Page 36 of Lured

“Welcome back, sir. Your welcome drinks will be served in the club area on deck twelve and your usual room is ready for your use as soon as you're ready. The captain has also invited you to dine with him tomorrow evening.” She smiled at me especially, no doubt partially thralled by the vampire nature and also wowed by the amount of money that led to being invited to dine with the captain.

Anais glanced at me as well, picking up on it now, but we handed over our bags and let the woman put tags on them. Although Anais seemed reluctant to part with her rucksack, I slipped it off her shoulders.

“This one is especially important and contains a possession of high sentimental value, could you ensure it is delivered to the suite with the utmost care and respect.” I said, hoping it would put her mind at ease.

“Of course, Sir.”

“Thank you so much. It's always the way with these things. Seemingly insignificant possession to anyone else, but we each have our memories and important objects we find it hard to let out of our sights.”

“I understand entirely, Sir. Do not fret, we'll take good care.” As she spoke, she beamed at being spoken to politely and thanked. I had learned quickly that people really did take care if you made requests with a great deal of politeness and it almost always worked.

Anais added her own thanks, making the woman smile all the more and then I took her hand and led her to the small tunnel onto the ship. They had set up a small area to take photos of people behind a fake helm with a sandy beach behind and all other gimmicks but this close to departing, the photographer was gone.

I hurried Anais past, keeping her on the side of me where the sun shone through the windows and reached the carpet so I could be in the shade on the other side.

We made our way across the threshold and onto the ship and immediately I felt the relief. We now had the thick metal hull between us and the sunlight and it made a huge difference.

We had small cruise cards that we showed on the way in to make it easier to get on and off the boat and once again, as soon as the system made it clear who we were, the demeanor of everyone around us changed and we were treated with even more respect.

Eventually we were shown to a small club area at the front of the ship on deck twelve. It was where all the rich people were gathered. Some people had already come and gone, but the vampires had lingered, drinking and assessing each other.

Anais stayed close to me and looked around wide-eyed. I didn't know if she could tell that these were vampires, but some of the people from the casino were here as well. The butch vampire who had been in Vegas when we left walked in only a minute after us when we were still getting drinks from the bar as well.

I knew she would recognize him and when over half the room greeted me and him, calling me Drew, I hoped she would twig that this was meant to be more of a show off of her addiction.

Once our drinks were poured, there was a group of vampires around us. They were all other turned and curious about Anais. I had been in the group long enough that they hadn't seen an enthralled with me yet and they were also vampire who wanted to try and suck up to more powerful vampires.

Although I wasn't showing myself as a true-blood, I was still a wealthy turned and clearly powerful in my own way. I had very carefully cultivated a personality that allowed me to portray myself just the sort of in between that had me okay pretty much anywhere.

“Who is the extra?” one of the more vocal asked. He had been turned less than a year and had been a skinny, weaselly type of man even before he had been a vampire. The change hadn't improved him.

I looked at her, expecting her to introduce herself and be more flamboyant and almost flirtatiously drunk on the pheromones and high of being used, but she looked up at me as if she was terrified and didn't know how to respond.

“Not bonded her yet?” another asked.

“No, we're bonded. I think she's in a sort of shock from it. You know it can take some of them a little while to recover. It wasn't that long ago,” I replied, trying to pass this off as normal, even if it wasn't.

I took a large gulp of my drink while some of the vampires chuckled like I'd made a great joke. If I had intended it to be funny I might have been more bothered that it fell flat, but I was more concerned that they weren't buying this.

“Drink up, little pet,” I added. Then we can get you a little rest before I enjoy you again. Would you like that?”

“Oh, of course, sir,” she replied, the words coming out as a little more of a purr. It helped and I tapped her gently on the nose.

One of the other vampires leaned in a little close, acting like he was putting his glass on the bar behind her and he looked down the top of her dress as he did, brushing up against her back.

She almost squealed and jumped forward toward me.

The vampires all laughed hard this time but I could have roared in anger.

“Doesn't seem very thralled,” someone commented as soon as the noise died down.

Her eyes went wide and she took another gulp of her drink. I put my arm around her and pulled her in closer.

“Nonsense. She's just very new to our world, but I'm sure she'll get more comfortable and chatty once she's had a chance.” Even as I spoke, I knew that I wouldn't even come close to buying anyone saying this sort of thing.

Almost as if to prove me wrong, one of the vampires beckoned another enthralled over and the young woman came striding over, long bare legs showing as she swayed her hips. She smiled and looked as seductive as she could.

Anais stared at her, watching her move and walk as she came up to her owner and practically draped herself over him. The vampire grabbed her ass and pulled her in even closer. She smiled and thrust herself up against him before running a hand up him. It was clear that she was up for being screwed or eaten.

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