Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
BENJI
“You’re a mess,” Rafe teased as I checked my phone for the millionth time for a text from Sadie. She’d positioned herself outside, chatting up the doorman so she’d be able to give me a heads-up when Lysandro arrived.
“Are you sure I look okay?” I asked Rafe—again.
He snickered, walking away from me to serve another patron a drink.
It was a busier Saturday night here at Velvet Vein, which worried me a little bit.
If I’d tracked him correctly—and I knew I had—it was time for Lysandro to feed.
The number of human donors milling around, hoping to be a snack concerned me.
He could have his pick, but I was determined to be his chosen one.
My screen lit up with Sadie’s text confirming Lysandro’s arrival, and my heartbeat spiked.
It was true, most people avoided Lysandro.
The way he carried himself was unnerving, even for a vampire.
But there were others who were attracted to the cool power the predator exuded, so he tended to have a willing victim at his side within minutes of sitting at his table.
No one was beating me to that coveted spot tonight.
I felt him before I saw him gliding down the walkway, so I jumped up and followed closely behind. As if sensing someone, his shoulders stiffened for an instant. “Benji,” he said just loud enough for me to hear as he kept walking. My dick twitched in my pants hearing my name on his lips again.
Feeling tongue-tied, I waited until he sat in his customary seat with his back to the wall where he could survey the room at large before dropping down in the chair next to him.
“I didn’t even know you knew my name,” I blurted. Good grief. Way to play it cool, Benji, I admonished myself.
Lysandro’s lips tilted up at the corners, and holy hell was that hot. “I make it my business to know all the frequent flyers.”
Well, I guessed that made sense. “Then how come you’ve never… you know?” I asked.
He tilted his head. “From what I’ve seen, you’ve had plenty of eager customers accepting your offering.”
Crappity, crap, crap. I’d always made sure never to donate on a night Lysandro came in, but then after years, he’d suddenly started appearing more regularly.
More than once, he’d come in while someone else’s teeth were sunk into my veins, their lips suctioned to my flesh.
It wasn’t like I could jump up and leave them, so I’d hoped that he hadn’t noticed.
His lips twitched again, like he was amused by me. “I’m assuming anyway…since you’re still coming in.”
“Yeah, uh, I’m not really, you know, doing that as much now, though.”
He arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “Really?”
I nodded my head eagerly. “Yeah. I mean, the vampires are generous with their tips, so I was able to save up quite a nest egg.” I gestured toward the bar. “But Rafe, you know him, right?”
He inclined his head once in acknowledgment.
“Well, he’s become a good friend. Him and his sister,” I continued as Sadie joined her brother. “So I like to hang out with them.”
“Hmm. So you have no other friends?”
He didn’t sound judgmental, merely curious.
I shrugged. “It’s weird now, you know? Like I have a couple of roommates, and they’re cool and all, but they don’t know about the supernatural, so it’s hard to talk to them. Of course, I’m still friends with Eric. Do you know Eric? He’s the one who first brought me here.”
Lysandro frowned so minutely that I might’ve been imagining it. “I do.”
“Yeah, so we talk some, but he’s got a vam, uh, boyfriend now, so he’s not as available.”
“Hmm.”
When he didn’t say anything beyond that, I said, “So I wanted to thank you for uh, helping me out with that uh, situation with Mr. Moreaux.”
He sniffed, flicking his hand dismissively. “I don’t like men who don’t understand when they’re being pests. He’s been alive long enough to know better.”
Curious, I eyed him suspiciously. “But how’d you know?”
He tilted his head like he didn’t understand the question.
“We were over at the bar, and you were over here. How did you know that I was trying to blow him off?”
“Benji, surely you realize by now that my kind have excellent hearing.”
“Well, yeah, but…” I gazed around at the packed club. “It wasn’t as busy that night, but it was still noisy.”
“Ah.” Lysandro leaned toward me. “I can zero in on any conversation I want.”
“Wow,” I murmured. “That’s so cool.”
He sat back in his chair. “Indeed.”
Nervous as hell, but determined, I pinched my thighs and said, “So, um, to thank you, I’d like to donate my blood. To you. Tonight, I mean.”
His gaze raked over my face, down across my chest, then he stared into my eyes. “That isn’t necessary. A thank you suffices.”
Oh hell to the no. I wasn’t blowing my shot now that I’d finally worked up the nerve to approach him.
