“A cousin apparently. Good to know someone else wants Jerry to win his fight.” I handed Flo her drink, sure she hadn’t heard a word I’d said, and “accidentally” spilled mine. “Okay, let’s get over there. Hold on to me.”
We made our stumbling way through the crowd to a table that was practically in darkness. But it wasn’t all that far from one of the poles where a redhead seemed determined to make our two guys take an interest in her flexibility. Oh, yeah, that had been Kratos’ term, hadn’t it? I should recommend this woman to him. Whatever, it was clear from the number of empty glasses on the table that our guys had been drowning their sorrows.
“Aren’t you a pretty sight, Jeremy Blade?” I couldn’t help it. The two men were slumped in their chairs and had almost passed out.
“Glory, glorious, glorified.” Jerry threw back his chair, laughing when it hit the floor. “Well, didn’t manage that too well, did I? But then what’s new? I can’t do anything in Olympush.” He staggered over to me and slid his hand around my neck. “I’m sorry as hell, lover mine, but I’m going to fuck this fight up. Hope you are happy with that Olympush asshole.”’
Richard suddenly giggled. Yeah, stern always serious Richard actually giggled. “You said ‘Olympush’. Twice.” He slapped the table and went into a full-fledged guffaw. “Olympush asshole.”
“Not funny, sport. She’s going to be in his bed. Having his babies. Doesn’t want mine.” Jerry jerked me to him. “That’s what you said, isn’t it?”
“Jerry, not here. Please, come home with me.” I slid my arm around his waist and tried to turn him toward the door.
“Hey, I was working this table.” The redhead dancer closed in and actually tried to hip-butt me out of the way. “That guy was just about to give me gold for a lap dance.”
I whirled around and got in her face. I guess my eyes must have told her I wasn’t to be messed with and I raised a finger. To my surprise, it glowed white hot. “You want to test me, sweetheart? I can singe your eyebrows with a twitch of this fingertip.”
“Uh, never mind.” She backed away. “Geez, a girl can’t make a living anymore.”
I dipped into my cleavage and tossed her a gold coin. “Here. Take a break. I know what it’s like to have to dance for drunks. Hit the back room and give yourself five minutes.” I didn’t wait to see what she did, just slowly turned to face Jerry. He was staring at me with wide eyes. I think some of his buzz was wearing off.
Flo had found a glass of water. She dumped it on Richard’s head. “Look at you! Drunk! Looking at boobies of strangers! I am ashamed of you!”
“Baby. You have the only boobies I want.” He pressed his face to her chest and kissed each breast through her dress. “But you are wearing me out. All you do is fuck me. Every minute of the day. I can’t take it anymore.”
Flo looked over his head at me and grinned. “Ah, you should be so lucky, you big cry baby. Come home and I show you what I want. Then we’ll see if you have been weared out. Eh?”
“Oh, God.” Richard lurched to his feet. “A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.”
“Don’t tell me this is nothing!” My mother’s voice was loud enough to be heard over the music and there was a sudden flash of lightning. We all ducked. My mother had decided to cut loose.
“What the hell was that?” Flo shouted to me as we dove under the table.
“Welcome to Olympus, pal.” I was lucky that Jerry was so drunk that he’d fallen on the floor next to me. Richard lay next to Flo.
“Just how many women do you need to satisfy you, you over-sexed beast!” Thunder roared in the club and one of the women screamed as lightning arced down her pole. She leaped off the stage, her skimpy costume smoking. Amazingly the music never stopped and neither did the other dancers. I guess it was all part of the entertainment.
Flo and I had a good view of my father holding a wooden chair in front of him. It had scorch marks on it but he was grinning like this was great fun. My mother’s chest heaved as she picked up a drink from the table and tossed it at one of the scantily clad women who had made the mistake of trying to pick up the pile of gold coins on the table.
“Come on, love, let her have the money. She’s earned it.” Mars laughed out loud when Hebe screeched and threw the empty glass at him.
“Bastard. Satyr. Don’t you ever get enough?” She picked up the table and sent it flying toward him.
He caught it and made it disappear. “Of course I do, Hebe, my love. I was just waiting for you.” He leaped over shattered glasses and gold coins, scooped her into his arms, and kissed her quiet. The crowd in the club applauded and whistled. The music changed tempo and the room got darker.
