by Tigris Eden
“This is the right thing.” A slow voice said next to her ear. Was he answering her question or insinuating something else?
It was the guy sitting next to her. Royce.
“No, I’m just very good with minds.” He gave her a wide Cheshire cat grin and she could see his fangs. Great she was in the company of a vampire who could read minds. Just what she needed, someone intruding on her most private thoughts.
“Well that all depends on what you have in your head. The only thing I’m interested in, is finding the rest of the missing vampires. Everything else is circumstantial, and none of my concern.”
He leaned closer and tugged on her hair.
“Don’t worry sweet, I won’t tell the captain he was the star attraction in your porn slide.”
The men in the room all chuckled under their breaths. They’d heard what he said regardless that it was whispered to her. She was sitting in a room full of immortals.
“Whatever.” Jesminda shot back. “It’s not my fault, I’m sure of it.”
“You are correct in that assumption and I apologize that I had any effect on you at all. I will remember to maintain composure when in your presence. I don’t get out much.” Dravaggio said with a slight nod. A gesture she knew meant he wanted her to continue.
Royce chuckled again and Jes promised herself to avoid him at all cost, she didn’t need him playing around in her head, and Dravaggio messing with her libido. This was serious and she needed their help.
Seven sets of eyes waited for her story. Jesminda cleared her throat and began a very detailed explanation of what she knew and what her assumptions were when it came to her ex Marcus. The men all sat and listened; even Oliver seemed more receptive to her explanation as to why she was unable to tell him the next location. She explained that when she’d first met Marcus, after a couple of months of dating he’d told her of the existence of immortals. She didn’t believe him. But then her best friend was an immortal. She couldn’t tell them about Bells, wouldn’t. When her people were ready to come out to the governments of the world, they would. Problems would arrive once they did, but it wasn’t her secret to share.
“Who’s Bells?” This came from the resident bad ass as he called himself, Royce. Dark brown hair and amber eyes. In the light, she could see flecks of green and gold. He seemed smoother, more casual than the others. His twin Ronin was shaved bald. Silver eyes stared back at her from a harsh face. Ronin was the animal and Royce was the man.
On cue, Ronin growled and Royce laughed.
Shit! She’d forgotten about them.
“Bells is my best friend. She’s the one who is watching my daughter for me. That’s the other thing.” She looked over at Captain Dravaggio. “I need to pick her up. She needs to be safe. And the only way it’s going to happen is if she’s with me.”
“Bells is an immortal?” Royce asked.
“It’s not my story to tell. When her people are ready to come forward they will.” Jes pleaded with her eyes and in her head for him to not ask her for something she couldn’t reveal. Faith needed to be with her. End of story.
The captain looked from her to his men and they all nodded in unison. There were some audible grunts and a bit of chair moving, but they’d decided. A United front. She let out a deep breath and relaxed her body. She just needed to get through this with her sanity intact. She gave them all the details she could pull from her memory. The late night flights and the men he surrounded himself with. She told them how Vince plugged in the wrong GPS coordinates that were supposed to lead her to a romantic dinner. And how she ended up at one of his apartments where he was holding the vampires prisoner instead.
She explained how she’d met a barely lucid Theresa, who’d told her to search Shadow Unit on the web and the name of her father. Theresa also told her how they were moved every other month, and kept weak. She talked about the blood sport some were forced to participate in, and the eating of vampire flesh allowed to those who paid top dollar. Marcus would even let them cut the part of the skin they wanted to eat most. One woman had even opted for a vampire’s genitals, balls and all. She thought if she ingested his flesh, she would become impregnated and immortal. It would never work and that poor vampire would never be the same. The blood he was allowed to drink would not replenish his pride or his manhood, if he even survived that. Vampires didn’t rejuvenate from severe injuries didn’t matter what caste they were from or how much blood they consumed. It wouldn’t be enough to heal them. The only way to heal from a huge injury of that nature was to drink from a pure Vampiri. The purer the blood line, the better chance to recover.
