The square castellated home stood tall against the sky. It wasn’t a full castle, just the part that could be restored after so many centuries of decay. It had a narrow stained glass window in the front by the thick oak front door and smaller, framed windows spread throughout the sidewalls. The old stones seemed to have a life of their own and as a child Quinlan loved to touch them, claiming she could feel their energy.
Coming to a stop, the limo door opened automatically. Quinlan stepped out and the limo drove off to the garage. Sighing, she walked up the round sweep of steps leading to the front door of her home.
Her butler was there to greet her in his very formal uniform. He bowed low over his waist and said, “Welcome home, Miss.”
Quinlan handed him the empty coffee cup. He was mechanical like the rest of her staff, so she didn’t bother with pleasantries. “Any messages?”
“Fifty-two, Miss,” said the butler.
“Any not pertaining to my father?” Quinlan asked wryly.
“No, Miss,” answered the butler/giant answering machine.
“Send the standard replies,” ordered Quinlan quietly.
“Very good, Miss,” answered the butler. Going to his post by the door, he plugged himself into his adaptor. His eyes closed and Quinlan could hear the faint sound of a ring as he began to call back her pre-recorded messages.
A long sweep of stairs went up the right side, carpeted with a plush red down the center. The banister crossed along the second story to leave a top section open to the front hall’s view. Quinlan ignored the giant portrait of her father staring down at her from the top handrail. The ceiling was high in this section of the home, reaching up to the top of the second floor and arching with picturesque stone cornices. White satin sashes crossed over the walls and roses wrapped around over the stone handrail leading upstairs.
Taking the steps two at a time, Quinlan reached the top of the stairs. She ignored the mechanical maid units as they bustled about at lightening speed. She had them programmed to work, never acknowledging her. She might be lonely, but she would not lower herself to programming herself some company.
Crossing over the opened area, she turned down a long hall and opened the thick oak of her bedroom door. She stripped the stained jacket from her shoulders as she walked across the luxurious rug covering the stone floor. Her shirt was soon to follow. A maid unit clicked on in the corner and went to retrieve the clothing. Quinlan tossed her slacks at the unit and the maid caught them.
“Menu six,” Quinlan said, ordering her food for the evening. “Privacy.”
The unit scurried off with the clothes, taking them to laundry and shutting the door behind her.
“Fire,” Quinlan murmured, flinging herself onto the oversized poster bed. She lay against the silk of her sheets, turning her head to watch the flames dancing in the large marble fireplace. The orange glow flickered over the stone walls, caressing her nearly naked flesh with its softness. Thick velvet curtains were opened over long floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the side garden. Quinlan ordered them closed. The room was instantly shrouded in a softened darkness.
She pulled all four pillows to her body, curling around them as she closed her eyes. Unbidden, the image of Nick Grant came to mind. She was alone. She would never see him again. There was no one to watch her fantasize. She imagined the pillow beside her was his naked chest. She ran her hand over it and snuggled deeper. For a brief moment, right before she fell asleep, she didn’t feel so alone.
Chapter Two
Silk wrapped her black cape around her body, disguising herself in darkness beneath the draping hood. Her hardened gaze narrowed as she peered through the eye slits of her all-concealing mask. She was as motionless as a statue, watching the quiet courtyard from above.
The moon was half full, but the tall trees kept its blue light from revealing her. She blended perfectly into the shadows. A bird perched near her foot, only to get a quick jolt from the gate’s security system. The bird flapped away. Silk remained, unharmed.
Her ears focused for sound, trying to listen for the soft hum of an invisible security laser. Picking up a noise so faint that mere humans couldn’t hear it, she smiled. She quickly mapped the haphazard pattern of lasers in her mind, marking a route to the home’s front door.
With unyielding precision, she hopped from the high gate and onto a tree branch. Spinnerets on the tips of her fingers cocooned a soft silk mass to the limb. Her hands clutched together, pulled above her head, as she lowered herself slowly down to the courtyard ground.
