Dark Cravings [Claiming Series, #2]

- 12 -

But her heart began to hammer faster than the bass beat that rattled the walls. At last she slid into the booth beside him and noticed there were already two drinks. She reached for hers, thinking only that her mouth was dry. Then so quickly that she almost missed it, she felt a hand grab her wrist. She looked down at once and saw the imprint on her skin, but no hand.

"Drugged," she heard Soren say in her ear. She jumped and looked around, but no Soren.

"What's got you so uptight?" Tommy said. "Enjoy your drink. We're just here to talk, right?"

"I'm not thirsty. And this is an impossible place to talk." God, had she just said that? Had she just suggested he take her someplace else?

"Just for a little while," he said. "There's a quieter place upstairs, but one of my buddies is using it right now. You remember Hatchet."

Of course she remembered Hatchet. He was her least favorite of Tommy's friends, and that was saying something.

"So what did you want me to talk about?" Tommy asked.

"I just...felt I left things unsaid. Undone."

"You did leave in a hurry." He leaned toward her, simulating contrition. Only now she knew him well enough to know when he was lying. "I'm so sorry I screwed up. I don't know what got into me."

She couldn't help herself, and she certainly wasn't about to play the pushover regardless of what was going on. "You did what you wanted, Tommy. The way you always go."

His eyes narrowed a bit. He wasn't used to being criticized. He preferred the company of people who never took exception to anything he did or said. It kind of sickened her to remember that she'd once been one of those people, dazzled by his good looks, by the fact that he had a band and performed in clubs. In short, a mousy writer who'd been blinded by flattery and excitement.

She still had no idea why he'd noticed her, except that she was better able to pay the bills than he was. But from where she saw now, she could only marvel in disgust at her own naivety. She'd fallen prey to slick flattery. At least Soren didn't give her any of that. He was at least open and even blatant about why he wanted her: because she smelled good to him.

The thought almost elicited a laugh from her. What a change! What a different way to think about things.

"You think I'm funny?" Tommy asked. There was an edge to his voice even though she could tell he was trying to hide it.

"I'm trying to remember," she said with partial truth, "why I fell in love with you." Why she had thought she fell in love with him, but she omitted that part. One thing she had figured out during her final months with this man, was that whatever she had felt for him, it had never been anything as enduring as love.

No, she came closer to that with Soren. He let her see what he was, even claimed he was a monster, and that he could do terrible things. She believed he was capable of all that, yes, but unlike with Tommy, she didn't have any desire to change Soren. No, she liked him exactly the way he was even in the terrifying moments when the predator showed, like last night.

Why? She wasn't sure. She just knew Soren made her feel safer and more secure than Tommy ever had.

"Maybe," Tommy said after a moment, "I can remind you of what we had."

His eyes looked a little hard, and her heart squeezed with fear. The time was coming, the time she had promised herself and Soren that she was ready to face. She had to face it. Whatever this thing was that Tommy was trying to make a deal with, she knew with certainty it had to be stopped. She had felt its presence, and she could only image what it might be capable of if it became physical. Blood sacrifices? Deals with the devil? No, she couldn't allow this.