Blood of the Son (Book #1 in the Skye Morrison Vampire Series) (Skye Morrison Series) (13 page)

“Wow, this is really good,” I said, shouting over the music.

“Aye!” he said, raising his glass, looking happy and relaxed.  “This is my favorite champagne.  I have cases of it flown in from France once a year.”

“I can see why!” I yelled, finishing off the rest of the sweet liquid.

Archer reached over and poured me another glass.  “Drink up, Skye.  We have a dance floor to test out.”

I laughed and shook my head.  “No, no…we have work to do somewhere, don’t we?”

“Yes we do,” he agreed with a smile.  “Very critical and important work…down there on the dance floor.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. He twisted my arm.  After all, he was the boss and I was getting paid to do what he said. “Alright, you win!” I said, smiling, feeling happy for the first time since Jameson left on his errand.  I’d been dying to dance since the music started.

Archer held up his glass in a silent toast.  I gave him a playful wink and clinked glasses with him.  We both downed our drinks quickly.  He got up, walked over in front of me, and held out his hand. I looked up into his beautiful blue eyes and smiled as I took it.  He put his arm around my waist and led me down the stairs and onto the dance floor. 

He walked around me, came up behind me, and whispered into my ear.   “I meant it when I said that it should be a crime to cover up those shoulders.” He took a hold of the back of my jacket, helped me out of it, and quickly walked over to the bar to lay it on my vacated stool. 

The music tempo picked up as X-RX came on.  Archer started playfully dancing circles around me and I couldn’t control myself.  It was so cute and I started laughing and dancing with him. Our arms were flying, my hips were rocking, our legs kicking…I was having an absolute a blast.  Archer had some really great tunes in his catalogue.  Gunnar came over a few songs later and brought us what I thought was a Five Star General.  Archer and I happily stopped for a second to cheers each other and down the stout drink. 

My new boss was a hoot.  He was having as much fun as I was and I thought it was great to be able to see this side of him.  He always appeared so put together and on top of everything.  He must feel great, letting loose and forgetting his worries and responsibilities for a few hours. For a guy who was about 32, he sure did have the energy of a 23 year old.  He was having no problems keeping up with me.  And, boy, did he have some moves!  I smiled up at him and pulled him closer to me. 

“I like seeing you have fun,” I shouted over the music.  “You’re always so professional every time I’m around you.  It’s nice to see you let loose for a change.”

He smiled down at me and brushed the hair out of my face.  “It’s nice to be able to actually let loose and have fun,” he said chuckling. He looked at me seriously and stopped dancing for a second. 

“I like watching you dance, Skye.  Your face lights up and it’s like you feel completely free.  There’s something about you…I…I can’t really explain it…but I knew I had to see you again after I met you at Afterburner’s that day.”

I stopped dancing and looked deep into his eyes. 
Is he serious?  No, I must have misunderstood him. 

“You are so beautiful, Skye Morrison,” he said, cupping my chin with his strong, cool hand. 

I was absolutely speechless.  The most beautiful man I had ever seen…IN MY ENTIRE LIFE, just said I was beautiful.  I blushed when the reality hit me, and boy, did it hit me hard. 

I was so confused.  I had a jumbled mass of feelings for both brothers.  I chalked most of it up to my wonky hormones as of late, but some were genuine.  I absolutely adored this Archer, the fun, carefree Archer.  And I absolutely adored Jameson, the sweet, uncomplicated, sexy, Jameson.

Gunnar appeared again and brought us another drink.  Somehow that man knew to appear when I needed him most.  I laughed out loud as I took the drink from him.  Archer laughed, too.  It was like he understood what I was thinking.  I smiled up at him and clinked my glass with his.  We both downed our drinks quickly and handed the glasses back to Gunnar. I knew I’d be thoroughly buzzed after this drink and laughed again at the thought.  I didn’t care.  I was having the best time I had had in months. 

Archer pulled me up against his body as the current song ended.  The next song’s tempo was fast and hard hitting and this close up dancing wasn’t going to work for it.  I reached up, ran my hands through his hair and pulled his head down so I could talk in his ear. 

