Page 34 of The Devil and the Dancer
Not my circus,Chloe thought,not my monkeys.
But she couldn’t lie that it bothered her just a little that two of her favorite vampires clearly didn’t get along. What she could do to remedy the situation, she had no idea.
The furor of Giovanni and Beatrice’s arrival quickly wound down as Dema and the two drivers sorted all the stuff and the baby was put to bed. Chloe texted Gavin before she retreated to her room.
Vampire families are weird. And wonderful.
Weird I will agree with. Wonderful is debatable.
Your sister?
The string of profanities he typed made little sense to Chloe, but she got the general gist.
I’m going to have to google most of those,she typed back.
Wise, considering that as long as Vivian is in town, you’ll be hearing them.
Going to bed. Night.
Wish I was with you. See you tomorrow evening.
Gavin calledChloe into the Bat and Barrel that evening, determined to ease her into some of the more complicated parts of his life. If he was in love with her and he wanted a chance at a real relationship, she would have to know. Eventually she’d have to know it all.
What are you doing, Wallace?
He sat at the far end of the bar, second-guessing every decision he’d made with her. The silent riot in his mind lasted only as long as it took to see Chloe walk through the door of the pub, raindrops sparkling in her hair and a red tint on her cheeks from the cold.
There she is. That’s why you’re doing this, ya daft prick.
Gavin waited for her to walk toward him, aiming for the hallway and the break room. “Good evening, Chloe.”
“Gavin.” She smiled. “Hi.”
He’d worn a suit that evening since he had a meeting with a liquor distributor who cared about that kind of thing. He enjoyed the way her eyes scanned him, up and down, in a more proprietary manner than she’d worn before.
Excellent. He was feeling territorial, and he quite enjoyed that he wasn’t the only one.
“I need to see you in my office before you start your shift,” he said, glancing at the server who was polishing glasses behind the bar. “Lettie, tell Brian to cover the bar for about fifteen more minutes, will you?”
“Sure thing, boss.”
He didn’t give in to his urge to kiss her until they were both in his office and the door was closed and locked.
“Mmmm.” She groaned against his lips. “I missed you when you woke up tonight.”
“Not more than I missed you.” His hand ran down the back of her thigh. “I missed these legs. This mouth.” He kissed her again, openmouthed and hungry.
“How long until your sister leaves?”
“How long until Beatrice and Giovanni leave?”
She put her arms around his shoulders while he indulged in kissing every inch of her neck. “Why do we know so many people?”
He wanted to bite her, but he was waiting. He’d never fed from anyone who made him feel the way Chloe did, and he was oddly reticent. How would it feel? Would it tie him to her even more deeply? Did he want that?
He indulged in his urge to kiss her while also covering her with his scent. She’d be working around vampires this night. He could not control the instinct to mark her, even if she wasn’t yet taking his bite.
“We’ll manage this week.” He straightened his tie while she tied her hair back at the nape of her neck. “And then life will return to normal. Or as normal as it can be.”
