Tendra

I’d always liked clubs. Dancing made me feel alive, and finding a hot guy to grind up against was even better. I’d never known that when I shook my ass in Mission clubs, that there was a whole underground community teeming with life below my feet. And this club? It was like nothing I’d seen before. And I’d been around.

We trudged down several sets of stairs to get to Bite until we reached a fairly nondescript door. Only the word BITE was written in black and red letters above it.

Athan opened the door, which must have been sealed up well, because a bone-shaking bass beat hit me like a punch. I reached down to the duffel at my side, and stroked Brex through the fabric. He was probably scared to death, and I couldn’t wait to get out of here. I clenched my hands into fists and steeled myself for what I might see inside a club full of vampires. While the bass rattled my teeth, I placed one foot in front of the other as we walked inside a massive room with ceilings at least twenty feet high. How the hell the vampires got this space, this large underground, was a mystery. I’d have to ask Athan later.

The only sources of light in the room were dim lamps perched randomly along the perimeter and the headache-inducing strobe lights on the dance floor.

Athan strode ahead confidently, intimately acquainted with the place and able to see better in the dark than I could. Once my eyes adjusted, I was able to get my bearings on where the hell I was.

When I inhaled, I smelled the body heat, alcohol, and the unmistakable iron tang of blood. The male vampires I spotted wore leather pants, skull-crushing boots, zero shirts.

Zero shirts.

So all around me were rippling abs and sweaty pecs and beaded nipples. There were a zillion dark eyes and full lips and jawlines carved by God himself. Then there were the female vampires—all big busts and curvy figures and sultry lips. I should have been fanning myself and taking in all the eye candy I could. But I was also very well aware that this was not a human club. Some of the liquid dripping from muscled torsos was not sweat but in fact blood. Human blood.

Blood like mine.

I stayed close to Athan, his presence the only thing that was familiar in this place. The bass pounded the floor, my eardrums, and rattled my bones. I couldn’t hear a damn thing but that incessant deep thump, so I clung to my blood guard with white-knuckled fingers.

He had to eat. I needed to remember that. He said he could go a couple of days without fresh blood, but then he needed to feed. He was no use to either of us if he was weak.

The strobe light hung from the ceiling, illuminating the writhing bodies on the dance floor. A couple stumbled into us, and the white of tooth enamel flashed as the woman’s head descended to the man’s neck. Athan leaned down to speak in my ear, his scowl directed at the dancers. “Club rules is there’s no drinking on the dance floor, because they’ve had some problems with humans passing out and getting trampled. But clearly some assholes aren’t listening.”

An inappropriate giggle bubbled up my throat. No drinking on the dance floor. Not because some woman in high heels will slip on vodka. No, because a human will pass out from blood loss and get stepped on.

What world was I getting into?

He led me past the dance floor. As vampires raised their heads to see who passed them, they quickly spied Athan and parted. I jogged to keep up with his long strides. “So they all know you here?”

“Yes,” he said simply.

“Wow. So you really are vampire royalty, aren’t you?”

His lips twitched into something like a smile before smoothing out again. “You could say that.”

I held on to his arm in a death grip as we entered an area that struck me as…a smorgasbord of foreplay? For food or sex, I wasn’t sure. Plush black couches were arranged in random patterns, and they were covered with bodies. Kissing, growling, moaning bodies. I felt like I was in a porn studio.

We passed one couple—two women—and the one woman locked eyes with me while the other’s hands squeezed her bare breasts, rolling the nipple between fingers tipped in long black nails. The woman smiled at me with human teeth, and then closed her eyes as her companion’s hand went up her skirt.

A cry caught my attention, and I glanced the other direction to see two male vampires kissing each other. Their tongues tangled as the one held the other’s shoulder-length hair in his fist. At their feet was another man on his knees. With loud moans and wet suction sounds, he sucked one vampire’s dick while fisting the other in his hand.

When we walked by, the larger vampire pulled out of the kiss. His lips were red and swollen, and he licked them as he watched me pass.

With a jerk, I lowered my gaze to the ground. My heart pounded, and sweat broke out on my forehead, a single bead dripping down my temple. I had never felt simultaneous terror and arousal. I hadn’t known those were feelings I could have at the same time, but there was no mistaking the twisting in my gut and the heat raging in my core. My breasts felt full, my legs wobbly. One foot in front of the other. But it was hard when the sounds of pleasure were all around me. Pleasure that skated on the edge of fear. One missed hit of somnus, and these humans would be turned. Maybe that was part of the game to them? Maybe that was what they found so arousing.

