Best Lesbian Romance 2010

by Radclyffe

  One did not tease a vampire without the threat—or promise—of being bitten.

  We hadn’t slept in the same bed for almost a month, and we hadn’t made love for two—not since the brutal attack that had turned her. I knew what she feared, that her thirst for my blood would get the best of her in a moment of passion—that she would lose control and take too much. She wanted to keep me safe and whole. But sleeping alone on the other side of the city in an antiseptic facility maintained by the vampires and wereshifters was not a solution. Apart, we were weak—uncertain, anxious, preoccupied. Together, we were stronger than any obstacle in our path. I believed that, and I knew that deep down, Val did too.

  Tonight, I was going to remind her.

  It was cliché, perhaps, dressing my vampire in black. But I couldn’t resist. Valentine absorbed me like light from the visible spectrum. I knew that if she would only draw me in again, I could warm the chill from her skin and burn to ash the fear that was starving her. It’s true that she fed from me, punctured my skin with her cosmetically sharpened teeth and sucked the blood from my veins to feed the parasite that thrived in hers. What she didn’t believe was that I enjoyed it. I craved the warmth of her lips against me, the sharp sting of her teeth, the greedy pull of her mouth, and the hungry growl that rumbled from the depths of her when she fed. She thought herself a monster, unworthy not only of me, but of her own continuing existence. But I thought of her as an angel—beautiful, immortal, perfection poised on the precipice of falling.

  Fatigue burned behind my eyes as we ascended a brief flight of stairs. I was run-down from serving as her sole source of food, while also maintaining a full course load at NYU Law. And I couldn’t sleep well without her. Val wasn’t getting good rest either; she’d admitted as much a few short hours ago. We were a mess. But that wouldn’t change until I could convince her that the fear was harming us more than her fangs ever could. We had been inseparable, but now a chasm gaped between us. I was desperate to cross it but didn’t know how. And it felt like my time was running out.

  At least tonight, I had a chance. Earlier today, she had approached me with an invitation to attend a private party at Luna, one of the most exclusive clubs in the city. I had decided to buy a new dress—black, halter top, and backless—for the occasion. This was a seduction, not only of Val’s body, but of her very soul. And so far, it was working. Even now, as she gently placed her hand on the small of my back to guide me through the heavy studded doors, I could feel the tautness in her muscles that belied the depth of her need.

  Despite the clarity and importance of my mission, though, I was momentarily distracted by the club’s architecture and décor. I felt like we had stepped into a fairytale. Luna was a tall cylinder built over a large pool of water. A glass circle the precise size of the pool was set into each floor. The circles were ringed by a broad walkway that held high tables and chairs on this floor and private booths—or so I’d heard, anyway—on the floor above.

  When we found a good spot near the edge of the dancing, I slipped my arms around Val’s slim waist and pressed my lips to her jaw. “Unbelievable. Unfuckingbelievable.”

  “Yeah,” Val breathed into my hair as her hands found their way to the bare skin of my back. I shivered under her touch, loving how even the lightest pressure of her fingertips against my skin could make my temperature rise, loving that the magical ambience of the club was compelling her to relax into old habits—us, the way we used to be together.

  But my attention strayed momentarily as I noticed another vampire, just a few feet away, who had backed his date up against the wall and was drinking greedily from her neck. Her eyes were closed in bliss. I stifled a shudder, born of both fear and desire, at the casual intimacy of the act. On the surface, this could pass for a human party, but in reality I was very much a minority. It was an unsettling feeling, a sideways shift into an alternate universe—

  And then Val slowly, deliberately walked her fingers up my naked spine.

  My reaction was instinctual. I thrust my hands into her hair, pressed the length of my body against hers, and bit her chin. When she groaned quietly, I felt a surge of hope. That’s right, Val. Feel me. Feel us. Don’t be afraid.

