by I. T. Lucas
Turner cast Anandur the kind of look a disappointed teacher gives a slow student. “I’ll make it easy for them. I’ll put the remote on the table, so all he would need to do is knock it away. Before any of you have time to move, Kalugal could freeze you in place.”
“But you and Lokan would not be affected. You could take him down.”
“Perhaps. But then it would only be the two of us against two of his men, and Kalugal might count on Lokan not to make a move against him, which would leave only me. If I were in Kalugal’s shoes, I would take those odds.”
“I agree,” Kian said. “The question is how could we prevent it from happening?”
Turner looked at Brundar. “With your hair down, your earpieces will not be visible.”
A ghost of a smile lifted one side of Brundar’s lips. “I’ll have my hand on a throwing knife. Kalugal’s guy won’t even make it to the remote.”
“Amanda is taking care of the dress.” Syssi came out of the bedroom. “She can fly in with it tomorrow and also bring the bridesmaids' saris from Eva’s wedding. The question is whether we are going to attend the wedding or not.” She sat down next to Kian. “Because if we are, then I need to call Jin and Mey. They will want to be there for Jacki.”
“Turner suggested that we test Kalugal tomorrow, and if he passes the test, we will attend.”
“How are you going to test him?”
As Kian explained, Syssi frowned. “Will you let Lokan in on the plan?”
“Nope. It’s an opportunity to test him as well.”
“I don’t like it, but I get it.” Syssi drummed her fingers on the table. “But since we don’t have time, I’m not going to wait for the test results to put everything in motion. I’m going to assume that Kalugal will pass it.”
“We will need Yamanu here,” Anandur said. “If you want to fly drones over the mansion, he’ll have to shroud them. Otherwise, the police will show up.”
“It can wait for Tuesday morning, but let him know so he and Mey can get ready.”
“Yes, boss.”
51
Kalugal
Rufsur got out of the car and opened the back passenger door for Jacki. “How was the evening with the family?” His sarcastic tone indicated that he was still fuming about having been sent away.
He hadn’t been happy with Kalugal for going to Kian’s suite with Jacki and no protection.
“As you can see, we are well and unharmed.” Kalugal slid into the back seat after Jacki. “We had a good time, and I might have convinced Kian to bring his group to our house for the wedding.” He wrapped his arm around Jacki’s shoulders and pulled her against his body.
For a moment, Rufsur gaped in disbelief, then shook his head and got into the driver's seat. “Are you plotting something?” he asked in their old language.
“I am,” Kalugal replied in English. “I told Kian that we will hold the party in the backyard and that he can ensure his people’s safety by flying drones overhead. He promised to give me an answer by tomorrow, but I’m betting that it will be a yes.”
Glancing at him through the rearview mirror, Rufsur arched a brow.
“I have no other motives,” Kalugal said in their old language.
What did Rufsur think they could possibly gain by attacking Kian and his party? Asking for a bunch of females to be delivered in exchange for the hostages?
There was nothing else they needed from the clan, and Kalugal was negotiating for that, which was the safe and proper way to go about his men gaining access to the clan’s females.
That was what bugged him most about Kian’s continued suspiciousness. The guy wasn’t stupid, and he should have figured out by now that Kalugal was a logical man and would never do anything without it benefitting him in some way.
His cousin was either a lousy judge of character or was driven by emotions rather than logic.
“When is the party?” Rufsur asked.
“Tuesday night.”
Jacki put her head on Kalugal’s shoulder. “What if Kian says that he needs more time?”
“Then we can wait a day or two longer, but I want to start on the preparations. We might only have two days to get everything ready.” He kissed the top of her head. “I want you to have a beautiful wedding.”
“What about you? Don’t you want to have a grand party?”
“Of course, but your happiness is what’s important to me. When you’re happy, I’m happy.”
Unexpectedly, it was true.
Perhaps the bond that Kian had been talking about was already forming. Kalugal still had so many questions he needed answers to, but the best one to provide them might be his own brother and not Kian.
Evidently, Kian trusted Lokan because he had bonded with Carol and that bond was supposedly so strong that it superseded all other loyalties.
The problem was that Jacki wasn’t a clanswoman. Even if they bonded, Kalugal’s loyalty to her would not necessarily translate to loyalty to the clan. And that meant that Kian wouldn't trust him any more after the wedding than he’d trusted him before, which was not much.
That was a shame, but there was nothing Kalugal could do about it. Jacki was the one for him, and no other female would do. And if she didn’t transition, he would enjoy her during her lifetime and mourn her when she died. He wasn’t going to give her up for a political marriage to a clanswoman.
The truth was that he would like to have Kian’s trust, but he didn’t need it. In fact, maybe it was better to keep his cousin at arm’s length and out of his business.
Kalugal’s men, on the other hand, deserved the truth, and it was time that he leveled with them about Jacki’s dormancy. When he made the official announcement, the men would think that he was out of his mind marrying a human.
Rufsur already did.
When they arrived home, Jacki went up to her room to change into something more comfortable, and Kalugal summoned his two lieutenants to his office.
