atmosphere of the club. Her hand grasped mine and she leaned in to shout in my ear, “Stick close to me. We’re not staying in here.”
“Sounds good to me.” I had always found clubs obnoxious and overly boisterous, and Midnight was no exception. Tables were crammed into every dark corner of the room; the outskirts of the dance floor were cluttered with chairs and people drinking and talking. The dance floor was lit up with a multitude of colored lights, and bodies pulsed and writhed before the DJ booth, pressed against each other in a frenzied crush. The scent of sweat in the air touched my nostrils, and as I watched moist skin pressed against skin, I felt the kiss on my forehead flare.
Remy headed straight for the bar, which suited me just fine since I could use a drink or three, and dragged me to the last two bar stools. Two men sat in the seats already, but that didn’t deter her in the slightest. She leaned in and tapped the man closest to her on the shoulder. “Excuse me.”
The man turned, an ugly look on his face as if he was about to tear whoever it was behind him a new one for disturbing him. His expression changed the moment he laid eyes on Remy, clad in her leather bodysuit, her silky black hair tied into a waist-length ponytail. “Hey, gorgeous,” he breathed. “What can I do you for?”
She rewarded him with a catlike smile. “You and your friend can give us your seats at the bar. We’ll talk about … favors … later.”
His eyes slid over to me and bugged out. I’m sure we were quite a sight-two super babes slumming in a trashy bar, dressed like we were on the prowl. His gaze looked me up and down and then focused on my boobs, most likely due to the fact that the corset hiked them up to my chin. “Your friend is nice,” he said to Remy, unable to look beyond my torso.
“Her friend has a face,” I snapped.
Remy squeezed my hand painfully, reminding me that we were supposed to infiltrate the crowd. I forced a tight smile and managed a strangled “Cutie” at the end of my sentence.
By now we had his friend’s interest, and he was as scary as the first guy. Both looked like they could bench press a bus.
“Are you sure this is a good idea, Remy?” I leaned close so the men couldn’t hear our conversation. “I mean, they could be serial killers looking to pick up their newest victims. Or what if they’re rapists? They could tackle us, drag us into an alley, and have their way with us, and you’re flirting with them!”
Remy eyed the two men in a decidedly lascivious fashion. “It might suck, but it wouldn’t be rape. You’d be willing after about one second.”
I gasped, affronted. “Oh my God! You are such a bitch someti-”
She grabbed my face and planted her lips onto mine.
I heard the men around us suck in their breaths moments before my hormones kicked into overtime.
It was weird, having a woman kiss me. I mean, Remy was a great kisser, but the entire thing was just … odd compared to a guy. Her lips were soft, her kiss more delicate than other ones I received. I could feel the Itch starting to blast through my body. My forehead blazed for a moment with a painfully bright flare, and then just like that, the Itch disappeared.
Pleased beyond words with that result, I was still speechless when Remy broke off the kiss and smiled to the two men. “So, what do you say? Can we have the seats or not?”
I’ve never seen men stumble out of their chairs so fast. One bar stool was knocked over in their haste and quickly straightened again.
Remy smiled at the two men, looking pleased as could be. “Thanks, boys.” She put her hand around my waist and steered me toward the chair.
I sat, my forehead still throbbing. “What did you do that for?” I scowled and tugged at my skirt.
“For starters, it got the desired result, didn’t it?” Remy looked unconcerned as she flagged down the bartender. “And it shut you up, which was an added bonus.”
“You’re a sick woman, you know that?”
“What’s the old saying? Takes one to know one?”
She had me there. I decided to change the subject. “So aren’t we supposed to be finding some vampires around here?”
Remy shot me a look that could kill. “Don’t make me kiss you again.”
I clamped my jaw shut and crossed my arms over my chest, doing my best to ignore the two creeps loitering behind us, waiting for either me or Remy to turn around.
The bartender came over, his face getting the same glazed look on it the moment he laid eyes on her. I’ll say one thing for being a succubus: sex will get you everywhere.
“What can I get for you, miss?” He shot a look at me as well, his eyes resting on-you guessed it-my cleavage.
I sighed. I’d never thought the day would come when I hoped for a guy who
“A Bloody Mary for myself and my friend here.” Remy smiled at the bartender and placed her hand on my arm.
Ugh. “Remy, I hate tomato juice-”
She gave me another dirty look. “Two Bloody Marys.”
The bartender asked, “Got a stamp?”
Remy held the back of her hand out to him. “Of course.”
To my surprise, he took her hand in his own and sniffed her skin gently, then released it. I wondered what they’d stamped us with. It seemed that I’d almost fucked up the super-secret code, but how was I supposed to know? I held my hand out as well. “Me, too.”
He gave my hand a sniff, then nodded. “Be right back.” The bartender walked to the far end of the bar, motioning over another bouncer and talking to him.
Remy turned in her bar stool and faced me. “You really suck at hints, you know that? Do me a favor and keep your mouth shut for five minutes, all right?”
Feeling rather sulky, I made a face at her. “Fine. I won’t say anything at all.”
Relief splashed across her face. “Perfect.”
Oh, I was
The bartender returned after a moment and placed two drinks before us. “As requested, your drinks.” He cast a meaningful look at Remy, then walked away.
That was weird. I picked up my drink and sniffed it. It smelled like tomato juice. I hoped I wasn’t supposed to drink it as part of the signal.
Behind me, someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around just as a large hand clamped over my bare shoulder. It was yet another bouncer, if the black T-shirt and huge arms were any indication. He had a unibrow that would have made a mobster jealous and shoulders that you could probably build a house on. “Come with me, ladies.”
This whole process was starting to scare me. I gave Remy an uncertain look so she would know how nervous I was. She looked as cool as a cucumber.
“Of course,” she said, and downed her drink in one long gulp. I heard a collective intake of breath behind her from the men.
I took her lead and choked mine down as well, gagging on the taste. “Ready here.”
The bouncer escorted us through the crowd to the far end of the bar, where a door marked “Emergency Exit” was covered in bathroom graffiti. “Through here.”
Since I’d been pushed to the front of our little pack, I opened the door and stepped into darkness.
I heard the door slam behind me, and the sound of the music was immediately muffled into a low throbbing. I felt Remy move next to me and I reached for her hand. She gave my fingers a reassuring squeeze and didn’t move, so I stood still as well, my heart hammering in my throat.
A tiny flame lit up the room, and the end of a cigarette flared into life, bright orange in the choking darkness. “What brings you two ladies to Midnight?”
The voice was masculine, with an inflection that I couldn’t put a name to. Urbane and smooth, it rolled across
