First Drop of Crimson

shouldn’t.

It wasn’t fair. The first man since Randy who stirred her emotionally and physically was a vampire who thought humans were only good for eating and screwing, probably in that order. She’d already sacrificed her pride by accepting that she was nothing more than a costly thorn in Spade’s side until they found Raum. The least she could do was avoid total humiliation by more rejection from him—or worse, being fucked out of pity.

Denise hugged the pillow and rolled to face the wall, burying her face in it. Once this was over, she’d be okay. She’d go home, spend time with her family, and her infatuation with Spade would go away. Everything faded with time. Even, it seemed, her wild grief over Randy’s death and the PTSD that used to strike every time she was around a vampire.

The shower shut off after a few more minutes. By that time, Denise’s heart settled into a slower rhythm and that gnawing hunger inside her quieted to a dull ache.

See? she told herself grimly. Everything fades with time.

When Spade went into Club Privé with Denise the next evening, Black Jack was already there. It was just after eleven. Spade smiled inwardly. Not chancing missing me, were you, mate?

“Hallo, all,” Spade said genially once he’d gotten his tray of chips. “I’m here to win back what I lost last night.”

Everyone chuckled except Madox, the oil executive Spade had cleaned out. He gave Spade a single baleful look and then folded his hand.

“I’m done for the night,” he announced.

“Still mad at him for calling your bluff, Madox?” Black Jack smirked. “Got to win and lose like a man, pardner.”

“Redneck trash,” Madox muttered under his breath.

Black Jack just laughed and slid Madox’s chair out with his foot. “Siddown, Henry. You’re more fun than old Oil Slick, anyway.”

Spade sat, Denise standing behind him. Personally, he thought it was a poor house rule that she couldn’t sit next to him, but with luck, they wouldn’t be here too long.

BJ glanced up at Denise, nodded, then resumed his attention to the game. The other two players who’d since folded were less respectful in their evaluation. If the gray-haired bloke stared any harder at Denise’s cleavage, Spade would find a way to eat him before the clock struck midnight.

She did look exceptionally lovely in her strapless red dress with long white gloves. Her mahogany hair was up, leaving her neck enticingly bare and highlighting the diamond and ruby earrings he’d told her were costume.

If Spade had his preference, he’d be on a real date with Denise elsewhere, instead of making her stand here watching him play with this pack of sods. Still, tonight should bring him one step closer to that, if all went well.

Black Jack won the hand and then Spade was dealt in. He let the other players beat him in every round, until his chip supply had dwindled to less than half of what it started as. Then Spade sighed with mock resignation.

“Think I’ll chase my entertainment elsewhere. BJ, mate, any recommendations on where I can find some red-hot fun?”

His carefully chosen words struck the right chord. Although Black Jack’s face remained impassive, he folded his hand when, by Spade’s card-counting calculations, he had three of a kind in queens.

“Think I’m gettin’ bored of poker, too,” BJ said. “Wait up, Henry. I might know something you’ll enjoy.”

Spade cashed out his remaining chips and waited while Black Jack did the same.

“Chasing some red-hot fun, huh?” Black Jack remarked as they headed out of the Belaggio.

“Indeed. Preferably the kind that’ll make the rest of my night with her even more enjoyable.”

Spade kissed Denise’s neck as he said it, savoring the shiver that went through her. He couldn’t wait until he could kiss her and she’d know it wasn’t part of an act.

“Let’s try Drai’s,” Black Jack said. “I’m there more than I’m at the Belaggio nowadays. Crowd’s more compatible for me.”

Black Jack glanced at Denise as he said that last sentence. Spade grunted. “No need for pretense. She knows what we are.”

“Ah.” The vampire smiled at Denise, fangs peeking out of his upper lip. “What’s your name, gorgeous? Henry here’s only ever called you darling.”

Noticed that, did you? Spade thought coolly, but before he could reply with a fake name, Denise answered.

“My name’s Cherry.”

Spade stifled his grin at Denise’s choice of the name of their suite. Black Jack glanced at her again before meeting Spade’s gaze.

“So, who do you belong to?”

Spade smiled pleasantly. “Myself.”

BJ laughed. “No shit. You don’t feel like a Master, if you don’t mind my sayin’.”

“The Master of my line was killed several years back. Didn’t give me a choice about being on my own. And you?”

“Mine doesn’t like me to reveal who he is,” Black Jack replied, his expression daring Spade to challenge that.

With Black Jack’s occupation, Spade wasn’t surprised. “That’s quite all right. I don’t need to know all your secrets…just one.”

The vampire’s brow arched. “And that one is?”

“Whether or not BJ stands for Black Jack, the person my mate Ian told me about,” Spade replied.

The other vampire came to a halt. Spade waited, his arm still around Denise, ignoring the crowds pushing by the three of them.

“And what did Ian say?” Black Jack asked, his voice hardening.

Spade shrugged. “He told me if I had something very rare, something I’m interested in selling, that you were the one to see.”

Denise shot a glance at Spade, but Black Jack laughed and started walking again. “You don’t have anything to sell that I don’t have better of. Guaranteed.”

“Care to place a wager on that?” Spade asked mildly.

Interest flashed across Black Jack’s face before he masked it. “What do you wanna bet?”

“All the money I lost to you that I’ve got higher-quality Red Dragon than the best you have to offer.”

Now Denise really gave him a questioning glance, but Spade just squeezed her waist, silently telling her not to say anything.

“We’ll talk more when we’re in Drai’s,” Black Jack said. “Too many ears out here.”

Spade shrugged. “Lead the way, mate.”

Chapter Eighteen

Denise pursed her lips as they went down the stairs of the Bombay Coast hotel. Drai’s was underground, of course. What better environment than a black-and-red lacquered basement-turned-nightclub to discuss selling her blood? She didn’t know what Spade’s plan was, but she didn’t like it.

And when Denise got a good look at the people in Drai’s, she really didn’t like it. Almost a third of them were vampires. Their pale skin and too-graceful movements gave them away compared to the other patrons, even in the very low lighting.

She shuddered. Underground in a place filled with the undead. Possibly the drug-addicted undead, and here she was, with a narcotic fountain running through her veins. Oh yeah, a PTSD attack couldn’t be too far off.