“It was nothing to do with your case, so drop it.”
“Are you trying to make me angry?”
“I have more important things to worry about than how to piss you off, don’t you think?”
Her cheeks flaming, she sat back against her seat, making sure no part of her made contact with him. He really did have important things to worry about. For her, this evidence would prove what she’d alleged all along, that it wasn’t merely rogues performing illegal transformations. This implication of the Immortalis in the crimes could bring a world of turbulence to them, especially to Kade. But his brush-off stung right to the deepest part of her.
“What did he do to you?” she murmured, her eyes downcast. She didn’t expect him to answer, more wondering aloud than anything.
“Val.” His tone was soft, as if to make up for his harsh words. He waited for her to look at him. “He was one of the house staff, one of the Ancients’ subjugates when I was a boy. Domina Evangeline told me they’d all been executed for their crimes.” He looked away. “Instead, I find they’ve been rewarded with transformation and near-immortal life.”
The earth opened under her feet. Or at least she wished it would. Wished it would rise up to swallow her and her wash of remorse. She should have let him kill that Legion, though it was better in the long run that he hadn’t. The last thing the Immortalis needed was murder charges brought against their prince.
“Why?” he asked the night. “Why were they rewarded?”
She took his hand in hers and lifted it to her lips. She had no answer for him, only her sympathy. A weak substitute for a man still tortured by his past. But not defeated by it.
“We’ll find out, Kade. I promise you that.”
“We?” His brows rose. “The Ancients hold the answers, and baby, you don’t want to deal with the Ancients.”
“I deal with them all the time. It’s my job, remember?”
“Not like this you don’t. They won’t like that I know.”
It broke her heart that his parents had treated him so badly. Had lied to him. She couldn’t imagine what he was feeling right now. “Are you afraid of them?”
“No. I’d be afraid for you, if you mess with them.”
“You would?”
His words and the look in his eyes thawed her anger until it melted away. He leaned into her, and then his mouth was on hers. Untangling his hand from hers, he cupped the back of her head. Her arms slid over his shoulders, and she pulled him deeper into the kiss. The slide of his tongue burned into her. Her body was alive in a way she’d never experienced, every cell humming with sensation. The rich, dark scent of him went right to her head and crowded out the rational thoughts clambering for purchase. She tensed to pull away, but then he broke the kiss long enough to speak.
“Mmmm. You taste like berries and mint. Need to go anywhere else tonight?” He ducked his head, letting his lips graze her throat. And then he kissed her again and again and again. As if he couldn’t stop, couldn’t get enough. She couldn’t answer with him claiming her mouth. Laughter bubbled up, and she had to push gently at his shoulders.
“Yes, but I’m not going to.” No way could she concentrate on work anymore with her rational being taking a hike. Oh, she was in trouble. His hands had wandered southward as she spoke, his face nuzzling hers. He took her mouth again, his drug of choice at the moment, and he was hers. Intoxicating. She couldn’t think with him peeling her clothes away like a kid opening presents on Christmas morning.
“I need this right now,” he whispered against her lips. “I need you so fucking much. Don’t deny me.”
And the depth of the want in his voice obliterated any objection left in her. He took a moment, still lip-locked with her, to raise the glass divider between them and the driver, and then he pushed her skirt up and ripped her panties away. As if the way he touched wouldn’t have melted them off her eventually. She unbuckled his belt, opened the front of his jeans, and rubbed the length of him through the denim.
“That’s so damn good, baby,” he whispered against her lips. He was hot and hard and silky when she reached in. He groaned, rolled back into his seat, and tugged her toward his lap. “Come here. Take it.”
She straddled his lap while he opened her shirt. Her bra posed no challenge for him. He was at the perfect level and seemed infatuated with her C cups. His mouth worked over her nipples, kissing and nipping and sucking until her breath rasped in ragged pants. She’d never known the powerful aphrodisiac such lavish attention could be. She cradled his head with her arms and pressed her cheek against the softness of his hair.
