by J. L. McCoy
“This isn’t going to work for Noisuf-X, mister,” I said, ruffling his hair and turning his face to meet my eyes. “You’ll have to pray that that little machine of yours plays something slow soon, if that‘s what your wanting.” I cocked my eyebrow playfully. “Because until then, you’re going to have to rock out with me, babe.”
I pulled away from him and started dancing as the song was meant to be danced to. He laughed and followed my lead. He must have been hot because I saw him quickly take off his shirt and throw it over his shoulder, onto the dance floor behind him.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! I silently swore. I almost came to a complete standstill for a moment at the sight of his muscular, lean body. He had a perfect, washboard stomach and defined pecks. His low rise jeans were well past his hip bones and I had to swallow hard. This was the second time that I had seen him shirtless and I still wasn’t prepared for it. He was absolutely gorgeous and I was having trouble thinking.
I think he noticed because he laughed, grabbed me, and twirled me around. He was singing along to the song and I couldn’t help but smile. This straight laced business type was an underground Goth/Industrialist, and a beautiful one at that. It was so hot! We continued dancing as my buzz grew to full on inebriation.
I was a little sweaty from all the dancing and my long hair was starting to stick to me. I grabbed one of the black rubber bracelets from around my wrist and made a makeshift rubber band to put my hair up with. I quickly threw it up into a pony tail as the song started to end and morph into a slow, sexy beat.
I looked over at Archer and smiled. It was one of my favorite songs, Nine Inch Nail’s Closer. He gave me a wicked grin and slowly prowled up to me. I laughed and bit my bottom lip in anticipation.
He walked around behind me and grabbed my hips, pulling me up against his tight stomach. I started slowly moving my body to the music. The song had a funky, seductive beat, and I moved my hips, keeping time with it. Archer kept up with me as the beats hit harder.
I reached my left arm up behind me and grabbed the back of his cool, bare neck, pulling his head closer to mine. He moved one hand from my hips and wrapped it around my abdomen, pulling me tighter against him as his cool breath fell on my neck. I shivered as we grinded together.
Archer slowly nuzzled my neck and I drew a sharp breath inward. The feel of his short stubble sliding softly down the side of my neck sent goose bumps all over my body. My ample chest rose and fell as I started to breathe harder in excitement. I grinded into him and found that he was just as excited as I was.
I sighed as he softly, slowly kissed the hollow of my neck, tentatively at first but growing more bold when I didn’t pull away. I closed my eyes as I leaned back into him and tightened my hold on his neck. He slid his other arm around my waist and started gently caressing my lower abdomen as his other hand slid up the laces of my dress toward my breasts.
His kisses on my neck grew needier as his hand grazed my bosom. I stopped dancing, took a step forward, and turned around to face him. His eyes were so bright, an intense color of light blue, and he was breathing just as hard as I was. He reached a hand out to me, but I just stared at it.
Sanity was at war with my inebriation. This was my new boss I was dancing with, and we were knee deep in dangerous territory. I was feeling things for him that I probably shouldn’t and my hormones were raging out of control. Am I really going to go there with him? I mean, yes, he was beyond gorgeous. He was sexy and fun and I loved the night we were having together.
But, what about Jameson? It’s not like we were officially dating, but we did have a date planned. And we DID have that steamy moment in the parking lot of Drop Kick’s. I really liked Jameson. I am so confused. Part of me wanted to stop, but the other part, the more dominant and hormone driven one, told me to stop questioning a good thing and go for it. Who passes up intimate moments with an awesome, gorgeous, completely sexy, SHIRTLESS guy? I bit down on the corner of my bottom lip and slowly surveyed his body from top to bottom and back. God, he’s so freakin’ sexy.
Archer stepped forward and took my hand, placing it around his waist. I looked up into his eyes and met a serious face. He raised his arm and placed his hand around the back of my neck, holding it. His eyes roamed my face, almost like he was searching for something. He moved his hand to the side of my neck and used his thumb to gently stroke my cheek. It was so soft. I sighed, closed my eyes, and turned my head into his touch. Being with him feels so calming sometimes. I opened my eyes and looked deeply into his.
