Page 56 of Blood and Bone

“I’ll go left,” Ari called.

“I’ll check this side,” Eoghan shouted back, already pulling his dart gun from the holster at his side.

Ari did the same, checking to make sure there was a dart in the chamber before jogging to the left side of the dance floor. Several vampires noticed him and stopped dancing, backing up when they saw him with the gun in his hand. He couldn’t stop to imagine what the innocent vamps at the happy mating event could be thinking. The whole thing was supposed to be a reception, after all.

The darts Ari and Eoghan armed themselves with were less lethal rounds, but no one else at the party knew that. Ari called Champayne’s name as he searched the crowd, hearing Eoghan calling over the music from the other side of the dance floor. He searched the dancers, seeing no one matching Champayne’s description and when he got to the back wall, he spotted the sign for the restrooms. He headed there immediately. It was bad enough not being right beside Eoghan where he would have his back but being separated from him by the door of the men’s room seemed like a horrible idea. He slammed open the door, propping it with his shoulder as he stood in the doorway, gun at the ready, his head on a swivel so he could watch both the ballroom and the restroom as he called out.

“Beauregard! Are you in here?” A low moaning was coming from somewhere inside. Ari glanced out at the dance floor before calling again. “Champayne! Are you in here?” The moaning got louder and he cursed under his breath as he edged his way into the room, letting the door shut and muting the music coming from the other side. He moved farther into the room. “Beauregard! Dammit! Answer me!” He bypassed the urinals and checked the first stall, shouldering the door open with a loud, metallic bang. He did the same to the second stall. The moaning got louder, and he knew he’d have nochoice but to take a chance when he opened the third stall. He said a silent prayer that he wasn’t about to be attacked by a vampire who was angry enough to want to kill him.

The bathroom door suddenly opened and he spun, gun in hand, lowering it only when he saw Eoghan come into the room. His partner looked determined as he averted the barrel of his own weapon, lifting it toward the ceiling. Ari canted his head toward the third and final stall, tapping his ear. When someone behind the metal door moaned loudly, he watched Eoghan’s eyes widen almost comically.

“Champayne!” Eoghan called. “Beauregard! Is that you?”

As Ari listened, he heard a muffled reply and then a wet, slurping sound. He had no idea whether blow jobs were considered taboo or as Champayne had put it, “sexually deviant,” but he was pretty sure someone was getting head on the other side of the door.

“We’re coming in!” Ari called out before holding out his weapon and then leaning forward, reaching for the door, and pushing it open. He wasn’t prepared for what he found.

A huge vampire sat on the toilet still dressed in suit, tie, and jacket with no pants on…both shoes and socks off. Champayne knelt between his legs, one foot in each hand and his mouth around one big toe as the half-naked vamp jacked a rather impressive cock and moaned loudly. His eyes were half-lidded and he looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself. As Ari lowered the weapon, Eoghan rushed over, coming to stand beside him at the doorway just in time to see the man ejaculate a truly inspiring spurt of jizz. It shot into the air in the most elegant white arc Ari had ever seen, coming to land in a massive, creamy splat on the big vampire’s perfectly pressed dress shirt, irreparably staining it forevermore.

“Holy fuck!” Eoghan exclaimed. “Beauregard!”

The man on the toilet seat peeled open his lids, recognized them, and hissed before shooting off the toilet at light speed. Ari hadn’t even had the time to blink before he’d fired his gun, hitting the vamp in the middle of a puddle of spunk dripping down the man’s formal shirt pleats. Champayne’s lover fell back onto the commode, dart in his chest, as their vampire prisoner fell back onto his ass and began wailing, burying his face in his hands. Ari noticed his half hard dick hanging out of his unzipped slacks, wet from a puddle of his own come which slid down, wetting his zipper. No more than a second passed before Eoghan twisted his body, pointing his weapon at the bathroom door as it slammed open. Five outraged vampires stood in the open doorway, hissing loudly, showing off mouths full of terrifying rows of fangs as Ari raised his gun.

“These are lethal rounds!” Eoghan lied effortlessly as Ari reloaded as quickly as possible. “Back the fuck up or someone’s gonna die here tonight.”

“Beau! Beau!” Victoria Champayne called out, elbowing her way through the crowd of male vamps in the doorway. The vampires deferred to her, moving aside to let her through. She flashed over to them so quickly, Ari didn’t even see her coming before she’d pushed him and Eoghan out of the way. By the time he realized what was happening, Victoria was standing over her mate who was beside himself, wailing at the top of his vampire lungs. “What. The. Fuck. Beau? Again?” she cried.

Before they knew what was happening, her nails had elongated and she’d lifted his bawling ass off the floor and had him pinned against the wall of the stall. “What did you do, Beau?”

Ari looked at Eoghan, wondering if they should risk their lives to intercede on Champayne’s behalf, barely picking up on the slight nod when suddenly his thoughts were interrupted.

“I’m sorry,” Champayne squawked, still pinned by the neck.

She paused, seeming to take in everything at once…her toe-sucking mate, the flaccid, spent cock peeking out of his zipper, his unconscious partner with the dart drooping from his chest, and the pungent puddles of spunk everywhere.

She let out what sounded like a snarl and surprisingly, let him go. A moment later he slid down to where he’d been…sitting with his back to the wall, sobbing into his hands, occasionally blowing his nose into pieces torn from a roll of toilet paper, and fumbling to cover himself up.

Victoria continued to growl. Just when Ari was sure she was going to behead him and end his life right there, she stopped growling and sank to her knees in the men’s room stall, taking both of his cheeks into her hands to quiet her mate’s sobs.

“I love you,” she cooed against his lips. “I know, love…I know.” To Ari’s surprise, she tucked away the display of fangs and began kissing his face…first, his eyes, then his nose, then each cheek. “I love you. I love you…but here? Love? Here, at the mating?”

Beauregard sucked in a sobbing cry before blowing it out, looking miserably at her and then over at his unconscious lover, until facing her again. “I just couldn’t help it. It’s been too long.”

She leaned in and kissed him again. “I know, love. Conway’s sires are clearing out the guests. It’s safe to come out but you know what this will mean, Beau?”

Champayne canted his head to the side and then nodded. “They’ll want some years tacked on.”

Victoria nodded, looking just as miserable as he did. “Yes, my treasure, but we’ll face this as we always have. I will always stand by you, my brave, beautiful, Beauregard, always.”

Ari had to wonder if there was more to the slightly nerdy, toe-sucking British vamp that he just couldn’t see.

Champayne got to his feet, staring down at the unconscious, half-naked vampire whose toes he’d been sucking not ten minutes before and then glanced back at them. “I’m so sorry and I’m so ashamed.”

“It’s fine, Beauregard,” Eoghan said, pulling his handcuffs off his belt. “And I’m only sorry that I have to refasten these.”

Beau let out a massive sigh, followed by a nod as he tidied himself up and let Eoghan refasten the vampire-strength handcuffs. Moments later, they were all walking through the empty ballroom, headed out to the parking lot. Outside, Beau’s progeny, Peg, stood beside her new mate, Gilroy, holding hands. When she spotted them, she let go of Gilroy’s hand and flashed over to them, throwing her arms around Champayne. He let out another sob and leaned into her, burying his face in her neck, unable to hug her because of the cuffs.

“Daddy, Daddy, what happened?”

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