Fall of Darkness (The Chronicles of Darkness) (6 page)

Chapter
6

At five forty-five, Kate stood in front
of the bathroom mirror, wishing for a vastly different reflection. With trembling
hands, she dabbed a bit more cover-up over the morning’s bruises. Her injuries were
healing at an amazing rate, appearing days out instead of hours, but still
looked pretty nasty.

When Lindsey had taken Kate to file a
police report and pick her Mini up from the hospital, Kate had been surprised
by the benign appearance of the parking lot. No blood. No scars on the asphalt to
mark the spot where something ugly had happened. Perhaps her bruises were
following suit, denying the fact that anything unusual had occurred. Good for
her, not so good for her date. Her complexion resembled an old banana that had
done hard time in the fridge. Ugh.

Lindsey sat straddling the lid of the
toilet, chattering away as Kate primped. Kate met her friend’s assessing gaze
in the mirror.

            “Nervous?”
Lindsey asked, indicating Kate’s shaking hands with a nod.

            “Just
a little,” Kate understated with a wry smile.

            “Don’t
be. You’ll be fine. Just be yourself,” Lindsey assured her.

            “I
wish I had your confidence. What if he realizes he’s so far out of my league we
don’t even belong on the same planet?”

“If that were the case, then he wouldn’t
deserve you anyway. But, Kate, look at me. That’s not going to happen.” Lindsey
slowly enunciated the last four words.

“First of all, the guy stuck around all
morning to make sure you were okay. Second, look at yourself.” She gestured to
Kate’s appearance with a dramatic sweep of her hand.  “You’re freaking
gorgeous. He won’t be able to keep his eyes off you, or his hands for that
matter,” Lindsey added with an irreverent little smile.

Kate slugged her shoulder playfully.
Lindsey flinched in mock injury and rubbed the spot where Kate had made
contact, exaggerated indignation on her face.

            “Is
that all you think about?” Kate teased.

            “No,
sometimes I think about me with him instead,” Lindsey quipped as she
preemptively dodged another swinging fist. “I’m kidding,” she laughed, holding
her hands up in surrender.

 Kate stepped back from the mirror for her
friend’s inspection. “What do you think?” She turned in a small circle.

Kate wore her hair down, the ebony
tresses flowing freely in full waves to masses of soft curls down her back.
She’d paired a soft, forest green boucle sweater, its wide neck baring the
smooth tops of her shoulders, with her favorite dark-wash jeans. Outfit attempt
number four of the night, but who was counting? 

Never one for jewelry, she’d left her
neck and upper shoulders bare. They happened to be the only parts of her not
completely yellow and gray with bruises. Her body may have recovered quickly,
but she still bore the battle scars of a prize fighter after a few rounds. At
least she’d managed to cover the majority of her injuries with clothing and
cosmetics.

            “You
look perfect,” Lindsey told her. “I like that sweater. It makes your eyes the
most amazing shade of green. Makes ’em really pop.” Lindsey popped her lips on
the last word.

            “Thanks.”
Kate still thought her face looked like a bunch of spoiled bananas, but didn’t
feel like arguing. Not like Lindsey would let her win anyway.

The doorbell pealed and Kate practically
leapt out of her skin.

            “I’ll
get it.”

Lindsey had to be joking. Kate stopped
her with one raised eyebrow.

“Fine. You get it. It’s probably for you
anyway.” Lindsey feigned surrender, rising to leave. “Don’t worry about me.
I’ll be in my room, pretending not to exist. I’m meeting John later anyway.”

Lindsey gave Kate a quick hug. “Have
fun. Give Dominic my love, oh and some of yours too,” she added with a wink.

“Will do,” Kate chuckled as she crossed
the apartment to the door.

Lindsey disappeared into her room, but popped
her head back out. “Oh, and Kate?”

            “Yes,
Linz?”

            “I
won’t wait up.”

Kate shook her head in exasperation, a
reluctant smile tugging at her lips. Her friend was nothing, if not tenacious.
Lindsey retreated into her room with a mischievous grin and jaunty wave of
farewell.

            Kate
wiped her damp palms on the legs of her jeans and tugged the door open. Her heart
skipped a beat. Or two. With the way the faulty organ had been dropping rhythms
around Dominic, she’d need a pacemaker if he stuck around.

He flashed her that dazzling smile, his
white teeth perfectly aligned in a sensual mouth made for all sorts of
forbidden pleasures. Her heart stopped. Forget a pacemaker, she’d need life
support. Fire up the ECMO, because her lungs and heart needed a break.

            “Hi,”
she said shyly, raking her eyes over delectable perfection.

His hair was the same carefully
disheveled mess of tousled black locks. His brown eyes were warm and playful.
His thick ivory fisherman sweater emphasized the dark olive tone of his skin while
clinging to his broad shoulders and chest.

Faded, relaxed-fit jeans hung low on his
narrow hips in a titillating manner bordering on scandalous. She bet he even
had those slanting pelvic muscles where his lower abs met his hip flexors.
Broad shoulders and great arms were sexy, but nothing said ‘take me now’ more
than that V of muscle beneath a great set of abs.

Great. Not even their first date and she
was already picturing him naked. Lindsey would be squealing with glee.

            “Hi.”
One dark brow quirked in amusement. Apparently Dominic didn’t mind her
undressing him with her eyes too much.

He studied her appearance in turn, stark
masculine appreciation evident in the weight of his gaze. His eyes traced over
the lines of her bruised complexion, meeting her bright emerald eyes, playing
heavily on her lips, dancing down over her bare collar bones, and grazing each
curve of her body.

She’d never felt more beautiful than she
felt under his gaze. He blazed a slow and steady trail with his eyes that felt
every bit as tangible as the feathering touch of fingertips. Her heart
performed a pyrotechnic routine in her chest.

