by Diane Saxon
“Oh yeah, she knew what we were. She can’t know we’re Ginny’s aunties, though. Not unless she’s a mind reader.”
“Well, she is a vampire.”
“Not really. I spoke with her aunty the other day. She’s mortified Roni is living as a human. She can’t believe the girl won’t suck blood like she’s supposed to. Apparently, the poor child faints at the thought. Always has done since they turned her. She was a vegetarian. Her aunt’s going to send someone to get her back soon. She said Roni’s had quite long enough to sulk.”
“Yeah, but our baby’s not coming back. She needs to live here. She has far too gentle a disposition to live with all those banshee girls. We just have to make sure she finds her mate here on Earth.”
“Is he here?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but this is the first time I’ve ever known a gathering place for creatures of the underworld in the Earth domain. I’m amazed at how many Montgomery has attracted in so short a time.”
“They say he bested the devil and came back to Earth to punish the humans who’d sent him to Hell.”
“Hmmm, maybe so. He’s certainly attracted a lot of darkness.”
•●•
“I knew this was a shit idea. Can I go now?” Unimpressed with his dark surroundings and the boom of music, Matt gave a longing glance at the door.
“No. We’ve only just arrived. You haven’t even got a drink in your hand yet. Let’s go to the bar.” Daniel nudged him forward, and reluctance shimmered as Matt attempted to weave his way through the lively crowds.
“You know I can’t drink.” He sulked. He’d love to. He enjoyed the taste, just not the result.
“You can darned well pretend.”
“Why can’t you swear like a real man?” Frustrated, he wondered how much entertainment he would get from poking at Daniel.
“Stop trying to annoy me so I send you home. It’s not going to work.”
With a snort of disgust at being shot down so soon, Matt turned his attention back to the crowded room. He narrowed his eyes as his vision zoomed in on a little blonde accompanied by a tall, elegant vamp as they walked out of the bathroom together. The bathroom he’d noticed as he entered the club that had lit up as though someone were using a flash on a camera.
Did girls do that? Who would run into a bathroom to take a quick selfie? Strange. Did they stand in front of mirrors in a public restroom and take their own photos? Pose with each other? Really strange. They looked rather mature to have conceded to the latest craze of Snapchat.
Stranger still was the sight of two older ladies coming out behind them as though they had been involved in something clandestine. They patted their hair and tugged at their skirts, trying to look innocent. A little on the old side for his taste.
Talking of innocent, the blonde looked to be a sweet little thing. Too sweet to be there. He drew a long breath in through his nose and smelled the scent of warm cinnamon and roses in full bloom. Nice silver aura going on around her. White hair, white dress, shiny heels. She looked like a fluffy angel minus her wings. She wasn’t, though—couldn’t be. Not in the dress slicked to her skin that yelled, “Come fuck me—if you can peel me off.”
He tilted his head to one side and contemplated the height of the hem. He wouldn’t need to peel the whole dress off. He could just slip it up a little way to achieve what he wanted. Although she did have fine curves that would probably require attention. He wondered how long it would take to get her partially naked and wholly willing.
He let his gaze wander around the room and wondered what Daniel would say if he realized the joint was full of shifters, vampires, and witches. After two hundred years on Earth, Matt was pretty adept at spotting a non-human, and there were a lot in Montgomery’s Sin. Seriously, he’d never seen so many in one place. The guy had beaten Hell, opened the doors to his nightclub, and let every variation of the underworld enter. No dragons, though, but Matt recognized a couple of bears and…yeah, there was Wolf. He lifted his chin in respectful acknowledgment as the guy caught his eye and winked. Surrounded by human women, there was no reason why he wouldn’t hang out there.
With a sharp elbow to the ribs, Daniel grabbed his attention. “Are we going in, or are we going to stand by the door looking like freaks?”
Understatement of the year, considering, but…
“Let’s go in.”
