Crave the Night (24 page)

The best thing for him would be to walk away
from her and never look back. But the unasked question—he’d been
true to his word about not discussing work—remained: he needed her
to track the blood sport warehouses.

And she needed him in ways she'd yet to
comprehend.

Rev had mentioned he and Fernando Degas were
friends. She should really warn him about the guy. And yet, Degas's
duplicitous truth presented an even bigger risk to Rev's habit.
She'd keep that information tucked close until she was sure what to
do with it.

“
A science teacher, eh?”

He nodded and smiled proudly. “I loved
watching young minds muddle over scientific formulas and puzzles. I
taught in a small town, but moved to the Twin Cities after I was
transformed. Too many people know me in my hometown. I'm not keen
on hiding what I’ve become. Too much work. If you adjust to the
world as a vampire, the world walks along beside you, never aware
of what you really are, and I'm better for it.”

“
I can imagine what your classroom was
like. All the girls jockeying for the front desks so they could
swoon over Mr. Parker.”

If vampires could blush, Rev did. Bree
guessed it was probably the neon club lights across the street
falling over his face. The divot above his upper lip was firm and
deep and she wanted to touch it. Play with his lips. Maybe even
kiss him.

“
And you?”

She startled from her admiration of his
mouth. His smirk indicated he realized she had gotten lost.

“
You mean what do I do?” she
asked.

“
Yes, that is, when you’re not
informing on the werewolves.”

“
You have to know I’ve always been on
good terms with the wolves. At least until, well…”

“
Until they kidnapped you and tried to
feed you to a hungry vampire?”

“
Yeah. Changes things, you know? I
quit my job after that. Rearranged my priorities. I used to dance
strip at the Goddess.”

That got a lifted brow. Bree liked that she
could throw the vampire off his game a bit.

“
We faeries are very comfortable with
nudity."

"That I do know."

Of course he did. But had all that nudity
appealed to him as a lusty man when he'd been in an ichor haze?
Probably not. She hoped it hadn't attracted him.

"I like dancing. It worked for me at the
time. But since reflecting on the reasons I initially decided to
live in the mortal realm, I realized I've been off course. Lately
I’ve been working on a new business venture. It’s all about
recycling, and home delivery and pickup. I’m calling it Zen
Sidhe.”

“
So it’s like you then?”

She smiled. “My girlfriend Blu calls me Zen
sidhe because I’m always calm in the face of a storm.”

“
Or when faced down by an angry,
hungry vampire.”

“
We got through it
together.”

He took her hand and kissed it again. “We
did.”

After the bill was paid, Rev offered to walk
her home. Bree lived four blocks away and had never felt scared to
walk home alone at night. She accepted his offer because walking
away from Rev would never again be easy.

She invited him inside her flat, and
Rev crossed the threshold without reluctance. How he had initially
gotten into her home puzzled him now. Vampires did need the
proverbial invitation to enter private places. Standing in this
woman’s atmosphere was too much to bear. The presence of her, her
very
being
surrounded him,
brushing his skin and whispering at his ears.

He could not take his eyes from Bree’s face.
Her wide bright eyes saw all of him—good, bad and ugly. Her full
mouth was so expressive when she smiled or smirked or gasped in
surprise. He wondered about touching her thick lower lip with his
tongue, tracing, testing. Falling into enchantment.

Gorgeous white hair flowed like the sea
across her shoulders and down her narrow back. It was unnatural,
beyond the mortal realm, and made him wonder how easily she could
blend in with humans. But then he knew humans accepted all guises
and costume and never really knew when a paranormal passed in their
presence.

“
I’ve chamomile tea,” she
offered.

“
No alcohol?”

“
I’m not into the hard
stuff.”

That ruled out him. Because he was getting
hard. Every sniff of her essence, every wonder over her sensual
anatomy sent his blood rushing south. And what was wrong with that
besides everything?