My eyes strayed up again, and I saw a male vampire standing against the wall, his jeans open at the fly. A woman knelt at his feet, bobbing her head on his thick cock. I couldn’t stop watching the vampire, the way his lips curled back to reveal his fangs, the hunger in his eyes—hunger for blood or sex? Or both? I tried to imagine what Athan would look like turned on, and now all I could picture was his dark eyes watching me like a predator. And I’d lie back, reaching for him, wanting to be his prey…

We left the main area of the club and walked down a hallway. I checked out Athan to see if he was as affected as I was by what we just saw. His nostrils were flared, like he was scenting the air. Could he smell how turned on I was? Did he know I was turned on because I was fantasizing about him?

I shook my head, the lights in the hallway bringing me out of my daze and forcing me to remember where I was and why. As we passed some closed doors, I swore I heard sounds behind them, but decided it was in my best interest to ignore it. I cleared my throat. “So, that was a little intense back there.”

Athan frowned at me, then his face relaxed. “Ah, the Greeting Room.”

“The Greeting Room?” I asked. “Goddamn, if that’s what you vampires call ‘greetings’ then I’d like to see an actual, ‘hey let’s fuck.’ ”

He swiped a card in front of a door at the end of the hallway and waited until the green light illuminated on the pad. “Well, then, we’ll have to keep you out of the Feeding Room.”

Feeding Room? I didn’t have any words as my heart stopped, then started back up double-time. So all I did was nod.

As we walked through the door, the club atmosphere melted away. A giant foyer greeted us, with a black-and-white checked floor, in the shape of a semicircle. And along the outside rounded curve were more hallways. There was also a set of stairs that led up to another floor. As I craned my neck back, I saw a total of four more floors. All the same with hallways leading off the curve.

“How is there this much room down here?”

“This area used to be storage for subway cars. And we did a little more construction on our own to make the areas down here larger.”

“Wow,” I said.

Athan pointed. “There are ten rooms down each hall. On each floor. This is where we feed.”

“And fuck,” I said, despite my mouth drying up.

Athan hesitated before nodding, but he was watching me with those dark eyes. “Sure, sometimes to fuck.”

“I thought you said humans can’t help it, that we’ll always want to fuck after getting fed from.”

He shrugged. “They will, but that doesn’t mean the vampire who drank from them has to do it. And some of them aren’t as affected by our saliva.”

“Oh.” This was fucking creepy, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. “So…”

“You can come with me and—”

“Whoa.” I held up my hands. Because the thought of being in the same room with some woman while he sucked her and then fucked her filled me with an anger that I wasn’t comfortable confronting. “I think I saw enough feeding for the day. Can you lock me in a room while you feed from your female? Or…”

Athan raised an eyebrow, and was that a smile? “How do you know it’s going to be a woman?”

I clacked my jaw shut.

He laughed. An actual laugh that echoed down the long hallways. He sobered quickly. “Come.”

He led me around to the other side of the staircase, where a pale vampire sat behind a desk. I was starting to recognize vampires on sight now—by their bone structure, the way they talked.

She smiled. “Athan, how may I help you?” Her eyes flicked to me before looking away.

“I’d like a room.”

Clacking filled the foyer as she typed at her computer. “Of course. For how long?”

“Half hour. A female human, please.”

She hesitated as she glanced at me, then returned her gaze to the computer. “Sure, I can get one for you,” she said as casually as if we were checking into a hotel.

She pointed down a hallway to the right with a red frame. “Door number six, then. We’ll send the human in for you. Anything else?”

He placed a hand on my back. “I need a room for her, too. Just her.”

She didn’t even flinch at the request. But then what would shock a vampire? “The room beside yours is open—”

“We’ll take that one.”

She nodded and handed us two key cards. “There you go. Doors lock from the inside.”

Athan didn’t remove his hand from my back as we walked through the red-framed doorway. The carpet beneath my feet was black—better to hide stains? I shuddered—and it was plush. When we reached a door with a gold number five on the front, Athan took my card from my hand and swiped it. When the lock clicked open, he pushed in the door and walked inside.