“Skye,” he whispered softly.
To hell with mixed feelings. I knew how I was feeling at this moment and didn’t want to wait any longer. I wrapped my other arm around his waist and he drew me up against his hard body. My lips parted as he lowered his face to mine, softly kissing me. A small, involuntary sound escaped me, and, as if driven by it, he deepened our kiss, our tongues meeting each other’s in a seductive dance.
My hands gripped him tighter as I captured his bottom lip between my teeth and gently sucked on it. He let out a low growl, grabbed my head with both hands, and kissed me passionately. I had never in my life been kissed like this before. It was as if he was making love to my very essence. It made my knees weak for a second, but I recovered, more turned on than ever.
I ran my hands up his strong, naked back and raked my long nails down the length of it. He broke from our kiss and threw his head back as my nails finished their course. When he looked back down at me, I knew exactly what he was thinking. He looked at me with such wanton desire and need. It made my heart skip a beat. I craned my neck up and slowly ran my tongue up the side of his neck, causing him to grunt. I gently bit and kissed his neck while he caressed his hands down my back and gripped my ass.
He grabbed my pony tail with one hand and pulled my head back so he could look into my eyes. “I want you,” he growled.
“I know,” I said, playfully licking his bottom lip.
He pulled me to him again and kissed me hungrily, desperately. I moaned and met his need with my own.
Suddenly, I felt a slight stinging sensation on my bottom lip and I tasted something warm and salty on Archer’s tongue. I pulled away and saw blood on his lip. I put my hand up to mine and when I pulled it away, I saw blood too. I looked up at him to ask him what happened, when I noticed that he was breathing hard, staring fixatedly at my mouth, and licking the blood off his lip.
He drew his bottom lip into his mouth and I noticed that he had fangs. I took a step backward, confused. When did he get fangs? Has he had them the whole time? I tried to think back. I wouldn’t have figured that he was into the Goth scene that much to have fake fang veneers installed on his lateral incisors. He didn’t seem like the type.
“When did you get fangs?” I asked, taking a step closer to inspect them.
He seemed to break out of his daze, as his eyes slowly slid up my face to meet mine. He seemed startled. “I’m so sorry, Skye,” he said as his fangs retracted right before my eyes, and he took a step back.
“Whoa…how did you do that?” I asked, shocked.
“Do what?” he asked, distracted, turning away from me and walking toward the bar.
What the hell? Where is he going? I followed after him. He walked around the bar and stood facing the bottles that were lined up against the wall. I placed my jacket on the back of my barstool and sat down, facing him.
“Archer…why did you walk away from me? What’s wrong?” I asked, confused and wanting to understand.
He poured himself a shot and quickly downed it, slamming the glass down on the counter. He faced the wall, and leaned against the counter; both hands splayed out, and hung his head.
“Archer, damn it, talk to me. What the hell is going on? What’s wrong with you?” I asked, getting upset. Is he mad about accidentally cutting me? Shit happens in the heat of the moment, I’m going to hold that against him. Hell, what I really want to know is how his fang veneers suddenly retracted. I had never seen anything like it.
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“Do you really want to know?” he asked, turning around suddenly and coming to stand in front of me. He looked angry. The music died down and came to an end. I turned toward the DJ booth and saw Gunnar quietly closing the laptop.
I turned back toward Archer. “Yes, I want to know,” I said softly, reaching out to him. “What’s wrong, Archer? Why are you angry with me?”
He laughed sourly and ran his fingers roughly through his hair, frustrated. He looked at me again and his eyes came to rest on my mouth. He groaned, roughly grabbed a cocktail napkin off the bar, and thrust it at me. “Here. I need you to wipe the blood from your mouth, Skye,” he said curtly. “Now.”
I slowly reached out and took the napkin, too hurt by his anger towards me to say anything, and held it to my mouth. I fought against the tears that were stinging my eyes and dabbed at my lip.
