by Tina Folsom
His alone?
“Crystal clear.”
Samson released him from his grip. Ricky straightened out and cleared his throat.
“You’re probably not going to like what I have to say, especially considering how infatuated you are with her—”
Samson’s growl interrupted him for a second. He wasn’t in the mood to listen to Ricky’s observation about his relationship to Delilah. Especially since he didn’t know what to make of it himself.
“—but I have to tell you what Carl found.”
Samson looked at him with restrained interest. “Go on.”
“You had Carl pack her stuff last night.”
“Don’t tell me things I already know.”
Ricky was normally not one to beat about the bush. His hesitancy fed Samson’s unease.
“He found some files amongst her things.”
“What files?”
“Scanguards’ files.”
Samson’s jaw dropped. “Scanguards?”
Ricky gave a grave nod. “Financial records, asset statements, internal stuff. I don’t have a good feeling about it. Why would she have confidential files of Scanguards? Don’t you think that’s odd? She shows up here two nights ago, and at the same time she has files of your company in her luggage?”
Samson didn’t like the sound of it either. It couldn’t be a coincidence. There was no reason for anybody to have internal documents of his company. Least of all Delilah. What was she up to?
“What’s your theory?”
“She could be a corporate spy,” Ricky guessed, but his voice didn’t sound very convinced.
“Doing what? Selling our client list to our competitors?”
His friend shrugged his shoulders. “Not much to be gained by that. All our competitors are small fry. Nobody’s got the capacity or training to take on our clients.”
Samson nodded. “Have there been any operational issues lately that I’m not aware of?”
Another shake of Ricky’s head. “Everything’s been running smoothly, at least on the vampire side. No idea how the human operation is going, but I haven’t seen any alerts come up.”
Ricky was in charge of vampire recruitment and training.
“Then it’s personal.”
“It could be.” Ricky avoided his gaze.
“What are you thinking?” Samson wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted to know the second possibility.
“What if she’s been seeking you out?”
“A slayer?”
“No. There’s no sign of that among her things. But I can see all the other signs. She’s been wrapping you around her little finger.”
Samson wanted to interrupt him and refute his statement, but Ricky held up his hand.
“I can see it just by the way you reacted earlier. She’s a human woman. Do you know what human women want from rich men like you?”
Samson stared at his friend. Long and hard. “She wants me for my money …” His voice trailed off. He felt an uncomfortable stab in his solar plexus. Indigestion? Definitely not this time. Memories of betrayal swept through him. Recent memories. He braced himself against the kitchen island.
The doorbell gave him reprieve. He looked up and gave Ricky a questioning look.
“Amaury’s probably forgotten his key again. I’ll open up.”
As Ricky left the kitchen, Samson was alone with his thoughts. Could it be true? Could Delilah be just another woman after his money? Another one who didn’t really care for him? He hoped Ricky’s other suggestion was true, that she was a corporate spy. He could handle that, but he couldn’t handle a Delilah who was after his money. Not her. Please not her.
Were her kisses all a lie? And when she gave herself so willingly to him, was it all an act to reel him in? The thought stung, much more than he wanted to admit to himself. No wonder she was so willing. The way she’d responded to him in the car and then later in the theater was not normal for a woman who barely knew a man.
He recalled the moment when they were on their way to the bar in the theater and had gotten stuck in the doorway. The way Delilah had pressed her body against his and practically provoked him to touch her intimately now looked like a calculated move on her part. She was playing him the entire time. A veritable Mata Hari!
This was not good news, especially since what had looked like indigestion, if vampires could have indigestion, he now recognized as something much more serious. It was so clear to him now.
At the same time, it was impossible. How could it have happened? All he’d wanted to do was get over his erection problem, and he’d followed Dr. Drake’s advice to the letter. He’d done nothing different from what the good doctor had ordered. He’d fucked her, again and again, just like he’d fucked other females before. Vampire females. He’d done nothing different with Delilah, so why was the outcome so different?