I followed behind him as he did a quick sweep of the room, including the bathroom. I sat on the edge of the bed, fidgeting with my hands in my lap, not eager to touch anything. This was going to be a long half hour.

Athan returned to my side and stared down at me. With a sigh, he crouched and placed a hand on my knee. “I’m sorry, Tendra. If there was another way, I’d do it, but I need fresh blood, and we have rules about that—”

“It’s fine.” I’d intended for my voice to be strong, and sure, and instead it sounded wobbly.

Athan’s brows drew in.

“I’m serious,” I said. Stronger this time. “I want you to feed. You need it, and I need you, so circle of life or whatever.” I made a symbol like I was lifting up a baby Simba, and he stared at me like I’d lost my mind.

I dropped my hands in my lap, a little peeved my Disney reference was lost on a vampire bodyguard. “Go.” I shooed with my hands. “Go eat.”

He rose but didn’t make a move toward the door. “If you need anything, yell and bang on the walls.”

I nodded. “Right. No problem.”

He lifted a hand as if to touch me, then quickly dropped it. With a curt jerk of his head, he was out the door. Right before he closed it, he said, “Lock this behind me.” Then he was gone.

Knowing the bastard was probably waiting to hear the lock click, I rose and turned the lock.

After that I let Brex out, who looked thoroughly pissed and after investigating the room, curled up in the corner, facing away from me.

I had to keep myself busy for a half hour. I leaned back on the bed and closed my eyes, picturing the three men…except when the one looked at me, I saw Athan’s face. And a woman was sucking on his neck, her hand reaching into his pants…

Fuck. I bolted upright, my arousal doused now that I imagined him in the room next door with another human. Was he fucking her? He hadn’t said, and I hadn’t asked. And while I knew it was unfair, I couldn’t help the anger beginning to surge through my veins. Another female was getting to feel those hands on her, that wide mouth as he ran his lips down her neck. Another female was getting to feed him, provide him with what he needed. Something I couldn’t give.

Because I was promised to his brother.

I was going to go out of my mind in this goddamn room. He was probably next door, lowering the fly of his pants. I wondered if he talked dirty, if he got a little rough, if his voice went a little raspy when he said, That’s it, ride my cock.

Wow. This was extra, even for me.

I swung my feet back and forth, side to side, then hopped up to check out the bathroom. It was sparse and all white—with just a toilet, pedestal sink, and stall shower with a see-through glass door. I didn’t look too closely at the grout between the white floor tiles as I used the toilet and washed my hands. Because if I saw bloodstains in the cracks, I might just vomit. The soap smelled like vanilla, and the scent followed me as I walked out of the bathroom. I paced the floor at the end of the bed. The inactivity was getting to me. I’d never been good in one place too long. My body didn’t seem to want to rest even though this would be a good time to do it. The adrenaline from the last twenty-four hours was not letting up.

My gaze kept straying to the door. Maybe I could go out, just for a quick walk. No harm in checking out the hallways and the foyer. I wasn’t a prisoner. Athan had mentioned the Feeding Room, and while it made me shudder, I was also curious. I’d only seen that new vampire feed. What would it be like to see an experienced vampire feed from an adult human? It’d be nice for me to know what I was getting into. It would be awkward as fuck to witness with Athan, but a strange vampire and human—that I could do.

I walked to the door and placed my hand on the lock. I couldn’t make noise because who knew how much vampire ears could hear next door. With a slow, steady hand, I turned the lock until I heard a barely audible click.

I breathed out, then eased the door open. Once I stepped out into the hallway, the tightness in my chest lessened. See? No big deal. Carefully, I closed the door behind me, then stepped gingerly down the hallway.

I heard some minor sounds behind the doors I passed, but made it out into the foyer without seeing a soul.

The woman who’d been behind the desk wasn’t there, but I heard her voice coming from a floor above me.

One of the hallways had a gold ornate frame, which was different than the others. I crossed the foyer and passed through it. This hallway didn’t have doors on each side. And in fact, it was a shorter hallway. At the end was a doorway covered with a curtain. Light seeped out below.

I crept closer, straining my ears to hear what was happening on the other side. I thought for a minute about turning around and going right back, but then a tall woman with sky-high heels emerged from the curtain in a swish of fabric. She stopped abruptly when she spotted me, and sniffed.

