Page 35 of Synnr's Ride

The bar wasn't too busy when Jori approached and waited towards the side. When Hanna spotted him, she gave him a wide smile and a kiss on his cheek. "What's up?"

"You're on break." He wrapped a hand around her waist. "Let's dance."

"We're busy," Hanna protested, but she didn't try and pull out of his embrace. Zilly was right there and could hear every word.

"Kark said you're on break." Standing so close to her was a special kind of torture, but Jori soaked it up.

"I'm fine," Zilly insisted from behind Hanna. "Go have fun. And tell me all about it!" she added with a cackle.

Hanna buried her head against Jori's shoulder and groaned as he tugged her away.

"What's that about?" he asked. The dance floor wasn't too crowded, though a group of three people gyrated together to the pumping beat.

"Let's just say that Kark bought it." She held his hand and did a spinning maneuver that had Jori bending his arm practically backwards.

Now was the perfect opportunity to tell her what Maisum had let slip, but Jori didn't. The music shifted to something slow and sensual, and he had no choice but to pull Hanna close, their bodies flush together.

"Think we have enough time to slip away?" she asked, breath blowing over his ear.

"Too risky."

"No one's even watching us."

But Jori wouldn't let her go. All of Kark's men were at the table. One poorly timed bathroom break and their cover would be blown.

"We'll have another opportunity," he promised.

Hanna tipped her head back and looked up at him with eyes so dark, that for a moment he let himself forget about the job. There was only her and the music and her teasing fingers as she traced a path up his chest. He tightened his grip on her, as if there was any chance she might try and get away.

The sensual beat of the song shifted to something even more sultry. Any thought of using this as an opportunity to talk about the job evaporated.

There was something in Hanna's expression that Jori feared was mirrored in his own. Something desperate and vulnerable, something that belonged locked away by the strongest emotional walls a person could build.

Something that could be torn down with a single kiss.

He didn't kiss her, though the urge to do it drove him hard. He couldn't kiss her. Not here, where it was all an act. When he kissed her, he didn't want her to question his motives, even if he wasn't entirely sure of them himself.

Hanna made him question everything. What was right. What was wrong. Could a person really change? And what could he really have if he looked outside the narrow life he'd planned for himself?

If the dance went on much longer, he might have said something. But the song came to an end, and Jori couldn't figure out the right words to say.

The spell was broken when Kark called his name.

"I'm being summoned," he said, as if Hanna couldn't hear.

"Good dance." She brushed her lips against his in a nearly chaste kiss that still left him reeling.

Kark had to call his name again before Jori could force himself to walk away.

When he was back at the table, Kark clamped a hand on his shoulder before he could sit down. "Come on, new guy. We've got a job for you."

12

Ridingwith Kark's Demons was nothing like riding with Hanna. They roared through the streets, completely heedless of anyone in their way. Jori was thankful for his helmet, which hid his wince at a near miss with a person cleaning up a stall and Jursor, who yelled a stream of curses at the man long after they were out of hearing range.

Jori didn't know what this job was. Given Kark's reputation and rap sheet, it could be bad. And Jori had to play along. This was his in. Sure, they let him sit at the table. But if he proved himself tonight, they'd no longer banish him when they started to talk business.

And the sooner they fully accepted him, the sooner this thing would be over.

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