Real Vampires: Glory Does Vegas

by Bartlett, Gerry

  His fangs were wet with my blood. “God forgive me, I can’t help it. You’re addictive. The only thing that can truly satisfy me these days.” He shook his head free, then crawled back up to take me in his arms. “I’m sorry, my love.”

  “It’s okay. But you must be careful. I know you are strong, stronger than I am if we had to come to blows over this.” I held him, realizing how true that was. He could overpower me.

  “Dom with his exotic synthetics. Stoking the libido, making me high or whatever. I blame that, plus our separation.” He ran his hand down my back. “It’s made me realize all I ever want or need is your blood, my darling. It takes me higher than any strange man-made concoction can. It is also what keeps me sane and alive.”

  “Of course, you are sane. But alive? You know that is not possible. We are never alive.” I hated to say it. “You cannot always have my blood to sustain you, Jeremiah. We are not going to be together. I’ve told you why.”

  “Come now. Look how good it was. Can anyone else give you this kind of pleasure?” He palmed my breast. “Maybe I don’t want you to answer that. I just know that what I have with you is unique. No other woman satisfies me the way you do. We play, we love, we fight, yes, but every bit of it is perfect.” He leaned over to drag a fang across my nipple before sucking it deep into his mouth.

  I had no answer to that. As I held his head against me, I knew it was perfect. My own stubborn resistance to being a kept woman was the only thing keeping us apart. No other woman… Yes, he’d had other women since we’d parted. I should have taken other lovers. But Valdez was always with me, always watching, and that had made it difficult.

  The fact was, it didn’t matter. I truly didn’t want another lover, only Jeremiah. I saw a future for us, if he would give me time. I tugged on his hair again and he pulled back, a satisfied smile on his face.

  “You want me, don’t bother to deny it, Gloriana.”

  “Of course, I want you. I’ve always wanted you, since the first moment we met.” I kissed his smile. “But listen to me. You’re right. We have something special. But it’s not perfect. I need to do this. I have to work to earn the money I’ll need to start my own business. I have to prove to myself that I can be independent of you. That I can successfully hold my own without your help. Not just scrape by like I have been doing.”

  “How long will that take?” He ran his hands over my body, stirring me again. “These separations are torture. I think for both of us. I am not the only one who misses you. So do your friends.” He drew a design on my stomach, fingertip dipping low and making me have to concentrate to remember what we were talking about. “I could name them but it would take too long.”

  “I miss them too. But they are all rich, living well, which makes me feel like a failure. It is another reason why this time I must not fail.” I sat up, dragging a sheet over me. I wasn’t about to let him derail this important conversation with sex. It was an ancient ploy of his and it always worked.

  “Your friends don’t look down on you because you aren’t rich. Many couples have one who is relying on the other to take care of them.” He tugged at the sheet.

  “I notice you didn’t say married couples.” I slapped his hand. “Many married couples have one partner who is dependent on the other. Then, in a divorce, that dependent can be left high and dry.”

  “I’ve told you I don’t think vampires should get married. You seemed to go along with me on that.” He left the sheet alone. “Forever is a long time. Look at my parents. They hate each other, but have been stuck together for centuries.”

  “They could divorce.” I personally hated his mother. Mag Campbell had tried to have me killed centuries ago. She didn’t think I was good enough for her precious son. Unfortunately, I agreed with her. I had never been good enough for blue-blood Jeremiah Campbell. But her trying to kill me had gone too far.

  “They should. But they won’t. Ma likes the status of being married to the laird of Clan Campbell. She won’t let go. Da finds it convenient when he wants to be shed of his current mistress to lay the blame on his wife.”

  “That’s a cold marriage. No wonder you’re against the institution.” I shuddered. “Do you think marriage to me would end that way?”

  “I never thought about it.” He looked away.

  I knew that for a lie. “Be glad I won’t consider it, Lord Campbell.” He’d won that title when he’d been in the favor of King James long ago. “We can part ways for a few years and it will go by fast. Let me prove to myself and to our friends that I can make my own fortune. It is for my own benefit. Is that such a horrible thing to ask?”

