by Nina Bangs
Pushing that thought aside, along with all its potential for emotional disaster, she stepped into Eternal Pleasure and its low throb of sensual music.
Sensory impressions swirled around her—shadowed interior, dim atmospheric lighting, rich fabrics, expensive scents, and a sense of silent watchers just out of sight. The quiet murmur of conversation died as the three of them stood just inside the door.
Kelly shivered. This didn’t feel like a normal club. No loud music, no noisy drunks, just the feel of all those eyes. Oh boy.
But there was sex. Wow, was there sex. The female singer stood on a small stage and crooned about the pleasure a man brought to a woman. With dark hair that tumbled over her bare shoulders and down her back, large dark eyes that almost glowed, and a mouth that even Kelly recognized as a dangerous weapon, she put the “c” in carnal. Her body was all lush curves. Kelly knew this for sure because only a few strategic spots were covered. Kelly felt her own sex appeal oozing out of her even as she stared.
From a woman’s point of view, though, the singer wasn’t the main attraction. Three men with hard, muscled bodies and gorgeous faces wound themselves around the woman, demonstrating for those unable to visualize the creative ways to bring a woman to orgasm. Wearing only G-strings, they looked really…persuasive.
Kelly stole a quick glance at Ty and Q. Yep, they were totally into all that sexual excess. As her gaze slid back to what the men were doing, she noticed the piano player and the bar almost hidden behind the stage.
And then Jude was there. He materialized out of the shadows, his appearance just as impressive as the first time she’d seen him. Tonight he was in pirate mode—black pants, high boots, billowing white shirt open to his navel, dark hair pulled back and fastened at the base of his neck, and gold earrings. No eye patch.
“Does the sensuality shock you?” His smile was merely a sly lifting of his sexy lips.
“Nope.” Kelly had no compunction about lying.
Ty dragged his gaze from the singer. “I like it.”
She frowned. Of course he liked it—he was male. But jealousy was an insidious thing. Not admirable, but almost impossible to dislodge.
Ty nodded toward Q. “I don’t think you were ever officially introduced to Q.”
Q never took his attention from the singer. “Jude.”
“And this is Kelly.”
She smiled her approval at Ty. He hadn’t snarled at Jude when he introduced her. Tough for him. Of course, she still felt a shimmer of terror. She was probably reacting to the grumbling of his inner beast. Or maybe this time she was reacting to the strange vibes she was getting from Jude’s club.
The vampire’s gaze glided over her, pausing where her neckline plunged. He took the plunge with her and didn’t come up for air until Ty shifted closer.
“I remember. You had a strong opinion about my riding skills.” Jude’s smile widened.
“She had no opinion about your riding skills.” Ty had evidently reached the limit of his tolerance for sexual banter.
“Uh, I’m here, and I get to answer questions directed at me.” Kelly tried to hold on to her temper, tried to remember where Ty had come from and why he acted the way he did. She bit her lip to keep from making any more snarky comments.
Then she glanced into his eyes. They were dark with frustration. He exhaled and ran his fingers through his hair. Kelly clenched her hands into fists to keep from reaching up to touch the tangled strands.
“I keep forgetting. Instincts are out, control is in. I can’t be what I was before. I guess the rules just aren’t sinking in yet.” He met her gaze. “But I’m trying.”
Wait for it.
“For you.”
Yes. His last two words had been a low murmur, but she’d heard them. He’d admitted he was trying to change for her. That was worth celebrating. “Why don’t we sit down so everyone can stop staring?”
Jude nodded and led them to a table in a darkened corner. “Can I get you something to drink?”
Q and Ty asked for water. Good. The thought of going to war with two drunken dinosaurs was pretty scary. “I’d love a Diet Coke.”
While Jude went to get their drinks, Ty slowly scanned the room. Then he stared at Q. “You think?”
Q nodded.
She was left out of their communication. “What?”
“Everyone in this place is a vampire.” His tone didn’t exactly say, Run for your life, but it definitely hinted they might be wise to cover their necks.