Instead of his hunger being sated after a night of sex with her, it had grown. He’d started hungering for her and for her alone. The thought of ever touching another woman suddenly disgusted him. All he wanted was Delilah. And Samson now knew why, even though he didn’t understand anything else.
He was falling for her, falling for a mortal.
TEN
Samson remembered the last betrayal all too vividly, a memory he’d banned from his mind. But now it all came back to him in every torrid detail …
Samson closed the entrance door quietly behind him and listened to any noise from upstairs. He heard the faint sound of Ilona’s voice and the trickling of water. She was taking a bath.
For the hundredth time this evening, he’d opened the little box he held in his hand and stared at the enormous diamond ring tucked into the green-velvet cushion. The stunning setting held a three-carat, brilliant round diamond of the highest clarity. The jeweler had assured him it was the best diamond money could buy.
His heart beating as loud as a drum in his ears, Samson moved up the stairs, careful to avoid those steps he knew creaked. He wanted to surprise her. She thought he’d be out on business for the night.
He silently opened the door to his bedroom. Ilona’s clothes were carelessly strewn on the bed.
“So he thinks. Uh huh.” She was on the phone, probably talking to a girlfriend. “Wait until we’re blood-bonded—things will change.” Ilona paused. Had she already guessed that he wanted to propose to her? He felt disappointed, deflated. He quietly approached the bathroom door which was ajar.
“And if I have to suck his dick one more time, I’m going to puke!”
Samson stopped cold at the words tearing through him. He couldn’t have heard right.
“Sure, that’s easy for you to say. You like sucking cock!”
Samson inhaled sharply. He felt as if an ice-cold hand clamped around his heart and squeezed tightly. He fought for air.
“I don’t care who sucks his dick when we’re blood-bonded, but it sure ain’t me. I can’t stand his hands all over me …”
Samson leaned against the wall when he felt nausea overwhelm him. It lasted but a second.
“You know what you have to do once I have access to all his assets.” His money. It was all she was after. That’s why she was with him: only for his money. Samson felt as if he had been punched in the stomach.
He heard her let out a frustrated huff. “You know as well as I do that once I’m blood-bonded with Samson, I have to be careful about guarding my mind. He’ll be able to read my thoughts. I can’t be caught thinking about this anymore, do you understand? That’s why you have to do it …Yes, that part about blood-bonding sucks. Why would anybody want to be able to constantly be in the other person’s head?”
Samson had heard enough. More than enough. With murderous intent, he flung the door open and walked into the bathroom, his steps slow yet determined. Ilona jerked her head around and instantly dropped the phone into the water.
“Samson,” she purred and pasted a fake smile on her face—a smile he’d seen a thousand times on her. Only now he recog
nized it for what it was. Acting. She’d been acting all along. Pretending to be in love with him, when all she wanted was access to his wealth.
With two steps he was by the bathtub. His hand gripped her neck of its own volition. She clawed at him instantly. Water spilled over the rim of the tub onto the marble floor.
“You heartless tramp. I should kill you, right here, right now.”
By her throat, he lifted her out of the water as she struggled against his iron grip. No matter. He was stronger, and his fury added to his strength.
Samson glanced at her naked body. His own body showed no reaction to her sensual curves anymore. No hard-on. No desire to touch her. Nothing.
He recognized the flash of fear in her eyes before his own hand opened and dropped her unceremoniously back into the tub. The water splashed around them.
“Get out! I would never blood-bond with someone like you. You’re trash, you’re nothing. You’re lucky you’re still alive. But don’t count on it staying that way. If you cross my path again, you might find yourself with a stake through the heart.”
She’d used him. All she wanted was to blood-bond with him so she’d have a right to what was his. All his wealth, all his power. How could he have been so blind?
After he threw her out of his house and out of his life that night, he’d shut down. He didn’t want anybody close to him. He knew it had been a mistake to trust her.
