Frightful Beginnings Read online

  The door to the limo opens up and Beckham’s face schools into a plastic smile. I used to be jealous when I thought of all the women that he constantly had to get up close and personal with on his movie sets, until the first time I saw him smile in one of his films. There was such a stark contrast between the smiles he reserved for me, and the fake ones that he used for his job, that all my insecurity washed away. That didn’t mean I didn’t want to stab all of the girls, or that I could stomach watching any of the said love scenes, but I considered it progress.

  Beckham purposefully helps Lexi out of the car first. While Lexi basks in attention like this, crowds could be overwhelming for me. Having both of us as his date was a concession Beckham had made for Mason and Damon so that all the attention wouldn’t be on me.

  The first thing I notice when I get out of the limo is that most of the crowd is dressed up in an assortment of Halloween costumes. I realize that this is a premiere for the new horror film I’ve seen trailers for everywhere when I see the giant banner that frames the side of the hotel that we are walking towards. I realize that I stupidly never asked Beckham what movie we were going to see in my excitement that I was going to an actual movie premiere.

  We begin the long walk down a black carpet that stretches the length of the walkway and that perfectly matches the scary feel the organizers were obviously going for. There’s a haunting soundtrack playing that I can barely hear over the roar of the crowd. A crowd that is going absolutely crazy over the appearance of Beckham. Lexi and I stand back while he greets the crowd and signs some autographs. A fan dressed as Princess Leia yells something and points over to where Lexi and I are standing. Beckham takes a look towards us and then winks slyly at the fan. Lexi and I burst into laughter when the girl about faints. I don’t blame her though. Beckham still has that effect on me and the man has seen me naked.

  We continue to walk the carpet, stopping now and then so that Beckham can give some autographs. There are cauldrons set up along the black carpet, smoke drifting from their depths. Special effects create images of bats flying back and forth across the carpet. We’ve almost made it to the end when that itching feeling floats across the back of my neck again. I turn quickly around, searching the crowd to see if I recognize anyone. I almost trip on the carpet when I think I see Eric staring right at me from a spot in the crowd. When I actually focus and try to get a closer look, he’s gone. I look across the crowd trying to see if I can spot him, but there’s no sign of him. Did I imagine him?

  I forget all about maybe seeing Eric when Beckham pulls me into the building. My jaw drops. The entire lobby of the hotel is decorated like a haunted mansion. Cobwebs and black nets adorn the ceiling. The lights are dimmed and covered with something to make them look old and dusty. Waiters dressed as corpses carry around themed food like “witches’ fingers” and “mummy corn dogs”. It’s all delightfully campy and a far cry from the formalness that I imagined a movie premiere would possess.

  After grabbing some snacks, we head to our seats. The lights dim and the screen starts to flicker, signaling the start of the movie. As we watch the movie, Lexi basically crawls on top of me in terror. When a small, eerie looking child suddenly appears in a mirror that the main character is looking in, I almost get strangled by Lexi trying to get as close to me as possible. I jump at a few scenes as well, but Beckham and I spend the majority of the movie being entertained at Lexi’s reactions to the movie. Note to self, watch more scary movies with Lexi...and record her.

  When I’m not laughing at Lexi (side note, apparently it’s frowned upon to laugh during a scary movie premiere), I’m being distracted by Beckham. All of the heat that I was feeling during his seduction in the car comes roaring back with one touch.

  It starts out innocently enough with him simply holding my hand. Holding my hand soon turns into him stroking my hand. He then takes our entwined hands and moves them to sit on my knee. Before I know it, his hand is making its way back under my dress. My hormones feel like they’re playing a game of cat and mouse. Lexi will scream at a scene and Beckham’s hand will jump back to my knee. After awhile, his hand will start to creep up and the game starts again. I’m going to go crazy.

  Before anything can happen to ease the ache building inside of me, the movie ends in a grisly scene where the heroine stabs the killer in the chest. I’m somewhat afraid that horror scenes are going to become an aphrodisiac for me after what Beckham just put me through. The lights in the room get brighter and everyone starts clapping.

