“He also provides personal protection services, Luca.” Her lips compressed into a stubborn line. “I’m not paying him to kill anyone, just to keep anyone from trying to harm me.”
“This is insane.” Hell, someone had to point out the obvious, so it might as well be him.
“I’ve been stalked before, and I’m scared. The other night with the knife—” She shook her head, cutting herself off. “It’s obvious I need help, and I do not want you involved in this. I’ve made that very clear already. Gregor came highly recommended by Millie Standish. She’s a trustworthy source of information.”
Luca didn’t even acknowledge her comment about his involvement. “I know Millie is trustworthy, but do you know what this man has done? What he’s capable of? Because I’ve cleaned up the aftermath at a couple of crime scenes. I’ve got some truly gruesome photos I can show you, if you want to see them.” He watched her pale, but it didn’t stop the anger coursing through him. “I don’t want him anywhere near you.”
She pulled in a breath that lifted her breasts and it annoyed him that he noticed. “I realize that he doesn’t have a warm, fuzzy reputation. If I wanted a kitten, I would have bought one. Name one person you could recommend who wouldn’t have a deadly history. You can’t, can you? Even Jack and Merek and you all have a ruthless, vicious, scary streak that you’ve used in your work.”
“We’re not criminals.” Luca had to concentrate to keep his fangs and talons retracted.
“You’re also not saints.” She spread her hands. “Gregor has never been convicted of anything, according to Millie. He’s the best at what he does, and I’m no match for the vampire I think is stalking me. It’s not like I can call the FBI in for protection from a stalker. I’ve been through this before—the police aren’t much help except for a restraining order.” She licked her lips. “This is my choice to make, not yours. I’m hiring Gregor.”
“I told you he’d be upset.” Gregor sat on the kitchen island, his feet swinging like a little kid’s as he avidly watched the byplay.
Balling his fists at his sides, Luca fought the need to put his fist down the bastard’s throat. “I’d advise you to keep your mouth shut, Mr. Night, before I decide to see what outstanding arrest warrants there might be with your name on them.”
Gregor sighed, rolling his eyes. “I’m raiding the refrigerator. Let me know when the two of you have worked out your little lovers’ spat.”
“Is he staying here?” Luca’s blood pressure hit the roof, and red mist swam before his eyes.
“He’s my 24/7 bodyguard, Luca. So yeah. He’s staying here.” She crossed her arms. “In his own bedroom, of course.”
Luca folded his arms, assuming the same obstinate body language. “Good, because I’ll be sharing your bedroom with you.”
Her mouth formed a perfect O of shock, her arms wilting at her sides. “Ex-excuse me?”
“You heard me.” He smiled. “I’m moving in here.”
Gesturing in Gregor’s general direction, she said faintly, “I already hired a bodyguard.”
Luca snorted. “Someone needs to protect you from him.”
Her mouth worked but nothing came out, as if she truly couldn’t believe he’d said what he’d said. She shook her head. “You really have gone insane. You can’t move in here without my permission.”
Arching an eyebrow, Luca waved a flippant hand. “Then you won’t mind if I have a little chat with your uncle to see how he feels about Gregor fucking Night living in your house.”
“My middle name is Albert, actually.” Gregor’s voice echoed from inside the fridge. “Though Fucking is probably better. Maybe I should consider changing it.”
They both ignored him, and Erin’s nostrils flared in anger. “You wouldn’t dare, Cavalli.”
His smiled because he absolutely would dare. “I’ll move my things in tonight.”
The look she gave him was sulfuric. “You can sleep on the couch.”
“Fine.”
“Fine!” She spun on her heel, stomped into her office and slammed the door behind her.
“Everything settled? Excellent.” Gregor emerged from the fridge with a pickle in his hand and gave Luca a bland smile. “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to sleep with a federal agent.”
“I can kill you in your sleep.”
“That’s more my forte than yours.” Gregor crunched on his pickle.
