by A. C. Arthur
And yet she couldn’t stop.
So tonight she was at Ralph Kensington’s first political banquet to support his run for the Senate. She didn’t support him or the crooked people he had working for him—whom she couldn’t actually connect him to. Kensington was in the drug game up to the crisp white collar of his expensive dress shirt, but he was good at covering up his less savory deals. Tonight, however, she couldn’t afford to worry about all the corruption going on in the government. She was here to watch Rome and there was no turning back. Stepping out of her car, she handed the keys over to the valet, who looked young enough to still be in high school. He smiled at her as she walked by, that I wanna get with you. Give me your number? kind of smile. Kalina was flattered but not at all moved to try her hand as a cougar. Younger men were definitely not her style. As a matter of fact, no man—at least for the last couple of years—was her style. Funny she would think about that now—the fact that she didn’t have and hadn’t had a man in a long time.
Those thoughts cluttered her mind as she walked into the hotel, down the foyer, and right in the line of sight of one very sexy and angry-looking Roman Reynolds.
Thinking fast, she turned on her heels and moved in the opposite direction. Not out of the ballroom completely but toward the other side of the room. She didn’t want Rome to see her, even though he had no idea she was following him. The quick glimpse of him had her heart thumping against her chest and some other vibration moving toward her center. Cursing as she moved through the ballroom, she hated the fact that he could arouse her on sight. Hated that her body felt drawn to him, like he sang a song for only her to dance to. It was crazy, she knew, but that’s how she felt. Even now, as she moved farther away from him, that tug was still there, that urging inside her to go to him, to be with him in any way possible.
She ignored it, snagging a glass of champagne from a tray carried by a woman dressed in slacks, shirt, and jacket that made her look more like a man. She barely sipped, wanting to blend in but not sacrifice her good judgment. Champagne or any alcoholic beverage for that matter put her right over the top, and it didn’t take much. So she’d learned long ago to keep her sips short and shallow.
She couldn’t see Rome but she felt his presence, knew he was there and he was close. And wasn’t it crazy that she was supposed to be here watching him, yet she was running in the opposite direction?
Get a grip, Harper. Her own words echoed in her head and she took another sip of champagne. Clutching her purse, she thought about her job at the MPD and how much she wanted the position with the DEA. She wasn’t going to get it by running from Roman Reynolds. Whatever this physical thing was between them, she could handle it. She’d handled killers and drug-dealing scum for the last six years of her life; surely one sexy-ass man couldn’t be that big a deal.
When her glass was empty she looked at it in surprise, then figured she was ready to face him. She turned and scanned the room but didn’t see Rome.
But someone saw her. A trio of someones she noticed as her head turned in the opposite direction. Three men, all dressed in tuxedos, all looking as if their minds were on something other than this function. Something rolled beneath her skin—a warning, traipsing along the length of her arms.
Her gaze locked with the man in the middle, the biggest, meanest-looking one. He was dark, his skin like polished onyx, his lips thick, nose wide and flat. But it was his eyes that drew her, the eerie slant to them that made him seem more inhuman than he should. The other two beside him shared that different type of look—or she should probably say glare. And each of them was glaring at her.
Not even with all her training was Kalina prepared for the rush of anxiety pouring through her. They began to walk toward her, and everything around her seemed to slow so that only those three men moved. The wild thumping of her heart echoed in her ears, her skin itching with an awareness she’d never experienced before. Who were they and why were they coming for her?
When answers didn’t come soon enough she turned, opting to get the hell out of Dodge, saving the analysis for later. But when she turned it wasn’t toward an easy escape. Instead she rammed into an immovable strength, a force that might prove harder to deal with than the three strangers behind her.
“Don’t move.” His voice was deep and more sinister than any she’d ever heard.
It was also familiar.
Chapter 5
“What—” she started, but the hands that gripped her shoulders slid down her arms to stop at her waist. Heat speared through her body, halting her words.
He turned her so that she was at his side, his arms tightening around her, holding her there.
The party seemed to come back to life. She could hear the voices of those around her, the clinking of heels across the floor, the sound of murmured conversations. Searching the crowd, she quickly spotted the three men, who had stopped their approach but still glared at her menacingly.
“Making friends?” Rome asked from beside her.
“I don’t know them,” she answered trying desperately to hide how nervous she really was. Why three strange men scared her she had no idea. No, that was wrong. She knew exactly why they scared her, and the knowledge pissed her off. No matter how much time had passed or how many visits to the shrink she’d made, the events of that night still haunted her. On the streets she was a tough undercover narcotics detective, with her badge and her gun always nearby. She’d been trained to kill if need be, to bring justice at all costs. But one night none of that could help. She’d been alone, vulnerable, and afraid. And she’d hated it. Hated it even more when those emotions crept up, taking hold of her.
“You can let me go now,” she said, bravado trying to win out.
“What if I said I like holding on to you?”
“I’d say I don’t care. Let me go,” she insisted, pushing against his side. He was a lot stronger than he looked garbed in his perfectly cut tuxedo—a tuxedo that just made him all the more attractive. Just one more reason she needed to get away.
