The Devil and the Dancer

by Elizabeth Hunter

  “No. I’ll be fine.” She didn’t know what was going on with Gavin, but she knew that down to her bones. Whatever mood he was in, it wouldn’t erupt into violence. Anything else, she could handle.

  “Go ahead.” He nodded toward the hallway. “I can finish this up.”

  “Thanks.” She tossed the towel she’d been using in the cleaning bucket and washed her hands in the sink. Then she hung up her apron and walked down the hall to the small office Gavin used when he was working at the Dancing Bear. The door was cracked open.

  He wasn’t behind the desk but sitting on the couch opposite the doorway. It was burgundy-red crushed velvet and looked like it was made in the Roaring Twenties. Chloe had picked it out when she helped him decorate the bar. Gavin’s arms were behind his head, and his feet were resting on the leather ottoman.

  She’d fallen asleep on that couch while he was playing with her hair after work. They’d made out on that couch. They’d shared meals there.

  Please don’t dump me on my favorite couch.

  “Hey.”

  He smiled a little and patted the space next to him. “Hey, yourself.”

  Chloe walked over and sat next to him. “Everything all right?”

  “Should I ask you the same?” He turned his head. “You didn’t text today.”

  She tucked her hair behind her ear. “I got busy with work, and then I went over to Arthur’s for dinner. The night kind of got—”

  “You don’t need to explain yourself,” he said. “You’re not required to check…” He frowned. “No, I shouldn’t lie. It bothered me. More than I’d expected. I enjoy seeing those little messages from you when I wake up. They always make me smile, and since you’re usually the only one who texts me without stating a problem I need to fix, I’ve come to count on them to start my night.”

  Chloe felt even smaller. “I’m sorry.” He’d been honest, so she needed to be honest right back. “I was trying to prove something to myself.”

  He frowned. “What?”

  “That I wasn’t getting too attached to you days after we slept together. That I wasn’t becoming some obsessed little—”

  “Chloe, you’ve been texting me nightly for over nine months now. It has nothing to do with the two of us becoming lovers.”

  She put her head in her hands. “I just… I don’t know what I was thinking. I’ve been all over the place the past few days.”

  “Because we made love?” He pulled her hands away from her face.

  “No. Yes. Because of that and because… I don’t know. Everything.”

  “Hmmm.”

  What was it with vampires and their vague nonverbal communication?

  “I’m sorry I didn’t text you tonight,” she said. “I wanted to.”

  “Beatrice came and spoke to me tonight.”

  Her head popped up. “She did?”

  “She did, and we had an actual conversation. I’m quite proud of us both.”

  Chloe smiled.

  “There it is.” He touched her cheek. “I needed to see that smile. Beatrice told me something else. She said that right now imagination is your worst enemy.”

  Chloe didn’t know what to say. “I don’t know—”

  “Yes, I thought that might be the problem.” Gavin sat forward on the couch, his elbows braced on his knees. “Forgive my interrupting, but I realized tonight that you don’t know. I don’t think you do, and you should.”

  “I should know what?”

  He stared straight ahead. “You should know that I’m in love with you.”

  Chloe’s breath fled her lungs. There was no more air in the room. None.

  “I’m in love with you, Chloe Reardon.” He kept his voice low and steady. “It’s the first time it’s happened for me since I became immortal, so you should know that you have quite a lot of power over me at the moment. And I want things from you. Many things.” He turned his face to her, and the expression in his eyes was searing. “I want an exclusive and permanent relationship with you. I want you to move into my home—not this halfway arrangement we’ve been playing with for the past year. Move in.”

  Chloe’s mouth was hanging open, but she couldn’t speak.

  “I want to bite you. I won’t be able to stop drinking fresh blood from others—I’m not that old—but if you want me to refrain from taking it at the vein, I am willing to do that. In fact, I think after I drink from your vein, I might prefer not to drink from any others.” His eyes fell to her thighs and his accent grew thick. “Yer not the only one with an imagination, dove.”

