For the first time, Dante was close to coming in his pants as Cassidy ground against him again. Releasing her breast, he ran her nipple between his fingers as he reclaimed her mouth.
His control unraveled further as he slid his hand beneath her and unhooked her bra. As enticing as she was in it, he far preferred to have her naked when he took her. He almost had it undone when her phone vibrated against his hip.
Cassidy stiffened when her phone went off again. She considered ignoring it for this small piece of heaven on earth she’d discovered, but she’d ignored her brothers for the past two hours. Normally, she would have continued to do so, but after what Dante revealed tonight, she couldn’t put them through that.
And, with her vibrating phone adding some reality to the situation, she realized this was moving a little too fast. No matter how badly she wanted him, she couldn’t plunge recklessly into this. If he was her mate, what passed between them was irrevocable and would send them hurtling toward madness if they didn’t complete the bond.
Cassidy reluctantly broke the kiss and struggled to catch her breath as she gazed into his eyes. Flecks of red had started creeping through the brown as his control unraveled. That red caused something primal within her to burst free.
She almost crushed her phone, but as the impulse hit her, reality returned. They were concerned about her, and as much as she loved to torture them in their prank wars, this was not the same kind as turning rats loose on Kyle or dumping worms all over Willow while she slept. That was fun; this was cruel.
“I have to answer that,” she said.
Dante lowered his forehead to hers and kissed the tip of her nose. “I know.”
When he shifted off her, she instantly missed the heaviness of his body. Burying her disappointment, she dug into her pocket and pulled her phone free. She saw Kyle’s name before she answered. “Hello.”
“Are you okay?” Kyle asked in a rush.
The worry in his voice doused any of her irritation over his overprotective nature. “I’m fine.”
“Where are you?”
“We’ll talk when I get home.”
“It’s after midnight.”
Okay, now the irritation was back. “You go out all the time, and I don’t call demanding to know where you are.”
“Yeah, but you don’t go out all the time.”
He had her there. “I’ll be home soon.”
“Do you need me or Julian to come and get you? It’s not safe for you to walk alone this late at night.”
“No, I’ll be fine.”
“Cassidy—”
“Kyle, I’ll be fine. I’ll be home soon, and we’ll talk then.”
His silence spoke more about how annoyed he was with her than his words.
“I love you, and I’ll see you soon,” she said.
He hesitated before replying, “Be safe.”
“Always.”
She hung up and looked to Dante as he lay beside her with his head propped on his hand. When his gaze ran over her, she became uncomfortably aware she was almost half naked in front of him. She’d never been this exposed to a man before. A minute ago, it hadn’t bothered her, but she felt incredibly shy now.
“I really should go home,” she said; it took everything she had not to cover her breasts.
Dante buried his disappointment; he didn’t want her to go, but he understood. He’d been in her brother’s shoes before, and no one should have to go through it.
“I’ll walk you there,” he said.
“You don’t have to do that. My apartment’s not far from here.”
“I’d feel a lot better if you let me walk you home.”
Cassidy started to protest but stopped herself. Why was she arguing when it meant spending more time with him? “I’d like that.”
He smiled before rising to grab his jacket, but the scent of smoke clinging to it stayed his hand. He emptied the pockets and tossed the contents on the bed. When he returned, he’d take it up to the roof and leave it up there for a while. If someone stole it, so be it; he had an older one in his closet he could use until the stench wore off this one… if it ever did.
Cassidy sat up on the bed and retrieved her shirt. Once it was on and she was back on her feet, her shyness melted away again. She started to search for her jacket before recalling it was in the bag with the rest of her ruined clothes. She’d planned to toss it, but even if she was a purebred vampire and Dante was walking her home, she felt naked without her stakes.
Chapter Eighteen
“Ready?” Dante asked.
“Yeah,” she muttered.
When they stepped back into the hall, she retrieved the bag and removed her coat. The scent of it almost made her shove it back inside, but she checked to make sure the stakes were still there before draping it over her arm. If she’d still been wearing boots, she would have tucked a stake inside them, but she’d replaced them with sneakers, and her boots were now inside the bag.
“Is that garbage?” Dante asked.
“It is,” she said.
He held his hand out for the bag. “I’ll take it.”
Cassidy gave it to him. At the end of the hall, he opened the door to the trash chute and tossed it inside.
He walked beside her as they descended the stairs to the lobby, where he opened the inner glass door and walked across the entrance to the solid wood door. He pulled it open for her and stepped back to let her pass before descending the stairs behind her.
Despite the late hour, people still wandered the sidewalks and headlights bounced off the pavement as cars rolled past. When the bars shut down, more people would flood the streets, but for now, the sidewalks were relatively free of people.
She loved the sounds of the city—the hum of tires and electricity, the laughter and shouts of people, and the beep of horns. There was a vibrancy about it that screamed of life. She may have
