Breath of Fire

Chapter One

3 Months Later

    I sighed tiredly as I slid another glass of beer across the counter towards my latest customer. The man reeked of alcohol and my nostrils flared as I did my best to control my repulsion. The man whose name I had already forgotten had been sitting in front of me for the last three hours trying to strike up a conversation with me. At first I had replied politely to his questions but by now my patience was wearing out. Seriously this guy needed to learn how to take a hint! There were plenty of drunk girls in this place for him to try his luck with.
    I glanced around the bar as I continued to dodge the stranger's questions as I hurried to fill a round of shots for a group of girls. From what I had gathered while eavesdropping, they were celebrating one of their friend's birthday. I couldn't be certain, but I guessed it was the girl in the center of the dance floor who was surrounded by a group of guys. She was clearly drunk out of her mind. I rolled my eyes as I poured the shots, watching on in disgust as she shrieked with laughter as she pawed at the many hands that were trying to wrap around her. I got that some girls craved the attention of random strangers and what with alcohol involved, lowered their standards, but there wasn't a single person in this bar that I would have personally been willing to let lay a hand on me - let alone sleep with. 
    I handed over the tray of shots and turned to the next girl in line who asked for a cranberry vodka. I smiled at her. Cranberry vodkas were my favorite drink as well; the cranberry disguising the harsh aftertaste of the vodka. Not that I got the chance to drink; being underage and all. Though, I usually managed to sneak a drink in here and there when no one was watching me. Yes, I know, it was technically illegal, but how else was a gal supposed to get through her shift and stay sane without a little liquid encouragement?
    Another hour flew by as I continued to serve drinks and ignore the man who still refused to take a hint. I glanced down at my watch as I handed over two bottles of Corona to a couple of drunk college students. Ugh...only two more hours until freedom.
    I looked up towards the door as I heard the bell chime faintly over the loud music. A normal person would never have heard it, but I had given up questioning my abnormal abilities long ago. I was a crazy bag full of strange, tied with a string of bizarre and there was nothing I could do about it but try my best to ignore it and avoid attention at all costs. Something that I suddenly found almost impossible to do as I found myself staring at the four men who had just entered the bar, only to find them staring right back at me; their gaze so intense it took my breath away.
Damn, I thought to myself as I licked my lips and finally managed to break eye contact. The four of them were as wildly different as they were similar. All of them wore strange looking clothes that stretched tightly over their chests; showing off the bulging muscles underneath that I couldn't help but want to run my fingers against. I could practically feel the dominant energy they radiated from all the way across the room. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw heads turning towards the newcomers. I scoffed as I saw the lust in almost every girl's eyes. Yes, these men defied logic as they stood in the doorway looking like something straight out of the wildest sex dream ever, but they were just men. Extremely attractive men, but men all the same. And judging from the way they immediately strode over to the reserved corner booth and kicked the current occupants out, they knew it too. I rolled my eyes. Why were the attractive guys always the most arrogant individuals; thinking that they were entitled to anything they wanted?
    Unfortunately, I was the only one working tonight, which meant that I was going to have to deal with them whether I liked it or not. Normally, the bartender stayed behind the bar (hence the name) but our reserved table was for special guests who paid extra to get waited on. I had only been working here for three months so I was still learning who the regulars were, so wasn't surprised that I had never seen these men before. Then again, they seemed to be the type of people who wouldn't care enough about the rules to be bothered about something as small as their names not being on the membership list.
    I groaned softly as I grabbed four menus and made my way around the counter; slowly navigating my way through the large mass of sweaty bodies.
Have a little self-respect, ladies, I thought as I noticed a gaggle of girls had already surrounded the strangers and were doing their best to push their half-naked bodies up against them. I shook my head in disapproval. It was clear as day from the looks on their faces that these men were not interested in any of them; though I wasn't surprised to see that they weren't making any effort to send the scantily clad drunks away. I humphed in derision as I watched one of the girls; whose top left nothing to the imagination, climb onto one of the men's lap. Could she be any more desperate? I wondered as I approached the table. Apparently she could. I laughed as I observed the red haired girl start to rub herself up and down the body of the man below her, not bothering to notice the bored and uninterested face that stared down at her.
    Personally, I didn't see why the scowling man bothered to let her onto his lap in the first place if he wasn't interested, but that was the trouble with egotistical alpha males. They loved attention more than life itself.
    To stop myself from going off on a mental rant, I looked down and focused on the table as I placed the four menus in front of the men then grabbed the pad of paper from my pocket without looking up and raised my pen.
    "Is there anything I can start you off with, gentlemen?" I asked, almost choking on the level of sugar that filled my mouth.
