“I’d hate to have sent you all the way to New Orleans for nothing. But, this one was kind of an emergency situation,” she heard Catherine reply, her voice low and apologetic, and Liz instantly pictured warm, chocolate brown eyes in her mind, and shook the thought off immediately. Oh, damn!
“Actually, I am enjoying myself. It’s beautiful here.”
Catherine laughed, the sound throaty and comforting. “Yes, you really do deserve a vacation. I’m afraid we’ve been working you much too hard.” Liz knew that they considered her one of the best liaisons that they had, and would send her out on the more difficult cases, but it was beginning to burn her out. You couldn’t deal with what she did on a daily basis and not have it affect you. Seeing the black eyes and bruises just brought those memories of the past rushing forward in a rush.
“I do have to admit, it is kind of nice,” she murmured, even as Marcus’s face flashed before her eyes. Ugh! Why in the hell couldn’t she stop thinking about him?
“Well,” Catherine laughed, “if she doesn’t make contact, why don’t you extend your stay and get a little R&R?” she suggested. “For that matter, even if she does follow through, take some time after you get her out. You deserve it, Lizzy.”
“Yeah…well…maybe.” Liz sighed, wondering if staying in the same general vicinity as Mr. LaGrange would be such a great idea. Liz did not like not being in control of her emotions, and for some strange, unfathomable reason, Marcus LaGrange sent hers into a tizzy. She felt as if she had no control whatsoever.
“No maybe’s about it!” Catherin laughed. “You need a break. So, take it. Let me know if she contacts you, and we’ll go from there. All you’ll need to do is to get her to agree to leave, and get her on the first bus out of there, then take a week or two to yourself. I swear to God, Lizzy, you never have any fun!”
“Well,” Liz finally conceded after a long pause, “Let’s wait and see if she even texts me.”
“Keep me up to date. I have movers at the ready.”
Movers was the term that the network used for the others that helped get these women as far from their abusers as possible. They would supply them with fake IDs, cash, and whatever else was needed as they were passed along from safe house to safe house until they were finally settled, far from danger.
“I will,” Liz replied, still eyeing her meal hungrily.
“Okay, Sweetie. As always, be careful. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Thanks, Catherine.” With that, she ended the call and dug into her meal, fighting the urge to groan aloud as she did. Damn, this was amazing!
Marcus paced the sitting room, his body tense. Brianna watched him from behind her book, her eyes gleaming devilishly. She knew that their houseguest was weighing heavily on his mind, and in a way that had a smile quirking up her mouth at the corners. It seemed that the beautiful Elizabeth Chase had affected her friend more than even she had hoped.
She bit back the giggle that threatened to burst free and cleared her throat. “You are going to wear a hole through my very expensive rug if you keep that up much longer, Bat-boy.”
Marcus paused and glanced at her, his eyes narrowing. He looked at the mantle clock and inwardly groaned. It was only a little after four! Shit! He was wound up tighter than a spring and just needed to get out of the house. He was bouncing off of the walls, and didn’t like this feeling at all. He felt like a caged animal.
“I just want to get out of here and see if I can…” he hesitated. What did he want to do, he silently wondered. Only a moment later, that irritating little voice inside of his head whispered…you want to see if you can find Elizabeth. Damn it all to hell!
“What?” Brianna pressed, raising her eyebrow in challenge.
Marcus glared at her a moment before turning and looking out of the window. “I want to see if I can find any information on our rogue.” He said the words, but they sounded hollow, even to his own ears, and his frown only deepened.
“Oh, I see. And, is that all you want to do?” she asked, glancing at him as her lips turned up into a smug, very satisfied smile.
“You have the inane ability to irritate the hell out of me in an instant,” he replied softly, although the grin that was twitching at the corners of his mouth was a dead giveaway that he really wasn’t angry. “You do know that, don’t you?”
Brianna burst out laughing and set her book down. “Of course I do.” She laughed. “And you love and adore me because of it.”
