Anything to get away from this bar, and away from the man that was still in my line of sight.
The same man that I saw sucking on the neck of a bottled blonde not even three seconds before.
Something techno came on just as we entered the dance floor, and I started to sway my hips as Keisha backed up to my ass and did her own thing.
I was lost in the feel of the music, completely unaware of my surroundings when I felt someone come up beside me.
At first, I didn’t react.
But the moment the stranger at my side touched my hair, I started to have a minor freak out.
“Hey,” I snapped, jerking my hair away from the man.
He was a vamp.
Fuckin’ a! I’d never seen so many vampires in the same place before!
“Please don’t touch me.” I moved so Keisha was now at my side instead of my back, causing her to become aware of the situation.
Keisha, knowing I was uncomfortable, waved her hand at the man. She never met a stranger.
“Hi!”
The man scowled. “I wasn’t talking to you.”
He turned back to me, and Keisha’s back straightened. “But I… was talking… to you.”
Keisha and I backed up as the man advanced, not stopping until we were physically blocked.
Keisha by the table, and me by falling into someone’s lap.
I turned, ready to apologize, and froze when those wolf blue eyes peered at me through dark lashes.
Constantine Worth.
I was in Constantine Worth’s lap.
Sweet baby Jesus.
CHAPTER 2
What doesn’t kill you gives you bad coping mechanisms and a mean streak.
-Fact of Life
CONSTANTINE
There’s something about her that smells… familiar.
My thoughts had me zeroing in on the woman across the room.
The one dressed in light-washed jeans that were practically painted on, a black t-shirt that said ‘Virginity Rocks’ across the breast, and motorcycle boots.
I presumed it was an old t-shirt with the way it was faded to hell and back.
She looked like she was a man’s wet dream with her long, wavy black hair that came to a stop right above her black sparkly belt.
And I could see just a hint of her black panties, though I couldn’t tell if they were a thong or regular bikini underwear.
No matter what they were, they were teasing the absolute hell out of me.
I watched her walk into the bar and take a seat at the end closest to me.
Watched her wait around nervously for her friend to arrive and watched some more when relief crossed her face at her female friend arriving.
I continued to watch her drink her wine. Watched her friend drag her onto the dance floor.
And then watched and waited for Dimitri to corral them in my direction.
Though, Dimitri didn’t know he was doing that at the time.
He likely just thought he was about to get laid when that couldn’t be further from the truth.
The moment she was backed up to my table, I scooted the table forward so she’d have nowhere else to go but down, and waited while she did it almost perfectly—though she didn’t mean to.
Her ass hit my lap, and I automatically curled my drink up high in the air so she didn’t spill it.
She turned to apologize, I was sure, but froze when she realized whose lap she had fallen into.
“I’m so sorry,” she apologized, getting up.
Or she would have, had I not held on to her hip with one large hand to keep her in place.
“Dimitri,” I drawled, turning to the now very scared man. “Why does this young lady smell of fear?”
Dimitri’s mouth tightened, causing his fangs to be revealed.
“I was…”
“Whatever your excuse, it’s not good enough,” I told him blandly. “Please, give your membership card to Pavlov at the door. You’re no longer a member here.”
Dimitri looked crushed, but he wasn’t stupid enough to argue with me.
“Yes, sir,” he squeaked, then started retreating.
Nobody ever argued. Sometimes there was no fun in anything anymore.
Silence loomed heavy and thick, and I heard the irregular heart rate of the woman in my lap.
I’d heard it the moment she walked into the club earlier.
It was distinct.
Of course, I heard everyone’s heart rate if I concentrated hard enough, but this woman’s had caught my attention the moment her foot had touched my stairs.
The smell of her so close was absolutely intoxicating, and I found myself unwilling to allow her to go.
“Please, have a seat.” I gestured to the rest of the table at my side.
She bit her lip and then wiggled to allow herself to slide to the seat on the inside of me, putting me between her and the rest of the room.
“Won’t you have a seat?” I gestured to the friend again, and Abraham, my second in command, took the hint and slid over, allowing the woman to take a seat across from me.
“Can I get y’all something to drink?” I asked.
The woman across from me nodded. “I’ll have a Shirley Temple, and she’ll have a red wine.”
I flicked my fingers at the waitress, the same woman that had spent the entire night trying to get me to take blood from her vein, and she hurried over.
“Can I help you, Master?”
I clenched my jaw. “Mr. Worth.”
She blinked. “Can I get you something else to drink, Mr. Worth?”
“The finest wine we have for the lady at my side, and this one will have a Shirley Temple.”
The waitress, Cassandra I thought her name was, nodded her head and backed away before hurrying in her too-high high heels to the bar where she placed an order with the bartender.
“May I please ask your name?” I asked, turning to the darkest brown eyes I’d ever seen.
Pairing those brown eyes with her black hair, they appeared almost black in the muted light of my establishment.
“Um, Acadia,” she whispered.
Had I not had supernatural hearing, I wouldn’t have heard her over the pulse and thump of the music.
“Beautiful,” I murmured. “I’ve not heard of many Acadias lately.”
“Constantine,” Abraham broke in. “You have a meeting in thirty.”
I nodded crisply and returned my gaze to Acadia’s.
“Have you been here before?”
“No,” the friend broke in. “My name is Keisha…in case you were wondering.”
“I wasn’t,” I replied to her haughty tone.
Keisha smiled.
“Honest.” She snickered. “I like that.”
Acadia’s hand rose to her mouth, and she started to nibble nervously at her fingers.
God, why was she so familiar?
It was like I’d seen her before, but I would’ve remembered this woman. So she couldn’t be… could she?
Surely one would remember those brown eyes in that beautiful face.
“What else can I help you with?” the waitress asked as she placed the drinks down on the table.
I handed Abraham his, followed by Keisha’s.
Mine, I took as well.
Acadia’s, however, I handed back.
“Please ask the bartender to come here,” I ordered. “Place this on the bar next to the trash bin. Also, go see the general manager.”