by Lauren Dane
Stupid and dangerous as it was, he was right that they had something. The real question was if it was enough or if she should fuck him and run away.
Just at that moment, as he slid his fingertips against her clit and her body lit up like a pinball machine, she had no plans to run anywhere.
When his mouth replaced his fingers she gave over to him, forgetting, at least momentarily, the darkness outside the room.
His hair sifted through her fingers as she urged him closer, harder, more. Just more… Until her climax broke over her system, drowning everything else but that moment.
And then he was sliding inside her, pressing deep. She managed to drag her lids up to look at him, into that brutally handsome face, now softened by sex and pleasure.
She wanted to close them again, wanted to deny what she saw in his features, what she felt in how he touched her. This time was different. Hot on a different level. It left her feeling exposed and unsure.
But soon all there was was sensation. His body covered hers, skin to skin. She fell into the flex and bunch of his muscles. He smelled good. Even if he weren’t a Vampire, Rowan doubted he’d have sweated. And still he exuded that masculine something. Pheromones maybe.
Whatever it was, she wanted to lean in and take a bite. But since that might be reciprocated, she managed, barely, to refrain and give him a lick instead.
She shifted, bringing her knees higher, both of them groaning when he slid even deeper. He didn’t treat her as if she were fragile. Not rough, but he didn’t hold back either, the raw power of him thrilled her as he thrust.
Every once in a while he’d utter a language she’d only rarely heard amongst the oldest Vampires. Their mother tongue, she’d been told once. Back from when they’d lived in keeps like the one Theo had.
The words were smooth, like river stones, exotic. She knew a bit, enough to pick up bits and pieces as he spoke. Words of admiration.
She dug deep for filthy words but came up empty. Same with sarcasm. Which agitated her enough to squirm a little and then delight when the strain marked his features.
His gaze locked on hers, his mouth twisting into a smile.
“You do come in handy, I must say,” she sighed as he pressed deep and came. Her body, warm, loose, relaxed and filled with sex chemicals, remained wrapped around his.
“Glad to be of service,” he murmured into her hair as he got his breath, and his composure back.
He could tell she was thinking on how to put distance between them again. She wouldn’t succeed of course. She might be the Vessel for a Goddess, but he’d been around for nearly five centuries. He knew a thing or two about women, and this one in particular needed a man like him. Sure she’d have the willpower to resist him if he was a normal man. But he wasn’t.
“That smile makes me nervous.” She watched him warily as he got up and headed into the bathroom adjoining the room they’d just used.
He let her stew awhile as he cleaned up. Liked to listen to the way she moved and got back into her clothes.
She was busily dealing with her mass of beautiful hair when he returned. The intimacy of that warmed him. She’d try to hold him back. It was part of her nature to be contrary. He understood her better than she knew. But she’d fail because he rarely did.
“It should make you nervous. Now, what’s our next step? If we can assume your cop will work on the things you sent him off to do, I was thinking we should connect with my people.”
Her brow furrowed and he resisted the urge to smooth a thumb across it. “Things would be a lot easier if Theo just unleashed his lieutenants on this bastard.”
“Except this would be a violation of the treaty you’re always quoting.” Technically The First shouldn’t even be in Vegas, though Clive was sure that mattered not one whit to him. His lieutenants were considered by Hunter Corp as some sort of weapon of mass destruction. And, he supposed, that was a pretty accurate way to view it.
“Yes, yes, well. My standards appear to be slipping.”
“Perhaps it’s me who is the bad influence on you.” Amused and in a good mood even she couldn’t shake, he breezed past her out into the main rooms of the place.
“I’ve never doubted that. Why don’t you go meet with your people and I’ll go meet with mine. If I find him and kill him, I’ll let you know.”
He took her hand as she passed. “I know what my people have to say. Come on, Ms. Summerwaite, you’ve got the services of an old and powerful Vampire. You should use them.”
“I have a meeting with a source. And that source will not approve if I bring you along.”
Must be a Vampire. “Who is it? Oh don’t get that look, I’m not going to send anyone over to rough them up. But clearly it’s a Vampire and I should know what my people are up to.”
“Ha. How about you deal with the one who’s up to ripping humans apart and leaving them like garbage in the desert? And then I can deal with my sources who don’t need Vampire central peering in their windows.”
It was a good thing he was a patient man.
“When you finish, if you’d come by to update me, I would appreciate that.”
She made a sound that he couldn’t ascertain agreement from, so he continued to look at her until she responded.
She sighed, clearly agitated. “I’ll get you an update when I finish. I’ll text it to you.”
He realized then it was probably not the best thing for her to go to Die Mitte after that meeting with The First earlier in the evening.
“This isn’t over between us, you know that. Any attempt to avoid me is silly. You want me in your bed, I want you in mine. I might even like you a little, though I’d deny that if questioned.”
“I need to catch a serial-killing Vampire. That’s my focus right now. We are totally wrong for each other anyway.”
He took her elbow, firmly but gently, steering her toward the door, handing her the coat she’d hung in the entry.