“These are awfully pretty, Val. I’m a little distracted,” he said breathlessly. He kissed her lips again, sweet and shallow. He worked his hand between their bodies and shifted his erection to her entrance. His voice went deep and deliciously rumbly. “I want you. I need inside you now.”
“Yes, Kade. Yes.”
He guided her hips as she lowered onto him and welcomed the slow, erotic burn of the intimate invasion. He grunted through clenched teeth, his head tipping back against the seat. The sight of his exposed throat, with that sexy Adam’s apple, supercharged the fire blazing in her core.
She leaned forward, driving down to take him deeper, and showered his smooth skin with openmouthed kisses. He rewarded her with powerful thrusts, his breathing hard and erratic. Kade was a noisy lover, and every raspy sound struck an unbearably carnal hunger in her. His involvement in loving her was all consuming, his body, mind, and soul engulfed with his passion.
“That’s it, baby,” he murmured. Unbearable tension coiled inside of her at the sound of his hoarse voice at her ear. Then he intensified that sweet tension as he nipped, licked, and sucked a blazing path from her ear down along the column of her throat to her collarbone. He stroked every inch of her exposed flesh within his reach before settling his grip at her hips to drive her forcefully into his hard thrusts. “Yes, yes, yes. Ride me. Ah, pound my cock.”
Fine tremors of pleasure rippled through her, building and building with each slick stroke of his thick shaft. He filled her with delicious heat and friction until ecstasy burst along her limbs, devouring her, and he was right behind. His legs began to shake, and then his fangs flashed. He wrapped her tightly in his arms, curving his hands over her shoulders and pressing her down for deep penetration. Then he came with her name on his lips.
Val went limp against him, her pulse thumping nearly out of her chest and her breath harsh. A sheen of sweat covered her skin. She was suddenly glad the car interior was toasty. A car. She’d just had hot, sweaty sex in a backseat. This probably should have been checked off her to-do list in high school.
“Damn, you don’t know what those tits do to me.”
With a groan, she pushed off his chest. “Lovely, Kade. Very refined.”
He wasn’t smiling, though. He had a strange look on his face, a stunned look. With a slight shake of his head, his attention went to her shirt as he slowly buttoned her back up. She’d been stroking her fingers through his slightly dampened hair when she stilled. This night was going to haunt her. It couldn’t have been a more monumental mistake.
“This—what we’re doing—it’s a bad idea, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Well, yeah, of course it is.” He met her gaze and grinned.
He lifted her off him with a soft groan and settled her in her seat. She took a minute to rearrange her clothing and allowed him time to do the same. After searching futilely for a way to address what they’d done, she gave up and asked a question that had been at the back of her mind since the encounter with Wallace. “How old does a vampire get before he can flash?”
He drew her legs over his lap and pulled her into the crook of his arm as if he hadn’t a care about what had happened between them. She liked his face so close to hers. It felt intimate.
“I’d say six hundred years. At least six hundred. More like eight hundred.”
“Immortalis involvement in the murders is going to
cause a lot of problems for you.”
“More than you know. Believe it or not, there aren’t many vampires old enough to develop that ability.”
“At least it narrows down the search.” Drastically.
“Comforting.”
“Smart ass.”
He laughed. “I can’t believe you just cussed.”
She had cursed, hadn’t she? “It’s because you’re a terrible influence.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever said the word ass around you.” He ran his hand over her rear. “Maybe next time we—”
She pressed her fingers against his lips. “Don’t go there.”
“You want to stay at my place? I hole up at dawn, but we have a little time…”
She peered out the window. They were parked at the curb of her apartment building. “Oh. How long have we been here?”
“The whole time.”
“You mean your driver—”
“Has been patiently waiting for us to finish fucking, yes.”
She covered her face with both hands. As usual lately, her skin was hot under her fingers. It was wild enough to do what they’d done without adding the thought of a semiwitness to their impulsive behavior.
