Through the dark haze of desire that wrung painful pleasure from her body Riana realised something was wrong.
She gasped seconds before Ishmael’s canines sunk into her shoulder, piercing the skin to tear into her flesh. He thrust harder, deeper into her cunt. Desire and passion snaked from her pussy to the bite and back again. It was too much. Sharp, intense tendrils of pleasure raced up her abdomen to explode in her chest and tighten her pussy. A breathless scream escaped her lips as another fiery orgasm flared through her body.
She opened her eyes to find he was still hard. “Didn’t you…?”
He smiled at her. “Sugar Girl, we’ve just begun,” he whispered before capturing her lips.
Chapter Eight
The Cost of Love
Riana lifted her hands for the burly security guard to pat her down. Once he was satisfied she was unarmed he stepped aside and allowed her to enter the palatial suite. The room was decorated in an abundance of satin, silk, jacquard and cashmere ivory fabrics that left her spellbound.
She stood in the midst of a decadent, white palace. It was a long way from where she had come. Riana chewed her lip as she considered the fact that she had left Ishmael in her private room on the train.
She had ached with the need to stay beside him, lie with him throughout the night, but she knew better than that. She understood that despite her needs, she had to leave him. She wanted to be with Ishmael. The truth was she wanted Blaze and Ishmael.
Needed both of them.
Winifred Waters appeared from behind an inconspicuous door. Her long, graceful body moved with determined strides towards Riana. Dressed in all black, with her silver hair swept up, Waters exuded the confidence and grace that made her a movie star in the forties.
“Hope Sean didn’t give you too much trouble. He’s always so cautious, especially lately with this whole jewel theft issue.”
Riana gaped at the infamous Winifred Waters. The woman was dynamite incarnated. She was even lovelier in person than she had appeared on the silver screen.
She shook her head. “Sean wasn’t any trouble at all.”
“Good. Good.” Winifred murmured before gliding across the room to take a seat at the breakfast that sat in the corner. Sunlight streamed in through the giant bay window that seemed to take up the whole wall. The golden lights surrounded Winifred in a spot light.
Riana grinned. Once a movie star…
“Won’t you take a seat, my dear?”
Riana sat across from Winifred and pulled out an etched box. She placed it on the glass tabletop.
One silver eyebrow lifted. “So you got my Garland back. Darn, you Greedy Girls really are good. Didn’t you take any time at all.”
“We’re the best.”
Sean appeared beside them with a silver tea set. “Tea?” Riana shook her head. Winifred leaned across the table and grabbed the box. Sunlight glittered on the single canary stone on her right ring finger. She flipped the top over and stared down at the blood red stone.
She picked it up. “It’s glowing.”
Riana stared at her for several moments, watching Winifred as she stared at the shimmering stone.
Winifred’s gaze lifted. She stared into Riana’s eyes. “Did Daphnia tell you how my gem came to be in Frederick’s hands?”
“No.”
Winifred smiled. “Phnia tight-lipped as always. You know, I’ve known her for over fifty years.”
Riana gaped at Waters. Daphnia didn’t look a day over thirty-five. There was no way the infamous actress had known her half a century.
“She doesn’t look it does she? Well she’s a werewolf, you know, a very healthy one too. Genetics and her healthy lifestyle keep her looking so damned young.”
Riana’s eyes widened in utter surprise. She had assumed that Daphnia was a mutant like the rest of the women at Greedy Girls, Inc. Before meeting Blaze she hadn’t known that vampires, and now, werewolves existed. “Exactly how old is Daphnia?”
Winifred gave Riana a mischievous smile. “You don’t really expect me to answer that do you?”
“Guess not.”
“I knew I could trust Phnia because of our friendship. I knew she would keep the theft a secret.”
“Ah, you know the thief.”
Winifred’s smile dimmed. “Yes, my niece. She has a problem with…recreational drugs. Jacques offered to purchase the Garland Garnet from me. Then he offered to rent it. I turned him down both times. But then he asked Emily and she couldn’t afford to ignore his offer.”
