Unforgiven (The Forbidden Bond 2) (10 page)

“I have a friend I could share with you. Would you like to play with your food tonight? We could have a lot of fun, the three of us.”

Okay. That was just wrong and creepy.

“No thanks, Nick. I already have plans. My boyfriend is meeting me later.”

That was a lie. Greyson had been deployed for two weeks and she had no idea when she would see him again.

“Don’t bother, Nicky. Ms. Vaughn here is way too important to be seen with a low life like you,” Doug scoffed, “I’m surprised she remembered your name. Notice she hasn’t spoken to me or Jason. She sees us from time to time, but hasn’t spoken a word in months. Snobby bitch.”

Jason made no comment. He just looked around nervously.

“Say it ain’t so, sweetheart. Are you a stuck-up bitch these days? And I always thought you would be better than the rest of your elitist family. You never minded my lower-class standing when I had you under me, did you, babe?”

He rested a hand against the wall on either side of her shoulders and got right in her face. Nick’s eyes flashed black and she knew he was either highly pissed or seriously aroused. Neither of those was good news for her at the moment. Just before she thought she’d have to make the decision to fight, a scuffle broke out behind Nick and he was suddenly lifted away from her. Vince, the club’s head of security, had grabbed the assholes and passed them off to his bouncers. The people on the floor parted to let the bouncers carry off the belligerent trio.

“Are you alright, little girl? Vince doesn’t like ladies being harassed in his club.” He looked her over with a concerned eye. Vince’s way of speaking in the third person had always entertained Brandi.

“Thanks for the assist, Vince. They were just a little too aggressive.”

She tried to play off the fear she felt at being cornered by the large male vamp. Vince just nodded and calmly strode back to his post overlooking the action in the club.

Shit. She needed a drink. Maybe she could find someone who was tipsy. She’d done it a few times in the past, but didn’t like the way alcohol made her feel out of control. Tonight, a little out of control was called for in her opinion.

“Hi. You okay? I was watching the show just now. I hate pushy men. Why do they always think they have the right to touch a girl? It’s so arrogant.”

This came from a human girl that was propped up at a table near Brandi’s position on the wall. She had the look of a scantily dressed Goth chick with her torn fishnets, black fingernails, and folded over combat boots. The only flaw in her costume was the platinum blonde hair. Hair like that should not be dyed black and Brandi was glad the girl had abstained from completing the look. She was beautiful.

“I’m good. Asshole didn’t what to back off. I’m glad security showed up when they did though.” Brandi sighed.

“Yeah. I thought I was gonna have to put my boot in his ass.” She smiled and pointed her toes as if she were wearing ballet slippers. They both laughed. The blonde rose from her seat and extended a hand in greeting.

“Name’s Brooke.”

“Brandi.” She introduced herself and wondered why the girl was still holding her hand. At this range Brandi could tell Brooke’s dark blue eyes were dilated. She’d had quite a few drinks already.

“Come dance with me, Brandi.” It wasn’t a request.

Brooke turned and pulled Brandi into the throng of dancers. The crowd pulled them along in its frenzy of kinetic energy. Brooke danced with a freedom and grace contradicted by her dark image. The dark make-up around her eyes was doing nothing to disguise the brightness of the girl within. Brandi was actually having fun for the first time in long time. Brooke danced closer when a slower, more rhythmic song began to play.

“I’d like to dance with you. May I touch you, Brandi?”

Brooke spoke into her ear as she moved her hips in a sensual flow and pulled back to look into her eyes. It was an invitation to play a new game. Brooke was on the prowl.

“I don’t… I’m not really what you’re looking for Brooke. You’re beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t play for that team,” she said with an embarrassed flush.

Brandi liked Brooke and didn’t care if she liked girls or not. That didn’t matter, but she couldn’t fulfill Brooke’s needs. Brooke just smiled and moved closer.

“I’m not asking for sex. Though I have to tell you I had hoped, after the way you shot down those guys. I just want to dance. Let me?” she asked sweetly.

Brandi just nodded and tried to relax. The feeling of being that close to a female was so different. Brooke was all soft curves and warm caresses. It made Brandi understand why some women went to strip clubs with their men. It was kind of hot. A thought crossed her mind and she tried to bat it away, but it kept resurfacing. Brandi actually could give Brooke what she needed for the night and get her needs met in return. The bite of a vampire could be very sexual if they wanted it to be. Brandi could give Brooke pleasure while she drank the heat pulsing through her lithe body. 

