Unbound (6 page)

Dani pulled back and watched as a tear ran down Tessa’s cheek.  It was the second time her mother had ever shed tears in her presence. 

“Mommy?”  She asked with a furrowed brow.  Tessa just smiled, wiped her face and got in the car.  Dani watched her drive away and could only imagine her mom was experiencing empty nest symptoms.  Either that or she’d had one of her scary dreams.  Dani hoped it wasn’t the latter.

Back at the dorm, Olivia had already gone through the bags and hung the clothes, leaving out an outfit for Dani to wear.  “Your Mom is too cool.  Mine would never have gotten me clothes like these.  Tessa has great taste.”

She was right.  The very trendy clothes would nicely mix and match.  Olivia had picked out a pair of dark low cut skinny jeans, a tight cream-colored sweater that hung off the shoulders and a pair of black high-heeled leather boots.

The girls took turns showering and primping to get their hair and makeup just right.  Dani was beginning to get excited about the outing.  There was one last thing to d
o before they’d be ready to go.
She had to call Lucas and hope her going out wouldn't make him unhappy.  She wasn’t going to lie about it so she dialed his number and was a little surprised to hear loud music and laughter in the background when he answered.

“Hey, babe, are you there?
Can you hear me?”  He yelled over the music.

‘I’m here, where are you?  It’s really loud.”  Dani shouted back hoping he could hear.

“I’m at this club in town with some guys from school.”

“That sounds like fun...”  She tried to answer but he cut her off.

“I can’t hear you.”  Shouting louder now.  “Call me tomorrow, okay?  I love you!  Are you still there?”  She supposed he couldn’t hear her reply because the phone disconnected.

He wouldn’t have a problem with her going out if he was going to do it and without the courtesy to talk to her about it first.  She had been worried for nothing.  They both had to learn to move in their separate circles.  Maybe he could ride up one weekend and they could go out together.

There was a knock at the door.  “Are you girls ready?”  Lindsay opened the door.  “The guys are waiting downstairs.  Charlie is going to drive the four us and the others are riding with Steve.”  She chattered in her way.  “You guys are hot.  Damn, I gotta go change this shirt.”  Lindsay cursed giving Olivia and Dani an appraising look before turning on her heel to go revamp her outfit.

Catcalls and whistles from Charlie, Steve and a few other random boys met the girls when they reached the common room.  Charlie put his arm around Dani’s shoulder and told the other
s in a dry matter of fact tone.
“Sorry.  I changed my mind.  I’ll be taking Dani.  The rest of you can walk.”  Olivia smacked the back of his head.  “I’m just kidding.”  He ducked. 

Lindsay reappeared in a silver sequined halter top, skinny jeans and silver strappy stilettos.  Smiling, she winked at Dani, “You’re not the only girl with a bag of tricks.”

Crossing the courtyard to the cars, the catcalls continued and they almost lost Olivia to a guy in a Porsche.  It was a short ride to the club in the back seat of Charlie’s mustang.  Lindsay was talking in high speed fast forward about the Ladies Night she came to on Wednesday and Olivia was in the front with Charlie arguing over the radio station.  When they arrived in a caravan of students ready for a break from classes, Dani told herself to relax on her first real night on the town.

THREE~

She could feel the thumping of the bass from inside the club.  There was a long line to get in and a doorman checking ID’s and placing wristbands on the people old enough to be served at the bar.  Some people were forgoing the line and heading straight to the bouncer who let them in quickly.  She became self-conscious when she realized the people she watched skirt the line were staring right back at her as they passed.  She wondered if her choice of outfit had been off the mark.  Then, she realized the problem was her hair.  It figured that just as she began to forget about it everyone else started to notice.  When they finally made it to the large muscle-bound doorman, he reached out his heavily tattooed python of an arm to check her ID.  He looked her up and down in a way that made Dani feel dirty.

“Princess, you didn’t need to stand in this line.  The next time you’re here, come straight to the front.  Vince will hook you up, Baby Girl.”  He referred to himself in the third person as he placed a wristband on her arm in spite of her obvious underage status.  He escorted the group inside refusing to accept their cover charge. 