“This is where you’re incorrect. You see, as Alice pointed out to me just this morning, there’s no one more perfect for me than you. Which, I must tell you I found myself a tad bit alarmed by, because as you might imagine, I had thought of a nice, calm woman on my arm. You are many things—” he paused while she stabbed the down button to call the elevator, “—but none of them is calm. But you’re bloodthirsty. Strong. You don’t stand for any nonsense and you’re quite uninhibited about killing people. Thankfully that lack of inhibition extends to your sexuality. This is a combination that overcomes your personality flaws.”
“Careful there, with all those flowery love words I might think you want to pledge your troth and make me your little woman.”
Though he wouldn’t admit it to her, Clive was relieved to see the resurgence of her bitchy self. The sadness in her eyes was getting to him, damn it.
“I’ll be expecting your update. If I don’t see you before the sun rises, I’ll definitely see you tomorrow after sundown.”
“Yeah. Whatever.” She paused and then huffed a sigh. “Thank you. For backing me up with him earlier. And for…well for everything with Jack.”
He slid his fingertip over her surprised little gasp, not giving a single whit if anyone else saw. “Now then, that wasn’t so hard, was it? You’re welcome.”
“You’re going to get me in trouble. I can just tell.” She stomped away to where her car waited. Her waved middle finger in his direction only made him laugh before he headed in the opposite direction and toward home.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Late night at the Vampyre Theatre didn’t make it any more appetizing. Instead, the quality of ladies and gentlemen hanging around only worsened as the pickings thinned out.
Rowan wove her way through the groups, noting how many of them looked tore up. She most sincerely didn’t believe Marv would ever shelter or even condone this killer. But he might know something.
“Marv.” It was all she said to the chick working the front window.
“In the back. I’ll let
him know you’re coming.” The girl licked her lips and looked from side to side nervously.
Rowan leaned in. “Is there something you’d like to tell me?”
The girl looked panicked, but no one else was around just then. Rowan slid a business card across the counter. “If you feel up to talking about it, my contact info is there. I won’t expose a source.”
“O-okay. Thanks.” She took the card and put it in the pocket of her little uniform.
Rowan headed through the now empty club toward the back. The last show ended at two and it was already half-past three. The quiet was restful and she took the small respite as she hailed Marv with a wave and a smirk.
But instead of his usual annoyed face, he looked…relieved.
“Walk with me, Hunter.”
She fell into step next to him as they went deeper into the bowels behind the stage.
He opened a door to what must have been his private living space and she went through. Not worrying about him attacking her while her back was to him. He wasn’t stupid.
“Now I’ll never get the smell of Hunter out of the rugs.” He moved past her, rumbling under his breath. “Sit. I gotta tell you a few things. I hear He’s in town. You see Him?”
“The First?” She smiled, showing her teeth. “Yes. You know why I’m here, right?”
“Listen, I don’t like Hunter Corp in my beeswax, yanking my chain and in general, causing me issues. But I don’t like Vampires who get out of control and bring the heat down on my ass either. So as a general rule I keep my head down and my mouth shut except when things need to be handled. And this needs handling.”
“I’ll do my best to look stern and disapproving of your coming to me.”
He rolled his eyes. “Man’s got personal biz and I have no beef with that. Whatever floats your boat, yannow? This may not be as glitzy as Die Mitte, but it’s no dump either. We got standards of our own. Sure, we take a sip or two of the audience, no harm no foul. But, we got rules and the first one is to keep your shit on the down low. No messy situations.”
He pushed to stand and began to pace.
“But I got this guy coming around. He’s targeting the girls, bringing junk into my place.”
“Heroin?”
“Fuck no. We can get high from most opiates, you know that. Meth. And lots of it. Thing is, I used to be under the impression we couldn’t crack that barrier. Now, I’m getting the feeling the status quo on this has changed.”
Clive would so kick her ass, but this was something the semi-decent Vampires like Marv needed to know and guard against.
“Yes. But it’s not good in the long run. The barrier was broken, yeah? But it does massive damage you guys can’t heal. Not forever, if you know what I mean.”
Marv paused. “That so? Hmm. I’ll need to be more watchful with who hangs around my place now, eh? Scion’s gonna be hacked you told me that. Appreciate it all the same.”
She waved a hand at that. “So what? I’m hacked this was even a possibility and no one bothered to update me when dead tweakers began to show up in the desert.”
He laughed, a bit rueful. “I hear rumors about you and him.”
“Yeah? I hear Elvis was down at the Bellagio at the breakfast buffet.”
“But one of those stories is true I bet.”
“Back to the guy hanging around with loads of crystal meth, please.”
He grinned at her, shoving his mass of hair away from his face. “He’s fucking crazy. Bringing the quality down. Narc cops are gonna get wind of this shit and then I’ll have a crapton of blue coming down around my shoulders.”
“Is he old?”
“Yeah. That’s why I’ve been thinking on coming your way. Considered calling over to the Scion’s office, but I don’t like those suit Vampires. Waste of teeth. Worthless, though this one isn’t nearly as bad as the dick from before. Still, I got no call to be traveling over there. I’d take care of it myself, but this dude I’m talking about is easily six hundred.”
Rowan scrubbed her hands over her face. A six-hundred-year-old Vampire strung out on meth? Fabulous.
