by Claire Marta
She watched in fascination as his fangs smoothly descended. They were long, sharp, and lethal. He sank them into the bag and began to suck.
“From the local blood bank,” Eric informed her.
Startled, Jasmine glanced his way.
His eyes were hooded with an intense look in their depths as he watched her.
“It is not so pleasing cold, but there's no microwave in the suite to warm it. The alternative is a living donor, but we do not have time for those.” His eyes slid to her neck for a moment and lingered.
Unless they used her, she thought, which she was not sure she would agree to anyway.
A shiver ran though her. Jasmine nervously licked her suddenly dry lips.
“So you just feed on cold blood?”
Eric shrugged one large shoulder. “It serves our purpose and we do not need to feed very often.”
That little piece of information got her attention.“But vampires feed every day.”
That seemed to snap him out of his fascination with her neck. Any emotion on Eric’s face vanished in a blink of an eye. Once more he was unreadable. “We have the luxury of not having that necessity.”
She had not heard of such a thing before. Eric and Raoul did seem to be very different from the vampires she had learned about. Almost like they were another breed. That was ridiculous, though. Vampires were all the same – turned humans.
As she shifted her position she yelped in pain. A cramp spasmed painfully through her crossed legs.
“Fuuuck,” Jasmine ground out through gritted teeth.
Sitting for so long like this was apparently getting annoying for her body, too. She stretched out her legs on the soft carpet, groaning as they protested.
“I do not like your use of this word,” Eric responded crossly. “Fucking is a pleasurable pastime and should not be used as a swear word.”
Shooting him a disbelieving look, she scowled.
“I’ve got cramp,” Jasmine replied grumpily. “What should I say then?”
In one fluid movement, he crawled across the floor to reach her side. “Perhaps you should not swear at all. It is most unladylike.”
Taken aback, she didn’t protest as his big, confident hands began to knead her jean-clad calves and thighs. A groan of pained relief escaped her. He really knew how to work a massage. If he ever wanted to change careers, he would earn a fortune as a masseur. Hell, she would pay anything for him to keep it up. It was fucking heaven.
“I like to swear,” she answered on a contented sigh.
Raoul was watching them with interest. The blood bag in his hand was almost empty. He pulled his fangs smoothly out of the plastic and smiled.
“How about thunderation? I know Eric is also fond of using the word damnation,” Raoul mused softly. “Or gadzooks! Bloody hell!”
The cramp had been worked away. Now other sensations were taking its place. Bliss rolled through her. Pressing her lips together, she held back a groan. Why did she keep letting him touch her? It only ever led to trouble.
Jasmine wanted to do nothing more than lie down and let the vamp massage the rest of her. She knew this couldn’t happen.
“They all sound so Victorian,” she managed to reply a little breathlessly.
Eric removed his hands from her legs and sat back on his heels.
“They are,” he said with a tiger-like smile. A dark heat lit, his hungry gaze as he observed her. The kind of look that said he wanted to eat her all up.
Jasmine swallowed hard.
“How old are you anyway?” The words blurted out of her mouth before she could stop them.
It was something that had been on her mind, but she hadn’t had the courage to ask. Her nervousness had her spewing out anything in her head. Embarrassment engulfed her.
Eric’s eyes narrowed, his head tilted to one side. “It is rude to ask someone’s age.”
She flashed him a nervous smile. “I thought that was only for women.”
“It applies to vampires, too,” Raoul replied in an amused tone. He had a second bag of blood in his hand. Hip resting against the mini-fridge, he raised it to his mouth. Fangs still extended, he jabbed them into the plastic and began to drink. The muscles in his throat rippled as he swallowed.
Jasmine wasn’t becoming squeamish about it, strangely enough. Curiosity was what she was experiencing the most.
“Why haven’t you just enthralled me with your persuasion yet?”
Raoul froze mid-gulp. Honey-brown eyes moved from her to the other vampire. He looked shocked at her words.