Marcus turned with a sigh, and met her gaze. “That I do,” he conceded.
“Just breathe,” she whispered, and then snorted loudly, laughing so hard that tears rolled down her face. “Oh! I forgot. You don’t have to breathe, do you?”
“Funny. Real funny.”
Liz was sipping her coffee when her cell binged. She grabbed it from her purse and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the text.
Can u meet me at Café Du Monde at seven? Angie
Liz hurriedly replied that she would be there and smiled, the tension leaving her body in an instant. She knew that there was a good chance that Angeline Baxter would lose her nerve and not show, but she was going to stay positive. If she had learned anything over the years of working with the Network, it was that when it was finally time to take a stand and leave, nothing was certain. Things could change in the blink of an eye.
Liz felt that familiar adrenaline rush she always did when the wheels were in motion. Helping others leave the horror of abuse always left her with a great sense of pride and achievement. Knowing that when you felt that there was nowhere to turn, or no one to help, being able to get them to safety was the most satisfying feeling in the world. It reminded you that you could make a difference.That things were not hopeless.
She glanced at her watch and realized that she had a little over an hour before her rendezvous, so she ordered another coffee and leaned back, trying hard not to let her thoughts drift to where they had been drifting continuously on and off all day…. Marcus LaGrange.
Good God, she really needed to get a grip! So what if the man was thoughtful and sweet. And who cared if he was incredibly gorgeous! He was completely and utterly out of her league. She was a messed up nobody that came from a background of neglect and abuse; someone who was definitely not good enough for someone like Marcus LaGrange. She was better off not even toying with thoughts of his expressive brown eyes, or breath-stealing smile. Ugh!
The waitress bringing over her coffee thankfully, pulled her from her wayward thoughts, and she graced the girl with a grateful smile. She needed to concentrate on the matters at hand. She needed to make sure that she could talk Angie into leaving and finding her freedom, and Marcus LaGrange was a distraction that she just didn’t need at the moment. It was never easy convincing these women that they were worth more than just to be someone’s punching bag, and she needed to make sure that her mind was clear, and that she was at her best. The thoughts that she was having of Marcus LaGrange were just not going to make that possible.
Chapter Six
It was growing dark by the time Liz began to make her way to Café Du Monde to meet Angie. As she walked through the streets, she couldn’t help but feel as if she was being watched, and the hair at the back of her neck stood up. She quickened her pace as she walked, fighting the overpowering urge to look over her shoulder as she did. She tried to tell herself that it was just being in an unfamiliar place that was causing this unease to well up inside her–now, if she could only get her body to believe that.
Finally giving in to her nerves, she chanced a quick glance behind her, and in the next instant slammed into someone on the sidewalk directly in front of her.
“Oh!” she breathed when she looked up into the face of the man that she had stumbled into. He was tall and muscular, with sandy brown hair that was cut short, and intense, almost golden eyes. Gooseflesh broke out on her arms, and a shiver ran up her spine as he stared down at her, seeming to size her up, and her inner alarm sounded. There was just something so
off with this guy, that she took a quick, instinctive step back from him, wanting to put some distance between them. “I’m so sorry,” she gasped. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
He stood there silently a moment, his eyes locking with hers and holding her gaze, and again she felt a shiver creep up her back.
“It is quite all right, my dear,” he replied, his tone very low, yet it chilled her to the bone. And the fact that he licked his lips in a way that made her skin crawl did nothing to relieve the tension. Liz tried to swallow back the feeling of fear that was rippling over her, but when he grasped her upper arm only a moment later, she instinctively flinched, and quickly pulled free and stepped around him, taking off down the street at a trot, an overwhelming urge to break into a full-out run hitting her hard. All her instincts were screaming at her to flee.
When she glanced back at the stranger, she found him standing there watching her, his lips curved up into a disturbing, almost predatory grin. Good God!
