Shackled to the Night, page 2
Thaddeus ran his finger up and down the neck of the woman sitting next to him. She was a cute little snow bunny that had latched herself to him, and he wasn’t complaining one bit. He watched the artery below her skin pulse almost to the exact beat of the music in the club.
Just a little while longer, he thought.
He glanced across the table at his friend Mark, a human, and fellow barfly. And just as Thaddeus was thinking about devouring his companion, what was her name again? Didn’t matter. Mark looked as though he was ready to consume the woman with him, the snow bunny’s friend. But obviously not in the same way.
The woman sitting next to Mark had long brownish hair, and she wasn’t ugly, nor was she really pretty. She had a great smile and a rack to match Pamela Anderson. Mark rarely cared about much more. If the rack was in place, he was good to go, a breast man through and through. Thaddeus noted her left hand had been absent for some time under the table, and the way Mark was shifting in the chair gave Thaddeus all the information he needed on where her hand was and what it was up to. He watched as Mark whispered something in her ear. She smiled coyly and nodded her head, turning to plant those ruby red lips on Mark’s throat. It was terribly apparent to Thaddeus that Mark would be enjoying the woman very soon. Go Mark.
Mark looked over and caught Thaddeus’s eye and nodded slightly. The sign that Mark was getting ready to make his exit with the woman. Thaddeus wondered if Mark would be getting a hotel room or taking the woman back to his house. Except for Mark, Thaddeus didn’t want humans anywhere near his house, so he always opted for the hotel room.
Thaddeus gave Mark a small smile, indicating that he got the message. Thaddeus wanted to be with the human woman who had just about wrapped herself around him with an ache. He inched closer to her as she gently rubbed his thigh. He breathed deeply. Lovely, he thought. She smelled absolutely lovely.
Mark took his date’s hand and began to slide out of the booth, clutching his jacket in front of his hips as he stood. He said something to Thaddeus and his company, but the music was too loud for the woman to hear it. Thaddeus heard it perfectly, though. Mark had said that he was going to grab a hotel room. Thaddeus nodded and turned his attention back to the lovely-smelling female sitting next to him. What was her name? Brenda, that was right.
Brenda was a vision to behold. Her long reddish brown hair hung to the middle of her back and fanned around her shoulders. Her tight red turtleneck left nothing to the imagination, her long legs were shrouded in a pair of jeans that may or may not have been painted on her curves, and she teetered her fine form on a pair of very red, sky-high fuck-me boots. Thaddeus imagined her spread out before him on a bed with nothing on but those boots.
His already-hard cock got harder, and he shifted in his chair trying to make room in his jeans before the damn thing busted through the zipper.
“So, Thaddeus,” Brenda said, running her fingers around the lip of her wine glass and staring at him with deep brown eyes. “Tell me what you like to do for fun.”
He smiled at her pink mouth, imagining those luscious lips around his… “I enjoy giving pleasure to beautiful women,” he growled in her ear. “And I think you are very beautiful.”
She smiled as she took a drink of her wine, snuggled closer to him and whispered in his ear, “I’m a little chilly. I hope you don’t mind.”
He grinned down at her, his fangs pulsing in his gums. He needed to get her out of here, and fast, or he would take her down right there and then.
He let Brenda finish her wine, and then he took her hand and moved out of the booth. She stumbled a little getting up, and giggled. Between the wine and those heels, her balance was a little off.
Leaving the club and going into the casino was a crash course in noise depravation. Despite the ringing of all the bells and whistles of the slot machines, the occasional holler of someone who just hit “the big one,” and the low hum of voices, it didn’t compare to the loud clamor of the casino’s club.
“I don’t know why they keep that music so loud in there,” she said as they walked through the casino toward the front desk. She stumbled again, giggled, and grabbed his arm.
“I think I’m a little tipsy,” she said, looking up at him.
Thaddeus didn’t say anything, just looked down at her and smiled tightly as he placed his hand on her waist to help steady her. Irritation began to well up in him. He wanted to get to a room, like an hour ago. Her little stumbles were holding things up, and patience was not one of his strong characteristics, never had been. He had tried to work on it some years ago, but it had been an exercise in futility.
