Blood Lust

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“I went up to my room at like eleven-thirty,” he replied honestly, “alone.” If he hadn’t thought squirming would have given him away, he might have indulged.

She took off her glasses revealing shiny, slightly bloodshot eyes. “I’m torn between vindictive, jealous rage and hero worship.” Narrowing those eyes at him, she dropped her shades on the table. “You pick.”

Women in that kind of temper scared the hell out of him. Suffering the burn of a furious blush, he grudgingly admitted, “I … Yeah, he spent the night with me.”

“You. Top or bottom?”

The flush became truly painful, he stared down at his plate as if it had transformed into the oracle of salvation and truth. “Bottom.”

“I still may scratch your eyes out,” she grouched. Nina accepted the offer of coffee from one of the wait staff. “Don’t bother trying to act like he wasn’t Superman in the sack. I know it was DC Comics meets Brokeback up in there.”

Isaac pushed his remaining food around, longing for a change of subject. “Hmm.”

His non-committal answer didn’t deter her. “Will you see him again, or was it a ONS?”

Abandoning his utensils to the side of his plate, Isaac signaled to a server carrying a tray of glasses filled with a variety of what appeared orange, pink grapefruit and pineapple juices. Picking up that latter, he thanked the woman. “Not a one night stand.”

“Will he attend tonight’s masked Cosplay ball?”

Isaac’s embarrassment had to retreat in order to make room for confusion. “What?”

“The Harridan didn’t brief you?”

“I got an itinerary and room reservation with a confirmation number. Nothing about a costume … thing.”

“Tonight you’re expected to attend in a costume coordinating with a mystery novel.” She seemed to study his face, sighed, picked up the hater-blockers and slid them onto her face. “Drink your fairy nectar, Cinderella. We have to get you ready for a ball.”

Isaac stood in front of a three-faced mirror eyeing the fourth in a series of undesirable get-ups. “Somehow Sherlock Holmes isn’t me.”

“Tell me about it,” Nina quipped. “You look like a thirty-something Justin Gaston-Bellazon, ala blond and bluish grey-eyed, in his Grandpa’s duds.” He met her gaze in the mirror’s depths and saw something light within her. “We’re idiots, Isaac. Let’s outfit you as that detective from your Sinners and Saviors series. What’s his name? Perry Savage?”

Three upscale men’s stores later, Isaac had his ‘costume’. It consisted of his character’s signature dark Armani suit, which Isaac had brought, with red shirt, black tie and black cowboy boots. They patronized a costume store for a mask and he chose one constructed of conforming latex overlaid with sculpted peacock feathers.

As they returned to the hotel and convention center, Isaac experienced a thrill of anticipation. Would Seth attend tonight or wait until bedtime?

Nina barked at the cab driver. “Here’s fine. I refuse to let the meter run while you wait in line.” She shoved a few large bills against the divider. The cabby slid it open to take them. “Thanks.” She dragged Isaac from the cab. “Come with me. Fairy Godmother still has work to do.”



Isaac examined his reflection in the mirror. He looked like his character: tall, broad-shouldered, slim-hipped and lean. “Wow.”

“I agree,” she said, patting his arm. “You’re hot as God Seth now. Go get him.”

“Thank you, Nina.”

“Thank me with juicy details.”

Isaac really didn’t know if his lover would show until he walked through the velvet-roped entry corral. Dressed like Calista Caesar’s version of the vampire Triton Teteris in her Victorian mystery thriller, ‘Ripping Jack’, he seemed more preternatural than ever. Head to toe in black, hair loose, a flowing cape adding considerable menace to his appearance, the vampire fairly shimmered with sexuality and danger.

Seth’s burgundy gaze cut to him. Isaac shivered and went to meet him. “You make me feel like a virgin on prom night.”

You make me feel like a groom.

Isaac had to forcefully remind himself not to reach for Seth. Glancing around to insure the attention of others centered elsewhere, he whispered, "I wish I could dance with you."

Seth smiled faintly. His black leather mask concealed the upper half of his face. “It would honor me. And, it might fend of some of your female admirers.”

Isaac shook his head. “God, no, I’m not ready for that.”

“Will you ever be?”

The question broad-sided him. “You told me no one even needed to know about you. What’s with the offended tone?”

“When we spoke of that,” Seth murmured, “little had passed between us. You know my feelings have changed.”

Shifting his weight from one foot to the other, he conducted another covert exam of those around them. “It’s not that I don’t feel the same, or that I have a problem with seeing another male. I’m just not ready to be ‘that’ guy in public.”

Seth stepped closer, seeming to tower over him. Those burgundy eyes gleamed as if reflecting flame. This time, Isaac realized they needed no source if the vampire’s mood conjured them. Seth spoke in an intimate hush. “The ‘guy’ who gave himself to me cart blanche? Who slept in my arms, trusting an apex predator to guard his slumber?”

“We need to shut this down,” Isaac stated. “Now’s not the time or place.”

“Very well. I’ll leave you to your playacting.”

Isaac’s heart jerked and seemed to turn a cartwheel in his chest. He caught his lover’s arm as he turned to go. “Seth, don’t do this. We can talk later. Okay?” He saw no yielding in his lover. Fear threaded through Isaac. He kept his suddenly shaky voice low. “You haven’t fed. At least allow me that.”

“I highly doubt the tang of indecision and snobbery in your blood would please my palate.” Pulling free Isaac’s grasp, Seth strode away.

A pit of dread filled his gut. Shaking all over, he pushed through the crowd, avoiding anyone seeking to speak to him. Madly dodging his way through the gathering, he chased down his lover in the wide hall outside the ballroom. “Seth, wait!”

The cape that had fluttered in the wake of his swift pace, floated down to hang in a spill of shiny fabric. “Yes?”

Isaac rushed around to face him. “I don’t want you … feeding from someone else because of this.” His stomach churned violently and his hands trembled as he reached out to lay them upon his lover’s chest. Checking the action, he shoved them into his trouser pockets. “Please. Come to me again.”

Seth stared at him for an agonizing moment. “I shall go where I am most wanted.”