by Ravyn Wilde
“In here!” After a quick glance to make sure nothing was out of place, he pulled Nicky into the nearest bedroom. The first thing he tried was the window. It was sealed shut with several layers of paint. A brief scan outside showed bare ground in a side yard clearly visible from the street.
Which left the closet. Hearing the men enter the house, he was out of options.
Carefully sliding the louvered closet door, he stepped in and tugged Nicole in after him. Placing his back to the wall, with her back pressed tight against his chest, he settled his hands on her hips and tried to shift Nicky’s body to the side in case he needed his hands free to fight. The movement made too much noise so he stilled.
Taking a deep breath, he inhaled the spicy fragrance coming from her skin. Thank God her perfume was too subtle for the humans to notice. Below the tantalizing scent he caught the pungent odor of fear. The pace of her breathing escalated. “Take slow breaths. In through your nose and out through your mouth.” Hearing the rustle of a sack, he smelled the faint odor of hamburgers and fries. Instead of going somewhere to exercise like he’d thought, they’d picked up fast food.
Evidently they’d eaten in the car—because they moved directly toward the bedroom.
Nicole shifted nervously and Zane wrapped his arms around her to hold her in place. The soft brush of her body against his made him hiss. His cock expanded, pushing into the small of her back. He had to forcefully clamp down on his reaction to her, reminding himself this wasn’t a game of hide and seek. He was afraid the two men were more dangerous than Nicky realized.
“So, you believed her?” It was the voice he recognized from the tape as John Jackson. And they were standing right in front of the closet. Through the slats he could see the top of the man’s graying head. Zane was five-foot-nine. He’d put Jackson at about five-foot-six.
Feeling Nicole’s body tremble, he reached out with his mind to help her deal with her fear. This close to her, it was easy to brush through her slight mental shields and sense that she wasn’t afraid of the men. She was claustrophobic. All she could think about was not having enough air to breathe, not being able to see. Shit.
“I don’t know. It was kind of hard to take my eyes off those tits, if you know what I mean. Jesus, maybe we went about this the wrong way. Give me some time with her and I’ll get the information we need.” This voice was a little bit younger and very hopeful. Mike. Zane wanted to jump out and snap his neck. He strained to see the man through the louvered door, but Mike was standing too far away.
Nicky stirred and Zane tightened both his hold around her waist and the one in her mind. Don’t move. Don’t think about where you are. Close your eyes and concentrate on me. Since she wasn’t telepathic and they hadn’t established a blood bond, so she wouldn’t hear the specific words, just the emotions and the comfort behind them. Shivering in response, she relaxed against him.
“Damn, why don’t we just grab the bastard and his little ho? We can get our guy to herd them our way. I’ll play with Ms. High-and-Mighty Martin while you figure out if Zane Patrick is a vamp,” Mike demanded.
Zane suddenly straightened. Nicky turned silently in his arms and wrapped her own around his neck. She buried her face in his chest. He fought to control his reaction to having her soft breasts rubbing across his chest, concentrated instead on the feral urge to wrap his hands around Mike’s neck and squeeze the life out of the man.
Sighing, he realized that as satisfying as the action might be, he couldn’t do it. Nicky was mortal. If the men were armed, one stray bullet could end her life. It was enough to remind him not to move. So instead of ending this immediately, he stayed in the closet.
Besides, if he killed the men now he’d never discover who’d betrayed him. Solidifying his resolve to not move a muscle or make a sound no matter what the men said next, he tensed. Zane listened as one of the men paced the floor.
“She’s our only hope for extensive access inside the compound. Our contact can’t go in the vampire’s house and search through his things, nor can he ask the man questions. Christ, if we believe her, he even got the relationship between the two of them wrong. Instead of being his girlfriend, she’s his next-door neighbor! For now we’ll have to take her word that she bought the house and isn’t involved with him. But we need to watch her. I think our Ms. Martin is either foolish or playing a very dangerous game.” John Jackson’s voice moved closer to the closet. “Foolish is okay. In fact, I like stupid women. Makes them easier to control.”