Instead of ripping the other man’s throat out the way he wanted to, Luca turned for the door. “I’ll be back with my things in under an hour. I trust you’ll both still be here and I won’t have any difficulty getting in.”
Gregor shrugged. “If that’s what the lady wants, of course.”
With his hand on the doorknob, Luca glanced back. “If she decides that’s not what she wants, you can remind her that I have Cousin Jack and Uncle Darren on speed dial.”
The other vampire cocked his head. “Why is Darren Kerr in your contact list?”
“Because there was this one incident where your brother tried to murder him. Remember that? I do. I’m sure he does too. And Jack. And Selina.” Luca smiled evilly. “And Delta.”
Gregor’s pleasant expression tightened. The change was barely perceptible, but Luca noticed. He let his grin widen. “I’m sure they would all love to know you’re back in town.”
“I get your point.” The redhead dipped his chin in a sharp nod.
“Then I’ll see you in an hour.”
A muscle flexed in his jaw. “If that’s what my client wants. If it isn’t, then I’ll deal with whatever personal consequences there are for me.”
It was fucked up, but that was exactly the kind of response Luca would want someone guarding Erin to give. He shook his head. “Every time I want to hate you, Gregor…”
The other vampire’s shrug was almost apologetic. “I get that a lot.”
He sighed and left. He didn’t like that Erin had turned to someone else for help, but he was glad she’d wised up to the fact that she needed help. The idiotic, vain part of him wished she’d turned to him. The ice-cold agent knew that Gregor was good at what he did and a tool Luca could use to help keep her safe while they figured out who was after her.
Too bad the idiotic, vain part of him was the one with the upper hand in his mind right now.
Erin threw herself down on the love seat in her office and hooked her knees over the arm so she could fit. Mostly.
He was moving in. Holy shit, how had this happened? She was going to have to tell Holly what was going on if Gregor started following her around, but having a hired bodyguard would convince her cousin to keep her mouth shut to the rest of the family. Unless Luca decided to make that phone call to Uncle Darren. She winced, not even wanting to contemplate the hell that would rain down on her then. She’d never, ever hear the end of letting vampires in her life. Asher would become the least of her worries, and that was saying something.
And yet her brain continued to circle back to the understanding that Luca Cavalli, the sexiest man alive, was moving in to her house. Along with her new live-in bodyguard.
This was going to go great.
She closed her eyes and suppressed a whimper. A few days ago, she’d vacillated over dropping her affair with Luca, and now he was forcing her to a level she’d never dreamed of. Okay, maybe in her pathetic fantasies she’d gone there, but never in real life. Really, what red-blooded woman who was shagging him blind wouldn’t at least think about it?
The worst part was, she felt better.
Gregor was here, Luca would be here—whenever he wasn’t working, of course—and she’d have two scary as hell Magickals who’d watch her back. Asher wouldn’t know what hit him, and that thought almost made her smile. The fucker deserved whatever Luca and Gregor had to dish out and then some. For stalking her before and for doing it now. A restraining order was pretty light punishment for terrorizing someone, but he wouldn’t have it so easy this time.
There really was something to be
said for calling in the big guns, especially when those guns did not belong to one’s nagging, overprotective family who would cast serious judgments on her life choices. She loved her family beyond measure, but this wasn’t something she wanted them involved in. For their safety and her sanity.
Letting a sigh ease out, she relaxed into the cushions. She’d heard the door shut behind Luca, and the quiet whoosh of the kitchen sink running as Gregor continued his raid on her foodstuffs, but other than that it was quiet.
She didn’t know how much time had passed when she tried to roll over, but she shot to wide-eyed alertness when she found herself falling—or rather, flopping—over on to her hands and knees. Painful tingles shot up her legs, which had fallen asleep draped over the arm of the loveseat. A little moan forced its way passed her lips. Her palms stung a bit from where they’d skidded over the throw rug on the floor, and she grunted as she picked herself up. There wasn’t much light coming in through the window, so at least a few hours had passed since she’d come in. That probably meant Luca was back, and a little shiver went down her spine as she thought of him sharing her home for more than a night.
