Chapter 1
“Here’s your martini, Mr. Stevens, nice and neat.” said the bartender, winking her eye. The girl was gorgeous. He had to give her that. Short brown hair, sparkling blue eyes and the biggest t**s he’s seen in a while, all wrapped in a cute little black dress, ready to go. He briefly considered taking her home to bang the s**t out of her, but thought twice. Recently, he had enough romantic complications to last him a while. He politely took his drink and smiled back at her while he rolled a hundred-dollar bill.
He used his index finger, motioning for her to come a little closer. She smiled delightfully and leaned forward. He slid the bill down her dress between her cleavage. “Keep the change sweetie.” he said before he winked and turned to find a table. To his surprise, he found a small round table not yet occupied in the corner. Perfect.
He took a seat at the table with his back to the wall. It always felt more secure this way. He panned the room of the club looking for Linus Tubs. Linus was a heavy-hitting business mogul here in the greater Los Angeles area. The man had his hands in dozens of businesses- including owning this club.
He was ready to get this over with and thought about kicking his ass for dragging him out here. He sat there scrolling through the local news, pausing on an updated article about several young women having gone missing in the past month. More girls added to the total, no new leads. He looked at his phone to check the time. Great. The bastard is late, as usual.
Inevitably, as always, a woman would find herself drawn to his table. “Hi there, want to ask a girl to dance?” Women couldn’t help being drawn to his handsome, brooding look. At 6’2, dark hair and eyes, perfectly sculpted facial hair and a body to die for, it is a wonder more women didn’t fall at his feet.
“Not tonight darling, take a rain check?”
“Well, that’s disappointing.” she said, making a sad face.
“Don’t be. I’m here on a job. Maybe I run into you on my way out?”
“Sure. My name’s Sonya.”
“Okay Sonya. See you later?”
“Absolutely.” she smiled and winked. She turned to walk away, checking over her shoulder, just to make sure he was at least looking at her ass as she walked away. All he could do was shake his head.
He continued to watch the people around the club dancing, drinking, and carrying on. He laughed on the inside. If these people knew they were partying in a club full of vampires, they'd s**t themselves. Finally, Linus came in, of course, with a young lady of the night on his arm.
“Hunter! You son of a b***h! You made it. Good to see you, bro!” said Linus.
The word bro made him cringe slightly. He and Linus were friends, going back centuries, but Linus never seemed to grow or mature. He was turned in his forties and wasn’t bad looking, but he was insistent on the never ending supply of eighteen-year-old girls’ time seemed to offer. This one with him tonight was definitely out of his league. Or perhaps she was a snack? There were rules about feeding on humans. He hoped Linus was adhering to them.
Hunter stood and reciprocated the giant bear hug Linus thrust on him. “You brought the papers?” asked Linus.
“Yep. If you sign them, I can get the ball rolling and we can request an expedited closing on the property.”
“Fantastic. Hey, let’s do this upstairs, in the VIP lounge.”
Shit. Thought Hunter, This guy is going to want to party all night.
“Sure, lead the way.” said Hunter.
Walking up the stairs, Hunter regretted his choices for the evening. He had nothing against Linus, but he wasn’t in the mood for a party. Hunter looked out over the crowed as he got higher up the stairs, everyone dancing in sync with the bass of the music under the flashing blue and white lights. He knew they were oblivious to what was happening right above their heads.
“Hey honey. My office is down the hall, the last door on the left. Why don’t you go make your pretty ass comfortable and Ill join you shortly.”
“Sure baby. Don’t keep me waiting!” she giggled and trotted down the hall in her platform heels. Linus smacked her on the ass when she turned to leave. Hunter couldn’t help not rolling his eyes.
Linus opened the door to the lounge. It was vampires only, but with good reason. Entering the room was a privilege. Not just anyone could go in. It could be said this was Linus’s special stash room. Want Drugs? They have that. Want to feed on a virgin? Yep, they have that too, for a price. Lap dances, a companion for the night, all could be had in the lounge if you had the scratch. The two men sat on the couch in front of two ladies, casually dancing on the stage in front of them.
“So, what’s with the girl?” asked Hunter.
“Not sure yet. She doesn’t know about me, us. If all goes well, I’m thinking about making her a familiar.”
“Not a companion?”
“Who needs that s**t? Besides, case in point. I was sorry to hear about you and Amy.” said Linus.
