La Luxure: Discover Your Blood Lust (26 page)

He kissed her forehead. "Of course. Just let
me get dressed."

"Dressed? What for?"

"I'm walking you back to the hotel." He said
it like there was no other possible option.

"Oh, you don't have to do that."

"I'm not going to just kick you out the front
door."

She put her hand on his arm. "Armand, really,
it isn't necessary. It's the middle of the day. I've been walking
around by myself for the last week. Besides, I didn't think you and
the sun got along."

"We're not best friends, but it won't kill
me."

That was good to know. "Maybe not, but
there's no need to go through all the effort. I'll be fine. I'm
going to get some coffee, take in some scenes...You can go back to
bed. That way you're well rested and ready for me later."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Hmmph. Well, I'm at least going to walk you
to the street."

Rising on her tiptoes, she kissed his cheek
as she took the stack of clothes from him. "Good. Though you might
need a robe."

He shrugged. "I doubt my neighbors would be
shocked if I walked out naked."

"If you don't put something on," Julia said,
sliding her free hand over his chest. "I may never get out of
here."

"Remind me again why I'm getting dressed
then?"

"Because I'm begging," Julia replied, giving
him her best puppy dog eyes.

He sighed. "Go. Put some clothes on before
I'm forced to throw you on the floor and ravish you."

She laughed and skittered from the room,
hurriedly dressing in the bathroom. She didn't want to leave, but
she knew Clare was freaking out by now. Her sister might not send a
search party, but she wouldn't hesitate to call the police. One
thing Armand did not need was the police poking around his business
simply because Clare had filed a missing person's report.

He was waiting in the living room when she
came out, wearing a pair of dark washed jeans, gray t-shirt, and
looking absolutely gorgeous. It was nice to see him in something
casual, and not just the vampire's wardrobe.

Instead of taking her out the front door and
down through
Luxure
, he led her to a back door that opened
onto a narrow balcony overlooking a magnificent brick courtyard
with a large, tiered fountain in the center.

"Wow, this is beautiful," she said.

"Thanks. It's coming along. I haven't quite
gotten it where I'd like. Sleeping during the day can make
conducting business difficult."

"I imagine."

Taking her hand, he led her down the stairs
and into the courtyard, wincing at the blazing sun blaring down at
them from a cloudless, blue sky. Watching him walk with his head
turned away from the sun, Julia couldn't fathom him walking her all
the way back to her hotel. Just the short jaunt through the
courtyard looked tortuous.

Stopping at a narrow metal gate imbedding in
a thick, brick wall, he turned to her. "Are you sure you don't want
me to walk you back?"

"I'd love to spend every last minute with
you, but not only do you look like you're going to melt, I need to
take care of some pretty mundane tasks."

Pulling her into his arms, his face grew
serious as he caught her gaze. "I had the most amazing evening with
you, Julia."

"Me too."

"I have to take care of a few things at the
bar tonight, but after that, I'm yours. Come by early. I have a
bottle of Pinot held for you."

Time wouldn't pass fast enough. "I can't
wait." He moved in for a final, searing kiss that made her knees
weak and her body tremble. When he finally pulled back, he did so
reluctantly.

With brows that knitted together, he started
to say something and stopped. His jaw worked, he swallowed then
cleared his throat.

Unlocking the gate, he held it open for her.
"This is Royal," he said, indicating the street before them. "Take
a left. You'll pass behind the cathedral. Take a right when you get
to Conti. Your hotel will be on the right."

"Thanks." She moved out onto the walk,
confused by the sense of foreboding in their parting. She wasn't
sure why the simple act of returning to her hotel room for a few
hours was summoning the darkest thunderclouds. Judging by the
troubled look on Armand's face, she could tell he felt it too.

It was silly. She was just going to run a few
errands. She'd be back in two, three hours tops. There was no
reason to feel like the steps leading her away from Armand were her
last.

"See ya," she managed lightly, even as her
feet felt like they were encased in concrete.

Armand offered a small wave and even smaller
smile, but his expression was pained. Julia forced herself to look
away and her feet to keep moving, even though her instincts told
her to turn around and go back.

