by Jaime Rush
“I have another question, one you’ll no doubt find uncomfortable,” Kade said. “I talked to the head of the Murphy clan. He claims he found one of your alligator claw key rings near his son’s body, proof that someone in your family was responsible. Is there any chance—”
“None.” Her hand had gone to her chest though. She jerked the key ring out of her pocket. “Did it look like this?”
He backed up, a distasteful expression on his face. “That’s what he described. With your C on the metal disk.”
She squeezed the claw. “Someone left this at the Augusts’, hanging from a bush near the body. Leaving evidence so blatantly at the scene of a murder, whether on purpose or accident, just doesn’t happen. Especially twice.” She fisted her hands at her sides, fury suffusing her. “I want to kill somebody, too. I want the Murphys to pay for what they did.” She had to take a deep breath. “But I know they were only going by the code of the Fringe. It’s the person behind this who has to pay. There’s only one thing to do.”
“Dare I ask?”
She jabbed her finger at the yellow tack. “I’m going to stake out the Slade land and wait for the murderer to show. And then I’m going to kill him.”
“You mean we’re going to stake out the property. Charade or not, we’re in this together.”
Chapter 9
What the hell was Violet doing to him?
Kade tried and failed to process his reaction to the enigmatic woman while she prepared dinner. If someone had told him at the onset of the day that he’d find himself in her kitchen, he would’ve called him ten kinds of crazy.
The scent of lemon cream sauce and sautéing chicken filled the dining area where Kade sat at the table. She had shooed him out of her kitchen, telling him she was a control freak when it came to cooking. Since they had to wait until it got dark before prowling the woods, she’d offered to make them a hearty dinner.
He stared at the text his boss had sent: STATUS.
It wasn’t a question but a demand for an answer.
IN POSITION. WAITING.
A few seconds later: WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
FAMILY TOGETHER IN MOURNING. NOT ALONE.
Kade knew he’d only be able to put off his boss for a limited time before he was pulled from the assignment. He had to get to the bottom of this before that happened.
The family wasn’t together, which was odd. Deuces weren’t particularly close, but Dragon clans were. But then again, Violet had ostracized herself by taking up with him.
So to speak.
She was on the phone now, with the receiver tucked between her ear and shoulder as she cooked. “Ma, I’m okay…No, you don’t have to come over right now. Unless you need some company—of course not…I didn’t tell you about Kade because”—she shot him a look—“well, I think that’s obvious.” She turned back to her preparation. “Right now we’re looking into what’s going on around the Fringe. Kade’s helping me on his own time…yes, because he thinks he loves me.”
Her brown hair, pulled back in a ponytail, swished back and forth with her movements. She had a long waist with all the right proportions. But it wasn’t her willowy figure that had him going against everything that was important to him. It wouldn’t matter if she had the wrong proportions and frizzy hair. Killing her was wrong.
The words about sacrifice had rolled out of his mouth, but they’d come from a deep place within him. Violet was nothing like he’d assumed. Educated, classy, and more like him than he’d ever imagined. A kindred soul. He’d lost himself out there, falling into the charade of being her lover.
Which is the real charade? Look at yourself, working hard to be the stalwart Vega. He’d never told anyone how he felt, the ache of losing a part of his soul. Why the hell had he told her?
Thankfully she’d said how wrong he was for her, bringing him back to his senses. He was wrong in so many ways.
The dog lay sprawled on the tile floor looking at him with a curious and slightly suspicious expression. He’d given up having pets, too. He loved dogs, their loyalty and affection, the way they greeted their master as though he were the most important person in the world. But he never knew when he’d be gone for days or even weeks at a time, and that wasn’t fair to a dog.
“Gotta go, Ma,” Violet said, breaking him out of his thoughts. “The fettuccine’s ready…chicken François…no, it doesn’t mean anything. I make it for myself all the time. Bye.” She hung up, pulling the colander out of the big cooking pot, letting the water drain, and pouring it into a bowl. He watched her arrange piles of fettuccine on two plates with tongs, place the pieces of chicken on top, and then pour the sauce over it all.
“This looks amazing,” he said as she brought the plates to the table.
She sat down and waved off the compliment. “It’s nothing. Ma makes these wonderful meals, and we’re all too lazy after a long day to go home and cook when we can go to the main house and get fed. But I’m trying to become more independent.”
He twirled several strands of pasta on his fork and took a bite. “Tastes as good as something I’d get at a nice restaurant.” He nodded to the collection of cookbooks on a shelf in her island. “You like ethnic foods.”
“Love them. It’s one of my indulgences when I get out of the Fringe. I haven’t had time to travel to all of those places, but I love Greek food, Italian, Indian, Cuban.”
He didn’t want to think about her other indulgence when she went out of town, and yet, the words “Tell me more about these weekends of yours” came rolling off his tongue. At her raised eyebrows, he added, “Since we met during one of them, I figure I should know. Do you usually meet the same person more than once?” She hadn’t answered that question before.
“No, they’re usually from out of town, outside the Crescent world. I take their number but never call.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You hook up with Mundanes? You said out-of-town guys, but I didn’t put that together with non-Crescents.”
