The Devil and the Dancer

by Elizabeth Hunter

  His chin jutted out. “Ye want me, and I want ye. Ye just need time. I’m giving ye time. I’m not some randy lad—”

  “Gavin”—her voice cracked—“this was never going to work.”

  The silence from him was deafening.

  “You can’t be in a relationship with someone when you actively avoid knowing about their life. You need to know all of them. Not just parts.” Chloe plowed on, even as the tears started to form in her eyes. “It’s not your fault. It’s me. I’m not Ben. I’m not… Veronica even. You don’t tell me things—”

  “I’m trying to tell ye things. I’m trying to explain.”

  “And I’m telling you I don’t want to know.” She felt the tears slip away from her. “I’m not built for this. I’m not brave.”

  “Fuck yes, ye are. Ye are.”

  “I’m not. At first it was exciting. But every night it gets deeper and deeper. And I’m not built for this. I’m not looking for adventure like Ben and Tenzin. I just… After everything that’s already happened, I want— I need to be safe.”

  He angled his body toward her. “And ye don’t think I can keep ye safe?”

  Chloe didn’t know what to say.

  Gavin slipped off the couch and knelt before her. He put his hand on her cheek and forced her eyes to his. His gaze locked on hers. “Do ye believe I can keep ye safe, Chloe Reardon?”

  She blinked away tears. “I don’t know.”

  He wasn’t angry. His fingers were soft on her skin. His eyes were wide open, penetrating the thick wall of resolve she’d tried to erect. She tried to be immune to him, the hard planes of his chest, the vibrating energy she felt coming off him.

  She wasn’t successful.

  “No,” he said. “Ye dinnae know, and that’s my own fault. Maybe I should have made ye look more closely, forced ye to see all of me.” His voice hardened. “I’ve spent many years acquiring wealth and influence. Very powerful people owe me favors, and I’m very stingy about using them. But know this, Chloe Reardon, I protect the people I care about. The people who work for me are untouchable because I’m very smart and very strategic about the alliances I make. And when it comes to you?”

  Her heart stopped when Gavin took her chin in his fingers and tilted her mouth to his.

  “There is nothing I wouldn’t do to keep ye safe.”

  Gavin kissed her like it was the first time and the last time. He took her breath away. His lips moved against hers, searching for surrender. She opened her mouth to him, and he swallowed her needy cry.

  He reached out, grabbing her hips and dragging her toward the edge of the couch, forcing her to grip his shoulders. Her fingers dug in, pressing him closer.

  A low, guttural moan came from his throat as he drove his tongue into her mouth. Chloe felt the edge of his fangs nick her flesh and tasted the blood he craved. The hands at her hips moved back, cupping her bottom as he drew her closer.

  She slid off the couch and onto his lap, riding the hard line of the erection jutting underneath the thin cotton wrap. Gavin’s hand gripped the back of her neck, his fingers playing with the curls that escaped her scarf. His arms were like iron around her, but nothing about them caged her. She didn’t feel crushed or wary. She felt… free.

  Maybe it wouldn’t work out in the end. Maybe it would all come crashing down. But for tonight she needed him. She wanted him so much it hurt.

  She pulled her mouth from his. “Take me to bed,” she said against his cheek.

  “Yes.” He stood, and Chloe wrapped her legs around his waist. “We have to lock the doors.”

  “Cara, lock roof doors,” Chloe yelled.

  A polite, robotic voice answered back, “Locking roof doors. It is 3:17 a.m. Engage nighttime security protocol?”

  “Yes.”

  “Nighttime security protocol active until sunrise.”

  Gavin muttered, “I really need to install one of these systems.”

  “Can we talk about that later?”

  “Yes, but before we go downstairs…” Gavin set her on her feet.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Just this.” He reached down and gripped the edge of her sweater before he pulled it up and over her head. “Tossing that.” He threw it across the room. “Much better.” His hands ran down her shoulders and cupped her small breasts before he lifted her again. “I could smell him on ye, and it was irritating.”

  “You’re such a vampire.”

