Fading Darkness (Bloodmarked #1) (17 page)

We stood outside the back of some rundown
old building with a doorway that had seen better days. “Lucy, welcome to the
Underground.”

A sign above the doorway that was hanging on
by a couple loose rusty nails confirmed that this was definitely “The
Underground,” but what the hell was the Underground?

“It’s a well-kept secret, a hole-in-the-wall
bar that offers its own sort of exclusivity. Only the lowest of the low find their
way down there, those who feel they have nothing to offer the world,” he said
jokingly, knowing I would fit right into a place like that.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s my kind of place, I get
it,” I said.

Before entering, though, there was something
bugging me that I needed to get off my chest. “Where the hell were you last
night anyway, and why did you leave so early? I came to your apartment but you
had already left,” I accused.

He gave me a speculative look before he
spoke. “Why, Lucille, did you miss me?”

My heart stuttered at the ridiculous notion.
“Uh, no, I mean, of course not! What makes you think that?”

He stepped close, as in my personal space
was non-existent close. He bent his head down toward mine but mine stayed
defiantly high, which only sped up my breathing since our noses were nearly
touching. He backed me up until I felt the cool brick of the building against
my backside, and he braced himself against the wall placing both hands on
either side of me.

“Because you’re blushing. Thought I told you
not to be distracted by things like sex,” he said through a crooked arrogant
smile. As he said it, his head had dipped low so he could whisper in my ear.

Oh my God, this man knew just how to rattle
me. Not willing to back down, I grabbed his jaw, forcing his eyes back up to meet
mine. That earned me a satisfying shocked expression that quickly slid back
into that
sexy
, I mean, cocky grin of his. “Don’t act like vampires
don’t have sex. You may be some sort of super vampire but you are not immune to
your hormones. Don’t think I didn’t notice the look on your face when you were
checking
for bullet holes
.”

His grin grew wider, but I didn’t stop
there. I brought his face even closer so that his lips were a breath away from
mine, so close that our eyes were forced down to each other’s lips. Then, I
whispered, “Are you absolutely sure you don’t want me?”

Before he could comment I gripped his jaw
tightly and pushed him away, forcing him back a step. Meeting his eyes again I
noticed they were churning pools of ice blue, and his chest was heaving in deep
unsteady breaths, a lot like mine.

I had really only meant to tease him in the
way he loved to do to me, but I had no idea the affect it would have on me.
Wow, I had never really been turned on by a guy before. It figured that the
first guy that did it for me would be a vampire, considering I was almost one
of them myself.

Okay, Luce, calm down. You don’t want to
kiss him. You don’t want to kiss him
.
Stop staring at his lips. That’s
not helping the situation.

Those full lips finally found words after a
long moment. “Touché, Lucille. Touché,” he said while chuckling. After another
moment of sobering up from hormonal intoxication, I turned toward the door.

“Well, are we going in, or is this just the
first stop of many on a city tour of sketchy bars?”

The corner of his mouth twitched up, and he
opened the door to usher me through, but I mirrored the move extending my arm.
“Why don’t you go first this time? Just in case the staircase caves in or, I
don’t know, you try trapping me in a room full of assassins,” I suggested
halfheartedly, knowing the accusation didn’t hold much merit. If he wanted to
deliver me to the vampires, he’s had several opportunities.

He shook his head and went along with it,
ducking under the low eave, stepping down the first few steps before turning to
offer his hand.

“Are you serious?” I asked incredulously,
afraid of another
distraction
.

“What? I don’t want you to fall through any
loose steps,” he said mockingly.

“Fair enough,” I said, taking his hand.

Screw it. I had to admit I was a little
curious as to where all these strange feelings I had for him might lead. It
felt a little selfish, though, to take what little joy out of this situation I
could when I knew I haven’t earned those simple pleasures in life.

