Broken Vow (5 page)

His brow lifted. “Another ex, or is this your current boyfriend?”

“No, he was my son.”

Dante looked surprised and Sonya suddenly realized how odd it must sound to get her child's name inked on her bottom.

“The ankle is a popular spot for mothers to get their kid's names tattooed. Nobody's ever really requested it on their ass.” His slow, entertained grin made her blush even as it calmed her.

“Yeah, that must sound pretty weird. I would get it on my ankle, but I don't want anyone to see it.”

Dante threw her a wink when he caught her looking at him in the mirror. “Secret baby, huh?”

Sonya smiled. “No. That's complicated too.”

He grinned. “You're extremely vague. You must know that mysterious women are deeply attractive to men.”

She felt way too giddy over that. “Really? I wasn't aware of that.”

The tattoo hurt when Dante got to work on it, but she figured her toned butt probably provided more padding through the procedure than other spots would have. When it was finished, the two names she revered above all others were elegantly scripted along the now-pinked skin of her right butt cheek. The small, Gothic letters were black and romantic.

“That looks so good,” Sonya praised. “Thank you so much.”

“Not a problem. Here's my card if you ever want to get anything else done. Tattoos look good on you.” His eyes flickered with lust as he ogled her ass and pussy before lifting his eyes to meet her face when she turned. “Let me bandage you up. This paper has instructions for the aftercare.”

Sonya read over the paper Dante gave her while he covered the tattoo with gauze and tape ever so cautiously. Afterward she carefully pulled her underwear and pants back on.

“It was good to meet you, Sonya. Please come back again.”

“I might actually.” To her utter mortification, she tripped and stumbled forward.

Dante caught her in his arms and kept her from falling. “Careful there, woman.”

His hand slid over her shoulder when he went to straighten her disheveled hoodie. The mating mark Nimbus had left on her nearly two centuries ago burned like an inferno when Dante's palm brushed over the material covering it. Sonya didn't know if the blazing flare of heat on the area was pain or pleasure.

Images flashed through her mind suddenly. Visions too potent and clear to be mere fantasy. She and Dante were naked and writhing in bed together beneath the sheets as they found release in each others' arms. At one point during the flash of images he was spanking her. Milk flowed from her breasts and into his mouth when he squeezed them. More visions of them converging in all sorts of places and positions rushed through her mind. Flames burned and so much skin was revealed as multiple bodies united and sought gratification in each others' arms. Were they having an orgy? A baby cried and screams could be heard as well as a beastly roar.

Sonya yanked her hand away in shock and gasped.

Dante's lips parted and he looked as astonished as she was. “Did you feel that?”

She nodded. “What just happened?”

“I think the universe is trying to tell us something.”

But what?

“I have to go.” She hurried out into the lobby to pay.

“Sonya, wait.”

This time she was scared of the sound of her name in his mouth. What the hell had she just seen and why had he seen it too? She paid and tried to hurry out the door when his powerful hand clamped down on her forearm.

“I can't just let you walk away from me, not after that,” he told her seriously.

The girl behind the counter appeared confused. “Um, Dante, let go of the customer.”

He heaved a defeated sigh and relinquished his firm hold on her.

Sonya swallowed nervously and left the building. She'd never experienced anything quite like that before and didn't have a clue what it meant.

Chapter Three:

Taking Chances

Sonya walked into her favorite coffee shop a few days later. She sensed Dante's presence before she ever even saw him sitting over at a table by himself, which she found odd and intriguing. Her heart quickened at the sight of him. His bulging guns looked enormous coming out of his tight, white T-shirt. He wore simple jeans and Vans, but he looked like tasty man candy.

She quickly averted her eyes when his head rose slowly from the paper on the round table. Hopefully, the barista would hurry with her order so she could get out of there without him noticing her. She paid and waited near the counter.

“Hazelnut latte,” the barista announced.

Sonya approached the counter to attain it when she felt a steady hand touch her arm. She jumped a bit and whirled around to find herself looking up into dark, entrancing eyes. The alluring fragrance of Calvin Klein's Eternity cologne mesmerized her senses.

