Of all the Lupreda, Roman was the most “at home” in the ice and snow. Whereas Laird approached his role of financial planner and investor of the Lupreda’s entire portfolio with calculated shrewdness, Roman contributed financially by entering and winning snowboarding competitions. “I get paid to play” was his motto. The first snow of the year always revved him up. “Case in point,” Caine said in a dry tone with a pointed look at Roman.
Laird grinned his agreement and rocked back on his heels. “Have you seen Emma yet?”
Caine shook his head and focused on Roman. “I’ve brought you up to speed with what we know. Got any questions?”
Roman’s expression turned serious. “No. I’m good.”
Caine cut his gaze to Laird. “Do you have your phone on vibrate in case Kaitlyn calls us back?”
“Yes. You grab yours before we left?” Laird asked.
Caine nodded. “Since I called Kaitlyn on your cell, I want to make sure we don’t miss her call.”
“Hello, my two favorite dancing partners!” The blonde from last night walked up and wrapped her arms around Laird’s waist from behind. “And who’s this?” she said with interest, tilting her head and eyeing Roman appreciatively.
“What happened to you last night?” the brunette whispered in Caine’s ear while hooking her arm in his.
As Laird started to introduce Roman, Caine waited to see his friend maneuver his way around the fact he didn’t know either of the girls’ names.
Roman took care of it for them in typical “Roman” style. “Hello, ladies. I’m Roman. It’s nice to meet you.” He bent over each of their hands and planted kisses on one and then the other.
When the blonde said something about three men being better than two, Caine learned their names were Veronica and Mandy. Although, in this dangerous game of wolf verses panther, he highly doubted those were the girls’ real names.
Caine’s cell phone began to vibrate in his front pocket and the brunette rubbed her thigh against his. “Hmm, I’ll have to use my cell and call you a lot tonight.”
His lips tilted in a devilish smile. “Hold that thought.” Pulling his cell phone from his pocket, Caine tensed when he saw Landon was calling. If he answered, the women would be able to hear Landon’s voice. He couldn’t take a chance in case the panthers’ hearing was just as keen as werewolves. He hung up on Landon’s call and quickly typed a text message—Catya later! At the club. Now—then sent it.
Laird’s eyebrows lifted. “Who was that?”
Caine slid his cell back into his pocket. “My roommate. I told him I was here and I’d catch up with him later.” Wrapping his arm around the brunette’s shoulders, he hoped Landon got his coded message.
From the moment Emma walked into the club, men made a beeline to her. To bolster her confidence, she’d taken the time to at least comb through her hair, dab on some lip gloss and change into another outfit Jared’s sister had provided.
Emma tensed at every offer to dance or for a drink, wondering which man was the bastard who’d written the note and kidnapped her aunt. After the tenth time she had to turn down someone, she regretted not asking Jared to come. At least with a man by her side, the other guys might’ve left her alone. But while she and Jared ate dinner together at his apartment earlier, he’d told her that Caine had asked about her after she’d left the café and how much it had really bothered him. He went on to tell her that he wanted to get to know her better outside of work and not as her boss.
With the way Jared’s feelings seemed to be changing toward her, Emma didn’t want to give him a reason to think she’d return them. She thought of Jared as a wonderful friend, nothing more. Because she couldn’t tell him why she was going to the club, asking him to come along would definitely send out a mixed signal. Not to mention, his constant presence by her side could put her aunt in danger.
Emma had helped clean up after dinner, then she’d checked her voice mail once more for a reply from that number she’d called about her vitamins. Nothing. While Jared took a shower, she’d jotted a quick note saying she’d be back and left. And here she was, standing inside Squeeze an hour earlier than her designated time, being hit on left and right. She had absolutely no interest in getting to know any of these men, nor did she care if they found her boring. How ironic, considering her worries while she’d waited in line outside just last night.