Eric had also stilled in the process of running his hand through his hair. Features once more void of anything but coldness, he stared at her. “And how is it that you know about that?”
Jasmine suddenly felt uncomfortable. Maybe she should have kept her mouth shut. “I sensed you use it on Marcel when we first met. And, well, you also used it on me.”
Eric suddenly looked uncomfortable. In one graceful movement, he rose to his feet. “I did not think it wise.”
Jasmine didn’t move from her position on the floor. The vampire towered over her, but she didn’t feel threatened at all. What he was saying did not make sense. Her brow furrowed in confusion. “You could have made me stay without exposing what you’re doing.”
Eric swung around and faced away from her. Shoulders taut, he was tensing up. “It did not feel right.”
Fuck. The vamp really seemed to be uncomfortable with her line of questioning. Some little imp inside her wouldn’t let her drop it, however. Cracking that remoteness Eric had mastered had begun to fascinate her.
“Why?”
A nippy chill swept through the room. Power pulsed, crisp and raw, around the darkly handsome vampire. Were his icy powers connected to his emotions? They certainly seemed to spike when she got emotion out of Eric.
Jasmine suddenly realised maybe she had pushed him too far.
“Jasmine, please do not pursue this. Now if you will excuse me I have things that need attending to.” Words harshly spoken, the vamp stalked from the room.
The door of the bedroom slammed so hard it rattled in its frame. Silence ensued.
Nibbling on her bottom lip, Jasmine looked towards Raoul. “What did I say?”
The dark-skinned vamp hadn’t moved. The blood bag was still in his mouth as he sucked it down slowly. Eyes astonished, he pulled it from his lips with a little pop. “You really do not realise your effect on him, do you?”
Jasmine bit her lip harder. “What are you talking about?”
In one elegant movement he discarded the empty bag in the bin. “Is it not obvious that his control is not as it should be around you?”
She hadn’t known these vampires long, so no, she had no idea how Eric normally acted. As far as she knew this was it.
Was Raoul implying this wasn’t his normal behaviour?
“How should it be?”
Wiping his mouth with the heel of his hand, he fixed her with a wary look. “Eric feels nothing. His control over his emotions is legendary. It has earned him the reputation of being coldly calculating and merciless. It seems to have taken one little mortal female to destroy all that.”
He looked pointedly at her and her mouth turned down.
Shit. Was she really messing with Eric’s control that much? Why was he affected by her, if this was all true?
“Oh.”
Raoul walked across the room and collected his laptop. “Oh, indeed.”
Chapter 19
Raoul was working quietly on his laptop again on the sofa. His lithe, muscular form lounged gracefully against the comfortable pillows. It was like he was welded to the thing with the amount of time he spent on it. She had a feeling he and Twitch would get on well.
Another laptop sat on the table in front of her. Her boss’s face abruptly filled the screen. From behind his wire-rimmed glasses, concern brimmed in his soft brown eyes.
“Hey Jaz, how’s it going?” He couldn’t hide the worry from his ton
e.
A reassuring smile curved her lips. “I heard from Twitch last night. He’s OK at the moment.”
Worrying about them was something she knew Mark would do well. Since joining his team that’s all he seemed to do. It was comforting to know their boss had their backs. His support was unwavering.
Her eyes skimmed over Mark's boyish features. A pencil was resting behind his left ear. The end was badly mauled; he had obviously spent the last few hours gnawing on it. Such a telling, nervous habit.
“Thank God for that,” Mark muttered softly.
Jasmine glanced nervously in the vampire’s direction for a moment. Raoul had agreed to let her talk to her boss as long as she mentioned nothing about their mission or any details. It was incredibly hard to do, though. She was bursting to talk to someone about it all.
“I can’t say anything more than that,” she informed him and stole another glance at Raoul, who still seemed engrossed in his work.
Working for Scotland Yard, Mark would understand this. He was probably more than aware of how delicate this situation was and knew she couldn’t say much.
