A Night at Club Vampire 2 (12 page)

"We had a date for tonight. It's 6pm, so I'm here to pick you up like we agreed." He sounded as sexy as ever, his seductive voice melting her anger.

"That was
before
I was almost murdered by one of your kind. I would have assumed that you would have figured as much."

"
My
kind? That's a tad racist don't you think?"

Lacey's whole body tensed. How dare
he
call
her
a racist? He was absolutely maddening. "I'll have you know buster, I am
not
a racist."

"You re judging me on the actions of another vampire. I'd classify that as indeed a racist line of thinking."

Well wasn't he a cheeky bugger? Lacey clucked her tongue on the roof of her mouth.

She hadn't realized he could be such an aggravating man. Granted though, they hadn't done all that much talking in the past couple of days. Why were all the gorgeous ones cocky dicks?

Lacey sighed and tried another line of conversation, anything to get him away from her intercom. "There is no point pursuing this line of conversation. Bottom line is this; you're a vampire. I'm human. It can't work. End of story. Now please go away."

His end of the intercom went silent. Had he left? She stood by her door waiting for him to respond. Nothing. She was satisfied, but at the same time disappointed he'd given up so easily, yet again.
Goes to show he really wasn't that genuine in his efforts to make
things right.
She took little comfort in that thought. She leaned her back against the door and exhaled loudly.

A loud knock reverberated on the door behind her. Startled, she yelped and stumbled backwards distancing herself from the door.

"Lacey. I know you're in there. Open up."

"How did you get through the security door without a key?" Lacey yelled through the door as she snuck up to the peephole and peered out. There he stood looking as handsome as sin with something behind his back. She caught a glimpse of something red. Roses.

Boy, he sure is pulling out all the stops
.

"Let's just say I can be very convincing when I want to be. I'm not leaving until you open this door and talk to me. I'm an immortal. I have all the time in the world." His tone carried a hint of amusement in it as he spoke.

Was he enjoying this? She was seething inside. "If I let you in will you promise to say your piece and leave? Ten minutes and you'll leave? I'll never have to see you again?"

Without hesitation: "Of course."

Lacey sucked in a deep breath of air then let it out. "And do you promise not to screw with my head, or whatever it is vampires do to people? Like you did to Terry-Ann?"

Again, without hesitation: "Of course."

He hadn t denied what he d done to Terry-Ann so that was as she suspected. They d done something to make her forget what she had seen. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. Maybe what Terry-Ann was so heinous that she was better off not remembering what she had witnessed at the club.

Lacey ran to the mirror on the bathroom door again and looked herself over. God, she looked like shit. She tried to pat down her unruly red curls with no success.
Screw it!

Maybe he'll take one look at me and leave of his own accord.

Running back to the door she took in another deep breath, tried to calm herself and flung open the door. "Please. Do come in," she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"Thanks," Nigel stepped through the threshold, stopped just inches from her and allowed his eyes to take in each and every inch of her body. His eyes lingered on her breasts, which were bare under the thin, translucent material of the black camisole. Her nipples, forming tight buds, poked out from under the material. She wanted to cover herself up, but knew it would only amuse him so instead she planted her hands on her hips and waited for him to say his piece.

"These are for you." Nigel passed her the roses, which she accepted and instinctively brought them to her nose to inhale their sweet fragrance. They were perfect.

Lacey looked Nigel over and had to admit he looked as sexy as ever. A tight fitting Navy t-shirt stretched over his beautifully-defined torso. As her eyes dipped lower she found them lingering on his crotch, which seemed to come alive under her scrutiny.

Realizing she had been staring she quickly looked away, feeling the heat rise up her neck and onto her cheeks.

Noticing her embarrassment at being caught, Nigel chuckled. His grey eyes gleamed with mischief and amusement. "Do you mind if I take a seat while you put those in water?" He walked into the living room and plunked himself onto the sofa without waiting for a response.

