by Keri Arthur
“So,” Hunter responded, her voice a purr that was pure satisfaction. “Catherine is slated to die regardless of what we do. And in a manner that most becomes the bitch.”
“Yeah, she loves you, too,” I said.
Hunter laughed. It was not a pleasant sound, sending chills down my flesh. “I’m sure she does. Did you ask her to write up a list?”
“Yes. She said she’d get one of her thralls to deliver it.”
“Good. It will be interesting to see if there are any similarities to my own.”
“And if there are? Do you want me to pursue those leads or will you?”
“That will depend on which names we agree on,” she said, leaving me a little up in the air as to how to proceed. “What do you plan next?”
“I’m going to talk to Adeline Greenfield. She apparently set the protection wards Alston has in her home.”
“And you think the wards are faulty?”
“No. I’m just covering bases.”
“Excellent.” She paused, and darkness seemed to creep into her eyes. “It’s in your best interest to remember what you risk with the task, Risa. Keep me updated, or pay the price.”
I resisted the urge to gulp and said, “I will.”
The phone went blank. I blew out a breath, a little relieved to have gotten off so lightly, and said, “Tao.” Once again the phone sprang into action.
“Hey,” Tao said, as he came online. I could hear pots clanging in the background, which meant he was either at work or cooking up a storm at home. I was betting on the former. “What’s happening?”
“I wanted to ask you not to go home tonight.”
“I wasn’t planning to, but why? What’s happened?”
“Azriel and I stole the Dušan book back. I suspect the Raziq just might be a little aggravated about it.”
“Oh yeah, I imagine they would be,” he said drily. “I’m gathering everything went okay? You didn’t get hurt?”
“I’m fine,” I said, hoping he’d ignore the fact my voice ached with tiredness. And I was really glad he couldn’t see the state I was in.
“Ilianna’s here at the restaurant, so I’ll warn her as well. She can stay at Mirri’s until you give us the all clear.”
“It’ll probably be just for tonight.” Once the Raziq discovered the book wasn’t at our apartment, we’d be good to return home—I hoped. “How come you’re at the café tonight?”
“Hanna called in sick and we couldn’t find a temp.” He gave me a decidedly wicked grin. “It’s just as well I have legendary stamina, given I’m also on for the morning shift.”
I smiled back, even though what he said was true. He did have fantastic stamina, in the bedroom and out—a fact I knew because we’d once been lovers.
“I daresay you already have some luscious lady on standby to massage your poor tired self afterward.”
“I daresay I have,” he said cheerfully, then his expression sobered. “Keep in touch, or I’ll be contacting Riley.”
“I will.” Riley had given both Tao and Ilianna stern orders to get in touch the minute they even suspected I was in trouble. And Aunt Riley could be pretty damn scary when she wanted to be. “But I’m meeting Lucian at six, so don’t expect to hear anything from me until midday, at least.”
“Oh, thank God,” he replied, voice fervent but a twinkle in his eyes. “Do you know how grouchy you’ve been lately?”
“Says the man who has never experienced sexual frustration in his entire life?”
“And who has no intention of ever experiencing it,” he replied. “Take care of yourself.”
“Will do.” I hung up, then caught the elevator down and walked across the ramp over the road and into the airport. I desperately needed to sleep, but I wasn’t about to walk into the nearby Hilton looking like something the cat had coughed up. Thankfully, there were showers in the airport, and the stores were open twenty-four seven. I ignored the curious looks my bedraggled appearance was prompting and bought a week’s worth of clothes, simply because I had no idea when I was going to be able to head back home. Then, keeping Lucian’s promise to rip anything I was wearing right off again in mind, I found a sexy but inexpensive dress and headed to the nearest bathroom to shower and change.
Only to find someone waiting for me on the other side of the door when I opened it. I instinctively jumped back before I realized it was Azriel.
