by K. A. Linde
“Where have you brought me?” she whispered to him.
His gaze was hot on her body, and when she turned to face him, she found him gazing at her exposed throat. He licked his lips with an appetite that he never showed. His free arm ran along the back of her chair, and he leaned in to whisper in her ear.
“Exactly where you wanted to be.”
“Is this a…a blood brothel?” Reyna asked.
“Precisely,” Beckham said into the hollow of her throat.
Reyna was both terrified and…intrigued by the prospect of a blood brothel. The girl hardly looked willing, standing up there shaking like a leaf, but she didn’t try to run or cry out. Did that make her little more than a prostitute?
Reyna sighed softly at the thought. How was she any different? Take away the penthouse and the one man show, and in the end, it was all the same thing. It made her uncomfortable to consider, but there was nothing she could do about it. She was lucky she was here rather than on the stage. It made her wonder how people ended up at a brothel rather than working for Visage. An even scarier thought was that Visage could own the brothel. Nothing seemed out of the realm of possibility.
But it was hard to concentrate on the girl on the stage with Beckham so near. He hadn’t moved from his position with his mouth hovering at her throat. And while she didn’t encourage him, she didn’t discourage him either. She knew she should push him away, but the environment…and her traitorous body…dictated otherwise.
She tried to concentrate on the stage instead.
Two men walked out of the backstage and reached for the girl. One pushed her hair off of her face, revealing that she wasn’t quite as young as Reyna had originally thought. Probably early twenties. The guy on her right had short dark hair and he pressed his lips to her mouth tentatively. But the guy on the left with shoulder-length blond hair grabbed the girl from the other guy and kissed her with vigor. Then he shoved her to her knees, pulled his enormous cock from his shorts, and pushed it against her lips.
Her whimper could be heard through the audience, but she opened her mouth and took the whole thing in. After a few seconds of her bobbing back and forth against him, he grabbed her head and started fucking her mouth until she was left gagging and short of breath. She doubled over and coughed.
The other guy seemed to take pity on her and lifted her into his arms. He carried her to the bed and lay her tenderly down with her legs toward the audience. He pulled the white thong over her hips and then tossed it onto the stage floor for dramatic effect. He fell to his knees before her and started licking her until her cries were almost violent in nature.
Reyna pressed her legs together under the table. She had never watched anything like this before, and as…degrading as it was, the girl seemed to be enjoying herself. It was quite obvious that the two men were enjoying themselves. Half of the people in the audience were already enjoying themselves. She couldn’t help but get hot at the thought of doing those things with Beckham, and the exhibition aspect only heightened her desire.
“Reyna,” Beckham groaned into her ear, “you are so turned on.”
“I…I’m not,” she whispered back.
He dropped the hand he had been holding, slid his under the table, and pushed her legs open. The table hid what he was doing, but she couldn’t help but flush from head to toe. He pushed his hand up to her black lace underwear and pressed against the material.
“I can smell you,” he insisted. “Are you sure?”
“Why don’t you find out,” she dared him.
He slid the material aside and rubbed against her slick, sensitive skin. She bit her lip to keep from groaning. Then he easily slipped two fingers inside of her and stroked in and out.
She leaned forward into the table and let her mouth pop open. Holy shit!
No one was paying them any attention, but Beckham was fingering her in a club while there were people onstage having sex.
She tried to focus back on the stage…anything to keep from crying out from an orgasm. The guy had positioned himself at the woman’s opening and started fucking her. The blond male was now seated with his cock on her face, slapping it around, and then roughly shoving it into her mouth.
Reyna shook from Beckham’s fingers and had to close her eyes. His teeth grazed her neck.
“Open your eyes,” he told her. “You won’t want to miss this.”
She peeled her eyes open as a male and a female vampire slinked gracefully onto the stage. The man wore black dress slacks and nothing else. The woman was in a black spandex leotard and thigh-high leather boots. She pushed the blond man aside easily, and he took a few steps and started pumping his hand on his cock.
The woman leaned over, smiled sweetly, and then sank her fangs into the girl’s throat without warning. At first the girl screamed, silencing everything else in the room, and then she was abruptly cut off into moans of delicious pleasure.
The first man lost it inside of her at her shrieks, and the male vampire replaced him. He lifted the girl’s legs in the air and then punctured the vein in her inner thigh that Beckham had teased Reyna about the other night.
Reyna’s own blood pumped fiercely at this point, and she knew she was close to her own climax. She could barely keep from coming undone immediately as Beckham swirled his thumb around her clit.
“Stop making this so hard,” Beckham groaned.
“What?” she asked, reaching her hand and placing it purposely on his erection.
His hand stopped moving for a second as she grasped him, but he didn’t stop her. “Staying away from you.”
“You want me, Becks. I’m yours,” she said hoarsely. “Just choose me.”
Reyna squeezed him again just as the woman onstage let loose another violent scream. The male vampire was now buried inside of her as the blood from her wounds ran across her pale skin and over the white lingerie. The vampire woman licked down the girl’s chest as the second man came up behind her and started fucking her.
