La Luxure: Discover Your Blood Lust

by Cd Hussey

  Two, maybe three songs had passed and the sweat was beginning to follow the curves of her body. Julia was so engrossed in a rendition of "Personal Jesus" that when Mike stepped right in front of her, she actually jumped back startled.

  "Let's get the fuck out of here," he said, grabbing Beth's arm.

  She jerked away. "No thanks. I'm having a good time."

  "Fine. Well, I'm out."

  Beth's sigh was so loud, Julia heard it over the vibrating bass line. "Just give me a fucking second, okay."

  "I'll be outside. Don't take too long." Mike didn't even glance at Julia as he shoved past her.

  "Is everything okay?" she asked Beth.

  The blond rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Yeah, it's fine. He's just being his usual asshole self. Same story, different day."

  "I'm sorry."

  "Oh, it's okay. We'll get back to the hotel, he'll have another beer and forget the whole thing."

  At first, Julia was appalled. But it only took a few moments before she remembered all the times that Jeff had brooded his way out of social activities, and how many times she'd reluctantly left with him, doing her best to soothe whatever injustice he felt he'd been served.

  "Well, I hope everything works out." It was a lie. She actually hoped Beth dumped Mike and moved on. "I enjoyed hanging out with you."

  Beth hugged her. The gesture felt surprisingly natural. "Me too. And I'll try to get Dave to leave with us."

  "Thanks."

  Beth joined Dave who was standing like a rigid, arm-crossed statue near the stairs. Julia caught Armand's eye as he lounged at the edge of the swarming dance floor. He was easy to spot, and not just because he was tall. Her eyes were drawn to him and she liked seeing him waiting for her. Even if he did turn out to be dangerous, she no longer cared. The butterflies that danced through her stomach at the anticipation of merely standing next to him were worth any risk.

  He held out her beer as she approached.

  "Thanks," she said.

  "Everything alright with your colleagues?"

  "I guess. Mike's insisting they leave. I feel bad."

  "Isn't that what you wanted?"

  "Yes, but I hate that Beth is caught in the middle. My ex was like Mike and no one should have to put up with that bullshit."

  Julia was surprised by the ease words flew from her mouth whenever she was around Armand. When she'd first met him, she attributed it to nervousness, but she no longer thought that was the case. Maybe it was the attentive way he listened, or the booze in her blood, but there was something about him that made it easy for her to share her thoughts.

  "Don't worry. She's ready to leave him."

  "How do you know?"

  He shrugged. "Instinct."

  "You're good at reading people," she noted. It was another of his skills most likely attributed to his special breed of human.

  "I do own a bar. It comes with the business."

  She waited for his wink, but when it never appeared, she took a drink instead.

  "You realize you're an exquisite dancer," he murmured suddenly in her ear.

  She nearly inhaled the beer in her mouth, coughing in a rather unattractive way. With a grin that covered his face, he patted her back. "It helps if you swallow that."

  Giving him a sidelong glance, she wiped the edge of her mouth with her thumb. "Hmmm, well, thanks."

  "Where did you learn?"

  "College, but apparently they didn't teach me well enough. I must've failed Beer Bong 101. Oddly enough, I don't recall."

  "It is a difficult subject," he replied. "And what about the dancing?"

  It was refreshing that he was able to pick up so quickly on her joke. None of the guys she ever dated got her humor. "Clare. Or rather the classes she drags me to. You're looking at two years of belly dance, 6 months of burlesque, a few months of flamenco, and one rather grueling month of hula hoop, which is much harder than it looks."

  "I imagine."

  "I still take the belly dance classes even though Clare got bored with them last year. It's one of the most freeing forms of dance I've ever taken. It just feels good."

  "It shows. You move beautifully."

  The intense sincerity of his words surprised her. All joking and sexual innuendo aside, it was a truly heart-felt compliment. "Thank you."

  The music switched and she couldn't help her hips from moving to the surging bass line of a band she'd never hear from a source other than her computer. "Oh my God, Puscifer!" The words, I love this song! almost leapt from her mouth but thankfully, she wasn't quite that drunk.

