Vulture’s Kiss

by E. M. Whittaker

  Hector might be onto something.

  She changed jobs without telling Evelyn two weeks ago. Her behavior became evasive within the last few weeks. Miss Loudmouth never kept secrets from her, but she kept her mouth shut about her new job. No gossip about coworkers, bitchy women.

  Nothing.

  When she asked about her boss, Jem’s face paled and she immediately changed the subject. Her one trusted relative became cold, forgetting to tell Evelyn about important financial matters. Like the overdraft notice from the bank account. She shrugged it off, claiming she forgot about it.

  Jemina never forgot anything about handling money.

  Evelyn stiffened, tightening her muscles the longer his claw trailed along her skin. He would attack soon.

  “Believe what you want.” She clenched her teeth and leaned forward. “It’s not my fault these ‘protection fees’ weren’t paid.”

  “Oh, you lying bitch.”

  The shifter socked her in the gut.

  The punch knocked her back several feet and her head collided with a wall.

  Without arms, she couldn’t hold brace herself from the impact, but she would have crumpled to the ground anyway. He packed quite a punch for a badass shifter.

  White, yellow, and pink stars filtered into her double vision.

  Damn it.

  She had to free herself from these restraints.

  Evelyn rose to one knee. What shifter had golden eyes besides owls? Foxes? No, he wasn’t crafty enough. Foxes used quick wit and cunning to subdue their enemies.

  He attacked her head-on.

  Tiger? Plausible, but Hector stopped playing with her after a certain point. If he were a cat, he’d resemble a lion with his beard, eyes, and hair.

  Bingo.

  Maybe he resembled Lion-O.

  Someone grabbed her arm, then pulled her upright using the ropes. Their grip felt gentler than Hector’s but triggered her dizziness.

  She stumbled, hitting something nuke warm.

  Louis.

  She’d warm him up someday.

  “Take it easy.” Louis’s arm wrapped around her, pulling her close. “You took a nasty blow to the head. I didn’t think he’d—”

  “Move.” Her word came out thick. “I’ll—”

  “Evie, stay put.” Light came to his fingertips. “I’m stopping this right now.”

  Well, better late than never.

  She leaned into him, shaking the stars away from her hazy vision again. He could handle his boss for a minute while she collected herself, right?

  Wait. He couldn’t.

  Shifters trumped vamps.

  She’d become single at this rate.

  His arm tightened around her waist while his free hand glowed with brilliant blue light. It differed from the blood orbs in his mischievous eyes.

  The shifter returned, barreling toward them.

  Louis encased Hector in his soft blue light, freezing him in place.

  “I said you’re not hurting her.” The half-vampire’s voice stayed calm. “We’ll work out a deal with Eisen about Evie. Also, I don’t think she stole anything from you. Well, apart from my wallet, anyway.”

  “Bastard.” Part of Hector’s word came out breathy from his mouth being frozen. “You would cover for this inconsiderate hussy, wouldn’t you?”

  “Real gentlemen don’t hurt ladies.”

  “The bitch will learn about your secret some time.”

  How reassuring.

  She could handle Louis being a vampire. Hell, she’d deal with his mysterious powers and weird body temperature. But he resembled a peeled onion with his layers of secrecy and dealing with Hector’s temper tantrums.

  If he punched her again, she’d run into him.

  Still, Louis’s comment from earlier about killing people didn’t help matters. Fighting and killing shouldn’t be a turn-on for him. It would explain why he didn’t bother helping her earlier.

  Why couldn’t she meet normal people?

  “Gentlemen.” She used the term loosely, swallowing down bile mixed with a wave of pain. “I can learn about your secrets without being beaten to death. You’ll be lucky if I return to work in a few days. No one likes seeing women with shiners. Bad form, you know.”

  Her left eye throbbed. So did the back of her head. If she were honest with herself, everything hurt. She stood there in ruined clothes and her shoulder throbbed harder than a gaping wound bleeding to death.

  For a beaten woman, Evelyn did pretty well for herself.

