Moon Dance

“At least she’s looking toward Trevor. By the way, thanks for the call,” he said in a serious voice. “I’ve been waiting on something like this to happen.”

Jason shrugged, “It wasn’t for me. It was for her. She deserves better than him.” He tried to smile, as he watched, knowing she would be single now. But the vision of all the other guys pulling at her attention caused his small smile to have a hint of sadness.

Chapter 2

Envy felt the heat slide over her like a second skin as she descended the steps. She tried to relax her tense muscles and moved onto the dance floor. Taking several steps in Trevor's direction, she felt like she was in a mosh pit of sex, as fingertips softly touched her bare skin and unfamiliar bodies slid against hers.

The dance floor was darker than the other clubs she’d been in or worked at and she found she liked the privacy. It wasn’t so much individual couples dancing as it was a group mingling of warm bodies. Feeling the change in the atmosphere, she slowly raised her hands letting her own fingertips brush across strangers in the darkness. The adrenaline rush that followed pounded through her to the beat of the sultry music.

Not looking forward to confronting Trevor, she took a moment to close her eyes and simply move with the music that could only be described as the sound of lust.

As she felt the fleeting touches growing bolder, Envy opened her eyes and found herself staring at several male chests, some showing skin through unbuttoned shirts and some covered in tight material that was just as seductive. She didn’t dare look up into their faces for fear of making eye contact.

Becoming a little heady, she started backing up and didn't mind when they followed her in the seductive dance. Feeling the cold iron of the dance cage against her back, she slowly looked up at it on the small platform. Her eyes locked with the guy inside the cage as he drew the girl who was with him down onto her knees under him in a submissive posture.

The whole room seemed to fade away as their gazes locked and held. The way he was looking at her made Envy feel like she was the one submitting. He had ice blue eyes with a very thick black ring around his irises. She didn’t think she’d ever seen eyes so startling or intense. She could have stared into them for hours and still wanted more and that scared her.

His look gave Envy the impression that he knew what she looked like naked. The way his eyes roamed over her body and lingered in certain places… made her feel like his hands were touching those same places. The urge to throw herself against the cage bars and beg him to take her hard and fast was almost too much to resist.

Jerking her gaze back from the possessive sight, Envy tried to remind herself she could leave the dance floor whenever she chose.

Trevor wasn’t having fun even though he tried to go with the flow of the dance and blend in as much as possible. But hot girls and dancing weren't the real reasons he was here. He kept his gaze on the guy in the cage because that was his true mark.

The guy's name was Devon Santos and he was the last person to be seen with Kelly Foster; the 20-year-old girl who’d been found in a nearby alley last week. She had been in that same cage with Devon the last night she’d been alive.

So far he’d learned that the murder victim had just quit working at a club down the strip called Night Light. She’d only worked at Moon Dance for one night… the night she died. Hers wasn’t the only death he was following but it was a lead. Whoever had dumped her body had made sure to leave it near the cougars and jaguars like a gift.

Devon was part owner of this club, along with his two brothers, Nick and Warren, and their only sister, Kat. Rumor had it that the two clubs had a silent feud going on and that the two families had actually been rivals since both their fathers had gone missing over ten years ago.

Trevor’s eyes narrowed, knowing the real reason why there was animosity between the clubs. These weren’t normal clubs; they were owned and run by shifters. The club Kelly had been working at was run by were-cougars. She'd left there and came to work for were-jaguars, only to turn up dead the next day. That was just too much to ignore.

If the humans knew shape shifters lived among them, there would be panic… but they had been a part of society for a long time without the secret getting out. As long as they abided by the laws of the human race, there was no need to cause mass chaos by outing them. Human mentality would return to the dark ages if that ever happened.

The theory within the black-ops CIA paranormal command was to deal with it the same way they dealt with UFO’s and Alien encounters; lie, hide, and cover it up. There were much worse things out there besides the shifters that fit in well with humanity… other, more dangerous creatures that humans only made bad horror movies from and some that humans were still clueless about.