Rufsur pulled a chair out and sat down. “I guess you want to talk about the wedding plans?”
Phinas avoided his eyes as he sat next to Rufsur.
“Not yet. I’ll address that tomorrow. I called you in here to explain why I’m marrying Jacki.”
“There is nothing to explain,” Rufsur said. “You’ve fallen in love, and you are not thinking straight. Jacki is a human and an immune. As your wife, she’ll have access to all your schemes, and you won’t be able to make her forget anything.”
Phinas nodded.
“Not quite. Jacki might be a Dormant.”
Both men looked at him with raised brows, but Rufsur was the one to voice their disbelief. “What on earth makes you think that? Did Kian sell her to you under false claims?”
The guy was starting to annoy him. “I suggest that you refrain from talking until I’m finished.”
Rufsur nodded, leaned back in his chair, and crossed his arms over his chest.
Kalugal ignored him, looking at Phinas instead. “We’ve always assumed that the only adult Dormants in existence were on the island, the descendants of the original females that Navuh had inherited from his father. But we were wrong. Apparently, Dormants can be found in the general human population. The problem is identifying them. One of the indicators is paranormal ability, and Jacki has two. She is immune to mind tricks, even mine that work on most other immortals, and she has visions of the future. That makes her a strong candidate.”
“How long have you known?” Rufsur asked.
“From the beginning. I compelled the information out of the doctor they sent to treat the spy.”
“Why didn’t you say anything before?”
Kalugal smirked. “To prevent even fiercer competition for Jacki’s affections.”
Phinas was still frowning. “So, let me get this straight. We could have found female Dormants a long time ago but didn’t because we didn’t know they existed?”
Kalugal shook his head. “The clan knew, and they’ve been searching from the very beginning and couldn’
t find any. Then a few years ago they started popping up one after the other.”
“Did they develop a method of identifying them?” Phinas asked.
“Kian believes that the Fates have something to do with it.”
Rufsur waved a dismissive hand. “That’s just some superstitious crap that the clan believes in.”
Kalugal leaned forward. “I don’t know about that. The circumstances of Jacki popping into my life are so unusual that I’m inclined to agree with Kian.”
52
Jacki
Jacki took off the slacks and blouse she’d worn to the summit and hung them in the closet. She’d been very careful not to stain or dirty them in any way, and the garments were clean, but after a long and exciting day, she would have preferred to launder them. Except, almost everything Kalugal had gotten for her required dry cleaning. She’d heard that some fancy houses had a dry-clean cabinet in the closet, but a thorough search of Kalugal’s revealed only a big-ass safe in the back of it.
Wondering whether he was hiding money or weapons in there, she just regretted it wasn’t what she’d been looking for. Those clothes wouldn’t clean themselves, and they were too pricy to take a risk and hand wash them.
Kalugal must have used dry cleaning on his suits and cashmere sweaters. Heck, he probably sent his silk pajamas and underwear to be dry cleaned as well. There was no way he handled the task himself, though, and must have had Shamash or one of the other men do that. She could just ask him to add hers to the pile.
A simple solution, but not one she was comfortable with.
It seemed like such a trivial thing, but Jacki hated being so dependent. She had Kalugal’s credit card but didn’t want to spend more money that wasn’t hers, and even if she had no problem with that, she couldn’t leave the house because she was still a fugitive.
In addition, the director knew where she was. The cuff was interfering with the signals she was emitting, but several days had passed before she’d gotten it, and her location had been discovered.
She was safe inside Kalugal’s compound, and she was also safe with his men making sure that no one was following them. But getting out alone was not going to happen in the foreseeable future.
How long would she have to live like that?
A knock on the door interrupted her trip down self-pity lane. “May I come in?”
Jacki opened the door and cast Kalugal an apologetic look. “I’m sorry for hogging your closet. Do you need to change?”
“No. I came looking for you. Have you been in here the entire time?”
She nodded. “I was looking for a dry-cleaning cabinet, but you don’t have one.”
“If you need anything taken to the cleaners, I’ll have Shamash do that.”
“I figured that you would say that.”
He tilted his head. “Is it bad?”
“No. It’s just that I don’t feel comfortable with him doing this for me. I would have preferred to go by myself and pay for the service with my own money, but I can’t leave the house, and I don’t have money.”
He frowned. “I gave you a credit card. It’s the same as having money.”
“Your money. Not mine.”
Wrapping an arm around her middle, he pulled her against him. “You are my wife.”
“Not yet. And even after the ceremony, I would like to earn my keep.” When he smirked, she slapped his chest. “Not on my back.”
He pretended offense. “You have a dirty mind, Miss Jacqueline, and very outdated notions about things. Perhaps I would be the one who earns his keep? I’m very talented in certain aspects of the sensual arts.”
Jacki laughed. “I’m sure. But how am I going to pay you?”
“In kind.”
As the blush that had started as mild warming of her cheeks intensified, Jacki scrambled for something clever and witty to say. But all that came out of her mouth was the truth. “I don’t know whether I’m talented or not. So, it won’t be an even exchange.”
