Dark Promises 5: Tarnished

by Elisa Adams

  She licked her lips. All in all, he was one hell of a package and she wouldn’t mind getting her hands on him. But it wasn’t only sex she had in mind.

  “We have a problem.” Rex’s voice dragged her from her wayward thoughts.

  She propped her hip against the bar and crossed her arms over her chest. “And what would that be?”

  “My guest.”

  She sighed. She’d figured as much. As appealing as he was, he couldn’t be trusted. If Rex had come to her first, this whole mess could have been avoided.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “He wants his money. Tonight.”

  “And you don’t have it.”

  He leaned over the bar, his eyes flashing fire. “Of course I don’t have it. He wasn’t supposed to be here until tomorrow.”

  “Would that have made a difference?” She shot another glance to where Rex’s guest sat. “Would you really have had the money for him if he’d shown up tomorrow instead of today?”

  Rex’s downcast eyes and slumped shoulders said it all. She sighed. “Rex, I don’t even know him but I could tell you he’s not the kind of guy you mess with. Are you trying to get yourself killed? What did you even need him to do for you, anyway?”

  He didn’t meet her gaze. “I had him get rid of some vampires who were causing trouble around here. I needed it done before someone got hurt.”

  Her temper flared, but she held it in check. Exploding in rage wouldn’t help anyone’s cause. Especially her own. “Why did you bring in outside help? You have people on your staff trained to do that sort of thing. Quite a few.”

  “There were five of them, huge and out-of-control. Bent on taking what belongs to me. There’s no way I’d send a human woman to take care of them. Wil is their kind, and he knows what he’s doing. I figured he was more suitable for the job.”

  “He has a reputation in certain circles. I’ll give him that. He doesn’t take kindly to being screwed over.”

  “I know that. This is where you come in. I need you to do something for me. Take care of him for me before I lose my business. Or my life.”

  She glanced in the guest’s direction again. He was looking right at her in a way that made her knees want to buckle. She let out a breath filled with pent-up frustration. It had been a few weeks since she’d any fun. Why not now? She sent Wil a slow, heated smile before she turned her attention back to Rex. “Okay. I’m in.”

  * * * * *

  True to his word, Rex came back to the table in less than ten minutes. He slid into the booth across from Wil. “She’ll go home with you tonight. That’s all she’s agreed to. Keeping her there until I get the money together is up to you.”

  Wil couldn’t help the smile that spread over his face. Part one of his task was complete. The rest would be so simple he could have entrusted it to a child. “Thanks, Rex. Don’t make me regret giving you a second chance.”

  “I won’t. Believe me, I won’t.” Rex returned Wil’s smile with a bright one of his own. “You take her back to where you’re staying. I have your cell phone number. I’ll contact you as soon as I get the money. It won’t be a problem now.”

  Now what was that all about? Rex’s anxiety seemed to be cut in half. Did he really think this was going to work out in his favor? If he did, the man had another think coming. With a last warning glare to Rex, Wil stood, threw a twenty down on the table to cover his bill and a nice tip for Celia, and headed across the room. He stopped at the bar and slid onto one of the barstools.

  She turned to him, her blue eyes sparking both heat and amusement. “Something I can get for you?”

  “Rex sent me over.”

  “So I’ve been told.” Her gaze mocked him, but drew him at the same time. His gut clenched tight, his cock jerked at the thought of what she could do with that smart mouth.

  She’d be open to a little casual sex. He saw it in her eyes. Of course, she had no idea who he was. If she was any other woman, he’d jump at the chance to take her to bed. But this particular woman…she was off limits.

  In his next breath, he was negating that. Yeah, right. She wanted him. He wanted her. What the hell was the problem again?

  Her eyes were bright, enticing and mysterious. Seducing. They captivated him in a way no other’s had in centuries. He had to know her, to feel her, to be inside her. Ellie had known he wasn’t noble when she hired him. Known she was taking her chances. Then again, she didn’t know the woman her sister had grown into.

  Becca’s smile turned enigmatic. She stepped around the bar and walked his way, stopping inches in front of him. “You’ve been in here before.”

  He glanced down at her, noted the pants had not made a second appearance. In their place she wore a black leather miniskirt and a pair of thigh-high black leather boots with high heels and laces up the front. His brow broke out in a cold sweat. “Yes.”

  “What brings you in here tonight?”

  “You.” It wasn’t a lie, though he didn’t spell out for her the real reason for his visit.

  “I don’t go home with strangers.” She said the words, but her smile didn’t fade and she made no move to walk away.

  So she wanted to play hard to get. It irritated him, but there was nothing he could do past lifting her over his shoulder and carrying her out of the bar. Given that such an act would likely get him arrested, he bit back the sudden and decidedly archaic urge. He held out his hand. “I’m Wil.”

  “Becca.”

  Her hand slipped into his, her fingers warm. She held on a beat too long—just enough time to make his senses go haywire. It took all his control to keep his voice even.

  “Now we’re not strangers anymore.”

  Her deep, husky laugh sent a tremor through him and hardened his cock even more. Another minute of this torture and he’d need a new zipper on his pants. “Wanna dance with me, Wil?”

