Authors: Hot Vampire Seduction
“That won’t do anything but create more panic.”
“We all need to be panicked,” she argued, rounding the desk, as if she felt the need to be closer, to make her case more urgent. “We have a serial killer on the loose. Something has to be done.” He studied her a moment, thinking of the research he’d done on her, of her reputation of dogmatically taking on cases until they were solved. She’d gone so far as to dive into what would be police work, risking any danger to herself for her personal involvement. He didn’t want her outside of this lab, in the sights of a hungry monster who’d make this her last investigation.
He grabbed one of her business cards and a pen, then scribbled his number on it, and took her hand in his.
It was small and soft, but he knew that while her body might be feminine and delicate, her spirit was not.
“Call me before you act on any lead you might discover,” he said softly, sending her a mental compulsion. “I’ll make sure it gets followed up on, for you.”
“Yes,” she said, blinking up at him, those gorgeous hazel eyes melting into his. “Yes, okay.” He released her mind and she blinked again, her gaze lowering to their joined hands, then lifting to his.
Electricity sparked between them, wicked hot, and unexpected when really, it shouldn’t have been. His attraction to this woman was red hot, instant and unwelcomed.
Aiden let go of her hand and took a step backwards, feeling the burn of the past in his undeniable connection he shared with this woman. A connection that reached far beyond his body humming with desire to strip her naked and have his way with her. No, the desire was a product of chemistry, of interest, of that intrigue he’d felt with her
He wasn’t a hard learner. He wasn’t a man to relive mistakes, repeating bad history. That’s exactly why he never, ever, allowed himself a personal connection to a human. He’d done it once thirty years before and Darla had ended up dead, just like his parents and younger sister. It was enough to watch out for his Warden brothers and now his eldest brother’s newly turned wife, Marissa, who’d all but died after a werewolf attack.
“I’ll get this monster, Kelly,” he vowed. “You have my word.” He didn’t wait for a reply. He turned and headed for the doorway, putting as much distance between himself and the temptation of Kelly as he could find.
Two days after meeting Aiden Brooks, Kelly sat at her desk, her files open, her hand on the card he’d scribbled his name and number on. Again. She kept radiating to that card and she didn’t know why. She wasn’t one to get distracted by a man – well – not since college when she’d almost flunked a semester of school over the hot older boy in her biology class, and then found him in bed with her “best” friend.
Distraction and slipping grades had come next, followed by the wrath of her parents. The joy of being an only child was that you got all the love of your parents, but in turn, all the wrath as well.
A decade later, Kelly sometimes wondered if that experience had scarred her for life, because she sure hadn’t found a man to distract her beyond a few dates when work always became more important. Until now, until Mr. Tall, Dark, and Dangerously Sexy had walked into her lab, and left her in a warm puddle of lust, she’d yet to shake.
She picked up the card, trying to figure out why this man, verses others, affected her so. Why she had him on her mind when she was at work at eight o’clock at night. Maybe, because he’d seemed as passionate about catching this ‘monster’ as he’d called the killer, as she was. Her mind, however, gladly supplied the image of a hard body and a strong face, as if that explained it all. It didn’t. It was his eyes, she thought -
those mysterious black eyes, so unlike any she’d ever seen. When he’d looked at her, she’d felt something stark and raw in him. Something dark and dangerous, but not frightening. He was too beautiful to be frightening, despite his massive size. She almost laughed at herself for such a silly thought. Wasn’t Jack the Ripper suppose to have been a gorgeous man? Or maybe that was Jeffrey Dahmer.
A sound in the lab, just outside her office, snapped her attention to the doorway. Her body tensing, nerves pricking with unease. The timing was really crummy, considering her serial killer thoughts, no doubt, and she told herself to calm down, but no such luck when her mind was racing with possibilities, all more monster ridden than not. She’d locked up hours ago, so there was no one but Jed, the aging, but effective, security guard who could be here and she’d known him for years. He’d call her, or knock, before entering.
“Hello?” she shouted, her hand sliding to her cell phone a moment before she realized she’d not only dialed Aiden’s number, but somehow had it memorized. She knew that was odd, but she didn’t care. Not right now. She was about to hit ‘send’ and call him when the newest member of the Austin Homicide division, Detective Derek Wright, appeared in her doorway.