Both Zane and Nicole held their breath. Jackson was a scant few inches away from them. Close enough that Zane could see that the man might be short, but he was solid muscle.
“Jesus! You can see the bitch is panting after the guy. She’s not trying to hide it. She gets all doe-eyed and stupid when she talks about him. Maybe the creep will turn her into one. If he does, I get to chain her up in the lab and play twenty questions. Just give me an hour with her and we’ll know everything,” Mike growled.
Zane grit his teeth in anger. Good old Mike didn’t realize he’d just enrolled in the dead-man-walking club. If the man put one hand on Nicole, he’d kill him. He was liable to kill him anyway, just for thinking about it. Absently he rubbed one had over her back to still her shuddering reaction to the man’s words.
Jackson snorted. “Yeah. And I’ll watch while she bites off your dick, you dumb piece of shit. I told you after you killed the last vamp you couldn’t play your sadistic games this time. A pile of ashes won’t prove to the world that vampires exist.”
“Aren’t you the one always preaching that the only good vampire is a dead vampire? What’s the matter, Mr. Jackson, going soft?”
“I didn’t say you couldn’t kill him after I get the evidence I need. I’m warning you, Mike. I need Zane Patrick alive.”
“How alive?”
“Live enough to talk. We won’t have him ready in time for the next Senate meeting, but I need this wrapped up soon. I want my funding and I want the bastards on that worthless committee scared to death.”
Zane straightened his spine. The Senate? Did he mean the U.S. Senate? Fuck! And what the hell kind of committee was Jackson talking about?
“Maybe our writer needs a push to speed things up a bit. Why don’t you let me take care of that while you’re in Washington over the next few days?” Mike offered.
“Jesus, Maloney. You’re not paying attention to anything I’ve said! Leave Ms. Martin alone until we see if she brings us the information we need. If nothing else, we’ll use her for bait. Later. Right now I’m worried about Patrick. None of the other vampires could tolerate the sun, our tests on various body parts proved that. So if he’s not a vampire, what is he?”
Mike snorted. “It’s enough to know he’s not human. We have plenty of evidence to prove he hasn’t aged in decades. Plastic surgery just isn’t that good. I say we just grab him and take him to the lab.”
“Not yet. We still need something more conclusive. I’m going to go take care of my little Internet flock. I assume if Ms. Martin and Mr. Patrick have gone out God-knows-where for dinner, we have a few hours before they resurface. I want to hear what happens when they get back to her place,” John Jackson said in disgust.
“Yeah, it’s a bitch the homing device we put on her didn’t work. I’m gonna take a shower and catch a quick nap in case we’re up late. We’ll get back to our stake out in a few hours.”
Nicole sagged in his arms as the men moved away. Zane lightly rubbed her arm to try to relieve the tension in her body. A tracking device explained why they hadn’t tried to follow her on foot this afternoon. The men had thought they could find her anytime they wanted. And it sounded like perhaps someone had bugged Nicole’s house while they’d kept her otherwise engaged at the coffee shop.
He needed to get Nicole out of the closet. Her claustrophobia was getting worse. Opening the louvered door in slow inches, he heard the shower running. Mike must be in there. It might give them enough time to get out of the ho
use. For the moment, the shower would cover any sounds they’d make.
As they started forward, Nicky hissed, her hand going to the back of her neck. “Something pulled my hair,” she whispered. Shaking her head when he raised a hand to help her, she motioned for him to go.
Rolling the closet door back just enough to allow them to slide through, he shut the closet behind them as Nicky started tiptoeing across the bedroom floor. Hearing her heartbeat accelerate, he turned as Mike mumbled something in the shower. Frozen in front of the bedroom door, they held their breath, relaxing when it appeared the man was just talking to himself.
Turning the knob, Zane peered into the open living room and kitchen of the small house. It was empty. The older agent was in his bedroom with the door closed.