“My table is over there,” Dante informed her. “Sit with me.”

She felt like putty in his hands and tried desperately to resist his wiles and fend off the invasive stares. “I was just leaving.”

The barista looked mildly interested in the scenario, but seemed to be getting impatient. “Ma'am, your coffee.”

“You're not leaving,” Dante murmured in a beguiling timbre as he ensnared her eyes with his and took her latte.

Sonya let him lead her over to his table, or maybe he coaxed her over against her will. She didn't really know which it was as she practically floated over with him guiding her by the arm. He scooted a chair out for her and pushed it in once she sat down.

“Thank you.” What should she say to him?

“You left in a hurry the other day before we even got a chance to get to know each other. That wasn't very nice of you.” Dante didn't say it as a person would if they were truly offended by someone's rudeness. He sounded more like a superior who was displeased with someone who was subject to his will.

Her eyes dropped, trying to escape the heat in his gaze. “I'm sorry. I thought it best.”

“Look at me when I'm talking to you, babe.”

The pet name made her flush. The gentle command sent a pool of heat in her belly and a hot rush of energy to her quim. “I'll look where I want to. I don't take orders from men.”

The chair screeched as Dante moved his near hers and hooked a demanding finger under her chin, tilting it to enforce eye contact between them. His dark, commanding stare overwhelmed her. The hot, husky way he murmured to her made her mons swell with need.

“You'll look wherever I tell you to look. And I think you secretly delight in taking orders from strong, aggressive men, if those visions of us the other day were anything to go by.”

Sonya blushed and tried to look away, but he wouldn't let her.

“Eyes on me, babe.”

“Stop calling me babe.”

“Stop creaming for me when I say the word and I will,” he returned with a salacious grin.

She gasped and pried his light grip from her chin. “How did...what are you?”

Dante leaned back in his chair, eyes dancing with mischief and mystery. “What do you think I am?”

“A player.”

He chuckled. “You caught me. What else?”

“I don't know or I wouldn't have asked. And why are you sitting so close to me?”

“Because you smell like honeysuckle and it's driving me crazy. That and I want to be as close to you right now as possible and since tearing your clothes off and fucking you on this table in front of everyone would probably be frowned upon by society, sitting inappropriately close to you is the next best thing.”

Her jaw dropped at his brazen audacity. Dear god, he was blunt. Did people really act this way? “For heaven's sake, lower your voice and please scoot away.”

Dante did neither. He folded his massive arms and challenged her with his belligerent stare.

“Do you really think behaving like a barbarian will get you anywhere with me?” she asked.

His countenance mocked her, eyes laughing at her. “You're still here, aren't you?”

She stood defiantly.

“Sit down.”

His stern tone willed Sonya's bottom back into her chair. Her pulse accelerated at the sound of the gravel-toned voice giving her orders her body didn't seem capable of disobeying.

“My name is Dante Ribaldi. Now it's your turn.”

“Sonya Foster.” Sonya had no last name since she'd been created as an angel, so she simply chose one.

“I'm just going to be really honest with you. I'm a werewolf.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh.”

“Does that scare you?”

She snickered. “Trust me, Dante, I've seen much scarier in my lifetime.”

“Is that a fact? Enlighten me.”

Uh-oh. Don't give away your identity, you idiot! You don't even know him.

“It's not important. I appreciate your honesty, though.”

Dante smiled and nodded. “Now it's your turn. What are you?”

Her heart pounded like a sledgehammer inside of her. How did he know she wasn't human? Her black angel wings were tucked away in her body. “I'm a woman.”

He smirked. “Well, I should hope so. What else are you?”

“A human being.”

His eyebrow arched in challenge. “Is that what you're sticking with?”

An element of danger hung in the air. Sonya wasn't sure if it was the storm of chemistry brewing between them, or if the edge stemmed from a genuine risk. “Yes.”

A knowing look passed through his eyes and he motioned with his head for her to glance around the room. “I have the ability to detect paranormal beings wherever I am. Moreover, I'm able to pinpoint it down to the precise species. For instance, I can tell you that most of the people in this coffeehouse right now are human, with four exceptions. One is a werewolf – that would be me. Then we've got an owl shifter, a warlock and a crusnik.”

