Upon pulling into the parking lot of Lucy’s Lounge, Ky inquired jokingly as to why I wasn’t wearing my pretty new dress. Not in a million years would I wear a dress like that to a place like Lucy’s. I was more than happy with what I was wearing. The baby doll tee I wore stated simply “Bite me.” My black velvet skirt was cut above my knees in the front, below in the back. It was comfortable and easy to move in.
The second we stepped through the doors, the sea of smells was an assault on the senses. My eyes adjusted quickly to the dull lighting, and though all I could see was a crowd of faces, I could feel every shifter in the place. Shaz was working the bar. Two other town Weres were shooting pool on the far side of the room.
Amateur exotic dancer night was always a hit with the guys, occasionally too much of a hit. It was only once a week, but it had a tendency to be the most interesting night to show up.
I knew that Arys was in the swarm, but I had yet to see him. I didn’t doubt that he knew I was there.
We weaved our way through the tightly packed bodies. The side of the Lounge with the pool tables didn’t have as many free seats, so we headed for a table on the other side, near the stage.
I followed Kylarai as she led the way through the thick mass of people. She looked great as always, dressed simply in pinstriped pants and a white, strapless top with her trendy locks framing her round face. Her eyes sparkled with the moon energy and her own lively nature.
Flashing lights battered my eyes from the stage, where a buxom blonde strutted her very topless self around to one of the latest Top 40 songs. Hoots and hollers followed her, and a handful of men crowded around the edge of the stage and waited for their turn to slip a bill into her tiny g-string. The testosterone was thick on the air. I wrinkled my nose at Kylarai in distaste.
I felt the vampire’s eyes on me. He’d found me first. Once I felt him, I could pinpoint where he was. He sat closer to the stage, off to the side with a few of his poker buddies. He looked right at home in the bar, dressed all in black. His raven hair was just the right amount of messy. I could feel the fire in the smoldering look he gave me from across the room. I knew that, though his eyes were on me, he monitored the occupants of the room just as surely as I did.
He motioned me over, but I shook my head and crooked my finger, a signal to come to our table instead. After a few words to his buddies, he pushed his chair back and came our way. I wasn’t sure why my heart chose this moment to beat so fast.
“Why are you so nervous?” Kylarai asked me. She leaned in close to be heard over the music.
Even if she couldn’t hear my heart pounding, then she could surely sense my unease. Before I could reply, he was within earshot.
“Arys, hey. How are you?” Kylarai greeted him warmly. “Nice to see you again.”
“Good, thank you. And yourself?”
I feigned interest in the show on the stage while they exchanged pleasantries. The blonde was now writhing on the floor sans g-string. I was willing to bet my money that most of these amateurs were not really so amateur after all.
“How about you, Alexa? I’m glad you stopped in tonight.” He turned those deep blue eyes on me, and I tripped over my tongue a few times before I could reply.
“Oh really?” I gestured to the empty chair between Kylarai and me. I put on my best neutral expression and prayed that he couldn’t hear my rapid heartbeat. “There isn’t already enough here to keep you busy?”
He grinned and glanced briefly at the stage, but the spectacle didn’t hold his attention long before he took the offered seat. After decades of dancing girls, I was sure he’d seen much better than this. I had a much bigger appreciation for classic burlesque myself.
“There are a great many snacks to be had on a night like this.” He gave a low chuckle that seemed to stroke the nocturnal side of me. I was curious and drawn, as both human and wolf, to the sinister nature of his darkness.
“I don’t find that hard to believe.” I used my drink as a good distraction, a chance to look away momentarily. The waitress paused at our table so I ordered another.
When I looked back at the vampire, an obvious hunger burned behind his eyes. Was it my imagination, or did he study the pulse in my throat?
The blood of a shape shifter was intoxicating to vampires. Some had been known to form addictions to it, though that was rare. It gave them a hell of a high. I’d heard werewolves talk that way after their first taste of human flesh and blood, obsessed and addicted. It was unnerving.
“Tonight I’m feeling in the mood for something else, something…lupine.” Arys let the words hang on the air between us as I tried desperately to swallow the lump in my throat. Kylarai excused herself to the ladies’ room, and I felt my cheeks grow hot with embarrassment.
“Arys, what in the hell was that?” I hissed once she was lost amidst the crowd. “Don’t talk like that in front of Kylarai. It implies something that we aren’t.”
“But should be.”
“What?”