“It’s okay, Val. He didn’t hear a thing.” He grinned. “Compulsion.”
She lowered her hands and glanced at his amused expression, but it was the underlying gleam of male satisfaction that made her decide her wanton abandon had been worth this embarrassment.
“No, I can’t stay at your place.” Yeah, that would only lead to more wanton abandon. She grabbed his arm to keep him in the car and climbed over him to get to the curbside door. “I appreciate it, but you don’t need to get the door for me every time, Sir Lancelot. Now,” she sighed, “let me get this walk of shame out of the way. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
She slammed the door on his thunderous laughter. The heavenly night chill eased her feverish skin but quickly got uncomfortable as her perspiration cooled. She hurried into the building and looked back toward the curb. Kade had waited for her to get inside before his car pulled away. Her heart melted to the consistency of putty. She could kick herself.
Four nights. She’d known him four nights, but she was full to the brim with him. Immersed. She’d crossed boundaries, not only the VLO’s boundaries, but her own as well. Never had she lost control of herself the way she did with Kade. Her reason jumped the boat every time, and that was inherently dangerous.
So she knew something of his past and his pain. It didn’t mean she knew him and what he was capable of. He was on the other side of the tracks from her, and what he wanted from her investigation was at complete odds with what she wanted. What he wanted didn’t matter much now that the perpetrators were clearly Immortalis rather than rogues, but he hadn’t had much to say about one of them murdering humans. She wanted to believe his sincerity about finding the killers. After what had happened tonight, though, she needed another opinion.
Val hit the speed dial on her cell. “Hi, Graham. I know it’s late, but can we talk?”
Chapter Thirteen
Kade’s ear ached. “Motherfucker,” he muttered under his breath. He put the phone back to his ear. “It’s too early in the evening for your bullshit, Ezra. I’ve been on the phone all goddamned day. I’m tired and pissed off and the night’s only beginning. Killian fucked up. Make the son of a bitch fix it.”
He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose while Ezra argued on the other end. Kade only half listened. Blah, blah, blah, something, something.
“Hey, shut your fucking mouth and listen.” The other end went silent. “I. Can’t. Do you understand? I can’t. Killian will fix it. Or you fix it yourself. Or Declan or Lucca or Gunner. Whatever you have to—wait…Don’t send Luc or Guns. Anyone else, though. It’s almost sunset, and I’m gonna have company in less than an hour. I have to have company.”
Finally Ezra caved. Like the bastard had a choice. Kade was royalty after all, though in this situation he couldn’t really pull that card. He could, however, beat the crap out of Ezra.
“Let me know when it’s done,” he told Ezra before ending the call. If it hadn’t been for that leech last night, life would be sweet right now. He’d been double-whammied, first by the Legion’s identity, and then by the eyewitness account of the blooding victim’s dump site. Wouldn’t have been so bad if the leech hadn’t seen the vampire flash. Ian, you fucking idiot. He threw his phone at the couch and dragged his fingers through his hair.
The walls closed in on him. Had to be fatigue. He was so damned exhausted. He hadn’t slept much after he returned to the penthouse. Instead, he’d thought about Val all night long in the dark of his bedroom, reliving her sweet scent, her searing touch, and those kisses. Damn, those soft, moist kisses. He could drown in them. If that was all he was allowed with her, he would happily die a celibate. Uh, yeah, that was a complete exaggeration. He could almost happily die a celibate.
His smile turned to a scowl. She’d hate him. She’d never speak to him again. Probably demand the Rex execute him, if she knew what he was doing. The Dominorum would likely oblige because they’d hate him, too, if they knew.
And he didn’t give a rat’s ass, especially after last night.
His parents had lied to him all these centuries. The why of it might drive him out of his mind before he found any answers. He wasn’t about to fool himself into believing they loved him, but they absolutely believed in family solidarity and had always appeared pleased with his existence.
