The Better to Eat You With: The Red Journals (23 page)

Felix
grinned, flashing me those sexy dimples, while Vince grumbled, “And why
are
we dressed like this?”

I turned
for the doors. I’d arranged a car to drive us to Jade’s club—uniquely called
Emerald City— and was pretty sure the big limo outside was it.

“Emerald
City caters to a certain kind of clientele, providing very specific services.”
I waltzed out into the drizzly evening as a doorman held the door. I smiled and
thanked him. “If you aren’t dressed to par, you don’t get in.” I spun to face
them. “Regardless of whom you’re with.”
Namely, me.

“And what
you’re wearing,” Vince gestured at me, “is acceptable?”

My grin
widened. “I’m a regular, Cujo.” I spun for the car, feeling the soft burn of
their gazes on my back.

A
chauffer with an umbrella opened the door for me and I climbed in, hoping
across the leather seats to make room for the big Alpha and lithe Vampire. Vince
was opposite me, slouching his large frame and making it look elegant. Felix
slid in beside me, sprawling in that sexy masculine fashion he had. The door
shut, the driver got in, and we were on our way.

However,
Vince and Felix were both looking at me funny, and not in the good way. General
appreciation for my appearance was one thing. Intense focus, as if trying to
figure out what was off, was altogether different.

I began
to fidget under the attention until, at last, I threw up my hands and scowled,
“What? What are you both looking at?”

“There’s
something…different,” Felix murmured, rubbing his clean-shaven jaw in
speculation.

Vince
hummed in agreement, and I frowned at them both.

“I don’t
look
that
bad, usually.”
Jeez, this is a total ego downer.

“It’s not
your appearance,” Vince said, and his nostrils flared again, his chest
expanding as he inhaled deep. “It’s your scent.” He exhaled, and I felt it over
every inch of my skin like a caress.

Anyone
would think they hadn’t smelt me frisky before.
I cleared my throat, tugged down my
blazer and crossed my legs at the knee.

“It’s
almost spicy now,” Felix murmured, his eyes shimmering a dull gold.

I glanced
over and grinned. “Not l
ike orange groves in
summer mixed with
 
Trinitario cacao?”
I asked, deliberately making
my voice smoky-rich and drugging, just as he’d said it when he had me pinned to
the ground. The mere memory made me shiver. Felix’s lips twitched.

“If you
were a regular female Were,” Vince rumbled, spreading his knees and extending a
foot out, almost touching me. The whole position was designed to provoke, and
my gaze narrowed on him. “I’d say you’d just been tumbled.”

My face
flamed instantly. “Excuse me?”

“That’s
exactly it,” Felix breathed me in, his voice smooth and coffee rich.

“I don’t
know what you’re talking about,” I replied loftily, turning away from both and
looking out the window. Not that I could see anything thanks to the tint.
Dammit.

“Who you
been tumbling with, pet?” Felix murmured, his voice seeming so close to my ear
that I flinched.

When I
looked at him though, he was still on the other side of the car. I grimaced,
wondering if my little finger foray in the shower earlier was what they were
scenting. If it was, I’d have to do it every freaking day just to fob them off
with some little fib about new perfume.
Gosh… life is so hard…

“And
when, exactly, would I have time to tumble?” I asked, all innocence.

Vince let
out a low growl. “There’s no scent on her, but her own.”

There was
a beat of silence where my gaze flicked between the two, and then Felix arched
a wicked brow. “Oh.”

“Oh?” I
squeaked, cheeks burning. “What is oh?”

The Vampire’s
lips curved and he rubbed his jaw again. “Blimey, pet,” he mumbled, and a
horrifying clench gripped my stomach.

They
know. Dammit, they know just from my
scent
!

“Damn,
darlin’,” Vince grinned, blue eyes sparkling. “Why didn’t you just come to one
of us? We would have been happy—”

“No!” I
barked, sticking out a finger at him to shut him up. My whole damn face, right
out to my ears, was burning with enough heat to melt an ice cap. “No way was I
going to one of you! You two are the reason behind it to begin with!” I glared
at them both and slumped back into my seat, curving close to the door and
staring out the window. “The sooner I get away from you two, the better.”