“This isn’t going to work for Noisuf-X, mister,” I said, ruffling his hair and turning his face to meet my eyes.  “You’ll have to pray that that little machine of yours plays something slow soon, if that‘s what your wanting.”  I cocked my eyebrow playfully.  “Because until then, you’re going to have to rock out with me, babe.” 

I pulled away from him and started dancing as the song was meant to be danced to.  He laughed and followed my lead.  He must have been hot because I saw him quickly take off his shirt and throw it over his shoulder, onto the dance floor behind him. 

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!
I silently swore.  I almost came to a complete standstill for a moment at the sight of his muscular, lean body.  He had a perfect, washboard stomach and defined pecks.  His low rise jeans were well past his hip bones and I had to swallow hard.  This was the second time that I had seen him shirtless and I still wasn’t prepared for it.  He was absolutely gorgeous and I was having trouble thinking. 

I think he noticed because he laughed, grabbed me, and twirled me around.  He was singing along to the song and I couldn’t help but smile.  This straight laced business type was an underground Goth/Industrialist, and a beautiful one at that.  It was so hot!  We continued dancing as my buzz grew to full on inebriation. 

I was a little sweaty from all the dancing and my long hair was starting to stick to me.  I grabbed one of the black rubber bracelets from around my wrist and made a makeshift rubber band to put my hair up with.  I quickly threw it up into a pony tail as the song started to end and morph into a slow, sexy beat.

I looked over at Archer and smiled.  It was one of my favorite songs, Nine Inch Nail’s Closer.  He gave me a wicked grin and slowly prowled up to me.  I laughed and bit my bottom lip in anticipation. 

He walked around behind me and grabbed my hips, pulling me up against his tight stomach.  I started slowly moving my body to the music.  The song had a funky, seductive beat, and I moved my hips, keeping time with it.  Archer kept up with me as the beats hit harder. 

I reached my left arm up behind me and grabbed the back of his cool, bare neck, pulling his head closer to mine.  He moved one hand from my hips and wrapped it around my abdomen, pulling me tighter against him as his cool breath fell on my neck.  I shivered as we grinded together. 

Archer slowly nuzzled my neck and I drew a sharp breath inward.  The feel of his short stubble sliding softly down the side of my neck sent goose bumps all over my body.  My ample chest rose and fell as I started to breathe harder in excitement.  I grinded into him and found that he was just as excited as I was. 

I sighed as he softly, slowly kissed the hollow of my neck, tentatively at first but growing more bold when I didn’t pull away.  I closed my eyes as I leaned back into him and tightened my hold on his neck.  He slid his other arm around my waist and started gently caressing my lower abdomen as his other hand slid up the laces of my dress toward my breasts. 

His kisses on my neck grew needier as his hand grazed my bosom.  I stopped dancing, took a step forward, and turned around to face him.  His eyes were so bright, an intense color of light blue, and he was breathing just as hard as I was.  He reached a hand out to me, but I just stared at it. 

Sanity was at war with my inebriation.  This was my new boss I was dancing with, and we were knee deep in dangerous territory.  I was feeling things for him that I probably shouldn’t and my hormones were raging out of control. 
Am I really going to go there with him? 
I mean, yes, he was beyond gorgeous.  He was sexy and fun and I loved the night we were having together. 

But, what about Jameson?
  It’s not like we were officially dating, but we did have a date planned.  And we DID have that steamy moment in the parking lot of Drop Kick’s.  I really liked Jameson. 
I am so confused. 
Part of me wanted to stop, but the other part, the more dominant and hormone driven one, told me to stop questioning a good thing and go for it.
  Who passes up intimate moments with an awesome, gorgeous, completely sexy, SHIRTLESS guy? 
I bit down on the corner of my bottom lip and slowly surveyed his body from top to bottom and back.
  God, he’s so freakin’ sexy.

Archer stepped forward and took my hand, placing it around his waist.  I looked up into his eyes and met a serious face.  He raised his arm and placed his hand around the back of my neck, holding it.  His eyes roamed my face, almost like he was searching for something.  He moved his hand to the side of my neck and used his thumb to gently stroke my cheek.  It was so soft.  I sighed, closed my eyes, and turned my head into his touch. 
Being with him feels so calming sometimes
.  I opened my eyes and looked deeply into his.