“Not just yet,” he whispered, but he wasn’t looking at her this time. He was looking across the room.
Following his gaze, she wasn’t surprised to see he was staring at the three stooges who had been taunting her with their eerie eyes and fullback builds.
“I don’t know who they are.” Why she admitted that, Kalina had no idea. It could be that she was still trying to figure out why they were watching her. This was so not the way her investigation was supposed to go. But suddenly she wasn’t in the mood to investigate. He wasn’t supposed to know she was here and now he did. Those men creeped her out—that wasn’t supposed to happen, either, but it had. And now she’d rather go home and curse herself for being so stupid and so weak. How did she expect to get into the DEA if she couldn’t handle following this one man and getting the goods on him?
His jaw clenched and she thought she heard a low growling sound. But Kalina was tired, her emotions were all out of whack, and she just wanted to go home. Coming here tonight had obviously been a bad idea. “Look, can I go now?”
He turned to her then, his expression quizzical. “I’ll take you home.”
She shook her head. “Don’t bother, I drove.”
“I’ll have your car brought to your house,” he said, turning away from the three goons and pulling her along as he stalked through the crowded ballroom.
“I don’t need a ride,” she said, finally yanking her arm free of his grasp. The action startled even her and she stumbled back a bit, only to feel another steel hardness behind her.
“We meet again, Ms. Harper.”
His voice was smoother, his face just a touch softer than Rome’s. She turned to stare up at Nick Delgado, his laughing hazel eyes looking back at her. He was a handsome man, there was no doubt. From the silky ink-black hair to the thick eyebrows and firm jaw. He had a great build, not bulky but toned. Sex appeal just about oozed from every one of his pores. And Kalina suspected he knew all his attributes without
her running down a mental list. But he wasn’t Rome.
And why the hell did she care anyway?
“Hello,” she said tightly. “And good night,” she finished, turning to look at a none-too-pleased Roman.
“Call Ezra.” Rome looked over her shoulder to Nick. “Tell him to bring the car around back. We’re leaving.”
“Five minutes,” she heard Nick say from behind.
“Let’s go,” he said as if just now remembering she was there.
“When hell freezes over,” she snapped and moved from between them with a quickness she didn’t know she possessed.
* * *
He followed behind her, giving Eli a nod as he did. The guard moved past him, getting closer to Kalina. Directly beside the huge open bar was a door, and through that door was a hallway and stairs that would take them to the lower-level parking garage and out into the hotel’s side alley. It was Eli and Ezra’s job to inspect any premises he went into beforehand. Knowing all entrances and the exits was imperative, especially in times like these.
They were shifters, the ones that had been coming for Kalina, just as he’d scented when he first came in. Rogues that carried the telltale stench of evil and corruption. It was a bitter tinge against the normal feline scent that enveloped the shifters, making them able to identify one another in this world of humans. All night Rome had wondered where they were and what they were up to. Even after he’d met with Bingham the sense that someone who didn’t belong and was creeping about assailed him. He’d wanted to find out who, so instead of leaving right away he’d had Nick and Ezra cover one half of the ballroom while he and Eli took the other.
Rome had spotted them first. Or rather, he’d spotted their prey.
In the midst of a couple hundred of DC’s most influential and attractive females, she stood out like a ripe apple in a barrel of rotten ones. For a minute he thought it was the smoky gray dress she wore that hugged her hips, thighs, and ass. Or was it the way that dress bared her back, cupping her breasts in the front so enticingly that his palms itched to touch her?
In the midst of desire he’d felt it, the clenching in his chest that had his protective instincts kicking in. His gaze wandered beyond her, resting on the three shifters stalking her. He didn’t know them personally but he knew what they wanted. Hunger and lust filled their gazes as their bodies prepared to move in. They wouldn’t care that it was three against one. They would use her together until one of them proved dominant. Then that one would take her alone, ravish her until she was useless, and kill her. It was their way, the no-boundaries way Rogues preferred to live. They preyed and they killed, it was as simple as that. And somehow, Kalina had been caught in their snare.
Possessiveness such as he’d never known washed over him and before Rome could think twice he was stalking across the floor determined to reach her before they did. It was close, the scent of Kalina’s fear pushing him closer to the edge of insanity. If they’d managed to get to her, if one of them had put a finger on her … his temples throbbed, his heart thumping wildly. He had to get her out of here.
Finding out what she’d been doing here in the first place would have to wait until later.
She was just about to pass the bar when Eli moved in front of her, stopping her passage. She looked up at him and was probably ready to curse him into next week when Rome stepped up behind her, putting his hands firmly at her waist. Leaning over, he whispered in her ear, “If you scream or try to run you’ll make a scene. They’ll come after you. Your choice is simple, go with me or be taken by them.”
Her body stiffened, the round globes of her ass rubbing against his own throbbing arousal. She was contemplating, her annoyance at him warring with her fear of them, the unknown. What she didn’t know was that there was no way in hell he was going to let the Rogues get within feet of her, let alone take her.
