by Jaycee Clark
Saker could kiss Erik’s ass.
Reen stirred. “Damn,” she whispered.
“You’re staying here tonight.”
“Like hell.” Her voice was thready. “No time. Besides, I know Doc will give me some delicious meds that will have me back by tomorrow.”
Erik walked to her bedside and leaned down until his nose was inches from hers. “That may be. But you’re staying tonight or I’ll tell Navalovich you’re in no shape for this job. You want to be part of it, you stay here.”
Her golden eyes flashed at him, but he saw past the anger, saw the childhood fear. He brushed her hair away from the bandage and sighed. “I know you hate these places, Reen. Did I mention, I’m staying tonight?”
She opened her mouth, but he leaned down and lightly kissed her. She didn’t shy away from him as she once did. “Don’t argue with me. You know in the end I’ll win.”
Reen shook her head. “I can’t stay here, Erik. She’s out there. And he’s got her. I’ve got to do research, I’ve got to…”
Erik had been distracting her, while Dr. Johnson prepared a syringe. He injected it into her before she could knock it away. The balding doc, a lycan, quickly stepped back. “Not too often I manage to sneak up on her.”
“Ass. I’m not… I’m going to…” Her eyes slowly slid shut.
Erik huffed out a breath and brushed the dark strands of hair off her pale forehead. Her blood wafted up to him and, like always, he fought the urge to lean in and taste.
He kept brushing her hair back from her face, softly, listening to her breathe. She would be pissed, but if he didn’t sedate her to keep her here, she’d be out and straining against her limits. She was needed at top form and he’d make certain she stayed there, even if she didn’t like his methods.
The doctor left them alone and Erik sighed, leaning close to press a kiss to her forehead. “Get some rest, sweetheart.”
“I don’t like you kissing her.” The growling whisper came from the doorway.
Erik didn’t need to turn around to know that Saker stood there. Saker, Rourik, whatever he went by these days. Rourik was heir to the Falcon throne. Saker was a mercenary, a bodyguard, one of the elite who did whatever necessary to get the job done he was hired to do.
Erik pulled the white blanket up and tucked it around her. Motioning to the other man, they walked out. He didn’t miss the way Saker’s eyes began to glow when they rested for any length of time on Reen.
They didn’t talk as they walked down the hallway, up the two flights of stairs back to Erik’s office.
“I don’t want her part of this,” Saker said again.
“It doesn’t matter what you want. These are troubled times, Saker, she’ll do what she’s ordered to do whether you like it or not. Regardless of whether I like it or not. And if you knew her at all, you’d know the easiest way to get on Cyzarine’s shit list is to tell her what she can and can’t do.” He poured them both a shot of vodka from the chilled bottle he kept in the fridge. “But go ahead and order her. It’ll be entertaining at the very least.” Handing one to the other man, he motioned for them to sit at the small table in front of the window. He sipped and looked out the fog-edged window. The air outside was cold not surprising as this time of year it was still chilled. Spring was breaking slowly over the frozen land. The daylight just now beginning to come back. Probably another reason he was tired. With endless nights, he didn’t have to worry about limiting his sunlight exposure. “She’s not a frightened child anymore,” he said, still looking out at the frozen landscape.
Saker said nothing and Erik finally looked at him.
“You had your chance to save her. You chose to lay with another woman instead. Even your father doesn’t think you deserve her.” He leaned up and stared the man down, letting his own power rise. “Your inactions almost cost her her life once, I won’t allow your sudden change of heart to compromise her again.”
Saker took a deep breath and looked at a man he respected and might have considered a friend once upon a time. Instead he was angry. Angry that this vamp with the violet eyes had more of Cyzarine than he’d ever had.
“What is she really to you?” Erik asked. “She’s not your mate. You can’t go before Navalovich with that as your reasoning. If the binding had never been broken, you might have a leg to stand on.” He shrugged and Saker wanted to wipe the smirk off his face. “As it is, you’d sound like a spoiled child that tossed his toy away only to decide later he wanted it back.”
“She’s not a damn toy.”
Erik swirled the clear liquid in his glass, grinned down into his drink before sipping it. “Indeed. I couldn’t agree more. If you follow orders in this mission, you might just learn something. Not only about her, but yourself.” He leaned close again. “I’ll warn you now. You start to cause problems and I’ll go directly to Navalovich and tell her we can’t work with you. We’ve got a limited time here, so shove your issues aside as the rest of us are doing and get the damn job done.”
Saker took a sip of his own drink. “I always get the job done. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here.”
Erik saluted him with the glass. “True. Use that same meterstick to measure Reen’s ability to get her job done. She’s the best.” He finished his drink and smiled, amusement swirling the violet in his eyes. “Probably better than you. Look, I’ll let you pursue her all you want. Away from the job. If she wants you, I’ll not do anything to stop it from happening.”
Saker could only stare at the man, both pissed and relieved.
“But,” Erik continued, his eyes again going violet, “you hurt her again, I’ll rip you to shreds then turn you into a vamp.” He smiled and flicked his tongue over his fangs.
