Blood Kisses (Nightwalkers Book 1) (2 page)

"He
is too." Natalie stuck her tongue out at Ashleigh as she checked out the
window for the hundredth time in the past hour. "And stop spreading that
negative energy of yours. You may not want—"

"Whoa
now." Holding up hands that were sporting a freshly painted coat of pink
polish, Ashleigh laughed. "I’m not negative."

"Yes,
you are." Natalie glanced at the clock, which now read eleven-thirty, her fingers
still clinging to the curtains.

"Let’s
go to Club Vix. They have a band I—"

"No,
I want to wait for him to call."

"Who
is
he
, anyway?" Ashleigh reached over and scratched the fat cat
that was sitting on the back of the couch. "Do you even know his name?"

Natalie
turned to Ashleigh sharply, an annoyed tone to her voice. "Nathan."

"Did
you read that on his card?" Ashleigh chuckled as she stood up and
straightened her shirt. "Because if you did, that’d be kinda pathetic."

"He
told me his name. I didn’t read it off his card."

"Well,
I’m leaving. Galaxy is playing tonight. I'd rather listen to some sexy, half-naked
rockers than watch you stalk the window all night." Ashleigh grabbed her
purse, slung it over her shoulder, and walked toward the door. "Are you
coming?" Her voice brightened, "Jonathan was totally checking me out
last week. Let's go see if he gets drunk enough to strip on stage again…or
maybe gets up the nerve to ask me out."

"Fine."
Natalie let out a reluctant sigh as she pulled away from the window. "I
guess we can go to Vix."

"Awesome."
Ashleigh opened the door, making quick, overdramatic hand motions toward it. The
bracelets on her wrists hit each other playfully. She wore a giant, fake smile.
"Then let’s get moving. Come on."

Natalie
grabbed her purse and reluctantly trailed behind Ashleigh out the door. When Ashleigh
stopped to answer her phone, Natalie passed her. She was so absorbed in the
call, she didn’t see the black hummer limo parked across the street. Instead, she
instead started toward her own car.

Stopping near the driver's door, Ashleigh started arguing with the man on
her phone. Natalie grabbed Ashleigh’s arm and pulled her toward the limo. When
she saw it, Ashleigh regarded it suspiciously, but then the man on the phone
said something that took hold of her attention. "I don’t want that. You
said you’d–"

Natalie
was all smiles when she opened the door and saw a carload of very handsome men
sitting in the back. She got in then motioned for Ashleigh to follow.

"Hi."
Natalie’s face was a deep shade of red as she looked at the men, who were all
dressed in designer suits and ties. Though she was a good looking woman and had
her share of handsome dates, these men were from a higher rank than she was
used to.

She
guessed them to be very rich, and from some of their expressions, snobbish as
well. Natalie quickly sat down across from an extremely handsome blond man. He
was eyeing her suspiciously, but his attention quickly turned to Ashleigh, who
hadn’t yet gotten in the car.

"I'm not doing it. Never. Ever." Ashleigh took one look inside
the limo and took two steps back. When she saw Natalie's annoyed expression,
she motioned for her to go on ahead without her. "You go ahead. I can't
go. Something's come up." She turned to leave, but Natalie yanked her arm and
into the limo she went.

Ashleigh
wasn’t checking out the men, instead she glared at Natalie. She was feeling
very out of place, and she wanted to bolt. No one spoke for the first few seconds,
but Natalie soon began trying to strike up a conversation with the man next to
her.

After
taking a quick scan of the gathering, Ashleigh went back to her phone call, her
voice lower now. "What magazine is that?" She waited a few seconds
for the reply. "Ick! No…"

Ashleigh
tried to mask her sour expression as she checked out the men near her, most of
them fiddling with their phones or talking amongst themselves. They weren’t a
very friendly bunch, and even though they had picked up the girls willingly, most
seemed like they wanted nothing to do with them.

"A
vampire fetish? Seriously?" Ashleigh laughed, gazing down at her purse as
she fiddled with a few charms that hung from the zipper. “I read that one too.”

Once
Ashleigh said the word “
vampire
,”
all the men in the car turned to her sharply. Ashleigh didn’t notice. The men’s
reaction concerned Natalie, but she didn’t know how to signal her worry to
Ashleigh.

