Banshee Seduction (Montgomery's Sin Book 1) (10 page)

Ginny grabbed Roni’s hand and hauled her forward, her short legs almost running as she teetered along next to her tall friend, whose long-legged smooth stride gave her the appearance of gliding above the ground.

Matt lifted one eyebrow as he followed them and dipped his gaze to the floor. It was very possible the vampire was gliding. He tilted his head to one side and allowed himself a smile. Yep, moonwalking. The babe must save a fortune on the lack of wear and tear on her shoes. It gave her an extra half inch of height too.

Personally, he preferred to watch the slightly manic jiggle of the curvy lady at her side, whose feet were very definitely smacking the floor. The way her butt moved like two kittens fighting in a silk bag made his mouth water, and he longed to glide his hands over those smooth globes and feel them writhe against his skin. With or without the silky material in between their flesh. Preferably without—and soon. His brain emptied of all thought except getting her alone so they could start their mating ritual. His eyes were willing slaves to his brain.

He stepped into the darkness; the invitation of flashing lights drew them deeper into the club, but he hesitated. He just needed a moment to breathe, to get his rising passion under control. If he could keep to the shadows, just until he could… No. Ginny turned, and under cover of darkness, slipped her hand into his. The satin touch of her fingers in his rocked his heart. He pulled her to a stop, turned her to face him, and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. He couldn’t risk more than one small kiss, or he’d be tempted to whisk her out of Montgomery’s Sin and into his own house of sin. He skimmed his finger to define the soft curve of her cheek and felt the soft flutter of her breath against his skin. Determined to remain focused, he marched her through the crowds deeper into the club.

Daniel leaned on the bar, back to the room, like he didn’t want to speak to anyone. Roni slinked over to join a group of skinny women along the opposite side of the square bar, who encompassed her like she was their long lost friend.

Just wanting to be closer to Ginny, Matt tugged her onto the dance floor and into his arms so he could absorb her scent and calm his raging beast.

Who was he fooling? The moment his arms were about her, his flesh heated up, his blood began to race, and some wild wind gathered momentum in his head until his brain whirled with only one thought. Ginny.

She raised her head, her sweet face upturned with a tremulous smile on her perfect lips. Tempted, he pressed his mouth against hers, snuggled her curvy body into his, and guided her hips in a sexy gyration to give him a thrill, and…poof!

Shit. He stood in the middle of the dance floor looking for all the world like he was dancing on his own. Loser. Like a shot, he moved his arms down to his sides and edged his way through the crowds. If anyone had seen the sweet thing turn into an inferno, no one gave any indication in the flashing lights of the dance floor, but she’d singed his chest hairs, not to mention set his heart on fire. Not visible from the outside, it pulsed in response to her scent, which lay heavy on the air and slid across his senses.

A bright flash of light grabbed his attention, and Matt stared across the room, narrowed his eyes, and used his multifaceted vision to pin down the source of light, unsure why Ginny would have appeared in that area of the club when every indication from the other night pointed to her turning up inside the ladies’ room.

The light flashed again and lit the area briefly.

A photographer. A little man with thick-rimmed glasses. Matt turned his head in the direction the guy faced and centered on Roni. Yeah. It would make sense. She was a world-famous model. Of course he would be photographing her, but… Ginny stepped out from behind Roni, and the camera flashed again.

Puzzled, Matt made a move, and then watched as the guy turned, tossed a frightened look over his shoulder, and ran from the club. The guy was fast. He’d skittered away like some kind of weasel. Matt frowned and scanned the room. He scrutinized every aspect, every shadow, every light source, looking for a reason the guy had run, because he certainly hadn’t spotted Matt.

His gaze met Daniel’s over the dancers’ heads. Daniel shrugged, turned back to the bar, and poured himself another…whiskey? Daniel was drinking whiskey? Matt made a move toward the bar, but the fresh smell of lemons and brimstone assailed his senses, and he turned to see Ginny making her way toward him through the writhing, lively clubbers. Every other thought left his head. He couldn’t contain the wide grin as she fluttered and flustered toward him, her slight figure getting bustled by the dancers, her pretty skin a deep rosy color. Her gaze met his, desperation tingeing her eyes, and he pushed his way forward. The crowd parted like the Red Sea.