It was a little after six in the evening. The sun was setting and the house was getting dark. Zane was ready to pull his hair out in aggravation—older homes were not known for quiet floorboards. He didn’t hear a TV or music coming from the other bedroom, so unless the man was wearing earplugs, they were going to have to be very, very quiet. When he pointed out the light under the door, Nicky nodded at him in understanding. Using his hands, he motioned for her to step exactly where he stepped, to keep her eyes on him and not worry about the door.
Shuffle-stepping their way across the floor in a weird parody of the conga, they took twenty-five steps before reaching the front door—where Zane realized they had another problem. The house had a deadbolt, which meant when they made it outside, he’d have to reset the lock.
Stepping onto the small porch, he turned around and flicked his wrist. The dead bolt slipped into place with a soft snick. A quick glance at Nicole’s wide eyes told him she’d definitely noticed. Without saying a word, they made it to the car they’d stashed several blocks over.
Driving away from the area, Zane silently swore. Damn! She’d have questions. Questions he’d have to answer. And time was running out. Zane needed to set a trap for the traitor and figure out what to do about John Jackson’s fanatical need to expose the Others.
Hell. This was what Vlad wanted—Zane acting as Sentinel. Protecting all Other creatures in the area by keeping the supernatural world safe from human discovery. If John Jackson tried to expose the Others, Zane would be forced to drop his disdain for vampire politics and stop him by any means necessary.
Yet for purely selfish reasons, he wanted Nicole to remain naïve about what he’d do to ensure the Others’ safety.
Breaking the silence, he warned her, “When we get to your house, we need to check everything for listening devices.”
“Yeah, I got that. I wanted to say thank you for helping me with my claustrophobia. I almost panicked back there.”
“It’s was definitely my pleasure,” Zane growled.
When Nicky didn’t say anything else, he glanced at her in concern. She was staring straight out the window. Maybe she was just tired. It had been a long day for her.
Nicky sighed. Closing her eyes, she felt Zane’s gaze on her. She was all out of small talk. It had been hard enough to concentrate on Mike and John’s conversation while they’d been in the closet. With their bodies pressed together in the tight space, she’d had to fight both her claustrophobia and the intense desire coursing through her veins.
Now they were in the close confines of the car and it was impossible to think about anything but Zane. Every time she took a breath she inhaled his scent, the spicy musk and sandalwood fragrance that made her heart race.
Her mind flashed on the research she’d done earlier this morning for a scene in one of her books. She couldn’t help but remember the websites she’d visited that listed the possibilities and positions for having sex in a car. One of them even had drawings that showed exactly how to arrange your arms and legs to take advantage of things like the steering wheel. Or the dashboard. Or the space between the front seats.
She’d like to try some of those positions with Zane.
Glancing out the window, she realized they’d turned onto the street heading up into the mountains, leading to his estate. Large pine trees lined both sides of the road. There were no streetlights. The houses were few and far between. She shifted in her seat, wondering what it would be like to pull into those trees and experiment with what she’d learned.
She wouldn’t have to undress. Wearing this little skirt, all she’d have to do before crawling into his lap is slide her panties down her legs. Wrinkling her nose, she decided she’d have to take her shoes off too.
And Zane wouldn’t have to get naked either. They’d simply need to move his seat back. Then she’d help him unzip his jeans and release his erection to the night. She’d crawl in his lap and face the steering wheel. Use it to lift herself up and then down over—
Nicky started when she felt the car turn. “What’s wrong? Why are we turning here?”
Zane had turned the car into exactly the kind of dirt trail she’d been thinking about. “Nothings wrong. I can’t wait the fifteen minutes it would take to get home.”
Frowning, she looked over at him and watched as he turned off the car and silently fiddled with the button to move the seat back. It didn’t go far. With his long legs, it had already been close to its limit. When he pushed the steering wheel forward, it cleared a little more room.
Nicky gasped. Had he read her mind?
Zane reached for her wrist. “I want you, Nicole. Now. Get rid of your panties and come here.” He didn’t allow her to pull away. But then, she didn’t want to. A quick glance out the window confirmed the car was well secluded in the trees. The early March light had faded quickly and only the faint glow of light from the dash and a slice of moonlight made it possible for her to see, and mostly in shadow. With one hand she undid her seat belt, reached down and pulled off her tennis shoes, then wiggled out of her underwear.
