Wicked Soul (Ancient Blood #1)(16)
I rolled my eyes so hard they nearly got lost in the back of my skull. “Smooth, girls.”
Dennis managed a decent attempt at disguising his laugh in his pint of beer.
“So, Warin… How do you know Liv?” he asked once he’d downed a swig. “You one of her friends from back in Denver?”
“No, we only met recently,” I quickly stepped in. I hadn’t told any of them about my little kidnapping adventure, partly because it seemed somehow inappropriate to answer, “So, what did you do on your day off?” with “Was kidnapped and stabbed by fanatics, but oh, I made a vampire friend!”—and partly because I wasn’t exactly keen on getting linked back to the two dead men Warin had left behind when we made our escape. “We met at, uh, a book club a little while ago.”
“Oh, you like to read? Who’s your favorite author?” Raven lit up, and I recalled her grumbling about how hard it was to find a well-read man the last time she came into work after a disappointing date.
“I’ve enjoyed many over the years. Kierkegaard is always thought-provoking, but I often find myself revisiting Dante,” Warin said, as if throwing that level of literary references on the table was no big deal. “Do you have favorite authors?” He directed the question to the table at large, but Raven was not about to let his attention waver. She looked like Christmas had come early as she casually let a finger travel up the back of Warin’s hand to regain his focus.
It didn’t surprise me when Warin froze at the uninvited touch this time—but Raven’s wide eyes as she quickly snapped her finger away did. Huh.
I shrugged it off, assuming she was just sober enough to catch social cues somewhat better than both Skye and I.
“What about favorite movies?” I asked, not feeling a need to divulge how much further down the social capital ladder my taste in books hung out.
“Movies? Didn’t you two meet at a book club? I’d have thought you’d be all about discussing Tolstoy and Dostoevsky,” Dennis teased.
I narrowed my eyes at him, all too aware he’d caught me hanging out in the back room with a wide variety of smutty romance novels over the months I’d worked for him, and a distinct lack of Russian philosophers. But two could play this game. “Sure, who wouldn’t be—especially five rum and Cokes in. Tell me, Dennis, darling, if you were stranded on a desert island, which highbrow book would you pick over a cell phone with an Internet connection?”
My boss laughed and held up both hands in defeat. “All right, point well made. So, movies, then?”
* * *
For the next couple of hours, Warin fielded less-than-subtle flirting from Skye like a pro, intermixed with general banter and drunken human humor. But I guess he was a pro—at blending in with humans, that is. When he hadn’t been locked up and starved for goddess knew how long, at least.
I was pretty amazed with his transformation from when I’d first met him—especially when he not so much as glanced at Skye’s cleavage or neck. I recalled the darkness in his eyes when he’d stared at my bleeding collarbone and suppressed a shudder. Vampires were clearly better company when they’d been fed.
Skye, however, was less than impressed with his lack of interest in her booby offerings. When Warin ignored her batting eyelashes for probably the tenth time since his arrival at our booth, she’d clearly had enough of playing it subtle and deemed it time for a more direct approach. I was pretty sure, judging from Warin’s involuntary jerk, that when she reached under the table, she wasn’t grabbing at his leg.
“How about we all take it to a nightclub? I want to dance! Don’t you feel like a bit of grinding, Warin?” She shot the vampire at flirtatious smile.
“Actually, I’m beat,” I said, stretching for emphasis. “I should head on home. Warin, would you walk me, please? You never know what lurks out there.” I winked at the vampire and got a soft chuckle in return.
“Of course.” He very firmly moved Skye’s hand—which was, indeed, placed on his crotch, I noted as I got to my feet—and made to stand up.
“See you later, guys,” I said as Skye blew a raspberry at me behind Warin’s back.
We exited the bar and weaved our way past clusters of drunk people on the pavement. I led the vampire about a block away before I turned to him with a teasing smile.
“All right, the girls aren’t following, so you should be safe. You don’t actually have to walk me all the way home—it’s pretty far.”
“I would nevertheless like to,” he said
“Okay, then, but don’t complain if you get tired,” I teased as we began walking.
His hoarse laughter made my already present smile bigger. There was something about the sound of his mild amusement that warmed me from the inside out, almost as effectively as the several rum and Cokes I presently had in my system.
“You’ve seen firsthand how much stronger vampires are, and yet you worry a walk will make me tired? You are a funny human.”
I snorted. “Sorry, didn’t mean to put your entire race in a bad light with my concern for your comfort.
“Hardly. I find you rather intriguing.”
The way he said it so absolutely casually, as if it was a perfectly normal thing to say to a girl, made my already alcohol-fueled hormones spike.