Chapter Fifteen

The mating ceremony was nice. Beauregard was so happy, in his element with his family and friends all around him. His mate, Victoria, turned out to be charming, a beautiful woman who possessed ethereal beauty, something not many three-hundred-year-old women could pull off easily. Beau's daughter, Peg, was waiflike, with an almost Wednesday Adams quality. She had long, black tresses wound into an elaborate chignon on top of her head and threaded through with black and white pearls glowing blue and pink respectively.

Her goth-like makeup was overdone, Ari thought, reinforcing his Wednesday description of the vampire girl, but her dress was a pale, light blue silk, draped over her slight frame in multiple layers. Her neckline was framed by a low-cut décolletage, making her small breasts look like mouthwatering rose-hued fruit, tempting and ripe for plucking. She was beautiful but when she turned and flashed glowing, red eyes at Ari, he shuddered. He wondered whether he'd ever get over the chill he got whenever he spotted that glow.

Peg's mate—Gilroy Conway—was a strapping, young vampire who weighed double what she did, with so much muscle layering his body, he looked like he spent all his time at the gym.

Ari counted two hundred guests in the room and assumed most, if not all, were vampires. For that matter, even the minister who conducted the mating ceremony and the waiters passing around champagne glasses filled with blood, possessed the same glowing, red eyes. In a room where everyone danced and laughed and perused the buffet table with overt interest, he felt like a fish out of water. He wondered what vampires put on a buffet table and then hated himself for looking. It consisted of silver platters of blood-red canapes and champagne fountains flowing with blood. When he spotted people drinking blood from punchbowl cups as they stood beside a bowl filled with more blood, he felt somewhat nauseous. He had to remind himself that he and Eoghan were the only two warm-blooded creatures in the place.

They stood close to Champayne, ensuring that they stood out to everyone in the room. All the guests had been warned that I.S.R. marshals would be Champayne's escorts for the evening, so Ari expected them to be on good behavior. He and Eoghan had armed themselves with loaded dart guns and vampire ammunition, hanging on their belts but they were mostly for show. He was sure they wouldn't be any match to the speed of a vampire if one decided to attack.

Ari reminded himself that there was a superb variety of vintage human blood readily available, served warm, just the way the guests liked it. Everyone seemed reconciled to the fact that he and Eoghan were there with Champayne. Several people stopped by to talk to the vampire, congratulating him on his progeny's mating and wishing him well. Champayne introduced them to each and every guest who approached, and Ari found them to be a polite bunch. Every last one of them looked down to the dart guns on their belts before walking away with uneasy looks on their faces but no one remarked on the weapons. Perhaps that explained the civility.

As the night wore on and the ceremony became the reception, more and more guests filled the ballroom until it was quite crowded. As the dance floor became fuller, Beauregard was pulled onto it over and over again. Ari noticed he danced not only with women but with men. Several of the vampires at the reception, paired up with same-sex partners, and Ari watched in fascination as several gay couples kissed at the end of a romantic ballad or instrumental.

This part of vampire culture surprised him at a bone-deep, visceral level, and it left him with feelings of both joy and hope. After all, these were ancient beings. Maybe that meant they'd either lived in cultures who didn't care about how someone fitted on the rainbow or been instruments of change in those cultures. He knew that ancient Romans and Greeks hadn't cared who a man slept with, so he was energized by the displays of affection. He noticed that no one started fights with the gay couples or even looked twice at them. Vampire culture seemed to have no inhibitions about their sexuality which just made him more curious to know what Champayne had done.

Nearing ten o'clock, with about an hour left of the reception, Ari noticed Eoghan bobbing and weaving his head, appearing to search the crowd. "What is it?" he asked, feeling mildly alarmed as he turned to look in the direction of the dance floor.

"Do you see Champayne?" Eoghan shouted over the loudspeakers.

"Yeah, umm…he's right—" Ari looked out into the crowd where he'd seen Champayne dancing only a minute before.

"Where? Do you see him?" Eoghan shouted. He was visibly worried, something that never boded well. The last time he'd heard him this concerned was when they'd been creeping through the Sequoia Forest moments before finding Oberon and Titania's offspring hanging half-eaten from wooden stakes.