“You really should lock up when you work late,” he said, leaning a broad shoulder on the frame and looking like Mr. American with his neatly trimmed blond hair and blue eyes, rather than someone she should fear. So why did the hot looking crime fighter make her uneasy and not just right now, but every single one of the half dozen times she’d met the man?
“I did lock up,” she said. “So I’m guessing you flashed your badge at poor Jed and intimidated him into letting you walk right in without calling me first.”
“Jed was asleep,” he told her. “Not what I call protection, especially not when you’re doing valuable research on a serial killer.” His voice lowered. “You fit the profile of the victims far too well to be this exposed. Not only are you a young, beautiful female, but you’re directly in the path of the killer.” A shiver of warning sizzled a path down her spine, the compliment sliding past her, while the threat of danger did not. “I’m ten years older than the victims.”
“But you don’t look your age and you’re every bit as pretty as they were. Even more so, you are just as much in his path as they were, if not more so. You are the woman trying to put him behind bars.” Her hand went to her cell phone again, instinct telling her to call Adian – a stranger – when there was a detective standing in front of her. It made no sense.
“Which is why I called and arranged to have a patrolman placed at the facility until this is over, starting tomorrow.”
Surprise rushed through her. “Oh. Well. Yes. Thank you.” She let go of her cell phone. She felt silly for her paranoia. “This case is making me a little crazy I think. Extra security will be comforting.”
“It’s making us all a little crazy. But we might have a break.” He pushed off the doorframe and sauntered to her visitor’s chair, perching on the arm. “I came by to grab the toxicology reports on the recent victim for the FBI lab. They want to analyze it first thing in the morning.”
“They called me,” she said. “I’m faxing the paperwork tomorrow.”
“I’ll take them myself,” he said. “One of their people is meeting me tonight to discuss a lead. He wants me to bring the results.”
“What kind of lead?”
“A highly sought after drug called “Blood Red” because it apparently looks like blood. It has an aphrodisiac quality that supposedly makes ecstasy feel like Kool-aid.”
“You think it’s the drug the victims have been positive for,” she said, reading the unspoken between the lines.
“We don’t know,” he said, “but we’ve linked all six of the victims to one of three clubs.” He laughed without humor. “And get this. The names are from those teen Vampire movies – Twilight, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn.”
“You’re kidding me,” she said incredulously, her stomach rolling. The lost blood, the vampire connection. There was something very sick going on.
“No I’m not,” he said. “Someone thinks their funny and they’re not. Anyway, we’re on it. We’re working on getting to a dealer and getting a sample.”
“The victims were all found at different locations when they died,” she said, not getting the connection.
“And I would have remembered those club names if I’d seen them.”
“They weren’t at any of these clubs the night they died, but they were there sometime in the months before their deaths.”
She pushed to her feet, her adrenaline pumping. “Then I need a sample of that drug. These victims were all blood deficient in a way that’s well, impossible. If this is the substance the victims were positive for, I need to figure out how it drained them of their blood, before it’s more widely used.”
“Your job stops with the reports,” he said. “The Austin PD and the FBI will take it from there. We just need to get the FBI lab anything and everything that might help speed up the investigation.” He was right, so why did this feel so wrong? “I don’t have the reports. There’s a chain-of-custody and signatures that have to be obtained. They’re in process and out of my reach. You’ll have to wait until morning.”
He studied her a moment. “You have to have copies in your files. Screw the chain-of-command. Lives are on the line. Six women are dead.”
“I know that,” she snapped, seeing their faces flash through her mind’s eye. “I can’t sleep for fear of there being a seventh.”
“Believe me, I know what it’s like to lay in the bed and think of those six women. I remember every single detail of their deaths. We have an undercover female detective working the club we’ve identified as the hot spot. And since we both know the FBI lab is far more equipped to deal with the unknown than you are, we need them to look at the most recent reports and figure out exactly what we’re dealing with. We can’t afford to lose a minute once we get a sample. We don’t want a seventh victim.” She considered him as he had her. She hated losing control, not getting that sample herself, but what was most important was solving this mystery before anyone else got hurt. A few hours could mean another life. She hesitated and then grabbed the file on her desk, pulling out a carbon copy of the master testing she’d done. “You didn’t get this from me.”
