Page 2 of The Blood Master

"I've never met him, but I know who he is, and he's the leader of the fiercest and most feared coven in the city, and you don't get to where he is by being kind and gentle," Mason stated the facts, and Joel felt his heart sinking.

"Okay," Joel responded stiffly. He really wasn't in the mood to entertain an evil master vampire. He was barely healedfrom the last vampire who had used him as a worthless blood bag. The night he'd walked out on stage gushing blood had been a night of horror. A vampire in the crowd rushed the stage and began licking his arm and grabbing at his cock, and when the bouncer arrived to remove him, the guy gave the bouncer a hundred-dollar bill to let him continue. Everything was for sale at the Club, including Joel.

He was thankful just to have survived, and the thought of going through that again but with a vampire even more cruel and vicious was heartbreaking. He had no open wounds this time, so that was a positive, but that didn't mean he wouldn't ultimately be fed upon.

Vampires tended to be wealthy, and they simply bought whatever they wanted. Being a Master vampire, this man was probably in a position to get everything he wanted. The bears would not deny him as long as he was carrying enough cash. If he didn't perform and provide them with satisfaction and entertainment, the bears would make him pay for embarrassing them.

Mason had nothing to worry about. He was in a relationship with one of the bears, so regardless of how this went down, he'd be safe. If there was trouble, he would pay for it, and considering it was with a high-profile customer like a coven master, he would probably pay with his life. As much as he didn't want to attract the man's attention, he had to give the Master a good performance.

The Club was busy, but the moment the Master walked in, the energy shifted, and there was a wave of tension and fear that washed through the place. The bears were powerful and terrible people who did terrible things without pause, and yet they stepped back when this vampire and his guards entered the Club. Joel wasn't sure what to make of it as Cassius, the greatleader of the bears, looked worried. This Master scares him, which makes the Master someone worse than Cassius.

Joel wanted to run away or disappear because anyone who put worry on Casius' evil face was someone to avoid at all costs. He had no recourse. The bears owned him, and there was no getting out of this. Panic took him over, and he saw his hands shaking, so he swallowed his fear and focused on staying alive.

He and Mason walked out onto the floor, and the other dancers gave them room by moving back and allowing them to begin the sensuous choreography. They had worked together before, so they went with a set that they both knew would provide a hot and arousing spectacle for their guests.

Joel stole several glances at the Master as he made his way through the room and toward Cassius. Master Rose was a handsome fucker and walked like he owned everything and everyone. The power and confidence were thick, and the bears were feeling it, too. They stood around the room clearly agitated and waiting . . . for something.

Joel and Mason kept the act going, rubbing, stretching, and gyrating in sync. Joel's black briefs accentuated his package, and he used that to his benefit by rolling his hips and jutting forward while running his fingertips sensuously down the center of his chest. He kept his eyes on the Master, desperate to be entertaining enough but not wanting to be singled out. It was a thin line; he was walking or dancing, but then the Master noticed him, and Joel felt his heart stop in his chest.

Master Rose stopped suddenly and looked around the room. His brow was dark and drawn tight, and his dark eyes ate up the room with a glance. His expression was cold and exacting. Joel was suddenly scared to death that the man was going to train that lethal gaze on him. He wouldn't survive an encounterwith a man like Master Rose, but the bears didn't care because, in their minds, everyone was expendable, especially a slave like him.

He was dressed classy but casually in black leather and gave an ultra-sophisticated impression, whereas the bears were dressed in business suits, and still, they all looked cheap and classless. Cassius stood when Master Rose approached his table and motioned for him to take a seat, but Master Rose still had his dark eye surveying the room. His guards looked ready to strike, and everyone who didn't need to be in the area left. The mood was turning decidedly dangerous.

Then it happened, and his eyes captured Joel. Joel desperately tried to pull his eyes away, but the power of that stare held him frozen to the spot. He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, and he felt like he was dying. He started to tremble full body tremors. This was bad, this was really bad. He was embarrassing the bears and showing fear to people who ate fear for lunch.