"He was there," Ari pointed, "a second ago."

"Goddammit!" Eoghan shouted over the music. "Fan out, Ari. We need to find him."

"I'll go left," Ari called.

"I'll check this side," Eoghan shouted back, already pulling his dart gun from the holster at his side.

Ari did the same, checking to make sure there was a dart in the chamber before jogging to the left side of the dance floor. Several vampires noticed him and stopped dancing, backing up when they saw him with the gun in his hand. He couldn't stop to imagine what the innocent vamps at the happy mating event could be thinking. The whole thing was supposed to be a reception, after all.

The darts Ari and Eoghan armed themselves with were less lethal rounds, but no one else at the party knew that. Ari called Champayne's name as he searched the crowd, hearing Eoghan calling over the music from the other side of the dance floor. He searched the dancers, seeing no one matching Champayne's description and when he got to the back wall, he spotted the sign for the restrooms. He headed there immediately. It was bad enough not being right beside Eoghan where he would have his back but being separated from him by the door of the men's room seemed like a horrible idea. He slammed open the door, propping it with his shoulder as he stood in the doorway, gun at the ready, his head on a swivel so he could watch both the ballroom and the restroom as he called out.

"Beauregard! Are you in here?" A low moaning was coming from somewhere inside. Ari glanced out at the dance floor before calling again. "Champayne! Are you in here?" The moaning got louder and he cursed under his breath as he edged his way into the room, letting the door shut and muting the music coming from the other side. He moved farther into the room. "Beauregard! Dammit! Answer me!" He bypassed the urinals and checked the first stall, shouldering the door open with a loud, metallic bang. He did the same to the second stall. The moaning got louder, and he knew he'd have no choice but to take a chance when he opened the third stall. He said a silent prayer that he wasn't about to be attacked by a vampire who was angry enough to want to kill him.

The bathroom door suddenly opened and he spun, gun in hand, lowering it only when he saw Eoghan come into the room. His partner looked determined as he averted the barrel of his own weapon, lifting it toward the ceiling. Ari canted his head toward the third and final stall, tapping his ear. When someone behind the metal door moaned loudly, he watched Eoghan's eyes widen almost comically.

"Champayne!" Eoghan called. "Beauregard! Is that you?"

As Ari listened, he heard a muffled reply and then a wet, slurping sound. He had no idea whether blow jobs were considered taboo or as Champayne had put it, "sexually deviant," but he was pretty sure someone was getting head on the other side of the door.

"We're coming in!" Ari called out before holding out his weapon and then leaning forward, reaching for the door, and pushing it open. He wasn't prepared for what he found.

A huge vampire sat on the toilet still dressed in suit, tie, and jacket with no pants on…both shoes and socks off. Champayne knelt between his legs, one foot in each hand and his mouth around one big toe as the half-naked vamp jacked a rather impressive cock and moaned loudly. His eyes were half-lidded and he looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself. As Ari lowered the weapon, Eoghan rushed over, coming to stand beside him at the doorway just in time to see the man ejaculate a truly inspiring spurt of jizz. It shot into the air in the most elegant white arc Ari had ever seen, coming to land in a massive, creamy splat on the big vampire's perfectly pressed dress shirt, irreparably staining it forevermore.

"Holy fuck!" Eoghan exclaimed. "Beauregard!"

The man on the toilet seat peeled open his lids, recognized them, and hissed before shooting off the toilet at light speed. Ari hadn't even had the time to blink before he'd fired his gun, hitting the vamp in the middle of a puddle of spunk dripping down the man's formal shirt pleats. Champayne's lover fell back onto the commode, dart in his chest, as their vampire prisoner fell back onto his ass and began wailing, burying his face in his hands. Ari noticed his half hard dick hanging out of his unzipped slacks, wet from a puddle of his own come which slid down, wetting his zipper. No more than a second passed before Eoghan twisted his body, pointing his weapon at the bathroom door as it slammed open. Five outraged vampires stood in the open doorway, hissing loudly, showing off mouths full of terrifying rows of fangs as Ari raised his gun.

"These are lethal rounds!" Eoghan lied effortlessly as Ari reloaded as quickly as possible. "Back the fuck up or someone's gonna die here tonight."

