by Chloe Hart
“I think I need a drink. Is there someplace we could go to get a drink?”
“This is Paris, Kit. But are you sure you don’t want to go back to the hotel and get some sleep? It’s after midnight—and we do have something of a big day tomorrow.”
Back to their hotel room, with its fireplace and its privacy and its beds, two of them in case they broke one, just her and Luke, alone…
No. No hotel. That way led to danger, at least until she could get the better of these weird lustful feelings.
“Not yet,” she said. “Let’s have a drink first.”
A smoky bar…red wine…and Luke...
“Or coffee,” she amended quickly. “Could we possibly get some coffee?”
“Whatever your heart desires. There’s a café around the corner.”
* * *
A few minutes later they were seated across from each other at a table by the window. Luke ordered double espressos for both of them and tasted his own with pleasure. Most coffee, especially British coffee, tasted bland and insipid to his jaded palette, but the rich dark brew of Paris was different.
“This is good,” Kit was saying, looking around her at the other customers: a group of students, an older couple, two young women, a man alone with a book. “This should be safe.”
“Safe?” Luke repeated. “Safe from what?”
She didn’t bother to answer him, and Luke wondered again what was wrong with her. Kit had been acting strangely ever since they’d left Daro’s. Maybe the conjuring of the coin had made their mission seem more real, more imminent. Maybe Daro had said something to frighten her, something about the land of the dead.
“I’ll be with you, you know,” he said abruptly. Kit looked up at him, distracted, and Luke wondered what she’d been thinking about.
“What do you mean?”
“When we go through the portal to the underworld. I’ll be with you. It’ll be dangerous, but we’ll get through it.”
Luke winced a little at his own words. He sounded like a would-be knight in shining armor. But his urge to reassure Kit, to erase that worried look from her face, was stronger than his need to maintain his usual detachment.
“We’ll get your brother back, Kit. I promise.”
She blinked at him. “My…oh. You mean Peter. Right. I’m sure we’ll…”
She lapsed into silence again, her eyes clouded as she looked inward to her thoughts, her teeth sunk in that perfect lower lip, for all the world as if she were fighting some fierce interior battle.
Well, whatever floated her boat. He wasn’t too badly situated. He had espresso, he had a comfortable seat in a pleasant café, and he had the best scenery in all of Paris.
Kit Bantry’s face.
Even when she was worried Kit was the loveliest thing he’d ever seen. Her hair was like gold, like the sunlight he was forbidden to touch. And he’d never seen a face so expressive, between her enormous gray eyes and full, soft, sensitive mouth—
He wished she’d stop chewing on her lower lip like that. It gave him ideas. Ideas Kit had made it very clear she had absolutely no interest in.
Just his luck the only woman who’d ever been able to resist him was the most desirable woman he’d ever known.
“Luke.”
Her eyes were focused again, seeing him, and there was a kind of urgency in their depths.
“Right here, sweetheart. What is it?”
“I—” she hesitated for a moment and then came around to his side of the table, sitting down next to him on the red velvet seat. He stared at her in astonishment as she moved closer, her thigh almost touching his, and laid a hand on his arm.
“I can’t fight it,” she whispered.
“Fight what? What are you talking about?”
He was completely bewildered, which didn’t happen very often. Hell, it never happened. Usually he didn’t give enough of a damn to be bewildered by anything.
Kit lifted her hand slowly to caress his face.
Luke sucked in an unnecessary breath. He knew he was attracted to this girl, but he wouldn’t have guessed he could react so powerfully to her slightest touch. A shudder passed through him at the sensation of her palm on his cheek. His skin prickled.
Kit’s eyes opened and locked with his, and Luke had been around long enough to know desire when he saw it.
And when he smelt it. To his vampire senses, the perfume of her arousal was as palpable as the flush in her cheeks.
“Luke,” she whispered, her voice husky with longing. Hearing her, seeing her, breathing in her scent, was like tossing off a double shot of whiskey.
“Kit,” he answered a little shakily, feeling a bolt of desire go straight to his groin.
She leaned closer and laid a hand on his thigh, sliding it slowly upwards until Luke grabbed her wrist.
“Slow down, angel,” he whispered, looking deep into those incredible eyes. “We’ve got all night.”
He was hard with hunger for her. Was this really happening?
“No,” Kit said, her voice hoarse. “I can’t wait. I need you now, here—please, Luke—”
A cold wash of doubt stilled some of the tumult in his body.
“What do you mean, here? Why don’t we go back to the hotel? You know, where the beds are. Nice, comfy beds, only five minutes away.”
Kit slid even closer. Her eyes were feverish and her hands trembled as they pressed against his chest.
“No,” she insisted. “I can’t wait that long. I need you, Luke…”
The coldness deepened. “Just so we get things clear. You want to have sex with the evil vampire right here, right now, in front of all the other customers—and the waiter—and the people outside walking past the window?”
“What do they matter?” Kit asked impatiently. “There’s only you and me, Luke.” Her eyes darkened and she leaned towards him, touching his lips with a fingertip. Her other hand, with no warning at all, went to his crotch and cupped him.
