by Tracy Tappan
“My firm is Bitterman, Zanhunch, and Pickett.” Sedge’s wife set her briefcase by the door. “And do you ever plan on getting laid?”
Gábor laced his hands behind his head and made his thick biceps dance. “I have my charms.”
Kimberly rolled her eyes. “Anyway, Tonĩ called me down last minute to negotiate with the three new women you guys brought in.” She crossed to Sedge and pecked him on the lips. “Glad you’re still in one piece, husband. I saw what was left of your van.’
Sedge tsked that away. “A stroll in the tulips, Berly Baby. So, hey…?” He slipped an arm around Kimberly’s waist and pulled her close, his gaze turning slumberous. “How much time you got before you have to head back up?” The lawyer was dressed in a tweed skirt and blazer, her blonde hair cut in a professional bob, but she might as well have been displaying her yummy parts in a genie costume by the way Sedge was looking at her now.
Dev turned his eyes to the ceiling. This might be a good time to leave. He was bunched up enough in life without watching these two get cozy.
“I have a cocktail meeting with some clients in an hour,” Kimberly answered, her voice turning sultry, “but I could—”
“All right, all right,” Gábor butted in. “Before Sedge takes the early morning train into Beaver Junction, maybe Mrs. Stănescu could tell us how the negotiation went.”
Kimberly stepped back from her husband while Sedge shot Gábor a miffed look. “We presented your three damsels the same contract as the others: commit to work in the community for one year and walk away with a half-million-dollar paycheck.”
It’d been Tonĩ and Alex Parthen’s idea to throw beaucoup money at potential Dragon women to get them into the community. A brilliant plan, actually. He only wished their wealthy community had thought of it a long time ago and saved them all the guilt of their previous method of obtaining Dragons, which had been by, er, kidnapping them.
Besides being an awesome lure, the colossal sum was offered as compensation for the hardships the newbies would face: of residing in a cave, the hope being that over time they’d grow to love the community and not care; of living away from family and friends, since regular movement in and out of Ţărână wouldn’t be allowed for security reasons; and of being put in danger. The community had been up-front with the newbies about the community’s nasty neighbors, leaving out the part about them being a demon race called Om Rău.
The newbies had been hired under the guise of “support staff for a research institute,” when, in fact, whatever occupational skill a newbie brought with her was only a side benefit. Nobody in the community needed help doing tasks they’d been managing just fine for years. What was needed were Dragon women committed to staying in Ţărână long enough for the single males to win them over. After that, the women would be informed that they’d been charmed by a group of vampires, the hope once again being that they’d be too enamored at that point to care.
Dev shifted forward in his seat. “So did any of the three accept?” he asked Kimberly, his gut clenching with the question. If the mega-biscuit had refused, the chances of him seeing her again were slim to none.
“Kendra Mawbry didn’t.” Kimberly shook her head, her lips drawing tight. “Considering what happened to her, she just…wasn’t open to a new adventure. Tonĩ warned her that she’d still be in danger topside, now that she’s been marked for kidnapping by our quote research competitors. Kendra agreed to go live with her mom for a while.”
They all sat in grim silence for a moment.
Thomal spun his danish on the napkin, his eyes shuttered. “And Hadley?” He was trying to pull off casual, but didn’t quite manage it.
“Hadley Wickstrum accepted. There was a glitch with Marissa Bonaventure’s contract, however.”
Dev’s heart nearly fell out of his chest. “Was there?” His attempt at casual probably failed, too; hard to pull off laid-back through a jaw that’d just locked up.
Kimberly tucked some hair behind her ear. “As a part of her deal, Marissa insisted that she be allowed to return topside five months from now for a three-day chef seminar. She was quite adamant about it. I guess some of the best chefs in the world will be teaching there, and she had to practically promise her firstborn to get a spot.”
Shit and hell. That could definitely be a deal-breaker for Roth. The man was a stickler about only allowing the Travelers and the warriors in and out of Ţărână regularly, and as a necessity only. Kimberly, too, but then the community owed her, seeing as they’d royally screwed up her life five years ago by abducting her. “Did the Council agree?”
