She glanced at the family photo on the mantle. He looked a lot like his father with his brown hair, eyes, and the shape of his face, but she saw his mother in his rare smiles. She’d bet that before Maya disappeared, he smiled a whole lot more.
Her attention returned to him when his fingers started flying over the keys again. The click of the keyboard was the only sound in the small apartment, but she could hear the thrum of traffic and the shouts of children from the street below. She found the sounds of the city comforting, or maybe it was him.
Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes while he worked. She didn’t mean to doze off, but the next thing she knew, his hand was on her shoulder and she was opening her eyes to discover him staring down at her with a small smile curving his mouth.
She’d spent most of the night tossing and turning while fantasies about him ran through her mind. Adrenaline had fueled her when she woke this morning, but she’d been more tired than she realized. She smiled sleepily back at him.
“I was going to let you sleep, but I wasn’t sure what time you had to work,” he said.
Cassidy’s smile faded, and she sat up so fast she nearly smacked her forehead off his. “Sorry,” she muttered when he jerked back.
Dante stepped away as she scrambled to pull out her phone.
“Damn,” she said when she saw the time. Disappointment filled her; she’d hoped to continue at least a little of what they started last night, but she couldn’t lose her job. “I have to be there in an hour.”
“I’ll walk you back to your place,” he offered.
She tucked her phone back into her pocket and rose. “Did you find anything?”
“I found a Lindsay Parks who worked for Dr. Abbott twenty-five years ago. I’m going to meet with her tomorrow afternoon.”
“You already talked to her?”
Dante smile. “While you were snoring.”
Cassidy did a double take. “I don’t snore.”
Dante grinned, and unable to resist, he ran his finger down the bridge of her nose and off the small slope at the end. “You have a very cute snore.”
“Nobody has a cute snore,” she retorted.
“I beg to differ.”
Bending, he followed his finger and kissed the tip of her nose. He only meant it to be a quick, gentle kiss, but once he started kissing her, he couldn’t stop.
Cassidy melted beneath the warmth of his lips as they moved to take possession of hers. She had to leave for work, but she draped her arms over his shoulders and pulled him closer.
His kiss left her weak-kneed to the point where she could barely stand, but if she sat, she’d pull him down with her, and that would be the end of it. When his hands slid up her side and caressed her rib cage before tracing the underside of her breasts, she shuddered with anticipation.
However, as much as she longed to shut out the world and lose herself in him, she couldn’t afford to get fired. Reluctantly, she broke the kiss and lowered her head as she tried to get her thundering heart under control.
She took a deep breath and dropped her arms from his shoulders. Her body screamed in protest, and she clasped her hands together to keep from grabbing him back again.
This was happening so fast, and it was all so much, but as it overwhelmed her, she craved more. Dante studied her with a confused gleam in his eye. She completely understood his confusion as she felt it too.
Except, she at least suspected what this could be between them, but she doubted he did. She’d told him about mates, but if he’d never been around mates before, then he wouldn’t know what to look for or expect it to be happening to him. She’d be amazed if he remembered the conversation given everything that happened since then.
“I really should get home so I can change,” she murmured.
“I know.”
“If it’s okay, I’d like to go with you to speak to her tomorrow.”
“I already told her I’d be bringing a friend.”
A friend? Cassidy thought as she fiddled with the edges of her shirt. But then, what else was he supposed to call her?
“Good,” she said. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
Dante stiffened when she glanced nervously at him before looking toward the family photo on the bookshelf. “What is it?”
“I know someone who can track others. He can’t track the dead, and he can’t track someone if they’re around a lot of other people, like in a city, but he could help if Julie isn’t in the city anymore and if…”
Her words trailed off as she glanced at the photo of his family again. She couldn’t bring herself to say that Brian might be able to help if Maya was still alive. She couldn’t give him that hope and tear it away again. Mate or not, she cared for this stubborn, determined man with a damaged heart of gold, and she couldn’t stand the idea of hurting him.
“If Maya isn’t dead,” Dante said.
He didn’t know how to react to this revelation. His heart raced with excitement as dread coiled inside him. He believed Maya was dead, but what if she was still alive? What if, after all these years, he could finally find her? And what if this person could help find Julie?
“Are they willing to help?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Then I won’t turn their help away,” he said. “The less time Julie spends out here alone, the better the chance I have of bringing her home alive.”
“I’ll let him know.”
“This person is trustworthy?”
“He’s my brother-in-law.”
“Great,” Dante said. “More brothers.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
It was almost eleven thirty when Cassidy finished her last song of the night. She smiled as she descended the stage to a raucous chorus of applause and whistles. A group of young guys, out celebrating their friend's upcoming marriage, entered the bar about an hour ago.
They weren’t the typical crowd for Addy’s, but they’d become her biggest fans. Many of them stood near the stage with their drinks in hand. However, the soon-to-be groom was propped in a booth with a glass of water. She doubted he would remember much of this night.
She headed toward where Dante sat at a table closer to the bar. He’d entered the bar before she started singing and hadn’t left. Kyle was giving him drinks without a hassle, but Julian and Aida had stayed for longer than usual.
