Tempting The Gorgon: A Gorgon / Vampire Romance

Chapter 7

Igaped at the cockiest vampire I’d ever met as he started belting out the lyrics to one of my favorite songs of the last century. I had done my best to avoid Arch since that fateful night where I lost my shit when I had no panties on, but I was determined to not push myself back into a self-isolation box where fear dictated my every move.

Arch swayed his hips back and forth with the beat immediately. I tried to ignore the chiseled muscles that peaked out of the top buttons of his dress shirt he never seemed to leave home without. He always looked so clean-cut and put-together, something I knew firsthand was typical of vampires, but he made it look natural and effortless. Like he really just woke up and exuded sex like that with no effort.

Hell, he probably did.

Arch finished the first line when I heard chairs move and saw two bodies stand up out of my periphery.

“No.” Patrick and Rory sang at the appropriate time along with the song. They’d somehow gotten mics of their own and joined in with the one-word lyric before going full-on into the chorus, backing up Arch.

“WOOOO!” Cliona cheered, standing up and throwing her hands in the air excitedly.

“TAKE IT OFF!” Lennox shouted, screaming in a way that reminded me of teenage girls at concerts.

Patrick and Rory made their way up to the stage, and I couldn’t have stopped smiling if I wanted as they took their places behind Arch on either side and began dancing in what looked like planned choreography.

Arch sang, “I don’t want your number,” as all three of them started to unbutton their shirts, which I only then noticed matched in some capacity. They were what Arch always wore, a simple black button-down, but with them the center of attention for everyone else, it looked cohesive.

And planned.

“Did you know they were going to do this?” I heard someone at the table ask.

“No fucking clue,” Lennox answered. “But I’m equal parts turned on, giddy, and shocked.”

“Same,” I admitted, then shoved a hand over my mouth at the admission. The damn whiskey had loosened my tongue in addition to my entire personality, it seemed. My body felt so relaxed and good and buzzed with adrenaline.

I hadn’t taken my eyes off the three males gyrating and singing the iconic female empowerment song. I wasn’t shocked by much anymore, but when Arch descended the makeshift stage and strutted toward me, jutting out his hips with each step, I let myself enjoy the moment.

Especially as he ripped the rest of the black button-down shirt off and bore his entire chiseled chest to me.

Every. Glorious. Inch.

“If you live at home with your mama,” he sang, now standing within a foot of me. He turned around in some sexy spin thing that made his ab muscles ripple before squatting into a catcher position and standing slowly, pushing his ass in my face as he curled back up and strutted away from me.

Then, as if it weren’t enough, he turned his head around to wink at me and licked one of his fangs.

“Holy hot hell,” Gioia said from a few seats down. I jerked my head to her. “If you aren’t into it, Lavinia, I sure as fuck could be.”

Two growls rose up above the music, but thankfully Dominic’s drowned mine out.

All my snakes hissed in the young wolf’s direction, and I swallowed my own snarl before I embarrassed myself further. The shock at my immediate response had me freezing.

Should we bite her?

The vampire is ours.

Ours, yes.

He tasted so good.

Delectable, Titi finished for them with a heat to her tone that suggested she wanted a bite from the vampire soon as well.

Gioia gave me a sly wink (what was with all the damn winking?) before turning her back a little too forcefully away from Dominic. I didn’t want to examine why I was instinctually feral about someone else being into Arch, especially when I knew Gioia wasn’t actually interested in him. She was so lovesick over Dominic, it was obvious to everyone except him, apparently; she was clearly playing some weird jealousy game with the dragon and didn’t actually want to jump Arch’s bones. She’d opened up to me about her feelings for the dragon in the last two months since we started working on the club more closely together.

“Okay, down, Daddy,” Lennox said before reaching out and petting Luxor. “But maybe you should take a look at why you’re so protective over someone you claim to hate, Lavinia.”

