Lover's Kiss (3 page)

Penny smiled and nodded. Beth clapped her hands and let out a squeal of joy that was genuine. Beth bounced off the desk and gave Penny a hug that had her pressing her breasts into her partner's shoulder and face. Both men leaned forward with wide eyes.

Penny returned the hug and stood up. "Gentlemen, I understand this is a rough estimate, but I'll expect a formal estimate by tomorrow night? Stop by the club and drop it off."

Mr. Donavon nodded. "We can manage that, I think."

"I bet," Beth said and winked. Crispin's cheeks flushed but he didn't stop staring at her chest.

"Please, enjoy yourselves tonight. Let us get you some drinks," Penny offered.

"We should probably get to work drawing up the quote," Mr. Donavon said.

Beth pouted, "Are you sure one little drink won't hurt you?"

Crispin nudged his partner. Mr. Donavon chuckled and nodded. "One drink never hurt anybody."

"Then you haven't been drinking the right thing," Beth teased as she led the way out of the office and back to the bar. She put the extra bounce in her step that kept both men silent and anxious to follow her. Peaches was on the stage, a slender white girl with a bobbed strawberry blond haircut that made her look cute enough to eat. She wondered if the contractors would be distracted by the dancer or remain focused on her ass. A glance over her shoulder proved that they seemed fascinated by the mystery of her bikini cut denim shorts over the g-string Peaches was flashing around.

Beth slipped behind the bar and was joined by Penny. Candy looked at them but Penny shook her head, letting the bartender know she was taking care of things. Penny turned to the construction men and asked, "What can I get you boys?"

"Bud Lite," Crispin was quick to suggest.

"The same," Donavon said.

Beth turned to the beer fridge and knelt down to open it. She knew both men were watching her over the top of the bar and knew they had a view that would earn both men a divorce if their wives found out. She took her time finding the beers and turned to hand them to Penny.

Penny took them and twisted the tops off. She glanced at Beth and used the cap from one bottle to gouge into the flesh of her palm. A drop of red appeared and slipped into the open mouth of one bottle and then the other. Beth clamped her lips together and smiled when Penny turned to her and slipped the other bottle cap to her with a nod. The sight of blood had made her itch with want, even though she'd drank the man in the alley dry hours ago.

Beth swallowed and stared at the piece of jagged metal in her hand. She hadn't done this yet. Giving her blood to someone would start them down the path of being hers. They'd be suggestible at first, but after a few more drops they would fall in love with her. Worship her even, as she had once down to Penny before she'd died.

But with both contractors acting as slaves, they'd be sure to have the job done in time. Maybe quicker. Beth nodded once, confirming to herself that she was making the right decision, and dug the metal into her hand.

She felt the bite of metal but it was just a sensation. A tickle, not pain. She squeezed her hand into a fist, trying to force some blood out. Nothing happened. Her heart! She'd forgotten all about it. She squeezed it, forcing it to beat in her chest a few times and push the blood through her body and well up at the site of the cut. She let a drop fall in each bottle and then willed her wound to knit itself shut. Full of blood from earlier that night, she had more than enough to spare.

Beth turned and smiled as she put a bottle in front of each man. "Enjoy," she told them as they took them and raised them to their lips.

Both men took a drink and froze. They lowered them and looked at them, their eyes rounded in surprise and then glazing over. The bottles went back up and they guzzled them, draining the beverages in near record time. The beers hit the table almost in unison and both of them spared a glance at each other before looking at Beth.

"Holy shit," Crispin said. "What did you put in that?"

"That was the best beer I've ever had," Donavon agreed. "Best anything!"

"Told you that you hadn't been drinking the right stuff," Beth teased.

"I guess not," Crispin agreed. He stared at his drink again and grinned.

Beth smiled back. She saw the way he was looking at her already. Less arousal and more infatuation. Things were going to work out just fine.

Chapter 4

Beth put the tray down on the bar and leaned against it. She studied the handful of customers left in the club while Star performed a tired dance on the main stage. The back stage was empty and only Aurora was out working the couple tables full of customers. It was late for them, a little after one in the morning.

"Tired?" Candy asked her. She was wiping down the bar and emptying the dishwasher. "This is when things start slowing down and it hits me."

"I don't get tired," Beth said and then winced. "I mean, I—"

"I was a night owl when I was younger, I get it," Candy said. She smiled. "Enjoy being young while you can, it doesn't last and you don't realize it's gone until it's too late."

"You're not that old!"

Candy smiled. "Thirty six, hon. I'm thirty six."

"No way," Beth shook her head. "Twenty seven, maybe twenty eight."

The bartender laughed. "You're so cute! If Penny wasn't smitten by you, I'd sweep you up. Oh, except I'm—"

"—not gay," Beth finished for her with a laugh. "You sure do protest a lot. You know what they say about that, right?"