Snowflakes melted in her hair as she moved her slim cell phone to her jeans’ front pocket and then shoved her gloves into her inside coat pocket. Every sound vibrated within her, knocking her heart, thrumming along her jangled nerves. The people danced frenetically, their movements expressive and reckless, their touches more aggressive than the night before. The scents were stronger, too, almost like the smells themselves had been heightened by the snowstorm swirling outside. The way the wind howled as she walked over from Jared’s apartment promised blizzard conditions within the hour. She didn’t care. She wanted answers and for her aunt to return home safe.
Emma scanned the crowd and, once again, as if he were emitting some kind of invisible pheromone only she could zero in on, her gaze instantly locked on Caine. He was with the same blonde and brunette from last night, but this time he wasn’t alone. His tall, auburn-haired friend danced on one side of the blonde, while another man with longish blond hair danced on the other side of the brunette. They made a train of male, female, male, female, male gyrating to the music.
She set her jaw. Caine might’ve been asking about her earlier, but it didn’t take him long to find a replacement. Turning, she walked away, weaving her way through the intimate, two-seater round café tables around the dance floor. She’d climbed the three stairs and was almost to the bar area when someone grabbed her arm.
“Emma!”
She didn’t look at Caine, but pulled from his hold and kept walking.
“Things aren’t always—” Caine began, following behind her.
“What they seem?” She faced him with a raised eyebrow, then shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I didn’t come here looking for you.”
As she started to walk away once more, he gripped her elbow. “The only reason I came tonight was because I thought you might be in some kind of trouble.”
“You have an interesting way of keeping yourself busy,” she said in a dry tone. Even though her heart tripped at the thought he seemed sincere in his desire to help her, she needed to do this alone. Shaking her head, she continued with a sigh. “I’m fine, Caine. Thanks for your concern.”
Caine’s hand slid down her elbow until his fingers locked with hers. She shivered at the electric heat that swept through her. The intensity was so…conflicted, almost as if her body wanted to shove him away, yet at the same time felt drawn to his touch. Like magnets with the same ends facing each other—pushing away, while a strong pull remained along the fringes, demanding that the attractive ends finally find each other and slam together.
Lifting their locked hands between them, he used his hold to pull her closer. “I know you feel what happens when we touch, Emma. I can’t explain it either, but I want you to trust me. Come dance with me.”
The man towered over her. Emma tried to pull free, but he didn’t budge. She should be intimidated by his forceful stare, yet she wasn’t. She should be angry that he was just dancing with another woman—other women—but she didn’t care. Instead, the moment he stepped close and his primal scent invaded her senses, a strong urge to move as close to him as she possibly could rocked through her. It was irrational. She couldn’t explain the attraction or the desire to know why her nerves tingled and sparked under her skin whenever he touched her. But it was there. Intensely strong.
And he wasn’t letting go.
She glanced around them to see if anyone was watching. Everyone seemed engrossed in their own activities. Caine’s fingers tightened around hers as if he thought she might take flight.
“One dance,” she said, and then I can walk away. Caine released her hand so she could shrug out of h
er coat, but the moment she set her jacket on a chair near the bar, he grabbed her hand once more and tugged. He pulled her to the other side of the dance floor and moved to dance along the edges of the crowd, but she shook her head and led him deep into the throng, until they were in the center with everyone dancing around them. It was darkest in the middle and less likely anyone would see her with someone there. The bright colored lights swept the crowd in psychedelic patterns, yet the spot where they stood was the one area the lights didn’t shine.
They stood facing each other and the song segued into a slower one. The music thumped and the heavy seductive rhythm poured right into her soul as Caine held her gaze. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he pulled her close. When they began to move to the slow beat, he released her hand and cupped the side of her face. Emma closed her eyes and gasped when the tingling sizzle leapt from her skin to his. Or was it his to hers? She couldn’t tell which. Maybe both.
Caine slid his hand into her hair and his jaw brushed her temple when he spoke close to her ear. “Your hair is sparkling all over.”
