Real Vampires Get Lucky (14 page)

"I know you and your friends don't dress vampire. But I kind of groove on the whole dangerous female thing. Like that vampire in the mural on your wall." Lucky growled and flashed fang.

"We don't look vampire because there's no such thing as a stereotypical vampire. We come in all shapes, sizes and ages." I didn't know whether to be happy or sad that there were no mortal customers in the store at five thirty in the morning. My shop is open twenty-four hours a day, five days a week, closed Sundays and Mondays. Hey, it's a novelty and fits into the Sixth Street lifestyle in Austin. We're surrounded by clubs, stuck between a twenty-four-hour coffee shop and a tattoo parlor. The Tatt-ler had just opened last week, and Blade had gone in actually hoping to buy a London newspaper. Imagine his surprise when they'd offered him a discount on a nice snarling tiger for his upper thigh. Cute female tattoo artist. I hate her. Anyway, I work most of the night shifts myself. My vampire customers love the fact that we're open when they need us to be. But even they weren't here right now. Just me and my gaggle of "friends." It was like a paranormal sitcom, currently without the laugh track.

"Look, Lucky. I'm tired. I really don't want to go into this right now. Trust me, it's a security issue. We blend with the crowd so that misguided fools who think we're all demons from hell won't come after us with pointy stakes."

"Yeah, yeah, I get that. But Etienne's promised to take me hunting." Lucky smiled and linked arms with him. "If I'm going to be stuck this way, I'm going to do a hell of a lot more than drink fake blood from a bottle."

"Not tonight you're not." Not ever if I had anything to say about it. And I should, shouldn't I? I mean, I'd
made
this fang-flashing vamp. If she accidentally killed someone, I'd be responsible, indirectly anyway. And what was it with Lucky and men anyway?

First Damian, then Blade, now it was on to Etienne. She was determined to hook up with a vampire. I wondered if she was this fast and loose before her transformation. To be honest, I'd been the one to fill her head with the whole "vampire lovers can't be beat" idea. Naturally she was eager to test that theory herself.

Etienne though, we didn't know jack about him. I gave him a stern look.

"Yes, Miss Gloriana? You wish me to leave?"

Etienne, at least, seemed to have figured out who was calling the shots here. I gave him a grateful smile.

"Of course not. It's almost dawn. I'm prepared to offer you a safe place to sleep. In the closet in the back room. But only if you respect my wishes regarding Lucky."

"You can't just shove a man into a closet." Lucky grabbed Etienne's arm. "Or order me around."

"I don't mind, Lucky. Really. I'm grateful to be out of the weather. Thank you, Gloriana. You are very kind." Etienne patted Lucky's hand. "Tomorrow night. We feed together. Patience,
ma petite
. You have forever to learn what you need to know." I gritted my teeth. "Whatever. Lucky, you and Brittany can double up in Flo's room. Just pray she's staying at Richard's again tonight."

I tuned out Lucky's whining and decided it was more urgent to see if Lacy recognized Greg Kaplan from the photos in the phone. Back at the register, I scrolled through them until I came to the one with Greg in the picture.

"Here, Lacy. Check out the guy sitting on the ground. Is he the one who attacked you?" Lacy grabbed the phone and her eyes widened. "No. But I see the guy. The one at what looks like a pulpit. That guy standing next to Freddy, Derek's partner. Oh my gosh, he's the one who tried to take me out."

Nine

"You've got to be kidding me." I sat down hard. Oops. Next time I'd check to see if there was a chair behind me.

"Glory, are you okay?" Lacy hovered. Valdez and Brittany exchanged looks like they were trying not to laugh their asses off. Etienne and Lucky hadn't bothered to join the party, thank God. They were still next to the dressing rooms, Etienne serving as Lucky's "mirror" as she tried on black shawls. At least my inventory didn't include black lipstick and nail polish. Though the local Goths who liked to hang out at my shop had been pressing me to carry it.

I waved away Lacy's concern. "I'm fine. I just can't believe Simon Destiny himself came down from on high to attack you."

"I believe it."
Valdez settled next to me on the floor.
"You really pissed him off out at the compound. He promised to leave
you and your friends alone, but I bet he figured your business was fair game."

"What's going on here? Gloriana, are you all right?"

I looked up to see Jerry frowning down at me. I'd been so busy worrying that Simon might use his demon's magical powers to come after someone during the day I hadn't even heard the door open.

