In Heat (Sanctuary) Read Free Page A

somber.  Aisha set her drink down on the bar and put her hand over Cassie’s.  “Do you want to go home?” she asked. 
    Cassie shook her head and flicked her hair out of her eyes.  In the club’s flashing lights, her irises resembled nothing so much as molten gold.  “Of course not, I already told you that.  What I am going to do, though, is make someone a notch on my bedpost.  Even it is just a nibble, sometimes all you need is a bite or two.”  She flashed Aisha her most wicked grin, the one that Aisha knew from experience meant a solo cab ride home, and sashayed over to the man at the end of the bar.  He leaned down to whisper something into Cassie’s ear and she laughed before nodding. 
    Aisha snorted to herself and leaned back against the bar, surveying the dancing couples and savoring her drink.  After a few minutes alone, she received a second courtesy of a cute guy with a coat just a little too severe for the flashy trendsetters that tended to make up Sanctuary.  He hovered at the other end of the bar for a few more moments before working up the courage to come over, a shyness that Aisha found oddly endearing. 
    “Hi!” the guy said.  He spoke just a touch too loudly even for the music, probably out of nervousness.  “I’m Mark.”
    “Hi, Mark.”  Aisha surprised herself by taking Mark’s chin in her hand and tugging his face close to hers so they didn’t have to shout.  “I’m Aisha.”  She lifted the rim of her glass to her lips and looked at Mark through her lashes as she took a drink.  Just a dainty little sip, but Mark’s gaze strayed down to her mouth and stayed there until Aisha lowered her drink and cleared her throat.  A flush crawled up his neck.
    “Do you want to dance?” Mark asked her.  It was too warm in the club for Aisha to be sure, but she thought she felt his breath move across her cheek.  She shivered.
    “Sure.”  Aisha let Mark take her by the hand and lead her out to the dance floor, where the crush of people ensured that they had to press their bodies up against each other in order to avoid being separated.  Aisha draped one arm around Mark’s neck just to be extra sure and grinned up at him when he blushed even further.  Blame it on the drinks, though she had barely touched her second.  Aisha felt good.  She let Mark guide her to the beat of the music, keeping one arm draped around the back of his neck and using her free hand to hold up her hair.  The club was so hot , especially out on the dance floor with bodies moving all around them.  Mark put his arm about Aisha’s waist, tugging her still closer to him, their pelvises aligned together.  He was starting to want her.  Aisha grinned and tugged Mark’s head down for a kiss without caring who saw.  He tasted like beer and something a little sharp and sweet, like maybe he had popped a breath mint before working up the nerve to come and talk to her.  Aisha released her hair in order to take Mark’s face in both hands as she explored the inside of his mouth.  He let Aisha take control of the kiss with only minimal involvement of his own, which sparked a little note of frustration within Aisha, but his hands against her waist still felt good.  Would probably feel better once he slid them under her dress—
    Someone off to the side whistled at them.  Aisha’s gut twisted abruptly, and she released Mark’s mouth with a little gasp.   He leaned in close, presumably to ask if she was all right, but Aisha didn’t hear him over the sudden rushing of blood in her ears.  Her skin tingled all over with a faint electric current.  The pleasurable, lustful warmth of a few moments before became something much sharper, demanding.
    Oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, shit.
    “I need to sit down,” Aisha gasped.  How Mark managed to hear her over the throbbing beat, Aisha had no idea, but he nodded and guided her from the dance floor.  He supported her with one hand at her elbow and the other resting