Scorpio Sons 1: Colton (7 page)

"You know the little habit I'm developing? Leave off stirring the pot bro or you might have your chance at trying to break it for me," Colt growled, no longer amused by Connor's antics. Alyssa was embarrassed, and his blatant suggestion that they have sex was totally out of line.

As he opened the back door of the limo for her, Colt scowled over at Connor.

"You made your point. I'm duly chastised and in my place. But for fuck sake, just get on with it, boyo. It don't matter what Chase says. You want her, she's yours."

"Chase? Who's Chase?" Her lovely voice floated out to them. Though they had spoken quietly, she'd still heard them. Did that mean her hearing was better than it should be for a human?

He climbed into the limousine and let Connor go around to the other side so they sat on either side of her. How much could they tell her? And how private was the vehicle they travelled in? He wouldn't put it past Akabar to bug the car and her hotel room.

"A friend who heard me talking about you after I saw you on TV," Colt told her as soon as the vehicle was moving.

"He wanted you to stay away from me?"

"No, he just said you were famous and I was nobody. That's all. Now you need to stop talking and let us do our job." He spoke more firmly than he wanted to, but the more he thought about the possibility of eyes and ears on Alyssa, the more certain he was that they were there. How much did Akabar know of their conversation in the hotel room earlier? He'd have heard that they'd met four years ago and it was a coincidence that they met again. Was that enough to get the man suspicious? He didn't want to increase his suspicions by saying anything in the limo that could give them away. This was too important to mismanage because of hormones.

Once they were back at the hotel, Colt made the most of the noise in the foyer to share his suspicions with Connor.

"We need equipment to check for eyes and ears," he said softly as they headed for the elevator.

"My thoughts exactly. I'll get right on it. Packed just what we need in my gym bag."

Colt lifted his eyebrows.

"Don't look so surprised. I came prepared.  Once we've run the check, I'll catch some shut-eye for a while. Just wake me for second shift, okay me boyo?"

"Sure," Colt replied as they entered the car and pressed the button for the sixteenth floor.

Once they were back in Alyssa's room, the uncomfortable silence that had fallen between them since he pretty much told her to shut the hell up became all the more oppressive.

"What is Connor getting?" she asked, obviously trying to build a bridge back between them.

"Tell you in a minute. I'll explain everything in a minute." His words and tone were terse, and he watched her pull back into her shell again, like a frightened tortoise.

When the light knock came at the door, Colt opened it for Connor. While Alyssa watched curiously, Connor ran the detector over every inch of the room, and finished off by doing the bathroom too.

"We were just being paranoid, boyo. Nothing here. I'll check the limo in the morning, though, just to be on the safe side."

CHAPTER SIX

"Check for what?" Alyssa sounded bewildered and annoyed.

Connor shrugged and handed the answer off to Colt as he headed for the door.

When the door closed behind his partner Colt removed his jacket and tie. Once he was more comfortable and less intimidating, he sat Alyssa down on the bed and dropped down onto his knee in front of her. Meshing his gaze with hers, he gently took her hands in his.

He knew he must seem like a psycho the way he changed moods so often and so suddenly. If he could explain a little of it to her, maybe it would ease things between them.

"When we got in the limo I was suddenly concerned we were being monitored. Not by the driver, although that's possible too, but by surveillance equipment. I didn't want to say anything more while there was a possible unwanted listener eavesdropping on us. So I shut you down. I'm sorry for that, but I had to look as if I was doing my job. If Akabar's going to approve me, I have to be seen as professional. Do you understand?" He looked up into her face and realised for the first time that her eyes were every bit as Granny-Smith-apple-green as they'd appeared in the photo, and they had him mesmerised instantly.

"So Connor was checking for bugs in here?" She gasped as the realisation set in.

"Yes. But it's clear. No one has bugged your room, at least."

"Why would anyone do that? None of this makes sense. I'm just a singer. I'm not the sort of person anyone would bug. What would I ever say that was important enough to overhear? That's just crazy!"

But though she wanted to deny it, Colt could see that the idea was not as crazy to her as she said it was.

"Lyss, I know you have no reason to trust me. Not really. But please believe me when I say there's more going on here than you currently understand. How much do you know about your boss? Do you realise he uses a double when he goes out on the town with you?" He lifted her hands to his lips and kissed each one while he waited for her to reply.

"I… I know I don't really know you. I know you're a killer and I shouldn't trust you, even though you've saved me twice. But I do. Something inside me over-rides my good sense and tells me I
can
trust you."

