"Dante, it's the police. They can help us," she hissed before abruptly charging from behind him toward the door.
With pure instinct, Dante reached out to wrap her slight form in his arms. Smoothly he hauled her back into the building and pressed her against the wall. Her hands reached up to angrily beat at his chest, but already anticipating the scream that was about to expose their presence, Dante lowered his head and covered her mouth with his own.
His intent was honorable. The kiss was merely a means to prevent disaster. But the moment he touched the satin enticement of her lips, all honor was forgotten.
A combustible heat flared between them as he tightened his grip, and he devoured her with a hunger that he couldn't disguise. Bloody hell, he wanted her. He wanted to taste, to seduce, to consume her until his dark need was sated.
Restlessly his hands trailed up her back, brushing the tantalizing skin of her nape before plunging into the honey curls. He held her head steady as he continued to plunder her mouth, all thoughts of danger forgotten in a haze of searing pleasure.
Pressed against him, Abby momentarily stiffened in shock at the sudden embrace, but with gratifying speed, she offered a low moan and wrapped her arms about his neck as she opened her lips to his. Almost as if she had been waiting for this moment with the same fierce intensity as he had.
At the unmistakable capitulation, Dante instinctively softened his lips, his kisses deepening with persuasive intent. She stirred restlessly against his hardening thighs as his lips moved to trail over her smooth cheeks and down the arch of her neck. He was drowning in the passionate fire she had released within him.
"Abby… my sweet Abby… I want to feel you beneath me," he rasped in raw tones.
He felt her shudder with longing beneath his touch before she was abruptly pulling away to gaze at him with wide, dilated eyes.
"Are you insane?" she rasped, pressing her fingers to her swollen lips.
Caught off guard by her sharp retreat, Dante gritted his teeth and shoved his hands roughly into the pockets of his jeans. It was a grim battle to master the desire still pulsing through his taut body.
A swift yank, a few heated kisses, and he would have her on the dusty floor and himself sheathed deep in her body.
Thankfully sanity slowly forced its way through his hazed mind; taking a careful step back, he regarded her with a measure of calm.
"I was attempting to keep you from getting us both killed. I couldn't allow you to call out to those cops," he explained in smooth tones.
Her brows furrowed together. "You think that demons have infested the Chicago police force?"
"No, I think the second you attempt to explain to those nice, unimaginative cops that we're being pursued by vicious demons and hellhounds, we'll find ourselves locked in a lovely padded room. If we aren't first tossed into jail for the murder of Selena. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not be strapped in a straitjacket or offered a cell with a spectacular view of the morning sunrise."
Her expression hardened, as if she longed to argue with his logic. Then wrapping her arms about her waist, she heaved an annoyed sigh.
"Fine. And what is your brilliant solution? To crawl through these disgusting alleys for eternity?"
He gave a shrug, moving back to the open doorway. "Not quite that long, I hope. I do know a place, but I must be certain that we've shaken our bloodthirsty friends."
"God, what a mess," she muttered.
Dante forced his fangs to shorten as the lingering shudders of desire tortured his body.
"For once, lover, we are in full agreement."
Chapter 4
Two hours later, Abby was spent.
She had endured a house exploding, the violent death of her employer, being chased by demons (one of which she had killed with her own hands), hours of walking through vile-smelling alleys, and a kiss by a vampire. And to be honest, she wasn't sure which unnerved her the most.
Now, however, a wrenching weariness invaded her entire being.
Her feet hurt, she smelled like an overripe landfill, and a numbing fog was clouding her mind. Hell, at the moment she would have paid a lurking demon to leap out and swallow her whole.
Unfortunately, the ghastly creatures who had seemed so determined to destroy them a mere three hours ago had seemingly disappeared the moment they might have come in handy, and she was left to trudge upon trembling legs behind a silent vampire.
Perhaps this was hell, she theorized. Perhaps she had indeed died in the mysterious blast and was now doomed to roam through darkened, demon-invested alleys for all eternity.
No, not hell, a treacherous voice whispered. Not if she were to be offered an eternity of kisses from a gorgeous vampire that had made her melt into a puddle of aching need.
Her heart skipped a renegade beat before she was giving a sharp shake of her head.
Obviously she was becoming delirious. Vampire kisses. God. No doubt the toxic stench had driven her over the edge. Enough was enough.
"Dante." Coming to a halt, she folded her arms over her chest. "I can't go any farther."
With clear reluctance, Dante stopped at the corner of the alley and turned to meet her stubborn gaze. As weary as she was, her breath caught in her throat.
Bathed in the dull golden light of the streetlamp, Dante was strikingly beautiful. His flowing raven hair. His fiercely elegant features. His silver eyes that shimmered with a lethal danger. It all combined to create a vision that was bound to weaken the knees of any woman.
Thankfully unaware of her treacherous thoughts, Dante reached out to grasp her hand.
"It is just a bit farther, I promise," he urged softly.
Her expression only hardened at his words. 'You've said that for the past half hour."
His lips twitched with wicked amusement. "Yes, but on this occasion, I'm not lying."
"Ugh." She leaned against the brick building, too tired to care that she was only adding to the layer of grime that covered her. What were a few more nasty germs? "I should have staked you when I had the chance."
A raven brow arched at her petulant tone. "Do you know, Abby, you really are an ungrateful brat."
"No, I'm tired, I'm hungry, and all I want is to go home."
The chiseled features softened as he reached out and pulled her close to the hardness of his body. Tenderly he ran a hand over her tangled curls.
"I know, lover. I know."
Vampire or not, Abby discovered his touch oddly comforting. And deliciously wonderful. Without conscious thought, she leaned her head against his wide chest.
"Dante, will this horrible night ever end?"