“Time for us to get out of here.” I realized my father was carrying my mother out of the room and up some stairs. I had no idea what went on up there and wasn’t sure I wanted to know. His hand was inside her dress and I’d just seen too much.
“Yes, we go. Ricardo, you will prove to me you love me. Eh?” Flo hauled Richard to his feet.
I was struggling to get a drunken Jerry out from under the table too. His buzz was back and he’d actually fallen asleep on the floor during all of that.
“What?” He grabbed me and tried to pull me into his arms on the floor.
“No, we’re going home.” I slapped away his hand.
“If only we were.” He kissed me on my chest where my cleavage was exposed.
“Blade, you have to go with Glory. Talk to her.” Richard swayed against Flo. “They’ve got us, dead to rights. Now we have to have makeup sex. That’s hot.” He smiled drunkenly at his wife. “Isn’t it, baby?”
“We talk too much. Blah, blah, blah.” Jerry jerked out of my arms and staggered to his feet. “I need action.”
“Then come home with me and that’s what you’ll get.” I couldn’t let his words hurt me. So I caught him when he almost fell and got him moving toward the door. Luckily it wasn’t far and Mother’s carriage was waiting for us. The guards outside helped push the men in, then one of them checked to make sure Mother wasn’t coming with us. He emerged in a minute with singed hair and smelling of smoke. Apparently the Mars and Hebe show was still going on upstairs with a Do Not Disturb sign.
“She said to go on without her.” He gestured and the carriage headed out. By the time we got back to my place, Jerry was snoring and Richard was trying to talk Flo out of her dress. I left them arguing and, with a soldier’s help, got Jerry into bed. Too much talk? I was a goddess, damn it. How would Jerry like it if I showed him some goddess action? When he woke up, maybe I’d do just that.
Chapter 9
“How are you feeling?” I stood over Jerry with a cup of my favorite hot chocolate. His moans had brought me from the sitting room.
“Get that away from me.” He covered his head with the silk comforter.
“This?” I waved the steaming chocolate over the bed. “What’s the matter, big guy? Hung over? That’s what happens when you’re a mortal and you drink too much. Morning after regrets.” I sat beside him on the bed.
“Quit screaming at me.” He pulled a pillow over his face. “Leave me to die. You can marry that god and live happily ever after. Zeus will be beside himself.”
“But I won’t be happy.” I jerked the pillow out of his hands and tossed it on the floor. “Want something for your headache?” I whispered this time though I’d never screamed, of course. I tried not to laugh but it wasn’t easy. He deserved to suffer. Going to a bar where the women wore next to nothing. I set down my cup on the nightstand with a loud clink and ripped away the comforter.
“My head just exploded. What the hell, Gloriana?” He peered at me through blood shot eyes. “At least dim the lights. Or is this torture my punishment for taking a night off?”
I gestured and the lights went from bright to barely a candle glow. “Is that better?” I stroked his forehead. “Poor baby. Is that what it was? You took a night off?” I pulled on his hair and got an earful of colorful curses. �
��From me?” I stood and glared at him. “Why do you need one, Jeremiah Campbell? Are you so bored with me that you have to escape? Go see other women half naked? Did one crawl into your lap and rub herself all over you before I got there? There was a willing redhead just waiting for you to say the word.”
Jerry started to smile then winced. “Are you jealous? Really?” He struggled to sit up. “I went to drink with Richard. He needed a friend. We don’t or can’t discuss our feelings. So we get drunk. It’s what men do when they feel the need to talk.”
“Oh, don’t I know that. I have to pry your feelings out of you.” I sighed and sat down again. “So the drinking and staring at naked women was all for Richard’s sake?”
“Well, I didn’t say that.” Jerry laughed then gasped when I punched his stomach. “Do that again and I may throw up all over you and this bed.” He collapsed back on the pillows. “God, I hate being mortal. As a vampire, I could drink the blood with alcohol and rarely got much of a buzz. Last night… Oh, God. Move.” He shoved me over and crawled out of bed. “Well, you’d better get out of my way because,” he gulped. “Shit. I’m not kidding. I’m about to lose it.”
