Samuel, the man we’d met in the restaurant yesterday, was leading his protest in the lobby between the restaurant and one of the meeting halls for the furry events. They were even singing hymns and little songs about how evil the furry convention was. I caught sight of a few of the buttons on their suits. They all said The One True Baptist Church: Pensacola Florida. I looked around for his wife and daughter, but they were nowhere to be seen. Apparently even they have limits to how much crazy they’ll put up with. Here he was protesting furries for being heavily homosexual, and here he has a daughter that is proud to be gay. What wires got twisted together in his jacked up brain to make him such a complete asshat? I felt so bad for his kid; she didn’t deserve anything like this.
“I’m so glad Niki and Danika stayed upstairs. Seeing this would have driven them batshit crazy.” Penny whispered.
I nodded and we tried to walk past them without drawing any attention to ourselves. Of course even with the glamour that makes it so people don’t recognize us, Penny still looks like a lingerie model with sexiness turned up to eleven. So slipping by unnoticed was doomed from the start. One of Samuel’s followers walked up and tried to hand us both pamphlets. We respectfully declined, the last thing we needed was to start some argument in the lobby.
“You must confront the sin, and then if the sinner does not change its ways…drive out the sinner.” The man spoke, and I recognized his voice. Oh my God! He was “Dorothy” from last night. Immediately I felt my face get hot. I knew I was red as a beet, but all I could think of was the “Cowardly Lion” pounding into him and singing that stupid song. Then I looked over, and there they all were. The “Tin Man” was holding a sign that said Furries Burn In Hell, “Scarecrow” was handing out pamphlets on the evils of homosexuality, and “Cowardly Lion” was standing with what I assumed were his wife and kids singing some horribly jacked up hymn about queers being the coal that fuels the fires of hell.
“Holy shit!” I immediately covered my mouth. My face was burning from the embarrassment of just being around these freaking hypocrites. I try very hard to be a good role model for my sisters, and so I really have been working on avoiding foul language, but sometimes only a four letter word can adequately explain how incredibly…fucked up something is. The worst part is that I couldn’t really say anything without admitting how I knew.
I averted my eyes and shuffled into the restaurant. “Dorothy” called back after me, “You can’t ignore their sin. God will punish them, and those that tolerate such disgusting behavior.”
I shuffled a little faster, and Penny followed me to a table. “What was that all about? You looked ready to run for your life.”
I explained who several of the protesters were, and Penny began snorting with laughter, “Oh my God! This is just awesome. Please tell me that you’ve got this recorded because I think we just found a way to be the hit of the convention.”
“No, I was recording the signal feed, but not the actual video. I was trying to have record of it so that I could track where it went, but whatever trapped Janine fried all those cameras.”
“How is she, anyway?”
“She’s adapting to it pretty well. You know Janine; everything with her is a potential adventure. She figured out how to take advantage of the computer’s hardware and software last night. She and Grim are working together to figure out what else she might be able to do.”
“So is he really okay?”
“He’s doing fine, he just wanted time to work with Janine, and try to figure out where to go from here. Now have you figured out what you want? I’m having the ham and cheese omelet, with maybe some crunchy bacon and some waffles with butter and maple syrup.”
Penny shrugged, “I’m still not fed well enough to eat solid food yet, so maybe just a milkshake.”
“I’m sorry about that, but I promise if the armor sells, then we’ll use some of the profits to build ourselves a full lab, and I’ll restart the cloning process so that you’ll have fresh blood up to your eyeballs.”
A smile slid across Penny’s face, “Mmmm, you sure know how to sweet talk a girl.” Great, only a vampire would consider an endless supply of blood the romantic equivalent of flowers and a box of candy.
However, with that realization in mind I couldn’t help myself, I leaned over the table to give Penny a glance at the twins, “And just think. This time I don’t have requirements on what the clone has to be. You want A? AB? B? O? I’ll be able to whip you up someone with that blood type in no time. You want Asian? Italian? Man? Woman? You tell me what you want, and I’ll be able to give you whatever your vampy little heart desires.”
There was a distinct clicking sound as if something just snapped into place. Then suddenly Penny covered her mouth, “Oh, this is so embarrassing.”
Her fangs had snapped out. I tried not to laugh, I really did, but seeing her acting like a teenager trying to hide his erection in front of a girl was just too much. I started laughing, and just couldn’t stop.
“It’s not funny.” Penny snapped, but I could see her fangs hanging down in her mouth every time it opened, and knowing she still had a “vampire stiffy” was just too much. Before long my ribs were aching, and tears were streaming down my face. Thank God the waiter showed up when he did, or I’d have started snorting.
We made our orders, and then Penny was disturbingly quiet while we waited on the food. I tried striking up a conversation with her, but she really was keeping to herself. I think part of it was her trying to get her fangs to fold back into her mouth, and part of it was that she was trying to get control of the situation. So I was relieved when my big plate of yummy breakfast goodness was put down in front of me. I started to take a bite when she said, “You really shouldn’t tease me like this. I might just take you up on it.”
