Blood Deep (Bound in Blood Book 1) (2 page)

Truthfully, as a young human, Patrick hadn’t much cared for finding someone to settle down with preferring to bounce around, sometimes literally, between sexual partners. His poor mother had always worried that his less than sparkling reputation would make it difficult to find a nice girl to marry, while his father had always congratulated him on every conquest.

At least until the man walked in on Patrick taking the stick end from his father’s business partner. After that uncomfortable revelation, Patrick had found himself effectively booted from his family and on his own for the first time in his short life. It was a reality that lasted until the day he ran into Gabriel after his rebirth, though romantically he chose to remain alone.

Patrick shrugged off the memories. They were useless to him now and would only serve to make him unhappier with his situation. Sometimes though he did wonder whether what his mom had said had truly come to pass. Was he being punished now for slighting someone in his less than exemplary past?

“You don’t have to be alone you know.”

Patrick sighed. “I know, Gabe.” His hand made another pass over his jeans and then once over his shirt to smooth out imaginary wrinkles. He was stalling in order to keep from having to have the same conversation he and Gabriel always had when Patrick fell too far into unpleasant musings. “Maybe I’ll find someone to warm my bed for the evening as well.”

Patrick’s gaze met Gabriel’s in the mirror. The look on Gabriel’s face said he was far from convinced, but rather than continue the conversation, he sighed and shook his head giving Patrick a smile with equal parts fondness and annoyance.

“You are hopeless, mate,” Gabriel replied before turning away and walking back through the bedroom door.

Patrick glanced at himself one last time before following his friend.

“I know.”

The throbbing bass was the first sign to Patrick that they had reached their destination. As he and Gabriel walked up to the garish red door, he could already smell the acrid stench of sweat and arousal from the humans who waited eagerly in line. Their obvious desire for entry made him grimace as he dutifully followed Gabriel like a dog obeying its master. He could tell his friend was excited to go in and sink himself into a willing young body, but Patrick would much rather have gone home and sunk himself into a book. The whole idea of the place made him queasy.

“Don’t even think for one second that you will be leaving without me, Patrick,” Gabriel said knowingly. His voice carried no heat, just firmness. He laughed at Patrick’s answering groan before putting a little extra slink into his step. Patrick could hear the uptick in most of the humans’ hearts as their eyes followed his friend appraisingly. Patrick would be lying if he said he didn’t understand the appeal, especially when it came to Gabriel. His friend was over six feet of brunette and lightly muscled goodness. If not for the fact that they’d most likely kill one another, Patrick might have proposed a bond between the two of them.

Patrick ignored the feeling of wanting eyes caressing his own form as they were waved through the door by the security guard. Vampires, of course, got into the club for free while their human counterparts had to pay for entry. Even then, only the most beautiful, or most stupidly eager, could gain access. Patrick thought it was a ridiculous policy, but he wisely kept his thoughts to himself. He’d never actually been thrown out of any vampire owned clubs or outwardly derided for his opinions on how his vampire kin acted towards humans, but it also hadn’t made him any friends. Regardless, he didn’t want to ruin the night for Gabriel, so after descending the steps, he steered his friend towards the bar intent on buying at least the first drink of the evening.

“Bloody hell mate, I’m as horny as a toad!” Gabriel yelled over the deafening music. A few appreciative gazes turned his way.

“Well, let me at least get you one drink before you get assaulted by potential bed pets,” Patrick snorted. He motioned to the bartender, a human he noted, who came over. Patrick’s gaze was immediately drawn to the sight of fresh teeth marks on the man’s neck and he wrinkled his nose in disdain. A soft spicy scent curled around him, but he waved a hand in front of his face to push it away.

“What can I get for you?”

Gabriel jumped in before Patrick could answer. “I’ll have one of those delectable Bloody Mary-Jane’s and my vegetarian mate here will have whatever non-human specialty you have available in this fine establishment.”

The bartender’s eyebrows rose in surprise, gaze flickering over to Patrick’s direction, but he said nothing. Patrick could feel his face heating with shame as the bartender nodded and turned around to prepare their order.

“Gabriel,” he hissed. It wasn’t the first time that Gabriel had publicly outed him as a non-human drinker, but Patrick wasn’t looking forward to dealing with the snickers, whispers or stares from the other vampires around him.

“Relax, mate,” Gabriel said with a wave. “Nobody in here gives two shites about your vegetarian status. They’re all too busy having their own bit of fun; not that you would know anything about that.”

Patrick rolled his eyes, but forced himself to look around. He had to admit that other than a few smirks in his direction, Gabriel was right. All around, people were otherwise engaged with their own pursuits. Some were on the dance floor, bodies writhing sensually to the beat. Others were spread out on red sofas, limbs entwined. There was a heady scent of blood and lust from vampires drinking from the limbs of willing humans and even a few people outright having sex in plain view. Patrick turned his gaze back to the bar as he felt his own cock twitch with interest. Overall it was a dangerous situation for him to be in when it came to maintaining control of his baser urges.

