Chasing Midnight

“Why not?”

He grinned, excitement replacing surprise. “All right, baby. Fast and hard it is.”

Allie had barely stepped out into the alley when he lunged at her and pushed her against the brick wall, one eager hand pushing the skirt of her dress up to her hips, while the other fumbled with his trousers. She felt the hard bulge of his cock pressing against her belly. With a little sigh she pressed her face against his neck and kissed him, unbuttoning his shirt and loosening his collar. By the time he had worked her step-ins down around her thighs, she had pulled his coat and shirt away from his shoulders.

The hunger swept over her, demanding immediate relief. She kissed him at the juncture of his throat and shoulder, finding the veins closest to the skin. He forced her thighs apart. She bit him—gently, so gently that he would feel no more than the slightest pinch. She licked the small wound in his neck, tasting blood and releasing the chemicals her own body produced, waiting while they went to work…drew back and watched in astonishment as the slack face before her began to change, taking on strikingly different lines, brown eyes changing to gold, alight with fierce desire.

Allie swayed, startled by the sheer power of her own imagination. Her body grew hot and wet; she could almost feel Griffin Durant’s hands on her flesh, stroking, exploring, touching her breasts and her thighs. His mouth was on hers, savage and possessive; he pressed against her, demanding entrance, and she could think of nothing but taking him inside, making him a part of her for all time…

Her nameless prey gave a soft groan and let go of her shoulders. Griffin Durant vanished. Seized by desire that had become a raging thirst, Allie shook off her confusion and focused on the reality of the man in her grip. While he stood smiling in an erotic stupor, she took what she needed. The blood was both tart and sweet on her tongue. She felt new strength seep into her bones and muscles and organs, the first rush of euphoria that always came with a good feeding but was all too often so quick to evaporate.

When she was finished, she steered him to the wall and let him slump there while his wound began to heal. “That’s all, friend,” she said, patting his stubbled cheek. “You just sleep it off right here.”

His knees buckled, and he slid to the dirty pavement. Allie stepped over his sprawled legs and tapped on Lulu’s back door. A waiter opened it, glanced past her at the body and hastily stepped aside.

Everything was much as Allie had left it. Pepper was up on the table again; the jazz band was playing “Sugar Foot Stomp.” Allie found herself searching the crowd for a yellow dress with a string of pearls. She didn’t have far to look.

It was a lot worse than she’d thought. Valentino had been ousted from his favored position by a notorious womanizer who was known to prefer rape to any sort of consensual sex. Jake Greco was one of Carmine De Luca’s hatchet men, a bully of the worst kind—immensely handsome, ruthless and consummately capable of deceiving any woman naive enough not to know his reputation.

Miss Yellow-Dress had been completely taken in. Several empty glasses stood before her on the table she shared with Greco, and she had another in her hand. She giggled as she drank, nearly dropping the glass when she attempted to put it down. Greco laughed and dabbed at her mouth with his handkerchief. She draped her arms over his shoulders and whispered in his ear.

Whatever she’d said gave Greco the encouragement he needed. He groped at her small breasts. She squirmed, still half smiling as she made some mild protest. Greco didn’t listen. He pulled her hard against him and kissed her roughly. She braced her hands on his shoulders, trying to pull away. He made some comment that penetrated the girl’s inebriated haze. Suddenly her smile was gone, her pretty face aghast with the dim realization of what she had done.

Allie ran her tongue over her teeth. She knew what came next: Greco would strong-arm the girl out of the club, and he would get away with it, because the few people who might give a damn wouldn’t risk provoking his anger.

From the look of her, the girl wasn’t going to go quietly. Greco clamped his hand around her arm and started for the door; she leaned away with all her insubstantial weight, the heels of her pumps scraping along the floor. The jazz band played on with furious abandon, and every pair of eyes in the place was focused on something as far away from Greco and his victim as possible.

Every pair except Allie’s.

She strolled to her table, pulled her compact and lipstick from her tiny beaded pocketbook and carefully reapplied the vivid color. Jake Greco and the girl were halfway to the door. Allie fluffed her hair, gave her body a little shake and walked directly into Greco’s path.