Danger, Rev, don’t
forget that
.

But he could touch her; he’d done so in the
restaurant without developing the urge to bite her. Hell, he could
even kiss her. He had to actually drink her ichor to get a high. Or
imbibe in large amounts of dust through skin contact.

Should have worn gloves,
tonight, buddy
.

“
What are you thinking about?” She
leaned against the counter, the angle of her hips thrusting her
breasts high, and a tilt of her head sweeping her hair across those
tempting hard nipples.

“
Kissing you,” he offered easily. “I
never got to kiss you in the warehouse.”

“
You think intimate contact is
wise?”

He closed their distance, putting a hand to
either side of her on the counter. By some monumental feat, he did
not touch her. Yet.

“
I wish you’d leave the struggle
between wisdom and futility to someone else, Bree. Are you afraid
of me?”

“
No. I’ve seen you at your worst.” She
tore her gaze from his and studied the floor. “But I won’t be the
one responsible for returning you to that worst. What was your
bottom, exactly?”

“
You think I was huddled in some dark
corner with the shakes, jonesing for dust?”

She shrugged. “I don’t even want to
imagine.”

“
Dust brings up my Hyde. It makes me
volatile. I think I can run the world and kick everyone else off
it. But don’t worry, it’s not going to happen again.”

He leaned in closer. The fringes of his
bangs tickled across her lush white curls. The sweetness of Bree
blossomed like a meadow thick with honeybees and pollen.

“
I’m too smart for that,” he said.
“And even were I not, I know you’re one smart faery.”

“
Smart enough to entertain kissing a
dangerous man?”

“
I’m not dangerous to you.”

She exhaled. “You don’t know that, Rev.
Right now? My heart is racing for you. And my wings are tingling.
You fascinate me. You attract me. I want to know the touch of your
mouth against mine. And that feels so dangerous.”

“
Exciting,” he corrected, whispering
it against her soft cheek, and loving her confession.
“Exhilarating.”

“
I don’t want to get hurt.”

He paused, and looked into her searching
eyes. “I would never, I swear it to you.”

Her fingers glanced across his cheek,
finding the same path they’d taken half a year earlier, searing
heat into his flesh and marking him in its wake.

“
Bree, I’ve dreamed of your touch,” he
said. “You touched me like this then. I’ve wanted it again. The
memory of it is what kept me sane in my darkest moments, and made
me want to get clean.”

“
Really?”

He nodded, and pressed his forehead to hers.
Still she stroked his face, exploring the rough stubble darkening
the hard line of his jaw and tracing under his chin as if to map
out his sensual zones.

“
Promise this isn’t a trick to get me
to spill, to start informing again?”

“
This has nothing to do with business.
Us, right now, this is what I want and need.” He wanted to tug up
his shirt and feel her hot and pulsing against his skin. Not yet.
Slowly. He would make this moment right. “Kiss me, Bree. Give me
your touch again.”

Her mouth landed on his. He stood a head
higher than her and he liked that she was small, yet unafraid of
his brawn. Her lips crushed against his, warm, seeking. The tip of
her tongue skated his lower lip, then dashed to trace the indent
marking his upper lip.

He had never tasted a woman so exquisite,
one so unabashedly curious and unafraid to explore what she claimed
dangerous. Her courage quickened him.

He lifted her and she wrapped her slender
legs about his hips. This one was his. He felt it in his heart, he
felt it all over his skin as she glittered into his pores and
captured his nerve endings in a riot of desire.

“
Bree, can this be as good as it
feels?”

“
It can never be right.”

“
Right is boring. But this, this is
interesting. Forbidden. And yes, dangerous. I won’t ever bite you.
That will keep you safe.”

“
You may not want to now, but the more
you touch me…”

Neither wanted to finish the sentence. Both
knew it ended with a monkey clawing deep into Rev’s shoulders. A
renewed plunge into devastation.

It wasn’t worth the risk.

