She read on, skipping over the portion about the Transfigured police force and governmental services. That wasn’t really what she was looking for. Honestly, she wanted to know more about the change itself. It was lowering to admit that she’d never even thought about it.
The Transfigured population amounted to one in every fifty humans. For such a large subset of the population, she had marginalized them. She needed to be careful of that. Even if he seemed aloof, Talan must have feelings too. This, she realized, gave her something to work with. She’d do more research later. Right now, she had a date to get ready for.
An hour later, Lilly’s hands shook as she put the finishing touches on her makeup. She finger-combed a few more times through her curls and then looked at Marissa. “Well? What do you think,” she asked.
Marissa took in the smoky eye, the black dress, and small accents of grey in her accessories and said, “Hot. You look totally hot. I still can’t believe you’re going on a date with Talan McKenna.”
“Me neither,” Lilly admitted as she put the lip gloss into her purse. “I never really considered the Transfigured an actual dating option. Not that I really date anyway.”
“He’s so stoic all the time. Even though he’s gorgeous, I practically feel an arctic breeze when he walks by. I suppose he’s different when it’s just you?” Marissa asked, renewing her attempts to pry.
“He is,” Lilly agreed, her voice muffled as she reached into her closet for grey suede heels.
Finally, Marissa asked the question that was on both their minds. “Does he know about your family?”
Lilly straightened and said, “Not yet. I’ll tell him at some point. It shouldn’t be an issue between us. It’s not like he was there.”
“You don’t have to get defensive, sweetie. I’m just saying it should be sooner rather than later. It shapes the way you see the Transfigured. Whether you intend it to or not, it likely shapes the way you see him.”
“I know,” she sighed. “It’s an unfair bias and I’m working on that, aren’t I? Just by even considering dating a Transfigured?”
“Absolutely. Just be careful sweetie,” Marissa cautioned. A moment later, she smirked and added, “No sex on the first date. He won’t buy the cow if he can get the milk for free.”
As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Lilly asked, “Do you really think I’m going to hand over my V-card to him on the first date?”
Marissa considered her for a moment and then said, “You never know.”
“Also, just to be clear. In this analogy, I am, in fact, the cow?”
Marissa snorted and said, “Sorry. It was getting too deep. I had to lighten the mood. You’re not a cow. I promise.”
Lilly rolled her eyes and said, “Night.”
“Have fun. You look totally hot,” Marissa called to her as Lilly retreated downstairs to answer the door.
By this time, Lilly had reached the main floor. She looked through the peephole, took a deep breath, and then opened the door.
He grinned and said, “Your friend was right, Lilly. You do look totally hot.”
Flushing, Lilly said, “That would be my roommate Marissa. But thank you.”
As she reached for the dressier of the two coats she owned, he smoothly took it from her and assisted her into it.
“Are you ready,” he asked.
She nodded and said, “I am. By the way, thank you for the flowers you sent earlier. They’re lovely.”
“You’re welcome, Lilly,” he said as they stepped into the brisk night air.
He steered them toward a silver Mercedes sedan, his hand on the small of her back. Even through the thick coat, she could feel his hand as if he were branding her. Lilly had never felt this level of sexual tension before from a casual touch. Thankfully, when he moved to open the passenger side door, he broke off contact momentarily. She slid inside before he could assist. She took another calming breath as he circled around to his own side of the car.
When he slid in, he said, “Thank you for agreeing to have dinner with me.”
Before she could filter her thoughts, she blurted out, “I honestly found it a little difficult to say no.”
He gazed at her, a frown forming on his lips. That was when she realized what she’d said.
“No. Not at all like you’re thinking, Talan. You’re my boss. Well, technically, my boss’s boss’s boss’s boss. That should have been enough reason to tell you no, but...I didn’t want to.”
“For me as well,” he admitted, the frown disappearing from his face. “I don’t make it a habit to date employees. I don’t really make it a habit to date.”
She was uncertain how to respond, but luckily she didn’t have to because he added, “I can’t seem to help myself where you’re concerned though.”
Another flush spread across her face, but she was determined to keep it together. Instead of acknowledging it, she asked, “So where are we off to?”
“ L’agriturismo,” Talan answered. “It’s means farmhouse. Do you like Italian food? I probably should have asked.”
She watched as he navigated them back onto the street and said, “I do, thank you.”
“Then I think you’ll enjoy it. I’m told the restaurant takes an organic, ‘local food only’ approach to their menu. I thought it might interest you.”
“It does. I can’t imagine what they’re able to create in the dead of winter, but I bet it’s going to be fabulous. You’ve got to appreciate that kind of dedication to craft,” she said.
“Yes,” he agreed as he reached across the center console and took her hand. Lilly ignored the fluttering of nerves in her belly and twined her fingers with his.
The conversation flowed easily between them on the way to the restaurant. That had been a small concern for her. She worried that based on their gigantic age gap, they might not have much in common.
As they settled at their table and perused the menus, she finally mustered the courage to ask, “Talan, exactly how old are you?”