She shrugged as the three shirtless hunks continued their performance on the stage. Unfortunately, Lennox wasn’t wrong I realized as my eyes couldn’t move away from the pale, chiseled, cut-life beefy vampire muscles gyrating on the stage.

“I thinkyou three should perform at the club when we get up and running,” Gioia excitedly claimed as most of us lingered outside The Witch’s Brew after karaoke.

“Ooh, yes, please!” Tonya and Lennox jumped up and down.

“Magick Mike: Haven Pass, everyone?” Gioia asked the group, waggling her eyebrows.

“What do you know about Magick Mike?” Drew asked his little sister before quickly throwing up his hands. “You know what? Never mind. I don’t want to know.”

“I want to know,” Dominic said, his blue eyes darkening at what Gioia suggested.

“Sucks for you then,” Gioia said, flipping her long blonde hair before walking away from the group in her heels.

In the wolf community, I knew that once they shifted, they were considered of age and an adult. Gioia had shifted and was running under the moon in all its phases regularly for the last three months. Since I’d seen a huge difference in her demeanor, from the way she styled her hair and makeup to the way she dressed as if she always had someone to impress.

“Dude.” Drew looked at Dom.

We all knew who she was trying to impress even if no one wanted to acknowledge it outright for fear of a dragon’s wrath.

Dominic gaped back at Drew. “What? She’s too young to be knowing what that is. She’s too young to be working at that”—he motioned toward me—“club. No offense, Lavinia. You know I am proud of you and your work, but not when it involves Gioia’s innocence. And she started dressing like that? I’m done sitting by to watch her throw herself at males like she has any right to.” The dragon didn’t linger and instead ran off after Gioia. I’d never seen an actual dragon shifter so obsessed with such a small creature before. I wasn’t even sure he knew what his feelings were yet, only treating her like a little sister instead of a love interest for the most part.

Dragons were notorious for protecting and hoarding anything they saw value in. Blue dragons were next level because of their rarity in the dragon shifter community. Their icy homes led to them taking safety and precautions more seriously than most alpha males of any species. I had spoken to Gioia about it at length to try and prepare her when she told me her true feelings, but I’m not sure any of it landed.

Dominic was trying to hoard and protect Gioia, even if he was too blind to see it.

“He is so dumb,” Arch said.

“Complete idiot,” Cliona agreed, sliding closer to Patrick, who already had his arm wrapped around her shoulder. I had to listen to him lust after her all night, and he hadn’t let her out of his lap after he was done performing with Arch and Rory.

“What do you mean?” Drew asked, looking genuinely confused.

Arch stared at him, dumbfounded. “You know what? Never mind. You’re so dumb, bro.”

The group chuckled, and Drew looked legitimately confused.

“I do think Gioia has a good point, though,” I offered, hopefully distracting Drew from asking more questions. Gioia cared more about what her brothers thought than even she cared to admit, and I wasn’t sure he was ready to see how one of his best friends was lusting after his baby sister. He probably knew Gioia had a crush on Dominic but wasn’t sure how close his friend was to reciprocating those feelings. “We’re planning some performances, and I’ve been talking to Anya about booking some off-island entertainment. We should look to see if the Magick Mike cast would be willing to come to town. Think of all that thrusting.” I tried to make my voice as husky as possible, and judging by how Arch inched closer to me, it had the desired effect.

I’d mostly sobered up but felt calm about being around him for the first time in a while. I had been trying to find a way to talk to him about how I was feeling after I ran away but hadn’t figured out the right words. I knew, based on how the thought of him kneeling before me and licking my pussy still had me wearing my toys out every night, that I wasn’t done with him.

“Now this is what I’m talking about!” Lennox nearly shouted.

The conversation continued on about different events we could host at the club before folks started to disperse, conveniently leaving Arch and me alone.

“Can I walk you home?”

I considered Arch’s offer before walking away.

