Page 53 of Fighting for Her Heart
“The human is your responsibility while inside the club,” she says flatly. “If you fail to keep her properly supervised, any vampire who feeds from her, has sex with her, or otherwise interferes with her person, cannot be challenged by you in any manner. If you wish her to be your exclusive blood donor and/or sexual partner, then I suggest you keep her close to you at all times.”
“I’m not—” Nora stars to object, but Ryker stops her, his hand tightly closing over her mouth.
“No need to worry, my pet,” he whispers in Nora’s ear. “Axe and I won’t let anyone else fuck you, punish you, drain you, or any of theotherfun activities we plan to enjoy with you here at the club.”
Nora’s eyes fill with hate so I step forward to draw their attention, hoping the guards don’t notice her expression. Ryker’s putting on a show for the guards—at least I hope he is—and I don’t want Nora’s reaction to rouse any suspicions.
Touching Nora’s arm, I lean toward her. “I’ll keep you by my side.”
She relaxes under my touch and Ryker shoots her a quick look of warning before removing his hand from her lips. She pants slightly, as if he’d been covering her nose too, preventing her from breathing.
Nora’s heart is racing, but I can’t say that the vibe I’m getting off her is fear. Not exactly. Could she beexcitedabout entering this realm, normally exclusive to vampires? I admit that I’m curious, even though neither supper clubs nor speakeasies were ever my cup of tea.
Each taking one golden handle, the guards open the doors for us, and we step into a void, so dark my eyes can’t adjust quickly enough as the double doors shut behind us.
But just as I’m getting used to the darkness, another set of doors opens, greeting us with pounding music and brightly flashing lights.
An enormous grin flashes over Ryker’s face, and then I follow behind him. Nora trembles slightly, so I wrap my arm over her shoulders and hold her tight to my side.
The club is massive, the music and lights bouncing off high ceilings covered in reflective surfaces, and I realize my sense of space could be off, because the room seems infinitely large in every direction I look.
Ryker beckons and we cross a space where hundreds of vampires are dancing—but neither the music nor the dance moves are even vaguely familiar to those I saw the last time I took Ulla to the city for a night out.
Barely clothed bodies gyrate and grind against each other, as if simulating sex, and then I realize that some of them aren’t simulating a thing. Some vampires are actually having sex right on the dance floor in the middle of the crowd.
Nora watches as if mesmerized, less shocked than I would have expected, and then we follow Ryker through soaring curtains of sparkling crystals that lead to a quieter room.
“Take Nora over there.” He gestures toward a grouping of sofas and chairs at the far end of the room. “I’ll grab us some drinks at the bar.”
I nod and hear Ryker make a comment to the bartender about how many people are here, given it’s daytime, and the bartender tells him that there was a massive party a couple of nights ago, in honor of the Princess’s visit, and many of the guests have not yet left.
“What is this place?” Nora asks as I sink into a large leather sofa, pulling her down next to me.
“Hell if I know.” I shrug.
“Ryker seems at home.” She nods toward the bar.
Two scantily dressed females have joined the pirate there. One rubs her body against his while the other strokes the side of his face. Anger rises inside me on Ember’s behalf, but Ryker just laughs with the females and then backs away, bowing toward them with a flourish and then blowing each of them a kiss before he saunters back toward us. On the way, he adjusts himself, clearly aroused by the encounter.
“Friends of yours?” I ask as he sits in a chair opposite the sofa.
“Wouldn’t call themfriends.” He chuckles. “But yeah, I know them.” He glances at Nora. “Hope whiskey’s okay? If not, we can order something else.”
“That’s fine,” she says.
A waiter appears out of nowhere, dressed in a tight, mesh t-shirt and even tighter leather pants.
The waiter winks at Nora, then at me, as he sets down a crystal decanter of whiskey and three matching glasses, followed by a small pitcher of water.
“Thanks, handsome.” Ryker flicks through a small stack of hundred dollar bills that he must have pulled from his pocket, and the vampire bends toward him, licking his lips in an obvious invitation.
Ignoring the waiter’s flirtation, Ryker turns toward Nora and me. Looking disappointed, the waiter retrieves the cash and walks away.
“A bottle of whiskey costs hundreds of dollars now?” I wonder how long it will take me to get used to this new modern world after my decades in that dungeon.
Ryker shrugs. “No fucking idea how much that bottle cost. I’ve got an account here. That was the tip.”
My eyes widen, but I suspect that Ryker overpays people on purpose. That would certainly be his style.
