Page 8 of Wicked Bite
I shoved the kitchen door open wide and hurried through. The staff was already bustling to clean everything up and shut down. They wiped down counters and mopped the floors and tossed any food that’d been sitting in the hot window. When the cops showed up, we all got out. I tugged Grayson along, past the dishwashers and right to the back door. The metal door groaned as I pushed it open. The smell of the dumpsters filled my nose, but I just kept walking out into the night, where the rain washed away the stench of the bar and gave way to a cool, clean scent.
“Where are you hurrying us off to, Beautiful Creature?”
I didn’t know why, but I liked it when he called me Creature. It was like I was his own special entity he couldn’t take his eyes off. “This place where all the local bar workers go. Tourists don’t know about it, but it’s fun.”
“We could use a little fun. Couldn’t we, Sav?” He shot his friend a look.
Sav glanced down at Dice and chuckled. “I fear our definitions of fun are two very different things, my friend.”
“For the better of it, I’m sure,” Grayson muttered in that thick sexy accent.
“We’ve got time to change yours. Not all of us can be correct all the time. Indeed, it takes years of mastery of oneself to truly know what a state of good fun entails. A state of which you have yet to be a part of.” Sav threw his arm around Dice’s shoulder and pulled her in close. “Am I not correct?”
“I have no idea what you just said.” She sidled in closer to him. “But it sounded pretty.”
I sighed and gave Grayson’s hand a squeeze. “Love at first sight?”
Grayson shook his head. “I’m not sure Sav is capable of love like that. You should warn your friend.”
A chuckle escaped my lips. “Well, don’t tell anyone, but neither is Dice. You should warn your friend.”
“In that case, it’s a match made in a loveless hell.” His lips spread in a wide smile, and I couldn’t help but move in a little closer to him. We wound our way down the streets and around corners until we came to a nondescript door at the back of a tall brick building.
There were no people waiting outside. I slammed my hand on the door three times. It echoed with that hollow metallic sound. A large man opened it and stepped out. He was tall and imposing, with a round belly and muscles to match. The rays from the streetlight reflected off his bald head. He folded his arms in front of him. “What do you want?”
Dice and I shared a look then the three of us all fell into laughter. “Benny, these are my friends, Grayson and Sav.”
“They cool?” He looked them up and down.
“Yeah. They’re good.” I waited for Benny to give us the go-ahead.
Grayson and Sav seemed completely at ease, like walking into a strange place with a strange bouncer was no big deal. Benny stepped to the side and held the door open. Dice went up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “You’re a good man.”
He lowered his eyes to the ground and smiled. “Why you gotta roll me like that, Dice?”
“Oh, Benny, baby, you don’t want me to roll you.” She patted him on the shoulder and walked through the door and up the stairs.
Sav stopped by his side. “Many a man would fall to that woman.”
Benny leaned in. “That woman could bring any man to his knees easily. Careful, friend.”
“Consider me warned.” Sav followed Dice.
I put my hands on my hips. “And what does that make me, Benny boy? The sweetest of the sweet?”
“Piper, you are the silent killer. The one no one sees coming. A lesson to all men.” He offered me his hand. When I took it, he placed a small kiss on the back of my hand. “One they will never forget.”
“I agree. You are a rather unforgettable, Little Creature.”
Benny pointed to Grayson’s face. “And that right there is why you are a lesson to all men.”
“As no other could be.” Grayson motioned for me to go through the door first.
Why did my heart have to flutter that way whenever he looked at me? We were fun. This was fun. Nothing more. Yet, that connection was there. It sizzled between the two of us. It moved through my body and pooled low in my stomach. Where his skin brushed mine, pulsing excitement radiated from it. As we walked up the stairs, I sensed him behind me even though he didn’t make a sound, not even on the squeaky stairs. Yet, I felt him like a warm shadow behind me. He was a tickle on the back of my neck. It was an awareness I’d never felt before.
When we reached the top of the stairs, the room opened to a huge area. The entire ceiling was made of glass, and lingering drops of rain clung to it. The moon shined down on us through purple clouds and gave the entire room a hazy, magical feel. Against the wall to my left stood a bar.
“Hey, Piper! Heard you got broken up by the cops,” John the bartender called to me.
