“And primitive males.” I traced the length of him with my tongue. He lifted me and held me against him for a moment before he set me on my feet. I wobbled, then grabbed his hair as he kissed a path down my stomach to the curls between my legs.
“But you're a modern woman.” He pushed me back onto the bed and spread my legs. “You love those television shows.”
“H.B.Oooh.” One of his clever fingers had found my hot button.
“I've never understood why you would be content to watch actors pretending to have sex when you can be”âhe lifted my hips and pushed into meâ“participating.”
“Yes.” I grabbed his buttocks, holding him close. He was right. To hell with modern anything. This, this was what I wanted, had always wanted. To be his, to feel the pressure of him touching me so deeply, I could hardly breathe.
Orgasm number one thundered through me and I knew the best was yet to come. It always happened like this between us. I dug my nails into his shoulders when he stroked me and, oh God, tasted me with his fangs. I think I blacked out and probably screamed. By the time he thrust into me, shouting my name, I was definitely participating.
I woke up alone unless you counted Valdez curled up on the foot of the bed. There was a note. Jerry had obviously left before dawn.
If you need me, call me. Jeremiah.
I indulged in a few tears. Okay, so I'd earned them. His note, while brief, meant he trusted me to handle Ryan on my own. This felt like a breakthrough. We'd been so close, and not just physically connected. For the first time in almost forever I couldn't work up a hate for being Jerry's “woman.”
“I got my orders, Blondie. Tonight, that Ryan gives you grief and he's dog chow.”
Well, hell. So much for Jerry's trust. As long as his righthand dog stuck to me like glue, I'd never be truly independent. I sat up and wiped my eyes.
“And if I tell you to back off and let me handle Ryan?”
Valdez jumped off the bed and stretched, then trotted up to nudge my hand with his cold nose.
“Handle him, Blondie. Rip him a new one. Whatever. But he tries to hurt you and all bets are off.”
I sighed and stroked Valdez's head. “This is going to break Lacy's heart.”
Valdez snorted.
“Tough. Cat lady is the one who got you to hire the creep.”
“Ryan had us all fooled, Valdez.” I tugged on his ear. “Even you, my friend. Even you.”
I heard the key in the lock and took a deep breath. I'd given Lacy a new key before I'd come down to the shop. I didn't think Ryan was dangerous, but I had on my Kevlar, under my sweatshirt, just in case. If he worked for Westwood, he had to know I was vampire. He'd be stupid not to carry a stake around in case of emergencies. Like if I was suddenly overcome by blood lust and drank him dry.
Not a bad thought. I was furious that he'd used Lacy to get to me. She didn't deserve that kind of betrayal and, damn it, neither did I. At least I knew we'd found the only two bugs in the shop thanks to Jerry's security expert.
“See? She's here waiting for us.” Lacy's smile looked like a death mask. Ryan didn't notice. He glanced around the store and again I noticed that he was uneasy being around me. A little part of me had hoped I had this all wrong, for Lacy's sake. Oh, well, she'd had centuries of love experience. This was surely not the first time she'd been deceived.
Her eyes met mine. If she'd been betrayed this time, she was making damn sure it wouldn't happen again.
“Hi, you two. I've got the checks in the storeroom. Come on back.” I'd set up the area carefully. I didn't want us to be visible from the street, so I'd put a couple of chairs in the storeroom. Valdez was lying across the back door and I gave him a thumb's up as I led the way.
“I thought you paid on the first. That's not until Wednesday. ” Ryan smiled. “Of course I can always use the cash.”
“Can you?” Lacy slammed the storeroom door and locked it. “You seem pretty flush to me.”
“What's going on?” Ryan backed away from her until he bumped into a chair. He held on to it.
I didn't blame him. Lacy mad was a sight to see. She wasn't in cat form, but I swear her eyes glowed and her hair almost stood on end. Even her nails seemed to grow longer.
“Glory and I have a little problem, Ryan. You.” Lacy pushed him into the chair, but he popped right back up.
“Hey, watch it. This is a new suit.” The jerk actually stroked the front of his black jacket. “New to me, anyway. Brooks Brothers. Can you believe it? Nine dollars and ninety nine cents at the Salvation Army store.”
