12. Elsie
elsie
. . .
“Hey, pretty girl,” Vi called, leaning into my mirror with a plate piled high with pink heart-shaped macarons and chocolate-covered strawberries dusted in golden, glittery sprinkles.
She gingerly slid the delicate gold-rimmed dish onto my vanity, nudging cosmetics and makeup brushes out of her way to make space.
“Hi yourself,” I said with a glint of fang peeking out of my teasing smile. Our eyes met in the mirror as I tapped my cheeks lightly, diffusing a soft pink liquid blush with my fingers.
It made me feel weirdly self-conscious that my hair was still in rollers, setting my curls before I went on stage—not that Vi hadn’t seen me mid-glam before or even naked several nights a week. But it was Valentine’s Day ! We didn’t have an official date planned or anything, but I wanted… I don’t know! For it to be special, I guess.
Maybe I should’ve asked her on a proper date. It wouldn’t have been tonight, not with the club full to bursting with couples looking to spice up what otherwise would’ve been another boring dinner date. But… Maybe we could’ve gone for breakfast after work—it still counted as breakfast at four a.m., right? When did things stop being midnight snacks?
I fought a nervous giggle, embarrassment making me stiff as Vi brushed a stray hair from the nape of my neck with her warm fingers.
“I was worried if I didn’t swipe some of these now, they’d be out by the time I took my break,” she said, popping a strawberry into her mouth. A stray crumb of chocolate rested against her upper lip, and I gave in to the urge to swipe it away, sucking it off the pad of my finger.
Vi swallowed hard, pink rising to her cheeks and making my mouth water.
The little red dress she wore was perfect for the evening’s theme, ribbed fabric hugging her every curve like it’d been tailored for her specifically. It made me wonder what Juniper could make for her if I gave her no rules and an unlimited budget.
A dangerous notion. Juniper was amazing at making clothes, but her real talent was in lingerie. The thought led into another, reminding me of the gift I’d purchased for Vi.
It was a gamble, but…
“Els?” Vi asked, nudging me with her shoulder good-naturedly as she recovered first. “Anybody home?”
I jumped off my stool with a nervous laugh, trying not to let my gaze stray toward Vi’s obvious cleavage or bare legs for too long.
“Yes, sorry! Actually, I… Um… I got you a little something. I hope that’s okay.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” she said, her elevated heart rate betraying her curiosity. “I… Well, I didn’t get you anything.”
“We didn’t talk about presents, so I wasn’t expecting one. I just wanted to, so I did.”
One of the things I liked best about Vi was how perceptive she was, constantly soaking up information about the people around her. Even when I was peppering her with questions for Mission Girlfriend Material , which was finally a name I didn’t hate , she was the one getting all the information. It wouldn’t be a surprise if she had notes in her phone about each of us, tracking our likes and dislikes.
If, you know, that wasn’t total insane person behaviour.
Not that I could talk, given the nearly encyclopaedic level of knowledge I’d collected about my coworker-slash-crush-slash-future girlfriend.
Something about her attention to detail just felt… good .
With the shriek of metal against metal, I pushed aside some low-hanging costumes to reveal a box I’d hidden on the bottom shelf of my clothes rack, out of sight of the nosy dancers I shared my space with.
She took in the elegant black script and matching bow wrapped around the blush box with interest.
“Agent Provocateur?” Vi asked in that soft, raspy voice of hers that made my toes curl, her lips twitching as she took the gift with barely contained grabby hands.
Note to self: she likes presents.
“Open it,” I encouraged, clasping my hands behind my back to stop myself from lifting the box back out of her grip as she hesitated.
The waiting was always the worst part of gift-giving. Why didn’t people just shred things like when we were kids on Christmas morning?
Vi unravelled the bow slowly, peeling back the lid of the box and tucking it underneath. The black tissue paper rustled as she parted it, revealing a lingerie set made of sheer nude fabric, a dusting of embroidered pink and red hearts decorating the scalloped edges of the bra and the top of the panties like sprinkles. The set was completed with pink piping to finish its edges that matched the ribbon of the garter belt.
Cute and sexy. The exact sort of thing I wanted to see her in.
Vi’s mouth hung open in surprise, her eyes wide as she looked up from the box to meet my gaze. “Elsie, this is?—”
“Just your size,” I interrupted before taking a sharp breath through my nose to steady myself.
I’d barely had to do any begging to get Babydoll, the gooey romantic, to hand over Vi’s bra size.
After our near miss of a kiss the other day, and whatever weirdness followed. I realised that it was time to take matters into my own hands.
You need a grand gesture, baby? No problem, here it is.