What would they think of his relationship with a human? If it were merely sexual, they wouldn’t blink. They engaged in such entertainment with humans together, as well as separately.
What he’d done with Val last night was in no way entertainment to him. He’d lost himself in her, lock, stock, and barrel. When he was inside of her, he would have cut out his useless heart and handed it to her. He would have given her the key to his kingdom, his title, his every penny. Anything she asked for was hers to take from him.
Panic rolled over him, and he cradled his head in his hands until he could get a grip on his emotions. He couldn’t let this happen, what he was feeling for her. It was changing him. The change burned like a bitch. His duty and his desires veered toward a head-on collision, and he couldn’t stop it if his life were on the line. It might very well be on the line.
The door buzzed. He checked his watch and, without warning, his heart contracted and began its Val-loving routine. He chuckled, his hand over his chest, and went to open the door for Val. Her sunny smile reached a depth in him he never knew he had. His eyes traced her body all the way to her toes. She wore filmy black slacks that flowed around her legs and an absurdly demure blouse under her tailored silk jacket. Automatically, he calculated how long it would take to get her out of them without shredding or tearing.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful.”
Her lips took a wry turn, but those radiant emerald eyes sparkled.
“You look so tired,” she said. She turned him toward her and framed his face with her tender hands. His mind hit a whiteout for a moment before he recovered his wits.
“Didn’t sleep much today.”
“Why not?” She grinned at him. “Did you think about me?”
“Yeah. Rubbed three out, maybe four. I don’t remember.”
She gave his head a shove and dropped her hands. “Aaaaand I give up.”
“Hey now. You’re the one who wouldn’t come home with me. I wouldn’t have had to—”
Her hands clapped over his mouth. He shrugged. If she didn’t like what was on his mind, she’d have to wear earplugs. He was pretty damned sure she rubbed one out from time to time, too. His breath froze in his lungs. That image was a bad idea. Maybe she was in the mood to take care of his sudden raging erection. Except she was frowning at him. He kissed her fingers and then pried them off his mouth.
“I need a shower,” with a happy ending, “and then we can get started. You mind?”
/> “No. Go ahead.”
“Want to join me?”
She laughed and pushed him in the direction of the hallway. “We know how that would end, so no. I want to actually make some progress this time.”
He parted reluctantly. She had her own gravitational pull.
As soon as he closed the bathroom door, leaning heavily against it, alarms fired off in his head. He walked a treacherous line every moment he spent with her. The potential for disaster loomed over him like a thundercloud. Regardless of the peril, he didn’t want to just fuck her. He was falling hard for her.
Chapter Fourteen
Val wanted to cry, she was so mixed up. The man was a perpetual blend of appalling and endearing. She never knew whether to slap him or kiss him. Even when she thought being affronted would be the proper reaction, she had a hard time keeping a straight face. It was always a revelation, the thoughts that came out of his mouth. He was an anomaly, and she’d never come across anyone like him, a man so completely at ease with himself.
She flopped into a chair with a sigh. She’d dreamed of him all night and ended up oversleeping that morning. Dreams of him devastating her body with his mouth—the good kind of devastation—was enough for her subconscious to want to stay in that dream realm. And then the best part—he’d held her all night long. If only she could scrub her thoughts clean of him, but he’d dug in and wasn’t letting go.
Her cell rang. It had to be Graham getting back to her finally. Now that she’d had more time to think things through, she didn’t want to hear anything bad about Kade, but she steeled herself for what Graham may have discovered and lifted her phone. Only, it wasn’t ringing. She looked around her seat, but the ringing quit. Sliding her hand over the sofa, she felt the previously ringing phone between the cushions just as it blasted a short tone. Kade’s cell, and he had a text.
“Kade?” she called. She went partway toward the hall, but the distinctive pitter-patter of the shower stopped her. It could wait. Just to be sure, she took a look at the text, not with the intent of spying, but it might have been important.
Bad Mouth Page 10