He headed toward the cute blonde, who was struggling desperately to get her short but very shapely legs to the right height so she could plonk her round ass on the barstool. She hitched her heel on the middle bar of her stool and slipped twice before she hiked herself up, just as the skinny vampire gave him a long, cool look, picked up her champagne glass, whispered something to the little lady, and wandered off toward the dance floor. Cruel bitch, leaving her too-innocent-looking-to-be-true friend alone in a place like this.
He thought his first assessment of the pretty blonde might be right, and she might just be way out of her depth. He had no idea why he felt obliged to complicate matters and head for the bar instead of following the obvious target of the vamp onto the dance floor, but he did. There was something about the woman. She wasn’t a shifter, but he wasn’t sure she was quite human, either. She had the air of a young faerie.
“Hey.”
He tried to make his voice as soft as possible, but her eyes became so wide he thought they might pop out of her head. Her breasts bounced up and down in a sweet little rhythm all of their own as she tried to breathe past the full body wrapping she seemed to be wearing. He didn’t even try to resist the temptation to dip his gaze down to her great cleavage.
She slipped back off the stool and smoothed her dress over her hips.
From his vantage point, he had a bird’s-eye view of her breasts. The woman was so tiny, the top of her head barely came to the middle of his chest, even with her teetering heels. Her ample bosom, however, heaving as it was, stopped him from peering all the way down her dress.
He licked his lips. Yum.
She blinked up at him. Wide innocence shone from her laser-blue eyes, while she gave a nervous swipe of her own lips, almost in imitation of his move.
Yesss!
“Hi.” Her breathless greeting made him stay; a warmth filled his chest and snuck down his belly.
“You want a lift up there?” It would be a great opportunity to put his hands on her.
She glanced at the barstool and back at him with a crooked smile and a shrug. “No, it’s not good for me to sit.”
“It’s not? Why not?”
“Because my internal organs will become crushed, and I will die on the stool. Someone will find me in the morning, and I will conveniently already be mummified.”
He snorted and did a quick inspection of her dress. Yup, looked tight. There wasn’t a single dip or curve he couldn’t see. As his gaze returned from cruising the length of her, it raced the bright red blush from where the dress stopped at her bosom, up her neck, and over her cheeks to explode out of her hairline. He didn’t think he’d ever seen anyone blush quite so vibrantly, unless it was the lights.
“Excuse me.”
She was gone—off and running, rather tottering, to the nearby bathroom and…puff—there it was again. A selfie? Or not, she’d barely squeezed through the door before the flash had gone off. Weird. Why would anyone rush off like that? And what the hell was going on with the electrical system in the room? He might be a big guy, but he didn’t consider himself too scary. Unless he wanted to be. He leaned on the bar and watched for the cute blonde to reappear. She definitely wasn’t a vampire. What else could she be?
“You want a drink?”
“Huh?” He’d forgotten Daniel.
He spared him a quick glance before returning his gaze to the bathroom door. He really didn’t want to miss seeing her come out. She might slip into the crowd and escape him, and somehow, he didn’t want to lose her yet. She definitely piqued his interest.
“Yeah. Soda.”
A disgust
ed snort sounded from beside him. “Can’t I order you a beer?”
“Sure. Beer.” He narrowed his eyes as the vamp made her way to the bathroom door, gave a furtive glance around, and slipped inside. A moment later—poof—another selfie. Weird.
He narrowed his eyes and studied the doorway, gave a quick scan of the room, and noticed the two older women again, anxious eyes watching the closed door. He looked back. Several women went in and came out. No more selfies, no more flashing lights. The blonde fluff and the long-legged vamp seemed to be taking their time.
As the two emerged from the bathroom, Daniel handed him his beer. Matt instantly put it on the bar without taking a sip. To drink would be dangerous.
“Hot.”
“Hmmm?” Distracted, he barely took notice of Daniel’s murmur.
“Tall chick, black eyes, red hair. Roni. She’s a model. Don’t you recognize her?”
“Ah, no. I wasn’t looking at her.”