“Pay attention, Ryan.” I put my hands on his shoulders and shoved him down in the chair again. I kept them there and felt him go rigid. Click. He was finally getting that he was in deep shit here.
“What did I do?” He looked at me, then Lacy. “Come on, baby. I told you I didn't mean to be late. My dad caught me on the phone just as I was leaving. The usual lecture on keeping up my grades.”
“Your dad on the phone or Brent Westwood?” Lacy's smile had all the charm of a lion contemplating a late night supper.
“Westwood?” Ryan tried to jump up, but I held him in place. He was no match for vamp power, especially when I was steaming. “I don't know what the hell you're talking about.”
“Sure, you do. Played with any bugs lately?”
“I still don't know what you're talking about. Let me go, Glory.” Ryan struggled against my hands, his face red. “Lacy, sweetie. You know me better than this.”
Lacy snatched his glasses off his face. “Do I? I'm about to find out.”
“No!” He made a grab for the glasses but Lacy stepped back and held them out of reach. “I can't see. You know that.” He tried to pry my hands off his shoulders, then kicked, connecting with my shin.
“Damn it!” I'd had enough. I stared into his eyes. In seconds, he was still, unable to resist the whammy. And I could read his mind. So could Lacy. I could see from her stricken expression.
“Say your thoughts out loud, Ryan,” I ordered. I knew this was harder for Lacy to hear than it was for me, but we'd deal with it together. I was fighting for my life and the lives of my friends against Westwood. We could lick our wounds later.
“Lick
our
wounds?” Lacy hissed and looked at me with narrowed eyes.
“Sorry.” I really could use some sensitivity training. My wounds were nothing compared to Lacy's. I'd liked Ryan, she'd actually thought she was in love with him.
Ryan chose that opportune moment to blurt out his thoughts. “Oh, God! Oh, God! Got to get out of here before the blood sucker takes me out. Not worth it for a little nookie. Lacy's got to be a freak too, hanging around with vampires.”
“A freak?” Lacy wiped at her eyes. “I'll show you freak. I've had better sex withâ”
“Too much information, Lacy.” I held up my hand. “What about the glasses?”
Lacy made a face and looked through them. “Why don't I rip them apart?”
“Hold it! Let me see those.” I took them and held them up to my eyes. Clear if a little distorted. Like everything wasn't quite right. It was a miracle Ryan could walk around in them. I examined the ear pieces. There'd been a show just last week on the Discovery Channel about surveillance equipment. And I was holding one clever piece of it.
“Sorry, Lacy. As Valdez would say, this guy's a Grade A asshole.”
“What is it, Blondie?”
Valdez got up and nudged my hip.
“His glasses must be the same kind Westwood uses. To protect him from the vamp whammy. But the worst part . . .” I aimed the glasses at Lacy. “There's camera equipment in the earpieces. Video and audio, I'm sure. The signal's being sent to another location.” I put my hand on Lacy's shoulder. “Smile, you're on Candid Camera.”
Lacy gasped and looked at them in horror. Then at Ryan. Horror became hate. “You bastard! You've been recording every moment we've been together. Sometimes you even kept them on in bed.”
Ryan just stared into space, but his brain was busy and, per my orders, he was still saying his thoughts out loud. “Got my glasses. Now I'm toast. I shoulda brought my stake with me, but it made a bulge in my new suit. All Dad's fault. He never should have ordered suits from a country he couldn't spell. Velcro instead of zippers. No guy's going to wear a suit with a Velcro fly. Ten million bucks down the crapper and Westwood holds the paper. Had to do this to wipe out the debt so we can start over. Promised me. At least I get to keep the sex videos. Planted a camera with a view of her bed. I'm a love machine and Lacy's skinny butt can sure moveâ”
Lacy hauled off and slapped Ryan. His head snapped back, but he didn't try to get away. I had too strong a hold on his mind for that. But he was thinking . . .
“Help. Help. Help. Help. Glory's gonna bite me and suck me dry. Westwood's creepy. Obsessed with vampires. Now I'm screwed.”
“Is someone watching the tape right now, Ryan? Will someone try to come save you?” I glanced at the back door, securely locked but an army with a battering ram could take it down, no problem. Valdez jumped up, suddenly on high alert.