“Reyna,” Beckham groaned and the sound did her in. She lost control as wave after wave of sweet ecstasy ravaged her body. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes. This was everything. Dear God! Her body shook with the force of her orgasm and she had to wait until her breathing steadied again before she could open her eyes.
Once she was still again and Beckham had removed his hand, she reached her own hand between her legs and slicked her finger. She pushed the wet finger up to his lips temptingly.
“Do you see what you do to me? Taste me,” she demanded. He slid the finger into his mouth and sucked her. “That’s yours.”
“Fuck,” he said as he released her.
“Yes, exactly,” she said. “That’s exactly what I want.”
Beckham and Reyna stared at each other as the couples onstage finished their performance. There was a charged minute before Beckham turned back to the stage. Reyna felt dejected at his lack of response. She knew he wanted her. He had proven it just then, and yet he still turned her aside. He still refused to choose her.
Madame Dee walked back onstage to a round of applause from the captivated audience. “Thank you, everyone,” she said, sweeping her hand to the participants. “Thank you. You are all free to use your participation cards as you see fit.”
“Well, that was the best performance I’ve ever seen,” Rowland said, turning to face them. “I’d say you two enjoyed it.”
Reyna averted her gaze and prayed she wasn’t as red as she felt. All she wanted was to disappear with Beckham and figure this out or fuck it out. At this point she didn’t even care. She was so desperate for him she was considering pushing people off of the stage bed to take him.
“Come along, darling,” Cassandra said to Felix. “I have someone I’m dying for you to meet.”
They disappeared from the crowd and then Reyna was left alone with Beckham, Row
land, and Sophie. Sophie looked impatient, but even she seemed to realize that this was a place of vampire control.
“Ah, there you are!” Rowland said, standing. “I’d wondered if you were going to come after all.”
Reyna dragged her eyes away from Beckham to look at the person Rowland was talking to, and her mouth dropped open. What the fuck?
“Penny,” Beckham said with as much surprise in his voice as Reyna felt.
And of course Penelope looked gorgeous. Her hair was draped over one shoulder, long with perfect voluminous waves. She wore a black bustier, tight black skirt, and fishnet tights. Not as revealing as most of the other humans in the room…but then, again, she wasn’t exactly like most of the other humans in the room, considering she was the mayor’s daughter.
“Sorry I missed the show,” Penelope said. Her eyes landed on Beckham, and Reyna saw concern flash into her eyes. Reyna wondered what the hell that was about, but the look was quickly replaced with malice when Penelope looked between Beckham and Reyna.
“What are you doing here?” Beckham asked.
Penelope shrugged. “Rowland said you wanted me to come,” she purred, walking around the table toward him.
Reyna felt sick to her stomach. How could she sit here and watch her do this? He had just fingered her and now he was going to hang out with Penelope…in a sex club?
Beckham gave Penelope a pointed look, but she just smiled and touched his shoulder playfully. “I am still invited, right?”
Her other hand ran along her exposed collarbone and to the soft contour of her neck. She was tempting him, teasing him. Reyna watched Penelope flit her eyes over his head to look at Reyna and then back. Penelope was winning. Reyna could feel it. Whatever had just transpired had wiped away everything that had happened the last couple days. It made perfect sense that he would want Penelope, but it broke Reyna’s heart that it always came right back to this.
“Of course you are invited,” Beckham finally said.
Reyna had had enough. She couldn’t believe this utter bullshit right now. She scrambled out of her seat. “Here, take my place,” she offered forcefully. “I’ve no use for it.”
“Reyna,” Beckham said softly, almost pleadingly. But she would hear none of it.
“No worries,” Penelope cooed. Without warning, she plopped down directly into Beckham’s lap. She looked into his eyes, draped her arm around his neck, and then giggled. “You look ravenous.” She tilted her neck toward him. “Have a taste, love.”
Reyna jarred at the near-exact phrasing she had just used with Beckham. Her heart was beating out of her chest, and she felt like she might be sick.
Beckham hesitated only a split second before sinking his fangs into her throat. Reyna felt paralyzed as she watched him drink from Penelope. She looked like she was in bliss with her head tilted back and her eyes closed.
Reyna couldn’t believe he would sit there and drink from Penelope. The one thing he always refused Reyna. She had thought it so erotic watching the people onstage drink, and the thought of Beckham drinking from her so personal. All of that gone in a blink of an eye. She felt ridiculous, but her eyes blurred with tears at the display, and she knew she needed to get out of there. Get far far away.
So, without looking back or a thought for her safety, she turned and fled.
Chapter 27
Reyna stumbled out of the main room of the brothel. It was difficult to see where she was going through the tears in her eyes, but she pushed past people anyway. All she wanted to do was be alone. She felt a breakdown coming on and couldn’t allow herself to do that in front of people.
Yet, she couldn’t seem to find anywhere unoccupied. The Vault was built like a maze, trapping her inside and refusing to let her out of its grip. All she did was move in the opposite direction of the traffic. After a few minutes, she found a long hallway lined with doors that was practically empty compared to the rest of the building.
