Deadly Is the Kiss

by Rhyannon Byrd

  * * *

  AT FIRST GLANCE, JULIANA thought her luck was too good to be true. Here she’d spent the past day searching for Ashe, and he suddenly appeared out of nowhere, her vision filled with six feet plus of hard, intense-looking male. His big, beautiful body stood out so easily from those around him, as if he were simply standing there on his own, instead of on a sidewalk surrounded by bustling people. One of the city’s historic gas lamps flickered behind him, leaving his expression in shadow. But she could see the glowing silver of his eyes. Eyes that burned with a hot, angry glow.

  Unable to hold his stare even from a distance, feeling as if he could see right into her, she quickly swept her gaze over the rest of him. He was dressed in a black sweater, leather jacket and jeans, his body long and lean and heavily muscled, his hair a rich sable-brown that looked as dark as a mink’s pelt in the deepening twilight. He had it cut even shorter than the last time she’d seen him, back in the spring, which would have been too much for most men, but when you had a face like Ashe’s, it didn’t matter. In fact, the severe cut only accentuated the fact that his tall body and rugged face were…well, obscenely perfect.

  His skin was a little darker than before, the lines of strain around his eyes a bit deeper. He’d either been working his ass off or partying a little too hard. Though she knew the second idea was possible, given his popularity with women, she had a feeling it’d been the first, his vibe a little too edgy for someone who had been kicking back and living wild. He looked hard and mean and tough, and her insides did a little rumba at the reality of having all that raw male aggression and intensity focused directly on her.

  It was said among the clans that the complex nature of the Deschanel was a delicate balance between the light and dark aspects of the world, and Ashe Granger was a prime example. He was a thing of outrageous beauty, and yet…he was also a thing of sinister danger. The complex duality of his nature was a helpless allure to most women, and Juliana knew damn well that he never lacked for female companionship when he wanted it. She’d also been told, by his close friend Morgan Scott, that none of the women who shared his bed ever meant anything to him, which wasn’t surprising. Men like Ashe Granger weren’t the type to settle down and fall in love. They enjoyed their variety—and she’d seen Ashe in action enough times at her family’s compound to know he liked his sexual assortment of partners more than most. Which meant she would never be foolish enough to get tangled up with him, even if he didn’t treat her like a criminal.

  It was no secret that he didn’t like her. But that didn’t matter. All that mattered was finding a way to make the badass hunter believe her story, because she needed his help.

  Once, she’d risked everything and lost, because she’d risked it on the wrong man. She had no guarantees that Ashe could be trusted, but she had to give him a shot. He was the one she’d been directed to find, and she was in too deep to pull back now. If he refused, she knew that Morgan and the other shape-shifters that Ashe worked with would do their best to help her. Or even Gideon, who would likely have the same important contacts that Ashe would, since he was a Förmyndare, as well. But her gut told her that it should be Ashe.

  Juliana didn’t foresee them having an easy time of it, but at least his natural animosity toward her would keep things on a professional level. One without any of the sexual advances she assumed would come from Gideon, whose flirtatious personality was so at odds with his brother’s rough demeanor there were times when they seemed polar opposites.

  Then again, she mused, noticing the way several women who’d walked past him were looking back over their shoulders, Ashe never seemed to have any trouble attracting and flirting with females of all species and ages. It was just her he treated like a leper.

  And that’s a good thing, she reminded herself, eyeing him as he waited impatiently on the opposite side of the road, the heavy traffic keeping him from immediately crossing. I just need his help to save my family. Nothing more.

  It might have seemed like a long shot, considering the last time she’d seen him he’d said something along the lines of I won’t be coming back; have a nice life. Even when spoken in the warm, husky blend of his Eastern European and British accent, the words had been painfully harsh. But while an ass, she also knew that Ashe Granger was a man who had committed his life to fighting against injustice and taking down criminals. He might not want to help her, but she had a feeling he’d be willing to do it for the rest of her family, so long as she could convince him that she was telling the truth.

  She didn’t want to have the coming conversation on the restaurant’s patio, but she also didn’t want him to think she was running. Since she’d already paid her bill for the first truly delicious meal she’d had in years, she hefted her backpack over her shoulder and moved to the entrance of a narrow, shadowed lane that ran along the side of the restaurant, and waited for him there.

  Chewing on the corner of her lip, Juliana wondered how he’d found her. She’d come to London searching for him, just like the letter in the pack she’d found outside the secret exit from the Wasteland had told her to do. She’d spent the day making inquiries at hotels, only targeting those in a higher price range, knowing the vampire enjoyed his luxuries. The guy was loaded, which meant he didn’t have to slum it unless necessary. After she’d finished her meal, she’d planned to continue her search, moving from Chelsea and into Kensington. But somehow, he’d found her…and he didn’t look happy about it.