Liz couldn’t help but to keep stealing glances behind her as she made her way to the Café–thankful that he didn’t follow. He merely stood there and watched her until she turned the corner.
Liz sat down at an out of the way table outside and breathed a sigh of relief. Geez, just what in the Hell was that? She glanced at her watch and realized that she still had twenty minutes until Angie was supposed to show, and was silently grateful. She needed to calm down after her run in. For some reason the man had caused her survival instincts to kick into overdrive and she didn’t need Angie picking up on her unease.
She ordered a cup of coffee and tried to get her beating heart to calm down. Yes, men in general made her nervous, but that one had every nerve ending in her body setting off alarms. She worried her lower lip as she wondered just what it was about him that had made her so uneasy, but she just couldn’t put her finger on it. There had been something so strange about the way that he had looked at her–and her brows furrowed as she realized that is had been almost the same way that Marcus had looked at her in the kitchen…yet different, somehow. The strangers gaze had seemed to be filled with malice, whereas Marcus’s had seemed almost confused. She shook the thought off and tried to concentrate on the matters at hand. She couldn’t dwell on how either one of them affected her, not now. There were more important things to worry about at the moment. Her mistrust needed to take a back seat.
Liz ordered yet another cup of coffee and huffed tiredly. Crap, it was almost eight and still no Angeline. She drummed her fingers against the table, trying to distract herself from the sinking feeling that was sweeping over her. This was not good. Damn it! She couldn’t lose her, not when she was so close to finding her freedom.
“Do you mind if I join you?”
Liz’s entire body instantly came alive and shivered as Marcus’s silky voice jerked her from her thoughts. She jumped slightly as her eyes snapped up to find him standing there, looking absolutely edible in his faded blue jeans and black, button down shirt. Dear God, she thought she would melt right there on the spot when his lips turned up in a soul-stealing grin that ripped the air from her lungs. His smile went right to his eyes.
“Mr. LaGrange,” she all but squeaked, and inwardly cursed at herself for sounding like a silly, stupid little girl. Good Lord, she was beyond pathetic! “I…I…um, sure,” she stammered, and wished with everything that she had that she could just kick herself right in the head. What in the hell was wrong with her? Why was she such a coward?
Marcus pulled out the chair across from her and sat down: stretching his muscular frame out with a grace and ease that had her throat constricting and her heart thumping against her ribs.
He seemed to study her a moment, that smile still plastered on his oh so full lips, before finally giving her a slight wink. “I thought we agreed on Marcus?”
“Yes, of course, Marcus.” Liz murmured as she fidgeted, twisting her hands in her lap, and tried desperately to calm herself–but damn… this man did something to her that she was far from comfortable with. She had never been so affected by anyone ever before in her whole, entire, miserable life.
“Are you enjoying the city?” he asked, and Liz couldn’t help the smile that stole across her face.
“Oh, my God–yes! I love it,” she beamed, her eyes dancing happily. “I just adore everything about it!”
Marcus laughed–her excitement was absolutely infectious. She was completely enchanting when she smiled, he thought with a slight tingling. Christ, who was he kidding, she was beyond breathtaking. He leaned forward, his eyes capturing hers. “It does have a tendency to get into your blood,” he replied, but a moment later, his body stiffened as a feeling of dread washed over him like a tidal wave. He smelled vampire. What the hell?
He took a deep breath and realized that the scent was coming from Liz. It was faint, but damn it, it was there. Shit! Just when in the Hell had she come into contact with a vampire?
He knew that New Orleans was teaming with Supernatural beings, but the thought that she had been close to one unnerved him, especially with two rogues running around the streets.
“Are you here with someone,” he asked, his tone much more clipped than he had hoped, but his entire being was taught with anger that a vampire had been near her.
Liz glanced at her watch and sighed. “No. I was supposed to meet someone, but I guess she isn’t going to show.”