"Beau! Beau!" Victoria Champayne called out, elbowing her way through the crowd of male vamps in the doorway. The vampires deferred to her, moving aside to let her through. She flashed over to them so quickly, Ari didn't even see her coming before she'd pushed him and Eoghan out of the way. By the time he realized what was happening, Victoria was standing over her mate who was beside himself, wailing at the top of his vampire lungs. "What. The. Fuck. Beau? Again?" she cried.

Before they knew what was happening, her nails had elongated and she'd lifted his bawling ass off the floor and had him pinned against the wall of the stall. "What did you do, Beau?"

Ari looked at Eoghan, wondering if they should risk their lives to intercede on Champayne's behalf, barely picking up on the slight nod when suddenly his thoughts were interrupted.

"I'm sorry," Champayne squawked, still pinned by the neck.

She paused, seeming to take in everything at once…her toe-sucking mate, the flaccid, spent cock peeking out of his zipper, his unconscious partner with the dart drooping from his chest, and the pungent puddles of spunk everywhere.

She let out what sounded like a snarl and surprisingly, let him go. A moment later he slid down to where he'd been…sitting with his back to the wall, sobbing into his hands, occasionally blowing his nose into pieces torn from a roll of toilet paper, and fumbling to cover himself up.

Victoria continued to growl. Just when Ari was sure she was going to behead him and end his life right there, she stopped growling and sank to her knees in the men's room stall, taking both of his cheeks into her hands to quiet her mate's sobs.

"I love you," she cooed against his lips. "I know, love…I know." To Ari's surprise, she tucked away the display of fangs and began kissing his face…first, his eyes, then his nose, then each cheek. "I love you. I love you…but here? Love? Here, at the mating?"

Beauregard sucked in a sobbing cry before blowing it out, looking miserably at her and then over at his unconscious lover, until facing her again. "I just couldn't help it. It's been too long."

She leaned in and kissed him again. "I know, love. Conway's sires are clearing out the guests. It's safe to come out but you know what this will mean, Beau?"

Champayne canted his head to the side and then nodded. "They'll want some years tacked on."

Victoria nodded, looking just as miserable as he did. "Yes, my treasure, but we'll face this as we always have. I will always stand by you, my brave, beautiful, Beauregard, always."

Ari had to wonder if there was more to the slightly nerdy, toe-sucking British vamp that he just couldn't see.

Champayne got to his feet, staring down at the unconscious, half-naked vampire whose toes he'd been sucking not ten minutes before and then glanced back at them. "I'm so sorry and I'm so ashamed."

"It's fine, Beauregard," Eoghan said, pulling his handcuffs off his belt. "And I'm only sorry that I have to refasten these."

Beau let out a massive sigh, followed by a nod as he tidied himself up and let Eoghan refasten the vampire-strength handcuffs. Moments later, they were all walking through the empty ballroom, headed out to the parking lot. Outside, Beau's progeny, Peg, stood beside her new mate, Gilroy, holding hands. When she spotted them, she let go of Gilroy's hand and flashed over to them, throwing her arms around Champayne. He let out another sob and leaned into her, burying his face in her neck, unable to hug her because of the cuffs.

"Daddy, Daddy, what happened?"

"Nothing for you to worry your beautiful, sweet heart about, my angel. Go back to your mate. He's a very nice man." He glanced over at Gilroy who smiled and waved at them. Ari watched the exchange, wondering whether he could hear them from where he stood all the way across the parking lot. "I didn't mean to clear the party out early, my treasure," Champayne said as she let go and leaned back. She reached up and framed his cheeks with both hands.

"You didn't, Daddy. We were just getting ready to leave." Peg let out a little sob, pausing for a moment. "I wish I could see you more often." She turned and glared at him and Eoghan as if it was their fault her father was incarcerated. When he heard a low growl coming from her, Ari felt a chill go down his spine.

"Now, now, my precious, stop growling," Champayne chided gently. "These are very nice marshals. They're only here, doing the job their paid to do, and it was very nice of them to bring me here tonight. They didn't have to."

"But, Daddy," she whined, dropping her hands.

