by Lexi Blake
I stood there and let Lee sniff me, feeling only vaguely uncomfortable as he ran his nose down my arms and into my arm pits. I’d cleaned up and used all the products a hygienic female should use, so I tried to be tolerant. I tried not to let Zack know how weird it all felt until, damn it, Lee just had to drop to his knees and go there. He put his damn nose right in my girl parts. I slapped his curly brown head.
He frowned up at me as Zack laughed out loud, practically bending in half. Lee’s eyes were impatient, and he looked at me like I was an idiot. “It’s the place where your scent’s the strongest. Why do you think dogs try to get their noses there?”
“It’s private,” I said, blushing.
“Not if I’m guarding you, it isn’t,” Lee replied, now starting on my legs. “Don’t you think I’m trying anything funny, sister. I assure you I don’t have any designs on you. The last thing I need in my life is some high-maintenance princess with a criminal mind and two damn husbands.”
I chose not to mention that I only had one husband. Dev was just my boyfriend. Lee continued on his quest to embarrass me to the fullest extent possible.
He sniffed my feet and then glanced over at Zack. “You should try it sometime. You would be able to tell all kinds of things about the client. It’s harder for them to lie when you really know their scent.”
“Please try it on Dev.” I would really love to see how my green-eyed boy handled a sniffing wolf.
“So what’s the report on the brat?” Zack ignored me completely.
“Well, there’s citrus, both soap and body lotion. She used something minty on her teeth. Shampoo, conditioner, and some other product but not hair spray. There’s the faint hint of sandalwood, but I bet that’s from Quinn. She likes her coffee black. She had something for breakfast with maple syrup. Her clothes were washed with soap, not dry-cleaned.” Lee was just warming up. “She had sex with Quinn this morning, probably in the shower, but she was with Donovan last night, maybe both. She isn’t completely human, by the way.”
Zack looked interested in that last bit. I was trying to deal with the fact that my bodyguard was always going to know when I had sex. I hadn’t really minded when it was Neil because I would have talked about it with him, but Lee wasn’t my gay husband.
“She’s a companion.” Zack leaned in now and I tried to pull back. He took a deep whiff. “You’re right. I’ve smelled that before. She smells a little like…”
“Felix Day,” Lee pronounced, and the brothers nodded at each other, obviously satisfied at solving that mystery. I chose to try to move past the morning’s embarrassing incident. There was a reason I smelled like Felix Day. A companion has strong angelic DNA, but I didn’t want to hear a bunch of crap about how unangelic I acted, so I kept my mouth shut.
“Well, I’m glad for you, Zack,” I said. “I think you and Dev will be very happy together. Now you can kiss his ass all you like.”
“I’d rather have you kiss my ass, lover,” Dev announced, walking into the club. He was followed closely by himself. Declan was in full-on Dev mode, appearing to be wearing the same suit, with the same shortish hair. “I’ll just let Zack save it on occasion, but I assure you, your lips are the only ones allowed to touch me there.”
I walked across the room and faced him with my hands on my hips. God, my heart beat harder the minute he walked in the room, and something fell in place for me. I needed him the way I needed Daniel. But I wasn’t going to let him know that. There were things that had gotten lost in the craziness of the previous evening. “What about those six priestesses your brother kept going on about? Are they not allowed to kiss your assets?”
“I have been informed I was horribly mistaken about those priestesses,” Declan said smoothly. “Please forgive me for the mistake. Devinshea left them behind when he left his temple. He has only one goddess now and intends to keep it that way.”
So the boys had their stories straight now. I wouldn’t be able to break them up. “He better keep it that way because he doesn’t want to piss me off. I consider it cheating even if it’s part of a religious ceremony. Those priestesses are going to have to find another priest.”
“Of course, my mistress,” Dev said with a smile. “Consider thousands of years of Fae tradition tossed aside.”
“See that it is,” I replied before turning to the other one. “What did I tell you about the glamour, Declan? I can’t handle two of him.”
Declan smiled as he dropped the illusion. “I don’t believe it for a moment, Zoey. From what I’ve heard, you handle two men with great efficiency.”
