Free Expiez: Redeem Your Blood Lust by Cd Hussey

outside.
    Words were unnecessary when he glanced at her. Her wine glass joined his on the table, and they both rushed down the stairs into Luxure .
    Darus was sitting at a back table talking to two police officers.
    "What's going on?" Armand asked Slade.
    "I guess Clare's ex was harassing her and Darus intervened and got clocked a good one. He's pressing charges against the guy. McCoy told him it was the easiest way to get the bastard in jail and away from Clare. I offered my ass kicking services, but they were declined."
    Julia remembered what Clare had said but couldn't believe it. Apparently, neither did Armand. "He's pressing charges…to protect Clare?"
    "So it seems."
    Armand looked utterly confused as he slipped into the back room.
    Julia followed. "What?" she asked. He just shook his head and headed for the stairs, climbing them slowly, like he was chewing something over. "What?" she repeated, a half step behind him. "Armand, please, tell me what you're thinking."
    "It's just…" He pushed open the door to their apartment. "…I've known Darus a long time. It's completely out of character for him to do something for someone else unless it directly benefits him. I don't see what the perks for him are."
    "He gets Clare?"
    "I think he was well on his way to achieving that goal—without going to the extra effort of contacting the police."
    She barely heard the last part; she was fighting the bile trying to climb out of her stomach.
    "I just wonder if there might be some truth to him wanting to turn over a new leaf."
    "Not you too!"
    "I'm not conceding to it. Just considering the possibility..."
    "No."
    "Not to even ponder—"
    "No. Everyone else is team Darus. Angel, Kate, even Slade. Someone has to be on my side: team anyone but Darus. Or Chris. We can call it team Clare."
    He laughed. "Okay." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, kissed her cheek, and guided her back to the couch. "I'm on whatever team you're on." Taking her with him as he sat, he released her to retrieve their wine and then slid his arm back around her.
    She settled her head against his chest, closing her eyes and enjoying the warmth of his touch and his amazing scent. She used to think it was the cologne he wore that made him smell so delicious—and that was partially it—but he came out of the shower smelling divine. Most of it was simply his body chemistry combined with his clean, healthy, heavily spiced diet. Add the Myrrh he liked to wear and he smelled like heaven.
    "So what do we do about Clare?" she asked.
    "The only thing we can. Make her see what a deviant Darus truly is."

 
     
     
     
    Chapter Seven
     
     
    Clare woke up the next morning feeling like she had ants in her pants—well, panties—and her skin was two sizes too small. She needed a change, something to drastically alter her world—even more than leaving Chris and moving to NOLA. A metamorphoses, so to speak, to celebrate ridding herself of Chris. Something to mark the occasion, to signify becoming a new person.
    Since she couldn't slip into a new skin suit, she'd have to settle for something modifiable, like her hair. A new tattoo might also satisfy the itch, but she was smart enough to think through her tattoos. She'd seen enough bad decisions permanently drawn on people's skin while working at Skintasm to know impulsive tattoos were rarely a good idea. A new piercing was also an option, but she couldn't think of a body part she wanted to pierce that didn't already have a hole.
    So hair it was. A cut wouldn't be enough; she needed to change the color. The blue was way too peppy. She wanted something dark to match her mood, something that would easily cover the old color and her roots. Straight black was too boring, but surely there was another dark color that would work.
    She knew she should go down to the police station and file a restraining order against Chris, but it was the last thing she wanted to do. Instead, the minute she was presentable enough to be seen in