“Skye,” he whispered softly.

To hell with mixed feelings.
  I knew how I was feeling at this moment and didn’t want to wait any longer.  I wrapped my other arm around his waist and he drew me up against his hard body. My lips parted as he lowered his face to mine, softly kissing me.  A small, involuntary sound escaped me, and, as if driven by it, he deepened our kiss, our tongues meeting each other’s in a seductive dance. 

My hands gripped him tighter as I captured his bottom lip between my teeth and gently sucked on it.  He let out a low growl, grabbed my head with both hands, and kissed me passionately. I had never in my life been kissed like this before.  It was as if he was making love to my very essence.  It made my knees weak for a second, but I recovered, more turned on than ever. 

I ran my hands up his strong, naked back and raked my long nails down the length of it.  He broke from our kiss and threw his head back as my nails finished their course.  When he looked back down at me, I knew exactly what he was thinking.  He looked at me with such wanton desire and need.  It made my heart skip a beat.  I craned my neck up and slowly ran my tongue up the side of his neck, causing him to grunt.  I gently bit and kissed his neck while he caressed his hands down my back and gripped my ass. 

He grabbed my pony tail with one hand and pulled my head back so he could look into my eyes.  “I want you,” he growled.

“I know,” I said, playfully licking his bottom lip. 

He pulled me to him again and kissed me hungrily, desperately.  I moaned and met his need with my own.

Suddenly, I felt a slight stinging sensation on my bottom lip and I tasted something warm and salty on Archer’s tongue.  I pulled away and saw blood on his lip.  I put my hand up to mine and when I pulled it away, I saw blood too.  I looked up at him to ask him what happened, when I noticed that he was breathing hard, staring fixatedly at my mouth, and licking the blood off his lip. 

He drew his bottom lip into his mouth and I noticed that he had fangs.  I took a step backward, confused. 
When did he get fangs?  Has he had them the whole time
?  I tried to think back.  I wouldn’t have figured that he was into the Goth scene that much to have fake fang veneers installed on his lateral incisors.  He didn’t seem like the type. 

“When did you get fangs?” I asked, taking a step closer to inspect them.

He seemed to break out of his daze, as his eyes slowly slid up my face to meet mine.  He seemed startled.  “I’m so sorry, Skye,” he said as his fangs retracted right before my eyes, and he took a step back.

“Whoa…how did you do that?” I asked, shocked.

“Do what?” he asked, distracted, turning away from me and walking toward the bar.

What the hell?  Where is he going? 
I followed after him.  He walked around the bar and stood facing the bottles that were lined up against the wall.  I placed my jacket on the back of my barstool and sat down, facing him.

“Archer…why did you walk away from me?  What’s wrong?” I asked, confused and wanting to understand. 

He poured himself a shot and quickly downed it, slamming the glass down on the counter.  He faced the wall, and leaned against the counter; both hands splayed out, and hung his head.

“Archer, damn it, talk to me.  What the hell is going on?  What’s wrong with you?” I asked, getting upset. 
Is he mad about accidentally cutting me? 
Shit happens in the heat of the moment, I’m going to hold that against him. 
Hell, what I really want to know is how his fang veneers suddenly retracted.
  I had never seen anything like it.

“Do you really want to know?” he asked, turning around suddenly and coming to stand in front of me.  He looked angry.  The music died down and came to an end.  I turned toward the DJ booth and saw Gunnar quietly closing the laptop. 

I turned back toward Archer.  “Yes, I want to know,” I said softly, reaching out to him.  “What’s wrong, Archer?  Why are you angry with me?”

He laughed sourly and ran his fingers roughly through his hair, frustrated.  He looked at me again and his eyes came to rest on my mouth.  He groaned, roughly grabbed a cocktail napkin off the bar, and thrust it at me.  “Here. I need you to wipe the blood from your mouth, Skye,” he said curtly.  “Now.”