Free Fall of Darkness (The Chronicles of Darkness) by Elle Bright Page B

you don’t mind, but I brought
this.” Dominic brought out a bottle of wine from his own bag and held it out
for her inspection. “It’s from one of my family’s vineyards.”
    Accepting the bottle, Kate traced the
symbol on the label with the tip of her finger. It was almost too pretty to
drink.  A triangular crest of gold foil topped the front of the bottle, the
head of a great wolf framed in its center. Bold script pronounced Chianti
Superiore across the cream and gold striped label. “It’s beautiful.”
    “Shall we open it?” Dominic produced two
wine glasses and a bottle opener from his bag.
    Kate bit her lip. “Um, I’m not sure
that’s a good idea.”
    “You don’t drink? Or do you not like
wine?”
    She shook her head. “No, it’s not like
that. I’ve never been able to drink my calories. Alcohol doesn’t exactly fit
into the healthy diet.” Heat filled her cheeks. “Besides, I’m a serious
lightweight… and a lousy drunk.”
    Curiosity clearly piqued, he raised one
black eyebrow. “How exactly are you a lousy drunk?”
    Her blush deepened, the heated redness spreading
from brow to chin. She swallowed hard at the lump in her throat. “I um, kind of
lose my inhibitions,” she admitted, shifting uncomfortably. Lowering her voice,
she whispered, “I get a little frisky.”
    Laughing, Dominic uncorked the bottle.
“This I have to see.”
    “One glass,” Kate compromised, holding
up her index finger to emphasize her point. “That’s all.”
    “Whatever you say,” he agreed with that
devilish, heart-stopping grin. “Don’t let me stop you.” He poured two glasses
and handed her one.
    “What should we drink to?” Lifting the
glass to her nose, she inhaled the decadent bouquet of the rich red wine.
    “To the most beautiful girl in the world
and her ability to make me do things I wouldn’t normally do.” Dominic raised
his glass to salute her.
    “Uh, uh. Not so fast. How about to my
knight in shining armor?” Kate protested.
    “You drink to yours, I’ll drink to
mine,” he conceded with a shrug.
    “Fine,” she agreed with a smile. “To
you.”
    “To you.” Clinking her glass with his,
Kate indulged in a small sip of the lush burgundy liquid. The smooth red wine tasted
divine, but a whole lot stronger than the cheap Chianti she’d tried in college.
The alcohol burned all the way down.
    “What do you think?”
    Ignoring the burn, she took a more
generous swallow. “I’ve never tasted anything like it.”
    His eyes sparkled with mischief. “Feeling
frisky yet?”
    She swatted playfully at his arm. “No.”
She always felt frisky around him, but that was the last thing he needed to
know. “You’ll be the first to know if I am, though.”
    “Promise?”
    “Promise.”
    Dominic indicated the containers of food
with a nod. “So, what smells so good?”
    “Oh.” She rolled up onto her knees to
open the containers. “I hope you like Italian food. It’s from Fabrizio’s. It’s
the best place for Italian. I’m addicted to their salad and breadsticks. I
wasn’t sure what you like, so I got a little bit of everything. There’s
spaghetti with marinara sauce, lasagna, chicken parmesan, fettuccini alfredo,
and baked ziti. You’re welcome to all of the meat stuff. I won’t eat it anyway.”
    Wine spewed from Dominic’s mouth and
nose as he choked and sputtered in surprise. “You don’t eat meat?”
    “No.” Kate handed him a napkin to clean
the wine off his face. “I don’t eat anything with a face. Is that a problem?”
    Dominic laughed. “No, not at all. I
think it’s great.”
    “Really?”
    “Really. I think I like you even more as
a vegetarian,” he reassured her with a smile.
    “Then what’s so funny?” She couldn’t shake
the feeling she was missing the punch line to an inside joke.
    “Nothing, I swear.”
    Kate relaxed a little. “Are you hungry?”
                “Starving.
Do you think we’ll have enough food though? Someone in