Page 5 of Ryder’s Storm

“Fine, the air conditioning it is,” Grayson said, a growl in his voice. He turned the temperature dial.

She couldn’t help but add, “Well, was that so hard?”

Grayson had the good sense not to reply. She wasn’t mad at him, not really. Rather, she was mad at the hand she’d been dealt. She was close to exploding. It was like PMS times a hundred. She knew that some of her girlfriends from college had the occasional PMS symptoms, but Scarlet always got a full blast of it. And when it happened, she had to get out of the house or she would climb up the walls. Cabin fever, she called it. Episodes was what her father called it.

When they reached Tomaso’s restaurant in the Mission, there was no parking anywhere close to it. Traffic was heavy in the neighborhood famed for its great restaurants and bars. It was hopping even on a weekday night. Scarlet had counted on it.

Grayson circled twice around the same block, but there was nowhere he could park.

“Come on, Grayson, just double park and let me jump out, or my food will get cold,” she said.

“No way. I’m not that stupid to let you go inside so you can run out the back exit and ditch me.”

Scarlet tossed him a glare. “Then you go in and get the food, and I’ll stay with the car.”

Grayson grimaced, before he finally stopped the car in front of the restaurant’s entrance, double-parking it. “Fine, but I’m taking the car key with me.”

Scarlet rolled her eyes. “Like I want to drive your precious car.”

Fuming, Grayson switched off the engine and got out. She watched him as he ran around the car’s front and rushed into the restaurant. She could see from where she was that the hostess was dealing with several customers, and Grayson would have to wait a minute or two. It was enough time for her to do what she needed to do.

The moment Grayson was inside the restaurant, Scarlet jumped out of the car and hurried toward the intersection, where a crowd of partygoers waited for the pedestrian light to give the walk signal. She quickly pushed through them, so that she ended up in the middle surrounded on all sides by people.

When the signal turned, she crossed the street with the other young people around her, and hurried to the entrance of the MUNI station. She ran down the stairs, already pulling out her monthly pass, so she could pass through the turnstiles. She heard a subway train coming, and hoped it was heading in the right direction. Moments later, she reached the platform, and looked at the display.

She was in luck. The train was an inbound train. It was busy, but she managed to get on it. She cast a look over her shoulder, her heart beating frantically, worried that Grayson had seen through her ruse and was on her heels. But she didn’t see him. She’d successfully shaken him off like a bad cold.

Scarlet let out a sigh of relief. She didn’t care if Grayson got in trouble for this, or even if he told her father. By now, her body had such an amount of pent-up energy that she had to do something about it. She could barely wait until the train finally stopped at the station closest to her destination. Once above ground again, she walked two blocks to a bar she’d been to before. There was no hostess or bouncer at the door, making it the ideal place for her to slip in and get changed.

Scarlet headed for the bathroom and went inside. Two girls were washing their hands, but the three stalls were empty. Scarlet chose the largest one, entered and locked the door behind her. Quickly, she rid herself of her sweater. Underneath it she wore a black bustier that hugged her breasts tightly. She took off her long black boots, an essential item for San Francisco’s notoriously cool weather throughout the year, and wriggled out of her jeans. Earlier, she’d stuffed a short skirt into her handbag, and she now pulled it out and slipped it on, then donned her boots again. She folded her jeans and sweater and squeezed them both into a plastic bag she’d brought. By the time she left the stall, the two women were gone. Scarlet stuffed the plastic bag containing her clothes into a cabinet that held extra toilet paper. With some luck, the bag would still be here when she came back later. If not, she didn’t care. She’d never much liked that sweater anyway, and she had plenty of jeans.

Scarlet stopped in front of the mirror and undid her ponytail. She shook out her black curls, then took off her glasses and slipped them into her handbag. She applied only a little bit of make-up, just enough to accentuate her blue eyes and her long black lashes. Her lips were a deep red even without lipstick.

When she looked into the full-length mirror, she didn’t see the unassuming PhD candidate looking back at her. No, the reflection was that of a temptress flaunting her curves, a woman with an unquenchable carnal need visible to anybody who cared to look. Now all she needed was the right man to quench that hunger for physical touch that was becoming more unbearable by the minute.

It was time to hit the nightclubs and let off steam.

3

Ryder had dinner at Carlito’s restaurant in North Beach. Even though he’d gorged himself on blood earlier, he enjoyed the human food Carlito’s served. Food choices in San Francisco were endless, and over the last few years he’d been to almost every place that offered good cuisine. When it came to blood, however, he had an absolute favorite: AB positive. Every blood type tasted slightly different. He found that AB positive gave him the right mix of sweet and tangy to satisfy his thirst. Most of the time, he drank bottled blood, which Scanguards procured via a medical company, and distributed to their staff for free. Many of the vampires Scanguards employed appreciated this service. But Samson, the founder and CEO of Scanguards, didn’t judge. If a vampire preferred drinking from a human directly, he didn’t stop them. He had only one rule: no human would be harmed in the process.

Ryder, on occasion, drank from the girls in Vera’s employ. Some of them were human, some vampires, but all of them were discreet and loyal to Vera. The human women knew about the vampires in their midst but kept their secret. Just as they kept Ryder’s secret.

After his dinner at Carlito’s, Ryder took a stroll through North Beach and made his way up the hill to Nob Hill, where Vera’s exclusive club was located. At the unassuming door of the stately corner building, he rang the bell and announced himself. Somebody buzzed him into the building. Inside, it looked like an elegant hotel lobby. Soft music came from loudspeakers in the ceiling, and the lush carpet under his feet swallowed his footsteps.

Vera, the vampire who ran the establishment, walked toward him with a smile. She was a petite Asian woman with stunning looks, who’d assisted Scanguards in several cases in the past few years. “Ryder, it’s been a while.” She hugged him.

“It’s been busy at work,” he said apologetically, though it wasn’t the reason why he hadn’t visited in almost a month. He’d wanted to see how long he could suppress his sexual needs. Apparently a month was his limit.

Vera released him and sighed. “I’m so sorry, Ryder, but none of the girls are available. There’s a big congress in town, and all the girls are triple-booked tonight. And you know I don’t like to make them take more than three bookings a night.”

“Oh, I understand,” Ryder said quickly, even though he was disappointed. But he knew Vera well enough to know that her first concern were the women who worked for her. They were treated well and paid even better. None of them was forced to do anything she wasn’t comfortable with.

“I should have called ahead. My fault.”

Vera squeezed his hand. “The clients will be gone in two days. Why don’t you come back then? And you can choose whom you want.”

“Perfect,” Ryder said and forced a smile to hide his disappointment. “Enjoy your evening, Vera.”