Clyde was smiling. “Your conversations are so much more interesting than my peoples’. Please continue, and spare no detail.”
“Sorry, but you’ll have to wait for the mass release of the DVD just like everyone else,” Clara replied. Then she shot Shamira an evil grin. “Unless you’d like to see the video file –”
“Don’t . . . you . . . dare,” the powerful young vampire replied.
“You’re right,” Clara replied with feigned meekness. “If we need to make a deal, then a video of you getting fisted in a cage might buy us something, don’t you think? You don’t give that sort of stuff away for free.”
Shamira and Clyde had identical expressions of pure astonishment, though for entirely different reasons.
“I think I love you!” Clyde said.
“I hate you!” Shamira whispered heatedly. Apparently being immune to sexual domination doesn’t mean you couldn’t be embarrassed all to hell by your friend.
Clara was just smiling like a crocodile. “So, did Shane fill you in on what we’re looking for?”
“Nope,” Clyde replied, his eyes undressing Shamira much to her chagrin. “He said you’d do it.”
“Right. Shamira, talk to the man.”
Shamira’s brain was still stewing in humiliation, so getting her mouth on track was no small feat. “We need to find a . . . a medium. Someone who can actually talk to ghosts, not just a hack. Someone who does it commercially.”
“Why is this person so important?” Clyde asked.
Despite her pride, Shamira looked to Clara for guidance.
Clara gave her a slight nod, then took over. “We’d like to keep the public names to a minimum.”
“We’re not here to hurt anyone. We just want to talk him or her out of reporting something to a client. It’s a matter of –” She waved her hands, “Not letting regular people know we exist.”
“We?”
“Vampires, weres, etcetera.”
“Ah,” Clyde said. “And how did this potential violation of Tribunal law come about?”
“No one violated the law,” Clara said carefully. “There hasn’t even been any exposure yet. It’s an accidental intrusion, and it can be headed off if we can just have a word with the medium.”
Clyde took a deep breath. “Here’s what I figger,” the big man said, “Mediums act as go-betweens between the living and the dead. So someone is looking for someone else who’s s’pposed to be dead but ain’t.” He looked at the two women at the table. “That means they got brought over. Maybe one of ours, but more likely one of yours. Hell, most likely one of you two. And since all your relatives are dead’n gone,” he finished, looking from Clara to Shamira, “I’d figure that’s you.”
“Told you he wasn’t dumb,” Clara said with grudging approval.
Shamira cocked her head. “He even knows who’s doing the looking.”
Clara looked puzzled while Clyde raised an eyebrow. “You think so?”
“You took a breath, and then you relaxed a bit,” Shamira said. “You were smelling us, and I bet my sister and I don’t smell that much different to a nose like that.”
Clara started to look alarmed, but Clyde grinned at her. “She’s quick,” he said to the veteran vampire, then back to Shamira, “So your Samantha Kingsley’s sister?”
“You know her?” Clara asked.
“Damn straight. She don’t know about us or what we are, but she’s the best damn veterinarian in the city. All my kids take their pets to that clinic of hers. Fine lady that one. Never struck me as a believer though.”
“Surprised the hell out of me too,” Shamira admitted. “She and I were always close, so I guess she realized that my death didn’t go quite right. And she’s not the type to give up looking. She’s got kids and a husband, and I don’t want any of them stumbling into this mess of magic and crap I seem to be up to my eyeballs in. I won’t let anything happen to my family because of me.”
The werewolf looked her dead in the eyes, then finally he just gave her a nod. “I don’t suspect you would. Think she’d likely find someone close to home or –”
“Away,” Shamira said. “She’s probably wondering what the hell she’s doing, so she’s gonna make sure that she doesn’t run into anyone she knows by accident.”
“I wanna be there when you talk to the medium,” Clyde said. “Whoever it is lives under my protection. Don’t sound like they meant to do anything wrong, but they need to be reminded to take some precautions. If it’s someone experienced, they’ll figure out how to avoid spilling the beans, but we can’t be too careful.” He turned to the waitress and ordered, then waited on his guests. “C’mon now, you can’t do good work on an empty stomach. Clara darlin’, you’re too damn skinny. SHE,” he said, thumbing in Shamira’s direction, “looks healthy.”
