Hot Decadent Rising (Breath of Darkness)

by Candice Stauffer

  “Leave the key on the bedside table. Don’t forget checkout is at noon. Unless…”

  Regrettably, Kara wasn’t shocked to see the reflection of the woman holding out her hand as if expecting to receive more money in the window. Forcing her smile to broaden, she shook her head as she started for the exit. “Sorry. You’ve drained me dry.” Just before walking outside she faced the woman one last time. “But don’t worry. I’ll be gone before noon.”

  As she left the office, she wondered what had happened to the woman in the past to cause her to happily use extortion to take money from someone who was in trouble. It wasn’t something she could do. Her conscience would drive her insane with guilt.

  Tom had always accused her of being too nice. He claimed her conscience was her worst enemy. In a way it was true. Having a clear-cut sense of right and wrong was what caused her to confront her father about his illegal activities. Life would’ve turned out much less tragic if she just hadn’t given a damn about other people. The thought made her laugh. She wasn’t going to change. She was who she was.

  She would never take advantage of other people. She didn’t have any desire to kick a person when he or she was down. But…oh, crap. The woman she’d just paid off would do both and worse. If her father’s men offered the woman money she would likely give them the key and detailed directions to the room. The disturbing reality stopped Kara in her tracks. Should she offer the woman more money to insure her silence?

  No. She started walking toward her room again. It didn’t matter how much money she handed over to her. The woman had already proved she could be bought. She would likely rat her out no matter how much money she received. It was a tragic fact. An atrocious reality. Greed was a backstabbing, compassionless killer. She could only hope her father’s men wouldn’t stop at the hotel.

  While making her way down the sidewalk to her room she took a careful look around the parking lot for anything out of place. One vehicle stood out from the rest. It was a restored 1969 Shelby Mustang Fastback. It was her dream car. Well, it was one of her many dreams cars. She loved the older muscle cars. The brilliant black diamond color with polished chrome bumpers and accessories looked absolutely beautiful in an ass kicking, sexy beast muscle car sort of way. As far as she was concerned, it was far too valuable; too treasured by its owner to be parked anywhere near the old decrepit motel, but its presence didn’t worry her.

  It was too out of place to belong to her father’s men. They knew how to remain unseen. They would never do anything to broadcast their presence. They were as well trained and sneaky, as they were armed. Besides, her father had never shared her love for the classics. He believed newer was better. He always made sure his men traveled in the newest, most expensive vehicles available. It was one of the many annoying ways he enjoyed flaunting his wealth in front of his enemies and allies.

  She hadn’t realized she’d stopped to stare at the car until the driver’s side door opened and a man got out. He took off a black leather jacket and tossed it inside the car before shutting the door. The first thing she noticed was that he was built like a professional fighter, muscles bulging everywhere, but his movements were smooth and fluid.

  A streetlight revealed that he had a deep dark tan. He was an exhilarating combination of raw power and masculine beauty. Time seemed to stop. She’d never been a woman with an exuberant admiration for the opposite sex, but for some reason watching him walk was a treat. She took a deep breath and sighed. She wouldn’t mind stripping him down and checking out his tan lines.

  And his hair…oh yeah. His hair rocked. Looking as if he’d just crawled out of bed it was perfectly messy, thick black and nearly reached his shoulders. She wanted to get it tangled around her fingers as she leaned back on the hood of his car and he lowered his body over hers.

  He was just as much of a sexy beast as his car. It didn’t take much of an imagination to envision women flocking around him and giving him whatever he wanted. He was the perfect candidate for a one night stand.

  He was a devil in disguise. It wasn’t his fault. Not really. He was born to be a mouthwatering stud. Oh, yeah. He was a yummy, scintillating sin she would’ve enjoyed committing if she had more time, but she didn’t. It was a disappointing shame. Taking him for a ride would’ve been a great adventure.

