He hissed slightly on hearing Max's name. "You sound surprised that I am."

I hadn't sounded surprised at all. My tone had been completely flat. I realised then that he was trying to get an argument out of me. Oh he wanted to get things off his chest alright, but he wanted to argue while he did it.

"Antonio thinks highly of you, so why would I be surprised?"

"Antonio thinks highly of you, but I was surprised tonight."

"Like you said, the squad was impressive."

Another long, heavy breath. "Look at me." It was said softly.

So I looked at him and, as I'd earlier expected might happen, my brain clapped out for a second. It had felt like so long since we'd actually properly made eye contact. He was doing his shameless staring thing again. I didn't look away this time, but I couldn't help that my pulse was racing madly.

"Antonio must have told you that he wants you to help me lead the squad when The Hollow is attacked."

I nodded. "He did."

"But you never brought it up? I thought you'd have been dying to throw it into conversation and tease me about it."

"Then you don't know me very well." I had taken it as Antonio thinking I was good at what I did, not that he thought that Jared was c.r.a.p.

"So tell me why you didn't bring it up."

"We weren't exactly having conversations that anything could have been brought up in. And, besides, I had a pretty good idea of how that conversation would go, especially since Antonio had admitted that you weren't happy about it."

"I don't think I need you as co-leader."

"Ooh, now that's a shocker right there," I said sarcastically. "Antonio ordered it, it's out of my control. You can confront me or sulk or whatever else but none of it will change that. Talk to Antonio." I looked away from him again.

"Why is it you can't seem to look at me for long without squirming or turning away?" It was said tauntingly. "Surely you're not feeling self-conscious." His tone dared me to object.

My peripheral vision alerted me to the fact that he had taken a slow step toward me, leaving only one step between us. I looked at him and watched as his eyes drifted to my lips a few times. Yes I'll admit my libido thought this was great and I was tempted to give his lips a look or two. Or a kiss or two. I was also tempted to put more s.p.a.ce between us. I did neither. "Trying to aggravate Max, are you?" No doubt the bloke was glaring at us.

"I don't give a s.h.i.t about Max." He said it in a way that implied that there was something else he gave a s.h.i.t about.

"So then you just want to make me feel uncomfortable, you want to aggravate me. Come as close as you want, it won't work." He did come closer, which I hadn't actually expected him to do. My body was now pining for him, aching even more because he was close enough to touch and I was doing nothing about it.

He looked pleased with himself so I gathered he'd picked up on it, maybe by the fact that I'd stiffened a little and clenched my fists. "So, you were saying it won't work..."

I turned so that I was facing him. Then I covered a little of the s.p.a.ce left between us. Oh he was taken aback. My tone and posture and expression were all confrontational. "I can't work out what I did that's p.i.s.sed you off this much. You certainly want to get me just as riled as you and you're wasting no time at all in doing it. Just tell me, Jared." I placed my face even closer to his. "Be a big boy and tell me what it is that's really making you be a p.r.i.c.k."

His irises began to glow red. But he didn't look angry. "Don't push me, Sam, or I swear to G.o.d I'll kiss you right here, right now with everyone round to watch and we both know you won't stop me."

Why did disputing get this bloke h.o.r.n.y? "I won't stop you?" I probably wouldn't, actually. I doubted I'd be able to. As soon as his lips touched mine the same thing always happened; fire through the veins.

"No." His eyes dropped to my lips again. "And I seriously doubt that your boyfriend will like it. Does he know we've kissed before? Twice?"

"What's up, Jared? Worried one of your recruits might just get to s.h.a.g me while you can't? That's a worryingly big ego you have there." I demolished the remainder of my NST, plonked the empty bottle on the bar and went to walk away. His hand seized my wrist. His grip was possessive.

"I'm not finished."

"Take your hand off me or I'll snap it off."

He snorted. "I'm not hurting you, you probably like it." I did. "I want you to stop leading my brother on."

Alright that was the last thing I had expected to hear, hence why my response was, "Say again?"

"Evan's not like me." Too right he wasn't, that was why me and Evan got along so well. "When he likes a woman he wants the whole thing, and seen as you're not interested in a relationship with anyone all you're doing is leading him on."