What the hell, he thought for one fevered second. What’s the worst that could happen? They wouldn’t be welcome back at this café anytime soon, but—
“I know you want me,” she said, her voice low and vibrant and so, so sweet.
God damn him to hell, as if He hadn’t already.
Luke grabbed Kit’s hands and held them firmly away from his body. One more test and then he would know for sure.
“Listen to me, Kit. Listen carefully. I’ve thought of a way to open the portal tonight. Do you understand? We can go rescue your brother right now. Are you ready?”
Her eyes were dark and her cheeks were glowing. “Rescue who? Oh, Peter. That can wait, Luke, everything can wait.”
Luke was surprised at the depth and bitterness of his disappointment. None of this was real. Kit didn’t…she wasn’t…but what the hell had happened? Who—
Daro.
Of course, Daro.
At least the blinding rage that swept through him gave him something to think about besides the curve of Kit’s breast pressing against his arm.
He had to find out what the magician had done. He didn’t want to leave her like this, but he didn’t want to bring her with him, either. Not only for fear that Daro might try another spell on her, but because Luke was afraid of what he might do to the magician. There was a good chance violence was going to ensue, and he didn’t want Kit to see it.
Was it safe to leave her here in the café? If she was under an ordinary love spell, once he was out of sight she should start to feel better. And of course once he was through with Daro the spell would be broken. The only danger was that she’d try to follow him.
“Kit,” he said gruffly, and she blinked up at him. “I need to go somewhere, sweetheart, and I need you to stay here. We’re going to be together just like you want, but you need to stay here while I…run an errand. Can you do that for me? I’ll be back in less than ten minutes,” he added, thinking grimly that it wouldn’t take that long to take care of Daro.
“No, Luke, yo
u can’t leave me—”
“It’s only for a little while, and then we’ll be together. I promise.”
He pulled away from her and grabbed their waiter.
“My friend here is under the weather,” he said hurriedly. “She had a little too much to drink at a party. I’m going to get our car to drive her home, but it will take a few minutes. If you could just keep an eye on her…remind her I’ll be right back if she tries to leave.”
“Certainly, monsieur,” the young man answered.
Luke turned back to Kit. He noticed with relief that the spell seemed to be filling her with a kind of lassitude now. She was leaning back against the red velvet booth, watching him, her pupils dilated until her eyes looked almost black.
“Only a few minutes, Kit. Be a good girl and wait right here for me. Don’t move a muscle. Just…” he swallowed. “Just think about what it’s going to be like when I get back. I’ll take care of you, sweetheart, I promise. Just think about that, okay? Think about it and wait for me. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He thought she nodded her acquiescence, but it hurt too much to look at her. Luke turned his back and blew out of the café like a dark wind.
* * *
“What the hell did you do to her?”
“Luke! I didn’t expect to see you so soon,” gasped Daro. He was pinned against the wall of his study by a muscular forearm held across his neck. “How exactly did you get in?”
“The door.”
“But it’s locked.”
“Not any more. In fact it’s not really a door any more. It’s more like a pile of firewood. But that’s enough small talk.” He pulled back his arm just enough to make it easier for the magician to answer his questions. “What did you do to Kit?”
“It was a present for you, Luke. Since your usual seduction routine wasn’t quite doing the trick. A simple, harmless love spell.”
“Harmless! You didn’t see her. She was all over me like a—”
Daro nodded smugly. “It’s really a marvelous little spell. More lust than love, really. It’s only temporary, though, so you should take advantage while you can.”
“Are you insane? There will be no ‘taking advantage’ of Kit. She’d never forgive me if—”
“Forgive you?” Daro pounced on the word. “Why should you care if she forgives you or not? Interesting, Luke. Very interesting.”
Luke pulled away from Daro briefly, but only so he could backhand him across the face. “How about that?” he said through gritted teeth. “Was that interesting, too? If you’re done looking at me like a bug under a microscope, why don’t you break that damn spell? If you’re interested in staying alive, that is.”
Daro rubbed his jaw and looked reprovingly at the vampire. “Temper, temper. Even if I wanted to, Luke, I couldn’t break that spell. It has to wear off on its own. But it’s a very short spell. She’ll be back to normal by tomorrow morning.”
“And what exactly am I supposed to do until then? Tie her up?”
Daro’s eyes lit up. “Oh, excellent choice. What do you use for restraints? There’s a lovely little shop on the Rue de la Huchette—” he stopped when he saw the expression on Luke’s face.
“Right. Well. Perhaps she’ll, um, fall asleep. Is she back at your hotel now? I hope you locked her in,” the magician said with a sudden frown.
Luke’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you hope I locked her in?”
“Well…she refused the cordial I offered, which made things more difficult, and so I had to do a bit of improvising. That’s why the spell only lasts one night. I also didn’t have time to make it specific to you, so—”
Luke drew back, appalled. “It’s not specific to me? You mean she could—Christ, and I left her in that damn café…”
Without another look at Daro he was gone.
* * *
Kit waited just like Luke had told her to, but the longing in her body got worse, and when the nice young waiter came by to check on her she smiled at him. He nodded politely in his distant waiter fashion, but something in her eyes must have caught him, because after only a few seconds he was sitting beside her in the booth, staring at her as if hypnotized.