Jesminda watched Oliver as she related the entire ordeal. She wasn’t able to escape with his daughter, and she knew he was angry. At least she was opting to get them help. But also help for you and Faith. Stay focused.
She told them everything and no one interrupted her once. Not even when she finished talking. The silence in the room was telling as the air seemed to chill. The men around the conference room began strategizing on how they could locate Marcus’s place before he moved the vampires again. Captain Dravaggio approached her and sat down in the seat next to her. He scooted his chair forward and placed his elbows on the desk. Head bent towards her, he looked right into her eyes. The man was dangerous with sexy. Justin Timberlake had it all wrong. He was not bringing sexy back, Dravaggio was. And he was doing it times ten and then some. There was no way some woman hadn’t snagged him.
“Jesminda? Can I call you that or would you prefer me to use your maiden name?” His voice did funny things to her skin. It caressed her arms and face. She blinked and cleared her throat.
“Jesminda is fine, thank you Captain Dravaggio.”
“Please call me Stephan,” he gently took her hands into his and leaned closer. Did he not understand the boundaries of personal space? The sultry scent of him had her leaning forward as well. It was a mixture of spice and anise. He’d obviously forgotten to turn off his pheromones. She was still effected, more so, now as he sat closer to her. Jesminda cleared her throat, and Dravaggio seemed to understand her meaning. Suddenly the heat on her skin evaporated and was replaced with calm. Much better.
“Agent Stone wasn’t here for the meeting this evening. He should have been but he’s just a little upset about having to take on this assignment.” The captain said softly. She knew he wasn’t hitting on her, but damn all her woman parts were on board with offering her body up as a sexual sacrifice.
Through the semi-sexual induced haze Dravaggio supplied, she realized he’d told her that her protector wasn’t on board with his job. She let her disdain show. She didn’t want someone who wasn’t in this fully. She needed real protection. If the captain couldn’t provide her with the proper security, Faith would be taken from her and she would be killed. Jes removed her hands from Stephan’s and absently rubbed her stomach.
There was a long slash across her shoulder down to her stomach. From the night she’d tried to escape. It had been before she even knew about captive vampires. She’d quietly slipped from bed and walked into her daughter’s room. A stashed duffel bag and some cash were under the back seat of one of his Escalade’s. She’d dressed Faith before putting her to sleep into a warm jumper, so the night air wouldn’t affect her much. Not much did as her daughter’s temperature ran higher than any humans. But she was a mom and a responsible one. There was only a hand full of steps to freedom when she’d thought she was safe. She’d reached for the clasp on the front door, pulled as softly as possible. Faith was sleep and warm in her arms as the door swung wide. She saw the car, was stepping off the step when an arm wrapped around her stomach and jerked her back into solid chest. The air in her lungs froze in fear. It had taken all of her strength to keep hold of Faith as she was violently swept against his body. One of Marcus’s men stepped from the kitchen taking Faith from her. Helpless to stop him, she watched in horror as Vince slung her child over his shoulder. Faith slept through the entire ordeal, and she hadn’t known w
hy until Marcus whispered into her ear.
“Little Faith won’t come to Jesminda. I had Vince dope her full of my latest concoction. Don’t worry, she won’t be hurt. I’m sure her shifter genes are burning through the medicine as we speak.”
Marcus licked the side of her neck making her entire body shiver in disgust. She stood as still as her heart and nerves would allow while he spoke in low tones to her.
“Were you really just going to leave? Take our daughter and just disappear without a trace? Tsk Tsk my lovely. I love you, I will always find you.” Marcus even sounded sincere, but she knew the truth. Her body naturally reacted to the words I love you. Instead of joy and happiness, she felt immense pain and betrayal. Those three words had the power to undo her in a bad way.
Marcus bit her painfully on the ear. That was the last thing she felt before her took the knife he held at his side and slashed the duffel from her shoulder. He’d purposely slashed the blade deep into her skin. He continued pulling the blade, careful not to nick an artery until she had a gash that ended at her hip and stomach. He’d done it as a warning and then had the bastard Vince patch her up as he’d wiped her blood on her own soaked pant leg. She’d passed out from the pain after the tenth or so stitch. Vince hadn’t used anything to numb her. She could feel each pinch of the needle and the feel of thread through her skin as he sewed her back together.
