by Brianna West
I shifted my gaze towards the incisors he was now piercing into the blood bag. His fangs caused a part of me to stiffen in fear; the other part, the part that I had spent years honing with my paranormal romances, was basking in the sight, causing my legs to suddenly feel weak and heart to palpitate with vigor.
I continued my efforts albeit a bit breathlessly. “We can start hitting up a few places and see if they lead us to where the portal may be located.”
I have to say, I'm proud I was able to get most of that out; though, I trailed off a bit in the middle when some blood escaped the side of his mouth and I had the oddest inclination to lick it off.
I was trembling—whether from fear or excitement, I couldn't be so sure. I knew that watching him would cause me to have some strong feelings, but I wasn't quite prepared for the coiling heat in my lower belly. I was turned on by it. And dammit, it was doing things to my body I would rather not acknowledge.
Feeling the heat of my embarrassment but eager for an answer, I continued further, “I am here to help, and whether or not you agree with that doesn't matter. I want to be involved, and will be, with or without your consent.”
Lucas slammed a hand down on the table top, causing me to jolt with surprise. “You do not understand of what you involve yourself in, Izzy. This is not a game. This is a reality that could get you killed.”
“I know, Lucas,” I responded firmly. “But I've never felt so strongly about anything in my life. I was meant to do this. If my power is so great, then all the better to assist you with. I know I'm a nuisance, it’s been made very clear, but I am in this now, and you aren't getting rid of me.”
“I never pegged you for stubborn,” he replied scathingly. “As such and to my great misfortune, I will reap the consequences for misjudging you.”
Hypocrite. He wasn’t exactly easygoing either.
“Yeah, well, life's a bitch or has no one told you?” I retorted smoothly.
The resulting smirk was enough to restart the pounding of my heart. “So I've heard.”
Did I win?
“So...” I trailed desperately, “does this mean we can get past our little strife and start doing what you guys came here for?”
Lucas sighed, settling back into the chair he had previously sat in. “I don't seem to have any other choice,” he said with a pointed gaze that I shrug sheepishly to.
Hey, I wasn't going to deny it.
“I had hoped to travel to a nearby town,” he continued, his tone having become serious. “There was a disappearance last night. A young girl your age, brown hair, blue eyes, at a bar in downtown.”
“Brown hair and blue eyes, you say?” That sounded oddly familiar. “So what's this town you're hoping to go to?”
“Arcata,” he responded simply.
Arcata was about forty miles west from our small town. I had been a few times with Nattie. But mostly, we kept to our own. While we loved making trips to places nearby—there wasn't really much to make trips to that didn’t require an overnight stay—we often chose just to keep to the town we had been born and raised.
However, I wasn't about to complain. If we needed to travel to Arcata in search of this possible portal and the disappearance of an Izzy look-alike, then I would damn well do it.
“When do we leave?” I asked eagerly.
Lucas was sighing again. I noticed he was doing that a lot today but decided to ignore it. I wasn't itching to start a fight since we had, you know, made a truce and all.
As if he was being forced to bring me along, and in truth, he kind of was, he said, “As soon as you are ready. Pavel will be looking into another disappearance in Eureka, so it will be just you and I this evening.”
Oh, lovely.
I replied as such giving me a momentary reprieve of his sighing with his laughter. I would welcome that rich, deep laughter over anger or sighing any day.
So, being the astute employee I was, I got ready immediately. I dressed for success. In this case, I wore the training pants that hugged my every curve Lucas had given me and a black long-sleeve top under the jacket that Lucas had also given me. I didn't have my shoes yet—they were due to arrive next week—so I put on my only pair of running shoes which just so happened to be old and worn from a time when I was forced to use them, high school.
“Ready!” I announced a little too loudly I might add.
I knew this because Lucas' stare said so. I was no mind reader, but it specifically read, ‘You bloody idiot.’ Of course, Lucas would never say so as he wasn't much for cursing. But if he did, that's what it would be.
Instead of replying, he opened the front door and left through it, suggesting I should follow.
Message received. I began to follow him when Pavel decided to block my path.
“Blondie,” I greeted, surprisingly happy to see him. He had been the only one, other than Victor, that had wanted me to stay. I was, against my will, beginning to like the bastard. “Boycotting my leaving for any particular reason?”
“Only to say this,” he replied smoothly before bending over and pressing a chaste kiss to my cheek.
The place his lips touched warmed instantly, and a blush spread across my face like a brush fire, sure to turn me into a strawberry.
“That's not saying anything!” I cried out in my embarrassment. “Saying something usually involves words not actions, you jerk. No more stealing kisses!”
I wiped at the offended area, although my heart was crashing in my chest, and I was very close to swooning.
Damn him!
“Just a little protection,” he retorted with a grin. “To ward off naughty boys.”
“The only naughty boy I need warding off from is you!” I growled.
He chuckled deeply before leaving me to my fury and embarrassment at the doorway.
Scratch that, I was no longer warming to that dirty Russian.
Lucas had already started the car by the time I got there. I slid into the passenger side, relaxing my body into the comfort of the seat, and throwing the heat on at full blast.