So I felt really guilty when I slightly
exaggerated tripping on an uneven step to bump into him. He had already spun to
catch my fall as if he was anticipating the move. He wasn’t the only one taking
advantage of the moment. He moved closer, his hand gripping my waist under my
coat as his thumb slowly caressed my side in a soothing motion that seemed to
torture more than soothe. His other hand still gripped my hand, and he shot me
a wolf-like grin. So he was fighting back?

I braced myself for some sort of comeback or
rejection, but his cockiness melted away to reveal the most heart-stopping
smile I had seen from him yet. My heart jumped in response. Oh shit. I was in
so much trouble.

He turned to continue down the stairs, and
what I did next still had me scratching my head. I tightened my grasp on his
hand and twined my fingers through his. His response was immediate as he
squeezed my hand in return. It was too late to pull away once logic returned to
me, because his hand was locked on mine, so I greedily basked in the warmth of
his touch that I knew would eventually turn into a slow burn. I was probably
going to feel the sting of it later.

He dragged me through a dank dark narrow
hallway that his body filled completely. I couldn’t see past him, but the
hallway opened up into a big bar room that looked like it hadn’t been touched
since the eighties. There was wood paneling on the walls with old time bar
lights hanging above the few pool tables in the corner.  Half of the long, far
wall was enclosed with a big bar lined with ripped leather stools. There was a
wide open area at the other end of the bar with a dilapidated juke box that had
a few burnt out lights in it. The space between the dance floor and pool tables
at the opposite end of the bar was filled with mismatched and lopsided tables,
which Gavin pulled me toward.

I felt a sick feeling and tensed for a
fight, wrapping my free hand around the spike in my coat. He grabbed me, and
held my hand tighter, rolling my bones over one another as my hand crumpled in
his large fist. “No, don’t. She’s okay,” he said calmly.

“Okay, first of all, ow,” I said, and he
pulled his hand away immediately when he realized he was hurting me. “And
second of all,
she
? Who the hell is she, and what is a vampire doing down
here with all these humans?”

“Working,” he responded.

Just then, a female vampire came from the
swinging door behind the bar, carrying a sleeve of napkins. She had light brown
hair with a sort of Goth look. Her lipstick was a dark plum color, and her long
straight hair fell over exposed shoulders. She wore a choker around her neck
and a tube top that exposed what little shape she had on that waif like body.
She came around the bar with a rag to wipe down tables, and I noticed she wore
a plaid school girl skirt that showed off her long legs that went on forever.
The combat boots topped off the look.

“Vampires make honest livings?” I asked
confused.

“It’s the best way to keep their secrecy,”
he answered.

He looked from her to me again, and his eyes
pleaded with me to behave as he pulled the seat out for me looking hopeful. I
reluctantly sat down in the same moment the vampire noticed us there. She
beamed as soon as she laid eyes on Gavin and flitted over to him like a little
undead sprite.

“Gavin, sweetie, so good to see you again,”
she said wrapping her arms around him.

He made an awkward move to dodge her
insistent advances giving her a quick one arm hug then slipping out and away
from her as he sat down across from me. I watched him carefully. and he seemed
more uncomfortable than I had ever seen him. He looked over at me and I half
expected him to blush. I crossed my arms over my chest and gave him an
analytical look, narrowing my eyes at him, and he just shook his head. He
leaned in, “It’s not what you’re thinking.”

Really? Because what I was thinking was that
this chick had seen that giant king size bed that looked fit for royalty. I
wondered if he made her his queen for a night.

He looked at me again, and simply said,
“Stop.” His discomfort put me more at ease, and I couldn’t help but smile at
this little chink in the armor.

She glanced back and forth between us then
finally offered me something, “You look like you could use a drink, honey.”

“I don’t see how it could help,” I said
knowing it would take an entire distillery to get me drunk. “I don’t think a
beer is going to do it for me.”

“This is no beer. Don’t worry, I have just
the thing for you,” she said bouncing off toward the bar. She was way too perky
to be a vampire, and I wondered if habits really did transfer from the human
life. She was probably a cheerleader when she was human. She bounced back over
with a big mug of clear, unidentifiable liquid. “There, that should do it,” she
said and bounced off again.

