Hannah (The Coven's Grove Chronicles #2) (5 page)

“Nothing,” Hannah said, and took a long sip of her drink, intent on getting a buzz as quickly as possible.

Dominic continued to chuckle as Nathan looked on blankly.

“You’re full of surprises, Hannah,” Dominic said.

If you only knew
.

A steady stream of people poured in through the front door until the place seemed fit to burst. Hannah was forced to press up against Dominic—which she really didn’t mind—except for the fear of setting off another Atingere-induced, sex frenzy.

“Weren’t you supposed to get a table?” Dominic asked, eyeing his scarred friend.

Nathan shrugged. “We got here too late,”—He pointed to his stool—“This is it.”

Dominic looked at Hannah. “Do you want a seat?”

She found that being snuggled up next to him was actually quite nice, and shook her head as she took another sip of her Manhattan. “I’m good.”

“How rude of me,” Nathan said, and stood, despite Hannah’s objection. “You should have the seat, and since you guys are here, I should probably go find Monica before she finds someone else.” He laughed, and patted Dominic on the shoulder.

“Good man,” Dominic replied, as Nathan stepped away, and disappeared into the crowd.

“So, who’s Monica?” Hannah asked, somewhat reluctantly, as she took the empty seat.

“She’s like Nathan, except a lot more free spirited,” Dominic answered. He moved in closer, so that they were touching again—with clothes between them.

“When you say ‘like Nathan’, you mean she provides protection?”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t come with us all the time.”

“I see,” Hannah said. Dominic’s cloudy reputation was becoming a little clearer. Hannah knew that he was active globally, and that many of the countries he visited were, as he had stated, “not keen on civil rights” to say the least. Having some form of protection seemed logical. “What about your other friends? Are they ‘protectors’ as well?”

Dominic chuckled. “Some, but most of them are activists looking to travel the world and save it in the process.”

“Jet-setting heroes, is it?”

“Basically, yeah.”

Hannah polished off the last of her drink. A nice buzz had taken hold and slowly continued to climb.

Dominic gave her a weighing look. “So, you’ve had your drink. What do you think?”

“I think I could have another,” she said, against her better judgment.

“Okay.” Dominic laughed, and gestured to her glass. “The same?”

“Yep.” She knew that, by the end of the second drink, she’d be pretty toasted, so she decided to take this next one slow.

As Dominic ordered another round, a dark-haired, blue-eyed girl came out of the crowd and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Hey, handsome, you come here often?” Her long hair was in a ponytail that came down past her shoulders, brushing against the black half-shirt she wore. Her exposed abs complimented the skin-tight pants that went all the way down to her ankles.

A sudden urge to lash out at the girl with claws, teeth, and magic hit Hannah like a jolt of lightning.
Easy girl, he isn’t yours
. Hannah forced a relaxed posture, and let the scene play out.

Dominic looked down at the arms around him. A smirk made its way across his face. “Hey, Nancy. Glad you made it.” He turned, forcing her to release him, and then gave her a hug. “Is Kevin here?”

Nancy giggled. “Yeah, but he’s being a shithead.”

“I’m totally surprised,” Dominic said, in mock disbelief.

“Shut up.” Nancy play slapped his arm as her crystal-blue eyes fell on Hannah. Her gaze went up and down Hannah’s body appreciatively. The dark-haired beauty let out a low whistle. “She with you?”

Dominic smiled. “This is Hannah Ward. Hannah, this is Nancy Trace.”

Nancy took Hannah’s offered hand. Her grip was strong, but not painfully so. “I’ve heard of you,” Nancy said. “Actually saw one of your speeches, about two years ago, in Minneapolis.”

“I know the one,” Hannah replied. She wasn’t sure if it was “nice” to meet the girl yet, but she put on her pleasant face. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too.” Nancy ordered a drink for herself, then turned back to Dominic. “You staying the whole week?”

