat of her heart pounding against his chest, where his own thundered as well from her proximity and this sudden unexpected turn of events.
Her scent had the effect of a narcotic on his over-sensitized system. He leaned down, nuzzled her neck, and caught the faint scent of her blood. It was the sweetest and most intoxicating he’d ever smelled. She made a little sexy moan, and that did it. His head began to roar with vampire lust, and his fangs extended, scraping the side of her neck. Asa wanted to sink them in her vein that thundered against his lips, but he had just enough presence of mind to realize he couldn’t yield to the insanity driving him on a dance floor in the presence of hundreds of humans. Nor could he take Chelsie’s blood without her permission. His respect for her exceeded his lust, but his body was none too happy for the chivalrous decision.
The song ended, and Asa pulled back. She smiled, and there was a knowing, wanton look in her eyes, telling him she’d known exactly what he’d been thinking, what he’d wanted to do to her, and that she would have been okay with it had they been in a more private situation. Asa was so astounded, he couldn’t help himself. He leaned down and kissed her.
***
Sweet shivers engulfed Chelsie as Asa made love to her mouth like a skilled seducer. His tongue thrust between her lips, branding, exploring, and she copied his movements, coming up with some creative ones of her own.
Her body was on fire. This was everything she’d often imagined and more. She placed her hands on the back of his neck and squeezed, a gesture she hoped relayed she didn’t want him to stop anytime soon. His hands went to exploring from her ribcage slowly downward to her hips. He sucked on her lower lip for a few seconds then went back to kissing her with blatant passion.
Deadly Secrets (Forever and a Night Book 3) Page 4