sheet, his eyes slitting open as he looked up at me.
"That was so fine." He grinned and then leaned up to kiss me, one of his hands grasping the back of my head to make sure I wasn't going anywhere. He put some serious effort into the kiss, like maybe he thought he was going to finally have me where he wanted me. I sighed into his mouth, wiggled against his questing hand, which had worked its way inside my panties, and almost didn't have the strength or will to roll away from him.
"How do you feel, Ray?" I dragged myself off the bed and stood next to it. The room spun and I had to hold on to the built-in bedside table to keep from falling over.
"Better, but not as good as I'll feel when we finish what we started." He grinned and held out his hand. "Come on, babe, don't be a tease."
"I'm not. You needed my blood so you could go out there and sing. I don't want you to disappoint your fans. That's all there was to that. Anything sexual was all on your part, not on mine. I just felt sorry for Nate, stuck with you and the fallout if you were a no-show." I stomped over to the kitchen, hoping to find at least one bottle of synthetic blood that didn't have alcohol in it. No luck. But I couldn't wait, so weak that I twisted off the top of the other and took a swallow.
"Good old Glory. Always the mentor. Shit." Ray got to his feet and stepped into his jeans, not bothering with underwear. Next he grabbed his shirt. "How kind of you." He took the bottle I'd opened and drained it. "Quit doing me favors. You putting out for Nate now? I know he's your favorite blood type."
I stared at him, my mouth open. "You know better than that. Don't be a jerk. And where's my thank-you? Don't you care that there are thousands of people out there who paid good money to see the famous Israel Caine perform?"
"Big fuckin' deal." He grabbed another bottle and opened it.
"Stop it!" I lunged for the drink. "I'm about to fall down, you drank so much, and you're going to ruin it by drinking that poison again? No way!"
"You are not my keeper, Glory St. Clair. Get the hell out. Tell Nathan to quit running to you to save my ass. If I want to kill myself, I will." He took another deep swallow of the synthetic. "Got it?"
"No. I can't let you do that. Why, Ray? Why are you so bent on self-destructing?" I didn't try to hide the tears that filled my eyes. "You have people who love you. You'll live forever. It's a gift."
"It's a fucking gift I didn't ask for and don't want." He finished the bottle and threw the empty against the wall, where it shattered. "Now get out. I've got a set to do. Go watch. You always were a fan." He grinned but it looked more like a grimace. "I'm good to go. Hell, I can do these things in my sleep."
I wiped away my tears, obviously wasted on him. But my heart broke. For Ray. I wasn't getting through to him and I guess it was true that an alcoholic had to ask for help and truly hit bottom before he would. I picked up my sunglasses and trudged to the door.
"Fine. I will watch." I opened it and almost bumped into Nate, who'd been about to knock. "I did the best I could. Good luck." I turned and looked at Ray, who was on yet another bottle. "I love you, Ray. Please remember that before you walk into the sun or whatever you think you're going to do to end this. Nate here does too. And your parents, fans. I guess none of us count, though." I sighed. He didn't even turn around or acknowledge what I'd said.
I joined the crowd, finding a spot next to Tiffany in the VIP section. The band was tuning up and the crowd was getting restless. When Ray finally staggered onto the stage, I knew this was going to be a rough night. I just didn't know how rough.
Chapter Eight
The set started off well. The band sounded great, Ray was energetic and the crowd went wild. Guess Ray had been right; he could do these things in his sleep or drunk. But he had a look in his