  “I don’t dance.”

  “You do tonight.”

  Shit. He was supposed to be taking care of her, bringing her home to her family, but there were so many more appealing things he’d rather be doing. Like her. All night long. “Honey, the only dancing I plan to be doing involves getting naked with you.”

  She said nothing to his comment, but luckily she didn’t slap him. Rex must have done a better job convincing her than he’d first thought.

  She glanced around the room before bringing her gaze back to him. “I’ve seen you watching me this week.”

  “You fascinate me.”

  “More like I make you horny.”

  “That too.” He put his thumb under her chin, turned her face up to meet his gaze. It startled him to find nothing but heat in her eyes. He usually scared most women away just by looking at them a certain way—something he had yet to learn how to control and probably never would. But she didn’t seem scared. She looked more ready and willing than she had minutes earlier. “Rex told me I have you for the night.”

  Now her gaze darkened, her lips turning up into a sneer. “Not because I’m being paid. I won’t take money. Not for that. I want to get that straight right now. I only agreed because I’ve been watching you too.”

  “Have you now?” He flashed her a grin, his fascination with her, as well as his cock, growing by the second.

  “Um-hmm.” She returned the grin with a sexy smile of her own, one that had him sucking in a breath. God, he wanted her with a lust that bordered on pain.

  And Ellie would kill him if she ever found out.

  He groaned. That damned conscience again. He’d promised Ellie he’d look after her sister, not get her into his bed.

  “What’s the matter, sexy? You look like you might be changing your mind.” She sidled up close to him, pressing her curvy body right against his. Every nerve in his body reacted to her closeness. What had happened to the scared, frail young girl Ellie had told him about? At the moment, it didn’t matter. All he knew was that she was gone. The woman who stood in her place was brash, confident, and sexier than any other woman in t
he bar. And if she didn’t move away she risked him ripping her clothes and taking her against a nearby wall, in the full view of everyone in sight.

  Her fingers slid down his stomach, stopping when she cupped his throbbing cock in her hand. Even through the layers of his clothes, her palm heated his skin. He mentally counted off all the reasons to push her away, but he was afraid that wouldn’t be an option. The more she touched him, the more his resistance slipped. Soon there’d be none left. Not that there’d been a lot to begin with. She was coming on to him in a strong, blatant way that no woman had done in a long time. He was a man. He reacted to that sort of thing. What was he supposed to do, say no?

  Yes. That was exactly what he was supposed to do, though doing the right thing was becoming increasingly more difficult by the second. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away. Gallantry only went so far, and he was about ten seconds from saying to hell with it.

  “What’s the matter? Shy all of a sudden?” Her husky laugh taunted and aroused him at the same time. She leaned in closer, her breath feathering against the side of his face. “Rex said you wanted me for the night. Has that changed?”

  “Hell no.”

  “Then what’s the problem, Wil?”

  The job he’d promised Ellie he would do had started to fade from his mind. If he let her continue to rub up against him and touch him, he’d be in deep trouble. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “In a little while. I told you I want to dance first.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the center of the room—a makeshift dance floor where a handful of people stood bumping and grinding to the music. It was a heated, sexual rhythm that pulsed through his body, urging him to pull her close.

  She beat him to it. Her arms went around his neck, her body sliding against him. Then her fingers were at the back of his head, pulling his lips down to hers. The touch of their lips sent a flash of heat from the top of his head all the way to his toes. Tingles ran down his arms, down his core, and his fangs burned against his gums. He fought the kiss for a second, maybe two, before he gave in. He ran his tongue along the seam of her lips, dipping inside when she parted them for him.

  She tasted sweet. Perfect. And if he didn’t stop touching her soon he’d lose his mind. He clung to the last shred of rational thought even though he felt it already slipping out of his grasp. He broke the kiss, but didn’t move his face more than a few inches from hers.

  She pulled back, laughing. “Afraid of me, Wil?”

  “No way.” He was a little afraid of Ellie, however. She and Becca might have been sisters, but Ellie was the one with the claws.

  Though he was starting to wonder if the little sister and the big sister had more in common than he’d been told. Whatever the case, Ellie would have some serious explaining to do. In the meantime, he had to get her away from the bar and get some space between them, so he could concentrate. Once he had her tucked safely away, locked in his hotel room, he could find someone else to assuage the burning need between his legs—and the need that burned even hotter in the fangs he could barely keep from extending. The denials kept flooding his mind, though it was a lost cause. They’d end up in bed tonight, now matter how much he tried to fight it. So what was the point in denying his attraction to her? He didn’t see much of one anymore.

  He pulled her closer and pressed his face into her hair, more to keep her from seeing how she affected him than anything else. She obviously had no problem with public displays, but he doubted she’d take kindly to him sinking his fangs into her in the middle of the dance floor. Though, come to think of it, that held a lot more appeal than it should.

  Several long, hellish minutes later she stepped out of his arms. He was thankful for the dark, so he could keep his fangs hidden from her a little longer.

