I’m not an impulsive person, but tonight I was feeling self-destructive—or maybe just stupid.  Incredibly stupid, to come to the hip, slightly derelict side of the city just because I’d been dumped…again.  My friends hadn’t wanted to come, but I’d managed to drag a few of them to the first club.  They’d looked around with distaste at the dimly lit, dirty, body-packed dance floor and immediately begged me to go somewhere else.  It definitely wasn’t our usual scene.

‘You know, David, a new wine bar opened uptown’ one of them had said.  ‘It would only take twenty minutes to get to Serendipity, they have live jazz tonight’ another suggested.

But I wouldn’t be dissuaded.  I’d ordered shots when they ordered watered-down beer (the establishments around Graveston didn’t bothering serving wine), and I was properly smashed within an hour.  They’d had enough and headed for the door.

Troy pulled me aside before following the others.  “You really should come with us.  Someone’s going to try to pick you up,” he said, eyes flitting around the questionable patrons, “and I don’t think you want the attentions of these kind of people.”

“Maybe that’s just what I need,” I retorted.  Not that I really believed I was going to get hit on.  Not only was I in jeans when every other guy was in skin-tight leather, but most of the men had chiseled features and cut bodies.  I had plain light brown hair, pale blue eyes, and although not in bad shape, I doubted I measured up to the ruggedly dangerous club-goers.

Rolling his eyes at my refusal, Troy tucked a card for a cab company into my pocket and gave me a sad shake of the head before leaving.

Fuck it, I thought.  I’m tired of keeping on the safe side of the street.

My most recent ex had been like all the others—nice, made a good living, easy on the eyes, etc.—and our relationship had drifted into the realm of ho-hum in under three months.  A record.  I always ended up in ‘Friendville’.  

The alcohol in my system made me feel bold, though—like I could start over and be someone else.  I went to the next club, one that was pumping music so loud I could feel the vibrations of the base about a block away.  The building was nondescript outside, but once you stepped in, the place looked like a glitzy, converted dungeon.  The walls were sleek black, the lighting pulsed with blue and red and purple.  It was better maintained than many of the places in the area, but the floors were still sticky and I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to see what the place looked like in proper lighting.  But the patrons definitely weren’t interested in lighting.  From the dark corners I could see entwined bodies moving in rhythm, and in a panicked moment, I wondered if they were doing more than dancing.

The shock of my surroundings began to sober me.  I headed for the bar.  After twenty minutes, I’d observed enough to know that the club wasn’t quite as bad as I’d originally thought.  I wasn’t about to be abducted or raped out in the alley, but it was by far the seediest place I’d ever been.  The dance floor writhed with sweaty bodies showing more skin than a beach.  I remembered dancing when I was just a young, stupid teenager, and how damn fun it had been.  I hadn’t hit thirty yet; I wasn’t an old man.  I was going to fucking dance.

I did, and it was both more exhausting and more erotic than I remembered.  I returned to the bar sweaty and satisfied.  I ordered a drink with water on the side, which I quickly downed.  I turned around and gazed out over the crowd as I nursed my bloody mary.  It was a tacky drink to get on this side of town and the bartender had given me a mild look of disgust when I ordered it.  I was too drunk for it to bother me.  Too drunk to remember that this part of town actually saw its fair share of vamps.

I just sipped my drink and considered heading back to the dance floor.  I almost did…then I saw him.  He was on the balcony above—dark, handsome, and vaguely dangerous for some reason I couldn’t put my finger on.  We made eye contact and when he smiled, my skin began to tingle.  My heart thumped louder in my ears than the music as I saw him head for the stairs and cross the room toward me.  The stranger moved with a predatory grace and even in the low light of the club he glowed pale...