OK, my muses are chatty... I know I'm spoiling you with posting so many parts so fast... just beware... I usually choke after a while so you can't expect me to continue at this speed all the way
Author notes: This is a multichapter kind of thing... and for the first time I'm trying out the first person view when writing.
Rated R for safety reasons...
Disclaimer: If you recognize it then I don't own it. A few of the characters are though, such as Cat, Mia, Maria and Tina. Any resemblance between them and any living, dead or fictional characters is purely coincidental!
Comments are still the only food my muses accept so please... send any comments you have, good or bad.
--------
Cat
"No matter what you may think Mr. Kostan, I am not that kind of girl" I said, my insides writhing with shame. Obviously he thought I was a kept woman, some ones mistress. Or worse, a whore. The hint of surprise in his eyes did not surprise me. This dress was so obviously leading men to think I was easy, a prostitute or something similar. The dress was definitely going to the dustbin the minute I got home.
"I am not the kind of girl who has sex in exchange for money" I continued trying to sound hard, doing my best to keep him from seeing how mortified I was.
"Now, if you excuse me I think it's time for me to leave" I finished and turned away from him and with the last shreds of my pride I started to make my way over to my friends. Before I had taken more than one step I felt his hand around my arm. The coldness of his strong fingers to my skin surprised me enough that I looked down at his hand. It looked almost white against my skin which was surprising considering my skin as the whitest of all the people I knew. Suddenly, he released me and I could swear I almost heard him say sorry. I looked up at him and met his eyes. They were still full of surprise but now, there was also a hint of anger in the depths of them. I wondered what he had to be angry about. He wasn't the one who had been insulted.
"I apologise" he said, his voice surprisingly blank. I continue to look at him for a little while before nodding.
"Don't worry about it. Thank you for a lovely evening" I said politely and then walked over to my friends. I felt his eyes following me but, he allowed me to leave. He had probably lost interest now that he knew I wasn't all that easy. It surprised me that I actually felt disappointed by that.
When I reached the girls I tapped Tina on her shoulder.
"I'm leaving, are you coming or do you want to stay?" I asked when they all turned toward me.
"Leaving? You can't leave now, the party has barely gotten started" Mia exclaimed. I gave them all a smile.
"It's over as far as I'm concerned. I've already had three men give me indecent proposals due to this dress so I'm leaving" I said, and started walking away from them. If they wanted to come with me they would and if they wanted to stay, well that was up to them. I was tired. Quickly I made my way outside. Standing outside the front door I suddenly realised that I had no way of going home.
"Miss? Miss?" a man came up to me from the darkness to my right. The way he just appeared freaked me out slightly but I tried to hide it.
"Yes?" I said looking at him questioningly.
"May I offer you a ride? Compliments of Mr Kostan" the man said and held out a hand, gesturing toward a limousine that just appeared in front of me. I hesitated. Maybe it was meant as an excuse? I nodded, accepting the ride. The man held up the door for me. Just before I got into the car I turned around and looked back at the house. A shadow in one of the windows caught my eyes but it was gone before I could take a closer look. Shrugging I got into the car and asked them to bring me home. What a surreal night it had been.
Josef
I noticed the sudden pain in her eyes as I asked the question. Maybe her keeper had let her go? That thought delighted me for some reason. Then her reply stunned me.
"No matter what you may think Mr. Kostan, I am not that kind of girl" the coldness in her voice as she said that stung. The words confused me though. What was she talking about? She wasn't the type to go exclusive?
"I am not the kind of girl who has sex in exchange for money" The harshness in her voice didn't surprise me anymore. Having sex for money? She thought I thought she was a prostitute? I looked intently at her. Despite the incredibly sexy dress she was wearing no one would ever mistake her for a prostitute. She had too much class for that. It showed in her movements, the way she held her head high despite the obvious shame she was feeling at the moment. Then it struck me. If she wasn't an exclusive then what was she? When I asked about her keeper her mind had gone to prostitution which leads me to believe she didn't know what I was talking about. She didn't know I, and many others in the room, are vampires. That meant she was uninformed. The agency had allowed not only an untouched girl to come to this part, they had actually allowed some one who was not in the know to come here. I felt the anger rise inside me. What Mick called paranoia made my insides turn as the possible outcomes of this ran through my head.
"Now, if you excuse me I think it's time for me to leave" As she turned, the anger and the need for damage control made me grab her arm. I saw her look down on my hand with surprise and I followed her glance. My hand was white. I let my tongue glide over my teeth and realised I had vamped out. Ashamed of my lack of self-control I quickly let go of her arm and fought back the vamp side of me.
"Sorry" I whispered when I noticed the slight marks after my fingers on her arm. Apparently I had grabbed her a little harder than I thought. It wouldn't bruise and she probably didn't see the marks but I could. I was surprised when she met my eyes. I could see how hurt she was at my question earlier and I couldn't help but apologize.
"I apologise" I stated simply, surprised at how blank my voice sounded. She held my gaze for what felt like an eternity before a nod acknowledged my apology and the look in her eye showed she accepted it.
"Don't worry about it. Thank you for a lovely evening" she said politely before she turned away from me again and walked over to join her friends. I couldn't help but follow her with my eyes as she walked. My eyes lowered and I was enticed by the sway of her hips with her steps.
The scent of Mick coming closer finally made me pull my act together. There was business to attend to. I quickly turned, gestured to Mick to follow me, and made my way across the room. Just before we left it I turned to one of my security guys.
"The girl who is leaving just now" I said and made a faint gesture toward Caitlyn Jones. The man nodded to show he knew who I meant.
"Make sure she gets home safely" I said, waited for the man to say his "Yes, sir" and leave before I moved away from the room.
"Josef, slow down man. What happened back there?" I could hear Mick asking behind my back as I made my way to my office. It had a window facing the door so I could see her leave.
"She's not a freshie" I stated as I reached the window. I sensed Mick's surprise but my focus was on the girl standing on my front step. She looked lost.
"Not a freshie? What do you mean? They allowed some one who hasn't been initiated to come to a party with most of the major vamps in LA?" Mick's voice told of the same surprise and anger I felt.
"Exactly. They have to be dealt with" I said as I continued to watch her. My security guy was with her now and a limo was pulling up in front of her. Suddenly she turned around. She looked amazing standing there with one hand on the door. Her eyes found the window of my office and I quickly moved away from it so she wouldn't see me.
"What about the girl? Did she notice anything?" I heard Mick say from behind me and finally I turned around to face him. I could see the concern in his eyes. He had obviously noticed my strange infatuation with this girl and now he was concerned that she would cause a problem and we would have to take precautions in a way I would not like.
"No. I mentioned keepers to her, thinking she was an exclusive, and she was insulted. Thought I was asking who her "daddy" was" I said, relieved that it meant she hadn't any idea about vampires and freshies. It made me sad that she had been insulted though. Even more so by the fact that I had been the one insulting her. Sure, I liked to thread the borders of what was polite behaviour at times. But, to my knowledge I had never really been openly insulting. Unless the situation called for it of course.
"Really? Well, that was good at least. Now, how do you want to handle the agency?" Mick said and I turned my focus to him. Somewhere in the back of my mind though, I was planning how to apologize to that enticing girl.
To be continued