He saw the hurt on my face and his features softened. He reached over, gently cupping my left cheek, and looked sorrowfully into my eyes. “Skye…” he whispered. He suddenly looked up, over my head and quickly dropped his hand while he stood up straight.
I turned around and saw Jameson walking towards us. Oh, shit, I thought. I pulled the bloody napkin from my lip and turned back around to face Archer.
“Archer, may I have a drink please?” I said, swallowing thickly, trying to calm my sudden racing heart. “Sooner rather than later?” He quickly poured me a double shot of scotch and slid it towards me, leaving the bottle on the bar in front of me and taking a step back. God love him for that, I thought.
CHAPTER TEN
Jameson came up behind me, put his hand on my back, and slid into the stool to my right. He looked from Archer’s shirtless body to me and dropped his hand. I looked at his face and he looked confused. He glanced at my mouth and then down to the bloody napkin on the bar. His face quickly flashed to Archers and he stared intently at him, a range of emotions playing across his face. None of them were good.
Fuuuuck… I quickly chugged my drink and poured myself another one with a shaky hand.
Jameson suddenly stood up. “No,” he growled, looking from Archer to me. I slammed back the drink as Archer spoke.
“Jameson, it is time,” Archer took a step closer and set two empty glasses on the bar. He grabbed a bottle of Irish whiskey and poured some in each awaiting glass. He held out one glass to Jameson. “Tóg go bog é, a dheartháir, seo dhuit.”
I glanced back and forth between them, Archer’s face apologetic and Jameson’s furious. I knew that Jameson could tell that something had happened between his brother and me in his absence and he was furious about it. I was honestly sorry that I had hurt Jameson, but I didn’t regret what happened between Archer and me. I was a single woman and although Jameson and I had fooled around once, we weren’t really together.
Jameson slammed his fist into the bar, badly cracking it’s surface. I flinched and looked down at my tightly clasped hands.
“Damnú air! Dúirt mé go ndéanfainn é!” he shouted.
“And, I said no,” Archer said calmly. He looked down at the bar and sighed. “That top cost me $60,000. I‘ll have to order another one now.”
Jameson sat back down and grabbed the drink from Archer. “Is cuma sa tsioc liom,” he growled, chugging his glass and grabbing the bottle of scotch from in front of me. He poured himself another glass and downed that one, too.
No one said anything for a minute. Finally, Jameson spoke up. “Well, you had your evening, like you wanted. I hope you found what you were looking for,” he said tartly and then sighed, suddenly looking tired and defeated. “I don’t have all night, máistir, so get to it.”
Archer looked at me and said nothing.
“Okay, somebody needs to tell me what the hell is going on,” I said, glancing back and forth between the two of them and then throwing my hands up in annoyance. “And, what’s up with talking in languages that I don’t understand? Hello! English!”
Jameson looked from me to Archer. “Is she drunk?” he asked, surprised.
“Aye,” Archer said, nodding his head.
“Well, this should be fun,” Jameson said, turning to me and smirking.
I wrinkled my nose at him and snorted. “I’m not drunk. I’m annoyed!” I said, standing up. I immediately started to fall and Archer caught me from behind.
“Easy there,” he said, sitting me back down on the barstool.
I looked at him with wide eyes, shocked at what I just witnessed. I swallowed and looked to the empty place behind the bar where Archer had just been standing, and back at his current position beside me. “No way…” I whispered. “How the hell did you do that?”
“Yes way,” Jameson said, and laughed bitterly. He stood up from the barstool and flashed to stand behind the counter. He smirked at me, picked up the bottle of Irish whiskey, and flashed back to his barstool beside me.
“Whoa…” I said, crossing my arms on top of the bar, and putting my head down on them. I was suddenly feeling kind of dizzy. I think I had way too much to drink tonight. Well, I know I did. I was seeing things that were impossible.
“Skye, you wanted to know about my fangs earlier, didn’t you?” Archer asked.
I raised my head and looked at Jameson. He was still angry. “So that’s where the blood came from! You bit her, didn’t you!” he angrily accused. “I fucking knew it!”