  She wouldn’t give up without a fight,

  “As for you…” She stood on her tiptoes, sizing up Louis’s semi-colorful face. “You’ll need more than a handkerchief and rope when I’m done with you. Quit getting off on smelling my blood and focus or else you’re never getting laid.”

  He waved his hand. “I froze him, didn’t I?”

  “You could have came sooner.”

  “I thought you could handle yourself.”

  She kicked his leg. “Right. I’ll remember this next time, Gadget.”

  Hector snickered. “Quit flirting with Don Juan before I break you like a twig. His spell wears off in a few minutes.”

  She turned to the frozen lion. “Then stop threatening me and do something, Lion-O.”

  The vein on Hector’s temple throbbed, pumping harder the longer his nostrils flared. “You got balls, girlie.”

  “Wrong gender.” Her lips curved into a victorious smirk. “I’ll show you what I’ll do to yours later. I doubt you can handle it, though.”

  “Be lucky you’re still breathing, Mistress Rodriguez. Next time, you might become dismembered. How unfortunate. I love those bouncing breasts of yours.”

  She held her breath, willing herself to calm down.

  What a judgmental asshole.

  “Evelyn, come on.” Louis kept himself between her and Hector. “Let him calm down. We’ll work everything out between us.”

  Oh yeah. He’d better fix this.

  No man was worth this insanity.

  Before she gave him a witty retort, Louis escorted her past the furious shifter, using her ropes as they walked. When they reached the door, he gave a dark chuckle.

  “Other than Hector losing his temper and the gunmen, those ropes are the perfect punishment for you, darling.” He trailed a finger up her arm. “Marco knows his ropes.”

  She snarled. “Eat shit and die.”

  “Aw.” Amusement carried in his voice. “You already know I’m dead, darling.”

  “You—you insufferable—”

  “Hey, now.” Louis faced her, putting his hands on her shoulders. “If you hadn’t stolen my wallet, none of this would have happened. Now, I have to wait on handling my projects because you put my business investor in the hospital. So…I think I’ll keep you bound until we get home.”

  Evelyn raised her head, then turned away from him. “Sadist.”

  “Masochist,” His tone turned playful. “Once you’re healed up, I’ll show you around my bedroom.”

  She glowered. “I never knew you masqueraded as Christian Grey in your spare time.”

  “Think of this as a kinky time-out. You get time to reflect on your transgressions while I get to watch you squirm in my passenger’s seat.” He caressed her face. “If you’re good—which I’m sure you’ll behave now—I’ll answer your questions and we’ll have playtime. Promise.”

  “Answer one thing for me while we’re riding home.”

  He gave her a fangy smile. “You have to earn it, sweetheart.”

  Evelyn shuddered, kissing him before he retracted his fangs. “Oh, I’ll earn my answers, all right. Good luck getting your boner down.”

  Louis dragged her to the Beetle, muttering under his breath while opening the passenger’s door for her. He shoved her inside and locked the door.

  She grinned, then pressed her thighs together.

  He needed to make his move.

  9

  Louis couldn’t make his move until the f
ollowing afternoon when Eisen and Hector showed up at his mansion.

  To be honest, he only expected Hector to visit, not Eisen. He’d complained about Louis bringing Evelyn back to the mansion yesterday evening. He had ended their phone call with a snarky comment about thinking with the wrong head.

  Too bad it wasn’t the truth.

  No wonder Mr. Sophisticated remained single.

  Despite Hector’s faults, the crafty shifter cared about his well-being, but his righteous fury caused him problems. He gave his girlfriend a blasted concussion. She kept nodding off. She couldn’t even string a complete sentence together within ten minutes of their drive. By the time they arrived at the mansion, she was slumped against the passenger’s side door.

  Next time Hector hit her, he’d press charges.

  Then he could rot in jail.

  Louis helped her inside the mansion without a fuss. Untying the knots was another matter. While Marco excelled with fetish knots, he should have restrained Evelyn. He’d have other chances. However, she didn’t deserve such harsh treatment.

  She wasn’t a thug.

