Eternal Flame Bundle with Eternal Hunter & I'll Be Slaying You (64 page)
Read Eternal Flame Bundle with Eternal Hunter & I'll Be Slaying You Online
Authors: Cynthia Eden
Here’s a sneak peek at Donna Kauffman’s
HERE COMES TROUBLE,
out next month from Brava!
T
he hot, steamy shower felt like heaven on earth as it pounded his back and neck. He should have done this earlier. It was almost better than sleep. Almost. He’d realized after Kirby had left that he’d probably only grabbed a few hours after arriving, and he’d fully expected to be out the instant his head hit the pillow again. But that hadn’t been the case. This time it hadn’t been because he was worried about Dan, or Vanetta, or anyone else back home, or even wondering what in the hell he thought he was doing this far from the desert. In New England, for God’s sake. During the winter. Although it didn’t appear to be much of one out there.
No, that blame lay right on the lovely, slender shoulders of Kirby Farrell, innkeeper, and rescuer of trapped kittens. Granted, after the adrenaline rush of finding her hanging more than twenty feet off the ground by her fingertips, it shouldn’t be surprising that sleep eluded him, but that wasn’t entirely the cause. Maybe he’d simply spent too long around women who were generally over-processed, over-enhanced, and overly made up, so that meeting a regular, everyday ordinary woman seemed to stand out more.
It was a safe theory, anyway.
And yet, after only a few hours under her roof, he’d already become a foster dad to a wild kitten and had spent far more time thinking about said kitten’s savior than he had his own host of problems.
Maybe it was simply easier to think about someone else’s situation. Which would explain why he was wondering about things like whether or not Kirby was making a go of things with her new enterprise here, what with the complete lack of winter weather they were having. And what her story was before opening the inn? Was this place a lifelong dream? For all he knew, she was some New England trust fund baby just playing at running her own place. Except that didn’t jibe with what he’d seen of her so far.
He’d been so lost in his thoughts while enjoying the rejuvenation of the hot shower, that he clearly hadn’t heard his foster child’s entrance into the bathroom. Which was why he almost had a heart attack when he turned around to find the little demon hanging from the outside of the clear shower curtain by it’s tiny, sharp nails, eyes wide in panic.
After his heart resumed a steady pace, he bent down to look at her, eye-to-wild-eye. “You keep climbing things you shouldn’t and one day there will be no one to rescue you.”
He was sure the responding hiss was meant to be ferocious and intimidating, but given the pink-nosed, tiny-whiskered face it came out of, not so much. She hissed again when he just grinned, and started grappling with the curtain when he outright laughed, mangling it in the process.
He swore under his breath. “So, I’m already down one sweater, a shower curtain, and God knows what else you’ve dragged under the bed. I should just let you hang there all tangled up. At least I know where you are.”
However, given that the tiny thing had already had one pretty big fright that day, he sighed, shut off the hot, life-giving spray, and very carefully reached out for a towel. After a quick rubdown, he wrapped the towel around his hips, eased out from the other end of the shower, and grabbed a hand towel. “We’ll probably be adding this to my tab, as well.” He doubted Kirby’s guests would appreciate a bath towel that had doubled as a kitty straightjacket.
“Come on,” he said, doing pretty much the same thing he’d done when the kitten had been attached to the front of Kirby. “I know you’re not happy about it,” he told the now squalling cat. “I’m not all that amped up, either.” He looked at the shredded curtain once he’d de-pronged the demon from the front of it, and shuddered to think of just how much damage it had done to the front of Kirby.
“Question is…what do I do with you now?”
Just then a light tap came on the door. “Mr. Hennessey?”
“Brett,” he called back.
“I…Brett. Right. I called. But there was no answer, so—”
“Oh, shower. Sorry.” He walked over to the door, juggled the kitty bundle and cracked the door open.
Her gaze fixed on his chest, then scooted down to the squirming towel bundle, right back up to his chest, briefly to his face, then away all together. “I’m—sorry. I just, you said…and dinner is—anyway—” She frowned. “You didn’t take the cat, you know, into—” She nodded toward the room behind him. “Did something happen?”
