Valentine leaned forward and followed his gaze.
An extremely striking man stood at the entrance. Tall with broad shoulders, wavy shoulder length blonde hair wearing a well-tailored, expensive Italian suit.
“Who am I looking at, beside a sweet piece of male eye candy?”
He raised a brow at the remark. “Giovanni.”
“Yeah and who is he?”
He didn’t answer.
They both watched the man until he got through the line at the door and went in.
“What’s he doing here?” He glared as he wondered aloud.
“Payne?”
Victor remained mute.
“What? Syndicate stuff, the Mob?”
He released an irritated breath. “A syndicate, but not one you can find on a computer.”
“Well, who is he?”
His attention focused to the end of the street.
Valentine followed his intense gaze.
“What the fuck?” he sneered. “Stay here.”
Valentine’s curious gaze searched the street as he got out and walked to the corner.
Victor glared at the tall stranger. “Why are you here?”
With careful stealth, Valentine got out of the car and snuck up to the alley to get a better look.
The stranger stood in the shadowed part of the street. As he stepped out into the light and came into view, Valentine saw that his face was an exact duplicate to Payne’s.
“I could ask the same.”
Victor stepped closer. “Tell me.”
“Now, Malias, just chill, okay?” Identical eyes glowed back at Victor. “I wondered where you’ve been.”
“It’s Victor and you’re trailing me?”
“Not you.” The man growled low. “Gio.”
“Yeah, I just saw the black-hearted bastard.”
The stranger tilted his head. “Who’s your cute little shadow?” A Payne-like smile appeared on his face.
Victor swung around and a twin pair of dark eyes rested on her face.
At the double vision, with their identical stares, Valentine gasped.
“Busy, are we?” Victor’s twin laughed.
Victor smiled at the teasing. “Now, Jack, you know I don't take human females anymore.”
“How did you find one?” Jack stepped a little closer toward Valentine. “There’s only a few left in the entire world, my brother.” He shook his head with humor. “You’re a better tracker than I, dammit!” He patted Victor on the back.
“Her?” Victor scoffed at the preposterous assumption. “No, she's...” His voice fell away and he stared at her. “My partner.”
Jack laughed. “You’re slipping.” His skin marbled as he raised his head and closed his eyes. “I could sense it from here.”
Victor’s body grew tense and rigid while he gazed at Valentine. “I did too, but I thought it was the other one, not her.”
“Connie will be thrilled when she hears this.” Jack grinned. “King Malias finally hooking up with a mate!”
Stunned, Victor didn’t join in the joke. He stared intently at her and his eyes narrowed.
Valentine stared back and swallowed heavily. She turned around to slink back to the car.
Jack shook his head and his smile faded from his face. “Giovanni has been busy with Merger acquisitions.” He shifted back to the original subject. “And he has a loose specter on his hands.”
“Gio always means mayhem.” Victor slowly drew his gaze back over. “Loose? Yeah, I think I may have encountered that babe with claws, just recently.” He reached up to his cheek where the scratches had been. “Apparently, she’s been slashing her way through Malibu.”
Jack grinned at him. “A Malibu Barbie with scissor nails, eh?” He mused. “Wicked. So, you’re on this?”
Victor nodded.
“Well, Connie will be relieved. She really didn’t want me on this one.” Jack followed his brother’s gaze to the Mustang sitting in the shadows.
“How is our little Cupcake Psychic?” Victor asked in an amused tone.
Jack's eyes glowed. “Waiting impatiently for me and I’ll bet she has her radar on me as we speak.”
“I will just bet.” Victor sighed. “Well, I hate to rush you, but I got this.” He stepped back.
Jack put his hand out. “I’ll just bet you do.” His dark eyes remained glued to the muscle car. “Some advice?”
“What?” His twin asked with a baffled tone as he shook his brother’s hand. “I can get this, Jack. I’ve stood against a thousand years of war and battles—”
“I don't mean the so-called case!” Jack laughed. “War? Love can be that, but when you lose at it?” He sighed with a sorrowful sound. “You’ve only had human feelings for a small time, you know?”
“Yeah, and so?”
“I’ve learned emotions of the heart can really get out of your control. And with a female?” Jack smirked. “If you beast your way through it, you may lose.”
Victor stilled with perplexity while he listened.
“You may need a fuck of a lot of do-overs.” Jack grinned at him.
“Do-overs?” He puzzled at the odd expression.
“Just ask Damon and me.” Jack nudged his shoulder. “Tread carefully on this field for you may not be able to undo previous mistakes. Just try to be gentle, my King.” His eyes twinkled.
Victor stared blankly back at him. “I didn’t understand a fucking thing you just said.”
Jack threw his head back, laughed heartily, and swiped at his eyes with amusement. “I guess everybody has to learn for themselves. Even immortals can grow from experience, I suppose.” His expression altered to a deadly fierceness. “Just get this beast, Malias.” He rose into the darkness above the street and disappeared.