  Not enough air. Still couldn’t speak.

  “I realized earlier tonight that I don’t need to be obsessed with someone damaging you. I’m not the only immortal who loves you. Giovanni and Beatrice do. Tenzin does. You’re already known. My claim on you—should you decide to accept it—makes little difference for your safety in my world. Though don’t mistake me, I do not intend to fire Audra. You still need security.”

  She managed to take a breath. “Gavin—”

  “I love you, and I want you,” he said roughly. “I want you in my world, in my bed, in my own flesh, Chloe Reardon. But I don’t want you to decide anything tonight, because it’s important.” He grabbed her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “Abe is waiting for you. It’s late. Please let him take you home. I’ll find my own way back to the apartment.”

  Gavin rose and walked to the door, leaving Chloe stunned and speechless on the couch. She didn’t know what to think past the fact that Gavin loved her. Loved her. Everything he wanted? She didn’t know where to start.

  “Oh.” He turned at the door. “And my sister is leaving tomorrow. She’ll be out of the penthouse by ten.”

  “Okay.” Her voice sounded tiny. “Gavin, I—”

  “Please.” His eyes pleaded with her. “Give me a day. At least think about everything I’ve said for twenty-four hours. I know I’m asking for a lot, but give me a day.”

  And without another word, he walked out the door.

  9

  Gavin woke the next night to twenty-eight messages—two of them from Chloe—six voice mails, and thirty-seven emails.

  The texts from Chloe were the only ones that made him smile.

  Did you know a rat can carry a chicken drumstick? They can. I may never eat chicken again.

  A picture of a rat with said drumstick in his mouth looked like it had been taken in the subway and had been sent at two forty-five in the afternoon.

  Just kidding, I love fried chicken. No hate for the rat.

  Nothing could stop his smile.

  There was nothing else. No returned affection. No gleeful “Yes, I’ll move in!”

  Ye told her to take twenty-four hours, ya fucking dobber.

  But Chloe had heard that he missed her texts and she’d sent him something to make him smile.

  She loves you.

  You’re not that lucky.

  But maybe…

  He could hear Renard speaking with Veronica in the living area outside. The automatic locks that secured his day chamber clicked open at sunset, but no one in the household would bother him until he emerged.

  He tapped Audra’s number on his phone. “Report?”

  “Nothing much. Giovanni Vecchio left the city last night. Beatrice and her family are still in the house. No apparent threats. Their daughter’s bodyguard spotted me but didn’t approach.”

  “Good. Put Hassim on night detail. I’ll let him know if he can clock off.”

  “You got it, boss. Have a good night.”

  “Thank you, Audra.”

  Gavin rose from bed and looked around his starkly masculine room. It was luxurious in a simple way. His were the only tastes that mattered here. Deep browns and light greys gave the room a warm, organic feeling. The bed and dresser were made of mahogany. The bed linens were rich, but decoration was sparse.

  What would Chloe think of it? He’d never brought a human lover into this room, but he liked the idea of Chloe leavi
ng her scent in it. Enjoyed the thought of modifying things to please her.

  Instead of paintings, frosted false windows had been built into the room, lit to give the feeling of sunrise and sunset but without any actual danger. Gavin had learned long ago that he needed a sense of time to remain sane, even as an immortal. The few times he woke during the day, he needed the suggestion of light. In the past, he used a lamp or built his houses to allow indirect light. Technology made life for the modern vampire a bit easier.

  The television in the corner turned on automatically at sunset, playing a program on the nature channel that recorded sunrises and sunsets in far-flung locations. Tonight it was a sunset in Ibiza. The midnight blue of the sky echoed the glimmering water.

  Would Chloe like Ibiza? He had a club there he’d started in the sixties. Maybe it was due for a spot check.

  If she wanted to come with him. If he hadn’t scared her off.

  Gavin walked to the shower and turned on the water, trying not to second-guess himself. The conversation had been necessary. There was no use wasting their time or playing around the edges of a relationship if it wasn’t what both of them wanted. He was no longer interested in taking a casual lover.

