by I. T. Lucas
Staring at her lovely, blushing face, he was entrapped by her guileless gaze. The man who’d bedded thousands of women was rendered speechless by one blushing girl.
Kian couldn’t explain it if he tried.
Yes, she was lovely, beautiful, with pale, flawless skin, and a small straight nose, and those perfectly shaped, plump, pink lips that were utterly kissable.
But what had delivered that gut-crunching punch was her big, bright, blue-green eyes.
In that brief moment, when their eyes had first met, he’d gotten a glimpse of her soul.
Startled, he kept staring, captivated, feeling as if he knew her—was coming home to her after being lost for a long time. It was all out there in her sincere, open face: the intelligence, the kindness, the shadow of sadness that shouldn’t have been there.
And a hesitant, hopeful expression.
So sweet.
The girl was attracted to him, and she wanted him to like her.
Her lashes dropped over her expressive eyes, and she bit down on her lower lip before taking his offered hand.
Incredibly, that one small innocent touch stunned him, igniting an incinerating erotic current that burned a path straight from her fingers down to his groin.
What the hell?
Cursing the traitor in his pants, Kian was grateful for his suit jacket covering the evidence of his response. The girl looked flustered enough without getting a gander of that, and besides, he hated giving Amanda the satisfaction of being right.
Syssi was all that Amanda had claimed her to be and more.
Now that he got her standing, Kian could also appreciate her deliciously curved body as Amanda had so aptly put it. Skintight jeans hugged long slim legs, the gentle curve of her hips narrowing into a small waist. Perfectly shaped breasts, substantial but not too big, strained her T-shirt, stretching it across her chest. And through the split neckline, he got a delightful glimpse of the rounded tops.
Damn! Amanda had been right. Syssi was exactly his type.
And she was blushing!
What girl blushed these days? None that he’d encountered lately, and for sure none so gorgeously delicious.
That demure demeanor just floored him.
Combined with the slight whiff of her arousal intermingled with that of her anxiety, the potent elixir cranked the dial of his lust all the way up, turning it into a burning need. His venom-glands began pulsating, swelling and dripping venom droplets down his elongated fangs into his mouth. The damned razor-sharp things were threatening to punch out over his bottom lip.
Kian pressed his lips tight. He could just imagine the sight of him flashing these beauties, a monster straight out of a horror flick. He’d bet Syssi’s arousal would be gone in a flash. She would run screaming, and that hopeful infatuated look would be gone for good.
But oh, man, how he wanted her.
His imagination ran amok with the things he wanted to do to her, the erotic scenes flashing rapidly through his mind.
First, he’d tighten his grip on her hand and yank her to him, holding her sweet curves flush against his front, then grab her nape to tilt her head up and catch her lips, kissing the living daylight out of her. When he’d gotten her all breathless and panting, he would lower her to the desk and peel those tight jeans off her...
Yeah.
Kian shook himself. He had to stop that train wreck before it crashed and burned. Reining in his runaway libido, he shackled it with the steel cables of his tight self-control.
Bloody immortal hormones.
This whole thing was absurd. If that little chit had anything special about her, it was her ability to turn both his sister and him into blabbering, romantic dolts. He was too old and too experienced for these kinds of teenage fantasies.
Recognizing her...
Feeling like coming home to her...
He couldn’t believe this kind of nonsense even crossed his mind.
It must’ve been just plain old lust.
For the past couple of nights, he had not gone prowling, and his sex-starved body was kicking his hormones into overdrive and making him stupid.
Sensing the change in him, Syssi pulled her hand out of his grasp and lowered her eyes, blushing again.
Oh, fuck, her timid response just threw more gasoline on the fire of his arousal, spurring on the predator in him.
Taking a deep breath, Kian hissed as he pulled it through his clenched teeth.
Oh, great, now he was hissing... charming.
He had to get out of there.
As he turned away from her to face his smirking sister, he felt the girl’s hurt gaze burning holes in his back.
“Now, who has his knickers in a twist? Dear brother of mine.” Amanda mocked his agitation. “Don’t pay any attention to his foul mood, Syssi. It has nothing to do with you. It’s just the way he is: An. Old. Grouchy. Goat.” Amanda walked over to Syssi and wrapped a supportive arm around the girl’s shoulders.
It was a ridiculous standoff, with Kian brooding on one side, and the two women forming a united front against him on the other.
When had he become the villain here?
He just wanted to get it over with, haul Amanda home and get that smoke and drink he was so desperately craving.
Chapter 14: Brundar
Out in the hallway, Brundar leaned his shoulder against the wall, twisting his dagger between his fingers as he observed the sparse foot traffic of mortals passing him by.
There was a common pattern to the way they talked, walked, the stuff they wore and the things they carried.
They fit a certain profile.
Some were leaving, walking in chatty groups of twos and threes, heading to the cafeteria or some other joint for their evening meal and making plans for later on. Others, holding on to their coffee mugs and their laptop cases, were coming in to do some late work at the labs.
Behind him, Anandur chuckled.
