Chapter 29

Part 2: Dani's Demons

Forever is a really long time to be bored out of your skull.
To be immortal and faced with nothing to do isn't a good combination. It's not mentally healthy for the immortal, and it's not physically healthy for the humans around us.
My two best friends had both deserted me - Jess was away in New York on business, and Ariana was totally caught up with her new werewolf lover. On top of that, the bookstore I occasionally worked at just for something to do was closed for renovations. So here I was, a vampire with absolutely no idea what to do next. You could say I was trouble waiting to happen.
Ennui we'd called it when I'd been human. As a nun, I'd been cautioned against it as a sin. A few years later, as a courtesan in the circle of the sun king himself, we'd cultivated it as a mark of our own superiority. But we hadn't had the least idea then what boredom really meant. After well over three hundred years, I think I'd finally figured it out.
Which explained why I'd hopped the red-eye to Vegas. So, here I was, in the city of sin, and still bored senseless.
"Buy you a drink, baby?"
I looked down at the skinny vampire wannabe who'd slithered up to my spot at the end of the bar and just shook my head before turning away. God, he was so damn young - I wondered if he was in the casino on a fake ID.
"Charles, does your father know you're in here?"
Oooh, now that voice - that one had potential. I swung my head back around to see if the view was as good as the soundtrack, and damn near choked on my mojito.
Sex on a fucking stick.
The man who stood, arms crossed, glaring down at - uh, Charles, that's what he'd called the kid - was nothing short of perfection, in a dark, goth, bite-me-baby kind of way. He had to be at least six-four and probably two hundred twenty pounds of lean, sculpted muscle. I could tell about the muscle because he was wearing skintight black leather pants and matching studded biker jacket, but the jacket was open and he had no shirt on underneath. His black hair was a little long and curled over his high forehead, almost shading the most piercing bright blue eyes I've ever seen.
"Come on, Charles, it's a school night. Beat it before I call your dad." The big guy tapped the toe of his heavy black boot on the marble floor.
Grumbling under his breath, the reluctant teen slid off his stool and slunk out of the bar. Since I didn't want to compound his humiliation, I managed not to laugh.
"Sorry, ma'am," the man said to me with a wicked grin that made my pussy clench. He took a step closer and leaned one foot up on the rail of Charles' vacated barstool. There was a plastic ID tag clipped to his studded leather belt, confirming that he was an employee. "The concierge's son. Hope he didn't bother you too much."
"Not really." I shook my head and smiled. "Wish I could remember being that young."
"Me too." He tipped his head toward the stool, asking permission to sit. "Kaz Elgin, head of security for the Dark Tower."
I held out my hand. "Danette DuBois. My friends call me Dani. Please, have a seat." I figured saying Please take me upstairs and fuck my brains out was a little premature. But I shook my waist-length red hair back to reveal the low-cut vee of my black sweater and made sure the twins were on full display.
"Enchanté, mademoiselle," he said in effortless French. Instead of shaking my hand, he lifted it to his lips and pressed a kiss on the inside of the wrist. A warm tingle skittered all the way to my pussy. "How are you enjoying Las Vegas so far?"
"It's looking better by the minute," I admitted, licking my lower lip. "How late are you working tonight?"
Those blue eyes darkened to a shade that was almost violet. Something powerful and ancient simmered in their depths, and I shivered, only half from arousal. I'd just realized Kaz wasn't human. "I'm on call twenty-four hours a day," he murmured huskily. "But I'm officially off duty as of an hour ago. Chasing young Charles up to bed was just a favor for his dad."
"How about chasing me up to bed?" My green eyes flew wide at that - I mean, I'm no prude, but I'm not exactly a slut either. I do usually take time to get to know a man before I invite him up to my room.
"You like to be chased?" His voice, already deep, had dropped almost an octave, until it was barely more than a subsonic rumble. "I think that could be...arranged."
Something about his tone piqued my curiosity. I'd chosen the Dark Tower casino and hotel for its dark, gothic atmosphere. It's a great place for a vampire to blend in and look positively normal. Though the clientele ran from emo rockers to hardcore S&M enthusiasts, I'd never heard that it offered any kind of sex club on the premises. I hoped his offer was a personal one, and he wasn't just drumming up business for his boss.
I swallowed down the rest of my drink, all set to leave with him and go take care of the ache that had been growing between my thighs since I laid eyes on Kaz. Just as I set my empty glass back on the counter though, the cell phone clipped to the waistband of his pants beeped.
"Elgin," he barked into it after flicking it on. "What?"
There was a long pause, and I could see Kaz's eyes change from the dark violet to a pale ice blue. What the hell was he? It didn't really matter though. One look at his stony features told me our night had been interrupted before we'd even gotten started.
"I'll be there in two minutes," he said. "Don't let either of them leave." He put the phone back on his belt and ran his hand through his tousled dark curls. "I'm sorry, Dani. Duty calls."
"Understood." I reached out my hand and he shook it politely.
"Have a nice stay in Vegas, gorgeous."
"We'll see," I whispered to his retreating back as he strode through the crowd. Turning to the bartender, I pointed at my empty glass. Suddenly the night was back to looking dull.