Waiting in the Wings (Soulgirls) (10 page)

They were all on their way to or arriving from somewhere. They knew who they were, who they were with and what they were doing.

“Kris—Kiki?”

“Shh.” She shook head, unwilling to talk yet. A vampire. She was a vampire. How the hell did a person forget that?
How did I forget? I love vampires…
Was that the key though? Or at least the reason for her passion for all things vampire? She loved them all—regardless of their mythology or abilities. Give a character a pair of fangs, a lust for blood and some sexy times, and she was all in.

Because I am one? I don’t drink blood…

They were inside the casino proper, just strolling arm in arm with their little entourage fanning out behind them. She barely noticed the blinking lights, soft sighs of disappointment or quivers of excitement rippling through the players they passed. Every one of the dancers came from somewhere. Some remembered, while some chose to forget. She didn’t know any other life.

She’d awoken that first day in her cell, and Heidi had introduced her to the dancers, and she went to work. It was what she did.

Night in and night out.

For fifty years…eighteen thousand nights…and I never really wondered why I didn’t remember. I didn’t care.
Troubled, she ran her tongue against her upper teeth. The flat surfaces didn’t provide any answers. She explored her gum line, and despite the faint aching throb, no fangs popped out or descended or whatever the hell they actually did. Richard stopped abruptly, and she glanced up from her inner musings to see a blond gentleman blocking their path.

The tension flaring in the space between the two men was palpable. Glancing from Richard to the stranger and back again, Kiki gave him a nudge. “We can go around.”

“No. He can.” Richard rubbed her hand where it rested gently on his arm.

“Or you could introduce me.” The blond man took a step forward. Kiki didn’t see so much as feel Richard’s bodyguards close the gap behind them. Suppressed violence rippled through the air.

“She doesn’t need to know you.” The politeness in his tone didn’t conceal the disdain—or the dismissal.

“And maybe she would like to make that determination for herself.” Considering they both referred to her like she wasn’t present, she tugged her hand free from Richard’s arm and held it out to the blond. “Kiki.”

“Charming, Kiki. I am Andrew and very pleased to make your acquaintance.” He cupped her hand, his cool touch trailing ice over her fingers and, like Richard before him, brushed a kiss to her knuckles. But unlike Richard, his gaze didn’t lift to her so much as taunt the vampire at her side.

“Not sure how pleased I am, Andy.” She took her hand back. The undercurrent flowing between the two teamed with antagonism. “Please excuse us, we were off to—”

“I’m sorry, my dear. I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Andrew straightened, and three other vampires drifted out from next to the slot machines and tables to form a semi-circle behind him.

“Are you really planning to break your own word here, Andrew?” Richard’s laconic tone was a lie. Steel, finely honed and razor sharp, slid along the bottom of his words.

“
Tsk tsk
, Richard. Your paranoia is showing. I’m actually here by invitation to greet the new lead dancer of the Midnight Mystery Lounge.” The blond vampire edged closer, and Kiki pinned him with a glare.

“Seriously? You’ve never greeted a lead dancer in all the years I’ve been here.” Jeannie would have said something. Pandora’s often-requested presence among the high rollers was common knowledge. Anthony, however, was wildly possessive of Roseâtre, and despite the pricks of envy Kiki felt for Pandora and Roseâtre’s success and happiness, she never longed for their mates.

“You rarely venture out so publically unless you’re playing, Kiki. You wouldn’t know. And Pandora arrived here long before you did. I dined with her after her first night taking lead—didn’t I, Stan?” Andrew looked past them both to the guardian.

The salt-and-pepper haired man gave the vampire a bored look. “Do not invite me into this game of bait-and-switch. You are making the other casino guests uncomfortable.”

He wasn’t wrong. Several players at the local slot machines gathered their coins and moved away. In fact, they and their respective guards were virtually alone in the alley created by the slot machines.