Pushing aside her misgivings, Julia focused
instead on getting back to the hotel as quickly as possible. The
sooner she finished her business, the sooner she could get back to
Armand. A few more hours and she'd be back in his arms.

The streets were littered with debris: tree
limbs, shingles, broken glass, and splintered pieces of wood. The
debris, coupled with people cleaning up debris, slowed her down
considerably. Weaving around litter, stopped cars, and a gaggle of
tourist looky-loos, she felt like she was caught in traffic, late
for an interview, and almost out of gas. It was all she could do
not to lose it in a case of foot rage.

Pausing at the rear garden of the St. Louis
Cathedral, Julia forced herself to calm down under the beckoning
Jesus statue that watched carefully over the pedestrians on Royal
St. The emotional afterglow from last 12 hours was too good to ruin
with bad energy.

A gypsy string band was playing on the
corner, the soulful ache of a violin carrying on the still
afternoon air. She listened to them for a while, forcing herself to
be calm and enjoy the moment. After scratching the head of a
lounging dog, and dropping some money in their tip jar, she
continued on.

Luckily, the coffee shop near her hotel was
open, and Julia popped in for the largest size they offered before
quickly finishing up the last 1000ft to her hotel.

Her hotel room looked like the tropical storm
had made a pass through it. There were clothes and shoes scattered
about. She'd like to imagine that she was the victim of some
horrible hotel robbery, but she knew better. Julia wasn't a slob,
but she wasn't exactly the neatest person in the world. From
drinking too much at the parade, to the chaos that had accompanied
the storm, Julia's room looked like the bedroom of a 13-year-old.
Seeing her sloppiness so blatantly displayed after coming from
Armand's crisp, clean apartment, made her ashamed.

Her phone wasn't hard to find, it was sitting
lifeless on the nightstand where she'd left it. Finding the charger
proved a little more difficult. After plugging it in, she powered
it up. Five messages, all from Clare.

"Hey sis, sorry I missed your call. You
sounded a little off in your message. Hope things are going fab and
you're just hung-over. Call me!"

"Hey Jules. I know it's late, just wonderin'
how the parade went. Since you're not answering, I hope it means
your knockin' boots with that guy. Dave, right? I'm dyin' up here!
I need some details!

"Okay, now I'm getting worried. I guess
there's a storm headed your way. Call me. Let me know you're
okay."

"Either your phone is dead or you are. Call
me ASAP."

"Okay, now I'm freaking out. The news says
power's been restored down there and phone service is back on, but
I still haven't heard from you. If you don't call me soon, I'm
flying down there and beating your ass!"

It wasn't as bad as Julia expected. She
dialed Clare's number and braced for the worst. Surprisingly, she
got the voicemail.

"It's Julia. Sorry I haven't called. It's
been crazy here. Crazy, amazing, awesome..." Julia trailed off as
memories from the night before drifted through her thoughts. "I'm
fine, though. Everything's fine, great actually. Call me back if
you get the chance, but don't wait too long or I probably won't
answer."

Julia set the phone down and surveyed the
damage in her hotel room. Packing was going to be a chore, but
before she could put a single sock in her suitcase, she needed a
shower. Taking her phone with her in case Clare called, Julia
stripped out of her clothes and headed for the bathroom.

She couldn't believe how perfect things had
turned out. Suddenly all the ill-fitting pieces of her life felt
like they'd been custom tailored. Here, in this city, with Armand,
her life felt right. She felt right. She'd be happy to never leave
New Orleans.

There were still a lot of unanswered
questions. What type of vampire was Armand? How often did he need
to feed? Could only humans feed him, or were vampires able to feed
off their own kind? How long would he live? Was he born that way,
or was he
changed
? Since he'd bitten her, would she be
changed
too, or had the cream prevented it? If she had been
changed,
how long would the process take? Would she need to
switch jobs?

When they were alone later that night, she'd
find the right moment to ask. Armand was easy to talk to, and thus
far, had shared information freely with her. There was no reason to
think these questions would be any different.

