Free Luscious Craving by Cameron Dean

right leg was plain denim, but the left leg had been slit up the side. Black lace had been sewn in to reveal a hint of leg from ankle to hip. I was wearing a lacy black camisole and a cashmere shrug that tied over my breasts. My hair was up and my silver stakes at the ready, though I was hoping I wouldn’t need them tonight.
    “So where to?” I asked.
    Before Bibi could answer, a shadow moved behind her, and I heard a deep voice ask, “Are you ready to go?”
    Bibi gave me an apologetic smile then turned to a guy dressed in jeans, black T-shirt, and black jacket. He had that dark, steamy, Mediterranean look that makes some women melt. I’m not one of them.
    “I don’t know if you two have ever run in to each other,” Bibi went on brightly. “Candace, this is Theo. Theo, my friend, Candace. Theo’s dancing in the New Year’s Eve show. Candace is…”
    “All over the place,” I said. “I work the floor.”
    “Nice to meet you,” Theo said, eyeing me with a broadening smile. “Sorry I didn’t recognize you without the harem outfit.”
    “That’s all right,” I said pleasantly. “I didn’t recognize you at all.”
    “Theo’s been telling me about a new club off the Strip he went to last week. He’s offered to take us there.”
    Theo lifted Bibi’s hand and kissed it with a suave European flair. “I can take you wherever you want to go.”
    “Come on, Candace. Theo says this place is where the action is
really
happening. It’s called Taste.”
    “Taste?” I repeated even as I thought,
Uh-oh
.
    Uh-oh
turned out to be right on the money. Taste was dimly lit, filled to the brim with high fashion and loud music. People dancing and drinking and reveling in the thrill of hard bodies in close contact.
    It was also filled with vampires.
    The second the bouncer let us through the velvet rope, I felt my body temperature plummeting toward absolute zero. The trouble was, there were so many vamps I couldn’t figure out who might pose a true danger and who might not. My vampire-detection system had shot from zero to a hundred in less than sixty seconds. One thing was for certain, I did
not
want to be here, and I didn’t want Bibi here, either.
    Bibi and Theo had already hit the bar. Each was holding a cocktail. I grabbed Bibi by the elbow. “Wrong place, wrong time,” I said. “Let’s go get some Mexican food. I’m craving quesadillas now.”
    She yanked away. “What is the matter with you tonight?” She pouted. “I thought you were on my side. That you were going to help me have fun.” She downed this drink as rapidly as she had her first, then turned to Theo. “I’ll bet Theo will help me, won’t you?” she asked. “You’ll help me have fun.”
    By way of answer, he set his drink down on the bar and pulled Bibi out onto the packed dance floor.
    Shit, shit, shit
, I thought. Now all I could do was wait . I was not about to leave Bibi at a place like Taste all on her own. The worst part was , I felt partly to blame. The simple truth was that I had let myself step away from the vampire scene in the last six months since Ash had walked out. Wounded by our most recent encounter, not to mention my run-in with ultra-strong vampire Temptation McCoy, I had been more than willing to give the vampires of Vegas a wide berth. If I had kept more current, I might have known the sort of place Taste was ahead of time.
    At least I could check it out now. The place really was spectacular. The walls were suede, a dove gray color that shimmered as clever lighting effects projected colors on the surface. The dance floor was small and intimate, but in reality the club was huge, with a honeycomb of lounges and private spaces. With Bibi and Theo occupied for the moment, I decided to explore, edging my way around the dance floor. The lounges that ringed it had deep banquettes with sides high enough to give the patrons enough privacy to do whatever they had in mind.
    I saw a man approach. He was dressed in expensive but