Straightening himself, he turned back to Marla. "I would be honored to be your escort."
Marla let out an ear-piercing scream as she jumped up and grabbed him in a hug so hard that he feared his ribs might crack. She screamed even louder as she left him and grabbed Tabitha up into a hug that brought Tabitha's feet off the floor.
"Oh, girlfriend, you are the best friend anyone ever had! Imagine Marla Divine going out there on the arm of the only straight man in the house. Girl, they will die of envy." She let go of Tabitha. "Carey, get over here and redo my makeup, pronto. I need to be fabulous! Fabulous!"
Carey was smiling at Marla's dramatics. "Sit down, darling, and you will be."
While Carey worked on Marla, Valerius and Tabitha stood off to the side, out of the way.
"Thank you," Tabitha said. "Really."
"It's okay."
Tabitha watched Valerius. Before she could stop herself, she wrapped her arms around him and smiled up at him and laid her head against his chest.
Valerius couldn't breathe at the sensation of her hold. His heart thudded at the sight of her head lying against him, at the warmth of her body pressed against his. An unexpected tenderness swelled inside him.
He reached up and lightly stroked her hair while he hoped nothing went wrong with Marla because he was helping her.
The last time he had tried to help someone had been over a year ago when Acheron had asked him to help fight Daimons off a Katagaria wolf pack. He'd gone willingly but during the fight, Vane and Fang, the two wolves they'd been helping, had lost their sister to an ill-placed Daimon strike. She'd died in her brothers' arms.
The sight haunted him to this day.
Valerius had told Vane that anytime he needed him, he'd gladly lend his sword arm to the wolf. Luckily, Vane had never needed him.
You're being ridiculous.
Perhaps, but it wouldn't bother him so much if he was the one who bore the brunt of it. The disaster always seemed to fall onto the ones he tried to help.
He put that thought away and focused on the woman with him. A woman unlike any other he'd ever met before.
She was truly special. Unique.
Time seemed to hold still as he stood there, just letting the warmth of Tabitha seep into him.
He was actually startled when Marla stood up and gestured for him to follow her.
"Dum-da-dum-dum... dum..." Tabitha hummed the theme song to Dragnet as if to portend his doom as they followed Marla back through the dressing room into a hallway that was crowded with drag queens.
Tabitha kissed Valerius's cheek, then left him so that she could make room for others.
She headed out into the club and found Marla's best friend, Yves, sitting at a table in front of the runway with a group of his pals.
"Hey, vampire slayer," Yves said as she pulled a chair up to the table. "Are you here to cheer Marla on?"
"Of course. Where else would I be?"
A cheer went up from the table while they bantered around and laid bets on who would win until the show finally started.
Tabitha was a nervous wreck until Marla and Valerius appeared. The crowd went wild the minute they saw Valerius, who walked as if he was completely comfortable in his role as escort. Only Tabitha could sense his discomfort and she had a feeling it stemmed more from his fear of causing Marla to be hurt than anything else.
When they reached the stairs that would lead them off the runway to where the rest of the earlier contestants were gathered, Valerius descended first and, like a true gentleman, reached up to help Marla down.
Tabitha wanted to weep at what a kind thing he was doing for someone he didn't even know.
She couldn't think of any other straight man who would do something this ridiculous to help out a woman he'd just met. A woman who had stabbed him no less.
As soon as the escorts were dismissed, she pushed through the crowd to find him. The instant she reached him, she threw herself into his arms and held him close.