I give him a sly smile. “I know.”
8 AIDAN
I pop us just outside the front doors of the club. My stomach twists, a new feeling for me. I can’t believe I willingly brought her here. But if I hadn’t she would have taken a cab and there would have been no one to watch over her. This is definitely the better option. To the gods, protect her.
“Come on, Aidan. Stop being a stick in the mud. This place is rocking. Can’t you feel the vibrations?” she says.
“And smell the brimstone…” I mumble.
“What’s that?”
“You heard me.”
We pay the cover charge. The bouncer slaps Lily on the arse and I want to zap him back to Hell but Lilith gives me the dirty look, reminding me I am just along for the ride. I glare at him. He just laughs.
“Nice ass, vamp girl,” he says and whistles.
Lilith looks over her shoulder and grins. “Thanks,” she says.
I close the gap between us to block his view of her “ass.” Suddenly I feel like her father, not her ex-lover. But unlike a father I want to put my hands on her and claim her but can’t. The next best thing is to keep everyone else from seeing her.
“Lilith, wait up! Oh screw this.” I materialize next to her at the bar where she is ordering a drink. The bartender is looking down her bustier. He’s got blue horns and a tail. He’s going to have an eye to match the color of those horns if he doesn’t stop ogling Lilith like she’s a piece of candy. Somehow, he manages to get her order right.
“Lilith, this place is a meat market. I don’t sense another vampire in here. Let’s go somewhere else,” I plea.
“Aidan, I told you that you wouldn’t like what you saw. I plan to let loose. I’ve never done that before. I want to be wild tonight. If you can’t handle it, go home.”
“Yes, Lilith,” I drawl. “I’ll just sit over here. In the corner. By myself. Like a good little djinn.”
“Don’t be that way, Aidan. Have some fun,” she says.
“Yes, just not with you. No, thank you. Seriously, I’ll be over at that table waiting to pick up the pieces.”
“Whatever,” she snaps. She’s never snapped at me before. My head jerks back. I take myself to the table in the corner and sit down. I figure she can’t get into too much trouble for a while.
I ditch Aidan and head to the dance floor and the band. Soon I am surrounded by hot, handsome Demons. They dance so well and I’m being twirled between them. Leather seems to be the theme in here. I’m back with the in crowd.
When the musicians take a small break one of the tastiest Demons I’ve ever seen comes up to me and wraps an arm around my waist.
“What’s your name, pretty vampire?” he asks.
“Lily, what’s yours?”
“Mark. What are you doing in a Demon bar? Did you get lost?” he asks with a devilishly handsome smile on his face.
“No, I just wanted to find a good time and I heard that this was the place to go. Was I wrong?”
“Nope. This happens to be my establishment and I can guarantee you will have a good time here tonight,” Mark says. I reach up and move his ebony curls off his forehead. He gets very still and then smiles. “You are delicious.”
“Hey, that’s my line.”
He laughs and pulls me in closer to kiss my forehead.
“Speaking of which, is there anyone here that ‘appeals’ to your particular tastes tonight?” he asks me.
“All I’m looking for is drunk so I might share the experience.”
“I think that can be arranged. As long as you make it pleasurable for your dinner.”
“I always do,” I say showing a little fang.
“Do you have a preference for male or female?” Mark asks.
“Not at all.”
“Switch hitter?” he asks, raising an eye brow.
“Not at all.”
He laughs and holds his hands up. “You can’t blame a Demon for dreaming.” Then he lifts his chin slightly and a big human-looking Demon comes over. When he gets near I see that he has hooves. Still no tail or horns.
“Yeah boss?” he asks.
“Pete, get Miss Goodwill a midnight snack. Someone who’s tank is full and who has done me a favor lately,” Mark directs.
“Gotcha, boss.”
“Hand-delivered dinner. I’m being spoiled. How did you know my last name?”
“Who else has a djinn following her around? It’s a small world, Lily,” he says and winks at me. “Do I need to be worried about the other vampire too?”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“I mean, I intend on taking you for ride on my Indian after you finish your dinner. Who is going to come after me?” he asks.
