Fall of Darkness (The Chronicles of Darkness) (7 page)

            “You’re
kidding… right?”

            “Of
course I am. I’m not superman. As much as I could appreciate x-ray vision on
certain occasions,” he added, pausing to rake her curves with a meaningful
look. “I regret I’m sadly without.”

A rush of color burned her cheeks. The
stark appreciation in his gaze made her question if he really could see through
the layers of her clothing.

            “What
about the eight languages?”

            “I’m
afraid that one is true,” he admitted gravely, as though confessing a great
sin.

            “Really?
Which ones do you speak?”

Kate was green with envy. She’d always
wanted to learn a foreign language. Though she’d taken the requisite amount of
French in school, she retained practically none of her relatively useless
language skills. Were she in France, she might be able to ask for permission to
use the restroom or ramble on in broken French about her nonexistent black cat,
but that would be about it. That one was number nine on her list, ‘learn a
foreign language.’

            “Hmm,
let’s see. Italian is my first language, then there’s English, Spanish, Greek,
French, German, Dutch, Portuguese, and Latin. I also speak small amounts of
Russian and Mandarin, but am far from fluent,” he added, counting off the
languages on his fingers. “I guess that’s more than eight, so not completely
true,” he shrugged with a haphazard grin. “Most Europeans are multilingual.”

            “What
about the other thing… about Gabriela Dalberg?”     

“That I am afraid would be between me
and Ms. Dalberg. A gentleman does not kiss and tell.”

            “Did
you, did you really?” She wasn’t sure why it mattered, but she needed to know.
She couldn’t possibly be jealous of the lingerie model turned Hollywood
starlet. Could she? Maybe
.
She waited patiently for an answer, her arms
crossed over her chest. With a reluctant sigh, he acceded to her demand.

            “Only
in my dreams when I was younger,
cara
. I did meet her once though.”

            “And?”

He traced her jaw line with his knuckles
in a gentle caress. The tenderness of his touch sent an electric shiver of pure
longing clear to her toes.

            “She
doesn’t hold a candle to your beauty. I’m afraid a new woman haunts my dreams
now.” His voice was soft as a velvet whisper as the sweetness of his words made
Kate’s heart sing.

Dominic brought the car to a smooth stop
in front of Kate’s favorite park. A handful of pedestrians were scattered
throughout the park- a group of teenagers playing Frisbee, another young couple
lounging on a blanket in the grass, a small family strolling the paths that
weaved around the large pond. The setting sun cast the park in fading shades of
pink, orange and lavender as it bid the world goodnight, the imminence of
nightfall lending a comforting quiet to the park.

“Is this the right place?”

Kate nodded. “This was my favorite place
to come as a kid. My mom brought me here all of the time to feed breadcrumbs to
the ducks and geese,” she said as they climbed out of the car.

The park hadn’t changed a bit, as though
frozen in time like a photograph. With a rich display of colorful leaves from
the abundant mature trees, the duck pond full of wild life, the carefully
maintained flower beds, and the immaculately manicured lawn, it was exactly as Kate
remembered it.

“It’s very nice.” Dominic smiled,
draping Kate’s bags over his shoulder. Kate led Dominic to a secluded thatch of
plush green grass. Tucked amid a heavily wooded copse of trees, it was the
perfect spot for an intimate picnic. Spreading a blanket on the grass, they set
up their make-shift picnic.

Laying out one thick foam box after
another, Kate realized she’d ordered way too much food. Hopefully Dominic was
hungry. Oh well. If he wasn’t, she’d take the leftovers to work. Her coworkers
would eat anything that didn’t eat them first.

Fishing two chunky candles from her bag,
Kate stood each one on a small plate near the blanket. With the spark of a
lighter, she lit them. Fire marshal be damned, she was going to have a candlelit
picnic in the park. That was number 24.

 “I hope you don’t mind, but I brought
this.” Dominic brought out a bottle of wine from his own bag and held it out
for her inspection. “It’s from one of my family’s vineyards.”