Candy laughed again. "I'm not saying I haven't tried to find out. It's just that I'm not the kind of woman that could be with another one full time. You've got that innocence about you that drives men crazy. Girls too, obviously. Anyhow, you deserve someone that wants to be with you. Someone that makes you their priority."

If Beth's heart had been beating she would have blushed. Instead she shook her head. "Now who's teasing who?"

Candy's eyes rounded and she snorted. "Maybe innocent wasn't the right word!"

Penny swept in and set her tray down. "Harassing the help again?" she teased Beth.

"She started it," Beth mumbled.

Penny looked at Candy. "I don't doubt it. She's been trouble since I hired her. Best bartender in the three county area though, so I have to put up with her."

"She's not all that bad," Beth said as she looked at the shocked bartender. "Cute enough to earn good tips and she's got the knack for knowing how to keep people talking."

"Flirting, at least," Penny said. Candy gasped and shook her head, earning a laugh from Penny. "Ah ha! Caught you. Miss Adams here is the boss, don't forget."

"Pfft! Like I could compete with you. And that's if I wanted to! I just got done telling her to stop pining away for me, I wasn't right for her."

Beth grinned at the friendly banter and watched the two go back and forth. She opened her mouth to slip in a joke when she saw somebody walk up to the edge of the bar on their way into the club. Not just one person, but two. Two people she remembered, a man in an expensive jacket and a woman built for sin that hung off his arm. They looked like they were glowing and it had nothing to do with the black fluorescent lights shining through the club.

Beth's eyes narrowed. Hunter and Tiffany, she remembered their names now. She'd seen them in here before she died. She'd been sick and almost used up, but they'd both seemed to be very interested in her. They way they moved and looked around the club reminded her of when they'd visited before. They'd behaved the same way, like hunters. Like animals. Like wolves.

Beth shuddered at the thought and moved to put Penny between her and them, blocking their line of sight. She was sure of it, they were like Crystal and her pack— they were werewolves.

"I don't own her," Penny continued, unaware of the new arrivals. "If she wants to—"

"I want you," Beth blurted out.

Penny and Candy both turned to stare at her. Penny tilted her head. "You want what?"

Beth reached out and slipped a hand behind Penny's head. Her fingers lipped through the dark silky hair of her mentor before she pulled her in and pressed her lips against Penny's. She felt the vampire stiffen in her arms and then begin to warm up to the unexpected affection. Beth took it one step further and licked Penny's lips, coaxing them open and tasting her.

"Jesus!" Candy breathed as the kiss developed.

Beth wondered if she could pull Penny away. She was really enjoying herself but it wasn't like it used to be. A kiss as hot as this would have had her ready to tear off her clothes and leap on her partner before. Now it was intimate and erotic, but without the hormones racing through her body she remained in control.

A rich male voice chuckled and said, "I was going to ask what it takes to get some service, but I think this is worth the wait."

"I want them," a sultry female voice said. "Both of them!"

Penny stiffened in Beth's arms. Beth held on tighter but Penny pulled away and turned to face them. She studied them for a moment. "Hunter and Tiffany. Welcome back to Paradise Lost. Can I show you to a table?"

Hunter laughed. "You're amazing! Your self control is the stuff of legends."

"If you kissed me like that I'd gobble you up," Tiffany said, her eyes ravaging Beth's body without apology. She snapped her teeth together for effect and then smiled. "Want to find out?"

Beth shook her head bit her lip. Her plan to slip away with Penny had failed so badly she thought it might hurt less to stake herself out on the roof at high sun. "I'm good, thanks."

Tiffany stepped forward, her shimmering navy blue dress clinging to her curves and sliding enough to suggest that in the right light she might be exposing herself. She lifted her hand smoothly and brushed her thumb against Beth's lip before pulling it back. "Smeared your lipstick," she said before popping her finger in her mouth and making a show of sucking it off.

"I'm sorry," Penny said. "We were having a private conversation."

"The customer comes first," Hunter said and earned a laugh from the seductress clinging to his arm.

"Indeed, which is why I offered to seat you."

"Can she seat us?" Tiffany asked and stared at Beth.

"I—"

"She's stayed past her scheduled time," Penny interrupted. "It's late and we're closing in a little over half an hour. I'd be happy to offer free drinks for the inconvenience."

Beth's eyes widened. Was Penny going to slip her blood into their drinks? Would that work? From what she remembered Crystal telling her, everything about being a werewolf was in the blood. The difference was, they were still alive. Beth and Penny weren't. Well, not alive in the sense of living, breathing people.

"Yeah, I need some fresh air," Beth said. Any other time she'd have laughed at the absurdity of it. She had a hell of a time remembering to breathe so she could talk. "I'll, uh, I'll see you later."

"Are you okay?" Penny asked.