  Still, she caused a problem. A big one. She created Eisen’s accident. As for Hector’s money, well … she wasn’t the thieving type. Not from Hector, anyway. He paid good money to use her business. Quite a lot of money, actually. Nothing seemed right about the entire situation. Not one thing.

  He had to treat her injured shoulder first.

  He removed her clothes, then ordered his maid to discard them while drawing her a warm bath. To his surprise, she blushed while he wiped the blood off her injuries with a damp washcloth.

  She jutted out her chin and covered her luscious breasts with one arm. Despite her tender shoulder, her swollen left eye, and the scrapes on her face, she radiated beauty. Perhaps it was her inner strength shining through.

  For once, he picked a durable woman.

  Afterward, he gave her one of his oversized Iron Maiden t-shirts, put her dislocated shoulder back into its joint, and then helped her into bed. Under normal circumstances, he’d try messing around, but she wasn’t quite herself. She cuddled with him and fell asleep.

  He followed suit.

  In fact, he slept through the night until Morgan gave him his morning drink. It curbed his starvation, but he needed to eat. Tonight.

  Darius approved.

  By the time Louis’s visitors arrived that afternoon, he had finished completing several proposals to a small company online. For once, he enjoyed using the work-at-home card. He’d use other excuses, but he finished one major project he stalled on for weeks. If he did this every Monday or Tuesday, he’d clear his backlog of projects within a month.

  Then he could focus on tackling Hector’s insane honey-do list.

  Anyone who plowed through his ridiculous list of demands deserved a promotion. Hell, they deserved stiff drinks sitting beside them at their desk. They needed patience when dealing with Hector. A lot of it.

  His bedroom door slammed against the wall while he typed on his laptop.

  Louis sighed.

  There went daydreaming about his office fantasy.

  “Louie, get downstairs.” Hector’s footsteps softened as he tiptoed to the bed. “Eisen might drink herself to death at this rate.”

  “You could have called me, you know.” Louis slid the laptop onto the nightstand. “I’m not dressed for company at the moment.”

  “Yeah … I’ve been playing bodyguard for Eisen all day. She called me at three this morning about the shooters.”

  “Good. Let’s talk about last night.”

  Hector narrowed his eyes. “There’s nothing to discuss.”

  “Yes, there is.” Louis kept his voice to a murmur. “You roughed Evie up last night. She’s been fighting off a headache since I brought her home. Also, you dislocated her shoulder. I popped it back in, but I had to give her painkillers to fall asleep. Two Percocet’s knocked her out.”

  Hector held up his hands. “I didn’t touch her shoulder, man. I swear.”

  “I’ll ask Marco about it later. Go back downstairs while I get dressed.”

  “Wake Evelyn up.”

  “No.” He brushed a hand over her forehead. “Let her heal first. She’s still scrambled from last night.”

  Hector grabbed his wrist. “She doesn’t get that luxury.”

  This pompous windbag needs to learn his place.

  Louis pressed his hand against the bridge of his nose. “Damn it, not now.”

  How dare he—forget it. I’ll tell him myself.

  He pushed the elder vampire back, but Darius resisted.

  The bastard pushed his way into his consciousness.

  “You’ve forgotten whose home you’re standing in.” Darius commanded respect with his authoritative tone. “You barged into our home unannounced. She’s under our protection until she leaves. We’re not letting Eisen talk to her until she feels better.”

  The shifter tilted his head. “We? Seriously?”

  “That’s right.” Darius snatched his wrist back, then crossed his arms. “We. I like Evie too, you know. The little cuss deserves a punishment, but she’s under the weather. Sending her downstairs like this isn’t fair.”

  “Neither was hitting someone else’s car with her precious Audi.”

  “You’re not messing this up for Louie.” The vampire headed into the walk-in closet, then moved his business suits to the right side. “He’s waited too long for a suitable mate.”

  “She has to—”

  “We’ll bring her down later.” Darius slipped on a pair of loose-fitting jeans. “He gave her those pills two hours ago. She won’t remember much of the conversation if we bring her downstairs now.”

  Hector’s voice turned pouty. “Fine.”