“I was in the shower. Shredder here decided to climb the curtain because apparently she’s not happy unless she’s trying to find new ways to terrify people.”
He glanced from the kitten to Kirby’s face in time to see her almost laugh, then compose herself. “I’m sorry, really. I shouldn’t have let you keep her in the first place. I mean, not that you can’t, but you obviously didn’t come here to rescue a kitten. I should—we should—just leave you alone.” She reached out to take the squirmy bundle from him.
“Does that mean I don’t get dinner?”
“What?” She looked up, got caught somewhere about chest height, then finally looked at his face. “I mean, no, no, not at all. I just—I hope you didn’t have your heart set on pot roast. There were a few…kitchen issues. Minor, really, but—”
“I’m not picky,” he reassured her. What he was, he realized, was starving. And not just for dinner. If she kept looking at him like that…well, it was making him want to feed an entirely different kind of appetite. In fact…He shut that mental path down. His life, such as it was, didn’t have room for further complications. And she’d be one. Hell, she already was. “I shouldn’t have gotten you to cook anyway. You’ve had quite a day, and given what The Claw here did to your—
my
—shower curtain—I’ll pay for a new one—I can only imagine that you must need more medical attention than I realized.”
“Don’t worry about that, I’m fine. Here,” she said, reaching out for the wriggling towel bundle. “Why don’t I go ahead and take her off your hands. I can put her out on the back porch for a bit, let you get, uh, dressed.”
Really, she had to stop looking at him like that. Like he was a…a pot roast or something. With gravy. And potatoes. Damn he was really hungry. Voraciously so. Did she have any idea how long he’d been on the road? With only himself and the sound of the wind for company? Actually, it had been far longer than that, but he really didn’t need to acknowledge that right about now.
Then she was reaching for him, and he was right at that point where he was going to say the hell with it and drag her into the room and the hell with dinner, too…only she wasn’t reaching for him. She was reaching for the damn kitten. He sort of shoved it into her hands, then shifted so a little more of the door was between them…and a little less of a view of the front of his towel. Which was in a rather revealing situation at the moment.
“Thanks,” he said. “I appreciate it. I’ll go down—
be down
—in just a few minutes.” He really needed to shut this door. Before he made her nervous. Or worse. I mean, sure, she was looking at him like he was her last supper, but that didn’t mean she was open to being ogled in return by a paying guest. Especially when he was the only paying guest in residence. Even if that did mean they had the house to themselves. And privacy. Lots and lots of privacy. “Five minutes,” he blurted, and all but slammed the door in her face.
Crap, if Dan could see him at the moment, he’d be laughing his damn ass off. As would most of Vegas. Not only did Brett happen to play high stakes poker pretty well, but the supporters and promoters seemed to think he was also a draw because of his looks. And no, he wasn’t blind, he knew he’d been relatively blessed, genetically speaking, for which he was grateful. No one would choose to be ugly. A least he wouldn’t think so.
But while the looks had come naturally, that whole bad boy, cocky attitude vibe that was supposed to go with it had not. Not that he was shy. Exactly.
He was confident in his abilities, what they were, and why they weren’t. But confidence was one thing. Arrogance another. And just because women threw themselves at him, didn’t mean he was comfortable catching them. Mostly due to the fact that he was well aware that women weren’t throwing themselves at him because of who he was. But because of what he was. Some kind of quasi-poker rock star. They were batting eyelashes, thrusting cleavage, and passing phone numbers and room keys because of his fame, his fortune, his ability to score freebies from hotels and sponsors, and, somewhere on that list, probably his looks weren’t hurting him, either.
Nowhere on the list, however, did it appear that getting to know the guy behind the deck of cards and the stacks of chips was of any remote interest.
And there lay the irony.
This one is for Nick.
Promises, promises…
A
s far as Dee Daniels was concerned, too many idiots with death wishes filled the world.
She stared into the darkness of the night, caught the whispers on the wind, and saw the shadow of the two lovers as they ducked behind the side of the beat-up building. Shaking her head, she reached for her weapon and followed.
