Samantha Sommersby Read online

  “Ouch!” she cried out, turning around and slapping me on the chest.

  “Sorry,” I told her, removing my ring and tossing it onto the bathroom counter. “Looks like a strand of your hair got caught.”

  “Next time we try it without the ring” she replied, rubbing her head with one hand while holding the bodice of her gown up with the other. Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips.

  I looked down at my bare hand and wondered if it was too soon to suggest we try for a next time.

  “Enjoy your bath,” I told her, turning to leave, amazed at my own restraint.

  “Dell?” she called out.

  I paused.

  “Hmm?”

  “Nothing.”

  I nodded, then swallowed. “We’ll decide on dinner when you’re done bathing. All right?”

  “Yeah,” she agreed. Then added, “I won’t be long.”

  I flashed her my most charming and reassuring smile.

  “Take as long as you want. I’m not going anywhere. And you, sweetheart, are worth the wait.”

  Chapter Three

  I looked down into the courtyard of the hotel. It might have been located on prime Las Vegas strip real estate but everything about it embraced the look and feel of New Orleans. Sultry jazz drifted up from somewhere below. The soft glow of gas lamps dotted the landscape of an enormous garden that was filled with azaleas, camellias, and of course the requisite towering magnolias draped with moss.

  Alex had been in the bath for over an hour. It had been enough time for me to seal her hair sample in an evidence bag, drop it into the pre-paid shipping envelope, and send it off to Manchester.

  The evening was warm. I leaned back in the wrought iron chair, closed my eyes, and reached out with my senses. There were some vampires in nearby rooms. None of them seemed to have enough psychic powers to be immediate trouble. But that didn’t mean much these days.

  In today’s world a person’s privacy was easily invaded, too easily. Listening devices could be purchased over the Internet. Don’t want there to be a record? Pay cash at the local flea market or buy it out of the trunk of your friend’s car. I happened to like my privacy and I guarded it carefully, combating technological intrusion with a good old-fashioned shielding spell.

  That’s why I’d conjured up my favorite shield before venturing out onto the balcony, one that had been taught to me ages ago by my former teacher, a master sorcerer by the name of Basta. I’d encased our room in a force-bubble. It worked better than any jamming device on the market and all it took to make was my own two little hands and a shitload of energy.

  Before I started I’d told myself that I’d done it as a precaution in case Alex slipped. It was her first assignment after all. Now, here in the dark, I could admit that I was also afraid that perhaps I’d slip. Maybe I was even ensuring privacy so that I’d feel free to. That realization was depressing.

  Before stepping into the bathroom, before kissing her, I’d given her my word. I’d told her that she could trust me. When I said it, I had meant it. That should count for something, right?

  Wrong, said that nagging voice inside of my head that sounded suspiciously like my father.

  I hadn’t called Dad yet, although I’d meant to. I was procrastinating, pure and simple. I hated having to ask my father for advice. Trouble was, since Basta and I were no longer speaking, I didn’t know who else I could ask.

  The mission was quickly becoming more complicated than it was supposed to be, quite possibly more complicated than we could handle, definitely more complicated than Alex could have handled without me.

  This wasn’t a PSF assignment; I knew that from the get go. Dad had arranged for me to be on loan for a couple weeks for the sole purpose of my getting close to Alex.

  Alex… Christ, was it possible that she was really Sophie, Chris’ Chosen child, the one that had been kidnapped so many years ago? It had been a quarter of a century since Chris joined my father and the original group of human sympathizers who’d banned together to rescue my mother and imprison the immortal who’d been holding our entire race hostage for centuries. A quarter of a century that he’d now spent at BaMidbar, secretly minding the store and guarding the vampire who was the first, the most dangerous, the father of us all…Cain.

  I leaned down and picked up the scotch that I’d been nursing for over an hour. As I set the glass back down my cell rang.

  “I see that the package has been shipped.”

  “I’m fine, Dad. How are you?” I replied.

  “Sorry, Son. How are things going?”

  I sighed. “Not as smoothly as I’d expected. There are vamps involved.”

  “Powerful?”

  “Maybe. Some. I’m not sure yet. Raif, the guy I met today, he wasn’t a problem for me to shut down. He’d definitely have posed a problem for Alex if I hadn’t been there, though. He would have had her in the blink of an eye. I had to shield her.”

  “You could take her yourself,” he suggested. “Eliminate the risk.”

  “That’s just what Basta would say. Taking control of a girl’s mind is the kind of thing the bad guy does, Dad. I’m the good guy.”

  “In some ways, perhaps Basta and I are like-minded.”

  “You both like the same brand of scotch, that’s it.”

  “We both love you.”

  “Basta loves himself. Anyway, I didn’t call to talk about him. Let’s get back to Raif.”

