Her back was to him, the white towel pooled around her hips as his eyes drank in a gorgeous swath of lickable flesh interrupted only by the ties of her bikini. Her arm lifted above her head to hold up the tail of hair to show him the crux of her predicament.
“It’s knotted,” she told him.
Licking his suddenly dry lips, Kane’s fingers shook as he lifted them to the knot at her nape, and while he told himself to focus on the tie, the job at hand, anything but the skin he wanted desperately to touch, his hands had a mind of their own. His fingertips skimmed ever so gently over the nape of her neck and down the length of her spine.
He heard the hitch in her breathing, but it was her shiver of pleasure that was his undoing. One moment, her back was to him, and the next, he’d kicked the door shut, turned her so her back pushed against the cool tiles of the bathroom wall, as his mouth devoured hers with a hunger he couldn’t seem to leash.
He may have eventually regained control, may have pulled back, even apologized if her response to his possession hadn’t been so enthusiastic. Her hands gripped his hair, pulling him closer, her mouth moved under his with fervor and heat that only escalated his need as her tongue licked against his.
The towel had slid from her hips, replaced by Kane’s hands as he gripped the back of her thighs. Lifting her, he turned her once more so she was sitting on the ledge of the sink, her knees spread wide as his hips settled against the cradle of her pelvis.
Her fingers pushed at his leather jacket and he vaguely heard it thump to the floor as she began yanking at his T-shirt, pulling it free of the waistband of his jeans. That stubborn knot that had begun this heated exchange was no longer an issue as Kane used his fangs to bite through the tie. He’d apologize later for the destruction should she insist, but he certainly wasn’t sorry as he cupped those small breasts in his hands, felt those stiff little nipples against his palms.
With a growl, he bent to take one of those stiff peaks into his mouth, suckling greedily as Sophia hissed through her teeth, her hands moving once again to the back of his head, urging him to continue.
Her hands didn’t remain there and it was his turn to hiss as she made quick work of the zipper on his jeans and released his erection, gripping it firmly in her hands, stroking the length. His head kicked back, his eyes meeting hers, eyes that were no longer a soft brown but a vivid green flecked with gold, the pupils dilated in her passion but not round, not anything human. The sight cranked up his excitement even further knowing that the predator within her was so close to the surface.
His own eyes went red, his fangs throbbing in his mouth with hunger. He wanted to bite her, penetrate that fragile skin at her throat with his teeth, taste her blood as he penetrated her hot core with his cock. He buried his head in the crook of her neck, his tongue licking over her pulse as his fingers slid under her bikini bottoms. He nearly shuddered with bliss at what he found. Slick, hot folds met his fingertips, and that bundle of nerves at the top of her sex was swollen with need. She gasped out a breath as he touched her there, stroking her slowly.
Her hand gripped the nape of his neck with impressive strength while her other hand worked his erection, pumping it, bringing him so close to the edge…
“Hey, Kane? Where are you?”
They both froze at that unwelcome shout, their strained breathing the only sound as Morgan continued, her voice coming closer. “We want to see this place now that it’s furnished.”
“I’ll kill her,” Kane groaned against Sophia’s throat. “I can make it look like an accident.”
Chapter Fifteen
Sophia let out a breathy little chuckle at Kane’s murderous thoughts. Honestly, she was feeling rather homicidal herself. She’d been so close to coming she’d almost screamed at Morgan to go away, probably would have spit fire at the Born had she barged in on them.
As Kane leaned away from her with keen regret written all over his face, Sophia immediately missed the press of his body against hers, and only grudgingly released the erection she was still gripping in her hand. An erection that, it happily turned out, was nowhere near tiny, and if the foreplay was any indication, Kane certainly wasn’t a lousy lover either. Bonus.
She wasn’t sorry she’d engineered the whole damsel in distress, help me, I’m stuck, scenario, but she was sorry to see it end as Kane tucked himself away with a grimace. Shooting her a look of apology, he handed Sophia her clothes with a muttered, “I better go out there before your brother starts breaking down doors.”
