Page 3 of The Devil and the Dancer
“Aye, I know.” His mouth moved to the side, and she felt his breath tickle the sensitive skin under her ear. “I don’t mind a little Southern flavor, Miss Reardon.”
Chloe had learned that Gavin’s Scottish came out when he was angry—which happened rarely—or turned on, which happened regularly. Much of the time, Americans mistook him for English.
He wasn’t. He’d made that very clear.
“Shall I see if you’ve spilled any other spirits?” His mouth moved to the other side of her neck. “Do I detect a bit of Cointreau here?” His tongue licked her skin, and she gripped his shoulders. “Sweet.”
She was going to melt into a puddle. “The car is waiting.”
“Aye, I pay it to do that.”
Her head spun at the low timbre of his voice.
“One day soon, Chloe Reardon.”The memory of his furious kiss a year ago hadn’t become any less potent with time.
Gavin took one more long breath at her neck before he pulled away, put his arm around her, and kept walking. “The reception on Friday sounds like a waste of time. If you don’t want to go, I’ll make our excuses to Cormac.”
“It’s fine.” She cleared her throat and tried to focus on walking toward the waiting car without her knees buckling. “The artist sounds interesting.”
“If you want to go, we’ll go. You won’t be the only human there.” He opened the door and ushered her inside.
“Oh. That’ll be nice.” She settled in and buckled her seat belt just as the driver pulled into the sparse middle-of-the-night traffic. Chloe felt the day catch up with her as she leaned into the plush sedan seat and closed her eyes. Gavin shifted beside her, his electric presence filling her senses even as she drifted with exhaustion.
When she’d first left her abusive ex and moved in with her friend Ben and his vampire partner, Tenzin, she’d had no idea that vampires existed. She’d always known Ben’s family was a little strange, but in the past year she’d become ever more immersed in the immortal world. She knew Ben had mixed feelings about it, but Chloe had walked in with her eyes open.
After all, while vampires could be horrible, so could human beings. She knew that firsthand. On balance, she’d had more compassion and patience from the vampires in her life than most of the humans. Ben’s aunt and uncle made her feel like part of their family. Tenzin was one of the oddest friends she’d ever made. She was also one of the most loyal.
And Gavin?
She didn’t know what she was to Gavin, but it was something. She knew he wanted to sleep with her and that he was protective. Past that? She had no idea.
She’d worked for him over a year, following him from his first New York pub, the Bat and Barrel, to his newest venture in Hell’s Kitchen, the Dancing Bear. It was an easy job made easier by the fact that everyone at the bar assumed she was in a relationship with the boss, so no one messed with her.
Which she was. They had a relationship. She wasn’t sure exactly what that relationship was, but it was a relationship.
Chloe didn’t care that everyone assumed she was sleeping with Gavin. They had every reason to assume it even though she had her own room at his house. She stayed at his place on nights when she had early rehearsal the next day or just needed a break from the blistering chemistry growing between Ben and Tenzin at their loft.
Gavin was a picture of patience, but he had his limits. She didn’t push him and he didn’t push her.
Someone needs to push someone soon,her libido shouted.This is getting ridiculous.
Ridiculous maybe. But also safe.
Chloe liked safety. She liked knowing what to expect. She’d spent years with Tom never knowing when the next blow would come or what would precipitate the next argument. She’d fallen in love with Tom partly because he was “edgy,” which to an overprotected girl from Southern California felt exciting and forbidden.
She’d learned her lesson. Edgy wasn’t exciting. Edgy was painful. Edgy was dangerous. Edgy could get your bones broken, your body bruised, and your dreams crushed.
What boggled her mind—what she still couldn’t make sense of—was why Gavin, who was exponentially more dangerous than her human ex could ever dream of being, had become her anchor of safety in the strange new immortal world she’d entered.
She knew Gavin wasn’t safe, and there was no way he wasn’t dangerous.
“A good man would stop pursuing you. A deserving one would wait. He’d be patient. I’m not a good man.”
His words said one thing. His actions another.
Which was she supposed to believe when her heart was pulling her in one direction and her head was pulling in the other?
She was nearly sleepingwhen they reached his apartment. Gavin was tempted to lift her in his arms, but he knew she didn’t like it. She didn’t like being carted around unless it was with a dance partner.
