The Recruit (Book Six), page 7
“I’m sure you probably could,” Olivia said. “You’d just need, like, an escort or something. I’ll talk to Mannie and ask him what they usually do in this situation.”
“Thanks,” Clem said. “Enjoy your run.”
Miranda and Olivia left the room and Clem settled back on the couch, tucking her feet up under her and studying the room. With its multiple couches and armchairs, the foosball table, and the flat screen TV bolted to one wall, it reminded her of a common room at a university.
She tried not to tense when the door opened and half a dozen people walked into the room. Their conversation slowed as they stared at her. She considered bolting for the open door when a dark-haired woman wearing yoga pants and a tank top walked over and plopped down on the couch next to her.
“Hey, I’m Michelle.”
“Clementine.”
“Nice to meet you,” Michelle said. “You a new recruit?”
“Don’t be stupid.” A man with a shaved head and a truly awful mustache sat next to Michelle. “You know Mannie and Will already said there aren’t any new recruits coming in after ours.”
“Considering half the fucking town is full of vamps now, it’s probably a bad time to have a shortage in recruits.” Another man with light brown hair and a pock-marked face headed toward the foosball table. “Nicole, hit the table with me for a bit.”
A tall and muscular blonde woman followed him to the foosball table as a handsome Black man joined Clem and the others. He held out his hand to Clem and she shook it before he sank into the armchair next to the couch. “I’m Dallas, but most people just call me Duke.”
“Hi, Duke, I’m Clementine.” She studied the tattoos that covered his dark skin. “I like your ink.”
“Shit, you’re the stripper,” the man with the shaved head said. “The one who got bit by the priest.”
Michelle frowned at him, “Don’t be an asshole, Colton.”
“What? What did I say?” Colton said. “She’s a stripper, that’s a fact.”
“He’s right.” A woman with the short powerful body of a wrestler and close-cropped dark hair sat in the armchair across from Duke. “I’m Lori. So, did you fuck the priest vampire?”
“Jesus, Lori,” Michelle said. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Just curious,” Lori said. “I saw him roaming the halls earlier. He’s hot. I’d fuck him. How many women can say they’ve fucked a priest, you know?”
“He’s not going to have sex with you,” Michelle said. “He’s a priest.”
“No, he’s a vamp. They’ll have sex with anyone,” Colton said. “Honestly, Lori’s probably got a shot, even with her terrible personality.”
“Fuck you, Colton,” Lori said. “How many women are begging you to eat their pussy with that overgrown caterpillar on your upper lip?”
Colton flipped her the bird. Lori ignored it in favour of studying Clementine. “Well, did you fuck the priest?”
“The priest has a name,” Clementine said. “It’s Nathaniel.”
“She fucked him,” Lori said.
“Shut up, Lori,” Michelle said. She turned to Clem. “Ignore her. She’s a bitch.”
“I might be a bitch, but at least I’ll pass our final tests this week,” Lori said. “I don’t care how much extra help Selena gives you, you’re gonna fail.”
“Hey, Lori?” Colton said. “Go get a goddamn snack or something, you’re hangry as hell.”
“Whatever, asshole,” Lori said before standing and leaving the common room.
“Don’t mind her,” Colton said. “She’s got issues from seeing her brother become a vampire juice box. But just out of curiosity… did you fuck the priest?”
“For fuck’s sake, Colton,” Duke said. “Let it go.”
“You were bit, right?” Michelle said to Clem.
“Yeah.”
“Are you joining the recruit program?” Michelle asked.
“No. But I’ll be working at the facility,” Clem said.
“That’s cool,” Michelle said.
Duke stood up. “I’m gonna get some yoga in before supper. You guys wanna join me?”
“I hate that fucking hippie shit,” Colton said.
“Only because you’re about as flexible as rebar,” Duke said.
Colton snorted but both he and Michelle stood.
