by C. C. Wood
The small digital clock on the nightstand revealed that it was nearly three in the morning when I returned to the bedroom to change. I quickly realized that the pajamas I thought the most demure were actually very sexy. The vee neckline revealed a great deal of my cleavage and the shorts were cut high on the sides of my thighs, slits on each hip from just below the waistband to the hem.
I went back into the bathroom and took the robe off the hook because I felt nearly naked.
Draping the robe over the end of the bed, I climbed in and stifled a groan at the feel of what had to be one million thread count sheets and a soft microfleece blanket. I immediately decided that I didn’t mind being nearly naked because it meant I could enjoy the sensation of the cotton against my skin.
Switching off the lamp, I settled beneath the covers and closed my eyes. Before I could fall asleep, I heard Asher’s voice.
“I need to speak to Cornelius.” There was a pause. “Because I have something he will want. Someone, to be more specific.”
Though I knew he would have to make this call, hearing it made my body grow rigid as adrenaline flooded my system. It had been a long time since I’d been on a mission for my former employer, that I’d forgotten this feeling. The rush of anticipation, the preparation, the tedium of waiting; I loved it all.
“Fine. Tell him I have one of the Five. He should call me soon if he’s interested.”
He must have hung up because he didn’t speak again.
I don’t know how I managed it after hearing that conversation, but I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
* * *
The next morning, I luxuriated in the nest of blankets and sheets until ten. I forced myself to get up because I refused to become a lazy bum, even for amazing bed linens.
After a quick set of crunches and push-ups, I took a shower and dressed. I found myself standing in front of the mirror, contemplating the make-up on the bathroom counter. Perversely, I decided to skip the cosmetics.
All my feminine instincts screamed at me to primp a little because they liked Asher, but the logical portion of my brain, the part that was on hiatus last night, insisted that I shouldn’t try to make him see me as an attractive woman.
Okay, so maybe it was my pride. I didn’t want him to think that I wanted his attention, especially after his hot and cold attitude last night.
I made a face at myself in the mirror and left the bathroom before I drove myself nuts. When I tried to open the bedroom door, it wouldn’t move. I twisted the knob the other way, but still nothing.
Then it dawned on me. That fucking lock. Just for show, my ass. As soon as I was feeling more charitable toward Asher, he did something to piss me off.
Angry, I smacked my hand against the door. “Asher! Dammit, open this fucking door!” I kicked the heavy wood for good measure.
A few moments later, I heard the padlock click and the door swung open. “Just for show, huh?” I asked Asher hotly. “You fucking liar.”
I brushed past him and headed toward the kitchen. I needed coffee and a knife. Well, the knife first, then coffee, because I was going to kill him so I could enjoy my caffeine in peace.
As if he read my mind, Asher followed me into the kitchen and positioned himself in front of the block that held the knives. I glared at him and walked over to the coffee pot.
After pouring my coffee, I briefly fantasized about tossing it into his face, but added milk and sugar and took a sip instead.
“I apologize for not warning you, but I received a call from Cornelius and he implied he would be coming by.”
The muscles in my neck tightened. “When?”
Asher shrugged. “He didn’t give me specifics. That’s why I locked the door. If he arrived before I had a chance to talk to you, I wanted everything to appear as if you were a prisoner rather than a guest.”
I set my cup on the countertop hard enough that coffee sloshed over the rim. “You could have woken me up and told me! Jesus, Asher, we’re supposed to be working together here! Yes, I’m bait, but I’m the kind of bait with teeth and claws. That’s why Conner suggested this.”
He fell silent, his blue eyes burning, but he didn’t argue. I sensed he had a lot more to say, but something held him back.
Realizing I wasn’t exactly behaving professionally, I forced myself to take a slow, deep breath and calm down. Screaming and swearing at him wasn’t going to solve our issues. In fact, it would make him feel justified in treating me as though I couldn’t handle the situation. And he would be right. We didn’t have a personal relationship. I had to approach this as I would a job for my security firm. While I tended to be a smart ass, I was well-known for keeping my cool, even when angry. It was a deserved reputation, most of the time.
“Look, I’m sorry I yelled,” I apologized. “In order for me to be effective, I need to understand what’s happening. I need you to view me as an equal rather than someone you have to take care of.”
His eyebrows lifted. “Conner insisted that I protect you,” he argued.
I sighed and nodded. “Good point. How about this? We watch each other’s backs. Like partners. That’s what partners do.”
After staring at me for several tense seconds, he finally answered, “Very well.”
Some of the tightness in my body released and I grabbed a towel and began wiping up the coffee I’d spilled. “Thank you.”
Asher was quiet as I sipped more of my coffee. Finally, he spoke.
“There’s something else we need to discuss.”
“Okay, let me have it.”
He shook his head at my words. “As we discussed with Conner, you’ll be more effective if we convince Cornelius you’re under my thrall.”
I giggled and he looked confused.
“Why are you laughing?” he asked.
“You said thrall,” I muttered. “Never mind. Just ignore me.”
Asher continued. “You said you’d be willing to do it, but I want to make sure you’re aware of what will happen.”
