slight smile.
“Tatum,” I say with a nod.
Tatum turns her attention to Nathan, and she touches his arm near his bicep. “Nate, will you go get us something to drink?”
He looks at me. “Any requests?”
“Soda is fine.” I'm not in the mood to be drinking alcohol.
Tatum's eyes roll. “Just get her a wine cooler,” she says and sends him off. “Nice dress,” she comments, her brown eyes flickering over it politely. “It's last season, though,” she tacks on.
Great. Tatum's in bitch mode. “At least it's not missing any pieces,” I say dryly.
She gives me a slow smile. “The guys sure like it.”
“I'm sure they do.”
“Where's Roman?” Tatum asks as she scans the club below.
“He said he found his meal for the night and went off to work her over,” I muse.
Tatum gives an unladylike snort. “He doesn't have to work anything. All he has to do is smile at them and they drop their panties.”
I remember that Tatum is a succubus, and I look at her through newly enlightened eyes. With as bold as her sexuality is, I’m guessing she’s a full succubus rather than partial like myself. She has to have sex to survive, and I wonder if she resents it sometimes. I know I would. I certainly wouldn't want to share my body with a stranger every time I had to feed. It makes me wonder how much of this confident persona of hers is for show and what really lies beneath it.
“Why are you looking at me that way?” Tatum demands.
I realize I've been staring at her too long, and something must have shown on my face, because she looks about ready to spit nails at me. The last thing I want is to insult her. “I was just thinking that I'm glad I'm not here with a guy. If I was, I'm sure he'd be leaving with you instead of me. You look great.” I shake my head and glance at her dress. “I could never pull that off, but on you, it looks like the designer had you in mind,” I say sincerely.
“Are you hitting on me?” Tatum asks as her eyes narrow.
My mouth drops.
Tatum immediately bursts out laughing. “I'm kidding. Let's go sit. I'm betting you have a lot of questions since I'm the only female succubus you know.”
“You don't mind?” I ask with relief.
“No. Roman warned me you might have questions. He told me it's hard to answer some of them, since he's a guy. He said it might be good for you to hear some stuff from a woman's perspective instead,” she says seriously.
I owe Roman when I see him next. “If you don't mind, I do have some questions.”
She motions to the couch, and we walk over and sink down onto the cushions. Nathan happens to come back up to the balcony, and Tatum motions for him to go away. He gives her an annoyed look, but turns right around and disappears down the stairs.
I can't resist giving her a disapproving look. “Is he your human toy or something?”
Tatum gives me a strange look. “Nate? No, of course not. He's a good friend.”
“You don't treat him like a friend.”
“He is. I just don't waste time with sugary nonsense in fear of hurting someone's feelings. Nate will be back in a bit,” she says easily. “So, what's on your mind? Besides Nate's feelings.”
“You warned me about school. Will you tell me what I'm going to be walking into? Why won't people like me?” I hadn't wanted to ask Roman, because I'd worried that he might wonder why I was so concerned about it. I had promised Tatum that I wouldn't repeat our conversation we'd had at the store, so I figured I'd better hold off on it.
Tatum's silent a moment. “You know of the other supernaturals, right?”
I nod.
“Well, they know what I am, and they'll know what you are when you start school in September. Supernaturals gravitate towards us. They know what we can give them, but because we feed off of different people constantly, they look down on us.” She shrugs. “I guess you could say I'm considered a slut,” she says bluntly. “They know what I need, and it's beneficial to them, but all I'm good for is a good time. They'll never allow it to be anything else. So the supernatural guys will sniff around you, and the supernatural females will resent you for it, because they consider their guys, theirs. Get it?”
I slowly nod.
“Livvy, guys will want you, and