Regaining her composure Lacey found a vase under the kitchen sink, filled it with water and placed her roses in it. She fiddled with them for a moment, spreading and arranging them until she was satisfied. In truth, she was trying to keep herself occupied until the heat that had risen on her face and between her legs had settled down.

"Oh and just so you know. We prefer the term life-challenged as opposed to vampire,"

Nigel called out to her.

What?
"Life challenged?" Lacey asked, peering at him from around the bouquet and crinkling up her nose.

A large grin formed on his lips as he burst out laughing.

"You are so full of shit, Nigel!" she exclaimed, but found herself cracking a smile for the first time that day. She cocked her head to the side and watched him, as she chewed on her bottom lip. Technically, he had saved her life and he had seemed quite remorseful about what had transpired that morning.

"Alright, you caught me. The term vampire is fine," his expression quickly turned from happy and laughing to sombre, "I am very sorry for what happened this morning. You have no idea how badly I wish I could change all that transpired."

Lacey believed him.

"Was that what you wanted to tell me tonight?" She asked coming around the counter and sitting next to him on the sofa.

Nigel gave her a smile, reaching out and tucking a strand of red curls behind her ear.

Just that one slight touch of the back of his hand as it grazed her cheek sent all too familiar thrills coursing through her.

"That I was a vampire, yes," he replied. His forehead wrinkled and he looked at her oddly. "What was it that
you
wanted to tell me?"

Ah shit! The article!
Lacey still wasn't certain that she wanted to bury the article, but at least stall it until she knew more. She glanced over at the laptop sitting across the room on her desk. Had her editor already started to read it? Would she agree to keep the article from print if she had? Panic built up inside Lacey.

"One second, alright?" she asked, holding a finger up to his eyes and bolting from the sofa to the chair at her desk. She hastily wrote her editor an email asking to have the story held back for the time being. Her editor would agree. What would it hurt to hold it from print for a few days anyhow? Chances are she wouldn t even have had time to review it yet.

Letting a sigh of relief pass her lips, Lacey swivelled the chair around so she was facing Nigel. She couldn't decide what she wanted more, to find out everything he would tell her about vampires and the club, or to climb onto his lap, and let her hands explore each and every inch of his magnificent body. Her pussy became heated, throbbing for her to take action.

He was like some intoxicating drug to her, he seemed to draw her in, making her want to touch and be touched by him. As much as she wanted to place the blame on the fact that he was a vampire, bringing out the wanton feelings within her, she knew differently.

Nigel, however, took the decision out of her hands. "If you feel up to it, I'd like you to speak with a few people. At the club. They may help you understand our world better, and, of course, help you see that you could have a place in it. If you wanted."

Lacey stared at him, her green eyes wide. "You want to turn me?"

Nigel let his head drop back and laughed hard, and laughed loud. When he was done laughing he looked her in the eye, a twinkle in his. "No. I meant humans and vampires frequently have relationships. Some do end in the human being turned. While in others the human stays human for as long as it pleases them. I want you to know that, if you wanted, we could pursue a normal relationship, like anyone else."

Lacey nodded, relief flooding over her. "Alright. I think I would like that."

****

Nigel couldn't be happier at the way things had turned out so far. He really hadn't been very confident that she would even see him, though he was more than prepared to stay outside her building for as long as it took. The fact that she had been willing to hear him out and was now heading back to the club with him to meet Travis, Trinity, William, and Franny was beyond what he had hoped to accomplish.

While Lacey wasn't as comfortable in his presence as she had been the previous couple of nights, she still sat close to him in the back of the limo, her fingers interlaced with his.

They were silent as they drove across down, but that was fine by him. There would be plenty to discuss once the other couples had told her their stories. He had called the others just before they arrived, having them agree to meet him and Lacey in his office.

Nigel couldn't seem to prevent his eyes from being drawn to the fang marks on her neck. Each time he looked at them anger would build within him. He wished Joseph was alive so he could kill the bastard a second time!