  “Yes, I am.” Gavin lifted her higher and licked over the rise of her left breast. “Fuck, it’s pure dead brilliant.” He sucked her nipple into his mouth and nipped her with his teeth. “So fucking sweet.”

  Chloe watched him, and she couldn’t stop the moan that left her throat. Watching Gavin put his mouth on her was incredibly hot. “Bed,” she said. “Please.”

  “Yes.” He walked them down the stairs to her bedroom. Gavin tossed her on the bed and reached down to the edge of her leggings. “These have to go.”

  “Are you going to bite me?” Her heart pounded.

  Gavin smiled a wicked grin as he stripped the thin leggings from her body. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, dove. Plenty to do tonight.” His mouth dropped open and his fangs fell as he ran both his hands up the outside of her thighs. “Look at ye. Those legs are fucking works of art.”

  “Light,” she whispered, overcome with sensation. She felt him. She heard him. She wanted to see him too.

  Gavin laid her legs down on the bed. Then he reached over and switched on the lamp at her bedside. He loosened the towel around his waist and let the cloth drop.

  He was magnificent. His body was lean and defined. His erection jutted out above muscled thighs. Chloe reached over and drew him to her mouth, tasting and teasing him.

  As she played with his erection and he let out a long and highly imaginative stream of curses, he reached up and untied the knot holding her hair back.

  Chloe stopped and reached up. “What are you doing?”

  “You weren’t supposed to stop.” He gripped the base of his erection. “But if you’re curious, I have had roughly a thousand fantasies regarding sex with you, and in none of them is your hair wrapped up.”

  “It’s a mess, Gavin.”

  “Don’t care.” His fingers teased out the wet curls as he tossed her scarf over the side of the bed. “I want it. I want you.”

  They could talk about the realities of hair later. “Come here.”

  “Hmmm. Not quite yet.” He sat on the edge of the bed and swung her leg over his head. His fangs were long and he was grinning. “You had a taste of me, dove. Turnabout is fair play.”

  Chloe felt her cheeks flush. “I thought you weren’t going to bite me.”

  “That’s not the kind of taste I’m talking about.” He slid off the bed, knelt in front of her, and ran his fangs up the inside of her thigh. “This is what I’ve been craving.” He nipped the inside of her thigh once before he put his mouth on her and feasted.

  Chloe let out a harsh cry as Gavin worked. He held her ass and lifted, forcing her back into an arch. It didn’t take long for her to climax. Her body was primed by months and months of foreplay.

  “Fuck!” She tugged his hair and held him to her body. “Gavin!”

  “That’s the best kind of headache, dove, but you’d better let me up.” He laughed against her thigh and gave her pussy one more lick, making her body shudder. “There’s someone who very much wants to say hello.”

  “Please.” She was out of breath, her skin shivering.

  “The best please I’ve ever heard,” Gavin whispered, crawling up her body and holding himself over her. “Chloe, look at me.”

  She couldn’t look anywhere else. In that moment, he was everything. She was wet and wanting, swollen with desire for him. Chloe dug her fingers into his shoulders and looked straight into his eyes. “Please, Gavin.”

  “Yes.” His voice was rough. “Worth every second of the wait.”

  He slid inside and Chloe wrappe
d her legs around his waist, pulling him closer. The pressure was intense, but so pleasurable she felt light-headed.

  “Chloe.”

  “Yeah?” She could barely speak. He felt so good. So right.

  “Don’t close yer eyes.”

  She opened them and watched every piece of his armor fall away. Gavin’s lips were flushed and full with desire. His eyes watched her as he bucked his hips forward, making her mouth fall open in ecstasy.

  “What do ye feel right now?”

  “You.” She put her hands on his cheeks and drew him down for a kiss. “All of you.”

  “And I feel ye.” His eyes turned fierce. “I will keep ye safe, Chloe Reardon. And we will make this work.”

  There were no more words after that. There were soft sighs and harsh gasps. Hands gripping. The delicious, heavy weight of his body on hers. Electricity across her skin, and heat. So much heat.

