Chapter Eight
SLADE
When we were finished with the song and getting ready to leave the stage, I stole another glance toward the bar. For some reason, I couldn’t stop staring at the little redhead in the cashmere sweater. I wasn’t sure if it was the fact that she looked so innocent and out of place at the club, or that her bluish-green eyes completely captivated me. Regardless, I was intrigued by a human and it had caught me off guard completely.
“Nice, huh?” said Liam, nodding toward the bar.
“Uh, yeah. She’s definitely a looker.”
His eyebrow arched. “I was talking about the girls making out over there. The ones who flashed us their goodies. Who in the hell are you talking about?”
“Nobody,” I replied as the club’s security accompanied us off of the stage. The crowd had grown considerably and were now screaming and yelling for us to play more songs.
“Should we do another one?” asked Jimmy, looking around. “I mean, I feel like we owe the fans, you know?”
I stopped in my tracks and turned around. “Fine. Just one.”
“Let’s do that new one you wrote,” said Liam. “See how they like it.”
“Yeah, Dark Dreams,” agreed Jimmy.
“Okay,” I replied, thinking that one more song would give me a little longer to process what I was feeling about the girl at the bar.
When we made it back onto the stage, the crown erupted in approval.
“Thank you,” I said, after turning the microphone back on. “You guys in Shore Lake really rock.” When they noise finally died down I grinned. “So… we can’t leave without one more song, we just can’t.”
The crowd hooted and clapped.
The band began to play the chords to a song that was very personal, one called “Dark Dreams”. Closing my eyes, I thought of the woman who’d inspired me to write it and joined them when it was time. I sang of losing everything to a girl, one who’d bewitched and haunted my dreams after tearing my heart apart. I sang of regret, heartache, and the torture of moving forward. It was a song I’d written well over one-hundred years ago, after falling for a human girl.
Vanessa.
Our passion had been like no other and I would have given my life for hers, in a heartbeat, but in the end, it was me who’d actually destroyed her. Vanessa had not been able live with the fact that she’d loved a vampire. A monster. When she killed herself, she’d also killed a part of me. From that day forward, I stayed away from humans and only associated with other immortals when I needed sex. Although I’d managed to make it work, it was still a very hollow existence.
When the song ended, the crowd erupted in applause. Forcing a smile, I glanced toward the bar again, but noticed the girl with the red hair was gone. Then something caught my eye, and I looked near the other side of the stage, and there she was, right below it, grinning up at me.
Good God she was even more beautiful when she smiled….
When I grinned back, she lowered her lashes and blushed. It was then that my senses went into overdrive. I could tell from the look in her eyes and the way that she was breathing that her body had released endorphins in response to my performance. I’d excited the hell out of this human girl, and based on her obvious innocence, she probably didn’t even realize it.
A fire ignited in my stomach and my jeans grew tighter. In horror, I turned around and stared at Liam’s ugly mug, hoping it would be enough to kill my arousal. But, her face was all I could see in the back of my mind. Her delicate face, staring up at me with hunger.
Shit.
I’d never gotten excited onstage, and it had been years since I’d even allowed myself to think about a human girl in such a way. Now I had a raging boner.
“You okay?” asked Sean.
I didn’t answer. I was far from okay.
“Dude, what’s up besides…” laughed Liam, nodding towards my zipper.
“Give me your guitar,” I said to Jimmy, gritting my teeth.
Grinning, he handed it over to me.
I held it in front of my jeans and turned back to the audience.
“Thank you, everyone!” I hollered, waving my hand and trying to avoid the human who’d gotten me so worked up. “Have a great night!” Then I walked off the back of the stage while security rushed to keep the fans from mauling me.
Dark Dreams Page 9