2 Vampires, Warlocks, And Exes (2 page)

He sat directly in front of me. “Hey, Kar, can I get an IPA?”

“Sure, Chad,” I replied. I had to repress a sigh at his unfair level of attractiveness. Southern California born and bred, he was a badass surfer boy to the core. One sexy grin was all it took to make a very good girl go very, very bad. Too bad he had broken my heart into a thousand pieces. A little over a year ago, I discovered that he had an obsession with attending any sexually related gathering that he could find. It’s actually how Erica and I became friends. They had multiple sex buddies in common. Once she found out that we were supposed to be in a monogamous relationship, the girl code required her to tell me all the gory details. He and I are now on the road to maintaining a somewhat civil relationship, but it’s still a work in progress. Big time.

He looked around and smiled. “Wow, this place is like an orgy waiting to happen!”

“Nice, Chad.” I grabbed his bottle of beer and set it in front of him. “Drink your beer and try not to slobber too much.”

He stared at a woman sitting in the corner booth. “Holy fuck, is that who I think it is?”

I looked at the platinum blonde dressed in minimal vinyl clothing. Okay, I’m a little embarrassed to admit this, but even I knew who she was. She was very big in the porn industry. “Um, yeah, I think so,” I said.

“Watch my beer,” he muttered as he bee-lined it over to her table. He was suddenly in the middle of what I would assume would be his wet dream as she invited him to sit and three of her friends surrounded him. Oh geez.

Erica and Jake came in a few minutes later and walked up to the bar. “Hey, K,” she said. “Will you entertain Jake for a sec while I run in the back? I left something very...important in my locker.”

I nodded for Jake to have a seat. “Of course,” I replied. “Jake, can I get you a drink?” Sure,” he said. “I’ll have a Jack and Coke.” I appreciated the view in front of me while I prepared his drink and set it in front of him. Erica had definitely bagged a
hottie. He was huge, like maybe six foot four and about two hundred and sixty pounds of stacked muscle. He reminded me of that really hot ex-wrestler turned movie star. Tawny skin, brown eyes, short black hair, and racially ambiguous. Also, sexy and manly as hell. As he raised his drink to his mouth, his forearm flexed, accentuating his tribal tattoos. I found myself wondering how soft his plump lips were. Omigod, what was I doing, ogling my best friend’s guy? Ugh! Stupid hormones!

I shook it off and asked, “So, what are you and Eri up to tonight?”

He flashed his pearly whites. “Oh, we are just going to work on some…spells.”

I blushed. “Oh, um…that sounds like fun.” Crap, I’d forgotten about the sex magic. Damn, damn, damn! Kudos to him for having some discretion. Erica could certainly take a few tips from him.

Suddenly she was back, nibbling his ear. “C’mon, baby, I got it. Let’s go.” She brushed her hand against his crotch, not so subtly I might add, which prompted him to jump out of his seat and follow her like a lost puppy out the door.

Christ, Bob was going to be working overtime tonight.

Two

I woke the next morning to the sound of my phone ringing. “Hello?” I croaked. Damn, I was tired. I’d tossed and turned all night. You’d think six orgasms would at least take the edge off. I would have gone for more but Bob’s batteries died. I’m going to have to buy stock in Duracell if this keeps up much longer.

“Good morning, my love.” Ah, Leo’s voice was especially erotic in the morning.

“Morning.”
My nipples were painfully hard. I caught myself kneading my breasts for relief. Cripes.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “You sound…distressed.”

I raked my hands through my hair and cleared my throat. “Nope, I’m good,” I lied. “Whatsup?”

“I never heard back from you yesterday. I was wondering if you were available to see me tonight?”

Shit, I’d totally forgotten to call him. “Sorry, Leo, we were swamped from the convention. Um…I’m going to have to check with Erica about tonight.”

“Is that really necessary, Karli?” he asked. “You’ve been dragging that poor soul around for months. I assure you, I’ll be on my best behavior.”

“Maybe
you
will, but
I
won’t.”

“Excuse me?”

Crap, did I say that out loud? “Nothing. I didn’t say anything.”

He sighed. “My dear, I have something for you to see. I do not think involving Erica would be wise.”

“Why not?” I asked. “I tell her everything.”

“Not everything. It is here with me, at home. You know how I feel about revealing this location.” Leo lived in a super-secret, underground lair located directly below his sex club, Voyeur-Gasm. I was the only other person who knew it existed.

“Can’t you just bring it up to your office?” I suggested.

He sighed, much heavier this time. “No, my sweet, I cannot. There are too many vampires walking around the club for me to bring it to my office. It is a gift of a very…sensitive nature.”

Ah, fairy stuff. Got it. “Leo, I appreciate the offer. I do. I just can’t be alone with you right now. I’m sorry. Can it wait until I have more control over my actions? Or maybe Erica can come with me after hours?”

“You’re not leaving me much of a choice.” He paused. “Any idea how much longer this mandatory chaperone thing will last? I miss you.”

Now it was my turn to sigh. “No, Leo, I don’t. My birthday is coming up which means it should be sooner rather than later.”

“Sooner cannot get here fast enough. I have to go now,
Karli.”

“Okay, you----” Click.