Get a grip, Bates, she scolded herself. He was here because she was being stalked, and he had the same overly developed sense of protectiveness as her family. He probably would have done the same for any woman he was banging who landed in trouble. The thought was more depressing than reassuring.
She poked her head out of the office, but didn’t see either vampire. She heard the shower running from the guest room, so Gregor had to be there. No sign of Luca, and with the open layout of her condo, she had to assume he either wasn’t back yet or had gone out for some reason. She was still annoyed he’d blackmailed her into moving in, but there wasn’t anything she could do to stop him. Feeling helpless over her life made her angrier than him forcing his way into staying. Asher made her feel that way, not Luca. Until now.
Striding across the living room, she pushed her way into her bedroom and stopped dead.
Luca had just stepped naked out of her bathroom, scrubbing his hair dry with a towel.
“What are…?” She didn’t bother to finish the stupid question, because it was obvious what he was doing. Besides, her tongue had stuck itself to the roof of her mouth and her brain went on the fritz as the lust she could never quell around him seeped through her system. Normally, she reveled in that attraction—now it just made her feel even more powerless, and that angered her all over again.
His eyebrow arched. “You have a bathroom off your guest room and another in here, but only a half-bath for visitors. After Gregor’s comments about being thrilled to sleep with a federal agent now that I’m staying too, you’ll forgive me if I decided using your shower was the more prudent option.”
“Afraid he’ll overpower you and make you his bitch?” She smirked and enjoyed the way his eyes narrowed.
“Why? Is that something you’d enjoy watching?”
Against her will, the picture formed in her head, and it wasn’t as big a turn-off as she might have thought. Then again, anything that involved Luca revved her up. A little quiver of heat settled in her belly. “You know, he did ask if you’d turned gay. Apparently after a century, everyone experiments.”
A laugh rumbled out of him. “Maybe someday I’ll get bored with women, but not now. Besides, Gregor has a tendre for one of my agents, Delta Dubois. They have a not-quite-legal history together that I deliberately haven’t pried into, which makes her hate him with—and I quote—the ‘raging fire of a thousand volcanoes.’”
“That’s a lot of hate.” Erin gripped the doorjamb to keep from taking a step toward him. He’d continued to dry himself off, the nubby terrycloth sliding over every hard angle.
He tilted his head. “Gregor’s out of his room, so come in or leave, but close the door. Please.” A small smile quirked one side of his lips. “I’d prefer that you come in, but that’s your choice.”
She harrumphed at that and didn’t move. “You didn’t seem to care about my choices earlier.”
His jaw set, the muscles looking like stone beneath his tanned skin. “Not when you have a serial killer’s brother living with you, no.”
“He’s not his brother.”
“No. In some ways, he’s worse.” Luca wrapped the towel around his waist and secured it. “He’s in control of his killing, and there’s been a lot of it.”
“Some of it in the name of protecting others. Clients like me.” She glanced aside, her nails digging into the wood of the jamb. “I don’t want to be scared anymore. I don’t want to feel like throwing up every time my phone rings or jump at shadows or feel so goddamn helpless.”
“Cara mia.” His arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her away from the door and shutting it behind her. He cradled her against his broad chest, his palm smoothing down her hair, and it felt so good and warm and safe that she wanted to sob. “I know that helpless feeling. I’ve watched women who mattered to me die—or be attacked—and there was nothing I could do but watch. I can’t…do that again. I have to be here with you, Erin. For you. Or for myself. I don’t even know which anymore, but I can’t stand back and do nothing and look at myself in the mirror every day. Perhaps Gregor could provide all the protection and investigation you need, but two of us are better than one. And I’m more affordable than he is.”
“And what do I pay you with? Sex?” The sarcasm didn’t come across as sharp or biting as she’d intended, but it was all she could do to keep her hands at her sides and not cling to whatever strength he was willing to share.
