by Gwen Knight
“But I thought—”
“What? That we were nothing more than little docile puppies who craved your attention? Madam da Silva does her best to ensure the rules are obeyed, but as always, there are those who push the limits. Allowing an unknown vampire to draw you away from the party was foolish.”
So I’d recently learned. Heat simmered through my cheeks. “Listen, buddy. I can only go with what I know. And I only know what I am told.”
“And what were you told, exactly?”
“That I would be safe here.”
A look of astonishment crossed his face. “Vampires are no different than humans. We are driven by urges and desires much like you are. And one of our baser desires is to…”
“Feed,” I finished for him.
He nodded. “That, and more. For your sake, and the sake of the rest of the patrons, please do not follow any more vampires into dark corners.”
“I didn’t follow him,” I hissed. “He thought he knew me, and pulled me away.”
That damned brow again. “And are the two of you acquainted?”
Pretentious dick. “No! I’d never met him before tonight.”
“Then why would he think he knows you?”
I almost growled—a reaction that left me stunned. I’d never been one to anger easily, but there was something about his patronizing tone that ruffled my feathers. As though I were to blame for that jackass’s behavior. “How would I know? He grabbed my hand and dragged me off to the side.”
“Then I suppose we should return you to the party so you might find a companion for the night.”
I rolled my eyes. The last thing I wanted to do was flirt my way into some vampire’s still-beating heart…assuming their hearts did, in fact, beat? A question I’d never thought to ask.
Instead, I glanced up at Rune with an impetuous expression. Even in my heels, he had three inches on me. He watched me with a similar countenance, as though silently daring me to challenge him. Part of me wanted to if only to prove I could.
There was something in his manner…a confidence many men lacked these days, and a strength that left few questioning who, or what, he was. Even as he watched me, the rim of his hardened gaze screamed predator, and my instincts urged me to run far, far away.
“Everything all right over here?”
I turned to find Ashley hovering nearby, worry etched into her face. Just like that, all the sound came rushing back: the clinking glasses, the muted laughter, the swish of the courtesans’ dresses, and Madam da Silva chattering away to any who would listen. Somehow Rune had distracted me from it all.
“Everything is fine,” I assured her. “Rune, here, was introducing me to the wonderful world of vampires.”
There went that perfectly sculpted brow again. “Indeed.”
Without another word, he turned and strode back to the party. He wore his tuxedo well, though, that was for sure. Of course, I’d always been a sucker for a man in a penguin suit.
“Well, that’s one vampire who won’t be bidding on me,” I commented with an abashed grin. I only hoped Luke didn’t, either. And if he did, I hoped I had the ability to reject the offer.
“Be grateful,” Ashley whispered as she took my hand into her own. “Ethen doesn’t often attend these parties, but I’ve heard whispers of him.”
“Ethen?” I shook my head. “His name is Rune.”
“Ethen Rune.” Her gaze darted across the ballroom as though she was afraid to speak his name aloud. “He’s been around the block a few hundred years, at least. Some of the girls warned me about him when I started. Why was he talking to you?”
I grimaced, so not willing to tell her about Luke. It only raised questions, ones I wasn’t ready to answer. “He felt it necessary to point out that I was a novice and needed to learn a thing or two.”
Ashley groaned and rolled her eyes. “Sounds about right.”
Curiosity rampant, I slid him another side glance, watching as another vampire attempted to claim his attention. “So, you’ve never met him before? Never spoken with him?”
“Other than tonight? No. As I said, he doesn’t usually come to these events.”
“Why not?”
She lifted a bare shoulder. “Never thought to ask. I was just grateful not to have to worry about him bidding. I mean, the man’s ugly, don’t you think?”
I bit my tongue, unsure of how to respond to that. Maybe physically, he had a harsher appearance than the others, but that hardly made him ugly. If anything, the fact that he’d stepped in and helped me with Luke endeared him to me. Looks weren’t everything. Especially when the attractive ones were just as likely to chomp down on your throat.
