She smiled, watching the spirits drift away. “Yeah, sure. I guess we have reason to celebrate.” She jumped when the transparent image of a little boy skipped barefoot up to the glass door. Big eyes blinked back and an even bigger grin greeted Celia. He waved at her with his little hands. Celia waved back and chuckled when the little boy blew her a kiss.
We watched as his little body elongated into one long swirl that joined the others spiraling into the sky.
I tugged Celia against me and whispered into her ear. “Hey, Ceel. Do you think that was the little puke who wanted a sip from your boob?”
Chapter Five
After a quick shower back at my place, I met Celia at the Watering Hole. The music blared and the colored lights flashed to the beat of some Lady Gaga song. I found Celia dancing on the floor, surrounded by a cluster of Misha’s vamps who dressed like naughty Catholic schoolgirls. I rolled my eyes. That master vamp ass**le she was shacking up with wanted her watched closely.
Celia had changed from her sweaty, evil-ghost-smeared clothes into a sheer white top with a tight little black camisole underneath. Her jeans were dark and her boots black. Anyone would think she dressed for style. Nah, it was all about comfort.
I watched her for a while. That gal was well aware of her body and how to move it. Aric and her must’ve had a hell of a time together. It sucked that no one paid attention to her now. As always, humans gave her ample space. A tiger’s presence had that effect.
Celia inched her way from the group when two of the naughty Catholics began to dance provocatively against each other. Shit like that made her uncomfortable. The vamps didn’t care. It was always all about them. More attention meant more power—power over humans who begged to have sex with them. The vamps obliged them willingly, getting laid left and right, while they pierced their prey with their fangs and took small amounts of blood.
The one with the pigtails and little librarian glasses laughed when the chick with long black hair flicked her tongue on her plunging neckline. My hate for vamps aside, it was kind of hot. They continued to grind, garnering the lustful stares of patrons and basking in the attention. I guessed the tiny little uniforms weren’t enough to get the interest they desired . . . nor the pheromones they emitted each time they breathed.
Like a row of falling dominos, males popped wood around the scantily clad vamps. Celia did a double-take, scenting their arousal. She backed away, right into some ass**le trying to snap a picture of the gyrating vamps with his cell phone. The loser dropped his phone and stumbled backward when he caught Celia’s defensive posture and uneasy expression. She lowered her gaze to appear less threatening. It didn’t work. The guy continued to back away, leaving his cell phone on the floor where some bigger dude mashed it with his foot.
Celia crossed her arms and left the floor. I knew what she was thinking, that her looks had scared him. No, babe. That would be that little feline you keep closely in check.
Celia didn’t get how beautiful she was—long sexy hair, large green eyes that saw right through you, and a killer body anyone with a libido would drag off to bed. Aric never could keep his eyes off of her . . . what blows is neither could that bloodsucker, Misha. Both had managed to get close to her, but only because weres and vamps didn’t scare easily. Problem was Misha was getting a little too close now.
The sea of bodies parted as I advanced toward Celia. I had the power to draw back my beast just enough to blend in among humans, a trick I’d learned being a lone. I never needed that extra aggression. My height and bulk was enough for humans to back the hell up. I hurried along, and just to give her a little love, grabbed Celia’s ass like it was on sale.
She slipped out of my sight before I could blink and appeared behind me, rewarding my oh-so-loving touch with a ferocious wedgie.
“Ow! What the hell was that for?”
Celia released enough of my boxers so one of my boys slipped back in place. “You grabbed my butt.”
“I was just being affectionate! Let go so I can still knock up some lucky gal one day.”
She tugged one last time for emphasis then released. I whirled around and tried to coax the gang out of my stomach and back home to the front of my pants. “Damn, Ceel, you could’ve cost me a few pups.”
“You seriously want to have kids?”
I yanked my black T-shirt out of my jeans just to give my crew a little more breathing room and smirked. “You seem surprised.”
She played with the edges of her long mane. “It’s not that I don’t think you’d make a good dad, but you’re such a hound, I never thought you’d consider settling down.”
I clasped her hand and pulled her to me. “Who said anything about settling down?” I dipped her and planted a raspberry on her neck. She laughed and pushed me away. It was all in good fun. Damn shame Misha’s vampires didn’t appreciate my awesome sense of humor.
The four she-vamps abandoned their meals and stormed to us. Within seconds they had us surrounded, their hisses sharp enough to slice the club air thick with sweat and lust. An ice blonde protruded her nails and snarled. “Is this mongrel bothering you, Celia?”
Celia stepped between us. “No, Liz. You know Bren’s my buddy.”
Liz lowered her lids, her tone dangerous. “The master wouldn’t appreciate him fondling what’s his.”