IM01 - Carpe Noctem (17 page)

A syncopated bass beat thumped in my body like a second heartbeat, commanding me to move. I loved the feeling. Like a puppet on a string, I let it pull me out to dance. Laser lights, flashing strobes, and colorful spotlights lit the dance floor. My body swayed and rocked, matching the beat of the drum and bass music.

It was only a few moments before various men surrounded me and began to dance with me, each trying to rub against me, hoping they might have a chance to take me home.

A mix of sexual and primal instinct made me select and continue dancing with one.

I knew I shouldn’t get too close, but instinct begged me to breathe him in and savor his aroma. His scent was intoxicating, more so than others in the room: a sultry mix of cologne, sweat, and pheromones. He was mouthwatering, and I wondered if he would taste just as good as he smelled.

Erick had short, spiky blond hair, a chiseled jaw, and gorgeous emerald-green eyes. He wore a pair of loose carpenter jeans and a silky, black button-down shirt with a metallic blue dragon across the bottom.

We danced together, moving and rubbing our bodies rhythmically with the music. He pulled me in close and nibbled at my neck. The gentle graze of his blunt teeth felt odd after Lysander’s bite, yet it was still enticing. Erick whispered things we could do together privately in the VIP room—awakening more than just the bloodthirsty beast.

I gulped as his breath blew against my ear.
Breathe through your mouth
, I reminded myself as the hunger inside of me whined and nagged, urging me to go further, to take a small taste. I knew privacy would be a bad thing. I needed to stay out in the public eye.

His heartbeat pulsed hard. I felt each tempting thump as he pressed his body to mine.

“Come have a private drink with me,” he urged.

“But I just want to dance.” No, no, no drinks. Bad idea.

“Please, baby, we can dance in there and get to know each other better.” His hands slid down my side.

Crap, I need an excuse
. “I can’t leave my friend all alone.”
Coming here was a bad idea
.

“Where is your friend?”

I turned and pointed to the bar. Jessie sat with a full glass of some alcoholic drink in front of her and looked bored. “There she is, in the pink tank top at the bar.”

“Bring her too.” His breath blew against my ear again, sending a chill dancing down my spine.

Oh, this is a bad idea. I sighed. Why didn’t I hunt before we came in here
? Jessie had spotted me looking at her. I waved her over and mouthed the word “help.”

“C’mon, let’s go.” Erick grabbed me by the hand and pulled me towards the VIP area.

I knew it was a bad idea. I knew I should have said no, but it’s so hard to do that when a cute guy is lavishing attention on you, calling you beautiful, and whispering of the dirty things he wants to do to you. I might be a vampire, but I was still a woman.

He immediately ordered a bottle of champagne as we walked into the room.

The VIP rooms were darkened corners of the club, curtained off with deep purple velvet, allowing for a little privacy. They contained a loveseat, two cushy ottomans, and two small drink tables set on either side of the love seat. Music was only slightly muffled in this VIP area. Jessie and I danced and pretended to drink the glasses we were offered. I had no need for champagne; the smell of Erick’s cologne was stimulating enough. Thirst nagged at me, but I fought it. Erick was an innocent and I didn’t want to live with that guilt.

Realizing that my thirst was starting to get the better of me, I tried to maintain a safe distance as we danced. Erick drained the first bottle of champagne himself, thankfully not noticing that Jessie and I weren’t having any.

I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold out. I needed an escape plan. I couldn’t believe I agreed to this in the first place.

“Jessie, we can’t stay long.” I spoke low enough to not alert Erick.

“Huh, what?” she asked. She danced, rocking her hips back and forth to the music. She seemed to have Erick under a spell. He watched lustfully, his eyes following each movement of her hips.

“I have to do that thing tonight, you know,” I said, with a little urgency to my voice.

“Yeah, sure, we will get to that,” Jessie said with a groan.

“Alyssa, aren’t you having fun?” Erick asked, momentarily dropping his focus from Jessie’s gyrations.

“Yeah.” I tried to smile as innocently as possible. “I just have this little thing I need to do to-night.”

He patted the space next to him on the loveseat. “Don’t leave. I thought we were going to get to know each other. You need more champagne.”