Julia was able to take a shower, dress, put a
little makeup on, and pack the majority of her things before the
phone rang.

"Hi Clare," Julia answered brightly.

"Holy shit, I am so pissed at you. I have
been freaking out. Why haven't you called me?"

"Well, things have been a little chaotic
here."

"I would've bought that. This morning. You
couldn't call me when the power came back on?"

"I didn't have my phone with me."

"Why the fuck...oh." Clare's tone suddenly
did a 180. "So you went for it, huh? Dave, right?"

"Not exactly."

"Somebody else?"

Julia answered with silence. She didn't know
what else to add. Clare was her best friend, and she normally
shared everything with her. But it felt like sharing this would be
tainting it.

"Holy. Fucking. Shit. Julia, you are the
bomb! You have to tell me more."

"Um, I don't know where to start." Or if she
even should start. For the first time, Julia wasn't sure she wanted
Clare to know her business, and she didn't feel comfortable talking
about Armand's.

"Well, where did you meet him?"

"It's such a crazy story," Julia began,
trying to keep her tone light. "I happened to stumble into this
underground, Goth-y bar, and the owner and I sort of hit it off."
There, that was ambiguous enough.

"Underground Goth bar...In the Quarter?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Oh my God! Was it
La Luxure
?"

How the hell did Clare -? "Yeah..."

"I can't believe you found it."

"I can't believe you've heard of it."

Clare laughed. "That place is notorious in
certain circles. I'm really surprised you went in. I mean, I love
you sis, but I would have bet a million dollars that you'd never
step foot in
Luxure
, let alone hook up with a guy you met
there." Clare laughed again. "You have to tell me more. What's his
name?"

Julia wasn't sure if she should be offended
that her own sister thought of her as some boring, unadventurous
soul. Okay, she might have been before New Orleans, but that was
going to,
no
, that had changed.

"Armand."

"Armand Laroque? No way!"

A rock had settled in Julia's stomach, and
she wasn't sure she liked the direction the conversation was going.
There was no reason for Clare to know
Luxure
or Armand
unless things weren't as Julia assumed. "Um...Yeah, that's his
name."

"Oh. My. God. I can't believe it. He is so
unbelievably hot. I met him at this vampire convention last year.
That's how I heard about
La Luxure
. Jesus. That man is
smokin'!"

The rock was having babies. Armand? At a
vampire convention? It couldn't be. Real vampires didn't go to
conventions. "I doubt it's the same guy."

"If it's the owner of the bar I'm thinking
of, it is. Tall, brown hair, hazel eyes - I think - great
tats..."

One of those rocks was attempting to escape
and caught in Julia's throat. At the same time, her stomach
tightened around her lungs and she could barely breathe.

"It can't be him," she insisted. It wasn't
possible. Clare must have him confused with someone else.

"You have your laptop, right?" Clare was
saying. "Bring it out. I think there are some pics of him on the
web."

Julia was scrambling to pull out her laptop
and turn it on as Clare rambled on about the convention and the
crazy things she saw there, and how her ex really wanted her to
drink his blood but she wasn't going for it.

"Okay! I got it." Julia interjected the
moment Google popped up.

"Alright, go to www.bloodthreads.com."

Julia typed in the letters even though her
fingers were trembling so badly she was barely able to hit the
keys. A site for vampire clothes popped up. "I'm in."

"Okay, click on men's clothing." Julia could
hear Clare's fingers clicking on the keyboard through the phone.
"And then click on jackets/coats. The third one down. There, is
that him?"

Julia scrolled until she hit the third jacket
modeled. There was Armand, staring back at her with his intense
hazel eyes, wearing a black velvet frock style coat buttoned all
the way up to the short collar.

"That's him." Her voice sounded weak and
pathetic as it squeaked from her mouth.

"Oh, you have to see my favorite," Clare
said. "Check out shirts. It should be the first one that pops
up."

She didn't want to click on the tab. She knew
whatever she would see would not make her happy. Yet, Julia could
not seem to control the mouse, and with one depression of her index
finger, the page loaded in record time. Julia suddenly had the urge
to throw up.