Samantha Sommersby Read online

  FORBIDDEN:

  THE REVOLUTION

  SAMANTHA SOMMERSBY

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  FORBIDDEN: THE REVOLUTION

  Copyright © SAMANTHA SOMMERSBY, 2008

  Cover art by S.L. Carpenter

  ISBN Trade paperback: 978-1-60202-091-7

  ISBN MS Reader (LIT): 978-1-60202-090-0

  Other available formats (no ISBNs are assigned):

  PDF, PRC HTML

  Linden Bay Romance, LLC

  Palm Harbor, Florida 34684

  www.lindenbayromance.com

  This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or business establishments, events or locales is coincidental.

  All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever with out written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  First Linden Bay Romance publication: March 2008

  To my son Max, who suddenly has become taller, and is sometimes wiser, than I am. Chase your dreams. Follow your heart. Remember to floss.

  Chapter One

  If I were to be totally honest I’d tell you that the moment I laid eyes on her, I knew I was in trouble. What’s worse, I knew that there was absolutely nothing I could do to save myself.

  There she was, standing on top of what was to become my desk, hanging a sign on the wall above it that said Welcome Dell. She was wearing brown patent leather high-heeled shoes and was reaching up on tiptoe. The calves of her shapely legs were flexed, well toned, and they acted like a homing beacon—sending a signal that went straight to my cock.

  I’d never before confused work with anything personal. So why was I here now? Two words. My father.

  Like most men in their mid-twenties, I’m determined to make it on my own. I want to lead my life the way I want, choose my own career path, make my own decisions. But I’m not like most men. I’m a vampire. Does my boss know that? Hell, no. But I can guarantee you that someone at the branch knows, someone high up, or else dear old Dad wouldn’t have been able to pull these strings. And now I’m stuck. There’s no way that I can turn down this assignment without causing undue attention to myself.

  She stepped back to admire her handiwork, the heels of her shoes resting precariously at the edge of the desk. She stood there for a minute, her hands on her hips and her full lips pursed into a delicious pout that told me that she wasn’t quite satisfied.

  A long strand of her brown hair had escaped what had once been a neat chignon. Just as she lifted her arm to tuck it back into place my phone rang.

  She turned quickly in my direction, too quickly, throwing her arms out in an attempt to regain her own balance. But she was too late and falling too fast. Like the chivalrous guy that I am, I was there to catch her. For one long, endless moment we silently stared into one another’s eyes. Hers were a brilliant green, amazingly inviting, and surrounded by thick dark lashes. It was like falling into springtime.

  She blinked, slowly.

  I glanced up at the sign.

  “You the welcome wagon?” I asked her.

  She reached down and fingered the badge that was clipped to my collar, lifting up the edge and turning it towards her so that she could read it.

  “Agent Renfield,” she said. “You’ve got some fast reflexes there. I’m Alex, your new partner. I think it’s safe to put me down, now.”

  “Right.”

  The instant that Alexandria Sanchez’s feet touched the floor, my cell phone went off again. I didn’t have to check to see who it was, the ring tone told me that. Dad was nothing if not persistent.

  “Excuse me,” I told Alex before slipping out of the office.

  “How the hell did you pull this off?” I growled into the phone.

  “Pull what off?” my father replied innocently. He knew damned well what I was referring to.

  “Come on, Dad. Don’t bullshit me. I told you that I didn’t want to get involved,” I reminded him.

  “Out of our entire network of operatives, you make the most sense. All it took was getting you a transfer from Chicago to LA. It would have been far more complicated if we had to get someone into the Agency to begin with and start from scratch. You’re a natural for this assignment, Dell. We’re pretty sure it’s her. We’ll do a DNA check, get the confirmation, then—”

  “I’m not one of your operatives,” I hissed.

  As if being a vampire wasn’t enough to have to overcome, I also had the legacy of being the son of Byron Renfield. Not that anyone outside of his inner circle would know that. According to clan folklore Byron was the youngest of the Dominie, an elite group of vampires empowered by Cain, our prophet. The Dominie were supposedly destined to lead us all into redemption. They were holy men, they didn’t mate, and they certainly didn’t have kids. None of the good “practicing” vampires did, though those were becoming fewer and fewer with each passing year. It was a trend that my father, as the leader of a quietly subversive revolution, had been working towards my entire life.

