“Or maybe no one else would go out with her,” Jacqueline said.

  Dane smiled. He wished. Not that he wanted Moose to bully her, but he wouldn’t be bothered if no one wanted to date his ex-fiancée right away. He could understand why Jacqueline would be upset that her ex ended up with her best friend. That was a real low blow.

  Then Jacqueline took a deep breath and let it out. “There’s my brother with his girlfriend.” She scoffed. “He wanted me to go to therapy, but he didn’t say anything about taking down Heskel. He never asked me how I was feeling. We were close before that. Giving each other a hard time in a fun way, going on hunts together on several occasions. When I was turned and except for telling me to go to therapy—so that I could be with others like me!—he hasn’t had anything to do with me.”

  Dane shook his head.

  “I love your brothers. They are so wonderful.”

  Dane agreed. “Yeah, I never had any doubt that they would back me, after of course giving me hell for not calling them sooner.”

  She laughed. “That’s better than the silent treatment.” She finished her drink and reached out her hand. “Let’s do some more of our hunter-vampire dance moves.”

  “Yeah, I’m so ready.” He took her hand and led her back to the dance floor. They began dancing hot and close again.

  That’s when their fangs extended. But instead of being shocked, they embraced this new change, getting all worked up.

  She finally broke free of the kiss and said, “You’re staying over at my place tonight.”

  He smiled, showing off his fabulous canines. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

  “Good. But more of this first. Your dance moves are wickedly fine. Did you dance this well before?” she asked.

  “With you, I just feel it. I swear you really bring it out in me.”

  “That’s good. You do that with me too. Van always said I was out of step with him half of the time, but he would throw me off balance. With you, I have no problem.”

  Then five hunters came into the club, glanced at those of the hunters who had been turned, and immediately voices were raised. “Hell, who let them in?”

  Dane and Jacqueline immediately glanced at the five men. But Dane noticed the other hunter-turned vampires were also observing the men.

  Not only them though. Even Stacey’s brother had seen her dancing and then was watching the men who had made the comment. The tension was palpable. Things had been fine until those men had shown up. Even Moose hadn’t said anything, and Dane suspected he was glad Dane had been turned so that Moose had a chance to be with Dane’s fiancée.

  The five men got a bunch of beers and got a table as close to Dane and his friends’ table as they could. They were itching to start a fight and drinking would certainly help to get that going.

  Dane thought about taking Jacqueline home, but he hated to look like he was afraid of a little confrontation. Plus, the whole business of showing his fangs off if he got riled wouldn’t be tolerated in a hunters’ club or anywhere else, unless he was fighting a rogue vampire, he figured.

  Jacqueline slid her hand over his shoulder. “Ignore them.”

  “Do you want to stay?”

  “We came to enjoy the company of our friends while having drinks and dancing. Are you worried they’ll start real trouble?”

  “I’m worried I’ll show off my fangs and then cause real trouble.”

  She sighed. “Yeah, that could be an issue. I hadn’t thought of that. How about we stay here unless they really become a problem?”

  “All right. But the first sign of real danger to you, I’m whisking you out of here.”

  She chuckled. “Unless I do it to you first.”

  “I’ll go along with that.” He kissed her again.

  They heard a couple of taunts from the men at the table next to theirs. “Go suck blood somewhere else.” “Man, when a hunter club turns into a vampire club, it’s time to find a real hunters-only club.”

  Then go somewhere else, Dane wanted to say.

  Tobias glanced at the men, and Dane was afraid he would walk over there and start a real scene. Tobias had a lot of clout in the city since he was the head of the League of Hunter’s Council. Ever since his son Zachary, his son Michael’s fiancée, Danai, and his niece Rachael’s mate, Adonis, had been forcibly turned against their will by rogue vampires on hunters’ terminal lists, he had advocated for the hunters. Tobias had realized that it could happen to any hunter on a case. And Rachael had asked Adonis to turn her, and their baby was a hunter-vampire mix. So far, the baby didn’t need to drink blood, but she wasn’t affected by sunlight at all. They wouldn’t know whether she would have telepathic communication until she was older and could really speak to them as a human to begin with. It was all such a new phenomenon.