“Boring man, really. I don’t know why that stage manager keeps you around.” Andrew dismissed him with a wave of his hand. “So, Miss Kiki—if you will join me, we can discuss your performance.”

“Hmm, no.” She shook her head. The subtext flying back and forth irritated her, but beyond that, she wanted to spend the time with Richard.

The other vampire didn’t seem to take the hint, reaching out to take her arm and tugging her forward. Richard’s hand caught his wrist before she moved an inch, and the potential for violence stormed through the gathering. The bodyguards surged forward on all sides.

“Release her.” Richard’s words collided with Stan’s. Guns appeared in the guards hands, and an actual sword blade pressed into Andrew’s throat—and she was sandwiched between them all—the bone about to be pulled apart.

Shadows surrounded them, pressing in from all sides. Andrew released her immediately, and Richard drew her back as a shifter—because nothing human was as large as the man—stepped between them.

“Problem?” His voice was a growl, low and menacing.

“Yes.” Kiki announced before Richard could shush her or anyone else could speak. The man turned to look at her. Wild heat burned in a pair of yellow eyes.

Wolf.

Her nostrils flared.
Wolf.
She didn’t question how she knew. At this point, she was just going to roll with it.

“What is the problem, ma’am?” The wolf offered her a polite, if somewhat feral, smile.

“That vampire assaulted me.” She pointed at Andrew. “Apparently he thinks that just because I star in a show, he has the right to manhandle me. Richard and Stan were defending me.”

The wolf flicked a look from her to the guardian and Richard and then slowly turned to face Andrew. “You have no authority here, Prince. You realize that, right?”

“You have no authority out there either, dog, but I allow you to do your job.” The blond straightened and arrogance flowed over him like some dramatic cape.

“Fantastic. Then you’re really going to appreciate this.” The shadows converged on Andrew and his party and escorted them away.

Kiki bit her lip when her gaze clashed with Andrew’s cold one. This wasn’t over.

The wolf shifted, blocking the vampire’s line of sight and looked at her again. “You should return to your theatre. It might be safer there.”

“I feel perfectly safe now.” She dredged up a smile.
What a completely insane night.
“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He ignored Richard and nodded to the guardian before striding after his men. “Stan.”

The bubble of tension burst with their exit and allowed the sounds of the casino to rush back in. Exhaling a shaky sigh, she looked at her wrist and sighed. A bruise matching Andrew’s fingers blackened her flesh.
Dammit.

“Are you hurt?” Richard lifted the damaged arm to look at critically.

“No, not really. It’s just ugly.” Maybe she should go back before more trouble occurred. Go back, drink and try to figure out what the hell was going on.

“Why don’t we go upstairs? I know you wanted to walk around, but we can be comfortable, and you won’t have to worry about any other incidents.” A reasonable alternative, and she didn’t want to leave him. Or did she?

Haven’t I already left him? Left him so hard and so long I forgot…
Pivoting on a heel, she looked at Stan. “Do you remember when I arrived at the casino? The first time?” Because she had to have visited the Arcana Royale to be trapped here—that made sense. Maybe the first thing to make sense since Heidi announced she would be dancing lead in Roseâtre’s absence.

“Yes.” Stan nodded slowly.

“Do you know what happened to me?” She tried to read his expressions, but his absolute neutrality revealed nothing.

“I do.”

Hope swelled within. “Will you tell me?”

“No.” No explanation, no terseness, just a simple, kind no.

“But you have to. Heidi won’t tell me. Richard doesn’t know.”

“I’m sorry.” The contrition sounded real but hardly helped her situation.

“Don’t be sorry—tell me!”

Richard’s arm wrapped around her middle and pulled her back to his chest. The strength in the embrace warmed and enveloped her in security. “Sweetheart, he may not be able to tell you. As Minion was not able to give you the answers you crave. I think we are on our own in this, and it is up to us to solve the puzzle.”

A flicker of a nod from Stan confirmed the vampire’s words, and Kiki sighed. “Fine. I hate this.”