“Yo, Blaine, we’re doing some yoga. You and Nicole in?” Duke said to the couple playing foosball.
“Blaine glanced at Nicole who shrugged and nodded.
“Nice to meet you, Clementine,” Michelle said as she followed the others toward the door.
“You too.” Clementine watched as the group of recruits left and two men walked into the common room. The sandy-haired one nudged the dark-haired one and they both looked in her direction.
She decided to leave, she’d had enough of meeting new people for one day, but the two men were fast on their feet. They were standing in front of her before she even had a chance to unfold her legs from the couch.
The sandy-haired one smiled in a friendly way and held out his hand. “Hey, you’re Clementine, right?”
“Yes,” she said and shook his hand.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Randall and this is Martin.”
She shook Martin’s hand and tried to smile at them when Martin took the armchair and Randall sat at the other end of the couch. “How did you know my name?”
“We don’t get a lot of new people who aren’t recruits,” Martin said with an easy grin. “And definitely not any as beautiful as you.”
She tried not to roll her eyes as Randall groaned and threw one of the couch pillows at Martin. “Dude, your compliment game is weak.”
“Harsh but fair,” Martin said. “I spend too much time building up these muscles.”
He flexed in an exaggerated casual manner. Clementine couldn’t help but laugh. “Does that ever work on a woman?”
Martin grinned at her. He was handsome with his dark eyes and muscular body. “Not once. But I keep trying because my mama didn’t raise a quitter.”
She laughed again and Randall said, “So, tell us, Clementine…”
She tensed and waited for them to ask her about stripping, waited for them to make some crude comment about her body or what the cost of a lap dance was.
Randall pointed to the foosball table. “You any good at foosball?”
“I swear to God, Clem, gamjees are a real thing. They smell terrible and they spit this disgusting slime,” Martin said. “Ask Randall. He was nearly blinded by them on a hunt.”
Clem stared up at Randall. They were paused in the hallway outside the cafeteria and the flow of people leaving the cafeteria had already dried up. Martin and Randall had invited her to eat dinner with them and she’d accepted. Olivia and Miranda hadn’t shown up from their run and the idea of eating dinner with Martin and Randall wasn’t an unpleasant one.
She’d had fun playing foosball with them and they’d kept the conversation light and easy. They’d been a little flirty but not in a rude way and they hadn’t once brought up her past as a stripper.
“It’s true,” Randall said. “It burned like a motherfuck – I mean, it burned really bad. Sorry for the language, Clem.”
“Barb thought he might be permanently blinded at one point,” Martin said.
“God, that’s awful. I’m sorry,” Clementine said.
Randall just shrugged. “Comes with the job, right? Besides, Martin and I have both been through more shit as Marines then we have as vampire hunters.”
“I didn’t realize they let recruits go out on hunts,” Clem said. “I thought you had to graduate first?”
“We’re in the final phase of graduating. Plus, we’re what you call,” Randall cleared his throat, “naturals at this shit. They only put us through the first round of training because it wasn’t fair to the other recruits. Otherwise, they would have just fast tracked us to weapons training.”
“Wow, that’s impressive,” Olivia said.
Both men made modest shrugs before Randall glanced at his watch.
“Sorry, I know you have training to go to,” Olivia said. “Thank you for having dinner with me. It was great getting to know you guys.”
She meant every word. It wasn’t often that she came across men who were genuinely nice and seemed interested in being her friend. Of course, she did spend a great deal of time at a seedy and second-rate strip club, so what could she expect?
“Actually, Martin and I were thinking of skipping training tonight,” Randall said.
“You can do that?” Clem said.
“We can do whatever we want.” Martin took a step closer and the hair on Clem’s arms stood up when he cupped the back of her neck and kneaded gently. “We’re kind of the top dogs around here.”
She smiled thinly, the little tingles of warning that were usually so reliable regarding men just starting to zap to life along her spine.
