Page 28 of Damian’s Conquest

“Thanks.”

Damian shoved his cell phone into his pocket and got out of the car. He headed out of the alley. He looked down the street and saw that Naomi had found a parking spot only a block farther. Her Mini Cooper was easy to spot. He looked toward the entrance of the club, and saw that Naomi was talking to Orlando. Damian timed it so that when she started walking back toward her car, he was walking toward her as if he was on his way to the club.

When their gazes met, Damian smiled, “Hey, what are you doing here?”

She looked stunned, then caught herself. “Actually, I was going to see if you were at the club.”

Damian stopped only a foot away from her, and slid his hand to her waist. “You snuck out on me this morning.”

To his surprise, she blushed. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted me there when you woke up.”

That was a weak excuse. Clearly, she was making shit up on the fly. “And why not?”

“Isn’t that what you expect from one-night stands?”

Oh, she was gonna blame him? Yeah, not so fast. “So that’s how you see me? As one of your one-night stands? Does that mean you’re not interested in a repeat?” He pulled her flush against his body and could feel her breasts touch his chest, and her heartbeat echo against his. He wasn’t above exploiting the sexual attraction between them to find out what she was really after.

“Oh, I didn’t think you would be…uhm, interested in more.” Her voice trembled.

Good. She had no idea that he was already on to her.

“If you’d stayed until this morning, you would have realized that I wanted a lot more.” He pressed his groin to hers, and realized that he was already getting hard. Just holding her close and inhaling her enticing scent had that effect on him.

“Oh.” Her lips formed a perfect circle as she gasped.

“How about we go for a drink?” he suggested.

“Sure. There’s a bar on the next block,” she replied.

“I was thinking of something a little more private,” he said, employing a deliberately husky tone as he dipped his mouth to her ear. “Unless you want a repeat of what happened on the dance floor last night.”

Naomi sucked in an audible breath, and for a moment he thought that she would reject his suggestion. “Okay, how about your place?”

He drew his head back to look at her. “Sorry, I just had my flat painted today. It stinks of fresh paint. How about your place instead?”

She hesitated, and he could see the little wheels in her mind working overtime. Did she have anything in her place that might incriminate her? Something that would give away that she was working on exposing him and Scanguards as vampires?

“Sure. I’m parked right over there.” She pointed past him.

“I’ll follow you with my car.” He looked over his shoulder. “Which is your car?”

“The blue Mini Cooper.”

“I’m parked in the alley over there. Give me a moment to get my car, and I’ll be right behind you.” Then he pressed a chaste kiss on her lips, before he walked back to the alley and hopped into his Porsche.

Moments later, he was following Naomi’s Mini Cooper toward the Mission. He’d memorized her address, and knew she wasn’t just leading him around the city trying to ditch him. When she stopped in front of an apartment building, he pulled up alongside her, and lowered the window.

“What’s your apartment number?”

“3B, top floor,” she replied.

“I’ll just find parking and see you up there.”

“Okay.”

He watched as she drove into the garage beneath the building, and drove around the corner.

First, he would use his charm to make her talk, but if that didn’t work, he’d confront her. But either way, he’d get the truth out of her tonight.