“I’ve heard he never bids on the courtesans.”
My brows lowered. “Then why attend the event?”
“Charity?” she said with a shrug. “Some use it as a write-off for their businesses. They say he owns some multi-billion dollar company.”
“What else?” I prodded.
“Not much. No one knows much about him.”
“If he isn’t popular, why would Madam da Silva invite him?”
Ashley’s smile was knowing. “He’s rich, and this is a charity event. When you’re looking for money, you choose the ones with the largest net worth.”
“Sure, but not if he isn’t going to bid.” A catch twenty-two if I’d ever heard one.
“Who knows? Don’t waste your time on him. Go flirt with some of the others.” She turned and pointed me in a different direction altogether. “See the one in the corner with the thin lapels and the violet boutonniere? That’s Adam Birling. I was chatting with him and his partners a few moments ago, and he expressed an interest in you.”
Well, didn’t this feel dirty?
“Go talk to him a little. Do the rounds. Shake hands, smile, kiss babies, that sort of thing…”
“There aren’t any babies here,” I pointed out.
“Doesn’t change my point. Go schmooze the clients if you don’t want to be left out of the bidding.”
I nodded. I didn’t have much time left. Last I’d heard, the bids closed after a couple of hours, and Luke had taken up enough of my time already.
Speaking of Luke…I did a small pirouette and searched the room for his rotten face. Seemed he’d taken to wooing another courtesan, and properly this time. With him sufficiently distracted, I headed toward Adam, my forced smile in place.
The things we did for love.
***
“You appear to be adjusting well.” Rune’s deep voice cut through the background noise.
I startled, the drink in my hand nearly sloshing over the rim of the cup when I turned.
“At least…I’d assumed you were,” he stated in a wry voice, his gaze falling to my glass.
“And I was doing so well too,” I sighed. Thankfully, I hadn’t spilled a drop. How horrifying that would have been.
A rough chuckle slipped out from between his lips, as though he wasn’t accustomed to making such a sound. “Don’t worry,” he assured me. “No one saw your little slip-up. I may even pretend I didn’t.”
“How magnanimous of you.”
He cleared his throat, then turned and perused the ballroom. “Have you had the opportunity to meet all the attendees?”
I nodded, my gaze following his around the room. So many, in fact, I barely remembered their names. Madam da Silva hadn’t been wrong—it seemed I was the favorite little entrée tonight. The new girl had apparently aroused the intrigue of many, and the high-slitted dress they’d wrapped me in certainly helped matters. Their gazes tended to stray between my thighs and my throat, two body parts I certainly wasn’t used to attracting the male eye. Of course, I wasn’t the only one flashing a little leg. It seemed a staple of the courtesan life. Low-cut dresses, high-cut slits, and tight bodices…anything to boast a bit of flesh.
“Excellent. It would appear you’re a success. Seems most of the men can’t keep their eyes off of you.”
I almost s
norted. Call me a modern woman, but men eyeing me meant little. Not to mention, it was the purpose of our outfits to draw their attention.
“That doesn’t appeal to you?” Rune asked, his head tilted toward me.
“Would it appeal to you?” I countered. “If every last female in this room was eye-humping you, wouldn’t you eventually find it tiresome?”
His dark brows drew together. “I would. But I would also imagine that as a courtesan, you would revel in the attention of men. After all, that is how you come by your salary.”
My eyes fluttered shut. One of these days, my mouth was going to get me in trouble. I had a part to play here tonight—the doting courtesan whose only ambition was to seal the deal with a vampire. “I meant…” Yup, I had nothing. No way to backtrack. So, instead, I opted for a touch of honesty. “Few of us are here because we enjoy the attention of men, vampire or otherwise. We’re here because of what this position can give us.”
His cold eyes widened, as though he hadn’t expected me to speak the truth. “And you, Ms… Winter?”
I smirked at his slip up. “Like many of the ladies here, I’m in a bit of a pickle, and this contract should remedy that.”