"Go back to your mate, my darling. Don't you worry about me. I'll be just fine. These marshals are going to take me back to jail and—" She started growling again and Ari rested his hand on the weapon he wore on his belt. "Stop that, Peg!" Champayne demanded. "Behave yourself and go back to your mate now." He offered her an encouraging smile. "I'll see you when you come out to visit me next month."

She stopped growling, glaring at them each once more before returning her attention to her sire. She leaned in and kissed him on both cheeks before flashing back across the parking lot to where Gilroy waited, holding open the door to a stretch limousine. He and Eoghan stood watching until they got inside and drove off. As they turned to walk across the parking lot to the Charger, Ari was surprised to see several vampires from each clan keeping vigil. He wondered what Beauregard Champayne's clan members—at least the few who knew why he was incarcerated—had told the others.

"Marshal Sapphire?" Champayne asked.

"Yes?"

"What will happen to dear Anthony?"

"Anthony?" Ari asked, frowning. Suddenly, what the vampire was talking about, dawned on him. "Oh, is that the man in the restroom?"

"Yes," he sobbed. "The poor dear."

"He'll be fine," Eoghan replied. "He should wake up in about an hour or so. The dart contained a formulation which typically knocks out a vampire. It is totally harmless with no noticeable side effects. He'll wake up with a hell of a headache and after feeding, he'll feel back to normal. Don't worry about him."

"Good. That's a big relief," Champayne said with a sigh. Ari could tell that the vampire was emotionally drained.

Eoghan unlocked the car and put their prisoner in the back before they both got in.

"Did you know him before tonight?" Ari asked.

"A little…and what I did know about him, was utterly charming to me."

"How did you…" Ari paused, not knowing how to ask the question.

"Are you asking how I knew he shared my affinities?" the vampire asked with a bashful smile.

Ari couldn't help but return the smile. "Yes, how did you know you had similar tastes?" The moment he said it, he wished there was a way to put the words back in his mouth. He was relieved when Champayne simply chuckled.

"Oh, dear Marshal Brown, you do charm me," Champayne said. "Like I told you, I knew him long ago, but I haven't seen him in almost three hundred and fifty years."

"What?" Eoghan asked, lifting his chin as he looked at their prisoner in the rearview mirror. "Where did you see him?"

"Back in England. You see, my boy, we were both young vampires then, eager to explore this whole new reality for the first time. We were turned by the same sire."

"You're…brothers?"

"I suppose, by human standards…yes. Not before we were turned but afterward, yes, I guess that'd be accurate."

"That doesn't explain how or why you share the same—what did you call it—an affinity?" Ari asked.

"Did I mention we were sired by the same man?"

"Yes, but I—" Ari stopped, then lifted both hands and scrubbed them over his face. "Oh, man…are you telling me your father taught you both—oh, jeez."

Champayne chuckled. "He wasn't human and he never treated either of us as a human father would, so you can't think of the intimacy I shared with him to be anything incestuous at all. And vampires have a very different view of their sire. Often, vampires and their sires have sex with each other. After all, under most circumstances, an attraction must exist between a sire and his progeny, otherwise there wouldn't be a reason to turn him. Of course, this is not always the case, but it is more often than not, the truth. And…dare I say, my little affinity wasn't a problem back then either. Toe sucking, though, an acquired…ah, shall we say…taste…isn't for everyone, but it can be an intoxicating experience for those who like a little kink with their masculine endeavors. I should think the result of my encounter with Anthony stands as witness to that."

"If you say so," Ari said. He thought it was definitely kinky but considering he liked sucking Eoghan's balls through lacy underthings while they both jacked off, he really wasn't one to talk. To each his own. He looked away from the vampire and glanced over at Eoghan who shot him a knowing smirk. He spent the rest of the car ride to the prison in silence.

After delivering their prisoner back to his cell, they stood in the corridor, watching Champayne change back into prison orange from the suit he'd worn at the mating ceremony. He handed it to Smith who nodded at him and then stepped out into the corridor with them before locking the door. Ari walked up to the wall of ballistic glass with Eoghan at his side. He felt inexplicably sad to be leaving such a nice guy locked up like this. It felt so unfair now that he knew Champayne would be spending even more time incarcerated after tonight's crimes. As he stood there watching the kind vampire say his final goodbyes to Eoghan, an idea formed in his mind. He began smiling, knowing he probably looked like a complete idiot as the thought fleshed out in his imagination. By the time Eoghan turned to look at him, he was grinning.

