Leading me to a more private booth near the far end of the room, James sat down and spread his legs. “Come to daddy.” His grin was almost criminal.
Grinding my teeth together, I muttered, “And I thought calling you ‘sir’ was bad enough.” He heard, of course. Of course, he did, even over the sultry house music from a tall, thin DJ who resembled a stick insect. Mr. Stick Insect looked up, a little startled as the vampire seating me on one thick thigh laughed loudly.
Smoothing his hands over my waist and hips, James leaned closer. “We’ll save that for another time. What do you think of this place?”
“It’s….” What was I supposed to say? It was obvious that these people - a lot of them, at least - were like the man holding me. Beautiful. Blandly contemptuous. “It’s a bloodsucker’s club, right?”
His hand tightened on my thigh, fractionally, and it was enough to make me choke a little.
“This is the wrong time and place to develop your sarcasm, pet.” He loosened his grip and ran his hand up and down my leg, “Now drink your wine like a good girl.”
I gazed at it dubiously. James had served me wine when I dined in captivity, but this seemed like a bad time to be fuzzy. Because things were getting extra creepy. There were clots of vampires everywhere, leaning sleek heads together and whispering, watching the two of us.
Gaze darting around the room, I did spot ordinary humans, most on their knees. Some gazed up at their non-human companions with a nauseating kind of adoration, the vampires absently stroking their heads or tugging on leashes or collars.
“This isn’t…” James leaned closer and I took a gulp of my wine. “This isn’t like a pet party, right? I don’t care what you do to me, I’m not meowing.”
Again, his laughter rang across the room, and James looked vaguely surprised to be laughing so much. His arm slid around my hips, yanking me closer. “No. No leashes or meowing for you. The pets are more of an accessory, this is the Full Moon Festival. Combined with the Winter Solstice, this is a powerful night.”
I looked up at the light globes over the booths again. I couldn’t see where they might be attached, just magically hovering little full moons, some drifting around the ceiling and highlighting the profane frescos. The tiny moons were almost too lovely for someplace as ugly as this.
“The longest night of the year, and with a full moon so you can see whatever you’re eating really clearly. Yeah, this is like New Year’s Eve for you guys, huh?”
His eyes were the color of the ocean, impossibly blue. They narrowed as James pulled me closer. One rough hand slid up my thigh, pulling the short hem of my dress with him. “You’re not on a leash, my sweet doll, but you’ll need to be quiet here, and obedient, just like the rest of them. We’re waiting for someone very dangerous.”
My hands were fruitlessly batting at his fingers, nearly up to the red, lacy undies he’d pulled up my legs while dressing me for this occasion. “More dangerous than you?” I meant to be sarcastic, but as he gave me a dark little smile, I knew James saw right through me.
His chuckle rumbled against the thin skin of my neck. “Even worse than I am. Especially for you.”
Lashes fluttering, I hated myself briefly for the shiver I couldn’t control.
Allowing me to sit upright, James ran his hand absently up and down my leg. “When we go home….”
Oh, shit. His big hand was going up my thigh again.
“I’ll reward you for being quiet and watchful.” He finished his instructions with a very soft nip to my ear lobe and I cringed at the little whimper that escaped me.
“James, how long has it been?”
The man standing before us looked like someone’s genial uncle, until you noticed the depraved glint in his eye as he gazed at my undies peeking out from my skirt, still raised indecently high. Also, because he was holding the leashes of a young man and an even younger woman. They were naked and decorated with an impressive number of piercings.
“Miles,” intoned James, nodding to the Depraved Uncle Guy, “somewhere in the ’20s, I think?”
It took me a minute to realize he meant the 1920s. His greeting wasn’t warm, but I noticed most of the bloodsuckers here were mostly ignoring each other and focusing on their human entertainment.
“Ah, the last Pandemic,” chuckled the man. He lightly tapped the back of the young man with the handle of the leash. “One never sees you out and among us. What must I thank for this pleasing departure from your usual behavior?”
The heavily muscled leg underneath me turned to stone. I could feel the chill radiating from my captor against my bare back.
“I’m looking for insight, Miles. Observation. Your wisdom.”
The grin Depraved Uncle Guy wore was nauseating. “Oh, now I am interested.” He seated himself at the booth, gesturing for a drink. His eyes settled back on me, intent and reptilian before he dismissed me and turned his attention back to James.
“And what sort of insight?”
“The location for someone specific.” James was utterly still; it felt a bit like being perched on a boulder. “Their movements. I have a name.”
I didn’t know anything about this guy, but I could tell James hated speaking with him, hated asking him for information.
