Her gaze traveled from one side of the room to the other, taking everything in. No one seemed to be looking except for Chris and hopefully her friend was too busy picking on her fingernail to notice Aislinn’s momentary distress.
“So how late did he make you stay last night?” Chris asked, amusement touching her voice.
Aislinn cleared her throat. Chris didn’t act like anything weird had happened. “What?”
Chris dropped her hand and propped a butt cheek on the corner of Aislinn’s desk. She looked her typical bored self, but Aislinn could see her attention was focused on something. Her gaze darted between the bank of elevators and Aislinn.
If she didn’t know better, Aislinn might be offended. Despite her protests, Chris was seriously interested in one of their boss’s bodyguards. Aislinn hadn’t figured out which one yet. And she didn’t care. No man would ever have that kind of hold over her again.
“You know,” Chris murmured. “Last night. The meeting. How long did he make you stay?”
“Oh. That. Not too late. Seven twenty-eight.”
Chris laughed. “Not too late, but late enough you noticed the exact minute you walked out the door? Were his cronies with him?” she sneered.
Aislinn straightened the paperwork on her desk. Not even eight o’clock in the morning and already Mr. Turner had four messages. Her mouth went dry thinking about Kyle Turner III. Somehow she had to warn him without drawing attention to herself.
Right. And just how did she go about that? Please watch yourself, Mr. Turner. I think someone’s going to kill you in a kitchen.
That was grounds for whacko of the century if she ever heard one. She could see her padded cell now. Either that or his cronies, as Chris referred to them, would call her an accomplice and have her locked away in a different kind of cell. One with bars.
Either way she wouldn’t have to worry ever again about David. Her ex would have no access to her in jail.
Aislinn forced herself to unclench the arms of the chair she still held.
“Man you are in another world today. What’s up, chickie?” Chris crossed her arms over her chest.
“Nothing,” Aislinn mumbled, rearranging her desk again. “I’ve got a lot to do today and you’re sitting on my faxes.”
Chris lifted her butt and Aislinn yanked the papers out from under her.
“Were his cronies with him? Did they walk you to your car at least? Do you think his cronies ever leave his side, or do you think the three of them sleep together too?” Chris wondered out loud.
Aislinn snickered. “Yes, yes, and I have a feeling none of those men have ever been near a bed at the same time. Well, a real bed anyway. Probably when they were in the military they spent a lot of time watching each other’s backs when they slept.” She paused and cocked her head, thinking about something she’d seen a few weeks ago involving a blonde bombshell of a model and the cronies. “On second thought, TJ and Jonathan might be in cahoots.” She winked at Chris. Talking about the two men was bound to raise Chris’s hackles.
“No way.”
Aislinn hid a smile at Chris’ outright denial. “I was kidding,” she consoled and watched Chris’ shoulders droop. A second later her friend’s back went ramrod straight.
“Speak of the devils.”
Aislinn looked through the wall of glass at the three men making their way across the expansive lobby from the elevators. Her pulse sped up and her breath hitched the same way it did every time Kyle Turner III came near. Which was strange considering she never wanted to be with a man again.
“Way too much testosterone right there if you ask me,” Chris grunted.
“For someone who says they can’t stand TJ and Jonathan, you sure talk about them a lot.” Aislinn stood and gathered up the message slips, a memo pad and a pencil. Kyle was a creature of habit and liked to have her attention first thing in the morning.
She shrugged off the feeling that he asked her to join him for coffee for more than catching up on what she’d done in the hour before he arrived.
Chris’ mouth opened and closed and her cheeks turned red. “I do not,” she hissed, keeping her voice low as they drew nearer.
“Uh-huh.” Aislinn agreed.
“Morning ladies,” Kyle said, sauntering up to them like he owned the place.
Oh yeah. He did. Anybody who employed two bodyguards on a ‘round the clock basis certainly owned the business.
“Lunch, Ais? Later? Right. I’ll see you then,” Chris babbled and hurried off, gaze glued to the floor.
Totally unaffected by TJ and Jonathan.
“Are you ready?” Kyle’s deep voice rolled through Aislinn’s body, giving her goose bumps and the insane thought he was talking about more than work.
“Absolutely,” she said with a smile, and fought the temptation to lean into the warm hand he placed at the small of her back as he guided her to his office.
She’s his target…and his mate. Aw, hell!