Kit felt hypnotized too. She could only speak high school French, and the waiter didn’t speak much English, but the two of them were communicating somehow, talking back and forth slowly as if that would help the other to understand, and when Kit couldn’t stop herself from reaching towards him his hand met hers and they touched palm to palm.
And then with sudden, terrifying violence, the door flew open and the nice waiter was flying across the room.
Screams and shouts, some of them coming from her, but Kit didn’t even have time to make sure the waiter was all right. She was yanked off her feet and dragged out of the café, around the corner and into a deserted side street.
“Luke!” she cried, but he didn’t answer. When they were halfway down the alley he turned on her with a snarl and slammed her against the wall.
His face was only inches from hers, and Kit saw that his blue eyes had turned golden, like a cat’s. When he opened his mouth to speak she saw what she’d unconsciously been expecting.
Fangs.
Luke’s eyes blazed into hers. “If you go near another man tonight I’ll rip his throat out. Do you understand?”
A shiver passed through her body. “I don’t want any other man. You’re the one I want.”
And it was true, God it was true. Being in his presence was a pleasure and terror unlike anything she’d ever known.
“But you were gone, and I needed…”
Luke leaned forward and touched his forehead to hers. She could feel him shuddering, and somehow she knew, even though she couldn’t see it happening, that the fangs were receding and his eyes were turning blue again.
“I know. It’s my fault, all my fault, for letting Daro cast his damn spells and leaving you alone in that café. My fault.”
Kit waited, but he didn’t speak again, and after a minute she reached out a tentative hand and slid it around his neck. If he would only kiss her, that might slake a little of the hunger that tortured her…
But the moment she touched him Luke jerked away.
“You said we could be together,” she reminded him. “You said if I waited, we could—”
She saw the muscles of his neck tense as he swallowed. “Right. I know I did. But it has to be back at the hotel, kitten. Can you come with me back to the hotel?”
She nodded, and Luke tucked her hand under his arm and led her away.
She tried to concentrate on the smooth leather of his jacket and the feel of his bicep against her hand, but the dizziness was much worse now and she was having trouble walking, even with Luke’s help. After only a block she stopped and leaned against a lamp post.
“What is it, sweetheart?” he asked, searching her face anxiously. “Are you hurt? I’m sorry I was so rough before…”
“No, it’s not that,” she said. “I just feel so dizzy…I don’t think I can walk.”
“That’s all right,” Luke said. “You don’t have to walk any further.”
And he swept her up into his arms, striding away with her cradled against his chest as if she weighed nothing at all.
Kit’s eyes fluttered closed. Oh, the relief of feeling so much of him against her. The ache in her body eased, to be replaced with a low, vibrating kind of hum, and the urge, which she followed, to put her arms around his neck. She felt him tense a little at that but he didn’t break his stride, and, emboldened, she pulled herself up so she could kiss the strong muscles of his neck where they dipped into his collar bone.
His arms tightened around her painfully, making her gasp.
“That’s not such a good idea, Kit,” he said in a careful voice, looking down at her with eyes that were still golden at the edges. “Just…don’t move until we get back, okay? We’re almost there.”
Kit felt her impatience rising but she laid her head against his chest obedient
ly. She hoped her reward for all this obedience would be coming soon.
* * *
It was all he could do to control himself when Kit kissed his neck like that. How the hell was he supposed to get through the rest of the night? He was a vampire, for Christ’s sake, not a bloody saint.
At least the dizziness and weakness she was feeling might work in his favor. Maybe he could get her to fall asleep. And there were only a few hours to get through before dawn.
They made it back to the Fontaine, and the twenty-four hour doorman, in the fine tradition of discreet Parisian hotels, merely tipped his hat and said good evening as Luke carried Kit across the threshold.
Outside their room, Luke set her down gently so he could unlock the door. Once they were inside he breathed a sigh of relief, figuratively speaking, and turned to look for the light switch on the wall.
He flicked it on and turned around, and there was Kit facing him with her jacket and sweater on the floor beside her.
He was being punished now for buying her that damn bra, he thought in a daze. He’d been right about her size, though. And he’d been right about the way the ivory lace would set off Kit’s creamy skin.
“Luke,” she said in a low, come-hither voice, and there was come-hither in her eyes, too. She was walking towards him now, and she looked like she meant business.
He backed away from her until he felt the wall behind him, and then there was nowhere else to go. He tightened his jaw and his resolve, but then Kit was there, her palms flat on his chest, her eyes fluttering closed as if she liked what she was feeling.
Oh, God.
He knew he had to do something, had to control himself somehow, but his hand was moving of its own volition and he couldn’t stop himself from covering one perfect lace-covered breast.
The sensation of that soft, yielding flesh beneath his palm was bad enough. But then Kit gave a little moan and let her head fall back, and Luke’s threadbare control almost snapped entirely.
And then everything went still, as if time itself froze to grant him one moment of clarity in which to choose.
Because he did have a choice.
We’re all prey to physical sensations and appetites, but we don’t have to act on them.