He didn't like that she called him a killer, even if it was the truth. But that wasn't the important part of her declaration. Pressing his cheek to the back of her hands, he closed his eyes. She trusted him. Though her logic told her not to, she did.

"But I signed a confidentiality agreement along with my recording contract. I can't talk to you about Alzhir," she finished off, sounding conflicted. He lifted his gaze to meet hers again and instantly felt the cat rising. Panic had him glancing away while he fought for control.

"I was right!" she said on a gasp, drawing his face back to hers. The cat pressed closer to the surface.

"How do you do that? Your eyes go all golden and the pupils become elongated, like cat eyes. I saw it four years ago, but never told anybody because I knew they wouldn't believe me.
I
didn't believe me. But it's real, isn't it? You're not wearing contacts or anything. They really do change."

"There are things about me that I can't tell you yet. But you don't have anything to fear from me, I promise you that. But I do need you to talk to me about Akabar. He's a bad man." He let her look her fill at his cat eyes. Her fascination, fear and arousal had him fully, painfully erect in seconds.

"I know he is. Or I suspect he is. I've heard him on his cell giving orders that sound a lot like death sentences. He says that he uses his double so his competitors underestimate him, but I think he uses him so he can cover his tracks. Give himself an alibi. Maybe I've watched too much Jason Bourne, but it doesn't feel like it's anything to do with his media business. Do you know his double had to have plastic surgery to make him look just like Alzhir? He's an actor and agreed to have his face changed for a huge fee. But now he's terrified of Alzhir. I know he'd quit if he could."

"If you know all this, why did you sign with him?"

She blushed and looked away, drawing her hands back so she could wring them together in her lap. "I was all starry-eyed when he first approached me. I'd just made it into the top twenty in the contest and I was approached by
Feronic
about a recording contract. Of course I jumped at it. Then Alzhir approached me personally, wanting me to sing for him. I was awestruck. He's the biggest name in the industry and he wanted to hear me sing for him? I was flattered when he seemed so taken with me as a woman, not just a singer. I'm no beauty queen or supermodel. I'll admit he stroked my ego.

"Then he swept me off my feet, taking me for lunch in Mexico in his jet, buying me expensive gifts. But I'd had all that, to a lesser degree, with Jarrod, so I was cautious. But not cautious enough not to sign the contracts. And once I had, I started to see the cracks in his image. He started to let me see them, I think, because he was so certain he controlled me." She looked back at him, worried that he'd judge her.

How could he, when she'd only done what any hungry young artist would have done when offered her dream?

"But I didn't sleep with him. He presses me to, but accepts that I'm…I'm not ready. I thought he might rescind the recording contract when I refused, but he didn't. Maybe it appeals to him that I'm still a virgin. You know; all that old-world stuff about innocence. Maybe he thinks my virginity is a prize worth waiting for. I don't know."

He must have looked shocked because she hunched her shoulders. "What? Did you think I'd slept with him just to get ahead? I'm not one of those wannabes who think there's nothing wrong with sleeping their way to the top."

"No… No. I just didn't think you'd still be a virgin, that's all. You're a pretty girl. There must have been plenty of offers."

She harrumphed and sat further back on the bed, putting distance between them, if only a little. "Why I stay celibate is my business. I'm not some goody-two-shoes, if that's what you think."

"Has it anything to do with that night?" he couldn't stop himself asking. If being nearly raped had frightened her off sex he'd feel partially to blame.

For a moment she looked flustered, but then she lifted her chin and challenged him. "You're pretty good at busting balls yourself. What part of my-virginity-is-my-business don't you get?"

He grinned at her, accepting defeat. "You win. Your reasons are your own. I get it. But what about Alzhir? Now you know not to trust him, will you stay with
Feronic
?"

"I have to. It's an iron-clad contract from my side. He can get out of it anytime he wants, but I can't sign with anyone else for two years. My whole career is in his hands."

"And if he pushes for what he wants from you?"

"I walk away. My career is important. It's everything to me. But I won't prostitute myself even for that."

He stared at her, utterly transfixed. She was so completely different from every woman he'd ever met that he didn't quite know how to behave with her. Her integrity was awe-inspiring. And yet she broke her confidentiality contract by sharing what she knew about Akabar without a moment's real hesitation. Why?

Could it be that she had already trusted him enough to realign her loyalties with his? That thought filled his heart with inexplicable warmth. To distract himself from examining that sensation too closely he changed the subject abruptly.

"Will you sing for me? The song you're going to sing for the contest?"

She edged off the bed and went to the guitar case leaning against the wall. "This is my guitar. It's old and not great, but I feel most comfortable when I play it. They make me use their guitars to perform, but I prefer to write and play for myself on this one."