“Can I buy you a drink?” one of the guys asked.
“No, thank you,” Cassidy said and went to step around the young man.
Before she could get around him, another guy blocked her way. Cassidy tried not to roll her eyes as the man swayed drunkenly toward her. “I know my friend over here is an ugly SOB, but I’m pretty cute. Why don’t you let me buy you a drink?”
“No, thank you,” Cassidy said.
Dante rose from the table, and if the look on his face were any indication, it wouldn’t matter how drunk these guys were tonight, he would beat every one of them bloody.
“Excuse me,” Cassidy said and pushed past them before things got ugly.
“Aw, come on, beautiful. We’re only looking to have a little fun,” the first guy called after her.
Cassidy didn’t look back as she approached Dante. He’d taken a few steps away from his chair. Hostility simmered in his eyes when they met hers before returning to the men.
Cassidy stopped before him and rested her hand on the table. When his gaze met hers again, the corners of his mouth lifted his smile. That smile and the twinkle in his eyes stole her breath. Before she knew what she was doing, she rose onto her toes to kiss him.
Dante rested his hands on Cassidy’s hips and drew her closer as the kiss deepened. It was so easy to become swept up in the desire she effortlessly evoked in him. He forgot where they were and the patrons surrounding them as he tasted her. The brush of her breasts against his chest, her smell, and her tongue stroking his became the center of his world as blood flooded his cock.
A loud clearing of the throat and a glass banging ag
ainst something jerked Cassidy back to reality. A blush burned up her neck and into her face when she turned to discover Kyle standing across the table from them with a fresh drink for Dante in front of him.
“I thought you might like your shift drink,” he said to Cassidy.
“Oh, ah… yeah… thank you,” she stammered.
He stared between her and Dante before shaking his head and walking away. Music came over the speakers as Rick turned on the radio behind the bar.
“You were amazing tonight,” Dante said as he reluctantly released Cassidy. He tried not to tug at his jeans as his erection softened.
“Thank you.”
“Have you considered singing for a label?”
“That would be the dream, but I can’t exactly be in the spotlight with what I am.”
Dante couldn’t resist cupping her cheek with his palm when her lashes fell to shadow her eyes. “There has to be something you can do.”
She rested her hand over her heart. “I’m happy as long as I can sing. To me, that’s what matters.”
The fervor of her tone touched something inside him; he rested his hand on her arm as he drew her closer. The only thing he’d ever been passionate about was bringing the missing home, but while he took a lot of joy in reuniting families, it was more of an obsession for him.
After he lost Maya, his need to save others became this relentless, driving compulsion inside him. That force caused him to become a vampire and propelled him out of bed every morning because there was nothing else… until now.
He searched Cassidy’s beautiful blue eyes as he brushed back a strand of hair and tucked it behind her ear. His fingers lingered on her cheek, and he moved slowly so she would have time to turn away from him before he kissed her again.
However, she didn’t turn away. Instead, she stepped closer and kissed him as if she understood he needed her more than the air filling his lungs and the heart pumping his blood.
This time, he didn’t lose himself to her because what he felt for her was something private, and he couldn’t share it with the rest of the bar. When he broke the kiss and pulled away, a lazy smile curved the corners of her swollen mouth.
“This is a much better way to get off work than normal,” she said.
“And how would you normally get off work?”
“I have a drink with Kyle, get my stuff from the back, and go home.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to share that drink with you.”
“I’d like that.”
Dante lifted his drink and followed her to the bar. She glanced back at the bachelor party, now pursuing some of the regulars. Most of the women were older than them, but Cassidy had a feeling some of those guys were in for the time of their lives tonight.
When they reached the bar, Aida grinned at her while Julian remained stone-faced. Kyle stood at the other end of the bar, flirting with a woman Cassidy didn’t recognize.
“Julian, Aida, I’d like you to meet Dante,” Cassidy introduced. “Dante, this is my brother Julian and his mate, Aida.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Dante said as he held his hand out to Julian.
Julian hesitated before taking Dante’s hand. “You too.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Aida said when Julian released Dante’s hand and she clasped it. “Do you live nearby?”
Cassidy’s eyes narrowed on her friend. She hoped Aida wasn’t about to launch into an inquisition. She got enough shit from her brothers; she didn’t need it from her friend too.
“I moved into the neighborhood a couple of months ago,” he said.
“This is the best bar around and has the best entertainment,” Aida said.
“It does,” Dante agreed as he rested his hand on Cassidy’s hip.
Kyle finally broke away from the woman, walked down to the taps, and poured Cassidy the new summer shandy she’d taken to drinking last week.
“Would you like another drink?” Kyle asked Dante as he set Cassidy’s foaming beer and ice-cold glass before her.
She almost licked her lips in anticipation. There wasn’t a whole lot of food or drink she liked from the human world, but she enjoyed a good, cold beer. Dante finished his drink and set the glass at the edge of the bar.
“I’ll have the same thing she’s having,” Dante said and pointed at Cassidy’s beer.
Kyle nodded and turned away.