  “Fine. This Raif, he was tempted by Alex,” Dad said. It was a statement. Not a question.

  “Yeah. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything, he was tempted by me, too. The guy is a walking hard-on. Besides, Alex is stunning. He’d have to be blind not to be tempted by her. It doesn’t mean she’s Chosen. It doesn’t mean she’s Sophie.”

  “Are you tempted?” he asked me point blank.

  “He wasn’t my type, too fickle. One minute he had eyes only for me, the next—”

  “How bad is it, Dell?”

  I wasn’t sure what to say. So, for a few seconds I said nothing.

  “Dell?”

  “I can handle it,” I declared, irritation creeping into my voice.

  “Talk to me.”

  I took another sip of scotch, then I dove in. “I kissed her over an hour ago. I’m on my second scotch. I can’t get the taste of her out of my mouth. It was…”

  “What?”

  “Exquisite. Torture. I don’t know. I’m not making any sense.”

  Dad cleared his throat. I felt a lecture coming on.

  “You’re making perfect sense. You’re falling for her.”

  “I barely know her, Dad.”

  “But that doesn’t matter, does it? You feel it.”

  “There was this moment…”

  “You want her. You want her blood.”

  “Yes,” I admitted, my voice barely a whisper.

  “Does she know what you are?”

  “No, and how the hell am I going to explain that? We were sent here to infiltrate the club and gather data. It’s supposed to be straightforward reconnaissance. Get familiar with the operation, cozy up to the manager, gain his trust, gather intelligence, and report back. We’re posing as lovers. Could she not know? I’ve never tried before, is it even possible for a vampire to…”

  “Hide his true nature during sex?” he finished for me.

  “Yeah.”

  “Not if he’s doing it right,” he teased. “Seriously, though, why not just tell her?”

  “I’m not going to tell her if I don’t have to. I’m not going to shake her world up for no reason.”

  “Maybe it’s for a reason. The test is going to come back positive. I know it, Dell.”

  “If you’re wrong?”

  “Either way it sounds like the mission’s over, Son. If I’m right, you’ll need to bring her in right away. Getting Sophie back is far more important than any one mission. Chris has been waiting—”

  “Dad, this isn’t just about Chris. There’s Alex to consi
der. Let’s not forget that. We need to take this one step at a time. We’ll talk more tomorrow. What time will you have the results?”

  “I’m pushing for three. Dell?”

  “Yeah Dad?”

  “Be careful.”

  “I will. I am. I’ll be waiting for your call tomorrow,” I told him before disconnecting.

  ~

  “Is it safe to come out?” asked Alex

  I looked up. She was standing just inside the French doors to the balcony. She was wearing a white silk robe. The edges around the hem were fluttering in the warm evening breeze. The make-up that she’d been wearing earlier was gone and her slightly dampened hair hung loose about her shoulders. The fabric of her robe had been absorbing the residual moisture from her skin and was now partially translucent in spots.

  “Come here,” I said, sliding smoothly into the role I’d committed to playing, extending my hand. “I’ve missed you. Been thinking about you non-stop.”

  Alex looked down at my hand. A second passed, then another. Slowly she lifted her eyes to meet mine. They were questioning, uncertain.

  “You’re not going to leave me alone, are you? I thought we’d kissed and made up. I thought you’d forgiven me.”

  She licked her lips nervously and stepped out onto the balcony. The lingering lavender scent of her bath salts mixed with the night-blooming jasmine that clung to the wrought iron of the balcony proved to be a heady mixture.

  As her hand slipped into mine I closed my eyes.

  “Dell?” she whispered.

  I tugged her closer, until she was standing between my legs and in front of me. Then I wrapped my arms around her waist and leaned my forehead against the soft pillow of her stomach. “Shh, we’re not alone out here.”

  I felt her shiver. Was it the night air, or excitement over the idea that we were being watched? I wanted to think it was just the proximity of me. I slowly let one hand drift lower, over the curve of her voluptuous ass. She gasped as it came to rest on her thigh, the curved fingers of my hand clenched in desperation. Holding on, I strived to control the urge to slip my hands beneath the robe.

  Alex threaded her hand through my hair then slowly bent down, brushing her lips across the top of my head. “Where?” she asked, her voice sounding rough with want, her aroma laced again with desire.

  I was painfully hard now.

  “Across the courtyard,” I murmured. “I’m gonna heat this up for a minute. Then we’ll take the show inside, douse the lights and close the curtains. Ready?”

  “Yes,” she sighed, and she was. She was so ready that I could almost taste it, thick and heady in the back of my throat.

  Within the space of a second I had her pinned against the balcony wall, one hand holding her arms above her head, the other cupping her breast. It was full and heavy and I wanted to feel my mouth on it, my tongue on it. I glanced down. The front of her robe had loosened. Her breasts were exposed to the night air, her nipples hard, visible, and beckoning.

