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.