She snorted. “Besides the fact they can’t control her and she’s killing them for fun and food?”
Harklee leaned closer and said in low voice, “She stole something from Angel.”
Kai looked askance at him. “Like what?”
“Something the Queen of the Damned covets and she’s pissed it’s gone. Wants it back at any cost. Even if it means working with the Slayers to get it back.”
“Rubbish,” Alex said gruffly. “If Lisle took something that important from Angel, she’d be here hunting her down herself. Let’s go, Kai.” He turned away, Harklee grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop.
“What Lisle stole is something that can turn the tables on your war with the Damned. A weapon Angel searched three centuries for.”
“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” Alex demanded, shaking off Harklee’s hand.
“Because Kai Jordan can read my mind and can see the truth in here.”
“Kai, can you find what he’s talking about in his head?”
“I can, but it’s gonna hurt like hell for him,” she grimly replied, eagerly rubbing her hands together, hoping to scare him into telling them instead of her going inside his polluted mind.
Sam appeared, his gun drawn. “No hurting my boss, ma’am. I like you, don’t make me hurt you back.”
She chuckled at the brave human. “I like you, too. As to hurting me, I’m stronger than I look.”
Frowning at her meaning, Sam glanced at Harklee. “Boss, why do you want to be a vamp? Doesn’t it defeat the purpose of hunting them?”
“You don’t understand, Sam. You haven’t done this as long as me. I’m tired. Tired of feeling pain, tired of getting my ass kicked by demons, who waste their precious gift of immortality on nobodies. I want to live forever!”
“What’s the weapon?” Alex asked, unconvinced by Harklee’s reasoning.
“Make me an immortal, and I’ll tell you,” Harklee countered, a mad gleam in his eyes.
“Forbidden to turn human, remember?”
“Bullshit! Faeroes allowed Rathe and Simon to turn the bitches they married. You can turn—” Kai slammed her fist in his face, sending the man sailing in the air twenty yards before Harklee came to crashing to halt in the dirt.
Sam swung his gun at her. Alex snatched it out of his hand as he threw him down onto the ground. Kai drew her sword, the tip pressed to his throat, her foot on his chest. “Told you looks were deceiving.” She stepped back and offered her hand out to him. Wary, Sam accepted and gasped as she easily jerked him onto his feet.
“Why did you hit him?” Sam went to help his boss, who was knocked out cold.
“That ‘bitch’ he referred to was my mother.”
“Oh. I understand. Um, maybe you, two, should get out of here while Harklee is out. I hear the men returning.”
Alex drew his sword, advancing on Sam, who warily watched him. “What is this weapon Harklee speaks of?”
“I’ve never heard of it. He’s been secretive lately. Getting really weird and paranoid.”
“Has he met with anyone? Someone you’ve never seen before?”
“Not met, he’s been texting a lot to someone.”
Resting the blade casually on his shoulder, Alex said, “Word of warning: you ever kill a Borne, I will hunt you down and end you. We have an understanding?”
“How will I know the difference?”
“The Damned show the demon in them when a crucifix is put in their face and are highly allergic to silver. The only way to kill them is to behead them. Make sure you dust them afterwards with Holy water. Always clean up the mess to keep regular humans in the dark. We don’t need a panic on our hands.”
The sound of running feet warned their time was running out. Alex held out his hand to Sam, who shook it. “We will meet again, Sam Winter. You are an honorable man whom the Borne would be willing to work with in the fight to stop the Damned from ruling the world.”
“I look forward to it. Thank you for your advice.” Sam reached down and grabbed Harklee’s cellphone. “Here, it should help you find what he’s been talking about.”
Slipping the cellphone in his back pocket, Alex inclined his head. “Thank you. Until next time.”
Sheathing their swords, they flew upward, speeding away before the hunters were in shooting range. What the hell did Lisle steal from Angel that could turn the war?
“Kai, we are not returning to the hotel. Let us find a secluded resting place and hide. There looks like a good place to sleep.” He pointed below them.
“Okay.”
Landing on the grassy bank of the River Elba, she held out her hand. “Let me take a look at Harklee’s cellphone.” He handed it to her.