  “Years? I hate to hear it right now when you are naked in my bed. It is a cruel thing to ask.” He ripped the sheet from me. “Come here. Take blood from me. Wherever it is your pleasure to take it. I was greedy and drank too much of your life force, I freely admit it.” He jerked me to him, laughing when I managed to nudge his manhood with my knee in a fake resistance.

  “Yes, you owe me. You almost drained me dry. I wonder if I have the energy to take what I need.” I kissed him deeply. I would surely miss him when we parted. We made love again, slowly, as the music continued playing from the CD player across the room. The throbbing Latin beat made me yearn to take him again, riding him this time.

  I drank my fill from his jugular and had barely finished when we both realized we’d been caught at sunrise. One last look into his eyes and I fell into the darkness of my death sleep, still in his arms.

  9

  I woke in Jerry’s arms at sunset. I couldn’t deny it was easy to forget all my great ambitions while I lay there against him.

  “Come back to New Orleans with me,” he murmured in my ear.

  That quickly he’d dismissed all my arguments for independence. I didn’t want to fight with him so I rolled out of bed and held out my hand.

  “Shower?”

  He grinned. “Definitely.”

  And what a shower. Both of us had learned to love that particular modern convenience. We made love again, against the tile wall. Jerry brought me to a screaming climax that had me raking his back with my nails.

  “I wish we had time to fill the whirlpool tub.” I gazed at it longingly when we climbed out of the large glass enclosure.

  “Come back after work tonight and that can be arranged.” Jerry handed me a towel while he stood dripping in naked splendor. I could have looked at him like that for hours.

  “Tempting. Now I have to hurry. I can’t be late for work.” I wrapped the towel around me and plugged in the blow dryer. It was another modern invention I would hate to do without. Soon I was ready to get dressed and realized I had a problem. Since I’d destroyed my t-shirt, I had to wear one of Jerry’s shirts.

  “You really are taking this job seriously.” Jerry pulled me into his arms while I looked through the meager contents of his closet. He hadn’t brought much. Apparently, this was going to be a brief trip. I pushed down my disappointment at the thought.

  “I told you. I’m concentrating on making my fortune. Dom is paying me well, the tips are good and I’m looking forward to the blood tastings he’s arranging. Tips there should be even better.” I couldn’t resist one of his Egyptian cotton shirts, pulling it from a hanger. He’d never liked starch and it was soft but perfectly ironed.

  “Must you go in so early? I know how late it is when those shows start.” He reached inside to tease my breasts, keeping me from buttoning the shirt.

  “I’m showing the girls a new dance.” I swatted away his hands, even though I really didn’t want to. “I have to get there and tell the manager what I plan, get his approval.” I gave up with a sigh and leaned against him. He’d slipped into those silky pants again but wore nothing else. How could any man be so sexy all the time? It didn’t help that we were both insatiable.

  “I could buy the club. Then you could be the manager, do what you want.” He was nibbling my neck while his hand strayed down my stomach to where I had only the tinie
st patch of curls after an incredibly painful waxing.

  I jerked away from him. “You will not buy the club. I told you, I’m proving myself. I don’t want or need your help with this. Stay out of it.”

  “Shall I also stay out of this?” He slipped a finger to where I was already damp with need for him. “How can I simply leave Las Vegas and go about my business after the incredible night we had?”

  “It won’t be easy for me to be without you either, Jeremiah.” I wound my arms around his neck, enjoying his strength as he lifted my legs and fitted them around his waist. I reached between us, unzipping him. Oh, yes, he was ready to surge inside me, filling me until I was breathless. Miss him? Until I wanted to weep on his bare shoulder and beg him to stay. Instead, I held on and bit his shoulder, making him groan and push me against the wall until we both found our satisfaction.

  He ran his hands over my bottom, pressing me against him. A deep kiss, then he looked into my eyes. “I love you, Gloriana. Don’t forget that while you are serving all those men who come to that club for only one thing. They want to be aroused by staring at women dancing half naked on the stage. You think that is enough for them? They will try their luck with any woman within reach. You are tempting. Surely you know that.” He slid me down his body.

