The Turning (19 page)

“Kelly, you are audacious and daring,” Julie praised, trying to hide her smile, “and I love it!” I laughed, as I took her hand to lead her through some of the people dancing but not so far in we couldn’t see our table.

“Okay, show me what you got, girl.” I waited to find out what I’d gotten myself into. It was worse than I could ever have imagined. She had absolutely no rhythm and looked like a robot though I knew she wasn’t trying to. “You have to feel the music. Just go with it and don’t worry about what you look like.”

She got a little better after I said that, but I thought it was time for drastic measures, so I took her hands and got her to move with me. Once she felt how I was moving to the music, she got worlds better. I figured she’s spent so many years mimicking what humans do, she could follow pretty well.

We started getting really into it, and I knew we looked good doing it too. I felt a hand go around my waist and looked to see if it was Brian, but it was just another guy. Someone started to dance with Julie. She was holding her own so I turned to face the guy I was dancing with. I looked over his shoulder to find our dates watching us, which made me smile.

The guy put his hand on my waist again, and I had my hand on his shoulder. The song ended and I thanked him and turned back to Julie, but then he smacked my ass. I turned back to confront him. “What are you doing, you jerk?”

“It looked like it needed a good smack,” he answered as he waggled his eyebrows at me. Yeah, that would
totally
get him in my bed. Douche.

“Not for you to decide,” I growled as I punched him in the shoulder. “Don’t touch me again, asshole.” As I went back to Julie, I saw, out of the corner of my eye, my dance partner lifted off his feet. Of course, it was Brian. “Brian, let him go. I handled it.” I looked him right in the eyes, and I could see his anger just building. “Brian, let him go.” Finally he did and grabbed my arm and dragged me off. “What are you doing?”

“Getting you off the dance floor,” he yelled. “Why were you dancing with him?”

“Brian, we were just dancing. It was harmless!”

“Well obviously he didn’t think so.” I dug in my heels and made him stop or he would have had to drag me. He turned and his frown got even deeper that I was resisting his will.

“Don’t do this, Brian. It was no big deal and I handled it. I yelled at him and slugged him. We all know it happens at clubs because guys can be jerks, okay?” I put my hand on his chest. “Please, stop. I know you said be patient and you’re new to this but every situation cannot be drama if we’re going to make something here.”

“You are right and I am sorry. I just do not like some guy touching you like that.”

“I know. I didn’t either, but you have to trust I can take care of it, okay?” He nodded and we went back to the table where everyone was eying us to see if we were all right. We sat and watched Julie dancing with the guy I had left her with, and she was doing well. I had another drink, which went down real smoothly.

“You awoke something in Julie I think,” Andre joked. “God knows she needed to let loose.” After the song ended, Julie came back to the table and asked if everything was all right, smacking Andre upside the head which he didn’t seem ready for.

Guess our hearing got even better with age.

“Yeah, everything’s good, Jules. That guy just got a little fresh with me and my loving man was trying to protect me,” I assured her. “I handled it, but I think the bouncers threw him out. You seemed to be enjoying yourself out there. Did you get that guy’s number?”

“I was enjoying myself very much, and no, I did not even get his name. It was exhilarating!” Julie waived to the waiter for another carafe. “Anyone up for some gambling?” I was going to say no, but everyone else said yes right away, so I picked up my drink and followed them.

We ended up at the craps table and Brian leaned into me. “Do you want to play, my love?”

“No, thank you. I don’t even know how to play the game, and I’ve had a drink too many to risk losing money,” I told him.

“It is just for fun, Kelly. You should never worry about losing,” Brian replied almost as if trying to teach me something.

“That’s why I don’t gamble. I was always taught to only gamble what you can afford to lose, and I don’t have any money I can afford to lose,” I said, laughing off his tone. He handed me a stack of his chips, but I shook my head. “Losing my money would be bad. Losing yours would make me feel guilty as hell.”

He tried again, smiling at me that it was okay, but I shook my head and he dropped it. I loved him for being so generous, but at least he caught on eventually and let it go.

Holy shit!
Love? Aww, crap, I really don’t need to fall in love with the vamp that turned me.
No, I wasn’t going to think about that tonight. It was my night to celebrate and have fun, and that’s what I was going to do dammit!

