Damek's Redemption

Chapter Five

Damek stared at her and she was unable to pull her gaze away. Her bottom lip quivered as she returned his stare. “You,” she whispered, her voice trembling.

He stopped a few feet from her and inclined his head. “You wished to see me, Ms. Agostino.”

She shook her head and he arched a dark brow at her. Sonia wanted to smack him, which shocked her to her core. She’d never been a violent person, never had the urge to hit anyone because of how they made her feel.

Sonia felt as though he’d stripped her naked and seen deep inside her to her darkest fantasies and deepest hopes. Then reality settled in. The sun hadn’t gone down yet. Damek couldn’t be a vampire.

And how had her instincts been so off? They’d started buzzing the first time she’d seen an article on Inhibitions and had eventually led her here to Chicago. She’d been so sure that Damek would end her lifelong search to find a vampire.

Disappointment ate at her, making her stomach ache. She hadn’t realized just how desperately she’d wanted him to be one.

“Sonia?” The way he said her name, with the hint of a European accent, made her heart clench.

He was beside her in a moment, his strong arm around her waist as he led her toward the hallway and whatever lay beyond. She went without protest, even though her research was a bust. There was something about Damek, something dark and compelling, something that made her want to be next to him.

She almost snorted aloud. Of course she wanted to be next to him, the guy had featured prominently in her erotic dream last night. And that was totally impossible. She’d never met him before. There’s no way she’d have forgotten him.

He was even more dynamic in person than in her dream. He was only a few inches taller than her but he seemed much larger. An aura of power surrounded him, making her second guess her earlier assessment. Maybe he wasn’t a vampire, but he was definitely something out of the ordinary, maybe a mage or a shapeshifter of some kind.

A sense of relief hit her. Her instincts weren’t defective. They were still working as well as they always had. She’d simply misread them and allowed her own wants and desires to cloud them. Desires. Not a good word to use after last night. Time to be rational and clinical about Damek. She took a good look, studying him now that her initial shock had faded.

The suit he wore hadn’t come off any rack but had been tailored to fit his lean form to perfection. She knew that because it looked too much like the suits her brother Stefano wore, and he was very particular about his clothes. Damek’s shirt was black silk and he wore a Rolex on his left wrist. Shoulder-length black hair was pulled away from his face and tied neatly at his nape with a leather thong. His features were strong, his skin pale. Masculine strength seemed to leak from his pores, permeating the air around him.

“Where are we going?” she finally thought to ask. Really, she had to get a grip on herself. Dream or no dream, she was here to get answers.

The corners of his mouth turned up in amusement. “My lair.” His low voice made her nipples tighten and an ache began to pulse low in her belly. She dug in her heels to stop herself from going any farther. What in the hell was she doing, going off with a man she didn’t even know? She should stay in the main part of the club where it was better lit and there were more people around.

Damek halted beside her, his arm still around her back and his hand pressed against her side, not pressuring her to continue. “I did not mean to frighten you.” His black eyes grew darker even as shadows seemed to creep across the floor toward them. “My office, Ms. Agostino. I thought you’d prefer to talk there. Alison will bring coffee.”

Now she just felt stupid, and she hated feeling that way. “Of course.” Damek was a businessman, not a killer. Heck, he wasn’t even a vampire. In all the reading and research she’d done, she’d never heard of one able to be up and around before the sun set, even if he was inside.

She swallowed her disappointment once again and pulled away from him, taking the final steps to his office on her own. Really, she was acting like a ninny. Her brothers would laugh their asses off if they could see the way she was acting around Damek, and all because of some stupid dream she’d had. Maybe she’d seen a picture of him somewhere in her research but just didn’t remember it.

That made sense, and she gave herself a mental pat on the back for finding a logical conclusion. She’d been looking for Damek, so he was already on her mind and had wormed his way into her subconscious. It was an aberration. Nothing more.

He reached around her, his bigger body trapping hers against a door. She sucked in her breath as his chest brushed her back. What was he doing?

“Please enter.” His breath tickled her ear and sent heat coursing down her neck all the way to her chest. He pushed the door open and stepped back.