“I see.” He finished the rest of his glass, then placed it down on the table.
“And you, Mr. Rune? Dare I ask why you’re here?”
Humor pulled at the corner of his mouth. When he smiled, his entire face changed into something devastatingly handsome. I found myself blinking in amazement as I stared up at him. Ashley would have died had she seen it. As it was, I had no intentions of sharing that little secret with her.
“Call me Ethen,” he offered. “Rune is how I am addressed by my business associates.”
“And that, we are not,” I teased. “So what brought you here tonight?”
His gaze dipped to the hollow of my throat, a flicker of hunger illuminating his eyes before it vanished a heartbeat later. “Madam da Silva acquired a last minute ticket for me. She assured me that this event would be worth my company’s time.”
“Make a donation to a charitable event, and your business gets all the press.”
“Indeed.”
“And have you chosen a specific courtesan then?”
He paused for a moment. “Ah. No.”
“That’s right. You don’t ever bid on the courtesans.”
Surprise flashed across his face. “You inquired about me?”
“Not exactly.” Embarrassment spread across my cheeks in a hot flush.
Ethen drew in a slow breath, his pupils dilating to a near slit. The sight of it rendered me speechless. I’d never seen a vampire caught amidst his hunger before.
I forced myself to hold still. “Are you all right?”
His throat trembled when he swallowed, but, with obvious effort, he tore his gaze away from my throat and focused across the room. “Forgive me. That was rude, and, unfortunately, a side effect of being a vampire.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I teased, even though my heart gave a hard kick.
“If you’ll excuse me.”
We stared at each other for a long moment before he turned and strode away from me for the second time that night.
Chapter 5
A dull tap on a microphone roused the room’s attention.
The conversation between myself and another vamp, whose name I’d already forgotten, died down, and we turned toward the lush, red-lined podium. Madam da Silva stood under the spotlight, her cheeks a little flushed and her eyes glazed. Curious, I glanced over at Ashley with an arched brow, who met my silent question with a bashful smile. Had some vamp sampled the madam? My wide gaze cut back to her, my mouth parted in shock. Guess she who created the rules had the right to abuse them…
Clearing her throat, she tapped the microphone once more, then leaned forward and spoke in a seductive purr. “The bids are now closed. Ladies, if you’d please?”
We watched in shared silence as three impeccably dressed assistants strode toward the stage with the bidding sheets in hand. Throughout the night, I’d debated stealing a peek at my own. Some of the other courtesans had, and I’d watched as they’d sought out their highest contender's competition and encouraged them to up the price as a means of sparking a bidding war.
Me? I was petrified. I didn’t want to know whose name rode the top of the list, nor did I wish to spark any sort of battle between two vampires. All I wanted was to get in and out with the money in hand and my life intact.
“Here goes,” a nearby vampire commented to his neighbor.
“Who’d you bid on?”
“Ms. Elizabeth,” the first responded. “She and I go way back. You?”
“Christine.”
I nibbled on the inside of my lip. Once the sheets were passed over to the madam, her assistants glided back through the crowd, their faces radiant. Might they have partaken in all the shadow world had to offer as well? The thought made my blood run cold. I didn’t want to turn into one of them, didn’t want to become bite-addled and addicted to a pair of fangs.
“They seem content,” I murmured to the pair of vamps.
Quiet laughter rolled off their lips. “I’m sure they are.”
“What do you mean?”
The closest vamp leaned in, his voice low. “Look around. Do you see any wine glasses full of blood?”
I hadn’t actually thought to look, but now that he mentioned it, I saw there weren’t.
“The courtesans are not to be touched without a contract. But the assistants? They have a job to perform, and sometimes we get hungry.”
My stomach twisted at the thought. The assistants were the hors d'oeuvres, in a manner of speaking. Straight from the tap. Not bite-addled then, but rather, paid to provide a hot vein.
