Page 51 of Connected

“Oh god no. No, I don’t want you to fuck him; I just need you to calm his ass down and get him to go home. Michael can’t do anythin’ with him, and now he’s unsettling the other vamps. You know, I could have a full-scale fight in there and there would be no way to control it. Fuck… this is exactly why I hate fucking vampires so much.”

“So then why let them come into the club?”

“Because… usually they stay in Noirs with no problem. The club bridges a gap. It stops them from being in the main club and mixing with wolves. Oh and… well because they make me a lot of money, but that’s beside the point. Kat, just come with me—now!”

“Hey, Rhys… so where the hell’re you goin’ with her?” Digby frowns.

“It’s okay. Digby, it’s okay. I just have to… I just have to go talk to Darius because Rhys says he’s drunk.”

“He’s what? How the fuck did that happen? Oh my god, Rhys, are you sure? Oh hell…” Digby sniggers. “Man, is he gonna be so pissed when he sobers up and sees his bar tab. Okay, well then I’ll come with you. You’re not going in there alone.”

“No, the hell you will,” Rhys snaps, and placing a hand on Digby’s chest, he holds him back. “The last thing I need right now, brother dearest, is to put an alpha wolf pumped full of testosterone in Noir’s—hell, even I can smell it on you. Putting you in a vamp den is not an option. Now go work off some of that steam somewhere. Kat and I will handle this. Ryan, don’t worry she’ll be fine—Michael’s in there handling things.”

“Michael’s in there? Are you serious? You’re gonna leave her in the hands of that fuckin’ shifter? You know I’ve never liked him—somethin’ about him is more…shiftythan other shifters.”

“Don’t worry about Michael—I have my eyes on him. Look, Ryan, I don’t have any choice right now, and well… she has been in there before—as I think you well know by now.”

Kat looks awkwardly embarrassed, “Diggs, it’s fine. I’m just gonna go talk to him. I won’t be long and then we can go home. Gohome…right?” she smiles, kissing his cheek. “Just relax. Have another drink. I got this.”

“Well, if you want me, call me and I’ll be right there. You know I’m not scared of vampire assholes.”

“I know you’re not, but really; I’ll be fine.”

***

Slamming his fist on the counter, Darius demands another drink. “Large vodka!”

“Make that two. And put it on his tab.” Kat smiles at the bartender before she sits on the stool next to Darius, watching as his head slumped forward, he stares into another empty glass. “So, are you drinking that or just trying to hex it into submission?”

“What the hell?” he looks up. “Kat? What the hell are you doing in here?”

“Rhys asked me to come and sort your dumb-ass out. He said you weredrunk.Is that even a thing for vamps?” she smiles awkwardly. “But it’s good to see that you’ve moved on from the fighting stage to being maudlin. Oh no, please don’t tell me you skipped that part and moved straight onto the crying-emotional-wreck phase, because I’m not really sure I’m ready to handle a drunk like that.”

“Just leave me the fuck alone.”

“Right… so still at the moody-fucker-stage. Darius, what the hell’s wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong is I wanted to get laid and I can’t even get a woman to fuck me tonight.”

“Really… Wow! That is a huge first-world problem. Maybe you could try for a guy instead, I mean there seems plenty in here. Why exactly is that? I mean every time I’ve been in here it’s mostly guys— moody dull ones, but why are there no lady vamps? I’m sure they’re not all hookers? Sorry, sorry I shouldn’t have said that. So, come on then, tell me what’s wrong with you—apart from not getting laid. Darius, I’ve never known you to be like this.”

“Perhaps because you don’t know me that well?” he smirks. “Kat, do you wanna fuck? Maybe you want me to slap your ass, tie you up, and have some fun with you?”

“Stop it. Darius, you know that can’t happen—not anymore.”

“Why? Because of Digby? Or because you don’t wanna fuck a vampire? The thing I don’t understand, is why? I mean, why does it matter? Hell, you couldn’t get enough of sex with me before you knew. You wanted it everywhere, in every position—all the damn time. So, what difference does it make now? Kat, what the hell are you so scared of about being with me?”

“I’m not scared of you. You know what, I shouldn’t be in here. I need to get back to Digby, he nearly got in a fight and I need to be with him. He’s a little over-excitable right now, so I need to get back and calm him down.”

“Fight? What fight? What was that about?”

“Oh, it was nothing really. It doesn’t matter what it was about. It was just some arrogant asshole—a playboy—trying his luck with me. You know, giving it big balls to anyone who would listen. Really, it was nothing. It’s all taken care of, but you know how Digby gets, especially on a full moon. It was two alphas playing I’ve got a bigger-dick-than-you type stuff. It’s done, but I think I should take him home.”

“But Digby’s okay, right?”

“Yeah, he’s fine. What about you though, are you fine?”

“I will be after a few more of these.”

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