Page 55 of Bloody Temptations

That’s not exactly how Matteus explains it; he gives us the whole spiel about the history and status of the club while showing us the various sitting rooms and libraries. There is even a games room, with tables set up for card and board games that have been popular over the centuries.

As we venture further into the first floor, we’re shown the dining room. It’s empty when we pass, but over the course of the evening, Matteus tells us that various meals will be set out for the club members and their guests.

The club gets louder as we file through the winding hallways, all lined with artwork worth more than I’ll ever hope to earn even in theafterlife. Jax physically restrains Lusce to keep him from touching a trio of nude statues.

The source of the noise becomes apparent when we reach what would have once been a conservatory back in the day. At one point or another, it was renovated into a bar, with tables and chairs spilling out into the most spectacular courtyard filled with night blooms. The club has obviously had extensive magic cast over the area as, despite the chill of the evening, the courtyard is as warm as a midsummer night and filled with the scents of jasmine and gardenia. It’s potent enough that I can taste it.

Even with all that classy stuff, it’s a different vibe to the more formal rooms we saw inside. Whereas they were stuffy and conservative, this area is definitely where the party is at—or where it’s beginning at least. Jazzy, big band music pumps through hidden speakers and the place is filled with all kinds of beings. Given how perfect the area is, it’s no surprise that the courtyard is busy, and we’ve manage to capture the attention of the guests.

Even as a vamp myself, and even after all my time at Bloody Temptations, it moves something in me to see so many vampires all together. To see them all together in a place that centres them, and their needs, their desires. There is something different about the atmosphere here at Hearts Gate, different to anywhere I’ve ever been in my life, and certainly since I’ve been turned.

Matteus seems to sense the shift in me. He catches my eye once again, ignoring my friends and Nikolo and Kai and the thirsty catcalls being thrown our way by the members at the bar. For the second time he gives me that reassuring smile and it feels disturbingly like he canseeme.

But before it can get awkward, or too introspective, we’re moving again. He’s masterful like that. Watching his cool, calm professionalism, I have a pang of envy.

“Should I be worried?” Kai whispers in my ear when I’ve stared at Matteus’s back for a little too long.

I roll my eyes and bump my shoulder into him. “No, I was just thinking about how much I miss wearing my old suits. I have a heap of them, just going to waste in my closet.”

Kai, walking slightly behind and to the side of me, crowds me, his body pressed against my back as much as our swift pace will allow.

“Suits? With ties? Like, the whole thing?” He sucks his teeth, and Bedeer turns around to catch us. He winks and nods, before turning back around to nudge Jesminda. This lot has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. “I gotta see that some time. See what we can do with those ties.”

And now I have a boner. Awesome. He chuckles softly, knowing exactly what he’s done to me.

When we near the stairs near the entry once again, Matteus doesn’t take us up, only explains that private rooms take up the second floor. There is a separate staff member up there, from whom you could request a key to have time with other guests. The subtext isn’t lost on any of us about what exactly happens in those private rooms.

On the third floor are more private rooms. But unlike the more salacious second floor rooms, they are the suites available for out of town vampires to stay in—at considerable cost, I assume.

“What about the fourth floor?” Lusce, ever curious and rarely subtle, asks with a wicked grin.

Matteus’s mask is rock solid.

“Those are the living quarters of Aristet, the current owner of Hearts Gate. They are protected by not only our security personnel, but also extensive wards and other magical means.”

Judging by the way Lusce’s eyes light up, and the way Jax is once again physically restraining him, I don’t think Matteus’s warnings had the desired effect on Lusce.

The vampire feeding in the hall does.

Matteus leads us to the other wing of the club for the final leg of the tour. But I don’t thinkthiswas a planned stop on the tour.

Partially hidden in an alcove, the being is barely visible beyond the vampire wrapped around them. At first glance, it kind of looks like they are just having sex. It certainly sounds like it.

Time stops as we watch the pair. We were told not to stare, but how can we not? I can hear Lusce’s sharp inhale as he grips Jax’s arm like a lifeline. Bedeer’s arm tightens around Jesminda, his hand squeezing her shoulder. They aren’t the only ones affected.

Thinking back on it, I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen anyone feed before. Not outside of movies and TV. It’s not even really done at Bloody Temptations. Not for real. Not like this. It’s… is that what we look like? It’s erotic. It’s primal. It’s horrifying.

The vampire completely cloaks the being, almost like they don’t actually exist. Their long coat—not too dissimilar from the formal frock coat that Willan favours—hides everything but the sensual roll of their hips.

I can almost taste the blood, my fangs unsheathing just enough to be uncomfortable in my mouth.

“Come, we have one last room.” Matteus breaks the thrall we’re under. He’s forceful but polite as he guides us away from the feeding couple, leading us to a large set of double doors.

They are sealed shut, with only the softest thudding of sound behind them—more wards keeping whatever’s inside contained.

“The Black Room,” Jesminda reads the tiny plaque hanging above the room. “Sounds terrifying. Can’t wait.”

There isn’t an ounce of sarcasm in her voice.

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