She wiped her eyes softly, trying not to smudge her makeup, and then walked down the hallway in search of an empty room. She wrenched open the first door. A man had a girl bent at the waist and was drilling into her from behind. Reyna squeaked in surprise and then quickly slammed the door shut.
She raced farther down the hallway and tried another door. This one was even more disturbing. There were at least ten people involved in whatever sex acts were going on.
“Don’t you see the room is occupied!” a girl yelled at her.
“Sorry. Sorry. I didn’t know,” Reyna murmured.
A nude vampire man who had been watching the display grabbed her wrist. “Hey, love, not so fast. You look absolutely delicious. Why not stay and join us? Plenty of room for one more.”
Reyna felt panic setting in and she shook her head violently. “No…no, thank you.”
“Oh, come on. We’ll be gentle. Won’t we?”
His eyes clearly said that gentle wasn’t even a word in his repertoire. Reyna tried to yank away from him, but he circled her waist and drew her farther into the room.
“Let me go!” she shrieked. “I said no!”
“You’re part of the Vault,” he said, breathing in the scent of her hair. “No doesn’t exist here, doll.”
Reyna blanched. “That’s rape,” she barely got out.
“You’re here. You already gave consent,” he said callously. “How tasty you must be with all that blood running so fast through your veins. I can feel your heartbeat skyrocketing.”
“Please, please let me go.” She knew she sounded breathy and desperate, and she didn’t care. She was desperate. She hadn’t wanted this to happen. She had just wanted to be left alone to sort out what had happened with Beckham.
“Let’s just see what type you are…not that it matters in here,” he cackled.
Reyna froze in place. This was exactly what Beckham had said. These people were obviously part of the first faction of vampire who had no regard for humanity. They didn’t care if they raped her or if drinking from her would inevitably kill her or everyone else in the room.
The man grabbed her wrist, his nails biting into her skin. He glanced down at the diamond bracelet Beckham had put on her wrist earlier that evening. When he read the inscription, he dropped her hand as if he’d been burned.
“Beckham Anderson?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said, stumbling backward.
“I’ll take my chances with someone else. The man is a bloody lunatic.”
Reyna didn’t need to be told twice. She bolted out of the room to the sound of laughter. She ran all the way down the hallway until she was sure no one else had come down this far, and then entered an entirely empty room. She crashed back into the bed, curled her knees up to her chest, and let the tears flow.
After a minute of near-hyperventilation, she shook her head and forced herself to get it under control. She could be upset—about Beckham, about Penelope, about the man who had wanted to rape her—but she couldn’t let it leave this room.
No wonder Beckham hadn’t wanted to bring her here. He didn’t even drink from her. He certainly didn’t want to share, and yet he was out there drinking from Penelope. Doing who knows what to Penelope.
Ugh! She couldn’t even think about that.
She had fallen for him. That much was certain. It wasn’t just physical anymore. She saw the real Beckham in the glimpses. The way he told her about the Elle rebels, the way he constantly looked out for her and protected her, the black card he had given her while asking nothing in return, the camera he had given her when she had needed an escape, the way he talked to her about photography. Everything. He wasn’t the hard businessman or the bloody lunatic that he showed everyone else. He was a different man entirely, and it was breaking her heart into a million little pieces to accept that he wasn’t going to be hers.
As sexy as this place had seemed when she first
entered, the Vault was a disease. It did nothing but perpetuate the very behavior the blood type cure had tried to curb.
She longed for her camera to show the real dark side of the vampire elite. That would show them. But of course she knew that she couldn’t do that. She didn’t have her camera, and even if she did…she wouldn’t incriminate Beckham in this. As much as she hated him right now, she wouldn’t hurt him the way he had hurt her.
All she wanted was to go home to her brothers. She had saved enough for a little while, and she would redouble her efforts to get another job once she got back to them. Anything would be better than this game they were playing.
She sat up on the bed and took a deep breath. Yes. That was what she would do.
Just as she came to that conclusion, the door to her room popped open. She scrambled to her feet ready to tell the person to leave her alone. Then Rowland walked in, closed and locked the door, and she knew immediately that she was royally fucked.
“Hello, pet.”
Reyna attempted to mask the fear rolling off of her. Rowland, she knew, was not like the other vampire, who had released her at the mention of Beckham’s name. Rowland knew no fear. He had been toying with her for weeks, waiting for the right opportunity to strike.
“You’ve been playing cat and mouse with me,” he said. He ambled forward slowly. He watched her with close attention.
“No, I haven’t,” she said. She tried to put conviction in her voice, but she worried it was lost. All she had was fear at this point. How could she escape Rowland in a locked room made for this very thing?
Rowland tsked her like a petulant child. “No lying, pet. I’ve been watching you. I knew I would find you alone eventually.”
He stepped even closer to her, and she hurried away from him. The deadly smirk on his face only increased with her fear. He backed her up until her knees hit the bed. She sat down heavily and tried to scoot out of his reach.
“Beckham is probably looking for me,” she told him.
“No. He’s not,” Rowland said with conviction. “He’s thoroughly occupied with Miss Sky, and will be for some time, I assume. He always is.”