by Kiersten Fay
“Oh, and I’m boring you?” He chuckled softly, as though laughing at himself. His temper wasn’t mollified.
“That’s not it at all. I just feel so isolated.”
“Are you afraid of me?”
She shook her head. “Cortez, no.”
As if her words were a challenge, he crossed to her with inhuman speed, looming over her, his voice booming, “DO NOT LIE TO ME.”
She stumbled back, nearly losing her footing, but she managed to keep her balance while her lungs seized in terror. He watched her as if he were gauging her every reaction. Counting her every harried heartbeat.
Catching her breath, she planted her feet. “Anyone would be afraid when you behave like that!”
He backed away as if her response wasn’t what he’d expected. “’Course. Forgive me. Just getting a measure?”
“Of what.”
“The difference between truth and lie.”
“And what have you deduced? That you can successfully frighten me? Well congratulations. A vampire scared a human. Bravo.”
He stared at her, still cool and aloof. “Merely that your body was telling me the truth just now. Something I suspect your mouth doesn’t always do.”
She swallowed, her heart beating fast for an entirely different reason now.
His eyes narrowed on her.
“My body told you I got startled. That’s all.”
“That’s all you think I learned just then?”
She tried to look uninterested.
“You were startled, yes, but you weren’t sweating. Not like you are now after I suggested you don’t always offer me the truth. Your eyes didn’t dart as if trying to hide something, like they did just now.
“I’m not hiding anything.”
“Did you know there’s a subtle, almost unavoidable rise in the voice when a lie is told? At least for humans. Difficult to perceive when you’re not listening for it.”
Something in her stomach squirmed uncomfortably. “Fine. I’m a little afraid of you. Are you happy? I’m a human alone on an island with a vampire. Is it really that much of a surprise? I have no idea how long you were planning to keep me here, and no indication that I had the option to leave. You sent the boat away and it freaked me out.”
He seemed to digest that for a moment. “That makes sense. I wish you would have said something. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”
“Okay.”
When she thought the argument was at an end, he moved on to another topic. “What’s all this talk of needing to be around people and crowds? Most people can’t wait to get away from the city. It seems like you’re still angling to perform at my club?”
“I...” she couldn’t exactly deny it. Not with his lie detector senses on high alert. She merely shrugged.
“Is that why you tried to force yourself to stay with me?” He shook his head. “I wish I could say I’m surprised.”
She sighed, frustrated. “Obviously I would love a job, but that’s not why—”
“What other reason could there be? You want something from me. Like all the rest. You drop hints at every opportunity. On the boat, the beach, in bed. Suggesting I let you use my sanctuary as your own personal stage so you can indulge your ridiculous fantasies of fame.”
“Ridiculous?” Now he was out of line.
“Even after I told you I don’t mix business and pleasure. Ever. Do you really imagine I don’t follow my own rules? Or is it that you think you’re the exception?” He gave her a honey please look and she felt the sting deep in her chest.
“First off, if I did have fantasies of fame, they would be far from ridiculous, and far grander than a two-bit vampire-run club in Riverstone. I sing like I made a deal with the goddamned devil, not that you’d ever bothered to give me a chance to prove it before you slithered your way into my panties—”
“Slithered?”
“—taking the option away from me. Second, one little fling and I’m forever banned from Ever Nights as if I’ve been tainted? That hardly seems fair. Banned from a job that could save....” she trailed off, reluctant to admit how deep in the hole she and Cole were.
He held out his arms. “No. Please, continue. Save you from what? Am I to be held responsible for everyone in your situation then?”
“What do you mean my situation?”
“Do you have any idea how many wannabe starlets I encounter? Who proposition me in hopes of getting something out of it? And I stick to my rules because I’m sick of it. Not to mention most of them have petty minds to go along with their worthless dreams.” He eyed her as if trying to decide whether she fit into that category.
Through gritted teeth, she muttered, “I am not a wannabe.”
“They all say that, sweetheart.”
“Or petty.”
He went quiet.
She crossed to him and stabbed her finger in his chest. “Or worthless!”
He blinked, losing a bit of his fire. “I didn’t mean that you are.”
“And you know nothing of my dreams,” she hissed.
“I know that for someone who entertains as well as you claim to, I’d expect you to be able to afford better than a one room flat in the ghetto.”
Dick! “Oh, sure, I could afford a better place if I was willing to shake my ass right out of my clothes like some of the other women in town.”
He crossed his arms and snorted. “Isn’t that what you did for me last night?”
Rendered speechless by the most potent, purified rage that had ever poisoned her blood, she could only stare at him, aghast.
Dropping his arms, he turned sheepish and scrapped his hand down the back of his neck. “Look, I—”
“You know what? Don’t worry about it. Working for you is looking less and less appealing by the second. In fact, doing anything with you is looking less and less appealing.”
He held his hands out to her in a placating manner. “Naia—”
She cut him off with a sharp look. “Save it. We’re done here.”