  He ignored the vulnerable feeling of throwing his heart into Chloe’s lap to see what she’d do with it. She was a kind person. If she didn’t want what he did, she wouldn’t be cruel. Polite rejection might crush his heart, but he’d lived without it beating for a century. He’d survive. He always survived.

  Whether he’d be able to step away from her was another question.

  Gavin finished washing up and chose his uniform for the night, a worn T-shirt and a comfortable pair of old jeans. He didn’t have any meetings tonight, and he wasn’t planning to go anywhere. He’d get Vivian out of the house and then wait.

  Because he was a fucking idiot.

  He walked out of his room and saw Vivian’s luggage piled in the entryway. Veronica was checking something on a clipboard—she did love her clipboards—and Renard was acting as Vivian’s mule, carting things out of the bedroom.

  Gavin went to find his sister. Vivian was standing at the vanity in the guest room, staring at her face.

  “Vivi?”

  “Can you see it, Gavin?”

  He walked over, tilted her chin to the side, and answered the same way he had for a century. “Not even a little bit.”

  The burn that their sire had once left on her was so deep it had taken a decade to heal. Vivian had been young when the bastard had done it. She’d been annoying him one night, so he purposely dragged her out of her light-safe room and laid her in a place the sunrise would touch her.

  She woke long before the damage could kill her, but the scar had remained for a long time.

  “Are you going to make things right with Ramsay?” He straightened the coat she’d thrown over her shoulders.

  “Probably.” She shrugged. “Rene is boring me. And his paintings aren’t as good as he thinks.” Vivian turned, brushed a kiss across Gavin’s cheek, and walked out of the room. “Au revoir, mon loup. I will see you next time.”

  He stayed in the guest room for a few more minutes, listening to his sister take her leave. He heard Veronica exchange goodbyes with Renard, heard the both of them discussing travel details and car services.

  The front door closed and the apartment went silent.

  Gavin walked to Chloe’s room and pushed the door open. Her scent surrounded him.

  God, he’d been a fool thinking that he could hide her from his sister. He’d been annoyed that she hadn’t moved in, but her presence was everywhere. Hair things on the bedside table. A spare charger by the dresser. A jacket she’d left draped on a chair.

  Gavin swallowed hard and forced his fangs back in his jaw.

  She would do what she would do. The ball was in her court, as Benjamin would say.

  Gavin heard a knock on the front door and wondered if Veronica had forgotten something. Despite her years working for him, she still knocked if she knew he was home.

  “Veronica, you just walked out, you really don’t—” It wasn’t Veronica. It was Chloe.

  “Hi.” She looked nervous. “I didn’t need twenty-four hours.”

  Butterflies were a riot in her belly. He looked so good. His hair was a little damp, and he smelled like soap and leather. She stepped into the apartment when he didn’t move. “I didn’t want to use my key when you weren’t expecting me.”

  “Chloe—”

  “Nope.” She held up a hand. “My turn to talk. You said a lot last night.” She sat on the couch and folded her hands in her lap. Then she stood again. She couldn’t think when she was still. “You said a lot, and I didn’t say anything back, and I apologize for that, but I was really shocked, okay?”

  She walked through the living room and into the practice room, kicking off her shoes.

  Gavin followed her. “I understand.”

  Chloe paced back and forth because she had the absurd desire to run through ballet positions, and the wood beneath her feet steadied her. “You said all that and then you left, which… I’m sorry, that wasn’t cool.”

  Gavin smiled. “I wanted to give you time to think.”

  She spun around. “But I think so much! I think so damn much, Gavin. I overthink things, okay? Look what happened when Vivian first came. I jumped to conclusions based on almost nothing because I was so afraid. Because her showing up was like every bad fantasy I’d ever had of what it would be like to fall in love with you, only to have you realize that I wasn’t really all that special. That I wasn’t exciting or brave or adventurous enough for you.”