“No one that I don’t want to. I can send Aidan home. Not a problem,” I say and grin at him. I feel a big hole in my stomach where Aidan used to reside. Do I feel guilty sending him home? Hell yes! Do I want to bury those feelings for a while and lose myself in this beautiful man in front of me? Yes. That’s the plan tonight. After all, I didn’t ask Aidan to come with me.
“By the way, what’s an Indian?” I ask.
“It’s only the best motorcycle ever made. You’ll fall in love with it. Promise.”
I walk up to Lilith as she is talking to a Demon. He has his arm around her waist and is very comfortable with the arrangement. She is on this self-destruct tract and I can’t watch it but I’m afraid to leave her. I don’t like the way her evening is heading.
“Lilith, why don’t you introduce us?” I say.
“Aidan, this is Mark. He owns The Devil With You.”
“Pleased to meet you, Aidan,” Mark says as he reaches his free hand to shake mine. He keeps his other tightly around Lilith. I feel the temperature rising. Stupid Demons like it hot. “I’ve wanted to get to know you for a long time now,” he says. Blah blah blah. I keep thinking of all the ways I could annihilate him in my head. My favorite involves parasites.
“Oh, I never knew you existed,” I say.
Lilith hits me. “Behave, Aidan.”
“You’re probably the only creature in the world that could hit a djinn, Lily,” he says.
“Let’s remember that,” I say.
“Play nice, Aidan. In fact, I have plans and it would just be better if you went home,” she says.
“I’m calling Diel,” I say. Mark’s eyes tighten as he tries not to show his annoyance.
I step outside and pop over to Diel and Hannah’s house. Of course I knock. They are married now after all.
Diel answers the door and smiles broadly at me.
“Come in, Aidan. Han, babe, Aidan is here,” he yells to the back of the house where I know they are working on a nursery. Sure enough, Hannah, with her little baby bump, comes trucking out to see what’s going on. She has paint samples in her hand.
“I’m afraid I don’t have time for chit-chat. I’m supposed to be calling you from outside The Devil With You. Lilith is there and is set on getting drunk and hanging out with Mark the owner. Is he reliable?” I ask Diel.
“He can be pretty wild. Different women every night. Of course they are all dosed with a non-mating potion. I think Lily is smart enough to not have sex with him. Then again I thought she was smarter than to go there in the first place. Maybe I better just pop over there with you and read the situation?” Diel says peeling Hannah off his sleeve. She nods up at him.
“If Lily is being stupid let me know and I’ll come kick her ass,” Hannah offers.
“Too late for that, Hannah,” I say.
“Hmmm… maybe I should come too, Diel?” she asks.
“No, babe. I don’t want Mark or any other demon around you.”
“Diel, there is no one but you, you know that, right?” Hannah has a frown on her face.
“I do,” Diel says and smiles indulgently at his mate. “But a pregnant female is too tempting to a demon.”
“Okay, you’ll have to explain that sometime. Love you and be careful.”
“Okay, love you too. Aidan, let’s go.”
We pop back into the club and look for Lilith and Mark. Diel goes to the bar and asks where they are and I see the barkeep shrug. Not likely. Diel gives him a disgusted look. Then he sees that Pete guy and grabs him by the sleeve before Pete can creep past him. Diel shakes him and stands him up straight. I go over to listen in.
“What do you mean they took off?” Diel says.
“The boss says, give the Jinni a message,” Pete stutters out.
“Well, what is it.”
“I made sure she ate first and I’ll have her home before sunrise,” Pete says.
“What was Lilith’s condition before they left?” I ask.
Pete laughs, “Oh she was flying.” He sobers up when he sees our hard looks. “Um… she was dancing on the tables and when they left she was riding on the boss pretending he was a motorcycle.”
“Shit,” Diel says.
“Yes, quite.”
9 LILITH
As soon as Aidan steps out of the club with his phone, Mark pulls me into him.
“Do you really want to have some fun?” he asks.
“Yes,” I nod and bite my lower lip. He leans down and bites it gently too. Whoa… tingles right to my toes. That wasn’t supposed to happen. I’ve been without touch for so long that I’m really taken back by it. He grins at me and pulls me into a posh room off the main floor.