"Hey."
Sliding forward and sitting on the edge of her seat, Natalie lightly touched
Ashleigh’s knee. "Hang that up."

Ashleigh smiled as she held her hand over the receiver again. "Just
a sec, Nat." She uncovered the phone. "I have to go." She bit
her lip as she gazed out the window. "I'll get that to you next week, I
promise." She hung up and finally noticed the eyes on her. Instead of
engaging in conversation with their owners, she turned to Natalie. "I want
to go to Vix."

"Well, we're not." Natalie sounded nervous.

"So…umm…where are we going?" Ashleigh mustered a fake smile.
"Wanna go to Vix?" When they didn’t answer, she let out a small sigh.
"Well, you’re all a lively bunch."

"Not
yet." The blond man finally spoke, sending her a cocky smile. One of his
eyebrows rose slightly with his upturned expression, his eyes a shining green. He
was very handsome, his eyes on Ashleigh making her quickly avert her gaze.

"Where
are
we going?" Natalie squinted,
trying to see outside the dark-tinted window.

"Tell
me where I can find Ashleigh Brown. Her listed address is a bookstore. I want
to know where she lives." The blond man demanded, his eyes still focused
on Ashleigh. He did not sound friendly, and the girls quickly realized why they
were invited here. "Tell me now."

Ashleigh
swallowed some of the fear that had gathered in her throat, her stare settling
on the fangs that peeked out of the blond man’s mouth when his smile grew. "Ashleigh?"
She looked back at Natalie, who didn’t seem to have noticed the man’s fangs,
but was still afraid.

"If
you lied to us earlier…" The man motioned toward Nathan, who was sitting across
from him. "And if you don’t know her, then you will not be going home
tonight."

"Umm…"
Biting her lip, Ashleigh glanced toward Natalie again, unsure of what to say.

"Of
course we know her." Natalie tried to sound upbeat, but her fear still
showed. "…Right, Mary?"

"Yeah."
Ashleigh sent Natalie an annoyed glare because she had bounced the question
back to her. "I just talked to her today. Why?"

"I
want to meet her." The blond man continued to smile, and Natalie saw his
fangs as well. Her hand quickly went over her mouth as tried to cover her gasp.
Her reaction made the men in the limo snicker.

"She
can set you up with that." Natalie kicked Ashleigh in the leg. "
Can’t
you?"

"Yeah…maybe."
Ashleigh stared down at her purse, her eyes burning into the shiny black fabric.
Her heart was racing, but it wasn't out of fear. An adrenaline pulsed through
her, a great curiosity about these men that she couldn't suppress. "I
probably could. When do you want to meet her?"

"Tonight."
The man’s expression softened a little when he saw her gaze snap to him. The
fear on her face seemed to please him.

"Tonight
might be—"

"Do
you want to go home?" He narrowed his stare, the weight of it too much for
Ashleigh. Her eyes quickly went to Natalie instead.

"Yeah."
Ashleigh's voice shook slightly.

"Tell
me where she is then."

Making
a sour face, Ashleigh gazed down at her feet. She faked a defeated tone. "She’s
at Club Vix."

"Thank
you."

The
ride to the club seemed like an eternity, no one spoke to the girls but talked
happily among themselves.

When
they arrived at the club, the men all filed out and strolled inside. Ashleigh
was walking next to Natalie, heaviness in her gait.

"Where
is she?" The blond man asked once they entered, speaking close to
Ashleigh’s ear because it was hard to hear.

"There."
Ashleigh pointed to a woman standing near the stage. She was hoping to bolt
when she got the chance, but the man had a hold of her shoulder.

"I'll
go ask her." The blond man laughed, his eyes scanning all the women. He glanced
over at Nathan. "Take these ladies to the car. I’m grabbing a drink before
we go."

"Sure,
Spencer." Nathan motioned for them to come with him.

Sitting
down next to Ashleigh back in the limo, Natalie hissed angrily in her ear. "Now
what the hell are we going to do?"

"How should I know?" Ashleigh whispered. "You're the one
that said you knew Victoria. So, it's your fault we're in this."

"It is not."

"Is to."

"Damn it, Ash. Just stop being a little shit, and tell me what we
should do."

"Should I tell them?"

"Are
you nuts?" Natalie nervously looked over at Nathan, who was lazily lounging
in the seat, then back at Ashleigh. "They probably want to murder you or
something for making fun of them in your books…like payback or something."