They didn’t see her when she rounded the corner. The guy had the woman pinned up against the wall, his hands shoved under her skirt, and his face buried between her very, very ample breasts. He groaned and grunted and she moaned and twisted against him.
Dee blew out a hard breath as she waited. Not for them to finish, but for the monster to show itself.
Probably in about ten more seconds, maybe less, cause they were getting pretty hot over there and—
The woman, a long-legged redhead, opened her mouth wide. Thanks to the spill of lights from the building’s second story windows, Dee got a great view of that mouth.
And of the woman’s two-inch long fangs.
Got you.
Fangs that were currently heading right for the idiot’s neck as the vamp prepared to rip open his throat and guzzle his blood like a frat boy enjoying the cheapest beer in town.
Death wishes. Would people never learn?
Dee cleared her throat. “Ah, excuse me?”
The shiny white fangs froze over the guy’s neck.
“
What the fuck?
” From the idiot. The man still didn’t know how close death was to him. Judging from what Dee could see, it looked like death was about, oh, an inch away.
He swung around to face her. Early twenties, preppy, with a face that she judged as handsome, if kind of bland.
Dee smiled at him. “Hi, there.”
His gaze raked her and the vamp hissed.
Vamps always got pissy when their food was taken away.
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” Dee murmured. The fangs were too close to his carotid artery. The vamp might get twitchy and decide to take a bite, and, well, Dee’s shirt was white and when she snatched the dude free, she’d ruin her shirt with that dark red splash. Not that it was anything fancy, but…
She really hated doing laundry.
“Get. The. Fuck. Away.” Bland/handsome snarled at her.
Ah, now some people could almost deserve a bite from a vamp, but—no, she was being paid for this gig.
The vamp smiled at her. “You heard him. Leave, bitch.”
Dee lifted her weapon. Not her gun, that was still holstered at her side, but the wooden stake was an easy and familiar weight in her hand. “Just how long do you think it’s gonna take me to shove this into your heart? A minute? Less?”
“Jesus Christ!”
The guy’s eyes bulged. “You’re crazy!”
Debatable.
“Come on, Karen, let’s get the hell out of—”
The vamp grabbed him and twisted the man around.
Using him as a shield.
Why did the vampires always do that with their prey? Like a human shield was ever going to stop her. Dee just shook her head.
“You take so much as a step, and I break his neck.”
She could do it. Vampire strength. She’d snap him in half a second, but…“I’ll be on you before his body hits the ground.”
The man whimpered.
The vamp’s eyes flashed to black.
“Who are you?”
“Just a woman who was hired to do a job.” This wasn’t a kill mission, but if there was no choice, she’d bring her prey down any way she could.
Besides, vamps were already
dead
, so it wasn’t like she was really breaking the old bring-’em-in-alive rule, anyway. Not that the Night Watch Agency really followed that rule. Not when the bounty hunters were after dangerous supernaturals.
“I’m getting bored,” Dee said, “let him go and come with me.”
The guy was crying now. Sobbing. Hell.
The vamp’s gaze darted from Dee back to the edge of the street. Desperation there. Fear.
Time for the takedown. “Let him go,” she repeated, voice lashing out, and then, Dee heard the faintest sound.
A soft rustle. A footstep?
Behind her.
She tensed.
The fear faded from the vamp’s eyes and a smile tilted her lips.
Uh, oh.
“Take the bitch out!” The vampire screamed and Dee knew that the person behind her wasn’t just some innocent bystander drawn in by morbid curiosity. Not innocent at all. Shit.
She spun around, ready to face another vampire, ready to—
He lunged at her, hitting her hard and fast and slamming her ass right down to the ground. At that same instant, she heard the shot. A crack of fire that would have taken her out.
Had her ass not been on the ground.
A hard cry broke the night. Pain. Fear. Not her cry, because she’d learned long ago not to cry out.
Dee stared up at the man before her.
Darkness
.
Black hair, hair much longer than her own. Sharp-edged, hard features. Cold, gray eyes, thin lips. Cheekbones that jutted too sharply.
