Suddenly, instead of a sultry song with a fast beat, there were monsters showing off their worst moves, dance battle style. I’d never seen a vampire perform the worm before, but now I could definitely check that off of my bucket list.
By the time the song had ended, my sides hurt from laughing so much and Heath’s forlorn look was completely gone as Dallan put him in a playful headlock and marched him over to the bar for more drinks.
Then a gray hand was gripping mine and whirling me around. “My turn,” Cash growled into my ear as the music started up again.
This time, without our werewolf to silly things up, the thud of the bass brought everyone to the floor in a gyrating mass of bodies.
There was still a ring of space around Cash and me, and I was pretty sure that it was because Cash was glaring at anyone who came close. I didn’t mind, I liked the possessiveness. It thrilled me to my very core.
Cash’s arm whipped me around so that my back was to his front, his arm wrapped around my middle and his tail wrapping around my wrist as we moved together.
All day today I’d been distracted by thoughts of my gargoyle. I hadn’t realized how hard it would be to return to work after four days of constant sex. Every time Cash came up to get a client, his silver eyes had practically burned a hole in my head, and I knew mine had done the same to him.
Cash’s hands skimmed up and down my torso, his fingertips tracing my belly button and the curve of my breasts through the thin fabric of my shirt.
Reaching up, I gently drew his face close to mine. “What do you say we get out of here early?”
Cash’s expression shifted into hunger. “What about everyone else?”
I glanced over to where the rest of our group was happily back at the table. Well, everyone except for Ambrose who seemed to have bowed out early. While this wastechnicallya celebration for us, I couldn’t help the heat starting to pool in my core.
“They’ll survive without us for the rest of the night,” I reassured him, grabbing his hand and tugging him through the crowd. The door was thankfully close by and with one last glance at our celebrating friends, I pulled him out into the night.
It was freezing outside, the air so frigid that I could see my breath as it curled in front of me. We strolled together back toward the parking lot, enjoying the relatively quiet night on the Wharf. The end of the tourist season had come, so only a few still milled around outside as the last of the non-alcoholic spots closed their doors for the night.
“This is nice,” I commented, letting my fingers weave through Cash’s as we walked.
“It’ll get even nicer in the dead of winter with no tourists to be had at all,” Cash said, his silver eyes reflecting off of the light coming from the overhead lights. “And a lot of the monsters who spend their summers elsewhere start to return.”
“It’s like the opposite of Florida. Instead of leaving for warmer climates during the winter they come back here once it gets cold,” I said.
Cash’s lips pulled up into a smirk. “Most of us supes avoid Florida as a rule. Too many gun-toting hunters ready to mount our heads above their fireplaces. Texas is the same.”
“New Hampshire too. I almost never saw supernatural creatures there, though to be fair we also lived in a smaller town.” I didn’t add that Mike preferred it that way. With the way he spoke about supernatural creatures, I never thought in a million years that he would be a fae-blessed human.
If he’d been a more coordinated teenager he probably would have ended up just like the trigger-happy hunters that traveled in packs throughout the country despite federal laws in place protecting supernaturals.
But Mike could barely stomach touching a pistol, let alone firing one.
Shaking thoughts of Mike out of my mind, I gave Cash’s hand a squeeze. “Enough about hunters, I can’t wait to see what winter looks like here. Does it snow in these parts?”
As Cash told me all about what winters in California were like—wet, mostly with snow fall every couple of years—we made it to the parking lot where his truck was parked.
“I guess Ambrose is still here,” Cash commented, nodding to the black Harley still parked in the motorcycle parking spots. “I guess he must have gone back to the shop after slinking out early.”
Cash still hadn’t quite forgiven the elf for confirming to Mike’s private investigator that I did, in fact, work at Monstrous Ink.
“At least he came,” I reminded him, tugging him in the direction of the truck. “Now enough about that prickly elf, let’s get home so I can show you exactly what I was thinking about back there.”
Cash’s eyes darkened with unhidden lust and he opened his mouth to reply, but then his gaze drifted from my face to something behind me.
I turned, curious what had caught his attention. The air shimmered, telling me that something was glamoured to be invisible in the distance.
Squinting I remembered Effie’s training about opening the curtain and eventually the shimmer rippled and faded, showing me a group of humans who were walking in our direction. They were all dressed in dark clothing and ski masks. Well, all except my ex-husband who was still dressed in one of his expensive suits.
It was as if my earlier thoughts had magically conjured him out of thin air.
There was no time for me to react beyond recognition, though, because one of the men held up what looked like a crossbow.
