Blood Song: Refrain (Blood Song Series Book 2) Read online

  “Yeah, I don’t want my booty popped. Now, I have popped some booties in my day, but I don’t like being on the receiving end. I prefer to do the popping.”

  “Not pop as in spank. It’s more like a bounce up and down move. Like this.” Chris stood and demonstrated.

  “Oh, yeah, I definitely don’t possess the ability to do that kind of movement.” My mind imagined Celesta moving in that way and blood rushed south. Damn, I’d like to watch her booty pop, and maybe pop it myself.

  “Maybe you’re more of a bump and grind kind of guy,” Chris teased.

  That statement put new illicit flashes in my head. Before I could get too lost in the image, Zeke opened the calendar app on his phone.

  “I’d love to get the contract drawn up within the next week for us to be able to record and release ‘Blood Lust’,” he said.

  “If you can meet on Monday or Tuesday, I can make that happen. I’ll be out of town the rest of the week.”

  My gaze wandered over the dance floor until they found my girl. She was lost in the music, arms over her head, dancing to “Love Me Like You Do” by Ellie Goulding. I wished I could dance with her down there on the floor. I’d made a halfhearted attempt to learn these new, untrained moves years ago, but I felt like a fool. Jealousy flared up as I watched a guy dance up behind her, his hands on her hips. Straining my ears, I tried to hear what he whispered in her ear, but I couldn’t sort out the words from all the other competing noises in the building. She shook her head and put some distance between them. He shrugged his shoulders and walked away.

  ♪ Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding

  Zeke glanced up at me. He shook his head but said nothing. After a few quick taps on his phone, he said, “How about Monday at eleven? Oh, damn . . .. I forgot about the whole sunlight thing. Do we need to meet at night?”

  “No, I can go out in the day.” A quick check of my calendar revealed I was free at that time. “That time works for me,” I said as I added the appointment to my calendar.

  My gaze drifted back to Celesta. She was catching the eye of several guys, but so far, they’d all left her alone when she told them no. She was so breathtakingly gorgeous out there surrounded by a sea of mediocrity. The joy on her face was something I hadn’t had the pleasure of seeing before. I didn’t want to cut her fun short, but I was going to lose my cool if guys kept going up to her.

  Zeke cleared his throat, drawing my attention back to him. “Now, when do you have some time available to do some consulting sessions?”

  “How about in two or three weeks?” I offered.

  “We have a few shows here and there over the next few weeks, but we’ll send you a list of possible dates to see what works for you,” Zeke replied.

  “Sounds good. Now do you have some ideas of what theme or sound you want for your next album? Song topics? Anything for me to go on so I can have something to show you in a few weeks?” I asked, then swallowed another gulp of liquid from my glass.

  “Chris and Dave do most of our writing, so I’ll let them fill you in on the direction we hope the next album will take. Dude, are you worried about your girl? You keep watching her . . . and I get it,” Zeke asked, holding up his hands to halt the snapped response about to fly out of my mouth.

  “I’m not used to caring about someone else. I haven’t ever been the relationship type. This is all very new for me. I’m concerned because she just wants to dance and have fun, but guys keep going up to her. I don’t want to have to hurt someone in my own club. That would be bad for publicity.”

  “If you don’t mind, I could go dance with her. You know, keep the other guys away,” his tone was cautious.

  He had some nerve, asking permission to go grope my girl. I glared at him. His offer did appeal to me a bit though, other than the part where his body would be moving in close proximity to Celesta’s, possibly in a sexy way. A guy I could maybe trust dancing with her would keep other guys away from her so she could keep having fun without me murdering someone.

  He held his hands up. “Whoa, man. I’ll just dance with her. Nothing inappropriate, no funny business. You have my word.”

  “If you want to be able to continue to play guitar, you’ll keep your word,” I growled.

  He chuckled. “I promise.”

  “Whenever you get done dancing, come back up here and bring her with you,” I ordered.

  “You got it.”