He reclined on her bed while she set up. It didn't enter his head that his role as bodyguard wouldn't allow him to lounge on her bed. The fact that Alyssa didn't seem to mind only added to the natural ease that had established itself between them in a few short hours.

When she'd finished tuning her instrument she began to play, softly at first, as if worried what he would think. Then, as she forgot he was there and got lost in her music, her playing and voice got louder and more potent.

She sang of lost love. Of the heartbreak of giving her heart to a man she would never see again. When she sang of the darkness around her, he was instantly transported back four years ago. Every word seemed to fit with that night. But surely not. Surely she wasn't singing about him? They'd barely said more than a handful of words to each other. How could she have given him her heart then?

No, he was being arrogant, reading more into it than there was. Maybe she was still virginal because she'd lost this man before Colt met her. Maybe she'd stayed that way because she still grieved for that other man. His jealousy raised its ugly head again.

By the time the last notes faded into silence, he was ready to tear this unknown guy's throat out. How could he have left Lyss like that? Didn't he know what a prize she was? How special she was?

"Well?" she asked, looking up anxiously.

"You're too good for him. Any guy who'd leave someone like you, doesn't deserve you."

She blushed. "He didn't know how I felt about him."

He stared at her intensely, trying to read her meaning from her body as much as her words. She was throwing off waves of arousal now, mixed with fear.

"It wasn't me, was it?" Colt found himself asking, even though he was afraid to hear the answer. If she shut him down for his arrogance, he didn't know if he could handle it.

"It was just a song… We songwriters draw our inspiration from all kinds of experiences."

"That's not an answer."

"All right, yes. I was singing about you. Satisfied? It doesn't mean anything…"

He didn't let her get any further. Moving faster than he should, he drew her up and removed her guitar from her hands. Then he held her shoulders while he did what he'd wanted to do four years ago and every moment since. He kissed her.

At first he kept it tentative; an exploration of lips and breath. As she relaxed in his arms and opened under him, he explored deeper, sending his tongue into her hot mouth to taste her. She moaned and met his tongue with her own.

That was all it took. One moment he was in control, gently feeling his way with her, the next he was all cat, demanding everything. And she gave it, panting and running her hands through his hair, seemingly as overwhelmed as he was.

The kisses became deep and claiming. He thrust into her mouth in the way he wanted to thrust into her core. Madness felt like this.

Her hands left his hair and began tearing at his button-down shirt. Letting go of her shoulders, he made short work of the buttons and pulled the shirt out from his slacks. Her hands claimed his body as if they belonged there. And as her fingers ran over his damp skin, he believed they did.

The kisses became more desperate, panting breaths breaking them apart for only a moment before their lips meshed deeply again. His hands had started to roam her body too, up and down her bare arms, feeling the smooth silkiness of them, the softness of flesh over fragile bone. Then it wasn't enough just to touch. He wanted to taste that skin. He broke from the kiss and began kissing his way down her neck to her shoulder.

"Colt…." Hearing her impassioned voice calling his name racketed up his desire to a whole new level. He felt his incisors lengthen. No… No, that wasn't good. They never came down unless he was preparing to tear out his prey's throat. But before he had a chance to pull back, he bit down on her tender shoulder in the spot where it joined her neck.

Lyss froze beneath him, gasping. A purr issued from her throat, rumbling up from the depths of her chest. Holding her there, he panted, unsure what to do next. His brain had deserted him. He was all feral impulse. Then the taste of her blood hit his system, more intoxicating than the finest liqueur. Lapping at it, he pressed one hand between her legs. The damp heat of her through her jeans made him growl.

She had too many clothes on. He wanted to be skin on skin with her, with nothing between. But he couldn't do that while he held her still, neck arched, poised for something.

Releasing her, he lapped the wound on her neck closed. On a deep sigh, she relaxed and drew back from him, just enough so that he could look into her eyes.

Jeesus!!! They were cat-eyes, metallic-green and unblinking. Any doubt that he still held that she was one of the Sons' mates was gone.

But whatever had turned her eyes cat was frightening her. Or him chewing a chunk out of her shoulder had frightened her. Because she was drawing further away from him. Faster than human speed, she tore over to the mirror on the wall. She cried out in shocked terror as she saw her eyes.

"Wh…What have you done to me?"

He came up behind her and meshed his cat gaze with hers. "I suppose I need to explain…"

"Explain? No, just make it go away!" she demanded, near panic.

"Only you can do that. She's your cat. Has she never come out before?" He knew the answer to that question. Alyssa wouldn't be as freaked out now as she was if it had happened before.