Not even Robert.
I finally turn and follow Lucius and Selene toward the front entrance, but we divert into the coat check area, where a concealed door leads to a stairwell taking us to the basement.
“And here we have the hidden gem of Club Toxic,” Lucius says with all the unnecessary fanfare and pomp he’s infamous for. He proceeds to drone on and on about various vampires, cites his reasoning for choosing certain pieces of equipment and their placement and points out some of the kinkier scenes going on. Like a pair of female and male vampires, who have a human male sandwiched between them, her impaled on the human’s cock, and the male vampire’s dick buried inside the human’s ass, both of them snacking on the man.
The space is dim, with red mood lighting, spotlights highlighting pieces of dungeon equipment, naked people having kinky sex, yadda-yadda—
Yeah, yeah, Igetit. It’s a BDSM club for vampires.
Right now, I wouldn’t care if it was a high school cafeteria on the fucking moon serving alien tartare as the daily special. “What’s her name?” I ask Lucius as I trail behind them toward a pair of—oh, there they are—literalfucking thrones in the middle of the dungeon space.
“Selene and I swore never to reveal it. If you wish to know it, you’ll have to ask her.”
I grab his arm. “That’s…her, though. Right?”
He smiles. “I’m certain you don’t wish to talk aboutthatinthisspace, do you, Dexter?” He glances around. There are at least fifteen other vampires down here, not counting his staff.
Infuriating. He really is. “You dropped this in my lap and don’t want to follow through?” How cruel is he?
He sucks his lip for a moment, then smiles. “Go back up there and ask her if she’d like to accompany you down here.”
“And if she says no, what, I’m supposed to scoop her up and carry her down here?” I already know trying to compel her won’t work.
“I assure you, that won’t be necessary.” He flags down one of his men, whispers to him, and the guy heads upstairs.
“You’ll order her down here?”
“No.”
Desperation the likes of which I’ve never felt before rolls through me. “Then give me a hint, please?”
“She’ll have someone else up at the bar to cover her in a moment or two. Go back up.Askher.” His smile widens.
It hits me. “This is more than a setup.” A little common sense tries to rein in my eager cock and aching fangs. “What’s the deal with you? Why did you play me like this?”
“Dexter, my nephew. Yesterday, you revealed something rather…unsettling about your potential future plans.” His smile fades. “I have lost too many over time. I would prefer not to lose you, too. But her story is not mine to tell. If my instincts are correct, I believe the two of you will hit it off swimmingly. As long as you don’t fuck this part up.” He waggles his fingers at me in a shooing motion. “Go win your prize and show me my faith in you isn’t misplaced.”
I fight the urge to blur back upstairs, but I do make haste. True to his word, there’s now a second bartender behind the bar with Blue. I glare at two barely legal and overwhelmingly drunk human women who now stand where I previously stood, and they skedaddle.
Blue sees me, but she’s serving a couple right now. As I watch her, I fight what feels like a losing war against my fangs. I know Blue is aware of me because even among the noise and distraction of the other patrons, I hear the way her pulse spikes every time she glances my way. Her gorgeous, smooth throat beckons to me and makes my mouth water. I can imagine my lips traveling up and down her flesh, how warm she’ll feel, the sexy cries she’ll give me as my fingers explore between her legs.
It feels like forever before she makes her way back down to me.
“What can I get for you, Not-Ianto?” She smiles.
“Your name, for starters.” Gods, looking into her eyes…it’s like I can reach out and touch the cosmos.
She looks down at her name tag and back up to me.
“Yourrealname. Come downstairs with me to talk.Please?”
Somehow, I feel like I just fell into a trap I’m helpless to extricate myself from, because her smile turns predatory and she cocks that eyebrow again. “You want me to go downstairs with you?”
I nod, well aware my erection is insistently pressing against the front of my slacks. Thankfully, the bar hides that from her.
“I don’t play or do…other things. Especially not here.”
I was right—her throat is unblemished. Certainly, it’s possible she bears marks elsewhere, but Lucius said she’s unblooded. “Onlyto talk. I give you my word.” Not sure how I’ll honor that vow, but I will damn sure try.