Jude returned with the drinks. “I wondered how long it’d be until you realized this was a vampire club.” He sounded amused.
“You heard that?” Kelly calculated how far away from the table Jude had been when Ty spoke. Nope, he shouldn’t have been able to hear what Ty said.
“We have enhanced senses.” Jude’s expression said it was a miracle that humanity was still around with such poor survival skills.
After just a few days among nonhumans, she was beginning to think he was right. “So no humans come in here?” She scoped out the vampires at the nearest table. A woman waved at her. Now where…Then she remembered. One of the bodyguards who had come with Jude when he visited Fin’s condo.
Jude shrugged. “They wander in now and then.”
Q snorted. “Question is, do they wander back out again?”
“Always.” Jude sat down between Ty and Q. He pointed at the menus on the table. “They can buy drinks and food. Everyone around them may look a little hungry, but they leave none the wiser.”
Kelly reached for a menu. “We were going to eat before we went on to our next meeting anyway. I think I’ll order now.” She remembered Spin and Neva. “And I’ll need two to-go meals when we leave.”
Q and Ty looked wary. Kelly took a leap of faith that Jude wouldn’t serve them human hearts sautéed in blood. “I’ll take the lamb and…” Someone stop her. Too late. “Garlic mashed potatoes.”
Jude’s laughter was deep and sexy. “I love garlic. And since we’re shattering beloved stereotypes, crosses and holy water don’t bother me either. Sunlight’s a problem, though.”
Taking their cue from her, Q and Ty ordered the same thing.
While Jude called someone over to take the order, Kelly looked around the room again. A few vampires had left their tables to dance in front of the stage. They all moved with the same sinuous rhythm that screamed, We are sexy.
Her gaze drifted back to the vampires at the tables. They looked so normal, drinking and talking. Drinking. “What’re they drinking?”
“Not blood drained from the little old lady who runs the store downstairs.” He leaned back in his seat and studied her. “Although the temptation is always there.”
Kelly felt Ty tense beside her. “I wouldn’t be sitting here if I thought you couldn’t control temptation.”
Jude nodded. “We run our own blood banks. Volunteers are paid well.”
“You never drink from the source?” Q sounded disbelieving.
The vampire smiled at Q, a slow taunting expression that exposed impressive fangs. “Once in a while we allow ourselves a treat. But the donor is always willing, and we never take enough to kill.” He leaned toward Q. “Did you enjoy killing all those wolves the other night? Had lots of fun, didn’t you?”
Q couldn’t quite meet his gaze.
Jude leaned back, satisfied. “Except for Kelly, we’re all predators. But my people have suppressed their hunting instincts for the survival of the species. Vampires don’t reproduce often, so humans outnumber us ten thousand to one. Not good odds, even if you have strength and ferocity on your side.”
Kelly thought Jude was sounding a little unfriendly. “In other words, if you weren’t outnumbered, you’d be slaughtering humans?” Talk about being outnumbered…Hmm. She gauged how far they’d have to run to escape the roomful of vampires.
“Not in this time. Life is good in the here and now. We don’t need to kill to survive. And if blood from a blood bank isn’t as exciting as the
hunt—” he shrugged—“we deal.”
The waiter arrived with their meals, and they put the conversation on hold for a while. Surprised, Kelly realized the lamb was fantastic. Or maybe it was just that she was starved.
While she ate, she watched the men on the stage. After a few minutes her imagination replaced them with Ty’s image. The fantasy felt way too good. So she turned to Jude. “You’re a pirate tonight.”
“Tonight’s the three hundred eleventh anniversary of my turning. I lived and died a pirate.”
While she was trying to wrap her mind around his age, Ty got down to business. “You wanted to talk to us.”
“My people are turning rogue or getting killed in record numbers. I’ve checked in other parts of the country, and they report the same thing. When I talked to Fin, I didn’t know the full scope of the problem. Now I do.”
Ty nodded.