Everybody seemed to be winning except Andre. His chips were decreasing while everyone else’s pile looked bigger. I just kept drinking. I was on at least drink five by then, and enjoying myself. It seemed someone in our group was always handing me a fresh drink. I really was the focus of tonight’s fun!

Before I realized what I was doing, I was rubbing Brian’s ass. He turned to look at me. “Yes, my darling?”

“Oh, sorry I was just seeing if it felt as good as it looked, my bad.”

Brian laughed his deep sexy one. “And your findings?”

“It’s even better,” I purred with my evil smile. “Babe, will you dance with me later?”

“I cannot dance,” he said, glancing back at the game.

“Kelly taught me,” Julie challenged him from across the craps table. “She can teach anyone.” She winked at me, letting me know she was trying to help me out.

Brian caught on and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Anything you wish, my love.”

“I’m going to run to the bathroom real quick. I’ll be right back.” Julie grabbed her chips and joined me.

When we got a little further away from the speakers, she bent towards me. “That is what girlfriends do, right? They go to the bathroom together?”

“Yes, but they don’t have to. I just wanted to check my makeup, and give Brian a chance to miss me.” We laughed and went in, my makeup was a little smudged from sweating and so was Julie’s. I showed her how to run a tissue under her eyes so it gets rid of the smudge without messing up the rest of it. She gave me a kiss on the cheek to show her appreciation. After helping her re-hide her bra strap, we walked back to the guys.

We were still a good distance away when I saw this brunette I’d never met before hanging all over Brian. “Come on, handsome,” the girl was saying, “I know you want to go home with me. I saw you looking at me while I was dancing.”

He grabbed her arm and took it off him. “I am here with a date, and I was not watching you. I was watching her.”

“Oh, Brian, she can’t do for you what I can do!” She knew his name—that was interesting. “You don’t want some newbie. I’m over three hundred years old, and you wouldn’t believe how I taste.”

“I do not care if she is a newbie, she is who I want.” He adjusted his neck and I almost smirked. Good to know he didn’t just have a short temper with me.

“I saw her and she’s not half as good looking as I am. I’m damn sure she can’t even come close to being as good in bed.”

Before Brian could open his mouth, I had reached the table. “She’s also not half as desperate and trashy as you are either. You’re in my spot,” I said in a tone that brokered no debate about it.

“Walk away, newbie. Let the adults talk here. You should also learn to respect your elders,” she snarled back at me.

“Respect is earned, and from the way you look, I’m sure you earned everything you own laying on your back. Now move out of my spot or I will move you,” I snapped back. Brian reached out to pull me to him, but she was quick and grabbed his hand. “Don’t touch my date.”

“What are you going to do about it, fat ass?” she said, laughing. I grabbed her hand and twisted her wrist so fast I heard it snap. “You bitch, I’m going to kick your ass!”

Brian went to step in, but Julie was too fast. “Do you know who I am?”

“Yes, M-Ms. Drake, I-I do,” she stammered.

“What is your name?” Julie asked with such authority that I was in awe.

“Melinda Davis, ma’am.”

“Well, Melinda, then I assume you know my position?”

“Yes, Ms. Drake, you are the elder of North America,” she responded, her voice shaking.

“Then you know that I could decapitate you with my finger and not even be brought up on charges, right?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Then, Melinda, I suggest you apologize to my friend Kelly here before I decide that is what I want to do. You will stay away from Brian, as I was the one who turned him, and never step foot in the club ever again. Are we understood?”

“Yes, Ms. Drake,” she said and turned to me with vengeance in her eyes. “Sorry.” Just like that she was gone.

“Wow, Jules, even I was intimidated by you. Thanks, I appreciate that. I didn’t want to ruin another dress.” I gave her a big hug. “Can you teach me how to sound that authoritative? It will come in useful when I’m an attending.”

“You are welcome, my dear. She was way out of line. And yes, we can work on making you drip with power,” Julie chuckled smoothly. We all turned towards the gaming table, and the boys placed their bets.

Brian leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Which one of us was the jealous one there?”