"You think Evan and me are interested in each other?"

His jaw went tight. "Don't be cute with me, Sam. It's obvious with the amount of time you spend with him."

"You should try it some time."

"Meaning what exactly?"

"Meaning that he's your brother, you're twin, and you're barely a part of his life. I know more about what's going in his life than you do."

"I don't need advice about my brother from you, alright. Now stop trying to change the subject. I won't watch while you lead him on, not when he likes you."

I half-snorted half-giggled. "Do you know that what you've just said adds further support to the argument that you don't know anything about what goes on in his life?" I went to walk away again but although I'd tugged hard to free my wrist he'd tugged harder to keep it.

He was speaking so close to my ear that he was almost nibbling on it. "You can wander off back to Max and Evan but we both know that you don't want either of them as much as you want me. You think that's fair to Evan? To either of them? I wonder what they'd think if they knew about our little encounters."

I snickered and faced him again. "If you honestly thought that having this little info that we'd kissed gave you some power, then you're thick as pig s.h.i.t. It gives you nothing. Just because I hadn't told them doesn't mean I care if they know. If you really want to find out what Evan and Max would think then go ahead and tell them. Better still, we'll go together." I grabbed his free hand with mine and pulled. "Come on, let's see what they say."

I could almost sense Jared's ego screaming at him not to back down. Jared eventually listened to it typical. He released my seized wrist and allowed me to pull him with my other hand to the dance-floor where Max and Evan where stood amongst the rest of the squad and Fletcher and Norm.

"Hey bro," greeted Evan, smiling. "Everything sorted between you two now?"

"What was all that about?" Max asked me discreetly.

I smiled and looked to Jared, totally unconcerned if they knew or didn't about the kisses.

"I can't have my bro and my honorary little sister fighting," said Evan, ruffling my hair exactly like a brother would.

Jared's expression suddenly changed. His eyes danced between Evan and I, studying us as if truly seeing us together for the first time. Realisation of the truth seemed to hit, and then he nodded. "It's sorted." His smile faded slightly when his glance slid to Max.

Max, being Max, moved slightly closer to me and grinned at Jared sort of evilly. Then he said to me, "I thought I saw him grab you...?"

Jared, having heard, started laughing. "You don't need to worry. I'd never hurt her. We just like to play rough, don't we?" I would have responded with a sour scowl but his crooked smile just made me want to laugh. Evan seemed amused too. "Getting my a.s.s kicked by Sam is my idea of foreplay, and she's very good at foreplay."

Jared might have thought he was being clever, but he'd misjudged Max; rather than being discouraged, Max attached himself to me. Any closer and he'd have pa.s.sed for my Siamese twin. At first Jared seemed agitated by it but then he took to repeatedly saying things down my ear inconsequential things that could have even been said telepathically, but it was all part of winding Max up. It seemed that Jared was intent on making Max either storm off in frustration or snap. He did neither. The more something became a challenge for Max, the more he wanted it. They weren't actually all that different.

Chico had been watching Max cling to me all night and got increasingly annoyed about it to the point where he came over and said something to Max about needing his help with an extremely drunk Butch. Being the good friend that he was, Max left my side to help with Butch a little hesitant, but still he went. Chico winked and nodded at me. I gave him an appreciative smile. It was nice to have some breathing room.

"Here's my darlin girl," said Fletcher as he approached with Norm. Standing behind me holding onto my shoulders he asked, "So, who will you be s.h.a.gging tonight?"

I almost choked on my drink. "Say again?"

"Oh come on, you can't tell me you're not horned-up to death. I can sense it coming off you like fumes."

"Max will definitely be up for it," said Norm.

Fletcher nodded. "The way he's glued his body to you all night he practically has s.h.a.gged you."

"Sam's got a complex about being someone's consort," said Jared, not seeming to like the topic of conversation.

"Doesn't mean she can't have one of her own," insisted Fletcher with a giggle. He squeezed my shoulders. "Or just a nice jump to keep you going for another week."

A jump with Max sounded good to my body, but not good enough. It completely ached for someone else. However, with Jared not being an option that meant a night with Max was on the cards. Why did the idea of it make me feel off inside? "I need alcohol," I told Fletcher. "None of these alcohol flavoured NSTs, I need real alcohol."

