Wicked Soul (Ancient Blood #1)(15)
“Aw, come on, Skye—if it wasn’t for moody teenagers and their love of all things black, Dennis wouldn’t have been able to mark up the last shipment of alter cloth, and then we’d have had to pay for our own drinks tonight. We’re practically drinking the tears of rebellious teenagers.” I grinned at the blonde. “Very thematic.”
She stuck her tongue out at me before downing the last of her vodka-Redbull. “I don’t remember you being this cheerful about it when he had us drape the entire window display in the stuff. Go on—why don’t you tell Dennis how his Samhain display wrecked your day?”
I sighed dramatically and began my—if I may say so myself—hilarious parody of the customer who’d come by the shop looking like she’d stepped straight out of a Harry Potter novel, claiming the alter cloth spread decoratively across the window display ruined her ability to see the future from her apartment a couple of floors up.
It was only when Skye and Raven both uttered a weird sort of whimper—some five minutes of animated storytelling later—that I realized I’d lost two thirds of my captive audience. They were both staring at something—or, judging by the glazed look on both women, someone—behind me and Dennis.
“That’s just great. Way to make a girl feel important,” I huffed as I turned around to check out what’d made their ovaries start tangoing on the table. “What are you—?”
My irritated question died in a surprised croak of recognition as I spotted the object of their attention.
Blazing blue eyes met mine as the young man who’d just entered the bar looked up. His dark brown hair was tousled from the cold November weather, and his gray woolen coat did nothing to hide the wide set of his shoulders or trim waistline.
Soft lips, dark eyebrows, and high cheekbones completed his perfect physique—this time without so much as a speck of dirt to hide how drop-dead gorgeous he was. Pun intended.
“Warin!” My face cracked into a huge smile at the sight of the vampire I’d met over the summer.
Perhaps if I hadn’t been two hairs past tipsy, I would have remembered the many disturbing sex dreams I’d had of him since we parted ways. Instead I scrambled up from the booth to throw myself across the bar and around his neck as if he was my long-lost brother. Sadly for me, it was only when I collided with his solid chest that a vivid memory of waking up with a soaked pillow between my legs the day after we’d said goodbye came back in ultra-sharp high-definition.
“I, uh… hey!” I fought back a hefty blush and detached myself from my one-sided hug—he’d stopped dead the moment my arms went around his neck—and gave him what I hoped was a slightly less insane smile. “I did not expect to see you again—especially not here, of all places.” I looked at the drunk, black-clad bar patrons with a raised eyebrow.
“No?” he asked, and even though his velvety voice was soft, it carried easily over the music and loud chatter.
“Well, I didn’t exactly take you for the type to trawl bars for—“ I was about to say “women,” but then realized what, exactly, a vampire was likely looking for in a crowded bar filled with drunk humans.
Sex probably wasn’t it.
“Uh,” I said, smart as ever. “Company.”
The corner of his full lips curled up in the faintest echo of a smile at my lame ending.
“So… you pub-crawl, huh?” I said, looking around at the drunk people, arms crossed. I caught Raven and Skye making wild gestures of encouragement out the corner of my eye and hurriedly refocused on Warin.
Warin’s lips hiked up a bit higher. “I wouldn’t go that far. And yourself? Are you here with friends?”
It was such a normal question to ask, it took me a moment to remember my already lacking social etiquette. “Oh, yes. Work night out. You should join us.”
His gaze flickered over my shoulder to where I’d left my colleagues. “I don’t wish to interrupt your night.”
“Nonsense, you won’t.” I flashed him a happy smile, feeling a lot less awkward now that I was no longer plastered across his chest. “Besides, Skye and Raven are dying to meet you. Just don’t eat any of them. Even though they’d probably let you.” I grabbed his arm and began to pull him toward our table.
“Guys, this is Warin—Warin, this is Skye, Dennis and Raven,” I said as we arrived at the booth. I let go of Warin’s arm to let him slide in next to Dennis, but I needn’t have bothered.
“Oh, wow, it’s so good to meet one of Liv’s friends!” Skye chirped as she shot out of her seat and pulled the vampire into a hug, one that had her ample chest smooshed up against him tight enough for her bra to nearly lose its grip on her breasts. Warin froze at the unexpected touch, every muscle in his body tensing even harder than when I’d force-hugged him, but Skye didn’t seem to notice.
“Come, sit!” she said, beaming smile still in place. She practically pushed him into the bench next to Raven and hurriedly scooted in after, effectively trapping him between them both.
Raven mouthed an enthusiastic “thank you” at me before she focused her attention on the newcomer too. Her top wasn’t as low cut as Skye’s, but when she purred, “Yes, what a pleasure,” at the vampire, an impressive amount of her tits suddenly appeared right underneath his nose.