  “You’re just upset she’s not the lioness of your goddamn pride.”

  “Quit it.”

  “Buck up, kiddo. You can’t handle her.”

  “Yes, I can.”

  Darius peeked out of the closet while slipping on a T-shirt that said Jesus Thinks I’m To Die For. “You handled Evie so well last night.”

  His friend flashed him a single finger salute.

  The vampire laughed.

  Then he gave Louis his body back.

  “I swear, Darius will be the death of me.” He returned to the bed and kissed Evelyn’s cheek. “Come on. Let’s meet Eisen before she drinks all my red wine. It’s one of the few drinks I can tolerate.”

  “Better hurry. She’s on her third glass.”

  Louis headed downstairs, locking the bedroom door behind him.

  By the time he reached Eisen, she lounged in his recliner, nursing a goblet of wine in her good hand. Her nose had a big bruise from the accident. Her left arm rested in a sling. Somehow, she still wore her usual business attire—a pressed black suit with matching pants. It contrasted with her dyed auburn hair.

  How fitting.

  Eisen was the deadliest woman inside the black market.

  “Louis.” She took a generous sip of her wine. “Good to see you, dear.”

  Yeah. He’d enjoy her company if he received free booze, too. He'd love to get plastered. That would be nice. The vampire gods had other ideas, though.

  Vampires couldn’t get wasted.

  “Yeah.” He sat on the long couch beside the recliner. “Take it easy on the wine, Edith.”

  The woman crossed her leg over her knee. “I gave up my painkillers for this special occasion. I’ve been busy finding out about your mysterious shooters, too. Now, where is the girl?”

  “Sleeping off a concussion.”

  Eisen gasped. “Oh dear.”

  He glowered at Hector. “Well, this imbecile took out his temper on her.”

  “You moron.” She held out her glass toward him. “You knew I wanted to talk to her.”

  “I got angry.” A sheepish look crossed his face. “Besides, Evelyn is the equivalent of She-Hulk. I didn’t think I’d send her flying into a wall. She’s got muscle on her,
right?”

  Louis tapped his foot. “Marco tied Evie up and she couldn’t defend herself.”

  Eisen made a clicking noise with her tongue. “Bad form, pussycat.”

  “Goddammit, she stole money from me.”

  “And I wanted a conscious woman.” She sat her glass down on the marble coffee table. “However, you screwed that up. I don’t have all afternoon to wait for her.”

  “She was still conscious afterwards.”

  “Doesn’t matter.” Louis rested his hands on his knees and leaned forward. “The headache creeped up on her. She fell asleep on the ride home. Furthermore, I had to give her something to keep her asleep. Every time she woke up, she complained about her headache.”

  Eisen shook her head. “You’re supposed to wake them up. Sleep could increase the chance of a brain hemorrhage.”

  “I’m keeping an eye on her.” He pointed to himself. “As will you. I haven’t forgotten about your mysterious powers, woman.”

  “Humph.” She twirled a strand of hair. “I’ll use them whenever I see her.”

  Well, well. Darius’s tone turned thoughtful. I’ve never seen an empath before. You don’t need one for Evie. She’s like an open book.

  For once, Louis agreed with his counterpart.

  Eisen’s powers differed from theirs, but she’d become a master at sensing and manipulating human emotions. Some called her an empath. Others called her an emotional vampire. However, they worded it, she used it to her advantage, winning at every business deal she conducted. She sacrificed her personal time to make sure her clients received the best deals.

  However, she wouldn’t manipulate his girlfriend.

  Evelyn would fight her tooth and nail.

  “Anyway, I have a question for you.” Eisen reached into her black Coach purse and pulled out a long pipe. “How well do you know this girl?”

  Heat crept into his cheeks. “I met her a few days ago. Why?”

  “Because this is rather sudden for you.” She held her pipe out to Hector. “Light this for me, please.”

  He obeyed.

  “You’re one of the shrewdest businessmen I know.” She took a long puff. “I mean, you stopped this buffoon from destroying his own empire. But you can’t save everyone … no matter how hard you try. People reject us all the time.”