“Let’s go for a walk,” she told Brooke, adding a bit of compulsion to get her moving.

Brandi had to do it before she lost her nerve. Brooke linked their fingers when Brandi left the floor. Hell. If she was going to go girl,Brooke would be the perfect girl to go with. She smiled at Brandi and gladly followed without question. Brandi had enthralled her into a feeling of safety and comfort. Brooke already wanted to go with Brandi and she was safe. Brandi would never hurt her. She would make Brooke feel really good and leave her with no memory of the event.

On the sofa in Chase’s studio apartment in the back of the club, Brandi allowed Brooke to kiss her once before it began to feel too much like cheating. Even if it was a girl, cheating was cheating and she was with Greyson. So, she enthralled Brooke more deeply and sent her the same feeling of pleasure building toward the release she experienced when Greyson showed her what a man his age had learned to do with his corded body. Brooke moaned and rubbed against Brandi’s leg, grasping at her sides while Brandi drank deeply of the beautiful blonde. This could be an option for Brandi. Feeding on a girl felt somehow better to her than embracing a man that wasn’t Greyson.

Once Brandi sent Brooke back to the club and went to check her appearance, the alcohol in Brooke’s blood began to creep up on her. Suddenly she felt overheated and wanted to strip out of her dress. Her head was spinning and the room tilted just a bit, causing her to bump into the dining room table. This was not the silly high she had experienced in the past. This was a sticky, thick headed feeling that made her limbs feel heavy and her skin overly sensitive.
Oh, shit!
Brooke hadn’t been drunk. She was high.

Brandi staggered out of the club in search of a cab. She had driven there, but no way was she driving home. Even if she didn’t care for her own safety, which she did, she’d never endanger others by driving under the influence. Taking a cab was her best option, because she didn’t want to hear the lecture she’d get from her parents on the evils of drinking from impaired humans if she called for a ride. Brandi walked toward the corner feeling as if her feet where sinking into the sidewalk. Her limbs didn’t want to work and all she wanted to do was stop to rest. The street lights were making strange trails as she passed them and Brandi couldn’t resist the urge to reach up, trying to touch the light with her tingling fingers.

“Well, well, look what we had here, boys.” An ominous voice startled her just before she was hauled off of her feet.

Brandi knew the voice and knew she was in big trouble, but she couldn’t work up a good scream. It was Nick. She found herself over his shoulder, staring at the pavement of the alley behind the club. His fingers dug roughly into the flesh of her thigh entirely too close to her ass. Swinging and bouncing limply as he strode down the alley, Brandi had a sickening thought. This is how she would die. She had survived multiple gunshots and a painful rehab just to be raped and murdered in an alley. She should have called her dad.

“This is a really bad idea, Nicky,” Jason tried to reason with Nick, “You can’t just snatch a girl off the street. We’re all gonna go to jail, man!”

“Stop being such a girl.” Doug pushed Jason into a dumpster.

“Screw this. I’m leaving. I get that you’re pissed we got kicked out of the club, but I won’t watch you hurt her.” Jason began to storm down the alley. Nick called out. He wasn’t about to let him go send up alarms about his actions.

“Stop, Jason. Come back and help me teach Brandi here a lesson.” Nick had laced the command with a strong compulsion.

Jason stopped and returned to Nick’s side. Doug looked at Jason, trying to figure out what had changed his mind so quickly. Jason trudged along beside them staring forward in a silent trance. 

“Don’t worry boys. Brandi had some fun with a friend of mine. Brooke kindly shared her drug of choice with Brandi. Brandi won’t be remembering what happened here. It’s too bad, really. I wanted to share in the fun between the two girls, but Brandi is a greedy little bitch.” He smacked her ass with his free hand, “I bet it was hot, too.”

Nick propped Brandi against the brick of a building two blocks from Thirst. It was quiet and deserted in this part of town at night. A satisfied gleam lit Nick’s eyes when he looked over his prey. She shouldn’t have pissed him off. Now he would take what he wanted instead waiting for her to give it freely.

“Take her arms. Hold her up for me.” Nick ordered. Jason blindly followed his instruction.