But when people started turning up missing or dead, his team was dispersed to try to figure out what was going on.

Seeing Devon abandon the girl in his cage and move closer to the bars to stare down at someone, Trevor shifted his gaze. He instantly felt his blood pressure rise by several degrees when he spotted Envy leaning back against the same cage surrounded by a withering mass of guys.

What the hell was she doing here? He left his dance partners without a second thought and shoved his way through the crowd toward her.

Devon growled low in his throat when the girl that had caught his attention raised her hands to grip the bars behind her. He could smell her heat over everyone in the whole club and it called to him. Wrapping his hands over hers, he let his fingers trail seductively down her arms through the bars of his cage.

Just as Envy was about to look back up at the erotic dancer, someone grabbed one of her arms and jerked it down from the cage. Her lips parted when she saw who it was. She’d completely forgotten about Trevor! The seductive mood broke and she was angry again when she remembered why she'd come to Moon Dance in the first place… revenge.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Trevor snapped a bit too harshly, trying to pull her away from the cage and Devon’s dangerous reach. If the jaguar was the killer, then the way he was looking at Envy marked her as his next target.

Envy kept her other hand clenched tightly on the bar simply because she didn’t like the way Trevor had decided to manhandle her. He was acting as if she’d done something wrong instead of him. Smiling her sweetest smile, she informed him, “I came to dance… just like you did.”

Trevor’s lips thinned knowing she’d seen him dancing with the other girls, but what she didn’t understand was that he was just using them as a cover. He didn’t even care enough to ask their names. He and Envy glared into each other’s eyes for several heartbeats before he sighed.

Bending down close to her ear, he whispered, “I can explain.” He hadn’t wanted to tell her who he really was because, just like her dickhead of a brother Chad, he was afraid she’d only assume he was using her to gain better access to the bars where she worked.

“Come on,” he tried again to pull her away from Devon’s heated gaze. He took a second to glance up at Devon and if looks could kill he would have been a bloody spot on the floor. He gave the look right back then returned his attention to his girlfriend.

Envy shook her head at him. She just bet he would explain. “I came to dance. I can dance with these nice guys, or you can start moving and join us.” She raised a delicate eyebrow, as if it didn’t matter one way or the other to her.

Trevor slowly turned his head and glared over his shoulder at the lustful guys still hanging around waiting to see if they stood a chance. “Scram,” he told them, in a deadly tone, as he slipped closer to Envy. If she wanted to dance, then by god, she was dancing with him.

Envy pouted at him but secretly wondered why he was acting so jealous when he’d just been dancing so provocatively with two other girls. “You're no fun.” She finally released the bar to run her hands over her own body, nonchalantly slipping the small taser out of her pocket, and then ran her hands over his ribs.

Devon stood to his full height, staring down at the little redhead who'd caught more than just his attention. He didn’t like the smell of the guy who was trying to claim her. He smelled like old gunpowder and that meant he had a weapon hidden somewhere on him. He reached out and unlatched the cage, telling the female dancer to go take a break.

Touching his finger to his ear, Devon listened to his brother inform him through the almost invisible com-link that the girl at his cage had a taser and had plans to use it on a guy. He looked across the dance floor toward the black light that lit the steps seeing Nick standing there ready to interfere, if needed.

It had been Warren’s voice on the com-link, so Devon figured his oldest brother was watching from one of the night vision cameras hanging under the catwalk above him.

Looking back down at her small hands now roaming the guy's body, Devon felt the sudden need to take the guy's head off. That was until he saw the glint of silver as her hand traveled down toward his hip. His lips hinted at a ghost of a smile deciding not to interfere just yet.

“Let me handle this,” Devon whispered into the com-link.

Chad and Jason smiled at each other knowing it was getting ready to go down, and then took off for the steps leading to the dance floor.

Trevor suddenly realized Envy hadn’t told him she was coming here either, so why did he feel so guilty? “I asked you what you were doing here,” he repeated, and this time his voice was steady, as he moved against her. Bad move, he almost lost his train of thought, as most of his blood rushed to his groin, giving him a hard-on for the first time since he’d stepped foot inside the club.

