by C. M. Steele
"I will. Thank you." I smile meekly, uncomfortable with the constant pity.
"Take a piece of candy." He lifts a plastic pumpkin pail.
I reach in and snag a Reese’s cup. "Thanks." I wave goodbye and leave.
***
Six hours later, we’re outside of the city and near Peoria. Brianna needed gas, so she figured it was the best place to change into our costumes. At least this is one of the larger gas stations with a mini-market and larger bathroom for travelers.
Ten minutes later, I’m staring at myself in the bathroom mirror and a hundred percent regretting my decisions today.
I can't believe I'm shoving my large tits into the tiniest costume dress I've ever seen in the middle of nowhere in the dark. A part of me loves the way my body looks in it, but my body isn't for public consumption. I'm going to have so many drunk men eyeing me like a piece of meat. "Ugh. This is too short."
"Girl, we don't have time to find another. Let's get going."
I step out of the bathroom in my trampy, red vamp costume feeling like the cop in line is wondering if I'm about to turn tricks. I smile at him, trying to appear more innocent than I look.
"Here, don't forget the teeth," she teases, handing me a pair of glow-in-the-dark plastic fangs.
"Yep, can't be a real vampire without my glowing teeth,” I tease, rolling my eyes how silly I must seem.
"God, please get over it. If I had a figure like yours, I'd be wearing clothes like this all the time."
We get back to the car and drive the next ten minutes to the bar. I'm so glad I didn't change before we left because I feel so naked and probably look like it to drivers passing by.
"Relax. We're going to have a good time tonight. Remember to live a little."
"Thanks. I will."
"Are we going to drive back tonight, or are we staying with your guy?" It’s not something I thought about. I can’t believe I forgot that important question.
"Hopefully you find your own guy to go home with, but either way, yes, that's the plan. Remember, you almost didn’t get a chance to live at all. Tonight might be a good time to start enjoying your youth before it’s gone.” I roll my eyes, but I have to agree.
Chapter Three
Everett
My flight lands at O'Hare, and I call my uncle to get an update. "How is he?"
"He's under observation, but if everything goes well, he'll be going home in the morning." Fuck yes, I release a sigh of relief. "That's great news."
"Are you still coming?" he asks as if that’s going to change my plans. Everyone knows what my grandfather means to me.
"Of course. I'll be there in a couple of hours. I'm about to get on my jet."
"Great. See you soon. I'll let the hospital know that you'll be visiting late, even if it's brief." Damn, I didn’t think about that. Usually hospitals have specific visiting hours unless the incident happens during off hours and the people are waiting for news.
"Fantastic. Thanks, Uncle Frank." He ends the call and I hurry to meet with my flight crew so that I can get on the plane as soon as possible.
I check my messages as soon as I board my jet. I received twelve emails from my project manager and some of my staff. Leaving early wasn't the smartest move, but it needed to be done.
I'm in my hometown by seven, and my car is waiting for me. I own a house on the outskirts of town and had my housekeeper bring it to the airport. I don't live there, but when I come to visit, I want somewhere I can stay without having to share a room.
I need a shower and a shave, but I have to see my grandfather first. They let me in, advising, "You have thirty minutes."
"Thank you."
I step into the room and see my grandfather sleeping on the bed. My grandmother moves quietly and quickly, meeting me halfway for a hug. “How is he?” I whisper.
“Better. I’m glad you’re here.”
“I wish I’d gotten here sooner.”
“Nonsense, boy. You were taking over the world,” my grandfather calls out from his bed.
He presses the button to sit up, then taps the bed. "Come over and sit with me." I walk over to his bedside, taking a seat on the edge by his feet. "Damn, boy. You look like shit."
"I suppose that's because someone decided to have the nerve to almost die on me." I choke on my own words.
"Sorry. I'll make sure to schedule it when you're on vacation," he offers, pulling me into a hug. For a man who just had a heart attack, he seems to be pretty damn strong. I'm glad to feel that.