He held his hand out. She raised hers in warning. “Don’t touch me.”

“What?”

“Don’t touch me. I ruined my nail polish.”

Truly confused, he tried to understand what she meant. She looked like it was the end of the world.

“My nail polish…” He leaned down so her lips whispered across his ear; her soft breath stirred him. “You made me incinerate my nail polish.” She held her delicate hands out, palms down, and his mind emptied of every thought except the image of those clever little hands on his body, her neat fingernails scraping his flesh. He swallowed past the painful lump in his throat, tracked his gaze up to her wide-eyed stare, lust racing through him. He wet his dry lips with his tongue, her gaze dropped to his mouth, her lips parted, and—poof!

Goddammit!

Couldn’t the woman stay still for just one moment?

He strode toward the bathroom, determination in every fiber of his being. He was going to take her out of there, find a nice quiet spot where…

“I’m going to take her home.” Roni’s New York twang halted him mid-stride.

“No.”

“I’m afraid so; she’s worn out. It’s getting worse. You only need to look at her, and well, you know…fireball! You must have something really hot going on.”

She swept her gaze over him as if she found it hard to believe and quirked an eyebrow as her gaze slid over his scorched white shirt.

“Well, we might have, given the chance, but…”

Roni placed her long talons on his arm and gave a firm squeeze; her red nails dipped into his white sleeve like droplets of blood, as she tried to communicate the seriousness of the matter. “We’ll find a way.”

He gave a reluctant nod and turned to the bar to join Daniel.

How the hell was he supposed to get near Ginny? She was his mate, but there’d be no sex unless they found a resolution. No sex meant no bonding, which in turn meant she was still free to choose another mate, while he only had one chance.

To hell with that. She was his. He’d waited two hundred years for her, and there was no way he was about to let the opportunity bypass him. He rubbed his fingers over his lips and squinted into the blue neon lights of Montgomery’s Sin. He may have met her there, but there was somewhere else far more conducive to seducing the banshee.

Her chest ached, really ached. Almost a week since she’d seen him, and it was pretty obvious she’d scared him away—or bored him to tears with her trivial magic act. Worse still, she wondered if she’d burned a hole in his chest with her last flash. As well as exhausting her, it must have caused him some damage. No bleeding orifices, but she’d probably set his chest on fire.

She huffed again and fought the urge to wail just a little bit. She’d only met him a few times, but he made her heart hammer like no other man had. She wanted to devour him like the big tasty morsel he was. That was the problem. Her hormones raged so fiery, she kept exploding. When he stared at her with the same emotions shimmering from his sexy deep-green eyes, she lost all control—and when he licked his lips…

She closed her eyes and pictured his sexy top lip. She wanted to run her own tongue over it. Nice and slow. Even the thought of him sent heat rushing through her veins, making her skin vibrate.

It wasn’t as though she could hunt him down. If she found him, she’d probably incinerate him. She glanced at her perfect pale pink nail polish. At least she’d managed to keep that on for an entire day.

With a lazy twirl of the lock of hair that had managed to escape her severe bun, Ginny scanned the library. Shame he hadn’t come back for his book. Fat chance. He’d obviously decided she wasn’t worth his attention.

She sighed and pushed another book on top of the pile to return to the shelves when they closed their doors for their lunch hour. She’d let the other three members of staff go early while business was quiet. It would give them a better chance to restock the shelves in the official lunch hour when there were no visitors. Vacation time was always the toughest. Parents dragged their kids in kicking and screaming quite often and abandoned them while the parents went God only knew where.

“Hello.”

She knew the moment she laid eyes on the sweet old gentleman in front of her there was going to be trouble. Instead of screeching, the hags in her head sighed in anticipation of the forthcoming challenge.

“Good—” She peered at the clock and sighed. “—afternoon, sir. How may I help you?”

His sweet round face, filled with confusion, made the ache in her chest expand. Oh, bless him.