Again the snort. “Surely not the short one?”
A rumble of irritation with his friend surprised him into being defensive. Who the hell was Daniel to make judgments? She might not be a model, but she had something special going on, and he wanted to investigate further. “Possibly.”
“You’d look stupid together. She’s tiny.”
“Not that tiny, not where it counts.”
“You mean the ass? Her ass is definitely not ti—ooomff.”
Deep satisfaction at Daniel’s pain almost distracted him from the ladies as he ploughed his elbow into his friend’s stomach. Almost distracted. But he couldn’t take his eyes off the sweet blonde and found himself smiling at her as she approached. She gave him a shy smile back, dropped her gaze, and smoothed the skintight dress over her hips, little realizing what it did to him when she ran her hands over her own body. The heart he thought had become disinterested and disillusioned bumped up a beat.
Daniel braved another interruption. “So the model is all mine?”
“Yeah.”
Daniel stepped forward, hand extended toward the redhead. “Hi, I’m Daniel Skinner, agent to the rich and famous, and I know you’re Roni.”
Roni halted; sleek eyebrows shot up as she stared hard at Daniel. She blinked several times, and her mouth pursed until all of them, except her, seemed to become uncomfortable.
“Well, don’t I look a fucking idiot standing with my hand held out to a woman who’s too ignorant or too full of herself to take it?”
Surprised at his friend’s overreaction, when normally nothing ruffled his feathers, Matt attempted to cover up the strangely uncomfortable situation and stepped forward at the same time the blonde in white did.
She slid her small hand into Daniel’s larger one before he could withdraw it. For a split second they both stared wide-eyed at each other before a bright spark and a loud crack rent the air around their hands and they shot back several paces from each other. An earsplitting howl filled the room, and glasses exploded all over the place while Daniel darted a look at his charred hand and the woman in white did a fast trot for the bathroom.
Stunned at the ferocity of their contact, Matt made a move toward the ladies’ room. “What the hell?”
Roni attempted to dash after her, but with a quick recovery, Daniel blocked her, and Matt took off like the fullback he was, leaving behind surprised gasps and the echo of shattered glass. He had no idea why he did it, but he needed to find out what was going on with the intriguing woman.
He reached the bathroom and cast a quick glance over his shoulder to see what appeared to be Daniel, dancing with Roni by the bar. The incongruity of the situation never passed him by, but he was too concerned about the blonde to pay much attention.
He cracked open the door of the ladies’ room and—
Flash.
The light almost blinded him, leaving stars behind his lids as he tried to blink his vision back into focus. The dark outline of a figure walked toward him to fill his vision before it exploded again in a profusion of white light.
He had no idea what she was, but it appeared that he was right about her not being entirely human. “Jesus, woman. Stop. You’re going to do yourself some damage.”
“I can’t help it. You…he…”
Her form shimmered into focus as she approached, huge azure eyes filled with sparkling tears. Concern for her made him brave enough to step inside the ladies’ room and let the door swing shut behind him, dimming the sound of the raging music.
She gasped for breath, and her eyes appealed to him for help. His heart hitched in painful sympathy, but he could think of nothing to help her except—before she could self-combust again, he yanked her toward him, pressed his lips against hers, and kissed her.
Not the best kiss he’d ever given anyone, but it was borne of desperation and a wild desire for the sweet lady not to disappear in another shower of fireworks. As far as the art of seduction was concerned, it was worthless. As a distraction technique, he considered it might work.
“Dane.”
Her lips smooched against his, soft and squishy, proving his kiss wasn’t terrifically hot if she could talk past it. He crushed his mouth against hers again and risked a squint at the pair of shocked eyes, too close to focus on. He moved back and held on to her shoulders for good measure. She might be unmoved, but warmth unfurled in his belly. Desire rumbled as her scent filled his nostrils.
“Matt,” he murmured, surprised at how breathless he felt.
“Matt?”
“My name’s Matt, not Dane,” he explained.