“But in
the meantime, you’re with us,” Vince added.

“And now,
after your…self-service?” Felix’s grin was wicked, and I rolled my eyes. “Your
scent is all the more inviting.”

“I never
had this problem when I did it before.” Not that I’d know, of course. The only
Immortal men I was around were the ones I hunted.

Wow…that’s
sad, Red. Rather be sad than glowing with embarrassment. True.

“Either
way,” Felix shifted, turning to Vince, “she can’t go around smelling like that.
We’ll have to alternate relieving the pressure. Mix up her scent.”

My eyes
widened.

“An
alternating scent might be more inviting, suggesting she’s open to new offers,”
Vince pondered, and my jaw dropped.

“But
you’re an Alpha. That’s distinctive. And I’m not exactly young. Any poachers
will scent that immediately.”

“I’m
right
here
!” I snapped, feeling the limo take a turn and slow.
My
god, I can’t believe they’re talking about sharing the responsibility of
‘relieving the pressure’ when I am perfectly capable of doing it myself.
Jeepers,
it’s not like I hadn’t had a while to perfect my own technique. I knew exactly
what I liked and how I liked it. I didn’t want the two Neanderthals poking,
prodding and trying to learn the nuances on how to get me off.
Holy
crappers. Just… Holy crappers
.

“No one,
and I mean
no one,
is going to touch me, mark me, or relieve me of
anything.” Felix went to speak and I cut him off as the car came to a halt.
“Unless specifically invited, neither one of you will attempt to do any of the
above. Do I make myself clear?”

“You
don’t know what your scent will do, darlin’.”

“And you
don’t know what
I
will do, Cujo.” I gave him a dark look as I sat back.
“I won’t be claimed by an Alpha wolf or a primitive Vampire. So back off.” I
turned to Felix. “Both of you.”

I got out
of the car before either could answer.

Emerald
City was exactly what I had expected from Jade. It was sassy, modern and full
of the bored upper-class. Once past the heavy security at the door, if you’re
lucky enough to be on the list, you’re greeted by a sweeping grand staircase
decked out in glittering black marble and stainless steel railings. Green
fluorescent dots of light lined each step, and right at the top was a balcony and
a curtained doorway with more beefy security guards in black suits and bright
jade ties. Bars lined either side of the curtain, and multiple groups of angry,
impatient peers of society glared at the unfazed guards.

Felix and
Vince were silent shadows at my back as I climbed the stairs. I paused before
the curtain, the Alpha’s hand smoothing over my ponytail. I glanced at him, but
he was looking around as if he hadn’t even noticed he’d touched me. I shrugged
and looked at the one of the security men, shaved head and golden yellow eyes,
who had pulled out a clipboard from behind his back.

“Name?” he
growled, voice low and deep, green light gleaming off his shaved scalp as he
tilted his chin down to the list. By the scent of him, and the sheer size, I
knew he was a lion-Shifter. None of the angry posers at the bars were getting
past these two unless invited.

“Ash
Redding,” I replied, using my usual name for Jade’s clubs. Felix arched his
brow, and Vince’s strokes on my hair paused. I arched a brow at them both. “What?
I have to put
something
on my driving license.”

The
security man gave me a head to toe sweep, and then the two men behind me. Then
he smiled, warm and inviting, and his scent drifted around me with a
distinctive spicy aroma that indicated interest.

“I will
let Jade know you are here,” he growled enticingly. “Enjoy Emerald City.”

The other
security guard pulled back the curtain, and I looked in. Women, scantily clad
in the latest fashions, preened and danced on stages and platforms with cages
or poles, and entertained amidst the masses with alluring, sensual movements. Men
of all makes of Immortal, adorned in expensive suits with expressions of cold
disdain sat in groups around the large room—despite the fact that their eyes
burned with a fiery hunger.