  With that furious look burning in his silver eyes, she found herself thinking back to one of their last conversations, when he’d been staying with his friends at her family’s compound in the Wasteland. Everyone was gathering in the dining hall for the evening meal, and she’d been about to enter the room, when Ashe had grabbed hold of her arm, pulling her farther along the stone-lined hallway.

  She flinched at the hot feel of his skin and jerked out of his hold, fighting the urge to raise her hand and strike him across the face. The only thing that stopped her was the fact that her family and their friends weren’t far away, and she didn’t want to cause a scene.

  “You’re burning up,” she muttered, rubbing the spot on her arm where his hot fingers had gripped her. “Who was it this time?”

  He stared down at her through hooded eyes. “Who was what?” he asked in a deceptively lazy drawl.

  “No adult, unmated male vampire runs as hot as you are without having gotten off!” Outrage shook her voice, the brittle words scraping her throat. “Did you think to come into my home and just sleep your way through my relatives?”

  His tone was dismissive. “They’re not all your relatives,” he pointed out, crossing his muscular arms over his broad chest.

  “The women who work here are under my protection! They don’t deserve to get mauled by some oversexed Lothario!”

  A husky laugh rumbled in his chest. “I don’t force myself on women, Jules.”

  Her lip curled with derision. “Making them false promises is just as bad.”

  His eyes narrowed. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “You flash that perfect smile at them, rattling their brains, and they start thinking they have a chance with you. Not for sex, but for something more.”

  “I don’t lead women on,” he growled, finally getting irritated.

  A bitter smile twisted her mouth. “Your kind always does. I doubt you even realize you’re doing it. But I won’t be left with a compound full of scorned, heartsick women when you’re gone. I have enough to deal with!”

  “You know what your problem is, Jules?” He stepped closer, pointing his finger right at her nose. “You need to get laid.”

  “Well, when I do, you can sure as hell bet it will be with someone more honorable than you!”

  Fury darkened his eyes. “I was going to talk to you about the compound’s defenses,” he said in a low, carefully controlled voice, “but I won’t waste your time.”

  Without another word, he turned and walked away, leaving
her standing there in the hallway alone, her throat trembling with a ridiculous burn of tears.

  When Juliana had looked for him after she’d sat through dinner with her family, barely managing any of her food, he was nowhere to be found. She’d fought the urge to go knocking on doors, sniffing the hallways, searching for his scent. In truth, she didn’t trust what she would do if she found him in another woman’s bed. And she’d been furious at the way he’d kept interrogating everyone at the compound, determined to learn the reason for their banishment.

  No one had told him, but his persistence had made her nervous. There were aspects of her past that she never wanted this man to learn. She had enough blood on her hands without adding his, as well. Not to mention the embarrassment she would feel if he knew just how foolish and naive she’d once been.

  Now that she’d come to him for help, she would have to tread carefully with the truth to protect her secrets. She would do everything she could to protect him, but she couldn’t afford to let her emotions get in the way of what was important. There were too many people counting on her, their lives in her hands.

  As soon as the traffic broke, he started making his way toward her, his stride long and angry. And then he was standing right in front of her, so close she could see the shadow of beard stubble darkening his hard jaw. His incredible scent wrapped around her like a warm breeze, so good she wanted to drool. God, he was even more gorgeous than the last time she’d seen him, and he smelled like sin. Hot and musky and deliciously male. Her physical reaction to him was a little overwhelming, her body heating and tingling with a strange rush of warmth as he swept his silvery gaze over her. She fought the urge to cover her chest with her arms, the tight turtleneck sweater more revealing than anything he would have ever seen her wear in the Wasteland, where clothing tended to be bulky and dated. She was surprised he’d even recognized her in the jeans, sweater and battered leather boots.

  Without uttering a single word, he reached down and snagged her wrist with one of his big, callused hands, dragging her deeper into the shadows of the narrow lane. Darkened shop fronts lined both sides of the cobblestone path, a few flickering neon signs that had been left glowing in their windows sending strange splashes of color across the thickening evening shadows. They quickly reached another narrow pedestrian cross street, and he turned right, dragging her deeper into the mazelike network of historic buildings, the sounds of traffic and chattering voices growing fainter. Juliana would have objected, if it weren’t for the fact that she knew the conversation they were about to have would be best done away from listening ears. After all, she was now an escaped convict who would be on the run for her life as soon as her absence was discovered in the Wasteland. Since he was sure to say as much, the more privacy they had the better.

