Sin City Vampire Club

by Kristen Strassel

  “Not tonight. There’s too much bad energy circulating in the city to kick up anymore dust.” Rainey was in control, and she was taking us home. “I’d rather you left him out of this.”

  “Of course you would,” I groaned, and turned toward the window.

  “Blade will put us in the middle of a vampire war.” She was right. Sight or not, she always knew best. Sometimes it irritated the hell out of me.

  “Once I’m back on stage, I won’t need any of them.”

  Rainey stopped at a red light. She put her hand on my knee, drawing my attention back to her. She glowed, just like Tristan had on stage. But she looked like an angel, and he was anything but. That was the real war. It wasn’t vampire vs. vampire. It was my never-ending desire to succeed vs. Rainey’s never-ending goodness. I didn’t deserve either of them.

  “It won’t be that easy,” she said softly.

  WITHOUT MY POWERS, I was empty. I hated feeling like I was never enough, and that I always had to apologize for something. That wasn’t me. Instead of being excited that I could quite possibly blackmail Tristan into giving me a spot on stage, where I belonged, the inevitability of it being snatched away from me again loomed over me.

  This wasn’t the time to play anything safe. I’d rather go down in flames than live without my passion.

  Rainey jumped when I grabbed her by the hair and pulled her into me. “Holly, what are you doing?”

  “Bringing you to bed.” My words danced with the wild pulse that beat on the side of her neck.

  She meant to respond, but moaned instead as my lips moved against her skin. I knew Rainey’s every mannerism. I had no way to measure how long we’d been together, besides forever. Her body was still tense, she wasn’t fighting me—she was fighting herself.

  I pulled her head to the side as I kissed the line of her neck. Her pulse quickened, meeting my kisses. I wondered what it would be like to taste her blood. To have her essence flow through my veins.

  Whoa. I fought my vampire side so hard that when it came out, it was like a bitch slap.

  “We have a fresh start.” I could barely keep my mouth off her long enough to speak. I didn’t put much credence into New Years’ resolutions, and that wasn’t what I was talking about. I let go of her hair, and I needed both hands to catch her as she fell against me. She was like a ragdoll, letting me drag her soft sweater away from her shoulders. It pooled around her waist, and she did the rest of the work, kicking it away before turning around to face me.

  She was so beautiful. Big brown eyes fringed with long lashes, cheeks always pink like she’d come in from the cold, and her plump, juicy little lips. It drove me crazy when she licked them. She knew exactly what she was doing to me.

  Rainey was always all in, but she held herself back. Instead of rebelling against our Aunt Lucille growing up, she obeyed. Retreated. But I never thought of her as second. Stability was sexy as hell when you couldn’t escape a storm.

  I needed her to want this. All of it. Not because she was placating me. “What do you want?” I asked her. I knew what I wanted—for her to be hungry and have passion.

  She licked her lips again. Damn. “Right now I want you.”

  “Good answer. Because I can make that happen.” I grabbed her shoulder and shoved my leg between hers. She wasn’t ready for it, and we toppled over the arm of the couch, bouncing when we hit the cushions. We swallowed each other’s laughter. No time to adjust. Rainey had my dress up to my waist, and I straddled her, grinding against her hips. Only a thin strip of lace separated me from her jeans, and the movement chafed my skin. Good. I wanted to feel pain. I’d rub myself against her until we ignited.

  Then I wouldn’t need anyone. Just Rainey.

  “Take your dress off.” Even her demands sounded polite, but I didn’t care. I whipped my head back, and my hair slapped against my back when it landed. Our gazes locked for what seemed like forever.

  I felt something deep inside. Not the usual pulsing in my core when we did this. Instead it was something warm and unattainable.

  I pretended I was on stage, curling my body down to hers, crawling to her face so I could tease her with a few quick pecks. But Rainey wanted more. She pushed me away and glared at me, but she couldn’t do it for long without cracking up. Making her laugh was everything, and for that, I’d give her what she wanted. Eventually.

  I needed to practice for my new show, and if I couldn’t get my girlfriend hot and bothered, I was so screwed.