  She wasn’t sure which was the cake or the frosting when it came to him or his car. She laughed at her naughty sex thoughts right up until the second she recognized him and realized he was headed straight for her. He was Eli, the man from the gas station. “Yikes.” She turned to walk away, but found herself face to face with another man. He was young; perhaps even a teenager, with greasy hair and dirty clothes. He looked and smelled as if he hadn’t washed his clothes or taken a shower in several days. “What do you want?” She glanced down at the knife clenched in his fist at his side.

  “Give me your bag.” The odor of his breath nearly knocked her out as he lifted the knife and held it in her face.

  “Hell no! Not today. Not any day. Put the knife down before you get hurt.” She knew he wasn’t going to put it down, but it was worth a try. She studied his eyes. The whites were inflamed and red. They looked wild and angry. No. He was insane. Keeping calm, she focused on and merged her mind with his in hopes of taking control of him. If it worked he would simply walk away and forget about her.

  She quickly realized it wouldn’t work. He wasn’t insane. Not really. He was out of his mind, but it wasn’t caused by a natural chemical imbalance. She could’ve worked with that. He was on drugs. Regrettably, her physic abilities weren’t strong enough to deal with that. As a matter of fact, she’d learned the hard way that she couldn’t do a damn thing to take control of anyone under the influence of drugs.

  To end the encounter she was going to have to fight. Setting her sights on the knife, she set out to take it away from him. After a brief struggle, she won the knife, but then he ripped her backpack off her shoulder and shoved her to the ground. She immediately got to her feet to chase after him, but Eli, who she’d somehow managed to forget about, had already pinned him down on the ground.

  The thief was cussing and struggling in vain to get up. With his knee pressed into the thief’s back and her backpack over his shoulder, Eli turned his head to look at her. He was just as sexy up close, but she wasn’t so sure she would ever dare to make a move on him. During the time she’d been unconscious because of her head injury he’d haunted her dreams. She’d been wrong in her assessment of him. He wasn’t a devil in disguise. He was the Devil. For the first time since she’d found herself face to face with a knife wielding man her heart started to pound.

  He looked up at her. Instantly she felt the power and mesmerizing pull of his stare. He looked wildly erotic. His perfectly proportioned muscular body was a delicious treat for her eyes to feast on. He looked hot. So hot and sexy she was helpless to look away. His lips parted and slowly curved upward. A shiver running through her body, she felt bewildered and disoriented. Attempting to warm herself she rubbed her palms up and down her arms.

  A shadow moved in her mind. It was him! Oh, damn. He was in her head, reading her mind. Heat steadily rose up her neck and centered on her cheeks. He was seriously reading her thoughts, her embarrassingly jumbled thoughts of him, of his sensual appeal.

  He nodded his head slightly. That’s right. I am. And I won’t lie. They’re truly distracting. No. It wasn’t true. She took a step back. You know it’s true. Then, causing her body to come alive, his smiled widened. When you realized it was me, you tried to get away. Why? Were you afraid I was going to kiss you again?

  “Stop it.” She frowned at him, doing her best to appear vicious enough to convince him to obey rather than face the consequences of not obeying.

  Moving slowly, he rose to his feet and, completely closing the gap between them, he took a step. “And if I don’t?” Appearing amused, his dark gaze bore into hers. He was a thousand times more than sexy. He was mysteriously, darkly sensual.

&nb
sp; Gritting her teeth, she looked up at him defiantly. “I’m not alone.”

  “Not anymore.” His words came out a deep throaty murmur of silver-tongued seduction.

  Something was seriously off with him. She’d read many people in the past. Some were good. Some were bad. All were slightly unique. His thought patterns were completely different from anyone she’d ever encountered.

  He was wild. An animal. A predator. And that was when she remembered the one thing she’d worked hard to forget for the past twenty years. Werewolves were real. He wasn’t a man at all. He was a werewolf!

  “Did he cut you?” She felt him merge with her and touch her mind. He was searching for information. She quickly focused on building a solid wall to keep him out. Wincing, he shook his head as if her attempt to shut him out had hurt him. “Damn it, Kara, stop messing around. Did the bastard fucking cut you?”

