Darkness Unbound (Dark Angels 1)

He smiled as he motioned me toward the front of the restaurant. “Next time, you can pay for the meal.”

I snorted. “It’s not like you paid for the sandwiches.”

“No, but I paid for the stew in the sweat and tears it took to clean the damn pot.”

I laughed, but having cleaned a few burned pots in my time, I knew exactly what he meant. Even in this day and age of machines capable of doing anything, they failed to as good a job as good old-fashioned elbow grease. “Okay, my treat next time.”

“Excellent,” he said as he guided me left down the street. “If only because that means there will be a next time.”

I gave him a teasing grin. “Only if you promise to up your performance in the bedroom. It seemed a bit lacking when compared with our kiss.”

He raised his eyebrows. “And does that imply the sex wasn’t satisfactory, my dear?”

“No.” Far, far from it. “It simply means the kisses of an Aedh are fucking amazing.”

He laughed, the sound like rain on a tin roof after a long hot day. “Then I shall endeavor to ensure that next time, the sex is its equal.”

I didn’t honestly care one way or another, and actually doubted it could get any better. But anticipation still hummed through my body and I wondered if tomorrow was too soon.

His car was parked several houses away and wasn’t what I’d expected. Given he was an investment adviser, I’d thought his mode of transport would be something sleek, sporty, and fast. Instead it was a Ford Ute—brand new and shiny and fire-engine red, granted, but still not the sort of car you expected a man dealing with millions to drive. And it suggested there was a whole lot more to this man than a great body and unbelievable sexual prowess.

He opened the door and ushered me inside. The cabin still had that fresh-leather smell and I flared my nostrils, drawing in the scent and enjoying the richness of it. Especially when the aroma of lemongrass, suede, and musky, powerful male rode underneath it.

He climbed into the car and started it up, the throaty roar of the engine making the whole car rumble and vibrate. “Good grief,” I said, glancing at him in surprise. “What’s in this thing? A V-8?”

“It’s better than that—it’s a revved-up V-12.”

“I thought they stopped making those things when the climate crisis hit and the environmentalists got all hostile?”

“They did, except for a few specialized places. But this baby runs on synthetic gas.”

That widened my eyes. “I didn’t

think they had full pump coverage for synthetic yet.”

He pulled out into the traffic, the big engine roaring like a mad cat on the prowl. “They haven’t. Which is why, when I drive beyond city limits, I have to plot my course extremely carefully.” He cast an amused glance my way. “Not only is running out of gas embarrassing, but the tow fees are damn high.”

I laughed. “If you can afford a hand-tooled engine, you can afford tow fees.”

“I’m not rich,” he said, smiling. “Just moderately well off. Where do you live and when are we meeting again?”

Any near-immortal possessing an average amount of smarts when it came to investments would have to be enormously wealthy, but I could certainly understand his reluctance to admit it. I bit into my sandwich, munching for several seconds and making him wait. I gave him my address, then added, “You sound anxious for our next date.”

“I am. I’ve been asked to up my game, remember?”

I laughed again. “I’ve already got a lunch date tomorrow, and I’m working the evening shift. But you can meet me at RYT’s at midnight, and we can go from there.”

“Isn’t the Blue Moon just down the road from you?”

I had another mouthful of sandwich, so I simply nodded. But I was half hoping he didn’t want to go there. After the mess with Jak, I really preferred to avoid the club. Going there just wasn’t worth the risk—if only because Jak still went there on occasion, and I really didn’t want to meet up with him. If I did, I’d no doubt punch him—and that would only give him something else to write about.

“I’ve never been there,” he commented, glancing at the rearview mirror, “but I’ve heard it’s the best of the big clubs.”

Damn. He wanted to go. “How could someone as old as you not have visited the Blue Moon? It’s been around forever.”

He snorted softly. “Hardly. Even white settlement hasn’t been here that long. Besides, I haven’t been in town long enough yet to visit all the local hot spots.”

He glanced in the rearview mirror again, and something in his expression had the hairs along the back of my neck rising.