I pulled the tie on my robe, the bow coming loose and parting the silken fabric to reveal my matching set. Sheer fabric hugged my every curve, the light padding and underwire in the bra putting in the work to lift my chest just right.
“Don’t you think we make a great pair?” I asked, allowing the tie to slip through my fingers.
There was a beat of silence.
Two.
Three.
Vi stared at me, her eyes roving over every inch of exposed skin like she was trying to commit it to memory.
It didn’t matter that girls were running around us to get ready. Our world had shrunk to just us.
The gift box hit the floor with a dull thud as she grabbed the front of my robe, the gauzy material taut in her fingers as she drew me against her chest.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” she breathed, her free hand cupping the back of my neck as she guided my lips to hers in a demanding kiss that left me feeling dizzy.
We traded kisses like breaths of air, her lips soft and warm against mine.
God, Vi was a good kisser.
Something I wanted to explore for hours, preferably not in the middle of a room full of my coworkers but… whatever , they could watch it if they wanted. I wasn’t ashamed to be seen with her.
In fact, I was thrilled by the idea that this beautiful, caring creature looked around this room full of girls and wanted me .
I gripped her hips as her fingers left my robe to trail along the thin fabric of my bra, her warm fingers against my cold skin making me shiver.
Vi’s hand tangled into the hair at the back of my head, pulling a little from the pinned rollers as she controlled our pace. Her free hand cradled my face, thumb stroking the soft skin near my cheekbone, teeth digging into my low lip in a soft nip that turned my knees to jelly.
When the lights flickered from behind my closed eyes, announcing the next act, a frustrated groan slipped from Vi’s lips as she pulled away to rest her forehead against mine.
I wet my lips with my tongue, earning another taste of the vanilla lip gloss she’d left behind. “Vi, I?—”
“When do you have to be on stage?” she interrupted, her hand sliding from my face to toy with the open front of the robe, the silken belt gripped tightly in her fingers.
I groaned internally. As much as I wanted to go upstairs to the apartment, I knew there would be hell to pay from Dana if I bailed. Tonight needed to go off without a hitch if we were going to have any hope of making the money we needed to pay off Garrett this month.
Loser .
Dana absolutely owed me one for being such a good covenmate right now. I looked behind Vi to the clock, the butterflies in my stomach throwing a rave as Vi’s fingers traced patterns along the bare skin of my hip, dipping to run her fingers along the band of my panties.
“Twenty minutes,” I breathed, tipping my head back to give her wandering mouth, moving along my shoulder to the crook of my neck, access to my throat.
Maybe never, if you keep looking at me like Juniper looks at a bowl of spicy ramen. Rather get devoured by you than anything else.
“It’ll have to do,” Vi said, grabbing hold of my wrist. The feathered hem of my robe tickled my skin as she led me toward the darkened entry of Dana's old office, glowing faintly red with the computer’s screensaver.
We were inside, and I had my back against the door before I had time to think, Vi’s lips meeting mine with renewed need. I grabbed her ass, fusing our hips together in a bid for some delicious, satisfying friction. I’d been soaked from the second she’d first kissed me, and if she didn’t touch me soon, I wasn’t above begging.
Honestly, it usually made things more fun.
Vi made quick work of my robe, sliding the fabric off my shoulders and down my arms to pool on the floor in a mass of pale pink. She broke our kiss, a whispered moan escaping her throat as she took me in.
“Stunning,” she murmured, hands reverently roaming my exposed skin. She kissed down the side of my neck, dull human teeth scraping at the skin and making me shiver. “Have you been running around in this all day?”
“Maybe,” I whispered, my breath hitching as she teased my nipples through the fabric of my bra with a roll of her pointer finger and thumb. “Vi, please. I want you.”
“ Fuck ,” she hissed, pulling the cups down to get a look at the pebbled peaks. “I hate that this is going to have to be quick.”
Her eyes met mine, and my breath caught at the want burning in her gaze.
I was used to being desired, but this didn’t feel like something as simple as sexual attraction. It felt a lot like need .
She tweaked my bare nipple with her fingers, and my pussy clenched like she’d drawn a line directly to my core.
“Vi, please ,” I whined again, grinding my hips against hers and using my hand on her waist to keep her close as her thigh moved between my legs, finally offering me a sliver of the sweet relief I craved.
“Please what?” she whispered, her breath fanning along my ear and the side of my neck. Her lips met the sensitive skin a moment after, kissing and sucking a path toward my collarbone.
“ Please , I—” I want you. I need you. I’m desperate for you . “Make me come.”
“Well, since you asked so nicely,” she purred cheekily.