“My wife…” Oh dear. Wives. “…asked me to do a little errand and pick up a book for her.”

Oh dear heaven. Why did women do this? How was it, since time began, women had not yet evolved sufficiently to realize they should not ask men to do these little errands for them?

Sympathy oozed, making her a glutton for punishment as she gave him her most understanding smile. “What book would that be?”

His narrow shoulders deflated, and his lined forehead scrunched into tight creases as he concentrated. Then a dawning light flashed through his faded eyes. “She said it was a green book.”

“A green book?” It could be worse than she thought.

“Yes.” His engaging smile seemed so confident.

“Where did your wife see this green book?”

“In the window.”

“Excellent.” She nodded and watched the hope radiate from his craggy face. She stepped from behind the console and headed for the library window while she bestowed the old gentleman with a genuine smile. After all, it was not his fault evolution had not touched the female of the species.

She waved him forward, leaned over the backboard unit, and let her hand flow over the display of green books promoting Earth Day.

“Any particular preference, sir?”

His exhausted look told of a longtime married man with a wife full of high expectations. Ginny’s tough banshee heart wavered.

“Did she say what the picture was on the front?”

“A tree.”

How very helpful. She peered at the display with ninety percent of cover art displaying trees.

His sad, worn gaze met hers, and they each blew out a weary sigh.

Possibly, one more try. Ginny bobbed her head in encouragement. “What does she like to read?”

He closed his eyes, and his creased lips rolled inward. “Those sexual fantasy things.”

She bit her tongue, desperate to ignore the urge to laugh. “Romance?”

“Yeah.”

She glanced over the backboard and then plucked out a book. Pale green, tree of life. She Came Upon A Prince. “I think perhaps this one.”

His look of pure relief warmed her soul and allowed heartfelt pleasure to sweep over her. Sometimes life was worth the pain, and the sweet wave he gave her as he left the library filled her with momentary joy.

Ginny glanced at the clock. Time had really dragged. Three more minutes, she sighed, and she could turn the key in the door. Bliss to be closed for a full hour. The others would be back shortly, and they could start their book shuffle in peace.

Her stomach growled in ever-growing impatience. She was starving. They wouldn’t remember to bring something back for her lunch. They never did. She watched the large hand of the clock tick onto the next marker. It was going to take all day simply for three minutes to pass.

“Miss!”

Holy cow! She almost jumped out of her skin as Mr. Obnoxious stood in front of her desk, tapping his fingers in a fast rhythm on the countertop. She’d never even heard the slide of the front doors. Never noticed him slither across the room. She’d been distracted by the clock, but she could have sworn he just appeared in front of her.

She plastered on a strained smile and met his eyes for a moment before she skittered her gaze away from the swirling darkness in their depths. The man had a definite problem. He seethed with anger. The malevolence of his emotions vibrated from him, touching her skin and making it crawl. The fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, raising goose bumps that trembled over her flesh.

A quick glance assured her the library was empty. “Yes, sir?”

“You need to order this book for me.” He slapped a piece of paper on the counter, and as she reached for it, he grabbed her wrist. Her breath stuck in her throat as she met his seething glower. The soft slide of eels writhed in her stomach, and Ginny clapped her free hand over her mouth to stop the bile rising. His grip tightened while she tried to wrench away from him, his unpleasant aroma making her gag. “Sir, I think…”

The quiet swish of the front door opening heralded another customer. Mr. Obnoxious released his grip to step back, the light reflection caught in his glasses obscuring her view of his eyes, but she caught a glimpse of a red glow as it raced across them. Her heart beat a vicious rhythm as he turned away, unsure what she’d just witnessed. His voice carried to her as he spoke over his shoulder while he beat a hasty retreat.

“Another time.”

Confused, she squinted at the tiny piece of paper, which appeared to be blank. She reached out, touched her fingertips to it, and with a puff of gray smoke, it disintegrated into a small pile of ash. She stared at it for a moment, and then raised her head, looking left and right. She leaned forward across the counter to get a better view of the long, empty aisles. She could have sworn someone came in. Her life certainly seemed to be sliding into the weird lately. Ever since she’d met the football player.