Envy pushed her body against his seductively so she would have a chance to step back really fast. “I came to give you something,” she answered and put all the heated desire she was feeling from the dance floor into her eyes to distract him.

“I hope it goes with the same thing I have for you,” Trevor groaned, as he felt her hand cup his groin.

“Let's find out,” Envy hissed, as she pressed the taser against his raging hard on and jerked back just as he spazzed and dropped to his knees without a sound. “Oops!” Envy pouted and quickly slid the taser back in her pocket before turning to flee in the other direction. The last thing she wanted to do was to be still standing there when Trevor found the strength to stand back up.

As Envy made her way through the darkened dance floor, someone snagged her arm in a firm grip. Thinking it was her brother; she didn't look up right away but followed trustingly. Just as she did glance up, a small door was opened and she was pushed through it.

Envy barely had time to turn around before it was shut and locked behind her. A dim overhead light flicked on revealing TV monitors and the guy who had been in the cage. She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off.

“I thought maybe it would be best if you watched your handiwork from the safety of the office,” Devon smirked, as he pointed at one of the screens.

Envy glanced toward the screen thinking the sight of Trevor holding his crotch would make her laugh… but instead, she felt really bad for him. It made her heart feel like it had dropped a couple of inches. Seeing him in pain, she was suddenly glad the monitor didn’t have sound because she was sure she didn’t want to know what he was saying.

She watched in silence as Chad and Jason appeared from the crowd and helped him the rest of the way up from the floor. She couldn’t tell what was being said, but when Trevor pushed Chad away from him with more strength than he should have had seconds after being tasered, her eyes swung to the door ready to bolt back out there before one of them got hurt.

Seeing the dancer shake his head warningly as he stood between her and the door, Envy glanced back at the monitor surprised to see it was actually Jason who grabbed Trevor in an arm lock while Chad placed handcuffs on him.

Feeling a little more than angry with herself for being so childish, she started for the door to tell Chad to let Trevor go. Again, the hand gripped her arm. She glared down at it refusing to meet his eyes, when it was obviously her fault for starting this. The guilt only added to her anger and renewed her courage.

“After seeing me just taser a guy, do you really think that’s a good idea?” She jerked her eyes up to his and tried not to lose her breath from the impact. Now that she had a closer look, his eyes were even more amazing than they’d been behind the bars of the cage.

“Whoever those guys are, you might want to let them get him out of the club before you go back to dance.” Devon warned again, watching the flame shoot into her eyes. He could almost see her fur bristling with the need to go rescue the guy she had just wounded… not that he had any intention of letting her. “What’s your name?”

“Why?” Envy pulled her arm out of his grasp. “So you can have the owners ban me from the club?”

“Not likely,” Devon growled darkly at the thought. “But you might want to keep that taser in your pocket for the rest of the night.” He watched her glance back at the monitor to see that her victim was gone.

‘Damn it,’ Envy sighed mentally, as she leaned back against the door feeling the vibration of the music through the wood. She bit her bottom lip knowing she’d gone too far. She remembered the other reason she’d come to Moon Dance tonight and wondered if it was a good time to ask for a job. Why not bite the bullet? She mentally shrugged. “Do you know if they're hiring here?”

Devon couldn’t help the slow smile that spread across his lips. What he’d give to get her in that cage with him for a little while so he could try to tame the fire within her. “Do you dance?” he asked hopefully.

Envy’s eyes widened as she remembered watching him in the cage and her thighs went up in flames… but sadly, so did her cheeks. “No,” she whispered, a little too huskily, “No dancing. I tend bar at some of the other clubs in the area and was going to put in an application while I was here.”

“Pity,” Devon smirked, as he stepped forward and opened a drawer from the desk. He pulled out the application and handed it to her. She still hadn’t told him her name, but if he had her fill out the app, then he’d have all the information he needed. He also wanted to make sure she hadn’t worked for Night Light.