“Yeah, more champagne,” Jessie blurted out, pretending to be drunk. She grabbed the bottle of champagne and put it to her lips as if drinking. “Mmmm, have a drink, Lyss,” she said with a wink.

She leaned in, handing the bottle to me, and whispered, “Have a little fun. Don’t you want him?”

Jessie didn’t give me time to answer. She immediately returned to her hypnotic gyrations. Erick watched me, so I too lifted the bottle to my mouth, pretending to drink the bubbly beverage.

I used to like champagne, when I was mortal. Now, just the smell of it made me want to retch. Bubbles tickled the tip of my tongue. My stomach flipped, threatening to heave if I swallowed so much as a drop. I lowered the bottle with a fake smile plastered on my face. “Mmm, we need some more of this.”

Erick got up and pulled me close to him. He pressed his hard body to mine, rocking side to side with the beat of the music. “You’re absolutely right. Let’s get some more.”

Erick’s advances became more sexual the more he drank. Halfway through the second bottle, he pulled us both on top of him on the love seat.

I must admit, I savored the delicious warmth of his hand as he squeezed my butt. He lavished attention on both of us, alternating between kissing Jessie and me. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn’t help myself. I let my hands explore his body as he claimed my mouth. Under his loose, silky shirt was a perfect washboard stomach. I traced each ripple down to his obvious arousal, cupping the tent in his jeans.

He moaned into my mouth. I knew I should stop. The beast inside roared to life, begging for just a small taste.

Erick’s hand slid down between my legs. His fingertips traced the outline of my sex through my thong.

“Ah, hmmmm.” I sighed, enjoying his touch.

It had been so long since I had had the pleasures of a man, and his gestures were quite tempting.

I lingered too long. I should have stopped myself, but his smell, his touch, his heartbeat, his warmth—it was all too tempting. I wanted so badly to taste him. I needed to taste him. Just one taste wouldn’t hurt, right?

My thirst, my hunger, the nagging sensation won. I concentrated on my desire to have Erick. I needed to have him, a taste of him. I left his hot mouth and moved my kisses down towards his neck. His succulent vein thumped against my lips; blood pulsed below the surface of his skin, just begging me to take it.

I tried one last time to fight the urge.
No, he’s an innocent. He’s done no harm to anyone. He doesn’t deserve my deadly kiss
.

His fingers slid underneath my thong, dipping slowly into my wet opening.

I lost control, giving in to my desire. Opening my mouth wide, I sank my teeth into his neck, severing the vein. My reward was a satisfying rush of hot blood, flooding my mouth.

He moaned, a pleasurable sound. I hoped he was caught in the moment and had not realized what I had done. I didn’t need him knowing I was sucking the life out of him.

His hands still explored my nether regions, confirming my suspicion.

Don’t fight it, let me take you
. I willed my desires on him as I drank in his blood. I wanted him, all of him. Every drop of his blood was ecstasy.

His hand went limp beneath me.

Shit!

A moment of clarity hit me.
I have to stop myself. He’s an innocent!

I hoped I’d realized this before I was too close to ending his life. I pulled away and rested my head on his chest, trying to regain composure. I listened for the sound of his heart. The soft, fading beat told me I was too late. I had taken too much blood. His heart struggled as it slowly came to a stop.
No
!

Erick was dead.

I slid off his lifeless body onto the floor.

Oh, my God, what have I done?

Jessie, unaffected by the death of the man, went through his pockets and found his wallet. She spilt up the money and offered me a handful of bills.

“You could have saved some for me,” Jessie said in a mocking tone.

“What have I done?” I whispered to myself. It was one thing to kill a criminal, to end the life of someone who would have done it to me—but an innocent? What was his crime? He was just an overconfident guy. And I killed him!

Jessie held out the bills, waving them in front of my face. “Aren’t you going to take this? It’s your cut.”

A strange numbness consumed me. I had only wanted a taste. Why did I give in to temptation?

The background music seemed muffled and distant. The only thing I could hear was the thought in my head repeating over and over, He was an innocent.

Jessie must have sensed the mental torture going on inside my head. She shook me out of my trance. “Listen, girly, we’re not done yet.” She inclined her head toward the lifeless body. “We’ve got to get rid of Casanova over here.”