  He pulled a ball cap and sunglasses out of his pocket. He slipped both on before heading down the stairs. I watched him go. Weaving through the crowd, it took him but a few minutes to reach Celesta’s side. He touched her shoulder to get her attention. My fingers curled into a fist. He leaned over to whisper in her ear. My shoulders tensed, and I prepared to rise. Then her eyes lifted to mine in question, and she waved. My fingers unfurled, and I nodded slightly as I waved to her. She turned back to Zeke and began to move in time with the music.

  I forced myself to get back to business. I had to trust Zeke to honor his word, but I didn’t have to like his hands touching her, even innocently.

  “So, do you guys have a concept for your next album?” I asked, ignoring the turmoil raging inside me.

  “We’ve tossed around a few ideas. Like when hate turns to love. Or journey through the darkness. Your style would fit well with the darker side of either theme,” Chris said.

  I nodded in agreement. For the next fifteen minutes, I jotted notes about their ideas on some paper I’d grabbed from my office. They even had some melody ideas, which I added as well. Every few minutes my gaze sought out Celesta and Zeke in the crowd. His presence had kept the other guys away. I breathed a little easier and was able to enjoy the brainstorming session with these songwriters. I’d missed collaborating with other lyricists. It had been nearly thirty years since I’d worked this closely with a group.

  As we wrapped things up, Zeke came up the stairs. My eyes eagerly searched the space behind him, but Celesta wasn’t there. I glanced to the spot she’d claimed on the dance floor, but it had been filled with other bodies. Stepping to the edge, I rapidly scanned the crowd. I didn’t spot her anywhere.

  “Someone recognized me, so I had to get out of there, man,” Zeke said.

  “No problem. Where’s Celesta?” I asked anxiously, leaning over the railing for a better look.

  “She said she’d be right up. She had to go to the restroom.”

  I tried to calm my illogical thoughts as I reclaimed my seat. The guys brought Zeke up to speed over the next few minutes. The longer Celesta was out of my sight, the more uneasy I became. After ten minutes, I decided to go look for her.

  “Guys, I hate to bail on our meeting, but I need to go look for Celesta.” I got to my feet and shook their hands.

  “No problem,” Dave said.

  “We look forward to working with you,” Zeke chimed in.

  “Yeah, man, you have some awesome ideas for us,” Chris said.

  Mark just nodded.

  “See you Monday,” I called over my shoulder as I darted down the stairs.

  I moved quickly through the bodies on the dance floor, ignoring the flirtatious glances of women I passed on my way to the hallway where the restrooms were. I caught a hint of her strawberry scent and followed it into the darkened passage where her aroma filled the narrow corridor. There was no line for the bathrooms and a girl walked out of the ladies’ room.

  “I’m looking for my girlfriend. Is there anyone else in the bathroom?” I asked.

  “No, sorry.”

  I took a deep breath, trying to imagine where she might be. A faint whimper came from the direction of the employee lounge. I glanced at my watch. No one should’ve been in there. Employee breaks were only allowed during the first ten minutes of the hour. When I stepped to the door, Celesta’s strawberry scent grew stronger. My fingers wrapped around the knob, but it was locked. Exerting a little bit of force, the door popped open. On the far wall, the back of a red polo shirt filled my vision until my quick scan caugh
t a glimpse of Celesta’s flowing skirt behind the large body. Not taking time to register who the guy was, I stepped to him and wrenched him away from her, tossing his body to the floor.

  Her eyes were wide with fright and tears streaked her cheeks. Gripping her shoulders, I stooped to look directly in her eyes. “Are you OK, baby? Did he . . .” I couldn’t finish.

  “I’m fine now that you’re here. No, he didn’t do anything. He was trying to k-kiss m-me or b-b-bite me,” she stammered.

  I turned to the groaning hulk on the floor. Drawing my foot back, I kicked his abdomen before I leaned down to grab him by his shirt. Jerking him up from the floor, I glared into the face of my soon-to-be former employee. I threw several punches with my free hand. A whimper reminded me Celesta was behind me, bearing witness to my out-of-control rage. I dropped my fist and let out a seething breath.