"Good idea," he said. "It'll settle your body a bit and then you won't end up a.s.saulting the bloke." Fletcher patted my upper arm and then disappeared, returning seconds later with one gorgeous, muscled, brown-haired human bloke who had several teeth marks in him. Drinking blood from intoxicated people was how we vampires got drunk. "Here we are."

The bloke looked at me and grinned. "A Svente? I haven't been bitten by a Svente in years. I'm going to enjoy this."

Well of course he would. Our saliva did a good job of getting our prey all hot and bothered and could make them o.r.g.a.s.m on the spot if we drank from them for more than ten seconds.

"You'll have to hold my hands still," he told me, high on antic.i.p.ation.

"Why?" snorted Jared.

"Because it's that good I'll end up fondling her if she doesn't. I'm used to getting bitten and standing the pleasure but when it's a Svente bite there's no way of keeping still."

I grabbed his hands and held them firmly behind his back. I was more or less embracing him. Although some vampires were content to drink from the same bite mark that others had made, I wasn't. It was like sharing a cup that had been pa.s.sed around a load of strangers. Not for me, thanks. As I ran my lips down the curve of his neck he shuddered. Content with a certain spot on his neck, I paused.

Now, here's something you might not know. A vampire bite is a lot like a kiss; there are different styles. For instance, there's the firm bite; clamping your eyeteeth abruptly down and making the suction fast and hard and greedy. Then there's the softer approach; tenderly popping the skin with the tips of your eyeteeth and then feeling the blood rush into your mouth, keeping the suction gentle and slow. Of course there's a bite that is somewhere between the firm and the soft style that some vampires prefer to do.

My personal favourite is a style I developed myself. First I nick the skin with my eyeteeth, which tickles the human, and then I lap up any blood that surfaces. It's more or less teasing but Sventes are like that. Then I do a double bite; letting one of my eyeteeth pierce the skin slightly first, and then sliding them both down into the neck.

When I nicked his neck the human instantly quivered. Then he felt the double bite and moaned in pleasure, I hadn't even started sucking yet. When I did, gulping slow but taking long pulls, his arms strained against my hold and he tried grinding against me. I had to ensure to keep it shorter than ten seconds or else I'd probably make him come in his pants something that wouldn't be great for either of us. Not right here right now anyway.

Opening my eyes as I began to draw back from him, I noticed that Jared was watching intently. The human wasn't so easy to shake off so Evan and Jared helped.

The bloke shook his head as if clearing his foggy thoughts and smiled. "It's on the house. I'll come back later."

I returned his smile. "You do that." When I turned my focus back to the vampires around me I found four sets of eyes fixed on me, two glinting red, twoglinting amber. "What?"

Fletcher swallowed hard then said to Norm, "Now I'm even more curious."

The others nodded and suddenly I understood. "None of you have ever been bitten by a Svente? Oh come on you can't be serious."

"You're a Svente so you travelled in Svente circles, none of us did," explained Evan.

"There has to be some Sventes here."

"Only a few," said Fletcher. "Antonio and Luther have them as consorts."

The curiosity was still shining from their eyes. Their mouths were twisting to the side and they seemed to be debating whether to say something, looking to each other for cues.

"You want me to bite you?" I asked all of them. Their smiles and arched brows all said h.e.l.l yes'. "You can all sod off, I'm not biting any of you."

"Why not?" whined Fletcher.

"Because it would turn you all on."

"That's why we want you to do it," said Norm, sounding h.o.r.n.y already.

I grimaced. "I am not biting my best friend, my best friend's boyfriend, someone who I consider a brother, or my co-worker who I have to work close with every day." Suddenly my head felt a little heavy and I almost swayed. Oh yes I was now tipsy! It'd been a while. A hand caught my elbow. Oh, I hadswayed. It was Jared's hand. My body automatically reacted, pining for him again and I found myself automatically clenching my thighs. I had to move away from his touch, and now.

I did. But his hand only moved to my back as if ready and waiting to have to steady me again. Making matters a gazillion times worse, he spoke down my ear again, close enough that he was nibbling on it as he spoke. I just about managed to hold back a shudder.