Stephan stared at her when she finally straightened and came back from her memory. Jes stood from her chair. She knew her expression wasn’t a pleasant one and she didn’t give a damn. Whoever this Agent Stone was could go to hell. Why wasn’t Oliver on the case? It was his daughter. Theresa was one of the ones that had gone missing. It would have made more sense. He would be the one best suited for the job and he had as much to lose as she did.
“Stephan, why isn’t Oliver the one watching over me?” She asked with an air of authority. She was not going to let them call all the shots. Her safety and Faith’s were on the line.
“Oliver is still considered new to his House. There are protocols he must follow that even I can’t counter act. Agent Stone is a werewolf and is able to be with you at all times no matter what. He is not held by such things.”
Jesminda didn’t believe for a second Agent Stone would take his assignment serious. She needed to be sure she and Faith would be safe. Agent Stone should have been at this debriefing. Not off doing whatever the hell it was he was doing. She snorted loud enough to get the attention of the other men in the room. She didn’t care. She wanted them all to know she was unhappy. No one said a word as she looked around the room trying to decide how she was going to play her next move. She needed any hand she could get.
Jesminda took a step back from the table and begin ticking off reasons why Agent Stone was not going to be of any use. If she had to go on Oliver’s protocol to accomplish what she needed, then so be it. She would do it for her; she would do it for Faith. Even the guy who could read minds would be better. Every man in this room was better than Agent Stone as far as she was concerned. They at least showed up.
“Don’t say it honey. Forget it.” This came from the twin with the bald head. Ronin was it?
“Yeah. Ronin.”
She cleared her mind. She was not going to be baited into saying something in her head she normally would not say aloud.
“That definitely works for me.” Ronin nodded over in Dravaggio’s direction and stood. “I got some things I need to handle.” He looked over at Jesminda and nodded his head. At least he had manners.
“Stephan, I would prefer any other of your men take on this assignment than Agent Stone.”
Chapter 6
The fucking smell wouldn’t leave his nostrils. He had purposely not gone to that meeting. He wanted to be there to get the information necessary to do the job, but getting as far away from the scent as possible was priority. She’s not even here. Whoever it was would have immediately seen the state he was in and that would be inappropriate. He couldn’t bring himself to go to the debriefing with a hard on. Or have the twins all in his shit. All because of a fucking smell that drove his insides insane. He’d dreamed of it and the woman attached to the sensual aroma for five years. Talk about obsessed. He bordered stalker when it came to her. He couldn’t tell Melissa what he dreamt about, even if he did take his sexual frustrations out on her. She didn’t smell like his mystery woman. Shitty way to think. And he knew it was wrong, but still fucked Melissa raw last night hoping to sate his lust. Maybe it was the reason he smelled her now. It made things worse for him because as he’d closed his eyes and pictured her face, smelled her scent. Imagined it was her body he was driving into. The need so strong the bed frame threatened to break.
Melissa didn’t deserve to be treated like that, no woman did. He cared deeply for her and it was a significant enough step that they had moved in together. Everything was coming into place in their relationship. It had all the ingredients one would, except for love. And fucking fire. The fire should have been a pivotal enough factor to deter him elsewhere, but he’d stayed. Not even the smallest cinder for Melissa, just warm feelings. It has to be enough. Resolve had settled in months ago. He would do right by Melissa. His father wanted to know he could lead their pack. His mother complained about grandchildren constantly. He was tired and restless; Melissa would be the perfect addition to the pack. He knew she loved him. He’d only lied to her once. A lie of omission he’d kept his dark fantasy about his one night with a mortal woman to himself. Hadn’t told her on the nights when he woke, his dick hard as steel and he’d sexed her for hours, it wasn’t her he was trying to pound into the bed, but his phantom lover.