    "Well, aren't you a pretty young thing!" I heard one of the men comment. I kept my eyes on the pen and paper in front of me as I bit my lip to stop myself from saying something that could get me fired.
    "She must be new, I would definitely remember being served by such a sexy little thing," a second voice chimed in. I bit my lip again in fury. I am not little, nor a "thing", I thought angrily to myself as I forced a smile onto my face and replied; still refusing to look up.
    "I started about three months ago, sir. Was there anything I can get you and your friends?" I asked again, but I already knew my question was going to be ignored.
    "We'll take you, if you think you could handle all of us," another voice chimed in. While I still refused to look at the men, I found my legs trembling with desire as the seductive tone washed over me. I couldn't stop the sudden images that flashed before my mind at the man's words. Down, girl! As much fun as a night with one or more of them sounded, I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of adding my name to their list of conquests; which I would have bet money on, was long enough to reach the floor and then some. I opened my mouth, about to unleash my wrath on these overly muscled pricks, but paused as I remembered that doing such a thing had cost me my last job. I enjoyed having a roof over my head again and did not want to risk losing it. Before I could think of a passably polite enough response, a fourth voice spoke up.
    "Please ignore these three idiots, sugar. They know nothing of the female persuasion. They are used to getting by on good looks alone and nothing else. I, on the other hand, know how to treat a woman right." I resisted the urge to shake my head in disbelief and instead, finally looked up with a smile.
    "I'll excuse your friends - for now. Now, once again, is there anything I...I can get...you?" I faltered at the end of my statement as I finally realized something about the strangers that had escaped my attention. Now that I was close enough and actually looking at them, I realized my mistake. As if being the most attractive men I had ever seen wasn't enough, they were twins...well quadruplets or whatever it was called. My mind wandered towards dangerous territory again as I shifted uncomfortably on my feet. "You, you all have the same face..." I found myself commenting lamely. I mentally smacked my forehead. Really? Really! Of all the things you could have said, that is what you decide to go with? Way to go girl. Pointing out the obvious - what a great way to make a good impression.
    "Yes, yes we do, hot stuff. Though we are not blood related. We all have different parentage; though we were born at the same time so we like to think of ourselves as brothers and usually don't bother to correct people who assume we are quadruplets," said the one sitting closest to where I stood. He was the one who had apologized on the other's behalf. I managed to tear my eyes off of his angelic face long enough to notice that he had blonde hair before getting distracted as the other three turned to glare at him.
    "What the fuck, Caspian. She doesn't need or want our whole life story!" said one of the "brothers". In the back of my mind, I registered that they each had different hair colors; which was probably the only way anyone was ever able to tell them apart. The one who had just spoken was the red head.
    "Calm down, Blaise, it's not like I revealed some big dark secret!" replied the blonde, whose name was apparently Caspian.
    "Would the both of you just shut up already? I didn't tag along to listen to you two argue all night!" interrupted the dark brown haired brother.
    "Give them a break, Terrance, you know how those two get when they see a pretty face!" said the one with black hair. I filed away Terrance's name as I flicked my eyes back and forth to keep up with the conversation. Only one more name to go.
    "That's no excuse, Elios! What must the poor girl think of us?" I frowned, not needing a reminder that I was indeed, a poor girl, but happy all the same to have all four of their names now.
    "If it makes any difference, I've seen and heard a lot worse," I commented to the brown and black haired brothers with a smile of reassurance. The three of us looked over at the other two men who had started whispering furiously to one another.
    "All the same, it's not the first impression I would have liked you to have, my lovely." And here I was thinking that I was the one who had made a bad impression!
    I waved his comment aside to show him it was water under the bridge, though I didn't like him referring to me as his. I didn't belong to anyone. I was my own person, thank you very much! My mind started to drift again as I pictured what it would be like to belong to the man before me; let alone all four men as the red head had implied earlier. Holy shit, girl, climb out of the gutter and get it together! I reprimanded myself as I felt my panties getting wetter with each scandalous thought my seriously messed up brain sent me.
    To help get my mind back on track, I lifted up my pad of paper again and raised my brows at the two boys who weren't currently squabbling like little children.
    "Just get us a round of scotch," one of them said with a laugh. I was pretty sure it was Terrance. But even with different colored hair, it was hard to tell them apart.
    I nodded and went to go grab them their drinks. Ugh, would you just leave already? I thought to myself as I noticed the man from earlier was still perched on his bar stool; waiting for me to get back behind the bar. As soon as I had, he started back up with a string of slurred questions. I didn't even bother to answer this time as I grabbed a crate and dragged it over so that I could stand up and pull down one of the top shelf bottles of scotch. Yeah, I know, short people problems.
    I continued to ignore the bum in front of me as I poured out the scotch into four glasses and set them on a tray.