She considered the amount again, which at first had seemed phenomenal. But given the potential the weapon had, she wondered why they hadn’t asked for ten times that amount. “And from what you’ve told me, a serious trafficker like Daniel would have assets in the billions. He could afford to pay any price.”
Lucian crossed his arms over his chest. “I think you’re exactly right.”
She shook her head. “So the plan would be to lure these two men into coming here—then what?”
Lucian frowned heavily. “We’d basically put them in the same kinds of chains you found me in, then work to get the information out of them.”
She looked away from him nodding, thinking things through, then returned to him once more. “Why not go after them?”
Lucian rocked slightly on his heels. “Because they live in a fortress, well stocked with every kind of weapon imaginable. Even if we got in, we wouldn’t get out, not without an army. But I’m still not on board, not even a little.” He turned to Eve. “You must have a dozen beautiful women you could use, dress up in bits of leather and a few rubber bands—”
Eve glared at Lucian. “Hey, I design these clothes. You’re disparaging my creative efforts.”
Rumy barked his laughter. “Rubber bands.
Love
it. He got you on that one, Eve.”
Claire strove to understand the merits of the plan. “Okay, let’s say that it’s necessary they come here. Why me? Why would I so tempt these careful, well-armed warrior types that they’d actually agree to come to Eve’s theater to watch me parade around in pretty much nothing?”
All three vampires turned to look at her. She glanced at each one in turn. Something was up, something that hadn’t been said. Eve turned to Lucian. “You want to tell her, or shall I?”
Lucian’s nostrils flared. He appeared disgusted beyond words, but he spoke anyway. “Both these men have a thing for redheads.”
She laughed. “What? You’re kidding. Why?”
But Eve stepped in. “Just about everyone has a craving for something specific. Some men love feet, can’t get enough of them, that’s why they’re called fetishes. You have red hair, and I’ll admit it’s a beautiful auburn. You’ll have them both panting. We don’t have a lot of redheads in our world.”
Claire pulled a lock of her hair forward and stared at it, then glanced at Lucian. “Is this really true? I mean, do you believe this?”
“I have some friends who will only date Asian women. Period. Others are drawn to blondes. We’re all built differently.” A half smile curved his lips. “But in this case I don’t see how they could resist.”
“So essentially, I’d be the bait.”
“You’ll be more than that.” Lucian drew close, looking down at her. “We’ll need your disguising power to surround Rumy’s security team. The last thing they’ll be expecting is that the object of their lust will be the prime reason they’ll get caught in the trap.”
Claire took Lucian’s hand and lowered her voice. “It will be really hard for me to do something like this. I’m fairly modest by nature. But what about you? I’ll be parading around in front of a lot of men, and not just bad guys, but Rumy’s security force as well. Are you sure you’ll be okay with this?”
He met and held her gaze, but a haunted look entered his gray eyes. “I hate the idea more than I can say, but I keep telling myself that this isn’t about me, or what I want, but what needs to be done.”
“And there’s no other way?”
“Believe me, if I had an army, I’d head to Arsen and Salazar’s compound and battle my way in. But I don’t. And if what Rumy has said is true, we have an extremely narrow window of time before Daniel accepts their offer and finds his way to wherever it is that their information leads.”
He took her arm in his large hand and squeezed gently. “But say the word, and we’re done here, no questions asked, no recriminations.”
Once more, she took a lock of her hair in hand and stared at it. “I’ll never think of the color of my hair in the same way again.”
“But you’re right. I don’t want other men looking at you, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to have a hard time holding my temper.”
She slipped into telepathy as she said,
And you’re the only one I want looking at me. No one else.
Memories of the night before came flooding back, of being pinned down on the island. She’d encouraged him to tap into something very primal and so he had. Because of it, she felt even closer to him than ever. Sex had definitely complicated their arrangement. She was a human in a secret vampire world, needing desperately to go home. But every moment she spent with Lucian, getting to know him, to know his fine character yet at the same time his deep sense of unworthiness, the more she felt drawn into something she wondered if she’d ever be able to leave. She’d known the man such a short time, but she already cared about him more than she could say.
She turned to Rumy, then Eve as she said, “Because it’s a private show, I’ll do it. I know I couldn’t walk a runway in front of hundreds of people, but if it would mean getting information like this, about the weapon, I think we have to try.” Taking a deep breath, she added, “So, how many changes would I have?”
Eve unwrapped her blond ponytail from around her arm. “I’m thinking three, plus one for the photo shoot. I’ll tell Arsen and Salazar that I’m holding a private auction after the show, that I’ll have several clients on the line with photos I’ve sent to them. I’m sure after the third change, they’ll be ready to bid on you anyway.”
She glanced at Lucian. “And these vampires are in the sex trade?”
“Two of the most formidable. They process more women in a year than most, though still far below Daniel’s average. Which means, if we pull this off, we take them out of the game at the same time. It will make a huge difference on every level. Once we gain control of them, I’ll have Gabriel move in and dismantle their organization.” His gaze softened. “We’ll be saving more lives tonight.”
Rumy nodded, suddenly serious. Meeting Lucian’s gaze, he said, “All these years, your father has protected both these men, supported them in their slavery efforts. So getting them out of circulation will be a real coup. But this other thing?” He shook his head several times. “Any vampire with even a small piece of sense knows that once Daniel gets his hands on the extinction weapon, he’ll hold it to all our heads. He won’t stop till he owns everything, which means that he has designs on human-earth as well. Our world is just the beginning for him.”
