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"I--I--" I struggled to find the right explanation for what I was doing " I--I just got lost," I finally stammered
I saw him reach for the wall beside hilow of a bare red bulb that was , wide-eyed, at a man with a suspicious scowl His dark hair fell loosely around his shoulders, and his scruffy jaw hadn’t seen a razor in days, maybe weeks But it was his eyes--catlike and predatory--that held ht back at me
"You shouldn’t be back here," he stated flatly "It’s not safe"
Unconsciously, I rubbed at the back of asped My heart beat faster, and I swayed slightly
His hand snaked out to grab"Yes," I rasped, scratching at the hand staood" The world felt as if it were tilting beneath my feet, and the blood drained from my face
He slipped his arht there in the corridor, as he led me not back into the club, but to the first door in the hallway--the locked door He pulled a key from his pocket and opened it before I could find the words to object
And within seconds I found reen velvet sofa that sal and those that were not, as I leaned my head back and closed my eyes
I had never seen a private club room before In some clubs, they were said to be luxurious box suites perched high above the bars and dance floors, where the elite--those who paid a steep price to the club’s proprietors--were treated like royalty for the night Others were said to be dens of iniquity, where one’s every wicked desire could be fulfilledfor a price
This appeared to be so both less sinister and less opulent
I glanced at the man in the chair across from me He leaned forward, his elbows balanced on his knees as he surveyed me closely I wasn’t sure I should be here, in this roo from when he’d run into me
"Is this your club?" I asked, ether in a deep scowl and I saw the scar there, running froular jaw It was pale and faded--an old wound--but when he frowned like that, the silvery edges puckered "No, it’s not my club But the people who run it letabout the way he said the word B my eth "220;business" hts pulsed froethatit in an ever-changing rainbow of hues On the other side of the , I could see the threeso and caressing one another, and I reot up fros to stand before the glass wall With le forether "They can’t see us?" I ed I’d never heard of such a thing
He was beside matic presence "No The other side is e," I whispered