“It’s less complicated. Okay, more boring, but there’s no temptation to keep things going, romantic relationships with them being forbidden and all. I’m not looking for a soul mate. Sometimes I just need…a connection. I gave up on finding someone permanent a long time ago.”
“After Bren?”
She started to say no but released a breath. “Yeah, pretty much. Marrying into my family, well, you see how welcome someone outside the Fringe would be. An outsider will always be an outsider. But dating a Fringer brings all kinds of history and family complications.” She twirled a piece of pasta on her fork and stuck it in her mouth, regarding him while she chewed. “You said you sacrificed your personal life for your career.”
“Having a loved one is a vulnerability. If someone’s after me, for revenge or whatever reason, he’ll have a hard time getting me. Grab my wife or my kid, and I’m putty.”
“You, putty? You seem all soldier to me.”
“I’d do anything to protect someone I cared about.”
She nodded and shivered. “Is it that much of a war out there? We’re so insulated here, busy with our own problems.”
“It can be. Magick corrupts some Crescents, and it’s my job to take care of those who present a danger to society.”
She ran the tines of her fork through the sauce on her plate, drawing lines through it, then sticking it in her mouth. “So we’d be a perfect weekend matchup.” Her eyes widened. “In theory. For the charade.”
He couldn’t help but smile at her quick back steps. “In theory.” He also couldn’t help the stirring in his blood.
She dove into her meal, her cheeks a bit pinker than they were moments before. It wasn’t just the thought of hooking up with her that tightened his chest…and his groin. Or the way she sucked in her last strand of pasta or even the way she dragged her finger through the sauce on her plate and stuck it in her mouth with a little sound of pleasure. The different sides of her intrigued him: the feisty side that had given him a black eye; the soft, vu
lnerable one that cried when she thought no one was looking; and the sexy one he witnessed when he’d been blindfolded. He liked this woman. Liked the feel of her skin, the glow of her smile. The shy way she avoided his gaze sometimes, and the hungry way she watched him other times.
“I’m afraid of whatever you’re thinking about,” she said, and he realized she was watching him ruminate. No doubt the mist in his eyes was swirling like crazy.
“You should be.”
She stood and took her plate to the sink, walking faster than she normally did. “I never thought about how hard it was to be you. I mean, having to live up to the Guard’s rep.”
So she was going to change the subject, eh? “I thought it’d be easy to live down to a Fringe rep, but I can see how that might be hard. We both suffer from others’ prejudices.”
She made a snorting sound. “Yeah, but you’ve got it easier. People respect you as instantly and mindlessly as they denigrate me.”
He leaned back in his chair, regarding her. “And they assume you’re as uneducated and undisciplined as the rest of the Fringers. For example, I’ll bet most of them don’t use words like denigrate. Then again, Murphy used the word reprehensible right along with ain’t.”
For a moment she looked conflicted. “Society makes a lot of assumptions about us, and quite honestly, there are Fringers who perpetuate those prejudices. I simply choose not to. My mother homeschooled me and did a good job. I read a lot, and if I don’t understand a word, I look it up.”
How many people had denigrated Violet in her life? He hated the thought of it. He picked up his plate and joined her at the sink. She rinsed it, then put it in the dishwasher.
“Thanks for dinner. It was incredible.”
She shrugged. “We had to eat.”
They’d decided to stake out the Slade property given the pattern they’d seen in the red tacks: the inciting murders usually occurred near the property line. Unfortunately, they’d have to monitor the line between the Slades and the Stramaglias, the most vicious of the Fringe clans. Getting caught by either, with tensions already running high, would mean an attack first, questions later.
She looked down, then back at him. “What you said to me out there about sacrificing your nature for your career.”
“Never mind that.”
“And every time you did that, bits and pieces of your soul were cut away. So how much of your soul, your true nature, is left?”
“I didn’t think there was much left. But I’m here, aren’t I?” The wild part of him tugged at the edges. “And I did tell you my fantasies, after all.”
“Mmm, that you did.”
“I’ve never told anyone my fantasies about being under a woman’s control.”
She looked surprised. “I’m sure you have women at your beck and call. Surely one would indulge you.”
He had to quell his grin. Was she fishing? “Sure, but the thing is, if I tell a woman about it, I’m essentially asking her to indulge me. She’s following my request.”
“I can see your…I guess you’d call it a dilemma. I thought you were making those fantasies up, just to rile me.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Did they?”
She met his look with one of her own. “I would never be riled by a Vega.”
Oh, she wanted to play that game, did she? He stepped closer, giving in to his wild side, brushing his thigh against hers. He drew his hand down the side of her neck to her collarbone. She sucked in a breath, and her lower lip trembled.
“Just like I’d never be riled by a Castanega.” He moved closer yet, his gaze on her mouth. “But here we are.” His other hand rested at her waist. He saw the flames in her brown eyes, and they touched off a fire inside him.
“Indeed.” She breathed deeply, her gaze dipping to his lips.
He touched his mouth to hers. She put her hands on his shoulders, instantly engaging him. Magick crackled over his skin the same way it did when he used it in combat.