He was getting tired of them sending people over here snooping. It was Quinn that had ended the friendship between the cougars and jaguars, so the cougars could just leave them the hell alone, as far as he was concerned.

Someone at Night Light had sent the last person they’d hired, and now that she’d been murdered, the cougars were looking toward Moon Dance for answers… and so were the cops. Just his luck, the only night she’d worked here, she had asked to be put in the cage with him.

Devon rolled the chair out from under the desk knowing the fastest way to make her stay longer was to give her what she wanted. “You can fill it out now. Maybe you’ll have another job by the end of the night.”

Envy sat down but looked back up at the monitor with a frown. “Do you think the owner saw me taser Trevor?” she bit her bottom lip, picturing in her mind how it must have looked. “I really wish I hadn’t done that.”

Devon leaned over the back of her chair as if looking into the monitor with her. Putting his lips close to the shell of her ear he asked, “If the owner did see and asked you about it, what would you say?” He inhaled slowly, as her scent wrapped around him, heating his blood.

Envy started to turn her head to look up at him but stopped. The sensations he was causing with his nearness had spread out across her shoulder and up the side of her neck. “I was just being mean,” she breathed, feeling heat pooling again in her midsection. This guy was dangerous to her senses. She didn’t know whether to turn around and lick him or run for cover.

The corner of Devon’s lip hinted at a smile but he didn’t move from his position, “So, you go around tasering guys all the time for no good reason?” He could smell her arousal spike and it was making his pants uncomfortably tight.

“No,” Envy was glad for the distraction when she grabbed an ink pen from the little holder in front of her and started filling out the app. “Only the ones that really deserve it,” she answered, not wanting to talk about it.

Devon stood to his full height and fought the urge to pull her out of the chair and sit her on the desk facing him. As it was, he was already rubbing her silky hair between his fingers where it had spilled over the back of the chair.

He stayed silent while she filled out the application and he read it over her shoulder taking in every word. Envy Sexton, and the cougar and vampire clubs were thankfully missing from the extended list of clubs where she worked. He knew with a couple of quick phone calls he could free up most of her time by telling the other clubs to leave her off the schedule. He didn’t feel like sharing this little wildcat.

Envy finished the app and started to stand up but Devon placed his hand on her shoulder to keep her there. He quickly took the paper from her and started for the door.

“Stay here. I’ll be back in a few minutes with an answer,” Devon reached for the doorknob but paused when she spoke.

“What’s your name?” Envy asked, wondering if she shouldn’t just give the paper to the owner herself. Maybe she could even get the interview out of the way.

“Devon Santos,” he answered, then disappeared out the door before she could stop him.

He’d known Nick was waiting right outside the door because he could smell him. Handing the paper to Nick, Devon informed him, “We have a new bartender.” He waited as Nick looked the paper over knowing his brother was looking for the same things he’d already checked.

Nick had run off a couple of vampire groupies and one vampire who'd slipped in and it had ruined his mood for the night. He hated vampires and any human that was stupid enough to hang out with them. Not seeing any indication that this girl was associated with them and smelling his brother’s arousal the girl had caused, Nick decided to let Devon handle his own affairs.

He finally handed the application back, “Tell her to leave the taser at home.” Nick eyed his brother for a moment before adding, “Kat said the guy she tasered was her boyfriend and the guy who hauled him off in handcuffs was her brother.”

“That boyfriend of hers had a gun. I could smell it.” Devon shrugged, even as his eyes narrowed, “Maybe he wasn’t so good of a boyfriend.”

“You might want to be careful around that one.” Nick shook his head, as even more interest flared within his brother's eyes. “If you want her, then you’re in charge of controlling her while she’s here.” Nick gritted his teeth when he caught a whiff of vampire. Without another word, he took off back up the stairs.

Envy glanced around nervously and saw an elevator she hadn’t noticed before. She raised a delicate eyebrow seeing it had a keypad instead of a simple button. She tapped the pen on the desk wondering how long she should wait. She still needed to find out if Chad really arrested Trevor or just made him leave the club.