“But I thought…” Clear as a summer sky, her blue eyes stared up at him.
“They call me The Dane. My name is Matthew Dane. I’m half Norwegian.”
“Of course you are. You look like a Norseman.”
He dipped lower and tilted his head to bring his ear closer to her lips so he could catch her hesitant words. Her soft breath whispered across his neck and tingled over his chest to warm his heart.
“Not…not…that I would know what a…”
He turned to face her, his eyes met her confused gaze, and he was lost. Did she feel the same fizzle of attraction? Had her pulse skipped a beat?
“Oh God. I’m not good at this.” Perhaps not. She brushed her long silky hair back from her face and smoothed her dress again with short nervous movements. Whatever it was she thought she wasn’t good at, all she had to do was breathe and every thought, except the lush body squirming in front of him, drained from his mind.
Her hands constantly fidgeted. His heart warmed. There was something just so damned appealing about her, and the desire to kiss her again consumed him. Her pupils widened, an attractive blush chased over her face, and pleasure at her response had him smiling.
He wondered if her skin was as smooth as it looked in the bright lights of the bathroom. He raised his hand and caressed gentle fingers over her cheek to detach a thin strand of hair from her lips.
“What’s your name?”
He returned his hands to her shoulders and slid both of them down the soft naked flesh of her arms to hold onto her hands and keep her from bolting, amused at the way she blinked rapidly. Her eyes sparkled unnaturally, and he knew. He just knew there was something special about her. He hadn’t figured it out yet, but he was going to. The instant attraction to her was more than just sexual, it was…protective.
She took three small hitching breaths before she managed to gush out a reply. “I…I don’t know.”
He caressed his thumbs on the insides of her palms to soothe her and pondered how long it would take to strip the dress off her. After all, the bathroom was empty. He chuckled as she became even more flustered, and he wondered if she could read his thoughts. She certainly hadn’t made any effort to escape him, and there was no sign of her not enjoying his touch.
“You don’t know your own name?”
“No.” Her breath whispered, and her chest heaved. “I don’t.”
Her hands went limp in his, and she stared deep into his
eyes, almost hypnotizing him. Amused at the reciprocal effect he appeared to have on her, he stepped in closer and dipped down to whisper in her ear, the temptation to nibble it almost irresistible. “Well, neither do I, sweetheart. What would you suggest I call you?”
He felt rather than heard her indrawn breath against the background of thundering music. He took advantage and deliberately skimmed his lips against the silken curve of her cheek, taking pleasure in the rise of heat in his chest and the instant arousal that shot through him.
The light scent of her perfume filled his nostrils and tickled his senses. The thrum of his pulse increased to match the rhythm of the music and sent his blood chasing through his veins.
“Ginny Golding. You can call me Ginny.” She puffed and made him smile. The woman was just so goddamned cute and attractive.
“Ginny. Is that your name?” He touched the back of his fingers against her jawline and stroked them upward to her ear, his own dark, tanned skin a wild contrast to the alabaster of hers. Her tantalizing shudder emboldened him to skim his fingers through the fine strands of her hair and cup the back of her neck.
“I think so.”
A deep chuckle rumbled at her confusion, and the desire to kiss her, feel her full lips against his, and taste her response rose in him. He tightened his hold on her, drawing her in.
“Yeah. Me too. You look like a Ginny.” He skimmed his lips over her temple as she held still. A gentle tremble coursed through her body, making him take it slow.
“I feel like a Ginny.”
The beast rumbled in his belly. He controlled it and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, and then pulled back to stare into her entrancing eyes. Desperate desire overrode his patience. “So do I. Let’s get out of here.”
He reached for her hand and tugged her toward the door, but she pulled back, the fog in her eyes lifting. “Oh, I don’t know whether I should. I need to tell Roni.”
“Roni. Right.”
Who the hell was the other woman? Her keeper? Roni might be overprotective, but she hadn’t followed them into the bathroom, so chances were she wouldn’t object when he swept her friend out of the club.
