A Wolf's Heart (Harlequin Nocturne) (5 page)

Chapter 6

A
nd he did see. Unfortunately.

Gabriel fussed with the buttons of his rented tuxedo as he scanned the crowded room for a way to escape.

Lily regarded him from under long black lashes. “Would you quit fidgeting? You look good.”

He sniffed at her. He knew he looked out of place, and definitely uncomfortable. He preferred his battered suit jacket and worn jeans to this monkey suit. And he liked wearing his tan fedora every once in a while so he could hide the fact that his hair didn’t always behave. He’d slicked it back with a lot of gel for this occasion, but the front was stubborn and curled down onto his forehead.

Before he’d left to come to the party, he battled with it for a half hour then just given up. It didn’t really matter what he looked like anyway. He was at the Grand Hotel in a law-enforcement capacity. He was here to make sure Elise was safe. This wasn’t a date with the most spectacular woman alive.

They hadn’t even come together. He arrived alone, met up with Lily, only because she was watching out for him, and he would do his job and leave by himself. Elise hadn’t even arrived yet. He figured it was just like her to be late.

Some would think it was because she liked to make an entrance, to be at the center of attention, but he knew it was because she didn’t wear a watch and she didn’t much care for time. She’d always said it was a waste to watch time.

“You’re not very comfortable in a suit, are you?”

He pulled at the bow tie. “Now, why would you say that?”

Lily laughed and slapped him on the arm. “It baffles me that you two were ever together.”

He glanced at her, his hand stilling on his tie. “She told you about us?”

She nodded. “Just briefly. Said it was a long time ago and you were both very different people.” She looked him up and down. “You must’ve been very different then.” She laughed again and then squeezed his arm tight. “Oh, here she comes.”

There was a murmur through the crowd. It didn’t take long to realize the point at which Elise had entered the party. All heads had turned that way.

Gabriel thought he was prepared to see her dressed up, but the reality of her couldn’t be planned for. She was stunning in a strapless sheath of sapphire-blue. Her skin was so pale, like smooth flawless marble, against the darkness of the silky fabric. Her long golden hair was pinned up in a smooth sweep, accentuating her delicate neck. It was elegant and beguiling and Gabriel could see the vein pulsing along her jawline. It wasn’t often that his vampiric genes came out to play but right now he found he wanted to press his lips to that pulsating vein. Her blood would taste like ambrosia. Gabriel found it very difficult to breathe.

He put a hand to his chest when Elise neared.

She regarded him curiously. “Are you all right, Gabriel?”

“Yes,” he managed to say. “I have heartburn. It must’ve been something I ate.”

Her lips twitched a little, as if to stifle a laugh. “You look very nice in that suit.”

He straightened his shoulders and met her gaze. “And you look, ah, beautiful.”

“Thank you.” She lowered her gaze demurely.

It wasn’t often that Elise allowed another to take charge. She was usually the aggressor, the alpha in most situations. Just another reason their relationship had failed—her inability to allow him to be the alpha, to be her protector.

Lily cleared her throat. “Um, I’ll get you two drinks. I’ll be right back.”

When she was gone, Elise slid in next to him and placed her hand on his arm. She leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Stroll with me around the room. I have to do my duty at this thing and greet people.”

Not wanting her to touch him, but not knowing a way to disengage her hand without looking like an ass, Gabriel nodded and started to walk. He could feel the heat of her body even through the heavy fabric of his suit.

“Why are we here?” he asked quietly.

“It’s a charity ball for children. To raise money for the new hospital that will be able to treat all children, both human and Otherworlder.”

“I got that part,” he said. “But wouldn’t it be better, safer, if you weren’t making public appearances? At least until we solve this case.”

“I won’t let anyone make me a prisoner of fear,” she said, then smiled at a passing man. “Good to see you, Günter.”

The man, Günter, kissed Elise’s cheeks. “You get more beautiful every time we meet.”

“Thank you.” She smiled, turning on the charm. “I expect a huge donation from you, my friend.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t dream of disappointing you.”

He kissed her cheeks again, bowed his head, then was off.

“That was the German Otherworlder ambassador. He’s one of the richest men in Europe.”

Gabriel and she continued their way through the party. He watched as she smiled and charmed everyone in the room. Kissing cheeks, shaking hands, air kissing women who seemed to have sticks up their butts. Gabriel was getting annoyed and exhausted just watching it all take place in front of him.

He thanked her for forgoing his introductions. Instinctively, she must’ve known that he really didn’t want to shake hands with anyone at the party. That he preferred to hang in the background and let her play her part. This was one time he didn’t mind being her accessory.