“Go. Hurry.” I sat against the padded headboard while he staggered into the bathroom. I gestured and Alesha hurried into the room. “Do you have anything that will cure my lover’s stomach problems? He drank too much last night and,” we both heard Jerry’s retching, “obviously he needs something to fix his hangover.”
“I’ll run to Cornelius, Lady Gloriana. He will surely have an elixir.” Alesha smiled and hustled out of the room.
I debated letting him suffer but didn’t have it in me. So I was going to have to go into the bathroom and play nursemaid. Fortunately Jerry had turned on the shower and was standing under a hot spray by the time I got there.
“If you think I’m joining you in the shower, think again. I’m still mad at you.” I didn’t think he was in the mood anyway. He still looked pale and he hadn’t bothered to pick up the soap. He just stood there, hanging his head, one hand braced against the tile wall.
“You should be mad. I made a fool of myself. Just go away. I don’t want you to see me like this. I am a weakling. Not fit to be your lover.” He turned his face toward the wall. “If you hear me fall, leave me on the floor. It’s what I deserve. If you can manage it, use your new powers to send me down the drain.”
“Oh, stop it. You don’t do the pity party thing well. It’s not your style.” I stripped off my robe and climbed into the huge shower stall. I did love the amenities here in Olympus. The glass tiles were a glowing turquoise and silver and the floor was made of some smooth stone that felt wonderful under my bare feet. I put my arms around Jerry and just held him. The water was a perfect temperature as it pounded against my back.
“You’re mad at me, remember?” He rested his chin on the top of my head.
“Oh, yes. I remember. And I’ll make you pay later.” I picked up a bar of scented soap and ran it over his shoulders. “But I think you’re suffering enough for now.” There was a tap on the frosted glass door. I slid it open a few inches so Alesha could hand me a glass filled with an orange liquid.
“He’s to drink it all. Cornelius said it will work quickly to settle his stomach.” Alesha was out of breath and stared at the ceiling, careful not to look into the shower stall. “It smells delicious. Like apricots and peaches.”
“Well, then, I’m sure he won’t object to drinking it all. Thank you, Alesha.” I shut the door and wrapped Jerry’s hand around the glass. “Drink. And don’t you dare object. The poor girl clearly ran all the way to the sorcerer’s lab and back just for you.”
“No, she did it for you. The girl thinks you hung the moon.” Jerry sniffed at the glass then took a sip. “Not bad. I’m surprised. The elixirs these sorcerers concoct usually taste like frog piss.”
“Jerry!” I slapped his chest. “As if you’d know frog piss if you drank it.”
He winked then drank every drop. “You’d be surprised. Ma swore it cured boggy foot.” He set the glass on a ledge and pushed his face under the water. “Damn, but I think I do feel better. If you don’t want to turn this into fun and games, you’d better get out of here now.” He moved his hips against me.
“Fun? Games?” Of course I could feel that he was recovering. “No way. I am still mad. I never want to have to hunt you down in a strip club again, Jerry.” I opened the glass door and jumped out, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around me. I had plans for when he got out. He’d said he wanted action and I was going to show him some, with goddess magic. I dragged a comb through my wet hair, regretting my impulsive climb into the shower. But then I remembered I could think a hair style. Oh, yeah, I had dry waves in a snap.
Now for some other miracles. Jerry was going to have a night to remember. And he sure wasn’t going to need some sleazy bar for entertainment again. I’d see to that. When there was a knock on the bathroom door, I snapped on a robe then decided I was ready to leave the bathroom anyway.
“Mistress, you have visitors.” Alesha handed me a calling card. The name wasn’t familiar. Charis.
“Who is she?” I turned the card over. Nothing on the back.
“She’s your father’s daughter, Lady Gloriana. His other daughter, that is. By the Lady Roxana, your father’s wife. Lady Charis has a friend with her. They are calling on you and look friendly.” Alesha smiled. “It is a good sign and an honor.”
“Hmm. The legitimate daughter is curious about the illegitimate one, I guess.” I snapped on a cute outfit—slim skirt and a blue sweater to match my eyes. “How do I look?”
“Perfect, mistress. They are in the sitting room. Shall I bring refreshments?” Alesha was really excited about this.
“Whatever you think is appropriate. Tea and cookies or cocktails and snacks.” I looked down and added some Louboutin pumps. Oh, but I loved my goddess powers. Jerry was going to have quite a treat in store later.
