by Tina Folsom
He’d finally found his mate.
32
Virginia stirred and felt something hard slide along her buttocks. A heavy arm was slung across her midsection and now tightened around her.
“Morning, babe,” Wes whispered at her nape and pulled her into the curve of his body, his hard-on sliding between her thighs.
“Oh God, you can’t still be glowing,” she said in disbelief and opened her eyes.
“I’m not.” He chuckled. “That’s just me when I wake up.” With his hand on her hip, he shifted his angle and slowly drove into her. “Oh, you feel good.”
“You still haven’t had enough?” She’d lost count of how many times they’d made love before they’d finally fallen asleep.
“Are you kidding me?”
He withdrew and thrust back inside her, instantly making her want more. She loved the feel of his thick, long cock filling her and stretching her.
“I’ve created a monster,” she teased him and drove her ass back against his groin to impale herself fully.
“If this is you protesting, then you’re not doing it right.” He gripped her hip and started thrusting in an easy rhythm. Less frantic than the night before, yet no less exciting.
“Shouldn’t we get up and go back to Scanguards?”
“It’s still daytime,” Wesley said. He started caressing her breasts, while he dipped his head to her neck and kissed her there. “Virtually nobody will be at the office.”
She glanced at the clock. It was early afternoon, still a few hours away from sunset, so she eased back against Wesley’s chest and moved in rhythm with him. “I guess we have a little time.”
“I’ll make it worth your while.”
She didn’t doubt that and sighed with joy.
The sound of a doorbell made her freeze.
“Oh crap,” Wes cursed. He slid out of her and turned to his side of the bed. “It’s Cooper.”
She turned and looked over his shoulder. The screen on the telephone on the bedside table showed an image from the camera at the front door. The young hybrid stood close to the camera, waiting impatiently.
Wesley looked at her. “I have an idea that’ll buy us a few minutes.” He pressed the button for the intercom. “Hey, Cooper.”
“Hey, Uncle Wesley.”
“Can you do us a favor? Virginia and I overslept. Can you go to the store and get us some food for breakfast? My fridge is empty. I’ll buzz you in. There’s cash in the first drawer in the kitchen.”
“Okay,” Cooper agreed, and Wesley pressed the button to open the front door.
Then he turned back to her. “Now where were we?”
She laughed and jumped out of bed. “I think we were about to get up and take a shower, so your half-vampire, half-human nephew won’t smell what we’ve been doing for the last eight hours.”
Virginia snatched the white silk Kimono from the floor and slipped it on.
Wes grunted and got out of bed. “Okay, sex in the shower it is. Your wish is my command.”
She looked over her shoulder and shook her head, laughing. “I said nothing about sex.”
He pointed to his cock, which stood erect and curved toward his belly button. “You tell him that. I don’t think he’ll listen.”
She laughed and ran into the bathroom, but Wes caught up with her at the sink and put his arms around her from behind. She met his gaze in the mirror. Damn, this man could get her hot with just one look. When he lifted her robe and pulled her ass back toward his groin, she let it happen and bent over the sink. A moment later, he was inside her, his hard cock thrusting deep into her.
“You need this just as much as I do,” Wes said. “Just admit it.”
She lifted her head. “I do.”
For the next few minutes no more words were spoken, and moans and sighs were the only sounds that bounced off the bathroom tiles.
Less than half an hour later, Wesley, showered and dressed, headed downstairs to let his nephew in a second time, while Virginia pulled her clothes on, her legs still shaking from her last orgasm, her pussy tender to the touch. With each memory of her lovemaking with Wesley another hot flame shot through her core. She looked in the mirror. Her cheeks were still flushed, and her entire body felt hot. There was no way she’d be able to hide from the young hybrid what was going on inside her. She was a woman in love.
Fully dressed, her hair dried, Virginia walked downstairs a few minutes later. She heard voices from the back of the house and found the kitchen, where Wesley and Cooper were busy preparing breakfast.