“You can trust that Greedy Girls will keep your personal business personal.”
Winifred shrugged. “I’m not worried about my secret. I’m just pissed that bastard can’t get what’s coming to him. Emily hasn’t been the same since she pawned the stone. I forgave her immediately, but the guilt…It’s eating her up inside.” She sighed. “The good thing is she’s getting some help now.”
Riana stared at Winifred’s face for several moments. Waters was supposed to be over eighty years old, but if she had to guess she’d place her age at mid-fifties. Her gaze lifted to Riana’s. “I’m actually well over two hundred, dear.”
Riana didn’t blink at the confession. She had already discovered too many secrets in the last few days to be shocked about another declaration. Still, something didn’t sit well… “How did you know I was thinking about your age?”
“It’s my gift. I’m a mutant like you. My ability to read one’s thoughts is why I worked the screen so well. I gave the directors exactly what they were thinking.” She winked. “My other gift is that I don’t age. At least not nearly as quickly as I should.”
“Jacques never had a chance, did he?”
No emotion showed on the weathered planes of Waters’ face. Then as if a dam had suddenly burst, laughter erupted from her sultry red lips, spilling over Riana. Although she knew she should have felt uncomfortable at her comment, especially the thoughts she had been thinking as she spoke, Riana smiled at the elderly woman.
“He thought it was about the price, but it was never about the money.” Winifred took a sip of her tea, before setting it down and staring into Riana’s eyes. “The Red Stone of Passion has a destiny all its own. I couldn’t just sell it.”
For a moment Riana was too confused to speak. “Excuse me?” she finally managed to say.
Waters’ smile widened. “It’s spoken to you, hasn’t it?”
Riana didn’t know what to say. The conversation had gone down an awkward, bumpy road. She tried to think of something to steer Waters back to the topic she felt comfortable with. “The Garland Garnet –” she started only to have Waters cut her off.
“Is exactly what I’m talking about.”
Riana tried her damned hardest not to let any of the emotions rumbling inside of her show on her face or appear in her thoughts. One look into Winifred’s twinkling blue eyes and she knew she had failed.
“Ms. Waters I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
Winifred leaned back in her seat. “The Garland Garnet in the possession of the right woman, one with ambition, determination, and strength of will, becomes a tool, a beaconing devise to lead the other half of her soul right to her.”
“The other half of my soul was my first husband, Jeffrey. He died three years after we were married. I was only twenty then. The rock heard my loneliness and found me another soul mate. Most people think I’ve been married six times. I’ve actually been married over a dozen times. ”
“Uh huh.” Riana was dumbstruck. Every one of Waters’ six husbands the public knew of had claimed love at first sight. Now she understood.
The gemstone had brought them all to her.
Just like it had brought Blaze and Ishmael to her.
The last vestiges of her dream drifted back to Riana. Her lovers. Blaze. Ishmael.
The Red Stone of Passion.
She wore it even then.
“I married them all, loved them all, even though I knew I was orchestrating their deaths.
I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t walk away from them, even when I tried. I desired them too much to let them go.”
“What are you saying?”
Waters leaned forward and grabbed Riana’s hand in a grip that was shockingly tight for such an old woman. She dropped the shimmering stone into her palm. “I killed them, Riana, not with my hands. But through my actions I caused their deaths. A year after they married me each and every husband died a natural, but untimely death. The stone demands a heavy price with the wrong woman. I only pray that it finds in you what it could never find in me. I pray that it finds you are the right woman, the woman it seeks.”
Riana stared at her aghast, feeling the heavy weight of the garnet in her palms deep in her soul.
Chapter Nine
Changed Man
Ishmael knew the moment he woke up that he was alone. The scent that was distinctly Riana was faint, the last vestiges of a woman long gone.
