Diablo Blanco Club: Rite of First Claim Read Online Free Page B

dark-haired investigator she’d entered the Club with slipped onto the chair across from the sofa and greeted them. “Hey, Dayton, long time no see.” Turning to her, David grinned. “Hello again, Lyssa.”
    “Hello.” She offered a slight nod. Unsure how to interpret the interruption, she waited to gauge how Dayton responded and ignored her internal sigh of relief at David’s arrival.
    “You know Miss Lawrence?” Dayton queried, leaning back in his seat. His callused fingertips brushed over her knuckles, then moved upward to rub along the white bangle on her wrist.
    Tension coiled at the base of her skull—a dull ache building with the pressure of maintaining a placid expression. With each slide of Dayton’s fingers along the white band around her wrist, Lyssa fought the urge to pull her hand away. Thoughts of the plan she’d carefully constructed kept her from acting on the impulse. She ignored the signals her body kept sending—that the touch wasn’t his , that it didn’t feel right, that the warmth didn’t penetrate to the very atoms of her being like Mike’s did.
    David nodded. “Yes. I came in with her. Plus, I remember when she and her sister first visited the Club before Mattie and Bryce married. You should recall her opposition to Bryce carrying off her sister. It garnered a few members’ attention.”
    The flash in David’s eyes hinted that he knew the outcome between her and Mike the night she tried to stop Bryce from taking her sister upstairs. But before Lyssa could react, David returned his attention to Dayton and continued.
    “We didn’t formally meet though until her sister’s collaring ceremony.” He turned a grin on her and gave her a slow wink. “I was wondering if you were going to keep close to Ben and Vance tonight, but I guess you’ve decided to venture out a bit, huh?”
    “I’m thinking about it.” Lyssa hoped her face didn’t reflect the panic swirling in her belly. If either of these men alluded to the way Mike had dragged her off the night of her first visit to the Club, she wasn’t sure how she would respond.
    “You haven’t come in with them in a while,” David remarked.
    Damn it, she needed to get Dayton alone to persuade him to select her tonight. “I didn’t realize my visits had become that notable.” She employed every bit of self-control to keep her voice steady.
    It was Dayton’s turn to respond. “Ben and Vance are very exclusive. The fact that you’ve joined them over the last few years has been a subject of some discussion among the Club members.”
    Lyssa hoped her smile looked relaxed rather than tense. If the unease knotting her insides and the repeated complaints filling her head showed on her face, it was sure to cause Dayton to hesitate in choosing her at midnight. “Should I be flattered?”
    “Definitely.” They assured her in unison.
    “Was there something you wanted to discuss, David?” Kringle asked.
    “Not really. Just wanted to come over and say hello. Oh, and warn you that the Dragon cometh.”
    The remark confused Lyssa almost as much as Dayton’s response. The toy maker sat a little straighter in his seat and eyed her as if she were an unexpected package tucked under a Christmas tree. “He is? That hasn’t happened in a while.”
    David smirked. “I guess something—or someone—tweaked his tail. He’s a bit miffed.”
    Dayton laughed. The deep booming sound drew the attention of several other guests and members. “This should be interesting. I’ll have to see if I can keep the man on his toes.”
    David’s own rumbling laugh settled between the three of them. “I have no doubt he’ll be on his toes. I just wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of his fire.”
    Uncomfortable with being ignored and having her plan on shaky ground, Lyssa decided to pull the men’s attention back to where it needed to be—on her. She crossed her legs, allowing the skirt of her dress to slide up and show a hint of the lacy top of