“Four hundred and eighty-six years sometime next month. We weren’t the best timekeepers back then,” he said, a smile pulling at his lips. “Is that an issue for you?”
“No,” she said, smiling. “I’ve always liked older men.”
He raised an eyebrow and asked, “Oh, really?”
Feeling more lighthearted than she had in some time, she just laughed, nodded, and then took a sip of her water.
They both looked back to their menus until he asked, “Did you know what you’d like to order?”
“The ravioli,” she said.
He looked at the description and rather suspiciously said, “I don’t know how I feel about Gorgonzola and pear together. I think I’m sticking with the linguine di mare. Would you like to order some wine?”
She winced and said, “Sure. Wine’s not my forte, though. I leave it to you to choose.”
She realized he’d said nothing about actual nourishment for himself. Lilly could appreciate that he was willing to eat a meal with her, but it didn’t really benefit him to do so. She had seen a list of blood types under the beverage choices, and she certainly didn’t want him to think he couldn’t nourish himself. As he scanned the wine list, she asked, “I know that you’re going to have dinner with me, but are you planning on eating as well?”
“I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about that,” he said. “Would you be okay if I did?”
“Please,” she said. “I can’t expect you to starve yourself when I’m around. Besides, I already saw you drink the synthetic stuff the other day.”
“Fair enough,” he said, a mix of pleasure and relief on his face.
By the time dinner was done, Lilly was relaxed and genuinely enjoying her time with Talan. She had managed to shut off her brain. Between work and school, she was always thinking ahead. It wasn’t often that she could just be in the moment. This moment in particular, she realized as they walked into the sparsely crowded jazz club, was better than most. She took his hand while they
made their way back to one of the small booths tucked into the corner. When she felt the almost imperceptible squeeze he gave, she couldn’t help but smile.
Once they had settled in, sides pressed against one another in the back corner of the booth, they picked up the thread of conversation where it had stopped in the car. She had been talking about one of the papers she was in the process of writing for her psych class. It was about Freud’s theories on the psyche. He was incredibly insightful, but she supposed that would happen after four hundred plus years. As that thread of conversation died down, he asked the question she’d been dreading.
“The other night you mentioned that restaurant management was in your DNA?”
“My parents owned a small restaurant in Kansas where I grew up. There was never really a question as to what I’d do with my life. I had a lot of practical experience from when I was younger, and I’m good at it,” she said, hoping to stave off further questions about her family.
“They must be proud then,” he said.
“I’m sure they would be,” she said, deeply regretting the slip the other night that was prompting this line of questioning.
He must have seen that he’d hit a nerve because he said, “I’m sorry. We can talk about something else if you wish.”
Lilly took a deep breath. “I’d have to tell you eventually anyway. It’s a little heavy for first date stuff, but, here goes. My parents and my brothers were slaughtered by a group of rogue Transfigured when I was fourteen. They broke into our house. I was down in the basement raiding the fridge we kept down there. They must not have realized that I was in the house, or I probably would have ended up like them.”
Talan gazed at her for the longest time, as if he was searching her face for some idea of how he should respond. Finally, he said, “I’m so sorry. That’s terrible. Were they caught?”
“They were caught and put to death,” she said numbly. “Not that it really helped anything after the fact.”
There was an uncomfortable silence. Talan finally broke it by stating the obvious. “I’m a little surprised that you’re here with me, based on what you just told me, Lilly.”
She gave him a small smile and said, “You’re difficult to say no to.”
He watched her with such sadness in his eyes that she reached out for his hand. It lay idly on the table, toying nervously with the edge of the napkin. She didn’t even think he realized he was doing it.
Talan immediately wove his fingers through hers and quietly said, “I hope you know that I would never hurt you, little one. I wouldn’t drink from you without permission. Certainly never like that. I promise you. They were monsters.”
When he called them monsters, he’d spoken with such censure and disgust that she could feel it coming off of him in waves. She hated that she’d cast such a dark cloud over the evening. She was careful to inject both humor and warmth into her voice when she said, “I know you’re not a monster, Talan. I wouldn’t be here with you if I thought you were. I’m not that hard up for a date, trust me.”
He gave her an uncharacteristic smirk and then pulled her up against his side. She rested her head against him as they listened to the music. Neither of them spoke. Perhaps he was lost in his own thoughts about the bombshell she’d dropped. She couldn’t blame him. At least the silence was a comfortable one.
As she began to relax into him, Lilly felt the whisper-soft touch of his lips against the top of her head. She sighed softly and then tilted her head up to watch him. His gaze shifted to her face from some unknown point in the distance. She drew in a sharp breath when his eyes focused in on her lips. He leaned into her slowly, as if he was giving her time to back away from him if she wasn’t interested. Instead of backing away, she stretched up toward him, closing some of the distance between their mouths. He leaned in the rest of the way, and gently brushed his mouth against hers, once, then twice, before he started to deepen the kiss. He stroked the tip of his tongue over the seam of her lips until she opened her mouth beneath his. This wasn’t a kiss of exploration. Talan was staking his claim, and she gladly let him. The way that his mouth moved over hers spoke entirely of possession. His hands roamed her back, his touch like a brand on her skin. She’d never felt so utterly desired in her life.