"What?" Eoghan asked.

"Nothing." Ari turned his attention to Champayne, pressing his hand on the glass. The vampire reached up and touched his on the glass. "Beauregard, it was very nice meeting you. I hope it's not the last time."

"It was my great pleasure, Marshal Brown," Champayne said, stepping back and bowing low.

Ari gave him a little nod and then turned, joining Eoghan and Smith to head down the corridor.

"What is it?" Eoghan asked. "I know you're thinking something, Ari. I can see the wheels turning in your brain."

"Well, I'm thinking a couple of things. First, it's kind of hard for me to imagine how isolated and dispirited Beauregard is and all because he's got a kind of unique fetish. Then again, what do I know about fetishes?" Ari said.

"You've never done something kinky in the sack?" Eoghan asked.

Ari eyeballed Smith whose lips were pressed tightly together, clearly trying not to smile. "Well, no, Eoghan, unless you count the time a guy asked me to pee on him."

Eoghan snorted, and Smith joined him. "How did that go?" Eoghan asked.

Ari smirked. "I told him I'd just gone but if he gave me a cup of coffee, we'd wait twenty minutes and I'd see what I could do."

Eoghan and Smith laughed. "All right, you said there was something else? Please tell me it has nothing to do with kink."

Ari snorted and took Eoghan's elbow as they followed Smith. By the time the jailer had opened the final outer door and they'd stepped out into the wide corridor where Woolworth had first brought them to meet Champayne, Ari was practically vibrating with excitement. He waited for Smith to shut the door before turning to Eoghan.

"I have an idea," he said to his partner before looking at Smith. "Do any of your inmates have cellmates?"

"Cellmates?" Smith asked, frowning.

"What are you getting at, Ari?" Eoghan asked.

Ari tossed him a grin before eyeing up Smith. "Please…just answer the question."

"Well, yeah. We don't have a lot of space here, so if it's safe…I mean some shifters you can't mix with others. But yeah, if it's safe, I double up sometimes. What are you getting at?"

"Champayne doesn't have a cellmate, right?"

"No. We can't double up a vamp with anyone but another vamp, and those two come from different clans and—"

"But, what if you did have a willing shifter?" Ari asked, doing everything he could to keep from bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Well, yeah, then, I guess. Hell, maybe that'd work but who in their right mind would want to share a cell with a blood sucking—"

"Toe sucker?" Ari answered him.

"Ari…what—?"

"He's a blood sucking, toe sucking, vampire," Ari said. "Let's be honest here." He pointed at the door barring them from the cellblock. "In there you have…oh, let me see, a few shifters who might want to—"

"No!" Eoghan practically shouted. He seemed to realize he'd just yelled, so he lowered his voice. "You can't be serious! Even if a shifter wanted their toes sucked, how would that look to—"

"I'm down," Smith interrupted.

"What?" Eoghan and Ari both asked at once, looking at the jailer.

"I'm totally down with that. If you guys don't care if I pair up a shifter with Champayne, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I know why the vamp's here, and I think it's tragic. He's completely harmless. Frankly, I think he's the nicest inmate I have back there." He pointed at the door with his thumb.

"Good," Ari said. He glance at Eoghan and grinned widely before raising his eyebrows at Smith. "How's the…ah…centipede shifter you have back there? Is he a nice guy or is he a violent offender?"

Eoghan made a choking sound low in his throat before he stared at Ari with bulging eyes. "Are you insane?"

"Are you insane?" Ari mocked, laughing.

"How would that—"

"You think putting a centipede shifter in a cell with a toe-sucking vampire is a bad thing? Seriously?" Ari asked, leaning close. "Think about it, Eoghan. "A hundred pairs of legs, that just means…five hundred toes."

Eoghan burst out laughing and when he'd finished, they both glanced at Smith who stood there looking like they both had two heads. When they could finally catch their breath, Ari explained why putting a centipede shifter into a cell with a toe-sucking vampire was the best idea since sliced bread.