“Yep.” Kimberly smiled. “Marissa’s here to stay. Luken and his boys are going to build her a brand new restaurant tomorrow, right at the cut-off into the Water Cliffs. She’s thrilled.”
Dev released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, a huge weight lifting off him. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Shooting a look at Thomal, he bobbed his eyebrows. “Marissa.”
Thomal nodded, his blue eyes brightening. “And Hadley.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Gábor held up a hand, his elbow jammed onto the tabletop. “Wait just a damned minute here. What makes you two bottom-feeders think you have dibs on those chicks?”
Thomal gave Gábor a hard look. “They’re the ones we saved, assfuck.”
“That doesn’t mean dick, and you know it.”
“Leave it, Pavenic,” Dev ground out.
“No,” Gábor shot back. “Especially not with Marissa, bro. I got a look at her in the hallway this morning, all cleaned up and wearing a T-shirt that showed off a pair of ta-tas that just about knocked me on my—”
Dev’s chair went crashing to the floor as he’d launched himself to his feet, fury burning in his eyes, his hands jacked into fists at his sides.
Gábor was instantly standing, too, facing off with Dev across the table.
A leonine growl rumbled out of Dev, his eyes scorching holes through the backs of his sockets.
“All right, gentlemen,” Sedge interjected in a calm tone. “Let’s take this down a notch.”
“Do not make a move on Marissa,” Dev snarled at Gábor. “You got that?”
“You’ll excuse my fuck you, Nichita, but you’re not my boss about the girls. You got that?!”
“Shit.” Sedge exhaled. “This is exactly why there’s always been mate-choices for the Dragons. ’Cause look what happens among the unmated males when you make it a free-for-all.”
Thomal picked up his danish and took a bite, shifting his attention back and forth between his two combative friends.
Gábor’s bull skull tattoo writhed as his biceps flexed and released. “All of you can kiss my ass. I’m going for whoever I want to go for.” He narrowed his dark brown eyes on Dev. “And if you’re too pussy to handle the competition, Nichita, that’s your problem, not mine.”
Dev’s vision hazed an enraged color of red. A jealousy unlike anything he’d ever known tore his belly and smashed his chest, sending his fangs punching down from his gums so fast, he nicked his own tongue.
Gábor’s eyes ignited, the brown color turning to molten amber as his retinas lit from behind in the way of a seriously riled-up Pure-bred. “You unsheathing on me, Devid?” he asked with deathlike intensity.
Biting off a curse, Sedge tucked Kimberly behind him.
“Yo, Dev.” Thomal’s intense gaze tracked over him. “What’s up with you, brother?”
“He’s been acting weird all morning,” Gábor clipped out.
Thomal shot Gábor a killing glare. “Do you think maybe you could keep your trap shut for two fucking seconds, Pavenic?” Thomal looked at Dev again.
Dev met his friend’s gaze mutely, the hard pounding of his heart filling his ears, blood roaring up into his head. A strange dizziness overcame him, and he tightened the muscles in his legs, concentrating on balancing his weight on his feet. Christ, he wasn’t just acting weird, he was weird. “I’m not sure.” He worked his jaw in a circle. “In t
he van last night, I got a huge whiff of Marissa’s scent, and now… It feels like she’s already in here.” He stabbed a forefinger at his temple.
The men in the kitchen raised their brows in silent understanding.
Ask any married Vârcolac, and he’d admit to having recognized the scent of his mate instantly. Oh, the drive for sex might’ve led the man astray temporarily, like Luken having had an eye for Beth’s perky little ass until Southern belle Maggie had come along, and then, wham, his interest had zeroed in on her and only her. Or Sedge, who hadn’t even been listed as one of Kimberly’s mate-choices, but he’d broken every rule and, wham, taken her anyway. Women had been strictly prohibited to Jaċken, but being around Tonĩ had just about driven the tightly disciplined man insane, and Dev himself had let a case of horniness convince him that he’d wanted her. But now, wham, he’d met and smelled this woman, Marissa, and every cell in his body was tangled up and screaming for her, making him… Shit, that’s what his problem was this morning; this was the something wrong that he hadn’t been able to put his finger on. His Vârcolac instincts were already homed in on Marissa, claiming her as his, so being apart from her felt about the same as being separated from a limb.
