Page 34 of Vampire so Virtuous (Boston Vampires #1)
“Good,” Eve said. “I’d be devastated if my tongue made you cringe.” Her hand was warm against the bare skin between Cally’s crop top and her jeans, fingers trailing gentle circles.
She’d always been handsy. Always flirtatious. Phrases here and there, some subtle, some not so much. It was her way.
But as Eve huddled against her, ostensibly to stay out of the rain, her touch a light caress, it dawned on her what it really was. Cally tensed again, but for an entirely different reason.
Eve noticed immediately. “You okay?”
“Fine.”
Eve had suggested the double date. She’d been the one to tell Priya they were sleeping together. Was it Eve being playful, just for their ‘cover’? Cally wasn’t so sure anymore.
She watched her scan the crowd for signs of Priya with an intelligent, alert expression. Her fingers hadn’t stopped stroking Cally’s skin, like she was unaware she was doing it.
“You know I love you like a sister, right?” The words slipped out before Cally could stop them.
Eve looked up at her in surprise, then saw Cally’s expression.
Her eyes widened, then narrowed, and she glanced away.
So much unsaid in that look. After a beat, she met Cally’s gaze again, a soft smile teasing her lips, something bittersweet lingering there.
“I know, sweetheart,” she said quietly, her fingers stilling in their idle caress.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to jeopardize our friendship.
Believe it or not, that matters more to me than getting into your pants.
” She rose up on tiptoe again, bringing her mouth close to Cally’s ear, “I’d rather have some of you than none of you. ”
The conversation had turned heavy fast, and, like discussing magic and witches in a coffee shop, they were now talking about Eve’s unrequited love in a nightclub queue, with a dozen strangers in earshot.
“I’m… I’m sorry.” It sounded so inadequate, knowing she was at risk of hurting one of the people she cared for the most. Hell, was she being selfish? Didn’t Eve mean more to her than this? Maybe she could at least… try ?
“I can see the little hamster wheels spinning in there,” Eve said quietly. “Don’t worry about me, girl. I’m not putting any pressure on you whatsoever.” A spark of mischief danced in her eyes. “Doesn’t mean I won’t have my hands all over you on the nightclub floor.”
Cally gave a small laugh. “Grope away, if you must.”
“Obviously I don’t want to,” Eve said, deadpan, “but our cover calls for it.” Her hand dropped down to Cally’s ass and gave it a squeeze.
Cally wiggled it for her.
“Good timing,” Eve said quietly, looking over Cally’s shoulder. “There’s Priya and her beau, and she wasn’t exaggerating about the muscles.”
Cally turned to greet them. Priya wore a resplendent smile and a short skirt over a fitted bodysuit, clinging with both hands to the arm of a man holding a golf umbrella. He was dressed smartly in a burgundy shirt and chinos, and was almost as wide as he was tall.
“Hey Priya,” she said, as Eve slid into place against her side, her arm winding around Cally’s waist. “And you must be Michael.”
“Call me Mike,” the guy said, gripping Priya’s waist with one meaty hand and pulling her possessively into him. His gaze lingered a little too long as it slid down Eve, then back up Cally, clearly distracted by her chest. “You never said your friends were so hot, Priya.”
Cally slid her arm around Eve, unsure if she was doing it protectively or to play along. “We’re spoken for, Mike. Besides, Priya’s hotter than both of us.”
That may not have been entirely true, but Priya was the one clinging to his arm. She gave Cally a grateful look. “You guys don’t need to queue. Mike can get us in. Right honey?”
“Sure,” he said, dragging his eyes away from Cally’s body with an effort. “The guys know me here.”
He turned and walked down the line, Priya still gripping his arm with both hands, heading for the bouncers, and Cally and Eve followed.
“Is it just me,” Cally whispered, “or is your creep alarm going off?”
“A little bit,” Eve said, her brow furrowed. “He might just be overly friendly? Open relationship? Too early to be sure.”
“Stay close in there.”
“I had no intention of doing anything else.” She slid her hand into the back pocket of Cally’s jeans. “You’re my big bad bodyguard.”
Mike and Priya reached the bouncers, who opened the velvet rope without a word. He led Priya through, and Eve and Cally followed. Cally offered them a tentative smile, but received only blank stares in return.
Inside, two more security rifled through their bags, and a coat check stood at the ready.
They left their umbrellas and outerwear behind, then descended a steep flight of stone stairs.
The walls were rough concrete, dimly lit, and the thump of heavy bass drifted up from below.
At the bottom of the stairs, another door and another bouncer awaited, but he simply nodded to Mike and opened it.
As soon as the door cracked, the sound hit them—primal and energetic and overwhelmingly loud.
A throng of people moved as one beneath spinning spotlights and lasers, shooting beams of light through the hazy air.
The sweet smell of legal weed mingled with the unmistakable stench of spilled beer and sweat.
Mike pushed his way inside, his shoulders carving a path. Priya clung to his arm with one hand, the other raised as if greeting the music, her hips beginning to move in time with the beat, her short skirt swishing.
Eve looked to follow, then stopped as Cally hadn’t moved. “Babe?” The word was swallowed in the cacophony.
Cally had frozen, her eyes wide, pulse thumping louder than the music.
The nightclub was exactly as she had seen it in her vision, down to the color of the walls.
She’d been here before—and she’d never been here before.