Ivory (Manhatten ten) (5 page)

With Tank, I expected mind games.

But…

Unless I was shopping for snowshoes, I’d never seen such a fitting assortment. It would be madness to pass up.

Armed with pale Chanel pumps, I was ready for the evening. Everything fit like it was tailored, and it must have been. I let my long platinum curls cascade past my shoulders, but so finely dressed, I looked naked without jewelry.

The women of my tribe might dress in skins and furs, but they knew how to decorate themselves. I reached for the memories as I reached for the cold inside me, and touching a long-rusted use of my power, spun out a string of ice diamonds.

I decked my ears and draped my neck. They glittered like the real things, though they were freezing to the touch. No one would get close enough to notice the difference.

The elevator dinged. Panther wouldn’t have bothered, so it couldn’t be him. My shoulders relaxed. I’d recovered my calm, but I couldn’t be too careful around him. “Yes?”

Angel stepped out in a curve-hugging black cocktail gown. “I’m so glad you’re ready. You look stunning and…are those diamonds?” She squinted. “But the molecular structure…”

I shouldn’t hope to fool a super brain. “Family secret.”

“I see.” Angel grinned. Clearly, she did see. “The boys are waiting downstairs, but I wanted to give you the option. We can ride together and make a group appearance or you and I can take a private car.”

All of them in one car would be too much to handle, but then again, I hadn’t met the whole roster. With the media frenzy an M-10 press event would stir, I didn’t want any surprises at the venue. Better to finish introductions early. “I’ll ride with your group.”

“Perfect.” Angel ushered me into the elevator. “The boys will be on their best behavior or they’ll hear it from me.”

I hoped she could deliver.

We traveled into the building’s bowels and a sprawling underground garage. Fancy foreign cars and remodeled American vintages took up the closest spots. Obviously not the employee parking lot. A massive stretch Hummer idled in the aisle, and its door opened as we approached.

Someone was already using his powers. I just hoped the night didn’t end with me using mine. I had to stay calm. Controlled. Appease the press. This would blow over and I’d be back to my apartment. Surely, I could find a job at another airline.
 

Angel climbed in first and immediately began reseating. “You can’t sit next to her, Pan. No. Cyclone, to the back. Thunder, over here. Good.” When everything was to her liking, she peeked outside. “Ready, Ivory?”

As much as I would ever be. Though I did admire the way Angel dealt with the men.

I took a deep breath and stepped inside. It was a smorgasbord of leather and testosterone. Big men in expensive suits set off every one of my internal alarms.
 

Not just men. Predators.
 

Heroes with deadly powers. As soon as the door closed, I was trapped with them.

Panther caught my gaze first, his yellow eyes glowing. He whistled. “Damn.”

“Pan!” Angel tossed her clutch at him. He caught the bag before it smacked his face, and though he smiled, his gaze never left mine.

Suddenly I felt the breeze from the low neckline, and the ice diamonds chilled my warming skin.
Stay calm.

“Thanks for joining us.” Tank nodded from his seat. “It will be painless. Canapés, cocktails and some glad-handing the press.”

If that was what he called painless. I shuddered.
 

“Sit here.” Angel ushered me to the empty space between her and a hero I hadn’t yet met. “This is Thunder. He won’t annoy you.”
 

“What an introduction.” The man gave a gentle eye-roll, but offered a hand. He sported neat blond curls and an impeccable green pin stripe suit that set off his eyes. “Pleasure. And stunning gown. DVF?”

“Angel chose it for me.” And seating charts seemed to be another of her talents. This Thunder was no less a danger than the others, but a heavy shellacking of civility polished his edges.

“Good eye, as usual.” Thunder nodded to Angel before returning his attention to me. “You haven’t met the crew?”

“Don’t be so charming,” Panther grumbled. Cyclone was his only company in the car’s far corner, and I was glad for the space from both of them.
 

Not that I could breathe easily in such an assembly. “I haven’t been introduced.”

“Allow me.” Thunder grinned, his green eyes bright with amusement. “Panther is our cat man, though he seems to be in the doghouse at the moment. Has anyone warned you not to piss off Angel?”

Angel crossed her arms and muttered something in Spanish, obviously directed at Panther. I nodded. I had her measure already. She was sweet on the surface, but more than capable, and resolute as iron. If she could control a room of men like this, she was fearsome indeed.

“Smart lady. Cyclone does the wind, water and cheesy pick-up lines. Annihilator handles your full-scale destructions, though you can call him Nil.” I avoided eye contact with Cyclone, but “Nil” deserved a glance. He was a hulk of a man, not as tall as Panther, but broader and cloaked in a deadly aura that fit his name.

“Our fearless leader you know, and his shadow is Ruin. Red Ruin, with the lightning jazz hands.” The man with the so-called jazz hands flipped Thunder off, and a spark of red danced on the tip of his finger.

“Jet’s super fast. Great for picking up pizzas.” Jet scowled. His long black hair and chiseled cheekbones made his appearance haughty, but his aura vibrated with the speed that was his power.

Thunder continued. “And Steel? What do you do again?”

The blond grinned and flexed his impressive muscles. “I kick ass.”

“That’s our happy hero family,” Thunder said. “It’ll be nice to have some new blood.”

“This isn’t permanent.” It was important to keep that clear. Thunder could call it a family, but it was more like a pack of wolves, with every hunter’s eye trained in my direction. They’d find me no easy meat. My inner huntress ached to beat back their challenge. Yet another reason they were so dangerous. “I’ll be gone as soon as this blows over.”

“What if it doesn’t blow over?” Tank asked.

“It will. There are…places I can hide.” As well he knew with his mind-reading power. Maybe I couldn’t go home, but there were other icy wastelands where I could take sanctuary and wait things out.