His brother was passing the time by entertaining himself with stupid YouTube clips on his phone, oblivious to the fact that he was on guard duty and was supposed to be invisible.
Idiot.
Brundar rolled his eyes as he imagined the ghost stories Anandur’s disembodied chuckles might start. Glancing both ways, he checked to see if any of the students walking by them had overheard his idiot of a brother.
A girl clutching her laptop hurried by him without a glance, and another walked away, too busy talking on her phone to notice anything. But something about the three guys coming his way made the hair on the back of his neck tingle in alarm.
Snapping to attention, Brundar palmed the hilt of his dagger.
The men didn’t fit the mold he’d discerned.
With no coffee or laptops, the young men were built like linebackers and marched purposefully with the gait of trained warriors.
They were heading straight for Anandur and him, staring right at them as if the fuckers weren’t at all affected by his concealing illusion.
They shouldn’t have been able to penetrate his shroud... unless...
Unsheathing his second dagger, Brundar assumed a fighting stance. Next to him Anandur did the same while speed-dialing Kian, proving he hadn’t been as distracted as he’d appeared to be.
“Doomers in the hall. About to engage,” he said when the shit hit the fan.
Chapter 15: Syssi
As Kian ended the call and returned the phone to his pocket, his face turned from brooding to grim to determined, and his body seemed to swell with aggression.
Something was up.
“Is there another way out of here?” he barked, confirming Syssi’s suspicion.
“We can pass through the kitchenette to the adjoining lab; its front exit door faces a parallel corridor.” Amanda hurried to grab her purse and laptop. “Syssi, take your stuff, we are leaving!” She was already in the kitchen.
Kian urged Syssi to follow.
“What’s going on?” she asked while trying to walk as fast as Kian’s hand on the small
of her back was propelling her to. His stride was so long that she was forced to jog to keep up.
“Some unwanted company I’d rather avoid is coming this way,” was his cryptic reply.
Syssi was afraid to ask any more questions.
Kian looked like he was ready to commit murder, and what’s worse, she sensed that with him it wasn’t just an expression. Which didn’t really make sense considering the guy was supposedly the CEO of an international conglomerate. But her gut had an opinion of its own, and it didn’t match the one her mind was comfortable with.
Come to think of it, he reminded her of Andrew. When her brother got like that, she knew to stay clear of him and keep quiet. In his line of work shit happened, a lot, and it didn’t matter if he was on leave. Dealing with it, the last thing he needed was to be distracted by his little sister’s curiosity.
Trotting behind Amanda, she wondered what she had gotten herself into. Who were these people? Was she in real danger? Or was it her imagination?
Except Amanda looked scared, she wasn’t imagining that. And in addition to deducing it from her companions’ urgency, Syssi felt it in her gut, which in this case was in agreement with her brain, confirming that something dangerous was coming their way.
Rushing through the adjoining lab, they exited into a corridor on the other side of the basement. But instead of heading for the elevators farther down the hallway, Amanda opted for the nearby emergency stairs. She threw open the door, and they ran up. While Amanda and Syssi’s heels played a staccato beat on the metal stairs, Kian was somehow managing the climb soundlessly—his considerable weight not hindering his silent treads.
Interesting, what the mind focused on in an emergency.
Once outside, they hurried toward an SUV that had been conveniently waiting for them in front of the building, and the three of them crammed themselves into its back seat.
Had Kian summoned the car? When? She hadn’t noticed him calling anyone. Had she been too preoccupied?
Duh, running scared from some unspecified danger would do that to a person.
The driver turned his head to face them, smiling a weird, fake-looking smile; the kind usually molded on the faces of store mannequins.
“Where to, Master?”
Master?
The situation was becoming creepier by the minute, and Syssi was going into a full fight-or-flight mode, or rather a fright and flight.
What did she really know about Amanda and her brother? Nothing. They might be the dangerous ones, and not whoever they were running from. Or perhaps she should be scared of both.
There were just too many things that didn’t add up about Amanda and Kian. Though if asked, Syssi would not have been able to point to a single thing that would look suspicious to someone else.
They were just too good-looking, unnaturally so. Amanda had a butler who called her mistress, and Kian had a driver who called him master. Kian, who must’ve weighed well over two hundred pounds, could climb stairs soundlessly, and sometimes Amanda’s eyes shone as if they were illuminated from the inside. Separately, each item on her list could be explained away, but taken together they painted a picture that was slightly off.
Or a lot.
“Drive for a few blocks then park. I need to check on the guys.”
Sitting squeezed between Kian and Amanda, Syssi clutched her purse with trembling hands, trying to hide how shaken she was—feeling like Alice in Wonderland right after she had fallen down the rabbit hole.
“Don’t worry, sweetie, we’re going to Kian’s place and we will have a good laugh about this whole silly episode over drinks.” Amanda hugged her stiff shoulders and patted her cheek.
Why the hell was Amanda treating her like a child?
But instead of feeling offended or at least peeved, for some inexplicable reason, Amanda’s words had a calming effect. Syssi’s tension eased, and she felt herself relax, becoming comfortable, even languid.
How is it possible?