“How about you come back to our room?” Randall said. “We could, I don’t know, watch a movie, get to know each other a little better.”
“A little better,” Clem said.
“That’s right.” Martin smiled down at her. “You’re a beautiful woman, Clem.”
She took a deep breath and made herself smile at them. “Thank you, but I’ll pass.”
Randall stared blankly at Martin before turning to her. “You’ll pass?”
“Yes,” she said.
“C’mon, Clem, don’t be like that,” Martin said. His hand was still kneading her neck and she pulled away. He gave her a look of hurt. “Seriously? I thought we were having a fun time together.”
“We were, and now I have to go,” Clem said.
“Look, we’re all adults here. Let’s be honest with each other. We want to fuck you and you want to fuck us, right? So, come back to our room and -”
“I don’t want to fuck either of you,” Clem said.
“Of course you do,” Randall said. “I mean, why wouldn’t you? We’re way better than the men you fuck at the club and -”
“I don’t fuck men at the club,” Clem said. “I’m a stripper, not a prostitute, you asshole.”
“Is there really a difference?” Randall said.
She wanted to be angry, but she was mostly just tired. Tired of being treated less than, tired of thinking she deserved to be treated that way.
“I have to go,” she said.
“Are you sure?” Martin said. “Why don’t you come back to our room and give us a personal show. We’ll give you a bit of cash if that makes you feel better about it.”
“Sure will,” Randall said. “And if you’re really good at getting us off, we might even throw in a little extra for your extra effort.”
“You really are both assholes, aren’t you?” Clem said before pushing past them.
She walked down the hallway as Randall called, “What the fuck, Clem? If you weren’t such a fucking tease, we wouldn’t have asked you to come back to our room.”
She turned around and, walking backward, flipped up both of her middle fingers before kissing them delicately.
Martin and Randall glared at her before Martin grabbed Randall’s arm. “C’mon, the bitch isn’t pretty enough to put up with her shit.”
She turned and walked rapidly down the corridor. She turned a corner and then walked blindly down hallway after hallway. Her stomach was churning, her cheeks were hot, and it was hard to catch her breath.
How could she have been so stupid? Why did she think for even one second that men like Martin and Randall would want to be her friend? That they would see her as someone other than a stripper, see her as a real person with real feelings and –
She didn’t want to cry, not over assholes like Martin and Randall, but hot tears were flowing down her cheeks and she couldn’t stem them. She broke into a run, stumbling blindly around corners and hitching in shaky breath after shaky breath.
She was such an idiot. She deserved to be treated the way she was. Deserved to be seen as nothing more than a stupid girl who showed her tits for money. She’d never be anything more than a stripper and it was foolish to think she could be something more.
She ran around another corner, a harsh sob tearing from her throat. Blinded by the tears, she grunted in surprise when she ran into a big hard wall of cool flesh. She staggered back, staring numbly at Nathaniel as he grabbed her arms to steady her.
“Clementine? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said. “Nothing’s wrong.”
“You’re crying.” His thumb swiped across her cheek and he showed her the moisture on it. “Why are you crying?”
The kindness in his voice, the true concern she could hear in it, brought on a fresh surge of hot tears. She didn’t know who moved first, but she found herself pressed against Nathaniel, her face buried in his throat and his big hands rubbing soothing circles on her back as she cried her stupid face off.
“It’s all right, sweet Clementine,” Nathaniel said in a low voice.
Someone passed them in the hallway, she didn’t see who with her face smashed up against Nathaniel’s neck, but a surge of embarrassment went through her anyway. She hated to cry, and she hated crying in front of others even more.
As if he sensed her shame, Nathaniel reached for the door to their left. He opened it and ushered Clem inside, closing the door behind them and not objecting when Clem flung herself into his arms again.
He leaned against the door and rubbed her back as she cried into his shoulder. After a few minutes, the tears slowed and a tissue was shoved into her hand. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose before forcing herself to take a step back. She didn’t want to, she wanted to stay in Nathaniel’s arms forever, but how exactly would that help the situation?