  I imagined the beat to an Immortal Dilemma song, never taking my gaze off Rainey. I couldn’t let myself get distracted by what we saw tonight. My hips gyrated as I inched the dress slowly up my ribcage.

  The laughter was gone, no more teasing. It had all been replaced with desire, the raw anticipation of what came next. Rainey had had my body so many times and she understood there was still more to discover. She wanted more.

  That fucking dress fell to the floor.

  Rainey sat up, and it was her turn to catch me. She crushed me against the cushions, hands and mouth everywhere. Clumsy and lust-drunk, I pulled her bra—those stupid hooks were a pain in the ass and I didn’t bother wearing one unless I needed to. I freed her from the trap and moved onto her jeans.

  Finally. Skin to skin. Like entering a confessional, except my sins didn’t matter with her. Our shortcomings melted away with the thundering of our beating hearts. Rainey’s shyness evaporated as she put one of my legs up on the back of the couch, the other around her waist. My little lacey thong was useless now, and she took full advantage, tracing the pattern of the lace. Her touch was so light it tickled and burned all at the same time.

  “Don’t tease me.” I could barely talk. She was so close to the place that could ignite my fire. This was the night. I knew it.

  She shrugged. “Payback.” And kept doing what she was doing, dipping lower, but she didn’t touch my clit.

  “It’s a bitch.” How I managed to joke at a time like this was beyond me. “Please. Touch me.”

  Pushing my thong aside, she licked her lips one more time. My hips bucked off the couch when she made contact, and my heart stopped beating when she screamed.

  Chapter Eight

  EVER SINCE LOSING MY fire, I was more in touch with my vampire side than I ever had been before. Right now, it was the overwhelming urge to murder.

  Blade stood in the doorway, his mouth open in a mix of shock and desire.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I asked through gritted teeth. He brought the chill in with him, and it was no longer welcome. Rainey rolled back to the far cushion, covering her chest as she glared at Blade. I’d never missed her more.

  “Happy New Year to you, too.” He shut the door. At least he did something right. “I thought you’d be happy to see me.”

  I crossed my legs as I sat, smoothing my hair in front of my chest. I didn’t have much to cover. “You could’ve knocked.”

  “I did. No one answered. I heard voices, so I tried the door. You shouldn’t leave it unlocked. Anyone can walk in here.”

  “Obviously.” Rainey rolled her eyes. “We were busy.”

  “I saw.” Blade’s voice had a smoky timbre. He came for a reason, and drinking from the well of our desire was an unexpected bonus. But first he looked around, unsure of himself, which was unusual. “Can I stay here tonight?”

  The sky was already bright blue, which meant Blade had run out of options. “Yeah,” I answered before Rainey had a chance to make him burn for real.

  “I’ll make up the closet.” Rainey sighed, grabbing her sweater and pasting it to her front. “Holly, put some clothes on.”

  Blade had the decency to look away as I shimmied back into my dress. I was a rumpled, sex-starved mess. He’d stolen climax and desire off the tip of my tongue and sent me tumbling back into the void with Rainey. I’d spend the rest of my life there as long as Blade was in the picture. He couldn’t have planned it any better if he tried.

  “How’d you ring in the New
Year?” he asked, as he sat in the bucket chair near the door. No one ever sat there. We usually threw our coats on it, and he was on top of a lump.

  “Went to a show.” Apparently, I put one on, too. I had to be careful of this resolution thing. It manifested itself in ways I hadn’t intended. “How about you?”

  His smile said nothing good. “I’m starting a show. Tonight was the kick-off.”

  Definitely had to work on making these resolutions more specific. I could almost guarantee whatever he’d come up with, I did not want. “Do tell.”

  “The first thing everyone had to tell me when I got out was that Immortal Dilemma was closing their show. What the fuck is that all about? Whatever. Their stupidity is my gain. The vampires around here have had it easy. Thanks to those assholes in the band, none of us have to go out of our way to feed unless we’re looking for something specific.” He wriggled his eyebrows, and I noticed he had dried blood at the corners of his lips. “Anyway, starving vampires are no bueno. We’re headed for some dark days if we don’t figure out a new meal plan.”