He was simply opening the door for her. She needed to get a grip on her wayward hormones before they got her into trouble. “Thank you.” Her voice was level, but inside she was a bundle of nerves.

Like the rest of the place, his office was wreathed in shadows. A single brass lamp illuminated the top of his desk and the computer that sat there. And what a desk it was—European, probably Austrian and definitely from the eighteen hundreds.

Sonia hurried forward and touched the carving on the front. Her fingers traced a tangle of trees and animals. “It’s breathtaking.” She’d traveled the world with her parents and had only seen such pieces in either museums or castles. It was walnut but inlaid with various other woods. It was too dark to tell for certain what they were, but the result was nothing short of spectacular.

“Thank you.” He indicated a chair in front of the desk, another antique. She set her purse on the floor and sat, letting herself slowly sink back onto the cushion. He went around to the other side and sat in a rather large carved chair, which suited both the desk and the man who owned it.

The floor was hardwood and the walls were dark-oak panel, much like she would expect to find in an old English manor. Wooden file cabinets ranged along one wall and bookshelves on another, not what she’d expected to see in the owner’s office in an upscale nightclub. Metal file cabinets and a desk from some high-end department store, maybe, but nothing this high quality.

“You like antiques?” he prompted.

“Very much. I traveled a lot with my parents when I was growing up.”

“Ah. There is nothing like firsthand experience to make you appreciate good craftsmanship.”

Before she could think of what to say, a low knock came on the door. “Come,” Damek called. The woman from behind the bar walked in, balancing a tray with a coffee carafe and two mugs. She set it on the desk. “Thank you, Alison.” The woman nodded and left without speaking, closing the door behind her.

Damek deftly poured two mugs of coffee. There was a small jug with cream and a few packets of sugar beside it. “Help yourself.”

He sat back in his chair and set his mug by his computer. Resting his arms on his chair, he steepled his fingers and watched her as she added two packets of sugar to her coffee and stirred.

She took the time to order her thoughts. Fortunately, she’d come up with a reason to talk to him that had nothing to do with vampires. After all, even if he was one, she couldn’t come right out and ask him. Not at first. And anyway, since the sun wouldn’t be setting for quite some time yet, it was obvious the man wasn’t one.

“What can I do for you, Dr. Agostino? I admit I was surprised to find an academic with degrees in folklore and anthropology looking for me.”

She took a sip of the coffee. It was strong and full-bodied, exactly what she needed to steady herself so she didn’t make a complete idiot of herself. He’d slid back into her more formal title and, though it would be much safer for her to keep things on a businesslike basis, she wanted to hear him call her by her name again. “Please, call me Sonia.”

He inclined his head in acknowledgement but didn’t speak, waiting politely for her to continue. So he wasn’t a talker. That would make her job harder. Most people loved to talk about themselves when they found someone who was willing to listen. But Damek didn’t fall under that category. She’d found over the years that the people who kept their thoughts to themselves were usually the ones who had the most interesting stories to tell.

“I want to talk about your club, about Inhibitions. The name itself has obvious connotations, but from a purely psychological perspective, why is it you chose this name since the idea seems to be for people to lose their inhibitions when they walk through the door?”

Damek enjoyed watching Sonia gather her thoughts. He’d flustered her earlier, but she’d rallied, pulling herself together, drawing on her years as an academic. She moved her hands when she talked, graceful movements he didn’t think she was even aware of. He was mesmerized by her hands, by the way she’d run her fingers over the front panel of his desk, tracing the wood with the soft pads at the tips.

He wanted her fingers on him, learning every inch of his body. His cock hardened and he was thankful for the barrier of the desk. She’d probably run from him if she had any idea just how much he wanted her.

She was just as beautiful as he remembered. No, she was more beautiful. Her wild hair was caught at her nape with some fancy silver clip, her lips were rosy, but her cheeks were pale. The gray sweater she wore beneath her blazer brought out the color of her eyes, like fog across the mountains on a misty morning. Her jeans weren’t tight, but they emphasized her long legs and hinted at the shape beneath.