Claire gripped Lucian’s hand. He met her gaze and nodded. “All right. Let’s do it.”
Eve nodded, glancing from Claire to Lucian. “I like your woman, boss, a lot. And if you take my advice, you’ll put her on my table. Say the word, and I’ll lend you one of my specialty rooms, no charge.”
“That’s enough, Eve.” Lucian spoke the words, but Claire heard the sudden hoarseness in his voice and the chains vibrated heavily against her neck. She felt his desire for her spike sharply, which of course sent hers reeling. The marble island had been one thing, but what would it be like for him to strap her down and have his way with her.
The idea sent desire flowing through her so quickly that she felt dizzy.
Lucian squeezed her hand.
What’s going on? What are you thinking?
Claire looked up at him, but she didn’t think it wise to tell him her thoughts, at least not now. She’d come to know him a little, and her instincts told her that he would benefit from exactly the kind of scenario that just ran through her head.
But right now she had a job to do, so she strove to block her desire.
Nothing important.
It feels important, and remember the chains don’t lie.
I know, but this isn’t the time so if it’s all right with you, I’d like to focus on getting through the next few hours.
He nodded.
Still holding his hand, she turned to Eve. “I think it’s time to take a look at your collection.” Of course the image of “straps and rubber-bands” made her cringe inwardly once more.
But she drew her shoulders back and when Eve suggested they follow her, that she had the costumes in a special location, Lucian held his arm out for her. She rose to her feet.
Because she’d grown accustomed to flying with him, she stepped up on his foot and slid her arm around his neck. He held her tight against him and with Eve leading the way, Lucian flew her in the sex goddess’s wake.
* * *
Lucian held Claire close to his side. He trembled, but not from blood-starvation. She kept blindsiding him with things, like how easily she slid her arm around his neck and stepped up on his foot as though she’d been doing it for the last century.
And she felt so right against his body. She fit him, her height, the curve of her hip resting against him, his hand splayed over her flat, tight stomach.
He liked having her there too much.
She’d also proved her worth again, willing to sacrifice her modesty to bring a couple of lowlifes to earth, maybe get information that would help locate the extinction weapon and possibly save the world.
Rumy was right. His world was on the brink of falling under the control of the worst vampire to rise to power in its long history.
And Arsen and Salazar were on the brink of handing over the location of the extinction weapon to a psychopath. They needed to be stopped, and Lucian needed to find that weapon first. He couldn’t allow Daniel to get hold of it. If Lucian was clever enough, he’d set the trap for Daniel and get rid of him once and for all. That Daniel held Zoey captive was an issue he had no idea how to resolve, but he couldn’t think about that right now. God willing, there’d be enough time down the road to separate her from Daniel before things went south.
Then there was Claire.
Feeling so right in his arms.
Did she realize that with her free hand she was fondling his chest again, rubbing over his pec? God help him if she tweaked his nipple.
He thought he should warn her.
Careful.
About what? The costumes?
No, what your fingers are doing to me.
She drew them back, clearly startled.
I’m sorry. I was touching you. Again.
As he flew, he caught her hand and pressed it back to his chest.
I liked it. That was the problem.
He heard that sound of hers, like
unh,
as she nuzzled beneath his chin.
This is nice, flying with you. I can’t believe how quickly I got used to it once you became an Ancestral.
I admit, it’s pretty great.
Yeah, it is. And it’s fun taking it slow as well.
The absolute worst thought went through his mind: He could get used to this, used to having Claire next to him, flying with him. He could get used to heading into a dangerous situation with a woman who could handle the pressure.
Which brought him full circle, to that slice of anxiety that lived inside him. He needed to guard himself against Claire because he had no future with her—not with any woman. He couldn’t be trusted, not when he’d already proven more than once that he had a monster living inside him, a dark entity that liked dominance and control, that would take and take until he had Claire at his mercy.
He flew through another tunnel and cave, following Eve’s glittering ruby-red signature. Eve was taking it slow as well, maybe thinking, planning, strategizing. Eve always had one card up her sleeve, always a new idea, a twist on things.
He wasn’t surprised when she doubled back more than once, finally landing them in a really dark cavern suite, without drywall, something that had been carved out of a shelf of black granite with lots of rough edges and a tall, rugged ceiling. There were hooks in the walls and several sets of thick iron chains, similar to the ones he’d been bound with in India.
He stiffened as Claire stepped away from him, her brows high on her head, her eyes wide. He watched her turn in a circle then did the same. Eve had told them to stay put, that she’d be right back with her team to get things started. First up, they’d need to do a quick photo shoot, with Claire in costume. Her picture would be Photoshopped into an invitation and emailed to Arsen and Salazar. Hopefully, the men would take the bait and come to The Ruby Cave for the private show.
He also thought he understood part of what Eve was up to. He was pretty sure she wanted him to have a good look at this room, at the chaining-up potential. Eve had more than once told him that he could benefit from a few dominance sessions, just to clear his head from some really rotten memories. He thought she was out of her mind.
On the other hand, as he glanced at Claire, something inside him warmed to the idea, especially as memories from the night before rolled through his mind.
Claire walked away from him exploring a secondary room through a short, arched hall opposite.
When she returned to him, her eyes glittered and the chains at his neck vibrated in a way he’d never felt before. “What’s going on?”
He knew whatever had set her off was in the adjoining room, but she drew close then slapped a palm hard on his chest. “You’re not to go in there, not yet. We have work to do, but when the time is right, I want to bring you back here with me. But I have one question.”