imprint on his suede pants.
I have to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. The laughter breaks through my inhibitions, and I find myself dancing with him too. My arms go up, and my hips sway. It's fun and sexy and so different from my normal life. Time to let go and be grateful I'm alive.
He pulls me close with a paw around the small of my back. I'm pressed up against his bare chest, and my hands come up to brace myself. He bends us left and right in some kind of banana move that is both sexy and stupid. A thin sheen of sweat makes his skin damp and shiny.
Finally the song ends, and he's beaming with pride as he walks us back to our seats. About ten girls immediately bound up to him and push me out of the way.
Someone else's arm circles around my waist and pulls me back. I turn, ready to fight.
"Hey, Loralei." A man with a mostly shaved, tattooed head is smiling down at me.
I look back at Mace for some kind of sign. He stands up and points. "That's him." He mouths it, but I get what he's saying. Pretty much everyone in the bar gets it.
"Uh, hey."
"You need some more favors from old Helix here?"
Helix. His name is Helix. It fits with the biometric tattoos all over his body including his scalp. He looks more like a machine than a human.
"Actually I need the same favors again." I have to arch my neck and pull him down to get his ear. "Can we go somewhere and talk?"
"Without doubt." He grabs my hand and walks me toward the back of the club.
Mace stays behind with his gaggle of girls. A tickle of apprehension grips my throat, but I push it down. I'm a cop. I can handle being alone with this guy even if he is tall and scary and I'm unarmed. No place to hide a gun with this outfit.
He takes me out to a small balcony with a loveseat and pulls my hand until I'm sitting next to him. The cool evening air raises goosebumps on my skin as he puts his arm behind me over the back of the seat. The music is muted out here, so I don't have to scream at him to be heard. "So, those favors?"
His head tilts to the side as he examines me. "What do you mean?"
"Can you do the same favors again for me?"
He scratches his shaved head and chuckles without smiling. "You didn't hear Morganna's dead?"
"Oh, yeah, I did hear that. I mean the other favor." Please let there have been more than one favor.
"You didn't get what you needed from Marval last time?"
Okay. This is good. Marval. I don't know anyone named Marval. "No, I didn't. Can you set it up again?"
"You want to take another shot at Marval Diablo Rios?"
Excellent. Now I have a name. Diablo does not sound good. "Yes."
He shakes his head and tsk-tsks me. "This is not wise. Why don't you come sit on my lap for a minute, and we'll talk about it up close and personal?"
I don't know what I told him about why I wanted Marval, but I need him to remind me, so I'm going to have to give in on this one.
With a coy smile, I make a move to climb up onto his thick thighs as strong hands grip my hips and pull my knees on either side of him. The heat from his body immediately hits me. I didn't realize before, but Helix has stunning silver eyes. He's actually a good looking guy underneath his harsh external appearance, and his shoulders feel sturdy when I brace my hands on them.
"Is this about your old man?"
I blink several times and stare at him in shock. My dad had something to do with Marval Diablo Rios? "Why would it be about my dad?"
He shrugs. "Thought you might be digging into the past."
I may have lost my memory, but I know I wasn't looking into my dad's associates. "No. I just want to talk with him." I twirl my fingertip around his ear. These tattoos are actually really well done. The dark and light are drawn in a way that it appears three dimensional like someone has actually cut his scalp away to reveal metal gears and thick bolts. "So you'll set me up with him?" I adjust myself on his lap, and he looks down at where my dress has slid