Panic brought me back to reality. How could we carry a corpse out of here without being noticed?

Jessie shoved the bills onto my lap and sat down next to the dead body. She lifted the collar on his shirt, inspecting the bite mark on his neck.

“Nice set of fangs you got there, sister. Why don’t we cover this little, ahem… hickey… up with something.” She flipped the collar all the way up in an attempt to conceal the wound on his neck. “Hmm, that’s not going to work well, now, is it?”

“Can we sneak him out of here? We can’t leave a dead body lying here in the VIP lounge. People saw us go in here. Someone will find him and wonder which one of us is the mangy animal who mauled him.”

“Great idea, Lyss.” She jumped to her feet. “You grab one arm and I’ll take the other. We’ll both hold him up and walk him out the front door. If anyone asks, we’ll say he had too much to drink and we’re taking him home to sleep it off.”

It wasn’t the brightest idea I’d ever heard, but it was the best we had to work with. Thanks to vampire strength, we both easily supported his weight on our shoulders and slowly made our way to the door, trying to look as natural as possible. Crystal spotted us from the bar and followed close behind. We’d just passed through the entrance. I thought we were home free when the bouncer stopped us.

“Hey, ladies, is he all right?” the bouncer asked.

I froze. My heart skipped a beat.
Shit, we’re busted. We’re going to be outed right here in front of what looks like fifty people. I’ve just mistakenly given away our kind, our secret, with one moment of bloodlust.

Jessie spoke, her voice a little shaky. “Uh, yeah, he’s just had a bit too much tonight. We’re gonna take him home.”

The bouncer’s eyes narrowed. A crease formed above his eyebrows. “He looks unconscious. No. I can’t let you leave with him like that. I’m calling an ambulance.”

Crystal appeared out of nowhere and glided over to the concerned bouncer. Her face the picture of calm, she spoke in hushed tones, leaning into the bouncer’s ear. I could just barely make out what she told him.

“Sir, he has a known drinking problem that is a bit of an embarrassment to our family. The girls called me when he finished his third bottle in your VIP room. Clearly, your staff ignored the fact that he had drunk enough to cause alcohol poisoning. I’m sure your establishment would like to avoid any legal troubles. If you will just let us go without anyone else’s involvement, our family will avoid bringing any official attention to this.”

She extended her hand to the bouncer. He shook it, and I caught the hint of money being transferred. The bouncer smiled and sent us on our way.

We loaded the body in the car with us and drove a few miles before dumping it in a deserted alley. Crystal bit her tongue.

“What are you doing?” I asked, baffled, watching her trace the wound on the dead man’s neck with her bloody tongue. “Are you going to turn him?”

“No, dear, he is already dead. You can only turn one who is at the edge of death. It takes a bit of skill and quite a bit more blood. I’m just concealing the wound.”

“You’re what?” I asked in amazement.

“Has Lysander not taught you this yet? Our blood, in very small doses, can help conceal the wounds you create when you feed. The enzymes in our saliva, mixed with a very small amount of our blood, can help skin heal faster. Within an hour, his skin should seal around the puncture wounds, and by the time the police find this man, he will have what will only look like odd bruises.”

 I stood dumfounded for a moment. That was a very nice little parlor trick, and I couldn’t believe Lysander hadn’t told me about this yet. “Must have slipped his mind, I guess.”

This new revelation on how to hide our nightly feeding was a welcome surprise. I liked having more options than just half-cremating or burying a body.

“It’s not a perfect process, and since he is already dead, it won’t heal the wound completely, but it will help hide the telltale fang marks.”

We loaded ourselves into the car. Crystal took the wheel again as we headed back to Lysander’s home.

I sat silent, deep in thought. Terrible guilt sat like a lead weight in my stomach. I wanted to cry for the loss of Erick’s life. A part of me wished the bouncer had caught us and exposed us for what we were. Erick hadn’t deserved death. He was just a drunk guy. He’d just gone out for a night of fun, and it had ended with his death. If I had stopped drinking that man to death, could I have let him go without killing him?

“The answer is yes,” Crystal said, not taking her eyes of the road as she drove. “But it takes great self-control to do it.”