He noticed Cassius signaled one of the bouncers to get him off the floor. The other dancers and servers ran for their lives, knowing that things were going south rapidly. Joel tried to run, but the Master held him in thrall and steadily approached him with a look of dark determination. The minute the bouncer grabbed Joel and started roughing him up and dragging him away, the room suddenly exploded into chaos.

CHAPTER TWO

Conall entered the rundown establishment with the expressed intent of starting something. The bears were getting bold, and it was time to put them back in their place, but Conall was more than ready to do just that. The bears only responded to violence, and Conall was eager to accommodate.

Cassius was across the room with several of his soldiers, and the rest of his clan was spread out around the open space of the Club. Several were beginning to slowly converge on them. The tension in the air was giving rise to their nervous unease, and Conall pushed his superiority and power, filling the room with his presence, which heightened the tension even further.

He moved toward Cassius with the intent of bringing him to heel first, but something wonderous and unexpected caught his attention. A feeling heavily ladened with emotions brushed by him; they were emotions that called to him and demanded he respond.

Then, a bold scent of jasmine rushed toward him, intoxicating and sensual, filled his senses. He recognized what it was and searched the room for its source, but no one wasconnecting. Everyone was looking away, avoiding his gaze, and many were rushing from the room.

His mood, so highly charged and suddenly on edge, had people preparing for the worst, and Conall could not care less because his beloved was in the room. The bears were secondary to his need to find the source of the emotions and the jasmine that was setting him on fire, and then he saw him.

He was dancing provocatively, but it was obvious that his heart wasn't in it. He was fearful, watchful, and on edge, and it bothered Conall in a way that was proprietary and protective. His dancing halted when their eyes met, and the man could not look away he captured he was owned. He was gorgeous and alluring, and he made Conall sweat because of the need to have him.

This man was moving into a deep place in his heart that had never been occupied before, and the feelings that gave rise were volatile. His baby should not be dancing for others he should not be at the beck and call of a bunch of fucking bears.

Cassius gestured for someone to deal with the trembling dancer, and that's when the house came down. Conall's instincts went off when the bouncer attacked his beloved, and the young man began to whimper. The sound cut through Conall like a red hot knife piercing his soul.

Conall moved on the bouncer, and his guards moved on the bears, and the room blew up. Samuel and Fane were in their element; they absolutely loved a good brawl. This was going to be a glorious afternoon. Conall smiled and broke the bouncer's arm.

He took care of the few who attempted to stop him or interfere with the dancer and then threw the beautiful dancer over his shoulder and headed for the door. He stepped overone of Casius' sons, who was lying broken and bleeding. “If you wanted him, we would have given him to you." He declared.

"He's not yours to give." Was all he said as Samuel and Fane finished the job and met him in the parking lot. No one followed them out, which was wise. Neither guard asked any questions simply opened the back door of the SUV and waited for the Master and his newly acquired dancer to slide in.

Once the door closed, Conall sat the young man down on the seat beside him and covered him with a thin blanket. He was terrified, and Conall couldn't blame him. He didn't know that he had been rescued from that pitiful den of iniquity and was about to embark on a life of pleasure and promise.

"My name is Conall Rose." He began. "Do you know who and what I am?" He was asking a lot with that question. Considering the dancer was human, he may not be privy to the paranormal. But working at the strip club had put him in the path of many supernatural beings, so it could go either way. Most decent business owners kept the humans and paranormals separated for obvious reasons, but decent was not a word that was ever used when discussing Cassius Brown.

The dancer sat still and silent, with eyes wide as saucers, and his breath was shallow and rapid. He was still frightened, but after a few seconds, he gave the barest of nods. His eyes never left Conall, and although he loved having his beloved staring at him, it was the fear that he could do without.

"No one is going to hurt you. The bears are dangerous men, and you didn't belong in that place." Conall paused and carefully placed his hand over the young man's hand, which was lying stiffly against his leg. He felt the rigidity lessen as the warmth and meaning of his touch pervaded. The fear in his eyeswas still front and center, but it was now joined by just a touch of wonder.

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