  Tobias and his brothers, Brent and Curt, were all glowering at the five hostile hunters.

  15

  “If one of us forces a vampire to show his or her fangs, we can terminate them,” one of the five hunter rabble-rousers said, which so irritated Jacqueline, mainly because she was afraid it could be true.

  “Who are these hunters? Do you know them?” Jacqueline asked Dane.

  “Yeah. Friends of Gregory Devine, a hunter who wanted to marry Rachael until Adonis fell in love with her and she wanted Adonis to turn her. Gregory attempted to kill Adonis. Gregory was banned from here, but then he helped Adonis and his family to eliminate the rogue vampire threat to the rest of his family in Florida, where he made some amends. Still, some of Gregory’s friends are still here and itching to cause trouble,” Dane said.

  “Why weren’t they banished also?” she asked.

  “They hadn’t done anything like Gregory had with trying to kill Adonis. The other hunters that had stood by Gregory, left with him, looking for places that they could still work as hunters and ended up in Florida. They didn’t realize they would end up fighting for Adonis and his family at first. But a few of Gregory’s friends, who had kept their noses clean until now, stayed behind.”

  “Hmm. It appears that they still feel like Gregory had felt about hunters who have been turned,” Jacqueline said.

  “Yeah. Sore heads. I would like to see how they would feel if they were in our situation.”

  Then one of the hunters rose from his chair and started across the dance floor with a beer bottle in his hand. Immediately, Van jumped out of his chair at the table he was sitting with Lettie and Michael released Danai while dancing with her as they both headed for the beer bottle wielding hunter.

  “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll return to your seat with your friends or even better, you should leave before you get hurt,” Michael said, his voice dark with threat.

  “Or what?” the guy said.

  “Or we’ll make you,” Van said, to Jacqueline’s surprise. His voice was hard and brooked no argument.

  She couldn’t believe her ex would get behind hunters who were friends of the hunters who had been turned. Maybe he was feeling badly about what had happened to her and he’d felt guilty about not showing some compassion after what had happened. She hadn’t been turned on purpose and what if it had happened to him? She would have been there for him, and she would have immediately gone after the vampire who had turned him. He might be rethinking his actions regarding her. But it was a little too late for that.

  Then the guy’s friends came up to join him, all wielding bottles. Not good. The hunters weren’t allowed to wear their swords in the club, because alcohol and deadly fights could erupt. So Jacqueline figured they were planning on using the beer bottles in the fight, which could have dangerous and even deadly consequences.

  Then to everyone’s surprise, a couple of big club bouncers, both hunters who were at least six-five and brawny, wearing tank tops to show off their muscles, stalked onto the dance floor and the music finally stopped, all the dancers turning to observe the unfolding drama.

  “Okay, you five, set your bottles down on your table and leave, now. If we have any further trouble with you, you’ll be banned from the club for a month—longer, if necessary,” the one bouncer said.

  “You can’t take all of us,” the one guy said, shaking his bottle at him.

  “Yeah,” one of his friends said.

  Not a good idea. The guys definitely had too much to drink. They had probably been drinking before they had even arrived at this club.

  That’s when several other hunters, including Van, came to the dance floor to help mediate the situation. Between the bodyguards and their other “volunteer” help, they removed the beer bottles from the five men and then escorted them outside.

  The five belligerent men were forced out, throwing punches, cursing the bouncers and everyone who had assisted them. The bouncers gave them a three-month ban from the club.

  Dane said to Van, “Thanks, man.”

  Van glanced at Jacqueline. “Sorry.”

  She shrugged. “It wouldn’t have worked out after I was turned, so no hard feelings.”

