Real Vampires Don't Wear Size Six(22)

"What are you going to wear?" I glanced in the tiny closet. The choices were similar and when he didn't answer, I grabbed dark jeans and a blue silk shirt the color of his eyes. I looked back and he'd fallen onto the bed, those beautiful eyes closed, the towel a heap on the floor.
Of course I looked my fill, savoring the way his broad shoulders tapered into a lean waist and his muscular legs ended in narrow elegant feet. And then there was that package with a piercing you know where. He'd added a diamond to the loop since I'd seen it last, and it sparkled . . . Never mind. Time was marching on and this man was still in no shape to sing. I knew of only one way to get Ray sober and ready in time.
"Ray, wake up." I climbed on the bed and jiggled his shoulder.
"Glory, babe." He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me on top of him. "Finally, I've got you where I want you. What's with the shades?" He grinned and pulled them off, tossing them on the floor. "What the hell?"
"A little accident." I sighed as he slid one hand under my sweater. "Stop it, Ray."
"No way." He found my breast, then grabbed my butt with his other hand. "Feel sooo good."
"Forget that." I propped myself up to get some space, desperately trying to ignore his clever hands, one of which had unclasped my bra, then gone to work on my breasts again. "You've got to drink from me."
"Ah, love that." His fangs were sliding out and rasping along my jugular in an instant. "You are so sweet." Then he was taking my blood, sucking it in with a hum as he slid his fingers inside my jeans and stroked my bum. I moaned, not immune to the pull of his mouth or his hands on my body.
I knew I wasn't going to let him do more than this bit of foreplay, but if I made an issue out of stopping him now, he might quit drinking, and he needed my blood.
The weakness that comes from maybe a little too much giving and not enough taking began to creep over me, making me lethargic. I gently pushed him away, finally having to use force because he was really into drinking from me. He collapsed back on the sheet, his eyes slitting open as he looked up at me.
"That was so fine." He grinned and then leaned up to kiss me, one of his hands grasping the back of my head to make sure I wasn't going anywhere. He put some serious effort into the kiss, like maybe he thought he was going to finally have me where he wanted me. I sighed into his mouth, wiggled against his questing hand, which had worked its way inside my panties, and almost didn't have the strength or will to roll away from him.
"How do you feel, Ray?" I dragged myself off the bed and stood next to it. The room spun and I had to hold on to the built-in bedside table to keep from falling over.
"Better, but not as good as I'll feel when we finish what we started." He grinned and held out his hand. "Come on, babe, don't be a tease."
"I'm not. You needed my blood so you could go out there and sing. I don't want you to disappoint your fans. That's all there was to that. Anything sexual was all on your part, not on mine. I just felt sorry for Nate, stuck with you and the fallout if you were a no-show." I stomped over to the kitchen, hoping to find at least one bottle of synthetic blood that didn't have alcohol in it. No luck. But I couldn't wait, so weak that I twisted off the top of the other and took a swallow.
"Good old Glory. Always the mentor. Shit." Ray got to his feet and stepped into his jeans, not bothering with underwear. Next he grabbed his shirt. "How kind of you." He took the bottle I'd opened and drained it. "Quit doing me favors. You putting out for Nate now? I know he's your favorite blood type."
I stared at him, my mouth open. "You know better than that. Don't be a jerk. And where's my thank-you? Don't you care that there are thousands of people out there who paid good money to see the famous Israel Caine perform?"
"Big fuckin' deal." He grabbed another bottle and opened it.
"Stop it!" I lunged for the drink. "I'm about to fall down, you drank so much, and you're going to ruin it by drinking that poison again? No way!"
"You are not my keeper, Glory St. Clair. Get the hell out. Tell Nathan to quit running to you to save my ass. If I want to kill myself, I will." He took another deep swallow of the synthetic. "Got it?"
"No. I can't let you do that. Why, Ray? Why are you so bent on self-destructing?" I didn't try to hide the tears that filled my eyes. "You have people who love you. You'll live forever. It's a gift."
"It's a fucking gift I didn't ask for and don't want." He finished the bottle and threw the empty against the wall, where it shattered. "Now get out. I've got a set to do. Go watch. You always were a fan." He grinned but it looked more like a grimace. "I'm good to go. Hell, I can do these things in my sleep."
I wiped away my tears, obviously wasted on him. But my heart broke. For Ray. I wasn't getting through to him and I guess it was true that an alcoholic had to ask for help and truly hit bottom before he would. I picked up my sunglasses and trudged to the door.
"Fine. I will watch." I opened it and almost bumped into Nate, who'd been about to knock. "I did the best I could. Good luck." I turned and looked at Ray, who was on yet another bottle. "I love you, Ray. Please remember that before you walk into the sun or whatever you think you're going to do to end this. Nate here does too. And your parents, fans. I guess none of us count, though." I sighed. He didn't even turn around or acknowledge what I'd said.
I joined the crowd, finding a spot next to Tiffany in the VIP section. The band was tuning up and the crowd was getting restless. When Ray finally staggered onto the stage, I knew this was going to be a rough night. I just didn't know how rough.
                       