“Ah, well. We both have our own interests and ideas. We want different things. I wish her well, though.”
“I get that, but you two were together for how long? Fifty years?” asked Linus.
“Fifty on and off.”
Linus whistled. “Damn bro, that’s a long time to spend with one woman.”
“Tell me about it.” joked Hunter.
Hunter took out the paperwork for Linus to sign and slid it over to him.
“First things first. A party pick me up.” said Linus.
He took a small object from inside his jacket pocket, rolled in a piece if silk. It was a full drug kit. A small razor blade, a perfectly sized cylinder for snorting, a tiny spoon, depending on your preference. Last but not least, a vial of the purest looking cocaine Hunter ever laid his eyes on.
“Nah man, I’m going to have to pass.” said Hunter.
“Nonsense!” This is the best s**t north of Mexico. You can’t pass this up!
“Seriously man, I’m good.”
“How long has it been since you fed?” asked Linus.
“I don’t know, a few weeks maybe.”
“Yeah, I thought you looked a little pale. Scarlet!”
“That’s unnecessary, Linus. Thank you, but really, I’m fine.” Hunter objected.
“Yeah boss?” asked Scarlet. She was cute and voluptuously tempting. She wore a red silk lingerie, with her long blond locks dangling to the middle of her back. Scarlet and Linus both saw Hunter lick his lips.
“You think you could help my friend out? He needs a snack.” said Linus.
“It would be my pleasure.” said Scarlet smiling.
She swung her hair over her shoulder, exposing one side of her neck, and turned around in front of him. She bent over, her ass in his direct line of sight. Then she sat in his lap and wiggled a bit before she leaned back on his muscular chest. She turned her head to the side, exposing her neck for his bite.
Hunter gave Linus a hesitant glance. He tried to feed on humans as little as possible. He mostly fed on the deer in the surrounding hills. Although this can sustain a vampire, it isn’t ideal long term. It is like a human eating take out every day of its life. Hunter had to admit to his thirst. He could hear her heartbeat and the blood flowing through her veins.
He put his hands on her waist and ran them up to her breasts, cupping one in each hand. He ran his nose across her neck and inhaled deeply. My God, the scent was intoxicating and sent his mind reeling. His fangs dropped and sunk gently into her neck.
The warm flow of blood trickled down his throat, bringing an exhilaration as he concentrated on following the feeling to his stomach. He drank, calmly. A vampire had to use caution while live feeding. As civilized as vampires have become over the last several hundred years, a feeding frenzy could easily happen and you could kill the human- which was forbidden. Therefore, there were strict rules put in place for the act.
Scarlet let out a sensual moan and it excited him. He gripped her harder, holding her in his lap as he felt himself sexually aroused. He knew this was enough, and it was time to let go, so he broke away and breathed in deep, licking the blood from his lips.
Hunter licked the wound on her neck. “You okay there?” he asked her. She leaned to the side into the crook of his arm and looked him in the eyes with a satisfied smile. “I’m fine, sir. Thank you.” She got up from his lap and bent down at eye level with him. “Let me know if I can do anything else for you, Mr. Stevens.” she winked and walked away.
“You know, she’s good for other things too.” smiled Linus, glancing at the b***r in Hunter’s lap.
“I’m great, thank you, Linus. That was more than enough.”
Linus handed the sales contract back to Hunter that he had signed while he was feeding.
Hunter took the paperwork and quickly flipped through the pages to make sure each page had a proper signature. He folded them and put them in the pocket on the inside of his jacket.
“Thank you Linus. My office will be in touch with you in a day or two with an update. I hate to feed and run, but I will let you get back to the lady down the hall.”
The two men shook hands. “Hey, before you go...” Linus made a chin wiping motion. Hunter wiped his chin and looked at the small smear of blood on his finger. “Thanks man.”
Hunter turned to leave the lounge and went out the door, heading for the stairs, when a weird tingle hit him. He felt light and warm. Great. The b***h was laced with something. Figures. He hurried down the stairs and out the front doors, handing his ticket to the valet.
“Right away, Mr. Stevens.” said the valet. It was only a few moments before Hunter saw his beautifully blacked out Mercedes come around the corner. He felt relieved because he was sweating from whatever substance the girl he drank was on. Maybe a drive would help to clear his head, rather than going back to the cold, empty home Amy left him with. He got in the car and peeled out, headed for the Hollywood hills.