With my back pressed to the tiles, I groaned. This nameless guy, this barman, he was heaven in a scruffy beard. Thrusting his way to his pleasure, his hands gripped my thighs as his lips pressed against my neck.

I'd taken out my plate because life was difficult at the best of times, to have it in my mouth while trying to kiss this guy, it wasn't happening. The problem was, I now risked biting him. At the peak of pleasure, a vampire's hunger grew ferociously. I'd peaked several times, all caused by his constant and hard thrusting.

He knew no end, powering on without a hint of stopping. I was going to end up waddling out of the restroom because he was a generous size, something that created a lot of pleasure inside of me.

My hands gripped his shoulders, desperately trying to distract myself from the scent of his blood. It was a delicious scent, I ached to taste it.

The hot breath on my neck became heavier, a guttural groan slid over the skin. I stared at the ceiling and sighed. He survived. Clearly, this was a dangerous thing to do, I had to behave myself in the future. Either the human knew the risk or I'd keep to vampire partners.

Snapping my plate back in, I winced at the pain. My fangs hadn't fully retracted and the pressure coupled with the lack of feed made it hurt.

My body ached from being in one position for so long. I shifted my skirt down my legs as the barman pulled his pants up. Glancing at his watch, he offered a shrug.

"I gotta go."

Right. I stared in disbelief. I wasn't the fool to expect anything more than just the one time but that was a little harsh.

"Sure."

He smirked with a tip of his head, then opened the stall door. When the main door slapped shut, I sighed and leaned against the wall.

"What an ass," I muttered.

Lifting myself up off the wall, I ensured everything was in place before I ventured out of the stall. In doing so, I realized that he'd dropped his wallet. When I picked it up, I opened it and searched for his name.

I felt like I wanted to die. It was him. Henley Davenport.

"Damn it." I hissed.

Pushing through the doors, I made my way out of the pool hall and straight to the bar. A new barman was behind the counter, I searched and could not find Henley.

"Hey," I called out.

The barman wandered over.

"Where's the other barman?"

He leaned on the counter, tilting his head to one side.

"Why?"

"Dropped his wallet in the bathroom," I said, waving it at him.

The barman tried to take it, I pulled back and shook my head.

"Nuh-uh. Where is he?"

He chuckled and flicked his head at the door.

"Shift end. He's either gone home or to his favorite hangout. It's the little brick building next to the library."

After the obligatory nod of appreciation, I walked out of the pool hall and made my way to the library. The little brick building next to it was the community hall and the lights were glaringly stark.

Walking up the stairs, I was greeted by a middle-aged woman who handed me a pamphlet.

"Thanks," I said softly.

The hall was crowded, people sitting and listening to Henley as he began to speak. For a moment, he paused. He'd seen me but kept going, not wanting to lose his place.

Finding a seat, I sat down and listened to the rousing speech that was filled with pure hate for their incarceration and laying the blame with the vampire race for everything that was wrong with this world.

How he will freak out when he learns the truth, it made me smile.

Henley talked for a solid twenty minutes. I would have thought that his efforts in the bathroom would have him in need of rest but clearly not. When he was done, Henley stepped back to a crowd that stood and clapped hard. The eager crowd was soon settled, a new figure appeared on the stage, calling for calm.

He was in no rush to leave but I could see Henley looking my way constantly. The new person on the stage was demanding that action be taken, that they send a strongly worded letter to the king of the vampires.

I wanted to laugh. A letter? Alaric wouldn't give it a moment of his time, that is if he was actually given the letter. It was more likely that his secretary would file the letter in the trash and not give it a second thought.

The thought of this demand was curious. How could anyone think that Henley was this masterful slayer that had eluded the army for many years when they were spouting this nonsense? Something was not right here. Added to that was how easily I found him.

Maybe this was just a cover for the truth. Pretend to be a passive activist but the reality was something far deadlier. Which was the right one? Passive or aggressive?

I waited until the end, eager to hear everything. This wave of outspoken human was great in some respects but in others, it was a war waiting to happen. The more information I could gather, the better. I could see that this was more than just Henley. How deep did this run?

When the speaker finished, he gestured to a doorway that led to the back room where refreshments were offered. The chance to mingle with other likeminded souls was too great to pass up. They rushed to the door, cramming into the tiny space just to get into the area.

As much as it would be interesting, I decided against going in there. Maybe it was a risk that I didn't want to take, maybe there was something more interesting waiting for me at the other side of the stage.

Henley stared, watching me as I approached. With a cocky smile, I waggled his wallet at him.

"You left your slipper behind, Cinderella."

"Ah," He said with a soft laugh. "Thank you."

He pocketed it without checking the contents. Was there a lot of money in there? Yeah, there was a fair amount.

"I didn't take anything."

"I'm glad. I didn't even get your name."

"Claudia Robards."

Henley was right in front of me and yet, I could not bring myself to taking him down. For the first time ever, I felt fear.

Staring, I stepped back. I had to get away and I had to do it fast. It was fine, I'd admit failure to Alaric and enjoy the next century of his teasing.

"Let me make it up to you."

My head shook, it was vague and held no weight.

"Come on, let me square up the debt. Not stealing my money, bringing my wallet to me and for you know, earlier. It's not my thing to run like that but I was late, you know?"

Again, I stepped back. Henley moved, closing the gap that I'd created.

"I didn't even get your name before we got to know each other. I'm Henley."

"I know," I whispered.

"Right, the wallet. You should stick around, maybe I can recruit you for the cause."

My heart raced as I reached up and pulled the plate out of my mouth. Henley stared at me, specifically the fangs.