"I'm fine. Just tired. We were getting ready to come upstairs."

Jerry looked around. His eyes narrowed when he saw Brittany. "Who's this?"

"Lucky's long lost bodyguard. Valdez knows her."

"And vouches for her?"

"Didn't say that."
Valdez earned a hate-filled glare from Brittany.
"But I doubt she took out Lucky. What's her motive?"

"Exactly!" Lucky came up with Etienne in tow. "Brit's been with the family for years. She's like a sister to me. Right, Brit?"

"Sure." Brittany nudged Valdez with her foot when he did a doggy version of a chuckle. I figure bodyguards
never
feel exactly like family members. There's the whole paycheck thing. Not to mention the enormous life or death responsibility.

"And this is?" Jerry pulled me to my feet and put a proprietary arm around me while he gave Etienne the once-over. It felt pretty good to be claimed. I leaned against him.

"Etienne Delacroix." Etienne stuck out his hand. "You must be Jeremy Blade, Gloriana's friend. Lucky was just telling me something about the vampires she's met since she had her, um, accident."

"It wasn't an accident. It was an attack. And anyone we don't know to be innocent is automatically a suspect." Jerry didn't shake hands. Instead he reached for one of the knives I knew he had hidden in his waistband as if he'd like nothing better than to whittle some truth out of the new guy.

"You have doubts about me, monsieur? Read my mind. Put me under what your Gloriana so charmingly calls the whammy. You will see that I have spent the past weeks and my last dollars at the Energy Vampire headquarters trying to buy a little sunshine." Etienne laughed bitterly. "More fool I. Go ahead. Take your best shot. I've nothing to hide."

"You think I won't?" Jerry grabbed Etienne's arm and seemed disappointed when the man didn't put up a struggle.

"He's drained dry, Jerry. He gave up his power to the EVs." I gave Etienne a sympathetic look; I'd had a near miss with that kind of thing myself. "I told him he could sleep in the back room for today."

"Lacy, how do you feel about that?" Jerry didn't release Etienne yet.

"I figure he'll be dead to the world. No biggie."

"Lock him in anyway, Lacy." I smiled at Etienne. He just shrugged and smiled back.

"What about the rest of you?" Jerry wasn't smiling.

"They're coming upstairs. I figure Brittany and Lucky can double up in Flo's room."

"Florence came home. She and Richard had a fight. She's reorganizing her shoes." Jerry finally let go of Etienne.

"Oh. That's terrible." Not the fight. Flo loves a good fight. And apparently excels at the kiss-and-make-up stage. No, the terrible part was the thought of another shoe inventory. Picture centuries worth of shoes. Which
must
be dealt with properly. Sometimes alphabetically, sometimes by color. Oh, and then there are the seasons. And of course every shoe must be stuffed with archival tissue and carefully inspected for damage. Once there had been a nasty scuff on one of her treasured Ferragamos. Trust me, you don't want to be around during one of Flo's shoe inventories.

"Come home with me, Gloriana. Lucky and Brittany can take your room. Valdez, you stay with them upstairs to keep an eye on things."

"Wait a minute, boss."
Valdez knew exactly what he was in for.

"Maybe we should get a hotel room." Lucky had already picked up on a vibe here. She glanced at Brittany.

"No time. It's less than an hour until sunrise, Lucky. You've got to start paying attention to these things, hon, or you'll get caught in a bind." Brittany looked down at Valdez. "Maybe Rafe can give me some pointers on my new gig, bodyguard to a vampire. That is, if you're sure your father hasn't fired my ass."

"No, I told you, he doesn't think you had anything to do with the attack. He'll be glad you're still alive. When we get upstairs I'd better call him and let him know we found you and tell him what happened."

"Fine. Better head out then." I was more than happy to take off with Jerry. Usually I balk at letting him order my life, but this plan suited me perfectly. I couldn't wait to leave this menagerie behind and soon did exactly that.

"Thank you for rescuing me." I lay back in the leather seat of Jerry's Mercedes convertible and just relaxed for the first time in what seemed like days. Blade drove with the easy confidence that he did everything. Actually it was
my
Mercedes. But I'm pretty stubborn about accepting expensive gifts from Jerry. Now if he'd bought me my own red Birkin bag . . .