She paused and he realized he hadn’t really been paying attention. He replayed her last words in his head and found himself surprised, not something that usually happened. She wanted to talk about his club.

“I don’t understand why the name of my nightclub would be of interest to you?” From what he’d read on her business card and the information he’d found online, her areas of study seemed to be myth and legend and tales of folklore from around the world. Of course, it was plausible that she was doing research on nightclubs and their effect on people. These days, academics seemed to be curious about the strangest things.

But more puzzling was why the vampire hunters would have someone trailing her while she was in Chicago. Damek had to assume that the man was back on the job and probably lurking outside his club at this very moment, waiting for her to emerge.

He should have killed him last night. He’d known Sonia was going to be nothing but trouble. The last thing he needed was a vampire hunter taking an interest in either him or his club. The threat was now not only to her but to him and his employees as well. Vampire hunters weren’t always the most discerning of creatures, killing whoever got in their way regardless of whether they were a true vampire or not.

“The name of your club is really what it’s all about, isn’t it? Inhibitions, or rather the lessening of them in some situations. It’s really all about the unknown, isn’t it? About people being drawn to the dark side of life, be it myth or legend or reality. It’s like taking a step out of the normal, the everyday and into another world.” She smiled at him and reached for her coffee.

He tapped his fingers together, watching her intently as she brought her mug to her lips and took a sip. He wasn’t buying it. There was more to her interest than simply wanting to know about his club. He waited until she swallowed before calling her on her lie.

“You do not care about my club, Sonia.” Her pupils dilated slightly when he said her name. He barely suppressed a smile. So, she was not immune to him. Her body’s reactions to his closeness could not be faked. He inhaled deeply and caught the slightest tinge of arousal, coupled with fear. She wanted him, yet feared him. That wasn’t unusual for him, but he found he hated it, didn’t want her to fear him as others did.

“I don’t? Well, that’s news to me.” She set her mug down and crossed her legs, drawing his attention to them.

“Is it?” he countered. “I thought you’d come here for me.”

Sonia froze. “I thought you’d come here for me.” His words echoed in her brain, a reminder of her dream last night. She’d certainly come then. She cleared her throat and pressed onward, beginning to wish she’d never gotten past the front doors of Inhibitions. “I don’t even know you,” she pointed out.

“Which makes it all the more intriguing, don’t you agree?” He looked just like some medieval lord sitting behind his massive desk. This club was his fiefdom, and all the people who worked here his minions or serfs, depending on how you looked at the situation.

“I should go.” She reached down and picked up her purse before standing. As attracted as she was to Damek, she didn’t belong here. He really was just the owner of a rather notorious nightclub and not a vampire at all. Maybe he was a paranormal creature of some kind, but maybe not. She wasn’t sure she should trust her instincts where Damek was concerned any longer. Obviously hormones and sexual urges were messing with her normally infallible instincts.

Her brothers would kill her if they ever found out she’d come to a place like this by herself. Her father would try to ground her even though she’d been living on her own for years.

Damek was in front of her in the blink of an eye. She practically fell back into her chair she was so startled. How had he moved that fast?

“Have dinner with me. We will talk.”

She nibbled her bottom lip. “I don’t know.” Common sense dictated she go back to her hotel, but the wild woman inside her wanted to have dinner with this intriguing, totally unacceptable man. He ran a nightclub with a reputation for wildness, while she worked at a university.

“I promise, I don’t bite.” He paused and added, “Unless asked.” His bedroom voice promised all kinds of erotic pleasures and she caught the glint of his teeth when he smiled. “Please.”

She was going to regret this. “It has to be somewhere casual. I’m not going back to my hotel to change.”

Damek picked up the phone off his desk and hit a button. “Bring the car around back.”

Sonia swallowed hard. What the hell had she just done? It wasn’t too late to change her mind. One second she was determined to be sensible, the next she was agreeing to go to dinner with him. But there was something so darn sexy about Damek that made it impossible for her to be her normal logical self. The way he looked at her as though he found her utterly fascinating, the exotic cadence of his voice when he spoke, drew her like a moth to the proverbial flame.

