by Michele Hauf
She knew the bartender and smiled at him. He shot her an acknowledging wink and set about making her “usual.”
This club served the best cosmopolitans, and no, Bella did not have Sex and the City dreams of landing Mr. Big and wearing designer shoes. She was happy with her job as a website designer. And while she liked sexy spike heels, she’d take a healthy relationship with a stable man over Manolos any day.
The bartender slid a shimmery pink drink into her grasp and shook his hand at the dollar bills she laid on the counter. “First one’s free for you, Bella.”
Cool. She’d take a free drink any day.
The cosmo was sweet with a bite of sour. Crossing her legs and twisting to watch the dancers, she shifted her shoulders to the rhythm.
Behind a Plexiglas barrier, Seth danced and pumped his fist to the tunes he delivered to the masses. He spiked his hair on the nights he DJ’d, and it went a long way in transforming his usual emo look.
Dating a vampire?
You’re not going to think about it, Bella. Have another drink.
She was about to signal the bartender when he placed another pink drink before her. Pleased he was keeping an eye on her needs, Bella tossed him a wink. But when she dug in her purse for cash, a thickly veined, dark-haired hand slid a five-dollar bill onto the bar.
Heat prickled the back of Bella’s neck.
A husky male voice whispered, “Told you I’d find you.”
Chapter 4
He had found her. In seconds her heart reached Mach speed, and she choked on her drink. The bartender spun a look at her, and she gave him a silly smile and a shrug.
Though she didn’t dare turn to look at the man, she recognized his familiar scent. That deep, earthy odor that was also sweet. What kind of kook had she become that now she was scenting out people like some kind of… No, he can’t be.
The person next to her vacated her stool, much to Bella’s dread. The man didn’t slide onto it but inserted himself between the empty stool and her body. A strong, muscled thigh pulsed against her bare thigh. The spangles on her skirt pressed into her flesh.
“How did you find me?” she asserted.
“I followed you. From your home.”
“From my—” He knew where she lived? “Please leave, or I’ll get a bouncer and tell him you were threatening me.”
“You won’t do that.” He reached for her drink and sniffed it. “That’s how you smelled last night. Vodka and cranberries. You women and your pretty pink drinks. But your scent is different today. Lots of perfume.” He sniffed at the air before her. “Cloves. Did you think to hide your natural scent from me?”
“Yes. No.” Bella grasped her throat, so aware of her low-cut neckline. He’d noticed, as well. “I’m not comfortable talking to you.”
“Good. I like a woman who is honest. And I’d hate it if you were one of those who hung on any man who will give you the time of day.”
She pressed her hand on the cocktail napkin and inched up the wet edge. She was supposed to be safe here.
Bella looked aside. Seth was so close. Was he keeping an eye on her? A trio of scantily clad women danced before the DJ’s box. Seth’s mind was probably not on his best friend.
“Look at me,” prompted the man who was sort of her rescuer. “Let me look at you. I could only imagine how gorgeous you were last night in the darkness.”
She glanced at him and found his warm brown eyes. They were dark yet softer than they’d been in the moonlight. Not threatening. Even attractive.
“Your eyes are bright,” he said.
Bella shifted her glance away.
To look into the man’s eyes felt like complying with a request. And she didn’t want to give him that boon.
You’re in control of your own life, remember?
“You’re not shy.” Even amid the din she heard his low voice perfectly, as if they stood in a column of air set apart from the crowd. “Talk to me.”
Hold conversation with a man who frightened her? Never. But she had to know…
“So are you really a—”
“A what?”
Still unwilling to meet his gaze, she toyed with the stem of her goblet. “My friend told me about vampires and how they really exist. And then he guessed you might be a werewolf.” She whispered the word, as if she were swearing in church.
“Very clever, your friend. Is he the one in the box that you waved to when you first came in?”
“Have you been watching me?”
