* * * *
Matt entered the Consort Group International building, home of the mega-conglomerate owned by him and Rick, which housed its central financial office on L.A.’s Miracle Mile. The building was meant to showcase the company’s wealth in the most impressive light possible. It was through the imposing glass and marble structure he strode purposefully past the chic cocktail bar which was the beard for their first S&M club, as they were called in the 1940s. The lounge was just as popular today as a watering hole for the building’s execs and hopeful assistants.
The clubs—both legit and clandestine—began as speakeasies, and flourished once the mob learned better than to interfere. They had morphed into S&M playgrounds, and enjoyed their current incarnation as BDSM clubs. They’d made Matt’s fortune and expanded Rick’s substantially. He and Rick had a blend of talents which proved phenomenally successful. Matt managed security, personnel and the physical plants, and Rick managed guest relations, business and finances.
One set of clubs grew to more than eighty in cities all over the world. If one vamp required several donors, a million vamps required legions, and they all needed a home. Little by little, Consort Group became Consort Group International, and they expanded their reach into other areas until now Matt and Rick owned a diverse number of businesses.
All this prosperity meant an extremely comfortable lifestyle for both of them, but Matt felt a creeping ennui, which was the reason for his foray into an art class tonight. One abbreviated meeting with Cat banished it, that was sure, but he wasn’t so certain its uneasy replacement was a good trade.
Matt continued into the sleek chrome and slate elevator and caught his reflection in the wall’s high polished shine. You’re the top of the food chain, he reminded himself, ironically. He didn’t feel like it just now.
A press of the button marked Consort, started the car on its descent, and as the overhead numbers descended past Basement, Matt touched his hand to a security pad. Immediately, the lights dimmed to a deep red glow. The temperature dropped precipitously, and the canned elevator Muzak converted to the thrumming of a human heart beat that reverberated against the walls and all through him.
The Gaoler featured another bar and lounge, one dealing in booze and blood and socializing, an exclusive dining room with both human and vamp cuisine and a demonstration room used for public submissions. Then, there were long hallways of privately owned and publically rented dungeons.
The elevator doors opened with a discrete swoosh, admitting Matt to the hallway of dungeons. He automatically scented the area. The aroma of willing humans swirled with anticipation, fear and excitement. He combed his gaze over the crimson leather wallpaper and thick, black carpet. Here again, the lights were muted, meant to mimic flickering carriage lanterns. Soundproofing kept the various moans, pleas and screams from mortal ears, but he felt them viscerally, his vampire hearing catching every mortal response.
Being the owners of the clubs gave Rick and Matt the privilege of position and convenience. Their dungeons were almost directly across from the elevators, and a few steps from the bar.
“Why are you so upset?” Rick narrowed his eyes when Matt barged into his private dungeon. “The guy had a head injury. Even if he has the memory and balls to tell someone, who would believe him?” Rick sensuously ran a cat-o-nine tails across his palm several times as they talked.
His cute little sub, Bambi, waited impatiently for him, shackled in place over the spanking bench.
“Maasster?” she whimpered, longing evident in each drawn out syllable.
Rick and Matt turned heavily censorious frowns her way.
“You wait for me without complaint until I’m ready, sub,” Rick corrected. “I guess you’re not ready for the big bite tonight, after all.”
Her whine was pitiful. “Why? Because of him?” Her look spewed venom toward Matt.
Matt shrugged. “Oh, hell, Rick, give her what she wants. I did interrupt the party.”
Rick’s eyes flashed opalescent at him, letting Matt know he tread on dangerous territory. “You never were any good at dominance games, dear boy, but you should know better than to get between me and a sub in training.” He walked Matt to the door of the dungeon. “You need to go to the lounge, get some blood and have that girl who’s so hot for you. What’s her name?”
“Anna,” Matt muttered glumly.
“Right, Anna. Have Anna jerk you off, feed a little and calm the fuck down. When I’m through here…should be about an hour…I’ll join you. We’ll talk about this thing, and see if the girl needs to be eliminated or thralled or just left alone.”