  “We have bouncers. Big men who can handle anyone who steps out of line.” But I knew he was right. I’d already had to turn down offers.

  “It’s a dangerous atmosphere. I have learned that you keep Valdez in a room away from you while you are serving drinks. He can’t protect you from there.” Jeremiah stared down at me, reading my mind. “I know you have your own skills you can use against mortal men. Are you tempted by the blood running through their veins?”

  “I admit a hearty negative blood makes me want to jerk one of the men into a dark corner and have my way with him.” I laughed when I saw Jeremiah’s face. “But that’s easy to resist when I think how difficult it would be to explain. I do want to keep my job.”

  He growled his opinion of that.

  “Relax.” I smiled and tried to smooth away his frown. “My tray is heavy enough to do some real damage if I decide I need to use it for self-defense.”

  He finally smiled. “My warrior woman. I’d like to see you in action again.”

  “Be assured, Jerry.” I found his shirt I’d picked on the floor, a mass of wrinkles. “I know, with his bat-like hearing, that Valdez would hear me if I screamed. That should be good enough.” I patted his chest and kissed his cheek.

  He took my hand and kissed my palm, a gesture from ancient times. “I won’t harp on it. The clock is ticking and I won’t make you late.” He buried his face in my hair and inhaled. “I’ve put my mark on you and now you smell like sex.” His grin was wolfish. “I don’t like the idea of mortals being around you when you look like you do now.”

  “And how is that?” I ran my hands through my hair. It was a horror, I could tell.

  “Well loved.” He ran his hands down my body until they rested on my hips. “Why don’t you shower again while I make a call?”

  “Jerry.” I didn’t know what to say. Then I did. “You could change Valdez’s contract. Allow him to guard me properly. If that is such a concern for you.” I did smell like sex. I selected a fresh shirt from the closet.

  “No, I have another idea. Get ready to go. I understand and admire your work ethic.” He patted my bare bottom while already scrolling through contacts on his phone.

  “Be cryptic, why don’t you?” I marched off to the bathroom, determined to get ready in record time. It wasn’t easy. He’d marked me? How? Then I realized I could feel my cheeks warm with whisker burn that went all the way down to my breasts. My hair was so wild I would have to wash it again to make it behave. I showered quickly, washing and blow-drying my hair as fast as possible. Too bad vampire tricks didn’t include hair miracles. No, we had the same problems mortals did—straight hair stayed straight, curly stayed that way and humidity did its thing to flatten any style I tried to fix in a hurry.

  The whisker burn would go away on its own. Marked me? Jeremiah, Jeremy Campbell, Blade. Whatever the hell he called himself, he’d marked my soul when he’d turned me vampire four hundred years ago. Wasn’t that enough? I threw down the brush I’d found in his bathroom. Sherie had left it there for me, bless her. I stomped out of the bathroom in his shirt and nothing else. Yes, I was going to be late.

  “You look fine. Keep the shirt. I’ll have that picture of you in my mind, naked except for that shirt, for a long time.” He grinned and held out my thong. “I think it’s dry. The shorts are indecent. I love them.”

  “It’s a costume, Jer.” I was growing to like his new modern name. I slipped into the thong I’d washed as soon as we’d waked up and I’d seen it on the floor. “It shows a lot of my butt.”

  “I love your butt.” He kept the shorts out of reach. “Are you sure you have to go now?”

  “Yes. When are you leaving?” I hated to ask. Were we done for a while?

  “I’m putting it off until tomorrow. We’ll have tonight together, if you wish.” He dropped the shorts into my hands.

  “Yes, I wish. I love our time together. You know that.” I stepped into the shorts and zipped them up.

  “I’ll be back for Dom’s blood tasting. He says it’ll be on Halloween. Sounds like fun. I am interested in a distributorship if the numbers hold up. Meanwhile…” He pulled me in and kissed me. “I’ll have a surprise for you tomorrow.”

  “A surprise?” Knowing him it could be anything from a yacht to a diamond the size of my thumbnail. “You know how I feel about surprises.”