“Last night I found a friend I’d known for two hundred years dead in his home. His body was on the bed, his head under it. I tracked down his killer. He was a Houston vampire who’d disappeared off the radar a few months ago.” His face became all harsh lines and angles. “Before he died, the killer confessed to working for a Mr. Wyatt in exchange for being granted his own hunting territory.” Jude’s lips peeled back in a snarl. “Hunting license revoked.”
“Hunting territory?” Kelly put down her fork. Somehow she knew this wouldn’t be an appetizing disclosure.
“This Wyatt guy gave him a small area in Houston where he could kill and feed from humans. He said Wyatt guaranteed his protection as long as he stayed in his own territory. In exchange, he murdered for Wyatt.”
Kelly stared down at her lamb. Ugh. After listening to Jude, she was feeling seriously lamblike herself. Couldn’t eat a relative.
Q wasn’t having that problem. He only paused in his eating long enough to throw a question at Jude. “What’s your plan?”
“You got lucky when you found that vampire at the club. It won’t happen again. They’ve been warned. You won’t find any of the ones you’re looking for at clubs where humans go.”
“Makes sense.” Ty’s appetite wasn’t suffering either.
“You don’t know the secret clubs in the city that cater to nonhumans. I do.”
“And?”
Kelly didn’t think she’d ever seen anyone enjoy a meal as much as Ty was enjoying his.
“I thought I could handle this by myself, but it’s too big for me. Especially when I don’t know which of my people I can trust.”
She knew what was coming.
“I want to hunt with you.” Jude’s smile was beautiful and totally deadly.
Chapter Twelve
“Is this it?” If not, Ty decided, he’d get out of the SUV and walk the rest of the way. He wasn’t used to sitting in small enclosed spaces. And he was tired of the lamb smell from the meals Spin and Neva had eaten in the car. Besides, being close to other predators ramped up his aggression. It wasn’t uncontrollable, but he had to work at keeping it to a low growl.
“Yep. There’s the Museum of Natural Science on the other side of Hermann Circle Drive. And this is Hermann Park.” She pulled into a parking space and stopped. “If it wasn’t close to midnight we could visit the museum and you could say hi to the skeletons of your peers.”
Just what he needed. A bunch of skeletons to remind him of what a dinosaur he really was. Dinosaur as in out of date and obsolete. He’d spent most of the time they’d been at Eternal Pleasure concentrating on his food so his other hunger wouldn’t embarrass all of them. Kelly’s silky pants and sexy top had made him want to drag her onto the floor and…
She looked over at him, eyes wide and startled.
Damn, he was broadcasting again. With a grunt of disgust, he climbed from the SUV, stretched, and tried to focus on the wolf they’d be meeting.
Kelly glanced back at Neva. “Stay here and keep your head down. No one will be able to see you in the dark. If this guy’s willing to help, we’ll come get you.”
Neva gave a wolfy sigh and put her head on her paws. She filled most of the back of the SUV.
Ty scanned the area. No other cars. “Looks like we got here first.”
Q joined him. He lifted his head and sniffed. “Yeah, we’re alone.”
“So we just hang in the woods in case you need some muscle?” Spin looked like he was hoping for an all-out werewolf attack.
Ty sympathized. None of them was used to sitting around. Sometimes he thought if he didn’t get more action, he’d explode. “You got it. Probably just showing yourself will work. Fin’s still pissed about what happened in Memorial Park.”
He watched Kelly get out of the SUV. Those shoes didn’t look like they’d take her far.
She closed the door. “I’m not locking it. Cars with werewolves inside rarely get stolen.”
Ty grinned before turning to the two men. “We got here early and lucked out. No one else has arrived. Get into the woods and just stay close enough to hear what’s going on.”
With their enhanced hearing, Q and Spin wouldn’t have to risk discovery by getting too close. And they were hunters. They knew enough to stay downwind of the pack leader. Ty didn’t have a clue whether werewolves retained their keen sense of smell when they were in human form. He hoped not.
