by Kyle, Celia
As he pulled on his tux trousers, he found he couldn’t zip them up from his raging hard-on. Damn, he needed to get out of this room that reeked of sex.
“Aiden, bring the car around!”
* * *
An hour later, Orrin sat in his high-backed leather chair waiting for his second, Thayne. His hair was still damp from the shower and the heavy scent of mountain flowers floated around him, yet he could still smell Sara on him. He’d scrubbed his flesh raw, but she clung to him like a second skin.
“Master,” Thayne said from the doorway, bowing his head in deference to Orrin as he waited to be invited in.
“Come. What’s that?”
Thayne smiled and held up a heavy crystal decanter filled with what looked like diluted blood. “Aiden mentioned your stomach wasn’t happy with the bagged blood we’d stocked for you, so I thought you might enjoy a little hair of the dog. Macallan Scotch mixed with the blood of your favorite donor.”
Orrin accepted a tumbler half-filled with the blend, hoping he could keep it down. The first burning sip tasted smooth and warm on his tongue, almost as if the blood were piping fresh from a vein, but as soon as it hit, his stomach clenched in rebellion. Thayne watched him eagerly, wanting to please his master, so Orrin took another gulp.
“Thank—” he broke off to swallow hard against the bile rising in his throat “—you.”
Thayne’s face fell. “No good? Would you like me to fetch a donor for you? Tell me what I can get for you, Master.”
Sara. The thought popped into his head before he even knew it was lurking there. He raised a hand to his second to assure him it wasn’t his fault.
“Nothing. I’m afraid this hangover is still lingering. I just need to ride it out. Remind me not to feed on drunk humans anymore.”
Thayne’s relief was visible in his dark eyes and he relaxed into the seat across Orrin’s desk. “Well, you won’t be surprised to learn that you weren’t the only one who thoroughly enjoyed Deo’s wedding, Master. Ajax and Rastus very nearly caused a brawl with a pack of wolf shifters. Thankfully I was there to diffuse the situation and send everyone away happy and with their heads still attached. Of course, both of them called in sick tonight. And Stavros, Arissa and Nick have yet to report to guard duty, at least when I checked ten minutes ago.”
Orrin closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. His bone-deep hunger was giving him a headache. Nights like these made him wonder why being a master was such a great thing.
“I suppose I can’t be too angry with them, considering how slow I was to get moving this evening.”
“Well, it was your son’s wedding, Master, but your understanding and fairness will be appreciated by everyone. Still, with your permission, I would like to give them a stern warning so it doesn’t become a habit.”
Orrin flicked a hand at Thayne, giving permission. He trusted his second more than anyone else, aside from Deo. But Deo was still young and new to being a vampire. It would be many years before he gained the depth of knowledge Thayne had acquired over the years.
“Speaking of the wedding…” Orrin started, trying to put words to his emotions.
Thayne’s eyebrow quirked in curiosity. “Yes?”
Really, there was nothing for it but to say the words. “It might be time for me to… find a woman.”
Thayne’s eyes widened, completely blindsided by the pronouncement. “Really?”
“Not a beloved, obviously,” Orrin added quickly. Even after two centuries, his heart and soul ached for Bryna, though he didn’t experience the sharp stab in the gut he normally felt when thinking of her.
Thayne nodded but said nothing.
“I’m thinking a well-bred vampiress with a spine of steel to help run the clan, maybe give me another child or two. Deo is firmly claimed and out from under my thumb now, and I find myself missing the sound of children running through the mansion.”
Thayne remained inscrutable. “If you desire, so it shall be, Master.”
“I know that, Thayne. But I want to know what you think.”
“Permission to speak candidly, sir?”
When Orrin flicked his hand again, his second broke into a wide smile. “I think it’s about damn time. I’ll start planning a party immediately and I’ll be sure to invite only the most eligible vampiresses. Here’s to you finally moving on!”
Thayne raised his glass, so Orrin reluctantly picked his up again. As soon as the whiskey-blood blend hit his tongue, he thought of Sara’s sweet nectar and sighed.