Accepting the bottle, Kate traced the
symbol on the label with the tip of her finger. It was almost too pretty to
drink.  A triangular crest of gold foil topped the front of the bottle, the
head of a great wolf framed in its center. Bold script pronounced
Chianti
Superiore
across the cream and gold striped label. “It’s beautiful.”

“Shall we open it?” Dominic produced two
wine glasses and a bottle opener from his bag.

Kate bit her lip. “Um, I’m not sure
that’s a good idea.”

“You don’t drink? Or do you not like
wine?”

She shook her head. “No, it’s not like
that. I’ve never been able to drink my calories. Alcohol doesn’t exactly fit
into the healthy diet.” Heat filled her cheeks. “Besides, I’m a serious
lightweight… and a lousy drunk.”

Curiosity clearly piqued, he raised one
black eyebrow. “How exactly are you a lousy drunk?”

Her blush deepened, the heated redness spreading
from brow to chin. She swallowed hard at the lump in her throat. “I um, kind of
lose my inhibitions,” she admitted, shifting uncomfortably. Lowering her voice,
she whispered, “I get a little frisky.”

Laughing, Dominic uncorked the bottle.
“This I have to see.”

“One glass,” Kate compromised, holding
up her index finger to emphasize her point. “That’s all.”

“Whatever you say,” he agreed with that
devilish, heart-stopping grin. “Don’t let me stop you.” He poured two glasses
and handed her one.

“What should we drink to?” Lifting the
glass to her nose, she inhaled the decadent bouquet of the rich red wine.

“To the most beautiful girl in the world
and her ability to make me do things I wouldn’t normally do.” Dominic raised
his glass to salute her.

“Uh, uh. Not so fast. How about to my
knight in shining armor?” Kate protested.

“You drink to yours, I’ll drink to
mine,” he conceded with a shrug.

“Fine,” she agreed with a smile. “To
you.”

“To you.” Clinking her glass with his,
Kate indulged in a small sip of the lush burgundy liquid. The smooth red wine tasted
divine, but a whole lot stronger than the cheap Chianti she’d tried in college.
The alcohol burned all the way down.

“What do you think?”

Ignoring the burn, she took a more
generous swallow. “I’ve never tasted anything like it.”

His eyes sparkled with mischief. “Feeling
frisky yet?”

She swatted playfully at his arm. “No.”
She always felt frisky around him, but that was the last thing he needed to
know. “You’ll be the first to know if I am, though.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Dominic indicated the containers of food
with a nod. “So, what smells so good?”

“Oh.” She rolled up onto her knees to
open the containers. “I hope you like Italian food. It’s from Fabrizio’s. It’s
the best place for Italian. I’m addicted to their salad and breadsticks. I
wasn’t sure what you like, so I got a little bit of everything. There’s
spaghetti with marinara sauce, lasagna, chicken parmesan, fettuccini alfredo,
and baked ziti. You’re welcome to all of the meat stuff. I won’t eat it anyway.”

Wine spewed from Dominic’s mouth and
nose as he choked and sputtered in surprise. “You don’t eat meat?”

“No.” Kate handed him a napkin to clean
the wine off his face. “I don’t eat anything with a face. Is that a problem?”

Dominic laughed. “No, not at all. I
think it’s great.”

“Really?”

“Really. I think I like you even more as
a vegetarian,” he reassured her with a smile.

“Then what’s so funny?” She couldn’t shake
the feeling she was missing the punch line to an inside joke.

“Nothing, I swear.”

Kate relaxed a little. “Are you hungry?”

            “Starving.
Do you think we’ll have enough food though? Someone in Africa might still go
hungry.”

            “It’s
my secret evil plan to fatten you up, you know, maybe even the playing field a
little.” Kate did her best impression of an evil villain’s sinister laugh.

            “It’s
far from even, but not the way you think. You’re in luck though. I happen to
love food.” Dominic’s eyes twinkled with laughter as he added, “Particularly
Italian.”

Realization dawned. Kate slapped her
forehead at her own cluelessness. Big frickin’ duh.