Ty watched the men fade into the darkness. Then he turned to Kelly. “Let’s stand a short distance away from the SUV. When whoever is coming shows up, we don’t want them even thinking about looking inside.”
She nodded, and they walked away from the car in silence. Once they stopped, the silence continued. The memory of last night filled Ty with a ton of conflict. He wanted to talk about it, but he wasn’t sure what Kelly’s expectations were. Maybe going into graphic detail about how she’d blown him away would make her uncomfortable. Fin had dumped a lifetime of knowledge into his head, but he’d missed the finer points of human emotions. Probably because emotions weren’t important to Fin.
“Jude gave his club an interesting name. Eternal Pleasure. What a great concept.” Kelly didn’t look at him as she spoke.
“Yeah. Great concept.” Eternal sex with Kelly. He couldn’t even begin to…Ty stopped. No, last night hadn’t just been about having sex, at least not the version he was used to.
“What’re you thinking?”
Ty wished she hadn’t asked that question. “I was thinking that last night was the first time I’d made love. Yeah, I mated back then, but it was one dimensional. A physical release. The end. But that was okay, because my animal mind was one dimensional too. Tired—rest. Hungry—kill. Last night had layers. All my senses got into it. And I never had that kind of…reaction before.” Must be something in his male DNA that wouldn’t let him say the word “emotional” out loud.
She looked puzzled. “Well, yeah, me too. But you were bound to have an intense experience. I mean, sixty-five million years is a long time.”
Should he mention that time wasn’t a factor in a T. rex’s mating urge? A minute or a month apart, his enjoyment of sex was always the same. But last night had been different.
He never got a chance to say anything because a pickup pulled into the parking lot and stopped next to them. A man got out. Looked pretty ordinary to Ty.
The guy stopped in front of Kelly. “I still don’t know your name, but I’m Travis.”
“Kelly. And this is Ty.”
Travis smiled, but his eyes looked wary. “I’ll take you to the meeting place.” He turned and started walking toward the woods.
“Where’s your leader?” Ty didn’t like surprises.
Travis glanced back. “He’ll be along in a few minutes. He’s not too trusting. Wants to make sure you followed the rules.”
Ty understood that. He’d take the same precaution. His gaze slid to Travis’s hand. The one he had shoved into his jacket pocket. “Got something in your pocket you want to keep your fingers on?”
“Panic button. Anything goes wrong and I press it.”
“And then?” Ty figured there might be a gun in one of those pockets too. He glanced at Kelly. Did she have Q’s gun in the coat she’d slipped on? He had to start thinking like a human. Bringing a weapon had never occurred to him. He was a weapon.
Travis shrugged. “Help comes.”
“Smart idea. So you’re like the canary in the coal mine. If you go down, your leader knows there’s danger.”
“Yeah. Something like that.” Travis didn’t look too happy about Ty’s comparison.
Travis didn’t know that he had a panic button too. It was in his head and it was called Fin. Ty hated keeping his mental link open, but he understood why Fin had demanded he do it. If things ever got out of hand—read Memorial Park—Fin could channel some of his power to Ty. And Fin didn’t give a damn that he was trampling all over Ty’s pride by hinting that there might be a situation he couldn’t handle by himself.
Travis turned away and continued walking.
Kelly elbowed him in the ribs. “Did you have to antagonize him?” Her voice was a whispered hiss.
“Yes. People say things when they get mad. Things they wouldn’t say if they were thinking straight.”
She stared at him as though she’d discovered something new about him. Not something good either. “You approach every stranger you meet as a potential enemy, not a friend.”
“It’s kept me alive. With what’s happening in Houston, you’d be smart to cultivate a healthy dose of suspicion too.”
Kelly looked troubled. “I hope I never get that cynical.”
Ouch. More proof that they came from different worlds. She took everyone at face value. He never would. A good example was this Travis guy. She’d given him a chance to talk to her back in Memorial Park. Ty would’ve killed him before he got his mouth open.
They fell silent as they followed the werewolf. This wasn’t real woods, just a stand of trees. Travis stopped at the first clear space they reached.