Saker took a deep breath to calm the anger and his own power surging up through him. He nodded. “You’ll step back?”
Erik’s smile wasn’t amused. “If she really loved me, we wouldn’t be discussing this, would we?”
Chapter Five
The club—Dark Fantasies—raved. Music, from hidden speakers, beat through the melee. Bodies slithered and twirled together. The scent of sex and booze filled the air. This club, like Bindings, like the others they’d visited, all smelled the same, all felt the same.
On the stage both men and women danced against poles, in cages, and chained to each other.
Places like this made Reen twitchy. She didn’t want to be here. It was the darkness blanketing such places that made her uneasy. She liked the light. It was as if all the light, all the good, had been sucked out by evil.
Not that she thought everybody gyrating, headbanging, or boozing in the joint was intent on causing misery and horror. Far from it. Most here were young, bored, and just wanted to have fun.
Most were doing just that.
This was the fourth club they’d been to in three days.
“I wish we hadn’t come here,” Erik told her. His dark hair was slicked back and caught at his nape.
She ran a hand down his partially unbuttoned, purple silk shirt. In her four-inch-heel platform boots, laced up to her thighs, she almost looked him in the eye. Her leather corset clung to her, her arms bare and her skirt, just shy of grazing the tops of her boots, was black and leather as well. She wore a collar, attached to a chain that her “husband” held.
Behind him stood Saker. That man had done nothing but watch her since they started this three days ago. He hadn’t said a word to her, but instead, just studied her, making her skin…not crawl…hum. That was the only way to describe it. When he looked at her, his eyes just short of shifting, an electric charge hummed along her skin, slid underneath and swirled through her blood, called to her.
The techno beat slowed, the music more of a chant. Erik leaned in and kissed her on the mouth, hard and fast. She felt Saker’s gaze boring into her, felt the soft hum charge until a current seemed to zing through her. After three days, the feelings no longer shocked her, yet she wasn’t exactly comfortable with them. It was as if something
sharpened inside her so she was even more aware of him, caught herself watching him from beneath her lashes when he wasn’t looking. The man popped into her head at odd moments. She pushed back from Erik and smiled up at him as she knew she was supposed to do. He ran a thumb over her collar and leaned close to whisper, “Sorry about the cover. But that’s these clubs for you.”
She leaned into him, wrapped her arms around his waist. “Don’t worry about it. You know I’ll do whatever I have to, to find Oleana.”
Erik fisted his hand in her hair and pulled her head back, looking into her eyes. “That’s what I’m afraid of. No stupid stunts, Reen. I mean it.”
“I don’t plan on pulling any stunts. I want to get her out of this alive.”
Erik took the chain and led them to a table. There, he leaned down and whispered in her ear, “You know he loves the rare.”
“And I’m as rare as they come. One of the last of a dying race,” she said, turning to look up at him. “Worried, darling?”
He narrowed his gaze at her and jerked his head to Saker. “Watch her.”
“Always.”
Saker stood just to the side of her, dressed in a tight black shirt, and black pants. A jacket did the job of hiding his gun. She took a deep breath and could smell the dark, outdoors scent of him. Her blood settled into a low hum. Since they’d gone to two clubs like this last night and the night before that and another calmer, more tame club earlier, Erik had been acting as weird as Saker. Both watched over her as if at any moment she might disappear.
She hoped she did. She wanted this bastard. After reading the file on him, she knew that even if caught, he wouldn’t give up what he would perceive as his greatest treasures. It wasn’t as if he sold the girls on the underground market. He didn’t deal.
He collected.
The men thought if they had him, they’d get him to talk.
Reen knew otherwise.
This man was accomplished, established, had perfected his art. So she’d draw him out.
She let her power tingle through her skin and wave out over the crowd. Nothing huge, nothing more than if she were excited, angered, or hell—turned on.
Which, around Saker, she seemed to be a lot the last three days. Something about him seemed familiar, called to her, aroused her.
Saker put his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t.”
She looked up at him from beneath her lashes. “Aww. Worried about me?”
The hand on her shoulder tightened, then he leaned down, whispering in her ear as Erik had earlier. Though she was playing Erik’s wife, his whispers didn’t send shivers down her spine as Saker’s did.
“You’re going to gain his attention if he’s here,” he all but growled, the air warm on her ear, his lips soft on the outer edge.
“That’s the point,” she whispered back. Licking her lips, she watched him. Sure enough his gaze dropped to her mouth and followed her movements. Tempting fate, she reached out and ran a short, trimmed nail down his arm, feeling the muscles bunch beneath. “Want to dance?”
His gaze rose back to her, his eyes swirling green. She’d gotten to him. Reen smiled.
He took her hand and jerked her to her feet, the chain dangled between them. He picked it up, ran it between his fingers. “You like this?”
She hated it, but she smiled again and licked her lips. “I like a bit of danger.”
“Careful, or you might get a hell of a lot more than you bargained for.”
He didn’t move them towards the dance floor, just stood there staring at her.
Kladovik watched the gyrating bodies from his loft above the club. She was here.
He knew exactly who she was.
Cyzarine—Reen—a Hunter. An assassin, no doubt looking for her dear friend, Oleana.