Carinian’s Seeker
© 2007 TJ Michaels
Available February 20, 2007 from Samhain Publishing
Beautiful genius Carinian Derrickson wants to live long enough to date a man from the future generations of spacemen, complete with ray guns and starships. She’s not crazy, she’s just afraid of dying young of some dreaded disease, like all the rest of her family. Her research into gene therapy has shown her the way to extend her life is by emulating traits only before seen in fiction. Vampire fiction. Only the beings that shouldn’t exist are very real indeed.
Unknown to her, there’s a bad boy vampire in the lab next door with a goal quite the opposite of hers. If he has his way, he’ll bring the Vampire Council of Ethics (V.C.O.E.) to its knees.
Jon Bixler is a Seeker for the Council—an assassin and undercover operative in a world of humans. Bix must get close enough to this rogue to find out exactly how he plans to dismantle the Council. And Carinian is just the ticket. But when he meets her, all his vampire common sense flies out the window as his libido leaps off the charts. What’s he going to do now that the woman is in danger and secretly trying to do the impossible?
Bix and Carin can’t deny the combustion of love and lust between them. They accept their mating. But can they stay alive long enough to enjoy it?
Enjoy the following excerpt for Carinian’s Seeker:
“Dr. Carin?”
Yaaaah! She jumped a mile out of her skin, frazzled and panting. At the first gasp of distress, Carin found herself sheltered behind Bix’s wide back. One of his strong arms pinned her hard against his body until her face was muffled between his shoulder blades. Tense and ready to spring, he stood between her and whoever had walked into her lab unannounced. The man was so still, the play of muscle on his back was the only movement.
Too short to look over his shoulder, Carin tapped his forearm. He relaxed just enough for her to wiggle free of his hold.
She stepped around him and nervously straightened her already straight lab coat. One glimpse of his face had her struggling between the urge to draw back in amazement or let her own hackles rise and make it known that she ran the show around here.
Bix’s lips were drawn tight into hard lines and the hazel-gray of his eyes glinted through narrowed slits. He was a predator ready to pounce, a contradiction of the demanding but tender man who’d been kissing her mere seconds before.
The tech at the door backed up two steps. Her gaze traveled from Carin to the tall, menacing man and her eyebrows rose in comprehension.
“Sorry, Dr. Carin, the door was open, and, uh… Sorry, I should have knocked anyway.”
“No worries, Shell.” She smiled sheepishly at the lab technician. Great, now she was blushing like a schoolgirl who’d just been caught making out with her first boy. What had she been thinking, kissing her project coordinator? Let alone kissing him in a lab with an open door, knowing the quality techs ran in and out all day. The answer—she hadn’t been thinking at all. She’d been feeling. The last time she’d done suc
h a thing was…well, in Colorado when he’d kissed her good night outside her hotel room. Okay, no more kissing in the lab. In fact, she was supposed to be mad at him, so no more kissing period.
“Now wait just a minute. You can’t just cut me off now,” he protested into her mind as his neck snapped sideways to look down into her face. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Who the hell are you cussing at, damn it? And will you frickin’ get out of my head, Bix?”
Lifting his hand, he smoothed a bit of smeared lip gloss off her bottom lip. With a cheeky grin, his tone smooth as ice, he promised, “I’ll check in on you later, Carin.” Turning away, he moved slowly towards the door.
She wanted to cut him off? When they’d just found each other she thought she’d nip him in the bud? Carin had a lot to learn about how much a prime male would take from his mate. May as well start her lessons now.
On his way to the door, he sent her a few private thoughts. A triumphant grin spread across his lips at her swift intake of breath. In his mind he imagined a warm caress beginning at the top of her head, then sent the heat simmering down each individual bone of her spine until he’d weaved a smoldering trail all the way to her little toes. Bix filled her head with thoughts of what he’d have from her in addition to such sweet kisses. And those thoughts were deliberately nasty.
A backward glance revealed a wavering smile plastered on her face as the lab tech handed her a clipboard. The pen moved shakily across it. He wondered if she had any idea what it was. But he heard her clear enough.
“Oh Lord, how do you do that?” she wailed, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
“Same way you can, sweetheart. Like this.” The thoughts he bombarded her with transformed into images. Naked, sweaty, straining images.
She blushed a deep shade of caramel. He was sure the space between her legs was growing moist and her panties getting a bit uncomfortable. All in the space of a few seconds.
“Oh good gracious. Oh, my God. This is so not fair,” she protested hotly.
“I know, sweetheart, but I don’t play fair.” He looked back just long enough to wink, then disappeared out the door and down the hall.
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