“Screw that.” Panther’s outburst drew the attention away. “You were made for this.”

“For riding in large cars?” I shouldn’t have responded to Panther at all, but the more he spoke as if he knew me, the more I needed to correct him. Irritating cat man.

“For being a hero.” Claws slid from the tips of Panther’s fingers, slicing into the leather seat. “For being with us.”

“I was made to be a hunter.” The sight of his claws was reminder enough of that. Panther was exactly the kind of predator I liked to chase. “Unless you’re volunteering to be my next prey.”

Panther’s smile spread warm and slow, his over-pointed canines brilliant against dark skin. “You can hunt me anytime, Ivory.”

The pit of my stomach clenched. How his lithe black form would stand out against the snow and ice. He’d be large in panther form—his massive human size was proof enough of that—but he’d move with the same deadly grace in either shape.
 

A worthy target. My fingers trembled, anticipating the draw of a spear.

Great Goddess, I wanted to hunt him. But not to spear him. Then what, when the hunt was done? A vision sprang unbidden—his naked body, glorious against a backdrop of white. Not snow, but feathered down.

Tank cleared his throat. “Can we tone down the show?”

I didn’t blush because I couldn’t, but a drop of water slid down my earlobe. I re-froze the ice diamond with a touch, but the droplet fell, slipping down the curve of my breast.

Panther trapped my gaze and his yellow eyes were as hot as the rainforest. I ached to respond to the challenge, but whether as a warrior or a woman, neither could be allowed. He burned so hot the first touch would liquefy everything I’d built.

Knowing that should’ve made it easier to stay away.

“Pan.” Tank clapped his hands to his temples. “Keep it PG.”

“Sorry, Boss.” Panther’s gaze never left mine. I could’ve sworn he purred.

Chapter Five

Panther

Ivory broke away from my gaze first. Maybe she could read what I was thinking.
 

The dress hugged her curves like a second skin. I wanted it off her, and that body spread in front of me wearing nothing but ice diamonds.

And maybe the heels. Legs that long shouldn’t be street legal.

Not that I don’t appreciate the view. Tank’s voice cut through my fantasies.
But you really want to be sharing this with me? Between the two of you I’m going to pop a hemorrhage.

What’s she thinking?
Ivory was whispering something to Angel, but I couldn’t listen in and still follow Tank. The mental pictures trumped the whispers.

No chance. I might have to see, but I don’t share.
Tank turned away.
Just don’t jump each other until after the party.

No promises
. Damn. Was I really getting to her?

I’d wanted her from moment one, but it had been a long time since a woman had captivated me like this. Or at all, beyond a one-night stand.

I ran my tongue across my teeth. The canines were too sharp for a human, though the days I’d had to hide were long gone.
 

With Ivory around, my beast wanted out.

Judging from the other guys’ faces, I wasn’t the only one feeling the call. Tank and Ruin were in their own world talking tactics, but everyone else was either staring or stealing glances at the ladies. Angel looked hot, but apparently enough of us preferred our women cold.

Cyclone could stare all he wanted. He’d blown his chance and gotten iced. Thunder would charm her, and that was irritating, but he didn’t swing that way, so no threat from his corner.

Jet and Steel both stared openly. Jet might be too proud to make a move, but Steel wasn’t shy. By the shitty grin on his face, he was going to try something.

Nil stole some glances but wouldn’t do more than that. He could turn anything he touched into a pile of dust, including me, if he were so inclined. Didn’t mean he wasn’t interested, but he kept away from the ladies as a public service.

The Hummer eased to a stop in front of a glitzed-out Midtown hotel. Camera flashes spilled from the army of press held back by a flimsy velvet rope. Already they shoved, jockeying for better shots of the car and its blackened windows. Not to mention the throngs of uninvited fans waving M-10 banners. When they actually glimpsed Ivory, they’d go apeshit.

“This is larger than I was led to believe.” Ivory fixed her glacial glare on Tank.

Angel bit her lower lip as she flipped through her phone. “I think we underestimated the interest there’d be in a new female hero. And someone went public with the location.”

“It doesn’t matter how many people are here.” Tank moved for the door. “One of us will be with you at all times.”
Any volunteers?
His mental voice spoke only to me.

“Dibs.”
 

Ivory scowled at my corner of the Hummer.
 

“Good.” Tank’s hand rested on the door handle, but he fixed each one of us with a glare. “Happy faces. Let’s give enough of a show that they’re satisfied, but not so much of one that we’re making public apologies tomorrow.”

The crew nodded and mumbled their agreement. I was down, but Ivory was all coiled tension. She was way too tightly corked, and one pushy reporter might be enough to pop her top.

And that, I wanted to watch.

“Let’s roll.” Tank stepped out to a booming chorus of cheers.
 

He offered his arm to Ivory, who sat closest to the door. When she stepped onto the red carpet, the crowd exploded and a growl slipped through my teeth.

Ivory was mine. Tank knew it.
And you’re fucking baiting me, aren’t you?

He heard, but he didn’t respond.
 

So much for my dibs. It had to be another one of his tests. Or punishment for blowing the mission and getting Ivory sucked into our shit. Or maybe because Tank wanted to prove exactly how territorial I was getting.

Fine. Fur rippled along my hands as my claws extended. It wasn’t by my will, but I wanted it. If I had to mark my territory, I could play that game.

The rest of the guys filtered out of the car. Thunder and Angel shot me simultaneous looks of disapproval as they stepped out.

“Don’t make a scene, Pan.” Angel straightened her dress. “You’ll scare her away.” She took Thunder’s arm and moved down the carpet, where everyone was assembling for a group shot.

Alone in the car, I stared at the pack of them as my muscles twitched and my body got ready for the change. There was a sweetness to the ache. It had been a while since my last shift, and Ivory was pushing me over the edge.