As they walked down the hallway that would lead them to the front desk, Thaddeus’s patience ran out, and he stopped and pushed her up against the wall, covering his towering body over hers. He pressed his lips gently to hers.
She reached up and grabbed his neck, pulling him closer, her tongue shooting out of her mouth, tracing his lips. Her response sent an electric current through his body, and it landed on the tip of his erection as he gyrated against her belly.
A moan left his throat and he explored her body through her clothes. Visions of him ripping off her clothes and throwing her down on the carpet in the hallway swam in front of him.
“Should I go and see if we can get somewhere a little more private?”
“Yes,” she breathed. “God, yes.”
They hurried to the lobby, and Thaddeus went to the front desk while she hung back.
He quickly secured them a penthouse suite. Although he wouldn’t be staying long, Brenda would spend the night there, and he wanted it to be a nice place. He also ordered breakfast and a dozen roses to be delivered in the morning. Not only was she going to have sex with him, but she would also unknowingly be feeding him as well, and he believed a good meal was something to be cherished and respected. He wasn’t a total bastard, or at least that was what he told himself. Sure, he needed to feed, and hell, sex was fun, but being with Brenda would scratch a very uncomfortable itch inside him tonight, one that he would prefer not to think of very often . . . well, never, because it made him feel weak. If one thing had been beaten in him as a boy it was that weakness would never be tolerated. He shook his head to get away from the thoughts and concentrated on Brenda.
The elevator ride up to the penthouse was sheer torture. They were in frenzy by the time they arrived at the penthouse door, each unbuckling the other’s belts through passionate kisses and groping hands. They practically fell into the room. Out of habit, Thaddeus looked around to be sure they were alone, and noted that the penthouse was indeed very nice with its modern style furniture and sleek marble flooring. The floor-to-ceiling windows showed off a beautiful view of Reno, but he was far more interested in the view of Brenda.
Thaddeus quickly pulled the red turtleneck up over her head and dropped it on the floor. He picked her up effortlessly, and made his way to what he assumed would be the master bedroom.
“You, my dear,” he said as he took in her breasts covered in a very lacy red bra, “are lovely. Let us keep those boots on for a while though, okay?”
Chapter 2
Thaddeus emerged from the penthouse and checked his watch. He looked forward to getting home and crashing in his own bed. He had three hours before dawn, so hurrying wasn’t necessary. Home wasn’t too far away.
As he walked through the casino to the door, he thought of the woman he had just left. They had great sex together, and he smiled to himself thinking of her laid out in front of him with those damn boots on. As he pumped into her, he had also fed from her, his fangs sinking into the column of her neck. The stupid folklore that humans came up with always made him smile. Like a vampire could turn a human into a vampire. Hell, if that were the case, the human race would have ceased to exist many, many centuries ago. That vampires were the undead. Their hearts didn’t beat. Garlic would keep vampires away. All bunk. Thaddeus and those of his race were as alive as humans, with hearts thumping in their chests. And he loved a good plate of Rigatoni.
The act of Thaddeus feeding wasn’t painful for Brenda. In fact, it heightened the experience for both of them. He remembered her crying out as her nails scored his back. After both of them were spent, he closed the puncture marks at her neck with a kiss. She fell asleep quickly, and he had gotten dressed and left after doing a light erase on her memory. When she would awake in the morning to her breakfast and roses, she wouldn’t remember much except for the fact that she had a great time. She would chalk up the lack of details in her memories to the wine.
He knew he would never see the woman again, and that was the way he wanted it. Both Mark and he had a rule that any woman they were with had to be a tourist, and had to be leaving the next day. The two women tonight had been a yes on both counts. Home run. Touchdown. Score.
As Thaddeus stepped into the street, a chill smashed him in the face. He pulled the collar of his coat up around his neck and headed for his car, which of course, was parked in the back parking lot. He cursed himself for not using the valet services.
As he walked, he scanned his surroundings, aware of the different scents and people that were out and about. Not that he was concerned about getting jumped or anything. He knew he could handle himself without any problems. His kind were stronger than humans, and him being bred a soldier made him stronger than most of his kind.