"Don't you dare do that to me again," my grandmother warns him, swatting his arm.
"Ah, woman, I'm in the hospital."
"Good, then you won't have far to go if you keep pissing me off." He reaches out and cups her face. "I wouldn't leave you so young. There's too many men trying to take my place." Their love is so damn strong and visible that I'm in awe. Fifty years, and they act like they're my age.
"I'm an old, saggy broad, and you are still a jealous fool."
"Damn right, woman." He winks at her and rakes his eyes over her body. She’s gotten older, but she has managed to stay pretty fit even for her age.
"I'm going to get a cup of ice water. You two talk." She pats my shoulder and leaves the room.
"How are you doing?" I ask in all seriousness. I think the old bastard made my blood pressure jump. The thought of losing him scared the piss out of me.
Seeing the worry, he smiles. "Good, actually. They think it's stress. I'm guessing it is, but not much I can do."
"You need to take it easy and not work all damn hours of the day,” I tell him even though I know it’s easier said than done.
"I know. I was hoping to retire and give it to someone in the family, but either they don't want it or aren't trustworthy enough for it. Several of those fuckers will run it into the ground within months, and Frank can’t run the bar and his law firm at the same time."
"I get that. You need to hire more staff that you can control and trust to take over when you’re not around.” When you have employees that walk all over you, you lose their respect and they start slacking on their jobs.
"I know, but until that happens, I need a huge favor from you." Shit. I know what this is about, and I can’t say no to him. I owe him everything.
"Anything,” I answer without hesitation
"I need you to open the bar and run it tomorrow night. It's the annual Halloween party."
Fucking hell. Of all the things that he could ask, it’s the one thing I don’t have experience running. "Are you serious? I'm not sure I know what to do." I’ve never bartended in my life.
"I have two competent bartenders, but they already work too many hours. I can’t ask them to do more than they already have. The residents are so damn excited to come to the party.”
"Of course. I will do that, but what about the rest of the family? I thought everyone was in town to see you."
"They are. Your mother was, but that bastard she's with demanded they go back to the house." He scowls and he gets the same crease between his brows that I do when he’s thinking hard.
"The house? Theirs or yours,” I question.
"Mine." Now, I can see why he had a heart attack.
"Damn, I wouldn't let them inside,” I confess. My feelings for my birth mother have pretty much disappeared, and there’s only the tiniest thread of gratefulness that she brought me in this world.
"I know. They wanted to stay at your place."
"There's no way in hell I'd let that happen. Maybe my mother, but her loser husband I wouldn't let sleep on my lawn because it might be ruined.”
"You're a smart boy." He pats my knee.
"Thanks. I got my smarts from my grandma."
"Hey, I can't lie there. So tell me. What's going on? You were in Europe. Everything okay?" He changes the subject to something much lighter. It’s easy for me to talk about my business because I know it makes him proud.
"Great. I'm working on a large commercial building in England and
a small one in Milan. It's been busy, but after this is all done, I'm lightening my load."
"That's what you need to do. And you need to find a girl."
"I can agree with you on that. But once I do, I can't promise I won't take her to city hall right away and get married."
"Hey, some great-grandkids sounds nice."
"As soon as I find that spark, I'll be working hard at that goal."
"What goal?" my grandma asks, munching on a cup of ice as she enters the room.
"Snagging a wife,” my grandfather answers her.
Instantly her eyes are as wide as saucers. "What? Have you met someone?"
"No, Grandma."
I can see that temporary joy leave her eyes, but then she bounces back with sass. "Well, get to it." She then looks at her husband and says, "Did you ask him?"
"I asked him to handle the Halloween party."
"Thank you, good boy,” she says as if she knows I already agreed.
"I didn't tell you he accepted."
"But I know Everett would do anything to help you."
"You've got that right, Grandma." I give her a squeeze. "I need to get home to get some sleep since someone's got me working hard tomorrow."
"Get some rest. Thank you, Everett."