“It’s the snow.” Emma placed her hands on his dark green button-down shirt, then sucked in her breath at the sensation of his solid chest underneath her fingers. He was hard as a rock and his musky smell was so sinfully decadent she couldn’t stop inhaling.
As they continued to slowly move to the music’s erotic rhythm, his thumb tilted her chin upward and his dark gaze searched hers. “Your eyes sparkle, too, like they’re reflecting golden light. They’re mesmerizing.”
Embarrassed heat shot up her cheeks. She considered her looks passable and her smile nice, but no one had ever acted as if he was totally enthralled by her. Jared had shown interest, yet the hungry way Caine’s gaze searched the planes of her face—like he wanted to taste every part of her—was downright impossible to resist. Damn, he was good.
“How many times have you said that to a woman?” She stared at his defined jaw and tried to wrestle control over her scattered emotions. She felt so safe with him, wanted to trust him—that he really could help her.
Caine’s jaw muscle jumped at the same time he slid his hand underneath her hair. The moment his hot palm cupped the back of her neck, Emma instantly froze in place. Her heart hammered and her breathing turned shallow. Like an animal playing dead in front of a threatening predator, she just stopped moving. She couldn’t control the impulse or explain it. It was instinctual and frightening all at once.
“I’ve never said that to anyone. It was sincere, Emma. I want you to trust me.”
When she didn’t say anything, his voice lowered. “Look at me.”
“Why can’t I move?” she whispered. Her gaze snapped to his and her pulse rushed in her ears.
“Maybe because you don’t want to,” he said as his lips hovered a mere inch from hers. His fingers pressed at the small of her back and his penetrating gaze bored into hers. “Don’t you want to know if the fire sparks everywhere we touch?”
The intimate suggestion made her stomach tumble. She fell into his compelling gaze and heard herself say, “Yes.”
He moved his hand into her hair and his sexy smile sent her pulse whooshing at a faster rate. “Then kiss m—”
Surprising herself, Emma tilted her head and lifted on her toes to press her lips against his. When their lips met, the conflicting emotions twisting her stomach fled. The heat between them tingled and zapped, frying her mind and her body with visceral lightning-flash intensity.
Every sound around them stripped away; the press of people disappeared. All she heard was their own breathing and the thump of their hearts. She moaned when Caine yanked her against him to press his lips harder against hers.
As he slid his tongue into her mouth, the sensual glide set her skin on fire. He tested her with a steady slow rhythm, his kiss deep and thorough as he explored, tasting her…demanding a matched response. She was so caught up and surprised by how deeply his kiss affected her that her knees actually wobbled. Emma dug her fingers into his shoulders to keep herself upright. His flavor was as irresistible as his earthy primal scent, full of heat and lusty promise.
Her body quaked from the desire she tasted on his tongue and the possessive way he slanted his lips over hers. Emma instinctively locked her hips against his and twined her arms around his neck, her kiss just as aggressive. The vibration of his groan against her mouth felt primitive, passionate…and right. Maybe it was the music, maybe it was his smell or his electric touch. All she knew was, as inexperienced as she was with men, she couldn’t get close enough to this one. Her trust in him was inexplicably absolute.
Caine’s chest rumbled against hers and his hands slid down her waist. When he gripped her rear in an assertive hold, then pressed his thigh hard against her sex, Emma shivered at the erotic sensations scattering through her. Her body hummed, pulsing with jolts of heat everywhere at once, like she was on some kind of hormonal high. She kissed his jaw and tried to catch her breath. “Closer.”
As soon as she spoke, something vibrated against her inner thigh. Emma tensed, then gave a nervous laugh when she realized it was probably his cell phone.
“Sorry, I have to get this.” Caine pulled the phone out of his pocket.
After he read the text message, he glanced around the room and tucked the phone back into his pocket. Emma noted his high-alert expression. “What’s wrong?”
Caine’s mouth set in a firm line and he seemed genuinely torn before he grabbed her hand, his hold tight. “I need to take care of something, but I want you to stay close.”