Victor looked over at the Boss, where the mystery of Marla Rose Valentine sat waiting for him this very moment. She’s been literally under my nose. He glared with aggravation. An actual female Chimera has been right next to me the whole time? He walked over and got in.
At his furious expression, Valentine slumped down in the seat.
He glanced over to the club entrance.
She sat up higher in the seat to follow his intense gaze and her mouth fell open.
There stood the good-looking man from before, holding a woman's hand. The woman seemed to shimmer in her sparkling silver dress. Her long, dark hair was piled up with loose tendrils cascading along her cheeks, while the infamous sapphire star earrings sparkled from her ears.
Valentine blinked and drew in a shocked breath.
“Killer Ken and Slasher Barbie.” He motioned his head toward them. “From hell...not Mattel.” He smirked at the premise.
“That psychotic bitch is wearing my earrings!” she exclaimed.
“Yes, I noticed and they’re very becoming.”
Valentine gasped. “Is that all you have to say about this?”
“For the moment, we just need to watch them and find out just what the fuck—?”
The striking pair rose from the street and disappeared into the darkness above.
Valentine batted her eyes several times. “What fuck just happened?”
Victor shook his head. “And...Giovanni gets the prize!” he announced with a game show host impression.
“What?” she whispered.
He started the car. “No collar and no case, perp gone.” He shook his head. “Game over.”
Valentine sat with a very stunned, pale face. “But—”
He tore out into the street, effectively washing out her sentence with the veering swerve of the Mustang.
“What do you mean, gone?” She grabbed the dash.
He slipped the car into the far lane. “Into the cosmos, my Sweet Valentine.” He grinned. “Up into the night...poof!”
She held on for dear life as he flipped the Mustang onto a back street. “We gotta tail ’em, we—”
“To where, Valentine?” He shifted gears and tore through an alley while trash flew up
wildly in the car’s wake. “You got a chimera tracking device in that cute little pocket of yours?” he scoffed. “They could be in Asia as we speak.”
“So, we just let them get away?” A particularly rough bump in the road dislodged her grasp on the dash. “With multiple homicides under their belts?” Valentine’s voice escalated and fluttered while her head joggled around.
“Yep, and it's hard for me too, you know?” He turned onto the dirt road to his quaint little house. “The Hurt Legend a hundred to one; loss, now.”
“They murdered people!” Distress rang clearly in her voice. “And they just walk away?”
Victor maneuvered the car up the dusty drive. “No, they didn't just walk away.” He shut the engine off. “They flew away!” He laughed at her flabbergasted expression.
“So, what now?”
“You.” He shrugged.
“Me?”
He nodded and got out of the car.
Valentine looked utterly baffled.
“Hello?” he called from her window.
Her face paled at his lightening speed as he opened the door and lifted her out. He set her down on the steps above him. “Take me home,” she whispered.
Wearing a knowing grin, he shook his head at her.
“The case is over, or so you said?” She bit her lip nervously.
“There’s more than one case.” He took her arm and turned her to the house. “I want for us to do this nice, okay?” He propelled her to the door and pushed her inside.
CHAPTER THREE
“Do what nice?” Valentine stumbled in through the door. “What’s left to do?”
Victor shut the door behind him.
“I already told you everything.” She steadied herself.
He tugged her to his broad chest. “You left out a small detail.”
“What?”
Victor studied her lips. “I need to clear up this question of just who you really are and the sense I got when I tasted you before seemed familiar,” he growled low. “And I want to taste you again to be sure.”
For once, she gave no retort as she stared at his yummy lips. Oh, my God, this man is so...She gulped heavily.
“Are you afraid?” he whispered close to her lips.
“Of what?”
“I guess that means no.” He lowered his lips to hers and took her mouth.
A pulsing electric shock ran through her when her tongue met his.
Victor tugged at her lower lip with a strong draw of his possessive mouth as he literally tasted her with a fevered delving and Valentine never had a man kiss her as though he were thirsty. He explored her tongue with his and his hot mouth made her legs go weak, like she would melt down to the floor. The thrilling exhilaration from the deep plundering kiss jolted her to the core. He continued the sensual oral sampling and she grew breathless as her heart pounded in her ears. They kissed for a long, intense couple of minutes.
Victor removed his mouth and looked into her dazed eyes. “You lied to me.”
The room spun around her from the amazing kissing storm. “I did not,” she wheezed.
“Could it be that you don't know?” He tilted his head at her.
“You’re speaking Chinese, Payne.”
He let go of her. “Oh man, I don't...” He wandered into the main room and stood by the couch.
Valentine followed. “What the hell is up?”
“Tell me about your childhood.”
“My childhood?”
He nodded.
She let out a mocking laugh. “Let me get this straight. You think I lied to you and now you want me to tell you my life story?” She placed her hands on her hips. “You’d better tell me what this is all about.”
Victor moved away with a sigh. “Have you ever been sick?”
“What is this, an interview?”
He flipped around and truly looked lost. “How about a drink?”
“What?” Valentine didn’t know Payne very well, but she’d already learned that he wasn’t the type to suffer from indecision or confusion.