Zane slowly ran his thumb across the frantic beat of the pulse at her wrist. Nicky’s wild blue eyes lost focus, her chest heaving in expectation of fulfilling her fantasy. He was breathing hard in anticipation as well. And every breath took her scent into his lungs. His preternatural sense of smell detected the heady spices of orange flower, rose, musk and sandalwood. They went straight to his cock and made him shift uncomfortably in his seat. Zane supposed this was cheating, using her fantasies in this way.
He didn’t care.
Releasing her, he unbuckled his seat belt and then unzipped his pants. Nicky’s hands were there, pushing his away. “Let me do it,” she murmured. Shifting to her knees on her seat, she brushed her fingers under his shorts and touched him. He was already hard. Raising his hips a few inches, he made it easier for her to release his cock. It sprang out of his pants, straining upward.
Running her fingers over the top, she slid one through the wetness already coating the tip.
Leaning toward her, he plucked her from the seat to set her on his lap with her back to his chest. Arranged her the way she’d fantasized, with her skirt fanned out around them. Feet on the floor, she put her hands on the steering wheel in front of her and pulled herself up far enough so that he could maneuver his cock into her already wet heat. He brushed her long braid to the side as she slowly settled over him. The feeling of her enveloping his length was intense. As she ground her soft ass against him, Zane grit his teeth and hissed.
He put his hands on her hips to hold her in place. “Don’t move!” he growled in her ear. Raising his hand, he traced a trail with his fingertips from her neck to her chest. Struggling with impatience to touch her skin, he reached under her cashmere sweater, running his knuckles over her breasts. Her nipples pebbled underneath the bra in response to his light touch. Bending his head, he nibbled the soft skin below her ear.
Nicole groaned. She arched her back, stretching into his hand. Silently offering her body for more. Fingers curled in a tight grip around the steering wheel, she struggled not to move her hips. Concentrating on how his shaft filled her, on the sensations of his mouth teasing and his fingers delicately plucking
her nipples, she moaned. If it felt this good through her bra, she couldn’t wait for him to touch her flesh. Her body was going up in flames under Zane’s tender mercies.
Head spinning, she whimpered. Used the steering wheel to pull her body up a few inches, she settled back down. She cursed the close confines of the car. Zane seized the opportunity to explore the line of her jaw with his lips, stringing biting kisses up to one ear. Pausing to nibble her lobe, he flicked it with his tongue, making her squirm. Then shifting his attention, he tantalized the pulse at her throat. God! This was so frustrating. She wanted to move. To drive him hard and deep and instead she could barely lift herself without hitting her head on the roof.
Splitting her focus from his wicked mouth, she felt Zane’s hand travel down her ribs to tease the small strip of flesh at the bottom of her sweater. When he drew back to allow them both to catch their breath, she turned her head to look at him and noticed in the moonlight that his eyes shone with a hot intensity. Good. She’d hate to be the only one affected. Zane bent his head, fusing his mouth to hers for a burning kiss. Nicky pulled back, panting.
Her attention went to his hands as they shifted over her sweater. Slowly, so very slowly, he released each pearl button to expose her flesh.
Zane’s hand skimmed across the velvet softness of her stomach to find the front latch of her bra. He released it, and then helped her shed both the bra and sweater. Impatiently discarding her clothing, he cupped the heavy weight of her naked breast in his hand.
Growling, he exalted in her answering shudder. He felt his cock leap. His fangs descended in painful readiness.
“Zane?” Her voice was a shaky equivalent to the quaking he felt in her body.
He moved his hands over her breasts, plucking at the turgid nipples as she rotated her hips. She used the steering wheel again, pulling her body up, her tight heat gliding over him. Then she settled back down. Nicky worked to keep a rhythm that they both enjoyed.
It was frustrating. Maddening. The car seat and the steering wheel limited the speed and depth of their movements until Zane wanted to scream. Nicky was panting from her exertions. Unable to find the motion that would grant them release.