She tried to get in, finding it was password protected. “Crap. He’s got security on it. Can’t get into his phone.”
“We’ll take it to Faeroes. He has people who can break into it. I don’t know about you, I’m done in. Let’s seek the ground.”
“Sure.” Shrugging off her backpack, she put the cellphone inside it. When she looked up, she saw he had opened two graves near a huge oak tree.
“Two graves, huh?”
“Kai, I’m not—”
“No need to explain. I understand.” She didn’t, but she was too tired to try and figure out the enigma of Alexander Wulf and his hot and cold signals. “Let’s just go to sleep.”
His broad shoulder dropped in defeat as he turned away. “Yes. Let’s.”
Chapter Twelve
Kai rose from her grave earlier than Alex, needing some time alone. Shaking off the dirt, she buckled on her sword and pulled on her backpack. She went down to the river’s edge, staring at the moon-dappled surface belying the strong, turbulent current beneath. Just like Alex’s feelings for her and her for him.
Closing her eyes, she could feel his strong arms around her, the delicious way he kissed her. God, she wanted to feel him naked against her, to make love with him. Resigned to the fact he would always find an excuse to run from his feelings for her, she opened her eyes and hugged herself, wanting to cry. Deep down, she knew there would be no happily ever after with Alexander Wulf. Once Lisle was dead, he would leave her, and she would go back to hunting serial killers and monsters.
Needing to hear Mina’s voice, she reached out to her. “Mina? Can you hear me?”
“Kai? Are you okay? I’ve got the weirdest impression of you and Alex falling, the sun was burning you!”
“We were. Hunters shot our plane down. Alex jumped out in the sunlight with me. He was burned badly. We’re fine, but we’re in a situation I-I am not equipped to handle.”
“Kai, what’s going on?”
“Other than Alex’s ex-lover is turning children, killing and eating the Damned, then we were just kidnapped by Harklee and asked to turn him. We escaped, but Alex made a deal with the Damned and we’re gonna help them kill Lisle, whom we know as Lisa. And-and I can’t handle the hot and cold signals I’m getting from Alex!”
“You are working with the Damned to kill her?”
“Have to. She is one sick bitch, worse than in London, and we are outnumbered here. Where are you and Sin?”
“Hamburg. We just missed Angel. She is one slippery bitch. Want us to come to you?”
Everything inside her wanted to scream ‘yes’, but she knew killing Angel was top priority. “No, keep after Angel. Alex and I can bring down Lisle. After that, we’re heading to Berlin. Heads up, Rathe and Mom are attending the meeting. Oh, and Mom said Rathe is not pissed anymore, but I wouldn’t put it past him to still focus on Sin and his past.”
“Understood. Watch your back!”
“You, too.”
Feeling better having talked to Mina, until she heard Alex stirring. Earth flew upward, releasing him from his sleep. She watched him leap out of his grave and waved his hand across his torso, removing the dirt off him. Alex dug his hands in his pockets and walked down the bank to stand beside her.
“When did you rise
?”
“About ten minutes ago.”
They stared at the river, listening to the sounds of frogs croaking, crickets singing. He reached out to cup her cheek. “Kai, we need to stay on target. Lisle will come after you, to hurt me. If she escapes—”
She cut him off. “We need to return to the hotel. Waters and his men are searching for us, worried that we left them to Lisle’s vengeance.”
“Kai, please understand. I need you to be safe.”
“Safe? You mean alone. As you said, this is a job. Let’s finish it.” Kai shrugged her shoulders, transforming into a golden eagle.
Stretching out her long wings, she flew toward Magdeburg. Alex had shifted into an eagle, too, and flew above her. She knew she wasn’t being fair to Alex, but his touching her was causing her too much confusion and pain. To fight Lisle and the Damned, if they betrayed her and Alex, she needed a clear head and a steady hand, not frustrated.
Soaring over the beautiful city, he took lead as they neared their hotel. Good thing he paid for three nights otherwise the new clothes she bought would have disappeared. Landing in the park, they shifted back. Drawing their guns, they blurred them as they neared the hotel. No sign of Lisle or the familiar smell of the Damned. Passing the hotel clerk, they nodded to him and went on to the elevator. The hotel was quiet. The guests were either asleep or out in the city, enjoying another fine summer evening. Digging into his rear pocket, he withdrew the card key and swiped it. Their room was just as they had left it.