“For fuck’s sake,” I said, my gaze sweeping him and noting with relief that both the blood and the bullet wound had disappeared. “You could have at least warned me you were here.”
He crossed his arms and leaned his butt back against one of the sinks. “Do you not usually sense when I’m near?”
“Sometimes,” I muttered, feeling all that warm heat wash over my skin and stir things that had no right to be stirring. “But not always. How did you get the bullet out?”
“Once I was sure the Raziq were not following me, I called for help.”
“There are reaper field medics?”
His amusement stirred all around me, further fueling the fires. I resisted the urge to pat my face with cold water as I washed my hands.
“There are no field medics. I called a friend.”
I studied him for a moment, wondering if that friend was male or female. Wondering why I even cared. “What about the Dušan’s book?”
“For the moment, it is safely hidden in the gray fields.”
“It can’t stay there.” For me to read it, it had to be here on earth while I was on the gray fields, not the other way around.
He nodded. “But I suspect that the Raziq might have put some sort of locator spell on it. The minute we bring it out of the gray fields, they will be able to trace it.”
I frowned. “And you can’t undo the spell?”
“No. As I’ve said, reapers are not magic users. We can sense its presence, and we can sometimes—with care—manipulate it, as we did with the portals, but that is it.”
“What about the Brindle witches? Do you think they’d have a shot?”
“No. The Aedh priests have forgotten more magic than your witches will ever know.”
Oh fab. Not. I studied him for a moment, then said, “Well, I’m not going to attempt to read the book now. I need some sleep before I meet Lucian in a few hours.”
Something frosty crept into the air. He stood upright and gave me a slight bow. “I shall leave you in peace, then.”
With that he winked out of existence, making me wonder what the hell was happening. Or was he the same as ever, and it was me who was the problem? Or rather, my habit of reading far more into his words and actions than was intended?
I sighed, then dried my hands and headed across to the Hilton, taking a room for the night. Then, once inside, stripped off and slept the sleep of the dead—for a whole three hours. It wasn’t anywhere near enough, but at least it took the edge off my exhaustion.
I freshened up again, then pulled on my dress, smoothing its silky sides over my curves so that they clung like a second skin. I didn’t bother with underclothes—I might have bought them, but they were too nice to sacrifice if Lucian did go through with his threat.
Anticipation throbbed in a low-down ache as I left the room and walked—limped, given my leg was only half healed and still sore—across to the airport.
Naturally, his plane was late. I grabbed some breakfast—deciding on pancakes smothered with bananas and caramel sauce, simply because I figured I’d need the calories in the hours to come—and munched on it while I watched the screens and wondered if it were actually possible to burst with frustration.
His plane finally pulled in thirty-five minutes late. I leaned against a concrete pillar, scanning the disembarking passengers, my limbs trembling with anticipation. Damn, this was bad. The next time he went away, I needed to get to Franklin’s at least once.
Eventually, I saw him. He towered over those nearest him, his hair gleaming like finely spun gold in the airport’s harsh overhead light
ing. His gaze scanned the waiting crowd and—when his green eyes met mine—a bright smile lit his face.
I pushed away from the pillar and walked across to him, loving the way he moved—like a sleek cat that had its quarry in sight. He dropped his bag onto the floor next to me, wrapped his arms around my waist, then kissed me.
It was heat and passion and desire, but his kisses also transcended all that, becoming something far more powerful and unearthly. Electricity surged between us, swirling around our flesh, through our flesh, until it seemed our flesh had disappeared and we were nothing more than night and air and energy. It was amazing. Truly amazing. And it was all I could do not to beg him to take me here and now.
When we finally parted, I could barely breathe and my legs felt like water.
He smiled as his hands slid from my waist. “I did so miss your lips.”
I arched an eyebrow and said teasingly, “Just my lips?”