Chapter Four
“Sara, how can you eat that crap for dinner?” asked Trinity Cooper, Sara’s werewolf roommate.
Sara continued staring into her bowl of bland oatmeal and shrugged, too tired to argue about her food choices. Again. For the last couple of weeks, her appetite had all but vanished, along with her energy. Kiki had wondered if Sara was coming down with the flu, but she didn’t feel sick. Just tired, lackluster, depressed—and for no reason she could think of.
Well, there was one reason she could think of, but she couldn’t admit to her roomies that Orrin Nicolaides had spoiled her for all other men.
“You sure you don’t want some of this alfredo?” her sweet fae roomie, Hazel Sen asked, offering to plate some up for Sara.
“No, I’m good.”
Liar! She’d normally have been right in the middle of the kitchen activity, chopping this, dicing that. But as the other three young women bustled about and chatted away about their plans for the evening, all Sara had the energy for was to watch from her perch at the kitchen pass bar. Half the time, not even that—she rested her head in her hand and shut her eyes, simply listening to the activity she’d always enjoyed in the past.
She managed to choke down the last of the oatmeal and wondered what was next for her that night. It wasn’t even six, but already her eyes felt too heavy to keep open. Every nerve ending screamed for her to crawl into bed again and sleep for as long as possible, which wouldn’t be a horrible thing, considering her dreams always featured the same main player.
Orrin.
“You sure you don’t want to go?” asked Sara’s fellow witch roomie, Kiki Wardwell.
“Huh?” Sara looked up, startled out of her never-ending memories of the best night of her life.
“To the party,” Kiki reminded her, worry etching her otherwise smooth brow. “The vampire party my sister’s catering? It’ll be easy money.”
Kiki’s sister, Mimi, had earned a stellar reputation in Othercross and had become the caterer to the elite. Clans had been known to postpone special events just to fit into Mimi’s packed schedule. Which meant she was always looking for extra help at the bigger parties, and Kiki and her roomies got first dibs. Despite their day jobs, none of them were above picking up some evening shifts from Mimi.
“Nah, I think I’ll just take a hot bath and tuck in early.”
Sara moved to the sofa, where she could still see and hear her roomies, as she waited for them to leave. As exhausted as she felt, she wouldn’t be able to sleep until their noisy racket left with them. The prospect of attending a hoity toity vamp party excited them more than usual, and not just because working a vampire party meant getting hazard pay.
“So, remind me what this party’s for,” Trinity said as she snarfed down her dinner.
“I dunno,” Kiki replied. “All the vampires seem to have their panties in a twist over some master deciding to look for a new mate or something. You know how crazy they can get when their masters do anything.”
“Thus the hazard pay,” Hazel said, rubbing her fingers together in the international sign for “Show me the money.”
Trinity clapped her hands with glee. “If he hasn’t found the chick yet, that means lots of parties. Damn, vamps sure are extra. Aren’t they?”
Kiki nodded her agreement. “Totally over the top. Mimi hates catering for them because she hates making blood-infused treats, but the money and boost to her reputation is too good to turn away.”
&n
bsp; “I’ll serve blood-anything for the tips we’ll get tonight,” Hazel said with a giggle.
No doubt they’d rake it in. Most big-wig parties were just a big show of status among the attendees, but vampires made a show of spreading their wealth around. Normally, Sara would have jumped at the chance to earn that kind of scratch, but the thought of mingling among the vamp elite made her think of Orrin. She hated the fact she wasn’t over him two full weeks after their tryst, but she had her reasons.
Most memorably, the man had played her body like a Stradivarius violin, plucking her strings like he’d been born to. Secondly, and no less important but certainly less delightful, were the mementos he’d left on her skin.
Her fingers fluttered against the silk scarf tied around her neck, hiding the scar that refused to go away, no matter which spell she cast. Turtlenecks and decorative scarves had been a wardrobe staple ever since, despite the warm weather. Maybe some magic that kept it from healing completely until she’d forgotten about the master of her body.