“You come see Vince if you need anything else, Baby Girl.”  Eyeing her again, he said in a low rolling timber, “Anything at all.”  He retreated to his station while speaking into the earpiece she hadn’t before noticed.  The rest of the group cheered Dani and patted her on the back for hooking them up with Vince.  Entering the dark club the first thing that hit them was the loud pounding bass of chest-vibrating music, followed quickly by flashing lights that seemed to match the rhythm of music and bodies on the floor.  Combined with the smell of beer and cologne, she was feeling a bit of sensory overload as they began to weave through the crowds of dancers to find a table.  She’d been stopped at least ten times crossing the floor by guys asking for a dance.  Charlie and Steve seemed annoyed by this hold up in the action but quickly forgave her when a waitress approached.

“Your VIP table is ready.  Please follow me.”  Dani looked at her confused.  The waitress pointed to the front door where Vince was now waving at her and winking.  “Vince requests that you save him a dance.”  Dani smiled and nodded in agreement and her friends cheered again.  She knew it was silly but the attention was very flattering.  The group was led to a comfy section in the corner that overlooked the dance floor and was equipped with its own bar and big semi-circular sofas with low round tables.  Olivia smiled widely at Dani and asked, “Do you plan on making use of that wrist band?”  She didn’t answer.  After settling into a table, she ordered a round of sodas from the waitress and went to join the throngs of dancers.

They danced for what seemed like hours.  The strobe lights mixed with the swaying crowd were dizzying.  She was beginning to feel dehydrated and leaned back against a railing on the edge of the floor to catch her breath.  Before she knew it her group of friends was nowhere in sight.  Shit.

A deep voice rumbled right next to her ear, “Hello.  Would you like to dance?”  She turned to find a guy that looked like he belonged on the cover of GQ eyeing her.  He was at least 6ft 2in of sculpted perfection that was visible through his tight shirt.  He towered over her as she stood in his shadow.  Dani stared, mesmerized by blue green eyes and rich coffee brown hair.  “I’m Chase, and you are?”  He held out a hand and waited for an answer while Dani gathered her scattered wits.

She smiled and accepted his hand.  He turned them toward a less crowded corner to dance.  Finally, her brain located her mouth, “My name is Dani.”  Getting closer to him, she was overwhelmed by the essence of summer.  That made no sense at all but he smelled like line-dried linen and sunshine instead of the heavy cologne she’d expected.  It was heavenly.  They danced in silence until he leaned down and questioned, “Do I know you?  Lovely as you are, I’m sure I would have remembered you.”

His speech seemed a bit too formal for someone their age so she figured he must be an uptown boy.  Maybe she was hearing the polish of a private school.  “No.  I just started school at the university last week.  Do you go to school here?”

He blinked rapidly as if she had missed something, “My family lives in the area but I have friends at the college so I frequent the grounds.”

They were interrupted when Vince grabbed Chase by the shoulder and barked, “Hey, man.  Thanks for entertaining my girl.  Now take a hike.”  Chase turned slowly toward Vince with one eyebrow raised in agitation.  The shock on Vince’s face when Chase knocked his hand off was astonishing.  Vince was a huge muscle-bound monster but he flinched away at the sight of Chase’s face.

“Chase!  I didn’t realize it was you, man.  I’m sorry.”  Vince scampered away as if afraid for his life, or maybe just his job.  When he turned back toward her, Chase looked dark and angry in stark contrast to the beautiful face she had been admiring a moment ago.  His eyes were suddenly dark with no hint of that stunning greenish blue.  He quickly put his face back together.

“I’m sorry about that, Lo
vely.  Vince can be quite crude,” h
e apologized, pulling her closer.

Something about the way Vince reacted to him and the way Chase looked when he turned around made Dani want to get away from him quickly.  He loosened his hold on her
.

“Thanks for the dance.  I gotta get back to my friends.  M
aybe I’ll see you around campus,
”
she told him politely.

She was pulling away but he caught her arm.  He leaned in close looking deeply into her eyes and tried to persuade, “Don’t you want to stay with me, Lovely?”

She cocked her head to the side showing the confusion she was feeling.  Suddenly she did want to be with him and a look of pure triumph crossed Chase’s face.  Dani heard her mother’s voice in her head saying,
“Just stay with your friends.”

He leaned into her again and was clearly not ready for her reaction when she said, “No.  I actually would rather be with my friends.  Catch you later, maybe.”  She quickly returned to the VIP area to drink down the now watered down soda and tried to shake the urge she felt to go running back to Chase.  She settled for watching him cross the floor to his table wanting nothing more than to follow but something had frightened her in that moment out on the floor.

