The Darkening (22 page)

"The nice thing about you, Ricco, is that you lustperiod."

"Only for you, pet. No other compares." She thought she saw him glance around before draping an arm around her shoulders and steering her toward the back rooms. "Now, please allow me to demonstrate just how well I lust."

She supposed it was a talent of his-to make every woman he was with feel special. At least Ricco wouldn't run away from her just when things were getting interesting.

They reached the back of the bar, and Ricco stopped at the hostess's desk to place an order for drinks. Then he continued to guide her to his private room.

When she walked in, she saw that the bed was made and the room was clean. Either she was his first tonight or the staff had been in to pick up the place and change the sheets after a previous session. She was inclined to believe the latter.

He closed the door and gestured to the bed. "Do you want to get right to my demonstration? Or would you like to tell me what has got you so worked up?"

She'd always liked his easy manner and the way he seemed to know just what she needed.

"There is something bothering me," she admitted. Suddenly feeling very vulnerable, she pressed on because she had to know the truth. "Am I boring to be with? I mean, sexually. When we're in the middle ofit-are you thinking of other women?"

Ricco stared at her in surprise. Then he placed a finger beneath her chin and tipped her head so he could look deep into her eyes. "You are many things in bed, but boring is not one of them."

"Are you sure?"

He smiled. "When I'm with a woman, I don't like to talk about how many women I've been with, but surely you have some inkling. Please believe me when I tell you that sex with you is some of the best I've had." He continued to hold her chin and leaned forward to kiss her. There was a time when it would have sent a bolt of desire rocketing through her, but not anymore.

As if he understood, he let the kiss end. "And I'm going to miss it."

"I'm sorry, Ricco. It's not you."

A sad look came to his face. "That's the problem. It's not me." He reached for her hand so he could lead her to the bed, to sit beside him. "Do you want to tell me who it is?" He paused. "It's the man from last night, isn't it? He's the one who has you tied in knots."

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. He's not interested."

Ricco gave a kind of laugh. "Oh, I bet that's not true."

Lexi felt herself getting angry again, thinking about Darius. "Then he has a funny way of showing itrunning after other women every time he has a chance to be with me." She shook her head. "No, he's not interested."

She stood up, suddenly not comfortable with their topic of conversation. "I'm sorry. I came here because I needed your help. The full moon is so close, and I haven't expended nearly enough of the energy this week. I'd hoped to do it tonight, but I'm not sure I'm in the mood anymore

He nodded. "I understand."

Walking arm in arm, they left the back room.

"Do you want to dance before you go?" Ricco asked her as they skirted the dance floor.

"No," she said, leaning close to him so he could hear her over the noise in the room. "I think I just want to go home."

He nodded and, looking about the room, seemed in a quandary as to the best way to get through the crowd. She, on the other hand, had no compunction about pushing her way through.

She hadn't gone far before a couple stepped into their path. Lexi was about to automatically steer around them when she heard Ricco swear under his breath. It was drowned out by the sound of an all too familiar voice.

"Lexi."

She looked up, straight into Darius's face. A movement beside him caught her attention, and she saw a very attractive, very petite redhead tucked under his arm.

"I thought you were going home," he said.

She felt an unaccountable pain shoot through her at the sight of him with another woman and gave him an icy stare. "I changed my mind."

Darius gave Ricco a nearly lethal glare. "Is that right?" His voice was razor sharp.

Ricco pulled himself a little straighter, clearly not intimidated. "Yeah, it is. Have you got a problem with that?" His gaze pointedly touched on the redhead before going back to Darius, who gritted his teeth. There was a tense silence as the two men glared at each other.

The redhead stirred uncomfortably at the silence. "Maybe I should go," she suggested hesitantly, glancing once more at Ricco and Lexi before turning a questioning look on Darius.

As if he'd forgotten she was there, he peered down at her and opened his mouth to say something. Then, without uttering a word, he snapped it shut again.

Lexi got the impression that he didn't want the red

head to leave, but was, for some reason, reluctant to say so in front of her. Well, she would make it easy on him.

"No, that won't be necessary. We're leaving."

"If you'll excuse us," Ricco said, taking Lexi by the hand. He then pushed past them into the crowd, pulling Lexi after him.

Fortunately, Darius didn't try to stop them.

Once they were outside, he gestured to the doorman to hail a cab for her, then stood beside her while they waited in companionable silence. When the cab arrived, Ricco kissed Lexi good-bye. It wasn't the heated kiss of two lovers but an affectionate kiss between two old friends. Then she climbed into the back seat of the cab while Ricco leaned in and gave the driver directions and money to cover her fare.

"Remember," he said. "Any time you need me, you know where to find me."

"Thanks, Ricco." She didn't know what else to say. There was so much emotion, and no words to adequately convey it. Ricco, however, seemed to understand. With a final smile, he slammed the cab door shut and Lexi felt as if he'd just shut the door on a phase of her life; a comfortable, safe phase that she wasn't sure she wanted to end.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Darius cursed under his breath as he watched Lexi storm off.

"Your girlfriend looked pretty upset," Alise said kindly. "I hope you're not in too much trouble."

Me, too,
Darius thought. But at least rescuing Alise from that thug had given him the information he'd been hoping for. "Don't worry. I'll explain things to her later. Right now, let's get you out of here safely." He cleared a path for her through the crowd, slowly fighting his way toward the back exit.

"I appreciate this," she said. "My ex can be a real jerk at times, and I just know he's standing by the front entrance waiting for me to leave."

