Dracul's Revenge 01: Dracul's Blood (8 page)

“Hey,” Bobby greeted with a grin.

Nik stepped back. “Come in.”

He led Bobby into the living room. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“Sure, whatever you’re having is fine.”

Nik gestured to the couch. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be right back.”

He rushed to the kitchen and opened the fridge. He hoped he had a bottle of wine left over from the previous holiday season. Squatting down, he searched the shelves.
Damn.

His choices were cherry Kool-Aid or apple juice. He wondered if he had coffee. That was a more grown up drink, right? He was standing in front of the refrigerator chewing on his thumbnail when he heard Bobby step into the room.

“Everything okay?”

Nik pointed at the fridge. “I was trying to figure out what to get you.”

Bobby stepped up behind him and put his hands on Nik’s shoulders. “Juice would be fine.”

Instead of pulling the juice out of the open refrigerator, Nik stayed where he was, relishing in the warmth of Bobby’s touch. He turned his head and tilted it up.
Oh God, oh god,
oh god.

Bobby lowered his head and pressed his lips against Nik’s. The kiss was gentle, but sure, just like Bobby. Nik turned and threaded his fingers through the back of Bobby’s hair as he opened his mouth.

A moan escaped him as Bobby’s tongue swept the interior of his mouth. The sound seemed to fuel the kiss even more as Bobby wrapped his arms around Nik’s waist and pulled him in.

DRACUL’S BLOOD

Carol Lynne and T.A. Chase

49

Snug against the big detective’s body, Nik couldn’t imagine a better place to be. He brushed his tongue against Bobby’s, getting in on the erotic play.

Bobby was the first to pull back, breaking the kiss. He stared down into Nik’s eyes and smiled. “I actually didn’t come here for this, but I couldn’t help myself.”

“I’m glad you find me irresistible,” Nik teased.

“I do. There’s just something about you that fascinates me.”

“Well feel free to study me anytime you’d like.”

Bobby loosened his hold on Nik. “We really do need to talk.”

“Okay,” Nik whispered before standing on his toes for another brief kiss. Although Bobby kissed him back, Nik could feel a bit of tension creeping into the man’s shoulders. He broke the kiss and stepped away from the temptation. “Two glasses of juice, coming up.”

He grabbed the bottle out of the fridge and carried it to the counter. After filling two glasses, he led Bobby back into the living room. His lips felt swollen from their momentary lapse in restraint and Nik couldn’t have been happier about it.

Nik was even more pleased when Bobby sat towards the centre of the sofa and patted the space beside him.

“Tell me again about this Radu guy.”

His research.
Yes. Okay
. “Um, well, Radu was the half-brother of Vlad III or Vlad the Impaler as he became known.”

Bobby took a drink and nodded. “Sorry, I’m just trying to get my head back to the reason I came.”

“Take your time.” Nik couldn’t resist licking his lips, hoping to taste Bobby’s kiss.

“That’s not helping,” Bobby practically growled.

“Oops. Sorry.” Nik sat up straight and put his hands in his lap. “Go on.”

“There’s something I think you should know. We’ve somehow managed to keep a few of the more gory details out of the news, but I think it’s relevant to your research.”

Nik leaned closer, like a boy waiting to hear a secret. “Okay.”

“After Morgan Thompson killed his victims, he drank their blood.”

Nik gasped. There were quickly becoming too many references to the Dracul family in this investigation. He hated to sound like a know-it-all, but he just had to say it. “I told you the cask was the key to solving this case.”

Bobby nodded.

DRACUL’S BLOOD

Carol Lynne and T.A. Chase

50

“Now that I know a few of your secrets, will you share another with me?” Nik asked.

“If I can,” Bobby answered easily.

“Where’d the cask come from?”

“It appears that Thompson bought it at an auction. My partner, Jablonsky, has been checking out the auction houses, but so far he’s come up empty.”

Nik shook his head. “This cask wasn’t purchased at your normal auction. If a place like Christies had something as valuable as this on the block, you’d better believe it would’ve been all over the news. Tell your partner to look into black market auctions or private collector sales. If you’re lucky, maybe you can track down the seller. Why release a five hundred and fifty year-old cask of wine now? There has to be a reason.”

“What does the wine have to do with the Draculs?”