A nod was his only answer. The plains of his face settled into a look of understanding.
Jasmine felt herself relax. “How’s the team?”
Gemma and Fergus, her other teammates, were suddenly blocking Mark.
“Hey, sweetcakes! You OK?” The werewolf’s rugged face was creased with worry. His amber eyes danced over her features.
Jasmine grinned wide. “I’m fine, mutt.”
The wolf was sometimes annoying but always damn loyal to his department. She missed his dumb jokes and never-ending need for junk food. He was a true fast food junkie.
He was jostled away as her other friend and co-worker shoved the wolf aside. Fergus growled. Gemma smacked his smooth, bald head. With another low growl, the werewolf retreated, muttering to himself in annoyance.
“How’s Twitch holding up?” Gemma asked, nibbling nervously on her lower lip. Her beautiful flawless face was tight with anxiety. Wild, black curls hung loosely to her shoulders.
Jasmine had never seen her look so worried. Gemma was tough. She didn’t take shit from anyone, especially the males on their team. The amount of swear words that left her pretty mouth would probably shock the vamps. She made Jasmine look like a nun.
“He seems to be OK. Not freaking out or anything.”
“You staying out of trouble, Jaz?” Fergus asked, shunting Gemma away from the screen. She squealed in a mixture of surprise and anger.
Jasmine bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. “I’m trying to, yes.”
“What are the agents you're working with like?” Gemma’s face appeared over the werewolf’s muscled shoulder.
Her eyes darted to Raoul. A small smile tilted his lips. He looked amused.
“They're…different. Very professional and focused,” she replied nervously.
They had asked her to keep the fact they were vampires a secret. It was something she wanted to do. Her team didn’t need to know. It wasn’t like they were ever going to meet. Once Twitch was rescued, they would be heading back to England. Where the vamps would go, she had no clue.
“What Gem means is: are they hot and have you got lucky?” Fergus’s eyes slid sideways to the woman in question. A lopsided grin was on his face.
Wrinkling her nose, Gemma scowled at him. “Stop putting fucking words in my mouth, wolf.”
One of his thick, muscled arms, curved around her waist. He pulled her close. “We both know that’s what you meant.”
“If you two have quite finished,” Mark barked from somewhere behind them. “It’s like running a playgroup instead of a bloody police department sometimes.”
“Geez, boss, can’t you see we’re worried about our girl?” Fergus quibbled, glancing over his shoulder.
“As you can see, she’s fine,” Mark snapped back. “It’s Twitch we need to worry about.”
Mark’s face was filling the screen again. He seemed to be glaring at something just over top of it. Jasmine guessed it was probably her co-workers as they made their retreat out of his office. When his eyes found hers, she knew they were alone. Now was the time to ask a question that had been burning on the tip of her tongue. She had to know.
“Did you find out who the mole in the department is? Who told Marcel where to find Twitch?” Her voice was low, nothing more than a mumble.
Mark shook his head. “No. We don’t have any leads. Everyone’s come up smelling of roses so far, but I’ll keep looking.”
The bedroom door swung open. Eric’s gaze immediately zoomed to her as he stepped out. He looked distracted, but she didn’t miss the frown.
Was he still annoyed with her?
Trying not to nibble on her lip again, she leaned towards the screen. “I gotta go.”
“Message me when you have news,” Mark told her with a sigh.
“Yes, boss.”
A moment later the screen went dark.
She snapped the laptop shut and leaned back in her chair.
Raoul had also discarded his computer and his entire attention was fixed on the other vampire. From the look on Eric's face, Jasmine had a feeling something must have happened.
“Marcel has requested to meet this lunchtime,” he announced as he strolled into the middle of the room and stopped. “Seems to be very last minute.”
Jasmine didn’t know if that was good or bad. If the weapon-testing was soon, that could explain the urgent meet-up.
“What do you intend to do?” Raoul asked. Interlocking his hands, he rested them behind his head. The muscles in his arms bunched and rippled with the movement.
