“I hope you plan to get some more sleep.” Olivia snuggled deeper under her blankets. Not for modesty’s sake—over the years, Kelsey’s flamboyance and immodesty had rubbed off on her—but more to get across the point she was trying to return to la-la land.
“Hey!” Kelsey bounced the bed.
Cracking one eye open, Olivia stared at her friend. “What?” she groaned.
“I want the scoop, Liv.” Lying on her side with her head propped on her hand, Kelsey wiggled her blonde eyebrows at her.
“On what?”
Smacking her foot, Kelsey warned, “Don’t play dumb with me.”
“Ouch!” Both her eyes opened as she frowned at her friend. “All right! All right! What do you want to know?”
“Everything! How was your night with Trae and what happened to Anton? I never saw him come back down the stairs. You didn’t kill him with lovin’ did you?” Kelsey joked, now smiling broadly.
Memories of last night’s events came flooding back into Olivia’s tired brain. First, she recalled the passion and the overwhelming driving lust she had felt with Trae and Anton. Her body, aching and tender everywhere, reminded her how well she had been taken care of. She’d actually gone through with it, had a ménage a trois. Then, as a smile began to pull and curl at the corners of her mouth, other images began to rise and she remembered red-hazed eyes and fangs.
Oh, God, Anton had been a vampire. Trae a werewolf. They had both bitten her. Was she one of their servants now? Or both? What did ‘mate’ really mean? She began to shiver.
Pulling the blanket tightly around her chest, she sat up against the headboard.
“You okay? You’re looking a little pale.” Kelsey sat up, too, sitting crossed-legged at the foot of the bed, now.
“I’m f—fine.” She cleared her throat. “I’m fine. Still a little groggy.” Olivia forced a smile to her face as trepidation filled her heart. Last night, there had been no fear, not really, even after she’d discovered who and what they both were. She’d still plunged ahead, yielding her mind and body to the pleasures of the night. Did they put some kind of spell on me?
“Being with two men will do that to you.” Kelsey giggled. “Details. Details!”
How much could she tell her friend? She and Kelsey never kept secrets from each other. Would telling Kelsey place her in danger? Was she in danger? Lifting her hand, she stroked her neck where Anton had bitten her, but didn’t feel any puncture wounds—just a slight soreness, like an old bruise. However, now that she was beginning to think clearly, she could feel a small amount of heat radiating along her back, a throbbing. Trae’s bite. Sliding her hand calmly around her neck to the opposite shoulder, she curled her fingers just over the crest and felt it—a raised, sensitive area, tender to touch. The warmth of it caressed her fingers. Was it infected? She’d have to look at it in the mirror once Kelsey had left. Until she knew more, she had to keep the paranormal elements of the night to herself.
“Come on, sleepy head, give.” Kelsey bounced on the bed again.
“What do you want me to say, Kel? That it was out of this world? That I climaxed so many times last night I couldn’t even think straight?” That part was true. She had experienced a passion like never before, with both men. Except they weren’t men, apparently.
“Hot damn!” Her friend slapped her hands together and laughed. “See, Nervous Nelly, it’s a good thing I didn’t let you chicken out.” Kelsey was smiling broadly. “Trae seemed very into you. He and Diego said they’ve been regulars at The Club for years. You think you’ll do it again?”
Oh, no. She’d got a werewolf and a vampire this time. What would another round bring? There was no telling what other creatures lurked at that place. Waiting. “It was an experience that I don’t think I’ll ever be repeating.”
“Well, I’m glad you did it. Whatever happens to a dream deferred, and all…”
“I don’t think my entering into a ménage was quite what Langston Hughes was talking about.” A dry chuckle broke past her lips.
Waving her hands in the air, Kelsey said, “Maybe not. But you get my drift.”
Olivia shook her head.
“Well, I have to go, so you’ll have to leave the juicy stuff for another time.” Kelsey unfolded her body and stood up.
“Kelsey… Did you notice anything about that place?” she asked, unable to stop herself.
“Like what?” Her friend frowned.
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Something strange, different. Maybe like you weren’t yourself?”
Concern crossed Kelsey’s features. “What do you mean, not yourself? Did those guys drug you? Give you a roofie?” Kelsey crossed the few steps along the carpet until she was standing over Olivia, staring into her eyes, assessing.
“No. No. Nothing like that. I wasn’t drugged.” Olivia pulled her knees up to her chest.
“Are you sure? Do remember the night and this morning?” Planting her fist on her hip, Kelsey waited.
“Trust me… I recall everything.” Olivia closed her eyes for a second as pleasure ran along her flesh and made her body shudder. Why was it that, even now, knowing what those two men were, she still could not bury the pleasure she felt? Opening her eyes, she gazed at her friend.
Kelsey must have noticed her response, because she was smiling. “Good. Well, I still have packing and things to do, and rehearsal, but I’m available if you need me.”
Reaching up, Olivia put her arms around her friend. Squeezing her tight, she said, “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. Make sure you call me tomorrow before you leave.”
Stepping back, Kelsey said, “I will. Take care of yourself while I’m gone.”
Running her hand through her hair, which she was sure was a complete mess, Olivia smiled at Kelsey as she backed up towards the door. “I’m just going to go to work and bury myself in the house for a year or more, until you return.” She said it jokingly, but she was really going to miss Kelsey. Her friend had a grand opportunity, though, one she deserved, and Olivia couldn’t begrudge her that.
“Don’t you dare.” Kelsey wagged her finger at her. “Call Trae? He seemed like a nice guy. Besides, all he did was stare at you during breakfast.”
She’d noticed that, too. There was something between them. Something that pulled at her—a mate—something she didn’t want to analyse right now. “I’ll think about it. Now, go, before they give your part to Tallia McCall.”
“I’d break her legs.” Tallia was Kelsey’s rival in the dance company, a woman who’d also been selected for the tour.
“That’s supposed to be a good thing on the stage.”
“Not if it really happens.” Blowing her a kiss, Kelsey exited the bedroom as Olivia laughed in her wake.
Her laughter subsided as she heard the front door close and the sound of Kelsey’s Camaro’s engine revving and subsequently fading down the street. Dropping the covers, she got up from her bed and padded across the thick carpet to her bathroom. Once inside, she turned the light on and assessed herself in the mirror, something she had been too exhausted to do in the early morning when she had returned home.
Standing there looking at her nude reflection, she didn’t notice anything odd—nothing seemed changed. She moved her gaze from her thighs and continued up past her sex, over her breasts and paused at her neck. There, she saw the small, red marks at the base of her throat, almost completely faded but evidence of Anton’s bite. Reaching up, she touched the skin. Below it she could feel the heavy thumping of her pulse, her carotid artery pushing her life’s blood to her brain. When she stared at her face, everything appeared as it should be, as she had looked all her adult life. Opening her mouth, she checked her teeth, making sure she hadn’t sprouted fangs. Nope—her teeth were not elongated and there were no points at the ends.