Dangerous. That was the word that best described him.

She could still leave, go back to her hotel and forget she’d ever met Damek. And she was lying to herself if she thought she wasn’t going to have dinner with him.

Reading what little she could find out about him and his club online had fascinated her enough to travel here to meet him. In person, he was mesmerizing. No way was she going to miss out on an opportunity to actually talk to him. And they were going out to eat in a public place. Nothing untoward would happen to her.

And if she repeated that enough to herself, she might actually believe it. Not that she thought he’d physically hurt her, because for some unexplained reason she didn’t. But her intuition was screaming that her life would never be the same if she went with him.

“Are you ready?” There were so many layers to that question that Sonia wasn’t sure she wanted to answer it. She settled for simply nodding. Again, his lips quirked up at the corners in amusement, but he made no further comment as he placed his hand on the small of her back and led her to the door.

The huge bouncer appeared from out of nowhere, his eyes raking over her before settling on Damek.

“Byron, I will be out with Ms. Agostino until later.”

The bouncer nodded. “I’ll take care of everything, boss. No worries.”

“I never worry with you in charge.” Damek put pressure on the small of her back and guided her away from the club and down another corridor.

“Where are we going?” It was dark and quiet, with only the faintest hint of noise from the club. She swallowed hard as they went deeper into the unknown depths of the building.

“Back door. It’s easier for Jerome to bring the car around.”

That made sense, but didn’t ease the butterflies swirling in her stomach. A door with a red neon sign that read EXIT came into view, and Sonia breathed a sigh of relief. Of course there was another entrance. There were probably several in a building this size, for fire regulations if nothing else. She had to get a grip on herself and her wild imagination.

Damek paused in front of the door, drew out a pair of dark sunglasses and slid them on his face, covering his eyes. That gave her pause and made her wonder why he was wearing sunshades when it was early evening. Maybe he had sensitive eyes or maybe he didn’t want to be recognized. Both were legitimate reasons.

The sun hadn’t gone down yet, she reminded herself. Vampires couldn’t be out in the sunlight, at least that was what everything she’d read indicated. Of course, there was a lot unknown about vampires. The young ones were usually wild at best and the older ones tended to keep to themselves.

He punched the door open and hustled her outside. Thick gray clouds obscured the sun, giving the day a dark, dull appearance and making it seem later than it actually was. She glanced at Damek but his eyes were on the vehicle waiting for them.

And what a vehicle it was. It wasn’t quite a stretch limo, but it was close. It was certainly much larger than a regular car. The door was open and a uniformed man stood waiting for them. As Damek spoke softly to the driver, Sonia slid onto buttery soft seats and breathed in the rich scent of the black leather. A privacy screen separated the driver from the passenger area. The windows were tinted dark but a dim light allowed her to see the interior.

The door closed with a solid thunk, leaving her and Damek alone in the enclosed space. But to give him credit, he wasn’t crowding her. She caught a hint of sandalwood, most likely from his soap, and wanted to rub her nose against his neck. Probably not a good idea. Scratch that. Definitely not a good idea. Professional, she reminded herself. Be professional.

“Would you like something to drink?” Damek interrupted her thoughts with his offer and she shook her head. She needed her wits about her if she was going to keep their dinner on an even keel. It would be far too easy to fall under this man’s seductive spell.

“Are you sure?” He opened a mini fridge that was built into the area behind the driver’s seat. “There are both red and white wines or you could have some champagne.” He took out a bottle with Cristal written on the label. She wasn’t much of a drinker, but even she knew that name and it didn’t come cheap.

Classical music was quietly being piped into the space through unseen speakers. She didn’t recognize it, but she wasn’t all that familiar with classical music. Classic rock and pop were more her speed. Whatever it was, it was soothing and romantic. She would have preferred a rousing march or something faster and louder, anything to disturb the cocoon of intimacy he was building around them.