  Dad was succeeding, too. Gradually, little by little, he was changing the social and economic structure within the vampire world. My father was a brilliant strategist and the smartest man I knew. I had no doubt that within my lifetime his goal to mainstream our race, to integrate us into the human world, would be realized. It wasn’t his goal that I disagreed with, it was his methods. They were simply taking too long. I wanted to be a part of the real world now. That’s why I left home. Not because I didn’t believe in what he was doing. I did believe in it. It made sense, his carefully crafted plan. But it required patience and that wasn’t one of my virtues. I wanted to taste it now…real freedom.

  I imagined him pacing back and forth, wearing down the carpet in his neat and tidy office.

  “No, you’re not,” he acknowledged. “You’re not one of my operatives. But you understand how important this is, Dell. This is personal.”

  I rubbed by eyes, still gritty from lack of sleep and jetlag, then I sighed heavily into my cell, hoping to somehow convey, across the miles, the depth of my frustration. It’s a fine art, supporting my father’s ideals and yet staying out of the fray. He has a way about him, a way that inspires people, a way that makes them want to do the right thing, the noble thing, the selfless thing, even me.

  “She’s prettier in person.”

  “Keep it professional,” he warned me.

  “Says the man that just reminded me that this was personal for him,” I teased.

  “Point taken.”

  Score one for me.

  “Have you made contact with her?” he asked.

  “Yeah. And we already have our first assignment. I just picked up the file. It’s an undercover operation, her first. We could be gone a while.”

  “Can you delay?” my father asked. “You know that if it’s her we’ll want you to bring her in. If you can overnight the sample to the lab in Manchester, we could have the results in a couple days.”

  I smiled. “Dad, first I have to get a sample. Look, I know that you’re going to find this hard to believe, but we have a job to do. And it’s a job I take seriously. I’ll get you your sample, but it’s not my number one priority right now. Sophie’s been missing for over twenty-five years. How many times does this make that you thought you’d found her?”

  “Seven,” he replied without hesitation. “But—”

  “I know…Jennifer has a feeling about her.”

  “Don’t be dismissive of Jennifer’s feelings. She’s the most reliable intuitive I’ve ever come across,” he said. “When you met this Alexand
ria, did you sense anything?”

  “Like what?” I asked, glancing furtively down towards my crotch.

  “Sometimes the Chosen possess a stronger pull. They can be more…deeply arousing,”

  “Dad, I’m twenty-five,” I reminded him. “I find anything with tits deeply arousing.”

  “Good to know,” I heard Alex say.

  I closed my eyes and silently prayed that I’d started hallucinating.

  Alex coughed

  Damn!

  I swallowed down the lump in my throat, braced myself for humiliation, and then turned around. She was leaning casually against the doorjamb, her long legs crossed at the ankles, her arms folded over her stomach in a way that stretched the silk fabric of her cream-colored blouse and further accentuated the fullness of her breasts.

  I didn’t bother to say goodbye to Dad. I just hung up.

  “How much of that did you hear?” I asked, embarrassed.

  Alex shrugged, then smoothed down her dark brown skirt. “Enough to guess that some well-meaning friend is trying to set you up with a blind date. Am I right?”

  “If you don’t mind, I’d rather not discuss my personal life. I like to keep things professional,” I told her, walking back into the office and tossing the dossier onto the desk.

  She blushed. “Of course.” Then she tilted her head towards the folder. “Our first assignment?”

  “Yeah, they’re sending us to Vegas.”

  “Drugs?”

  “Isn’t it always? They’re using a nightclub and casino as a front to launder the money, very highbrow. I hope you’ve got a good set of pipes, seems they have an opening for a singer.”

  She frowned then confessed, “Yeah, but I hate singing in front of people. I told the Deputy Director—”

  “There’s also an opening for a pole-dancer,” I interjected helpfully. Now that created a nice visual.

  “I’ll sing,” she said quickly. “What’s your cover, some pervy patron that gets to stuff wads of cash into ladies panties?”

  I shook my head, then I sat down on the edge of my desk. “No,” I laughed, loosening my tie and unbuttoning the top button of my starched white shirt. “That’s too close to what I do in real life. I like to stretch myself on assignment.”

  Alex rolled her eyes, then reached for the file. “I hear they have an opening for a pole dancer,” she suggested wryly.

  “Very funny. Just this morning a position opened up for a bouncer. It seems that the guy who watched their door was wanted for something. He was conveniently picked up last night,” I told her. “I already called. I have an interview tomorrow. The manager is checking my references now.”

  Alex opened the file and began to flip through it. “We’re supposed to be in Vegas tomorrow? Shit!”

  Her audition wasn’t until Monday. There was no reason that she couldn’t wait until then to fly out.

  “Hot date this weekend?” I asked nonchalantly.

  Her eyes narrowed. “I thought we weren’t going to discuss our personal lives?”