“I won’t hurt you,” Rome said, his mouth watering at being so close to her skin. He wanted to lick her, to taste her once more so that he’d never forget such sweetness.
She gave the barest nod of her head. Eli led the way. They were slipping through the side door in seconds, Rome looking back only once to make sure the Rogues weren’t on their trail. They did not give up easily, especially not when a female was involved. But they hadn’t followed; they’d actually backed away the moment they saw him. He knew that wasn’t due to any respect for his ranking among the shifters. They didn’t give a shit what title he held; Rogues were supremacists with egos bigger than any human or shifter he’d ever met. The fact that they weren’t coming after him gave him pause.
Eli headed down the stairs first with Kalina between the two of them.
“We’re coming down,” he spoke into the com link he, the guards, and Nick shared.
At the bottom of the stairs Eli pulled the door open. With a hand to the small of her back, Rome pushed Kalina through. Ezra pulled up first in the black Tahoe, the back door already swinging open. Eli grabbed it, stepping to the side with a swift nod to Rome. At the signal he grabbed Kalina by the waist, lifting her into the back of the vehicle. The door slammed behind them and they were moving before Rome was completely seated.
Eli would now drive the limo, which Nick had retained and pulled up right behind in the Tahoe. They would go in the opposite direction from Ezra and Rome just in case anyone decided to follow them.
Kalina slid all the way over, plastering her back against the opposite passenger door. “Take me home,” she stated without hesitation.
“Your wish is my command,” he answered, settling back in the seat. Taking out his cell phone, he keyed in her address, sending the text to Ezra in the front seat as well as Nick and Eli. Then he put the phone back into his pocket. “You can relax now, you’re safe.”
Folding her arms over her chest, she huffed. “How do I know that? You don’t look any safer than those guys back there. Oh, and by the way, I’m no damsel in distress. I did not need rescuing, thank you very much.”
No, she was no damsel in distress. More like a spitfire waiting to be ignited.
“You were in trouble. I simply arrived at the right time.”
“Whatever,” she said then turned, pushing her back against the seat. “Just take me home.”
He scented her nervousness and agitation. Or maybe she was pissed he’d interrupted. Whichever, Rome wanted her to feel safe, and his gut told him that the threesome back there was anything but safe to her.
“What were you doing here?”
“What? I can’t go to a political fund-raiser?”
“You don’t look like the type to support Kensington in his race for the Senate.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Is my political affiliation now scrawled on my forehead?”
“I thought you were a number cruncher. It just seems a bit out of place for you to be at a political function.”
She looked at him like she wanted to hit him. His lips twitched at that thought. This woman had a lot of spunk and it aroused something in him.
“I’m well versed in politics as well as other things, Mr. Reynolds. Just because I work in accounting doesn’t mean I can’t think of anything else.”
He held a law degree, was a Faction Leader to more than three thousand shifters on the East Coast, and stood to inherit a place in the Assembly should he ever return to the Gungi. Yet at this moment, instead of strategizing or analyzing what had just happened back there, he couldn’t think of anything except getting her naked.
“Did you know those men? Was one of them the one you were speaking to on the phone to this afternoon?” The thought had crossed his mind that one of those stooges could have been the one giving her a hard time earlier today, and he wanted to know for sure if he was dealing with just a jealous boyfriend or something way more dangerous. Because they were definitely Rogues, and for reasons he wasn’t quite ready to acknowledge Rome prayed it wasn’t the jealous-boyfriend angle.
“I don’t know who they were or why they were gawking at me th
at way. And you should try minding your own business. My phone call was private.”
“It sounded more than private. Is someone harassing you?”
“Other than you?” she snapped, giving him an angry stare of her own.
“Let’s try this another way. Just so you know, Kalina, I’m not going to let this go. Those guys were definitely gunning for you, and I want to know why. Either you’re going to tell me or I’ll find out on my own.”
She exhaled deeply. “I don’t know them.”
“And the one you were talking to on the phone? Is he a problem?”
“He’s my problem.”
Rome’s jaw clenched. This wasn’t the answer he wanted, but like he said he’d deal with it in his own way. She didn’t have to tell him anything else.
He also needed to deal with this painful erection before his mood became any more foul than it already was. It seemed the hostility between them had only stoked the fire growing in the pit of his stomach.
Suddenly the truck’s interior was a lot warmer than it had been before. In his haste to get her inside and out of sight, her dress had hiked up her legs so that it now showed an enticing amount of skin. The legs he remembered admiring as she’d walked into his office the other day were now displayed like a delicacy. Swallowing hard, he tried to adjust the burgeoning erection that threatened to drive him out of his mind. It had been that way since she’d walked into his office—each time he’d thought of her, remembered her voice, the feel of her writhing beneath him. He wanted her and desperately didn’t quite seem to describe how bad.
“You’re incredibly sexy when you’re pissed off,” he said, reaching out to brush his knuckles over her bare shoulder.