The room has a window to Hell. I get lost in it.
“Baby, I’ll bring you back to look all you want. Heck, I’ll take you down if you want. But right now I need you to quickly feed if you want to before your stick in the mud jinni gets back.”
This makes me turn my head. I immediately feel guilty. Describing Aidan this way isn’t fair. Mark must see my hesitation because he pulls me in to him and smoothes my hair down and nuzzles my ear. Goddess it feels so nice. I melt a little next to him.
“Lily, let’s have some fun. I know Aidan is just worried about you, but I’ll take care of you tonight and show you a good time. What do you say?” he asks, pulling back and looking me in the eye.
I smile at him. “How did you know what I was thinking? Are you a mind reader too?”
“No, just spent a lot of time around sad faces here in the club. I really want to make yours happy. Let me?”
“What do we do first?” I ask. He picks me up and swirls me around and motions for Pete to bring in a muscular Demon.
The Demon quickly takes his t-shirt off. I assume this is going to be my dinner. He’s breathing fire almost literally. He’s not drunk but I can tell he has more than enough alcohol in him to keep me going for days. I hungrily look him over, running my fingers over his broad chest making him shiver. I walk behind him and pounce tilting his neck before he knows what hit him. When I bite him he gives a little squeak and but soon he is moaning in pleasure. I jump down when I’m done. I give him an extra ounce of glamour since he so willing offered up the midnight snack. The second I am down he spins around and tries to grab me but Mark jumps in between us. It gets pretty tense but eventually the younger Demon backs down and leaves.
“I guess I put too much mojo into it,” I giggle, flying high.
“You are ravishing. I’d challenge me too,” he says and grins. I leap up onto the table and start dancing. I let my hands run smoothly across the leather on my body. Mark’s eyes never leave mine.
“Come here,” he says.
“Okay, only if I can ride you like a motorcycle,” I say giggling so hard that I fall off the table into his arms.
“You have no idea what you are saying do you? Here, get on my back and make all the noises you want. We have to go. I have a feeling Diel is going to make an appearance.”
We slip out the back door circumventing the main room. Sitting under a light was a motorcycle. No, scratch that. An Indian. A big, ugly Demon is standing guard over it. Mark tells him thanks but he’s going home early tonight. The Demon nods and grins at him. As if! I know what he is implying. Yea, we are going to have fun but I’m not that kind of girl.
Mark sits me down on the big machine and gets on. Nothing prepares me for the rumble of the engine and the feel of the wind racing by as he takes off. I laugh like crazy and grab on tight. Mark puts one hand over mine to help keep me on the bike since I am a little wobbly but we make our destination with no mishaps.
“This is near Ocean Beach,” I say, smelling the salt air and listening to the gentle roll and crash of the waves. “I thought we were going to have fun?” I am in full blown pout and am about to get pissed. All this alcohol going to waste.
“We are near the beach, baby. I live here,” he says as he points up at a huge mansion tucked away from the street.
“Oh,” is all I can say. The Bat Signal should be going off about right now but I think the commissioner, like me, had too much to drink and forgot to turn it on. Hannah will kick my ass for going home with him after just meeting him. This makes me smile. I wanted wild and crazy and it just fell into my lap.
“I don’t know what you’re smiling at, Lily, but I hope it’s good,” he says.
“Yep, it’s good. What are we going to do here?” I ask as we climb off the bike. Well, I fall off and Mark scoops me up.
“I thought I would call some of my friends and have them come over and we could have a small party. Actually some of them are probably here. The freeloaders never leave…” he mumbles.
Mark throws me up in the air and catches me and I squeal with glee.
“Bring it on,” I say while giggling.
“Oh, you got it babe. The things I’d love to do with you.” He nuzzles my neck and whispers in my ear. “You have no idea.” My whole body quivers. “That’s the reaction I’m going for,” he says. Then he bites my ear lobe and I moan. He does all this as he climbs up the long stairway to the front of his home. He fumbles for keys and unlocks the doors and kicks them open.