  When he came, he whispered her name. Just her name. And it was everything.

  5

  Gavin lay next to Chloe while she slept. He’d never been more satisfied by a sexual encounter. Even though she was human and he’d had to be careful not to harm her, she was extraordinary. It was possible that the feeling was a result of Gavin abstaining for over a year, but it was more likely because he’d never had sex with a woman he was in love with.

  He was in love with Chloe.

  And he was going to be an absolute nightmare.

  Gavin wanted to lock her in a bulletproof bunker. He wanted to cart her off to his apartment, lock her inside, and kill anyone who came close to her. His territorial instincts were in overdrive, and his apartment wasn’t safe because Vivian was there.

  The loft was safe—he knew logically this was the best place for her—but Ben’s and Tenzin’s scents were everywhere. He didn’t want to leave her here.

  What other safe houses did he own?

  Los Angeles? Too far away.

  Houston? Also too far.

  The inaccessible cabin in the Poconos? A much better option.

  But not practical for the moment. It took two hours to fly to the cabin, and he only had an hour before dawn.

  He should be leaving.

  He should leave her at the loft, knowing that Ben and Tenzin’s security was highly sophisticated, and he should take shelter during the day in his apartment, which was only a short flight away. He had plenty of time.

  But he didn’t want to leave.

  Gavin watched her, languidly draped over his body, her breath warm against his skin.

  Impossible.

  This was never going to work.

  I’m not brave.

  I need to be safe.

  Gavin had panicked. He’d felt her slipping away like smoke on the wind. He couldn’t lose her, not when he’d finally realized what she meant. But he’d made a mistake with Chloe. He’d assumed that if he showed her who he truly was, she’d run. He’d tried to make himself safe, and in doing so had made her question his ability to protect her.

  It wasn’t a mistake an immortal would make, but Chloe wasn’t an immortal.

  He played with a curl of her hair. His hands and the sheets had turned it into a mess, but he didn’t care. He loved it. He’d wash it for her the next night. He’d been dying to put his hands in it for months.

  Chloe shifted on his chest, and Gavin moved with her, unwilling to break his hold.

  You’re going to be an utter nightmare, and she is wholly unprepared for it.

  There was a reason his employees were safe, a reason that Chloe would be as well. Gavin was a businessman, and violence was bad for business. No one pissed off Gavin Wallace without suffering the consequences of banishment from his pubs or—if you truly pissed him off—a silent and untraceable death. Of course, it took a lot to make him that angry.

  Gavin was Switzerland, a consistent neutral party in a world of constantly shifting allegiances. He had very few friends, most of whom were politically neutral, and very few loyalties to anyone who didn’t pay him. He was predictable, steady, and only looked out for the small group of people who were his employees.

  And Chloe.

  Keeping her and Vivian apart was still a priority, but there would be no way of hiding his attachment from the greater immortal world, not if he wanted them to keep their distance. But could Gavin ease her into a relationship while shielding her from the true breadth of his feelings until she was ready for them?

  His mind was a riot of contradictions.

  He slid out of bed and wrapped a towel around his waist. The first hurdle was negotiating territories, so he called Tenzin.

  She picked up the phone in seconds. “What’s wrong with Chloe?”

  “She’s safe, but I need to use the light-safe room at your loft.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t want to leave her.”

  “I thought you said she was safe.”

  “She is.”

  A long pause.

  “You finally had sex with her.”

  “Tenzin—”

  “I’m very relieved. You’ll need to inform Giovanni.”

  Gavin saw red. “I’m not fucking informing the Italian about my sex life, Tenzin. If he thinks otherwise—”

  “She’s under his aegis. You’ll have to make some kind of statement soon.”

  Fuck, fuck, fuck! Tenzin was correct.

  Gavin clenched his jaw. “Fine. I’ll… inform him; I’m not asking permission.”

  “He knows about your relationship. I can’t imagine he’ll be surprised. Though he does have very paternal feelings toward her, so be prepared for that.”

