Undying Embrace by Jessica Lee Page B

motioned for them to enter. Arran glanced over his shoulder and in her direction. Elle gave him a slight nod that said she was playing along, waiting for his next move.
    …
    The door he sent them through hid a stairwell that appeared to lead to an underground level. The wooden steps creaked under Arran’s weight as he descended. The only light in their path came from the red glow of the wall-mounted sconces lining the wall to his left.
    By the time they’d reached the bottom of the stairs, Gabrielle’s heart pounded away in his head. He waited for her to come within arm’s reach at his side. Once there, he reached out and slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her in close. She didn’t protest. He needed to keep up the pretense anyway; they were a couple out on a date. At least, that was his story.
    Keeping pace with the guard, they crossed the expanse of the basement. The sudden intake of air from Gabrielle drew Arran’s attention. Her gaze was riveted to the various instruments lining one wall to their right. It seemed what David had told him about the former master and Markus had been true: their interest lay with the darker side of pleasure. Various whips, ball gags, and masks were out for display on a metal wall unit. And sitting below them, the pièce de résistance: a rack, complete with what looked like well-used leather restraints. Nice.
    A shiver, coming off her, brought his attention back to the woman at his side. Yeah, his thoughts exactly. There were some serious Marquis de Sade fantasies happening here.
    Their Goliath tour director of the underworld turned right and headed down a walled-off section of the basement. Arran started to follow, but the glint of metal caught his eye from the opposite end of the hall. He swung his head around. Fuck. He hadn’t seen cages like that in probably close to a hundred years. Not since the time he’d worked for the master of Eastern Virginia’s territory. There was no mistaking why this master possessed them: vampire imprisonment. Steel cages plated with silver to prevent a vampire from either manipulating the bars or phasing through them. If a vampire was stupid enough to try passing their molecules through the bars, he or she wouldn’t like the end results when they tried to put themselves back together again. Not pretty.
    Arran’s gaze returned to the dark vampire who had halted at a large wooden door at the end of the hall. Well, damn, what an interesting assortment of goodies the former master had stashed away down here. It seemed he’d once wielded quite a bit of power.
    The vampire guard rapped twice on the door with his knuckles, then twisted the knob and entered. He glanced over his shoulder and indicated with a jerk of his head for them to follow him inside. They entered the room to find an office, quite normal in appearance really, compared to the edgy shit they’d seen on the way in. A large wooden desk filled one wall of the room with a thick leather chair on the other side. Two straight-back chairs sat in front. An assortment of books lined the wall at the other end of the room, while a flat-screen TV sat right in the center. The image on the screen flicked every few seconds from various camera angles throughout the club. Good to know.
    “Sit,” Goliath commanded in his deep caveman voice and pointed to the two chairs in front of the desk. After guiding Gabrielle to one of the chairs, Arran lowered himself into the other beside her.
    As soon as his ass met the wood, another door, this one on the opposite wall of the one they’d come through, opened. A male, rather ordinary in appearance, sauntered into the room. His brown hair was slicked away from his face, thanks to the product he’d combed into it. The ends brushed the collar of the white button-down he wore beneath his average gray business suit. His clothes certainly didn’t scream power. But he carried the aura of someone used to demanding and having others who obeyed. Hello,