Hurt and outraged, she stormed out of the room and down the hallway, past the kitchen where he’d made her dinner and beyond the bedroom where he’d made her scream his name again and again, not stopping till she found herself sequestered on a balcony on the eastern wing of the house, as far from Cortez as the building would allow. There, she fumed and watched the sky dance for her watery eyes as it darkened with the setting sun, clouds rolling in, bringing with them distant flashes of lightning, all the while trying desperately to convince herself that her soul wasn’t flayed raw and ripped to shreds by the shards of her breaking heart.
Chapter 25
Naia sat disquietly on the yacht’s uppermost deck, watching the island fade to a shadowy smudge against the blackened horizon. The storm had passed them quickly, and now the sky was nearly clear, just a few white puffs obstructing the stars. Sparks of moonlight glinted off the aggressive waves created by the boat’s momentum. Had Cortez ordered full speed ahead? Was he that eager to be done with her?
Though she’d been itching for extraction, a part of her would forever miss her all too brief carefree yet consuming fling with her mystifying vampire.
Her emotions were still reeling over their argument? How had things soured so quickly?
They hadn’t spoken since their fight. He’d barely even glanced her way when they’d boarded. She didn’t even know what she’d done to set him off. Not that it mattered now. Their time together was over.
Still, she couldn’t keep from running back through his words. He definitely seemed to sense she was lying to him, and that seemed to be a trigger point for him. Something had made him very suspicious of her, though Naia got the impression he thought she was taking him for a ride. Like the others, he’d accused. Someone had hurt him deeply.
She recalled Kenzi mentioning women using Cortez for callous reasons. Going with the assumption he could read minds, he’d know it, too. How awful.
Grudgingly, she had to admit his suspici
ons of her weren’t entirely wrong. Though he didn’t know her deception was so much more abominable. What an incompetent spy she’d turned out to be. Dante would not be pleased. Especially since the one thing she’d managed to glean was, recent behavior notwithstanding, Cortez seemed to be honorable...for a vampire. Not at all the type to traffic dangerous drugs or force women into compromising positions. In fact, he’d been furious to learn something like that might be happening in his town. The more she’d gotten to know him, the less likely it seemed Cortez would ever engage in activity so abhorrent.
Would Dante accept her conclusion? His hated competitor cleared of wrongdoing?
Movement to her right drew her attention. Cortez was striding up the stairs. Her heart immediately revved. Was he here to argue with her some more?
In one hand, he held a glass of amber liquor. In the other, a glass of wine.
A peace offering?
His gaze was pensive as he held the wineglass out to her. She glared up at him and crossed her arms, but when his expression turned remorseful, she caved and accepted it.
He gave a tight smile and crossed to sit on the bench across from her. He was silent for several moments, as if gathering his thoughts.
Unwilling to be the first to speak, and afraid to look too interested in what he might have to say, she faced the ocean. Waves played tricks with the moonlight against the water, tossing it around like a ball.
“I may have spoken harshly earlier,” Cortez suddenly muttered.
She blinked and glanced back at him.
When she didn’t respond, he prompted softly, “Well?”
“Well what?” she replied.
“You must have something to say?”
“What do you expect me to say?” Was he angling for an apology from her? Well, he could just hold his breath—
“You must tell me how badly I’ve hurt you.”
That drew her up short, and she lost all her steam. She studied his deep frown and hunched shoulders. He truly looked repentant. She took in a breath and let it out slowly. “You were intentionally and unnecessarily hurtful. You were cruel.”
He flinched, then gave a curt nod. “I should not have spoken that way to you. I was...I overreacted.”
“I’d like to know why you reacted like that,” she said softly. “And don’t take this as me finagling for a job, because that’s something I’m no longer interested in, this is just curiosity, but what could be so wrong with the idea of me working at Ever Nights? It’s the best, safest club in town. Everyone wants a job there. When whatever this is between us”—she gestured between the two of them—“is over anyway, so what would it matter? You have to realize what an amazing opportunity that would have been for someone in my position.” She tried not to sound sour there at the end, but failed.
That muscle ticked in his jaw.
“Look at you,” she said. “Even now you’re seething just by my hypothesizing.”
He let out a wearied sigh, scrubbing his hand down his face. “It has been my experience that the women I date...care more for what I can do for them than they actually do for me.”
She was preparing for another heated argument, but at his gutted words, and his crumbled expression, her lips parted.
As if realizing how much his expression revealed, he rearranged his features into a cool mask. “You cannot imagine the difficulty, knowing that they would just as soon jump into bed with any of my clan were it to benefit them. Knowing how indifferent they truly were and the finesse with which they tried to hide it.”
“Knowing?” she picked the word out instantly. Was this a confession? Had Cole been right? “How could you possibly know how they truly felt?”
He shrugged, blasé, but all emotion suddenly drained from his face, leaving behind a stony representation. That was his way of lying, she suddenly realized. “These things are easy enough to figure out, if you know what to look for.”