Holstering her gun, she slipped off her backpack and unbuckled her scabbard, laying them on the bed. She went to the dresser and pulled out clothes to change into. “I’m taking a shower. Let me know if Waters calls.”
“Kai, we need to talk about us.”
“Why? You’ll never let me in, not completely. You will always keep me at arm’s length, always trying to protect me, and you’ll never love me. Not the way I … Never mind. Let’s keep this professional. No more kissing me, no more making me want you. I just want to put Lisle down, kill Waters, and find Mina and Sin. Then head to Berlin.”
The surprise on his face would have been laughable at any other time, except she wanted to bawl, wanted to run, unable to because a crazy-ass vampiress was on the loose and needed to be put out of her misery. Slamming the bathroom door shut behind her, she locked it for good measure. The flimsy lock couldn’t stop Alex if he wanted in and apparently, he didn’t.
Blowing a stray hair out of her eyes, she turned the water on and undressed.
✝✝✝
The shower turned on and visions of Kai naked made him swell hard to painful proportions. Frustrated and confused, Alex paced the hotel room back and forth. Dammit, he needed to be focused on hunting Lisle, not Kai.
Peering out the window, he saw his reflection — his failures, the monster he’d become … his desire for Kai. Looking down at his clothes, Alex hated what he wore, hated being something he wasn’t. Standing there, Lisle, the Damned, his choices, none were the problem. He guarded his feelings, closed them off until he held a small babe in his arms and gazed into her trusting eyes. Mariah had pulled him back, giving him a reason to live by protecting her. Years later, when he met the sapphire gaze of a certain young woman, he felt alive, truly alive for the first time since 1819.
Trust. Faith. Love.
Unable to trust completely, he had no faith in God, and love … well, love he loved Mariah as an uncle, but Kai, she was entirely different. His love had started out as a guardian, since the night he learned he had a soul, had manifested to something he had avoided since Lisle. He avoided relationships and his dalliances with the opposite sex were strictly for physical release.
He heard splashing water, images of Kai using a soapy cloth to caress her breasts, down her flat stomach, between her legs. Alex slammed his hands on the window sill, a strangled cry escaped him. He could feel her hunger for him, even after she’d told him to stop wanting her. Torn between wanting to break down the door and take her or do what he did best and run, he felt the room closing in on him.
He needed fresh air.
Out in the hallway, he stumbled to a halt. He didn’t want to run: he wanted Kai. Could he open his heart and share it with her, freely without fear of losing her, too?
The thought of Kai dead left him shaking and cold. Nausea rolled in the pit of his stomach, bile clogged the back of his throat. It took several tries to swallow back the acid of terror. To lose her after all these years made his knees weaken, and he leaned back against the wall for support.
His cell phone rang.
Checking the caller ID, it read Unknown. Had to be Waters. Answering it, “Yes?”
Waters asked, “Where are you?”
“We’re getting ready. Has Lisle made an appearance?”
“No and none of my men have gone missing yet. When do you plan to meet me at Club Vampyre?”
“Give us an hour.”
“In an hour then.” The call ended.
“Time to get to work.” He was almost relieved. Hunting was easier than expressing his feelings and right now, he’d rather kill than try to talk to Kai about how he felt!
Reentering the room, he knocked on the bathroom door. “Kai, Waters called. We need to leave and scout out the club, make sure it’s not a trap for us.”
He heard her say, “Has Lisle been sighted?’ The bathroom door opened, Kai stood before him with a white towel wrapped around her. Water glistened on her skin. Her wet, long dark red hair was drawn over her left shoulder. Unable to speak or move, he stared at her, captivated. Memories of her standing in the shower, naked and beautiful beyond words.
“Alex, what’s wrong?” she asked, a small frown creasing her dark brows, drawing her soft lips into a kissable pout.
“God, you are so beautiful.”