  He laughed. "Go. Dance."

  She already was. Her chest popped in time, rolling and lifting with the drums. "Will you join me?"

  "Watching you is temptation enough."

  "Please?"

  A growl erupted somewhere deep in his throat. "Put your doe eyes away," he said into her ear. "Begging will only get us both into trouble. I'll be right over there." He gestured towards the far corner of the dance floor.

  She decided not to read too much into his lack of desire to dance with her, focusing instead on letting the rhythm tell her body how to move. It wasn't a difficult task, the abundant amount of liquor swimming through her veins, and the quality of music the bar played, fueled a dance frenzy she'd never quite experienced.

  Armand had moved to a high-backed chair overlooking the dance floor. Like a king observing his subjects, he watched over the dancers with his unnerving gaze. She was often his focus, but instead of being embarrassed by the attention, she felt empowered and sexy.

  After a while, another vampire type joined him. He was an exceptionally good-looking man, with long, waist length, straight, jet black hair. His iridescent eyes were lined in black, his lips painted red, and long, black fingernails topped neatly folded hands in his lap. He reminded her of Blaise Carmichael.

  She considered joining them, curious to learn about the other vampire, but whenever she happened to glance their way, the conversation looked intense. The stranger spoke directly into Armand's ear while Armand stared straight ahead with a dark, impassive expression. It wasn't a conversation she cared to interrupt.

  When trickles of sweat started running between her breasts, the cool outside air - and the ladies room - called to her.

  It wasn't difficult to get Armand's attention. The minute she thought hard about him, his gaze swung to meet hers. Instead of trying to push through the masses of people to get to him, she fanned herself furiously with both hands, and then pointed towards the exit.

  He nodded and mouthed, I'll be right out. She replied with a smile and headed for the stairs. As enjoyable as working up a sweat on the dance floor had been, she was ready to see where the rest of the evening was headed.

  * * *

  With a bit of longing, Armand watched Julia weave through the crowd and disappear down the stairs. He was anxious to join her, anxious to privately enjoy her company away from her colleagues, away from The Cell. But he first needed to finish the conversation with his neighbor, the famed artist Lohr Varius. He owed Eve that much for the disservice he'd done her.

  "Is that your Doll for the evening?" Lohr asked, following Armand's line of sight. "She is very pretty."

  It took a great deal of effort for Armand to wipe the disdain from his expression before turning back to Lohr. "She is my date, yes. For more than just an evening I hope." It was important that Armand claimed Julia. Marking her as his territory would help keep creeps like Lohr away from her.

  "Ah, I see." Lohr stared towards the stairwell, his pale eyes thoughtful. "You and I are more similar than you think," he said, slowly returning his gaze to Armand.

  Besides being prominent figures within the Sang Community, Armand could think of very few similarities between them. Lohr was a notorious Grazer, and his cravings ran deeper and darker than most. Still, Armand forced his tone to be neutral when he replied, "How so?"

  "We prefer our pets pure. Clean. Simple. Without drugs or excessive emotional bag
gage tainting their blood."

  Armand held his tongue and let Lohr continue. He needed to hear the rest of what the other man knew about Eve, and arguing with him now wasn't going to facilitate that.

  "But they are difficult to find and even harder to capture. But oh are they fun to play with." Lohr's grin was sadistic and sly. "It is one of the reasons I'm considering a permanent gallery here in New Orleans. The pool of willing Donors is vastly superior."

  It was time to change the subject. "So, what were you saying about the Forever Dark Ball on Saturday?"

  "Ah, yes. Eve. She was everyone's Blood-Doll that night. I'm sorry I missed it."

  "The woman is dead, you know."

  "I know. I'm sorry I missed that too."

  Armand knew his face revealed the full extent of his surging anger, especially when Lohr laughed. It was a breathy sort of chuckle. "Easy my friend, I was merely joking. I am sorry she met her end. Victims are almost as fun as Virgins." He slid smoothly from the perched chair. "I'm afraid I cannot help you, Armand. I've told you the extent of my knowledge. And since my flight didn't land until Monday evening, what I've repeated is nothing more than hearsay."