And his body…his weight pinned her to the ground. His body was tight with muscle, heavy with strength.
He felt hot against her. His flesh so warm and—
Ah, fuck it.
Dee rammed up with her elbow, catching him hard and fast in the chin, sending his head snapping back as she scrambled beneath him, twisting, jerking, and punching.
“Stop it! Shit—I just saved your ass!” He clamped down harder on her, freezing her movements. “Woman, someone just tried to shoot you!”
And some big and thick asshole had tackled her.
But the crack she’d heard had registered in her mind now and the cry of pain—
If it hadn’t been hers, then it had been…
Damn. Her neck craned and she glanced back. The idiot lay on the ground, moaning. Not with passion anymore. Pain. Blood soaked his shirt and pooled around him.
The vamp was gone.
But was the shooter? Only one way to find out. “Get off,” she gritted.
His jaw clenched but he rolled to the side. “Your funeral, babe.”
She’d lost her stake. Whatever. She had plenty more in the car. Dee jerked her gun free of the holster. She scanned the buildings, the darkness.
It was at times like these when being a human was a real vulnerability for her. The shifter hunters who worked for Night Watch would never have been caught off guard like this. They would have caught the shooter’s scent on the wind, heard him creeping up for the shot.
Even the demons would have gotten more warning than she had.
But when you played with the big boys, you didn’t get to piss and moan about the extra senses you didn’t possess.
So she scanned every building. Every shadow. Then, staying as low and keeping as much cover as she could, she went to the idiot.
“Help me! I’m dying! You’ve got to—”
Her gaze darted over him. A lot of blood. Huh. And the vamp had run away from that? Who ran when the buffet was free?
“Help me!
I can’t die like this, I can’t—”
“You’re not dying.” Jeez. She yanked out her phone, then pressed the button that would send an SOS to the surveillance team at Night Watch. “It’s a flesh wound, moron.” She’d sure had her share of them.
“Dispatch.” A soft, modulated voice flowed over the line.
“Need an ambulance.” She didn’t identify herself. Why bother? Stella would recognize her voice. “Four fifteen Brantley. Human down and—”
Sirens wailed in the night. Of damn course. The shot would have attracted attention.
Her fingers tightened around the phone. “Never mind.”
Hell.
Time for explanations.
Or, okay, lies.
“What do we say?”
The deep, rumbling voice came from the left. From Mr. Tall, Dark, and, yeah, Sexy, who’d tailed her over to the victim. She spared him a glance. “You can get out of here. I’ll handle the cops.” She’d had lots of experience with the Baton Rouge PD. Most of the uniforms owed her, anyway.
One black brow shot up. “It’s okay, you don’t have to thank me.” A grin flashed, one that showed a lot of strong, white teeth. “I was happy to save your life. Really. Think nothing of it. Yeah, I nearly got shot, but I’m okay. No need for concern.” His right hand lifted and gingerly rubbed his chin.
A patrol car rounded the corner, screeched to a stop, and Dee clenched her teeth. “Thank you,” she managed.
“Not very gracious, are you?” he murmured, and he knelt, his hands going toward the moaning guy’s wounds. “You should work on that.”
Her eyes slit. “I didn’t need saving.” Cops were approaching. She could see them from the corner of her eye. Their guns were up, their steps slow.
“Yeah, you did.”
She almost growled at him. Any minute now, the cops would be saying—
“Put your hands up! Nice and slow and—”
Ah, good. She recognized that voice. “Harry, we’ve got a gunshot vic here. He needs to be routed to Mercy General.”
“Dee?”
Not real surprise. More like horror.
“Yeah. Be careful, the shooter could still be around.”
Harry and his partner immediately crouched. Harry jerked out his radio and barked some commands.
“Why am I not surprised that the cops know you?” Dark and Sexy murmured.
She spared him a withering glance. Then she leaned in close to the victim and whispered, “If you want to stay out of the psych ward, don’t say a word about the vampire.”
He blinked once, then gave a quick, jerky nod.
Good.
Because the cops on scene didn’t understand the paranormal score in this town, and if the vic started rambling about Dee trying to take down an undead bloodsucker, things could get tricky.