“Why in such a hurry, handsome?”

He stopped, briefly startled by her abrupt appearance. “Allie Chase,” he said, digging his fingers into the girl’s tender skin. “What do you want?”

Allie examined her nails. “Oh, nothing. I was just wondering why you always go after half-grown schoolgirls who can’t fight back.”

A look of pure fury crossed his face, and then his mouth twisted in a smirk. “Why would any girl want to fight me?” He yanked Miss Yellow-Dress around to face him. “They all love me. Ain’t that true, doll?”

The girl averted her eyes, every muscle in her thin frame straining against him. “Let me go,” she whispered.

Greco laughed. “They always say that. It don’t mean nothing.” He fixed Allie with a hard stare. “Get outta my way, bitch.”

“Give me one good reason why I should.”

He raised his fist. “I’ll give you five.”

She lifted her hand to her forehead and feigned a swoon. “Oh, deah. Whatevah shall Ah do?”

Greco swore and barreled forward, shoving Allie aside. She spun around and seized the back of his collar, jerking him to a halt.

“Come on, Jake,” she said. “You can do better than that, even if you do like to rape little girls.”

In one motion he released Miss Yellow-Dress and swung on Allie, his fist slicing the air like a meat cleaver. Allie moved lightly out of the way, grabbed Jake’s arm and twisted. With a cry of pain, Jake fell to his knees. Allie held his arm behind his back and kicked him in his posterior.

“Want to try again?” she asked.

He snorted like a bull, his face beet red. “I’ll kill you, bitch.”

“No, you won’t.” Bruce came to stand beside Allie, Nathan at his back. “Allie’s got too many friends, and you’ve got too many enemies.”

“That is right,” Kolya said, his heavy-lidded eyes flat with hostility. “You had best find another place to do your hunting, svoloch.”

“And remember you ain’t the only one who carries protection,” Jimmy said, patting his coat suggestively. “Them that live by the sword die by the sword, so they say.”

Allie’s heart warmed at her friends’ support. She didn’t need their help, but it meant something that they were willing to give it.

“You heard them, Jakey,” she said, blowing her breath into his ear. “You can get up and walk out of here…alone. If you pull your gun, you’ll never make it to the door.” She glanced up. “Pepper?”

“I’m here, darlin’.”

“Look after the girl, will you?”

“I’ll do that little thing. Come on, sugar.”

Allie heard the tap of two pairs of pumps moving away. When she was certain the girl was out of harm’s reach, she released Jake. He scrambled to his feet and thrust his hand inside his coat. Allie struck him across the face so hard that he crashed into the nearest table.

“One last chance,” she said. “Get out.”

Jake pawed at the broken table and hauled himself up, swaying like a drunken bear. Allie could see the thoughts plodding through his head as he weighed his chances. In the end he must have decided that Allie Chase was too strange a creature to fight. He staggered out the door.

Allie brushed at her dress and muttered a curse when she noticed the run in her left stocking.

“Send Jake the bill,” Bruce suggested. His eyes twinkled with appreciation. “That was quite a show, honey. Hard to believe a little thing like you can fight so well.”

“You did it for the girl,” Nathan said, glancing toward the table where Pepper sat with Miss Yellow-Dress.

Allie smoothed her hair. “Jake needed taking down a peg, that’s all.” She kicked off her pump and removed the ruined stocking. “Get me a drink, Kolya, would you?”

Kolya sauntered off, and Allie went to join Pepper and Miss Yellow-Dress. It was obvious that the girl had been crying, and Pepper was doing her best to comfort her. The girl’s long hair had fallen out of its pins, and her rouge was smeared. A fresh drink sat on the table before her.

“It’s all over now, sugar,” Pepper was saying. “That bad man won’t hurt you again. Allie made sure of that.” She looked up with a smile. “And here she is now.”

Allie slid into a chair opposite the girl, pushing aside the empty glasses. “You mind giving us a little privacy, Pep?”

“Sure thing, darlin’.” Pepper went off to join a friend at a nearby table, leaving Allie alone with the girl.

“Are you all right?” Allie asked.