He shook his head slowly, wondering how she had managed to leave the room without him noticing. Then again he had passed out cold from the seemingly endless night of sex.
Either Ishmael was losing his edge or he’d let his guard down around her. He didn’t know which was worse.
Ishmael threw off the covers and stared down at his quickly hardening cock. He was fairly surprised it wasn’t bruised. That made him wonder how it was Riana had managed to even make it out of the bed, let alone the room.
He headed to the restroom to relieve himself. He paused halfway to the small room.
Ishmael was no longer alone in the room. The same male that had followed Riana in her bestial form was in the bedroom with him. He hadn’t been able to get the blond’s scent out of his head.
Anger like none he’d felt before had filled him. He hadn’t liked seeing the blond chasing after Riana in her cat form. Ishmael enjoyed finding the man hiding out in Riana’s room even less.
The vampire was good. He didn’t move, didn’t make a sound, but Ishmael knew exactly where he stood. His superior hearing allowed him to hear the nearly nonexistent creak of the wood floors groaning under the man’s weight.
Ishmael teleported to stand right behind the vampire, claws extended and pointed at his jugular. The blond froze.
“We both know a slash across the throat won’t kill you, but it sure as hell will be a bitch to heal.”
“Where is she?”
Ishmael snorted. “Obviously not here?”
“Look ‘porter, my issue isn’t with you.”
Ishmael stilled behind the vampire. There weren’t many people who knew exactly what he was: a werewolf with the genetically enhanced ability to teleport. Not many people knew that there were a few werewolves who had survived the ‘porter experiment.
“If you’re chasing the girl, you’ve got issues with me.”
“Are you her boyfriend?” The lack of emotion in the vampire’s voice put Ishmael on notice. He ducked a second before the man’s massive fist would have connected with his face.
“What’s it to you, asshole?” Ishmael growled as he elbowed the blond in the gut.
Air whooshed out of the vampire’s lungs, but he fought back with an uppercut that left Ishmael seeking stars. The blond’s body blurred as he moved with frightening speed. His bicep tightened around Ishmael’s neck, cutting off his breathing.
“I suggest you tell me what I want to know.”
“Why?” Ishmael barked out. He threw his head back colliding with the vampire’s nose. Blood spurted everywhere as the blond took a step back. Ishmael immediately teleported to stand across the room.
The vampire swiped the back of his hand across his face, wiping the spewing blood from his nose and charged Ishmael. Thick, heavily corded bodies collided in a mass of muscles as Ishmael was thrown hard against the wall.
Ishmael growled low and attempted to teleport. The vampire must have sensed his decision because he grabbed him, wrapping his long fingers around Ishmael’s neck
He breathed deeply, knowing with the hold the vamp had on him his neck was exposed. His gaze flickered to the blond’s hard face. The vampire smiled at him, flashing his lengthened incisors. “Wondering how long it’s been since I fed?”
Ishmael held the vampire’s steady blue gaze, not letting his fear show. There was an unspoken rule among the preternaturals. Vampires did not drink other prets’ blood without their permission and he sure as hell wasn’t going to give the blond brute permission.
“I’m not trying to bust your ass here. I won’t hurt you.”
Ishmael smiled. He remembered how Riana had reacted when he said those words to her. He understood her reaction a lot more. He snorted and released his claws. He aimed for the vampire’s face, particularly his bright blue eyes.
The vamp instinctively stumbled backwards.
Ishmael flashed to the other side of the room and picked up the throwing knives he’d captured from Riana.
“Look ‘porter, I’m one of the good guys here.”
Ishmael sneered. “Let me guess. You’re a cop, right?”
“I’m a P.I.A. agent.”
He paused. “A bloody, fucking Preternatural Intelligence Agency agent?”
The vampire grinned. “Minus the bloody fuck, yes. My name is Blaze. I’m a fourth level agent.”
“A P.I.A. agent. You came here sniffing around my mate and you expect me to think you’re not looking for trouble?”