She supposed so, but her suspicions about his mystical abilities were now off the charts. “Why did you bring me here, Cortez? I know it’s not because you were afraid I’d go from your bed straight to one of your buddies?”
“And how do you know that?”
“Because that would be a really dumb assumption to make, considering you didn’t even know me. Not to mention insulting.”
His lips twitched. “I’ve only ever gone to the island alone.”
Her brows shot up at that, and she didn’t even mind that he was changing the subject. Curiosity about this enigmatic man once more dug at her.
“I wanted to see how it felt to have another with me, to share the experience.”
She wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard a deep longing in his voice. She felt herself softening toward him even more. “Well, how was it?”
He cocked his head to the side, pondering the question. “Quite enjoyable.”
If he’d wanted to bring someone to his island, why hadn’t he before? He must have had hundreds of opportunities. Surely not all the women he’d dated were users...unless he had a type. Perhaps he felt drawn to certain kind of women, just like some women repeated a pattern of abusive relationships. Perhaps, with Cortez, it was the inherent boldness of females of ambition that drew him back into the cycle. Hadn’t she been bold when she’d first walked into Ever Nights? Hadn’t she technically been intending to use him? And he’d jumped her like a goddamned thoroughbred.
After a short silence, she said, “Well, it sounds like you’re used to dating morons. Present company excluded.”
His lips quirked, and he met her gaze. “I suppose you could look at it that way, but it’s not just women. Unfortunately, it is the case that most people who get close to me are looking to take advantage of me in some way. A loan, a lay...a job.” He sighed. “It’s tiresome.”
She didn’t know what to say, so she remained silent.
“Years ago, after so many relationships had gone sour, I vowed never to be with anyone who worked for me. Keeps things simpler. Still, I’m often viewed as little more than a coffer.”
She couldn’t imagine anyone looking at him and seeing just a pocket to be picked. Sure he was well off in a world that was drowning in poverty, but he was so much more than his holdings. He was funny, intelligent, kind—most of the time—and generous, at least he had been with her. Not to mention he was drop-dead gorgeous and a hurricane in the sack. And yet, was she really any better than the other women from his past? If he only knew what she’d been assigned to do... She went a little pale. He’d toss her over the edge of this boat and leave her to drown.
He noted the subtle change in her mood. “Are you cold.”
She sipped her wine. Her hand shook a little. “I’m fine.”
“I could have blankets brought up.”
“That’s sweet of you, but really, I’m okay.” They sat for a moment in silence, a current of air playing between them. “So I’m curious,” she said finally. “What made you so sure these women you dated only wanted you for your money, or for whatever?”
His lips twisted into a bitter smile. In a low, almost inaudible voice, he said, “It is my burden to know these things.”
There was such pain in his words, her heart hurt for him, and she nearly lunged across the deck to throw a comforting arm around him, but she wasn’t sure he’d want that, so she stayed where she was.
“Except with you,” he mused, almost to himself. “With you I’m completely in the dark. You could be the woman of my dreams, or the embodiment of my self-destruction.”
She swallowed an unusually hard lump of wine. “What do you mean?”
For a moment, he looked as though he regretted the cryptic admission, setting his drink aside. “Merely that I don’t know where I stand with you after tonight.” In a lighter tone, he added, “Have I coaxed your forgiveness yet?”
Is that what he was going for? Was there hope for their relationship yet? Although, he sounded a little evasive.
She crossed her arms and gave him her profile.
“I don’t recall hearing an actual apology.”
From the corner of her eye, she caught the wolfish curl to his lips. “I am sorry, Naia. Truly.” He all but purred her name, making her shiver. With one arm, he pushed off the bench and crossed to sit next to her, curling a finger under her chin to bring her head around to face him. “Am I forgiven?”
She lowered her eyes and pressed her lips together, her own clandestine motives eating at her. She had already decided to cease her undercover act, but what if somehow later on he discovered why she’d been sent to him. It would ruin everything. “I’ll forgive you on one condition.”
He hesitated. “And what might that be?”
“If I do something that upsets you in the future, you’ll forgive me too, okay?” She swallowed against the sudden tightness in her throat as a guilty troll marched up her spine. Even if she was pretty sure now that there was some truth to this mindreading business, it was clear her thoughts were safe. Cortez couldn’t know her words were loaded.
His brows drew together, and a frown weighed down the corners of his lips. At length, he said, “Fair enough.”
She unconsciously averted her gaze.
“Is there something I should know?” he asked in a slightly flattened tone.
With effort, she assumed a coy expression. “Only that I have one more condition, and it involves you doing that thing you did to me the other day with your tongue.”
His grin returned slowly, devilish.
Chapter 26
Perfectly sated and deliciously drowsy, Naia walked her fingers up Cortez’s magnificent chest, who rested on his back with his eyes closed, her head pillowed comfortably by his thick shoulder. They were in the master cabin, basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking. When she trailed the pads of her fingers back down his chest and over his dazzling abs, his muscles contracted for her, dancing to her touch.