His words caught my attention. “I thought you and Conner explained it all very well a few nights ago. Unless there’s something you left out…” I trailed off. The two of them had outlined the process. Asher would bite me and I would pretend to be under his control. Kerry had offered to provide an amulet that would keep any vampire or warlock from reading my thoughts. I didn’t understand the process, but Conner assured me that the amulet would work on any vampire, witch, or warlock I came into contact with.
“No.”
“Then I’m willing,” I stated firmly.
Asher didn’t look convinced.
“I’m willing!” I insisted, setting my now empty coffee cup to the side.
He moved toward me. No, he prowled. “Have you ever been bitten before?” he asked.
“No.”
All too soon, he was standing in front of me, leaning over me. “I didn’t think so.” He put his hands on the counter on either side of me, boxing me in. “It’s an intimate thing, my mouth on your skin just before the sweet sting of the bite.”
I felt his warm breath on my neck and goose bumps ran over my flesh. The heat radiated from his body and I could smell his rich, earthy scent. My head tilted back in unconscious invitation as I imagined what he was describing. His nearness was overwhelming my ability to think rationally.
“The sensation is almost indescribable,” he murmured, his body so close that a scant inch would have us touching. “You’ll feel it all over your body.” His bottom lip brushed my ear as he spoke and I couldn’t control the shiver that wracked my muscles.
His icy reserve from last night was long gone. Instead, there was heat. Molten, volcanic heat that melted my knees and made me forget that I needed to be smart and keep my distance from him.
I leaned back against the counter, my hips brushing his hands, and I closed my eyes as the sensations rushed through my body.
“Are you sure you can handle it?” he whispered.
Before I could form a c
oherent answer, his heat and his hands disappeared. I opened my eyes to see that I stood in an empty kitchen. Asher was gone.
Chapter Six
After Asher disappeared, I was shaken to my core. He’d all but seduced me with a few words. He hadn’t even touched me and I was ready to jump on him like a horny howler monkey.
Then he left me standing there, all but panting.
If any other man had been so erratic with me, so hot then cold, I wouldn’t have given him the time of day. I was too old to play games like that. I wanted to avoid Asher indefinitely, but we had a job to do, whether I liked it or not. I vowed he would not affect me like that again.
And for about a minute and a half, I believed it was possible.
I drank another cup of coffee and made some toast, which I ate standing up over the sink. When I finished, I rinsed the crumbs from my hands and stuck my cup in the dishwasher.
Out of ways to postpone talking to him, I left the kitchen and went in search of Asher. I found him in the small room just off the living area. He was sitting at an inexpensive computer desk, working on a laptop.
I knew he must have heard my approach, but he didn’t look up when I stopped in the doorway, leaning against the jamb and crossing my arms over my chest.
“We never finished our conversation this morning,” I stated with a calmness I didn’t feel.
Asher’s head came up and I could sense his surprise at my words. “What?”
“About pretending I’m your pet,” I elaborated. “You said I would be more effective in the plan if I’m not bound and I have to agree. But I’m not sure if you’ve considered this, if you keep me locked in a room and Cornelius decides he doesn’t need you any longer, I’ll be completely at his mercy.”
A change came over his face and I knew the thought had crossed his mind.
I came further into the room and sat down in the armchair across from his desk. “Is Cornelius still coming today?”
Asher shook his head. “He’s out of the state. He won’t be back until day after tomorrow.”
“So we have two days?”
He shook his head again. “I wouldn’t count on it. Cornelius enjoys keeping his followers off balance. It wouldn’t surprise me if he shows up in the middle of the night or first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Then the sooner we do this, the better?” I asked.
Asher nodded.
“Okay, then let’s go.”
He sighed and rubbed his forehead. “I need to talk to you first.”
Shit, what now. “About?”
“This morning in the kitchen.”
I made a conscious effort not to tense up and to keep my mental shields in place. “Okay.”
“I shouldn’t have behaved that way,” Asher began. “I’m sorry if I upset you.”
I hadn’t been uncomfortable then, when lust was turning my bones to mush, but I sure as hell was uncomfortable now. Instead of shrinking away from the topic, I decided to be blunt. Facing one’s fears was the only way to conquer them. Or in this case, facing one’s object of hormonal obsession was the only way to deal with a touchy subject.
“You didn’t upset me. Well, that’s not entirely true.” I took a deep breath. “You didn’t upset me for the reasons you think.”
Asher’s mental block must have slipped because I felt his confusion and a thread of excitement hit me. “I don’t understand.”
“I, well, I…” I took a deep breath. “Uh, I find you very attractive,” I muttered, feeling a little ridiculous in the same way I felt like a complete dork in middle school.
To my complete shock, the stiff planes of Asher’s face relaxed into a slight smile. It disappeared almost as quickly as it came, but I saw it.
“I find you very attractive as well, Shannon,” he replied.