Doug now hesitated, “You not really going to rape her are you? I thought we were just going to scare some respect into her.” He reached out and snapped his fingers in front of Jason’s unblinking face.

“Hold her up, Doug.” Nick forced his will on one of his oldest friends. Doug and Jason had no memory of how many times he had used them to help him get his way. They had unconsciously taken part in plenty of nights like this with human girls. Brooke had been his mark for the night, but the reappearance of his long lost lover had made him ache for the creamy flesh of a brunette beauty.

****

Derek watched in male fascination while the two women danced shyly but provocatively in the middle of the floor. Damn it. It was every guy’s dream, but he was disturbed, even a little jealous. He wanted to be the one touching her skin and rubbing against her curvy body. This was the first time in the five months since he was released from his cell at The Nest that he’d been able to get more than just a glimpse of the girl who haunted his every waking and sleeping moment. His informants on the Enclave had assured him that she had survived the shooting. It had been close, but she made it. Her name was Brandi Vaughn and he couldn’t have picked a worse girl to lose his shit over. She was the daughter of a prominent Councilmen and the sister of the girl he had helped kidnap. If she ever saw him, she would likely have him arrested. She would hate him for what he did, for what he continued to do, but he just couldn’t stop himself from checking up on her. He needed to know that she was safe and healthy.

Several times he’d made his way to her family estate and tested the security, looking for weak points. He’d actually made it onto the property and right up to a rear entrance, but he stopped there. What would he do if he got inside? How would she react to finding him in a dark corner of her bedroom? She’d think he was there to take her back to the Master. Why wouldn’t she think the worst of him? He was a man who had done many evil deeds.

“Holy shit,” his friend Nate hissed from behind him, “Is that the girl you’ve been panting over all these months? No wonder man. If you’d told me she was into girls too, I would have understood.”

“That’s her.” It was all Derek could get out.

He was hypnotized by the sway of her hips and the shimmer of her short black dress. Nate was a good friend and a fellow prisoner of the Master. Derek did the Master’s bidding to protect his helpless mother. Nate was protecting his father, who wasn’t helpless, but mentally unstable. Nate’s dad had been lured into the Rogue’s web by talk of a new nation of vampire controlled freedom. Nate’s father believed in the Master, but he also believed an alien invasion was eminent and figured they had better stake out claims of the human cattle before the Martians snatched up all the food. Nate felt an obligation to look after his father since the rest of his family had written him off.

“I don’t think she’s into girls. She doesn’t look very comfortable. She’s probably just feeding,” Nate commented. “Damn shame, too.”

Derek grinned and looked down at his partner in crime. Nate was shorter than most vamp males he’d met, but solidly built. His thick biceps stretched the fabric of his t-shirt and the dark goatee on his face made him look older than histwenty-four years.

The two girls disappeared into a back room and before too long the blonde reemerged looking tousled and sated. Brandi followed shortly after and staggered out of a side exit.

“Do you mind if I check out the blonde? She looks like someone I’d love to make friends with.” Nate’s eyes had shifted from hazel to black while he continued to watch the girl dance on the edge of the crowd.

“Have fun. I’m going to make sure Brandi gets home safely. She looks trashed.”

“Why do you keep torturing yourself, Derek? Get it into your head that you have no future. That’s what I’ve done. I’ll never have a mate or a life of mine own with the Master’s foot on my neck. It makes life easier when you have no expectations,” Nate chided. Derek knew his friend was really trying to convince himself. It made it easier to live the way they did and settle for nothing more than an occasional one-nighter with a human if you believed it was the only choice.

Derek wished he could return to that way of thinking, but it was impossible. He’d tried but something happened to him in the entry way of the Country Club all those months ago. Something inside of him shifted and clicked into place. He should have killed her. She had swung a golf club at him, nearly taking off his head. If the other girl hadn’t screamed, Brandi would have completely taken him off guard. He’d moved in the nick of time, taking the blow to his shoulder. The rage building in him fizzled out when their eyes met and held. He tried to disarm her instead of killing her. When her body pressed back to front with his the contact had burned and left an indelible imprint. It felt like she belonged right there in his arms. Then, she’d actually burned him. He knew pyrokinetic vamps had existed in the past but he’d never met or heard of one in the present day. She was amazing and stunningly attractive. The deep blue of her eyes could drown a man.