“It doesn’t have to be even.” His eyes started glowing, which signaled that he was aroused. “I very much enjoy being on the giving side. Providing pleasure is just as satisfying, if not more so than receiving it. And I’m more than ready to pleasure you into oblivion.”
His hand started a lazy track down her back until it reached her ass and cupped it. He didn’t squeeze, he caressed, and his touch was gentle. When he dipped his head and took her lips, she was ready for him to do more than just kiss her.
As if he’d read her mind, Kalugal’s hand on her butt pushed her closer against his straining erection, and as his tongue darted into her mouth, she imagined that hard length doing the same down below. As the tiny muscles of her sheath fluttered and squeezed on empty, she couldn’t wait to feel the sensation of having him inside her.
It was going to be a perfect fit, she just knew it. It might hurt a little as he broke through and stretched her virgin passage, but she believed that even her first time with Kalugal would be pleasurable.
Except, he let go of her way too soon. “Let’s get out of here before we do something that we will regret later.”
“It’s only two more days,” she whispered.
Kalugal had already committed to marrying her in public, so he wasn’t going to back out of it, and there was no reason to wait.
Heck, Jacki didn’t know if she could. Right now, she was ready to do it in the closet, on the floor, pushed up against the wall…
Stop it!
The images were only spurring her arousal, and she was getting embarrassingly wet, which Kalugal could no doubt smell.
He misunderstood her meaning. “Precisely. As difficult as it is, we can wait.”
Damn. Why did he have to be such a gentleman?
But she was too much of a lady to tell him that she wanted him now. Besides, he probably knew that without her having to say anything.
But if he could hold it in his pants until their wedding night, so could she.
53
Kalugal
By sheer determination, Kalugal kept his fangs from elongating, but regrettably, he didn’t have the same level of control over the lower part of his male anatomy.
Frankly, he couldn’t understand his own insistence on waiting. Jacki was not only ready and willing, but she was also disappointed.
She’d wanted him to keep going, but he had a couple of very good reasons to stop. First and foremost, doing it in the damn closet seemed like sacrilege at this point. It would take away from Jacki’s wedding fantasy, and she might regret it later.
The other reason was his ability to control his impulses. Jacki’s comment about an uneven exchange had evoked images of sexual acts that were out of the question with a virgin. He had to be gentle and patient and minimize her pain.
Power exchange with someone uninitiated required a lot of trust and a slow buildup. It would take a long time until Jacki was ready for that.
“Come on.” He took her hand. “Let’s go to the library, and I’ll pour you a drink.”
Taking in a deep breath and then releasing it in a muted whoosh, Jacki nodded. “I need one.”
“Did you have a good time today?” He led her out of the closet.
“Yes, thank you.” She glanced at his wrist. “I’m still blown away by your willingness to wear a poisonous cuff just so I could visit my friends.”
“I didn’t do it only for you.” It was mainly for her, but he didn’t feel that it was a big enough deal to be so impressed with. “I wanted to prove to Kian that I’m a better man than he is, and that I’m willing to take a risk in the name of cooperation, while he’s acting like a suspicious ass.”
She chuckled. “He is definitely overdoing it.”
Kalugal opened the library doors and motioned for her to take a seat on the couch. “Old fashioned?”
“Yes, please.”
He poured them both drinks, a whiskey for himself and a cocktail for Jacki, and joined her on the couch. “To us.”
Jacki clinked her glass to his. “To my successful transition and our happily-ever-after.”
“I like that.” Kalugal took a small sip of the exquisite whiskey.
Jacki leaned forward and put her drink on the coffee table. “There are some things we need to talk about.”
“Like what?”
Originally, he’d planned on having Jacki sign a prenup agreement, but since their marriage wouldn’t be registered anywhere, Jacki couldn’t take him to the cleaners even if she wanted to. So, there was no need for that.
“I need a job.”
“You already have one.”
She rolled her eyes. “Other than being your wife.”
“It might not seem so, but that’s a lot of work.” He waved his hand in an arc. “You are the lady of the house. And since this is a big household, there is a lot that needs to be done.”
“Right.” Jacki snorted. “This place works like a well-oiled machine. If I butt in, I’m only going to step on people’s toes and make enemies. I want a real, paying job, so I can have my own money that I will not feel guilty about spending.”
Kalugal let out a long-suffering sigh. “What would you like to do?”
“I can’t work outside the house for obvious reasons. But maybe you need help organizing files, or data input, or cataloging your artifacts, or even cleaning your cars. I don’t mind what it is, as long as it’s a job that’s actually needed, not something that you invent for me.”
That was a tough one. Most of the time he didn’t have enough for his men to do, which had been the main reason some of them had left early on. It was crucial to keep everyone busy to make them feel needed.
“I’m sorry, Jacki, but I can’t think of anything that is not taken care of. The only thing I really need is your company. I enjoy talking to you and hearing your perspective. If you want, we can make it a paying job, but that would be silly. You can buy whatever you want, whenever you want it, and it will make me very happy to see you spending money on yourself.”