Her lips met mine briefly before she scored a line of hot, open-mouthed kisses over my chest, and trailing further down. Her teeth dragged until she reached my nipple, teasing the peak with her tongue in small flicks that had me chewing my lip to swallow whimpers, only barely in control enough to remember that just on the other side of this door was a room full of my coworkers.
It only made it all hotter—the glide of my damp panties against Vi’s bare thigh as I ground down hard, the delicious friction of the fabric against my clit, and a well-timed possessive suck from Vi dragging a moan from my lips.
“Fuck,” she hissed against my breast, biting down hard enough to bruise. “Make that sound again.”
I loved being marked up by my vicious little human. Love bites were like glitter—you never really could have enough.
She gripped my ass, forcing me to speed up with a pained suck of air as she found the open, heart-shaped cutout at the back of my panties.
“You little slut,” she murmured, swatting my butt cheek hard enough to make me gasp before soothing away the hurt with a brush of her palm. “You wanted me to fuck you in the club.”
“Maybe,” I admitted, pulling her close to drag my teeth along her exposed shoulder.
I almost felt drunk with the power of her scent—honeysuckle and sugary cupcakes burning down to a nearly caramel-like finish with her arousal singing between us. Her quickened pulse was thumping along her throat, begging for me to bite and taste and tear her until I’d drunk my fill.
The flat of my tongue pressed against her skin, a whisper of that decadent flavour meeting my taste buds, fangs scoring a light scratch in my wake.
I was flattened against the door as she gripped my thigh, hooking my leg over her hip impatiently to give her better access. Vi’s fingers skated over the edge of the panties, teasing the spot where I wanted to feel her most.
“Look at my pretty little princess,” she murmured as I bucked helplessly into her hand, soft panting moans slipping between my kisses on her neck. “Soaked right through and I’ve barely begun.”
“Vi— fuck —” I whimpered as she slid the panties to the side, digits slipping through my slick entrance for a shallow dip into my core that made me quiver, my entire body moving to try and force her deeper inside me.
Anything, absolutely anything, to make her fuck me.
“Vi, what?” she coaxed softly. “Use your words, Princess.”
The nickname was the perfect mix of affection and condescension, something I could think about later. It was impossible to follow a train of thought even when Vi’s fingers were just barely teasing my cunt.
“Can I—” I started, only for Vi to plunge two fingers inside me, scissoring the digits and making me break into a loud moan. I was so wet there wasn’t any resistance as she pumped in and out of me, and I could already feel my orgasm building as she ground the palm of her hand against my clit.
“Shh,” she hissed, though her mouth was slanted into a cocky smirk. It wasn’t like backstage was quiet, and with the music pumping through the club… Well, there was at least a chance no one had heard that. “Can you what, Els?”
“ Yes , Vi! God, you feel so good —” I babbled, as Vi’s free hand moved to catch my wrists, holding them above my head against the door. There was only one thing that could possibly make this moment better. “I need… Can I bite you?”
She nipped my earlobe, voice husky. “Go on.”
I groaned, my entire body shuddering at the command. My fangs ached with the desire to comply with her order, but after she’d retreated from me the other night… I knew better than to push things.
“A-Are you sure?” I stammered, swallowing hard.
Vi slowly freed her fingers from me, pausing to ghost them over my clit with purposeful strokes that had me whimpering and thrashing against her hold before dipping back inside to fuck me like her life depended on it.
“Come on, Elsie,” Vi purred to me, her body warm and deliciously heavy as she pressed me into the door. Her fingers grazed my jaw, taking hold of my chin to guide my face to hers for a tender kiss. “Don’t you want a taste?”
“Vi, please ?—”
She turned her head, offering me her pale, creamy throat and something in me lurched out that I’d never felt before. An urge to not only bite her, but to change Vi into one of us. To claim her as a part of our coven for the rest of eternity.
I pushed the urge away and sucked, pulling her blood to the surface before my fangs sunk into her tender skin.
She stiffened a moment at the sharp throb of pain, her grip on my wrists hardening before it went slack as my venom took hold. The human went languid in my arms, abandoning the rhythm of her fingers in favour of crooking them up into the sensitive ridged section deep within me for lazy circles, her free hand cupping the back of my head.
Her moan was stifled against my cheek, the little shudder of her body setting me ablaze.
The touch, paired with the explosion of sweetness along my tongue, made me completely fall apart, coming with a snarled whine where I sucked down mouthfuls of her decadent blood, the warring sensations of her fingers and palm cresting my pleasure until I was seeing stars.
Before I could truly gorge, I pulled back enough to lick a stripe up the side of her neck, my saliva closing the wound and removing any evidence of what we’d been doing.