I nearly choked on my omelet, but I was able to swallow it without Penny realizing that she’d caught me off guard. Oh well, fine, two can play this game. I waited until she had sipped up a mouthful of milkshake and then cooed, “Baby you haven’t even begun to see teasing yet.”
Penny froze, and a little bit of the chocolate milkshake ran down from her lip onto her chin. I reached over and with my finger I wiped the chocolate off her face and then sucked on my finger as seductively as I could manage. “Yummy, I just love how you taste.”
*SNAP* The distinct sound of her fangs slapping into their full and upright position broke the moment. She’d popped another vamp-boner on me. Twice in one meal, it was hilarious. She looked so stressed. I’m pretty sure that given half a chance she would have dragged me caveman style back up to one of the rooms and made me pay for this, but the best part was that in this crowd there was nothing she could do about it. Oh I was definitely going to have fun with this.
For the rest of the meal I teased her. I’d wait until she had another mouthful of ice cream and then run my foot up the inside of her leg. I always stayed below the knee. It was just enough to get her attention, but not so much that I had to worry about her throwing me on the floor and ravishing me right there in front of the other customers. Although a couple of times I think she probably seriously considered it…I know I sure did.
Then we were off. Penny tried to talk me into going upstairs because she’d “forgotten something”. It was a nice trick, but I was pretty sure what she thought she forgot was to pin me to a bed and turn me into her own personal amusement park. So I directed us to the furry convention instead.
We did arts and crafts, saw amazing fur suits. Some of these people had real artistic talent. There were different kinds of fur suits. Some were made to look as realistic as possible. A few wolf fur suits could have passed as Danika’s cousins. Then there were the more cartoonish fur suits. Penny loved those. She practically flung herself at them every chance she got. I kept taking pictures of her with all these furries. She was grinning from ear to ear. I think for once Penny just forgot about vampires and survival, and all that other stuff that clutters up her head. Instead she was just enjoying th
e moment, and with each click of my camera phone, I found myself falling more and more in love with this side of my little vampire.
Of course, every chance I got I teased her. Either by pressing up against her to get through a crowd, touching her when she wasn’t expecting it, or getting just a little too close for her comfort. I even made it a point to give her big hugs where I could push my chest against her. Momma said, if you got it flaunt it. Well, I was flaunting the twins like their warranties were about to expire. By the time we made it to the artist alley, she was whimpering and looking back at me with sad puppy eyes that were begging me to take her upstairs and let her play with me. It was just adorable, and it made me feel so…powerful. I felt in charge, and I’ve never felt that way before. I’ve never had a guy drooling over me the way Penny was, and all I had to do was be aggressive. So I had to keep pushing the envelope.
We got split up for a few minutes. I figured I should give her at least a little cool down while I decided on my next move. My inner diva decided now was a time to really strut my stuff, and so I made a couple of phone calls. When I made my way back towards her she was standing at a table surrounded by a half dozen people. Penny was distracted by the little stuffed animals piled onto the table. She really has a thing for all things cute and cuddly. I edged up behind her. It was so noisy in here that I was pretty sure Penny couldn’t have kept track of where I had moved in the room. Normally, she’d use her hearing to echolocate me. In fact, she probably did know where everything was in this room in general, but with all the noise, there was no way she could have tracked me around the artist alley.
I got right behind her and cupped her hip. I felt her stiffen just slightly. She was ready to spin around and tear me apart. So I leaned in and whispered, “See anything you want?”
Penny nodded, and stiffened even more. She was visibly shaken by my aggressive antics. I gripped her hip and pulled her back against me. “I think I see something I want, too.”
“EEP!” Penny actually squeaked. It was all I could do not to laugh. She was frazzled beyond reason. I was running the show, and she loved every second of it.
“Show me what you want.” I said it, and then realized that perhaps I should have been a little more specific because Penny began grinding her booty against me. It was subtle, and no one around us noticed, but the sneaky little minx almost turned the tables on me right then and there.
“Behave yourself or Momma spank.” I whispered into her ear. Penny immediately stopped moving, but even in the din of noise I heard her fangs snap out again. Wow, I really did have the little neck biter wrapped around my finger.
“Now, show me what you have in your hand.” My voice took on a demanding tone.
Penny lifted up the little stuffed skunk. It looked like a match for Dr. Fluffenstein. It was a tiny purple skunk in a nurse’s outfit. It even had tiny plush boobies. It was a perfect match of sexy and perverted adorableness.
“Do you want it?” I asked, and Penny nodded.
“Say, please.” My voice had possessiveness in it that I wasn’t used to, but I was certainly willing to try.
“Please.” Penny’s voice was breathy and nervous.
I stepped around her and bought the little skunk. It was way too expensive for what it was, but I was enjoying this so much that I just had to pick it up. I turned back around and took Penny by the arm, “I think it’s time I took you back upstairs, don’t you?”
“Yes, please!” Penny said frantically. She looked ready to do cartwheels as I guided her back to the elevator. We stepped into the elevator with a crowd. I put Penny into the back corner where no one could see what I was up to, and then pressed up shoulder to shoulder with her. No one else in the elevator saw my hand rubbing and kneading her derriere.
