his.
She moaned into his mouth and pressed closer, breasts flattening against his chest. Dante moved his hands from her waist to the small of her back, pulling her lower body firmly against his. Her fingers tightened on his shoulders.
He reluctantly became aware that the music had stopped. Stepping away from Tori, he kept his hands on her waist and stared down into her eyes, feeling like someone had cut him off at the knees. He was stunned by the primal urge to claim this woman right then and there, in the middle of the crowd.
He’d had no idea he could be as primitive as a Neanderthal. Or a preternatural.
With a smile full of feminine promise, Tori took one of his hands and led him off the dance floor. He trailed behind her, willingly following her lead, feeling just a little off his game.
She slid into a booth at the back of the club and Dante took a seat across from her. She flagged down a passing waiter and in a husky voice said, “I’ll have a Screaming Orgasm, please.”
“I’d like one of those, too,” Dante rasped. He cleared his throat. “But give me a beer, whatever you have on tap.”
“You got it.” The waiter walked off, a grin on his face.
“Chicken.” Tori leaned forward and traced a finger across the table. Back and forth, back and forth. It was mesmerizing, the rhythm.
Made him think of another kind of back and forth he’d like to do.
The waiter dropped off their drinks and Dante took a long draw of his beer. “So, tell me, how’d you end up as a council liaison?” Time to get things back on neutral territory.
While he and Tori had worked together for the past several months, they hadn’t really taken the time to talk about personal things. Keeping the “personal” focused on the job somehow managed to keep it less intimate.
She sat back in the booth. One of her feet bumped his beneath the table and he quickly moved his foot to one side. She sighed and sipped her drink. Her tongue swept out, leaving her lips shiny and inviting. She gave a little shrug. “I needed something to do with my time.”
“And so you applied to be a liaison?” Dante stretched one arm out along the back of the booth. “Seems to me you could’ve found less dangerous work.” He’d decided a long time ago not to get involved with another cop, because if he ever had kids, well, they deserved to have at least one parent who wasn’t in a hazardous occupation. The fact that Tori was a preternatural made her whole life, not just her job, dangerous.
“Like you did?” One slender eyebrow rose. She leaned forward and cupped her glass. “Why’d you become a cop?”
He shifted on his seat. “I come from a long line of con artists. I thought it was time to leave a new legacy.”
Her lips pursed. “I bet you’ve gotten a lot of ragging from your fellow cops.”
“At first. Especially after my granddad got indicted for selling counterfeit goods my rookie year.”
Tori’s mouth formed a perfect little O. Then she pressed her lips together, he figured, against a grin. “That couldn’t have been easy.”
“It wasn’t. But it was SOP for Granddad. He was in jail the day I was born. And the last time he got sent up was the last time. The old man died in prison.”
“Oh, wow.” She reached out and touched his hand where it rested on the tabletop. “And your parents?”
“My dad had his fair share of run-ins with the law. He was killed in a car accident when I was fifteen. My sister was ten.” Dante rubbed his hand along the back of his neck, trying not to let the memories get to him. “My mom died several years later after a lingering illness. Lily, though she was only eighteen, had been married by that time. I figured she was taken care of, so I joined the army and got as far away from family as I could.”
“But Lily didn’t stay married,” Tori murmured.
“No, she didn’t. I got out of the rangers and came home to find her in an unhappy marriage.”
“Dante, there’s not a whole
She moaned into his mouth and pressed closer, breasts flattening against his chest. Dante moved his hands from her waist to the small of her back, pulling her lower body firmly against his. Her fingers tightened on his shoulders.
He reluctantly became aware that the music had stopped. Stepping away from Tori, he kept his hands on her waist and stared down into her eyes, feeling like someone had cut him off at the knees. He was stunned by the primal urge to claim this woman right then and there, in the middle of the crowd.
He’d had no idea he could be as primitive as a Neanderthal. Or a preternatural.
With a smile full of feminine promise, Tori took one of his hands and led him off the dance floor. He trailed behind her, willingly following her lead, feeling just a little off his game.
She slid into a booth at the back of the club and Dante took a seat across from her. She flagged down a passing waiter and in a husky voice said, “I’ll have a Screaming Orgasm, please.”
“I’d like one of those, too,” Dante rasped. He cleared his throat. “But give me a beer, whatever you have on tap.”
“You got it.” The waiter walked off, a grin on his face.
“Chicken.” Tori leaned forward and traced a finger across the table. Back and forth, back and forth. It was mesmerizing, the rhythm.
Made him think of another kind of back and forth he’d like to do.
The waiter dropped off their drinks and Dante took a long draw of his beer. “So, tell me, how’d you end up as a council liaison?” Time to get things back on neutral territory.
While he and Tori had worked together for the past several months, they hadn’t really taken the time to talk about personal things. Keeping the “personal” focused on the job somehow managed to keep it less intimate.
She sat back in the booth. One of her feet bumped his beneath the table and he quickly moved his foot to one side. She sighed and sipped her drink. Her tongue swept out, leaving her lips shiny and inviting. She gave a little shrug. “I needed something to do with my time.”
“And so you applied to be a liaison?” Dante stretched one arm out along the back of the booth. “Seems to me you could’ve found less dangerous work.” He’d decided a long time ago not to get involved with another cop, because if he ever had kids, well, they deserved to have at least one parent who wasn’t in a hazardous occupation. The fact that Tori was a preternatural made her whole life, not just her job, dangerous.
“Like you did?” One slender eyebrow rose. She leaned forward and cupped her glass. “Why’d you become a cop?”
He shifted on his seat. “I come from a long line of con artists. I thought it was time to leave a new legacy.”
Her lips pursed. “I bet you’ve gotten a lot of ragging from your fellow cops.”
“At first. Especially after my granddad got indicted for selling counterfeit goods my rookie year.”
Tori’s mouth formed a perfect little O. Then she pressed her lips together, he figured, against a grin. “That couldn’t have been easy.”
“It wasn’t. But it was SOP for Granddad. He was in jail the day I was born. And the last time he got sent up was the last time. The old man died in prison.”
“Oh, wow.” She reached out and touched his hand where it rested on the tabletop. “And your parents?”
“My dad had his fair share of run-ins with the law. He was killed in a car accident when I was fifteen. My sister was ten.” Dante rubbed his hand along the back of his neck, trying not to let the memories get to him. “My mom died several years later after a lingering illness. Lily, though she was only eighteen, had been married by that time. I figured she was taken care of, so I joined the army and got as far away from family as I could.”
“But Lily didn’t stay married,” Tori murmured.
“No, she didn’t. I got out of the rangers and came home to find her in an unhappy marriage.”
“Dante, there’s not a whole
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