Well, if she wanted to see her, he could definitely arrange it. After all, he wanted to get to know dear Cyzarine more. Much, much more.
He smiled at the men with her. He knew all about them. When he’d heard of her, he’d run a search and found all he needed to know.
She was a firebird. The rarest of the rare.
He only wished she were white. Bright white feathers that could flame and destroy or bring luck.
She would be his new lucky find.
He smiled to himself and watched as one of the men she was with spoke to her beside the table, his hand going to the chain and the collar around her neck. Was she into both men? He knew they all worked together. He had ways of finding things out. But past the job, did she do both?
He’d wondered. Trios were nothing new around here, nor were same-sex partners. None of them mattered to him.
All he cared about was the Firebird.
Normally, he searched for treasures and when he found them, he took them. Rarely did they all but land in his lap. Tempt him, know he was looking and searching for them.
This was a refreshing new twist. Did they, did she know whom she taunted?
A demon?
Guardian of treasures? He chuckled. Poor stupid fools.
He pressed an intercom button and waited. A female voice came on. “Yes?”
“Natasha, I want the woman that’s sitting at table four. Make certain you give her enough. And the men as well.”
A pause. “Yes, sir. What specifically do you want me to give them? One of the men just placed an order of drinks.”
He thought about it for a moment. He wanted the men to be relaxed, not on guard. He knew supernaturals. Knew they were most vulnerable when they’d spent a lot of power. Short of getting into a fight, the best way to relieve energy was sex.
He might even get to see how well his newest treasure performed. How passionate she could be.
He smiled. “Make sure they get a performance drink. I want to watch her bind with a mate.” Whichever one it was. And it wouldn’t matter. She’d be so lustful after her drink, anyone would do. If she caused a fight, and distracted her two bodyguards, he’d move then. Otherwise, he’d wait… And watch…
Then take…
Chapter Six
Saker pulled her closer, keeping enough slack in the chain on her collar that he didn’t jerk her this way or that.
Her body moved against his, taunted him. He glanced around and noticed others jostling around them on their way to the dance floor.
A woman in the cage screamed, drawing his attention. But it was hardly a scream of pain. One of faked pleasure. A man holding a dildo was with her.
Saker hated these places. He’d worked in enough of them. It wasn’t that he detested being here, so much as he couldn’t stand the thought that Reen was here.
He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact she was… A what? An assassin.
He’d known, but knowing and accepting when every instinct in him was growling for him to protect, were two very different things.
She sure as hell didn’t look like an assassin in her current dress. She looked like a fuck-girl. Or what he thought of as fuck-girls. She screamed sex, of submissiveness. Which was what they’d all planned on.
All but him.
She was his. The more time he spent with her, the more he couldn’t get her out of his damn mind.
He knew her smell—woman, exotic, strong. It was a dark and tempting scent that wrapped around him every time he was around her. Her pulse, just there, beat quickly where her neck joined her collar. He ran a thumb over the pounding skin, pale as moonlight and soft as silk. The ends of her hair skimmed the back of his knuckles. He tucked a strand behind her ear and looked back at her slanted, amber eyes. “You really shouldn’t be here.”
A slow smile lifted her lush lips, painted scarlet red. “You just want me all to yourself,” she whispered, her voice husky and full of promise.
He narrowed his gaze at her. “What game are you playing?”
Her tongue slowly licked her bottom lip.
Saker wanted her.
Plain and simple.
Erik cleared his throat. “Drinks are here.” He passed them
around, along with a warning look at Saker, until Saker finally let the chain slide between his fingers.
Erik reached over and snagged the end of the links.
Reen’s laughter danced out, as sensual as the woman herself. She picked up her drink and took a sip, then drained it.
Saker raised his brow. “Thirsty?”
She eyed his drink then challenged, “You chicken? I thought all you warrior types could hold your own.”
“Reen,” Erik warned.
She turned and offered him a smile. “Come on, Erik. It’s not even alcoholic, I’m just giving the ass a hard time.”
Erik’s gaze shifted from her to Saker. Saker downed his own drink.
Erik shook his head, and sipped his, frowning, then set it aside as he sat in his chair. “We should mingle.”
“You mean I get to wander around all by my little lonesome? And here I thought I was your slave for the evening.” She leaned over, her corset-plumped breasts right in Erik’s face.
Saker reached out to jerk her back, but then fisted his hand.
The mission… He didn’t want her flirting with the damn vamp.
He gritted his teeth as she ran her fingers through Erik’s dark hair.
The club pulsed around them.
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and straightened. “I want to dance.”
The music, still slow, deep, dark, floated over the room. The lights flickered off and on.
Erik’s hand held the chain, but Saker snatched it from the other man. “Fine, let’s dance and see what we can learn.” To seem as if he didn’t have a care in the world, he added, “Place is probably a waste of time just like the last.” He held the chain and led her to the dance floor. It was crowded and they made their way through the melee of bodies closer to the stage where there was a bit more room.
The dark music seemed to move through his body, swirl around his head. He shook his head and took a deep breath, but all he smelled was her.