“I don’t know. How long before the lab has the content analysis done?”

“I’m not sure. I can check on it Monday. Wilmont will kill me if I call and interrupt his Sunday with the family. To be honest, I haven’t really been pushing that hard. I mean, I thought it was wine. I was trying to determine if it was poisoned or something.”

“My guess is ‘or something’.”

DRACUL’S BLOOD

Carol Lynne and T.A. Chase

51

Water dripped from Bobby’s chest as he stood in front of his closet, wrapped in a towel, and trying to decide what to wear. He heaved a frustrated breath before grabbing the first shirt and pair of jeans his hands touched. Somewhere between the previous night and the time he stepped from his shower, he started channelling a sixteen-year-old girl. It was the most logical explanation for why he couldn’t find one fucking outfit that he liked.

“Outfits,” he muttered, tossing his clothes on the bed before digging in his drawers for socks and underwear.

That thought solidified his belief in his channelling a girl because he didn’t have outfits; he had jeans or suits. He wasn’t the kind of guy who put a lot of thought into his wardrobe. Suits were a must for work, ever since the Commissioner instituted a dress code for detectives. Bobby bought good quality suits, but they weren’t Armani, that was for sure.

He tugged on his boxer-briefs and sat on the bed to put on his socks. He caught sight of the sweats he’d worn earlier while he worked out. Those ragged things brought Nik to the forefront of his mind.

God, the professor was pretty, but obviously didn’t know it, dressing in baggy sweats and over-sized T-shirts. Nik had a lean little body, which Bobby discovered when he’d kissed the man the previous night. They shouldn’t have kissed, Bobby knew that, but he couldn’t resist. Nik had smelled so clean and fresh and Bobby had wanted to taste Nik’s lips since the moment they’d met.

The memory of how Nik threw himself into their kiss stiffened Bobby’s cock and he carefully zipped his jeans up, not wanting to cause bodily harm. A quick glance at the clock next to his bed brought a soft curse from him.

He was going to be late if he didn’t speed things up a little. Bobby slipped his T-shirt on and raced out into the living room, searching for his boots. Ah, there they were. He snatched them up and stuffed his feet into them. Sunglasses on his face, keys in hand, phone clipped to his belt, and wallet in his back pocket. He chose to leave his off-duty gun behind.

DRACUL’S BLOOD

Carol Lynne and T.A. Chase

52

His gut told him Nik might be unnerved if he found out Bobby carried a weapon even when he wasn’t working.

Bobby shrugged as he slammed his apartment door shut. If something bad happened, it wasn’t like he couldn’t handle the situation. Running down the stairs, he waved to his neighbours as he passed them. Out the back of the building to where he parked his beloved car.

He paused in his head-long flight to appreciate the clean lines of the Camaro. 1969, the year the stars aligned and Chevrolet built the perfect muscle car. Bobby had lovingly restored the entire car and now it was his prized possession. He ran his hand over the roof of the car as he opened the door.

“No one will ever take your place in my heart, darling,” he cooed as he slipped behind the wheel and let the leather seats welcome him.

The engine roared to life and he grinned. What red-blooded, All-American male wouldn’t grin at the sound of that? He pressed the heel of his hand against his erection threatening to break through his jeans. Oh yeah, and what guy didn’t get hard at the thought of all that power?

He buckled up, turned the radio on, and backed out of his parking spot. The metal gate clanked open after he punched in his code. One of the reasons he chose this particular apartment building was because of the fenced-in lot. There wasn’t any way he’d leave his baby out on the street where it could get scratched or dented.

Merging into traffic, he headed towards Chelsea, praying traffic was light. He’d hate to be late on their first date. A good first impression lent itself to the possibility of more dates, and Bobby wanted to get to know Nik better.

His phone rang and he grabbed it from the console where he’d thrown it when he got in the car.

“Marks.”

“Hey partner,” Jablonsky’s gruff voice roared over the phone.

“Shit. I forgot to call you. I got some good information on that cask we found at the Thompson place.”

DRACUL’S BLOOD

Carol Lynne and T.A. Chase

53

“Already?” His partner laughed. “We’ll be the lieutenant’s favourite detectives.”

He doubted it, but didn’t comment on that. “Yeah, get this. It’s over five hundred years old and might have belonged to Dracula’s half-brother.”