She eased back into her crouch. So much for an easy bag. The guys at Night Watch would be giving her hell about this one for days.
And who’d been out there with the gun? Why had the shooter been aiming for her?
She’d find out. As soon as damn possible.
Because no one took a free shot at her and got away. No one.
Sandra “Dee” Daniels was small, grubby, and she really, really shouldn’t have been attractive.
Her blond hair barely skimmed her chin and it looked like the woman had taken scissors to it herself—leaving the hair in short, twisted layers. Her nose was a little off center, her bottom lip a little too big, her chin a little too pointed.
No, she shouldn’t have been attractive.
The jeans she wore were ripped and faded. Her white T-shirt clung too tightly to her small breasts, and her black boots were scuffed pretty much to hell and back.
But—
But she was damn sexy. Maybe it was the eyes. So big and dark. Chocolate. Once upon a time, he’d loved the stuff.
And that mouth. The lips were lush, soft, so red. Okay, so maybe he liked her mouth.
A lot.
She had her hands balled into fists on her hips. Cops were everywhere, running like ants as they searched the scene. He’d already been questioned three times, and both he and Dee had been given the all clear to leave.
But the woman wasn’t moving, and if she wasn’t moving, neither was he.
After five minutes of silence from her, she finally deigned to glance his way. “Harry said you could leave, buddy.”
“Simon. Simon Chase.” She knew his name. She’d been right there when he spelled it for the uniforms. Each time.
She grunted.
He almost smiled. Almost. “Ah, I can’t help but notice, Sandra—”
“Dee.”
Her voice snapped like a whip.
He’d been there when she had to spell her name, too. He’d rather enjoyed her gruff, “
Harry, you know this shit, S-A-ND-R-A…oh, fuck off.”
“Dee,” he allowed. But he’d be calling her Sandra again soon. He liked that. Liked the way her cheeks flushed so red when she heard the name. “You don’t seem too upset that someone tried to kill you tonight.”
The victim had been hauled away in an ambulance. Blood still soaked the ground, but Simon didn’t glance at it. His nostrils twitched, just a bit, but the scent was starting to fade.
She rolled her shoulders in a little shrug. “Not like it’s the first time.”
He let his eyes widen. “Really.”
A grunt from her. She seemed to like that sound.
“And you have no idea why folks want you dead?”
A furrow peaked between her golden brows. “No clue.”
Right.
Her hands lifted, then fell in a vague little gesture. “Well, it’s been fun, Chase, but I’ve got work to do.”
He pulled the wooden stake from his back pocket. “Just what kind of work is it that you do, Sandra?”
Red flush. She lunged for him and locked her fingers around the stake, but he didn’t let go. She was close now, close enough that he could see light flecks of gold in her dark gaze. Close enough that he could see the pulse pounding at the base of her throat. Close enough that he could almost taste those lips.
He tightened his hold on the stake. The wood was smooth and hard. The woman had obviously spent some time honing her weapon.
“Give it to me.” She glanced back over her shoulder. “I don’t want to have to explain this shit to all of them right now, not with the last silver shooting still hanging over me.”
Silver shooting? Sounded like an interesting story.
Slowly, he released his hold and she jerked the weapon from him. Kneeling, she shoved the weapon into some kind of custom holster near her ankle.
When she lifted the ragged hem of her jeans, he caught sight of her leg. Nice. Smooth and pale and—
She shot back up, nearly clipping him in the chin. Again.
Simon shook his head. She was so not what he’d been expecting. “You didn’t answer me,” he said and tried to ignore her scent. A heady scent, rich and dark. A woman’s sensual flavor.
She licked her lips. A quick swipe of her tongue that had his cock jerking.
Definitely
not
what he’d been expecting, but he wasn’t going to complain. No way.
“Trust me on this, you don’t want to know.” She shuffled back a few steps and tossed him a careless smile. “Thanks for watching my ass tonight, Chase.”
Then she was gone. Turning away and marching through the cops still on scene, and he kept watching that ass. Nice and firm, round enough to hold tight.