His intense, accusing stare called her on her deception. Sonya's head dropped, unable to conceal the truth from his searching gaze.

“Hey.” Dante angled her chin until she looked at him. “I'm not going to tell anybody what you are. I just want to get to know you.”

“Why?”

“Because you're hot and interesting and that vision the other day when I touched you absolutely fascinates the hell out of me.” His eyes were onyx today and they shimmered with blatant carnality. “You can't tell me you aren't the slightest bit intrigued by what you saw.”

Sonya blushed as her lips pulled upward into an infatuated smile that she tried to hide behind the rim of her coffee cup. “I confess I'm curious, but that doesn't mean we should pursue it.”

Dante took her hand in his and held it there. “I think we should. What if the fates are speaking to us and we let our destinies pass us by?”

“I believe people choose their own fate.” She tried to pull her hand away, but his palm closed around hers and wouldn't let her go.

“Shh,” he cooed as his finger traced delicate circles on her sensitive wrist.

The stimulation combined with his hushed command made her blood simmer just beneath her skin.

“You don't believe in a divine plan?”

“Well, yes, but I believe in freewill.”

“And what is your freewill telling you?” His soft, supple lips imprinted on her wrist before moving to her open palm and leaving the tiniest bit of moisture in its wake. The way his eyes hooded as he whispered provocatively against her skin was overwhelming.

“It tells me you might not be so bad after all.”

His grin made her pulse skitter with arousal. “I'm glad to hear it. I'd like to take you to dinner tonight.”

The invitation excited her. Sonya hadn't been on a date in a while. She certainly had never been so awestruck by the other guys she dated. “That sounds nice. It can't turn into anything serious, though.”

Dante rotated her hand so he could kiss the top of it. “Why not?”

“My life is...complicated.”

“That's what you said about your ex and your son. You're a very complicated woman, aren't you?”

Her spirits lifted at his teasing smile. “You have no idea.”

He grinned, setting her hand down and picked up his coffee cup. “It's probably none of my business, but the other day when you mentioned your son, you spoke of him in the past tense.”

Her eyes misted, but she held the tears in, refusing to cry in front of a stranger. “He's dead.”

His tone softened and his expression became sympathetic. “I'm sorry. What happened?”

Sonya tried to keep her voice from breaking and reached for her coffee. “He was killed by a very horrible person.”

“That's awful. Did they ever catch the guy?”

“It was a woman who killed him.”

“No kidding. Well, I hope she paid for her crimes.”

“She has,” Sonya said quietly, “every day of her life.”

* * *

Two months passed during which Sonya and Dante became inseparable. When her duties as a crusnik didn't call her away, she spent most of her free time with him. He invited her over to his apartment one evening and made her dinner. He proved to be a skilled cook and his place was exquisite with a breathtaking view that overlooked the waterfront.

“This has been really nice. I had a great time.” Sonya sat down on his couch and watched him fill two flute glasses with champagne.

“So have I. You look gorgeous tonight.”

“You mean as opposed to the crappy way I normally look?”

Dante laughed and handed her the glass. “That's not what I meant. You always look good, babe.”

Her stomach fluttered at the yearning in his captivating eyes and the sensuous way their fingers brushed when she took the glass from him. “Thank you.”

He sat down next to her. “What should we drink to?”

She shrugged, feeling aroused by his nearness. “Whatever you want.”

He brought his flute closer to hers. “To us and our future together.”

The toast was as startling as it was flattering. She clinked her glass against his. “To us.”

The narrow rim did little to hide her from the intensity of his gawking. Her heart quickened and her slit moistened when his warm, heavy hand came to rest on her bare thigh.

Dante set his glass on the table and scooted closer, leaving his hand on her leg. “There's something I've wanted to tell you. I'm not merely a tattoo artist and a body piercer. I used to own a sex club in Seattle.”

Champagne nearly bubbled up her nose and she had to set her glass down. “What?”