  We swayed together to the music for a while, holding each other close. I could feel the muscles in her back loosening one by one like tumblers in a lock as she relaxed in my arms. I shifted closer, and her hands slipped sensuously down my hips. I gasped in surprise as goose bumps prickled across my exposed skin at the electricity in her touch. Even now, as circumstance threatened to separate us, our bodies continued to find new ways of connecting and communicating. I started backing Val toward a vacant niche. In my mind’s eye, I envisioned trapping her against the wall with my body, grasping her hair in my fingers and forcing her mouth to the throbbing pulse at my neck. I’d show her that I wasn’t afraid—that I wanted her, needed her. I’d unbutton her pants and slip—

  “Valentine Darrow. The new kid on the block.” An unfamiliar voice shattered my daydream. The stranger stood in my peripheral vision, and I shifted in Val’s embrace to get a better look. Tall, and crowned by a full head of stylishly shaggy hair, he wore a white suit and an insouciant smile that seemed oddly familiar. When he offered his hand to Val, I stepped out of the way. “Sebastian Brenner.”

  The name and face finally clicked in my brain—I’d read an article about him just a few weeks ago online. “You own this place,” I said, hearing the faint surprise in my own words. Why was this man, by all counts one of the most up-and-coming businessmen of my generation, bothering to introduce himself to us?

  He seemed bemused by my reaction. “I do indeed. And you are?”

  “Alexa Newland.”

  He inclined his head politely but refocused his attention on Valentine right away. A flash of jealousy pierced me, churning my stomach. I was used to feeling mildly jealous when we were out—Val never failed to attract attention—but in nearly a year of being together, I had never seen a man look at her the way Sebastian Brenner was right now.

  What was his game? Did he represent some attempt on the part of the vampires to seduce Val away from me? Two months ago, I would have been smug in the belief that they were going about it all wrong. Val had grown up surrounded by wealth and power, and she’d turned her back on the devil’s bargain that was her family fortune. But tonight, my old insecurities clambered to the forefront. I’d grown up simply and comfortably middle-class in a small town in Wisconsin. Val’s family was political and financial royalty. She claimed that she didn’t want any part of that legacy, but was my presence in her life enough to turn her away from the seduction of her family name? Perhaps now that eternity defined her future, she would have far more use for the promises offered by the likes of Sebastian Brenner.

  I tamped down my uncertainty and slipped into the space between them to cuddle up against Val’s side, sliding one arm around her back and stroking her stomach through the silk with my other hand. I even let one finger dip into the space between two buttons to tease the skin beneath. When she tensed under my touch and inhaled in a quiet gasp, I looked up directly into Sebastian Brenner’s dark gray eyes and smiled sweetly.

  He raised his eyebrows, a slight grin playing around the corners of his mouth as though getting a rise out of me had been his intent all along. I clutched Val more possessively and held the smile a moment longer than felt natural.

  “Allow me to buy you both a drink.”

  When Val glanced at me, I nodded. I had set out tonight with the intent to prove to Valentine how important it was for us to be together. At the very least, Sebastian’s attention was distracting her from brooding about how dangerous she was to me. Maybe I could use that to my advantage.

  Sebastian gestured toward the stairs, and the crowds parted automatically for us at his unspoken command. When we reached the top, he bent his head to speak briefly to a woman wearing a floor-length satin gown and a fresh bite mark near one shoulder strap. The dress’s deep blue color was i
dentical to the wall paneling. Sebastian noticed Val staring at the bite, and leaned in close, his mouth almost brushing her ear.

  “We vet our servers in more ways than one,” he murmured.

  My stomach dropped as I wondered whether Val felt desire when she looked at that woman—whether she too wanted to sink her teeth into the smooth, buttery skin of her neck. But as we moved on, she squeezed my hand. Her expression, when I caught her eye, was one of gratitude. “Love you,” she mouthed, and some of my confidence trickled back.

