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on his quarry.
He rounded a corner onto the busy main street, and there she was, across the
width of the pavement, on the other side.
Dante went still where he stood, watching as Tess shopped in a lighted
open-air market, carefully selecting fresh greens and vegetables. She dropped
a yellow squash into her canvas shopping bag, then perused a bin of fruit,
stopping to lift a pale cantaloupe to her nose and test its ripeness.
Thinking back on the moment he first saw her in her clinic, even through the
haze of his injuries, Dante had recognized that she was beautiful. But
tonight, under the strand of small white lights illuminating the produce bins,
she looked radiant. Her cheeks were flushed pink, her blue-green eyes
sparkling as she smiled over at the old proprietess and complimented her on
the quality of the stand s offerings.
Dante moved up his side of the street, keeping to the shadows, unable to take
his eyes off her. This close, the scent of her was inebriating and lush. He
breathed in through his mouth, letting the spicy sweetness of her sift through
his teeth, relishing the way it played across his tongue.
God, but he wanted to taste her again.
He wanted to drink of her.
He wanted to take her.
Before he knew what he was doing, Dante stepped down off the curb and into the
street. He could have been at her side in half a second, but something strange
caught his eye.
He wasn t the only male watching Tess with evident interest.
A human stood in the shelter of a building entrance just a few doors down,
peering around the casement at the market in an attempt to not be seen as he
observed Tess finishing up her shopping. He didn t fit the stalker mold, with
his tall, lean frame and college-boy good looks. Then again, neither had
Ted Bundy.
Tess paid for her groceries and wished the old woman a good night. The instant
she started to step away from the lighted awnings of the produce stand, the
human carefully came out of his hiding place.
Dante seethed at the idea that Tess might meet with harm. He crossed the
street in a blink, coming up on the human from behind and stalking within a
few yards, ready to tear the man s arms off if he so much as breathed on her.
Hey, Doc, the man called out, familiarity in his voice. What s up?
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Tess spun around, gave him a surprised little smile. Ben, hi! What are you
doing here?
She knew him. Dante pulled back at once, easing off into the flow of
pedestrians milling about the shops and restaurants.
Didn t you get my message at your place? I had business up here, and I
thought maybe we could have dinner or something.
Dante watched as the human went up and hugged her, then leaned down to give
her a fond kiss on the cheek. The man s adoration was obvious. More than
adoration; Dante detected the sharp tang of possessiveness radiating off
the human male.
Are we still on for the dinner exhibit at the museum tomorrow night? the man
asked her.
Yeah, sure. Tess nodded, surrendering her tote when he reached to take the
burden from her. So, what should I wear to this thing, anyway?
Whatever you want. I know you ll be gorgeous, Doc.
Of course.
Dante understood it now. This was the boyfriend Tess had called at the clinic
last night.
The one she had turned to out of terror for what Dante had done to her.
Jealousy curdled in his gut jealousy he had no true right to feel.
But his blood said different. His veins were alive and burning. The part of
him that was not human at all urged him to plow through the crowd and tell the
female that she was his, and his alone. Whether she knew it or not. Whether or
not either of them willed it.
But a saner part of him lashed a collar around that beast and dragged it back.
Forced it to heel.
He didn t want a Breedmate. Never had, never would.
Dante watched Tess and her boyfriend stroll off ahead of him, their casual
chatter all but lost amid other conversations and the general buzz of street
noise swirling all around him. He hung back for a
minute, blood pounding in his temples as well as other, lower regions of his
anatomy.
Turning around, he loped off into the shadows, back to the building where he d
left Harvard on watch.
He hoped like hell Gideon s tip about Rogue activity there was going to prove
solid the sooner, the better because right about now he was itching for a
good, bloody fight.
CHAPTER Eight
T
he North End stakeout was a bust. There had indeed been a rave at the old,
empty building, but the partygoers were just a lot of humans. Not a Rogue in
sight, and no sign of any Darkhaven vampires, let alone any misguided Breed
youths jacked up on Crimson. Maybe it should have come as a relief that the
city was quiet for a few hours, but after a patrol that had netted zero action
all night, Dante was a good long way from relieved. He was frustrated, tense,
and in severe need of some chill.
The cure for that was simple enough. He knew of about a dozen places topside
where he could find a willing female with juicy veins and a warm, welcoming
pair of thighs, and after dropping Chase off at his
Darkhaven residence, Dante drove to an after-hours nightclub and parked the
Porsche at the curb. He dialed the compound on his cell phone and gave a quick
recap of the night s nonevents to Gideon.
Look at the bright side, D. You went seven full hours without killing the
Darkhaven agent, Gideon remarked slyly. That s an impressive benchmark in
itself. We ve got a pool going over here about how long the guy s going to
last. For what it s worth, my money s on nineteen hours, tops.
Yeah? Dante chuckled. Put me down for seven and a half.
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That bad, eh?
I suppose it could have been worse. At least Harvard knows how to follow
orders, even if he seems the type to prefer being in charge.
Dante glanced in his side mirror, distracted by a wedge of pale female belly
and half-exposed, leather miniskirt-clad hips that were currently snaking
around the left taillight of the vehicle. Perched on steep platform heels, she
rolled toward the closed window with a practiced strut that suggested she was
a pro.
When she leaned down and shot him a glimpse of fleshy tits, a street-hardened
smile, and heroin-vacant eyes, she removed all doubt.
Lookin for some company, handsome? she mouthed at the darkened glass,
unable to see who she was propositioning and evidently not caring, based on
the quality of his ride.
Dante ignored her. Even a live-for-the-moment libertine like himself had
certain standards. He hardly noticed as the prostitute shrugged, dejected, and
moved on up the street. I need you to run a search on something for me, Gid.
You got it, he said, the clack of a keyboard being drafted into action
sounding in the background.
What do you need?
Can you find anything on some kind of museum event taking place tomorrow
night? A dinner or something like that?
It took only a second for Gideon to come back with a reply. I ve got a
social-pages listing for a chichi patrons dinner exhibit at the Museum of
Fine Arts. Tomorrow night, seven-thirty.
That had to be the event Tess and her boyfriend were talking about at the
produce stand.
Their date.
Not that he should care what the female was doing, or with whom. It shouldn t
put his blood on a hard boil to think of another man touching her, kissing
her. Burying himself inside her body.
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