“Trixie, luv, been a long time,” Bones said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. She returned it before shaking my hand.
“Reaper. A pleasure.”
“Call me Cat.” Red Reaper might be my nickname among the undead, but I preferred to be called by the abbreviation of my real name.
Tammy gave Trixie a frank stare. “Is she dead, too?”
Trixie grinned, showing off the gold plating on her fangs. “Does that answer your question?”
“Ew,” Tammy said.
I rolled my eyes and mouthed Sorry to Trixie, but she didn’t seem to care about Tammy’s comment.
“No fireworks inside,” Trixie said, giving my hand a last, friendly squeeze.
I glanced at my hands and suppressed a shudder. One of my new tricks as a vampire was that when I got really pissed, flames shot from my hands. Guess word of that had spread. It shouldn’t surprise me. Nobody loved gossip as much as people who’d had centuries of experience spreading it.
“We’re not here for trouble,” Bones said.
Trixie laughed. “That’ll be the day when you don’t leave trouble in your wake, Bones. Just keep it away from here.”
“She knows you pretty well, huh?” I asked once we’d come inside.
Bones’s mouth quirked. “Not as well as you’re implying, Kitten.”
It was a valid guess. Bones looked like temptation incarnate, and he’d been around the block for hundreds of years before he met me. If I assumed he’d slept with every female vampire he introduced me to, I’d be right more than I was wrong.
I pushed that thought away with all the other things I didn’t like to dwell on. “Come on. I can smell the gin and tonic up ahead.”
It was true. I smelled the different alcohols as the bartenders poured them, the myriad of other people’s scents mixed with different perfumes, aftershaves, and the tang of blood. Add that to the pulsating music, the muted strobe lights, the crush of people, and the energy wafting from everyone without a heartbeat, and I felt almost drunk from sensory overload.
“You couldn’t feel it the last time, but you can now, can’t you?” Bones whispered. “How thin the line is here between the normal and the paranormal. I told you Ohio was a supernatural hotspot. This club was built on an even bigger one. Feels like a charge in your blood, doesn’t it?”
It did. No wonder the undead flocked to hotspots. Alcohol and drugs couldn’t affect me anymore, but being surrounded by all the inhuman occupants, where magic seemed to throb just below the surface, was sensual and exhilarating.
“Forget the drink. Let’s dance.”
My voice came out lower than I intended. Green appeared in the dark depths of Bones’s eyes.
“Are you guys going to let me dance and have a little fun for once?” Tammy grumbled.
Bones swept out his hand. “By all means. Only don’t leave the dance floor for any reason, or I’ll lock you in your closet for a week.”
Even if Tammy didn’t know from experience that Bones never bluffed, his expression must have convinced her, because she gulped.
“Stay on the dance floor. Got it.”
“Right, then. Off you go.”
Four
BONES was pressed to my back, his hips swaying against mine while his hands slid down my sides with a slow caress. Our recent celibacy combined with the brush of his lips on my neck, the coiled power pushing at his aura, plus all the mystic energy swirling around us, made me want to find the nearest corner and commit unspeakable acts on him.
But even the headiness of the atmosphere and the sensuality of dancing with Bones couldn’t make me endanger Tammy—or have sex in public, like some people did at these clubs.
“After this is over with Tammy, we’re coming back here,” I murmured. “I bet you know where the private spots are in this place, and I intend to molest you in every one of them.”
He laughed, sending tingles down my neck where his breath landed. “What a scandalous notion. I vow I’m blushing.”
I doubted Bones had blushed since the Declaration of Independence was signed. In 1776, Bones would have been ten, I thought hazily, shuddering as his fangs grazed my pulse in a tantalizing way. Close. At seventeen, he was prostituting himself to the women of the English ton in order to survive.
“Ready for that drink, luv?” Bones asked, turning me around to face him.
Yeah, I was ready for a drink, but not gin and tonic. I wanted to bury my fangs in Bones’s throat and drain him until there was only enough blood left in him to keep him hard.