As for the madam, she made her way back toward the microphone and cast one more dazzling grin before flipping through the sheaves of paper. “Well my, my. I must say, these are quite the bids. Ladies, you’ve certainly outdone yourselves tonight.”
A smattering of amused chuckles rose from the crowd. I glanced at Ashley once more only to find my attention instead drawn by a dark shadow hovering near the edge of the party.
Ethen.
For someone who refused to bid on courtesans, his attention seemed riveted on the madam. I wondered if he was the one who had put that smile on her face, but then decided against it. Breaking the rules didn’t seem to be his forte. If it were, he wouldn’t have stepped into the fray to protect me from Luke.
Or maybe I was just hoping for the best? There was something comforting about meeting one vampire with morals after the past few nights I’d had. Surely, there were more out there, somewhere.
“Let’s get down to business then, shall we?” the madam continued, her sultry voice dragging me out of my reverie. “Now then. Mr. Trenton Abbott has won the hand of Ms. Ashley Cooke.”
This time, I did glance at Ashley, relieved to find a triumphant glow upon her face. After a slight curtsey, she moved seamlessly through the masses until she stood next to her client, a shy smile tugging at her lips. I took note of her movements, prepared to do the same.
One-by-one, I watched other the courtesans pair off, and, with each shuffle of paper, my heart beat an erratic rhythm in my chest. Every now and then, a vamp shot me an annoyed glance, as though my nerves disturbed them. I managed to resist poking out my tongue. Seemed unwise.
Madam da Silva neared the ends of the sheets, and my pulse gave another hard knock. Worry gnawed at me. What if no one had bid on me? What if my performance tonight had been lacking? And did I care? Vacillating between anxiety and disappointment, I startled when the madam’s eyes cut across the crowd to me.
“And lastly, our top grossing bid for the night goes to our newest courtesan, Ms. Amelia Winter, who was won by…”
I sucked in a deep breath as I waited for the other shoe to drop. God, the madam knew how to pander to an eager crowd. She held my gaze, a grin crooking at the corners like a hungry bobcat about to poun
ce. She had to know what the anticipation was doing to me, but she kept quiet until the masses began to grow restless.
Honestly, I didn’t care who had won the contract, so long as it wasn’t Luke. I didn’t want his fangs anywhere near my throat or any other part of my body.
Finally, she winked at me and turned back to the crowd. “Mr. Ethen Rune.”
A collective gasp rang through the room. Without hesitation, my eyes fluttered shut, and my shoulders rounded with relief. Odd that his name drew such a reaction from me, but the man intrigued me. And for the first time since entering my apartment to find Calix draining the life from Tessa, I wasn’t afraid.
I drew in a deep breath, opened my eyes, and began the long walk to Ethen’s side, mindful that everyone was watching me. I lifted my skirts so as not to trip and navigated the masses, grateful when a path finally cleared for me. It wasn’t until I reached the table he’d been standing next to that I glanced up and met his gaze. He leaned against the nearest wall, arms crossed over his chest as he observed my approach, but it was the look in his eyes that made me shudder, the indefinable darkness that swelled within them.
Maybe I wasn’t so safe with him, after all.
***
Most of the drive to his house passed in silence. Awkward, to say the least. Now and then, I stole a glance in his direction and studied his strong profile. From this angle, his long nose gave him a regal appearance. Of course, every time I stole a gander, his grip tightened on the steering wheel. If he squeezed any harder, I feared the leather would pop its stitches.
“So, where do you live?”
He turned and blinked at me, as though shocked I’d speak to him. “Astor Street,” he finally responded in a deep voice.
In the sanctity of his car, without the roar of other voices and laughter, I noticed a hint of an accent. Old world, but faint. “Nice neighborhood,” I commented. Nothing like horrible small talk to make an already awkward moment unbearable.
Astor Street wasn’t just a nice neighborhood. It was a part of the Gold Coast, an affluent district that had always felt a bit…out of my league. But thankfully, Astor Street was only minutes from the Palmer House, which meant the silence wouldn’t last much longer.