“I need to check on the club,” I called back after a few paces. It wasn’t a clear invitation, but I knew he’d take the bait of anything but a clear denial. I even waited for him to tell me to take a break or that it was too late. Instead he kept up with me as we walked through the town square and toward Crescent Moon Park.

The January night was freezing, and while the main roads were clear of snow, it had piled up on the sides of the road. Faerie lights that lined every street illuminated the white blanket of snow, so we had the privilege of seeing its beauty. As we entered the park, I stopped for a minute to appreciate the beautiful fresh powder with foot and sled prints, painting it like a scrapbook of activities from the residents.

I continued on, hearing the snow crunch beneath my boots and feeling the cool air bite against the edges of my nose, reminding me I’d need to moisturize when I got home. As a gorgon, I wasn’t snake-like all over, in fact, I wasn’t snake-like in any aspect apart from having them for hair.

“I heard we have a big storm coming in the next few days.” Arch broke the silence.

I didn’t want to answer, but my nerves began to spiral.

“What does this mean for our timeline?”

“Your club will open in time for the Valentine’s grand opening, Lavinia.” The assured tone he gave was not filled with his usual swagger but something intent and promising. “I swear on everything I am that the one thing you don’t have to worry about is the timeline with everything else going on.”

I scoffed as if I’d stop worrying. I halted my steps and looked at the vampire. The rough edges of his face were shadowed just enough to make everything look even more chiseled and defined. For all his faults, or really, vampire faults in general, Arch was beyond handsome.

“Why would you promise that to me? Deliverables change all the time in construction and on a project of this size. Even with Cliona’s magick, the weather can be unpredictable. I need you to take me seriously and be honest about any potential impacts to my business, Archibald.” I knew he’d been keeping tabs on me since I flipped the fuck out and saw too much of Thatcher in his face. I’d been having a good fucking time too, until memories I fought hard to stop from happening surfaced. I had told myself repeatedly for the last two months that it was better this way, that it was best to keep my distance from Arch.

I’d protected myself from the threat I knew Arch posed to my healing.

Fear was a powerful motivator but also quite a deterrent to any sort of progress. Or that’s what Guillermo tried to tell me anyway.

My brain had been in protection mode for as long as I could remember. It’s like it didn’t know how to stop anticipating a threat to my peace or simply shut down enough for me to assess new situations without bringing in my old memories.

“Because.” Arch didn’t elaborate and continued walking, quickly exiting the park and making his way toward the club.

“For someone who normally can’t keep his mouth shut, that was a suspicious non-answer.” I refused to hurry to catch up to him. He had to have some sort of alternate agenda with me and my club. Was it something to do with his council role? I’d humiliated him privately; probably insulted whatever fragile masculinity he clung to when I bailed on him before he got his dick wet.

The ass only shrugged his shoulders, gave a quick wink in my direction, and continued on. The next several minutes passed in silence, the sounds of nature and our footsteps crunching in snow the only soundtrack to our journey.

Haven Pass was, as small towns go, pretty spread out. The main town square was where most gathered throughout the day, but there were many neighborhoods that shot off from the center. There were even more cabins and dwellings further spread across the island for species who had passed their initial screening period and desired a more isolated existence. After our High Priestess determined your sanity and intentions to not harm the island in any way, you could go anywhere on the island.

As we approached my future club, I stopped to get a good look at her. The workers weren’t on tonight because they needed at least one night off every week. I wasn’t running a dictatorship here; I wanted my shit done right and knew even vampires (while they didn’t need sleep) required rest. Plus, they had worked diligently since work began and deserved more days off, in my opinion. If anyone had their hands on the foundations of my club, they were going to be performing at their best.

“Hey gorgeous,” I greeted the mostly-finished outside of the club, patting the handrail that led up the entry steps. The structure was fully built, but the outside still needed a stain on the logs it was built from. I was having trouble deciding on the outdoor aesthetic, so it wasn’t anyone’s fault for the delay except my own.