Cooper turned his head when she entered and smiled at her. “Hey, Virginia. We’re making pancakes.”
“Hi, Cooper. Thanks for going grocery shopping for us,” she said and slid onto one of the barstools at the bar.
For a bachelor Wesley had a large and well-equipped kitchen. Cooking for the guardians at the compound had clearly not just been an act to gain their confidence. He seemed to enjoy cooking. She cast him a glance, and he turned his head and smiled at her.
“Hope you’re hungry.” He winked at her.
Of course, she was hungry. Starving in fact. No wonder after the amount of calories she’d burned the previous night. But she refrained from mentioning that in front of the impressionable teenager in their company. “I could eat a bite.”
“So, my dad said last night,” Cooper said, coming closer, “that you showed everybody at Scanguards how you can walk through walls and make yourself invisible.”
Virginia suppressed a chuckle. The young hybrid definitely had an agenda. She couldn’t really blame him. When she’d been his age, she’d been curious about a lot of things too.
“So you want to see it?”
He nodded eagerly.
Wes tossed her a look from the stove. “I have to warn you: if you indulge him, you’ll never get rid of him.”
“Must run in the family then,” she replied.
Wesley winked at her.
Virginia hopped off the barstool and walked to the nearest interior wall. She placed her hand on it, then pushed it through, so part of her arm vanished as if it had been chopped off right where it touched the wall.
Cooper’s mouth fell open. “Whoa!”
“Watch,” she said and lifted one leg, took a step and walked through the wall. She found herself in the dining room, a cozy room with dark wood paneling.
From the kitchen, she heard Cooper say, “Wow, that’s so cool!”
She turned around and walked back into the kitchen.
Wesley smiled at her and piled several pancakes onto a plate. “Thanks for showing him.” Then he placed the plate on the counter.
“And turning invisible, how do you do that?” Cooper asked.
“Cooper, let her eat first, please,” Wes demanded.
“It’s okay, Wes,” Virginia said. “I can do both at the same time.” She slid back onto the barstool, then, as Cooper watched eagerly, cloaked herself.
When she saw Cooper’s stunned look, she reached for a fork and started eating a pancake. She knew what Wesley and the young hybrid would see: pieces of pancake simply disappearing as she put them into her mouth and ate them.
“That is awesome!”
Virginia laughed, but her cell phone ringing interrupted the carefree moment. She turned visible in an instant and pulled the phone from her back pocket. She pushed the talk button.
“Yes?”
“It’s Logan. Deirdre is on the move. We just found out that she’s at the Portland airport. She’s about to board a plane to San Francisco.”
“San Francisco?”
Wes tossed her a questioning look, and she pressed the speaker button. “Logan, I’m here with Wesley. You’re on speaker.”
“Hey,” Logan said quickly. “Deirdre will be landing at San Francisco International Airport in about an hour and a half. I’ll text you the flight details. You know what she looks like, right, or do you need me to send you a picture?”
“I know her face from t
he files, but send a picture for Wesley.”
“Will do.”
“Do you have any idea what she’s doing in San Francisco?”
“None. There were no phone calls, no conversations with anybody. We have no idea what made her book this flight so suddenly.”
“Okay, we’ll head to the airport and follow her when she arrives to see what she’s up to.”
“Be careful.”
“Thanks, Logan.”
She disconnected the call and stared at Wesley.
“Eat. I’ll call Scanguards in the meantime to get backup.”
She pointed to the window. “The sun won’t be down by the time she lands.”
“Doesn’t matter. They have blackout vans.” Then he looked at Cooper. “Sorry to cut our visit short. You’d better go home.”
“Can’t I come? I’m a hybrid. I can help.”
Wesley shook his head. “And give your mother a reason to rip my head off? Not a chance, buddy.”
“That sucks. I never get to do anything exciting!” He growled with displeasure, and for the first time Virginia could see the tips of his fangs as they slowly descended. “I can’t wait until they let me join the bodyguard training program.”
