“Then drink my blood again… and much more of it, next time?—”
“No. Fuck no, Clare. That is not happening,” he rebutted. Yet, shame on him, every cell in his body spiked with joy at the idea.
She leaned toward him. “Just listen. Please. We’re almost certain that guy I met was Matteus, and you’ve been to the dark realm yourself now. We can’t stop now we’re so close. When Emmeline contacts me, let me attend the interview she’s organizing. Then at night you feed off me and return to the Dark Dimension to get more intel. Oliver, with your knowledge of the grimaalds and the Kominskys, you can find out things no one else can, things that will help bring down their evil regime.”
“Clare, this is crazy.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, frowning. But already he was faltering. And probably for the wrong reasons. To have a viable excuse to hold her, touch her, drink her beautiful blood… oh fucking gods, yes. His whole body yearned for that. “It’s fraught with danger. And totally unprofessional.”
She quirked an eyebrow. “I think we’ve already crossed that line, if you don’t mind me saying so. Sir.”
Sweet goddess. His cock bucked, his fangs tingled, his whole freakin’ body lit up like a Christmas tree in agreement. Unable to form words, he bit into his pastry, trying to salve his hunger for her with physical food.
When he still didn’t speak, she prompted, “Have you ever dealt with a case like this before?”
He shook his head. “Never,” he admitted, then barked a laugh. “Ridding Motham of the grimaalds was like a walk in the park compared to this.”
“And Waldo is very wise, you agree?”
“Yes.”
“And he said to let me decide. And right now, I’ve decided we should throw out the rule book. Walk to the edge. And jump off. The fate of monsters and humans rests on dismantling this Dark Dimension and it’s our job to do it.” Her words thrilled him, but he tried to remain calm, and then he heard her draw in a deep breath. “Look sir, I realize that your attraction to me is… in some part because of my blood… I get that.” She stopped, and he saw her swallow hard. “But for me it’s more than that. It’s always felt like you were my destiny, but maybe I’m just hopelessly infatuated with an older guy.” She gave a thin little laugh.
“Clare…” he said hoarsely, searching for the words to tell her his truth. That she had made his fractured soul whole again. That he sensed that she could even be his beloved. But the words would not come. Avowals of love were not something he had any experience with, and he felt completely out of his depth. He tried again, clearing his throat but she interrupted him.
“It’s okay.” Her lips quirked. “You don’t have to answer, I just needed to get it off my chest. And talking of chests, you have crumbs on your shirt, sir.” She touched his shirt front softly and his senses lit up all over again.
“And you have crumbs around your mouth.” In turn, he reached out and softly edged his thumb pad over her mouth. Her lips parted, and the desire to lean across the small rickety table and follow up with a kiss was almost irresistible.
Here they were at a pastry stall, gazing into each other’s eyes, in the midst of the most dangerous case he’d ever undertaken.
And Oliver realized that he was falling in love.
So this is what it felt like.
Like stepping into the abyss.
Exhilarating.
And totally terrifying.
He blinked, dropped his hand from her mouth and she smiled, a little sadly. “What I was trying to say before we got distracted is that I’m a big girl, I won’t take it personally if you walk away after this. If it means we can bring Natalie and the others home alive and stop this evil dimension destroying all of us, for me it will have been worth it.”
“And what if I don’t want to walk away?” he managed gruffly, staring at the table top.
“I guess we face that bridge when we come to it,” she said softly.
Oliver pulled himself together. This was not the time or place to talk love and unicorns and happily ever afters. They had an urgent mission to get on with.
“What do we tell the team?”
“That I will continue as Anna undercover, and you will continue to investigate the Kominsky leads. Which is the truth—kind of.”
His brows raised. “And nothing else?”
“Nothing for a few days. While you erm… partake of my blood and take a trip to the Dark Dimension to sight our missing humans.”
“And then what?”
She gave a sassy little smirk. “Then we might have to ‘fess up to the team. And HR about our… liaison.”