She looked away, pained. “I told you to stop. I can’t do this anymore with you. I can’t keep letting you break my heart.” She made to shut the door, he refused to let her.
“Kai, why did you want me? Of all the men you’ve met, why me?”
“Because I felt the connection between us, it was as if our souls had touched and the loneliness inside of me went away.”
“For me, it was like my heart jump started and I wasn’t a monster in your eyes.”
She issued a mirthless laugh. “I’ve waited years for you to say that to me. It’s too late now.”
Observing the way she avoided eye contact, blushed cheeks, it hit him why she was uncomfortable. “Kai, you’ve never been intimate with a man, have you?”
“This conversation is over!” She tried to shut the door again, but he wouldn’t let her.
“No, Kai, time for the truth. Why haven’t you been with anybody?”
She looked at him, lifting her chin defiantly. “I never wanted to be with anybody else, only you.”
Rubbing his knuckled along the fine line of her cheekbone, he watched as her eyes closed and a single tear trickled down her cheek. For the first time since the winter of 1819, Alexander let go of his past and embraced Kai. She didn’t resist, only leaned into him. Breathing in the commercial shampoo she’d used, he filtered it out and drew into his lungs the scent that was Kai, and made his decision.
Slipping his fingers in her hair, he grabbed a fistful and drew her head back, exposing her throat. He nuzzled her neck. Molding his lips along the soft, warm slope of her neck, licking, tasting her, a whimper escaped her as she arched her throat for more of his caress. Sweeping his tongue, tasting her warm skin, Alex closed his eyes, listening to the blood flowing underneath her satin-soft skin.
“Alex, please,” she begged.
“Say it, Kai,” he murmured, his lips brushing her skin.
“Alex?” She opened her eyes, glowing in her hunger.
“Say it!” he demanded, feeling his fangs extend, his hunger for her making it hard to keep control.
✝✝✝
Kai stared into his eyes, not understanding what he wanted. His fangs were lo
ng, eyes fierce in his lust and something more. Primal need and instinct intertwined. There, she understood what Alex wanted from her. Her fangs dropped as she ran her hands up his back, feeling the muscles underneath the cotton material tense and expand. Kai felt the change in him. Saw it in her mind as he opened his heart and soul to her. His own fears and years of protecting himself had influenced his actions, not the need to cut her off.
“Alexander Wulf, I freely give of myself, my body, my blood to you. Take me and make me yours.”
His teeth sank into her throat. Pain of his intrusion diminished as the pleasure of his taking of her blood sent her vampire heart thundering. Alex lifted his head to look at her. Blood trickled down the side of his mouth.
“Take of my blood and be with me forever.” Proud and wild, there was vulnerability in the way he stared at her. The way Alex waited, the hope, and fear in his blazing green eyes.
Running her hand up his neck, she gently brought his head down to hers and they kissed. She closed her eyes, tasting her blood on his tongue. Loving the way he held her in his arms, so close their hearts beat in time. She left his mouth and scraped her teeth against the warm skin along his neck, she smiled as a small moaned escaped him. He was trembling in anticipation of her biting him. Opening her mouth, she sank her teeth into his neck, just below his ear, drinking the blood gushing into her mouth. Alex lifted her and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her to the bed.
Withdrawing her teeth, she licked the blood off his already healed wounds. Alex laid her on the bed and slowly pulled the towel off of her. With his blood flowing through her veins, Kai was in tuned with Alex as he was with her now as her blood flowed through him. He shed his tee-shirt and she was transfixed by the display of muscle and flesh exposed to her. His nostrils flared as he shed his jeans, black boxer shorts. All these years she imagined what Alex would look like and it fell short the magnificent man before her.
Alex knelt on the bed before her feet. She gasped as he kissed her foot, switched to her other leg. Gently, he pushed her legs apart as he licked and kissed his way to the apex between her thighs. Hypnotized, air trapped in her lungs as she felt his warm breath brush the dark curls and her toes curled in anticipation. The first sweep of his tongue made her gasp, as he played and tormented her and she moaned, arching into him. Her release came like a wave, cresting and beautiful, leaving her wanting more, wanting Alex inside her. He rose above her and she felt his erection against her thigh.
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