"You've got the Dutch courage now. Shall I go get Max?" His tongue lightly flicked my earlobe. "Or are you ready to admit that it's not him you really want?" Discretely his hand teasingly travelled slowly and lightly down to the small of my back, fingers splayed.

Oh G.o.d. Another shudder began to crest. I tried holding it back but a tremor still ventured through me. Jared felt it and giggled. It wasn't so much the contact that was causing the shudders, it was more to do with the fact that it was Jared who was touching me.

Desperate for some kind of distraction, I glanced around the club; concentrating on how bright the flashing, colourful lights were and how drunk humans were prancing about waiting to be bitten and how Oh my G.o.d. The sight my eyes found made my brain fail for a second. My cheeks and hands burnt; something they always did when I was irate. My breathing became short pants as I felt the anger swirl around my lungs. The contents of my stomach curdled and my pulse was practically out of control. Familiar voices were talking to me but my brain didn't interpret the words; every part of me was far too fixated on the spectacle before me. Approximately eight feet away from me, dancing and giggling like he had a right to walk the Earth, was someone I never thought I'd see again. Someone I swore to one day find. And now he had more or less fell in my lap.

At that moment his eyes incidentally found me through his fuzzy, red, unruly hair as if sensing he was being watched. He tensed and his eyes widened. Abruptly he swung his arm in my direction and a ball of black fire came zooming at me. Without even waiting to see if his aim had been successful, he darted toward the exit. I drew in the energy around me and then released a gush of water from my palms to cancel out the black flames. Then I chased after him, ignoring the complaints of the people around me who were now a bit wet.

Outside the club I halted and scanned the street. Further along the path, pa.s.sing each of the stores with an admirable speed, was the tall, scruffy b.u.g.g.e.r. Sucking in more energy, I manipulated it into the form of my whip and then cracked it like I'd never cracked it before. It wrapped around his ankle. I ragged the whip hard, dragging him along the pavement and over to me.

"Throwing fire b.a.l.l.s at me? That's not very nice, is it." He didn't struggle or try to free himself. He just gazed up at me, a mixture of shocked and incredibly anxious. I realised something then. "You thought I was dead, didn't you. I hate to disappoint you, but Victor spared me."

"I should have known that the Svente Feeder everyone's been talking about was you," he said in a shaky voice.

"Yes, you should've. You never were very bright." I became aware that there were crowds of people around. I picked up the scents of Jared, Evan, Chico and Max close behind me. But I didn't care to answer their questions. "Is this where you've been hiding for the past few years then, Clark, hoping Victor wouldn't still come after you just for the fun of it? Turns out that Victor was the least of your worries, eh. No wonder I couldn't find you. Just how did you get accepted here?"

"My Sire got a security-guard position. He was permitted to bring along two of his guards."

"And the stupid b.a.s.t.a.r.d thought you'd be loyal?" I leant over him, eyes almost bulging out of my sockets. "Well I hope he's not going to miss you too much, because your life has now reached its expiry date."

Clark held up his hands, palms out. "No hang on a minute, Sam. Let's talk about this."

I straightened up and sn.i.g.g.e.red. "Trying to negotiate? This isn't a hostage situation. It's called retribution."

"Come on now. Killing me won't bring Bryce back."

"Oh I know that. But it'll feel b.l.o.o.d.y fantastic." It wouldn't bring me peace, but it was the next best thing. "Just how does it feel to know you're the reason you're best mate's dead?"

"He wouldn't want this. He wouldn't want you bitter like this, he loved you, he -"

"Oh do me a favour and stop with all that." I shook my head; amazed at his nerve. "Do you know what, Clark? I told Bryce not to go to you for help. I told him I didn't trust you. You know what he said to that? He said he'd known you all his years as a vampire, that you were his best mate and you'd never betray him, and that he trusted you with his life."

Clark's face was even paler than before. I doubted I'd ever reach the tiny conscience he had, but he was getting the lecture all the same. Clark was like Victor in many ways; he was good at politics and manipulating people. He would know exactly what you would want to hear and then he would tell you just that. If you had a compa.s.sionate side, he would appeal to it. If you had a weakness he would pounce on it. If all else failed, he would barter.

"I didn't betray him. It wasn't like that."