Gábor’s brows and mouth lowered in a frown. “You better not be screwing around with me over something like this, Nichita.”
“I’m not.” Dev leveled a look at the warrior. “You need to back off, Gábor.” If the man made any move on Marissa or, God forbid, touched her, Dev would tear into him with all the finesse of Norman Bates with a Tasmanian devil shoved up his ass. He wouldn’t be able to stop himself. And that would be a damned shame. “I’m asking you to back down.”
Gábor exhaled coarsely. “You could’ve asked nicely.”
Chapter Ten
Marissa tossed her head, sending her new dangly earrings dancing against her throat as she stepped up to the bar tucked into a corner of the mansion’s garden parlor. Setting her empty glass on the counter, she smiled brilliantly at the bartender. “Another Cosmopolitan, please.”
“Yes, miss.” The white-jacketed fellow kept his eyes studiously pinned on his blender, but even with the don’t-gawp-at-her precaution, his cheeks turned splotchy with color.
She tucked back another smile. She looked hot tonight, knew it and felt it, dressed in a clingy, short cocktail dress, plain black in color and simple in design, with only a row of rhinestones edging the scooped neckline and plunging back. Rarely did she show so much of her back due to the ugly birthmark near her spine…and some of her vertebrae appeared sort of lumpy. Luckily, the back of the dress didn’t plummet low enough to expose all of that, but definitely low enough to make a bra impossible. Her boobs were young and firm, though, so the look worked. She also had exceptionally perky nipples, which made the whole braless-thing obvious, and, well…extremely sexy.
She leaned an elbow against the bar while she waited for her drink, scanning the room. Heck, the half a million bucks she’d been offered today was probably chump change to these people. The garden parlor was as elegant as every other room in this mansion she would call home for the next year. Huge fake palm trees soared in every corner, fainting couches and daintily flowered chairs were arranged artfully on plush, velvety emerald carpet, cut crystal vases filled with a rainbow selection of fresh roses sat on every available surface, along with branching silver candelabra. Exquisite crown molding and heavily brocaded curtains framed floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a view of…yep, that was a cave out there. Freaky.
As a part of their negotiation meeting with Tonĩ Parthen, she and Hadley had been given a tour of the facilities, starting with the non-classified areas of the research institute. She’d watched from behind glass as white-lab-coated scientists puttered about in their quest to understand certain genetic anomalies. Fascinating. Apparently, it was also dangerous; the institute had gone toe-to-toe with pharmaceutical companies in the past—their lab topside had even been sabotaged—which explained the need for underground secrecy and security. How she, Hadley, and Kendra played into this was more frightening than Marissa had originally imagined. She’d assumed they’d been kidnapped for white slavery purposes, but the three of them had actually been marked for illegal genetic testing by the institute’s competitors. Thank goodness the institute’s security unit had discovered the plan and come to the rescue.
After their tour of the lab, Marissa and Hadley had been taken around the town itself, and she’d been shocked to find out just how much was down here: a movie theatre, a clothing store, a hospital for treating the support staff, a large apartment building for the single residents, a cheery white picket fence neighborhood for the families with children, a grocery store, schoolhouse and library. There was even a water park, for God’s sake, and more she probably hadn’t seen. The only restaurant in town, however, was a diner, plus pub food at a joint called Garwald’s Pub, and pastries at Ælsi’s Coffee Shop, so her skills were undeniably needed. The community was going to build her a brand new restaurant from the ground up according to all of her own specifications, and wasn’t that a great way to cut her teeth in the business? Make all of her mistakes down here before she had to face the harsh restaurant critics up top in San Diego.
“Here you go, miss.” The bartender set her drink by her elbow.
She thanked him with another blush-inspiring smile, and took a sip, observing everyone over the rim of her class. The cocktail shindig was in full swing, people mingling, chatting, laughing. Most of the partygoers were the higher-ups of the community, as well as the lip-smacking treats of the Warrior Class. Her rescuers were here: Sedge, husband to Kimberly, whom she’d met over legal contracts this morning, and Thomal, balanced on a pair of crutches. The gorgeous blond had been mobbed earlier in the evening by the new hires, and although he’d been courteous to all of his female fans, it’d soon become obvious that his interest was focused on one.