He went into the elegant kitchen. “I know I could sure use a stiff one, right about now.”
“You’re acting so strange.” Valentine watched him move around in the kitchen. “But then again, your normal behavior is exceptionally strange.”
“No whiskey left; I thought you could try some cognac.” He acted as though he never heard the ridiculing remark as he set the glasses on the counter.
Valentine watched him closely and sat on a leather stool.
He handed her a snifter and sat next to her. “So?”
“Mmm.” She took a sip. “What?”
“All your life, have you ever been ill?”
“Of course.”
“Okay, from what?” He tipped the snifter back and finished it with one gulp.
“This is so stupid.” She rolled her eyes.
With a gentle touch, he placed his hand over hers. “Just humor me.”
She grinned at him. “I have been doing that ever since the day I met you.” Valentine swallowed her drink and looked over at the bay window. “Okay, well there was the time I...” she paused. “No, that was my stepbrother, he almost died.”
“Any other times?”
“Um—yeah when the whole house had strep—” she halted.
“See? You’ve never suffered a sick day in your life.” He grasped her hand.
“No, that’s not true.”
“Any scars, cuts or bruises, which stayed for longer than a few minutes?”
Valentine laughed and took another sip. “What? You don't want a damaged partner?” Her bemused gaze rose to his.
He wasn't smiling.
“Wait a fucking minute, what are you getting at?”
Victor leaned close. “I thought it was your double I sensed.”
She slowly shook her head.
“It was you,” he breathed out.
Valentine hopped from the stool. “You’re saying you think I’m...?” she faltered with astonishment. “Come on, Payne, no way!”
“Yes and I can prove it.”
“Prove?”
“I just don't want to hurt you.” He stepped close.
“Now, I am getting scared.”
“You’re not human,” he sighed.
“I am so! I don't have any powers and I don't change.”
“Have you ever been traumatized?”
“Yeah, and it's happening right now!” She squared her shoulders defensively. “Are you threatening me again?”
Victor stilled. “Yeah, I am as a matter of fact.” He grabbed her up. “Have you ever made love with anyone?”
“Well, yeah?”
“Was it spectacular?” He tugged her closer.
“I, I...” She trembled.
“Did it move you, sweep you away?”
“Let go of me,” she whispered.
“Nope,” he retorted.
“What are you going to do?”
“Everyone has to grow, you know?”
Valentine tried to pull away. “You are acting even more bizarre than usual, and I don't like this!”
Victor held her with no effort. “I have another question then. Have you ever gotten so angry that you blacked out?”
She stopped struggling.
“Oh, so you have?”
Mute, she lowered her face.
“And you woke up later and only remembered a little of it?”
“Yeah.” She shivered.
Victor scooped her up into his arms.
“Payne?”
Without a word, he carried her to his room.
Aware now that he headed for the bed, she held her breath.
He lay her down and sat next to her.
She laid quietly for a tense moment and finally looked over at him. “When I was fifteen, a friend of mine was—raped and killed.”
His expression remained impassive as he listened.
“They put the murderer on trial and he got off.”
/> Victor sighed.
“I was so angry about it, I decided to follow him.” She shook her head with a sad smile. “I think I knew then, I was gonna be a cop. I caught him in an alley with a twelve-year-old girl and he’d already—already finished with her.” Valentine remembered the rage. “I don't know what happened.” Tears dropped along her cheeks. “Somehow, he was in pieces and blood was everywhere.”
“You turned?”
“What?” She sniffled.
“You turned; you became a beast.”
“No!” She swiped at her tears. “I don't remember what happened!”
He drew closer. “You tore him to bits and pieces, that’s what happened.”
“I don't know?”
“Were there any other times?”
Valentine dropped her head. “Yes.”
“So, do you see?” He lifted her chin.
In fact, Valentine did not see. What he proposed was the most bizarre thing she’d ever heard.
Tugging her up, he stood her onto the floor. “Well, you will now and it’s about time.”
“That sounds like another threat.” She wiped a tear away and a swift breeze blew across her skin. Valentine peered down to see he’d torn her blouse completely away from her body. She peered at her lace bra and her startled gaze rose slowly up.
His eyes sparked at her with gold glints. “I will say again, I’ve wanted to taste you since we met.”
“Are you asking?” A teasing smile tugged at her lips.
“Yes.” His eyes burned at her and he lifted her to his hips.
Valentine felt an excited rush of anticipation as she met with his smooth chest. Without any hesitation, she raised herself higher, wrapping her legs around his waist.
Lowering his face to her neck, he placed his warm mouth on her skin and smoothed his lips over her neck. The sensation of his scorching mouth on her neck brought a heightened excitement, even more stimulating than when he kissed her before.
Victor withdrew his mouth. “When I say taste, I mean a whole different type of devouring.”
His growling words rumbled through her and her shivering increased.
He swiftly removed her bra, but Valentine didn’t even notice as he lowered his mouth to a rosy nipple and latched on.
Voracious Vixens, 13 Novels of Sexy Horror and Hot Paranormal Romance Page 197
