The combined smell of the clubbers’ natural body odour mixed with the various smells of aftershave and perfume is suffocating and I find I have a very urgent need for fresh air. Glancing about the club, I catch sight of Devin dancing with an attractive brunette who doesn’t look too dissimilar to Sophia. He catches my eye and runs a tongue along his parted lips before dipping his head to kiss her. I turn in the opposite direction, pushing deeper into the throng, all the while thinking how confused I feel by what I’ve seen. Seeing both Devin and Rhain with women in their arms is causing a riot of unwelcome emotions to surge through me.

I push and shove against the dancers, desperate to escape the club, but only manage to find myself deeper among them. Claustrophobia tugs at me, and the different faces of the clubbers loom in my vision. A sheen of sweat covers my skin, and I feel my t-shirt sticking to my back. I’ve got to get out of here.

“Hey beautiful, how about a dance?” I feel someone tugging on my arm and come face to face with a brute of a man. He smiles as he pulls me closer, a gold tooth glinting in the flashing lights. He has thick gold chains about his neck and wrists and looks like a rapper gone wrong.

“Looks like you could do with loosening up,” he says, snaking a heavily muscled arm around my waist. I try and push him off me, but he has me held firmly in his grasp. “Hey, sexy. No need to struggle. I got what you need,” he says, laughing in my ear.

“Let. Me. Go,” I bite out, pissed that another man thinks he has the right to touch me without my consent. I am about to knee him in the groin when I feel another presence behind me.

“Get your damn hands off my woman before I rip them from their sockets!”

The man lets me go, holding his palms up. “Sorry man, I didn’t realise she was with someone.” He scarpers off into the crowd as I turn around to face Ezra.

We stand face to face in the middle of the dance floor. The music has slowed to a sensual beat, and the throng of dancers around us are swaying provocatively to the music.

“Thank you,” I whisper, exhausted by the effort of speaking. Something is seriously wrong with me. The words feel heavy in my mouth and the floor continues to undulate under my feet now that I am standing still. Around us the lights dim as Ezra takes a step closer to me. I don’t move. I find that I can’t. He brushes his knuckles against my cheek, then steps so close I can’t seem to breathe. After a moment’s hesitation, his hand rests at the base of my spine, the other gently guides my hand to his lips and he places a gentle kiss in my palm. The lighting of the club casts shadows across his face as he slowly moves with me, making it even more difficult for me to interpret what he’s thinking, feeling. We sway together like that for some time before I feel another set of hands reach for my hips. They are firm and gentle all at the same time.

“Cia,” Rhain murmurs into my hair.

I look up at Ezra but he is staring at Rhain behind me. I don’t understand the look he gives him. A moment later I feel Rhain press into my back, the whole length of his body flush against me until I am sandwiched between the two men.

“Cia, it meant nothing,” Rhain whispers, his breath hot against my ear. I hear his words, the music, but it is as though they are down the end of a long tunnel. My brain appears to not be functioning properly, it’s so far behind catching up with what my body is doing instinctively.

A tingle shoots down my spine as Rhain’s words ring in my head. Relief floods through me. It meant nothing to him. I don’t understand why I feel so relieved, but I can’t gather my thoughts enough to interpret them. Instead, I allow my body to take over and close my eyes against Ezra’s hot stare, against the writhing figures about us all caught in their own private moment, and lean my head back on Rhain’s chest. I feel Ezra pull away as Devin takes his place.

“That’s it, Accacia, let yourself feel,” Rhain whispers in my ear.

Devin brushes the pad of his thumb against my lower lip and I find myself opening my mouth, the tip of my tongue licking him.

“Trust your body, your desires. Let them claim you,” he says.

I open my eyes to find Devin staring deeply into mine. I feel as though I could fall into them and never return. Over his shoulder I can see Ezra watching us and, without thinking, I hold my hand out to him. He hesitates for just a second before taking it. Then it’s just me surrounded by the three of them, the rest of the world falling away as we sway to the music. Before long I feel three sets of hands moving over my body. They are everywhere at once, running down my arms, over my stomach, moving up my thighs, through my hair, over my behind, my breasts. I lose what little self-control I have as a moan slips from my lips. They are all saying something, chanting something in fact, but I can’t make out the words, only that they appear to mean something significant.