Emma glanced at her watch. She had a half hour before she was supposed to meet with the person who’d left her that note. It was probably best if she did so alone. She pulled out of his hold. “Go do what you need to do.” Pointing to the bar area where she’d left her coat, she continued. “I’ll be over there.” In an open area where I’ll be seen by myself.
Caine’s expression hardened. “I want to help you, Emma. Come with me.”
She started to argue when he cursed under his breath and reached into his pocket again, pulling out his cell phone. As he read the text message, she began to back away. “I’ll be fine. Just right over there.”
He frowned. “Don’t move from that spot. I want you to trust me enough to let me help you.”
She nodded and turned away. Strangely, now that his smell wasn’t seducing her senses, she still believed he wanted to help, even though she didn’t think there was anything he could do for her. When she walked up the stairs to a higher spot near the crowded bar, Emma looked around the club for Caine.
He was already on the far side of the room near the entrance, talking to another blond woman. Every few moments, he’d glance Emma’s way. Her insides turned to mush. Whatever they were talking about, he couldn’t be paying too much attention to the blonde if he kept staring at her.
The song ended and a large group of people from the dance floor headed for the bar. The mass jostled her, pushing her out of the way as they each vied for the bartender’s attention. A sudden painful prick along her hip made Emma gasp in shocked surprise. She tried to turn, but someone spoke next to her ear, preventing her from seeing his face.
“We’ve been looking for you,” a man said in a calm voice. As he spoke, her vision began to blur. When her legs began to collapse underneath her, an arm wrapped around her waist. “Don’t fight it. Come along.”
“Nooooo,” she slurred, barely able to speak, let alone try to fight him off. Whatever he’d injected her with was very powerful and fast-acting. Her ability to resist had completely disappeared.
“That’s a good girl,” was the last thing Emma heard before she lost consciousness.
Chapter 4
C aine glanced up in time to see Emma stumble and a man with a salt-and-pepper beard and spiky hair hold her upright. When the man turned her around and started escorting her limp form toward the back exit, Caine instantly grabbed Kaitlyn’s hand and moved through the crowd as fast as he could. “Emma!”
he called, but his voice was drowned out by a sudden loud alarm reverberating through the club.
Someone had pulled the fire alarm.
Pandemonium erupted and people rushed toward the main entrance, creating a wall of people between Caine and the exit where the man had just taken Emma. Across the room, Laird called Caine’s name over the screams. Caine saw the two female panthers heading toward the front door. He motioned for Laird and Roman to block their path, but the ladies were quickly swallowed up by the mob.
Landon stood at the entrance of the club, his expression grim and intense as he began to shove his way through the crowd. The moment his Alpha reached them, Caine released his tight hold on Kaitlyn, and a deep snarl unfurled from his throat as he leapt over the crowd toward the exit. He didn’t give a damn who saw his inhuman jump. All he cared about was saving Emma. When he landed with a heavy thud near the back exit, he knocked a man in a black shirt back against the wall.
“Watch it!” the man yelled over the alarm.
The main lights came on at that moment, highlighting the man’s stark features. He scowled as he pushed himself off the wall. When he started to turn toward the back exit, Caine stepped in front of him and thumbed toward the main entrance. “Go out the other door.”
The guy stared at the crowd of people squeezing out the front door, then glared at him before he stalked away. Caine grunted his annoyance at the interruption. He didn’t need any witnesses when he shredded the bastard to bits for attempting to kidnap Emma.
The heavy metal door slammed against the building’s brick wall as Caine burst through it. His wereclaws were already extended, ready to inflict painful damage. Only an empty alley and a Dumpster greeted him. A howl of fury erupted from his throat as swirls of snow drifted quietly to the ground. He clenched his fists and welcomed the pain his claws inflicted on his palms before they retracted.
A couple seconds later, Landon and Kaitlyn appeared behind him, flanked by Laird and Roman. “Care to tell me what that was all about?” Landon said, peering past the glow of the single floodlight above the door into the dark alley.
Scions: Revelation Page 5