“Dracula? Like ‘I’m going to suck your blood’ Dracula?”

“Crazy shit, huh?” Stopping at a light, he tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “It might explain Thompson drinking his victims’ blood after he killed them.”

“Yeah right. Did you try that theory on the lieutenant? I bet she didn’t buy it either.

More than likely, whatever wine was in that bottle was poisoned and it fried his brain.”

“Cask,” he muttered, accelerating through traffic.

“All those vampire stories were made-up, man, to make Dracula, or whatever his real name was, seem scary to his enemies.” Jablonsky grunted. “Do you have any useful information?”

“Oh, my expert says you should look at black market auctions or private sales because the cask alone is priceless, so if Christies or Sotheby’s sold something like that, the public would know about it.” He shifted in his seat. “We’ll probably be called on the carpet tomorrow.”

Jablonsky sighed. “What for?”

Even though Bobby tried to stay under the lieutenant’s radar, he and Jablonsky got more than their fair share of verbal ass-kicking.

“Our lieutenant will be receiving a phone call from somebody important, I’m sure, and ordered to release our cask into the hands of a restoration expert at the Smithsonian.”

“You didn’t okay it with her first?”

Bobby nodded, forgetting Jablonsky couldn’t see him. “Yeah, I did sort of. I asked her about removing the seal and sending it to another expert. She wasn’t thrilled about it.”

“I bet.” A soft sigh crept over the phone. “If your gut’s telling you that letting some expert look at it is the right track for our case, I’ll back you and, you know that the lieutenant will take the heat for us as long as it brings us results. Now, I’m hanging up and getting ready for brunch with the family. You have fun at the track.”

DRACUL’S BLOOD

Carol Lynne and T.A. Chase

54

“See you tomorrow, Jablonsky.”

He flipped the phone shut and tossed it in the passenger seat. Traffic was surprisingly light for the city, so he pulled up in front of Nik’s house right on time. Climbing out, he stretched for a moment and looked around. The houses were older, probably built by the men who worked the docks or in the meat packing plant. Being a professor must earn Nik some serious cash because realty prices in Chelsea were high, now that the section of town was desirable again.

Bobby jogged up the front steps and knocked on the door. He leaned against the doorframe, watching people wander down the sidewalk.

“Hey, Bobby.”

Turning, he smiled and shoved his sunglasses to the top of his head. “Nik.”

Without really considering his actions, he leant forward and brushed a kiss over Nik’s lips. Those gorgeous dark green eyes Nik kept hidden behind his glasses widened in surprise. Bobby pulled back before he was tempted to take the kiss further.

“You feel lucky today?”

Nik hesitated before nodding and joining Bobby out on the porch. Even though he watched Nik lock the door, he couldn’t help reaching around him and testing to make sure it latched. Nik eyed him as they headed towards his car.

“Sorry. Occupational hazard, I guess.” He shrugged and opened the passenger side door for Nik.

“It’s okay. I just don’t want you to think I’m so scatterbrained that I wouldn’t remember to lock my own house.” Nik frowned.

Bobby shut the door and ran around the car to get in. Before he started the car, he turned to look at Nik. He reached out and cradled the man’s face in his hands.

“I think you’re the kind of guy who gets caught up in a book or an interesting piece of research and forgets to eat. You might forget where you left your backpack or cell phone, but I don’t think that makes you scatterbrained. I think that makes you intensely focused and I find that a total turn-on.”

DRACUL’S BLOOD

Carol Lynne and T.A. Chase

55

Resisting temptation had never been one of Bobby’s strong suits. Lifting Nik’s chin a little more, he brought his lips close to Nik’s and ran his tongue over the seam of Nik’s mouth, asking for permission. Nik moaned slightly and opened for Bobby. Eager for another taste, Bobby plunged his tongue in, learning all the nooks and crannies of Nik’s mouth, teasing Nik’s tongue into his own mouth, and sucking on it.

Nik trembled, and his hands lay, clenched in his lap. Bobby eased back a few inches and whispered, “You can touch me if you want.”

His words seemed to break Nik’s control and the man launched himself into Bobby’s arms, wiggling like he wanted to climb onto Bobby’s lap. The steering wheel stopped that from happening, but Bobby made a silent vow not to let too much time go by before he experienced Nik straddling his thighs.