Vi’s eyes met mine, glassy from the high of vampire venom, as she freed her fingers from my cunt to lick my shining arousal away.
“ Maybe ,” Dana called dryly from behind Vi, making both of us jump. “The next time you choose to have sex in our workplace, you could at least make sure the office you’ve locked yourself into is empty .”
Vi recovered first, moving to shield my body from view protectively.
A bit silly, given Dana and I had done all that and more in the shower this morning. But incredibly chivalrous and cute anyway.
My gaze met Dana’s, her stare heavy with desire as she leaned her warm brown elbow on the desk, a pair of noise-cancelling headphones hung loosely around her neck.
I hadn’t noticed her when we came in. At. All.
Oops .
“Busted. Sorry, Dana,” Vi said with a blush to her cheeks that told me she was anything but sorry as she righted my panties and bra. “Won’t happen again… Unless you’d like it to.”
I swear to every god there ever was that I got even wetter. She liked to be watched . A bold move, making such an obvious pass at your boss, but… I mean, people did say some crazy things while hopped up on venom. Maybe it was the confidence booster she needed to take things with Dana to the next level.
And I watched as it worked on Dana too. She leaned forward with interest, her eyes trailing from Vi’s head, with her hair tousled from my hands, to the scrapes on the side of her neck, over that skintight little dress to her bare legs, and back to her face with agonizing slowness.
“Or I could join you,” she offered, her tone measured.
Thank goodness for no HR department.
Vi studied Dana appraisingly, her tongue darting out to wet her lips. “You’d want to?”
Dana’s fanged grin was predatorial as she whispered, “I’d love to, darling.”
“It’s decided,” I said, slapping Vi’s ass playfully as she bent to pick up my robe. “So come here and let’s?—”
“It looks like the bar is swamped,” Dana interrupted, hooking a thumb toward the monitors on her desk. “You should get back out there,” she told Vi just before her eyes flicked to me, eyebrow raising. “And you are due on stage in three minutes.”
Vi groaned, swaying slightly. Probably not my finest moment to send her back out there high as balls on vampire venom, but she’d just be wicked horny for a bit and a little slow-moving. It wasn’t like anything was going to happen with Ren around.
Well, nothing she didn’t want to happen anyway.
“Yeah, you got it, boss ,” Vi said, tossing the nickname at Dana with a fair bit of sass, making the vampire shift in her seat.
“Brat.”
“Maybe,” she returned with a shrug. My stomach flip-flopped as Vi turned back to me, brushing a thumb over my cheek. “See you later?”
“Yeah,” I whispered, revelling in the tender kiss that followed.
“Hope you enjoyed the show, Dana,” Vi tossed over her shoulder as she stepped away from me, the chill in the sudden space between us uncomfortable as I tugged my robe back on.
I moved aside and opened the door, giving her enough space to pass.
“Thoroughly,” the vampire replied with a dirty smile. “Let’s do it again soon.”
“Break a leg, Els,” Vi purred, lips grazing my temple before she disappeared back into the club.
I reached up to run my hand through my hair, finding it blocked by the curlers still pinned into place.
Oh god. Vi just fucked me in Dana’s office. With Dana in the office. While my hair was still in curlers?
I pulled one of the Velcro rollers out and lobbed it at Dana’s head.
“I can’t believe you just sat there and watched, you pervert .”
She shrugged, light brown eyes filled with mischief. “I, for one, don’t mind a little show with my dinner.” She pushed aside her empty takeout container and leaned back in her chair, booted feet coming to rest on the tabletop.
“I thought you were upstairs,” I groaned. “What gives?”
Dana shrugged noncommittally. “I like my office.”
I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. We’d had this fight at least once a week since Cherie had passed and Dana took over the club.
“ Upstairs is your office. Are you worried about ghosts or something?”
Her expression soured. “Two minutes thirty, and you need to touch up your face.”
I lost the battle and rolled my eyes. In a few careful steps, I’d crossed the room, leaning over the desktop with my palms flat against its surface to press a kiss to her cheek. “I miss her too, but you’re torturing yourself.”
“I’m not.”
Our eyes met, and I hesitated, but I’d never been good at knowing when to keep my mouth shut. “In case you haven’t noticed, there is a very real, very alive girl out there who wants you as much as you want her. Maybe you could stop teasing and take some goddamn initiative.”
Dana pushed away from the desk, her expression stormy. “Go dance, Elsie. Don’t make me make it an order.”
I sighed and headed for the door. It was not the time to fight when I had a call time.
“I love you, Dana, but sometimes you’re a real…” I inhaled sharply, walking through the door, calling back to her as it swung shut. “ Coward .”