And To Hold: Vampire Assassin League #20 (3 page)

Zach was a bounty hunter/private investigator for a reason. He had gifts. He fit in. No matter what the situation or setting. He was a chameleon. He could change into whatever the circumstances warranted, and he could change right back. Acting a part came easy. That talent had gotten him out of lots of scrapes when he was a teen, and even more since he’d reached adulthood. It was like a sixth sense, buzzing at the back of his ear. Whispering along his neck. Sending urges along his spine and into his legs. He could always count on it.

Except now.

He’d never been as far out of his league as he felt right now.

Time had somehow passed without his knowing. He dogged the woman’s footsteps, spending the first few moments attempting recall. His mind had taken a hike without permission. He didn’t understand and he didn’t like it. His pulse pounded through his temples in a painful staccato beat before he had to let it go. He couldn’t remember what had happened.

Not at the moment, anyway.

Strange thing about minds, however. He’d gleaned that from his dad before the old guy passed on. The mind sucked up information all the time that the consciousness didn’t clear or even notice. If the solution wasn’t where it could be located and checked easily, the best option was to ignore it, trust that it was stowed in the memory banks, and move on. And usually what you needed to recall would just hit.

Boss Lady was taking them back toward the stairwell. She didn’t check if he was following. Fair enough. She really didn’t need to. She had an ass made for following, and he’d slated the bowels of this place for his search for Leroy anyway. He was about two yards behind her, occasionally nearing before consciously backing off, but it took an actual physical effort. There might as well be an invisible rubber band linking them, and the more he stretched it, the more it pulled.

Zach started down the steps after her, his passage making the same echoing sound as before. But something was really weird
.
He concentrated. Fine-tuned his hearing. Her steps were absolutely soundless. Without substance. As if she floated.

He checked.

Nope. She was definitely taking the steps. Nothing about the dress caressing her every move disguised one iota of it.
Whew
. Zach blew a sigh hard enough that air brushed across his eyes. The crotch on these pants wasn’t sewn with much room. Zach adjusted as he walked. He should have worn dress slacks. With pleats. And boxers.

He surreptitiously checked his belongings next. His wallet was still in his left inner jacket pocket. Felt intact. Passport in the right inside pocket. He had some change in a front pocket. Breath mints in the other. A comb in his back pocket. His weapons were gone. He’d surrendered his cuffs, knife, and the stake/arrow thing? Without a fight? Without even knowing?

They reached another landing and another hall, although the steps continued down. Zach sent a glance over the newel post. The steps went at least another level down, but it didn’t look pleasant. Or feel it. They were a lot narrower, too. It probably led to dungeons, not that he had any experience. But the tag just felt right.
Hmm
. This place had at least three stories belowground. One-point-five-million Euros just got a little harder to collect.

She was already walking ahead. Zach jogged to catch up. This hall resembled the one above it, only sounds and smells and sights were emitting from down here. Zach caught the hum of machinery from somewhere far down the corridor. The odor of coal...maybe? Diesel. A hint of wood burning. The area warmed. There was also a glow that probably came off energy consuming machines. No mystery here. A complex this size needed power. They obviously had their own power source and generators. Smart. And efficient. And covert.

This hall might also lead to a garage. And the cars he’d been told this place claimed. He’d need to know that location too, for when he had Leroy.

She stopped suddenly, swiveled, and looked up, regarding him with an enigmatic expression. Everything on his body got hit with a sizeable spark. The sensation was akin to being near a high voltage power line. In a lightning storm. It was enjoyable, too, in an illicit way he wasn’t willing to admit to, although these damn trousers were announcing it. And she just stood there, looking up at him. She had really beautiful, light green eyes. Dark lashes. His heart flipped somehow. He swallowed. His ears popped.

“Did you ask something?” she finally said.

That look of hers was adding to the inquisition. He was having difficulty thinking. Why was he here again? Oh. Yeah. He wasn’t here for a good time. He was here to find someone...a guy named...what was it? Oh. Yeah. Leroy. Zach was here to find a guy named Leroy. Subdue him. Try not to kill him – the Hongs did want him alive, if possible. And then he had to deliver him. One-point-five-million Euros would look pretty good in Zach’s bank account. And the world needed one less shithead.