“Yes.” The bartender stopped before the man. “Budweiser,” he ordered. “So, you’ve recovered from your jogging adventure, I see. Wearing sexy sequins and flirting with men out on the dance floor? One would think you weren’t so much traumatized by being chased as perhaps aroused.”
“Bug off, creep.”
She slid off the stool to find an escape, and as luck would have it, a path parted on the dance floor. The beat picked up and the entire crowd bounced, raising their hands over their heads.
Bella turned. Through the sea of waving arms, she saw no sign of the man. Or werewolf. Or whatever he was. Had she imagined speaking to him?
No, she could still feel the intrusion of his thigh against hers. Hot, solid, powerful. He’d marked her with his heat.
“Don’t be stupid, Bella,” she told herself.
She shuffled her way through the dance floor, intent on reaching the hallway that led to the back door and her escape.
She reached the ladies’ room door just as a tall man in a leather jacket stepped before her and clutched her forearm. She hadn’t noticed his clothing before. Just his presence. How did she shake this guy?
“You’re in danger if you remain here,” he said.
“No kidding? I’m in danger from you. Let me go.”
He released her arm and put up his hands as if to say “I’ll back off.”
But he didn’t back off. And though Bella could not see over his shoulder, she knew escape was but a dash away.
A couple of dark-haired men brushed roughly by her, and she had to lunge closer to the man to not get her feet stepped on.
“Vampires,” he said close by her ear. “They’re tracking you again.”
“You don’t know that.”
“What? That they’re vamps? Or that they’re following you? They’ve had their eyes on you since you sashayed through the front doorway. What did you do to piss off the vamps?”
“Nothing. I didn’t know they existed until last night. Now would you back off?”
“If I leave now, you’re vampire prey. You want that? Fine.”
He stepped around her. He favored one leg with a slight hitch. Within a few strides, he blended into the darkness.
His menacing presence gone, Bella could breathe now. The air in her personal space cooled.
She eyed the back door. The two alleged vampires loomed before the doorway. Their eyes didn’t glow. They didn’t flash fangs. Besides the matching black business suits and slicked hair, they passed for average human men.
Over her shoulder and ten feet away, her self-assigned protector held his hand out to her.
Pressing a hand to her chest, Bella realized her heart was pounding. Yet it wasn’t music pummeling her insides; it was fear. So much excitement in two days would surely put her over the edge. Could a person OD on adrenaline?
The men at the door crossed their arms before them, their gazes fixed on her.
What kind of horror movie had she stumbled into?
Now she had two choices: take her chances walking by two vampires or put her trust in a man she couldn’t be sure wasn’t as bad as the other two.
She remembered what Seth had said. Vampires bite. Werewolves are sex freaks.
Choosing the lesser of two evils, Bella stepped quickly and slapped her hand into her self-assigned protector’s palm. He tugged her down the hallway. When they reached the main room, he pressed her against the stainless-steel wall.
“I am what your friend guesses. Does that
frighten you?”
“Listen, buddy, the only thing that frightens me about you is your need to shove your hard-on against my thigh. Give it a break, will you? I just took your hand to get away from those vampires. Now I’ll be on my way.”
“You need me to walk you out of here. There are vamps outside, parked across the street. Do you want to take a chance they are interested in you?”
“What is going on? What did I do? Twenty-four hours ago, you…you people didn’t exist. And then my best friend tells me he’s dating some vampire chick, and isn’t at all surprised when I tell him I’ve seen three of them. And you’re a freaking wolf?”
“I am a man. I only wolf out during the full moon, and I’ll thank you to call it correctly.”
Again he did that strange sniffing thing before her face.
Now Bella was getting angry. “Stop it. You’re acting like a wolf, so I’m going to call you one. I’ll have you know I don’t like dogs.”
He flinched, as if attempting to hold off a snarl. What? He didn’t like being called a dog? Then take a hike, buddy.