He weaved in and out through the parked cars and thought about being up in that big bed with Brenda, and how warm and soft she had felt. It was quite the contrast from being outside.
As he reached his car, his cell phone rang. He took it out of his pocket as he unlocked the door to his Lincoln Navigator. The caller ID indicated it was Mark.
“Hey, my man,” Thaddeus said into the phone. “What up?”
“I’m making my great escape right now. Where are you?”
“I just got to my car. You need a lift home?”
“Nah. I’m solid. Almost at my bike.”
Thaddeus shivered to think of the mind-numbing cold Mark would face riding his Harley home.
“How was your night?” Thaddeus asked.
“Ah, man, you know me. Give me a good rack and I am one step away from Heaven.”
Thaddeus chuckled. “Glad to hear it. Listen, I’ll talk to you later.”
“Wait a minute,” Mark said, “how was your night?”
Thaddeus smiled, remembering those damn boots again. “I don’t kiss and tell.” And he hung up.
As he drove home, he thought of the human. Thaddeus had very little, if any, contact with the human world. In fact, he had very little contact with anyone, vampire or human, but Thaddeus had liked Mark from the moment he had met him.
They had met at a Starbucks one evening a couple of years ago just after nightfall. Thaddeus had stumbled in, pissed that he didn’t have any coffee at home and sporting a really bad mood. His attitude was that of an angry rattlesnake when he first woke from his daily sleep, and he stepped into Starbucks ready to literally kill anyone who messed with him.
As he waited in line, surprised by the amount of people who were getting coffee at 6 p.m., he looked over the menu. He really hated all this double shot, café, mocha, dente shit. He really did. Whatever happened to regular, good old-fashioned black coffee? He then heard a man behind him say, “Man, don’t even think about cutting in line.”
Thaddeus turned around and looked at the man behind him. He was big, standing as tall as Thaddeus, but not quite as broad. Thaddeus guess his age at around thirty. The big guy’s bright green eyes pierced into a smaller guy trying to make his way up to the counter. The big guy ran his hand through a flop of red, unwashed hair, and looked like he would love nothing more that to take down the smaller man who continued to snake his way up to the counter.
The redhead said, “I am not shitting you. Get back in line or I’m going to make you wish you never stepped foot in here.”
Thaddeus smiled to himself and watched the line jumper hesitate for a second as he looked over the redhead throwing around threats. He pulled the lapels of his cheap suit, straightened his tie and began to move toward the counter again. Thaddeus put a hand on the man’s chest. He smiled and softly said, “You should listen to him,” as he pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the redhead.
The man looked at Thaddeus trying to cover his fear with bluster. Puffing out his chest, he said, “Get your hands off of me. I don’t have time to wait in line.”
Thaddeus kept his hand on the man’s chest, feeling ridiculous about getting into this in the middle of a Starbucks, especially with a pencil-pushing bore like this little guy, but he was jonesing for a confrontation and one had just walked up and introduced itself.
“That’s not my problem, asshole. But I do have a problem. You want to hear my problem?” Thaddeus said deadly quietly. “Let me tell you my problem. My problem is that I ran out of coffee. And I need my coffee when I wake up in the evening. Because I ran out of coffee, I have to come down here and stand in line and listen to all you grunts order your double shot café mocha shit, and all I want is just a big cup of coffee. So I’m on edge to begin with, okay? You trying to push your way up in line makes me want to go violent all over you and scrub the floor with your face, and I hate mopping. You understanding me?”
When the man opened his mouth as if to say something, Thaddeus cut him off. “Don’t say another word. Just get back into line and I won’t get any crankier. Really, it’s simple.”
The guy backed away and Thaddeus looked at the redhead smirking behind him.
“Problem?” Thaddeus asked him.
“Nope. No problem back here, man. Just think it’s pretty funny that we’re both in this trendy bullshit place because we didn’t make it to the store to get coffee grounds. All I want is a large cup of gasoline and to get out of here.”
Thaddeus nodded and grinned at the redhead. And then it was his turn in line. Finally.