  “Like what?” I braced myself for the worst-case scenario.

  “Violence. Anarchy. Vampires causing chaos to feed from the reaction. Hungry vampires lose reason. They’ll attack people on the Strip, just because they can, people that others wouldn’t miss. If I can say one positive thing about Talis, it’s that she created some feel-good fluff that kept everyone happy for the last few years.”

  Blade would never go for feel-good anything. He dabbled in the dark, pushing the absolute limits of the are they or aren’t they scenario. He killed for satisfaction and sport. I feared what he’d do for survival.

  “So what’s your show about?” I asked. Blade had musical chops. He could’ve started a band if he didn’t resent the successful ones so much. No, he wouldn’t follow in anyone else’s footsteps.

  He leaned forward, elbows on knees. I finally got a good look at him, past the blood and the smirk. He’d dressed for the holiday, in a jacket and button-down shirt. He wore jeans and Chucks on the bottom. Guys were always afraid to commit to the whole thing. My kingdom for comfortable shoes.

  “I ripped a page from Cirque Macabre.” Yup, worst-case scenario. He used to recruit my father’s on-stage kills for the show. “The catwalk at the beginning. Embrace always had donors, humans willing to let vamps get off sucking their blood, but they just wander around the club like zombies. I’m giving the patrons something more elegant, putting the purpose of the club front and center.”

  Donors. The image rattled my bones. “What’s in it for you?”

  He shrugged. “I offer value, fill a need. Give vampires a place to gather without a bunch of screaming humans watching their every move.”

  “Are you sure the humans at Embrace aren’t screaming?” I was too familiar with Blade’s methods.

  “They beg us to let them donate.” He smirked. “You know what the blood’s like, Holly.”

  I salivated.

  “Closet’s ready. Sun’s coming up any minute. Chop, chop.” Rainey’s presence in the room jarred me. My emotions were raw. Only minutes before she had her fingers inside me, building my climax slowly and skillfully. Now my mouth watered with the metallic memory of Blade’s blood.

  She put her hand on my shoulder and leaned down. “Get him out of here. I’m ready to pick up where we left off,” she whispered.

  Blade licked his lips, his gaze fixed on me before he got up. He heard every word she said. “Thanks, Rainey. I can always count on you to save my ass.”

  Her fingernails pierced my skin.

  “Hey,” I called after him. He’d made it to the bedroom. That feeling churned deep inside me. I expected sparks to drip from my fingers, but no such luck. “I want to see your show.”

  His face lit up. “I’ll bring you tomorrow. It’s a date.” He disappeared into the closet like he hadn’t torn the fragile seams of my life to shreds.

  “I hate him.” Rainey’s words were practically a growl. “You know what the blood’s like, Holly. It’s a date. Ugh. I will do whatever it takes to get your fire back that doesn’t involve him. And I’ll rub it in his face.”

  I wished he didn’t say it. “It’s not like that,” I said. Even though it kind of was. “I like you feisty, though.”

  She glared at the closed door. “Good, because—”

  “I can feel the fire.” I pulled the dress over my head again. “Let’s see if you can make me burn.”

  She made a beeline for the bedroom and raised the window blinds. “He’ll be able to hear every moan and especially when you scream my name. If he tries to come out, I’ll be cleaning him up with the dust buster.”

  “Rainey.” I stifled a laugh.

  “Blade is a ruthless, dangerous vampire”—she backed me up a step with every word—“who feeds from other people’s misfortunes. He’ll choke to death on bad karma. It’s about time he realizes what he does to people.”

  The closet door rattled when she pushed me against it. My sweet little Rainey had fire inside of her, too. She’d fight for what was hers, and what was mine, because they were one and the same.

  Her lips were on my neck again. Nothing soft about this kiss. Blade must’ve heard me cry when she scraped her teeth against my skin. She’d get inside me anyway she could. She put her hands over my breasts, gripping my skin hard and then circling my nipples like a whisper. My vision blurred, the combination of the two, rough and gentle, made me forget we had an audience.