I’m immediately assaulted by the stench of brimstone. I know some Demons snort it for the high but I have never run across it before. I’ve got to get a Demons for Dummies book tomorrow.
He sweetly continues to carry me, although at this point it might just be to make sure some of his fabulous art work doesn’t get trashed by my inability to walk straight.
“Mark?”
“Hmmm…” He’s kissing my neck and it is oh so good.
“Why does it smell like brimstone?”
“My friends like to do a few lines sometimes. Once in a while I do too. You should try it. I’ve seen vamps on it. They say the experience is enlightening,” he says while his lips keep kissing me.
“Why the Hell not? Woooo Hooooo! I want to try everything!” My voice echoes in the grand foyer we are in. He sweeps me into a room that I would call a game room.
Big leather couches, big screen TV, gaming systems, pool table, book cases, and a seventy-five gallon built in salt water aquarium with a large octopus in it. We sink into one of the sofas.
Mark stands up and adjusts his jeans. I can’t help but notice I’ve had some effect on him. I start giggling and grab a throw pillow to cover my face.
“Don’t go anywhere, Lily. I’ve got some brimstone in the safe. Primo stuff, medicinal grade. I’ll go get it. The Devil, you are gorgeous.” He leans down and catches me off guard by kissing me on the lips long and hard. I’m in disconnect with all the alcohol running through me. Things are moving really fast.
Mark leaves the room and I get up and stumble over to the aquarium and start to tap on the glass at the octopus. It’s stunning. It changes colors because I startled it. Vibrant colors and an elegance only nature can create. I feel Mark walking up behind me.
“His name is Oscar and he is a great escape artist, aren’t you Oscar?” he says tapping on the glass and chuckling. “I’ve found him more than once half in and half out of the tank.”
“Oh my Goddess, won’t he dry up fast?” I ask.
“He was smart enough not to get completely out of his tank, but ye
s, he will dry up fast. I think I’ve got him safely contained now.”
“You’re not the scary club owner everyone says you are,” I say as I run my fingers down the side of his face. He captures my hand and kisses the tips of my fingers.
“And you are as sweet and beautiful as everyone says you are,” he says looking into my eyes until I have to look away. “Come lovely girl, I have the brimstone.”
We sink back into the couch and Mark pulls me onto his lap so I am straddling him.
“Is this a necessary part of the experience?” I ask.
“With me it is,” he says around a wicked grin.
He reaches to the table beside us and pulls over a small mirror with two thin lines of brimstone and a small straw. It smells like sulphur and burnt magick.
“You ready for this, Lily?” he asks.
“No, but I’m going to do it any way.”
“Good girl.”
I take the straw and Mark holds the mirror up for me and I snort. The burn is amazing but it is soon followed by an icy tingling. Mark quickly takes the straw and snorts the other line. While he does his line I feel the ice moving through me. My senses heighten and I am floating.
I hold my arm out and I swear it floats on its own. I smile and look at Mark. He’s smiling at me and starting to unlace my bustier. An alarm goes off somewhere but the ice makes it go away. Just when he gets it about half undone and I feel my whole body floating, Aidan and Diel pop in.
10 AIDAN
After Diel joins me, I start tracking Lilith. We find her in no time. The problem is do we have the right to interfere. Diel says yes. I really wonder. She has been adamant that she wants her space. I’ve always respected her wishes. I just have a bad feeling that she is not in a good place right now and she is making decisions that she will regret. But is it my right to protect her from herself? I don’t think so and don’t think she would think so, so I hesitate outside of Mark’s mansion.
Then Diel smells the brimstone. That’s a deal breaker. She won’t be making up her own mind with that stuff in her system.
I pop us in.
Lilith is so strung out she doesn’t even know that Mark has her top half off. Her head starts to loll. Diel and I step in immediately. I grab Lilith and Diel grabs Mark. With a wave I close Lilith’s top and then cradle her to me. I know she is really out of it because she isn’t fussing about it. Her head just hangs back and limp. She mumbles the name Oscar.
Suckers Bite Back (San Francisco Vampires #5) (Vampires of San Francisco series) Page 3
