by Nova Archer
Nothing.
The space behind her was empty, except for the swirling discarded newspapers on the ground. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath to calm her erratic breathing and her pounding heart. Her hands shook as she flicked the button off on the flashlight. Oh my God, I’m like a scared little girl! Pull it together Eve!
Shaking her head at her own silly fears, Eve swiveled back around to continue her way out of the alley. Maybe she was being stupid by moving? She had been relatively safe standing with her back to the door, hadn’t she? And Caine did tell her to stay put. For once, she decided to do what she was told.
Her back flattened against the wall, she turned back toward the way she came. She ended up face-to-face with glowing white eyes and snarling fangs.
“Hello gorgeous.”
The flashlight was knocked out of her hand, and Eve was twisted around in a power lock around her neck. She was pulled up tight against a tall very powerful male body. Tears of pain sprung to her eyes, as he tightened his grip around her throat and shoulders.
“What’s a tasty bitch like you doing here?” he growled into her ear, and then laved his tongue over her lobe.
Eve struggled against him, twisting her body and clawing at his forearm. Even as she raked her nails across his skin, she knew it wasn’t going to do any good. The man was a vampire, with inhuman strength and resistance to pain. She could tell by the way he ground his pelvis into her back that he was likely enjoying what she was doing to his flesh. Pain was this sicko’s aphrodisiac.
“Keep it up babe, you’re getting me as hard as a rock.” He laughed, the sound mocking as it echoed off the walls.
“I would let her go if I were you.”
Eve nearly sobbed with relief when Caine suddenly appeared in front of them. His eyes were glowing like blue moons. Eve realized that they did that when he was experiencing intense emotion. Right now, he looked pissed. He, in fact, looked like he could rip the guy’s head off with one yank. If she had been the other vampire, she’d be peeing her pants right about now at Caine’s intense gaze.
The guy must have sensed that Caine was no idle threat, because he did loosen his grip around her neck.
“Why should I listen to you, cop?”
“I’m not a cop, Xavier. I’m a criminalist. I’m trying to solve a horrific crime and I thought you could help me with that.”
“I didn’t kill anyone.”
“I didn’t say you did.” Caine stepped to the right a little. “That woman you’re holding isn’t a cop either. She’s also a criminalist, and my partner.”
Eve stilled a little as Caine talked. He not only was calming Xavier down but she as well. His voice was almost hypnotic. He professed not to have power in his voice, but she didn’t agree. Everything about him screamed power, confidence, and strength.
Xavier shivered a little. Eve could tell his resolve was softening.
“She smells human.”
Caine nodded. “She is. Just like Lillian was.”
Xavier stiffened. Eve thought for sure he was going to do something. She could feel the fury rising in him like mercury in a thermometer. Squeezing her eyes shut, she rammed her elbow into his stomach and shoved forward. She refused to go down without fighting.
Before she could blink, the assailant was on the ground, blood seeping from his nose, and she was trembling in Caine’s arms on the other side of the alley.
Bewildered, Eve glanced over her shoulder at the fallen vampire. “I didn’t do that, did I?”
Mahina appeared and rolled the vampire onto his stomach, handcuffing his hands behind his back. She had the other suspect also handcuffed and sitting on the ground.
Caine smoothed a hand down her back and shook his head. “No, but you helped. That was a great elbow.”
Turning her head around, her resolve broke and the tears fell freely down her cheek. She took in a ragged breath and tried to muffle a sob.
Caine continued to stroke her back as he clutched her tighter to his body. “You’re all right now, Eve. You’re safe.”
Unable to hold in her emotions any longer, Eve wrapped her arms around Caine, pressed her head against his chest, and cried. All the fear and adrenaline flowed out of her body through her gushing tears. She could hardly breathe from the intensity of her purge.
All the while, Caine held her close, stroking her back, his chin nuzzled on top of her head. She fit perfectly against him, like the last link in a chain, or the interlocking piece to complete a puzzle.
She was very aware of the heat from his body. The smell of his expensive cologne tickled her nose pleasantly. And underneath that, she could detect the clean scent of his skin, soap with a hint of musk. His odor and warmth signified safety to Eve. She knew in his arms that nothing could touch her, nothing could harm her.
Even when the last of her tears fell, Eve didn’t want to move. She liked being held. Enjoyed the feel of the soft cotton of his dress shirt against her cheek. It had been too long since she felt secure in another’s embrace. Too long without the comfort of human contact. Although the man she sought that solace from was anything but human.
That thought forced her to move. Raising her head, she looked up at his face. His eyes no longer glowed, but there was a low burn around the iris reminding her of a lunar eclipse. His face was stern and his breath came in short pants, but she could see that it was not because he was angry.
“Are you all right?” he asked, his voice low and thick with what she hoped was desire.
She nodded, having difficulty forming any coherent words. She watched his mouth move as he spoke, suddenly and desperately wanting to press her lips to his. To feel the full softness against hers, to taste from him.
She knew he could sense her desire. She could all but smell it herself, even without extraordinary abilities.