She might not have dated all that much, but she wasn’t stupid. She knew when a man was setting the stage for a seduction, and this had all the earmarks of one—a quiet dinner, a limo, soft music, champagne on the way to the restaurant.

The sound of a quiet pop brought her attention back to Damek. He’d opened the bottle and was already pouring some of the golden liquid into a crystal champagne flute, which he’d pulled out of a velvet-lined drawer next to the fridge.

“Try some. You don’t have to finish it if you don’t like it.” Like the most practiced sommelier, he handed her the glass.

It would be a shame not to at least try it. After all, he’d opened the bottle just for her, and on her salary she wouldn’t be buying a bottle of the stuff anytime soon. She had her fingers clutched tight around her purse so she disengaged them and set her bag on the seat beside her. She licked her lips and reached for the glass, trying not to notice how her hand trembled as she took it. She hoped he wouldn’t notice but had a feeling he was the kind of man who didn’t miss anything.

She brought the glass to her lips and took a sip. The bubbles tickled her tongue and the golden liquid flowed down her throat. “Oh, this is wonderful.” She’d never tasted anything quite like it and knew she would never forget it. On the sinful scale, it rated right up there with dark Belgian chocolate.

“I’m glad you like it.”

His low voice set off tiny explosions in the nerve endings in her body, making all of them come alive with anticipation. It was then she noticed he wasn’t drinking champagne. He’d poured himself a dark red wine instead. He swirled the liquid in the crystal glass, the blood-red color glinting off the interior lights.

“You’re not having champagne?”

Damek shook his head. “It’s not to my taste. I prefer a full-bodied drink.” He put the wineglass to his lips and drank. His throat rippled as he swallowed and her gazed followed the strong column of muscle until it disappeared into the neck of his shirt.

She’d seen men drink before, but never had she found it such an erotic activity. Sonia took another sip of champagne, touched that he would open the bottle of such an expensive vintage just for her.

Her eyes narrowed the more she thought about it. “I’m not sleeping with you,” she blurted out. Some men thought if they bought drinks and dinner it paid for their way into her bed. Better to rid him of that notion right now before their night went any further.

Damek seemed startled by her declaration, then he threw back his head and laughed. Heat crept up her cheeks as it occurred to her he might not even be all that attracted to her. Maybe the flirting came natural to him. And how depressing was that.

Obviously, he was a rich guy and used to things like fancy cars and champagne. Just because she dreamed about him and thought he looked like sex on a stick didn’t mean he felt the same way about her.

Sonia was mortified and bent her head to study her shoes. “Maybe you should drop me off at my hotel.” Better to leave now than to keep humiliating herself.

His laugher ceased and he caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger, applying pressure until she looked at him. “I am not laughing at what you said, Sonia, but at your spontaneity. It is so refreshing.”

“I’ll bet,” she groused. He probably had beautiful, sophisticated women throwing themselves at him all the time. No wonder an ordinary academic amused him. She was different from what he was used to.

He ran his thumb over her cheek and shook his head. “Make no mistake, my sweet. I want you.” She gasped as his thumb traced her bottom lip, leaving it tingling in his wake. “But when you come to my bed it will be of your own free will and not because I expect it or bought you dinner or plied you with expensive champagne.”

Struck speechless once again, a feat that would no doubt shock her family to their core, Sonia said nothing. Her hands clung to the delicate stem of her champagne goblet as the smell of leather and Damek surrounded her. She was afraid to move, afraid she might actually throw herself at him and tell him to skip dinner.

He wanted her. He’d said when she came to his bed, not if.

Holy cow. That was something to wrap her head around. It was one thing to have an erotic dream about the man, quite another to hear him say he wanted her in such a low, seductive manner that made her cream her panties.

Damek leaned in closer and she wished he wasn’t wearing dark glasses, wished she could see his eyes. Their noses were almost touching and his breath was warm on her lips. “We’re here.” He sat back, drained his wineglass and set it aside.

Sonia turned her head away and sucked in a deep breath. She was in way over her head with this man, but she no longer cared. They would have dinner and she would ask her questions of him.

After that, well, only time would tell.