Page 66 of Vampire's Choice
An unsettling thought, one Ruth didn’t think about too much.
While she might not have an invitation to solve Caleb’s deeper problems, she could maybe assist with his current one. She approached the strongman.
“Can I help?” she asked.
Caleb didn’t lift his eyes from the weights. “When Greygirl is okay with it, I can stand beneath her, put my hands on her belly and lift her. Mostly she prefers to wander up to the audience and take offered peanuts. Yvette believes she’ll turn the color of a peanut eventually and her name will be confusing.”
He was referring to the one elephant in the show, who’d been rescued from a sideshow zoo. Born and raised in captivity, she had health issues that prohibited any rehab and release options. They’d intended to place her at a sanctuary, but she liked the conditions provided for her at the Circus. She wasn’t required to be in the show, but she traveled with the troupe. She showed no interest in leaving the Circus grounds, except when they were in the in-between spaces. She explored the green spaces there, usually with a cloud of pixie Fae perched upon her. Or the young dragons.
She contributed to the show in her own way, however, wandering the midway, surprising and delighting the attendees. Trip, her primary caretaker, stayed with her, making sure no one did something unwise, like allow their toddler to sidle close enough to have toes pulverized by Greygirl’s feet.
Ruth had been warned Caleb didn’t follow a linear track in communication. But from the time he could talk, Adan had had his head up the ass of the universe, firing great cosmic magical questions at it, so she understood what the strongman was saying, half of it in his mind, half of it said aloud.
“You’re bored. You want more of a challenge today.”
He lifted his gaze and studied her thoughtfully. “Yvette tells me I’m not as strong as a vampire, but she’s never arm wrestled me.”
Ruth offered a deliberately fangy grin. “That sounds intriguing, but I have a different idea. Game to try it?”
At his nod, she came closer. He wore a workout tank and shorts that did little to hide how startlingly well-endowed he was. The man had a horse’s cock. She expected that attribute made him equally popular with the adult-only shows. “Lift me above your head, arms fully extended, me stretched out like a plank.”
His gaze covered her. “You weigh far less than I can lift. Even if you have that vampire no-buoyancy thing.”
“Wait for it, big guy.”
He shrugged. “I’m going to lift you to my shoulder and adjust you from there. Is that all right? Are you afraid of heights?”
Her mind went to her flight with Merc. A big no on that one, but she teased Caleb. “You’re tall and strong, but not that tall. And I don’t break easily, so I won’t be worried about being dropped.”
“I won’t drop you.” He looked appalled that she would think it was a possibility.
“Good.” As she put her hand on his shoulder, she noted it twitched under her touch, his eyes going to it.
It surprised her that casual contact outside a performance bothered him, but instinct had her injecting a gentle note to the question. “Is this okay?”
“Yes. Thank you for asking, my lady.” His voice was oddly formal.
“Just Ruth.” At a flicker of his expression, she amended, “Unless you’re more comfortable with my lady.”
He didn’t respond to that, but at her nod, he picked her up, shifting her over his shoulders. She crossed her arms over her chest, a la Dracula going to bed in his coffin, as he adjusted his palms beneath her.
“Lift me as high as you can,” she directed. “And brace yourself.”
Adan had shown her the “trick” after he’d used it to play games of strength with William and Matthew. When she chanted the words and focused the energy, she heard Caleb’s surprised grunt. Because she didn’t have Adan’s abilities or control, and she wasn’t a total sadist, she made sure her weight increased gradually.
Showing off, Adan had accelerated his so it was like a piano had been dropped from a great height. He’d enjoyed squashing Matthew beneath him like a bug. Boys. Just like the male pixie Fae and his friends.
She felt a fizzy sensation on her skin, a soda right as it was opened. To Caleb, it would feel like her weight was doubling, tripling, and so on and so forth…
As the obvious strain for his grip and shoulders increased, he braced himself, letting out a breath. A satisfied one. She was giving him the challenge he wanted. She’d crossed her ankles, so he wrapped his fingers around her leg between her closed thighs. His other hand was flat between her shoulder blades.
“When you take a knee, I’ll stop,” she said.
She heard whistles and catcalls, performers and workers encouraging the show. Caleb answered them by straightening elbows that had started to bend, thrusting her upward in a determined fashion.
“Can you river dance while you do that?” she taunted.
Hearing her joke, two of the clowns, wearing street clothes right now, jumped in on either side of him. They coaxed the serious Caleb into doing the Electric Slide with them. A radio was turned up, the Foundations’ “Build Me Up Buttercup.”