Scarlet Assassin (21 page)

“You need to rest. You’re practically walking in your sleep.”

“We can’t sit in the car. It isn’t safe.” Selene rubbed her eyes and tried to stretch in the cramped space.

“Who would think to look for us sitting in a car, in the parking lot, Selene? I can’t think of a safer place.”

“We’re like sitting ducks here.”

“Relax, we’re fine.” Clarissa rubbed Selene’s hand reassuringly.

Selene was pretty sure Clarissa had been watching the parking lot for AJ. Yet, she hadn’t showed up. Selene hoped that wasn’t bad news, considering AJ had admitted to being at the coven. Butch was a bastard and if De Marcus was involved, it wasn’t good.

Selene pushed her door open and practically spilled onto the floor. Her long frame made it difficult to unfold out of the car.
Why don’t I drive an SUV like everyone else?
She thought as she stretched to her full length.

She held the elevator door for Clarissa. “After you.”

Clarissa’s thin smile let her know she wasn’t thrilled with the change in plans. A few more minutes and she would be sipping a drink, planning how to get De Marcus, and waiting for AJ. Even she didn’t know how long that would take, so best to settle in for the next few hours.

“Boss,” Jax said when he spotted her exiting the elevator.

“Shit.” She realized she’d pushed the club button and not the button for her private floor. It was habit to hit the club first to check things out. “Jax.”

“Clarissa, how are you? You look beautiful.” Jax walked casually to Selene and Clarissa.

“Hello again, Jax.” Clarissa started to take the offered hand, but it was quickly withdrawn.

Jax opted instead for a kiss to the cheek. “Great to see you again, Love. To what do we owe this visit so soon?

Selene watched the exchange between the two, and if she didn’t know better she would say Jax had a crush on Clarissa. Good thing AJ wasn’t there, he’d be carrying his head in his hands right about now.

“Jax, I want you to take Clarissa downstairs and make sure she stays safe.”

“Is there a problem?” Concern laced his voice.

“Nothing I can’t handle.”

“You got it.” He turned to Clarissa and said, “It would be my pleasure to watch over this delicate little flower.”

“Hold up there, Don Juan.” Selene whispered in his ear. “If you lay a finger on her, you’ll lose it and probably the hand that it’s attached to, so don’t touch.”

“No worries,” Jax said. Before he left he tossed his head towards the club. “I think you better check out the club, got a few visitors you might want to see.”

Selene surveyed the crowded room, the men were three thick at the bar and the testosterone was flying as each of the guys tried to outdo the rest with his leather, his pocket swag, or the variety of metal accoutrements sticking out in various places, be it face, clothing or skin.

“Who are you talking about?” Selene turned only to find Jax and Clarissa gone. “Great.”

Selene felt like she’d lost a day somewhere finding herself exactly where she was only the day before. She and Clarissa had talked in the car for hours, debating where they should wait for AJ and then there was the meeting Ian and now back to the club. Time, while fleeting always seemed to slip past Selene. She need to sleep, rest her mind and meditate on what she would do next.

Selene walked to the bar and held up two fingers to the bartender who nodded in acknowledgement. Her mind was with Clarissa and Jax as she took a sip of her drink. While she knew she didn’t have anything to worry about, being on guard wasn’t something she could turn off. She knew if De Marcus wanted to enter the club, he’d find a way or send in a patsy to case the place. Maybe he already had. She had no way of knowing but better to assume it had happened than be surprised.

She hated nights like this, the smell of sweaty men looking to get lucky with either gender made for a rougher than normal crowd sometimes. Not necessarily physically rough,
but the peacock are pruning
, she thought as she watched the men jockey for positions around the available women in the bar. The show had ended over an hour ago, but the effects were lasting.

The Bears in leather harnesses and pants, stalked the room. Tops looking for bottoms. Patrons flagging their particular fetish, mixed with vanilla’s just in the club to see what all the fuss was about. Fewer women populated the regular nights, opting for the newbie and ladies nights. Selene had constructed the ladies nights as a safe zone where women could experience the scene without the hawkish nature men brought to the club. A huge success she was proud of deep down inside, though she wouldn’t voice it to anyone.