"Anything for you." I walk out after giving them each a kiss on their cheeks. As soon as I head to my house, I'm so damn jet-lagged that I barely get naked before I fall asleep.
Chapter Four
Lena
Briana grabs my arm and leads me to the door of the bar. “Just act normal. No one’s going to know we don’t belong in here. We’re not from this town anyway, and we sure as hell look old enough to be here.” I look down at my vampire vixen dress, and it’s so much shorter than the image on the packaging. I tug it several times because I can feel the breeze on my ass. It came with a large gothic cross choker that digs into my chest when I tilt my head. With this outfit on, I might need some prayers. “Did you take your pain meds?”
“Yes, I did. I left them in the car,” I shout. The music is a little loud where we’re standing.
“Then no more than one drink. I don’t want you to pass the fuck out. I may want you to get lucky, but I don’t want someone to take advantage of you,” she says, moving away from the door. Sometimes she can be a wonderful friend. We’re not even close, but it’s moments like these that show her kindness.
Sensing I’m about to be ditched, I lean in and ask, “Where are you going to be?”
“Hunting down my man,” she says, scanning the room that is decked out in full Halloween décor. Pumpkin lights on strings create a frame around the ceiling and fake webs are stretched out in every corner. Each small table has a Halloween tablecloth on it, and from the looks of it, all drinks are being served in orange and purple cups. It’s pretty festive.
“I hope he’s happy that you came.” I wish I had her confidence.
“He will be.” She wags her brows up and adjusts her breasts.
“This isn’t going to end well,” I mutter.
“Relax. How about you act like you’re not an eighteen-year-old freshman?"
“Fine.” I roll my eyes. She catches me and nudges my shoulder.
I do my best to act cool. All I have to do is hang out and avoid going to get a drink. There’s so many people around that I’m a little nervous. I take a deep breath and remember the key is to have fun. It helps that everyone is in costume so it's hard to tell who is who.
My eyes move around the room, checking out each cool outfit and wondering if they run a contest or something. When I see the sign above the bar, I’ve got my answer. The winner will be selected at eleven-thirty. It’s almost that time now.
The best one I see so far is a fully decked-out Freddy Krueger with actual makeup—not the mask. I continue my inspection until my sight hits the bar again. Standing there in a vampire costume with slicked-back hair and a scowl on his face is a six-foot-four man with broad shoulders, pouring a drink for a woman all in red with a devil horn headband and matching tail.
I stare at him, wondering if he has the cheap vampire teeth or none at all, but he doesn’t smile at the woman to even give me a hint. He has on the same gothic cross on as I do. I’ve never wanted to be bitten so badly.
"OMG! There he is," she squeals, stirring me from his spell on me. “Now, will you excuse me? I’m on the hunt.” She pushes through a small crowd and makes her way toward the bar, but I’m not tall so I can’t see her anymore. Her costume is a sexy Huntress outfit, but at least it fits her. She’s not as well-endowed as me in the ass and tits department, but she looks great in hers. I wish she didn’t pick up the same size costumes.
Something about him attracts me wildly. I move toward him as if he's calling me. His scowling face turns my way, and I feel like his eyes are on me. They summon me, and I follow like I'm under a trance. I blush from head to toe, knowing I must look like a free meal to his lingering eyes, and I really want to be eaten up. He sets the bottle down, scowling at the man at the bar.
As if released from his gaze, reality hits me and I immediately freeze. Briana’s man is the hot bartender.
I duck my head, hoping that he can’t see me anymore. I’m immediately mortified and inexplicably hurt. When I move off to the left, I’m suddenly trapped in a sea of bodies, talking, dancing, and drinking. I can't see her and the bartender anymore, and I'm glad I can't. My heart’s racing out of control as my stomach does flips. Nausea tickles my throat. Why, of all the guys, does he have to be hers?