“She really fucking is.”

I turned to see Arch staring at me. I felt my cheeks warm at his words. Was I blushing? No. Absolutely not. I was probably getting a fever.

Why was I like this around him?

Because you’re a lovesick fool, Luxor chimed in.

Because of those muscles, Asir added.

Because he’s really fucking pretty. Omari swooned.

Because he tastes so fucking good, Faddei said, making me chuckle.

I cleared my throat and cursed my snakes internally.

“Have you been inside since they finished the flooring?” I offered him the olive branch. I knew he’d probably seen the floors, but I wanted to step inside again without an entire crew watching me, and I wanted to see someone else take in the space too.

“I’d love to see them.” He nodded for me to go ahead. I opened the large oak front door I had painted black with crimson trim.

“Have you decided on a name yet?”

“Venom,” I answered without hesitation.

I felt my body seize up before my mind could catch up to how freely I’d given him information, anticipating his inevitable response to make fun of the name. Thatcher had never missed an opportunity to tear me down or let me know an idea was dumb or point out why I was ignorant of the ways of business. Apparently females weren’t savvy enough to run a business; we were only good enough to be seen on a powerful male’s arm, or as a weapon in my case.

I had hated it every moment. But I loathed how my body’s automatic response to any of my ideas were to prepare for an assault on my character, my intelligence, my creativity.

Me.

I was constantly prepared for an assault.

It was exhausting.

“It’s perfect,” Arch said, passing me to turn on the work lights that were left by the crew. “Black is also perfect. I also love the accents of dark red and green you have. Sexy and sultry.” He spoke as if he were truly impressed and not placating me for conversation or to get on my good side.

“Thank you.” I nodded and walked through the space with him, showing him all the little details he may have missed. I assumed he kept up with the work since it had been two months into the project, and I hadn’t heard a peep from him. I knew he’d been keeping a respectable distance from me, mostly because I shut down any contact he tried.

I pointed out the leather bench seating surrounding the walls and the tables throughout the middle of the floor plan. I showed him the wall at the far end of the main lounge that would house our bartender. The stage I had painstakingly detailed was half-finished and looked fucking perfect.

“I haven’t been able to see this bad boy yet.” I admired the craftsmanship and the details on the outer rim of the raised platform. The center would have a pole that could be removed or replaced with anything the performer desired. I tried to keep the space as flexible as possible while still knowing what the majority would perform or seek out. The round stage was in the center of the floor so chairs could be placed all around.

“Have you booked any talent yet?” Arch asked, surveying the platform with what looked like excitement on his face.

“Besides Magick Mike: Haven Pass?” I quirked an eyebrow and chuckled. “Not yet. I have plans to discuss the need for some open borders or possible visa residencies at the next town council.”

“Visa residencies?”

“Yeah, like having someone stay for a few months or a year tops. Someone that is basically a long-term visitor. I know we had a scare last fall, but I really want Venom to be open to more than only island residents. Obviously, we need to keep it on the down-low overall, and we should screen folks and go through the regular protocols, minus a few exceptions. I’m not sure how the logistics would actually work, but I’ll be bringing it up soon at a council meeting.”

Arch listened and nodded along with each word. “I think we might actually have a common agenda, temptress.”

I scoffed loudly and began walking back toward the front entrance. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

Before I could register the movement, Arch had me in his arms and ran toward the front door. He stopped beside the oak entrance and pressed me firmly against the plaster, effectively trapping me between his hard body and the newly constructed wall.

He’s so strong, Asir whispered.

Feel those muscles? Xabat added.

I kept my eyes forward until I registered the heat in Arch’s eyes as he stared back at me.

He stares at us like he isn’t afraid, Khons commented.

What a fool. Luxor made a judgmental clicking sound with the words.

Shall we taste his blood again? Faddei said, hope lacing his words.