Caine raised his hand and gently stroked his fingers across her cheek. She nestled against his touch, wanting more but afraid to voice her need. Capturing a stray strand of her hair, he rubbed it between his fingers then tucked it behind her ear, like she had done on so many occasions.
“I’ve wanted to do that since I first met you.”
She opened her mouth to protest, or to say something stupid, she wasn’t sure which, but didn’t have time to decide anyway before Caine leaned down and captured her lips with his.
His lips were soft like she thought, though anything but gentle. He ravaged her mouth, taking, tasting, and seeming to savor her with every sweep of his tongue. She couldn’t catch her breath, as he demanded more from her, dipping his tongue in her mouth and nipping at her lips with his canines.
The flutters in her stomach turned into a tempest. Her knees weakened and she could barely stand as surges of pleasure rushed through her gathering in a hot pool of desire at her center.
Finally, he broke the kiss, releasing her bottom lip from between his teeth, and leaned his forehead against hers. His breath came hard and fast mingling with hers.
“That was no simple kiss,” she exhaled.
“No, it wasn’t.”
They stood like that, forehead to forehead, their hearts in synch, until a deep voice sounded from the mouth of the alley.
“Paramedics. Someone need help down there?”
After a deep sigh, Caine lifted his head and dropped his arms, releasing her. “We’re okay, Mel. Thanks.”
“Are you sure? I heard there was a tussle.”
“We’re good. The guy in the back of Captain Garner’s car got the worst of it.”
“I must’ve missed him.” There was a pause and then, “Okay, Caine. Have a good night.”
Once the paramedic was gone, Caine looked down at her again and opened his mouth to speak. She could already see the regret on his face.
She put her hand up. “Don’t you dare apologize. I’ll hate myself if you do.”
“I wasn’t going to apologize, Eve. I was going to say that I’m afraid that this was reckless and inappropriate, on my part.”
&
nbsp; Eve took a distancing step back and rubbed a hand over her face. “You know that was a hell of a lot worse than an apology.” Shaking her head, she smoothed a hand over her shirt then lifted her chin. “I’m going to go recover my kit from inside. I’ll meet you at the vehicle.”
She didn’t wait for his response. At the moment, with anger now whirling around with her balled up desire, she was in no mood to hear anything he had to say. He had taken a perfect beautiful kiss and sullied it with his uptight explanation for his actions.
She knew he desired her. There had been no mistaking the hardness of his lust poking into her stomach. Would it kill the undead bastard just to say so?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
He watched them from his perch on top of the roof of the neighboring building. They had no idea that he was there. He could move virtually undetected, but he could see and hear them as plain as day.
When the human woman came out of the alley and around the front of the bar, he tracked her with his eyes. She was attractive in a purely human way, he supposed. Full breasts and hips, long shapely legs, round expressive eyes in a comely face. Not his usual taste in sexual partner. He liked them skinny, fragile, breakable, but cowed the right way she might be an enticement. She had more guts and strength then he first gave her credit for.
Although sex was not his main reason for wanting her, he found his cock growing heavy with desire, with hunger. No, she would be perfect for other, more culinary, reasons. He could almost taste her blood on the tip of his tongue.
When she disappeared into The Red Express, he turned his attention to Caine Valorian as he came out of the alley and walked toward the SUV parked on the street. The werewolf Captain’s sedan was long gone, and his initial quarry had already come and gone.
The vampire was proving to be more of a problem than he had expected. He had underestimated Caine’s abilities, both as an investigator and as a predator. The vampire hid himself well under all that polish and self-righteous indignation. If pushed, he suspected Caine would reveal his true colors. Those of a bloodthirsty killer.
Smiling, he wondered how far he could push the vampire. Maybe if he used the right bait, he could turn Caine into an ally instead of an enemy.
Killing him would be far more satisfying that way.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Caine popped a breath mint into his mouth while he watched from behind the two-way mirror as Detective Mahina interrogated Xavier. The other one, Gnash, lawyered up immediately, so they had gotten nothing from him.
So far, the only thing Xavier owned up to was playing a gig across city lines after curfew. A misdemeanor offense, but at least it was enough to hold him for a few hours while the lab processed his DNA to see if it matched that from the victim. They also checked the prints they pulled from the band poster in her room.
From the way Xavier had reacted when Caine said the victim’s name, he figured the suspect knew her. It was just a matter of how well. They weren’t able to get any clean prints from the hotel room, so his DNA, if a match, was the only thing they had to link him to the victim’s death. He might have known her, but Caine wasn’t sure if he had killed her.
Caine glanced to his right, risking a look at Eve as she too watched the interrogation. She hadn’t said two words to him since they arrived back at the lab. He couldn’t blame her. He had acted like a complete idiot in the alley.
When he’d seen her in the suspect’s grip, tears staining her cheeks, he’d nearly lost his self-control. Rage, pure and intense, surged through him like a brush fire. He had wanted to tear the boy’s throat out. And when he finally was able to rescue her and had her safe in his arms, he found he didn’t want to let go. She had felt so right in his arms, pressed against his body.
He hadn’t been able to resist the urge to kiss her, to taste her on his lips.