“Overwhelmed?”

Patrick looked up at the deep baritone voice of the bartender. The other man placed the two drinks on the bar pushing one at Patrick and the other in Gabriel’s direction. Patrick reached out and wrapped his fingers around the glass with a grateful smile. He could smell the human blood in Gabriel’s drink, but it was easy enough to ignore. Everything around him was threatening to overwhelm his senses, but Patrick refused to lose control.

“I’m fine.”

The bartender snorted at Patrick’s answer. “Sure buddy.”

Patrick gripped his glass tightly at the disbelief he could hear clearly in the other man’s voice. He was not used to being second-guessed by a human, and he didn’t find that he much liked it either. Gabriel he could deal with. Some random person, he could not.

“I am,” Patrick growled. He looked up at the other man intent on glaring him into submission, but found himself gazing in shock at the handsome face before him. He cursed himself for not taking a much closer look earlier, because the bartender was breathtakingly beautiful.

The bartender was tall, taller even than Patrick’s respectable six feet and a great deal broader in the shoulders than him as well. His hair looked ink dark in the dim light of the club and his lower face was covered with equally dark scruff that made Patrick’s fingers twitch with the need to feel. Plush lips were startling in their perfection as were the burning green-gray eyes that stood out below thick expressive eyebrows.

The man was fucking gorgeous.

“See something you like?”

The question snapped Patrick out of his revelry and he closed his mouth with a click. He hardened his gaze at the other man’s amused smirk. The fucker knew he was attractive and Patrick felt like a fool for being so obvious in his attraction.

“Absolutely not,” he said with a huff. “I’m not a fan of leftovers.”

The man’s amused expression didn’t falter annoying Patrick even further. He scowled and turned to Gabriel, faltering again when he saw an equally amused expression on his friend’s face.

“What?”

Gabriel smirked before throwing his head back and finishing the last of his drink. “Nothing mate.” He licked his lips before placing the glass back on the bar. “Bloody good drink.”

“Literally,” the bartender replied with a barely there smile. His response made Gabriel laugh and Patrick wanted to growl at the idea of the two of them flirting. It was unacceptable.

Gabriel gave one last chuckle before reaching into his pocket to pull out his wallet. Before Patrick could say anything, he slapped a twenty-dollar bill onto the bar. “Keep this tip for being awesome and make this guy pay for everything else I drink for the night.” He pointed at Patrick.

“What the fuck Gabe?”

Gabriel patted Patrick on the cheek, seemingly not at all bothered by Patrick’s frown. “Chill, Pat. Enjoy yourself at least a little bit, I beg of you.” With a final pat, he turned away from the bar and melted into the crowd leaving Patrick standing awkwardly alone.

“Are you actually going to drink that, or should I make you one of what your friend had?”

Patrick huffed before turning back to the bar. “No, this is fine.”

The bartender hummed before moving to the side to take another customer’s order and leaving Patrick to stew in his own thoughts. Patrick wondered what the man would think had he known all of his thoughts were centered on him. Another curl of that enticingly spicy scent curled faintly around Patrick and he looked around to see where it might be coming from. It was difficult to pick out which direction it might be from with the multitude of people. He didn’t think it was a vampiric smell as those were typically sour.

Patrick let his focus wander back to the other man. He was breathtaking to look at. His broad frame was muscular, his arms at least double the size of Patrick’s. He wondered if the other man would be able to hold himself up with one arm as he thrust—

“What’s your name?” Patrick blurted out in time to stop the image threatening to crop up in his brain. The man gave him a look, one eyebrow cocked up as if to say, ‘Seriously?’ It made Patrick want to melt into the floor with embarrassment. Of course the man wouldn’t want to tell Patrick his name. For all he knew, Patrick was just another psychopath who—

“Jacob.”

The rough timber of the other man’s voice made Patrick shiver. He looked up and saw the man, Jacob, grinning as if aware of the direction of Patrick’s thoughts.

“Jacob is…a great name.” Patrick internally groaned at how idiotic he sounded and hid his mortified face behind his hands. The blood from the drink he’d consumed made his cheeks flush hotly especially with the sound of the other man’s laugh.

“My parents thought so too,” Jacob said.

Patrick continued to hide his flaming face until he heard most of the other patrons leave the bar in favor of dancing or engaging in more carnal pursuits. Patrick uncovered his eyes and turned around to once again scan the club. His eyebrows hitched in surprise as they fell on Gabriel practically devouring some nameless guy as they reclined on a couch on the other side of the dance floor. When Patrick focused his hearing, he could hear both men letting out equally pleasured groans.

“Your boyfriend doesn’t waste any time, does he?”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Patrick replied turning away from his lust filled friend and back towards the Adonis that had captured his attention. “We’re just good friends. We’re practically brothers.”