I sipped it cautiously, and it burned my
throat all the way down, I nearly choked on it. “What is this, moonshine?” I
asked almost jokingly. Then, I saw the answer on his face. “It is moonshine?”

He laughed, and said, “200 proof. Pure
alcohol, and extremely difficult to come by. She has her ways. It is the
Underground, St. Louis’ very own speakeasy.”

“Her ways?” I questioned, getting caught up
on his wording. “And does she have her ways with you, Gavin, sweetie?” I
teased.

His smile turned predatory. “Jealous?” he
said leaning over the table coming inches from my face.

I leaned in further. “You sure you want to
play that game again, because I could go all night.”

Something flashed in his eyes, and the look
on his face was downright devilish. Then he purred, “Don’t even try. You
wouldn’t last 5 minutes before you’d be begging me to touch you in all the
right places, and kiss you in all the wrong ones.”

Holy shit! The man had brass. I had to give
him that. My mouth went completely dry, and I couldn’t blame it all on the
alcohol. I couldn’t even form a witty comeback for that, or words for that
matter. He was right. I was so out of my league if it came down to a who could
make the other one hotter contest.

I backed away and took another sip hoping to
take the sting away and to calm my nerves. Setting the glass back down, I
cleared my throat, trying to move on from the topic, “Okay, well…” I had
nothing.

He leaned back slightly and looked at me
smiling, “But since you seem so interested in my sex life, I’ll have you know,
I helped her get rid of an ex who tried killing her, and ever since then, she
has been offering…
herself
to me for repayment.”

“Repayment sex, nice. And how many
installments has she made, because I’m so interested,” I said, returning his
jab at my so-called jealously. I regained my composure.

He leaned further over the table, meeting my
impenetrable stare with his own confidence as he came back with, “Well, since
you’re dying to know, I haven’t accepted any repayments.” He smirked before
quickly changing the subject, “You just going to nurse that or actually let
loose a little?” He jerked his head toward the mug of liquid courage that
seemed to be getting bigger and bigger every time I looked at it.

“Why, you trying to get me wasted so you can
take advantage of me?” I accused.

“That is exactly what I was going to do,” he
shot back without missing a beat.

“Oh, but why put in all the effort when you
have sex in a skirt waiting for you at the bar?” I leaned in further, not
backing down this time.

“You’re really hung up on that. You sure
you’re not ready to admit your true feelings for me,” he said, moving in for
the kill.

“You’re reading way too much into it. Why
don’t we try getting into your head for a change? Maybe you could tell me the
real reason you’re helping me? No?” I tried reversing it on him the best I
could.

He stopped then with a crooked smile and
leaned back in his chair. I did the same while taking a victory drink from my
humungous mug, feeling very smug, which was much easier to do now that the
sexual tension had lifted.

“You know I’m not going to give you that
answer yet,” he said.

I did know that, all too well. Not entirely
sure what the purpose of this little outing was, I briefly contemplated
leaving, but maybe he would reveal something useful if I stuck to it. I knew
the current conversation had reached a stalemate, so I washed it down with a
swig of moonshine, which I might actually start referring to as liquid evil.

The taste of the alcohol made my nose
crinkle and my mouth pucker. My eyes squeezed shut, releasing a single tear. I
wiped it away and began chugging the rest of it with my nose pinched closed so
that the taste was slightly muted. He was on the verge of bursting with
laughter as he took in the sight of me and the face I was making. I slammed the
empty mug down hard on the table.

“Ah, refreshing,” I gasped.

That did it. He double over the table,
shaking with uncontrollable laughter as he tried steadying himself with his
palms outstretched on the surface. It was so carefree, so unbelievably sexy.
Crap
.
I needed a change of subject. Quick. I decided that if he wasn’t going to give
me any useful answers, I would start small and go from there. What was the
worst he could do, evade? He was good at that, and I was used to it, but maybe
I could pry details out of him.