  I hooked my leg around her waist, like I had before we’d been so rudely interrupted. Angering Blade scared the hell out of me. I never understood how other people’s pain satisfied him; it tore me apart. I’d always been on his good side, and we shared something that no two other people on earth possibly could. I’d had a front row seat to his bad side, and it was a tale not many people lived to tell.

  Rainey sunk to her knees. War had broken out in the early hours of the New Year, and it would bring me to the heights of pleasure and the depths of pain. She slid my skimpy panties over my hips and hung them on the doorknob. She won this battle, and I hoped she survived the war.

  I squeezed my eyes closed, concentrating on the sensation of her tongue on my cleft, teasing my clit but not giving me what I wanted so badly—to surrender to her and only her. I imagined Blade against the other side of the door, hoping to catch a drop of our passion on his tongue like a snowflake. Sweet relief in the middle of the desert. Electricity shot through my veins, and I opened my eyes to meet Rainey’s gaze. My knees gave out as she took my sensitive bud in her mouth, and my body slumped forward. I grabbed a handful of her curls, knocking the halo off, but she didn’t need it tonight. I wanted Rainey to feed from Blade’s energy, to take what was hers. It wasn’t enough to keep me upright as she nipped and sucked and pulled. My eyes rolled back in my head and I had to grip the doorknob or we’d be a puddle of ravenous craving on the floor.

  The door rattled like crazy, and Rainey loved the rhythm. She made up her own song, sliding two fingers easily inside me. My hips jerked to guide her, but that wasn’t enough. She added another finger, then another, until she was completely inside me. Stilling for a moment, she kissed my bare mound and sat back before thrusting hard and fast. I needed to feel something tonight. It wasn’t my fire, but it was the next best thing.

  Rainey led me down to the floor when my climax took over my body. She traced the aftershocks as I sat trembling against the closet door.

  She smoothed my hair away from my damp face and kissed my cheek. “I’ll make sure you get everything you want.”

  Chapter Nine

  I WASN’T A PRUDE BY any stretch of the imagination, but I couldn’t look at Blade without blushing. It had nothing to do with the night before. He embodied my seven deadly sins, tied up with a scruffy blond beard and shoulder length curls. I knew better than to be greedy, but I couldn’t stop it. My fire was an addiction, and addictions ruined lives.

  “When I said we had a date last night,
I meant it.” Blade leaned against the kitchen counter as I poured the lettuce tea Rainey made me from the pitcher. It used to be a necessity after bursting into flames night after night on stage, but now it was part of her latest spell. We decided to work on my power of time travel first. I had that power before my fire.

  He handed me a lime, and chuckled as I sliced into it with way more force than necessary. “People will know something’s up if Rainey comes with you,” he added.

  “What the hell are you talking about? I’m not going anywhere without Rainey.” I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my tea. It still gave the desired effect, cooling my rage. “Especially a bar full of hungry vampires.”

  “You forget what you are sometimes, Holly.”

  I slammed the glass down. It was almost empty. I hadn’t realized how thirsty I was. “I never forget what I am. You forget what you were.”

  He stifled a laugh. If he told me I was cute, I’d spend the rest of my life without my fire.

  “You didn’t answer my question.” Big surprise, vampires never did. “Who will take an issue with Rainey being there, besides you? She’s immortal. That should be enough to punch her ticket to the club.”

  “There’s a lot happening in this city that you don’t understand. That I don’t understand. That’s why it’s important to keep the vampires fed and satisfied.” He ran his hand through his hair and stopped when Rainey came into the kitchen.

  She was dressed to kill in a low-cut, black vintage dress I’d never seen before. She twirled to let the skirt flounce around her, her heels clicking on the linoleum. Her fishnet stockings twinkled with her movement. Rainey. In fishnet stockings. She put a spell over me.

  “You look amazing.” I intended to kiss her cheek, but I didn’t want to get lipstick on her. On the other hand, maybe I did. Mark her with something that looked like blood before we went into the battle zone; claim her, so everyone knew where we stood. Aligning with Blade before I had all the answers was too dangerous.