            “You’re
from Italy, aren’t you, Dominic?”  Sheepish should’ve been her middle name.        

Dominic nodded. “I grew up in a region known
as Il Chianti Sienese,” he confirmed, with a gentle smile. “I’m flattered you
thought of me when planning the menu tonight.”

Kate knew his words for what they were,
an effort to preserve her feelings. “Absolutely,” she played along with a grin.
“It was solely for the sake of research. You can compare and contrast the food
here to that of your home.”

            “Anything
in the name of research,” he nodded solemnly, his eyes bright with mirth.

            “Well,
then lab rat number zero-zero-one, let’s get started,” Kate said, handing him a
plate and utensils. “Please, help yourself.”

            “No,
please let me serve you first. You want salad? What else would you like?” Dominic
shoveled mountains of food onto his plate for her.

This took Kate aback. She thought
chivalry shriveled up and died a long time ago. Men didn’t open doors for their
dates anymore. They were more likely to let the door hit her in the face as
they passed through first. Not this man. He probably threw his coat over rain puddles
and held umbrellas too. Dominic handed her the full plate and she traded him
her empty one.

            “Thank
you.”  

“My pleasure.” Their eyes met and his
hot chocolate gaze warmed Kate clear to her toes, like the sweet, steamy
beverage it reminded her of.

Kate concentrated on picking at her
food. Unfortunately, her appetite had migrated south for the winter, her
attention straying to the much more appetizing man next to her. Dominic gave
her a wolfish grin and dug in with a hearty scoop of his fork.

            “So?”

            Dominic
swallowed and dabbed his mouth with a napkin. “Delicious.”

            “It’s
nothing like your food back home though, is it?”

            “Not
really,” he chuckled, “But delicious, nonetheless. What other kinds of food do
you like?”

            “What
do I like?”

            “Yeah,
what would you say is your absolute favorite food?”

It might have been the accent, but the
mundane ‘get to know you’ question sounded like a sinful proposition as it
rolled from his tongue like liquid silk. Kate’s gaze fixed on his sensual
mouth, the playful curve of his lips, and she licked her own subconsciously.

Chocolate. She loved chocolate. She
couldn’t help but envision licking the sweet stuff off every inch of his
perfect body. Her pulse quickened at the thought and her cheeks scorched with
fiery heat.

            Her
answer came out in a breathless whisper. “Chocolate. I can’t live without it.”
She cleared her throat. “What about you?”

            “Under
your definition?” He reached up to sweep a wisp of hair away from her forehead,
tucking it behind her ear.

Kate shrugged. “If you like.”

The corner of his mouth tipped up in a
soft smile. “You.  The one thing I’m beginning to believe I can’t live without,”
he said, his eyes burning into hers. Her heart fluttered double time in her
chest.

            “Not
what I meant.” Maybe it was the wine, but she felt lightheaded. “I doubt I
would taste very good anyway.”

            “I
beg to differ. I imagine you taste like Heaven.”

            The
air crackled with electricity as Dominic leaned closer. Kate knew he was about
to kiss her, but nothing prepared her for the onslaught of sensations that
followed.

Dominic brushed his lips lightly against
hers in a soft, unassuming kiss. A gentle touch of warmth. The slightest
sharing of breath.

Her body responded to his tenderness
with a heated passion she didn’t know she possessed, a dam of need cracking
under the softness of his lips. Her mouth moved hungrily against his, demanding
more. Her hands reached up to pull him closer, her fingers weaving in the dark
curls at the nape of his neck. She was on fire, truly alive for the first time
in her life. And she wanted more. Close was not close enough.

Dominic deepened their kiss, increasing
the tantalizing pressure of his lips, coaxing her mouth to open beneath his.
His tongue caressed hers, stroking and teasing. He tasted of paradise. Better
than chocolate, better than anything. Desire blossomed low within her belly,
throbbing, demanding more. But, he slowly withdrew, drawing a sigh of protest
from her half-parted lips.