  “That was so good!” announces Lexi. Beckham and I just look at her in befuddlement since she just spent the last two hours cutting off all the circulation in my right hand while simultaneously screaming and jumping out of her seat like someone was attacking her.

  “What? Horror films are my favorite,” she says in response to the looks we are throwing her. “Now where’s the after party?”

  Beckham just shakes his head at Lexi while smiling at her indulgently. “It’s at Riot actually. Ironically the perfect setting for a horror film afterparty, although none of these people would know why.”

  Lexi and I exchange looks. Neither of us is going to forget our last night at Riot anytime soon. Between the vampires and the specters, I had conveniently left all the excitement out when I told the guys about our girl’s night out. They worried enough about me.

  “Are you actually going to let Eva go to a vampire club?” Lexi asks in surprise.

  Beckham seems nonplussed about the fact that Lexi knows about the vampire aspect of Riot and I wonder, not for the first time, if the guys keep closer tabs on me than I know about.

  “Vampires are just as interested in maintaining their anonymity as the rest of the paranormal world. At least the ones that frequent Riot aren’t going to be making anyone a snack unless it’s consensual. Plus, Eva’s not going to be leaving my sight,” Beckham says matter of factly.

  Lexi rolls her eyes in response to the possessiveness in Beckham’s voice, but I know she’s not really annoyed. Lexi loves that I have people in my life that care for me, even if she loves to push the guys’ buttons when they get a little crazy over me.

  Beckham’s handler, a severe looking woman that looks like she knows how to run things, leads us out a back entrance into an alleyway to avoid the crowds. A little shiver goes down my spine. Alleys and I are not friends. Basically every traumatic and terrible thing that has happened to me since I escaped from the Andersons’ has begun in an alley. We walk to where the Limo is waiting for us at the end of the alley, and I find myself jogging a bit to get in the car as fast as possible. That feeling that I’m being watched is stronger than ever and I feel the urgency to get away from any prying eyes as soon as I can.

  “Eva, is everything okay?” asks Beckham after we get into the limo. I can sense Lexi’s worried eyes on me as well.

  I nod and smile in a hopefully reassuring way, trying to shake off the sense of foreboding I have.

  “I just hate alleys,” I say softly, and the mood in the limo becomes instantly somber with everyone remembering everything that has happened lately.

  3

  Lexi tries to lighten the mood by making the three of us take a round of shots before we go into the club. Luckily, we’re going through the front entrance instead of the exit in the back. I’m not sure that I would be able to get out of the car if that’s where the driver had taken us.

  The line outside of the club stretches around the entire warehouse. It’s about twice as long as it was the time Lexi and I came here, I assume because of the fact that anyone allowed entry will also be partying with movie stars.

  We go down the familiar narrow corridor that’s covered in neon graffiti and I hear the faint sounds of thumping beats as we walk towards the inner door that leads to the club. A bouncer lets us in, and I’m immediately engulfed in the humid heat that comes from a million people sweating in close proximity to each other. Beckham points to the bar since it’s impossible to talk over the song that’s blasti
ng into the air. I nod, and he takes my hand, while I drag Lexi behind me. She follows me begrudgingly since she of course had already found a prospective prey for the night as soon as we walked through the door. The otherworldly shininess of the purple mohawked man’s skin gives me the suspicion that he is probably either a vampire or some other paranormal creature. He reluctantly watches us walk away, a little hungrily it seems, and I decide to try and help Lexi find a guy that doesn’t look like he’s going to eat her for dinner after she makes out with him.

  As we walk to the bar I notice that most of the crowd is dressed up in costumes. There’s plenty of sexy witches, army girls, and little red riding hoods in the crowd, along with an assortment of traditional costumes as well. I can’t help but laugh at some of the patrons who are dressed up as vampires. If they only knew how close they were standing to actual vampires… Looking around, I actually don’t see anyone besides purple mohawk guy and Beckham that has that perfect look to them that the vampires had the last time we were here. I wonder if they didn’t come out tonight knowing about the party and how crowded it would be. Remembering how their teeth flashed in the strobe lights, I give an involuntary shudder. I think I would prefer that they not be here, even if both Beckham and Lexi act like their harmless.