“Nothing.” He tugged at one of her curls. “I’m here for you because I care, even if that caring makes you uncomfortable. Even if it makes both of us uncomfortable.”
“What if it makes Gregor uncomfortable?”
“Gregor can kiss my ass,” he growled, the last word rattling with a vampiric hiss.
“He might like that.” The joke was weak, but it was either find a way to laugh or cry about the way her life had shoved her beyond of any kind of comfort zone.
Luca swatted her backside lightly. “I told you—Gregor wants Delta. He’s not interested in men. Or at least not in me, and not in that way.”
Jolting forward to get away from the sting only brought her into full contact with his well-toned body. She closed her eyes, trying to convince herself to step away from him. But insidious heat sapped her will to move. She should be congratulated on keeping her hands to herself, but that was the sole victory she could claim, and like everything else lately, that made her mad—at her own weakness, her lack of control over her life, everything.
His chest expanded in a deep breath, and his sigh ruffled against her hair. “I can sense your desire, but also your turmoil. Do you want to tell me about it?”
“No, and I don’t want you to seduce it out of me either.” She shuddered when the hand that had smacked her ass began stroking the globe through her clothes. The rigid arc of his cock pressed against her stomach, making her body respond. The craving that she had reveled in when they’d met seemed to mock her now—one less thing she had any control over. And she wanted some control, she needed it. She planted her palms against his chest and shoved out of his arms. “Do you want me?”
Wariness filled his gaze and his hands lifted in placation, but he answered readily enough. “Always.”
“Fine, then we do this my way tonight.” Her tone was too angry, too ferocious, and any man in his right mind would have turned around and run.
He looked at her for a long moment before he nodded. “Tell me what you need.”
A smile twisted her mouth. Her headboard was a unique piece—an old barn door turned sideways, painted bright red, and mounted over the bed. The hardware had been left on, which meant the door handle made a very interesting place to bind a lover to the bed. Luca had done it to her often enough, but she’d never returned the favor. She’d never wanted to, and as a vampire, he could break through anything she had to tie him. Except…her smile wi
dened, her thoughts turning to something far naughtier. His shirt, slacks and tie were draped at the end of her bed, his shoulder holster and handcuffs lay on her nightstand. Stepping over to the nightstand, she flicked open the leather case that held the cuffs. “These are law enforcement issued. If I remember rightly, they have spells in them that mean even a Magickal can’t escape them.”
She dangled them from one finger and watched his throat work as he stared at her hand. “Yes.”
It was an answer to more than one question. Not only a confirmation of what the handcuffs could do, but an agreement to what she wanted from him tonight. Submission.
“Take off the towel and lie down on the bed.” She moved aside to let him do just that and gathered up his clothes to toss them over the top of her dresser. After hesitating just a moment, she picked up the silk tie and slung it over her shoulder. There were several things this could be useful for.
When she turned back, her tall, strong vampire was stretched out on her mattress, his arms already over his head, his dark gaze watchful. He was, without a doubt, the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. A woman couldn’t ask for more physical perfection in a lover, but it was the fact that he was here, willing to give her whatever she needed, even if it went against his dominant alpha male nature, that made him unspeakably attractive. She approached the bed, set her knee next to his chest, reached up and secured him to the headboard with his own handcuffs. A little shiver of utter power went through her, and with it came a roar of desire like fire in her veins.
“All mine,” she whispered. “For tonight.”
He swallowed, nodded once, but said nothing. She didn’t know if it was because he was at her mercy or because the spells in the cuffs took his magic, but he seemed more…human…than he ever had before. Normal was perhaps a better word, since Magickals were humans too, just a slightly different kind.
“So, you really can’t escape?” She trailed the tip of her finger up one biceps.
“No,” he said, his voice raspy. His muscles stood out in sharp relief as he strained against the cuffs. The headboard groaned, but it was securely bolted into the wall studs. It wasn’t going anywhere. Not without magic, anyway.
Edge of Night Page 20