I want to go home. My heart's fluttering and my stomach does flips as I know she's probably wrapped up in his arms now. Coming here was a huge mistake. I turn around to find a seat away from it all when I feel a hand grab my arm and drag me back into a hard body.
"You don't belong in here," the voice growls against my ear, sending shivers up my spine but not in fear. My body somehow knows it's the man from behind the bar. The attraction is so strong, it can’t be anyone else. I don’t get a look at him right away, but I feel the tension radiating off him. My ass also understands that the tension is sexual. His cock pulses on my backside, hard and thick. I may be a virgin, but I can’t mistake that big thing for anything else.
“Um…” I turn around in his arms and start to speak, but he presses me to his chest.
“I don’t want to hear it.” His breath grazes my skin, and a tiny mewl escapes my lips. This is wrong, and I'm about to lose my only friend. "Come now,” he commands, taking my hand and whirling me so my back is to his chest, lifts me slightly off the ground, and carries me away. Instead of walking me to the front door like he probably should, he drags me through a backroom door. I'm expecting it to be a cooler or the mop room thing, but the light reveals a large office.
He sets me down onto my feet and goes back to lock the door. I don’t know if he’s going to call the cops, but that’s all I can think about. I don’t want to go to jail dressed like this.
I rush to him, trying to plead my case. "I'm sorry. I'll leave.”
“Oh, no, you're not going anywhere. Especially in that." He spins me around swiftly, and my back hits the door. His hands hold mine and lift them over my head. "No, you're definitely not going anywhere."
I’m nervous, but not for the reasons I should be. I want to press forward and kiss him. He leans one leg between mine; his thigh grazes the edge of my dress, inches from my pussy that’s soaking wet for him. I look into his eyes and see the same want that I have in my own. It’s wrong and I should be kicking him in the balls, but that’s the furthest thing from my mind. "I left my friend out there. She's going to be looking for both of us."
He takes my wrists in one hand and slide the other hand down my arm slowly, tantalizing every nerve. His thumb caresses my cheek, and then he cups my chin ever so gently. "Don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt you. Besides, she has no reason to look for me." He presses his lips to my neck and gently scrapes his fangs against my pulse.
"How do you know? She came all this
way for you,” I inform him. Maybe he’s not sure which woman came looking for him. He looks like women flock to him wherever he goes.
He lifts his head to look at me and gives me a slight shrug of indifference. "Well, she's going to be sorely disappointed because I don't give a fuck about her. I want you."
"I'm not here for you." I want to be, but I’m not.
"Yes, you are. There's no way that you're here for anyone else." His dark eyes bore into mine as he releases my hands and slides his own to my face. Slowly his head lowers and he takes my mouth in a brutal, dominating kiss. The fake fangs only enhance the pleasure and surprisingly don’t get in the way. At first I fall into it, moaning against his lips, thrusting my hands into his hair and clinging to his hard body.
He grinds his hips into mine, dragging his hard length over my core and stomach. Fuck, it feels so incredible. Then there's a loud rap on the door, pouring cold water on the moment. He stops attacking my lips, but he doesn’t pull back completely. Instead, he kisses my face gently.
"Everett, we need you back at the bar,” a woman shouts through the door. A sting of jealousy cuts through me since I heard his name off her lips first. She knows him. I wonder how intimately.
"They can go fuck themselves," he snarls out to her, pressing his lips to my temple and rubbing his hands up and down my body.
Regaining my senses, I push him off of me. I shake my head because I’m no man thief, no matter how attracted I am to him.
"This is so wrong. You better go back out there first, and I won't tell Briana about this."
"Briana? Who the fuck is Briana?" Does he forget to get their names, or does he just take what he wants without exchanging info.
"Um...you two have a class together,” I remind him, squirming out of his hold, leaving him standing between the door and me.
"Sweetheart, I haven't been in school for the past four years.” He chuckles, shaking his head slowly as he stalks toward me, crossing the distance with two steps. His strong hands wrap around my waist, pressing me to his body. “What’s your name, baby?”