Twenty minutes later the limo was pulling up at the back entrance of the club.

"They should be waiting in my office," Nigel informed Lacey as they entered Club Vampire.

Lacey nodded.

Nigel kept hold of her warm hand as they made their way up the flight of stairs to his office on the second floor. As predicted, the two couples were already there, seated and chatting among themselves. A hush fell over the room when Nigel and Lacey arrived.

"They're all vampires?" Lacey leaned over and whispered in his ear. Nigel didn't bother to tell her that whispering would do no good, as all with the exception of Trinity would have heard each and every word she whispered.

"Not all," Nigel informed her. Feeling her body go rigid next to him, he gave her hand a light squeeze before pulling her along with him to sit on one of the sofas with the others.

Once seated, Nigel pulled her close to him, laying a protective arm across her shoulders.

"Who is human?" She whispered to him.

This time Nigel couldn't help but let an amused grin spread across his lips. The other vampires in the group also smiled, leaving Trinity and Lacey wondering what was so humorous.

"What's so funny Travis?" Trinity nudged him in the side with her elbow, giving him a half-annoyed look.

"They can hear your whispering," Nigel finally informed Lacey, glancing down at her, loving the look on her face as it reddened almost to the colour of her hair. "Well, everyone but Trinity," he gave Trinity a sympathetic grin.

Trinity rolled her eyes in response.

"I thought you would be interested in hearing their stories. It may help to put your mind at ease about being around," Nigel motioned to those in the room, "well, all of us."

Franny began speaking. She told Lacey of how she and Trinity had come to Club Vampire not even realizing there were such things as vampires. They had been spotted by Travis and William and automatically singled out to be let into the club. Franny had accepted and wanted the lifestyle of a vampire almost from the beginning. She'd asked William to turn her not long after her first night with him, and had never been happier.

The relationship between Travis and Trinity had developed in much the same way.

They fell fast and hard for each other. Knowing from the first moment they laid eyes on each other that they were destined to be together. Trinity had plans for being turned. Just not quite yet. She still wasn't completely finished living as a human. It was more Travis's feeling on the topic than hers, but she tended to agree.

Nigel was surprised at Lacey's intense interest in the group. Her eyes never seemed to leave each of the vampires in attendance, seemingly taking in each and every word that came out of their mouths as if trying to memorize each fact of each story.

"So, Trinity. You say you're planning on being turned in the near future?" Lacey inquired, she had inched her way out of Nigel's protective embrace and was now perched on the edge of the sofa.

"I could never imagine my life with anyone else," Trinity replied, looking up into Travis's eyes and smiling. He leaned over and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"Neither could I," Travis agreed, his dark eyes looked down at Trinity with such love and affection that it made Nigel long to have that same thing.

Nigel looked over at Lacey and smiled. Perhaps he did have just that sitting beside him.

He certainly could think of worse things than waking up to such an intelligent, beautiful and feisty woman next to him.

"I was planning on doing this a little differently, but this afternoon I thought to myself why wait? Besides, what better place than with friends?" Travis slipped off of the sofa and knelt down on one knee in front of Trinity.

Trinity's dark blue eyes grew wide as she looked down at him.

Nigel looked over at Lacey, her eyes continued to be glued on the couple before them.

He smiled to himself. He could hear Travis talking, but he wasn't listening to the words.

His mind was fixated on her. For centuries he'd been happy to be a bachelor, doing what he pleased and answering to no one. Looking over at Travis as he slipped the diamond onto Trinity's finger he knew that was what he wanted for himself.

Nigel focused his attention back to Travis and Trinity. Trinity had tears beginning to stream down her face, while Travis wore one of the goofiest grins he'd ever seen on the man before. Travis, the head of his security team, who normally displayed a demeanour of reserved, silent mystery, seemed to be transformed before their eyes into a man head over heels in love. A man hoping that the woman he loved would accept him for all eternity.