“The Scion needs to know this, Marv. This is big. Grudgingly, I can admit he’s doing what he can to help. No one wants to be exposed with this stuff. It makes everyone’s job harder and I don’t like it when other people muck about with my schedule.”
“’Spose it helps when your dad is the head honcho. People take you all seriouslike.”
She snorted. “Nightly tuck-ins were a total blast. I’m sure you’d be envious.” He shuddered and she knew he got the point. “I know you don’t want to deal with them, and normally I’d agree with you. But this, well you and I both know this is different.”
“He’s different, you mean?”
“He’s something. But when it comes down to it, he’s a Vampire just like you. You all have a certain way of seeing the world and that’s fine. This murderous fucker I’m looking for doesn’t and he seems hell-bent on taking you all down with him.”
Marv sighed. “Yeah, yeah. Do it.”
“When I leave here, I’ll go to Die Mitte. I’ll do my best to keep you out of it. Tell me the rest.”
Marv sat back as he started. “About seven months ago this older Vampire started showing up here on Wednesday nights. He’d sweep in, check everyone out and invariably choose one of the leftovers from out back. Weak willed, with a sweet tooth for substances and flash.”
His lip curled. “Anyway, I caught him with meth and told him not to bring any more here. I figured he was using it because he had a shitty thrall, or he just was lazy and wanted his blood partners really dependent on him. It’s not unheard of.”
He got up and went to a desk on the far side of the room, rifling through a drawer until he found what he’d been searching for. Missing posters. He handed her three of them.
“In the last three months I’ve had concerned parents, boyfriends and counselors here looking for some lost loved one. Not an unusual thing. You gotta realize that just because we’re not eating these humans and leaving their bodies in the sand, it doesn’t mean these kids are alive or that they want to be found by anyone. They come to Vegas to be other people. You know that. So I just tack the posters up in the break room and move on.”
It was true, she knew it. “He’s really chosen the perfect hunting grounds.” Except she was there and this would end. She looked over the fliers featuring pictures of the humans who’d gone missing. She’d seen them so often in Paris, in London, Boston, D.C., Seattle, Los Angeles and especially in Vegas.
“I draw the line at serial killing. I know a lot of us don’t care one way or another about humans. But I kinda like you guys. You’re far more delicious when you’re alive and coming to me willingly than carrying torches and pitchforks, which is what would happen if this shit went live.”
She looked at the faces in the black-and-white photocopied fliers. “He’s totally got a type.” Each of the women bore a striking similarity to the three who’d disappeared already.
“Yeah and one of those missing is the roommate of the one who let you in. The girl you gave your card to. Been gone for two days. Last time Honey saw her, it was with this Vamp I been telling you about.” He sent Rowan a raised brow as if he’d caught her.
She rolled her eyes. “Do you think I’m surprised that you have camera surveillance at your ticket booth? I’m far from being an amateur, Marv.”
“She’s one of mine. Not a Servant like you and your line, no, but it means the same to me. This Vampire came onto my turf and he’s taken one of my protected.”
As a member of Marv’s staff, humans and Vampires would fall under his dominion and protection. Of course he’d want to keep his human staff protected.
“Gosh, you’re going to make me like you with all this nobility. Stop it.”
He flipped her off, but looked a little less angry than he’d been a moment before.
She got a solid description that she sent to Carey’s email with a request to get
working on a positive ID. She told him to run it by Clive’s people to see if they’d got a hit on the tooth she’d recovered. The sun would be up in two hours so she needed to get moving.
“I’ve asked her to wait. Honey, the girl from out front. You can talk to her in the break room. It’s private enough. Most of my people are gone, anyway.”
She paused at his door. “Did you know she was using? What’s her name? The one who’s missing?”
“I can’t keep day-to-day track of everyone. I wish I could.” She could see from his face that he did indeed feel that way. She understood it. “She’d been missing work, but her friends had been covering for her.” He shrugged. “I’d have fired her for it. But I sure as fuck wouldn’t have killed her and dumped her body.”
She sighed. “I like that about you, Marv.”
Half an hour later, as the very late-night Vampires were all streaming home, she hit the lobby of Die Mitte.
She’d apparently reached visitor status as no one tried to stop her when she got into the elevator up to where Clive’s offices were.
“Ms. Summerwaite, I was told you were on the way up.” Once the doors had opened, Alice glided to her, taking Rowan’s hands for a moment. “Come through. He’s waiting in his office.”
Rowan may have been mistaken, but she was pretty sure he looked more smug than usual when she entered the room. Her office at work had one window that looked out over a parking lot. This place was giant with views looking to the east. Dawn was somewhere out there, just on the horizon.
She avoided looking at his desk and wondering what it would be like if they had sex on it. Because that would not be professional. Ha.
“And what is it I can do for you, Ms. Summerwaite?” Clive stood and indicated she sit. Wanting to keep him on the other side of the desk, she plopped into the chair and pulled out her notepad.
“Here’s how this has to go. I’ve just received a great deal of information from one of your Vampires. I’d love to share it and all, but you have to agree, up front, to leave this source alone. No punishment for telling me instead of you.”