  After we get our drinks, Beckham leads us to a VIP section that was set up for the attendees of the premiere. Lexi begins to dance manically with every hot guy in the vicinity, while Beckham begins to move against me. It would be nice if he was bad at something, but I’m thanking the stars that dancing is not that something. His moves are pure sex and I notice a million hungry stares eyeing him. I lose myself in the pulsing beat of the music and the sensation of his hands as they travel all over my body. The ache that had started in the limo on the way to the premiere is becoming an inferno, and I feel like my body is going to explode. My head feels light, as if it’s about to float away, and I almost feel high with the amount of sensations I’m feeling.

  I’m yanked back to reality when a deliciously familiar voice sounds through the club. I stop dancing and look around, hopeful that it isn’t just one of his tracks. Much to my delight, and Beckham’s chagrin judging by the growl I just heard, Mason’s sitting on a stool on a small stage on the other side of the dance floor. I had never noticed the stage was there until now. Even though the room is almost filled to capacity, I can feel his eyes locked on me. In the dim lighting of the club, his normally indigo eyes look almost black.

  Beckham moves silently behind me and wraps his arms around me. Trapped between Mason’s intense stare, and Beckham’s taut body, the feeling that’s been building spikes so high that I feel like I’m going to faint. Mason starts to sing a cover of “Zombie” by the Cranberries, and I swear every person in the room is on the verge of exploding. His succubus power appears to be on high alert tonight.

  In your head

  In your head

  Zombie, zombie, zombie, ei, ei

  What's in your head?

  In your head

  Zombie, zombie, zombie ei, ei, ei, oh do do do do do do do do

  Mason screams the lyrics, his voice a perfect symphony as he effortlessly switches pitches. The energy in the room spikes, and I’m sure that it’s easy for him to feed tonight with the lust that’s hovering in the air. Throughout the entire song his eyes stay locked onto mine. Just like with every time he sings, I feel like he’s locking on to my soul and unraveling me piece by piece, only to put me back together again by the end of the song. The last notes of the song hover in the air and it’s almost like the room takes a collective breath before they all go absolutely crazy, screaming and crying for more. Mason takes one last look at me, his eyes beckoning me to him, before he disappears behind a curtain.

  I hesitate to follow after him, first looking up at Beckham to see his reaction. He looks unexpectedly resigned, and he gestures to a hallway that must lead to wherever Mason went.

  “Come right back if he’s not there,” says Beckham sternly, and I nod and give him a scorching kiss that’s filled with unspoken promises before heading to find Mason.

  I feel like there’s an invisible string pulling me forward. The hallway is empty besides a few couples who are getting hot and heavy. I stumble for a second when a guy lifts his head from his partner’s neck and I see blood dribbling down from his mouth when he flashes me a grin. I hurry past them, after seeing that the girl he is with looks to be having a good time. I guess whatever floats your boat…

  I continue on to the end of the hallway, my body sensing Mason is nearby. Suddenly, I’m pulled behind a curtain. My heart starts hammering fast, but it’s not with fear, it’s with lust. I would recognize Mason’s touch anywhere.

  The second we are behind the curtain Mason’s lips are on mine, the kiss going from zero to a hundred in a flash of heat so potent that I feel scorched. Before I met these men, I couldn’t imagine reacting to a man like this, certainly not after everything I had been subjected to in my foster families. Everything I experience with Mason and the others is like a shock to my system.