  Armand fought to keep his tone cordial. "Of course. Thank you for your assistance."

  "I'd let it go if I were you. The death of a Victim is hardly anything to lose sleep over." With a smug smirk, Lohr fell back into the crowd.

  Pushing the second wave of disgust to his core, Armand let his head fall back against the back of the plush, velvet padding, and stared blankly at the exposed air ducts on the ceiling. Even if the conversation had proven fruitless, he was relieved the other man left. One more disturbing comment and Armand might have lost it. But his frustration over the lack of information about Eve - not only from Lohr, but from everyone he'd spoken to at The Cell - wasn't justification to start abusing the more eccentric Community members, no matter how much they deserved it.

  With a deep breath, he shoved everything aside and focused on more important matters. Downstairs right now, Julia was waiting for him.

  Chapter Eleven

  As soon as Julia stepped off the last step onto the ground level, and Armand was safely out of sight, Dave swooped in. He was like a hyena waiting for the lion to have his fill. Julia, the hapless Zebra, had been happy to let the lion feast on her. She wasn't so keen on hyenas.

  "I thought you left with Mike and Beth."

  "What are you doing?" he asked instead.

  "Um, trying to pee?"

  "I mean with Armand. What are you doing with him? You can't possibly be interested in a guy like that?"

  "I can't?"

  "A woman like you doesn't go for his type."

  "I don't? Huh. That's a funny statement considering you just met me 3 days ago. How can you possibly know what I'm interested in?"

  "C'mon Julia. You're an engineer. He probably works in a tattoo shop or liquor store or something." He might as well have suggested Armand was a convicted felon.

  She shook her head in disgust. "My sister works in a tattoo shop."

  For the first time, he realized he was pissing her off. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it." Yeah, right. "I just thought...I mean...you and I, we make sense. This guy," he jabbed his thumb towards the dance floor upstairs. "I get it. You have a New Orleans fling, live out some fantasy of being with a tattooed, Emo guy. Then what? Not only do you live in completely different states, but you come from two different worlds. You and I on the other hand, have the same profession, we live fairly close...it just works. He's a loser Julia. Can't you see that?"

  "No."

  "What can you possibly have in common with him?"

  "Does it matter?"

  "Yes. You need someone that can match you, intellectually and professionally, not some loser douche-bag."

  Julia didn't have a reply she cared to utter, so she remained silent, her eyebrows reaching for the ceiling.

  "I wish you could see what a great fit we are," Dave went on. "I don't meet many women like you..."

  "That's funny, Dave, because I meet guys like you every day." She hadn't intended on turning into such a bitch, but at this point, she was kind of drunk, she desperately needed to pee, and he'd angered her enough that she no longer cared. "Look, you're a nice guy, and I enjoyed hanging out with you and your friends, but maybe it's time for you to leave. This isn't your type of place anyway."

  "You're actually going to blow me off to fuck some freakoid?"

  "Well, that would be the perfect ending to this evening." Any attempt at not being a bitch was discarded.

  "Unbelievable. If I'd realized you were such a freak chasing slut, I would have never wasted my time talking to you."

  What an asshole. Thank God circumstances had progressed the way they had, otherwise she might have ended up with him and wasted one more year of her life in another horrible relationship.

  "Is everything alright over here?" the doorman Armand had called Kindle asked. He was a big, muscular man, and his deep brown eyes focused on Dave with contempt. There was an undeniable menace to his posture that couldn't be construed as anything but threatening.

  Puffed up like a rooster, Dave didn't look ready to back down, and the bouncer coming over only angered him more. Dave may have pissed her off, but Julia still didn't want to read about his blood-drained body in the paper tomorrow, and she had to assume Kindle was also a vampire. "Everything's fine. My friend was just leaving. Really Dave, you need to go."

  "Yeah. Fine. Whatever." His exit reminded her of a teenager storming from the room. If he could have slammed the door on the way out, she was pretty sure he would have.