She glanced around the desk to try to get her mind off it for a moment. She was a born investigator just like her brother, though Chad tried to hide that fact. Truth was, Chad would make a great detective. He told everyone he was just a beat cop but that wasn’t anywhere near true. He was the leader of the SWAT team.

She finally looked down at the paper she'd absentmindedly picked up. It was a supply receipt. Her gaze trailed across the billing information to see the name at the bottom. She slammed the piece of paper back down on the desk. Devon Santos… damn him. He was one of the freaking owners and had let her think he was just a dancer.

At that moment the office door opened and Devon stepped back in. “When do you want to start?”

*****

Nick rushed across the dance floor and up the stairway leading to the entrance. He pushed open the door with more force than necessary and glared at the man trying to get past security. Since most of the bouncers were shifters, they could smell a vampire even when there were no outward signs.

The fashion sense of a normal vampire around the city seemed to stem from the Goth crowd. In the last few months, however, about ten wearing business suits or just regular club clothes had attempted to get in. That’s the reason they relied so much on scent now rather than appearance. Rule number one… no vampires were to pass without one of the owner’s permission.

“What’s your business here?” Nick asked, trying to sound professional because of their human audience. The man tilted his head to the side and gave a wicked smile that made Nick’s stomach churn.

“I’d like to go in.” Raven said, as his pupils enlarged, using his powers to enthrall anyone that was capable of falling under the vampires compulsion spell.

Nick eyed him up and down. The guy had black hair with dyed neon pink ends that hung low over his face. He was young; probably not even twenty-five, with very pale skin and heavy eyeliner around his eyes. His lips were done up with black lipstick, even his nails were painted black.

“Sorry mister…” Nick stood very still watching the vampire’s every movement. No matter the size or age, vampires were dangerous and not to be underestimated.

“Raven, call me Raven,” the man answered, wondering just how far you could push a jaguar.

“Sorry Raven, we’re at capacity.” Nick explained, as he wrapped his fingers around his two shot derringer, that was deep within the pocket of his leather jacket. It had hollowed-out silver bullets filled with holy water. The corner of his lip hinted at a sadistic smile, as he felt the wooden blade of the bone handle knife attached to his forearm.

“Then why are these people all still standing in line?” Raven asked, seeing the golden tint start to override the jaguar’s irises.

Nick smiled but it felt like he was gnashing his teeth. “They have reservations.”

Raven’s eyes shone in the dim light for a moment looking like they were glowing ominously with inner fire. Nick descended the three steps to street level and placed himself between Raven and the crowd of humans, then he leaned close to Raven’s ear.

“Leave now, vampire,” he whispered with cold calm, as he pressed the point of the wooden dagger against Raven’s ribs where no one would see it. “You’re not getting in.”

Nick straightened up and folded his arms in front of him so it would be but a quick jerk to stab him with the dagger. “I’m sorry sir, have a good evening.”

Raven smiled again, this time almost pleasantly, “Oh, I plan to.”

He turned away from the door and started walking down the street with his hands buried in the pockets of his black jeans and whistling an ominous-sounding tune. When the jaguar leaned down to whisper in his ear, Raven had seen his master slip past them and into the club. He hadn’t seen Kane for some time. In fact, this was the first time in several weeks, even though he’d felt his sire’s eyes on him many times.

What surprised Raven was that Kane would willingly walk into the den of his enemies. The Master had told him the story of being buried alive by the leader of this jaguar clan. Did his master have a plan of his own?

‘They framed you my master, but this time I’m making sure the blood is on their hands.’ Raven whispered to himself before blending in with the shadows. He knew he wouldn’t have to wait long. He could still smell the blood of his latest victim as the scent floated on the breeze toward Moon Dance.

*****

Kat watched as Chad and Jason helped the unfortunate boyfriend out of the club… in handcuffs. They always said curiosity killed the cat, but she just had to find out what they planned on doing with him. If nothing else, just to keep her from wondering about it for the rest of the night.