Free Just One Touch by Mandy Rosko Page A

suggestion immediately. Grey in the hair, and a face
with a slight sag to it. He crinkled his nose in distaste.
“No.”
    “ You’re here to get laid, don’t forget.” And from the sound of
it, Ben wanted Cedric to hurry up with that so they could
go.
    “ Just not by someone old enough to be my father.”
    This wasn’t the only problem, really. Vamps that age usually
had wives or husbands lurking somewhere nearby, and along with the
rumor of their skills in bed, they were well known for not—scratch
that— never sharing
their spouses.
    “ Huh.” Ben looked at him. “So, beggars can be
choosers?”
    “ Shut up.” Cedric wished another waiter would come along so he
could have another drink. Would it look suspicious if he grabbed
another white glass instead of a blood glass?
    If the
vampires who owned this mansion knew a sun sprite was under their
roof, the violins would screech to a halt and all eyes would stare
as he was ordered off the property.
    That was
the better scenario.
    Luckily,
because of Ben’s teleporting trick, if any of the vamps here got a
whiff of what he was and tried to jump on his neck, he and Ben
would be out of the house and across the city before any of the
suckers could so much as reveal their fangs.
    While sun sprites could flash to and from most locations, they had to be in
direct sunlight for it to work. As it was obviously owl time now,
Cedric had to rely on Ben, who could teleport whenever he wanted.
Lucky bastard.
    The same
waiter from before must have seen the empty glass in his hand,
because he came over with another tray. A single bushy brow lifted
when Cedric picked the white glass again, but he said nothing,
simply took the empty flute and scurried off.
    “ Maybe you should ease off. People are starting to look at us,”
Ben muttered, ever watchful.
    Cedric
tilted his head back and let the liquid slip down his throat like
before, and then he struck the glass down on the marble side table.
“That’s the last one,” he promised. He didn’t want to be so drunk
that he was all limp-dicked later. If there would be a later with
any of the men in the giant ballroom.
    Jee-eeze, did he really have to do this? Well, he wanted to
do this. Finding out if vamps were as good as the stories said they
were would be a real treat, but did he really have to think of it
as being his last time? His parents wanted him to marry, tomorrow,
actually, but what were they going to do if he put his foot down
and said no?
    Probably
throw his ass out. He would be just as ruined as they would if he
refused to cooperate, and he would never again be welcome within
any sun sprite circles.
    But Ben
would never turn his back on him. Maybe—
    “ What about him?” Ben nodded again toward a grand marble
fireplace where the majority of the male crowd seemed to be,
vampires laughing with their fangs out and humans with fresh bite
marks at their necks.
    They
were part of the younger crowd. Or at least, the crowd that looked
younger—one never knew how old vampires really were—and while one
or two of them were pleasing to Cedric’s eyes, their loud,
obnoxious laughter was a turn-off.
    He
needed a lover who would please him enough to last a lifetime. He
didn’t want to end up in bed with someone who was more concerned
about their own pleasure.
    “ I don’t think that’s going to work.”
    “ Jesus, you’re picky,” Ben muttered.
    Cedric
glared. “And you damn well remember why.”
    Ben’s
cheeks had the decency to darken. “Sorry.”
    Fuck, if
any of the vamps smelled his rising blood they were done for.
“Don’t worry about it.” If Cedric said more, made a big show of
telling his friend no harm done, it would only take longer to get
that red off his face.
    Luckily,
it went down quickly as Ben cleared his throat and composed
himself. Hopefully, no one noticed.
    “ Y’know, if you can’t find anyone here, I could always arrange
for something else.”
    A crash
sounded on the marble floor, its nasty