“I know, but until then, your parents call the shots. So, get out of here.” Wes patted the teenager on the shoulder.
Cooper cast them both a suffering look, said his goodbyes, and left.
When the door fell shut behind him, Wes sighed. “Well, so much for a lazy breakfast, huh?”
“Let’s get this over with.”
Maybe soon they would know who had given away the council compound’s position to the demons.
33
Sitting in the passenger seat of Wesley’s car, Virginia pointed to the curb on the arrivals level of one of the six domestic terminals at San Francisco International Airport.
“There she is.”
Wesley directed his gaze toward the woman now crossing the street. He slowed the car even more, pretending to look for a spot to pull alongside the curb to pick up a passenger, since parking and waiting weren’t allowed here. Luckily, the tracker in Deirdre’s handbag was still working, and Pearce had been able to send them real-time updates on her location so they wouldn’t miss her when she exited the arrivals hall.
Deirdre looked around as if searching for something. She was casually dressed in slacks and a light jacket, her oversized handbag slung over her shoulder.
“She looks younger than in the photo,” Wes commented.
“She’s older than I am.”
“Being immortal does have its advantages.”
“She’s not immortal anymore. She’ll start aging now.”
“Where’s she going? Taxi?”
“She’s not taking a taxi,” Virginia said. “Look.”
Deirdre had reached the other side of the street and was now walking toward a shuttle stop. “She must have booked a rental car,” Wes said.
Behind him a horn sounded. He looked in the rearview mirror. An airport employee was signaling him to move along.
“I can’t stay here any longer.”
“The stop she’s waiting at only services Hertz rental cars. Do you know where their lot is?”
Wes nodded. “Yes.”
“Good. Meet us there.”
Before he could respond, Virginia had cloaked herself and, judging by the sound of rustling fabric from the passenger seat, was passing through the closed car door.
“No parking here, move along,” somebody called out through a bullhorn.
Wesley sighed and merged back into the outside lane, driving away slowly, trusting that Virginia had reached the spot where Deirdre was waiting for the rental car shuttle. There was nothing he could do right now, other than make his way to the rental car lot.
It took about ten minutes before the shuttle arrived at the Hertz rental center on North McDonnell Road. Wesley watched it pull into the parking lot, letting the passengers disembark outside the office. Only a handful of passengers exited, and Deirdre was easy to spot. She had no luggage to speak of, only her handbag.
Wesley was parked and waiting by the exit from the rental car lot. Nobody paid him any notice. He watched every car that exited, checking to make sure he didn’t miss Deirdre. Suddenly, he heard a sound inside the car.
“I’m back,” Virginia said.
He sighed with relief and turned his head, as she appeared next to him in the passenger seat.
“She’s rented a Toyota Corolla. It’s white. She should be the next one out. I’ve memorized the license plate just in case.”
“Good. Did she sense you following her?”
“No. She’s fully human now. None of her Stealth Guardian senses remain. It was easy to follow her. Just stay far enough back so she doesn’t realize a car is tailing her.”
“Don’t worry, I’m trained.” After all, Scanguards had trained him well in all kinds of disciplines, including surveillance.
“Here she comes.”
After briefly stopping at the security hut at the gate, the white Toyota exited the car rental lot and merged into traffic. Wesley turned the engine over and followed.
He exchanged a quick look with Virginia. “Looks like she’d heading into San Francisco.”
The white Toyota merged onto I-380. Wes fell back a little and kept his eyes on Deirdre’s car. Interstate 380 was a short connector to Interstate 280. To his surprise, Deirdre merged over to the far left lane, which led not to I-280 North, but South.
“She’s heading for San Jose.” He glanced at Virginia. “Anything down there that you can think of?”
“Nothing that comes to mind.”
“Well, we’ll stick to her.” He reached for his cell phone, which he’d mounted on the dashboard, and tapped on it.
A moment later, Blake’s voice echoed in the car. “Hey, did she arrive?”