  “Tell me why I shouldn’t end you right now!” I hissed.

  He wiped a trail of blood from his busted lip before he answered, “It was just a little flirting. She was playing hard to get on the dance floor earlier. I wasn’t going to rape her or anything. I just wanted her to know she can’t tease guys like that.”

  I gritted my teeth and squeezed a hand around his neck. I really wanted to snap it. I glanced down at his nametag. “Jeff, do you know who I am?”

  He squeaked out, “Yes.”

  “Did you know that she’s my girlfriend?”

  His eyes widened in terror as he shook his head.

  “And I know she wasn’t flirting with anyone because my eyes have been on her all night.” Crap, I’d just admitted to staring at her all night like some lovesick fool or worse, a crazed stalker. She’d either laugh at me or freak out.

  “I’m sorry, man. He didn’t tell me she was your girlfriend,” my employee tried to explain.

  “Who didn’t tell you?” I forced my voice to sound calm.

  Fear washed over his face. “No one. He’s sadistic. He wouldn’t just kill me; he’d torture me for a long time first.”

  “I promise you one thing, if you ever so much as breathe in her direction again, whatever torture you think this mystery man will dish out, won’t be a tenth of what I do to you. Now get out of my sight. You’re fired.”

  He scrambled away and ran out the door. I turned back to Celesta. Her eyes were vacant and far away. I reached for her, but she didn’t respond.

  Trailing a hand along her arm, I whispered, “Celesta.”

  She seemed to snap out of it and collapsed into my arms. Running my fingers up and down her back, I murmured words of comfort in her ear. When her trembling finally subsided, I pulled back to look in her eyes. They were clear and dry and back with me.

  “Ready to go home?”

  She nodded.

  “I need to go speak with my manager to make sure he’s aware of what happened. It’ll only take a moment.”

  She nodded again. Damn, maybe she wasn’t one hundred percent back with me. She had yet to speak since she saw me pummel that guy.

  I led her to the bar area and had her wait at the end for me while I walked behind to speak with my manager. While passing by the bartender on duty, I ordered a Hot Damn shot.

  The manager was at the end. “Adam, just wanted to give you a heads up that I fired Jeff a few minutes ago.”

  “Why?”

  “I caught him in the employee lounge with my girlfriend pinned to the wall against her will. I don’t know if he intended to bite her, rape her or what. But that behavior won’t be tolerated.” The edge of the wooden bar creaked beneath my curled fingers. My rage was returning. Deliberately, I let go of the smooth wood.

  “I understand, sir. I’ll make sure his shift is covered and look at the applications we have on file. I’ll send you a list of possible replacements by Monday.”

  “No need to send me a list. I trust you to hire someone capable of doing the job.” Adam had been with me for many years. It was time to relinquish some of my micro-managing tendencies.

  “I’ll do my best.”

  Walking back to Celesta, I grabbed the shot from the middle of the bar and handed it to her.

  “What’s this for?” her voice shook, but at least she spoke.

  “Fortification for your nerves.” She still looked to be in shock. I thought the alcohol would help.

  After slamming it back, she licked her lips. Wrapping my arm around her, I ushered her out of the club and tucked her into the passenger seat of the car.

  Silence enveloped us on the first half of the ride home. I couldn’t get the look of fear on her face out of my mind. It was a look I’d seen color her features only in my nightmares before tonight. Finding Jeff threatening her had turned me nearly murderous. I hadn’t felt rage like that in decades, if ever at all. Even when I found out that Terrance’s negligence and greed had cost all those people their lives, I hadn’t wanted to rip him apart. I let Celesta witness the rage in me, and she’d been terrified.

  And that broke something inside me. Knowing I’d scared her made me feel like a bigger monster than I already was. I knew all along I was a threat to her, even if unintentionally. The only way I could think to keep her safe from me was to put some distance between us. I needed some time to think about how best to handle that. My mind raced with possibilities. I’d been delaying the inevitable. Not only was Celesta in danger every moment she was with me—tempting my inner darkness to consume her—but tonight she was at risk because one of my employees tried to take advantage of her in my club.