He shot her another wistful look and sighed before he cracked the door to peek out and check that the coast was clear. Turning to look over his shoulder, he said, “I’ll distract them while you dress.”
Clutching the clothes to her chest, she watched him slip out. Only once he was out the door did she fall back against the mirror in a boneless sprawl. Her body was still throbbing with need, but that only encouraged her. If this was the appetizer, she couldn’t wait to try the main course.
Taking a moment to indulge, she closed her eyes and relived the experience, the way he’d touched her, the way he’d moved against her, his taste on her tongue. He’d wanted to bite her, she’d known that, and in that heated moment, she would have let him. Honestly, she had wanted to bite him as well, wanted to mark him, brand him as hers so that no other woman would ever be able to lay claim to him.
Letting out a shuddering sigh, Sophia propped herself back up and began to dress, her mind spinning with how soon she could get Kane alone again so they could finish what they’d started.
∞∞∞
Kane used his preternatural speed to reach his study and duck inside before he called out, “I’m in here,” with false cheer.
Quickly opening his laptop, he reached for his cell phone to make himself look busy when he realized he’d left his leather jacket in the bathroom with Sophia.
“There you are,” Morgan said as she appeared in the doorway.
“Here I am. Hard at work.”
Morgan’s smile didn’t falter, but her eyes were twinkling in a way that told him she wasn’t buying into his subterfuge. Probably that super nose of hers. He should have washed up before he left the bathroom, dammit. Rookie mistake.
“So, I sent Travis back outside to fire up the grill, told him I was starving,” she said, sauntering in to lean a hip against his desk and surreptitiously glance at the black screen of his laptop. “And judging by the high color on your face, you’ve worked up an appetite yourself.”
His former boss didn’t know the half of it.
“I imagine Sophia’s probably ravenous too,” Morgan added slyly before her gaze moved about the room and she changed the subject. “I like what you’ve done in here.”
Kane looked around as well. Honestly, he’d taken the tour once Edward and some of the other men had finished setting everything up, but he hadn’t actually spent any time here. The room had an old-world flair. Plenty of dark mahogany wainscoting that matched the mammoth desk he currently sat behind as well as the hardwood floors. Bookcases lined the wall behind him on either side of a large bay window complete with heavy navy drapery and a matching upholstered bench seat. A plush area rug in swirls of cream and navy added a touch of light to the room, as did the paintings and brass sconces that hung on the walls. All in all, it was nice he supposed, but Kane couldn’t see himself working in here, would probably continue to use the kitchen island as his desk. He may now be a territory-holding Born, but he’d been a Hunter first, was used to working on the move. The bedroom, bathroom, and the kitchen had been the only rooms to see any use from him in this new place. Though, he supposed he could now add the downstairs bathroom to that list. The thought made him groan and had him itching to kick Morgan and Travis out of his house so he could get back to worshipping his dragon’s delectable body.
And speaking of his dragon, she chose that moment to lean in the door, her arms braced on either side of the wall outside. Her eyes shot to him first, a touch of color pinkening her c
heeks before she glanced at Morgan and smiled brightly. “Is someone grilling? I smell food.”
“I conned your brother into cooking for us.”
“Nice,” Sophia returned, drawing out the word.
Her eyes flicked to him and he noticed her bare foot was kicking lightly, yet repeatedly against the door as she cleared her throat. “Hey, listen,” she said to Morgan. “I know you and my brother probably have things to do, but I thought that if Kane didn’t mind bringing me home after, I’d stick around and claim the time I won. You know, in his tub – er – just me using his tub, alone. For a bubble bath,” she awkwardly clarified.
Kane just barely managed to keep from leaping out of his chair and shouting, ‘Hell, yes!’ at Sophia’s suggestion, and he was rather proud that his voice was steady and perfectly calm as he instead uttered, “I have no problem with that.”
To say Morgan’s grin was shit-eating would be an understatement. The woman saw right through them. Shaking her head, she let out a little chuckle. “No worries. I’ll run interference with your brother. Now, let’s go eat.”