Making her way upstairs to a better vantage point, she pushed through the stinky, sweating leathers with hard-ons. A man who didn’t know better slapped her ass as she passed by. In a flash she turned with a growl, grabbed him by the throat, and pushed his up against another man.

“If you put your hands on another woman without her permission, I’ll rip your throat out. Got it?” Selene let her fingers dig gently into his soft skin. The urge to snap his neck had to be controlled, so she pushed him back against his buddies. They stared in amazement watching Selene pick him up off his feet just a few inches. “Understand?”

Her grip barely allowed him to nod his acceptance.

“Good, now get the fuck out of my club.”

Setting him down, her eyes could’ve bored a hole right through him. Selene smiled at the hum surrounding him when she walked away. She liked it when men underestimated her. She liked it even more when she could put them in their place. It wasn’t men she hated, just assholes and she hadn’t met many who weren’t.

Climbing the stairs to her lair, she passed couples in various stages of intimacy. Finally, she had to tap one couple who would get her license revoked if they went much further.

“Get a room, this isn’t going to happen out here in the hall,” Selene whispered in the man’s ear.

He turned and glared at her, then his eyes went wide in the realization of who told her to move on. He was a regular, who knew her by reputation and he did exactly as he was instructed. Grabbing his liaison’s hand, he pulled her with him so fast the poor woman practically stumbled in his haste to get away from the menace Selene imposed. Closing the door to her private vantage point, she turned her attention to the floor below. She hated babysitting the crowd, but Jax had alluded that someone she knew was out there. Craning her neck through the window that enclosed the office she looked to her left across the floor–nothing. Turning right—still nothing. Just before pulling herself back into the office, she caught sight of platinum blond hair.

Francesca danced below her. A brunette swayed around her and then turned and flirted with a dark haired man positioned so close their bodies shared a passing glance. The brunette turned back around and let her body flirt with Francesca again.

Something inside Selene wanted to possess Francesca again, but if she did Francesca would never experience life the same, see it the same way or live it alive as she knew it today. She owned Francesca, or did Francesca own her? Selene wished she’d hadn’t taken Francesca’s virginity. They would forever be linked through blood, a weaker, but similar bond to what Clarissa and AJ shared. Virginal blood was that potent. Staying her distance would keep Francesca an innocent heart. Selene detached from her emotions, it was better that way for both of them.

Friendship wasn’t an option either. Selene’s friendships were all superficial, surface level and nothing beyond skin deep. She didn’t have intimate, lingering moments. This was her creed. The heart attaches to nothing leaving no room for pain. She’d live long past those relationships. Filling the void with a temporary fix filled the void just long enough to stop the cravings. But all cravings returned. So did the void.

The crowded room pulsed with the music, the thumping, pounding vibrations became almost primal as the dancers swayed against each other. Without knowing, someone watching the experience for the first time would assume it was a ritualistic, cultural dance culminating in a mass mating cabal. Selene’s palms were sweating, her heart raced, but she couldn’t turn away from the vision. Francesca was throwing off pheromones like crazy. Anyone in the vicinity was being hit with them and Selene was hyper-sensitive to Francesca after their last experience together. That sacred virginal blood had sealed their fates. Selene scanned the crowd and picked up something from a man standing off on the periphery of the crowd. He was laser-focused on Francesca and started to thread his way through the crowd straight for her. The hair on the back of Selene’s neck stood.
Danger
. She didn’t pick up any vampire vibes off the guy. He was a drunk with one thing on his mind,
her
Francesca. He stood behind an unsuspecting Francesca, grabbed her arm, and spun her around. He wrapped her in an embrace and tried to kiss her. The crowd eased back, sensing a moment was about to happen. They clapped, egging the man on, as his hands traveled around Francesca’s body.
Kiss, kiss, kiss
. Francesca tried to push him off, but in his drunken state, it was like pushing pudding around with a spoon.

Selene launched herself through the window, landing behind the man. The crowd widened, giving her more room to work on the asshole. As she grabbed his arm, she kicked him behind the knee to knock him backwards. Wrapping her arm around his neck as he fell, she choked him out and dropped him to the floor. At the snap of her fingers, a giant of a man quickly ran to her and slung the drunk over his shoulder.

