Page 30 (1/1)

“No” Angling his head in her direction as they turned toward the throaty sound of a jazz singer co from the left, he said, “They’ll assuer’s voice tangled with the ant, culturedjust like the ones she’d heard in the basement “I know,” she said, determined not to let this drive her back into the dark, “but since you have a reputation for enjoying pain, I’ive in to the need to stab you”

A gleahter in those eyes so dark and old, but he said nothing as they walked through the doorway into what appeared to be a very genteel bar, coreen dress on a low stage to the side The lighting was soft, the groupings of tables inti “A bit early for cocktails”

“Or very late,” Dmitri answered “Time ht were old enough that va their looks to a level of beauty only possessed by the rare ht that much about Erotique, but what she had heard focused on an aspect that washere “The dancers?”

“In another section,” Dmitri told her “There’s an entire floor below us, as well as a number of other more inti wo black dress that reached her ankles and showcased her assets with sensual elegance crossed the roo or we’d have set up a private roouest”

“Get us that corner table, Dulce” His voice was that of a ne And find Illiu on the perfect bones of Dulce’s face, gone as fast as it had appeared “Yes, of course”

Honor saw the couple already at the corner tabletoward them There was more than a little fear in their e had preternatural hearing, she leaned up to speak against Dmitri’s ear With any otherup by nowbut whatever inexplicable alchemy existed between her and Dmitri, it allowed her to breathe in his scent, say, “Do you keep them afraid on purpose?”

His hand only just brushed her lower back “Means I have to execute fewer of the else until they were seated and Dulce had ne “Dulce isn’t huiven her away An intense deep purple, jewel bright against raven black hair No human had eyes that color—and the contact lenses hadn’t been invented that could es Erotique, has done so for the past ten years” A raised eyebrow “You didn’t think I’d be greeted by anyone less than the er, did you, Honor?”

She didn’t take the bait “Why are we here?”

“Look in the corner diagonally opposite”

Following his gaze, she saw a tall, sandy-haired vampire with a curvy brunette in his lap Neither had noted Dmitri’s arrival—and the reason as clear The va silver of the woerously close to the full curves of her brsts, his lips nuzzling the long line of her throat They both went , his throat , as the brunette threw back her head in silent orgasne flute in front of her Scanning the roo—and they weren’t all male An ethereally lovely wo her hands into the hair of a slender blond male, the crystal blue sharpness of her nails draainst his skin as she wrenched him down to feed just above the pulse point in his neck

“I thought,” she said, throat dry, “this was a club, not a feeding orgy”

D around her senses “So innocent, Honor” He took a sip of his chane “So partner should they need one, partners who knohat to expect Butin a little haraze on the fe—but he’s legal, adult enough toin that statery

“You’re watching the va that even if Det her into bed, that’s all it would ever be—sex Erotic, sinful, dangerous sex, but nothing beyond a physical coupling No secrets would be shared, no bonds forged “Why?”

“That is Evert Markson Tooing to be here”

“Evert has the rather distasteful habit of feeding at Erotique on a regular basis”

It was hard not to stare at Markson, but she kept her attention on Dmitri “You just told me vampires come here to feed”

“Only now and then, when they don’t have a regular lover or donor Perhaps if they are visiting frone flute on the table “The reason Evert needs to feed at Erotique is that he hurts his lovers so badly that not even the worst of the groupies will go near him now The hostesses here only acquiesce on the condition that he feeds in public, where he can be monitored”

Heart in her throat, Honor looked back at the brunette in Markson’s ar what she’dfull lips pursed tight “She’s not orgaset up and tear the vampire off the other wo point

“He’s ile stem of her own flute before she broke it—“if he’s Toaze shifted to the doorway “Bluebell’s here”