“We’re on her tail. White Toyota Corolla rental car. California license plate 7KL895G. She’s heading south on I-280 toward San Jose.”
“Got it. I’m tapped into your GPS. We’ve got eyes on you.”
“Great.” He tapped the phone once more to disconnect.
“Are they ready?” Virginia asked.
“They will be,” Wesley assured her. He glanced to his right. “Sun will be down soon.”
“Did you notice that Deirdre had no luggage?”
“Yeah. Guess this trip wasn’t planned much in advance, was it?”
“And it doesn’t look like she’s staying long, wherever she’s going,” Virginia added.
He took his eyes off the road for a moment. “Don’t worry, whatever she’s up to, we’ll figure it out.”
Virginia nodded, then pointed out the windshield. “Where’s she going now?”
Wes noticed that the white Toyota was merging into the far right lane.
“There’s an exit coming up,” Wes said. He crossed two lanes to get into the same lane as Deirdre and continued following her. The white Toyota left the freeway at the next exit. Wesley did the same, taking the Skyline Boulevard/Highway 35 exit.
“Guess she’s not going to San Jose after all,” Wesley murmured.
“Where does Skyline Boulevard lead to?”
“Nowhere really. It’s just a minor highway going south into the hills that run between the freeway and the coast. It also connects to Highway 92, which leads directly to the coast.”
“The coast?” Virginia snapped her head in his direction. “Which town?”
“Half Moon Bay.”
“Shit!” Virginia cursed.
Alarmed, Wesley stared at her. “What’s in Half Moon Bay?”
“Cinead’s private compound. It’s a little north of Half Moon Bay just before El Granada.”
“You think she’s going there?”
“That’s the only Stealth Guardian compound in the area.” Virginia clenched her hand into a fist. “And it makes sense. She’s selling out her half-brother for not sticking up for her, for voting to exile
her.”
“You believe she’s leading the demons there? I haven’t noticed anybody following her. Trust me, I would have.”
“I’m certain of it,” Virginia insisted. “We can’t let her get any closer. We need to stop her now.”
“Okay, there’s a sinkhole repair in process about three miles ahead of us. The construction workers will have left for the day, and the locals are avoiding the road at the moment because of the delays. We might be in luck. I’ll try and cut her off at the construction site.”
Wesley sped up and caught up with Deirdre’s Toyota. He pulled over to the middle of the road to look ahead. In the distance, he saw a car coming toward. He punched the gas pedal and sped past the Toyota, then pulled to the right again just a couple of seconds before the oncoming car reached them. Not slowing the car, he raced ahead, leaving the Toyota behind.
As he sped along the wet road, the drizzle turned to rain, Wes connected with Blake again.
“We’re on CA-92. Cutting Deirdre off before the sinkhole repair around Nuff Creek. She’s heading toward a council member’s compound. We think she might be leading the demons there.”
“Got it.”
“Thanks!” He disconnected the call.
“There it is,” Virginia said, and pointed to the signs alerting drivers to the repair site.
One side of the street had been blocked off, turning the highway into a one-lane road. Wes slowed the car, and at the point where the road narrowed to one lane, he stopped and put his hazard lights on, while putting the car into park.
“Okay, so far so good,” he said and looked at Virginia. “Will Deirdre recognize you?”
“Most likely yes. I brought many suspects before the council while she was a member. She’ll know who I am.”
“Well, I guess that’s good. She’ll know the gig is up when she sees you.” He looked into the rearview mirror. “Here she comes.”
~ ~ ~
Virginia looked over her shoulder and saw the white Toyota with Deirdre at the wheel stop behind them. Virginia opened the door and got out. Wesley did the same on the driver’s side.
The rain was getting heavier, but Virginia ignored it and marched toward the white rental car. At least the rain would make it harder for Deirdre to recognize her from the distance. She walked to the passenger side and tried the door. It was locked. Deirdre whipped her head in her direction. Her eyes widened. She’d recognized Virginia.