“Honey, I wasn’t jealous. She was all over you, and I know you’d never hit a girl. So I was just going to do it for you,” I corrected with a smirk. “I did hear what you said about me, and I was very happy with your responses when I wasn’t even around.”

“Every word is truly how I feel, and I appreciate you stepping in and wanting to help me. It is nice when someone wants to help you out and take care of you,” he said with that sly smile that melted my heart.

“Point taken, Brian,” I conceded and put his arm around me. In my mind helping him so he didn’t have to hit a girl was slightly different than paying off half a million in student loans, but I understood the point he was making. I waited for a while longer as they played and cheered, but started to get bored. I wasn’t really sure what to do, and I was pretty much half in the bag, so I tugged on his sleeve. He looked at me and I asked, “How much longer are you guys going to play?”

“Everyone seems to be having fun. I am not sure, why?” He looked me over, trying to figure out what I was thinking.

“No reason, I was just curious,” I said, feeling like I was just standing there doing nothing but holding up the table as if it was a wall in my joke. I watched the girls dance up on the blocks that had the poles, and wished I could learn how to do that. It would be so much fun, not to have people watching me, of course, but being able to move and be confident like that. I moved out from under Brian’s arm and wandered off, wondering what else the club had to offer.

I saw a doorway that had hanging beads covering it and walked in to check it out. Everything was partitioned off like cells with curtains covering them. I figured people were behind the curtains and they were there for privacy. I walked along the corridor to find an empty room. Finally I got to one where the curtain wasn’t closed, but there were people in there.

A redhead, probably a little older than I was, held a whip. Then I saw the naked redhead she was with, his wrists hand-cuffed by shackles from the ceiling. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I wanted to leave, but I seemed to be frozen where I stood. She rotated between whipping him, biting him, and licking him all over his body. When she saw me, she asked, “Do you want to join in?”

“Umm, no, thank you. Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” I mumbled and finally got my legs to work. I walked back towards the beads and out through them, wondering why that was attractive to anyone. I grabbed another drink from the bar, putting it on Julie’s tab, wondering how many that was for me. I didn’t need much excitement, but spending hours watching other people gamble was about as exciting as watching paint dry.

All of a sudden someone wrapped their arms around me. “Hey, baby, are you lost?”

“No. I’m not,” I growled, slipping out of his grasp and turning around to see Andre. “You jerk.” I gave him a playful slug. “You scared the shit out of me!”

He was laughing so hard at me I hoped he hurt himself. “I saw you wander off, bored, and watched you walk into the pleasure chamber and was curious if that’s how you took your action?”

“No way. I’m vanilla compared to that,” I snickered. “Are you done gambling?”

“Yep, not feeling it tonight. You want to dance?”

“You mean you ran out of money?”

“Basically,” he agreed. “So is that a yes for the dancing?”

“Sure, why not? Brian seems to be more interested in the game than me. It got really boring watching them all gamble.” He grabbed my arm and escorted me to the dance floor. There was a slower song, which seemed odd for this type of place, but I guess they were trying to mix things up. Andre spun me around the floor. He was handsome to say the least, but my thoughts kept running back to Brian.

Just then someone tapped Andre’s shoulder. “May I cut in?” Brian asked. Andre nodded to him, kissed my hand, and walked away as Brian took my hand and put his arm around my waist.

“Well, my dancing partner just greatly improved. I’m very lucky it seems,” I raved with a big smile.

“I am glad you think so. I heard what you said to Andre. Why did you not tell me you were bored?”

“Shit, I always forget how you all can hear. I don’t know, you seemed to be having fun, and I didn’t want to ruin it,” I mumbled, looking down.

“Kelly, I am here to spend time with you, not for any other reason. I enjoy everyone else, but I have known them for centuries. You and I just met, and this is your night, my love, whatever you want to do, we will.”

“Whatever?” I asked slyly. “Because there’s a back room with some chains and handcuffs.”

He started laughing but then leaned in and gave me a kiss that made me weak in the knees. The song ended and went back to normal club music. I grabbed his hand before he could sneak away. He wasn’t as bad as Julie, but he definitely hadn’t danced in the last several decades. I turned around so my back was against his chest and put his hands on my hips with mine over them.