He smiled and lifted her hand to his
lips, brushing them lightly across her knuckles. The fluttering sensation of
her heart danced lower, spreading from her chest to blossom into an ache low
within her belly.

            “You
look absolutely breathtaking.”

            “Thanks,”
Kate answered, breathless herself. “You do too. I mean you look… um…oh… wow.”
The stammering could only be a direct result of the brain-stalling stupor that
only he induced.

            “May
I come in, or would you prefer I stay in the hallway?”

            “Oh,
no. Sorry. Please, come in. We’re only going back out again though.” Kate
applauded herself for the completely coherent sentences she’d managed to form.
“I thought we’d have a picnic in the park.”

            “Anything
you want.”

Anything? Dangerous words
.

            “I
need to grab a few things and we’ll go,” she said, leading him into the
apartment.

Kate handed him an over-sized canvas bag
and strode into the kitchen. With a sheepish smile, she lifted a large paper
take-out bag from its place in the warm oven.

He eyed the white bag, with
Fabrizio’s
emblazoned in bold green lettering and returned her grin.

            “That’s
impressive. I wish my oven could bake food like that.”

            “Okay,
so you caught me. I’m really a terrible cook. I just wanted to do something
nice for you,” Kate admitted with a self deprecating chuckle. “Disappointed?”

“Hardly.” The intensity of his gaze
heated her blood and sent her pulse soaring.

Kate swallowed hard. “Should we, um get
going?” 

            “By
all means.” The husky timbre in his voice made her wonder what exactly she’d
suggested they ‘get going’ on.

            Trying,
but failing to ignore the overwhelming effect he had on her, Kate gathered her
purse and keys, and headed for the door.

“Would you like me to drive? I can be a
bit old fashioned and you buying our first dinner together could cause
irreparable damage to my masculine pride. I may never fully recover.” He spoke with
mock severity, his eyes dancing with humor as he clasped his hand over his
heart.

            “Sure.”
Who drove where and when was the furthest thing from her mind.

He was intoxicating, an extremely
delicious and highly addictive drug she would do anything for a hit of. Bark
like a dog, Kate. Sure. Jump off a cliff, Kate. Sure.

            Before
she knew it, they were stepping out into the cool September evening. The sun
still hung low in the sky, lending a small amount of lingering warmth to the
crisp fall air as it painted the buildings on the horizon in the vivid palette
of sunset. When they reached the street, Dominic led Kate down a couple of
blocks to where his car was parked at a metered curb.

He opened the passenger door and waited
for her to settle into her seat. Shutting the door, he ambled around to his
side and slid in.

            “Where
to?”

Kate gave him quick directions to a
quiet community park in the northern suburbs, part way between the city and her
childhood home.

She glanced around, admiring the posh
interior of his car for the first time. As shallow as it made her feel, she liked
the car. It fit him, dark, sleek, sexy, and foreign. His movements were fluid
and graceful as he effortlessly shifted and maneuvered through the city
traffic. She could picture him in something even more fast and exotic.

            “This
is a… Porsche?” While she appreciated her Mini’s cute shape and above average
capability for speed, she was far from an auto enthusiast.

            “The
new Porsche 911 Turbo. Do you like it?” He pronounced Porsche differently than
she had, not leaving the ‘e’ on the end of the word silent.

            “Yeah,”
she answered honestly. “Don’t you?”

            “Well
enough, but I have other cars back home that I prefer.”

Kate’s eyes widened. “What could be
better than a new Porsche?”

            “Ferrari,
Maserati, or Lamborghini, to name a few,” he shrugged.

            “You
own all of those?” Kate gulped. She knew her eyes had to be as large as
saucers, but she didn’t care. As if he wasn’t already sexy as sin, he had to be
rich too. Way to even the playing field. He had to have a flaw somewhere.

            “Them
and a handful of others---I have a serious addiction to cars,” he admitted as
though confessing a weakness for something much less innocent than high priced
automobiles.

            “Oh.”
Way to go, Kate. Next time shoot for multiple syllables.

            “I
take it you don’t share my passion for cars. What about your Mini Cooper?”

            “The
Mini? I love her. She’s small and fast. Her size makes her really easy to park,
which is a major plus for me, especially in the city. I’m parking impaired.

“I bought her as a graduation gift for
myself when I finished nursing school. She’s my first car without a fatal flaw.
All of my past cars have lacked one unimportant quality or another, you know,
such as air conditioning or the ability to reverse.”

            A
spark of laughter danced in his eyes. “No reverse? How did you manage that?”

            “I
had to be very particular about where I parked,” she chuckled. “The lack of
reverse wasn’t the worst of my problems in that car though. I used to have to
get out at stop signs to gather up whatever pieces my car had decided to shed,
sometimes the rusty fender or broken antennae. Whenever I was late, my
classmates would all take bets on which part of my car I had to stop to pick up
that day.”

            “Sounds
like quite a car.”

            “Oh,
believe me, it was. My little, old beater could give all your fancy cars a run
for their money,” Kate joked.

“Speaking of,” she said, shifting
conversational gears with quite a bit less agility than he handled those of the
car, “Now that I know you are devastatingly handsome, exorbitantly wealthy, and
dash around rescuing damsels in distress in your spare time… Is there anything
else I need to know to make myself feel even more unworthy of your time?”

Kate was joking more than anything, but
as Mama Murdock said, ‘behind every joke hides a half truth.’

A devilish grin spread slowly across Dominic’s
face. “You mean, aside from the fact that I have x-ray vision, dated Gabriela
Dalberg, and speak eight different languages?”

Kate stared at him in disbelief, her
green eyes gaping.