Two Men and a Lady Prequel

In the dark the throb of the music felt like a great cat rubbing its furred body across her skin; her pulse was the beat?s pulse. The old concrete floor was chipped but smooth and her feet slid across it while her fingers wove heavy glowing patterns in the air. She caught the DJ?s eye, watched him mouth a kiss at her. Jason threw the best raves. He knew the music she wanted and how to push a crowd to new heights. He knew what she wanted from the evening, what would happen as soon as Nadia took over to spin her own set.

To pass the time until then, she danced, touched and brushed the half-nude men and women around her. Every contact felt like a brand on her sweat-slick skin. The song fell into a breakdown and she slowed as well, stretching her arms above her head. The tattoo-boy, as she?d thought of the other raver all night, also swirled to a stop in front of her. His eyes were pale blue and his skin was just a little tan, but the part of him that had caught her eye was the ink. His chest, his back, his upper arms were all thickly lined with black designs, tribal sun and moon and stars.