And when he finally did, it was like an explosion of emotions rushing through him all at once. One feeling was indistinguishable from another. He was one big raging ball of lust. He had wanted to take her, right there. Pick her up and ram her back into the cement wall, so he could ravage her, plunging himself into her until they both screamed.
Even now the urge to touch her itched at his palms. What was it about her that made him respond this way? So primal and unthinking. He’d spent the last few decades conditioning himself against these urges, but here they were, threatening to escape no matter how hard he tried to rein them in.
Clenching his hands into tight fists, he returned his attention to the interrogation room, where it was safe.
“We found this in Lillian Crawford’s room.” Mahina slid the promo poster wrapped in an evidence bag across the table toward Xavier. He barely glanced at it.
“So?”
“It has your prints on it.”
He smirked. “Yeah, I handed them out before the concert. Doesn’t prove shit. I must’ve handed over two hundred of them.”
Mahina leaned across the table. “I have confirmation that Lillian was at your concert and she did talk to you.”
Xavier glanced down, and Caine could see his right leg bobbing up and down as if on a spring.
“I talked to lots of chicks.” He smirked. “Why do you think I’m in a band?”
“Well, I don’t care about the other chicks. I care about just one.” She slid the photo of Lillian across the table again. She tapped the photo. “This one.” Keeping her finger on the photo, she asked, “Do you want to amend your statement that you don’t know her?”
“I might have talked to her. So what?”
“So what is she’s dead.”
Xavier looked at the photo and started to chew his bottom lip. “I didn’t kill her.”
“But you knew her, right?”
“Yeah, maybe.”
Mahina slammed her hand on the table. Xavier jumped. Caine even flinched.
“Yeah or maybe? Which is it?”
“Yeah, I knew her, okay. I talked to her for a while at the concert and that’s it.”
“Did you have sex with her?”
“No,” he answered.
“Are you sure you didn’t bite her?”
“I’m sure.”
“So your DNA isn’t going to match the DNA we pulled from the victim’s neck, right? You’re not lying to me, are you, Xavier?”
He shook his head.
Mahina leaned back in her chair. “Are you vamploverX?”
Lifting his head, he stared at her. “What?”
“VamploverX, isn’t that your screen name?”
“No.”
“He’s lying,” Eve blurted out.
Caine glanced at her. She hadn’t taken her eyes off the suspect. “Maybe. But we need to prove it.” He turned back to the room.
Mahina smiled. “Ah, come on, you’re going to tell me you don’t go by vamploverX? I mean look at you, you’re a good-looking guy, in a band, and your name starts with X.” She pushed to her feet and started to pace around him.
Caine knew she was just getting her groove on. He’d seen Mahina do her moves so many times before, it was as if he could predict her actions before she thought of them.
“Let me tell you what I think, Xavier. I think you met Lillian at the concert. I think you liked her, or at least knew you could manipulate her since she was just a silly little human girl and she thought you were so dark and sexy.” She paused for effect, and then continued. “I think she gave it up to you that night and you knew an easy mark, so you started emailing her, knowing she was hooked on your darkly mysterious ways. You told her to meet you somewhere close to the edge of town, you picked her up, smuggled her into the city, took her to a hotel, screwed her, and then sucked the life from her.”
“No!” Xavier shot forward, his hands grasping the tabletop. “That’s not how it happened.”
Mahina rounded him and sat on the edge of table near him. “Then tell me how it did happen.”
“I want a lawyer.”
Sighing, Mahina slid off the table. “Okay. I�
�ll just pop out, get you that lawyer, and check with the lab to see if your DNA match is in yet.” She walked to the door, and then glanced over her shoulder at him. “Don’t go any where.” She knocked once, and the door opened.
Caine continued to watch Xavier as Mahina left the room and made her way around to little room where Caine and Eve were watching.
The door opened, and Mahina slid in. “What do you think?”
“I don’t know. He’s lying about something.”
“I agree, but I don’t think he killed her.”
Caine nodded. He didn’t think so either. The vampire was certainly capable of it, as they all were, but he seemed affected by the scenario Mahina had spelled out for him. Guilt maybe? Remorse? But over what? That she was dead or that he’d been caught?
“He may not have killed her, but he’s involved somehow.” Eve turned and glanced at Caine.
He agreed. Nodding, he was about to say something, when the beeper in his pocket vibrated. He took it out and glanced at the message. “The lab. The results must be in.”
“Well, let’s go get them.” Mahina motioned toward the room. “He’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”
Minutes later, Caine, Eve, and Mahina gathered in Gwen’s lab eagerly waiting for the results.
Gwen handed the paper to Caine. He didn’t need to read it to know what it said. They had the wrong person. “No match to the DNA or the hair.”
Mahina shook her head. “Damn, I was hoping we had him.”
“Yeah, I think we all did.” Caine sighed. “It would be nice to have this case wrapped up all neat and tidy, but my gut tells me we aren’t going to get that lucky.”
“He may not have had sex with her that night or bitten her, but he was involved.” Eve pushed away from the table she was leaning against. “Maybe he was the lure.”