  “Chloe—”

  “Nope.” She held up a hand again and kept pacing. “I told you, it’s my turn.”

  Gavin took his boots off and sat cross-legged in the corner of the practice room. “I’m listening.”

  His steady attention and fixed eyes calmed her down. “I’m not brave. Not like Tenzin. Not like Ben.”

  “I’m not in love with them.”

  “I don’t want grand adventures any more exciting than climbing Machu Picchu or learning how to scuba dive. That is my idea of adventure. And I do want to do both of those things.”

  He nodded. “Noted.”

  “I’m not looking to go off on treasure hunts. Or find lost libraries. Or… anything like that.”

  Gavin smiled. “Chloe, I know.”

  She nodded and stared at him. “Okay. I was just making sure.”

  His eyes were everything she wanted to see. Tender and warm and steady. They looked at her like…

  That’s what love looks like, Chloe.

  She came and knelt in front of him. “I fell in love with Tom so fast I lost my head. I tumbled and fell and when things went bad, love felt like a weakness. But you don’t make me feel weak. Nothing about being with you makes me feel less. I feel more. You make me feel brave. Maybe not finding buried treasure brave, but every day and every night brave.”

  He reached up and tucked a curl behind her ear. “Moving into my apartment brave?”

  The words caught in her throat, and all she could do was nod.

  Gavin drew her into his lap. “Loving me brave?”

  “Yes.” Tears came to her eyes. “I love you. I love you so much, and I—”

  He captured her mouth before she could say more. Gavin gripped her nape and wrapped his arm around the small of her back, plastering Chloe to his chest so hard that she could feel his heart thump against her breast.

  “I love you.” He released her mouth. “I love you so damn much.”

  “I love you too.”

  She kissed him, running her fingers through his hair as she brought his mouth to hers. She straddled his lap, bracing herself over him, and felt Gavin’s hands run down her back and over her ass. He released her nape and gripped her bottom with both hands.

  “Fuck me, I love this ass.” He nipped her neck. “Love these thighs.” He picked her up and set her on her back as he braced himself ov
er her, kicking her legs out so he could settle between. “Love everything about you, but I fucking love your thighs.”

  Gavin left her on her back and sat up, hooking his fingers in the waistband of her pants as he offered her a wicked grin. “May I, dove?”

  “Yes.” She shimmied out of her pants as he stripped them off and tossed them over her shoulder. “I’m going to move in.”

  “Good.” He was staring at her legs, running his fingers up and down.

  “You said an exclusive and permanent relationship?”

  “Yes.”

  “Agreed. Though we’re going to have to wait on just how permanent, if you know what I mean. That’s a big decision, and I’m definitely not there yet.”

  He locked eyes with her. “Understood.”

  Gavin bent over and lifted her knee up. He kissed the inside, laving his tongue up her thigh.

  Chloe forced the words through lips that only wanted to moan. “And I want you to bite me.”

  Gavin froze. “Say that again?”

  “I want you to bite me. I’ve been wanting you to bite me for months. Yes, it makes me question my sanity a little, but I’m just going with it. Bite me and drink from me.”

  He let her leg drop and moved up her body. He pressed his lips to hers in a whisper-soft kiss. “Are you sure?”

  She nodded. “It doesn’t hurt, right?”

  “Not even a little.” The corner of his mouth turned up. “Maybe a bit if you want it. Like a love bite. I’d quite like you to turn your teeth on me.”

  “Really?”

  “Oh yes.” He reached down and teased the soft flesh between her thighs. “Where do you want me to bite you?”

  Her cheeks flushed. “Down there.”

  His fingers teased the inside of her thigh. “Here?”

  Chloe’s pulse was a stampede. She nodded.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. But take your clothes off.”

  Gavin stood quickly and stripped off his shirt and unbuckled his pants. “This is why kilts are superior to all other clothes.”

  “Easy access?”

  He shoved his jeans and boxers down. “Exactly.”

  Chloe’s mouth went dry. “Hi, there.”