Her rational mind refused to accept the unexplained change. Except, Amanda’s hand kept stroking her hair and it felt so wonderful that Syssi’s eyelids began drooping.
She was so tired...
How come? Syssi wondered again and tried to resist, but she couldn’t fight the sudden compulsion to sleep.
Chapter 16: Kian
Amanda kept her mouth shut until Syssi’s eyes closed and she slumped into the back seat, leaning against Kian’s arm.
“She’s out. So what’s going on? And if this was all a trick to get me to come with you...”
Not deigning to respond, Kian only cast her an incredulous glare, then dipped his head to look at Syssi.
She was leaning against his bicep, her wild mane of hair covering half of her face and most of her upper body. Gently, he brushed it away from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. Holding her carefully, he shifted so her cheek came to rest on his pectoral and wrapped his arm around her.
Syssi sighed contently but didn’t wake. Tucked under his arm, her soft, small body felt as if it belonged there.
But Kian craved more.
In her sleep, she’d relaxed the death-hold she had on her purse, and her delicate hands were resting gracefully in her lap. Taking one small palm, he placed it on his thigh, savoring the added sensation. For now it would have to do.
Like hell...
Closing his eyes, he dipped his head to her hair and inhaled her fresh, sweet scent, then inched down to sniff at the soft skin in the hollow between her neck and shoulder.
Divine... So inviting…
Not surprisingly, his fangs distended and begun throbbing with venom. Struggling against an overwhelming urge to sink them into the smooth, creamy column of her neck, he forcefully leashed the monster inside and pulled back.
With a wicked smirk, Amanda was eyeing him from Syssi’s other side, no doubt debating between taking advantage of the opportunity to needle him some more and letting him enjoy the moment.
For now she kept quiet, but knowing his sister, she was patting herself on the shoulder. Observing his reaction to Syssi being exactly what she had predicted, she was basking in the success of her brilliant matchmaking.
Still, patience not being one of Amanda’s virtues any more than it was his, a few moments later she asked again, “Seriously now, what’s going on?”
“Anandur called from where I left Brundar and him to guard the hallway leading to your lab. Doomers showed up, and they were about to fight them off, giving us time to get away. That’s all I know for now. It was right outside your door, Miss ‘I’m in no danger,’” Kian bit out, glaring at her, his fury rising as the implications of what had just happened, or rather had almost happened, began sinking in.
“Because of your obstinacy, Anandur and Brundar are fighting for their lives.” Throwing the accusation at her was unfair, but Kian was livid. If he had arrived just a few moments later, she would have been taken.
Imagining what horrific things those monsters would have done to her, he felt as if acid was slowly sliding down his throat and into his gut.
Amanda crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged, pretending she wasn’t shaken. But she wasn’t fooling him, not for a moment. Kian knew her too well. Amanda was just too proud to admit it, but the truth was written all over her face—she was distraught.
Taking a deep breath, he calmed his tone to something a little more human-sounding than a growl. “Was there anything important left in the lab? Something that might be useful to the Doomers?”
She shrugged again. “All the data from my paranormal research is on my laptop, and the lab’s computers have only the standard university stuff. So no, I don’t think they will find anything useful there. What I wonder, though, is how did they know where to find me?” She was trying to sound unaffected and matter-of-fact, but the slight tremble in her voice betrayed how rattled she was.
“It must have been something they found at Mark’s place. Them showing up at your doorstep a day after his murder can�
��t be a coincidence. Probably something about your work. Unless they hit your home as well.” Kian glanced down at his phone again, anxious for news from his men.
“Onidu would’ve called if they did.” Amanda had no reason to worry for her Odu; he was practically indestructible. But she pulled out her phone and called anyway.
“Onidu, darling, did we have uninvited guests today?”
“No, Mistress. Should I be expecting anyone?”
“Our enemy showed up in the lab and I wanted to check on you and give you a heads-up.”
“You wish to give me heads, Mistress? What should I do with them?”
Kian chuckled. The Odus were very literal.
“Never mind. Just be watchful.”
“Of course, Mistress.”
Chapter 17: Brundar
The fight in the hallway would’ve been epic—if anyone had been able to see it.
Brundar was keeping the area shrouded in such a thick illusion of dread that anyone passing by hurried away, avoiding the turn into the short side corridor as if it were the anteroom to the fiery pits of hell.
The Doomers attacked with surprising skill, and the fuckers were strong and determined. But then, Brundar and Anandur had spent centuries honing their fighting techniques, and the younger immortals were no match for them.
The skirmish was over almost before it began. Daggers stabbed and slashed, most of them parried, some penetrating tissue, some only tearing at clothes. Punches and kicks found their targets with meaty thuds, eliciting strained grunts.
In the end, Anandur was choking the air out of one assailant, while Brundar had his dagger buried in another’s chest.
The third managed to escape.
Brundar dropped his gasping opponent, the guy’s body hitting the concrete floor and jerking up from the force of it. The impact put an end to the gurgling sounds of his desperate struggles for air.
For a split second Brundar contemplated giving chase, but instead he sent his other dagger flying after the running man, nailing him between the shoulder blades.