“And flexibility,” Dev offered. He turned to the wolves and regarded Zack with a businesslike demeanor. “Zack, we’re having some meetings today. I’m lunching with my brother and then we have club business to attend to. At dusk, we need to head out to the farm.”
Zack pulled his professional persona around him the minute Dev stepped into the room. He held his phone in his hand, his fingers moving across the screen. “Yes, I downloaded the schedule, sir. I made arrangements with Albert to have lunch delivered from your favorite restaurant. It will be served in the private dining room in twenty minutes. I have a bottle of wine chilling.”
I looked back at Lee. His brother was the consummate professional in his expensive suit and silk tie. Zack’s haircut had cost at least two hundred dollars. Lee was in old jeans and a wrinkled T-shirt with some sort of beer ad on the front. His hair needed a trim and his boots were worn. I smiled back at my wolf and let the sarcasm flow. “What are our luncheon arrangements today, Lee? Have you called The Mansion to have it catered in?”
“I don’t know what that is, Zoey,” Lee admitted, his low voice a rumble. “If you want some lunch, I think I saw some peanut butter and bread in the kitchen. While you’re at it, make me a couple of sandwiches, too. I can always eat.” Lee punctuated his statement by reaching behind his ear and scratching quickly back and forth. He sighed when he was satisfied he’d taken care of the itch. Zack was right. He was more wolf than man.
“You see, this is why I fired him.” Dev shuddered a bit. “He’s insubordinate and won’t take care of you the way he should. He’s fine as straight-on muscle, but you need an assistant as well. Let me hire someone who knows how to dress, sweetheart.”
“I’m her bodyguard, Quinn, not her nanny.” Lee didn’t sound like he cared about the man who paid his salary. “How the hell am I supposed to make sure she doesn’t get killed if I’m always running her errands or making sure her hair appointments are scheduled? I’ll leave that to you. You’re the one who treats her like your damn Barbie doll.”
Dev looked the wolf over seriously and then regarded me. “Are you sure this is what you want, Zoey? I can have more reasonable guards here in an hour. They’ll take care of you the way you deserve.”
Lee frowned, an extremely taciturn expression. He wasn’t going to give Dev an inch, and he certainly wasn’t about to do anything so energetic as defend himself.
“Lee is fine, Dev.” I had to fight for my wolf because he definitely wouldn’t fight for his own ass. “I’m good with him. He promises not to let me get horribly murdered, and I promise not to shoot him.”
“I told you that won’t work a second time, Zoey,” Lee shot back. “I’ll take you out first.”
“If you lay one fucking hand on her I swear…” Dev started, and I pushed him back, getting between the two.
I rolled my eyes at Lee, who was not one bit impressed with my lover’s show of temper. “You could give me something to work with here.”
Lee shrugged. “Donovan already gave me the whole ‘death and dismemberment’ spiel. I get it.” He cast his brown eyes at Declan. “I’m actually surprised to see you in one piece. I figured after the way you pawed his wife that Donovan would kick your ass back to Faery. Guess he’s more patient than I thought.”
“Not at all.” Declan’s hair flowed down his chest in a midnight waterfall. “He did indeed kick my ass, as you say. He took out my entire
retinue. It was quite impressive. He threatened to kill me if I ever so much as glance his lovely wife’s way again. I believe the vampire thinks I am no longer a threat. He should know that I am made of sterner stuff than that.”
“We Quinns never allow something like death to deter us when it comes to sex,” Dev admitted.
“Not at all,” his brother agreed. “There are some things worth dying over. I took everything the vampire king said to heart. I then sent for reinforcements and bought better weaponry. I shall be ready to meet the vampire at his earliest convenience, and this time I shall be victorious. I shall reap my reward.”
“He’s talking about you, lover,” Dev pointed out. I was staring at Declan. I really couldn’t help it because his hair was so beautiful. I was thinking about how lovely his hair was and how good it would look on Dev. Dev’s eyes suddenly went wide. “You’re staring at his hair.”
“It’s pretty,” I offered lamely.