I looked at Archer as he answered.“Not intentionally, a dheartháir,” Archer said, growing slightly impatient with him. “I never would have done that. Not with her.”
Jameson laughed and I turned to face him. “Honestly, Jameson. He didn’t do it on purpose. It was my fault,” I said quietly.
“No, it wasn’t,” Archer defended.
Jameson stood up. “I don’t care whose fault it was. What’s done is done. Stop delaying and tell her! Or I will do what you have forbidden me to!” he said, hotly.
Archer took a deep breath. “Skye,” he called to me. I turned to face him and he smiled cautiously at me. “We are not human. We are vampire,” he said, plainly.
I stared at him for a few seconds, and then I looked at Jameson. He was standing with his arms folded across his chest, smirking, and waiting for my reply.
I threw my head back and laughed hysterically. Yeah, right, I thought. And I’m a freakin’ mermaid. I looked back at Jameson to see if he was laughing and he wasn’t. I stopped laughing abruptly as he smiled at me. I watched his fangs slide down slowly.
“No way…uh-uh,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief. “Vampires don’t exist. I don’t believe you.”
“No, babe, mermaids don’t exist. But, vampires do. We’ve lived amongst you for millennia,” Archer said
I flung my head around and stared at him. How the hell did he know that I was just thinking about mermaids?
Archer smiled a weak smile. “Because I can read your mind,” he said gently.
“Fuck me…” I whispered, unladylike, and entirely astounded.
Jameson walked around me to stand beside Archer. I looked back and forth between them for several seconds. Was this possible? Could vampires really exist? Could Archer really read my mind?
There’s only one way to know for certain. I was going to test him.
“Archer, I want you to hum the song that was playing when you first kissed me, while touching your nose,” I thought silently in my head.
Archer looked at Jameson and then turned back to me. He slowly raised his right hand up, placing his index finger on the tip of his nose and started humming the song.
I felt my mouth drop wide open in surprise. Jameson looked back and forth between us. I quickly recovered and stood up. “You have got to be kidding me!” I said indignantly. “You’ve been able to read my mind the whole time I’ve known you?”
Archer slowly nodded his head and Jameson laughed, unkindly.
I had had just about enough of Jameson’s attitude at this point. “Shut up, Jameson!” I shouted. It was Archer’s turn to chuckle.
I thou
ght about all the times I had been around Archer and I blushed a furious and very embarrassed shade of red. “This whole time, Archer?” I asked, upset, my voice rising with each word. “This whole fucking time?!” He slowly nodded his head in affirmation, looking a little worried.
I sat back down and put my elbows on the bar, resting my forehead in my hands. I recalled some of the things I had thought about Archer when I saw him shirtless. I was beyond embarrassed. What about all the thoughts I had about Jameson. He knew how I felt about Jameson? He knew every intimate detail about everything I thought? I looked back up at Archer, desperately wishing it wasn’t true.
“Sorry,” Archer said, gently.
I rubbed my temples with my fingers. “Right…” I sighed.
I had a sudden thought and looked up at Jameson. He was quietly standing beside Archer, watching everything take place, a look of uncertainness on his face. I looked over at Archer. “Can he read minds, too?” I thought, slightly scared to hear the answer.
Archer shook his head. “No, Skye. Jameson cannot read minds like me.”
“Why not?” I asked, curious.
Archer looked from me to Jameson. Jameson slowly nodded his head at Archer and looked back at me. Archer stood up and put his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Come. Let’s take this discussion to my office. I’ll be up in a moment, brother. I’m going to release Gunnar for the night and have him lock up.”
“Aye,” Jameson said soberly as he walked over to my right side and held out his hand to me. I took it and allowed him to pull me up off of the bar stool. He grabbed my bag and jacket and escorted me toward the grand metal staircase. I looked behind me for Archer, but he was nowhere in sight. Wow, I thought. That’s going to take some getting used to.
We silently made our way up to the third floor office. Jameson set my bag and jacket down on one of the chairs in front of Archer’s desk and motioned for me to have a seat on the couch. I sat down and crossed my legs, watching him as he walked over to the mini-fridge.