  “I think you’re right, Wil. We should leave now.”

  About damned time. He grabbed her hand and led her out to the parking lot. He unlocked the doors of his SUV and turned to see her smiling at him, her arms crossed over her chest.

  “I’ll take my car,” she told him. “You follow me.”

  “Where to?”

  “My place.”

  Good. Once they got there, he could convince her to pack her things and leave town with him. She was in deeper than Ellie had even imagined, over her head, and he’d do whatever it took to get her on the right path again.

  He ignored the voice in his head screaming that, once at her place, he’d have her naked underneath him in the first five minutes.

  * * * * *

  Becca unlocked the door, took his hand and led him inside. He was helpless to do anything but follow. After a few centuries, sex had become a little lackluster. It wasn’t often anymore a woman could stir him to life as quickly as she had, and he didn’t think he could ignore that. Especially with her so blatantly teasing him. Once they got out of their vehicles at her house, she hadn’t kept her hands off him. She’d stroked his arm, his chest, leaned up a few times and kissed his jaw while he tried to keep his feet from falling out from under him. And now they stood just inside the door of her house, his sanity hanging by a tenuous thread.

  To stall for time, and to keep from attacking her, he walked into the main area of the house. It wasn’t huge, but it was spacious. The living room, kitchen and dining area were one big room with high, vaulted ceilings, exposed beams and white walls. Hallways stretched on either side of the room and lanai doors opened to a fenced-in backyard. The furniture looked to be a mix of antique and modern, giving the house an eclectic feel that seemed to suit her perfectly. A house this size didn’t come cheaply, especially for a single person Becca’s age.

  She had money. Apparently plenty of it. Another thing Ellie either hadn’t known or had forgotten to mention.

  “It’s got four bedrooms, three bathrooms,” she told him. “Two bedrooms and a bath down each hall, plus a bathroom off the back of the kitchen. In case you were wondering. You seem very interested in my house all of a sudden.”

  “Do you live here alone?”

  “No significant other, no children if that’s what you mean. I had a roommate, but he moved out not too long ago.” Her eyes darkened as she spoke and she wrung her hands in front of her.

  He frowned. “A boyfriend?”

  “No. Just a friend. He’s going through some…stuff and he needed some alone time. I’m still adjusting to having this place all to myself.” She walked to a bookshelf that ran along one side of the room, running her fingers over the tops of the few books sitting there. “It’s no big deal.”

  He noted her tone, her hesitation to talk about it. “I didn’t realize working for Rex paid so much.”

  She laughed, came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I have another job. One that pays much better.”

  He stiffened and pulled away, earning another laugh from her.

  “Not what you’re thinking, Wil. Get your mind out of the gutter.”

  “Then what do you do?” He spun around and faced her, shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants. His tone sounded too forced to be conversational, and she must have picked up on it. Her knowing gaze skimmed down the length of his body with a slowness that left him in agony. On the way back up, she paused for a long time on his obvious erection.

  She licked her lips. “It’s very lucrative. That’s all you need to know. This is just one night. Remember? No strings, no emotional connection. I’m not pestering you with questions I don’t need answers to, or sharing information we really don’t need to know about each other. The only thing I’m interested in right now is how fast you can get that hard cock inside of me, and how many times you can make me come. What you do for a living really doesn’t matter to me. Why should what I do be a sticking point for you?”

  He nearly laughed. She wouldn’t approve of what he did for a living. It was lucrative as well, very much so, but it involved some things that would no doubt scare her away. If she was anything like Ellie and her friends had described, insi
de she was still just a frightened young woman reeling from the betrayal of her first lover. One trip into his world would send her back to her family for sure.

  But she looked anything but scared. Anything but innocent. Three years ago she might have been practically a virgin, but she was far from that now. She moved, kissed, touched like a woman with enough experience to know her way around a man’s body. Enough experience to know what she wanted, how she wanted it, and exactly how to demand it.

  That would make it even harder to stay away from her. She was the type of woman he wanted, no doubt about that. One who could give as well as she could take in bed, and could take everything he gave her and more. Too bad she was Ellie’s sister. Though his body had long since gotten over that little fact, his mind was still having a hard time coming to grips with it.

  He cleared his throat. “We need to get a few things straight before this goes any further.”

  “Oh no. I don’t think so.” She walked over to him again and put her hands on his chest, stroking lightly. The heat from her palms felt like it would sear right through the cloth into his skin. “I’m not going to let you ruin my fun.”

  Shit. He might as well accept it now. The next time he saw Ellie, he was a dead man. Yeah, Becca was just his type. If she wanted him that badly, as badly as he wanted her, who was he to turn her down? He might as well enjoy what could very well be his last few nights on earth. Becca would hate him when she found out why he was really there, but he’d deal with that when the time came. In all honesty, it might make things easier. She’d be angry at him, go running home to her sister for comfort, and all would be well in Ellie’s world again.

  “I have no plans to ruin anyone’s fun tonight.” Least of all mine.

  She licked her lips again, fire sparking in her big blue eyes. “Good. When I see something I want, I don’t let anything get in my way.”