  “Fuck you. I just called to let you know I’m here.”

  “Do you want me to tell Benjamin?”

  “That Chloe and I are having sex? Of course not. It’s none of his fucking business.”

  “Fine.” She hung up. Typical.

  Gavin knew where the light-safe guest quarters were in Ben and Tenzin’s loft. They were spacious, comfortable, and secure. He could rest easy, knowing that he’d be safe during his day rest.

  But only if he had guards on Chloe.

  He called the bodyguard he’d used for Chloe in the past. “Audra?”

  “Yeah, boss, what’s up?”

  She didn’t comment about the hour. He tried to respect his employees’ time, so if Gavin called in the middle of the night, they knew it was important. “I need you to guard Chloe today.”

  Audra’s voice immediately grew sharper. “Threats?”

  “No.”

  “Special circumstances?”

  “Not really.”

  “Where will she be going?”

  “I’m honestly not sure. She’s not scheduled to work. Be available at the loft.” He could tell from the silence that the normally unflappable Audra was a bit confused. “Just… consider yourself assigned to her for the foreseeable future.”

  “You got it, boss. I’ll be there by sunrise.”

  “Thank you.”

  Gavin hung up the phone. Was he being an asshole? Possibly. Did he care? No.

  He went back to the bedroom and knelt next to her. He needed to lock himself in a light-safe room. The sky out her window was already touched with pearl grey.

  He didn’t want to leave.

  “Chloe.”

  “Hmm.” She rolled over, the sheet draped over her perfect breasts.

  They truly were perfect. Or he was a sentimental sop.

  No, they were perfect.

  “Chloe, I have to leave.”

  Her eyes flickered open, and she gave him a sleepy smile. “Hey.”

  The smile caused his dead heart to thump. “Hey.”

  She blinked and looked at the window. “You’re still here.”

  “I didn’t want to lock myself in without saying good morning.”

  She wrinkled her forehead. “Are you staying here?”

  “If you don’t mind.”

  Chloe smiled again. “No, I don’t mind. That means I’ll ge
t to see you at sunset.” She stretched and the sheet slipped down.

  Gavin’s fangs dropped. “I really don’t want to leave you right now, but I’m going to appear mostly dead in roughly half an hour. I don’t think you’re quite ready for that bit yet.”

  She shook her head. “So weird.”

  “I’m actually the normal type for my kind. Tenzin is the weird one.”

  “So you’ll be like… really, really asleep, huh?”

  “Yes.”

  “Weird.”

  He reached over and pinched her bottom, eliciting a laughing shriek.

  I love you. I adore you. You make me feel alive again.

  “Did you have any plans today?” he asked, swallowing the other words that wanted to slip out.

  She rolled over and curled up, pulling the sheet over her shoulders. “I was going to read my book. The one that caused all the drama. But I don’t have it.”

  He shook his head. “I caused the drama. I should have told you about Vivian. In my defense, our relationship is strange, complicated, and unhealthy.”

  “Is she the one who called the other night?”

  He nodded.

  “Sister, huh?”

  “Not in the familiar and somewhat affectionate manner of some families. Our sire wasn’t the kind to foster familial relationships. Or relationships of any kind, really.”

  “What happened to him?”

  “Someone killed him. Tellingly, neither Vivian nor I sought revenge. He crossed the wrong person and got what was coming to him. I took the money I got from him and refurbished a club in Hong Kong.”

  “Wow. So no hard feelings, huh?”

  “None. It was a business matter that went wrong. If there’s one thing that my sire taught me, it’s that business is sacrosanct.”

  She reached up and traced the line of his eyebrow. “Is it?”

  His heart thumped again. “My business is part of what will keep you safe, Chloe. So yes, for me it is sacrosanct.”

  A shadow fell over her eyes. “We still have a lot to talk about.”

  “We do.” He leaned over and kissed her. “And we will talk more tonight when I’m not about to pass out and you’ve had time to relax and enjoy your well-deserved day off. Read a book. A different book. Take a nap. Relax.”

  “Sounds like a good plan.”