“Definitely the cocktails, mistress. I’ve heard that Lady Charis enjoys her drinks.”
“Then we’ll do that.” I heard the shower go off. “Tell Mr. Blade that I have company, please. I’ll be with him later.”
“Certainly, mistress.” Alesha looked down with a blush.
“Hopefully he won’t come out naked.” I patted her on the shoulder. “I won’t blame you if you look.”
Alesha’s eyes were twinkling when she glanced up again. “Oh, who could resist, mistress? He is a handsome man in his prime, isn’t he?”
“Yes, he is.” I headed for the sitting room. I trusted Alesha to look and not touch, of course I did. And Jerry? He would never even think to bother a servant in any way. I glanced back at her. She still stood there, waiting for her peek. “Refreshments, Alesha?”
“Yes, mistress.” She hurried out of the room.
The sitting room was just steps away and I could hear two women talking as I opened the door. One girl I recognized instantly. I stopped in my tracks. The other one rushed forward and grabbed me by the shoulders.
“Sister!” She grinned then hugged me. “I have always wanted a sister. Isn’t that so, Calista?” She turned to her friend.
“Yes, you have said it often.” Calista twisted her hands in her lap. “I shouldn’t be here for this meeting.” She stood.
“No! I told you. We will work this out.” Charis reached out and dragged her friend forward. “Gloriana, this is Calista. I know you haven’t met yet, formally, but you may have noticed her at the theater.”
“Yes, I saw you dance, Calista. You are wonderfully talented.” I smiled at her as I carefully untangled myself from my new sister’s arms. “And obviously you are Charis. Mars is your father too.”
“Yes. Oh, honestly, I am sorry. I just rushed at you and didn’t even introduce myself.” She whirled around the room, looking at me from all angles. “You are the image of your mother.” She laughed and exchanged glances with Calista. “Won’t my mother have a fit when she sees her?” She plopped
down on a loveseat. “Mother hates your mother, of course. They are bitter enemies.”
“I understand that.” I sat in a chair, more than ready when Alesha came in carrying a laden tray. “Drinks! I know I’m ready for one.” There was a pitcher of martinis and three glasses as well as an assortment of hors d’oeuvres.
“Yes, let’s toast.” Charis filled a glass before I could even reach for the pitcher. She handed it to Calista, then filled one for me. Plopping olives in each of ours, she gave herself a full glass then got thoughtful for a moment. “To family. No matter how it comes about.”
“I’ll drink to that.” I clinked my glass against hers and was surprised when Calista made the effort to touch hers to mine. I liked Charis and couldn’t help feeling sorry for the shy Calista. I wanted to say something to her about Kratos but wasn’t sure how to broach the subject. I shouldn’t have worried.
“I bet you’re wondering why I dragged Calista here. With the whole Kratos thing going on.” Charis had downed half her drink in one long swallow. “May I speak freely? Since we’re sisters and all?”
“Well, sure. But let me say this.” I sipped my drink. It was icy cold and delicious. “Calista, I’m in love with Jerry, my fiancé from home. I have no intention of marrying Kratos. Jerry has been training like a madman so he can beat Kratos and win my hand. You can have your lover back. I’m fine with that.”
Calista’s eyes filled with tears. “You are very kind to say that. But it will never happen. You have no idea how much Kratos wants to win a place in Zeus’s court. You are his ticket to that. I am just a sorcerer’s granddaughter. My father is a mere apprentice to Grandfather. Not important in our world. Marrying me will not raise Kratos’ status the way marrying you will.” Calista took a gulp of her drink. “This is hopeless.”
“Do you love him?” I set down my glass.
“Of course I do. He is good and kind and strong. And a wonderful,” her cheeks went pink, “lover.”
“There. Gloriana, we must do something. Don’t you think?” Charis had polished off her drink and began refilling glasses. “Of course you do. Didn’t you just declare your love for this Blade person? Crazy name, isn’t it, Calista?” She laughed and fanned her cheeks. “Oh, gods, I must remember to eat before I drink. These cheese puffs look delicious.” She stuffed one into her mouth. “Mmm. Tell us about your lover, Gloriana. Does he have a chance at beating Kratos?”
(Glory St Clair 11) Real Vampires Say Read My Hips Page 15