“You are not alone. I swear that to you—you will never be alone again. We will figure this out. Together.”

The promise helped, but it didn’t take away the feeling that she should know all of these answers. She should understand why this happened. Sadness crashed through her—it was her debut night, and instead of celebrating and dancing with her girls, she stood out in the middle of the casino amidst a sea of strangers—alone.

Richard pressed the gentlest of kisses to the side of her neck. The intimate little caress sent another spiral of light to battle the darkness filling her.

No, she wasn’t alone.

“Okay, upstairs.” Despite agreeing with the idea, disappointment unfurled inside of her. She wanted to play and to celebrate. But even the walk to the elevators dragged, sedate and controlled. Stan rode up with them, but like the two guards, he remained outside when she and Richard entered the suite.

She walked three steps inside and turned. “Look, I don’t know where to start—” But Richard’s mouth slanted over hers in a hungry kiss that curled her toes. She forgot about thinking and wrapped her arms around his neck. His hands roamed over her body, and the banked excitement from the performance burst free.

Okay, this was a good place to start.

Chapter Seven

Rubbing against him, she kissed him harder and moaned as his hands pushed the dress down. The cotton and silk body sheath hugged her curves, but provided no real barrier to his touch. Never breaking the kiss, she fumbled her way to freeing the buttons on his shirt, ripping the fabric apart and sending them flying. Bare-chested, they kissed, exploring a passion that threatened to consume her.

What a way to go…

He swept her up, and her legs wrapped around his hips. He carried her through the apartments, tongues tangling together. Every step rubbed his cock against the sensitive folds of her sex. His fingers explored every contour of her hips and ass, gliding up and down her spine. She didn’t know who she had been, but tonight she was the woman who wanted him.

Badly.

He set her down on the bed gently, as though she were the most precious of items. She arched her hips up, eager to feel him thrusting inside her, but he pressed her back against the bed and trailed kisses down her throat to her breasts. His tongue outlined delicate circles against her flesh, tracing each nipple, sucking off the pasted diamonds until she thought she might go mad from the caress.

He worked his way across her belly, warm breath teasing her skin. His hands pressed her thighs wider. Pushing up onto her elbows, she glanced down to meet his gaze as he blew warm air against her clit. A whimper clawed its way up her throat.

She wanted him.

Needed
him.

He flicked his tongue over her clit, and she let her head fall back, closed her eyes and moaned. Decadent pulses of heat skated up from the lavish contact. Every time he rolled the little nub, her body shook from the force of it. The sweet, sensuousness was familiar, as were the lazy circles he drew around her clit. She expected his fingers, and when he slipped two inside her to thrust gently, the world shattered in pleasure.

He sucked her clit between his lips and plunged her relentlessly toward orgasm. She dug her fingers into the bed and let go, riding his hands and mouth until the world completely rent apart and collapsed. Richard petted her through the orgasm, running his hands up and down her over-sensitized flesh, eliciting more tingles of rapture. He knew her body better than she did.

The little stab of resentfulness popped the balloon of sin she basked in. A growl vibrated in her throat, and she wrenched herself free of his caresses and rolled him over. Straddling his hips, she wrapped her hand around his cock and stroked him from base to tip, watching him.

A lazy, wanton smile curved his lips upward. He trailed two fingers against her cheek. “What do you want, darling?”

“I want you. I want to know you the way you know me.” She dragged her nails down his chest, leaving three red welts on the taut muscle. She rolled her thumb against the crown of his cock, spreading the dampness over the tip. Her teeth ground together—

She wanted to bite him.

But she had no fangs.

He sat up, catching her mouth in a hard kiss and working their lips together until her jaw relaxed. Another moan worked free, and she guided his cock to her entrance, rubbing him against her sex until they were both soaked and panting. He pushed her hands aside and positioned himself, thrusting into her in one swift stroke that left her gasping for air. He clamped his hands on her hips and seated himself deep inside—and then stopped moving.