The
balcony continued around the main floor, curtained-off sections indicating
pleasure rooms for those willing to spend a little more for their vices. Green
lighting and strobes fluttered against the heavy beat of the music, glinting
off sparkling black marble, sharp white furnishings and the enormous
fluorescent chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

Bodies
moved in a wave before the dark DJ booth, stirring in a rhythmic chorus to the
music. The erotic scents in the air, glittering like champagne as they mingled
with my inner wolf, drew out reactions to lust, desire and sex in me. The bar
was a circle right in the center of the room, with a cage at its heart. A
beautifully pale woman with white blonde hair and a glittering tail of
iridescent scales down her spine rippled and undulated within. Snake Shifter.

I gave
the lion-Shifters a naughty little smile. “She’s out-done herself this time.”

“She had
a large budget,” the lion-Shifter replied dryly.

“She had
one when she renovated my house,” I murmured, inhaling deep the addictive energies
of the club and watching Felix move towards the balcony railing inside, his
gaze scanning with the focus of a true predator. I turned back to the lion.
“People call me Red,” I said, holding out my hand and ignoring the rumbling
growl of warning from the Alpha at my back.

The
security man grinned, yellow eyes sparkling. “Leo,” he replied, taking my hand
and placing a hot-lipped kiss on my palm, unfazed by Vince’s display.

That’s
the difference between Shifter and Weres. Shifters are born, and only display
dominance with pack members. Weres are mortals who have been bitten by a Shifter
or a Were, infected with the changeling gene, and survived the transformation.

Since
only Shifters could birth to Shifters, and Weres owed part of their existence
to Shifters attacks, there was a slight...animosity. Shifters of any race
considered themselves elite, and the Weres lower-class. What the rest of the
Immortal world knew was that Weres could beat Shifters ass three ways from
Sunday. Their animal was always closer to the surface, despite the fact that Shifters
beasts were more naturally innate.

“Pleasure,”
I breathed coyly, withdrawing my hand as I was swept past the curtain by Vince.
A big hand clamped around my nape and spun me, and I looked up, startled, into
blue eyes that had gone from California skies to arctic ice. The wolf was
looking back at me, and the shiver of awareness that ran through me seemed to
only please the wolf more.

“Vince?”
I whispered, pushing against his chest as he backed me to the wall of a heavily
shadowed corner.
Where the hell is Felix? Damn Vampires.

“Stop,”
He growled softly, “encouraging the wildlife.”

I
swallowed, but not in fear. Oh no. My damn body was warming with a healthy
flush that made certain body parts react in favor of the animalistic romp he
offered.
Jeepers, he’s punching out some heavy Alpha mojo.

“I was
just introducing myself,” I hedged.

“You were
offering
yourself,” he corrected, and my sharp intake of breathe was
laced with sunshine and sea salt, lust and need.

“I was
not!”

“I can
give you much more than that damn lion, Red.”

“I don’t
want—”

“Yes, you
do,” he interrupted, and his nostrils flared, his eyes’ glow brightening. “I
can smell the want in you. It’s as thick as…honey,” he purred the last word,
making it shudder down my spine and pool in my panties, as if he had commanded
and thus it had appeared.

I
squirmed, pressing my shoulders back into the wall and my fists to his chest. “You
over-step, wolf.” It was meant to come out stern, but he was so close that his
breath mingled with mine, and practically stole the words as they left my mouth
as he leaned in even closer.

“I
haven’t covered nearly enough ground, hybrid,” was his darkly sensual reply.

I all but
melted into a puddle.
Call me Ms. Chocolate Teapot.
His hand on my nape
shifted, pulling me forward even as he pressed flush against me, pressing my
body to the wall, pinning me there with his large frame. My breath caught as my
neck arched to keep contact with his eyes, my fingers splaying on his chest. The
heels added to my height, taking me from chest height to chin height on him,
but he was still a big man, and the feel of those big arms and shoulders
enclosing me wasn’t entirely unpleasant.