Thomas chuckled, then glanced over Rachel much the same way she had looked at him--only his attention was on the way her hands and feet, nearly her whole body, were moving to the music. She was pretty much dancing in place. "You're gonna be dancing on a table in a minute if someone doesn't intercede," he teased lightly. "You look like a woman who needs to groove."
Rachel laughed. "How very astute of you to notice."
"What can I say? I'm an astute dude," he teased. Taking her hand, he said, "Come on, I'll be your knight in leather pants and take you to the dance floor."
Etienne grimaced as Rachel went off with his cousin. She hadn't even looked his way. He shouldn't have hesitated over dancing, he told himself with irritation. He should have taken her straight out there. It was what they both needed.
"You snooze, you lose, cousin." Those laughing words reminded Etienne that he was in a vampire haven where several of the more powerful vampires could read his thoughts. Including his cousin. He had obviously become too used to his own company, where guarding his thoughts wasn't necessary.
Irritated with himself, Etienne firmly slammed his mind closed to keep others from probing his thoughts. Then he settled back in his seat, watching with irritation as Thomas and Rachel began to have their own seizures on the dance floor.
"So, how are you getting along with Cousin Etienne?"
Rachel smiled and shrugged. "Fine. He's a nice guy."
"Oh, man!" Thomas grabbed his chest as if she'd stabbed him. "Nice? That's the kiss of death."
Rachel laughed at his dramatics, even more amused when he arched one eyebrow several times and said, "That makes it obvious my cousin isn't making moves. He needs a poke, I think. Come on, let's poke him."
Much to Rachel's confusion, Thomas's idea of poking Etienne was to pull her into his arms and begin dancing in a slow style to the hiphop beat around them.
"Er... Thomas, have you noticed this is a fast song?" Rachel had to yell to be heard over the music.
His hands slid down her back to rest on her behind. "Yeah. Etienne's noticed too," he yelled back, drawing her closer still and laughing. "Here he comes! Definitely poked! You can thank me later, dudette--I'll be your knight in shiny leather any day." He gave her a slap on the behind, then unhanded her as Etienne appeared. With an innocent expression, he yelled, "Cutting in?"
Etienne's answer was a smoldering look that made Rachel incredulous. Had she wondered if he was interested in her? The jealousy and anger on his face seemed to suggest that he was. Yet he hadn't acted anything but friendly when they were alone.
She didn't get the chance to ponder the matter further. Etienne ignored the fast-paced music just as Thomas had, and pulled her into his arms. She hadn't thought it possible, but he actually held her closer than his cousin, and whereas Thomas's hands had rested lightly on her rump, Etienne took a firm grip, steering her around the dance floor. Rachel was plastered against his front, intimately aware of every bump and curve in the man's physique in a way that was breathtaking. After only a couple of moments, she was feeling hot, breathless, and in desperate need of a drink.
Much to her relief, when she suggested it to Etienne, he concurred at once. He escorted her back to their table. Thomas had apparently decided to join them. He was seated there and grinned at them widely when they arrived.
Etienne scowled at the younger vampire as he pulled out Rachel's chair--a gesture she hadn't experienced in her whole life of modern dating. He said, "Behave. I'll be right back."
Rachel watched him leave with surprise. He disappeared into a door marked with the international symbol for a man. The bathroom.
"Drinks, people?"
Rachel peered uncertainly at the waitress smiling at her. Then her gaze drifted helplessly to Thomas. "I'm not sure what they have," she admitted, feeling a little lost. It being a vampire bar, she presumed they served blood here. But did they serve other drinks?
"Allow me," he suggested. Rachel would have been relieved by the offer, except for the way the man was grinning. "Two Sweet Ecstasies and a Virgin Mary."
"What's a Virgin Mary?" Rachel asked suspiciously as the waitress walked away. She supposed that the Sweet Ecstasies were for the men and the Virgin Mary for her. Thomas's answer corrected her misconception.
"Blood, Worcestershire and Tabasco sauce with a squeeze of lemon. I like hot and spicy," he said with a grin.
"Oh," Rachel said faintly. The drink sounded disgusting. She was almost afraid to ask what was in the Sweet Ecstasy.
"Sometimes it's better not to know." Thomas leaned forward so that he wouldn't have to yell. He had obviously read her thoughts. It was rather annoying not to be able to have a thought of your own without people listening all the time. Rachel was much more comfortable with just Etienne, who claimed not to be able to read her mind. If he was lying and really could, at least he was polite enough not to comment.
"It doesn't matter," she answered Thomas. "I should have warned you not to bother if all they serve here is blood. I haven't quite mastered the technique of ingesting it yet." She shuddered at the very thought.
Thomas considered her for a moment. Rachel suspected he was sifting her brain for what might be the problem, then he nodded. "Don't worry about it. My sister-in-law had the same problem. We found a fix. I'll show you when the waitress brings the drinks."
Rachel felt a moment's hope that he really might have a solution; then her thoughts turned to wondering what was in the Sweet Ecstasies he had apparently ordered.
"They have all sorts of drinks here," Thomas said, obviously reading her thoughts again. "Some are mixed drinks like the Virgin Mary, which is straight blood with something added, and others are specialty bloods. Like Sweet Tooth."
"Sweet Tooth?" Rachel asked.