  Moving so quickly she barely had time to gasp, he turned and snagged the pack from her shoulder, tossing it to the ground. Within the blink of an eye, he had her trapped against a brick section of wall, both hands locking around her wrists, pressing them flat on either side of her head, the submissive position sending a surge of panic through her veins. To make it worse, he pressed the long, tense length of his much larger body into hers, his muscles rippling and vibrating with power, and she could feel the heavy weight of an impressive erection pressing against her stomach as she tilted her head back to hold his stare. But he wasn’t looking in her eyes. He was staring at her mouth with a kind of primal, savage intensity that made her heart pound so fiercely she thought it might burst from her chest.

  When he finally spoke, his voice was low and guttural. “What the hell are you doing in London?”

  Juliana swallowed, then licked her lips, ignoring his question so that she could ask one of her own. “How did you find me?”

  It seemed difficult for him, but he managed to rip his gaze away from her mouth, locking it with hers. “You first.”

  “I’m here because of you. I…I came here to find you.”

  His dark brows drew together as he glared down at her, so close she could see the brighter flecks of silver within the darkening gray. “Why in God’s name would you do that?”

  She flinched under the raw force of his gaze, struggling to control the tremor in her voice. “Because I need your help.”

  His laugh was ugly and mean, as was the snide grin that lifted the corner of his mouth. “I’m a Förmyndare soldier and you’re an escaped convict, lady. What makes you think I won’t just haul your little ass back to the Wasteland, where it belongs?”

  CHAPTER TWO

  JULIANA LIFTED HER CHIN, refusing to let the angry vampire see how much his words terrified her. “I thought you were working as part of S.T.U.D. now.”

  “We call it Specs,” he muttered, the scowl on his face making it clear that he didn’t care for the nickname she’d used. He and his friends had recently formed a new cross-species hunting unit known as the Specialized Teams for a Unified Defense, or S.T.U.D. for short. She’d heard that Kellan Scott, an irrepressible Lycan with a warped sense of humor, was determined to spread the nickname, but Ashe obviously had different ideas.

  “I might spend the majority of my time with Specs, but I’m still bound by my oath to the Förmyndares,” he went on, forcing the words through his clenched teeth. “So you’d better start talking. Fast.”

  Though she knew it was ridiculous to push him, considering her situation, she couldn’t control the burst of frustration that had her shouting, “You can be such an ass, Granger! I’m sick of you treating me like a criminal!”

  His grip on her wrists tightened, nostrils flaring as he drew in a sharp breath. “Have you given me any reason to think otherwise?”

  “I’ve given you many! Did I or did I not help you and your friends in the Wasteland?”

  His voice was so tight it snapped. “You did. But you’ve always refused to explain why you were there. That hardly inspires confidence or the desire to believe what you say, Juliana.”

  “Maybe I refuse to explain because it’s none of your bloody business! Did you ever think of that?”

  She could feel his own frustration being shaped into something ugly and raw, his voice little more than a growl as he said, “I have a right to know, damn it.”

  She blinked with shock, an angry retort dying on her lips. Breathlessly, she said, “What? Why? What could possibly give you such a right? Have you lost your mind?”

  “Getting there,” he muttered under his breath, his face suddenly closer. He stared so deep into her eyes, she could feel his warmth surging inside her, roiling like a molten sea of fire, sweeping through the cold hollows of her soul. “You have so many secrets,” he said softly. “What are you so bloody afraid of? Why do I scent fear on you every time I get near you?”

  “I’m not afraid of you,” she argued, but the trembling of her voice said otherwise.

  “You are,” he countered, watching her with dark, hooded eyes. “And I want to know why. I want to know every goddamn secret you’re keeping from me.”

  She recoiled, that sumptuous burn of heat dissipating as quickly as it came, leaving her even colder than before. She could never let him know the humiliating truth of her mistakes, or the full price that she’d paid for them. It was so much easier to accept his anger and frustration than to face his pity.

  Closing her eyes, Juliana forced the argument back on topic. “I came here because I need your help, Ashe. My family’s compound was attacked last week. There were serious casualties. I lost five cousins and one of my uncles.” She lifted her lashes, imploring him to believe her. “And before you say it, no, it wasn’t rogue vampires encroaching on our land. This was a professional hit, and more are coming. I need to put a stop to it.”

  His eyes darkened with disbelief. “How did you get out?”

  “Within a few days of the attack, I received a package.”

  “From who?”

  She shook her head. “That’s just it. I don’t know. It was left outside the gates of our compound, addressed to me. Inside I
found detailed directions to a secret passage that isn’t bound by the banishment spells that control the Wasteland’s borders. That’s how I was able to escape.”