“Oh, cara,” Marcus said from the doorway. He had a damn good sense of timing. “Now you’ve done it. Don’t you know how faeries prize their hair? It’s a man’s crowning glory and something a lover would appreciate about him. Your Lancelot must feel insecure with his short hair when in the presence of his brother’s beauty.”
I frowned at the vampire, who always knew how to make an entrance. “Dev’s hair is beautiful. I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to admire Declan’s. It’s just really pretty and very soft.”
“You touched it?” Dev practically screamed the question.
Declan sighed with obvious satisfaction. “She stroked me with her little hands. It was pleasurable. Her hands are almost as soft as her lips.”
Dev bore down on me, every bit as enraged as Daniel could get. “You want to talk about cheating, lover? That was cheating. You do not touch his hair. You do not kiss him. Just because he looks like me doesn’t make him a freebie. You stay out of his bed.”
I looked up at him, my eyes wide because Dev never got jealous. “I didn’t know touching his hair was a big deal. And I didn’t kiss him. He kissed me. It was how I knew he wasn’t you.”
Dev stared down at me for a minute and then his lips quirked up. “Just how was my brother’s kiss different from mine?” He asked the question with the certainty of a man who knew he was going to like the answer.
I smiled up at him because I had him now. How could the man be insecure after what I’d done to him in the shower not an hour before? I wrapped my arms around his neck and pushed myself up on my toes to get as close as I could. “Well, Declan’s kiss was fine, but it didn’t make me melt and it didn’t make me want to lock myself around him and do anything he asked of me.”
He ran his hand along my neck, palming the nape, pulling me close until his mouth hovered above mine. I could feel the heat from his body. It always made me warm. “See that your fingers stay out of my brother’s hair. I’ll begin growing mine immediately.”
I nodded and then Dev was back at his brother’s side as though nothing had happened.
“I did not try very hard,” Declan admitted. “The next time, I shall attempt to make her melt as well. She is lovely, brother. I do envy you. Her body reminds me of that woman we shared in Paris when we snuck away to the human brothel.”
Dev smiled wistfully. “She had beautiful breasts as well. They bounced, but not as nicely as Zoey’s do. Come, brother. We’ll have lunch and I’ll regale you with stories of my amorous adventures with my mistress.”
They walked out with Zack trailing behind, and I shook my head at Marcus. “I know we’re supposed to talk this morning, but I think I should go and monitor that little discussion. Afterward, we need to talk about what happens when you leave me alone in a damn vampire club.”
“I am sorry about that, cara. I didn’t think.” Marcus held up a newspaper advertisement. “But I can make up for my mistake. I think you’ll find what I have for you to be even more compelling than Devinshea’s conversation with his brother.”
The ad was half a page and invited all of the Metroplex to come to the Kimbell Art Museum starting on July fifteenth for the opening of a new exhibition. “Treasures of Ancient Rome” promised to be spectacular.
So Halfer thought the Strong Arm of Remus was going to be on display and he planned to steal it. There was only thing to do—steal it first myself.
I sighed and looked back at Lee. “We’ll have to get that lunch to go. We’re going to Fort Worth.”
Lee watched as Dev and the others left the room. When he was sure we were alone, he turned on Marcus. He moved forward in two quick steps and his hands were on Marcus’s lapels. He picked up the vampire, lifting him high into the air and slammed him onto one of the tables with a violent force. I was surprised the table held up under the pressure. He pressed Marcus against the wood with one hand and the other became a wickedly sharp claw right above Marcus’s heart.
“Lee, what the hell is going on?” The suddenness of his violence shocked me. He’d moved almost faster than I could see, and Marcus had no chance at avoiding him.
“Yes, I would rather like to know myself,” Marcus added blandly, though his fangs were out and his body tense. “Are you a hunter or an assassin?”
Lee’s eyes were dark as he stared at the vampire. “Like I said to my brother, I’m responsible for her now. I want to know if you’re the vamp who left the marks on her wrist. Healing skin smells different even when the process is shortened because the victim is on vamp blood. Those marks might not be visible, but I know they’re there. She can’t hide them from me.”