But risk meant nothing when holding Sabrina
Kriss in his arms. She belonged to him; his body screamed for that
ownership. And he would have her.

“
I won’t let that happen. Let’s take
this as it wants to go.” He scanned her gaze. “Can we do
that?”

“
Fooling around with me won’t
interfere with your job?”

“
I have to get the information,
Bree.”

“
So you’re seducing me to help the
vampires?”

“
I said I would not. I know it’s a
conflict of interest, but I think I can work the business around
the pleasure. Right now I just want to hold you. To kiss you. You
were made for my mouth.”

She kissed him full and lush and deep. The
faery in his arms, light and clinging, brightened his senses with
wonder and marvel. Rev pushed down the dress strap to kiss her
shoulder. There her skin sparkled with the dust innate to her kind.
Sweet on his tongue, the minute taste reignited a familiar
craving.

He tensed.
You're stronger than that
. No more
tasting.

Carrying her across the room, he laid her on
the bed beneath the moonlight and crawled over her.

“
Not so fast, vampire.” She lifted a
knee to keep him from snuggling the length of her body. “You want
to make love?”

He nodded.

“
You’re moving too fast. I’m not that
kind of girl.”

“
Sorry.” Right. What was he thinking?
He’d stepped beyond a boundary he’d imposed not a few minutes ago.
“Just kissing. In more places than here?” He kissed her mouth. She
giggled as he tugged down the other dress strap. “Maybe
here?”

“
Mmm.” She purred as he nudged his
nose along her skin, tracking toward the small, perfect breasts
that had earlier hugged his chest.

He tongued a hard nipple and followed by
laving at it hungrily. Bree’s body arched against his chest and
hips. Her arms stretched out and fingers clung at the bedspread. He
couldn’t get enough of her skin, her soft flesh, and the hard tight
buds crowning her breasts.

“
Goddess, that’s good.” Her fingers
slid through his hair and she grasped at the back of his head,
encouraging him. “No teeth, vampire.”

He willed his fangs up.
Bad, vampire
.

But you’re tasting her
again. Watch it, Rev
.

He paused over her breasts. Looking up, he
found her mouth open, her sigh dusting the air. Dust? It wasn’t
visible, but he knew when faeries became aroused it seeped from
their pores in a fine sheen.

He pulled his hands from her body as if
burned. Studying his palms, he searched for a glint of dust.

“
Why are you stopping?
Rev?”

Why was he stopping? He wanted all of her.
In his mouth, at his tongue, beneath his body. He wanted to be
encompassed by her, to be inside her.

“
You’re right, this is too fast,” he
finally said.

He pushed off the bed and paced away. Easing
a palm over his erection he cursed his body’s insistent and greedy
needs. Behind him, Bree tugged up her dress straps and licked her
lips. An abandoned innocent, she sat in the middle of the big bed.
Delicate.

And sinister.

“
I’ve some work to do with the
project,” he summoned the lie. “Can only be done at night. I
promised you I wouldn’t mix business with pleasure. This was
stupid. I’m sorry to leave like this.”

“
I understand.”

She did. And that understanding tore out his
heart and smashed it against the wall. Did she suspect he wasn’t as
strong as he thought he was?

“
Tomorrow,” he said, and rushed for
the door.

Shoes clattering down the metal stairs, Rev
turned into the alleyway with no destination to mind. It wasn’t
long before he found himself inside a club pulsating with the scent
of desire, desperation and temptation. Music thundered in his brain
and the sensory overkill made him wince. Darkness shrouded his
sweating skin. He could sense when he rubbed against another
vampire, for the telling shimmer tickled his veins.

When a thin woman in red dress with
matching red hair skimmed his hand with her thigh, he
stiffened.
Faery
. His pores
opened in anticipation of the fix.

Rev slammed a fist into the wall. The faery
flinched and shoved her girlfriend into the crowd to get away from
him.