Well, that was kinda rude! Leo’s gentlemanly persona had really been pushing the limits lately. If I had to guess, I’d say the banked blood had something to do with that. He hadn’t had fresh blood since the day I was first attacked, which was over three months ago now. I told him I would understand if he took blood from another woman but he insisted on going to a bank instead. He once told me it would be the equivalent of me drinking spoiled milk, but now he swore that it was bearable. I’m ashamed to admit this, but I willfully believed his lie. You see, sex and drinking blood go hand in hand with vampires and the thought of Leo with another woman brought me to tears. I wasn’t ready to take that next step with him, but I sure as hell didn’t want anyone else taking my place either.

*****

I love Mondays because that means that I have the next three days off. I really do enjoy my job but these days, having time to
myself has been much more necessary...for you know, stuff. I tried calling Erica four times to make arrangements to meet Leo but she wasn’t answering. I assumed the sex magic was responsible. Much later in the day, I got a call from the bar. That must be her. Finally!

“Hello?” I answered.

“Karli?” the woman on the other end of the line questioned.

“Yeah,” I confirmed. “Who is this?”

“It’s Kendra,” she replied acidly. Kendra was the other head bartender at Pixie Dust who worked when I didn’t. She’d also dated Leo briefly before he stopped trying to deny his feelings for me and dumped her. We hadn’t been on the best of terms since.

“Oh. Whatsup, Kendra?”

“Well, Erica hasn’t shown up for work yet and I was wondering if you knew where she was,” she said. “I tried her cell phone but she’s not answering.”

“Huh, that’s weird,” I said. Erica may have been the consummate party girl but she was certainly reliable when it came to work. “Have you asked around? Are you sure she didn’t call in sick and leave a message with someone?”

“Of course I asked around,” she snapped. “Do you think I’m new at this job or something?”

Ouch. Okay, deep breath, Karli. Do not react. “Kendra, I haven’t heard from her but I’ll make some calls and see what I can find out,” I offered.

“Yeah, you do that and let me know.” Click.

Okay, that was a little uncalled for! Not knowing where else to turn, I decided to call Vance.

“Hello, beautiful,” he answered on the first ring.

“Hey,” I replied. “I need some more information on sex magic.”

“I’ll be right over.”

Oh fuck. “No, Vance. I meant---” Click.

Dammit
! Why did people keep hanging up on me? I dialed him back but it went straight to voicemail. I tried again and got the same. Oh, that bastard was intentionally ignoring my calls!

A short while later there was a knock on my door. Sometimes I missed my old apartment. This complex was pretty modern and had direct parking lot access from every unit. It was mostly more convenient, unless I wanted the extra barrier of having to buzz someone in. I kept the chain in place and opened the door a crack. Vance was standing there with a way too big smile on his face.

I glared at him. “I didn’t say you could come over. If you would have answered your phone, you would have saved yourself the trip.”

His smile got even bigger. “If you want answers, then I want in.”

“No way.”

He turned around and started walking away. “Those are my terms. Take ‘em or leave ‘em.”

I thought of Erica. “Wait!” I slammed the door shut to remove the chain then opened it again. “Fine. You win. Get in here before I change my mind.”

He turned towards me and ran up to my door. “See, I knew you’d come around.” I stepped back to let him through but he leaned against me at the threshold and pressed his body into mine. He pressed his lips to my ear as he added, “What kind of sex magic did you want to try?”

I shivered. “None of it.” Any of it.
All
of it.

He laughed. “Are you sure about that, baby?” Damn, I hated that he could read my emotions. I really needed to learn how to block him out one of these days! He passed through my small living room and took a left towards my bedroom. Oh fuck, Bob was in there…and I was pretty sure I’d left him out in plain view!

I ran past him to halt his progress. “And where do you think you’re going?” I asked. I casually looked over my shoulder and saw blue, beaded silicone sticking out like a sore thumb against my white sheets. Double fuck!

He attempted to look innocent as he shrugged. “Nowhere in particular. I was just checking out the new place. I haven’t been here since you moved the furniture in, remember?” He looked over my shoulder. “How’s the new bed look over here?” Vance had helped me conjure a beautiful four poster bed in my old place while teaching me how to change objects. It was one of the only pieces of furniture I had taken with me since the rest had been ruined by the crazy bitch that trashed my apartment.

I quickly closed my bedroom door. “Fine. It’s a bed, in a bedroom. Nothing special.”

He pushed past me and put his hand on the knob. “I disagree. I think it’s quite a
special
piece of furniture. It’s the first large object that you transformed.” He started turning the knob. “I’d like to appreciate your handiwork.”

Okay, I panicked. I’m not a girl who would be opposed to breaking out toys in the bedroom, but I certainly didn’t want to expose my very private relationship with Bob. I did the only thing I could think of. I kissed him. Hard.

Three

Vance instantly responded and pushed me up against the wall, his hands greedily roaming my body. We clumsily fell through the bathroom door directly across the hall. He lifted me up onto the counter and I instinctively wrapped my legs around his waist. Oh man, this guy could kiss! I was on fire!!! I began having trouble remembering why I’d asked him over in the first place. Oh yeah, Erica!

I barely managed to pull away. “Vance, stop,” I panted. He started kissing my neck, making me lose focus again.