Olivia smirked at her said, “You’re my hero.  You just left that fine ass man standing there with his jaw on the floor.  Girl, if you don’t want him I’ll go keep him company.  He’s yummy.”

Dani smiled wryly, “Go get ‘em tiger.  I have a boyfriend.”

Olivia was off like a shot.  Dani spent the rest of the evening in the VIP area dancing with Charlie and Steve.  Olivia got her up on the sofa to shake it with her until the waitress started shooting them dirty looks.  They didn’t want to lose their big comfy couch privileges for the next visit so they were climbing down when Charlie came to help her and she fell happily into his arms.  He spun her around once like a little kid before setting her feet on the ground.  With his arms still around her, Charlie began to dance slowly, swaying back and forth in stark contrast to the fast pounding of the music.  She felt so comfortable with his warm body against hers.  So comfortable she wanted to lay her head on his shoulder and take the scent of him into her lungs.  He smelled of mint and rain.  When she looked up he smiled and the spell was broken.  He spun her out in a silly move and pulled her back into a more appropriate dance pace.

On the way out of the club, they passed Chase sitting at a corner booth with a bevy of girls fawning over him and another guy.  Dani made eye contact just as a half-nude blond rubbed against his side and took Chase’s hand.  Why did that annoy her?  Seeing that really pissed her off.  He jerked his hand away and stood, staring at her intensely as Charlie wound an arm around her waist.  She didn’t know why but she leaned against Charlie putting her head on his shoulder.  Her eyes were still locked with Chase’s and she saw the flash of anger he couldn’t hide.  Good, at least she wasn’t the only one that looked pissed.  At the door, Vince wouldn’t make eye contact with Dani but reminded her to come straight to the front of the line on their next visit.  He apologized for interrupting the dance with Chase and reminded her, “Come back anytime and Vince will hook you up.”

* * *

Chase Deidrick parked his Mercedes in front of the club Thirst and tossed his keys to Vince, the new head of security, “I don’t know how long I’ll be staying so keep it close.” 

Vince nodded and opened the door for Chase to enter.  His father had bought the nightclub for a very practical purpose.  It was a good front for a feeding ground.  With a college down the road, the students flocked to the club nightly.  Instead of stalking their prey, they just sat back while students filed in the door and paid nicely to be there.  All the young vamps for miles around came to feed and as long as they followed the rules they were all welcome.  There was no feeding allowed in the building due to the risk of witnesses.  It was no problem for a vampire to enthrall a human into following them.  No one killed or injured the humans, anywhere, ever.  Last but not least, the humans were not to remember anything.  This was also no problem once they are enthralled.  Keeping their kind a secret was the utmost priority.  Chase occasionally broke the ‘no blood in the building’ rule but he had a private room in the back at his disposal.  No witnesses in there.  Those that violated the rules faced the judgment of the
Council
.  Chase’s family, the Deidrick’s, were one of the three ruling houses that made up the
Council
.  All that enter Thirst carefully obeyed the rules.  It is, after all, a House of Deidrick.

Chase went to his regular table and surveyed the room.  On a Saturday night, business was good and there were plenty of suitable ladies from which to choose.  While he scanned the floor, an odd scent caught his attention.  He wondered where that delicious smell originated.  It was another vampire for sure but was nothing like anyone he’d ever met before.  It was sweet, yet floral, like vanilla and lavender.  Chase moved to search for the owner of the lovely aroma.  Vampires were naturally attractive to their human prey, which made searching the crowd difficult because every girl he passed wanted to dance and talk with him.  In the middle of the dance floor, he saw her.  She was a living goddess dancing among her worshipers.  Every other woman, vampire and human alike now wilted in his eyes.  She was perfection.  A beautiful dark mahogany mane with unusual white streaks and eyes so pale they reflected the light like mirrors.  He had only ever seen hair like that on one other vampire.  She was petite yet perfectly curvy at the same time.  Chase could do nothing but stand and gawk at her for a time, worshipping the sight of her along with her followers.  He returned to his table to observe the goddess from a better vantage point.  His friend Cayden arrived and put a hand on Chase’s shoulder making him jump.  The rest of the club had seemingly disappeared while he watched her dance and smile.