“She’s married to a vampire,” Marcus pointed out logically. “He does feed from her.”
“Not from her wrist he doesn’t,” Lee snarled. “Donovan likes it from the neck or the groin on his wife. It’s the neck or the wrist from the faery. I know my employer’s habits. Zoey’s a good girl despite the whole bigamy thing. She doesn’t cheat on her boys. So if it wasn’t Donovan then some vamp forced himself on her. If that was you, then we’re going to see what you look like with your heart on the other side of your chest.”
“It wasn’t Marcus, Lee.” I wished his senses weren’t so damn good. There was no way Zack would have caught that. I’d told Dev everything, but we’d decided to leave that part out when discussing the night with Daniel. I was afraid no amount of good sense would have stopped Daniel from marching back into the club and confronting Marini if he knew. The sight of that little box in Marini’s hand made me keep my mouth closed. “Daniel was called to the club last night. While he was in a meeting, one of the vampires cornered me and had a little snack. It was no big deal. It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“Name, Zoey,” Lee said through clenched teeth as he took his hands off Marcus.
Marcus sat up and straightened his clothes. “I believe you will find it was Louis Marini. I wondered why he was thirty minutes late. He said he was with his companion. I should have been more suspicious since he’d obviously showered and changed clothes. He didn’t want Daniel to smell Zoey on him.”
“Where will I find him?” Lee asked, his voice tight.
I shook my head. “You can’t kill him, Lee. He’s the head of the Council, and if you kill him, it brings hell down on all of our heads. We aren’t ready for that yet. We just need another couple of months and then he won’t bother us anymore.”
“I don’t like politics, Zoey,” Lee growled. “I don’t want my hands tied because your husband would rather let you get assaulted than handle his business.”
“Daniel doesn’t know and he’s not going to,” I stated implacably. “I understand that it’s your job to protect me, but this is not negotiable. If you can’t allow me to handle this then you need to go back to Nevada. You won’t have to worry about politics again. I’ll find someone else to guard me.”
Marcus watched the two of us. “I believe, wolf, that if you had been with her Marini would have found it difficult to assault her. They made a mistake sending her in without a dedicated guard. It’s
too easy to separate her from Devinshea. He must play the political game. And Zoey is right to keep this from Daniel. He would likely behave poorly. Daniel might not be ready for this fight, but neither is Louis. If you stay at her side Louis may still corner her, but he will find it difficult to force himself on her.”
Lee stared, obviously unhappy with his choices, but he finally relented. “Fine. You don’t go into a place like that again without me. He gets anywhere near you and you give me a 9-1-1. I’ll be there before he can sink his fangs in. Is that understood?”
I nodded. “I’ll call you, but Lee, you have to understand that this is the nature of the game we’re playing. It’s too important. It’s not like we’re doing this for fun. Our lives are on the line and so is the freedom of every wolf you know. If I need to sacrifice to keep us all free then that’s what I’ll do.”
“I believe you, and that’s why I’ll protect you,” Lee replied. “Now go make us some sandwiches because it’s thirty damn miles to Fort Worth and I’m hungry.”
I started toward the kitchen. “You’re a crappy employee, Lee.”
“Yeah,” he admitted. “But I’ll be damn good at keeping you alive.”
Chapter Fifteen
Having really good intelligence is important to any job but crucial when it comes to being a thief. While a guy robbing a random house might be comfortable picking up anything that catches his eye, the real professionals want to know exactly where the object of their desire is kept and how much crap they’re going to have to get through to get it.
Casing a place you intend to rob is completely necessary, though there are certain precautions you should take. When entering an establishment ripe with security measures, a modest disguise is called for. It doesn’t have to be anything along the lines of Mission Impossible. A hat will do to hide the color of one’s hair, and it is easy enough to make sure your face doesn’t get caught on camera. In most places, the security measures are out in the open. They’re meant to deter the casual thief and, in the case of an art museum, to discourage patrons from getting too close to the masterworks. This open security is a big mistake when dealing with someone like me. It just lets me know exactly what I need to take out in order to get my prize.