#gem roux

[persiandreamgirl]

A Moment's Pause

After the ceremony, Kezaiya and Felipe descended from the dais, and began making their way through the assembled vampires to towards the door. A dinner dance was planned, of course, but first they, and their guests needed to vacate this ballroom and make their way to another. Kezi realized that short trip might take longer than she thought when she and Felipe were promptly surrounded by well-wishers.

As they moved through the crowd, Kezi noticed several vampires eyeing the new couple speculatively when they thought no one was looking.It was possible that this union was not as protective as Felipe thought. Unfortunately, Kezi wasn’t willing to wait to find out. She’d had more than enough of Felipe and hi political maneuverings despite the fact that they had been wed less than 5 minutes. They reached the door at last and Kezi whispered to Felipe that she was going to go freshen her makeup.

“Take your time,” Felipe told her indulgently. “We can make a grand entrance once everyone else is in the ballroom.”

“I won’t make you wait too long,” Kezi smiled and teased before turning and signaling Gem with a nod.

The two females made their way to the Ladies Lounge. As soon as they stepped inside, Kezi sank onto one of the floral sofas that Ladies Room were too often adorned with. Gem hurried over with a concerned look in her eyes.

“Are you all right?” Gem asked, even though she knew it was a stupid question. Vampires don’t have variable health.

Kezi raised her head and caught Gem’s eyes.

“I am fine,” Kezi said, effort creasing her brow.

Gem started to speak, then stopped, perhaps thinking better of asking why Kezi had agreed to be bound to Felipe when she obviously didn’t want to be. Kezi wondered whether her dislike for Felipe was that easy for others to see. Rather than commenting the girl smoothed some errant strand of hair back into Kezaiya’s updo then dug into the small bag now hanging from her wrist for lipstick and blush. Kezi glanced in the mirror as she rose to her feet and had to admit Gem managed to make her look totally refreshed with just a few touches. She smiled in approval, as the girl secure her train to the back of her dress so she could dance more easily.

They emerged from the Ladies Lounge a few minutes later. Gem fell back as they approached the King. Kezi held both hands out to her new husband with a smile. Taking them, he raised both to his lips before drawing her into his arms for a far more sensual kiss. Clearly the King was looking forward to the sensual side of their bonding. It made sense. They had been lovers in the past and both had enjoyed it. There was no reason they should not do so again.

“Your perfume is exquisite,” he whispered.

“That’s because it isn’t perfume,” Kezi told him cupping his cheek with her hand. “I have a very special gift for you this evening,”

Felipe’s smile widened as he contemplated the possibilities.

“Then let us not delay any longer,” turning he offered his arm to Kezaiya.

Taking his arm, Kezi answered his smile with one of her own. Gem stepped forward and opened the double-doors allowing the couple to make the first grand entrance of their union.

[rustedrubies]

Profit Motive

The weekend had been promising, though not for a reason Gem would ever have expected. Two promising bits of potential business had walked through the door. She only hoped she could close the deals. Odd that the vampire had been more confident than the Were about her capabilities. Maybe the Weres thought Tray had just given her a job to give her something to do. She couldn't blame them. The thought had crossed her mind, too. That made it even more important that one, if not both, the restoration deals from the weekend come through. Gem knew business had picked up since she'd started working with Tray. Most of that was probably the result of the economy and the fact that having Tray repair their vehicles cost people far less than a dealer did. Besides, lots of folks around here seemed to favor classic cars rather than the latest models so they could actually do something with them. At least some of the uptick in business had to do with her, although not her mechanical skills. There were at least three regular customers she could name that brought their vehicles in almost every week just to watch her work. Even some of the less regular customers made a point of bringing their rides in and stuck around longer than was necessary. Since they were all paying for the privilege of ogling her ass and mostly stayed out of the way Gem was inclined to let the situation be. Especially since she'd taken to charging the regulars by the hour. She just put in her ear buds, cranked up the volume and ignored the feel of eyes on her. So she wasn't too surprised that she had almost missed the arrival of Michael Conlon. She recognized him as the bartender from the Pub. His patter was as smooth away from the bar as it was behind it. Fortunately, Gem had Tray. The compliments and flirting were flattering but not really tempting. From his reaction when the girl showed up, he hadn't been flirting in earnest anyway. Gem hoped he was in earnest about the Charger. It wasn't her dream muscle car but it was a big improvement vehicles like old man Wallis' Ford. For a restored ride like that she'd overlook the not-so-subtle insult of wanting Tray to accompany her when she picked the car up. Hell, maybe it was a wolf thing. She'd never really studied Were culture. Maybe she should. The vampire on the other hand, she did understand. He was curious. Why wouldn't he be? Her attitude had been showing and she'd tipped her hand be knowing he was a vampire without being told. He was hiring people, but Gem really didn't want to be a day girl again. She was enjoying having a human life, not that she wasn't waiting for the other shoe to fall.... It crossed Gem's mind that Simon could be that shoe. Trying to find a place for her in his organization when they'd just met...it was too pat. Too easy. Thing was, she hadn't gotten the impression he knew anything about her, which was weird. She probably ought to talk to someone about the situation. Gem wished she and Vinny were still on speaking terms. That's who she would have gone to with something like this. Kezi made her uncomfortable, not to mention her age just gave Gem a headache. It was like this vast silent bell reverberating in her head. And Kyvan...Kyvan had his hands full with Mel if she wasn't very much mistaken. Love was a good thing, especially when it was unexpected, which was why she wasn't going to discuss Simon with Tray. She'd learned that lesson the hard way and wasn't going to make that mistake again, especially over a car. And one that could make them a good chunk of change. Grabbing a beer from the fridge Gem toyed with the many options in front of her. Things appeared promising, very promising. Gem just hoped they lived up to their promise. It was about time things started going right for her and Tray.