  She turned to Kindle. "Thanks."

  He inclined his head. "Of course."

  After a very satisfying trip to the bathroom, Julia finally stepped into the welcoming quiet and cool air of the small courtyard. A few smokers huddled in a corner, the scent of cloves and tobacco hanging in the air. A couple was engaged in some pretty heavy petting on a bench near the fountain. The raucous sound of partying from Bourbon St. floated on the night air, but the courtyard was otherwise peaceful, and Julia was thankful to feel the sweat drying on her skin.

  "So you must be Armand's new toy." A voice said from out of nowhere.

  Julia froze as the guy she'd first seen at Luxure, the same guy that had spooked her on the street yesterday, stalked towards her from a darkened corner. Slowly, he circled her like a cat playing with its mouse, his eyes covering every detail of her body. When he'd absorbed all 360º of her, he leaned in close and breathed deeply. His long, colorful dreads slipped off his shoulder, scratching her cheek with their rough texture as they brushed across her face.

  "You have the best scent," he said, calling every goose bump she possessed to attention. As he pulled back, a sly smirk spread across his face. His teeth were like Armand's, bright white with long, sharp canines. She grimaced. Unlike Armand's smooth fangs, his had none of the appeal and all of the danger.

  "O negatives usually smell good, sweet. But you," he sniffed her again, pausing to savor the experience before continuing. "You smell especially tasty. Almost like lilacs." He ran a finger down her neck. His nails were long and sharp. "I can see why Armand likes you."

  She was completely frozen. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe. A few scattered thoughts bumbled around in her brain, but her mind was otherwise blank and completely worthless. If she could have managed the command to make her feet move, she would have made a run for it. But nothing moved. Even her heart had stopped beating.

  "Aren't you the lucky one," he added, the words heavy with sarcasm. "Usually, Armand thinks he's too good for most Donors."

  "Get away from her, Darus."

  Relieved to hear Armand's menacing purr, Julia released her breath in a rush.

  With a smirk and low snicker, Darus took a step away, and Julia was finally able to resume normal breathing. Gently, Armand took her arm and pulled her behind him. She didn't resist and felt 100 times better with his huge back shi
elding her from the man who'd given her the creeps long before she knew what he really was.

  "I've never known you to be so protective of a Donor before. Besides her amazing scent, what makes her so special?"

  "All members of our community deserve protection, especially Donors," Armand told him.

  Finally, Julia's brain began working again. Donors must be the humans who willingly fed the vampires. Remembering Angel and her companions, it made perfect sense. Each vampire probably had a human they regularly fed from.

  "Always the Community's watchdog, aren't you Armand?"

  "Just stay away from Julia. She is not a Donor," Armand told him, ignoring the comment.

  Darus fixed his brown eyes on Julia. "Guess it isn't your lucky day after all."

  A wave of disappointment washed over her, even though she wasn't 100% sure she wanted to donate or not.

  "Come see me if he doesn't give you what you're looking for," Darus said.

  "Thanks, but I'm good."

  Darus' gaze swung back to Armand. "So what's wrong with this one? With all the tail constantly throwing themselves at you, you'd think one would be good enough."

  "Very rarely."

  "Fuck, you're an arrogant prick," Darus spat. And then he wiped the anger from his face, replaced it with a smug smile, and shrugged. "Oh well, just more for me. It's your loss. You don't know what you're missing. Like that Eve, she was something else."

  Armand's entire body went rigid, and the chords on his neck lifted a good three inches. "What did you do to her?" The growl that grated from somewhere deep in his throat was truly terrifying.

  "Let's just say I gave her exactly what she was begging for."

  Armand moved so quickly, he was a barely a blur. His body was a freight train as he tackled the other man, slamming him against the wall. "You son of a bitch," he roared, lifting Darus by the collar and tossing him across the courtyard like a rag doll.

  Darus had barely risen to his feet when Armand backhanded him, sending him spiraling into the wall again. With inhuman speed, Armand attacked, clamping his hand around Darus' throat and slowly lifting.