Beth smiled and nodded. "I'm great. Better than great," she added. She leaned in and gave Penny a quick peck on the lips. She hesitated and then flicked her tongue out to some of the Penny's smeared lipstick. She winked at Penny before turning to Tiffany and saying, "You're right, that is good."

She heard Tiffany gasp as she walked around the back of the bar and grabbed her coat from where Candy had taken it into the staff's small break room. She took a few minutes, replaying the scene in her head and smiling. She tried to laugh once but forgot to breathe first, causing a weak rasping noise that was somehow even funnier to her.

Beth slipped her coat on and made her way back through the club. Candy grinned and flashed her a thumbs up on her way out. Beth paused, spotting Penny in the back checking the private booths where Peaches had disappeared some time ago. Peaches had some regular clients that would spend a lot of time, and money, on her. It also meant that from time to time she needed to be rescued from an overly arduous customer.

Beth turned and walked towards the entrance, maintaining the illusion for the sake of the two wolves in the club. She hesitated when she heard Tiffany's voice during a lull in the music. "We've got to have her, baby. I want her and I know you do to!"

Beth pushed herself out the door before she could hear any more. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know what, exactly, they wanted her for. A steamy night of raw animal sex or did they want to turn her into an animal just like they were.

She shuddered and walked past Trevor with barely a nod. She didn't need the air and she didn't need to go in the front of the building instead of the elevator inside the club, but she could use some time to herself.

Chapter 5

Beth walked down the sidewalk outside the bars and restaurants trying to offer last call. Crowds of partiers, most of them drunk or well on their way, got in her way. She moved through them, sidestepping or avoiding the worst while she ignored the rest. She wasn't here for them, she was here for the isolation. Surrounded by dozens of people, she knew she was alone.

Her thoughts traveled back to Penny and the two werewolves. Penny must have known what they were, she kept trying to keep Beth away from them. Protecting her. Penny knew her past, she'd spent an entire night telling Penny her life story before her mentor offered her the gift of eternal life.

And then Beth turned her down.

She'd been scared and confused. The story of her life, really. Beth was always scared and confused. She wanted what she couldn't have. The same as everybody, except she never seemed to learn from it. She just got more and more bitter every time what she thought she wanted was snatched away from her. Stupid toys and friends as a kid, then Crystal, her best friend that she'd have been willing to do anything for.

She followed that up with the first guy that showed an interest in her only wanting to use her to get to Crystal, and he used her and abused her, but it almost worked. After him came Colin, the next guy she was willing to give a chance tricked her into getting drunk and horny and tried to let his frat brothers rape her. Penny saved her from that.

And that was when she knew she had to stop wanting the next best thing. She had to grab onto something and go with it, for once. Waiting for something better only made it worse every time. Crystal wouldn't let her be a werewolf with her pack, she'd said she was protecting her because it was dangerous. Beth wondered if that was it, or if it was because she wanted to be the special one.

Now it didn't matter, Beth found something else. Something better, as far as she was concerned. So Crystal could turn into a wolf. Big deal. She could turn into anything she wanted. Well, someday, when she learned how.

Crystal would live for a long time, maybe even hundreds of years. Beth would live thousands of years, if not more. Penny was over two thousand years old and she was magnificent. Strong, beautiful, intelligent, and powerful. Beth couldn't think of anyone better to spend the rest of her life with.

Her thoughts were stopped as she rounded a corner and saw the flow of pedestrians curving and bending around something. She walked closer and saw a man bent over a puddle of vomit. A woman stood beside him talking to two police officers.

Beth froze. She stared, her lips parted in a breathless gasp. The cop nearest to her turned his head in slow motion. She watched as his profile against the slush covered street became recognizable. He kept turning, sensing her unusual lack of movement. Beth knew who he was before he saw her. She knew he couldn't see her, she was dead. He'd been there at the end. Her last hurrah. Her one and only love in life that could have meant something real.

Beth fled. She slipped back and darted between people, moving so fast that they cried out in surprise or just stopped and stared as a blur moved past them. She rounded the corner and ducked into an alley. She glanced around, afraid John would follow her, and saw a fire escape twenty feet up the side of the building on her right.

Beth glanced back over her shoulder. People were walking by the alley but no one did more than glance down it. She looked up again and bit her lip. She nodded, she could do this. She'd been making herself stronger and learning how to do amazing tricks. Things she'd never thought possible until she met Penny.

She crouched down, bending her knees, and then leapt at the wall of the building on her left. Her left hand and foot hit the bricks at the same time and she pushed against them, springing away from it and catching the bottom rail of the fire escape in her right hand. She swung on it and had to kick out to stop herself from slamming into the building. She grabbed on with her left hand and pulled herself up, hand over hand, until she rolled over the railing and landed on all fours on the walkway between stairs.

