A moment later, she tugged his head away abruptly, breaking the kiss, but her body remained pinned between him and the wall. He rested his forehead against hers and squeezed his eyes shut.
Damn it all to hell. What was he doing?
Doug shoved himself away from the wall and the feel of her body.
“I’m sorry,” he said as he grasped for some shred of reality. “I’m not sure what just happened.”
Olivia was stone cold. She didn’t move, but her green eyes, only moments ago filled with lust, were now hard and unemotional. She straightened her jacket and smoothed her soft red curls as she brushed past him to the door.
“I think we’re about finished here, detective. I have to refuse your dinner invitation.” Olivia tugged the door open. Pounding music filled the small space, which only moments ago had been thick with the unmistakable rumble of passion. “You are welcome to speak with any of the club patrons, as well as my staff. I have business to attend to, but you know where to find me if you need me.”
She arched one amber eyebrow as she held the door open and motioned for him to leave. The music spilled into the office, instantly drowning out their intimate moment. Doug eyed her carefully and let out the breath he’d been holding. He barely noticed that the dog was once again standing guard at her feet.
“I’m sure you won’t interview my customers the same way you interviewed me?” she asked in a low, seductive tone as he stepped through the open door. “I can’t imagine behavior like that would be good for the image of the NYPD.”
He turned to answer her just as the door slammed shut in his face.
“Not likely,” Doug muttered under his breath.
He ran his hands over his face and swore silently at his lack of self-control and loss of professionalism. Never in his life did he have personal contact with a witness on a case, and here he was making out like a horny kid in the back office of a nightclub with a broad who could, quite possibly, be involved in the murders.
However, as he cut through the sweaty crowd and made his way to Tom, who was interviewing the waitress by the VIP booths, he knew it was only the beginning. Things were going to get weirder. Doug got to the bar and looked back at the closed door of the office. That kiss in the alley was real, and she was in his dreams.
The taste of her still lingered on his lips. If he was taking a trip on the crazy train, then riding it with Olivia had to be the best fuckin’ way to go.
Chapter 6
Olivia leaned against the door as her fangs broke free, and she let out a sound that fell somewhere between a growl and a groan. How could she be so irresponsible? What in the hell was wrong with her? First, she lets him kiss her. Kiss her? Hell, he jumped her bones—and she loved every second.
She made out with him like the lust-starved woman she was, and kissing him almost made her orgasm.
“Shit.”
Her eyes fluttered open, and she ran her tongue along her smooth fangs as the taste of him lingered, a vivid reminder of the brief tussle they’d shared. The office looked the same as it had ten minutes ago, but everything else had changed, and she was allowing it to happen like some silly youngling vampire.
She had to stop this nonsense. She would not pull Doug into the vampire world, no matter how much she wanted him. It simply would not be fair. Hell, she had gone three hundred years without sex and survived. Olivia could not allow this to continue. The only fair choice would be to glamour Doug and make him forget everything.
Tonight, after they hunted for the rogue, she would find Doug and glamour him face to face. Attempting to do it in the dreamscape was a chickenshit way out, and it obviously didn’t work. Shortcuts never work, and if she had not been all fucked up on a high of knee-bending lust, she would have thought to erase his memory while he was here in her office.
What if glamouring him in person didn’t work either?
Olivia’s fangs retracted, and she smoothed the front of her jacket as she made the deal with herself. It would work. It had to work. She would make him forget all of it, and she would live the rest of her existence… alone.
“What a mess.” She sighed and was met with a soft meow.
“Hey,” she said with a faint smile as she scooped up her latest charge. “You sure did pick a hell of a time to join this crazy coven.” She kissed the top of its black and white head as it continued to meow. “I know. I have more important problems than my own drama, don’t I?”
Van Helsing barked and sat at her feet with an accusing look.
“I know, I know.” She reached down and patted his head. “You try running this coven sometime, mister.”
On top of her personal drama, she still had the rogue vampire nonsense to deal with, which had only gotten worse. Moriarty’s date from the other night was dead, and she’d bet the same rogue was to blame.
“No more dicking around.”
Olivia closed her eyes and reached out to Pete. The rogue took out another victim. Doug and his partner were here again asking questions. The girl they found was here with Moriarty last night and had the club’s stamp on her hand. See if you can get a look at the body, and get a DNA sample to Millicent ASAP. Glamour whomever you have to—but get those samples—I want confirmation that it’s the same rogue that took out Ronald Davis. This psycho is messing with my business, and it’s really pissing me off.
Consider it done, Pete replied.
Both were killed in the village so the rogue vamp that did this is likely hanging around here. I want to find this asshole before it slaughters anyone else.
Van Helsing yipped at her feet and wagged his tail happily as he tried to sniff at his new friend again.
“Yes.” Olivia sighed and ruffled him behind his ears. “We’re going downstairs. Come on, boy. We’ll get Oreo settled in the apartment.”
Olivia needed to eat and had to change her clothes. Donna Karan was great for her civilian life but not for the bloody shit she would likely participate in tonight. Olivia went to the back wall of her office and pressed the button behind the sunset painting. A moment later, half of the wall slid open, revealing the passage to the apartments beneath the club. She and Van stepped through the threshold, and as soon as the door slid shut, the motion-sensitive lights came on and lit the stone stairwell down to her home.
At the bottom of the staircase was the front hall of their underground apartment complex. The simple, soft white lights were spaced evenly around the circular entry hall, creating a surprisingly warm entryway. Olivia caught sight of her reflection in the gilded mirror that hung above the black lacquer table but didn’t linger on it. Seeing her reflection was a blatant reminder that she was frozen in time while the rest of the world wasn’t.
Olivia’s apartment door was farthest to the left, and the other three led to Trixie, Maya, and Sadie’s apartments. The black lacquered apartment doors were identical, but the spaces inside were as different as the girls themselves. Olivia hadn’t been in Maya or Trixie’s places lately, and it was probably better that way. Trixie was a slob and had clothing hanging from every piece of furniture, and Maya’s place was bathed in bubble-gum pink. Both apartments made her dizzy.
Olivia turned the brass knob and swung her apartment door open, and Van ran past before she could get in. He raced across the dark wood floors and skidded around the black leather couch as he headed directly for his food dish in the kitchen.