Marek returned with her coffee, the steam rising from the beige depths and appealing to her once more. Hell, it was not everyday a girl got to drink coffee on a private jet after being made to unabashedly come by one sexy asshole. She might as well stick to her research, move away from the heartbreak of having her work stolen.
And guard her heart from one dark haired blue green eyed lothario. She nearly snorted. Was that even a word in the 21st century?
They were quiet for some time, the hum of the jet’s engine adding to the vibrations under their feet filling the air between them with white noise. Marek glanced at his watch, looking impatient as though he couldn’t wait for the plane to land.
“You carry a gun,” Marek suddenly spoke up. “Why?”
Gwen tracked his gaze and looked at the gun case on the floor. “Target practice.”
His brows rose.
She hitched a shoulder. “It helps me relax, target practice, I mean. I learned how to use one during training.”
“Training?”
“Afghanistan. I went as a volunteer medic five years ago. Learning how to handle a gun was a must. It became a hobby afterwards.” She blew the steam from the cup before taking a sip. Damn, the man knew now to make good coffee. “How much longer before we reach New Orleans? Twenty minutes? Ten?”
“Not long now.” Marek watched her again like she was some blob under a microscope. His lips quirked to the side. “There you go again, frowning.”
She rubbed her forehead, laughing self-consciously. She nearly shook her head in confusion. The twinkle in his eyes and his appreciation of her had returned. How mercurial could Marek get?
“Sorry. It’s a habit. Thanks for letting me hitch a ride. Saves me some time before I get a flight to the UK,” she said as though nothing had happened between them. If Marek thought she’d cave in and ask why the change in attitude, he could think again.
“You might want to reconsider that plan, Gwen. Christmas is just around the corner. You’ll have a helluva hard time getting a flight maybe all the way up to the New Year. Have you thought about that?”
She looked at him fixedly and angled her face in a stubborn tilt. “I’ll charter a plane.”
Marek’s mouth stretched to one side. “You can do that. Or you can stay in NOLA until the mad rush dies down.”
“No.” She shook her head in vehemence. “I’m not staying here in the States for one more minute.”
“Did you really even think this one out?” Marek looked at her in bemusement.
“Do you have time to plan when your life is in danger?” she snapped then exhaled, raising her palm in an apologetic gesture. It irritated her that Marek was right. “The quicker I leave Austin, the easier it will be for me to plan. I’ll look up chartered flights the moment we touch down.” Then reluctantly admitted, “If there isn’t any then I’ll ride it out in New Orleans for the few days after Christmas then I leave.”
“You’re welcome to stay in my place.”
She looked at him wide eyed. “Say that again?”
“My place,” Marek said and chortled. “Well it’s more like our family home if you’re too freaked out to stay with me in my apartment in town.”
“I’m not freaked out.” Her vehemence said otherwise. Gwen huffed. What on earth was wrong with this man? Moreover, what the hell was wrong with her? She was starting to dislike him and his cocksure arrogance but one look from him and she was a blubbering mass of protoplasm.
Marek raised his palm. “Look, I didn’t mean it that way. You don’t know anyone in New Orleans, you don’t know when you’ll likely get a flight back across the pond and you’re going to rack up a huge bill if you stay in a hotel. You can have the house all to yourself. Lia, my sister has an apartment close to the university. We’re hardly at home.”
She stared at him, her thoughts roiling. “Won’t your parents mind you bringing a stranger to their home?”
“They’re dead,” he said flatly.
Gwen inhaled in dismay. . “I’m sorry.”
He dismissed it with a wave. “Long time ago. So, what I’m saying is if you like what I’m offering you, take it.”
“No strings attached?”
Marek’s mouth twitched and his eyes lit with amusement. “If you say so.”
She shook her head, bewildered. “Why do you want to help me? I just met you.”
“And I just touched you.”
“I’m serious!”
