Page 55

“You can watch if you want,” the woman called, and I looked up to see her eager eyes on me as her men bit and sucked their way down her chest. Her hand disappeared into the front of the redhead’s pants, and I straightened, collecting my tray with a little shake of my head.

She was… unfamiliar. Likely one of the on-call girls that they used for big events. And even though the offer was tempting, I shook my head.

“Enjoy.”

“Oh, we will,” said the stubbly vampire, turning the woman’s face for a slow kiss as her skirt rustled with the thrust of fingers.

With a jolt, I was reminded how it was supposed to feel to come when you had vampire venom in your veins. Like ecstasyon steroids. The venom worked like a powerful aphrodisiac, making the world seem both out of focus and sharp at the same time, every touch amplified into a wave of pleasure.

It made sense—biting someone hard enough to break the skin probably hurt like a bitch, no one would want to invite a hungry vampire back for a nibble if there wasn’t something in it for them.

You could get addicted to the instant gratification. Or so I’d heard.

But even I had to admit as I backed out of the alcove on trembling legs, letting the curtain fall shut, that I was… curious. Too curious.

Leaning against the wall at the end of the hall to a symphony of clothes shifting and flesh against flesh, I took a deep breath. It was the first moment all night I hadn’t been running around doing something for somebody. Even if the soundtrack of my stolen break was moans, gasps, and the odd muffled choking cough.

“Enjoying yourself?”

I jumped, finding Juniper watching me with teasing dancing in her cerulean eyes. She’d tied her long, fiery hair up into a ponytail that was pulled over one shoulder, the curled ends dancing as she tilted her head.

“I—” My face heated impossibly more as I tried to come up with any kind of response that didn’t make me sound like some perverted weirdo.

Her lips curved into a knowing smile as she leaned forward to take the tray from my hands with a deep inhale, mouth just barely grazing the shell of my ear. “I suppose that answers that.”

I licked my lips nervously, trying not to think about the gasps and pants underscoring our whispered conversation. Or that Juniper could smell the way my blood rushed in my veins at her proximity.

“Nothing special,” I lied.

Juniper’s laugh was light and melodic as she reached up to gently adjust my hair, close enough I could smell her perfume. Warm and spicy and undercut with something juicy and fresh like sweet oranges. “Sure, Striker.”

“You seem to be having fun.”

“Right now? I’m having a blast… And I like this more than I thought I would.”

“Me too,” I said softly with my hands pressed firmly against the wall to stop myself from grabbing her, though I wasn’t sure if I was talking about O or the coven of vampires I’d been drawn to from the moment I’d laid eyes on it. “I’m going to lunch early; can you tell Cole when you go back to the bar?” I asked breathlessly attempting to side step out of where Juniper had stepped into my body.

“Seamstress, bartender, and messenger girl,” she drawled, though I detected a note of teasing as she twirled the tray absently in her fingers. “Sure; go grab something sweet before you miss out. Unless…”

“Unless?” I echoed, nearly begging her to go on.

Juniper’s eyes moved from mine to my lips before they found a home on the side of my throat. My pulse was so elevated, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she could see it like a physical thing beneath my skin. There was a long, tense silence, her attention feeling both intense and faraway at the same time as I half trembled against the wall with the desire to be touched.

Juniper blinked, shaking her head like she was clearing away the hazy cloud of lust between us as she stepped away. Her expression shuttering as she continued to put distance between us. “Go have lunch, Vi.”

“Right,” I said, casting one last look at the vampire as I headed toward the swinging doors leading to the back of the house. “Try and, um, enjoy yourself.”

It was a bit of a vague response after the strange intensity of the moment before, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Don’t worry,” the vampire called with an arch of her coppery eyebrow. She tightened her ponytail, blowing out a hard breath. “I assure you, I am.”

elsie

. . .

“Hey, pretty girl,”Vi called, leaning into my mirror with a plate piled high with pink heart-shaped macarons and chocolate-covered strawberries dusted in golden, glittery sprinkles.

She gingerly slid the delicate gold-rimmed dish onto my vanity, nudging cosmetics and makeup brushes out of her way to make space.