Enemy Mine (9 page)

“Johnny,” she breathed. “You found me.” Running her hands up his chest, standing on her toes, Selena pressed intimately against him. He stiffened as warning bells sounded. What the hell was her game? Why all sweet and sexy when they both knew what kind of woman she really was? Her tits drilled into his chest, her hips into his hard-on. He resisted her lure. And the way her curves pressed tormentingly into his skin, lighting him on fire.

“Johnny’s dead,” he ground out. “You killed him.” He felt her heart stutter a beat.

He could hear the fast rush of her blood as it pumped frantically through her body. His own heart thudded wildly in his chest. His hands twitched. Here she was, in his arms, when all this time he’d thought he had killed her. He didn’t know how to process any of it—laugh, cry, or tear her apart. The anger was easier to deal with. It kept him from doing something stupid.

Her big eyes stared back at him in an odd sense of wonder. She didn’t argue or defend herself, just took his rage as if she knew she had it coming. Of course she did!

She’d murdered his daughter! She had it coming and then some.

Her lover shoved his way back up the stairway toward them. Nikko pushed Selena behind his back and faced the murderous man.
“La señorita no te quieres,”
he said.

The woman does not want you. The man’s eyes blazed furiously.

“Armadeo,” Selena said, stepping from behind Nikko. “I have a bit of unexpected business to attend to.”

“I’m your only business tonight.” Armadeo snapped his fingers and pointed to the spot next to him. “You, here, now.”

Selena laughed low, the sound seductive. “Oh, Madeo, now you push too far. I choose who I conduct business with and when, not the other way around.” Her gaze hardened. “Now, agree to my terms or we are concluded for the evening.”

His face contorted in rage, but he said, “Five minutes.”

“You will not regret it,” Selena said, and strode away from them both.

Nikko went after her. Catching up to Selena, he grabbed her wrist. Once again, the contact was electric. He gritted his teeth, afraid he might not be able to control what he wanted to do to her before he got the answers he’d come for. “Somewhere private,” he growled, releasing her. Contact only instigated his bloodlust.

She calmly contemplated his order with hooded eyes, then turned and led him to a door behind the DJ booth. As she closed it behind them, she pressed a hidden button beside the doorjamb. A door slid open on the adjacent wall, leading to a stairway. Selena preceded him. Warily, he followed her to the third floor, not once taking his eyes off the subtle sway of her hips. But it was her scent that drew him like a lovesick teenager.

Jesus
. Her fucking scent. A siren’s call. It clamped unrelentingly around his head and his cock. As they topped the stairwell, she opened a door to a small vestibule from which another door opened into a large octagonal shaped anteroom.

“My office,” she said, extending her hand to a single-panel black door at the other end.

Nikko was stretched as tight as he could go without snapping. His human part and the vampire blood wanted the same thing: primal satisfaction. He followed Selena into the office and slammed the door shut behind them. Startled, Selena whirled around and faced him.

Her stormy dark eyes stared up at him in shock, and something else. She was in as much turmoil as he. But she was not afraid of him. And that pissed him off. She should be. “Why didn’t
you
die, damn it!”

“Johnny,” she said, her voice clogged with emotion.

“Don’t fucking
Johnny
me! You killed my daughter!”

“No,” she gasped. “I—”

“
Don’t
lie to me.” He yanked her to him, wanting to ease his pain by hurting her. His lips swooped down on hers, gnashing teeth against teeth. And she took it. Her scent intensified with her body heat. “Bitch,” he hissed, and bit her bottom lip. The taste of her blood incited his raging libido to terrifying heights. He ripped her dress down to her waist. Her smooth caramel-colored breasts popped out, the dark areolas pebbled, her nipples so hard they looked like little beads. Voraciously, Nikko laved one, then sucked it against the roof of his mouth. Selena gasped. Grasping his shoulders, she arched into him.

