After they were seated on one of the velvet-covered sofas, a waitress showed up with a tray of drinks. A full glass of rich red wine for Bael and a scotch on the rocks for her. She took the offered drink and wondered if that was truly wine in Bael’s glass and not something else red and thick. She watched him as he took a sip and shuddered.
He smiled at her over the rim of his glass. “So, what do you think so far?”
She shrugged. She’d been expecting Caligula but had gotten Moulin Rouge instead. “Not as scandalous as I was expecting.”
“Oh, the scandals go on in the private rooms in the basement. You could swim in a pool of chocolate sauce and have twenty little fairies lick it off your body if you wished.”
She winced at that.
He laughed. “Oh, you’d be surprised how incredibly arousing that can be.”
Eden took a drink, reveling in the way the scotch burned her throat on the way down. It was like a welcome friend to her. She drank more until her glass was empty.
“Delicious, isn’t it? I don’t know why you’ve denied yourself such a simple thing.”
“My therapist says I rely on drink too much. That I need to learn to deal with life soberly.” She said it matter-of-factly but she felt a little bitterness when she said it, of always having to explain herself.
Bael shook his head. “Foolish sentiments. Why not enjoy life to the fullest? Why wallow in guilt for craving these things? Makes no sense to me.”
As soon as she set her empty glass down, there was a full one next to her hand. She picked it up and took another healthy drink. Already she could feel the effects of the alcohol. She was warm and calm inside.
“When can I see Lilith?”
“Now, if you wish.”
“She’s here?” Eden looked around the room, searching for the woman.
“She’s in the basement.”
Eden flinched a little, nervous about what she was going to see in the rooms in the basement of the club. She was afraid she’d see something that she craved so deeply she’d never want to leave. Thoughts of Mikhail filled her mind then, and she wondered if that had already transpired.
Bael stood and offered her his hand. “I’ll take you down.”
She took his hand and together they walked the club to a door painted red near the DJ booth. There was a burly werewolf in jeans guarding it. He bowed his furry head when Bael and Eden approached.
“Good evening, Lord Bael.”
“Good evening, Franklin.”
Eden tried not to snicker at the werewolf’s name. It just seemed like such a normal name for someone so irregular. She averted her gaze as they went through the open door. But she felt Franklin’s gaze on her the entire way. He sniffed at her as she passed him.
When they were through and the werewolf shut the door behind them, Bael chuckled. “I think Franklin likes you.”
She shuddered. “Lucky me.”
This made Bael laugh, and he patted her hand. “I like your ballsiness.”
Before them the stairs descended in a steep decline. Candelabras lined the stone wall downward, candles flickering from within. When they reached the bottom, they turned to the right into a stone corridor that reminded Eden of a medieval castle. The dungeons, in particular. There were closed painted doors on either side of them as they walked the hall.
Sounds of ecstasy and agony emanated from each room.
Her grip on Bael’s arm involuntarily tightened. Heat blossomed in her belly. Arousal quickly started to take root inside her, and she was embarrassed by it.
Which obviously Bael picked up on, because he said, “We are all primal animals. We want and need and crave. And here in this club you can get all that and more. Everything here is consensual. Nothing is forced.”
He stopped at a green painted door and opened it. He pulled her inside. The dark seemed to swallow her whole. When her eyes adjusted to the dim candlelight, she could make out a round platform in the middle of the room. On top a na**d woman was laid out, legs and arms spread, strapped to the table. There were several people, both men and women, crowded around the table. Then one spun the platform.
The woman went around and around, then stopped. Eden noticed a red arrow painted on the platform’s surface, and it pointed to a young woman with long blond hair and pointed ears. She stepped forward and pressed her mouth to the woman’s leg, on the thigh. Then she in turn spun the platform. It was like an erotic version of spin the bottle. And the woman was the bottle.
They watched for a few more minutes, as each person took a turn kissing, licking, or biting different areas of the na**d woman’s body. Every time she moaned and groaned, writhing in obvious pleasure on the platform. Then Bael took Eden’s hand and led her out of the room.
Out in the corridor, Eden ran a hand over the back of her neck. She was sweating and it wasn’t because of the heat in the room, as it wasn’t all that warm. It was what was going on around her—it had an obvious effect on her. It seemed since being in Threshold she’d been in a constant state of arousal.