Softening his expression, he shook his head, admonishing. “Just know that between me and those longtooths eyeing you up and down, I’m the one who won’t feast on your blood.”
“Yeah? What do you do? Shake me around like a chew toy? Oh, mercy, I can’t do this anymore. I have to leave.”
“Let me escort you. This way.”
Again he held out his hand for her to accept. Bella stared at the offering. This was so wrong. Much as she liked horror movies, she preferred romance and comedy and happily-ever-after. And she never left noisy bars with strangers.
“I’ll hail a cab,” she said but took the man’s hand.
He led her toward the front door. “If you want to wait for a cab, that’s your choice. But I beg your trust to allow me to escort you home. It’s not as though I don’t know where you live.”
At the reminder Bella’s world began to swirl.
He squeezed her hand. “Don’t faint on me, sweet. Come.”
The rush of air as the door opened smacked her to reality. He tugged on her hand, and she merely followed, moving around the waiting line of hopefuls.
The street was busy with passing headlights. The werewolf tugged Bella close to the wall and they walked along it. He walked with a slight limp, as if he favored one leg. When they had reached the end of the block, not far from the end of the line of waiting hopefuls, the man slowed.
“So your friend is dating a vamp? Did he mention her name?”
“No,” she answered. “I don’t know anything. And for that matter, I don’t have your name. If you’re going to stalk me, it would be good to have a name to give the cops.”
He smirked and drew her close, more as a means to allow others to pass by as they headed for the line. “Severo,” he said. “And you are Bella.”
“What? Are you psychic, too?”
“I heard the bartender use it. See the limo?”
A shiny black stretch was parked five car lengths down from the club entrance. Dark windows did not reveal passengers.
“Vamps,” he said. “And if my guess is correct, it’s Elvira.”
“You are so kidding me. Not the mistress of the dark?”
His smirk didn’t touch mirth. “Her name is Evie, but I call her Elvira because she fits the cliché to a T. If she’s the one your friend is dating, you may as well write his eulogy now. I wonder…”
“His eulogy?”
Again he shoved her against the wall.
“I’m getting so sick of you pushing me around.” But as before, she was unable to wriggle free from his powerful grip.
Their noses touched when he leaned in. “How close are you and your friend?”
“Me and Seth?” Talk about intense eyes. They were deep brown but alive with wonder as he held her gaze. Not so much menacing as…attractive. “We’ve been friends for a long time. We’re best buds.”
“Any reason for Elvira to believe you two have been getting it on?”
“No! Seth is like a brother to me.”
“Do you two hug and hold hands?”
“Why?”
“I think you may have pissed off the wrong vampiress. My wager says those vamps after you last night were sent by Elvira. And she’s seeing you now. Give her a glance over my shoulder. Let her know you see her.”
Bella dared a look at the limo again. Knowing now that there might be a vampire woman sitting inside, staring at her, lifted her anxiety level to a new high.
“Good girl,” Severo cooed. “Now, we’ll give the mistress of the night reason to believe you’ve no interest in that pasty human who spins discs in the club.”
“How—”
He kissed her. And he manhandled her. Severo’s hand slid up her thigh, raising her skirt. He pulled her against his body as he’d done last night. But this kiss wasn’t as violent, only insistent and claiming.
Did he want to show the vampire woman across the street that Bella was his? This wasn’t what she wanted. No matter who watched.
“Wait a second.” She pushed against his chest—it was firm, solid—but he wouldn’t be dissuaded.
“One more, sweet. Give the curious vampire bitch a show, or you’ll have vamps on your tail for longer than you wish.”
“But I don’t—” Want to kiss you didn’t come out. Because the protest didn’t feel right. Did she want him to kiss her? “This isn’t going to work.”
“Worth a try. This time open your mouth for me, Bella. I want to taste that cosmo again. I think I may develop a liking for them.”
“You’re a jerk,” she said on a gasp.
“A jerk who’s trying to protect your pretty little ass.”
