She had rarely looked into a Breed's eyes. They were too intuitive, their senses too sharp to hide from if they managed to look into your eyes. But this time, for that second as the crowd parted, his gaze held her.
Then, like an erratic school of fish, dancing bodies separated them, flowed between them, breaking the contact but leaving Storme assured that she was hidden no longer.
She came out of the booth instantly, moving along the edge of the crowd at a near run as she headed to the rest-rooms at the back of the bar.
She would hide there a few minutes then see about slipping out the back entrance of the bar.
She had to get out of there. She had rushed inside to hide, only to find the four bastards that had obviously been tailing her. She had thought, this close to Haven, the Wolf Breed sanctuary, that maybe she could rest for a few days, stay hidden, and figure out what to do next.
They were getting too close. Her hotel room had been ransacked the night before; the only reason she hadn't been there was that she had slipped out for fast food and walked to a nearby restaurant rather than driving. Her car had been parked in the parking lot of the hotel, and in addition to the belongings in her room being destroyed, the car had been broken into also.
There was no escape there. Until she acquired another vehicle, she was f**ked. If she didn't get the damned Breeds off her ass, then she was f**ked anyway.
As she rushed through the crowd, several couples parted at once; a path was created, then suddenly blocked as she slammed against a hard, wide chest.
Her gaze jerked up, locked. Her lips parted in shock, a shudder racing through her as warm hands gripped her shoulders lightly and canines flashed in a smile.
"Weel now, I was goin' for a drink, but I could be convinced to settle for a wee dance," he laughed.
She noticed it then. The music as it moved into a slow, dark strain of desperate love and passion unquenched.
Her hands pressed to his chest as his moved to her hips and he pulled her easily the rest of the way to the dance floor she had been moving by.
She'd taken a scent neutralizer earlier, one of the precious last few she possessed.
She prayed it worked.
She was too shocked to fight. In all her life she had never found herself this close to a Breed, in a situation so shockingly dangerous that it could destroy her world in an instant.
"Do ye need the ladies' room so desperately that a dance will interfere?" he asked as she continued to stare up at him. "Ye look as though the hounds of hell chase ye, lass. I can wait a moment or two if I must."
He didn't know who she was? Didn't know her scent?
She shook her head. "I didn't expect to see Breeds here." The lightness of the response was desperate, and she was certain it fell far short of the casual comment she'd intended.
"Don't be frightened, please." Sincerity suddenly marked his expression as they moved slowly to the music, more because he was leading than from her own conscious thought. "My friends and myself are just takin' a break from a wee bit of business is all."
"Business?" She swallowed tightly. "This close to Haven, that's not unusual, I guess."
He chuckled at that, and she was shocked at the husky warmth of the sound.
"It should be unusual. Alas, I find myself at the end of this particular job though, and I'm lookin' forward to the downtime."
"A job? I thought Breeds were taken care of by the government?" She knew they were. The bastards didn't have to do anything. The only jobs they seemed to have were those of tracking down scientists and murdering them.
He grimaced at her comment as she felt his fingertips stroke down the back of her jacket, as though caressing her spine. "Lass, no mon or government takes care of me. I've a mind to pay my own way."
"What sort of work do you do then?" Keeping conversation going was imperative.
Keeping her mind away from the fact that she was in a Breed's arms would be the only way to stay sane.
"I've been aiding a friend in a small investigation the past year or so." He shrugged as though it didn't matter. "Too little information and too many false leads have brought me home though. Finally."
He sounded tired, not as tired as she knew she was, but at least weary of whatever game he had been playing with her.
"Your friend didn't have all the information you needed then?" She didn't have to pretend interest.
"Too little information and too little cash," he chuckled. "Perhaps when he can pay my fee, we'll be talkin' again."