  She looked down at the knife still clenched in her fist. “No. I took it away before he was able to use it on me.” Staring into his eyes she took step back. “Why are you here?” She didn’t know whether to run or stay.

  “I came to meet up with you.”

  When her attacker had quieted and no longer struggled to get away, the Eli picked him up and held him against the wall with one had clenched around the his throat. “You’re lucky. I don’t want to see you anywhere near her again,” he growled between clenched teeth. That said, in move swift movement, he lifted, turned and threw the young man several feet away from them as if he weighed nothing more than a pillow.

  Apparently focusing his attention on her Eli stared at her for several seconds. He appeared to be confused about something. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out.

  Wanting to know what he was thinking she was tempted to tap into his thoughts, but she didn’t dare do anything to damage the barrier she’d made to keep him from going deeper into her mind. She felt something inside her wanting to reach out to him, to touch him. For a moment she was taken aback by a flood of emotions. No. She rejected the thought. It wasn’t emotions. It was hormones.

  She reached out to take the backpack from him. “Thank you. I didn’t see him until it was too late.”

  “You weren’t paying attention to all of your surroundings.” His lips parted in a sexy smile that captured her. “This is a dangerous part of town for a woman standing around daydreaming and waiting for trouble.”

  Talk about awkward. He’d heard every single one of her the thoughts she’d had about him. Her mom, also a physic, had taught her that werewolves had a natural ability to read minds and influence people. He wouldn’t need a lot of power to hear her thoughts. She hadn’t tried to hide them. She’d practically hit him upside the head with them.

  She decided the best way to proceed was to be as non-combative as possible. “You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking.” She tried to pull the backpack away from him, but he held it firm and actually used it to pull her closer to him.

  “I do.” He made a show of allowing his gaze to slowly move from her head to toes and then back again. He closed the distance between them. He was close. Too close. “It was partially my fault. You were distracted.”

  “What?” She took a step back. She realized he was doing more than invading her physical personal space. The sneaky bastard was stalling because he was working his way through the wall she’d built in her mind.

  “You weren’t thinking with your brain.” With his free hand he lightly tapped her forehead with his index finger. “It’s there for a reason. Do yourself a favor and use it next time.”

  He was an asshole. The biggest asshole of all time. She had to bite her tongue to keep from telling him so. She tried to pull the backpack away from him. “You’re right.” When he didn’t release the bag she got angrier and tried to pull a bit harder. It had no effect on him, other than to make him to chuckle.

  “Being alone makes you vulnerable and it would be prudent for you to avoid distractions no matter how appealing they might be. Luckily, you won’t need to watch your back in the future. I’ve got it covered. And, for your information, I don’t want your bag. Unless you want to fall flat on your ass when I let go of it you should probably stop pulling on it.” The moment she stopped, he released it. Grinning, he winked. “That’s a good little girl.”

  She opened her mouth to give him a proper tongue lashing, but she miraculously took control and stopped herself before one single syllable left her lips. At that moment she thought about the day she’d met him. He was the idiot. He’d grabbed her and kissed her as if she wanted him to do it. Okay. A small part of her had enjoyed it. Absolute control when dealing with an arrogant bastard had never been her greatest strength.

  Reaching into her bag, she smiled. It was a real smile this time. It was nothing even close to the sweet fake smile she’d learned to flash at all the right times. “You deserve a treaty treat for being such a good boy.” Knowing she was about to put him in his place gave her a great measure of joy. Real joy. Heartfelt joy.

  “Do I?” His deep voice, she noted, was just as sexy as the rest of him.

  “Of course.” She knew better but sometimes, having a hot temper, knowing better didn’t mean a damn thing once she’d been pushed too far. She pulled a piece of beef jerky out of her bag and tossed it. “Fetch.”

  Appearing shocked, his eyes widened as he stared at her. “What?”