       
           



       Eight

 

The set started off well. The band sounded great, Ray was energetic and the crowd went wild. Guess Ray had been right; he could do these things in his sleep or drunk. But he had a look in his eyes that I recognized. A dangerous look. He was on the sixth song, a fast one, when he started working the edge of the stage, leaning down to touch the women in the crowd who reached up to clasp his hand or tossed him a pair of panties or a bra.
It was actually pretty common at his concerts and he usually played it for laughs, tucking the thongs in his pocket with a wink or pitching the bras to his bass player, who sometimes wore the big ones like a cap.
Not this time. This time Ray leaned down to kiss three different women, lingering long enough that the crowd went completely insane. The big screen monitors over the stage gave everyone a good view of deep kisses with plenty of tongue. I wasn't jealous but worried. Ray looked wobbly and I had no idea if he could control his fangs when he touched these mortal women. The best I could hope for was that he didn't make them bleed and looked in their eyes at the end of the kiss to erase their memories of those sharp pointy teeth.
Luckily, song seven was a ballad and he staggered back to sit on a stool to sing with his lead guitarist. The occasional screams made him pause but he got through it, forgetting the words only once. Didn't bother this crowd. They knew his songs by heart and prompted him. He grinned and waved a thank-you, which just got the women in the audience even more excited.
Finally the end of the set was in sight. I knew it because Nate whispered in my ear that they could wrap it up with this song. It was Ray's greatest hit from last year, a fast, loud rock number that got everyone dancing, Ray included. His hip thrusts made the women squeal and reach for him, begging him to dance right into their arms.
His shirt was unbuttoned and he jerked it off, tossing it into the audience. The blue satin was shredded in seconds, leaving several women clutching pieces of it, tears streaming down their cheeks as they screamed his name. He never missed a beat, just kept singing and dancing along the edge of that stage like a tightrope walker. So dangerous.
I jumped up, afraid to lose sight of him when he bent down to kiss yet another woman. Damn it, he really was staggering now. More women grabbed at his black boots and snug jeans but he skipped out of reach, teasing them until he stumbled. He didn't fall though, just grinned and saluted, then aimed for the other side of the stage.
The music soared toward a dramatic conclusion and I tried to relax. Okay, he was going to make it. I guess I hadn't given him enough credit. Ray was a professional. He'd done this for years. And he'd done it drunk more than once when he was mortal too. Nate had told me that. As a vampire, Ray was stronger than he'd been before. I guess I should quit trying to mentor him and just let Ray go, let him live his own life.
Then he reached down to kiss one more woman and he disappeared, falling headfirst into the crowd. I held my breath and heard Nate curse beside me. Surely Ray would pop up any second now and wave to us, assuring everyone that he was all right. But it didn't happen. The crowd where Ray had landed was thick, too thick to give anyone space to work a way in. Unless they had a vampire's special gifts.
I whammied a path to Ray, staring into wide eyes and commanding obedience, until I got to where he lay on the concrete, stricken women hovering around him. The band had gone silent, clearly stunned that their lead singer had literally taken a dive midchorus.