  “That was my personal life,” I said, flashing her a smile. “I’m perfectly willing to discuss your personal life.”

  She didn’t seem amused.

  “Anyway,” I continued, “your audition isn’t until Monday. You can fly out Monday morning. I’ll pick you up at the airport and take you over to the club.”

  “Why risk being seen together? I’ll take a cab.”

  “Page three.”

  “Page three?” repeated Alex.

  I nodded, my stomach tightening as I watched her flip to the third page of the dossier and scan the report.

  She sighed. “Why do we have to be engaged?”

  I was trying not to take her disappointment personally. “I guess they figure we’d have a better chance of both getting in if we were a package deal. If they don’t take us both on, whichever one doesn’t get hired will still have a good excuse to hang around.”

  Alex didn’t say a word. She just continued to read. When she reached the end of the file she closed it. Then she began to drum her fingers on the desk.

  “What is it? Out with it,” I demanded.

  “Nothing,” she sighed.

  “It makes sense, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes,” she capitulated. “It makes sense.”

  I stood up and closed the door, then turned to face her. She was nervously nibbling on her lower lip.

  “Something’s bothering you. You gonna tell me what it is or are we going to have to play twenty questions?”

  She avoided my gaze. Instead of looking at me, she looked out the window. “I have a boyfriend. Things…have been a bit rocky lately. Somehow I don’t think that the idea of my shacking up with another guy for a couple weeks is going to go over well.”

  “Screw him.”

  Alex blushed. Then she covered her mouth with her hand and began to laugh. “Yeah! Screw him. This is my job. He’s just going to have to deal with it. Unless… Why can’t we be engaged and not live together? There are plenty of people that still actually wait until they’re married to do the deed.”

  “Do the deed?” I repeated. “Look, Alex, first of all, no one in their right mind would believe that I’d be engaged to you and not fucking you. I mean…look at you!”

  Her hands flew to her hips and she glared at me, daring me to stick my foot even further into my mouth.

  “And?”

  I took the bait. I’m not as smart as I look. “And second of all, I meant it literally. Screw him.”

  “Screw him?”

  “Have sex with him,” I said. “He’ll forget all about why you’ve been fighting. Then while he’s still on an endorphin high just sneak in that you have to go off on assignment for a couple weeks.”

  “Did you not attend the mandatory class on sexual harassment?” she asked.

  I could hear her heart racing and interestingly enough I smelled a tinge of arousal. I had a tight rein on my essence; living among humans for the past few years had made that necessary. So I knew that whatever it was that was affecting her, it wasn’t that.

  I held up my hands in surrender. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  “Well, you did,” she snapped. “I know that you’re supposed to be some hot shot boy wonder that thinks he can bend the rules but I like to go by the book.”

  “Look, Alex—”

  “I may be new at working undercover,” she continued, not even pausing to take a breath, “but I’ve had plenty of experience taking shit from guys like you!”

  Guys like me?

  I nodded. “I apologize. I’ll…”

  “Keep it professional, Agent Renfield,” she demanded, echoing my father’s earlier words.

  “Absolutely, Agent Sanchez,” I committed, picking up the dossier and tucking it securely under my arm. “I’ll see you at the airport on Monday.”

  Chapter Two

  I could barely hold onto my glass, my palms were so sweaty. There she was, looking every bit as beautiful as she had the day I met her, completely different, but every bit as beautiful. The woman on the stage was a siren. Confident. Sexy. Glamorous. As the spotlight lit her face she slowly lifted her eyes, eyes made even more alluring by dark charcoal liner. Then she licked her ruby red lips seductively and stepped closer to the microphone. The spotlight pulled back and she slipped off the ostrich feather trimmed cape that she was wearing, letting it fall so that it pooled around her feet on the stage. The black beaded gown she wore underneath was long-sleeved with a daring neckline that showed off her generous décolletage. She swiveled her hips slightly, tilting the microphone stand towards her. I sat entranced while she took in that final breath then started to sing.

  Her voice was rich and sultry, its timber resonating, stirring something deep inside of me. I shifted in my seat, discreetly adjusting myself. When I looked up I saw that Raif had noticed. He was looking at me with just a tad too much interest.

  My interview on Saturday had been postponed until today. Raif an
d I’d finished chatting earlier, while Alex was changing into costume for her audition. He’d yet to give me an answer.

  “What do you think?” I asked him.

  Raif leaned forward. His finely chiseled face was still partially cast in shadow as he studied the bulge in my jeans.

  “Need some help with that?” he asked, his lips forming a pout that somehow served to further accentuate his fashion-model cheekbones.