“So am I. Gwen, I’m offering you a safe place so that Highmore doesn’t find you, if he is really behind all that has happened to you. How long do you think it’ll be before someone else tries to make another attempt on your life if you stayed in a hotel?” He reasoned. “No one knows you’re staying with me. You’ll have all the amenities you want and more.”
The overhead sign lit up and Greg’s voice came through the speaker requesting them to fasten their seat belts to prepare for landing, stopping all conversation. The moment they touched down and taxied the runway towards the hangar, Gwen had unfastened her seat belt. She slung her purse across her body, grabbed her backpack and gun case, and was waiting for the plane’s door to open.
She pressed her lips together, her face scrunching up as she took a deep breath. She felt like drowning in a sea of hasty decisions. It was her fault, she knew that. Leaving Texas during the height of the Christmas season was the worst thing she could do. She didn’t like the odds either. Her life was in danger possibly from Sebastian Highmore. Her body was under threat from Marek Bannach. She just hoped that whatever they had going didn’t endanger her heart also.
She shifted her weight from one leg to the other only too eager to disembark. Her money would tide her over without having to flag her whereabouts. If she needed extra cash, she’d sell her firearm. A pang of regret assailed her. She had no choice. She wouldn’t be allowed to bring the gun with her to the UK anyway unless she had a permit from the local police in Oban. She’d also need two referees and it couldn’t be any of her relatives. She expelled the breath she was holding. Her heart skipped a beat and she inhaled sharply when Marek’s delicious scent surrounded her, his body heat warming her back.
“I’ll sweeten the deal,” he murmured, his hot breath in her ear. Gwen closed her eyes wanting badly to lean back into him. “You can finish your blood analysis here in NOLA while you wait for a flight to the UK.”
“I can’t.” She turned her head to look at him, watching him through her lashes. “I don’t have a sample of the blood.”
“What if I told you I could get you a sample for you to study further?” Marek’s breath fanned her hair at the top of her head.
She turned completely toward him. Her gaze, disbelieving.
“The same kind of blood?”
“The same type of blood.”
She gave an unladylike snort. “How would you know what kind of blood to look for? I don’t even know where Highmore got his sample.”
“That blood you’ve been looking at? That belongs to a firebinder.” Marek’s smile ghosted his features.
“A firebinder?” Her chin tilted downward. Like seriously?
“Long story, little time,” he said. “It’s going to be very easy to get a sample.”
Gwen didn’t know whether to laugh at the preposterous notion or become elated that she’d be able to continue her research. Firebinder? What was a firebinder? But if Marek could get her a sample…
“Fine. Suppose I believe that you can procure me a sample, whose blood will it be?”
Marek’s blue green eyes held hers, and there it was again. That pull that made her want to drown in him.
“Mine.”
Sebastian got out of bed, pulling his robe from underneath the crumpled silken sheets and the woman’s body. She stirred from her prone position moaning both in pain and pleasure. He had driven her hard, had fucked her even after she begged him to stop. But he refused, his fury pouring into her as each spurt of his semen burned her womb. He was not a sadist. No
. He needed to sire the next generation of firebinders because they were dwindling in numbers. His children would propagate his bloodline, marry the scions and daughters of the world’s richest families to gain Sebastian power and wealth. His children would be the only firebinder bloodline allowed to survive. The rest of the firebinders, wherever they were had to be put down like the rabid dogs they were with a desire to grant mankind a cure for majority of the world’s diseases. Just because Girru said so. Sebastian snorted in disgust.
But his plans for world domination weren’t foremost on his mind. Gwen Fraser and how she escaped him, was.
He looked out of his bedroom window into the gardens framing a 50-metre pool. Even in Texas’ coldest winters, his gardens were the only ones where flowers bloomed all year round. He didn’t need a hot house or a roof to cover his property when the fire in his veins more than made up for the warmth needed to keep them growing in the perfect climatic conditions. With a little heat and water, the steam rose from the ground bringing up enough moisture to keep his gardens happy.