With a protest stuck in her throat, he snuck his tongue into her mouth. Before she could weigh the possibilities of biting it, Bella found herself reacting to the powerful and disturbing intrusion by pulling him closer and matching his tongue dance with her own.
God, this was so wrong. He was a stranger. He could be dangerous. He wasn’t even human.
But he could kiss.
He held her possessively, one arm behind her back, his strong fingers splayed down to cup her hip. Another hand caressed her torso, right up under her breast. He wasn’t about to allow her to lead, and that should bother her, but it didn’t.
“So sweet,” he muttered into her mouth. “My Bella.”
Okay, wait. The kiss was acceptable. But claiming her as his own?
“Let’s go.” He ended the kiss so abruptly, Bella thought he might have heard her crazy thoughts. He tugged her along, leading the way.
“You think Elvira got the hint?” she wondered breathlessly.
“Doubt it. Vamps are stupid, blood-hungry animals.”
“And you’re not?”
He swung her to an abrupt stop at the intersection, though the light was green. “I am not an animal.”
“But you confirmed that you’re a werewolf.”
“Three days a month I howl at the moon, and yes, then I become an animal. But the other twenty-seven or twenty-eight days, I am a man. Got that?”
“Yep.” She was not going to argue with anything that could howl at the moon and change into an animal, no matter how few days a month. “You don’t like vampires much, do you?”
“I despise them.”
Bella followed his swift pace across the street in time to beat the light. “I can walk by myself. I mean, I know where I’m going. You don’t need to pull me.”
He let go of her arm, and Bella walked faster, ahead of him. Normally she loved the sound of her heels marking her steps, but now they only reminded her how desperate this situation could become. Because if she thought she would be safe once she arrived home—accompanied by a werewolf—she must be ten kinds of crazy.
He whistled lowly, a satisfied sound. A comment on her back view, likely. She slowed to walk side by side. He did not meet her eyes, but she swore he wore a smirk.
So th
e man did have a soul. Maybe.
She flat-out asked him. “Do you have a soul?”
“That’s an odd question.”
“No more odd than your being a werewolf.”
“Perhaps it is you, a human, who is the odd one. Yes, I do have a soul.”
“Good. I mean, whatever. Do vampires have souls?”
“Yes. But they don’t see their reflections.”
They arrived at the door to her building, a three-story walk-up. Bella owned the upper loft. It was set into a hill, so her third level led out to the patio and the pool in her backyard.
“Here we are,” he offered.
“Yes, I suppose you know that. I suppose every vampire in the city now knows, too.”
“Exactly.” He opened the door and strode into the foyer. “Which is why I’m seeing you right up to your door.”
He knew she lived on the third floor? Dread curdled her saliva.
“I, uh, I don’t think so. I’m fine now. I can lock this outer door after you leave. Just go, please?”
Stoic and determined, he stood on the bottom step. He was a head taller than her—and she was wearing four-inch heels. Broad shoulders squared the bruised leather jacket and caught his long, mussed brown hair, which looked clean but not combed. His dark beard was trimmed close and a mustache framed his mouth.
Bella didn’t want to look at his mouth too long. She knew the feel of it. And it wasn’t something she should be thinking about if she wanted to make the guy leave.
He splayed out his hands, but it wasn’t a surrendering move. The man wasn’t going anywhere.
“Fine.” Bella marched past him, up the first few stairs, but stopped. “You go first.”
“I prefer to bring up the tail. Easier to keep an eye out for intruders that way.”
“But they could be lurking up ahead.”
“I don’t smell any,” he answered plainly.
Bella sighed heavily, turned and marched up the stairs. So he was staring at her backside. She should appreciate the attention, but despite the wonderful kiss, it made her crawly.
Her mother had drilled the whole stranger-danger routine into her brain when she was a child.
So why had she taken a new route last night? It was as though she’d been looking for danger.