That was when all his problems had started. First his appetite for sex had decreased, and then, when he thought he should indulge in carnal pleasures to distract himself, he was unable to perform. He was unable to get an erection.
Until …
Until Delilah entered his life. And now? Had she betrayed him too? Was she after his wealth too? The thought made him feel ill.
“You don’t look well.” Amaury entered the kitchen behind Ricky.
Leaning against the counter, Samson gave him what even he himself knew was a tortured look. “How do you expect me to feel?”
“She can’t have gotten under your skin like this, not in one night.”
Samson heard disbelief in Amaury’s voice. He ignored his friend’s remark. “We need to get to the bottom of this, fast.”
“I can run a background check on her, see who she really is,” Ricky offered.
Samson nodded. “Do that. Amaury, talk to Carl, and find out what else he’s noticed amongst her stuff that might be odd. He’s been to the place she stayed at, and if it’s true what she claims, that she’s from New York, the condo probably doesn’t belong to her. Find out who it belongs to. Then check with Oliver to find out what she did today. He was with her all day.”
Ricky’s cell rang, and he answered it instantly.
“Where?” He motioned to Samson and Amaury. “Okay, we’ll be there in less than half an hour.” He disconnected the call.
“That was Thomas. They’ve got the guy who attacked you and Delilah.”
Samson straightened out, relieved to have something productive to do.
“You and I’ll go. Amaury, find out about her what you can. Make it quick. Carl will help you. Ricky, we’re taking your car.”
Samson headed for the door.
“Hmh, shouldn’t you get dressed first?” Ricky wondered.
Samson looked down at himself and realized he only wore his jeans, no shoes, no shirt. “Give me a minute.”
He stalked up the stairs and entered his bedroom. Delilah had finished her shower and gotten dressed in a pair of jeans and a plain white t-shirt. It gave her an innocent look. He hesitated when he saw her. Only minutes earlier he had been inside her body and felt no greater joy than being swept away by her kisses, but now he was consumed with doubts. Who was she? What did she want?
“Anything the matter?” Her voice sounded shaky. Did she suspect something? Could she sense his doubts?
“Just a work emergency. I’ll have to take care of something.” Samson reached into his closet to pull out a black t-shirt. He dressed quickly while she watched him.
“I should be back in a couple of hours, so if you get hungry, you know where the kitchen is.”
He was about to storm out the bedroom, when he realized that she probably found his behavior strange. He’d been the hot lover only minutes earlier, unable to get enough of her. If he behaved with such aloofness now, Delilah would become suspicious. It was important to keep her in the belief that everything was okay, that he hadn’t caught on to her game yet.
As he approached her, he thought he detected her flinching, but couldn’t be certain. He kissed her lightly on the cheek. “Amaury and Carl will probably be around, so don’t be surprised if you see them downstairs.”
He watched for a reaction on her face which would give away that she found his abrupt departure unusual and noticed her lips curl slightly upwards. It wasn’t a smile, merely an acknowledgment she’d heard him.
“Sure, see you later.”
As soon as the door closed behind him, Delilah exhaled sharply. He’d seemed normal, maybe a little absentminded, but it sounded like the work emergency he’d mentioned was worrying him. She realized that she truly didn’t know him. She’d spend an entire night making love to him, yet she didn’t even know what he did for a living, what kind of hobbies he had or what food he liked.
Those were all things normal people discussed on a first date. Had she been crazy to spend their first date entirely in his embrace without asking him the most fundamental questions? It had been such a long time since she’d been on a date that she’d completely forgotten how to act on one. Had Samson taken advantage of that fact? Had he seen her as completely naïve and figured he could just get her into bed quickly?
It still didn’t explain the incident in the shower. Oh God, the shower. She’d let him inside her without a condom. What if he wasn’t as healthy as he’d said? What if the strange thing she’d seen in his eyes was some weird disease he had? Could he infect her with something?