“What kept you so long?” he inquired.
“A Russian,” I replied coolly despite the flush in my cheeks.
“For what reason?” Lucas questioned while backing out of the driveway and heading towards highway 299.
I had turned my face away, staring outside of the window to keep my cheeks hidden while I answered him as nonchalantly as I could. “Just to torment me as usual.”
“And that would have been how exactly?” he pried.
“It's nothing,” I said a bit too quickly. “Anyway, what's the angle for tonight?”
If he seemed curious about my response, he didn't show it. He simply answered my question and kept his eyes on the road. I could see it in the reflection from the window.
“We will need to do a bit of shopping beforehand,” he started, “because those clothes will not do at all.”
“Oh, please don't tell me I have to play prey again,” I groaned.
Lucas let out a deep chuckle that turned my insides to goo. “Not prey to be exact. You and I will be appearing as a couple so that we might get information from the local residents. I need to locate which bar the missing human woman had last been seen.”
I glanced at him in confusion. “Don't you already know? Besides, why does it matter if I can feel when someone has ill intentions and is actually a demon or creature of the like?”
“Because they might give way to information for identifying the possible offender,” Lucas replied as if I was some kind of stupid.
Jerk.
I sighed, pressing a hand to my face as I gazed out the window once more. “I hate dressing like a hoochie.”
“I will not dress you like a hoochie, as you so pleasantly put it,” Lucas said in the midst of laughter.
I had a hard time pouting when his rich laughter made me want to smile. Lucas was always serious. So when he actually enjoyed himself, it was as if he was another person entirely. I didn't mind if most o
f that laughter was at my expense as long as it was with me.
“What are you hoping to accomplish by tracking down the one that took her?” I asked.
“That the one who accosted her could be persuaded into telling me where the portal is,” Lucas replied seriously. “Or in the very least, where the arch-demon is.”
“How can they be persuaded?” I inquired curiously.
“I have my ways,” was all he replied.
The rest of the trip was quiet, mostly because I had fallen asleep. It had grown dark outside, and the stars were easy to make out in the sky. I wanted to get lost in my gaze, but I could see the lights of the city in the distance along the skyline, so I knew we were getting close.
Arcata wasn't much when you compared it to larger California cities; but in comparison to my little town, it had much more to offer. Trees collected in the area, some of the town being hidden away beneath them. As we came into the middle of town, the lights of the streets led us to the bustle of midtown. Lucas parked along the roadside near the shopping square.
“We should make it in time,” he said as he exited and rounded the car to let me out.
I would never get used to having the door opened for me.
We quickly made our way into one of the shops near where we had parked, choosing a black dress with matching shoes and accessories that I refused to wear but was coerced into putting on. I had to change in the store. And when I was finished, I was all legs and cleavage with very little dress. A part of me wondered if Lucas had done it on purpose because of my comment earlier.
Bastard.
I discarded the training attire I had first fashioned myself with, including the warm jacket because it didn't quite go with the cocktail dress. I shivered as I finished the task of saying goodbye to the comfy and hello to the hoochie.
Lucas shrugged off his coat and offered it to me. “I failed to remember a coat. I apologize.”
“Yeah, you forgot half a dress too,” I replied scathingly. “I definitely look like a hoochie.”
“You will certainly turn heads,” was his quick reply. “As you already have.”
Many of the onlookers on the sidewalk were ogling me at a distance. Can't blame them since I was wearing next to nothing in the middle of October. I'm pretty sure their gazes were of gross interest in the crazy woman who had dressed like a prostitute in their fine town of Arcata—courtesy of one Promiscus Guardian.
The midtown bar was just across the street. Many people were already gathered inside, the outside harboring a collection of the leaving and the coming. I guess there wasn't much else to do than get drunk on your nights off.
It was also our usual course of action. Nattie and I.
“I'm starting to think you did this on purpose,” I chattered as we crossed the street, Lucas having put his arm about my waist. The memory of it caused an unbidden warmth to spread through me.
Dear lord, help me get through this night relatively sane.
Several men eyed me as soon as we entered the bar but immediately hesitated in their gazes when they noticed Lucas at my side. I didn't blame them. No man could really compete in either looks or strength against Lucas.
Women of all ages, shapes, and sizes were ogling Lucas like he were a freshly cooked steak. They definitely wanted to tear into his Grade-A meat. I felt a sense of accomplishment that he was mine. Well, falsely mine anyway. Minor details.
Lucas led me to the bar, offering me a seat that was open, and stood stoutly beside me. A woman a few places down nearly choked on her drink at the sight of him. Super classy. I had to hold back the laughter bubbling inside me.
Lucas busied himself with the bartender, asking questions about the disappearance while I felt for the pulses in the room. Everyone was a faint pulse, alerting me to the fact that no one of any real power—save Lucas and I—were in the bar.
The man beside me had scooted a few inches closer, his eyes busy with my cleavage.
Jesus...
When his eyes met mine, he offered me a sheepish grin. “Nice dress you're wearing.”
“Thanks,” was all I could say as Lucas set a drink before me.