  Sebastian wove deftly through the throng of people, and we followed in his wake. As we crossed onto the glass floor, I looked down at the crowd below, writhing to the thick electronic beat. Occasionally, the bodies would separate just long enough for me to see a flash of rainbow-tinted water. Surreal. He finally paused at one of several alcoves, separated from the dance floor by a floor-to-ceiling black curtain. Flinging the fabric aside, he revealed the most luxurious booth I’d ever seen. He slid gracefully onto one of the dark blue leather benches, smoothing one hand over the chrome table in a proprietary gesture. Directly opposite the curtain, a window, cut the width of the table, looked down on the busy street below. Val indicated that I should precede her, clearly so that I could have the best view, and I kissed her lightly before sliding into place. No sooner had we settled ourselves, than the server returned, bearing a tray full of drinks.

  “I took the liberty of ordering one of our specialties for you both,” Sebastian said. “It’s called a Waltz on the Moon.”

  I cradled the stem of the cocktail glass and took a small sip. A subtle blend of fruit flavors flowed over my tongue: banana liqueur, a hint of apples…and was that lychee, too? I would have to ask Val—she would know. I licked my lips, savoring the taste. “It’s very good.”

  Turning to see Val’s reaction, I froze. Her gaze was focused on my mouth, and her expression was hungry. I brought the glass to my lips again, this time closing my eyes as I sipped. Within moments, her hand was on my thigh, just above my knee. So warm. I didn’t even try to halt the quiet moan that escaped me at her touch.

  When I opened my eyes, smiling faintly, Val squeezed once before taking her first sip. She leaned toward Sebastian, but there was nothing flirtatious in the movement. “Tell me. Why are you giving us the VIP treatment?”

  He laughed, throwing back the shot that the server had brought him with one practiced flick of his wrist. “Am I not allowed to be curious about the newest member of our little community?”

  “You’re no vampire,” I said immediately, frowning. He had to be a shifter then, of course, and I found myself musing over the possibilities for his animal half. Something predatory, and vaguely menacing. He clearly felt himself entitled, even to other people’s lovers.

  The jealousy reared its head again as I realized that in certain respects, Sebastian had more in common with Val than I did. They would both live forever. They were both possessed, in a way—Val by the vampire parasite and Sebastian by the were virus. They belonged to the same club, of which I would never be a part.

  “What do you become, when you shift?” I asked, wanting to know what I was up against.

  He had just enough time to salute me with the empty glass before it was taken from him and replaced with a full one. “How did you guess?”

  “You may not be a vampire,” I said, “but you’re not beneath them on the food chain, either.”

  He flashed his teeth at my assessment. “Technically, it is possible for a vampire to take blood from a shifter. But exceedingly rare.” He shrugged. “The act of feeding usually triggers the change.”

  This new information fit with the little I already knew about weres; predators themselves, I could imagine that they didn’t take well to being bitten. I looked Sebastian over again, uncertain. He carried himself like a crown prince—confident in his superiority yet effortlessly charming. He didn’t seem like a loner, so it was unlikely that he was a feline. But neither did he strike me as a dependent person who wouldn’t feel whole without a pack.

  “So if Valentine were to bite me right now,” he continued playfully, “it’s likely that I would transform into a large black wolf before your very eyes, and tear out her throat. Or yours.”

  I shuddered at the image, and Val leaned in to kiss my neck, just behind my ear. Her lips were hot, and I shivered again out of sudden, sharp desire.

  “Fortunately, you’ll never have to test that theory,” Val told him. The certainty behind those words and the firmness with which she’d uttered them melted away my jealousy like spring rain on snow. When she withdrew, I followed her movements, molding myself to her side.

  “Never say never,” Sebastian said, smirking. But the barb found no purchase this time, and I stared back at him, untroubled. He laced his fingers behind his head. “Enough about me. You’re an intriguing—”

  But we never got to hear exactly what it was about Val that he found so fascinating, because at that moment, a stunning South-Asian woman wearing a dark red sari ducked inside our booth and crouched next to him. She murmured something that I was unable to hear over the music, and Sebastian immediately got to his feet.

  “I’m going to have to take my leave,” he said as the woman stepped away. “Something has come up, and I need to attend to it immediately. I apologize.” On anyone else, that might have sounded like an excuse, but he seemed genuinely regretful. “Please, feel free to stay in the booth. And your drinks are on the house.”