Getting Travis to leave without Sophia wasn’t an easy task. The looks he was sending Kane’s way were positively murderous as the man nibbled on his food to draw out the task of eating as long as possible. He then insisted on exploring every inch of the house, while asking the most inane questions that left Kane wanting to tear his hair out with frustration.
It was only once they reached what Kane had lovingly dubbed ‘the hatchet room’ did his annoyance ebb, replaced with the spirit of competition. While the setup of the other rooms in the house had been left to Edward’s tasteful eye, this room, Kane had personally supervised. A long rectangular room, Kane had no idea what the previous owner had used it for – maybe a portrait gallery, but he’d been inspired the moment he’d seen it. The once smooth, cream-colored walls had now been covered with a thick layer of rough, unfinished barnboard, the windows grated with heavy, metal lattice, and the snowy-white, wall-to-wall carpeting had been torn up and replaced with planks similar to those that now adorned the walls.
There was no furniture in here, as this wasn’t a place to relax. The room’s only adornment consisted of three thick wooden targets with painted bull’s eyes hung on the back wall and an assortment of hatchets and axes in varying sizes displayed on the wall behind him.
“Nice,” Travis uttered as he pulled a re-creation of an ancient Nordic battle ax down from the wall and hefted its weight.
“Do you want to throw some? It’s a great stress reliever,” Kane eagerly added as he pulled a much smaller hatchet down for himself.
If Sophia minded the delay, she didn’t let on with look or deed, in fact, she seemed just as fascinated as her brother as she eyed an intricate Celtic design on one of the handles. “Where did you get all these?” Turning to look at him as her fingers traced the pattern, she added, “I mean, as a Hunter you couldn’t have been collecting these for long.”
Kane shrugged, but he knew his face clearly showed his pride in his new collection. “The internet is a wonderful thing.”
“Jamie would love this,” Morgan uttered as she pulled down a hatchet and tested its balance. “Though she’d probably spend all day throwing her knives.”
“That’s why I have this,” Kane pronounced with a grin as he strode for the closet door. Opening it, he pulled out a dressmaker's mannequin, clothed in leather with an amateurishly drawn-on face complete with bloody fangs.
Morgan hooted with laughter. “Oh, my God.” Pulling her phone out, she snapped a picture of Kane with his arm around the mannequin, grinning broadly. “I have to show her.”
A small grunt caught Kane’s attention and he turned to see a hatchet flying through the air to thud into the wood on the very bottom edge of one of the targets. Turning that same grin on Sophia who had made the throw, he wiggled his eyebrows. “Feels good, doesn’t it?”
Chapter Sixteen
Her brother had happily stuck around to test out his hatchet-throwing skills while conveniently delaying the inevitable moment when he’d be leaving his baby sister alone with Kane. Sophia hadn’t minded, however, since she was having so much fun.
While, Kane was by far the most accurate right from the start, even going so far as to show off his skill with trick shots, Morgan had quickly caught up after a few practice throws, and Travis had surprised her at how adept he’d become with a hatchet before they’d finally left. Morgan practically had to drag Travis away, but the vampire had promised they’d return so he could indulge his new-found hobby or to hurt Kane should his sister not be returned to pack lands within a reasonable time. The last had Sophia rolling her eyes. She wasn’t a child, but she supposed she could cut her brother a bit of slack considering the worry he’d suffered thanks to her disappearance.
Meanwhile, Sophia no longer needed that bubble bath as an excuse to spend more time with Kane, but to relieve her arm muscles that were practically screaming at her for the abuse she’d put them through. And here she had thought push-ups and chin-ups were bad. Of course, those weren’t nearly as fun as throwing a hatchet down the length of a room and hearing it slam home in the target. Not to mention, the loud hoots and cheers of approval each time her aim improved.
“Alone at last,” Kane uttered from his position leaning against the door he’d just closed behind Morgan and Travis. The look he shot her was so hot, so full of delightfully sinful promises that it felt like it might melt her bones.
Straightening, he strode toward her, and just watching that graceful stride had Sophia biting her lip in anticipation, wanting to jump on him.