Yes, let’s taste him! Titi, usually the most reserved, lashed out before I could respond, sinking her fangs into the hard set of Arch’s jaw. His irises flared wide at what was sure to be a stinging pain, but he made no move to release me.

“And what is that one’s name?” He didn’t look at Titi, keeping his ember eyes fixed on me, and instead clenched his jaw as she let him go, but not before she licked at the seam of his lips like a fucking freak.

Knock it off, Titi, I scolded.

I will not apologize. He is delicious.

“You’re going to make Daddy Snake mad, Nefertiti,” I said out loud, answering Arch’s question while also letting him know we were communicating.

After I told Lennox their names, I felt their excitement each morning entering the shop when she greeted each of them personally. I forgot in my time with the Becketts that my snakes needed interaction and attention like any other part of me. They had been starved with it just as much, if not more, than I had been over the decades.

“Daddy Snake?” Arch asked, smirking but not yielding any room between our bodies despite one of them already attacking. The hard ridges of his muscles dug into the softness of my stomach deliciously and in a way that reminded me how strong he was.

Luxor snapped forward, matching Titi’s bite on the other side of Arch’s jaw.

Only the females are allowed to call me that, vampire.

“Holy fuck, what was that?” Arch’s eyebrow rose nearly to his hairline in shock.

“He bit you because you called him ‘Daddy Snake.’ Luxor only allows Titi and me to call him that.”

“Yeah, that’s what that voice just said.” Arch looked shocked, which was rare for him, I’d found. Nothing seemed to surprise him, like he was prepared for every outcome or he was well practiced in shielding his true emotions.

“What voice?”

My voice. I bonded him.

“You what?!” I shouted at the same time Arch said, “Fuck yes! Do I get snake powers now?”

Calm down. Titi did it too, she just didn’t speak to him yet.

Because we hadn’t discussed it, and I didn’t even mean to. He was just so delicious.Her larger body hovered between us again, looking at Arch’s jaw like it was a tasty snack. The bastard bore his neck to her as if inviting her in for round two.

I smacked him right on the throat before she had the chance.

“We don’t even know what bonding means, and you’re up for round two?!” I was speechless. Then I realized I was also mortified. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t even know they could do this! I don’t even know what to say.” My snakes had never bonded with someone before. “Answer his question,” I nearly screamed at Luxor and Titi. “What does bonding mean exactly?”

It just means that we can communicate with him if need be on your behalf. He isn’t bonded to you, even though we are a part of you, Luxor answered.

“That’s such an invasion.” My snakes were unruly, but this was a new level of crossing a line. “Do we need to review consent again?”

No! Not again! a bunch of the non-bonded snakes echoed at once.

Please, dear goddess, not another slide show, Titi added.

“I know how you can make it up to me for this clear invasion of my privacy,” Arch said with no actual anger behind it. He still hadn’t moved, and I felt how hard he’d gotten after the bites. The outline of his cock was turning me on while also reminding me of what I missed out on that night at his cabin.

It was torturous.

And distracting.

“I’m not sure I need to make anything up to you if they unlocked a hidden snake claim biting kink of yours.”

“You have unlocked many new kinks in me since I slammed into you last spring in front of town hall, temptress.” He spoke sincerely, with no hint of humor. “But I won’t go into those details now.” He trailed his index finger along the side of my jaw in the same places Titi and Luxor had branded him.

“You never told me what you had in mind.” I swallowed in a way that told him what I was thinking. The desire I felt pooling deep in my stomach had me in a chokehold. I needed relief, and I hadn’t been able to get myself off in too long. I was touch starved beyond belief, and Arch didn’t know how much he had truly affected me.

“I’d rather show than tell.” He slowly backed away, leaving me against the wall, near panting. He quickly opened the door and motioned for me to exit. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow at nine.”

“You will tell me what for first, Archibald.”

Instead of answering, he picked me up and ran all the way to the front door of my apartment back in the town square in less than a minute, winked at me as usual, then sprinted away into the night.