Matt nodded and left. Rick was right. He needed to calm the fuck down. His mood was as dim as the light of the hallway as he left the dungeon. Mortals, who frequented the place, were grateful for the low lighting—not all that eager to be recognized—and vamps required no extra light. He headed toward the bar and lounge. Maybe a vampire woman would be there. Maybe, her sweet lips around his dick would calm him down. His footsteps slowed as he neared the door.
Two feet away he changed his mind. He didn’t want a vamp’s lips on his dick. That was a first. He’d never turned down a blowjob in his life. The truth was, the only ones he wanted belonged to a sassy mortal co-ed with a knack for staking him on the horns of his own desires. Sometimes life sucked. He would grab a quick pint from the bar, and then wait for Rick in his playroom. Maybe, there was a game on television tonight.
The first sound Matt heard as he reached to open the padded leather door was female laughter, hot and raucous and a little drunk. He listened for a second. All women. No men. No vamps, either. Hmm. This could get interesting. It’d been some time since he’d had a party for six, and him the only male.
“Don’t get me wrong,” the woman continued. “He’s hot as hell to look at, and from what I hear, he has great equipment, but you know what, he doesn’t know how to use it.”
“That’s not true.” It was Anna’s voice. “He does have great equipment—unbelievable equipment—every time he bites me, I feel so…so spectacular. I come so hard. He’s ruined me for any other man. Nobody gets me off the way Matt does.” There was a derisive laugh from one of the other women. “Matt’s just…he’s too…too tenderhearted for all these domination games.” Her words were met with more derisive laughter.
“A tenderhearted vampire? C’mon. None of them are.”
Matt peeked around the edge of the opaque window with just enough clear glass to show him the speaker—Tina, a strident bleached platinum-blonde a few years past ripe. He’d pitied the woman more than once for spending the majority of her time at The Gaoler. Word was, her blood was laced with drugs and artificial hormones. Only the truly desperate even considered biting her. He guessed it was sour grapes talking.
Anna’s gasp was genuine. “I think you really mean that! You can’t honestly believe all vampires are cruel. And if you do, why are you here every night begging for a bite?”
“Oh, don’t listen to her,” admonished a dark-haired woman in a nearly invisible jumpsuit cinched by a thin gold chain. “She’s drunk. She doesn’t know what she’s saying.” The brunette checked her makeup in a compact mirror. “Matt’s a good guy, vamp, whatever. He’s just…” she flicked one acrylic nail against another, “boring, and way too cautious.”
Matt’s eyebrow shot up.
Anna angrily turned her way. “Matt is not boring. He’s just not into BDSM, and he would never want to hurt a mortal donor. Has he ever fed from you?” The other woman shrugged non-committedly. “He hasn’t, has he? So, you can’t possibly know—”
“Why are you here?” the dark-haired woman challenged. “You’re the world’s worst submissive, though you pretend to like it. Why do you come here?”
Anna waited a long beat before she answered truthfully. “The bite, and if the rest of you are honest, you’re here for the bite, too.”
“Nope.” The brunette closed the clasp of her purse with a finite click. “I was playing dom
inance games long before I learned about vamps. I’ll be doing it with my husband long after vamps are gone from my life. Some of us are dedicated to the lifestyle. You’re obviously not. Please excuse me.”
She rose regally and strolled out, having the good grace to cast her eyes down as she slid past Matt. He guessed this was his cue to get Anna out of there.
* * * *
Cat finally succumbed to sleep after her over-stimulating day, but it was restless and stained by dreams of a handsome man with haunting eyes and long wicked fangs, standing over her, his dark curls wild in a phantom wind. She awoke with a start, a cry on her lips, and lay in the semi-darkness, listening to an infant’s plaintive wail.
Matt Brenner was a vampire. She’d been in shock, she supposed, when it had all happened. Now, clarity replaced her fear with curiosity. More accurately, she corrected herself, he thought he was a vampire. She’d heard of instances where psychosis affected physical appearance. Opalescent eyes? Translucent skin? Fangs? That seemed unlikely.