“Oh, shit, is that the time?” Kiki said, sounding slightly frantic. “We need to hurry up or we’ll be late.”
“But we need to get glammed up if we want the best tips,” Trinity said, dropping her bowl in the sink without bothering to rinse it.
Maybe if Sara got a spurt of energy, she’d wash up after them. Or maybe she’d just lie on the couch and fall into a coma. That sounded much more likely and a whole lot better.
“Yeah, anything to brighten up Mimi’s boring uniforms,” Hazel said. “Doesn’t your sister have some fashion sense?”
“Hey,” Kiki said, dropping her own bowl on top of the others, “she chose them to look professional, not sexy.”
“Don’t gotta tell us,” Trinity teased.
As the three headed for the bathroom to fight over who got to use the mirror first, Kiki’s phone rang.
“Hey, sis, we’re almost out the d—” She paused while Mimi said something in her ear. “No, she says she’s too tired. Oh, bummer. Okay, hold on and I’ll ask.”
Kiki popped into the living room, hand over the phone’s mic. “Sara, one of Mimi’s servers called in sick tonight and she’s shorthanded. She’s begging you to reconsider working because if she screws up this party, the vamps won’t hire her for the rest. You know how unforgiving they can be.”
Sara groaned and slapped a hand over her eyes.
“She says she’ll owe you big-time,” Kiki added.
“Come on, Sar-bear,” Trinity wheedled. “It won’t be as much fun without you.”
“Yeah, we’ll have a blast,” Hazel added.
Sara looked over to her three best friends staring at her with pleading eyes and sighed. Serving bloody hors d’oeuvres to a mansion stuffed with haughty vampires sounded like the last thing she wanted to do that night, but Mimi had worked so hard to build up her company. A series of parties like this would boost her credibility and prestige. Sara wouldn’t let her boy-blues get in the way of her friend’s success.
“Fine, I’ll do it.”
All three clapped and squealed like schoolgirls, which made Sara smile for the first time in forever—a small smile, but an honest one. She loved her friends.
“We’ll be there in an hour,” Kiki told her sister and then turned back to Sara. “Better go get beautiful. Or rather, more beautiful.”
Sara snorted at her friend’s lie, but she appreciated it nonetheless. “I think I’ll be lucky to achieve not-heinous.”
It took every ounce of energy she had to slip into Mimi’s professionally bland uniform—black slacks and a loosely fitted white button-down. The slacks hugged Sara’s curvy hips and the blouse hung a little baggy at the waist to accommodate the girls. If she’d had enough money, she would have had it tailored, but then she wouldn’t need to pick up extra shifts as a server.
Pulling her brown hair into a simple ponytail, Sara assessed her look in the mirror. Not horrible, but definitely not as cute as she could have been. A quick swipe of some lip gloss helped, but she was still left with two big bite marks glowing like a neon sign on her neck. A white kerchief tied neatly provided just enough cover without being too obvious.
They rode to the event in Kiki’s car, the other three babbling away excitedly at the prospect of rubbing elbows with the vampiric elite. None of them had a lot of dealings with vamps, unless they were out late at night. Hard to meet eligible vampire males when you spent as much time as possible sunbathing by the apartment complex’s pool.
But if anyone would find dates at the party, it would be her roommates. They’d dolled up perfectly, with just the right amount of glam to offset the uniform, and looked gorgeous. Unlike Sara, but she didn’t care. Even though she was desperate to move on from the memory of her one-night stand with Orrin, she didn’t have the desire to meet anyone else yet. Especially not another vamp.
For the first time, it dawned on her that she might run into Orrin at this soirée and her heart picked up its pace. How would she react? How would he react? If he ignored her, she’d be humiliated. Not that she could expect anything more from a master. She’d been a mere distraction to him, someone with whom to celebrate his son’s marriage, but only for that night. That had been the understanding going in, and she’d been fine with it. Only afterward did she start dreaming of more.