“And your neck, and your breasts, and your waist, and your—” He paused as his hands slid over my rump, and a fierce light flared in his eyes as he pulled me even closer. His erection, thick and hard, pressed against my belly, making me wish there weren’t several layers of clothing separating us. His lips brushed my ear as he murmured, “Is it too much to hope that you’ve reserved a room at the Hilton? Otherwise, I might just be tempted to cause a major scene.”
I laughed, cupped his face with my hands, and kissed him fiercely but quickly. “Luckily for everyone in the terminal, I did have such foresight. Do you have any luggage to collect?”
“No,” he said, grabbing my hand as he bent to pick up his bag with the other. “Shall we go?”
“Let’s.”
We all but ran through the terminal and over the footbridge to the Hilton. The elevator doors hadn’t fully closed before he was stalking toward me, a heated look in his eyes.
I grinned as my back hit the wall. “So,” he said softly, stopping so close that all I could feel was the heat of his desire, and all I could smell was the raw scent of eager, hungry male. “I do believe I threatened to tear the clothes off your body the minute I saw you.”
“The elevator is hardly an appropriate place,” I murmured, resisting the urge to arch toward him. To encourage him with the press of my body, the heat of my need.
“It is likely to get us arrested if anyone happens to be monitoring the cameras.” He raised his hands, his fingers teasing the top edges of the dress and causing my already hard nipples to ache with even greater intensity.
I flicked my gaze to the camera in question, then glanced at the floor indicator. My room was on the hotel’s top floor, and the elevator was moving at a glacial pace.
“What would your clients think if you were arrested for indecent behavior in an airport hotel elevator?” I asked, pressing just a little into his touch as his hands skimmed down my body then moved back up again.
“They would think I’m a lucky man.” And with that, he gripped the edges of my dress and tore it open. “A fucking lucky man,” he repeated, his gaze sweeping down my fully exposed flesh.
Then he pressed against me, his lips claiming mine, his kiss like fire and his body trembling with the force of his desire. He kissed my chin, my throat, my shoulder blades. I gasped and climbed up his body, wrapping my legs around his waist, cursing the material that still separated us.
The elevator tinged and the doors opened. His grip slid down to my butt, supporting me as he swung us both around. “What room?” he growled, in between kisses.
“Nine-ten,” I gasped, throwing my head back as his tongue teased the base of my neck.
We reached my room. I somehow swiped the key through the scanner and pushed it open. Lucian kicked the door closed but didn’t step any farther into the room, pressing me back against the door instead.
“I need you,” he said, his voice a rough, urgent vibration that ran through every part of me. “So badly, right now.”
“Then take me,” I muttered, the need to feel him inside of me so fierce that it was becoming hard to breathe.
He shifted his grip, supporting me one-handed while he undid his pants with the other. I tore open his shirt and ran my hands across the hard, golden planes of his chest. Then I gasped again as he plunged inside me, going as deep as it was possible to go. Pleasure spiraled through me, as fast and as furious as his movements. This wasn’t lovemaking, this was fucking, pure and simple. And oh, it was so glorious. The tightness built up inside me, radiating out in fierce waves to the very tips of my toes and fingers, until it felt as if my body was ready to explode.
Then everything did explode, and I was shuddering and shaking with the force of my orgasm. A heartbeat later he came—an animal roar torn from his throat and echoing through the hush of the room.
For several seconds afterward, neither of us moved. He rested his forehead against mine, his rapid breaths fanning my lips, stirring the embers of barely sated desire. He was still semi-hard inside me, and anticipation of what was yet to come zinged through me. An Aedh’s lovemaking might never live up to the promise of his kisses—mainly because an Aedh’s kiss was designed solely to gain compliance for the act that followed—but it sure as hell blew everyone else I’d ever had out of the water.
“That was not a bad starter,” he murmured after a while. He raised his head, his wicked smile creasing the corners of his bright eyes. “You realize, of course, that after not having sex for well over a week, I have an almost unquenchable desire to lose myself in your flesh for the next week or so?”