No surprise it was Hadley.
The woman had cleaned up…wow, remarkably well. Shiny, honey-colored hair tumbled down to her shoulders in a multi-layered cut that probably took forever to style, but which accentuated her heart-shaped face and uptilted almond-shaped blue eyes beautifully. She was tall for a woman, her legs to-the-moon long, and her body was proportioned in what The Commodores had probably envisioned when they wrote Brick House: 36-24-36, what a winning hand, yay! Slim-waisted, full in the hips and bust. Definitely, wow. But mostly, Hadley seemed to own some kind of…ethereal quality that did more to draw the eye than even her beauty.
Weird, but Marissa could count on one hand the number of times she hadn’t been the prettiest girl in any given room, and she’d certainly never had to go head-to-head with every female, like now. The eight other new hires were all ridiculously eye-catching, not to mention the women who already lived here. And yet…not an ounce of competitiveness seemed to exist among them. Just the opposite. The ten of them had been like a bunch of sorority sisters up on the third floor, getting ready for tonight’s bash, racing back and forth between each other’s rooms, sharing clothes, helping with makeup and hair. They’d become instant friends, which was…kinda strange.
Marissa had always been well liked; she generally made herself amenable to others because of the terrible relationship she had with her sister. But for herself, she’d never connected to women as quickly and deeply as she had with these, especially Hadley. Tonĩ Parthen, too, owner of the beautiful face Marissa had first seen last night when the van doors had opened. As co-leader of this community, Tonĩ obviously wielded a great deal of power here, yet she’d treated Marissa like an equal, a friend, even pulling her aside at one point and privately admitting to having gone through a similar ball gag experience.
All in all, the year she was going to spend in Ţărână was shaping up to be pretty great. She’d ended up here on the tail end of the most horrific night of her life, but, damn, if she wasn’t going to turn that into something good.
Ah, there was another one of her rescuers across the room: Bul
l Skull Gábor. The cleft in his chin was shaded tonight with a five o’clock shadowing of sexy beard stubble. The women who liked their bad boys oh-so-very bad had flocked to him. He was one of those young and mouthy types who seriously needed a woman to help him grow up, but who’d probably turn out great once he’d hooked up with said woman. Not her, thank you very much.
She wasn’t looking for a project, just a man to have fun with and, to be frank about it, give her a good ride in the sack. She hadn’t been laid in, God… Was it six months now? Her breakup from her last boyfriend, Gary, had no doubt left her feeling gun-shy about men. Finding out that he’d cheated on her with her sister, Natalie, probably had a big something to do with that. Right. Not getting serious, nope, just fun, fun, fun.
Enter Dev Nichita.
She found tall-muscled-and-edible standing near a palm tree and talking to buffed-out aerobics instructor Abby Fiske.
Marissa felt her belly flutter at the memory of what it’d been like to have Dev’s solid body on top of her in the van, his masculine hips spreading her legs wide. There’d been a substantial bulge at the juncture of his thighs, and now that she wasn’t in fear for her life, the thought of that bulge put him at the top of her list of available roll in the hay candidates. She’d bet he was the type of lover who’d finally give her what she was looking for in bed.
Dev’s head angled slightly, his dark hair brushing the collar of his shirt, his gold hoop earring catching a diamond spark of candlelight. His gaze captured hers. His eyes, she saw now, were a remarkable silver, shining with a mischievous glitter designed to make a woman’s heart do the wild thing in her chest.
She turned aside and leaned in to smell the bouquet of pink roses sitting on the bar. She smiled secretly. She could feel him staring at her. Her skin heated and prickled. Now he was crossing to her. She plucked a rose petal and pressed it to her nose. She hadn’t been able to wear her regular perfume tonight; something about the cave air making synthetic scents smell bad or something. A rose would be a nice substitute. She smoothed the petal slowly down her throat.