  “Oh, God!” she moaned, her head lolling back, her neck exposed.

  Alex was vulnerable. So was I. I could feel my beast rising, feel the stirrings deep within my chest. Her body began to writhe against me, craving pleasure and wantonly seeking release. Before I knew it my mouth was on her neck, latched in place, I could hear her blood roaring in my ears. It was calling to me, promising me things that it would have been so easy to take.

  “Oh, yes!” she gasped, giving unwitting consent.

  The sheaths that covered my fangs pulled back and they began to descend. My control was slipping and in that moment I didn’t even want to try to get it back.

  “Dell,” she gasped again, reaching up to nip at my earlobe, taking the firm flesh between her teeth and biting down on it.

  Next thing I knew we were inside. I’d pulled the curtains and turned off the lights. I was only a silhouette. The shadows protected me, protected her from seeing who, what, I really was. I hastily walked to the far side of the room, needing to create distance between us, but not wanting to break character. Things were confusing enough, I didn’t need Alex asking questions that I wasn’t prepared to answer.

  “Fuck!”

  “Are you all right?” she asked, taking a step towards me.

  I couldn’t have her touch me, not then. So I took another step back. “Baby, I’ve never been better.”

  “Oh, God,” she moaned as she gathered her robe tightly around herself and turned away from me. Was she embarrassed by what we’d done or how she’d responded? Maybe both. I should have stopped it right there, figured out a way to calm things down. But I didn’t want to, what I wanted was more.

  “I want to feel your mouth on me,” I told her from across the room, my voice rough with desire.

  “I…” Alex began. She was trembling. Even in the darkness I could see it.

  This was a dangerous game, but one I was beginning to believe we were destined to play.

  “Tell me what you want,” I demanded.

  “I…can’t.”

  “Yes, you can. Talk to me. Tell me. I want to hear you say it.”

  “I want you,” she whispered, almost imperceptibly.

  Having heard her admission, I dismissed the notion that I needed to maintain distance. Now suddenly what I needed more than anything was contact.

  In the blink of an eye I’d erased the space between us and broken all of the rules. “I want you too,” I whispered, my arms wrapping tightly around her, my upper body covering her back, molding to her every curve in a way that let her feel how aroused I had become. “Can you feel what you do to me?”

  I half expected her to pull away, but she didn’t. Instead she pushed back against me, causing me to release a moan that was far too real.

  My face was buried in her hair, and my hands were buried in her robe, one cupping her breast, the other moving lower, seeking out the tactile evidence to validate the fact that I was affecting her just as much as she was affecting me.

  “Yes!” she cried out. Then she spun around in the tight circle of my arms and faced me, our lips just a hairsbreadth away. “I’m involved with someone,” she murmured softly, a confession that only I could hear.

  Was she reminding herself or was she reminding me?

  “I know,” I whispered against her mouth. I didn’t need the reminder. “I haven’t forgotten.”

  She tried to pull away but I wouldn’t let her, not yet. A moan escaped her lips and an obvious tremble passed through her body. I wanted to kiss her, to drink from her mouth and swallow those painfully sweet sounds of uninhibited pleasure that I knew I could coax from her.

  My lips found their way to the shell of her ear. “Whatever happens between us, it doesn’t have to mean anything.”

  As soon as the words were out of my mouth I wished I could take them back. And I would have found a way, too, somehow, if we hadn’t been interrupted by an insistent knock at the door.

  “Off with the robe,” I told her softly. “Get under the covers.”

  I quickly kicked off my shoes and socks, pulled my t-shirt off over my head, unbuttoned the top button of my jeans, and called out, “Yes?”

  “Raif says you’re late for the party,” the voice on the other side of the door called out.

  I reached out with my senses. He was human. Not a trace of magic. I turned on the light and then opened the door.

  “I told Raif we wouldn’t be coming. We’re staying in tonight.”

  “Raif doesn’t like taking no for an answer,” replied the goon. “He said if you want the job, you’ll come.”

  “Listen…”

  “Bruno.”

  “Really? Your name’s Bruno? Was it Bruno before you became a thug or did you change it?”

  “Smartass, huh?” he asked, grinning. “We’ll see how cocky you are when Raif gets done with you.”

  I frowned. “Tell Raif—”

  “Honey? Is that room service?” asked Alex.

  Bruno reached inside his jacket and m
oved to step into the room. I’d bet my life that he was packing. Normally it wouldn’t concern me. Being immortal I’m impervious to bullets. But I’d have to explain that to Alex and I didn’t want to do that, not if I didn’t have to. Quick as lightning I placed my hand over his wrist.

  “Let me get dressed. I’ll be right out,” I told him.

  Bruno grinned. “The girl, too.”