“Help yourself.”
“Keep your ears open, will you?”
“Certainly.” Antonio moved away, wiping the bar as he went.
Jake skirted the dance floor, looking more closely at couples. A few were same-sex; most weren’t. Several were vampire couples looking for the wild ride and checking out possible victims to share. Some were vampires trying to win the trust of their soon-to-be victims.
A redhead he’d seen before ran her long fingernails down the outside of her mortal date’s muscular arms. “I’ll make you come ’til it hurts,” she whispered. The young man grinned.
“Hi.”
Jake turned to the voice, surprised to find Athena standing beside him, black outer shirt draped over one arm. Her bare shoulders drew his attention because of their rounded firmness and the freckles splashed over them. The sleeveless shirt she wore hugged her breasts just enough to make his mouth water, and her belly ring glistened in the blue lights.
He frowned. “What are you doing here?”
She nodded toward the back of a young blond man walking toward the bathrooms. “Chris says this is a great place.” She glanced around. “Looks a little creepy to me.”
“It is creepy. Take my word for it and leave.”
She looked up at him, her green eyes capturing whatever pieces of shattered soul he had left. “You’re here.”
He grinned and leaned close to her, unable to resist inhaling her scent once more. “True, but I know what I’m getting into.”
Her face reddened a little. “I’m not an idiot. I know what goes on in these places.”
Jake felt his cock harden just from standing near her. He leaned closer, focused on her now, unable to turn away. Her very presence held a promise of strength and pleasure he found irresistible. “I don’t think you do.”
She shrugged and turned her gaze to the dance floor. “Drugs, sex. I know.”
He held his mouth an inch from her ear. “And so much more, sweet thing.”
A shiver ran through her—so slight, a mortal wouldn’t have noticed it. Jake’s fangs dropped almost instantly in response.
“Like…what?” she whispered.
He stepped around to stand behind her, touching her silky hair with his fingertips. “Games of pain and joy, life and death. And ecstasy like you can’t begin to imagine.”
She gulped.
“Hey, what the hell—”
Jake glanced up at the male standing in front of Athena. Her date’s eyes widened when they met his, and Jake guessed that his own irises had turned golden already. He couldn’t seem to control his reaction to the young woman standing before him.
He placed a hand on one of Athena’s bare shoulders and glared. “She’s with me now. You can go.”
“But—”
Jake slung a thought of painful challenge and defeat into the blond man’s head, and the mortal staggered backward in response. Then the young man turned and hurried toward the door, glancing back once before disappearing.
“I can’t believe you did that,” she said.
He breathed in the smell of her hair, imagining it loose and draped across her bare breasts. “He shouldn’t have brought you here.”
“Great, but now I don’t have a ride home.”
Jake bit back the desire that threatened to overpower him. He couldn’t allow himself to indulge—not with this one. He closed his eyes for a moment to regain control, then straightened and stepped to her side. “Don’t worry, I’ll take you home.”
She looked up at him, studying his face intently. “How do I know I can trust you?”
He smiled. “You don’t, and you can’t.”
She turned away. “Maybe we should stay here awhile.”
He glanced around and found several of the locals watching Athena, sizing her up for a meal. “Only if you stay with me. I know some of these people. You really don’t want to get cornered by them.”
She shrugged, feigning indifference that her racing heartbeat exposed as a lie. “Whatever.”
Trying to refocus on his task, Jake listened to a few more conversations, then realized he needed to get into the thick of things, but he couldn’t run the risk of leaving Athena alone for even a moment. He leaned toward her. “You want to dance?”
“I suppose.”
He offered his hand and she took it. Jake led her onto the dance floor and pulled her into his arms. She fit too well.
Now, he’d had every intention of leading her around to where he could do a little eavesdropping. It wouldn’t have taken more than a dance or two, and then he could have persuaded her to leave. The last thing he wanted was to keep Athena exposed to the vampire community any longer than he had to. Some of the younger ones in the Tunnel had no code of ethics. They’d think nothing of draining her for a night’s entertainment.
But something about the woman made it impossible for him to concentrate on anything else when she stood in his arms, her hands on his shoulders and her hot breath caressing his neck. Her scent had a stronger effect on him than any opiate could have when he was human. He seemed to lose all sense of reason.
“What is it about you that’s so different?” he whispered, sliding his hand down to the narrowest part of her back where it met bare flesh. His body responded by shuddering.
“Different from you?”
“No,” he said, “different from any other woman.”
She huffed softly. “Look, you got me with the line about my eyes holding the depths of the ocean and my scent leaving you wanting more. You don’t have to keep trying.”
Jake lowered his mouth to her ear. “I can’t seem to help it, sweet thing. I want you like I’ve never wanted another.”
She made a soft noise of surrender, and he tightened his grip on her, pulling her to his body. He pushed his thigh between hers as they stepped, and she slid her crotch against it. Her heat nearly seared his skin through the clothing.
Jake leaned down and captured her mouth, tasting her, savoring her. As she welcomed him and drew his tongue in, he slid a hand down to touch the outline of her breast. He rubbed her hardening nipple through the soft fabric, and a growl of need escaped his throat.
When she pressed her abdomen against his hard-on, Jake tore his mouth from hers and rested his chin on the top of her head. He wasn’t ready for her to see the vampire yet. She drew him to the edge of control, even in front of this crowd. He’d never felt so helpless.
“Maybe you should show me where all this, um, other stuff happens,” she said.
“You mean the sex or the drugs?”
“I’m not really into drugs.”
Jake grinned. Why was he so intent on keeping the vampire chained? All he needed was a taste of sweet Athena and he’d feel differently, wouldn’t he? In 120 years, he’d learned self-control. He wouldn’t make the same mistake he’d made with Iris. “Maybe I should.”
Her heated palm sliding up his side burned away any doubts.
Jake released her by all but her hand and led her through the crowd until he reached the back hallway, a tunnel-like passage for which the place was named. He listened as they passed closed doors, searching for a room where they could have privacy. Cries of ecstasy and growls of vampires feeding provided unnecessary fuel for his desires.
“Jesus,