“A large coffee, black,” he told the chubby girl behind the counter.
“You want to add a shot?” she asked.
“Unless you have a shot of whiskey back there, then no. Just the coffee.” Man, he was at the end of his rope, feeling like he wanted to pound someone. He really just wanted to get the hell out of dodge.
As soon as he had his coffee, he took off for the door. The line continued to grow. As he walked down the sidewalk to his car, he heard footsteps running up behind him.
He whirled around to see the redheaded man running up to him.
Thaddeus stopped. “You forgot your change, man,” said the redhead.
After that initial encounter, Thaddeus began to run into Mark on a semi-regular basis. The grocery store, Thaddeus’s favorite nightclub.
At first, Thaddeus was very leery of always running into the human, wondering what the guy’s ulterior motive was, and also wondering if the guy was actually human. Mark’s scent was slightly off, and that put Thaddeus on alert. After a few weeks, he realized there wasn’t an ulterior motive, decided the different scent was insignificant, or maybe he just had allergies, and let his guard down and befriended Mark.
He and Mark had a lot in common. Mark worked doing some Internet marketing stuff from home, and made his own hours. He preferred the night hours, as did Thaddeus, but Thaddeus really didn’t have a choice. Mark also enjoyed climbing the great rocks of the valley, and was fast, almost as fast as Thaddeus. They also both enjoyed the clubbing, the pursuit of women, and the pleasures that came with those pursuits.
Once or twice Thaddeus had actually thought about telling Mark what he was. That thought usually sprang up in his brain while it soaked in Patrón Tequila.
Mark was good people, he thought as he exited the freeway to Mount Rose Highway.
He sped up the highway about seven miles, and then slowed and took a right down a dirt road. A large electric gate blocked the path. Thaddeus hit the remote and the gate slid open.
The mountain in front of him loomed large, brightly lit by the moon that was setting for the night. As he slowed in front of the mountain, he hit a button remote, and a portion of rock lifted to reveal a garage. He smiled to himself; his garage was so Batman.
He pulled the car in, hit the remote to shut the garage, and walked over to the elevator. He pushed the button and the door opened. He stepped inside, tapped the Up button, and leaned against the wall of the elevator and closed his eyes. He was definitely ready to get some much-needed shuteye.
Chapter 3
Simple southwest décor greeted him. The living room had floor-to-ceiling windows built into the rock looking out over the bottom of the canyon and up the other side. The couches were worn brown leather, formed in a U in the middle of the room facing the windows. A couple of side tables and three lamps were hand-carved out of wood, each depicting the form of a Mexican God—Ah Hulneb, the Mayan God of War, Camaxtli, a God of war, fate and fire, and Xochiquetzal, the goddess of love. Each piece had been handmade for Thaddeus by an incredibly gifted artist in a small town just over the border in Arizona. He admired the craftsmanship of each piece, the detail of the carvings.
The dark red walls were covered with art he had picked up on that trip. A fully-stocked bar sat on the other side of the room from the door. No TV. No stereo. The purpose of this room was to enjoy the view, which he did often, and which he intended to do tonight as well.
He went to the bar and poured himself a spot of tequila and then sat down on the couch, staring out the windows. He listened to the silence of his home. Behind him there was a hallway that held eight separate living quarters, including his own. Each living space had a bed, a sitting space, and a fully tricked-out bathroom that included huge walk-in showers and deep Jacuzzi tubs. All furnished with the best of the best. No Ikea shit in this house. Each end of the hallway had a thick, wooden door standing guard of the bedrooms like soldiers. Beyond the hallway through the other wooden door laid another expansive room, the Great Room. The kitchen, dining area, and another living room all resided in there, along with the stereo, a sixty-four-inch flat screen TV, Xbox, PlayStation 3, a dining room, and a full library of books. As he sat there, staring at the setting moon, he replayed the night again in his head. He had a good time at the club shooting the shit with Mark. He had gotten laid. He had fed. All of his basic needs had been met, yet in the middle of his chest, he felt a hollowness—that internal itch—that he preferred to ignore.
