The familiar neon sign, lighting the night in alternating red and blue, had always brought a smile to Anando’s lips. He liked On The Edge. He always had. He’d seen a lot of bars in his years, a lot of places for vampires and humans to meet and mingle, but On The Edge stood far above the rest. No doubt it was the result of the owner being so close to vampires himself.
Before he met Virginia, the club had been his favorite place to let go to the sound of pounding music. His favorite place to find new prey, too.
These days, he didn’t come as often as he used to, but the place was filled with memories of him and Virginia. All he needed to do was cross the street, pass the glass doors, and he was already hard.
Usually, Virginia didn’t need much more than that either before the sweet and heady scent of her lust started to rise, wrapping around her like the delicate petals of a barely-open flower until Anando couldn’t keep his hands and mouth off her any longer. This night, though, her light eyes remained clouded even after they’d stepped down the crisscrossing staircases to the dance floor on the lower level.
He’d thought that coming here would cheer her up after that phone call, but clearly he’d been wrong. Sliding his arms around her, he drew her close to him and slow-danced with her, even though the pounding beat was more suited to bouncing the way the rest of the patrons did. The crowd was always younger and more exuberant on Saturdays.
“We’re going to get trampled,” she said with a weak little laugh right into his ear.
Anando drew her closer still. He’d never let anything happen to her.
“The music will change soon enough,” he replied. “And you looked like you needed a hug.”
Her arms tightened around his neck, and she pressed her face to the crook of his shoulder. Her sigh was warm against his cool skin.
Damn. He shouldn’t have reminded her that she wasn’t feeling great. Or at least, not so soon. They’d have to talk about it, sooner or later, but first she needed to relax a little. Picking her up, he twirled her around, drawing a surprised giggle from her lips. He could barely hear it over the music, but it still wrapped around him, warm and soft.
For the next few minutes, they continued to rock to their own beat in the middle of the dance floor, sometimes jostled by over-enthusiastic dancers. At last, the DJ switched to slower songs, and their dancing matched the rest of the crowd’s.
Slipping a finger under Virginia’s chin, Anando tilted her face up. He looked into her eyes and gave her his softest smile, wishing he could take away her worries. She smiled back and leaned in closer, pressing her mouth to his.
As often as they kissed, he doubted he’d ever tire of how soft her lips were, how gentle her touch was at first, as tentative as when they had shared their very first kiss what seemed like an entire lifetime ago. He let her lead, knowing that this simple caress of lips on lips awakened the same fire in her as it did in him and that she wouldn’t be able to resist her own desire for long.
Indeed, after a beat or two, she pressed harder against his lips, her tongue sliding into his mouth as though she owned it—owned him. He threaded his fingers through her hair and angled her head to deepen the kiss a little more. She moaned into his mouth, a quiet vibration that spread through him as quickly as wildfire.
She wound her arms around his torso and pressed her breasts against his chest. Anando dropped both his hands to her ass and pulled it forward, trapping his cock between them. She moaned again when one of his hands sought the hem of her dress.
Her tongue stroked against his teeth until he extended his fangs the way she wanted. She pricked her tongue on the point of one, offering him the taste of her blood and stroking the flames of his desire even more.
Nothing mattered at that moment but her warmth against him, the intensity of their kiss, and how much Anando wanted her, needed her. The rest of the world did not exist as far as he was concerned.
Not until a hand tapped his shoulder while a woman’s voice said, very close and full of amusement, “You might want to cool it down before security decides you two are a fire hazard.”
Virginia pulled back as Anando opened his eyes. They both turned to Lisa, standing at their side, her eyes gleaming with mirth.
“Come on up,” she says. “Drinks are on me. There’s something I want to ask you.”
She winked before turning away and sashaying through the crowd, her hair bouncing on her shoulders. She didn’t look back to see if they were following.
Focusing on Virginia again, Anando caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers. Her skin seemed even paler than usual against his own coffee skin. She smiled a little absently.
“Do you want to talk to her?” he asked. “We don’t have to. We could just go home.”
He didn’t know what Lisa wanted to ask them, but his best guess was that it involved sex, and in the mood Virginia was in, it might not be the best time for a suggestion like that. They’d talked about joining Leo, Lisa, and Brett for another night of games, but it had been months, almost a year since the first time, and they had yet to do more than talk about it.
“A drink sounds good,” Virginia said nonetheless. “And it’d be rude if we didn’t go.” She took his hand and entwined their fingers together. “Lead the way?”
He leaned in to caress her mouth with his own, then opened a path through the dancers toward the staircase. Her fingers remained woven with his until they reached the first floor, and even then she only let go to allow him to draw a chair for her at Lisa’s table. He sat on Virginia’s right and took her hand again on the table. Across from him, Lisa offered a conspiratorial grin.
“I ordered for all of us, I hope you don’t mind. I want to be done before Brett sees us on those damn cameras and decides to come down.”
She was finishing when Leo approached the table, and Anando threw Virginia a look. She seemed as confused as he was. Why wouldn’t Lisa want Brett to join them?
Smiling, Leo said hello as he set a champagne flute in front of all three of them, then sat, a fourth one in hand.
“Champagne?” Virginia said. “What’s the occasion?”
Lisa peered over Anando’s shoulder—to the back of the room, he realized, where a private door led to the apartment upstairs. Was she really keeping an eye out for Brett?
“The occasion is Brett’s birthday,” she said. “In two weeks, on the sixth. We want to throw him a big party—”
“—but he’s already suspicious,” Leo continued her thought for her. “So we can’t organize it here.”
“And a restaurant or party hall feels a bit impersonal. So we were wondering if maybe you’d care to host the party for us. He’ll never suspect that.”
Lisa finished with a grin that made it all too clear how happy she was about that idea. She was looking at Anando, waiting for him to reply, but he tilted his head toward Virginia. “Ask the lady of the house. It’s up to her.”
Virginia’s fingers tightened over his. She looked thoughtful as her gaze drifted from the glass in front of her to Leo and finally Lisa.
“When you say ‘party,’” she said, “do you mean an actual party with guests or… the other kind of party?”
Even now, after all this time, all that had happened—after she’d been in the same bed as all three people sitting with her at that table—Virginia could still blush. It was rather adorable, and Anando couldn’t help leaning toward her and kissing her cheek. She flashed him an impish smile completely at odds with her blushing.
“We meant the regular kind of party,” Leo replied, flames lightening his eyes. “Twenty to thirty guests. We’d take care of the food and drinks, of course. But if you two are up for an after-party when the guests are gone…”
Virginia held Leo’s gaze until his voice trailed off, then she looked at Anando, her cheeks brighter still, but embarrassment wasn’t the only thing warming her.
“Like I told Lisa,” Anando said, trying to keep his tone neutral but unable to suppress a grin, “it’s up to you.”
She clucked her tongue. “That’s not how it works,” she reminded him. “You have a say in it, too.”
Anando shrugged. “You know I’m up for it.”
She snickered, as did Lisa.
“No pun intended,” he belatedly added.
It was nice to see a smile back on Virginia’s lips. It widened a little more when she asked Lisa, “Are we going for a specific theme or a plain old birthday party?”
The two of them figured out the details while Leo, emptying his glass in one long gulp, returned behind the bar. As Anando sipped his champagne, it occurred to him that Virginia hadn’t said whether she was agreeing to a simple party or an extended one. Somehow, he didn’t think any of them had the slightest doubt about it.