  “It doesn’t excuse the way I deserted you, that I didn’t go after the rogue vampire who had turned you, or…” Van glanced back at Lettie, still sitting at their table. He didn’t say anything more, the look he’d given Jacqueline’s bestie told Jacqueline all she needed to “hear.”

  Jacqueline realized Van hadn’t danced with Lettie once tonight, but Lettie loved to dance, so did he. So what was up with that? Jacqueline had been halfway watching to see if they would approach the dance floor, curious if they would dance together as well as she did with Dane. She had hoped they wouldn’t have a confrontation. That was before Van apologized to her, which she still couldn’t believe.

  “No problem,” Jacqueline said to Van, not sure what else to say. She was so unprepared for his comment.

  “Okay, thanks for understanding.” Van looked like he wanted to take a step forward, the way he was leaning in that direction, and his gaze shifted to focus on her lips as if he wanted to kiss her even.

  But then Dane moved in that direction, possessively, and she didn’t want him to extend his fangs to get Van to back off. Van immediately got the point though, inclined his head to the both of them, then turned and headed back to his table.

  The dance music began again, and Dane leaned down and kissed her in his very seductive way. “Do you want to dance further, or do you want to leave?

  She smiled up at him and kissed his mouth, amused that he was trying to convince her that she should leave with him and do more of this—privately. But she loved being with him like this too. “More dancing.” She wanted to dance with him until the club closed. They might not have another chance like this with a bunch of hunters who would be there with them if they needed them.

  Adonis telepathically said to the group, “When we go, we leave here together just in case we have trouble outside of the club.”

  “Absolutely,” Dane said.

  Then they continued to dance with each other like they were the only ones there for each other, loving the music that thrummed through them, the way they pressed their bodies hotly together, the feel of his hardness—she was definitely making love to him tonight—the way he kissed her, and their fangs extended, and they shared the touching experience in a hot and sexy way. Being with Dane was just magical. She wanted to hold him like this forever. Everything about him made her heart beat in an excited way. This was her fairy tale. The best feeling ever. Dancing would never be as good with anyone else. When she was with him, they were synced.

  Was that why Van had wanted to apologize? That he realized what he had lost in giving her up? And what she’d gained in having Dane in her life? She wondered if Van had thought she would have been just pining away at home without him in her life any longer, and then realized now that he was easily replaced. Too bad.

  Then she saw Van and Lettie get up and leave the club with their friends. Wow.

  Dane kissed Jacqueline’s ear. “Looks like he still has some feelings for you.”

  “Yeah, but it would never have worked out between us. Once I met you, I realized even if we had all still been hunters, he didn’t have what it takes to make me feel like you do. I believe he could see that. So it kind of hurts his ego.”

  Dane chuckled. “Good, because he doesn’t deserve you.”

  “Neither does your ex deserve you.”

  “Yeah, you can’t believe how shocked I am that she’s here with Moose,” Dane said.

  “They haven’t danced once together.”

  “I didn’t dance like this with her, to tell you the truth.”

  “Oh, me either with Van.” She rubbed against Dane to make her point, eliciting a groan from him.

  He gave her a sinister smile. “You will pay for that.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  When it was late and nearly time to close the club, the friends all gathered together to leave. Dane’s ex and Moose had left a couple of hours earlier too. She realized, maybe when she had only eyes for Dane, her brother and his girlfriend had left the club too.

  Then the friends all exited the club together to ensure no one was waiting in the parking lot to give them grief. The rabble-rousing hunters who had been kicked out had left the area, thankfully.

  “We’ll have to do this again,” Adonis said, “though it might be much later. We’re visiting with the Bremertons, but we will be returning to Florida to run the hunter group out there in about two weeks.”

  “That’s understandable,” Dane said. “After what happened the last time with rogue vampires taking over your hunter territory when you left, I don’t blame you.”