I stop moving and stand rigid. My eyes startle open and I find I can’t breathe. My pulse is too quick, my heart is galloping in my chest. A feeling of nausea rises up, followed by a pounding headache that feels as though it is about to tear my skull in two.

“STOP!” Ezra says, noticing the change in me first. Devin and Rhain’s hands fall away and they take a step back. “It’s too much, too soon,” Ezra says, a concerned expression on his face. “What was I thinking?”

I look at him with wild eyes, not understanding the reaction my body is having to these men. I feel out of control, lost, and that is not who I am. I am logical, I am considered. I am not this person. My body disagrees as a raging furnace of desire shudders through me, so much so that I am almost incapacitated by it.

“I need air,” I choke out, and run from the vampires. They don’t follow me this time.

* * *

Leaning a hand against the wall of the back of the club I take deep, even breaths, trying to control the feeling of nausea. It doesn’t work.

“You don’t look too good, Accacia,” a voice says from behind. Through the weird fuggy state of my mind, I recognise who’s speaking, and stiffen.

Wiping a shaking hand against my mouth, I turn to find Roland standing behind me. He has a swollen eye, split lip and a huge purple bruise blooming up his cheek.

“I didn’t mean to put so much in. I just wanted to make sure you had enough,” he mumbles, as though talking to himself. “I guess it worked to loosen you up. I saw the way you were dancing with those men. Even the guy from yesterday was there. I expected to see him, but three men, Accacia? I didn’t think you were a slut!” Roland shouts the last word, his face reddening with anger.

Backing up against the wall, I hold my hands up. “I’m not…” I stutter, finding it difficult to speak. Even though I’ve emptied my stomach, I still feel decidedly unwell. “That wasn’t me,” I say, trying to explain how odd I feel. “Hold on, what do you mean loosen me up?” The ground sways towards me. Roland’s face goes in and out of focus and I lose my train of thought.

He laughs. “Your boyfriend tried some mumbo jumbo shit on me yesterday after he gave me a good beating. Who does he think he is, bloody Derren Brown?”

I shake my head, trying to comprehend what Roland is saying, but he keeps separating in two right in front of my eyes, making me feel even more woozy. I squeeze my eyes shut then open them again, but it doesn’t help in the slightest.

“Well, who’s had the last laugh now, hmm? Me, that’s who. He’ll wish he’d never threatened me.” Roland laughs hysterically. In the midst of the fog, I know that I am in danger, but my brain doesn’t seem able to communicate with my body and I remain swaying on my feet.

“Looks like you could do with a helping hand, Accacia,” Roland says as I stumble forward.

“I’m fine,” I manage to murmur, but I’m far from okay. My legs are weak, I feel dizzy and disorientated. Roland leans in and places an arm around my waist and I don’t have the strength to pull away from his touch.

“Here, let me help,” he says, steering me away from the door I’d exited from and down the alleyway that runs along the back of the club. The more fresh air I get, the worse I begin to feel. My legs stop working properly and I can hear Roland grunt in the effort to keep me upright. I know I should be trying to get away from him, but I simply cannot.

Roland leans me against a car that is parked at the end of the alleyway. My knees buckle as soon as he lets me go.

“Accacia, love, would you just hold on a minute. I need to get the door open. Then I can get you inside and back home, darling.”

Darling? I hear the term of endearment and it confuses me. Then in my haze I notice a couple of people walking towards us.

“She’s had a bit too much to drink. I need to get her home, don’t I, love?” he says.

I try to speak but an incoherent babble comes out instead.

“Do you need a hand?” the man asks Roland.

“Yes, mate. You couldn’t just open the door while I get her in the back seat?”

“Of course.”

I feel Roland’s arms wrap around me and a moment later he is strapping me into the back seat. He slams the door shut and shakes the man’s hand, slapping him on the back. I want to call out, scream, anything, but nothing but a strangled moan comes out. My head rolls to the side and I swear I can see a pair of golden eyes pierce through the shadow of the alleyway.

Somewhere in the depths of my mind I wonder where Ezra, Rhain and Devin are, but the thought slips away as the car moves forward.