"I'm sure Florence will handle things if any of them cause problems. Or interfere with the shoe inventory." Jerry grinned at me. "I wish it wasn't so close to dawn. You're looking very sexy tonight, Gloriana."

"Thank you." Sexy? I looked down. What had I thrown on a lifetime ago anyway? Oh, yes, the black cashmere twin set that now had a stake hole in the chest. Damn Brittany. At least the V-neck dipped low and the leather pants were formfitting. Too much butt, but Jerry didn't seem to mind.

"But I know we need to talk." Jerry had that look, like he was ready to launch into all the reasons why I would be so much better off with his "protection."

"Yeah, sure." I was so not in the mood to do the whole "what's best for Glory" thing tonight. And I had a surefire way to distract my man. I reached over and rubbed his hard thigh, then explored a little further. Umm.

"What the hell are you doing?" He didn't make a move to stop me though when I slid down his zipper and slipped my hand inside to stroke his hot length.

"Communicating. This"-I slipped my fingers down to cup his sacs-"is just a friendly gesture to show I'm willing to listen."

"Yes, I'd say that's friendly." Jerry had to clear his throat.

He'd put the top down on the convertible because we both loved the cold night air.

"Now what were you saying?" I circled his cock and moved my hand in a rhythm that almost lifted him off his seat.

"I-" Jerry gasped as I bent to take him into my mouth.

"Woman, it's a good thing these streets are deserted. You could get us both arrested for public lewdness." I wasn't worried. Wouldn't be the first time I'd whammied a cop into forgetting one of my, ahem, indiscretions. I sent Jerry a mental message to keep his eyes on the road and to let me do all the work here. His hand slipped into my hair, first gently then tighter as I drew on him and nipped him with my fangs. We raced up hills and down, and the movement made the pressure of my mouth against him even more interesting. Suddenly the car stopped, and I was thrown over the seat to land on my back.

"You wanted to tell me something?" I grinned up at him.

"I want you naked. Now."

Jerry loomed over me. Oh, my. I love it when he gets all ferocious and insatiable. But I also love those damned tight leather pants, and he obviously wanted them off. He growled and went after them with his teeth. I jerked his head up with a handful of his hair.

"Don't. You. Dare."

"Hurry, then." His eyes were dark with hunger, his fangs glinting in the moonlight. I raised my butt and tried to wiggle them down. I was just about to tell him to shred the damned things when I finally managed to jerk one leg free.

"Took you long enough." He paused, braced above me and tantalizingly close to the gate to Heaven. "Maybe I've changed my mind."

I grabbed his ass. "Get in here, mister." I took a shaky breath. "Please."

"Now that's more like it." Jerry grinned and plunged into me.

"Oh, my God!" I knew I'd been worked up, but this was really something. I felt the cold leather of the seat on my behind, the chilly air on my breasts because the sweater set had vanished. Jerry's lips ravaged my neck just before he sucked so hard I blew apart in one enormous orgasm. He stroked, raising my hips to meet his. I wrapped my legs around him and tried to hold on, but was so limp I felt like I'd never hold anything again. When he came, I felt the rush of heat deep inside me, surprised by an answering spasm of my own. Wow.

"Where are we?" I asked when I finally managed to catch my breath. Jerry's head lay on my breast. Nice.

"My driveway."

"Oh." I looked up at the night sky. Was that a faint pink in the east? In my bones I knew it had to be. I figured I should be really uncomfortable scrunched up in the tiny backseat of a Mercedes convertible with a two-hundred-pound-plus male on top of me. Instead I felt boneless and content and wished I could watch the sunrise this way, just once. Tears pricked my eyelids and I sighed.

"Guess we'd better get inside."

"Guess so." Even Jerry's voice sounded rough. Emotion? Nah. Probably predawn exhaustion.

"I can't move."

"Neither can I."

"What if we just put the top up and sleep here all day?"

"Dangerous. Sunlight could come in the windows."

"You should have pulled into the garage."

"I didn't want to take the time to use the garage-door opener."

"How many centuries have we been doing this?" I grinned at Jerry and shoved, trying to sit up. He finally climbed off me and over the front seat.

"More than I can count at the moment."

I heard him zip up as I pulled off my leather pants and panties and picked them up along with my sweater set. Naked as God made me except for my black suede ankle boots, I climbed out of the car and followed him to the back door, waiting for him to unlock it.