“Get his ass out of here.”

“You got it boss.” He lumbered off the dance floor and out the front door.

“Selene,” Francesca whispered, rubbing her arm.

“Are you hurt?”

Selene’s gaze roamed over Francesca, looking for any sign of a bruise. Her mind raced in Francesca’s presence. Every thought consumed by doing exactly what the drunk had done, only with a little more finesse.

“Well, who do we have here?” The brunette from earlier butted in, and stood next to Francesca.

“Oh, um, Daphne, Selene. Selene, Daphne.” Francesca stared at Selene.

“Nice to meet you, I’ve heard so much about you. You’ve made quite an impression on my friend and I can see why. Very heroic, jumping down from up there. Are you okay?” Daphne had the clear sense to stay where she was, Selene noticed.

“I’m quite fine, thank you.” Selene turned her attention towards Francesca. Her mind could only focus on her want, her need to be close to Francesca. “Are you okay?”

“Thank you, I’m fine,” Francesca colored with embarrassment as Selene’s fingertips ran down her arms.

It was an intimate moment shared on a crowded dance floor. The crowd started its routine again, ignoring the three women standing in the center.

“Well, I’ll just leave you ladies to your dancing. Sorry to interrupt.”

Without another word, Selene turned and pushed her way off the dance floor. If she stayed any longer and she would scoop Francesca off to her room and change both their lives forever.

“Hey, you’re not going to just let her get away are you? She’s a hottie, girl.”

Selene heard Daphne whisper the encouragement, which only caused her to speed up her pace to the back.

A tap on Selene’s shoulder stopped her, but she didn’t turn around. She didn’t have to. She knew who was behind her. Francesca.

****

Francesca stood close enough to Selene to smell her, and a flash back to their last time together unsettled her instantly. She wanted to reach out and pull her back, hell she just wanted to touch her.

“Selene…” Something in the air felt odd. The tension was laced with electricity and excitement. Each woman stood almost frozen by the contact, afraid to move forward and break the contact or turn and face what each knew they wanted. “Can we talk, please?” Francesca’s voice trembled.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, do you?”

“Actually, I don’t know what’s happening to me. I’m captivated by you like I’ve never been captivated by someone before. I can’t seem to get you out of my mind. I mean…well…I just mean that I’ve been thinking and wondering if—”

“Let me save you the trouble,” Selene said, turning towards Francesca pulling her out of the flow of traffic through the club. “What happened last night can’t happen—”

Francesca moved closer to Selene, unable to control her thoughts, her body, she raised up on the tips of her toes and pulled Selene down for a kiss. Her mouth opened slightly, the tip of her tongue flicked out and traced Selene’s lips. Selene lifted her off her feet and grabbed her so tight she thought she might pass out. Light-headed from the contact, she fell deeper into the kiss. Their tongues dueled and their hands gripped more tightly. Francesca felt somehow as if Selene was giving her a last kiss. The urgency couldn’t be denied and yet she wasn’t letting go, not yet.

Feeling her feet on the floor, Francesca pulled back slightly and looked down. All reason inside shattered, replaced by desire, lust or whatever made someone want another so badly they would do anything to have them. These emotions were unfamiliar to Francesca. Her logical mind told her to step back and walk—no run away, but that part of her mind was slowly receding. Urgency took over.

Selene tipped her chin up and their eyes met. From the deep recesses of her mind she could almost hear Selene warning her off, while Selene reached around and pressed Francesca’s hips against her own. The gentle pressure sent a spike of pleasure from Francesca’s clit to her nipples, each hardening at the contact. Suddenly feeling lightheaded, she rested her head on Selene’s shoulder and took a slow, deep breath. Scent brought back memories again.

“I’m sorry,” Francesca whispered as she pushed her hand under Selene’s coat and stroked her ribs.

With a quick intake of breath, Selene pulled Francesca tighter against her body. Responding to the signal as permission, Francesca slid her hand under Selene’s shirt to glide around her back, pulling her closer, too. She slipped her hand down and felt a firm, round ass flinch under her touch. Her only thought, press on.