Page 43 of How to Bare Your Neck and Save a Wreck
What Shane knew for certain was that he was in love—in love with this place. The fashion, the role play, the way the swirling of his outfit let him shine with his own kind of glorious masculinity that always seemed unwanted in the larger world and the metal around his throat made him feel like a trophy—all of it. If the Starlight Club was on his rating list, not a single aspect would have lost a star. He’d read the consent agreement quicker than he’d have liked, but what he had taken in set a longing in his chest. This was what he’d been craving, what he’d been hating himself for wanting. Or the healthier, better version of it, anyway.
If he were worried the exhilarating effect of submitting to his vampire would be at all diminished by the knowledge that it was a game, he’d have been so wrong. His gaze shifted between those lips that had tenderly brushed his what felt like a hundred years ago and the fangs that pressed into his skin nearly every night, and the feeling that rolled through him in rushes and flutters was just as bright and bold as fear with none of its sharp edges; all the anticipation and desire alone.
Perhapsthiswas what he’d wanted all along—this thing that could be so very normal. So very good. Could even, someday, be love, the way it was supposed to exist, not merely as theintoxicating drive for the rush and the bite, but a deeper, selfless thing.
And it made him think, oddly, of his relationship with Andres; their long, thoughtful conversations and the trust that the baring of their souls had forged.
But then Tara William’s name slipped from his vampire’s mouth, and Shane’s mind returned to their purpose here.
Tara’s attention skimmed away from the women she was chatting with, over Shane and his vampire, past them, and into one of the private parlors. She gave a cursory farewell and headed for it.
Shane followed her. He could feel his vampire at his back, one hand resting protectively against the spot between his shoulder blades. The room had filled a little more since they’d arrived, but they wound their way through the portioned-off spaces and around the silk barrier without causing too much of a stir. They slipped into the private room just in time to catch Tara fleeing out of its far exit.
Valentine sat in front of her, a glass of wine in one hand and his fangs retracted. “It seems you’ve come to my home uninvited…”
The door closed behind them, cutting off the sound of revelry from the main room. Shane spun toward it, finding Valentine’s human there, even taller and more muscular up close.
Shane’s vampire stepped threateningly forward, fangs bared, but the human slipped something out of his cuff—a piece of silver, slim and edged. The moment it was exposed, a shift came over Shane’s vampire. He jerked back, bringing one of his arms up to shield his face, like the metal was a tiny sun stirring an instant draft of poison in his blood.
Shane had heard of this while scouting the vampire’s hangouts: the fabled holy silver, sometimes called Roman silver by the rare few who’d survived within the oldest generation. Theimmediacy of its effects was terrifying to behold, the pain and fear that seemed to tear through Shane’s vampire also lodging itself in Shane’s own chest. He caught his vampire from behind, guiding him away from the terrible metal until he could stumble into the nearest seat. Shane hovered over him, half in his lap with his back to his vampire’s chest like his own body was a shield, and prepared to fight the man and his friend off with his teeth if he had to.
Valentine’s human grunted, his monolidded eyes narrowing skeptically. He slid the metal into his cuff once more and glanced at Valentine. “Well, at least he’s real.”
“What the fuck?” Shane demanded.
His vampire echoed the curse.
Shane shifted off him, giving him as much attention as he felt comfortable sparing. “Are you all right?” he whispered. “Would my blood help?” He knew it was rumored to be good for sun-poisoning, but not whether that held up with holy silver.
His vampire seemed already to be pulling himself back together, though, his grip tight on the arms of the chair and every muscle tensed to pounce. “I’m fine,” he growled. “That was nothing.” His attention didn’t leave Valentine’s human, even as he blinked within his mask like he was having trouble focusing.
Valentine approached, shaking his head. “Why does this shit always happen on my night? I’m quitting, Maddox, I swear. I’ll go back to being our full-time house-spouse.”
“You’ll be lonely with the kids gone,” Maddox objected.
“Or, I’ll be eating cheese and wine in the bath like Diego’s probably doing while we deal withthis.”
Shane’s vampire rose, slow but menacing, his jaw tight and one hand on Shane’s shoulder. “We’d much prefernotto be dealt with if it’s all the same to you. If this is about my protectiveness earlier...”
“Thisis about the fact that you told my front staff that one of my employees invited you here, yet that employee has no recollection of ever doing so.”
“You can hardly blame us, when you make it near impossible to find this place,” Shane’s vampire replied. “Even if our invite did not come directly from her, my humanhasmet Tara before. Call her back in. I’m sure she’ll remember him now.”
Both Valentine and Maddox hesitated, but the statement was so confident that it seemed to slowly take hold of them.
Shane needed to talk with Tara, and this was one way to make that happen. But it seemed cruel to carry on their dishonesty now that they’d been confronted with these people, both of whom were only worried for this beautiful place, one where they provided joy and freedom for a group whose relationships were deemed taboo by much of society. “We should tell them the truth. They’ll be just as affected by everything we’re trying to accomplish,” Shane said.
“Pet,” his vampire started, but then he sighed, rubbing the side of his face. “You’re right. Of course you’re right,” he grumbled. His gaze shifted back to Valentine and Maddox, his tone stiffening. “If we can have a civil conversation…”
“Yes please.” Valentine sounded hopeful, while Maddox only crossed his arms.
Slowly, Shane’s vampire sat back down like he was buckling in for a long conversation. “What has Tara told you about Vitalis-Barron?”
“Unfortunate things,” Valentine replied.
Maddox had none of his hesitation, fiddling with the secret chamber of his cuff as he added, “They’re experimenting on vampires beneath their research complex at the north end of the city and killing them when they’re done. What doyouknow of it?”
“Not much more than that,” Shane’s vampire said. “Which is why we’re here. We’d like to talk to Tara about it.”
