Charleston Past Midnight by Christine Edwards Read Free Book Online Page A

Kiana’s voice behind me purr loudly, “It’s a good thing you’re super hot. Otherwise we’d have a big issue with each other.”
    Who is she talking to?
    I try to look back to see that she’s all right and also to determine if the scary dudes are giving chase, but Severin is pulling me so fast that I’m nearly jogging in my stilettos to keep up the pace. Finally we stop at a flight of emergency stairs in the back that I never knew existed. I watch him press on the metal bar of the door and it flies open into a narrow, brightly lit stairwell.
    As we start the descent, an impossibly deep male voice calls out from behind us, “Take the girls down with you. I’ll stall them here and trace down to the alley beside the hotel. They wouldn’t be dumb enough to bust the door in with the bouncers watching. Pick me up down there.”
    “Done.” Severin answers the huge man with the shaved head.
    He’s incredibly intimidating, but I’ve yet to cross paths with one of them who isn’t . In comparison to Severin’s deadly assassin appearance, this one is more like a grizzly bear on a short chain, a very unhappy one.
    I decide to hold off on the questions on the tip of my tongue until we make it to the safety of his SUV. I shudder to think what would have went down had they not shown up to save us. The malice in that vampire’s gaze made my blood turn to icy slush in my veins.
    Kiana is smart. She has a built-in radar for trouble and knows to roll with it and not balk when things are going down. She’s quiet as we stop at the steel door that leads out into the lobby.
    Still not looking at me, Severin instructs us, “Wait here a moment.”
    Before I can answer, he steps out into the posh lobby and scans the premises. Then he steps back and grabs each of us by the hand and pulls us out alongside him. I hear him say just under his breath, “They can’t trace down here without the risk of being seen.”
    We hustle across the marble black and white checkerboard floor. The uniformed doorman barely has a chance to wish us a nice evening before we are outside, and Severin is demanding the keys for his vehicle from the clearly intimidated valet. He hands the teenager a fistful of cash and swiftly ushers us into the darkness of the backseat. I watch through the tinted windows as he rounds the back of the gleaming silver SUV before jumping in.
    The engine roars to life. He whips out into the heavy traffic that’s lining East Bay Street. We haven’t gone five car lengths before he makes a sharp right turn down a narrow alley that runs alongside the hotel. I lean forward, looking for his friend. I see him step out from the shadows of a brick wall. The Mercedes’ headlights illuminate the man, making him appear impossibly more frightening.
    “How did he beat us down here?” Kiana’s question goes unanswered and she seems like she couldn’t care less, obviously now distracted and in visual wonderland, “Mmmm … mmmm.” The sexy, appreciative purr comes from deep in her throat as he crosses to open the passenger door. As he hauls his big frame into the SUV I stare at the thick, swirling tattoos that are prominent around the collarless, skintight Under Armour shirt he’s wearing. I look over at my normally cool, unaffected roommate and watch a blatant mask of lust transform her sexy features. He has exactly what she wants, pure and simple. I know that aching feeling all too well.
    Oh God, what have I gotten us into?
    * * *
    We take off into the night and it doesn’t take long before I figure out where we’re headed. The sleek SUV pulls up in front of our house, and I see the exact same look of disapproval cross his buddy’s face as he looks over to Severin and says in a low, gravelly tone, “Bad part of town. They shouldn’t be living way up here.”
    With the subtle interior lights playing off his perfect features, I observe how Severin’s lips turn downward, but he says nothing in response to his comment. He opens his