What had she wanted to know again?

There was the slightest buzz noise running through his brain. Pulsing in time with his heart beat. It wasn’t an ache, but annoying as hell. Her head tipped slightly as she waited. Oh.
Shit
. She might be annoyed. Zach didn’t want that. Not with the view of bosom he was getting, especially as her breathing quickened, matching his somehow. He wanted—

He stopped that train of thought. Swallowed. And resumed his act: Young. Cocky.

“Oh. Hey. You...uh, can call me Zach.”

And then he grinned. Most people said it was his best features. Most female people said it melted reservations and got him whatever he wanted. Boss Lady wasn’t most people. She took her time before anything happened. She didn’t return his smile, either. She simply watched him for uncountable seconds before she nodded. And then she spoke.

“I prefer...Zachariah.”

Holy shit
. His name had never sounded like that before. Boss Lady wielded TNT capabilities with her voice and tone. He was right in her blast path. All of him. No.
Quantifier, Zach
. His dick was right in her firing line, and sending signals with vicious efficiency just about everywhere. This was asinine. Leroy wasn’t his first bounty and this woman wasn’t his first crush. But it was the first time he’d had to actually tense up and fight urges and responses and desires that his brain wasn’t clearing.

Okay.

Somebody said it. It might have been him. He didn’t feel his vocal chords make the word. He was concentrating on other problems. An overdose of testosterone. It added to images of getting naked. With her. And then fused.

“Come along then. We’re almost there.”

Oh no, they weren’t. They hadn’t even started yet.

Damn it, Zach! Down boy.

He was here on a job. With a huge payday. For delivery of Leroy, preferably alive. The Hongs wanted to practice their own kind of vengeance on the guy. Sounded gruesome, but Zach didn’t care, one way or the other. That wasn’t part of the business. Nor was a lovemaking session with Boss Lady. Unless it was inevitable.

That was a nice thought...

No
.

He needed to ditch her, find Leroy, get to the garage, and watch Castle Kraven disappear in the rearview mirror. That was the plan.

She turned and started walking again. Zach followed without thought, the toes of his boots almost touching her hem as it trailed behind her. The corridor got dimmer. Danker. Quieter. Every sixth sense he had went on alert. He could almost feel fingers running up and back down his spine. The hallway ended on another flight of steps rising from the stone floor. This staircase started out wide, but got narrower toward the top. A glance got him a count of ten steps, an iron-studded wood door that would look good in any museum, while the archway was constructed of huge-ass stone blocks. Well. That door didn’t look easy to break through, and the stone was impregnable. If he got locked in with her, he might have a hard time getting back out.

And then she started climbing the steps.

Okay. Regroup, Zach
.

Boss Lady was a world-class beauty. She emitted some kind of aromatic essence that triggered his testosterone into overdrive. And that dress of hers was way too definitive. It clung to her backside like a glove, molding to feminine curves as she climbed. Zach fought the rubber band effect between them as it stretched. The pulling sensation got stronger. Almost physical.

She reached the door, turned the handle, and pushed it open. Pink-toned mist spilled out, enveloping her, turning her dress into so much tissue paper. At least from his viewpoint. And...
wait.

Were those garters on her upper thighs?

Zach’s knees wobbled. He swallowed again.

She might as well have opened a portal to a fancy European dance floor, complete with flickering lights and dry-ice fog. No.
Wait
. It was actually closer to a classic rock music video, designed to scare and titillate. It was doing both to Zach. Every cell was sounding an alarm, before getting smacked down by something bigger. Unbelievable. Vast. And wild.

The pink smoke rolled down the stairs, engulfing his lower body, tying him closer to her, and adding another layer to this vision. The mist should have chilled. Dampened. Raised goose bumps. It did neither. It was akin to being wrapped in a downy essence. Warm. Soft. The rubber-band sensation grew stronger. Harder to fight.