Scooting to the edge of my seat, I flopped my arm up onto the table with my wrist exposed.
“It’s not just a thank you.” I licked my lips.
“It would, uh, be an honor to supply your monthly sustenance.”
Supply his monthly sustenance? What in the heck was wrong with me? I sounded like an idiot.
Lysandro stared at me for so long that sweat popped out on my hairline. Was I not good enough? Did my blood smell funny?
Finally, he reached forward, picking my hand up gently, cradling it in both of his, staring down at my wrist. “Are you sure?”
A breathless yes slipped past my lips so wispy that it didn’t even sound like a word, but Lysandro’s lips twitched in amusement again. I didn’t know what I was doing that he found so funny, but it had to be a good sign.
I’d seen him make plenty of the donors giggle or laugh, putting them at ease before he drank from them, but his face always remained smooth, passive, clear of any type of emotion. Trust me, I knew, because I’d watched him like a hawk whenever he was near.
His eyes locked with mine again, swirling with a smoky red. I’d never seen anyone else’s do that. Not unless it was two vampires facing off, but those interactions never lasted long before Ronan had them escorted out of the building.
Lysandro’s tongue came out, sweeping across his lower lip, and then his fangs descended. My pulse leapt beneath my skin so hard that I could see it. This was it. He was going to—
My mind blanked as his sharp teeth struck my skin, laser sharp, with the precision of a surgeon. I’d done this time and again, and there was always that initial pinch of pain before their saliva soothed and made it a pleasant experience, but this was different.
The sting was gone before my body even had time to register it.
This had never been a sexual thing for me, but I’d wondered if it would be different for me with Lysandro, and boy was it.
The feel of his cold lips against my heated flesh sent my dick from plump to hard, throbbing in time to his sucking my blood right out of me in a rhythmic pull.
I was starting to understand why so many of the donors were willing to turn this into a sexual encounter. My own orgasm felt close to the surface, and wouldn’t that be embarrassing.
As I had the thought, Lysandro eased the pressure, gentling and sipping. My desire simmered more to a soft need instead of feeling like it was going to barrel out of me. This was heady stuff.
Slumping forward, I drank in the sight of his mouth fused to me.
Lysandro didn’t normally feed on anyone more than once, so I knew this was my time, and I wanted to memorize every second to carry this moment with me.
Fortunately, he wasn’t trying to kill me, which unfortunately meant that it came to an end.
For the first time, his eyelids fluttered closed as he slid his tongue over my skin, closing the bite marks and sealing them with his healing saliva.
All I could think was that I wanted his tongue so many other places. I wish he’d buried his teeth in my neck, but I’d known better than to offer that. He never fed anywhere but the wrist, and the intimacy of that would’ve had me shooting off like a teenager.
He sat up, still cradling my wrist and rubbing his thumb absentmindedly over the freshly healed skin. “Benji.”
The soft whisper of my name made me realize that I’d closed my eyes. Feeling floaty, I struggled to open them. “Yeah?”
His lips twitched so hard that I thought he might actually grin, but he schooled his features. “Make sure you drink some juice before you leave.”
“I will,” I promised, sadness obliterating all the endorphins that had been rushing through my body. He’d done what he came for, which meant it was time for him to go.
As he reached into his pocket, I shook myself out of it enough to say, “No. That was a thank you. I don’t want—”
He pressed a finger to my lips. “Yes. You have given me something invaluable, and you must be compensated for it.” Then he pressed an envelope into my hand and disappeared.
Lysandro
I hesitated in the alley across from Velvet Vein. I had no business back here so soon. Benji had fed me so beautifully last week, so I didn’t need another donor for a few weeks.
I’d made it my business to follow Benji for several days to assure myself that Mordie was no longer stalking him before receiving a call from Damien.
Ronan had tracked the menace down after we’d spoken, making it painfully clear to him that his nonsense wouldn’t be tolerated at the club, and that I wanted to speak with him.
There’d been no sign of him since, so I was hoping he’d moved on. Preferably across the country.
So why was I here? Why wasn’t I at home reading a book or patrolling my territory?
I didn’t utilize donors more than once unless I knew for sure that they weren’t the clingy type.
I didn’t do long-standing relationships of any kind.
I avoided commitment like the plague. Entanglements were nothing more than problems to be avoided.