He folded his arms together and brought his fingers up to worry his bottom lip – an unconscious gesture when he was deep in thought. Why the fuck didn’t he think that Gwen might have someone to help her? Could have been a random stranger and who gave a shit about him? He’d have his men take care of that inconvenience. Gwen’s personal records showed no next of kin in the States. Inquiries made to her co-workers drew blank and concerned stares. Sebastian’s lips twitched. Digna’s reaction was worry, but Sebastian knew that that worry was because she wouldn’t have anything to offer him short of licking his ass. The possibility of Digna doing that made his butt clench. That was really where her face truly belonged. Digna Manson would do anything to get ahead short of having a horse’s cock up her ass. He knew what Digna did and Gwen was not the first she had stolen from. But she had the savvy to speak with the press and the scientific community. She basked in knowing she was the face of Sebastian Pharma, too haughty for her own good because she knew she had a direct line to him. It was something she always dropped among reporters and colleagues alike causing a swarm of envy she didn’t give a shit about. But Gwen… This time, his cock twitched. He had never had a woman defy him. That was new and…a huge turn on.
He had found out that Gwen Fraser was not a woman prone to socializing unless her colleagues pried her away from her desk. The number of times she did go out could be counted with the fingers of one hand. Sebastian’s inquisition actually backfired on him when Gwen’s former team asked where she was and why she resigned. To say that they were in awe of him when he left his ivory tower was an understatement. When he spoke to them, a female geneticist nearly fainted in shock. The only one fawning over him was Digna who gave him a tour of the lab as though he was not the one who had it built for the singular purpose of testing his blood. Still he had let her. When he found something interesting, asking for clarification from one of the lab assistants, Digna was not far behind answering his questions and physically easing the assistant away. She was a woman who aimed to please, but a woman whose grey matter didn’t hold the answers he sought.
Which brought his thoughts back to Gwen Fraser once more.
His phone blinked and vibrated on the bedside table.
“Did you get her?”
“Sir, she left with the same—”
Sebastian didn’t wait for the caller to finish before hurling his phone across the room and smashing it against the wall. The woman in his bed didn’t even stir, too tired and drugged to care.
He ground his teeth until he thought his molars would sink into themselves. Heat filled his body and if he was not careful, he’d leave permanent footprints on the hardwood floor. Leaving the room, he took the stairs leading to the pool as he removed his robe. He dove into the waters, slicing through the cold that bubbled and steamed around his body, pulling the water away and paddling furiously for fifty laps before his blood cooled.
He needed to get his hands on Gwen’s research. It was the only way he would be able to find and kill the rest of the firebinders. When Digna informed him of Gwen’s breakthrough, she was sure that it was about what had been found during the tests. If Gwen had been able to extract the firebinder’s serum, he’d be to use this as a carrier for a disease. A veritable biological weapon without a cure. When that happened…
His lineage was the only one that mattered. It was also the vow he gave his father before Sebastian killed him.
He looked up from his one hundredth lap to see Kerri approaching the pool. Wiping his face, his eyes narrowed while he ran them down her body. She was a cold bitch that hell wouldn’t even take. He waited.
“The children are here,” she informed him. “Shall I ask them to wait in the foyer?”
“No,” he said hauling himself out of the pool. Kerri didn’t bat an eyelash at seeing him stark naked. His dick didn’t appreciate her coldness either. “Take them to the dining room. They must be hungry after their long trip.”
Kerri nodded and left, her high heels clicking and her hips swaying.
Sebastian took the stairs once more, water trailing.
Thank whatever powers that be for the little children. Yes, the children would be spared. Their immense joy at life was the only thing that made his worth living.
