for the ceremony?”
“We are.”
“Very well then,” he replies, and lets us in quickly.
I thought we’d be returning downstairs, but instead, Aaron leads me over to the bar. We stand facing the wall of liquor, his arm wrapped around my waist. I am much more comfortable than I was previously.
The bartender who served me before comes over. “What can I get for you, Aaron?”
“I’ll have my usual, and can I get a—”
“Whisky neat, would be my guess. I wondered where she had got to after she tossed her last drink in Siannon’s face.” The bartender grins. “Glad she found you. Siannon looked ready to murder her.”
I curl into Aaron’s chest and hide my face, worried that the other woman is somewhere close by. “I only did it to keep her off me so I could get out of the club,” I whisper. “I suppose it was a stupid thing to do, knowing how fast you all are.” I groan into his chest and then look up at him.
Aaron chuckles and holds me tighter but looks warily around the room. “Where did Siannon go?” he asks.
The man behind the bar shrugs. “Not sure. She saw this one run into you, and instead of following, she took off toward the ladies’ room. Haven’t seen her since.”
“She comes anywhere near Clarabelle, puts her hands on her—”
“You’ll be looking for dispensation, I imagine.” He nods. “I’ll keep an eye out for her. Give you a heads up if I see her. That one doesn’t seem too stable.”
“She’s not. She’s a psychopath,” I say, and glance over at him.
“Right. Well, I’ll just get those drinks; be right back.”
He moves down the bar and pours our drinks: Sweet Nectar whisky for me, and something else for Aaron. It looks like whisky, but it is darker than mine.
“What are you drinking?” I ask, watching the bartender come toward us. “Not your brand?”
Aaron smiles. “It is, just a rare blend. It takes longer to mature than the Sweet Nectar. Try a sip,” he directs once we’ve been handed the drinks.
He holds the glass to my lips, and I sip it. I lick my lips and let the flavor coat my tongue. “It tastes the same, but different… almost nuttier, or smokier. It’s good.”
“You’re right of course, which is why I’ve called it Smokey Nectar. I only sell it to select clients, and I don’t advertise it to the public.”
“Humans, you mean,” I say in a hushed whisper against his ear.
He chuckles. “Exactly.”
He turns me, and his arm wraps around me once more as we cross the room to some of the club’s tables. He takes my drink and helps me to sit in the tall chair, then hands it back to me. We watch the dancers, biding our time before the ceremony.
“Would you like to dance?” he asks, obviously seeing my leg moving with the rhythm of the song.
“Yes please.” I smile at him. I enjoy the feeling of being wrapped in his arms as we sway to the music. I could stay in his arms forever like this, just moving with him, the music flowing through us as his hands dance over my skin.
“It’s about time we made our way downstairs,” he murmurs in my ear about an hour later. “After the ceremony, we can spend some time in the private room. I booked it for the night, hoping you’d stay with me.”
My lips turn up more at his words. “I’d like that. You did promise to make me come repeatedly.”
“Indeed, I did,” he replies, chuckling. “And I am looking forward to every single one of them.”
We move toward the stairs in the coat check area, which is being guarded by the mountainous military man I encountered earlier this evening. Eldridge. As we reach him, I move a little bit closer to Aaron, afraid that the man won’t let me go down.
“Eldridge, we are taking part in the ceremony, may we pass, please?” Aaron asks when the man doesn’t move at our approach.
He looks from Aaron to me and frowns hard. “So long as you don’t allow this one to wander.”
“Of course not, we’ve already discussed that, and I told you I would keep her with me,” Aaron murmurs.
“Very well, but know I will be keeping an eye on you both,” he answers and then moves aside, allowing us enough space to get through.
I exhale, thankful that he was cooperative. I don’t like the idea of the military man watching me, but maybe if he keeps an eye