Hunger swelled in me at the thought. Changing from a half-breed into a vampire had had unexpected side effects. I was only mostly dead, as my occasional heartbeat evidenced, and I drank vampire blood instead of human blood. Problem was, I absorbed more than nourishment from the blood I drank. I also absorbed power. Found that out after I fed from a pyrokinetic vampire and then my hands sprouted flames. I didn’t want to absorb more freaky abilities by feeding from vampires with unusual powers, so I stuck with drinking from Bones. So far, that had only made me stronger, not stranger.
Of course, Bones always looked good enough to eat. Whoever said Don’t play with your food sure hadn’t been a vampire.
Bones inhaled, his eyes changing to emerald green. I knew mine would have changed also, and I felt my fangs push at my lips. Give us flesh, they urged. His flesh. Now.
“Stay here. Keep an eye on Tammy,” Bones growled, surprising me by shouldering his way through the other dancers. Had he spotted a threat? I glanced around, looking for Tammy’s familiar blond head among the mass of living and undead gyrators. There. Dancing with two men, no less.
I made my way through until I reached Tammy, getting between her and one of the dancers. His scowl turned into a smile as his gaze swept over me.
“Hello, redhead,” he drawled.
“I’m just getting my friend,” I said.
Tammy didn’t budge. “Hell no. I’m just starting to have fun!”
“Tammy,” I gritted out, “don’t make me carry you.” If there was danger, I wanted our backs to a wall with me in front of her. Not where trouble could come from any angle.
Tammy glared at me but didn’t object again. I led her to the closest corner, as if we were having an intimate conversation, but I was braced for action. No one looked as if they were stalking us. Still, appearances were deceiving.
I felt a stab of relief when I saw Bones striding toward us. A large ghoul with black bushy hair and a blindingly white smile followed him.
“Verses, this is my wife, Cat,” Bones introduced me.
“Nice to meet you,” I said, shaking his hand. I was surprised when Bones tugged me away a moment later.
“Follow me,” he said, leading me past the DJ’s booth and to a door behind it. It opened to reveal a staircase, and it was a good thing I could see in the dark, because there were no lights once Bones shut the door.
I expected to see a weapons cache, but we were in a room cluttered with old speakers, musical equipment, boxes, and tables. I was about to ask what we were supposed to do with this stuff when Bones yanked me to him. He kissed me, pushing me back against the table and reaching under my dress.
Clearly we weren’t here to armor up against danger. “Bones,” I managed, pushing him back. “Tammy—”
“Is fine with Verses,” he cut me off. “Don’t fret about her. Think about me.”
He propped me up on the table as he spoke, pulling my underwear down past my knees. I gasped when he kissed me again, because he unleashed his aura at the same time. The waves of power suddenly flooding over me, combined with the rub of his desire on my subconscious, felt just as tangible as his tongue raking inside my mouth.
My objection vanished. Music boomed all around us, its throbbing beat mimicking the pulse I no longer had. I kissed him back, pulling him closer. A last tug on my underwear had them off, and Bones spread my legs, positioning himself to stand between them. I opened his shirt, tonguing his flesh from his neck to h
is chest, awash in the heightened sensations of supernatural energy, lust, and power that came from Bones and the club above us.
He squeezed my breasts, his fingers teasing my nipples rigid even through my bra and dress. Hard, bare skin rubbed me below as he tugged down his pants. I arched against him, moaning into his mouth. Need throbbed within me. The table and walls vibrated from music pumping above us. To me, it seemed like everything was shuddering with passion.
“Now,” I gasped.
He pushed deeply into me, the merging of our flesh sending waves of pleasure through my nerve endings. The invisible currents of his power seemed to sink into me with each new stroke.
I sank my fangs into his neck, feeling him shudder with a different kind of enjoyment. Blood filled my mouth, bringing a rush of ecstasy that his strong, smooth thrusts only heightened. I sucked harder, feeling his pace increase as the tension inside me built. I bit him again, crying out when his grasp tightened and he ground himself against me.