Her brows furrowed. “Are you here for the Gathering?”

I took a step back and shook my head. “Uh, no, I don’t think—”

The vampire rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath about humans.

My hackles went up. “No, you don’t understand. I’m supposed to be back—”

She grabbed my arm and yanked, which jerked the breath from my body, and dragged me through the curtain. If I hadn’t already been left breathless, what I saw on the other side would have done it.

Skin. Skin everywhere.

Skin and blood. Right in front of me on a table was a human on all fours. All she wore was a necklace and high heels. A male vampire stood behind her, fucking her from behind while she sucked off another vampire in front of her. She moaned, her full breasts bouncing beneath her, as she rocked back on the dick inside her.

“Is this your first time? Humans go over there.” The female vampire who’d dragged me inside pointed toward the far corner. Then she left me.

Alone.

Surrounded by an orgy.

Everywhere I looked, someone was getting fucked. On a couch off to the side, a woman lay on her back, one foot on the floor, the other propped up along the back of the couch while a female vampire went down on her. The sounds coming out of her mouth didn’t sound human but from the leaking bite on her neck, I assumed she was.

A thump beside me had me jumping back with a hand on my neck. Beside me, a male vampire had slammed a human into the wall. She didn’t seem to mind, though. As he bit into her neck, he stuck his hand up her skirt. She opened her mouth in a soundless scream, then her whole body began to shake. She laughed in a high-pitched squeal as she orgasmed from his bite and his hand.

I was a little grossed out. I was turned on. Warmth pooled in my stomach just as bile rose in my throat. The orgy was hot as hell, but the transaction of blood made me queasy.

The vampire beside me pulled off his human’s neck and licked his blood-red lips. He shucked down the front of his pants, hefted her off her feet, and plunged into her.

He fucked her hard and quick, his hips rolling like a dancer’s. He gripped her hair and lapped at her neck while she clung to his shoulders. Her body trembled again, and the same squeal-laugh sound indicated she’d come again.

Well, goddamn.

When he pulled out of her, she slumped on the ground, and in a second, two suited vampires were lifting her up and carrying her over to the corner with the other humans. I hoped she was okay. She didn’t look pale at all just…fucked into a coma.

The smell of iron hit my nose a second too late before I was pinned against the wall by a large body.

I peered up into the handsome face of a male vampire. His short, dark hair was slicked back, and he had the same dark eyes as Athan. He looked a little less rugged, though, a little more Patrick Bateman to Athan’s Aragorn.

His gaze traveled down my face to land on my neck, and dread crept up my spine. This was bad. Really bad. Athan was going to fucking kill me.

“So,” I began, and the vampire’s gaze shot up to my face, like he hadn’t expected me to speak. “I shouldn’t be here, see. I’m supposed to be back in a room, waiting for—”

“If you’re in the Feeding Room, you’re fair game,” he said, his expression slipping into smug. “Those are the rules and if some bloodsucker told you different, they were wrong.” He leaned in closer and drew a heady sniff behind my ear. “Are you a blood virgin? I saw you watching Warren bang that human into the wall. You wanted that to be you, didn’t you?” He eyed me with a smirk. “You want to know what it feels like to be deep-dicked while a vampire is sucking on your life.”

His fingers unbuttoned my jeans, and I swatted them away. I placed two hands on his chest and shoved but he moved nowhere. No-fucking-where. When his lips curled back into a mask of anger, I knew I was fucked. His hand gripped my hair, and he yanked my head back. Pain shot through my scalp, and I cried out.

His wrist passed in front of my face and I caught a whiff of somnus. My mind went hazy, and I struggled to stay alert. The vampire leaned in and bared his teeth. He was going to bite me. Do something, do something, Ten, you fucking idiot. I had one ace in my pocket, one I wasn’t supposed to draw, but this was fucking dire. So I used it.

“Sanguivita,” I blurted out.

The vampire’s face froze, and the threesome behind us who were finishing up their fuckfest glanced up.

“What did you say?” he said with a whisper, his lips inches from mine.

I swallowed and opened my mouth to explain when a large hand wrapped around the vampire’s neck from behind.

Athan’s voice was a physical threat, low and deadly. “Get your hands off her.”