Kiss of the Vampire(84)

“No kidding.” She flipped it open.

Tobias grabbed it from her before she could begin reading. He’d done things in his past that he’d rather she not know about, things that he wasn’t proud of. Things that still haunted his dreams. If she insisted on knowing what the council had on him, he’d tell her, but it would be better coming from him than from the pages of this file. He returned it to the drawer.

“Hey!” She stared at him. “Aren’t you the least bit curious about what’s in there?”

“I know what I’ve done, honey. There’s nothing in that file that would surprise me.”

“Not even if they know something you thought was a deep, dark secret?”

He shook his head. “Secrets have a way of coming out, no matter how hard you try to keep them.” He tapped the top of the filing cabinet. “Let’s get back to it, shall we?”

Nix grimaced but obligingly started going through the rest of the drawer. “All right, but someday you’re going to have to tell me what’s in that file that you don’t want me to see.”

“It’s a deal.” Tobias went back to the other side of the narrow room and started back on his search. After several minutes of going through paperwork on various shape-shifters, he pulled out a drawer marked “Demons.” Several familiar names leaped out at him, including Lucifer Demonicus, Betty de la Fuente, and Finn Evnissyen. Knowing he and Nix had limited time, he resisted the urge to pull out their files.

“There’s a file here on Dumond,” Nix said, her voice hushed. “But I don’t see anything about the rift or him going undercover.”

“We may be on a fool’s errand,” Tobias answered. “But we had to try.”

Over the next few hours they continued plowing through files until Tobias got done with his last row and went to help Nix finish up her side of the room.

“This is creepy, the amount of information they have in this room.” Nix met his gaze. “Do they have files on humans over there?”

“Of course. Mostly politicians, police and fire departments, that sort of thing. Nothing on you,” he said before she could ask.

“What, I don’t rate a top-secret file?” She scowled.

“All the dirt on you is probably in your personnel file.”

“Oh, right.” She went to her knees and pulled open the last drawer, flipping quickly along the tabbed files. “There’s nothing here,” she said, her voice defeated. She turned her head just as Tobias hunkered down beside her.

Lips inches apart, their eyes met. Hers darkened to deep, dark chocolate lit by small yellow sparks. His own eyes began to burn. He couldn’t very well berate her for letting her demon out when he knew his vampire was showing as well. Yet it still gave him pause, that he drew this reaction from her time and time again.

His hesitation vanished when she closed the distance between them, her soft mouth pressing against his, her tongue sliding between his lips. His need immediate and absolute, he cradled her head in his hands and deepened the kiss. His cock hardened, his fangs elongated. She drew back slightly. “I’ve never made out in a filing room before,” she whispered.

“It’s a first for me, too.” He kissed the smile from her lips, then pulled away. “But we’ve got sharp-eared shape-shifters out there,” he reminded her in a low voice. “Now is not the time. Or the place.”

“Anytime. Anywhere. It’s always the right time and place. With you.” Nix traced her index finger across his lower lip. She leaned forward and paused, her eyes capturing Tobias’s in a sensual snare. “Let me show you.” As she dropped her mouth on his, her eyes fluttered closed.

Tobias wrapped his hands around her upper arms and stood, hauling her to her feet and into his arms. Without taking his lips from hers, he walked her backward until she was stopped by the outer wall. Hands on her hips, he angled her lower body and pressed against her softness. She moaned into his mouth and lifted one leg, tilting her pelvis further, fitting the ridge of his erection into the V of her thighs.

He slid his hand from her hip, down her thigh, and cupped the back of her knee. He ate at her mouth like a starving man at a banquet. Greedy. Gluttonous.

She tugged his shirt out of his pants and ran her palms across the contours of his back. Then she slipped them around to the front of his waistband and started to unfasten his belt. “This is the challenge,” she whispered against his mouth. “Can we be quiet enough to not attract the attention of the guards?”

Tobias unbuttoned her shirt. “You’re quite the daredevil, aren’t you?” Her warm hand wrapped around his cock, bringing him to full hardness. Keeping his voice low, he said, “Even if they don’t hear us, they’re going to smell us.”