Another possible explanation? Hypnosis? Hmm. She’d have to research that one. Drugs? Had he drugged her into seeing him change and then revert to normal? When? They’d never had that coffee. The only thing she ingested around him was her own brandy, and he’d been several feet away when she’d poured it. Even if he had managed to drug her somehow, why? He seemed to want to get away from her, not forge a relationship, which again begged the question, why? Why go to the trouble of hypnotizing and/or drugging her only to leave before the payoff?
What possible payoff could there be? Sex? He was awfully knowledgeable about that whole Dom/sub thing. Cat looked up sexual dominance and submission on the Internet after he left. She’d never imagined such things, and to find there were actual BDSM clubs and conventions…well, that was all too much for her.
She acknowledged her sexual experience was limited to some thoroughly hot kisses and a little light petting, but that was just because Mr. Right hadn’t come along yet, and she didn’t want Mr. Right-Now. Maybe, it was the Catholic boarding school in her, but she wanted a sexual relationship built on mutual trust and respect, and she was willing to wait for it until she found love.
She disciplined her thoughts back to the topic. Maybe a priest would know if vampires truly exist? No, someone higher up–a bishop? A cardinal? There were mystical secrets known only in certain circles of the church. Was it possible? Who did one ask? And if she did, would they lock her up, thinking her mad? She flopped over in frustration, pounding her pillow into submission.
It would be dawn soon, and she didn’t think she could face the new day. If he really was a vampire, would Matt be going to bed now?
She wanted to fall back asleep and dream of a handsome man with a deep, warm voice and raw animal power he leashed with a gentle manner. She wanted him to have clear cobalt-blue eyes. She started to drift into dreams. She wanted his lips on hers, not snarling over dangerous-looking teeth. She wanted his hands on her…she descended into the dream and didn’t awaken again until the sun was high in the sky.
* * * *
Matt’s swift and silent appearance next to Anna caused her to gasp in surprise. “Come with me,” he commanded warmly.
She looked at him, concern evident in her soft green eyes. “Those women, they don’t…” “Come with me,” he repeated, taking her arm before leading her into a waiting elevator.
“Where are we going?” The doors closed, and they started ascending.
“What are you doing?” Matt cut directly to the heart of his concern.
“I…you said I should come…I…”
“What are you doing in this place? In this life? Anna…” He prowled forward, vamping as he went, snatching her against him before she could brace herself. “Don’t you understand how much danger you’re in from me and every other vampire in this place?” His voice was an animalistic growl.
“You wouldn’t hurt me, Matt.” She glided her free hand down the side of his face. “I know you wouldn’t.”
“If you really believe that, you’re naïve. And wrong.” He let his features return to normal. “Donors die feeding us, Anna.” She shook her head. “Yes. It happens more frequently than anyone will admit. Everyone feels bad, but from a vamp’s perspective it’s only the loss of one more mortal.” His stare bore into her. “Is the high of the bite really worth it?”
Anna shrugged, reluctant to reply. “No one makes me feel the way you do when you feed, Matt. No one else even comes close.”
Matt sighed heavily and looked away, studying her unguarded reflection in the metallic finish of the elevator wall. The doors opened with a muted swish. Without regret, he came to a firm decision. “You’re going home, right now.” He hated to see the tears that immediately sprang to her eyes. “You’re no longer welcome at the Gaoler.”
She gasped at his pronouncement and stared at him in shock, as if she’d just received a mortal blow from the last person on Earth she thought would hurt her.
“Why?”
“Because you’re addicted to the bite, and if you don’t stop now, you’re looking at the kind of future Tina has. Is that what you want? A barfly at some vampire lounge? C’mon, baby, you’re too good for that. You’re too good for us.”
“It’s not the bite I’m addicted to,” Anna corrected. “It’s the biter.”
Oh God, he didn’t want to have this conversation tonight. It was never pleasant, and he wasn’t exactly at his best right now. Well, fuck, it looked as if he had no choice.