I touched his cheek then ran my fingers down to his lips. He caught one finger, sucking on it lightly. A tremor ran through me. “I’m afraid I can’t manage a week. I can, however, promise you the next eight hours.”
Which would mean I’d have to go straight to work from here—but right then, I wasn’t caring.
“Only eight?” He clicked his tongue as he swung us both around and walked across to the king-sized bed. “That’s hardly enough to take the edge off.”
I laughed as he lowered us both to the bed, somehow managing not to break our intimate connection. “Then what about if I also promise to give you as much free time as I can manage over the next week?”
“That,” he murmured, as he began to move inside me again, “will just have to do. Now, shall we get down to business?”
“Let’s,” I agreed, and we did.
I relaxed against the back of the large bath and lightly played with the bubbles floating around my toes. Lucian walked in and offered me a glass of champagne, then sat down on the edge of the bath and studied me with a smile.
“If you don’t get out of that water soon, you’ll prune up.”
If I didn’t get out soon, I’d be horribly late for work. I sighed wistfully and took a sip of bubbly. “I know. I’m just all languid and content. Moving would spoil the moment.”
He laughed softly and clinked his glass against mine. “My job has been done, then.”
“For a while, at least,” I agreed. Which didn’t mean I’d offer too many protests if he decided he wanted another round. Even if it meant I’d be late.
“So how did the book hunting go?” he asked after a moment.
I blinked. “So it’s true. You can invade my thoughts.”
“I wouldn’t really call it invading,” he said, amusement teasing the lips I’d kissed so often this morning. “Nor is it truly telepathy. There are only a few relatively minor areas of your thoughts open to me. Unlike most, you seem to have more than your fair share of secret compartments.”
“Well, good,” I said, a little tartly. “A girl does like to keep her secrets, you know.”
“Then have no fear. I can only read what is foremost in your mind, and the Dušan book appears to be your biggest concern.”
I sipped my champagne and studied him over the rim. Was he telling the truth? For some odd reason, I suspected not—even though I wasn’t seeing any of the usual signs of deception. But maybe he wasn’t. Maybe I was just being over
ly suspicious thanks to everything that had happened to me over the last few months.
But if he knew about the Dušan book, then he undoubtedly knew we’d appropriated it from the Raziq. And why.
“It’s supposed to tell us what form the keys take,” I said eventually.
“Supposed?” he said. “You haven’t tried to read it yet?”
I shook my head. “Azriel suspects the book may have a locator on it.”
“Azriel being your guardian reaper?”
“Stalker,” I corrected, even though he’d saved my life that very morning. “Azriel wants what everyone else wants—my father.”
Lucian grinned and dipped a hand into the water, running his fingers lightly up my leg. “I don’t want your father. I’d much rather have the luscious, wanton female lying naked in my bath.”
My skin tingled where he touched and my hormones shifted from languid satisfaction to eager anticipation. I ignored them and said teasingly, “I vaguely recall you stating that you’ve indulged in more than your fair share of threesomes and orgies over the centuries. Are you saying that not one of those involved a male?”
“No, I am not,” he murmured, his fingers caressing higher up my thigh, making my breath grow ragged. “And I’m always more than happy to share some loving with several females and males. Now, however, the idea of a regular, one-on-one coupling has taken my fancy. Did you get this wound when you were retrieving the book?”
I nodded. The bullet wound was still raised and nasty looking, but at least the ache had eased. In a day or so, it probably wouldn’t even be noticeable. Which didn’t stop me wishing yet again that I’d gotten a higher percentage of a werewolf’s natural healing ability, because I had a bad feeling I was going to need it over the coming weeks.
“I hope our athletic escapades haven’t caused you any discomfort.”
“You would have heard me complaining if they had.”
He raised an eyebrow. “So you would have no objections if we continued said escapades in the bath?”
“Why would you want to do that when I apparently resemble a prune?”
He grinned. “Did I ever mention that I’m rather fond of prunes?”