  “You hate them. I know.” He was grinning. “This one I think you’ll like. If you don’t, you can give it away, maybe to the poor. How’s that?”

  Since I was the poor, that wasn’t exactly a great thing to say. I kissed him good-bye and surprised Valdez and Sherie finishing off dinner or lunch or whatever they called it. Valdez was inhaling bacon and eggs. I guess it was breakfast.

  “I let him sleep since he has night duty. I hope that was okay, boss.” Sherie jumped up and handed me Valdez’s leash. “You know you really dumped a difficult job on this shifter.”

  “I’m realizing that.” Jerry looked at Valdez who was wiping his mouth against a napkin Sherie held out for him.

  “I can handle it. We’ve been fine for the last year. I’m a light sleeper and can nap during the days. Glory’s in an apartment with stout locks. If there’s any sign of danger, I know who to call.” Valdez walked up to me. “Right, Glory?”

  “It is pretty hard on you since I work nights all the time. Did he tell you he was in dog jail recently?” I took the leash from Sherie.

  Valdez groaned. “No, I did not.”

  “What happened?” Sherie was interested. This was shifter gossip that would be passed along, I was sure.

  “Her roommate’s boyfriend thought he could enjoy Glory’s favors. He tried her bedroom door during the day. I took a few chunks out of him. No contest. The guy didn’t even have a weapon. They called animal control on me, but I’ve got good forged papers. No biggie.”

  “They threatened to neuter him.” That got me the dirtiest of looks from Valdez. “Well, it was a horrible experience for you.”

  “Why didn’t you just shift the hell out of there?” Jerry finally got off the phone long enough to ask.

  “Are you kidding me? Who wrote the binding contract that said I can’t shift during this five-year deal or I lose my bonus and terminate my contract?” Valdez was vibrating with anger. “I honor my commitments. I sat there like a good dog and listened to them discuss whether they’d have to put me down.”

  Sherie gasped. “You surely wouldn’t have let it go that far.”

  “No, I wouldn’t.” He gave Jerry a hard stare. “But we need a codicil or amendment or whatever. Something that covers extenuating circumstances. You hear me?”

  “Yes. I’ll have my lawyer look into it. He can meet with your
agent. I’m sure you’ll hear from him.” Jerry walked us to the door. “My love, be careful. A man tried to get in your bedroom during your death sleep? I should have been told about that.”

  “What could you do about it? Valdez handled it. He has that creep so scared, he’ll never darken our door again.” I clipped on the leash and smiled at Valdez.

  “Are you sure? He could be plotting revenge.” Jerry glanced down at Valdez. “I thought the dog guise was a good idea.”

  “You are a jealous man.” I kissed his cheek. “Flattering, but it also shows a lack of trust. Please remember that, when we are on a break, we are both free to play the field. I know you see other women.”

  “They mean nothing to me.” He looked over his shoulder when Sherie choked. “You have something to say, shifter?”

  “No, sir. Except that I can back you up. It’s a swinging door, Glory, one woman after another. Nothing serious, just temporary…” Sherie realized Jerry was glaring at her. “Never mind.”

  “Good to know.” I wanted to take Jerry’s manhood and squeeze it until he cried bitter tears. A swinging door? Couldn’t he do without a woman for a year or two? Why did I hesitate even an instant when there were good looking men like Dom around?

  “Glory, stop thinking. Remember last night. It was great. We plan on tonight. Right?” Jerry ran his arm around my shoulders.

  I took a deep, shuddering breath. One more night and we wouldn’t see each other until Halloween, months away. I could still smell him on me, even though I’d scrubbed my body and my hair. My imagination, surely. But I wanted him again. I wasn’t about to let pride stand in my way. One more night.

  “Come to the club. Let’s see how I feel after work.” With that I tugged on Valdez’s leash and opened the door. I had another dance to teach. The CD was in the car and I dug in my purse for tip money. I hope the valet was a different one and I didn’t have to deal with the ogling guy from the night before. I could feel Jerry’s eyes on my rear as I walked to the elevator. I think he was going to say something but I heard his phone ring. Business. Just as well. I was way too weak where he was concerned.