Ashleigh
was going to respond, but the men filed back into the limo, and she quickly
shut her mouth.

Spencer
sat next Natalie because Ashleigh was sitting by the window. "Hey." He
was now in a livelier mood, his actions a little jumpy as he licked his lips a
few times, even though there was nothing on them. "You." He motioned
for Ashleigh. "Sit next to me."

Ashleigh
quickly switched places with Natalie. She didn’t look up at Spencer, even
though feeling his warm thigh against hers was making her think inappropriate
thoughts. He was like one of her characters, gorgeous and scary, but in real
life, that wasn’t a good thing. A few seconds went by where she fantasized
about him, her mind wandering as she stared down at her knees.

She
saw the lines in her head, the way she would describe his wicked smile and the
way his blond hair was slicked back perfectly. How wonderful he’d look naked. The
thought made a small smile peak at the corner of her lips. Natalie nudged her
leg and broke her out of her inner thoughts. Ashleigh’s eyes slowly met hers.

"I
feel much better." Spencer rested his arm on the back of the seat behind
Ashleigh’s head, her long hair kissing his jacket.

"This
is a joke, right?" Ashleigh looked over at the other men in the limo, but
couldn’t look at Spencer.

"A
joke?" Spencer sent her a stern look, his tongue resting under one of his
fangs, which he was showing off to her.

"
Yes,
a joke." Ashleigh still didn’t look at him, but instead playfully shoved
Natalie. "Real funny, Nat."

"It’s
not a joke, Ash." Natalie wore a very serious expression, her nervous gaze
bouncing over the now perky and energetic vampires in the limo.

"Want
me to bite you?" Spencer’s arm slipped down the seat and wrapped around Ashleigh’s
shoulders, his face leaning close to her neck. "That will change your mind
real fast."

"No,
no." Ashleigh laughed nervously, trying to pull away from him, but he had
a firm grip that she couldn’t budge. "How about we just talk instead?"

"How
about I take a taste of you?" Spencer stayed close to her ear, his other
hand going to rest on her leg.

"That’s
not how it goes. You haven’t made your big introduction yet." Ashleigh was
trying not to let her fear show, her head turning to him. He was wearing a very
sexy smile that felt more intimating than staring into the face of a snarling
bear. Before her eyes got trapped in his, she turned away.

"Ah."
Spencer snickered as he retracted his arm and pulled away. "That will come
when I meet Ashleigh." He smirked when he saw a deep frown settle into
Ashleigh’s features. "Such pleasantries shouldn’t be squandered on
commoners like yourself."

"Wow."
Ashleigh let out a forced breath as she slowly shook her head. "You really
know how to make a woman feel special. You’re going to charm the pants right
off Victoria, if you keep that up."

"How
do you know Victoria even lives here?" Natalie put a calm hand on
Ashleigh’s knee.

"From
a source at her publishing company," Nathan answered.

"She—"
Natalie paused, the bangles around her wrists chiming as she sat forward in her
seat and spoke to Spencer. "Is coming to the store tomorrow, but if you
don’t let us go, then you’ll never get the chance to meet her."

"I
don’t do the hostage thing." Gesturing with his hand, Spencer appeared
annoyed, his crisp, white suit now showing some traces of blood near the bottom
of the sleeve. "And I certainly will not give into anything, so…" He
grabbed Ashleigh by the neck and yanked her toward him. "Tell me where she
is, or I’ll just eliminate both of you and take my search elsewhere."

He
was about to bite her, but the phone in her pocket sounded off with a
trumpeting tune, signaling she had received a text message. "Let me see
that." He pulled away from her and held his hand out. "If she’s your
friend, then you’d have her number."

Shaking
her head, Ashleigh didn’t look at him as she passed him the cell. "I hope
you find what you’re looking for." She glanced over at Natalie. "It’s
probably just Joe anyway."

"Password?"
Spencer nudged her shoulder with her phone, an annoyed tone lining his voice.

“Please?”
Ashleigh waited for him to say it, but when he didn't, she rolled her eyes in
annoyance. She took the phone and typed in her password. "It’s the same on
my computer at home, too." She gave him back the cell, watching him
quickly scroll through her contacts. "It’s the pink one on the coffee
table, if you feel like snooping after you kill us. You’re not going to find
anything on that."