  I briefly realize that we are in some sort of fully furnished room that must be behind the stage Mason was just on, before Mason is easing me back onto a sofa. Every stroke of his tongue against mine consumes me even more. He works his hand up the side of my body and I arch my back, pressing against him, desperate for more. I forget that we’re in the back room of a crowded club and I pull his shirt up and over his head, breaking the kiss briefly before attacking him again. Thanks to Beckham’s earlier ministrations and Mason’s singing, I’ve become the attacker in this scenario. Mason slides the straps of my dress down my arm and pulls the front of my dress down in front. The sharp punch of desire that occurs when his skin and mine come together is electrifying. My fingers can’t help but comb through his long hair, pulling the strands out of the bun he always has it carelessly thrown up in. His hand wanders down my back, leaving a trail of fire in its wake.

  I fear that I’m going to burst into flames when he begins to kiss everything he can reach. He starts with my neck and works down my chest and the upper slopes of my breasts. I’m straining against my bra and crying out with pleasure.

  “We...need...to...stop,” he says in between his torture of my skin.

  The words don’t register. I can’t even comprehend why he would say such a thing. He nuzzles his face in between my breasts before becoming still. I stop breathing for a moment in anticipation of what he’s going to do next.

  He suddenly yanks himself back, breathing heavily as if he just got done sprinting instead of ravaging my body and my poor libido.

  “What are you doing?” I ask, my voice coming out in a panicked cry.

  “Our first time isn’t going to be in the back room of a club,” he grits out, as if the words are truly painful for him to utter.

  He stands up and I mewl out painfully, my poor body now so sensitive thanks to Beckham and Mason’s teasing that I’m not sure I can move.

  “Come on love,” he says, pulling his shirt back on and running his hand through his now deliciously tousled hair. Seeing that I haven’t moved, he then reaches out a hand to pull me up off the couch, trying to hide his grin at my current state at the same time.

  At least one of us seems to have recovered.

  Pouting, I let him lead me down the hallway. Beckham bursts into laughter when he sees us, my frustration evidently written all over my face.

  “Didn’t get a happy ending?” he asks in a teasing voice.

  I can see the hint of relief in his eyes however, and not for the first time I wonder how close to the breaking point the guys are with this situation.

  Before I can dwell too much on the issue, Beckham pulls me towards him and gently kisses my forehead. He then rubs his chin, which currently is sporting a light layer of scruff, across the top of my head.

  “Ouch,” I say with a laugh, pulling away from him.

  “What are you doing?” I ask, smoothing my hair back into place.

&n
bsp; “Making you smell like me again,” he admits with a bashful grin.

  All awkwardness goes away with Beckham’s admission, and I can feel Mason’s chest moving as he laughs behind me. The scene is almost perfect, with the exception that a certain angelic heartbreaker is missing. He told me that he had football tonight, but I wouldn’t complain if he somehow found his way here. I’m never complete unless they are all with me.

  4

  The hours tick by. I’ve been trapped between Mason and Beckham for most of the night, not that I’m complaining, with Lexi popping in occasionally to make her presence known. Looking around the room that’s throbbing with strobe lights and sin, I can see that I’m not the only one feeling lustful tonight. It’s a little strange to see men in giraffe suits humping girls dressed as Tinkerbell, but evidently that’s Halloween for you.

  The temperature in the room is almost unbearable and there’s a thin layer of sweat collected on everyone’s bodies. Mason’s gone so far as to take his top off and now that I’m not trying to climb him like a tree, I can admire his perfectly sculpted body. He’s leaner than Damon and Beckham, but no less pretty. Tattoos cover every inch of his torso which also has a sheen on it from the heat. My eyes are automatically drawn to the tattoo on his chest that’s just for me. Where before “lust over love” was written as a reminder to him that love wasn’t real, “everlasting love” and my name now replaces it. I can’t help but sigh over the gesture. I know that it’s a tale as old as time for a guy to get a tattoo for a girl, but now that I know our history, I can’t help but find it deeply meaningful. I like having a symbol of my place in his heart visible for everyone to see.

  “Let’s get a drink,” yells Lexi by my ear, preventing me from being sucked into a lusty haze for the millionth time of the night.