Page 24 of A Velvet Kiss After Dark

He nodded. "Yeah, and I won't be back for a while, so try not to do anything stupid. I won't be here to rescue you."

Her mouth snapped shut. "I never do anything stupid." She looked away, then gazed back up at him.

"So, where are you going?" she asked.

"I can't say."

Her arms crossed again, and she began drumming her fingers on her forearm. She had that tenacious look about her that said she wouldn't be giving up.

"Is this about that mysterious list you keep tucked inside your wallet?"

She was referring to his kill list, not that she knew that. But she'd guessed correctly.

He shook his head. "No it doesn't have to do with that."

Her lips pursed. "Tell me where you're going, then."

He chuckled, enjoying her interest far too much.

"I'll tell you what," he hedged. "You let me drive you home, and I'll tell you where."

She nibbled a pouty lip while she deliberated. "Deal. Just give me a minute."

She made her way back to Vamp-Dick-Extraordinaire, Cohen. They shared words, and the vamp handed her a card, smiling up to his eyes. He looked at her like she was a tasty morsel he wanted to suck on. It took Kane a strict measure of control not to grab the vamp by his puny little throat and rip it out with his werewolf's teeth. When Cohen took Tabitha's hand and placed a kiss on her wrist, it took all of Kane's control to keep from snatching her away.

Play nice, he thought. It looks like he didn't have a choice. He knew he had to win her over. And no part of that colossal task would be easy.

When she strolled back to him, not bothering to look up at him, she passed him and tossed his way, "We'll have to grab Bette."

It was a phenomenal triumph that he didn't roll his eyes. Bette was what she called her moped. Yup, his fated wife drove a flipping moped, and he was a werewolf with a dark history, and she was an even bigger mystery in his eyes.

***

"So, you're going into the city?"

Kane nodded from where he stood at the entryway to Tabitha's apartment. He wished she'd invite him inside but knew she would not.

His gaze remained on hers, though he yearned to undress her with his eyes. That gown and hair gave a lonely man thoughts. Made him come up with plenty of reasons why this night could end a thousand times better if only she would invite him inside. For one, he could help her remove that dress, or two, he could pour her a glass of wine and listen to her talk for hours.

"And why are you going into the city as if it's a great big secret?"

He snapped out of whatever trance he'd been sucked into at the sound of her question. He'd already debated how much he could safely tell her, and it turned out the answer was not much.

"Off the record." His voice brooked no room for argument.

She waved away his assertion. "Of course, yes, you know that. I've learned my lesson. I won't be writing about you, ever. Okay?"

A tingling sensation wafted over him at her obedience. His wolf could howl. She'd once written about him in one of her God-forsaken gossip columns, demeaning him has a brute merc killer, which he was. But most people in this world didn't know he existed, let alone that he made an egregious living murdering sycophants for fast cash. Then, thanks to her diatribe, he'd gone into hiding, switched ID's, changed locks, codes, and housing. She had no clue what her "silly little article" had cost him.

He smiled and heard her heartbeat pick up its maddening, thumping rhythm. She was affected by him. And that knowledge coiled a prospect of hope inside him. Could he even live with another person? He hadn't had much time to think on it. He trusted that he could protect her, better than most could, but he definitely couldn't control her sassy mouth or printed word.

"I have an assignment to carry out, and, before you can ask, not that kind of assignment."

She hummed beneath her breath with curiosity, her eyes aglow with fascination.

"Don't bother trying to guess. You couldn't possibly," he said. No way could she uncover that he'd be traveling to a demon realm, something even he didn't know existed until earlier today.

"Is that a challenge?" she asked.

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