His words meant more to me than I wanted them to. In the back of my mind, I thought his withdrawal before meant that he wasn’t interested. Over the last few years, I’d been able to take or leave romantic entanglements. I hadn’t met a man who mattered enough to incite a reaction like this from me in a long time. If I was going to be completely honest with myself, I’d never felt like this before.
“I’m afraid this will complicate things a little.”
“It doesn’t have to,” I stated quickly.
“I’m afraid it does,” Asher disagreed. “I’ll have to bite you if we’re going to convince Cornelius that you’re under my control. Because of these feelings we share, the bite will take on a—” He paused and I could tell he was choosing his next words carefully. “A sexual nature.”
I managed to keep my mental blocks in place, but my heart thudded hard against my ribs. “I see.”
Asher smiled again, another quirk of his lips, but it was rueful rather than truly amused. “If this changes things—”
I shook my head. “No, no. We need to go ahead with the plan.” I stated adamantly. “I can’t continue living like this. I’m a prisoner. The cell and the company may be really nice, but I can’t get on with my life until this is all over.” As unsettling as his admission was, I couldn’t give up the chance to end this war before it spread much farther.
“Are you sure? I’m telling you because I want you to have all the information. In a situation like ours, trust must be absolute and honesty is necessary for complete trust.”
I nodded. “I understand and appreciate your candor. If it’s likely that Cornelius will show up tonight or tomorrow morning, we need to do this soon. Right?”
“Yes.”
I sucked in a deep breath and released it. If he was going to bite me, I wanted to get it over with. Speculating what it would be like and how I would feel would just make my anxiety worse. “Okay. I’m ready if you are.”
“I have some things I need to take care of first.”
“Oh.” I hadn’t expected that. I assumed he would share my eagerness to get this task completed so we could both move on.
“I’ll be done in a couple of hours. Why don’t you try to relax, maybe take a nap or something?”
I wanted to laugh in his face. Relax? There was no way I could. Still, I answered calmly, “That sounds fine. I’ll be in my room.”
He nodded and turned his gaze back to his computer screen, once again the cool, collected vampire. I wondered how in the hell he did that. I was barely hanging on to my composure by a thread.
It also made me wonder what it would take for me to get him to lose that iron control completely and what would happen after he did.
Unsettled, I left the office and headed upstairs. Inside my room, I stretched out on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. There was no way I would be able to sleep. I was so wound up by the direction this plan was heading. There were too many variables beyond my control.
The more I thought, the more the tension grew. I knew I had to calm down or Asher would sense my agitation when he bit me. He might rethink my part in the plan if he knew how nervous he made me.
I decided to meditate for a while in an effort to regain control. I closed my eyes and took a slow breath, focusing on the air filling my lungs and the way my ribs expanded. As I exhaled, I imagined the tension flowing out of my toes, then my arches, up to my ankles. Little by little, I thought of each muscle group in my legs relaxing.
The last thing I remembered was measuring my breath and moving my attention from my knees to my quadriceps.
* * *
“Shannon.”
My eyes flew open and I sat up, wide awake. “What time is it?”
Asher looked amused. “It’s a little after one in the afternoon,” he answered. “Do you always wake up like that?”
“Only when my life is in danger or I’m on an assignment,” I responded honestly.
The sparkle of mischief in his eye disappeared at my words and I realized he’d been teasing me. That was a first.
Unsure of how to undo the awkwardness I created, I ran a hand through my hair and asked, “Did you finish your business?”
&
nbsp; “Yes.”
Great. That cold mask Asher had worn the last few days was still in place, the warmth and honesty he’d revealed earlier gone completely.
“Okay. Give me a few minutes and I’ll come downstairs.”
Without another word, Asher got to his feet and left my room. As soon as the door shut behind him, I flopped back onto the bed and sighed. I had no idea what caused his moodiness. His emotions were locked up tighter than mine most of the time. Very rarely did he let what he was feeling slip through his shields.
Obviously we had some communication issues to work out. We couldn’t continue this way and be successful in our plan to take down the Faction. If this were an assignment through the security firm, I would have insisted we abort the mission.
As I got to my feet and walked into the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth, I realized exactly what I needed to do. It was clear that he and I needed to get on the same page and our uncomfortable conversation in his office this morning hadn’t done it.
Time to try a different tactic.
Chapter Seven
When I came downstairs, I found Asher in the living area, reading a book. His serene expression pissed me off even more.
I stopped trying to suppress my anger, freeing the emotion. I could almost see the moment when it hit him. His body tensed. The motion was so minute I would have missed it if I hadn’t been hyperfocused on Asher.
He put his book down and turned his head toward me. “Is something wrong?”
I moved around the couch to the coffee table and sat down on it so I faced him. “Yes, something is wrong.” My anger loosened my tongue. “Look, I’m sick of you shutting down and shutting me out if I say something you don’t like. I’m blunt, sarcastic, and I tend to make a joke out of everything. I realize that you may not be used to that, but we have to work together right now. If we don’t, this isn’t some project that will be ruined, it will be our lives and the lives of people we care about. I can’t tiptoe around you or rethink everything I say. I can try to tone it down, but this is who I am. Can you handle that, or should we consider scrapping this plan?”