  “Michael and I will be returning to Florida also,” Danai said, “but Zachary and Pasha are hanging around here to help out his father and uncles.”

  “With visits back home to Florida a few times a year,” Pasha said, “to see my family. We didn’t want to have all of us abandoning the Bremertons.”

  “We will be swapping out too,” Danai said. “Michael and I need to spend time in both places.”

  “The same with us,” Adonis said.

  That made it hard, Jacqueline was thinking. Three of the Bremertons had mated with three of the Cameron family and their homes were so far apart. If she and Dane ended up mating, at least both their families were here. That was only important if her parents and her brother came around to accepting her. Otherwise, she was glad to be around Dane’s brothers.

  Jacqueline had hoped they would have more time to practice telepathically communicating with all the Bremertons. Still, they had their therapy group members—Anne and Stacey—to also talk to. And maybe more if some others showed up at the meeting.

  “It was great meeting you ladies,” Tobias and his brothers said.

  Everyone else who had just met them said the same.

  “Thanks, it was nice meeting all of you,” Jacqueline said.

  “I’ll see you at our group meeting in a few days,” Stacey said to Dane and Jacqueline. “I don’t have anyone on my list to hunt, and I’m not looking for any for a while. I have enough money saved and I think I need a break.”

  “I feel the same way. See you there,” Jacqueline said, thinking how much she had changed with the way she viewed going to the meetings. Instead of resenting them, Jacqueline was actually looking forward to them now and even meeting other hunters like them, especially since she would be going with Dane.

  Stacey left, and Matt said to Dane, “You know, you said we would all be able to dance with Jacqueline. But you never once gave any indication that you were okay with any of us dancing with her once you took her to the floor.”

  Dane smiled.

  Jacqueline laughed. “Yeah, did you see Van approach me? Dane gave him a growly look that made Van take a step back.”

  Trey said, “We knew that would happen, despite Dane saying he was fine with you dancing with us.”

  Ryan agreed. “We didn’t even bother taking bets on it. Unless you had come and asked one of us to dance, Dane wasn’t going along with it.”

  “I noticed. But none of you approached us either on the dance floor to cut in,” she said.

  The brothers laughed.

  “We didn’t want him to show off his fangs to us and get himself in trouble,” Matt said. “He still doesn’t have perfect control over them.”

  Both Jacqueline and Dane chuckled. She actually loved that he was showing how possessive he could be with her. Van had never demonstrated those feelings toward her, and she had always wondered if there was something wrong with their relationship because of it.

  Then everyone said their good nights, got into their vehicles, and headed out.

  “If you had wanted to dance with my brothers—” Dane said, driving in the direction of his house so he could grab a bag.

  “After the way you were dancing with me? No way. If you hadn’t been such a suave dancer, then maybe.”

  He smiled and parked in his garage. “You wouldn’t have wanted to dance with anyone else even if I hadn’t been such a suave dancer.”

  “You know, you’re right.”

  Dane kissed Jacqueline, then said, “I’ll be right back.” He vanished and reappeared in his bedroom and threw a change of clothes and his toiletry kit into it. Then in no time at all, he reappeared in the car, startling her.

  “That was quick.”

  “Yeah,” he said, “that’s one of my favorite tricks as a vampire. Using all that speed to get things done.” But when it came to making love to her, he was much more for slowing things down.

  When they finally reached her place, he parked in her garage, grabbed his bag, and he and Jacqueline headed inside. Princess greeted them and they both petted her. Despite having an important mission at hand, they had to show Jacqueline’s cat some affection too as she purred away with content.

  Then with his bag strap over his shoulder, Dane swept Jacqueline up in his arms and vanished and reappeared in her bedroom, setting her down on the bed, and dumping his bag on the carpeted floor.

  “Hmm, you’re getting good at teleporting yourself.”

  “Yeah, it really can have its advantages.” He slipped her dressy pumps off her feet, rubbed the soles of her feet for a moment, and she purred like her cat.