Marcus studied her a moment, his eyes scanning over her features as he tried to calm himself. “Business?” he asked finally, inwardly relieved that his tone had lightened up somewhat. The last thing he needed to do was to scare the crap out of her–but, Jesus, his entire body was on full alert.
Liz nodded and took a sip of her coffee, thinking that it was going to be impossible to sleep tonight after the nearly eight cups that she had consumed today, but who was going to sleep anyway? It always worried and bothered her to the point of distraction when one of her charges didn’t show. She worried that they had been found out by their abuser, and if that was the case, who knew what could have happened.
“Liz?” Marcus questioned softly, pulling her from her thoughts.
“Oh! Sorry,” she replied, and tried her best to give him a smile. “Yes, it was business, but I guess she got tied up.” Oh God she thought with a small cringe, let’s hope not.
“Have you eaten?” he asked, and she felt her heart skip a beat by his gentle concern.
“Earlier, but I’m not very hungry.”
Marcus nodded slightly, his gaze still on her, and she felt her body ripple and vibrate with awareness. There was something about this man that seemed to knock down all the walls that she had built around herself.
“So, do you like Jazz?”
Liz gave him an embarrassed smile and shrugged. Her experience with music was slim to none at best. “I’ve never really listened to it,” she admitted, her cheeks taking on the pink hue that he thought was so adorable.
“Well, then,” he murmured with a chuckle, and stood. “How about I introduce it to you. I know a wonderful little club. It’s more of a blues jazz club, but the music is amazing.”
Liz glanced down at her watch once again, and sighed. Eight-thirty–damn, there was no way Angeline was going to show. She glanced back up at Marcus and debated on whether or not she should take him up on his offer. She wanted nothing more than to spend some time with the man, but her well-trained mind was telling her that this was dangerous. For reasons she was afraid to admit, even to herself, she liked him, and against her better judgment, she wanted to go with him. She wanted to spend just a little time getting to know him. She wanted to feel normal, and not the closed off person that she had become.
She chewed on her lower lip as she debated on whether or not she should just let herself go this one time, and accompany him. This might be a very bad idea, but when she looked back up into those amazing brown eyes of his, she had her answer. For some unknown reason, she trusted him. All she saw in his expression was honesty. Throwing ca
ution to the wind, she finally nodded, and stood, wondering if she was making the biggest mistake of her life.
The club was a tiny little place located in an out of the way back alley, lined with shrubs and trees and a beautiful wrought iron gate. There were no flashy neon signs announcing the clubs name, just a small brass plaque near the entrance. Marcus ushered her inside and over to an intimate table in the corner, his hand at the small of her back. She couldn’t help but notice the heat where his fingers rested. It was as if her entire body was hypersensitive to his presence.
Marcus pulled out a chair for her and Liz had a moment of surprise at the gesture. She had never had anyone treat her as this man was. He was thoughtful, and gentlemanly. Geez, Louise–he was the stuff of dreams. Warm, considerate…good God!
He sat down beside her, close enough so that his knee just grazed her thigh, and again she felt her body tremble.
Liz glanced around, taking in the atmosphere. It was dark and cozy, the type of place that lovers came to sit close and listen to the wonderful bluesy music coming from the quartet of musicians seated on the small stage.
“What can I get you to drink?” Marcus asked, leaning in to speak in her ear. His warm breath caressed her neck as he spoke, and she found herself fighting to find her voice so that she could answer him. She only hoped that she could come up with a somewhat coherent response.
“Um…a glass of wine would be nice,” she murmured, trying desperately to remain cool, and thinking that maybe she had made a mistake. This man put all of her emotions into turmoil. Everything that she had spent so much time training herself to believe just seemed to disappear around him, and she wasn’t sure if that was necessarily a good thing.
Marcus motioned to the waitress and ordered two glasses of Riesling. Again, she noticed the smooth, silky tone of his voice. It was like a smooth whiskey that warmed your belly.
Marcus' Mortal Embrace (Book 3) (The Supernatural Desire Series) Page 5