Turning down a long, tree-lined drive, Kiki whistled low when she caught sight of the mansion. It looked like something out of a British film about royalty. Sara wouldn’t have been surprised if red-uniformed guards with big fuzzy hats marched in time out front, but they never made it to the front. Like a good little employee, Kiki drove down a discreet side road that led to the back of the house.
They clambered out of the car and hurried to join the line of identically dressed people waiting to be inspected by Mimi. She was quite strict about her dress code, making anyone who didn’t meet it go to the back of the line until they fixed whatever atrocity they’d committed. It seemed a little over-the-top, but then again, she owned a successful company that was in high demand, so maybe she was on to something.
By the time the four roommates reached Mimi, the line had dwindled to just them. Kiki quickly gave her sister a half-hug and then stepped back for inspection, arms spread wide and eyes closed.
“Oh, knock it off, dork,” Mimi said, giving her a light shove toward the door. “Trinity, as lovely as ever. Hazel, you’re good. Sara, thanks so much for—”
She stopped mid-sentence, eyes glued to the kerchief around Sara’s neck. Her mouth worked and Sara knew she was trying to decide how strict she should be. After all, Sara knew for a fact Mimi was shorthanded and couldn’t afford to piss off the person who least wanted to be there. But her need for perfection won out.
“What’s that?” she asked, pointing to the kerchief.
“Oh, nothing. I just thought I’d dress up the outfit a bit.”
Mimi’s lips pursed. “The outfit doesn’t need any dressing up. Please, take it off.”
Sara’s fingers touched the scarf. “No.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’d like to keep the scarf on.”
Mimi shot a frustrated look at her sister before turning back to Sara. “This night is extremely important to me, Sara. I can’t have one odd-duck server wandering around with accessories. The scarf has to go.”
“No one will even notice,” Sara argued, digging in her heels.
“They will. You’ll be the only one wearing one.”
“So grab a stack of clean napkins and have everyone else wear them around their necks.”
Mimi gaped at her. “Are you drunk or something? You want me to make everyone wear napkins around their necks just so you can wear that?”
“Why not?”
A handful of late-comers gathered around to watch Mimi bring her hammer of justice down on the witch who dared to defy her. A female vampire even joined in the viewing, a scowl on her face. It wasn’t ideal, but Sara didn’t have the luxury of backing down. Wandering around a
party with the vampire version of a hickey would be the ultimate embarrassment.
“Listen, Sara,” Mimi said, her tone growing steely. “I appreciate your agreeing to work tonight, but I can’t have this. If you’re going to work for me, you need to look like you work for me. Now, for the last time, take it off.”
With everyone staring at her like she was the biggest moron on the planet, Sara snapped. “Fine! If you’d rather I walk around looking like a vampire’s chew toy, then that’s what we’ll do.”
Untying the kerchief, she thrust her neck toward Mimi, who paled visibly. “Oh!”
“Yeah, oh,” Sara said, her cheeks flaming hot as everyone around them whispered and pointed. “Can I put it back on and get to work now?”
Mimi started to step aside when the female vampire lurched forward. “Absolutely not!”
“Why not?” Sara barked, regretting her decision to help Mimi for the umpteenth time.
“Our master has suffered too much already. This party is meant to help him find a new mate to replace the one true love he lost many years ago. We can’t have another vampire’s beloved wandering around serving the guests. It would be too upsetting for him.”
Sara looked around, wondering who the woman was talking to, but her black gaze remained fixed on her. What the…?
“Are you talking to me?”
“Of course I am!”
“Look, I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. I’m not anyone’s beloved.”
“Of course you are. The claiming mark on your neck proves it. I will not allow Master Orrin to be reminded that whomever he chooses will never be his beloved. You must go. Now!”
Sara blinked rapidly, her mouth turning into the Sahara. “D-did you say… Master Orrin?”
Chapter Five
Orrin stood stiff and straight-backed in the receiving line, welcoming his guests into the Nicolaides clan house. One by one, he greeted each woman brought before him as a potential mate. And one by one, his interest in them remained nonexistent.
