Kierra

The back door is semi-hidden and shrouded in shadows when he points it out. Very subtle-like. Not too far away is the door leading below, which makes sense. Stag points it out to me, then goes back to acting as if we're regular customers, letting the others come back and look at the various possible art they can get done.

Benjamin and I walk back out and mosey around for a couple more minutes before getting a hold of Lady Sapphire once more. Letting her know I'd like to go downstairs has her stalling and unsure, saying that first-timers aren't usually allowed below, especially without the all-important contract that keeps getting brought up, as well as a special membership.

This is where Benjamin comes in, whispering softly in her ear that he knows I won't partake, just a curious voyeur. I feel guilty when he has to take it further, promising her his body. Nothing like pimping my Vampire out to kill scumbags. Stag had said there's usually two men from the ring here at any given time, but killing both tonight wouldn't be a good idea.

Will have to make it up to Ben somehow later, but right now he needs to work it. By the woman's quick breathing and accelerated heartbeat, he's getting somewhere. A pang of jealousy tries to rear its head, but I shove it back down with my disgust at it.

The woman fairly creams herself right there just by his whispering to her, so either she's had him before, or he's just that good at sex talk. Having blocked it out purposefully, I couldn't tell you if he's good or not.

Seeing as how he works as a book editor during the day and an honest to god Vampire twenty-four-seven, he should have quite the repertoire of kink. Might be stereotypical, but really? Years living looking the way he does, I seriously doubt he was a nun. Or is that monk? Whatever.

Breaking apart, the woman's bosom fairly flutters as she smiles at me, fanning herself. I smile at her as if I'm perfectly okay that my pretend lover is making plans to screw her brains out later. God, if she only knew.

We make our way over and just before she can open the door, a man comes through it. Lady Sapphire falls back into host mode, asking if he enjoyed himself, voice shaking as her demeanor alters to hidden fear. Smelling the sex on him turns my stomach, knowing it possible that it came from a victim.

Gritting my teeth, I can't even fake a smile, having to hide my face against Benjamin's side. His scent fills my nose instead, so I close my eyes and hold my breath. Just as he can get 'drunk' on my scent, it's becoming a two-way street.

The smell that comes off Vampires, the vague dryness mixing with the thought of scales, is a bit weird, and the blood appeals to a part of me. Then there's the scent of male skin with underlying tiger. The two humans having started up a conversation annoys to the point that I inhale sharply. Bad idea.

Benjamin's tiger shape fills my head as I press close to his body, drunkenly leaning down further, nose whispering over his ribs under his breast. I feel him freeze in place, body going still and rigid while my eyes bleed to yellow again. Still feels weird when it registers, but right now I barely notice it.

Grabbing his arms, I turn us so his back slaps against the wall. Thoughts of us having an audience fade under a wash of sensation through scent. Level with his sternum, my tongue darts out and touches on cool skin, the hollow right where the bone ends. Faint blood trails from healed punctures color his chest and look very interesting on such pale skin.

He hasn't fed recently, or his skin would be warmer. The only reason it's as warm as it is now is from the heat in here, the arousal that comes and goes. Holding his arms to the wall, his belly and soft parts bared, excites the animal within me.

A growl rumbles at the back of my throat when he tries to move, upper and lower canines starting to grow as I drown in a scent that my brain reads as Mine. Having called his animal before made a bond, and here in this place, it rears up. My nails lengthen, but somehow I manage to keep from going all the way to claws.

A deep rumble sounds from the chest under my mouth, not a growl, something else. My Vampire is purring. Kissing the end of his sternum, I trace my tongue along one of his ribs till I pinpoint where his heart is, feeling the thud of it against a slow wet glide.

The barriers in my mind crack open as I try slipping into his head. Trying to get one of us to stop the other before this gets too out of hand. No use though when he's just as into it as I am. Moreso, even.

Can whisper all I want, but that doesn't mean he can hear me, not through this haze. When Benjamin moves again, my teeth sink deep into skin. He groans and jerks, large hands splaying over my sides as fingers dig into the leather.

His heart thumps, causing a wash of blood to enter my mouth. It's then that my eyes shoot open, realizing what I've just done. I jerk back just to have my head caught and pressed close once more.

When I start to struggle his head presses close to mine and he shushes into my ear.

"Shh, calm yourself. Don't draw any more attention to us than you already have. You've picked a hell of a time to lay claim, Kie, I hope you know that."

The laughter in his voice does nothing to the dread swelling in me. Vampire blood. A panicked sound slips from me, but he just holds me closer. How can I get him to understand?

Doesn't matter, as he will soon enough. Even with the turmoil I'm in, I slip a wet tongue out to clean up the blood on my chin and flick across his skin. Taste registering even as my emotions start spiking.

My eyes squeeze shut as my teeth clench together, containing the wash of feeling that fills me. Body starts shaking as I grip the man in front of me, hands on his hips lengthen as claws sprout. When he feels the prick of them is when he seems to sense that something is really wrong.

Arms wrap around me, enclosing me in a cage of flesh. Gasping, I work at breathing away the fear of being held against my will. Through the smells of undead blood, tiger, and man-flesh, I catch something else.

I growl, the scent of another male animal close and unwanted. The whispered question of how he can help is heard, causing my eyes to snap open and land on the hyena male. Glasses having been lost once more, he winces, head dropping instantly.

I take it he's uncomfortable with a raging yellow-eyed wolf in human form barely contained in the arms of a Vampire. My body is fairly vibrating with restrained volatile emotion.

"If you mention anything about exposure to me right now I will tear your throat out."

The growl my voice has become surprises even me. Feeling guilty as soon as it leaves my lips, I close my eyes and apologize. Doing so makes me all the angrier, the constant guilty conscience even when striking out at those who deserve it.

I'm thrust back into my teenage years where even pissed at someone and arguing, I'd feel bad immediately after. The constant going back and forth almost made me insane. Unable to stay mad when feeling guilty and claiming all blame for whatever it was just to end the problem.

Forcing my mind back to the present, my mind expands to read the human male who'd come up from below. Empathy lets me know he's excited and looking for more fun. I catch glimpses of faces, moving much too fast to dwell on any specifics.

What I do get though, is he likes young teenage girls. His insatiable lust for them is a constant that rides him hard. Watching me with Benjamin is doing nothing for him, he's more focused on the smallness of the hostess.

She doesn't look young but according to him, if her ass is in the air while he's driving into her from behind, she'd pass quite nicely. Given a focal point of my roiling emotions, my hands slip up and pull the Vampire’s head closer. Lips brushing his earlobe have him shiver before his arms tighten around me.

"Keep her busy, I've got work to do."