Dominic nodded, and asked Hannah, “Are you going to be at the rest of the events this week?”

Hannah shook her head. “I leave tomorrow.” Her second Manhattan slid next to her arm, and she took a much deeper drink of it than she had previously intended.

Dominic frowned. “Ah. Too bad.”

Nancy narrowed her eyes, as she looked back and forth between them. Then, her features brightened suddenly. “I need to sit for a minute. Do you mind?” She took hold of Hannah’s arm and hoisted her from the stool. “Why don’t you two go play?” She waved them toward the dance floor. “I’ll watch your drinks.”

Hannah’s head spun from being pulled to her feet so quickly. She managed to keep her balance, but, out of instinct, grabbed hold of Dominic’s arm. The resulting skin-to-skin contact sent a shockwave of sensual warmth through her body with such force her knees buckled.

“Whoa!” Dominic grabbed hold of her in earnest. “A little too much to drink?”

The alcohol could definitely have had something to do with it, but Atingere was what really knocked her off her feet. “Yeah, I guess so.” They still maintained skin-to-skin contact, so the warm tingle continued to pulse down into her nether regions. Hannah wet her lips, and glanced up at Dominic.

The sexual hunger in his dark eyes was unmistakable. Sweat beaded on his cheeks and forehead, while his chest heaved as if he’d been out for a light jog. “Maybe we should step outside for a second,” he suggested.

Hannah nodded slowly. “Okay.”

Dominic looked at Nancy, motioning to the exit. “We’ll be back in a minute.”

Nancy grinned mischievously, and snarked, “Yeah, sure you will.”

Shaking his head at Nancy, Dominic turned and cut a path through the jostling throng. Hannah followed, still unsteady, as they continued to grasp hands. The tingling became more intense, forcing the club atmosphere to fade into the back of her hazy thoughts. All she could focus on was Dominic’s well-formed ass, and how much she wanted to touch it.

They made it outside, and Dominic pulled his hand away reluctantly. Hannah clenched her fists in frustration as the tingling, sexual adrenaline was ripped away after breaking contact with him.

Dominic’s chest heaved even harder than before. His gaze still held desire as he glared at her. He closed his eyes for a moment to gather himself.

Hannah was somewhat relieved to see that he was having as much trouble as she was. The whole situation was making her feel kind of foolish.

Once his breathing began to slow, Dominic opened his eyes, and motioned for her to follow. They walked over to the river’s edge, away from the main thoroughfare.

“What the hell?!” Dominic exclaimed, as he paced in front of her. “That’s twice tonight.” He held up two fingers for emphasis. “Are you...
feeling
anything?”

Oh shit,
Hannah thought. She should have called it a night after their first touch on the boat. “I’m feeling a little drunk,” she lied. A bit of a buzz remained, but most of it had burned off after they had touched. “Maybe we should call it a night.”

The crestfallen look Dominic gave her actually brightened her spirits. She wanted to spend more time with him, but it was becoming too difficult, given the stupid Atingere thing. It was nice to know that he might actually want to be with her, too. Next time, they would have to meet in bodysuits… if there was a next time.

Dominic struggled in thought before he spoke, “Okay, I’ll take you back to your hotel.”

Hannah breathed a soft sigh of relief. She was glad he didn’t try to force the issue, but also found herself disappointed that the night had come to an end so early. She smiled lamely. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” he replied.

The trip back to the hotel wasn’t nearly as exciting as when they’d left. She and Dominic spent most of the time in awkward silence. Hannah wrestled with the want to tell him what was going on, but knew that he’d only think she was nuts, and possibly drive him away even faster than she already was. Her mixed feelings continued as they arrived at the entrance of the Mokara.

Fuck, what the hell am I supposed to do?
Hannah floundered in conflict.

“Thanks, for the interesting evening,” Dominic said, saving Hannah from her indecision.

“Look, I’m really sorry,” Hannah blurted. “I wish things had gone differently.”