"Maybe I should have a talk with him," Darius suggested, not for the first time.

"That would just make him mad. Don't worry. I'll be fine. He's not a bad guy, just misdirected. He won't hurt me, but I don't feel like getting into another fight with him tonight."

By now they'd reached the back door. Darius

pushed it open and went outside with the young woman. After he saw Alise safely into a cab, he was going back into the club to beat the crap out of Ricco. The image of the vampire standing with his arm around Lexi after they'd obviously come from the back rooms still burned in his mind.

"Ouch."

"Oh, sorry" Darius loosened his hold on Alise's hand as they walked along the street. The minute he saw a cab, he hurried to hail it and, moments later, watched Alise being driven away.

She'd told him as much as she could about Paddy Darby-that the leprechaun was a physician who'd accidentally maimed a child because he'd been drinking prior to performing surgery. He'd used his pot of gold to pay off the child's family so they wouldn't take him to court, thus retaining his medical license but losing face with the medical community. Without his pot of gold, he was considered an outcast among leprechauns and had lost contact with all his friends and family, including his wife and children. She'd also heard he'd recently fallen in with one of the local vampire gangs. Darius hadn't needed her to tell him which one.

Since the back exit to the club only opened from the inside, Darius walked around to the front entrance to reenter the club. He stopped just inside and scanned the crowd. He didn't see Ricco anywhere and assumed the vampire was once again in the back rooms, so he headed that way.

He was halfway across the room when a flash of pink caught his eye. He froze and tried to catch sight of it again, but without luck. He spent the next ten minutes wandering through the crowd of people, positive that he'd seen the succubus. When next he caught sight of spiky pink hair, it was on a male vampire.

Giving up, he continued on to the back rooms, where he stood at the front of the hallway looking at the row of closed doors. He figured he had two options, and, while kicking down each door held a certain appeal, it was bound to attract more attention than Darius wanted. The other option-listening at each door-made him feel like a sick freak, so instead, he stood at the end of the hall and fumed.

Just then, a door opened. The first thing Darius noticed was the very feminine, sandaled foot that appeared. His gaze was instantly drawn up along a slender, shapely calf and thigh. When his gaze hit the bottom of the short skirt, it jumped up to the outline of full breasts barely contained beneath a shiny black camisole that exposed a generous amount of cleavage.

He looked at her face. The crystal blue eyes staring at him with such obvious interest were made even bluer by the short, spiky, neon pink hair.
Daphne.

"I've been looking for you, Darius," she said, moving toward him seductively.

He knew he should attack and destroy her. At the very least, he should walk away, but he could do neither. In fact, he couldn't move.

A small, still-functioning part of his mind told him she must be using some kind of glamour. Normally, such magic had no effect on him, but without his Immortal life essence completely restored, his powers were not at full strength.

She closed the distance between them and brushed the back of her fingertips down the side of his cheek as she gazed into his face. A thrill of excitement skittered along his nerves. His pulse started to race. When she leaned into him, his entire body came alive.

Even as his brain reminded him that her function was to seduce and kill men, his subconscious took control of his actions. He slipped his hands around her waist and lowered his head.

The taste of her lips intoxicated him-though there was something missing. There was no emotion, no fire. He fought to tear his mouth away from hers and finally succeeded.

"Don't fight it," she cooed. "We were meant to be together." She took his hand and gave it a gentle tug to get him to move. Like an automaton, he followed her into the room she'd just exited and found it was already occupied by her last unfortunate partner.

The man's dead eyes stared blankly at the ceiling; his lifeless nude body lay sprawled across the bed. The succubus waved her hand, and a blast of energy lifted the man and tossed him aside. Darius barely noticed.

Every ounce of effort in him was fighting the demon's influence. He knew what was at stake; he had to stop her.

She stood before him and slipped the straps of her camisole off her shoulders, one at a time. Darius couldn't look away as the silky fabric slid to her waist, baring full, luscious breasts that beckoned him. He heard her throaty laugh as she cupped herself and ran her thumbs across distended nipples.

She was gorgeous-but she wasn't Lexi. That above all else gave him the strength to take a step back.

"What's this?" Daphne asked, somewhat startled. "Do you think you can resist me? Silly man." She stepped toward him, reaching out.

Darius fought through the fog of her glamour and compulsion. "What do you want?" he grunted, hating to expend precious effort just to speak, but he had to buy more time.

"You." She undid the fastening of her skirt and pushed it down her legs until it rested on the floor. Standing before him naked, she pushed the twin lobes of her breasts together, distracting him again. "Or rather, your life force."

"You don't look like you need it," he noted, mesmerized by her body.

She smiled and gave a soft laugh, rubbing her breasts against his chest. "Oh, it's not for me."

"Amadja "

She stopped her seductive assault long enough to look surprised. "You know Amadja? Interesting. Yes, I guess the magic is for him-indirectly." She smiled."But enough about Amadja and his ... pets." She raised herself on her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I want to focus all my attention on you."

Her lips captured his in a tantalizing kiss as she started to suck his energy from him. Her hands were already working with the fastening of his pants. He knew that if she could force him to succumb to sex, she'd drain his life force more quickly.

He needed something to repulse the succubus long enough to break her hold on him. Voices floated to him through the open door. Salvation was close if he could only summon it.

He focused every thought on Lexi, knowing it would dampen the ardor he felt for the succubus. Then, with a mighty effort, he broke the kiss and shouted, "Ricco!"