Page 43 of Vampire Visions

Sloane was quiet for a second, the grin steadily growing on her face. Jack twisted his head to glare up at them. Us. He gave me the same filthy look. I smiled down at him, unable to stop myself.

For the next hour we chose words at random for Jack’s conversations, our laughter echoing around the now empty VIP section. Sloane had leaned into me, her legs tossed casually over my left thigh. The fingers of her right hand were woven through mine, dainty in comparison to my large hand. Dainty and deadly. She was one hell of an oxymoron.

When it was time to go, the rest of the guys met us at the bottom of the stairs. We left the same way we entered, if not a little closer after all the talking and teasing. Jack slid his hand into Grim’s before we walked out the door, and I watched the girls he’d been hitting on as they sulked.

That was the most fun I’d had in ages. I’d arrived at the supernatural speakeasy with two acquaintances, five friends, and a potential mate that I’d yet to seal my bond with. I left with seven trustworthy friends, but... I still needed a little more time with the mate part.

18

Sloane

Saturday Late Evening

I’d spent the better part of the evening watching Jack play with his hair while I sat on the bathroom counter beside him. It looked great the first twenty times he’d fixed it, but the male was a perfectionist when it came to his appearance. I didn’t understand his need to look party ready when he was going to be hiding in the Void, awaiting my signal for backup.

I supposed we would all be fighting this battle in style, though. Grim had taken my guys out for tuxedos hours ago with a strict shopping list from Jack, and they still weren’t back. I wasn’t anxious about them being gone, but damn if I wasn’t thrilled to see them when they arrived. I had this whole scene playing out in my head where they walked in looking sexy as sin in nothing but black dress pants and bow ties.

That was the dream my desire-addled brain latched on to.

And what a wonderful daydream it had been… until Jack groaned in agitation. “Could you not?” His request pierced my ears just as dream-Briggs snapped the button of his pants open and dream-Palmer slid a blindfold over my- “Bitch!” Jack swatted my forehead with his comb. “Are you fucking serious right now?”

I shrugged my shoulders, trying hard not to flash him a ridiculously wide smile. My nostrils flared, and my cheeks hurt from the effort of holding my expressions at bay. Jack was not amused. “I can’t help it,” I whined.

“While I don’t blame you,” he began, easing the comb back through his hair for the hundredth time. “They aren’t my mates, and I really don’t want to be walking around with a semi because you can’t keep your thoughts to yourself.”

“Sorry,” I conceded, holding my hands up in surrender. “I’ll lock the door until it’s time to go.”

“Lock the door?” He side-eyed me, then chortled. “Bitch, you need to deadbolt the door, draw the shades, close the shutters, and nail some plywood up on those windows for good measure. Maybe add an electric fence with barbed wire across the top of it while you're locking that mental connection up.”

“Fine, fine.” I hopped off the counter, heading for the bedroom. “I need to do something so I don’t keep thinking about seeing the guys in their tuxedos, or out of them.” I stopped on the other side of the door, huffing at Jack in annoyance. “Your hair looks exactly the same way it did an hour ago, Jack. Leave it alone and come help me get this dress on.”

This dress was a beautiful, velvet, floor length, ballgown. It hugged my curves in all the right places, fanning out above my knees and dipping low in the back. It fit me like it was sewn on my body, hence the help from Jack. I couldn’t wiggle into it without an extra set of hands.

I started stripping, knowing I’d have to ditch my bra and panties to get the gown on, when my bedroom door opened. York leaned his head in, smirked at my near naked state, then stepped over the threshold. Shutting the door soundlessly behind him, he ambled over to me, and I drank in the sight of my druid in a fitted tux. Gods, he was sexy when he wasn’t aggravating the fuck out of me. He’d look even better in just the black bow tie and slacks, though. Mmm, maybe later.

“So.” York ran his hands down my bare arms. “Palmer found my mate mark.”

“Oh, he did, did he?” My voice took a sultry tone that had York looking down at my lips. And my mind was completely in the gutter. “How did Palmer find your mark, York?”

Please, for the love of everything unholy, let him tell me they were naked and… “Lo, godsdamnit! Will you chill the fuck out!” Jack screamed at me from the bathroom. He was so loud that I winced, the volume making my sensitive ears ring. Finally, he left the bathroom, and taking a lighter tone said to York, “Either help me get that dress on her, or get the fuck out before she tears that tux off you.”

York rolled his green and teal eyes at Jack, motioning for me to spin around. As Jack disappeared into the closet, York pressed up against my back. “He’s not the only one that hears your leaking thoughts,” he whispered, his breath on my neck sending shivers through me. “Novak and I can hear them very clearly, Sweetheart.”

I leaned my head on York’s shoulder, rolling it to the right to watch his eyes sparkle. He pulled his hands up between us to unclasp my bra, pushing the thin straps down my arms. “And what about your mate mark?” I asked him in a desperate attempt to distract myself. It didn’t work. He laughed as my wayward thoughts spiraled out of control in the best ways.

I needed to know why Palmer was able to find York’s mark and exactly how naked he was when it happened. Was it a close encounter? Why were they in the same room while York was naked? Would the rest of the guys strip down and let me search them when we sealed our bonds? I had tons of questions, and York was giving me zero answers.

I couldn’t get the images out of my head. Palmer, half dressed, running his magic fingers over York’s muscular back. The way Palmer would teasingly swirl his index finger over the mark, telling York where it was with more than his words. The shiver that York fought to keep Palmer from seeing.

“Okay.” York dragged the word out, surprise littering his tone. “You’re definitely getting ahead of yourself there, Sweetheart. That is not what happened.”

“Then tell me what happened,” I suggested, sass on full blast. I wasn’t sure what was going on with my body or my mind, but I was extremely horny, a little hungry, and too excited about the drama that would unfold later tonight. Maybe I was a smidge thrilled with the idea of killing Kadence. I was honestly trying to keep the psycho at bay, though.

“Palmer was one hundred percent dressed, I was only missing my shirt, and there was absolutely no touching involved.”

“Well, that’s no fun.”

“Yes, it was very boring guy stuff. But my mark is on the back side of my hip. Maybe I’ll let you see it later, when I get all these layers off.” He grinned at me. “And don’t do your snappy thing. It took me forever to get all this shit on.”