Whoa, what was that?
She opened to him, and he plunged his tongue in, hungry for her. She let out a soft sound, snuggling her body into his. He squeezed her waist and then dragged his hands down her hips. He rubbed his knee up her inner thigh, drawing another deep breath from her. She pressed her pelvis against his thigh. She wanted him, too, was just as helpless as he when it came to this crazy chemistry between them. The realization electrified his kiss. She clutched at him, ravaging his mouth back.
“Okay,” she said between kisses. “You proved your point.”
“What point?”
“That we can’t seem to resist each other.”
“I don’t care about any point.” He pinned her against the counter with his legs, grinding his pelvis into her stomach. Which created a delicious pressure, since his cock was pressed between their bodies. She rocked back and forth, increasing the sweet agony.
“I wish I could chalk it up to being in a dangerous situation, but I felt this zing between us at the station,” she said, kissing down the side of his neck, circling back to nibble on his earlobe. “Even when I didn’t like you.”
“I felt it, too, and thought it was just as bizarre. Now that I know you, I want you beyond belief. But taking this any further is a bad idea,” he murmured, skimming her breasts. There were reasons, but he couldn’t think of one at the moment. He let out a soft groan as her tongue trailed along the outer shell of his ear.
Because her mouth was so close, he could hear her breathing step up as he cupped her breasts and circled her nipples with his thumbs. What a beautiful sound, especially when her breath hitched. He knew plenty of ways to make it hitch even more, to make her gasp and pant and beg for him to take her over the edge.
Maybe it was because he’d already touched her, already knew how to make her arch, and moan, and respond, that made this feel deeper. But that simple explanation didn’t float. No, it went beyond that. He didn’t just want to fuck her. He wanted her. And that was the problem. Because once he’d buried his cock inside that luscious body of hers, and wrapped himself around her, he wasn’t going to want to let go of her.
Whoa. Where did that come from? Remember how wrong you are for her.
“If this is a bad idea, why are you still kissing me?” she asked.
He had to force himself to stop, even with his own admonitions ringing through his brain. He settled his hands on her waist, because he couldn’t seem to make himself step away any farther. “It’s that point I was making, that we can’t seem to resist each other.” He had to calm his breathing.
She looked mussed and shell-shocked. “I can’t imagine what your superiors would think if you took up with a Fringer.” She smoothed her hair in quick strokes.
If only that were the problem.
Was this how his father had felt around the female prisoner? If he felt this way about her, yeah, Kade could understand why he’d thrown everything away to save her.
“I was thinking about you. Your brothers would never forgive you if this progressed.”
“No, probably not. But what you said about not selling my soul…”
His hands tightened on her waist. “I didn’t mean by seeing me.” His life was going to change dramatically. He’d lost the V on his arm when he’d been demoted. Its removal was torturous, inside and out. When he lost it again, he would have to explain why. He would not lie to her, because she would mean something if things went any further. Hell, she already did. “Your family hates me. That’s never going to change. I’ve arrested your brother, inflicted wounds on many of you. I know how losing family, identity, and pride tears away everything under your feet. I don’t want you in that position because of me.” There. It was a sound argument. “I’m not worth giving up the peace in your family. I know how important that is to you.”
She clutched his shoulders, meeting his gaze with a steely one of her own. “I’ve never run away from trouble, Kade. I try for peace but not at the expense of my heart. Someone recently gave me some excellent advice about
that.”
She was killing him. The ache in his chest sharpened, and he forced himself to back away. “It’s dark. We need to stop these attacks. I need to get back to my life. You need to return to yours.”
“To the Guard.”
“Yes.” To his life, at least. Beyond that, his future loomed like a dark hole. His only salvation would be uncovering some plot that exonerated Violet and her clan. “And hopefully your family will forgive you for your lapse in judgment. Let’s go.”
Chapter 10
What the dragonfire was she thinking? That last thing Violet needed was to be putting her hands or her mouth on a Vega. Again. Even if he was gorgeous and looked at her like…she couldn’t quite pinpoint what she’d seen in his eyes, but it wasn’t lust. Or only lust, anyway. And that was even more worrisome.
Want.
Hush, she told her Dragon. Can’t have that one.
She and Kade headed out the front door, and she closed it behind them. Immediately she sensed a presence that didn’t belong there. She automatically put her hand out to hold Kade from stepping down the front steps. “Someone’s out there.”
His magick bristled. Gods, she’d never felt that before; she’d never been around Deuces other than in passing.
“It’s a Mundane,” she whispered, now sensing that kind of energy. “Smitty probably. Damned nuisance.”
She spotted the telltale red light of his recording device way up in the tree and nodded subtly in that direction. Yard lights gave off colored glows around her palm trees and foliage, but not enough to illuminate the man. On a nearby branch sat a fire Elemental, crouched and clearly wanting to dislodge the intruder. Of course, Smitty couldn’t see him. Flit, as she’d dubbed him, jumped to a closer branch, its eyes narrowed on its prey. She gave it a shake of her head. Don’t freak out the human. It’ll be us paying for it.