Eric’s expression was brooding. “I must attend. He may have the details of the weapons test.”
“I may have a lead on where the techno mage is being held.” Raoul’s honey-brown eyes briefly bounced to Jasmine’s. “I would like to check that out.”
Eric nodded. “Very well.”
“Can I go with Raoul or am I being grounded and left in the hotel?” The words were spoken low and quiet.
After the night before, she was pretty certain she would be stuck in the room watching daytime television. It wouldn’t hurt to ask though. Maybe she could do surveillance on the laptop. She wasn’t sure Eric would trust her on another undercover mission again. She still wanted to help any way she could.
“No, Jasmine. I would like you to attend the lunch with me.” Cold eyes intent on her face, he smiled. “If Raoul confirms the location of your friend, we can making plans this evening to get him out.”
Jasmine’s heart leapt in her chest. Was he giving her another chance? Finding Twitch was important to her, but as Eric had pointed out, they needed a plan. Raoul was probably the best person to search for him.
But why did he want her with him if she threatened his control? Maybe it didn’t happen all the time. Without anyone actually explaining it to her properly, she just didn’t know.
Jasmine wasn’t about to look a gift-horse in the mouth, though.
“Alright. I don’t have to wear a dress again, do I?” If it was a case of heels again, she would stay put.
Amusement fluttered over Eric’s features. “No, you may wear jeans if you like. That outfit will do, but bring your coat.”
Nipping back into the bedroom, Jasmine grabbed the thick, long woollen coat. It had kept the wintery cold out the night before and would do for today as well. She hurried back into the living room, where she found the vampires ready to go.
Eric was now wearing a short, black leather jacket over dark blue jeans and a black polo neck. His hair was tousled like he had just rolled out of bed. How could he make every outfit look sexy? He could easily make money as a male model.
Raoul was dressed as he had been when pretending to be a cab driver. A scarf was wound around his neck and a cap on his head. A thick, black jacket covered his torso and black jeans encased his legs ending in a worn pair of trainers.
Both vamps wer
e ready to play their parts. She could only hope that she was ready, too.
In silence they travelled down in the lift. Neither seemed to be in a talkative mood. Jasmine knew they were probably going over what needed to be done. Getting in the right head space was always important.
Raoul disappeared out of the hotel the moment the lift doors opened. She watched him go, every movement fluid and agile as he crossed the foyer. The way both of these males moved was so beautiful.
“How are we getting there?”
Eric’s eyes dropped to her face. “Raoul is taking the Bentley. I have another vehicle at my disposal.”
Striding quickly, he was soon at the reception desk. After a short conversation with the woman there, he was soon back beside her. He seemed to be lost in thoughts.
Jasmine took a moment to take in the Christmassy feel of the place. She had been too nervous to appreciate it the night before. Pretty coloured decorations and a fancy Christmas tree adorned the area. Everything was elegant and tasteful, just like the hotel itself. It all felt a little surreal. So much had happened in the last few days.
A man appeared with a set of keys. Eric took them without a word and strode towards the doors.
Jasmine followed the vampire out into the street, where she was greeted by the sight of a silver Porsche. Sleek, shiny, and brand new. How the heck did they afford all this?
Eric lowered himself nimbly behind the wheel and snapped on his seat belt.
“You must get paid a lot by the countries that hire you,” Jasmine commented while sliding in beside him. She reached to her side and fastened her own belt.
The vampire smiled. His hands caressed the steering wheel for a moment as he considered her words. Like any man, he seemed to have an appreciation for cars.
“Smith told you I was freelance,” Turning the key, the engine purred into life—a low, deep sound that sent a thrill down her spine.
She sat back and got comfortable in the supple leather seats.
“The clothes you wear, the cars, the five-star hotel. I doubt my department would even be able to afford a room in that place.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the hotel.
Eric belly laughed. “I have lived for a very long time and have amassed my own fortune. I do not need the money this job provides.”