  “You look upset.” She took out another strip of jerky and bit a piece off. “It’s really tasty. I can’t believe you’re not interested in it.” She bit off another piece. “I used to know an aggravating as hell, leg humping poodle that couldn’t get enough of this stuff. Once he had a bite he would beg and do a little dance on his hind legs for more. It was super cute. Don’t wolves like beef jerky?”

  “Did you just call me a…never mind.” Shaking his head, he stared at her. He was definitely confused and a little angry. She heard a growl rumble in his chest. Okay. Maybe he was more than a little angry.

  “Thank you for your help. But you, Eli, are an asshole. You’re a very attractive asshole so I don’t find any fault in the fact that I stared at you. Even so, I will forever live with the shame that I even considered having sex with you.”

  Rather than say anything at all he shook his head and then turned as if to walk away. Deciding it wouldn’t be in her best interest to stick around to see what he was doing she turned away from him and headed for her room. When she opened the door to the room and walked inside the foul stench of old cigarette smoke and mildew filled her lungs. Gagging, she shut the door and locked it. She wanted to cry, but she refused to allow the condition of the room to drive her to tears.

  She would never permit herself to wallow in self-pity. She wasn’t the only person living with one form of trouble or another. She was hurting, she was terrified and she was alone, but tears were a sign of weakness she refused to display or to shed even in private.

  ~Eleven~

  “I’M NOT GOING to lie. That was the single most awesome moment of my life. I can’t believe she called you an aggravating as hell, leg humping poodle.” Eli watched Cain pick up the jerky she’d tossed and take a bite. “It’s good stuff. You should’ve fetched it.” He took another bite. “But I’m glad you didn’t.”

  Eli shook his head. “Shut up.” When he realized she had been targeted by a thief his natural protective instincts kicked in. He was shocked by the fear he felt when she began to struggle with the man to take the knife. It was only a matter of seconds before he got to her, but it seemed much longer.

  “I like her style. Maybe you should reconsider your decision to remain unattached to her. Do you think you could piss her off and get her to throw some more? It really is tasty stuff. I’d get on my hind legs and beg pretty for another piece.”

  To say he was shocked when she’d tossed the meat and then ordered him to fetch it was a major understatement. She’d left him speechless. He had definitely met his match in her, a woman as passionate as sin and a
s hot as Hell’s rampant flames. “She called me a leg humping poodle.”

  “Aggravating as hell.”

  Growling, Eli stared at him.

  “What? She said aggravating as hell.”

  “You’re the reason women encourage their men to go out and get neutered.”

  Cain laughed. “Doing so is a hell of lot better than chasing a bunch of heathen savages around for the rest of your life. Women and children are trouble. You know, for a human, Kara isn’t bad at all. I like her.”

  “She has her good qualities.”

  “Don’t you think you should go talk to her?” Cain asked.

  “Not now. The thief is returning with a few of his gangster wannabe friends.”

  “No worries. That’s what you have a pack for. We will take care of them. It’ll be fun. Go and get to know your sweet little lady.”

  Eli had already started to walk away. He had just reached Kara’s door when she screamed. He tried to open the door. It was locked. He was about to break through it, but she opened it and plowed into him.

  Shocked she stared up at him. “Why are you by my door?” He felt her touch his mind. He opened up to her. Not knowing what was wrong and wanting to calm her as quickly as possible so he could deal with it, he allowed her to inspect his intentions. He knew the moment she decided he wasn’t a threat. She peeked into the room. “Do you see it?”

  From over her head he took a look inside. He didn’t see anything except for a tiny…

  “Spider!” she yelled. “Holy shit! Right there! It’s a spider!” Her nails digging deep into his flesh she gripped his arm. “You see it, right?”

  “Yeah.” He looked down at her. She wasn’t afraid of the spider. She was utterly terrified of the damned thing. “It won’t hurt you. It’s more afraid of you than you are of it.”

  As if to prove he’d lied, the spider turned toward them as if staring them down.

  “Oh, oh crap!”