After they had made one complete circuit, Lily caught up with them and delivered flutes of champagne. Gabriel held his with polite interest but he didn’t drink.

“Don’t you get tired of it?” he asked Elise, once Lily had fluttered off again to do whatever she needed to do.

She lifted one eyebrow in answer, and then took a sip of the champagne. “Don’t you?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Being the tough guy. The guy in charge.”

He smirked. “Nope.”

She laughed and he found that he was actually enjoying himself. It had been a long time since he’d been out with a beautiful woman. A woman who made him feel both comfortable and uneasy at the same time. That was what being with Elise had always been like. Keeping balance on a high wire.

Gabriel took that moment to set his drink down on the nearby bar and roll his shoulders. Usually tense, he was finding that sensation starting to diminish. Maybe it was her laugh that gave him a sense of comfort, familiarity, a reason to let down his guard.

A band set up on a stage in the corner started to play and an area in the middle of the room was instantly cleared for dancers. Elise looked at him and grabbed his arm again.

“Dance with me.”

“I don’t think so.”

“We used to dance together. Don’t you remember?”

Yeah, he remembered. They’d been teenagers, hormones raging like wildfire and he spent most of the dance pulling her close and running his hands over her well-formed rear end.

“I remember, but I don’t think anyone here wants to watch me fondle your backside.”

She laughed again, and then dragged him through the crowd and onto the dance floor. People moved out of their way the second they saw them coming. It was surreal to have everyone in the room watching them. Gabriel suddenly felt very nervous. As if he was under investigation, under inspection. As if every person in the room was taking his measure to see if he was up to Ms. Elise Leroy’s standards.

He could’ve saved them the trouble of trying to figure that out. He didn’t measure up in the least. Elise had always been too good for him. Her parents never had a problem letting him know that when he’d been courting her all those years ago.

He set his hand on her waist and held her hand out to the side, trying hard not to pull her close. He wanted to. Desperately. But he fought it by biting down on the inside of his cheek.

They whirled around the floor. Surprisingly, Gabriel didn’t step on her feet even once. At one point, he thought he was doing a pretty good job of faking it. That it looked like he knew what he was doing. Until the music slowed a little and Elise pressed in close to his body, running her one hand up to his neck to play with the ends of his hair.

He could hear her heart thumping and the blood rushing through her veins. The scent of her skin and her hair wafted to his nose and he inhaled them both with relish. He’d always loved her smell. He could distinguish it from thousands of others thanks to his lycan olfactory cells.

“I’ve missed this,” Elise muttered, as if only to herself, but he knew it was for his ears.

“What?” His heart thumped harder.

“Connecting with someone. You know, just being me with someone. Someone I don’t have to pretend for.”

“Yeah, I can imagine how fake all of this is.”

She shook her head. “You make it sound distasteful—the work I do, the life I lead.”

“That’s not what I meant.” He sighed, realizing he could never really say what he truly meant with her. His words always ended up in a jumbled mess. “Just that you have a certain persona you have to portray. And not just in your movies.”

They twirled around the floor again, in silence. A comfortable one, he noticed. It felt nice to have her in his arms again. He found he could quite easily fall sway to her again and that deep down inside, he wanted to with all his heart.

“Why haven’t you come see me? Why have you stayed away for so long? It’s not like you haven’t known where I’ve been. You’re a detective. You could’ve easily found me.”

Gabriel stumbled a little and almost stepped on her right foot. He looked down at his feet and issued a clumsy apology. “I need some air.”

Without waiting for her reply, he left the dance floor and headed for the veranda. He went through the open glass doors to lean on the railing. He took in a few deep breaths then flinched. Elise had moved in to stand beside him. He should’ve known she’d follow him. Maybe that had been his intention to begin with.

She leaned on the railing and looked off toward the city skyscape. “I’ve missed you. I didn’t realize just how much until I saw you again.”

“Why didn’t you come see me? It wouldn’t have been that hard to find me.” It was a juvenile thing to say, but something about the situation had catapulted him back fifteen years to when he was a dumb, foolish teenager head over in heels in love with a girl he had no business loving.

She didn’t answer him, probably thinking he was being an ass. He knew he was acting like one.

Damn, he wanted to touch her, run his fingers over her delicate jawline, trace the full rise of her incredible mouth. But he didn’t. He squeezed his hands tighter around the railing.

She turned to him. “Have you missed me?”

He sighed. “What do you want me to say?” He turned to her then. “That I think about you almost every day. That I have all your films on DVD and I watch them at least once a month. That I can’t run in Chamberlain Park anymore, because it hurts to remember our runs together there. Is that what you want to know?”