The strands of silk growing from her fingers twisted together to keep her from falling. Her knee high boots landed soundlessly in the grass. With a tug of her hands, the silk released itself from the branch and drifted off into the night, floating on the breeze, no heavier than a spider’s web.
* * * *
Nikandros glanced up from the electron microscope and grimaced. This wasn’t good. Running his hands through his hair, he mussed the dark locks in his frustration. He then leaned back in his chair to flex his tired neck muscles. If the little sample he’d been able to collect off of Quinlan’s hand was any indication, she was dabbling in the Bombyx project or knew someone who was.
He reached into the large pocket of his white lab coat and pulled out his video phone. Flipping it open, he set it on the desk atop a stack of papers and pushed redial. After several rings a man’s face appeared on the small screen.
“Korbin,” Nikandros said. Dark circles marred the skin beneath Korbin’s sleepy eyes and Nikandros watched him rub at them tiredly. “It’s confirmed.”
That woke Korbin up. Blinking blue eyes that seemed to drive women crazy, he stared out from the video display. His voice hard, he asked, “You’re sure?”
“Fairly,” Nikandros answered, though he wished he didn’t have to. “It could be why she’s going public after so many years.”
“Do you think she’s found the missing part of the formula?” Korbin asked.
“I can’t tell from the sample,” replied Nikandros. He scratched the back of his head, before smoothing down his hair. “But, if she has, this celebration could be a veritable seller’s market. Have you seen the copy of the guest list I sent you?”
Korbin nodded. “It’s a genuine who’s who of the scientific underworld. You made contact with her. Do you think she’s up to something?”
“It’s hard to tell. Her eyes are cunning,” Nikandros replied, thinking of Quinlan’s lovely green gaze. It had been haunting him ever since that playful smile she’d given him earlier in the park. Feeling his lower extremities becoming uncomfortably full at the memory, he cleared his throat and his head. “I can’t tell if it’s because she is eccentric or because she is a conspirator.”
“You need to get closer,” Korbin put forth. He nodded thoughtfully. “I think you should seduce her.”
Korbin had mentioned the idea before. Nikandros had toyed with it himself, especially after seeing what she looked like. He planned on taking it no further than his personal fantasies. Although, to seduce someone didn’t mean you took them to your bed necessarily. It just meant you made them want to be in it.
As if reading Nikandros’ thoughts, Korbin said, “And this time, I don’t just mean romance her. Get her into your bed and screw her—”
“I understand,” Nikandros interrupted with a deepening frown.
“What?” Korbin asked, sensing his friend’s hesitance. He almost looked as if he felt sorry for Nikandros’ situation, as he asked, “Is she that appalling?”
The answering scowl deepened.
“Ahh,” Korbin began to laugh and pounded his fist on his nightstand so that his video phone bounced. Nikandros detected a woman to moan sleepily from behind his friend’s back. Sniffing in merriment, Korbin lowered his tone to say, “She’s not, is she? Hell, man, it’s about time you got laid. Go get her, tiger.”
“I’m hanging up now,” Nikandros said, his tone dry.
“No, wait, Nick,” Korbin deman
ded. “I have to tell you something. It’s important.”
“What?”
“Do you still know how to do it? If not, I—” Korbin’s laughing voice was cut off as Nikandros shut the video phone.
All right, so it had been awhile since he was attracted to someone enough to sleep with them. He lowered his head onto his hands and groaned. Even know he could smell the erotic perfume of her body. As far as attraction went, Quinlan St. James had all the right equipment.
* * * *
Silk pulled low over the balcony. Scaling the side of the old Victorian hadn’t been too hard. Seeing a soft light in the window, she crept under it on her stomach. Then, coming to the edge of the balcony, she climbed over the rail. Weaving a strand from her spinnerets, she jumped off the side and swung herself from one balcony to another. Her cape flapped around her, displaying the tight gray body suit underneath.