  Once he was gone, Val leaned back against the warm leather and fiddled with one of her cuff links. They were silver buttons—I had given them to her for her birthday, along with the shirt she had on right now. To the casual onlooker she seemed elegant and dangerous; I had been one myself, not so long ago. But now, I knew the depth of her intellect, her dreams and her fears; the terrible conflict between instinct and reason that was eating her alive inside. She was my soul mate. I would allow no hurdle to come between us, especially when the solution in this case was so very simple. I needed to be close to her—to be her sustenance in every possible way. She had to let go of her fear. She just had to.

  “Do you want another round?” she asked, running her fingers along the hem of my dress.

  I thought about Sebastian’s parting words—that our drinks would be on his tab. If that was the case, I was going to indulge. “Hmm. How about scotch?”

  Val’s grin was wicked. “Yes. Excellent.” She pulled aside the curtain just enough to flag down a server and ordered two of the finest scotches that Luna could produce—ice in a glass on the side. While we waited, I stopped her from falling back into her pensive state by pressing soft kisses to her chin, her cheeks, her jaw—showing her how much I loved her, without giving her any cause for alarm. But when the drinks arrived, I could hold myself in check no longer. I picked out the most perfect ice cube I could find, dropped it into my glass, and crawled onto Val’s lap. She groaned, hands automatically going to my waist.

  “You feel so, so damn good,” she whispered, leaning in for a kiss.

  “He wants you.”

  She paused inches from my mouth, clearly not expecting that response. “He wants me? No way. Men like him are not interested in women like me.”

  “You’re wrong.” I bypassed her lips entirely and gently took her earlobe between my teeth. When her hips bucked, a thrill of triumph ran through me. My gentle possessiveness was having exactly the effect I’d hoped.

  “Doesn’t…matter,” Val said, her breathing harsh. “Just. Want. You.”

  “Oh?” I pulled back slightly to look her in the eyes. Their glazed depths revealed the extent of my power. I was going to use it. “Well, I want my scotch.”

  I felt the fine tremor that ran through her body at my assertive words and had to stop myself from smiling. A smile would break the mood. Val reached for my glass and swirled it once before bringing it to my mouth. I swallowed, licked my lips, and kissed her. When she sucked the scotch from my tongue, I drove my hands into her hair. The sou
nd of her low growl made me wild with desire for her, so long denied.

  When I broke the kiss she tried to complain, but I pushed two fingers into her mouth and focused on her neck. The sensation of her tongue swirling around my fingertips made me throb as I sucked hard on her pulse point. I dug in my teeth slightly, mirroring what I needed from her, and she groaned my name. It was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard.

  With one last nip at her tender skin, I eased back in her embrace until our eyes were level. Her breaths were gasps and her eyes were dark. Victory was within reach. “What do you need, Val?”

  “You. Need you. So bad.”

  “You’re coming home with me tonight.” I didn’t phrase it as a request.

  “Yes.”

  The cab ride home was a struggle to remain clothed. Val pushed my dress up as high as she could without exposing me, teasing my smooth thighs with her fingertips until I was on the verge of begging her to take me right there. I retaliated by popping open each button of her shirt and pressing hot sucking kisses to the skin I revealed. She was going to have marks everywhere. I couldn’t get enough.

  We stumbled up the front steps and into the apartment, but I didn’t give her any time to reflect on how it felt to finally be home again. I didn’t want her to think—I wanted her to feel. To embrace who and what she was, not struggle futilely against it. Digging my fingers beneath the waistband of her pants, I tugged, pulling her into the bedroom.

  “Watch,” I commanded imperiously, my hands going to the complex knot at the nape of my neck. A moment later, the dress was a black puddle at my feet. I watched the expressions move across her face like clouds running before a storm: love, desire, thirst. She resented what she had become, but I embraced it, loving the intensity of her cravings; wanting to be the only one who could satisfy her, ever. Don’t fight it, Val, I thought as I stepped forward to divest her of her shirt. Feel everything. Don’t be a fraid.