****
Faith Hannah climbed out of the Dodge Challenger with an indulgently amused smile twitching her lips. The love of her immortal life, Zac McBain looked like a boy who had just received the biggest and bestest Christmas gift in over six hundred years. Just thinking about how she almost lost him three years ago in the rainforests of Honduras never failed to bring a lump clogging her throat and her heart squeezing inside her chest it was difficult to breathe for a few minutes. Only the women of the Cynn Cruors knew how she sometimes had to escape Zac by going to the training room located below the main living areas of the Manchester Faesten. Hadn’t it been for her firebinder’s blood, she wouldn’t have been able to save Zac from the nearly fatal wound that slashed across the base of his throat. A memento of Kamaria, the Deoré’s aunt.
“Babe, we’re here.” Faith could no longer stop the smile widening her mouth.
“Another minute longer,” Zac replied, his hands still gripping the steering wheel. “They are going to be filled with envy that I drove a Challenger.” He laughed, a belly rumbling laugh filled with enjoyment.
Faith straightened up. She expelled a long breath as she looked at her surroundings with interest. New Orleans sizzled with a different vibe from Manchester and was definitely not London. She could feel it in the cool late night air—laid-back living with an electrical undercurrent of magick.
The driver of the black Porsche climbed out and sauntered towards them with a smirk.
“The car will still be here later, Zac,” Hank Heaton stated wryly. “We need to get you inside the house, not that the sun is arriving anytime soon.”
“Thanks for picking us up and arranging everything,” Faith said as Zac eventually got out of the car. Zac stepped back, hands on his hips still appreciating the Dodge’s lines.
Hank raised his palms. “The least I could do. When my uncle called saying Cynn Cruors from Manchester were coming over I was glad to know I’d finally get to meet you. I’ve not much exposure to you guys here. Save for Daniel who’s coming over tomorrow to set up the command center.”
Faith nodded. Zac extended his hand.
“Sorry, mate. Just had to have my fill of this car.” His eyes crinkled at the sides as he grinned ruefully. “Good to finally meet you. Henry spoke of you with pride.”
Hank grinned back. “I owe him my life. Everything he did fascinated me. The rest is history. Let’s go in.”
Hank and Zac carried the luggage as Faith walked ahead of them into the one and a half story house ablaze with lights as if there was a party inside. With what she sensed ghosting over her skin, Faith would have believed that a séance was happening in their midst.
“I’ll leave you two and s
ee you tomorrow,” Hank said, putting the suitcases down in the foyer. “I’ll see what I can find and get back to you.” He paused tilting his head. “Enjoy the Big Easy when you can.”
When he left, Faith turned to Zac. She couldn’t stop the kernel of hope growing inside her. She squeezed Zac’s biceps, feeling the strength in them.
“We’re here,” she said softly, looking at the face of the immortal she loved with all the fire in her blood. “Do you think I’ll finally get to see others who are like me?”
Zac linked his arms around her waist, bringing her closer to him for a kiss. Faith melted into him, desire slowly glowing inside of her.
“I have no doubt we will,” he murmured. “First things first. How about we test the bedroom before Daniel arrives?”
Faith giggled. “Zac, that’s still several hours away.”
He lifted his head, his hunter green eyes starting to fill with gold.
“Not enough time to show you all the ways I want to love you.”
Faith felt herself melting with anticipation. “Well, since you put it that way…”
Gwen didn’t like it. Actually, she didn’t like herself. Three days ago, she had been hell bent on leaving the States. Now, as she surveyed her surroundings she was torn between leaving and staying. Marek had taken her to his parents’ house in the Lower Garden District of the city. She didn’t really need that much space within the protection of the wrought iron enclosure of the house that had an expansive garden with ferns and sweet smelling rose bushes. Neither did she need the hardwood floors, the staircase leading to the bedrooms or the balconies with intricate ironwork galleries. She just needed a little space to weather it out until she found a flight to the UK. But when Marek told her he had the same rare blood and that he was going to provide her with a mini laboratory to continue her research, she was beyond stupefied. She was further agog when he gave her access to his credit card to buy what she needed.
Firebinders: Marek (The Firebinders Book 1) Page 9