Within moments, she worked her way to an opened window and slipped inside, headfirst over a windowsill. Standing, she saw she was in a small bathroom. The decontaminator unit was made to look like an old fashioned shower. She crouched underneath the moving light sensors, not wanting them to detect her. Hitting the black leather pouch on her belt, she again stood. The box would emit a pulse that scrambled any household droids or contraptions, keeping them from alerting their owners as they tried to ‘serve her’.
Opening the bathroom door, she stepped out into the hall and stealthily tried to make her way to the stairwell at the far end. Suddenly, a door opened and she froze. Her eyes widened as she pressed into the wall. She was too far from the bathroom to duck back in. Her heart began to pound.
She heard a woman’s voice giggle from within the bedroom. Silk looked all around for a place to hide. About to reach up and jump to the ceiling, she noticed movement by her side. A large, naked man came from the bedroom. His muscles rippled like an Olympian God and his member was still very much erect and vibrating. Sniffing, Silk grimaced. It was a pleasure droid and he reeked of sex.
Holding very still, she watched as the naked robot passed right next to her. She couldn’t help the curious glance over its backside. She grinned naughtily. For a machine, it was certainly a work of art. A darker face flashed through her head and her smile faded. Why was she thinking of Nick Grant at a time like this?
Hurrying down the stairs before the droid made the return trip back to his mistress’ bedroom, Silk rushed across the dark house. She barely noted the antique furniture, or the endless lace and frippery draping all over of it.
Taking a scanner from her belt, she held it up and began to search around, examining behind the walls. She stopped as she found the inner working of a time lock safe hidden behind some paneling. With a push of a button, she looked inside it. Only a packet of money and some family jewels flashed on her screen so she ignored it. Working her way from room to room, she suddenly stopped as she found what she was looking for. It was the entrance to Dr. Nathaniel’s laboratory.
Pulling back a fake wall, she pushed her pointer finger to the lock and filled it with a hard tissue, packing it full. Then, turning her hand, she unlocked the door and slipped downstairs to the basement.
The laboratory was as long as the courtyard outside. Bright light flooded the metal structure. Silk stealthily made her way over the walkway, pulling her cape over her shoulder so it could not tangle amongst her feet. Holding onto the rail, she hopped over the side. Her fingers wrapped their silken cords over the metal bar and she slowly lowered herself down, her arms directly over her head. Then, stopping, she grimaced.
A full head of dark hair was beneath her, lying on top of a messy desk. If she let go, she would land right on top of the late working scientist. Silk frowned. The lab was supposed to be empty. Dr. Nathaniel was out of town for business and his very lovely trophy wife was enjoying her rental upstairs. As she looked back up, her body began to twist and she turned slightly in the air.
Ah, hell!
Silk released the gossamer strands from her fingers and flipped through the air, dropping to the ground with a heavy thud behind the scientist’s body.
Nikandros felt the presence above him. He didn’t move, pretending to sleep on the desk. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. His senses peaked, ready to do battle. As he heard the thud behind him, he swung around, ready to strike.
He stiffened to see the lovely creature before him and the shock of it caused his first to lose momentum. She caught his fist in her hand, holding it. A silver clasp of a stylized butterfly kept a hood to her forehead. He couldn’t see her features beneath the tight mask and the cloak shaded the color of her eyes.
A tight gray body suit hugged every one of her curves, leaving nothing to the imagination but the texture of her skin. A black weapons belt hung low on her hips. Her waist was slender, curving delightfully up. The cape hid her upper body from view. The sexiest vinyl boots he had ever seen in his centuries of living molded over her calves. Nikandros smiled in manly appreciation.
He’d never been so turned on in his life—or, at least since earlier in the park. The woman blinked, looking more fully at him. He swore her eyes were flecked with purple.
Silk grabbed the hand that flew at her, surprised that the scientist would attack. Usually such men didn’t have it in them. Without warning, she froze, recognizing the handsome face. Her breath caught in her throat.