Dominic laughed. “Don’t be.” He looked at her hand as if he was going to take it, but backed away instead. “Have a good evening Ms. Ward.”

It was Hannah’s turn to look crestfallen. She’d hoped... Well, she didn’t really know what she hoped, but it wasn’t what was happening now. She watched him disappear into the night before she pushed through the door into the lobby.

How the hell did Alix deal with this?
she thought, as she shuffled to the elevator and jabbed the up button. Hannah scoffed, remembering the text she’d read about the guardian touch,
“A slight tingling sensation, possibly accompanied by the urge to have coitus...” My ass
. She stepped into the elevator, feeling more frustrated than when she and Dominic had released hands outside the club.
We are definitely going to have to update that section of the history books
.

Just as the metal doors were closing, Dominic slid into the elevator, and crashed against the back wall.

“Holy shit!” Hannah gasped.

“Sorry,” Dominic breathed. He’d obviously been running. Even so, he continued to speak between gasps. “I just realized... that I didn’t get... your number.” He smiled. “I’d still like to get in touch... when I come to your hometown, if that’s alright with you.”

Hannah stood in opened-mouth silence, not sure what to say. She thought she’d seen the last of him, but, suddenly, there he was, standing in all his perfection, right in front of her. Her mouth moved without voice until finally she managed, “Yeah. That’s okay with me.”

White teeth flashed from that brilliant smile of his. Dominic pulled out his smartphone and started tapping. His dexterous fingers glided across the surface of the phone with practiced ease as he navigated to the correct screen.

Plagued with self-doubt, but determined, Hannah stepped to the control panel of the elevator and pushed the button to her floor. She took a deep breath to steady herself as the doors slid closed without interruption.

Dominic frowned in confusion. “What’s up?”

“I have some business cards in my room,” she said, looking over her shoulder. “It has my address on it as well.” He had to know that she was running a line of total bullshit, and that he could have entered all of that information into his phone, but now that she had committed to getting him up to her room, she didn’t really care. In fact, those six years of penned-up frustration fueled her desire to throw caution to the wind. She had promised herself a good time on this trip, and she’d already let it slip through her fingers once this evening. She wouldn’t do so again—consequences be damned.

Dominic seemed on the verge of saying something, but hesitated.

Hannah turned her head to face the doors, hoping to silence any argument. Her tactic must have worked, because no noise, other than his strong breathing, filled her ears as the elevator rose to her floor. She could feel his gaze on her, and hoped that he liked what he saw. She definitely liked what she’d seen of him.

The elevator slowed, making Hannah’s stomach drop. That little voice of doubt in the back of her head began yelling at her to abandon ship, but she did her best to ignore it. The doors opened onto her floor with a soft rattle, and she smirked.
Too late now
.

“This is nice,” Dominic said, as they got off the elevator, and walked up to Hannah’s door. “I’ve always wondered what this place looked like on the inside.”

“The rooms are even better.” Hannah swiped her key card. The lock clicked, and the door swung open easily. She’d left some of the lamps on, which gave the suite a warm cozy feel when they entered. Lights from the adjacent buildings sparkled like stars in the distance through the windows surrounding the room.

Hannah dropped her purse on the kitchen counter. Kitchens in these things seemed kind of pointless, but it came with the suite so whatever. “I’ll get the card, drinks are over there.” She pointed to the refrigerator, as she walked to the bedroom. She hadn’t lied about having business cards; those were standard for trips like this. The reasons for giving him one, however, was a different matter.

That annoying voice of reason, doubt, or whatever it was came calling back with a vengeance, warning her against foolishness. Hannah quickly grabbed a card, and went back into the living area before she talked herself out of doing whatever it was she was going to do.

Dominic had taken her up on the offer for a drink. He stood out on the patio that overlooked the Riverwalk, sipping on a short glass of something. His posture had a casual air that spoke of confidence far beyond any that Hannah currently felt.