Her island smell drove him to extremes, made him want things he could never have. It’s what had his skin crawling. He rounded the corner just as he heard a voice. Her voice. He shook his head for a moment to clear the haze. She couldn’t possibly be here, in this building. Ever. You’re losing it Stone.
“Stephan, I would prefer any other of your men on this assignment than Agent Stone.” His heart stopped. The air in his passageways froze in place. If his heart hadn’t been secured tightly behind its rib cage, it would have exploded from that sound. On the other side of the door was his tropical flower. He couldn’t see her, couldn’t touch her, but fuck if her scent didn’t linger around him in a loving caress. A caress that stroked his cock to a painful hardness and a voice that slid against his skin in a fiery blaze. Draven walked and stood in front of the conference room; its double doors wide open. He was dumbfounded, she was even more beautiful than he remembered. She soaked his senses and drowned him in her presence. There were words he wanted to speak. Things needed to be said, yet, nothing came out. His throat was closed. His inner beast whined to taste her, touch her. He wanted to bite her and lick the pain away.
She was wearing white Capri jeans with sandals, and a pink button up shirt. He hadn’t seen her skin entirely covered with so little showing. It turned him on. He absently rubbed the back of his neck and closed his eyes to savor the moment.
Her hair was down. Large ringlets caressed her cheek and beautiful neck. The playful strands of red were missing, only thick, rich mahogany covered her perfect face. Her eyes were more exotic, and haunted. Bad shit was mixed in with a mother’s love. His flower suffered a lot since their time together. He wanted to make her laugh, not see her face marred with worry and fear. Honey eyes torn, stared back at him in recognition. Her mouth opened on a gasp. Draven stood as still as possible, he didn’t want to upset her more. Clearly, she was unsettled by his presence. The last time they’d seen one another, a woman was wrapped around his body like a tight rope. A vampire named Chloe. He was on a job and she was his contact. Memories of that night flooded his brain. Damn, he should have gone after her. Things might have turned out differently. How?
His inner wolf clawed at his insides, wanting out. She was standing in front of his men, eyes wide in shock. The uncertainty and the fear assaulted his nose. He knew that to a human they could be ov
erwhelming. Yet, she stood toe to toe with his captain, upset and scared. All he wanted to do was hold her. Damn, he shouldn’t even go there, it was a complication. Not a benefit.
He took a step forward into the room, she took a step back. She doesn’t want anything to do with you moron. He was not about to ruin this with her twice. He took another step. Melissa. Girlfriend. Fellow Werewolf. Fuck! That got his attention. He was backing her into a wall and hadn’t realized it. He needed to stand down.
The Captain cleared his throat. “Jesminda this is Agent Draven Stone. He is going to be the one to take care of you and your daughter.”
Jesminda took a step toward him. She seemed to gain her footing rather quickly as she spoke her next words. “I will not,” she pointing a finger directly at him, “be working with Agent Stone. Stick me with Gabe or the other guy.” She looked in the direction of his best friend Royce and pointed. “Give me the dude that can read minds. Anyone but him.” The fire in her eyes would have turned him to ash if it were possible.
Anyone but him? Not one fucker in this building was taking this case. He was outraged. Did she honestly think he’d let someone take care of her and her offspring? Not fucking happening! To have the audacity to voice such a thing. Incredulity burned him. As if! She caught you with Chloe. Numb nuts. Draven gathered his breath, ready to tell her exactly how things were going to be. Him and her, and no one else. Wait what? If anything he knew her, they had history. One night stands don’t count as having history? It was more than any of the other team members had. He wanted to apologize. She wasn’t going to be assigned to the other men on his team. She was scared, he could tell. Her breathing was heightened and her back ramrod straight. She would bolt if anyone so much as sneezed the wrong way. Just how damaged was she?
He was her best chance for survival. He was the only one going to do the job. He’d do it right. After the job was done and they nailed Marcus to a stake, he’d apologize for the way he left her five years ago. Then they could go their separate ways in peace and he’d finally stop dreaming about her. Yeah okay. Keep telling yourself that. He would and that was that.