She looked over her shoulder and down at him, and
damn!
A perfectly groomed dark eyebrow rose next. There was the slightest smile on her mouth. That expression of hers had one hell of an impact. Zach’s heart dropped and his breath caught.

“You coming?” she asked.

“Not yet,” he replied, and bounded up the stairs.

Oh.

Shit.

He didn’t mean that the way it sounded.

Oh yes, he did.

No. He didn’t have time for this kind of thing.

Oh yes, you do, Zach
.

The door shut behind him of its own accord. He didn’t look to see how. He’d worry about that later. When he went hunting for Leroy. After he latched onto Boss Lady’s mouth, tasted her lips. And then trailed his kiss down her throat toward that perfect cleavage—

No
. What the hell was he thinking? He was not here for pleasure.

Zach shook his head. It didn’t help. It just added a ringing noise to the buzz until he stopped. He narrowed his eyes and looked around. It was impossible to measure dimensions in the room. It was large. Dark loomed from every corner, the floor, the ceiling. Yet, despite the cavernous feel, it was intimate. Pinkish fog obscured the floor and walls. Diaphanous drapery, in the same rose hues, trailed from everywhere, wafting with every movement as if they had life. And at the center of this dreamscape was a bed. An enormous one. Set atop a platform, making it appear even larger. The light came from candles. Hundreds of them. They flickered from behind the curtains and mist stuff, roughly at his eye level. They sent light slithering through the area, highlighting gauzy drapery...and that bed.

Oh man. Oh man. He was in trouble.

But trouble had never looked so good.

Zach’s dick was fully involved and ready. His jacket wasn’t quite long enough to hide that fact, and Boss Lady skimmed a hand along the footboard as she watched him, while her eyes glowed like jewels.

“Well? What are you waiting for, Zachariah?”

“Uh. I’m...not sure.” He wasn’t either. He should be up there, latched onto that mouth and finding out what a kiss felt like, not just wondering over it. “Aren’t we...um. Shouldn’t we...be doing some bargaining about now? Throw out some prices? I mean, I brought a lot with me, but...”

He left it unfinished. She smiled slightly.

“You look like you’re good for it,” she replied.

Zach flushed. Bad move. That bit of physiology was a major violation when working undercover. Never give anything away, even subconsciously. And she did not mean that the way it sounded. She couldn’t. He opened his mouth and started talking again. “Yeah. You’re right. And I’ve got access to more funds if I fall short. So...maybe we should discuss the program? Decide on any uh...inclusionary options? I mean...um. I’m game.”

“I am about to fulfill your fantasy, Zachariah.”

Sweet!

Oh. Wait a minute. He had a fantasy? And she knew what it was? What the hell was going on?

“Uh...you are?” he asked.

“Oh. Yes.”

Each word sent a jolt through him. He almost jumped. “Okay. Like I said, I’m game. Um...exactly what is my fantasy?”

“Bondage.”

“Bondage,” he repeated. It should have been questioned. It wasn’t. And that was even weirder. He’d never considered tying his sexual partner. Although having her naked and in his control had definite potential. Was that his fantasy? No. Couldn’t be. Somebody else was having this conversation. Or he was dreaming. That must be it. Nothing else made sense.

“You brought handcuffs to my establishment, Zachariah. Handcuffs.”

Oh.
Shit.
She knew about those?

Okay.

The dream scenario went out the window. But now he had less data to work with, while she seemed to have all of it. This was the
Madame.
Nobody got to play with the Boss Lady in one of these places. Or, if they did, there was a reason.
Think, Zach
. What could she want? Robbery was out of the question. She didn’t need money. Desperation was a total dead-end. This woman could have anyone. She was megawatt beautiful. Oozed sex appeal. Had a body beyond imagination. Eyes that riveted, and then possessed. Every word came with a slightly foreign enunciation that might as well be speaking to his dick. And he wasn’t dreaming?

Zach took a breath. Held it. Closed his eyes. Focused until he could hear his blood pulsing through his ears. Twisted his lips. Counted to at least forty. Exhaled. And then he opened his eyes to look back at her. Nope. He wasn’t dreaming.