A vampire, she swiftly recognized. Not only would a mortal woman be incapable of tossing a grown man about with such ease, but she possessed that alien beauty that marked her as something more than human.
Far more than human, Abby acknowledged as Dante held out a hand to keep her from approaching.
As tall as Dante, the female vampire possessed a willowy body barely covered by a token sheath of gauze and hair past her waist that contained the rare shade of a golden sunrise. Her face was thin, almost feline with smoldering green eyes and lush lips that could fulfill any man's fantasy.
And she was clearly in a PMS mood.
Not struggling, Dante nevertheless regarded his captor with a wary gaze.
"Sasha."
"Dante. Now this is a delicious surprise," the woman purred. "You can't imagine how many days I have dreamed of just this moment."
Abby stiffened at the unmistakable tone. Hell, she wasn't attacking Dante because he was protecting the Phoenix.
She was his ex.
A startling flare of something that might have been jealousy raced through Abby as she folded her arms over her chest. This was the sort of woman he desired? Gorgeous, powerful, and immortal?
The… toad.
"An old friend of yours?" Abby demanded.
"Something like that," Dante conceded, his lips twisting in wry humor. "Now, Sasha, this isn't the time for one of our petty spats."
"Petty?" The woman narrowed her gaze to dangerous slits. 'You locked me in a cellar."
"Obviously you managed to escape. No harm done."
Sasha gave a low growl. "I was there for three weeks. I had to eat rats."
"I hear they're very nutritious." Dante grunted as the fingers tightened on his throat. "Dammit, Sasha, I wouldn't have locked you in that bloody cellar if you hadn't tried to stake me."
"You know I would never have done it. I was only playing."
"Playing?"
"You used to like our little games. Remember how you enjoyed being chained to the—"
"Chains are one thing, Sasha, but a stake is quite another," Dante hastily interrupted. "I didn't particularly care to stick around and discover where you intended to put it. Call me crazy."
Sasha gave a loud sniff. "It was still rude."
"You have my deepest apologies," Dante muttered. "As well as my solemn promise never to lock you in a cellar again."
There was a long pause before Sasha's features softened to a seductive pout, and she lowered Dante to the floor.
"I suppose I could be convinced to forgive you."
'You are nothing less than a saint."
Allowing the hand that had been choking Dante to smooth its way down his chest, the vampire leaned forward until she was pressed intimately against him.
"Now, do we kiss and make up?"
Abby discovered her fists clenching as the woman rubbed against Dante like a cat in heat. She wasn't sure if she wanted to smack Dante or Sasha the Slut. But she most certainly wanted to smack someone.
"Actually, I'm in rather a hurry. I need to speak with Viper."
The pout became more pronounced. "Always running off. And always with some worthless human," she accused, her cat eyes shifting toward the silent Abby. "Or is this dinner?"
With a smooth motion, Dante was moving to Abby's side, his expression stark with warning.
"She's not on the menu."
"Predictable." Sasfaa's voice was pure venom. 'You really should spend more time with your own kind, Dante. These creatures make you weak."
"I'll keep that in mind."
With an angry sniff, Sasha turned to stalk away, her ivory curves perfectly visible beneath the thin gauze.
Alone with Dante, Abby shot him a disgruntled frown. "Charming."
"Sasha's a bit… emotional," he ruefully conceded.
"More than a bit if she tried to kill you."
He shrugged. "Every relationship has its share of danger. You admitted that yourself."
"Not death by wooden stake," she muttered, still battling the lingering sense of resentment at the thought of Dante being intimate with the beautiful vampire. "The woman was clearly demented."
A raven brow arched as Dante allowed his gaze to sweep over her stiff features.
"As I recall, you've threatened to stake me more than once."
'Yes, but that was different."
"How?"
"Because it was."
"Ah." Dante's lips twitched with a flare of wicked amusement. "I think I know what has you in such a twit. You're jealous."
She slapped her hands on her hips. Well, duh. Of course she was jealous. Sasha might be dead, but she was still disgustingly beautiful and drenched with the smoldering passion that made men drool.
More importantly, she had managed to ensnare Dante with her seductive skills. Or perhaps it was the chains, a nasty voice whispered in the back of her mind.
In any event, she had possessed what Abby had lusted after for months.
Of course she was damn well jealous.
Not that she was about to admit as much. She did have her pride. For whatever that was worth.
"Get over yourself, Dante. My only concern is knowing how many other ex-girlfriends might leap out of the woodwork. Things are bad enough without vindictive women stalking you."
He reached up to trace her lips with the tip of his finger, "You're a terrible liar, lover."
She instinctively stepped from the distracting touch. "Didn't we come here to find Viper?"
"Someday soon, Abby, we're going to have a long conversation. It should be quite interesting," he said softly. "Until then, you're right, we should be finding Viper and getting the hell out of here."
Despite a rather childish desire to linger and enjoy the sight of Abby's unmistakable fit of jealousy, Dante firmly took her arm to lead her toward the back of the room. Not only was this no place for an innocent, but he also possessed more than one disgruntled former lover, not to mention the numerous demons who harbored the annoying opinion that he owed them money.
The sooner he could get the keys to Viper's car, the better.
Stepping into a shadowed alcove, Dante paused to glance into the long hallway beyond. He was thankful that most of the doors were closed and that none of the perverse pleasures that Viper offered his customers could be readily detected. He was even more thankful to discover Viper leaning casually against the wall.
At least he wouldn't have to drag Abby through the lowest dregs of debauchery.
"There he is," he murmured, turning to place his hands on Abby's shoulders. "Wait right here. I'll only be a minute."