Blaze jerked at his words. His fiery blue gaze snapped to his. “Your mate?” he growled and flew across the room.
Shocked by the man’s anger-propelled speed, Ishmael threw two of the knives at the last minute. The vampire had not been prepared for either. The first caught him in the chest. The second landed in his abdomen. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared down at the knives in shock. With a savage growl Blaze tore them from his flesh. “Don’t think I don’t smell her on you. I know you were with her, but that doesn’t make her your mate. She was and is my mine.”
Ishmael punched the vampire right in the jaw, angered by the reminder that Riana had slept with him. He doubted he would ever forget her scent when she ran out of her townhouse in jaguar form. “Stay away from my mate,” he growled.
“She is not your mate. She is my bloodlust,” the vampire yelled in exasperation before hurling Ishmael’s throwing knives at him.
Ishmael stood frozen to the floor at the vamp’s words. The throwing knives sliced through the air to land in the wooden panel beside his head. He turned to stare at them. They were side by side.
As if…
“If I had been aiming for your head or heart, you’d be dead, wolf.”
Ishmael grimaced, sensing the truth in Blaze’s statement. “Don’t think I’m going to thank you by leaving my claim to her.”
“I do not expect any man, preternatural or not, can walk away from Riana.”
Ishmael folded his arms across his chest. “You know what this means, don’t you?”
Blaze sighed. “According to the Republic of Others rules, we must both ask her to mate with us. Whatever decision she makes is binding.”
Chapter Ten
Rope Burn
Riana woke with the clarity of mind that comes from being frightened.
There was somebody in the room with her.
An intruder.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and reached under her pillow for the hunting knife she kept beneath it. She jerked when something bit into her flesh, preventing her from moving her arm more than an inch.
“I don’t think so, Kitty Kat.”
Riana froze at the sound of the voice that haunted her dreams. Her body couldn’t help remembering just how easily she had responded to his caresses.
Blaze stepped from the shadows to stand on the right side of her bed. She glared at him. “Untie me, you brute.”
A chuckle drifted over to her. “I don’t think she’s happy to see you.”
The soft drawl of the voice that captured her daydreams sliced through her hea
rt. Riana turned her head to catch Ishmael’s dark gaze. He leaned against her nightstand. Quiet patience swirled around his body. She licked her lips remembering the things she had done to that body, the things that body had done to her.
She suddenly ached.
Riana turned away from the memories Ishmael’s presence evoked to stare at the ceiling. This was not good, not all. Riana had slept with both men. And she was running from both men. The fact that the two were standing before her and had her tied up was a really bad thing. She pulled at the velvet ropes that held her. “You bastards,” she growled.
“I would think you would be happy to see your mates,” Blaze replied.
The softly spoken words whispered over Riana’s skin, making her flesh break out in goose bumps. She gritted her teeth and ignored her traitorous body.
It took several seconds for his words to work their way through the haze of lust that clouded her mind. “Mates?” she croaked, bringing her gaze to his.
“Yes, mates. As in two, Kitty Kat.”
She stared at him aghast. He had to be kidding. There was no way she could belong to them. Both of them. At the same time.
Riana closed her eyes and shut off the visions that swam through her mind at those thoughts. She shook her head. “No.”
“Yes. You belong to us. Just as we belong to you.” Ishmael’s growled words drifted over her mouth seconds before his lips captured hers in a fiery kiss. His swift tongue darted past her lips parted in surprise, rolling the distinctive taste of desire, man, and peppermint onto her tongue.
Ishmael broke off the kiss to stare into her eyes for several seconds. The passion she saw swirling in the green depth of his gaze made her belly flutter with uncomfortable feelings. She turned away.
Long fingers captured her jaw and forced her to look into bright cobalt eyes. “But Kitty Kat, you must choose. Do you want us? Do you need us? Do you want a mate?” The breathed words settled upon her mouth seconds before his petal soft lips moved against hers.
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