  “Toven,” her soft whisper interrupted the riot of thoughts circling my mind, “I’m really sorry. I promise I wasn’t trying to lead anyone on or flirt. Every time a guy asked to dance with me, I told him no. I didn’t mean for anyone to get the wrong idea. I wasn’t trying to be sexy or suggestive. I’m not slutty or easy. And now you had to fire one of your employees all because of m-me,” her voice cracked, and fresh tears fell.

  I grabbed her fidgeting hand. “Celesta, you have nothing to be sorry for. I know you aren’t slutty or easy. And you don’t have to try to be sexy—you are sexy. I had my eyes on you the whole time you were on the dance floor except for the last few minutes when you were dancing with Zeke. I saw you tell all the guys no. You did nothing wrong. It’s me who’s sorry for putting you in danger in the first place. And I’m sorrier than I can ever express that I turned around and scared you further with my reaction.”

  Beautiful green eyes met mine. “You didn’t scare me . . . only that guy did.”

  Her fingers squeezed mine, giving me comfort I didn’t deserve. “You don’t need to spare my feelings. I heard you whimper while I was pounding him, and when I looked at you, your eyes were so empty and far away. I never wanted you to be afraid of me. Knowing that you were nearly ripped my heart out.”

  “Toven, I swear to you, I was not afraid of you. I was so happy to see you bust that door open. You’re my hero. Before you came in, his eyes went dark like an abyss. I don’t think in that moment he even saw me or heard my cries. I was glad you got him off me,” she whispered as a shudder wracked her body.

  “That darkness you saw in him is the same darkness I carry within me. That’s how I know one day, I will scare you the same way he did. And when that day comes, I want someone to drive a stake right through my heart. I don’t want to live in a world where I’ve frightened or hurt you.”

  “Toven, everyone has darkness inside of them. Even me.” She gripped my hand harder. “I know this is a terrible thing to say, but part of me wanted you to hurt him for hurting me.”

  Her confession surprised me. Celesta was the sweetest, kindest soul I’d met in a long time, maybe ever.

  “And like everyone has darkness within, they possess light as well. We each choose which condition we give the majority of our power to,” she continued.

  ♪ Chemical Prisoner by Falling in Reverse

  “I just don’t want my internal night to touch you, taint you, wound you.” I was desperate to make her understand my worrie
s so her sense of self-preservation would kick in.

  “I know you don’t. And I trust that you won’t.”

  I brought our joined hands to my lips and kissed hers. “You have more faith in me than you should.”

  We pulled into the garage and entered the house together yet separate. I could feel the distance between us, and I hated it. But I knew it was necessary. I walked without thinking to my music room. It was where I always went when my inner turmoil started to get to be too much. Creating music, with its controlled measures and tempos, helped defeat the chaos when it ran rampant in my mind.

  I was in the zone, needing to play out the rage over what Jeff had attempted to do to Celesta, needing to play out the devastation at seeing her so frightened, needing to play out the heartbreak I knew was inevitable with putting distance between us for her own good. I didn’t even notice that Celesta trailed behind me into the room.

  Walking over to the recorder, I started the video and digital recording devices. It felt as if a new song was inside me, trying to claw its way out. Taking a deep breath, I turned and caught sight of Celesta standing in the doorway.

  “Are you going to play something?” she asked softly as I approached her.

  “Yeah. Playing will help me get the fury out. I hope.” Reaching to stroke her face, I asked, “Are you sure you’re OK?”

  “Toven, I promise I’m fine. I was scared briefly, but I am fine now. Are you OK?”

  “Yes, I just need to channel the gloom and fear, so it doesn’t overwhelm me. Playing music always helps with that.”

  “Toven, you’re a centuries old vampire who’s lived through some pretty dark times in history. You have superhuman strength, incredible speed and your intelligence is amazing. What could you possibly be afraid of?” she asked skeptically.

  Of hurting you, of needing you, of losing you, of loving you. All of the above. But I couldn’t very well tell her that.

  10

  Celesta