Just as he would have reached for her, the doorbell went off with a merry tinkling of chimes. The sound had Kane’s lip curling off his teeth with a snarled, “You have got to be kidding me.”
Sophia was about to encourage him to ignore it, sure that whoever it was would give up and go away, when the door popped open and what looked like a stack of boxes and files with legs bustled through, while a disembodied voice cheerfully called out, “I have all of the files you requested on the wolves and the witches for your meeting, sire. I’ve also taken the liberty of creating some useful cue cards you might benefit from.”
With a defeated sigh, Kane went to relieve the man of his burden, revealing a dark-haired, pale-skinned vampire, short in stature and lean of build that reminded Sophia of a stereotypical accountant complete with a pocket protector holding numerous pens in his starched, white button-down.
The man’s eyes rounded with surprise when he spotted her, practically shooting to attention as if someone had barked, ‘ten-hut’. “Oh, do forgive me, sire – er, sir, er Mister Fletcher. I hadn’t realized you had company.”
“No worries, Edward. You didn’t spill any secrets. This is Sophia, and she’s fully aware of the supernatural world.”
The man visibly deflated with relief. “Oh, thank heavens,” was uttered on a sigh as the man whipped out a handkerchief to mop the sweat from his brow before he straightened his spine once more and snapped off a quick bow. “A pleasure to meet you.”
No longer distracted by Kane’s hungry gaze that held promises of pleasure, Sophia felt every single ache and twinge in her arm as she raised her hand in a little wave. If she was going to match Kane in the bedroom without wincing, she needed that soak in his glorious tub.
“Listen, why don’t you guys do whatever it is you need to do.” Then, with a look full of just as many promises, she said to Kane, “I’ll wait for you upstairs.”
∞∞∞
Evangeline cackled with glee and hugged her phone to her chest feeling absolutely giddy. Her sister had come through for her once again. She had been the one who had snuck the vampires into Evangeline’s prison. Vampires Evangeline had easily recruited as her minions with promises of power, manipulating their minds and preying on their discontent and fear following Olivier Rodolfo’s demise.
They, in turn, had freed her by killing the primary anchors to the cooperation spe
ll that had kept her imprisoned and then set her up in this building where she could hide from Jourdain and others of her kind. It was a dump she despised, but there were no cameras in the area, and it was a perfect place to cast a spell so she couldn't be found by magical means. Technically, the building now belonged to Kane, having previously belonged to Rodolfo – a fact that amused Evangeline to no end – but this particular warehouse was off the books. Way off the books since Rodolfo had used it to stash the illegal immigrants he smuggled into the country. Poor saps. Most would have spent every cent they had for the promise of a better life, only to arrive and find a nightmare. Any young, healthy children were sold in Rodolfo's flesh trade, while the others he let loose for a select few of his top vampires to hunt and kill for sport.
“Kevin!”
Her bellow startled the vampire, who was feeding on some poor young thing. His head popped up from the girl’s throat, his grip loosening until her body slipped to the floor in a careless heap. Evangeline’s lip curled in distaste, and she threw a rag at his head. “Are all vampires such sloppy eaters? I’ve seen infants dribble less. Clean yourself up.”
Kevin swiped hastily at the blood on his chin. “Good news?”
Smears of blood remained on his cheek, but Evangeline was too excited to share what she’d learned to bother pointing out his incompetence at even such a simple task as wiping his face. “It’s a good thing I still have a few loyal followers in the covens willing to share information,” she said with a haughty sniff, looking down her nose at Kevin. “Since you’ve proved practically useless in that regard. Kane Fletcher is to meet with Jourdain as well as the wolf alpha tomorrow night, and I now know where.”
Turning her back on Kevin, she looked down at the shifter female bound and gagged in the corner and kicked the girl’s sneakered foot. “You’ve proved absolutely useless as well. Doesn’t anyone love you enough to miss you, child?” was asked with a sneer.
A Hunter Found: A Paranormal Vampire Romance (Hired Hunters Series Book 3) Page 9