A flood of emotions seared my subconscious. I could feel Bones’s control crumbling under the jagged slices of pleasure assaulting it. Felt the rapture shooting up his body when he abandoned that control and let lust have reign. Felt passion blasting through me as he yanked me even closer, thrusting with a sensual frenzy that would have hurt me if I were human, but only felt incredible now. Then I felt his fangs pierce my neck and my blood being pulled out. The music swallowed up our cries as we rocked together, faster and harder, drinking each other’s blood, until both of us trembled from orgasm.
“That was really inappropriate,” I said several minutes later while I straightened my clothes.
Bones laughed, low and sinful. “After being denied a week, I haven’t begun to get inappropriate with you, Kitten, but I will.”
“I’m serious.” I might have an excuse, since decreased control over urges, food or otherwise, was a side effect of being a new vampire, but Bones had been dead a long time. “We’re supposed to be guarding Tammy, not sneaking off for a quickie.”
“Who knows how many more days we’ll be holed up with your mum and Tammy? I wasn’t wasting this opportunity. Besides, Verses is the owner of this club and he’s a friend. Tammy’s safe. He’s probably twirling her around the dance floor as we speak.”
That made me feel less guilty. We were supposed to be on vacation, after all, and the past week of sleeping together without anything else happening had been taking its toll on me, too.
I brought my attention back to business. “Time to mingle with the local lowlifes and see if anyone’s heard about a hitter after a human?”
Bones grinned. “People do talk about all sorts of things when they’re out having a bit of fun. Let’s see if we can find out anything useful.”
Five
TRUE to Bones’s prediction, we found Tammy on the dance floor with Verses. The ghoul could dance like nobody’s business, too. Tammy looked happier than I’d seen her all week.
“It can’t be time to go yet,” she said once she saw us.
“Not yet,” Bones replied. “Verses, mate, point out one of your most gossipy regulars, but someone who can still be taken seriously.”
With his height, it was easy for Verses to see over the other people. After a few seconds, he gestured at a bar manned by a beautiful vampire covered only in dark blue body glitter.
“See the gray- haired vampire sitting on the end? Name’s Poppy. He tells too many stories to be trusted with a secret, but he doesn’t make up what he hasn’t heard.”
“Smashing. I’d appreciate it if you kept your staff from mentioning that I was here tonight—or my wife. Trixie recognized us. Maybe a few more of them, too.”
Verses gave Bones a look. “Bite is a haven for our kind. You’re not intending to break my rules, are you?”
Bones clapped him on the back. “I won’t do anything on your premises. After all, I intend to come back here with my wife. We still have some areas left to explore.”
If it were possible, I’d have blushed at the blatant innuendo. Verses just laughed. Tammy looked bored.
“Why don’t you do whatever it is you’re going to do while I stay with Verses and dance?” Tammy suggested.
I was glad to change the subject. “Verses might have other things to do, Tammy.”
“Keeping a pretty lady happy always takes priority,” Verses said, winking at her.
Bones tugged my hand. “This shouldn’t take too long, Kitten.”
We left Tammy on the dance floor with the ghoul to head toward the glittering blue bartender and the gray-haired undead gossip.
I sat a few seats away from Bones at the bar, dividing my attention between eavesdropping on him and keeping an eye on Tammy. So far, she seemed to be fine, and Verses had been right; the wrinkled vampire next to Bones didn’t need much prodding to start chattering. Bones let him pick the topics for the first half hour or so, then he turned the conversation.
“Bloody economy’s got us all buggered,” Bones declared, draining his whisky in one gulp. “Take me. Three years ago, I’m living the posh life off my investments. Today, I’m guarding a human to scrape by. Like to stake myself and save the embarrassment, I would.”
Poppy snickered. “What’re you guarding a human against? Tax evasion?”
They both laughed, and then Bones lowered his voice conspiratorially. “No, mate, against her relative. In truth, I wonder if I shouldn’t be on the other side of this coin.”
Even across the bar, I could see the gleam of interest in Poppy’s eyes. “What other side?”