Lilly shifted in the booth until she was practically facing him. She wanted to be closer to him. Desperately so. By the time he released her mouth, she was lightheaded. Drunk on sensation, she breathlessly said, “Holy shit.”
He let out a small laugh and said, “I couldn’t agree more.”
Seconds later, his hands slid into her hair as his mouth descended on hers again. He took her mouth more slowly this time, but the heat was still there. His tongue swept the recesses of her mouth, exploring every inch. When she heard the groan of pleasure low in his throat, she wanted to crawl into his lap, public place be damned. Lilly had never felt a physical connection like this with anyone. Her pulse throbbed, and she was wetter than she’d ever been. From a kiss.
Eventually, they separated long enough to settle the bill and head to the car. She looked at him, completely confused as he drove her back to her apartment. At this point she was willing to go anywhere with him if they could keep doing what they had been. When they arrived, he walked her to her door and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. Her heart pounding, she invited him inside.
“I want that, Lilly. More than almost anything right now. I want to be careful with you, though. You matter.”
Disappointment flooded her system at his rejection, but it had definitely been tempered by his explanation. She reached up and ran her fingertips along his angular jawline. “Thank you for a lovely evening, Talan.”
He smiled, tilted her chin up, then brushed a light kiss over her mouth. “You’re very welcome, Lilly. I’ll see you soon.”
“Good night,” she said, leaning against the door.
“Good night,” he answered as he stood there and waited for her to unlock the door. When she stood in the open doorway, he moved back toward his car in the same graceful way he did everything else.
She closed the door and slumped against it. Wow. That was completely unexpected. The conversation had been great for the most part, and the connection between them was explosive. The evening had been incredibly successful, and that gave her a hell of a lot to think about.
Chapter Six
Over the last two weeks since their first date, Talan had taken Lilly out three more times. On the nights they both worked, it had become habit that he would either stop in toward the end of her shift or they would get dinner together. He kept waiting for the novelty to wear off¸ but it hadn’t happened yet.
He had initially worried that they wouldn’t have much in common other than their mutual physical attraction for one another. For the most part, they didn’t. What they did seem to have in common was a fascination about each other. He found himself having to formulate answers to questions he hadn’t even considered. She made him examine himself in a way he hadn’t before.
Her face was incredibly expressive. He loved watching her eyes light with understanding if he was explaining his point of view. Even if he didn’t sway her thoughts on whatever they had been discussing, it was pleasing to know that she understood him.
He found himself seeking her counsel on business issues. Not necessarily because he didn’t know how to handle them, but he was curious as to how she would handle them. He was often impressed by her quick thinking and understanding of a world she had little experience in.
She had talked a bit more about her family. After the first date, when she’d explained her history, he worried that she’d have trouble seeing past it. If he had been in her shoes, he wasn’t entirely certain he’d have been able to. Her understanding of the fundamental differences between who he had become and the monsters that had destroyed her family had touched him immensely. Her trust in him had been almost immediate and unflinching.
When he’d spoken with her earlier in the evening, she’d let hi
m know that she had traded shifts with another bartender in the sports lounge. He had been looking forward to spending a little time with her tonight. He’d had thoughts of coaxing her up to his apartment after work.
Since their last date five days ago, he’d only managed one single, stolen kiss. He didn’t like to think that he was man driven solely by the physical, but kissing Lilly was unlike anything he had ever experienced. He couldn’t even imagine what it would be like when he finally took her to bed. For his sake, he hoped he’d find out soon. He wanted her with an intensity that was almost frightening.
Around midnight, on impulse, he picked up his phone and texted Lilly, “Please text and let me know that you’ve arrived home safely.”
Sighing, he returned his attention to the e-mail in front of him. He scanned the weekly report from the project manager in Miami. Things seemed to be moving much more smoothly after their conference call last week. Lachlan had laid it down in no uncertain terms that they were on verge of a lawsuit for breach of contract if there were any more delays. Magically, things started working the way they were supposed to.
He despised when people underestimated him. The building company had just assumed they’d have no recourse but to take it. They clearly hadn’t known him at all. As he typed a response, his phone buzzed. He quickly finished the e-mail and then checked his phone.
“If you want to verify my well-being, all you need to do is to come to 17 North.”
She was downstairs in the club. A grin spread across his face as he responded, “I’ll see you shortly.”
Pushing back from the desk, Talan took off his suit jacket and slung it over the back of the chair. Just as he was leaving the office, his phone rang. As much as he’d love to ignore it in favor of spending time with Lilly, it was business.
Gruffly, he said, “Hello.”
“Hey,” Lachlan’s voice boomed over the line. “I just spoke with George Karpov from the Continental in Seattle.”
Talan groaned and asked, “What did he have to say?”
The Darkness Calls Page 4