Beth stayed still and silent, watching the alley opening until she saw John step into view. He stopped and glanced down the alley. The badge on his black police jacket reflected a passing light from a car. His hesitation was over a minute later. He turned and hurried on, trying to find her.

Beth relaxed and rolled to sit on the fire escape. Had he seen her, or had he seen someone running away? Was her secret safe, or did he think she was still alive. That their doomed romance might still live on.

She'd vowed that she wanted him. She was going to make him hers. Not a slave forced to love her by the magic of her blood, but an equal. A peer. A vampire, like her. Even though Penny said it was forbidden for a male vampire to be made. They'd all been hunted and killed hundreds of years ago. Not because the women were man-hating lesbians, but because the men couldn't behave. They weren't careful enough to keep humans from learning about them and hunting them down. As powerful as they were, they were helpless during the day.

Beth rolled back to her knees and climbed to her feet. She'd kept herself busy so she couldn't dwell on her past. Penny hadn't given her time to make any mistakes like trying to visit her old friends or family again either. At least not since she tried the one time before she died.

So what was different now? Did seeing John change things? And if it did, why?

Beth drew in a full breath and held it so long she would have passed out if her body still craved fresh air. She let it out, a reminder that she was different now. Changed. Better. She was immortal. She didn't need air and she didn't need a stupid cop that put everything aside to treat her like the most important thing in the world for one magical night.

Beth snarled and leapt over the rail of the walkway. She landed off balance and slammed her palms and knees into the pavement. She heard bones crack and break and felt both arms jerk and give out before her chin hit the concrete.

Beth rolled onto her side and tried to grimace. Her jaw was broken and she felt teeth rolling around in her mouth. She tasted traces of her own blood as she tried to straighten her legs. Her left knee had shattered and refused to budge.

Beth stared at the wall and squeezed her eyes shut. She was stunned and in shock, but not from pain. Her body was broken, shattered really, but there was no pain. She felt the breaks and torn flesh, but it felt like it was someone else's body and not hers. Just like cutting her palm with the bottle cap, she experienced the sensation without the crippling agony.

Beth pushed her fears away and concentrated on her body. She had to close her eyes to focus on one injury after another, starting with her mouth and shifting her jaw back in place and healing the scrapes in her chin and cheek. Next came her right hand and then her left. Her muscles and tendons restored themselves and pushed the bones back in place where they could reattach themselves and mend together.

Beth kept going, fixing her shattered knee and then encouraging her heart to beat to push fresh blood through her body and continue restoring the damages her clumsy landing had caused. Penny had claimed she could drop from nearly a hundred feet. Beth had broken herself at only twenty. She had a lot to learn.

She opened her eyes and blinked a few times. The blinking didn't help, everything remained dark. Beth rolled onto her belly and looked around, fighting through the stiffness that plagued her. She'd fixed her broken bones but they still felt numb and swollen. Her eyes fell on the mouth of the alley where the road was lit by streetlights and cars. What really lit up the entrance were the people walking by.

Beth's vision throbbed. She snarled and felt her fangs lengthen. She moved her tongue to trace them, excited at how sharp and vicious they felt. She felt something else and twisted her tongue until she could get the hard object on top of it. She reached up and plucked it from her tongue and glanced at it. One of her teeth from the fall. She'd regrown them all without realizing one had been busted free.

Beth rose on her hands and knees and put a foot down. She put the toes of one foot on the ground, her eyes focused on the people walking by. She was thirsty, the act of healing herself had consumed what she'd drank earlier. She wanted— no, needed— to feed. She rose up and lifted her other foot, only to lose her balance and stumbled backwards. She tumbled and fell, slamming her shoulder onto the ground and bouncing her head on the pavement.

Beth scowled and flipped herself up onto her side so she could look down. Whatever had tripped her was about to have its throat ripped out!

Instead of some tiny gremlin that was cackling at the joke it had pulled, she saw the heel on her right boot had snapped off. She looked around but the alley was too dark for her to find the broken heel anywhere. Disgusted, she reached down and yanked the broken boot off and then did the same with the undamaged one. She scowled before tossing them on the ground. Ruining them was almost worse than smashing her face into the pavement, she'd really liked those boots!

A scuff against pavement and a hushed gasp drew Beth's attention. She glared down the dark alley and saw the glow of life coming from a pile of refuse. Bags and scattered trash hid the person huddled inside of it.

Beth crept forward, her hands and toes spread to let her crawl forward and stay close to the ground. Her jacket fell open and she felt her breasts fall free with the pull of gravity. She didn't care, what mattered was the glow of life down the alley. Whoever it was had seen her. They knew she'd fallen and was fine. Drunk or drugged up, whoever it was couldn't share what they'd seen.

The fact that Beth felt a thirst almost as powerful as the night she had risen from the grave only made it easier.