Bael opened another door and ushered her in. There was no gentle candlelight in this room. Instead, several strobe lights flashed on and off. The heavy bass of music thumped through wall speakers. At first it was disorienting and Eden had to grab onto Bael so she didn’t run into something or someone.
The room seemed to be filled with people. Some na**d, most in varying stages of undress and all engaged in sex of some kind. There were couples and trios and higher numbers together. Looking at it all, taking it all in, was dizzying.
Bael guided her to the side, to a bed, where a woman was laid out and two men were servicing her. The woman was Lilith—Eden recognized her immediately. When Lilith saw Bael and then Eden, she pushed her playmates away, then grabbed Eden’s hand.
She pulled Eden down to the mattress. “Hello again.”
“Are you okay?” Eden asked her.
Lilith smiled, and it was lazy and giddy, as if she was drugged. “Hell, yes, I’m okay. Do I not look okay?”
Eden looked her over. She was not entirely na**d, but wore stockings and a garter. And that’s when she noticed the marks along the side of her neck, where Eden had seen a knife dig into her flesh.
She lifted a hand and drew a finger over the two round scars. “What are these?”
“My birthmarks.” Lilith grinned, and Eden saw the fangs in her mouth.
“I saw you die,” she said. “I held you until you died.”
Lilith grabbed her hand in hers. “I know. I’m sorry if you thought that I was truly dead. You didn’t get a chance to see my rebirth as Lilith Grae.”
“You’re a vampire?”
“Yes. Isn’t it wonderful?”
“And the man with the knife, the one that had you in the alley?”
She nodded. “Yes, he was my maker. But he’s truly dead now. Bael ended him.”
Eden looked over at Bael who had been sitting nearby, listening.
“You see, everything is fine, Eden. Lilith is happy. And the man who did this to her has been punished. He should never have turned her in your world.”
Eden just looked at him, trying to assimilate all that she’d seen and heard. She was trying to find a way to accept that the girl she’d watched die, the one she thought she’d failed, hadn’t truly died. She’d found new life as a creature of the night, a vampire. And the man Eden thought had gotten away with murder had in fact been punished, just as he should’ve been.
Bael slid in beside her on the bed. “You see, you can release your guilt. There is no reason to hang on to it. Let go, Eden. You can be free here. For as long as you like. Forever, if you wish it.”
His words were like silk across her skin—they caressed her and soothed her. He put an arm around her and drew her closer. He settled his mouth at her ear and whispered, “I can give you all that you desire. You just need to let go. You just need to give yourself to me. Entirely.”
She leaned into him. His words seduced her. She wanted to be free of all her guilt and worry and sadness. She didn’t want to have to face those who would look upon her with pity and sympathy because of her situation. No more therapy, no more obligatory calls from family members wondering how she was getting on. No more knowing looks from her old partner down at the station. She could leave it all behind and succumb to Bael. To what he was offering her.
She wanted to. She was tired of fighting to stay sober, to stay happy, to stay.
Bael stroked a hand down her neck to her shoulder and then ventured lower. He cupped her breast in his palm. “You are exquisite. I want you to belong to me.”
He leaned in and captured her mouth with his. He kissed her passionately, sweeping his tongue into her mouth, over her tongue. She responded in kind, then his fangs nipped at her and she pulled back.
She remembered how she’d felt in another man’s arms. She had felt all the things Bael was offering, and Mikhail had asked for nothing in return. Plus he’d made her feel safe and secure. Two things she hadn’t felt in a very long time. He also didn’t demand her submission—she’d given it to him willingly.
He didn’t quest for her soul as Bael did.
Eden shook her head. “I’m leaving. This is not what I want.” She went to stand, but Bael held her firm.
“You lie to yourself, Eden. I can smell your desire. You want me. You want this.”
“Let me go.”
“It’s too late for that.”
Opening his mouth, his fangs distended, he leaned toward her throat. She tried to push him away but he was too strong. She looked at Lilith to help her, but the woman was watching with eagerness and glee.
She smoothed a hand over Eden’s back. “It’s all right. It will only hurt for a little while. Then euphoria.”
Although Eden wanted to get away, her body betrayed her by reacting to Bael. To his nearness, to the heat radiating off his body, to his delectable scent that lingered on his skin. It smelled good enough to lick.
She hated that heat swelled between her legs. That her sex throbbed, seeking release. Her ni**les hardened as the vampire pressed against her. A little moan escaped her lips when he brushed his fangs across her skin.