She glanced around, studying the studio apartment with the small couch, bookshelf and tiny kitchen. A marble topped island separated the kitchen from the living area and a double bed was against the far wall.
“Is this your apartment?” she asked.
Nathaniel nodded and she smiled at him. “It’s nice. Are you allowed to have… guests?”
“No,” he said. “They’ve been surprisingly generous in what they allow me to do within the facility but having unsupervised guests in my apartment isn’t one of them.”
“I can leave,” she said.
“Do you want something to drink?” He crossed to the tiny kitchen and opened the fridge. “I have… water and blood.”
She laughed and slid onto a stool in front of the island. “Water would be great.”
He handed her a bottle of water and she took a sip. “Aren’t you going to have a drink?”
He shook his head and she scowled at him. “You can drink blood in front of me, Nathaniel. It won’t upset me.”
He sat down on the stool and she studied his long fingers as he tapped them on the island. “Why were you crying?”
She didn’t want to tell him, but those pretty blue eyes of his were staring directly at her and making her feel weird and … she blinked and looked away. “Are you trying to hypnotize me into telling you?”
“It’s called glamouring and no I’m not. Vampires only use it for,” he cleared his throat, “feeding and sexual purposes. I’m sorry that I used it on you before, but I promise I won’t ever do it again.”
She waved off his apology. “I know. Have you decided if you’re going to help them fight the vampires?”
“Why are you avoiding my question?”
She picked at the label on her water bottle. “Because the reason for the crying is stupid and I don’t want you thinking that I’m stupid.”
“I don’t,” he said.
“I didn’t even graduate from high school,” she said. “Made it halfway through grade twelve and just… quit.”
Clementine! What is wrong with you?
“That doesn’t make you stupid,” Nathaniel said.
“I feel stupid because of it,” she said. “It’s why I took the housekeeping position here at the facility instead of the admin one. I don’t want to clean goddamn toilets, but I can’t convince myself I’m smart enough to do anything else but that. Or strip.”
She blew her breath out. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said goddamn.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being a housekeeper or a stripper,” Nathaniel said, “but you’re smart enough to do more if that’s what you want. You should take the admin job.”
“How do you know that?” she said. “You don’t even know me.”
“I know enough.” He gave her a cute smile that absolutely did not make her think about what it would be like to sit in his lap and kiss him until she could feel his erection against her.
“I quit school because I met a guy,” she said. “My parents hated him, said he was an abusive control freak, but I didn’t see it. I just saw a guy who said he loved me. I moved out of their house and moved in with him and he didn’t want me going to school. Didn’t want me around temptation, as he put it.”
She grimaced. “My parents were right.”
“It can be hard to see abuse when you’re in love with the abuser,” Nathaniel said.
“I guess.” She took another drink of water. “The stupid thing is, I didn’t have a terrible home life, my parents weren’t abusive or anything like that. They were strict but they weren’t cruel. But I was a terrible kid and an even worse teenager and by the time I figured out that I was the problem, not them… it was too late. My parents were finished with me. My dad actually came right out and said that it was too hard to love me and they were tired of trying.”
“That must have been incredibly hurtful for you,” Nathaniel said.
She shrugged. “I deserved it. I was terrible to them.”
“Being a terrible teenager doesn’t make it okay for parents to give up on their child.”
She sipped some water and stared at the island. It was surprisingly easy to talk to Nathaniel. He had a gentle and non-judgemental vibe and she didn’t feel embarrassed or dumb telling him about her mistakes.
Of course he’s easy to talk to. He’s a priest.
He kept saying he wasn’t a priest anymore but he kind of acted like one. Which probably contributed to his hotness factor. Trying to unravel why she was attracted to not only someone who was completely off limits but could also kill her easily was a mess she really didn’t feel like deciphering.
