Page 7 of The Hawk and the Nightingale

“Where did you find her, and does she have a sister?” Henri asked.

Hawk chuckled. “If anything, she found me. I’ll ask about siblings.” He stepped away from the building and offered Amalie a shallow bow. “My nightingale.”

Amalie smiled. “Such poise,” she said, as she accepted his hand. “Have you reserved another table for us?”

“I have, but this one is in a private room.” He glanced at her, and added, “I thought it best, in case you get me naked again.”

“You took your clothes off of your own accord,” Amalie said, as Henri choked down a laugh. “I merely enjoyed the show.”

Hawk glared good naturedly at Henri, then he led Amalie inside the club. Thanks to the early hour, the music’s volume was kept to a dull roar, and only a few patrons sat at the bar. “As you can see, we do very little business during the day.”

“Is it profitable for you to remain open during these hours?”

Hawk shrugged. “The nighttime crowd more than makes up for these sparse times. Besides, a few of the locals have made a habit of coming by in the afternoon, and as you know goodwill among the locals is everything to a business.”

“It really is.”

They went upstairs, and Hawk led Amalie into their private room for the evening. The front wall was floor to ceiling glass, where they could watch everything happening in the club below. A long countertop and stools ran the length of the window. At the back of the room was a couch, a small wet bar, and a few tables and chairs were set close to the wall.

“This is very nice,” Amalie said. “Do you come up here often?”

“No, usually I’m in my office,” he replied. “Before you ask, it’s a small, windowless room, and it has barely enough room for my desk. It would be better used as a broom closet.”

“Then, where do you keep the brooms?”

“In a larger space, actually.”

Amalie smiled, then she leaned on the counter and swept her gaze across the club laid out beneath them. “Can we see your office from here?”

Hawk stood behind her, and set one hand on the counter next to her waist as the other came around her and indicated a hallway directly across the way from their vantage point. “It’s there, second door from the left. Planning how to surprise attack me?”

“Perhaps.” She leaned back against him. “I really am sorry about last night. I didn’t realize you’d never been bitten, or would forget what happened. That’s not how I wanted things to begin between us.”

“It’s all right. You said my memories will return in time, and I believe you.” He moved her hair from the side of her neck, and caressed her pale skin. “If you keep biting me, will I become a vampire?”

She laughed softly. “No. There’s more to it than that.”

“Good to know.” He continued stroking her neck, and smiled when she shivered. “How many times did you bite me?”

“Three. Twice on the neck, and once a bit lower.”

Remembering the marks on his inner thigh, his smile widened. “I know how I can truly forgive you. Let me kiss your skin in every place where you’ve bitten me.”

“Every place?”

“Every place.”

Amalie turned around and pressed herself against his chest. “What of your pristine glass? I thought you were a voyeur, not an exhibitionist,” she added.

“This is two way glass,” he said, as his head dipped lower and he nuzzled her neck. “This side is clear, but the side that faces the club is a mirror. No one will see you but me, my nightingale.”

“In that case,” she began, then she slid the straps of her dress off her shoulders and let the silk fall, baring herself to her waist. “I think your idea is brilliant.”

Hawk lifted her onto the counter and kissed a path from her neck to her breasts. Amalie unbuttoned his shirt and unfastened his belt, pausing to moan when he sucked the tip of her breast between his teeth.

“Will you sing for me, my nightingale?”

“Yes, my Hawk. I will sing for you.”

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