As we went up the people left. Finally it was just Penny and me. She turned and started to lean in to kiss me, and as much as I wanted to let her, I decided that torturing her was more fun. I grabbed her hair and gave it a firm yank, “Did I tell you that you could move?”
“But…” Penny whimpered, and it wasn’t from fear. She wanted me. Penny was actually beside herself with lust.
“No back talk! “ I spun her around and gave her bottom a firm crack with my hand. I was worried that she wouldn’t handle this very well, or that I might upset her. Instead she bent over and put both hands on the wall.
“Please…don’t…stop.” She actually wiggled her butt as if she was trying to invite another spanking. So I gave it another pop. My hand stung a little, but Penny squealed with delight. She wiggled her bottom again. She was begging for another smack on the bottom, but I still had plans for the evening, and so I needed to be firm with her.
I gave her hair a tug and ordered, “Now behave yourself until we get to the sun room. Then I have a surprise for you.”
Penny’s head bobbled up and down like a kid’s toy. She didn’t even question that we were headed to Danika and Niki’s room. Right now she would have done anything I asked. The elevator dinged and we went to the sun room. When we got there I opened the door and shooed her inside.
I followed her in, and saw confusion etch itself across her face. “What’s all this?” She asked.
“We have a dance tonight, and if we’re all going out tonight, then we should look our best. So for the rest of the day, I hired the hotel’s spa to give us all a complete makeover and massage. They’ll do our hair, nails, and basically anything that needs doing to make us look our best tonight.” I smiled.
“But…the surprise.” Penny was deflated. This was definitely not what she had in mind.
I leaned in and whispered, “I want you looking your best for tonight.”
“To…night?” Penny looked at me.
“Yes, I want you looking your best when I drag you back up here and have my way with you. Now go tell the nice men how you want them to do your makeup.” I was about to give her a smack on the butt, and then I saw Niki and Danika. I stopped myself immediately. Playing with Penny like this in front of them just felt wrong. It wasn’t that I was ashamed. It was more that Penny tried so hard to be the confident, hardcore vamp that bossed people around, and playing with her like this might embarrass her in front of our friends. So I leaned in and hugged her. “I don’t want to upset you, and I want to keep doing this, but not in front of our friends. I don’t want to do anything that embarrasses you in front of them.”
Penny turned around and gave me a hug that almost cut off my air. There’s a point when all hugs eventually become awkward, and we crossed that point three times over. When she finally pulled back, she whispered, “Thank you. I don’t think I could have ever looked them in the eyes again if we kept this up in front of them.” She really appreciated it.
“No sweat. Hey, there’s bedroom behavior, and not bedroom behavior. If this is how you want to handle things, then that’s fine by me.” I grinned.
“Thank you.” Penny turned and headed towards the nearest masseuse.
Chapter 24
We were all propped up in our comfy chairs. Even Grim had dropped by and joined in. Our hair was washed, and now we each had a hairstylist giving each of us a more modern do. On top of that we were each getting a manicure and a pedicure. We even talked Grim into it. Our masseuses had left about twenty minutes ago. We were still a little bit from the final product, but just glancing around I already knew we were going to be looking good. I just wish Katy could have joined in, but she was down with her family.
“I have to say, you guys really give great service. I didn’t expect to see so many of you when I scheduled this, and I was really surprised that you could drop everything and do this right now.” I was trying to compliment them, but the more I talked the more uneasy they got.
“What? Did I say something wrong?” I asked.
The staff wouldn’t even make eye contact with me. Grim noticed it too. They were trying to avoid talking about something. Grim smiled and said, “Hey, we aren’t going to get upset and leave, but we like knowing wha
t’s going on. Okay, I have an extra hundred for whoever gives me the skinny on what’s going on around here.”
His pedicurist, a woman with a mole on her forehead that looked like it was growing a mustache, was the first one to jump in and talk, “About three hundred people came down with food poisoning from the furry convention. That protest group pissed and ran off about another hundred and fifty of our customers. They’d have been sent packing too, but that asshole leading them has some kind of court order letting them protest. On top of that people keep complaining about ghosts. This hotel is only ten years old. Unless ghosts can roam around, these people are just trying to get out of paying. Plus, one of our employees died here last night, and that didn’t exactly encourage people to stay. So this has been a pretty dead weekend. You guys are the first people that have asked for us.”
“That’s pretty rough.” Grim smiled, he was laying on the charm.
“Yeah, if that wasn’t bad enough, all of us have taken a pay cut to keep this place afloat.”
“Why? What happened?” I asked.
“A bunch of our maintenance men died earlier this year. A generator was left on for some reason, and it built up carbon monoxide in the room. Someone called in a loud noise complaint, and the desk sent a maintenance man down to check it. When the maintenance man didn’t show back up, the desk sent another, and another until eight of them had been sent. Of course they were dead as soon as they walked into the room.”
“That’s terrible. So what happened?” Danika started to sit up, but her hairstylist pushed her back into the chair.
Midnight Squad: The Ties That Bind Page 40