“I will never get romantically involved with a mortal woman, Anna. Never.”
“How do you know if—”
“Anna, please.” She shivered slightly as he placed cool hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. “Don’t waste your life on me or any other vamp. Find your thrills doing worthwhile things in the mortal world.” He shook his head and paused to press a consoling kiss against her temple. “Don’t look for life in the Vampire Nation. It doesn’t exist here.”
With a distinct thud of her car door, Matt closed his final episode with Anna. He turned to find Rick at the high-rise’s entrance, still dressed in his Dom leathers. Something must be up.
“What was that all about?” Rick nodded toward Anna’s retreating car.
“I banned her from the club.”
Rick raised a brow. “You banned her from our club?”
“She’s sweet and smart and could have a brilliant life in front of her. If we don’t get her out…” Matt shook his head. “I don’t want that on my conscience.”
“Your conscience works overtime, dear boy,” Rick replied flippantly and then relented at Matt’s irritated look. “All right, I’ll see what I can do. You really must stop rescuing the donors. It’s becoming a bad habit.” He glanced up at the impressive high-rise that his business acumen, learned over centuries, built. “Consort Group must have a position somewhere that would satisfy her.”
“Somewhere without vamps,” Matt decreed.
“It’s a mystery to me why you hold our kind in so little esteem.” Matt’s gaze didn’t shrink from the older vampire’s withering look. Finally, Rick gave a curt nod. Matt clapped a hand on his best friend’s leather-clad shoulder and turned to leave.
“Wait.” Rick’s hand on Matt’s arm stopped him. “Aren’t we going to discuss that little dust up you had earlier this evening?”
Matt turned back, looking chagrined. “You know, you were right. I just needed to calm the fuck down. Mission accomplished. Nothing for you to worry about.”
“Okay, either you took my advice, and let Anna get you off before you put her in that car, or you’re a lying bastard.”
Matt clenched his jaw. “Neither. I came to my senses, that’s all. Sorry I hit the panic button. This girl, she unnerved me. It’s nothing. Go back to your party.”
“Come with me,” Rick insisted. “Catalina’s here. She’s been asking for you. For both of us, actually. That’s the kinda party I’m talking about.”
“Not to
night. I’m beat. I’m going home.”
“Indulge me. It’s been a long time since I’ve been between Catalina’s dark, smooth thighs. She says she’s a vamp in search of a good vampire fuck. Who are we to refuse?”
Matt shook his head. “You shouldn’t refuse.” He nodded toward the door. “I can only imagine the fun I’m missing out on. Catalina is seriously hot, but I’m not good company tonight, man. I’d damper the party, and you and Catalina would be pissed. So, tell her we’ll do it another time, and I’ll help you fuck her until her toes curl. Just…not tonight. Okay?”
Rick studied him speculatively. “I have a feeling we’re going be talking about that co-ed soon. Okay, if it’s not tonight, Catalina and I will send a toast your way. Your loss.”
They rode the elevator down together as far as the garage. “Please tell me you at least got some goodbye ass from Anna tonight.”
“C’mon.” Matt shifted uncomfortably under his scrutiny. “You don’t expect me to kiss and tell?” Rick knew perfectly well Matt never fucked a donor.
The door to the garage level opened. “I do indeed expect you to kiss and tell, and I want to know everything, dear boy.”
Matt sighed as the elevator doors closed and then walked to his car. He knew Rick had given up “vanilla” sex over a century ago. Now, it was non-stop kink for the five-hundred-year-old vamp, who had pointed out more than once uninspired sex became boring after a few hundred years.
Matt supposed that was possible. Hard to conceive, but possible. He still couldn’t imagine himself being attracted to all the things Rick was into. He loved women too much to want to control them, vampire or mortal. He loved the scent and sound of them, the soft receptive feel of them. BDSM couldn’t offer what he needed in the bedroom. As friends went, Rick was like a brother, and their friendship meant the world to him.
Blood Rising Page 4