Bones leaned in, lowering his voice even further until I could barely hear him. “The side that gets paid more if the whiny brat dies. Faith, if I knew how to contact the chit’s smarmy cousin, I’d take that job instead of the one I’ve got. Then I’d get a meal out of it to boot.”
Poppy chewed on his drink straw. “Can’t ya find out from the girl where this relative is?”
“She doesn’t know. Believe me, I asked with the brights on.” Bones tapped under his eye for emphasis. “I can’t take another month of this. I’ll eat her and then get no bloody money from anyone.”
Poppy glanced around. I looked away, pretending to study my drink. When I strained, I caught his reply.
“Had a fellow here last night. He’s in the population reduction business, if you know what I mean, and he was laughin’ about this job where hired meat tried to use a bone muncher to tidy things up on a contract that was runnin’ long. You’ll never guess what happened. Somehow, the bone muncher ends up dead. Dead! Then the mark disappears. The way I heard it, now the meat’s worried about his contract gettin’ canceled.”
Forty minutes later, this finally pays off, I thought.
“You hear the name of this meat?” Bones asked casually. “I might be interested in helping him out once I’m finished with this job.”
“Think I heard the fellow call him Serpentine. Isn’t that funny? The meat renamed himself just like he’s a vampire.”
Serpentine. I’d have Don burning up the computers on that alias as soon as we got home.
“Ah, mate, I owe you. Next round’s on me.”
Bones stayed another twenty minutes, letting Poppy ramble more until I fantasized about wrapping duct tape around the vampire’s mouth. Finally, Bones feigned regret over needing to leave, but told Poppy he’d be back next weekend. And complained about how he’d have the bratty heiress with him.
My brows rose. What are you up to, Bones?
Six
I pulled the clothes out of the dryer and stifled a curse. Bleach stains everywhere. Tammy was twenty; how could she not know how to do a load of laundry without ruining everything?
Still, at least Tammy was doing her own laundry now. Or trying to. That was the result of my mother’s influence. Twenty years of spoiled rich bitch didn’t stand a chance against forty-six years of farm-reared discipline. Even though I was much closer to Tammy’s age and my mother made Tammy do things that caused the blonde to wail, to my
surprise, my mother was the person Tammy seemed to have bonded with.
Perhaps that was my fault. Maybe I was so used to being in search-and-destroy mode that I couldn’t tackle being in a nurturing one instead. The thought was oddly depressing. Check my ovaries, Doctor, because maybe I’m not really a woman.
After dinner—which my mother still insisted on cooking, not that I complained—we sat by the fireplace. It was time to fill Tammy in on what we’d found out.
“Tammy, here’s what’s going on: Don still hasn’t found your cousin, but Bones found out that the original hit man who took your contract is dead.”
Tammy bolted out of her chair. “That’s great! Does it mean I can go home now?”
“Not so fast. The hitter died under unusual circumstances.”
Tammy sat back down, her enthusiasm fading. “How?”
“His throat was ripped out,” Bones said bluntly. “And his computer and other effects were rummaged through, so someone else might have taken an interest in his unfinished jobs.”
Bones’s connections from his bounty hunter days turned out to be faster than Don’s computers, because he discovered Serpentine was dead before my uncle even found out his real name. Don did send a team over to examine the apartment where Serpentine—or James Daily, as the autopsy certificate read—was found. Even though the person was clever at covering their tracks, Don could tell someone had hacked into Serpentine’s computer. Maybe it was a coincidence that some of the files that were accessed were about Tammy, or that Serpentine had been killed by a vampire. We knew Serpentine had undead connections since he sent a ghoul after Tammy. But maybe it was more than coincidence.
“I told you vampires normally don’t bother with contracts on humans, but life never fails to surprise,” Bones said in a dry tone. “When we were at Bite, I told the gossipy bloke I spoke with that we’d be back tomorrow night. If we still go, it would allow me to dig for more information, but there’s a chance it could prove dangerous to you.”
Tammy scoffed. “How dangerous? I’ve almost been electrocuted, shot, and eaten by a ghoul, remember?”
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