“No. I'm a dead man.” Ryan closed his eyes.
I put my hand under his chin. “Look at me, Ryan. You won't die if you tell me about spying for Westwood.”
His eyes popped open. “Spying. Right. Tapes. Video feed goes to my setup in the trunk of my car. Go through the tapes later, keep what I want and then e-mail Westwood anything to do with vampires. Wants to take out more vampires. Like . . . you. We checked you out with the vamp detector. Lacy's okay, Derek's not.” He closed his eyes again and tears leaked out. “Don't kill me. Please don't kill me.”
I'd almost feel sorry for him if he hadn't used Lacy like he had. He was right that I could bite him and suck him dry. Tempting. I'd squeezed his chin until you could see my fingerprints on his skin. To hell with it. I let him go and stepped back. It would be way too easy to just rip him apart. I could smell his blood pumping through his veins. He was young, healthy, but damned ordinary, O positive. I took another step back.
“Isn't Ryan just a friggin' techno genius?” Lacy turned her back on him. “I can't believe I was so gullible. I practically forced you to hire him, Glory. But he seemed perfect.”
“Don't blame yourself, Lacy.” I put a hand on her back. “Obviously the whole deal was a set up. Ryan was clever. Believable. And he
is
a good salesman.”
“What happens now, Blondie? You want me to take him out? Or do you want to do the honors?”
Valdez looked like he really wanted to sharpen his teeth on this well-dressed loser.
“No one's taking anyone out.” I glanced at Lacy. She was nodding, like, sure, Valdez, tear him limb from limb.
“Ryan, where are the videos of you and Lacy in bed?” I grabbed his chin again and he opened his eyes.
“My place. Downloaded into my computer. Gonna start a web site. Lovemachine dot com.”
“Please drain him dry.” Lacy looked ready to explode. She picked up a chair. “Or let me pound him to a pulp.”
“No.” I grabbed the chair after a little struggle. “Think of the fallout.”
“Like me on the Internet doing the wild thing with this dickhead?” She wiped her eyes. “Hey, asshole, you got backup copies of those videos anywhere?” Lacy was nothing if not quick on the uptake, though she obviously was disappointed not to be able to do more violence.
“Laptop too. In case desktop crashes. Don't want to lose them. I was pretty spectacular. Made you screamâ” Ryan got another right to the jaw and slumped over this time.
“I bet that felt good.” I put my arm around Lacy. “You got a key to his place?”
“It's in his pocket.” Lacy shoved her hand into his pants pocket and pulled out a key ring. “I'll go through his car and take everything in the trunk. Then I'll leave the keys in the ignition. It'd be a shame if someone stole that beater.”
“Right. Just take his apartment key off the ring.”
“Will do.” Now that Lacy was a woman with a mission, she'd lost her defeated look and had fire in her eyes.
Immortals are resilient. We have to be. 'Cause you know there
will
be a tomorrow. Might as well make the best of it. “You'll take care of his computers? Both of them?”
“Sure. I know a nice spot on Lake Travis where I can send everything Ryan treasures to hell.” She smirked and I had the feeling more than computers were going to a watery grave.
“Good. I'm going to wipe this night from his mind and plant the suggestion that he can't work for Westwood anymore. That he lost his special glasses and there's no such thing as vampires anyway. Plus he has to drop out of school and go home to Houston tonight.”
“You're letting him off easy, Blondie.”
Valdez grabbed the sleeve of Ryan's Brooks Brothers coat and tugged. The rip made Lacy and me smile.
“He's going to be very sad about that.” I rubbed the dog's ears. “Get the pants too.”
“My pleasure.”
Valdez shredded the knees of those elegant trousers, then sat back to admire his work.
“I'd lift my leg on him, but I don't want to mess up your shop.”
“It would almost be worth it.” I sat on the table. Damn but I hate being a sucker. Why hadn't I questioned the fact that the perfect clerk had appeared the day I needed him?
“I'm leaving now. You're going to keep Ryan here until I call with the all clear, aren't you?” Lacy's hands were still fisted. “Maybe I should hit him again.”