“Brian and Abby are coming next week,” Cassidy said to Julian.
“How come?” Julian asked.
“If we haven’t already found her, then Brian’s going to try to help us find Julie.”
Julian focused on Dante. “How long have you been searching for missing people?”
“Almost twenty years.”
Sometimes, he still couldn’t believe nearly twenty years had passed since he last saw Maya. At other times, he wondered if she ever existed at all. He’d now spent more of his life without her in it than he had with her.
Sometimes, she seemed like a figment of his imagination, and even while he was staring at her picture, he questioned if she was ever real.
“Why did you start doing it?” Aida asked.
Cassidy stiffened at the innocent question. Aida wasn’t aware of Dante’s history, and Cassidy didn’t want him to relive it if he preferred not to.
“I lost my sister,” Dante said.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Aida blurted and covered her mouth with her hand. “I… I didn’t mean to… I—”
“It’s okay,” Dante assured her before she stammered through more of an awkward apology. “It was twenty years ago; I’d just like to know what happened to her.”
“You still don’t know what happened to her?” Julian asked, and Cassidy glared at him; he ignored her.
“No,” Dante said as Kyle returned with his beer. “She vanished one night, and no one’s heard from her since.”
“Who vanished?” Kyle asked, and Cassidy dropped her head into her hands. Sometimes, her siblings were utterly obtuse.
“His sister,” Aida said.
“Oh,” Kyle said. “I’m sorry, man. That sucks.”
Kyle stood awkwardly for a minute before glancing down the bar, waving to a woman who was barely paying attention to him, and walking away. When Aida and Julian didn’t speak, the awkward silence stretched on.
Dante hated when people got like this around him after they learned about Maya; it was why he so rarely told anyone about her. Although he would love to talk about her, share stories, and recall her in vivid detail because sometimes those details blurred so badly he couldn’t quite remember them. Maybe, if he talked about her more, she wouldn’t seem like such a figment of his imagination sometimes.
Loud laughter caused him to turn toward the group of young, drunk guys making their way to the bar. Most of them had their arms draped around a woman, but the groom had passed out in the booth.
“You have to get him out of here,” Rick said to one of the guys and pointed at the groom. “He can’t stay here in that condition.”
“Can we have a couple of drinks first?” one of them slurred.
“Don’t serve them,” Rick said to Kyle.
“Sorry, guys, that’s it for the night,” Kyle told them.
There were a few drunken grumblings, but they all turned and wandered away. When a couple of them waved at Cassidy, Dante stiffened beside her. They may be human, and he’d vowed never to hurt a human, but he would gladly pummel them into the ground.
Cassidy gave a small wave in return as Dante’s hostility vibrated against her back. A couple of women went out the door with them, but the others broke away and returned to their seats. Two of the men lifted the groom from the booth and dragged him out of the bar.
Dante relaxed when the door closed behind them. After the events of last night, he never wanted to be involved in another bar fight.
Cassidy finished her beer and set the glass down. She glanced at the clock to discover it was already after midnight. “I should get my things; t
he bar’s going to close soon.”
Dante reluctantly lowered his hand from her hip and watched as she weaved her way through the crowd with elegant, mesmerizing grace. Lifting his glass, Dante ignored Julian and Aida’s stares as he sipped his beer.
“Excuse me,” he said to them as he set his beer down. “I’ll be back.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
He ignored the women who turned to watch him, but realized one of them was Tammy when she called his name and waved at him. He gave a brief wave back before stepping into the hallway Cassidy had entered.
Dante strode past the two bathrooms while following her scent to the door at the end. He was almost to the room when Cassidy stepped into the doorway. She looked up, and her mouth parted before a knowing smile curved her luscious lips.
His heart battered his ribs as his erection strained against his jeans. Before he could stop himself, he stalked toward her, slid his hand into her hair, and pulled her head back so he could claim her mouth.
She tasted of beer and smelled like cherries; it was the most enticing mixture he’d ever encountered. He didn’t know what it was about her that enthralled him so much, but he couldn’t get enough of touching her, tasting her, and being around her.
For years, his existence was one of loneliness. He believed he would spend an eternity alone, but Cassidy gave him hope for a different future. For the first time since becoming a vampire, he thought maybe, just maybe, he could have love, happiness, and a family again.
He was getting way too ahead of himself with that kind of thinking; they barely knew each other, but she was a bright light in his otherwise bleak world.
All of this was a little too fast and overwhelming, but Cassidy couldn’t bring herself to care. She wanted to experience the elation his kiss evoked and the warmth of his arms enveloping her.
She didn’t realize they were in the employee room until her back pressed against the cool metal of a locker. The bar was closing soon; employees would be coming back here, and she didn’t care.
She slipped her arms around Dante’s neck and drew him closer as her body melded to his. Everywhere they touched, her skin heated until she felt like she was going to erupt into flames. The sensation should be uncomfortable—no one wanted to catch on fire after all—but she found herself yearning for more as his fingers pushed up the bottom of her shirt.
Relentless (Vampire Awakenings Book 11) Page 14