Clara grumbled, but overall seemed content with the direction negotiations had gone.
“Keep in mind,” Clyde said, “that your Mr. Stapleton will owe me a favor for this, though it’ll be a small one.”
“I’ll let you deal with Shane directly for that,” Clara replied, then ordered a platter of bacon, eggs, and sausage. “And Diet Coke,” she added. “Gotta watch my figure.”
“Me too,” Clyde said evilly, checking out her assets.
Clara turned her head and gave Shamira a kiss that caught her by surprise and turned her spine to jello, and Clara’s hand rested close to the stronger woman’s crotch. Then she smiled at her host while Shamira’s head was spinning from the unexpected PDA. “Dinner and a show. Don’t ever say I’ve never done anything for you.”
“Remind me to find a reason to come visit you nice folks sometimes soon,” Clyde said knowingly. “Now if y’all will excuse me for a moment, I’ll make a few phone calls.” He stood up and walked outside the front door. Shamira noticed that no one else in the restaurant had moved since they got in.
“Okay, what the hell are you –” Shamira started.
“Oh c’mon, he knows about Shane’s house, so I was just giving him what he expected. Of course now he may drop by for a ‘diplomatic visit’ and call in that favor,” she added, looking down Shamira’s body.
“You’re not serious?!”
“Oh yeah. Sometimes Shane lends subs to visitors that he trusts or likes to gain favor. Let him know if you have issues with that when he gets back. What’s with YOU telling him about your sister? Now, she’s involved –”
“She was involved the moment we sat down. I could see it the second he got a whiff of me, and we wouldn’t have gotten anything by lying about it. Besides, he mentioned his kids a couple of times. I may not like a lot of things about the South, but they’ve got a strong sense of family, and Clyde is a Southern boy. Besides, you think that even if he hadn’t smelled it on me that he wouldn’t have looked for the client?”
“Probably right,” Clara said approvingly. She leaned in and locked lips with the more muscular woman. “Had to get that in before you taste like maple syrup. Though syrup does give me some ideas –”
“You’re insane!” Shamira said. “Horny and insane!” Shamira chewed her bottom lip, then kissed Clara back. “Gorgeous, horny, and insane.”
“About time you caught on,” Clara said, taking a sip of coffee while running her hand up and down her friend’s thigh. That touch was driving her nuts, and the thought that someone was probably watching it, that Clyde might walk back in and sit down —
“Got a couple of possibilities,” Clyde said as he came back in, “but we won’t be able to figure anything else out until daylight. For some reason, scraping-by-the-skin-of-their-teeth psychic types aren’t open twenty-four hours a day. Weird. Anyway, if you need a place to stay –” He trailed off, staring at the two women with lustful glee.
“Sorry Clyde, but we’ll get a hotel room.” Clara’s hand slid between Shamira’s thighs and cupped her mound through her jeans. “Tonight is girl’s night. I’m sure you understand.”
Shamira was almost frozen in confusion and a small amount of fear. She couldn’t believe Clara was doing this . . . actually, she kind of could. And she enjoyed it. She enjoyed the hungry look in Clyde’s eyes, and she felt a thrill that she was partially responsible for it.
“Are you sure?” Clyde asked, glancing into Shamira’s lap.
She could hardly believe it herself when she did it, but Clara just brought out the worst, or maybe the best, in Shamira. The muscular woman took Clara’s hand and slid it underneath the waistband of her jeans. She could see a moment’s surprise in her friend’s face, but Clara’s hand didn’t miss a beat. She slide one finger into Shamira’s sex as the newer vampire said, “We’re sure.”
Once Shamira had thrown down the gauntlet, Clara was unwilling to back down. Throughout dinner, conversation and consumption took place while Clara masturbated Shamira. Clyde was getting a kick out of it, as well as a rise in his own denim. Clara hand-fed her friend food, then asked for her fingers to be licked clean. Shamira acquiesced to these requests, and she did so willingly. She wasn’t doing this because she was obligated to. When she orgasmed, she was gripping the edge of that cheap vinyl-covered bench so hard that the wood began cracking in her grip.
Clara may have just finished a meal, but damn if she didn’t still look hungry. “Check please.”