Then she remembered the condom that had ripped the night before. He could have already infected her with God-knows-what. She clutched her stomach as nausea hit her. Oh God, no!
Delilah felt a knot in her throat build, cutting off her air supply. Her chest heaved to compensate, and her skin felt clammy all of a sudden.
She felt so stupid that she’d let herself be lulled in by his tenderness and passion. She’d noticed how smooth he’d been in his seductions as if he had more than enough regular practice. For all she knew, he did this every week, and this week she was his intended victim. Was it wrong that she’d trusted him?
***
“I say, we just kill him now. Let’s not waste Samson’s time with him,” Milo barked and looked at Thomas.
His lover graced him with a displeased look. “Don’t be so blood hungry. Samson’s made it clear he wants to interrogate the bastard himself, so don’t spoil his fun.”
They stood in a large and dimly lit warehouse, both dressed in matching black leather gear. The space was packed to the rafters with containers, and the musty smell reminded of worn socks, mold, dust, and sweat. It was eerily quiet except for the faint sound of raindrops falling onto the roof.
“What are you going to do with me?” The voice came from the man they had bound onto a chair.
“Oh, shut up,” they answered in unison.
“Hey, do you wanna go and hit the clubs after this? It’s still early,” Thomas asked.
His lover shook his head. “Sorry, not tonight. I’ve got to take care of a few errands.”
“What’s so important that you can’t go out with me?”
“Work stuff,” Milo answered with a dismissive swipe of his hand. “Some of us here work for people other than Samson, so I can’t just hang out with you all night.”
“That sucks. Do you want me to get you a job with Scanguards? I could do that, you know.”
“No way. I don’t want to have to listen to everybody say the only reason I got the job is because my boyfriend put a word in for me with the
big boss. Forget it. That’s just too humiliating.”
“Hey, you two,” the man interrupted.
Thomas gave him a venomous look. “Can’t you see we’re busy right now?”
“If you let me go, I can let you in on a couple of good heists that are going down.”
“Not interested.” Thomas wasn’t one to bargain, and besides, he didn’t need money.
“Do we look like we want money?” Milo jumped at the bound man and flashed his fangs. Instantly, he pulled his head back trying to get away, but was restrained by the ropes that bound him. “And if you interrupt our conversation one more time, I’ll take a bite out of you,” Milo hissed only inches from his face.
As soon as the man recoiled, his facial muscles tensing, Milo returned to Thomas.
“You know that we’ll have to wipe his memory clean of this later.”
Milo just shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever.”
Thomas put his hand on his lover’s waist and drew him closer. He lowered his voice so only Milo could hear him. “You know we haven’t spent much time together lately. How about a little something now? Samson won’t be here for another ten minutes.” A quickie would be just up his alley.
But Milo peeled himself out of his embrace. “Not right now. It stinks in here.”
“You’re blowing me off?”
“Come on, don’t start this again. I’m just not in the mood.”
Thomas looked at him, suspicion rising in his gut. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re seeing somebody else.”
“That’s bull, and you know it. I wish you’d stop with all that jealous crap.”
“Fine.” Thomas crossed his arms in front of his chest. He caught a glimpse of the thug staring at them. “What are you looking at?”
The man flinched at his violent outburst, but kept his mouth shut and looked down.
Milo had been kind of distant in the last month, and Thomas figured their relationship was coming to an end. While he was outwardly still the shyer of the two, especially around Samson and the gang, Milo had turned into more of a domineering partner, a role Thomas had traditionally always taken.
They still had sex—and plenty of it—but things were just not quite as passionate as they had been at the beginning of their relationship. Thomas wanted to prolong things, but knew instinctively that eventually their relationship would fizzle out. Nagging thoughts came to the surface again. Milo’s secrecy about what he did when they weren’t together irked him. He knew his jealousy was probably misplaced; nevertheless, he couldn’t rein it in.