He reached for the paperwork over the top of her desk. “Your secret is safe with me, Kelly.” His eyes held hers and a shiver raced up and down her spine, for a reason, she couldn’t explain, before he offered,
“Why don’t I walk you to your car? You need to get out of here.” She shook her head. “No. I have work to do. I’ll have Jed walk me out.” He arched a brow. “Jed isn’t protection.” He grabbed his cell phone and made a call, then hung up.
“There will be an officer on sight in ten minutes. Make sure you call the security post when you leave.”
“Okay,” she said. “Thank you.” She watched him leave, wondering why she felt uncomfortable rather than appreciative. She sat down at her desk and picked up Aiden’s card. He’d wanted her to call him if she had a lead she was following up on. She had a lead, or rather leads, the name of the bars. She was supposed to call him so he could follow up. Her hand went to her phone, to the numbers she’d dialed a few minutes before, the compulsion to call Aiden was powerful. But why? She didn’t know Aiden. She didn’t know if she could trust him. She sat the phone down, her hand shaking with the effort. Good gosh, what was wrong with her? What was it about Aiden that had her so attached to him?
***
An hour later, dressed in a slim black skirt that hit mid thigh, and a siren red silk sleeveless blouse, with a deep V cut tank, Kelly pulled her Ford Fusion to a stop at a parking meter a block from Austin’s downtown party scene that included the 5th street Warehouse District and the 6th street party District.
She’d realized that Derek had been right back at her lab. She did, indeed, fit the killer’s victim profile, outside of her age of course, and Kelly knew she could dress younger, play the part of a college kid. She was going to those clubs and she was going to get a sample of Blood Red before someone else died.
She picked up her phone from the seat beside her and sighed. She didn’t know why she was doing it, but she punched the button she’d programmed with Aiden’s number. It was as if she couldn’t help herself. He wanted her to call, so she was. Still, listening to the rings, her heart pounded in anticipatory dread. She didn’t even know what she was going to say if he answered. He didn’t. His voice mail picked up. This is Aiden. Leave a message.
Her heart jumped to her throat, but somehow she managed to find a voice. “Aiden, ah, ‘hi’. This is Kelly from – well, this is Kelly. I found out about several bars where there’s a drug called Blood Red being sold. Anyway, since you’re not available I’ll follow up on the lead myself. So well, thanks. Bye.” She started to hang up and hesitated, again feeling compelled, or maybe just afraid enough, to say more. “I’m at the bar called ’Twilight’ on 5th street.” She hung up, shoved the phone into her mini purse, then slid it over her neck and shoulder. Not giving herself time to chicken out, she shoved open her car door, got out, and fed coins to the meter. As intimidating as the idea was, Kelly was going to Twilight, and if it didn’t deliver her a drug dealer, she’d try Eclipse and Breaking Dawn.
She started walking.
“I want a name,” Aiden growled through extended fangs, shoving a lowlife vampire that was a hair away from bloodlust, if not already there, against the wall of a downtown Austin alley. The vamp was a kid, barely twenty-five years converted, drinking as much blood daily as he needed to survive an entire month.
Hungering for the rush, the added speed and strength of an elder, and too stupid to see what was wrong with what he’d become - no longer human or vampire, but monster. “Who killed those women?”
“Even if I knew,” the kid snarled. “I wouldn’t tell a scumbag Warden.”
“Was it you?” Aiden demanded, pulling a copper blade and pressing it to the vamp’s throat.
“I’m not stupid enough to kill my food.”
Suddenly someone grabbed Aiden from behind, fangs biting down on his shoulder. Aiden cursed and flung the second vamp he’d not been aware of, but in the process he let go of his grip on the one he’d been holding. The punk rocker vamp went for a knife. At the same moment, Aiden flung his blade into the kid’s chest, a direct hit to his heart. The vamp dissolved instantly into dust, a side effect of the bloodlust mixed with the poison of copper.