Silk looked the attractive man over, from his firm parted lips to his solid dark eyes that studied her. He had been in her thoughts since their meeting in the park. She desperately wanted to kiss him, wanted to fulfill the strange fantasies she had of him. But then, something odd happened. His eyes began to shift and change with red, just a tinting. If she hadn’t have seen him out during the day, she would have thought him a vampire.
Silk shook herself from the depths of his sultry dark gaze. The image of the naked pleasure droid came to mind to taunt her, as did her dreams of this man earlier in the day. She had the strangest urge to see if his body could even compare to the robot upstairs or to the fantasies in her head.
Unable to stop herself, she released his hand and twirled. The silk from her fingers pulled his arm around. In one swift motion, she had his wrist pinned behind his back in a silken web.
Nikandros froze, knowing he could get out of her trap if he wanted to. He’d have to reveal his powers to do it, but he could. He didn’t move. He didn’t want to. The action had brought her body close to him and she was pressed fully along his frame. Though her eyes were hard, the body molding into him was anything but.
Silk allowed herself to feel him, never knowing why she let temptation overcome her. Beneath the lab coat, she could feel that he was all solid man—from the definition of his abs to the rock-hard feel of his thighs against hers. To her amazement, she felt his body twitch and rise between her legs. His manhood pressed full into her, giving away its master’s thoughts.
Fear, she would have expected from him. But this?
“This is private property,” he whispered, his voice dipping low to send chills over her. He felt her reaction, smelled it in her. His lips brushed forward to where her mouth would have been under her disguise.
“Then I guess I’m trespassing,” she murmured back.
Nikandros swore he saw her mask shift with a smile. He knew she felt his body’s response to her and yet she didn’t back away.
“What do you want?” he asked. Vivid images of conquering her over every surface of the laboratory came to mind. “Why are you here?”
Feeling the insistent shove of his rising center as it burned firmly into her hip, she collapsed her body against him and whispered, “Not for this, sweetheart.”
Silk swung her hand around him, cocooning him faster than he could think to protest. Grabbing a handheld computer off the desk, she turned at a full run, leaping into the air as she flipped onto the top walkway.
Nikandros broke his arms free just in time to see her body swinging over the side rail. Giving chase, he leapt behind her. His l
ab coat fluttered to the ground as he stripped of it in midair.
Silk dashed through the living room. With a press of a button, she disarmed the front lawn security and was out the front door. Nikandros cursed as he came from the lab. Dr. Nathaniel’s maid unit sensed his presence and switched on. With a press of her cleavage beneath a skimpy French maid uniform, she tried to get in his way to offer him a drink.
Nikandros pushed her aside. The maid gasped. Her mouth widened with affront. His eyes growing molten with red outrage, he ignored the machine as he ran out the front door. His vision pierced through the darkness with ease, only to stop at the cloaked figure hiding in the shadows. He growled, running up the side of the tree to soar over the fence. Seeing her blurring body, he went after her.
Silk detected the moment he saw her hiding and jumped down from the gate. With a supernatural speed, she began to take off down the quiet residential street. She tried to lose him, jumping down an impossible side cliff with the aid of her gossamer threads. He was right behind her, springing without fear as if he could glide through the air with ease. Seeing a hover bus, she hopped on top of it, clinging to the roof as it sped down the street. Attaching herself with the thread from her fingers, she turned over onto her back to ease herself down the side.
Nikandros, his red gaze flashing fire, landed on top of her. Silk jolted. Nikandros’ body came hard against her as the bus hastened forward over the city streets. Everything blurred along their sides until trees and houses were no longer recognizable.
Silk didn’t dare let her fingers go, lest she lose her grip. If she did, they would both go flying to their deaths. Nikandros’ fingers curled strong and sure around her wrists. She tried to buck him off of her, but he merely bounced. She struggled against him, grunting to be free.
Silk Page 2