Whiskey sour. He might be an uptight jerk, but at least he knew how to get a girl a drink.
“Visiting town? I haven't seen you around here,” the pervert next to me continued in hopes he might ogle my cleavage a moment longer.
Sighing and knowing I was going to have to do my part, I turned to him with my best fake smile. It was a wasted effort because Pervert Joe wasn't even the least bit interested in my face. His eyes instead were very much still south for the winter.
“Yeah,” I replied sweetly. “I was stopping in on my way north, but someone told me a girl just disappeared here, so I'm a bit worried.”
That sounded innocent enough.
“Oh, you mean Brittany Gibson? Yeah, that happened just the other night,” he replied sadly. Guess he had liked her cleavage too. “Poor thing up and disappeared with some strange guy that we'd never seen in this town before. Probably some tourist. You don't have to worry your pretty self about it though. The police already have a name.”
Whoa, Pervert Joe turned out to be a gold mine!
“And that name would be?” I asked, leaning over to offer him a bit more motivation to be forthcoming with his information.
“I think they said his name was Robert...Robert...what was his last name,” he said while jostling his memory by the looks of it.
Seems my cleavage was giving him partial amnesia. An amazing accomplishment indeed for someone as out of practice as I.
A man behind him leaned over, his eyes also partaking in the visage of my ill-covered bosom, before he was offering his own input. “Robert Jones.”
“Right,” he said as if it had just come to him and not been offered by Pervert Tom beside him. “His name is Robert Jones. They think he may still be in town, but no one has seen him since poor Brittany disappeared.”
I'm awesome! Quick thinking cleavage. I might make an incredible detective one day.
Lucas was probably listening—vampire senses and all—so I turned towards him to find a smile on his lips. It was a telling sign that he had, in fact, heard it all.
He offered me his arm, leading me out of the bar and back to the car. Pervert Joe and Tom were immediately dismayed when they realized just who they were contending with. Poor Pervert Twins never stood a chance.
I was glad that something had resulted from me wearing this damnable dress because I could feel the icy wind right up my underside.
I slid into the passenger seat, my dress hiking up nearly to my panties as I did. I quickly pulled it down to its full length, about two inches more. I sighed melodramatically.
Definitely hoochie.
Lucas gracefully got into the car, turning the ignition, and pulling us out into the street once more. He drove a short distance to the local hotel. Or was it a motel? I wasn't really sure since it was well-kept, but not what one would envision a high-end hotel would look.
“Until we can locate this Robert Jones, we will remain in town,” Lucas proclaimed as we climbed out of his Ford F-250 Super Chief Concept.
Lucas had corrected me earlier when I called it a pickup truck, which it still was I'll have you know.
I wasn't eager to spend the night here, but I knew it was unavoidable. Still, I was tense at the prospect of sharing a room together. Although, we were basically living together currently. However, I always had Pavel as a buffer until today.
I followed behind Lucas, keeping my eyes on our surroundings. Anything to keep my thoughts occupied instead of focusing on where we were. The receptionist greeted us at the door, opening it with her best customer smile until she laid eyes on Lucas, and then she was a stumbling, babbling mess of a woman all the way to the front counter.
Really, it seemed he had this effect on all women he encountered. Not that I had been the exception. I was still stumbling a few days later.
“What can I do for you today,
sir?” she asked with the batting of her eyelashes.
She wore a little too much makeup in my opinion; but otherwise, she was rather attractive.
Damn.
Lucas didn't seem to notice as he requested a room with his deep British accent. I am pretty sure I caught her drooling as she typed in his information and took the payment. He wanted to pay in advance for several days which caused me to internally groan.
I was doomed if we stayed here a few days alone. I could only handle so much hottie, and I was nearly maxed out for the day. Let alone three additional days.
“Single or double, sir?” she asked, hope flittering through her moss-green eyes.
I could almost see the desperation for his answer flowing out of her. The subtle change in her essence also informed me of the change in her mood. She hoped I was his sister, or a lesbian, or maybe a distant relative that couldn't harbor affections of a sexual nature towards him.
Well, dream on.
“Single,” Lucas replied smoothly.
My jaw nearly dropped to the floor. I stepped ahead of him, placing my palms flatly on the counter before firmly stating, “Double. He means double.”
“Pet,” I heard him say as he lined his body with mine, pressing them together as he hovered from behind. “No need to be shy,” his deep baritone echoed in my ear, renewing the just-below-the-surface lust I harbored for him.
He then gave the receptionist what I was sure to be a love-inducing smile before adding, “We shall only require a single. Isn't that right, love?”
Oh, he was so getting it when we got to the room!
I was choking on my words as I returned the smile, albeit a bit forcefully due to the withheld curses I desired to be screaming at him right now.
“You're right, honey,” I responded with a sweet, venom-laced endearment.
Poor little receptionist. She was pale and all kinds of hopeless as her dreams of one Tall, Dark, and Handsome went up in flames.
She handed us the key, her hands trembling, whether with sadness or excess excitement, I'll never know. I took it, giving her another smile before leading the way to our very single hotel room.
As we passed through the hallway, I turned towards the man evoking my current rage with a glare.