Her response only added fuel to his fury. What was her game? Did she think all was forgiven? He growled, pushing her against the edge of her desk. “Why did you let me think I killed you?” he demanded, shaking her. At her failure to respond, he clamped both hands around her neck. “I hated myself for what I did to you. I hated that I killed you!” His thumbs rubbed up and down her throat. “I loved you!” he shouted, tightening his grip. “You destroyed it.”

Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. God! He wanted the pain to end! But he would not be like her again and kill the thing he loved above all others. And God help him, he still loved her.

“Johnny,” she rasped, placing her hands on his.

“Don’t,” he roughly said. “Don’t try to justify any of it.” His hands slid from her neck to her breasts. He cupped them tightly before he slid his hands to her waist. He yanked her against him, so that her legs straddled his thigh. Her dark eyes sparkled and her full, red lips parted expectantly. Her nostrils flared, her instincts dead to rights. He was the predator, she the prey. Her heart beat like a thousand drums against his chest. He did not have to like her to want her. He did not have to forgive her either. His blood scorched his veins. Every cell burned for her.

He could take her, right this moment, and she would not stop him. He slid a hand up the curve of her back to her shoulders and into her scalp. He fisted a hank of her hair and pulled her head back so that her body arched into him, her tantalizing breasts smashed against him, her long, smooth neck fully exposed.

“You have created a monster, Selena,” he breathed as he lowered his lips to her jugular. “A monster with an insatiable appetite for you.”

He laved his teeth down the thick artery, drawing blood. Selena trembled in his arms, but she did not fight him. Indeed, her skin warmed and her sex scent blossomed. His eyes widened in surprise. The taste of her was like a shot of adrenaline. He pressed his lips to the bite and took more.

Lightning flashed in his head, his heart, his dick. Nikko closed his eyes and experienced a sublimity he could not describe. Her blood infused him with power, energy, and a hunger so ravenous he feared he would lose all control.

“You no longer have control over me, Johnny,” Selena breathlessly said.

He laughed softly against her sultry skin. “I have control over your body.” He thumbed a hard nipple. Her back arched to breaking. He pressed his thigh more firmly between her thighs and rubbed. She moaned. “You’re wet for me.”

She dug her nails into his shoulders. Nikko closed his eyes and slowly counted to ten. He wanted her on her back and him buried inside her to the root. But he knew if he went there, he’d be back for more—

He licked the wounds he had inflicted, the vampire wanting more blood, the human fighting hard to resist. She shivered and moaned. He cupped her bare breasts, his dick so damn hard for her he was on the verge of giving them both what they wanted.

“What were you doing in Kyrgyzstan?” he demanded against her throat.

“Visiting relatives,” she breathlessly answered.

“Liar.” He nipped her neck and squeezed her breasts just short of hurting her.

She moaned, arching against him.

“What did you inject me with?”

“I didn’t inject you with anything,” she rasped.

Nikko yanked her hard against his erection and stared her straight in the eye. “Tell me what I want to know, or so help me God, Selena, I’m going to fuck the answers out of you.”

Her lush lips parted. The tip of her tongue licked her top lip. Every ounce of blood in his body shot straight to his dick. “I dare you to try.”

It took every bit of willpower Nikko possessed not to throw her across her desk and take what he wanted from her. With more than a little regret, he released her and stepped back. “I’m not here to play games with you, Selena. I came for answers. I’m not leaving without them.”

She pulled the torn fabric of her dress up and hopped off the edge of her desk. “Then make yourself at home—you’re going to be here awhile.”

He grabbed her arm as she moved past him and pulled her around to face him. “Really, Selena? Is that how it’s going to be? You fuck up my life and go on your merry way, I miraculously come back, and you can’t give me the fucking time of day?”

She yanked her arm from his grasp. “I’ve moved on, Johnny. You should try it.”

He clenched his jaw. “I have. Now answer me. Why were you in Kyrgyzstan? How are you affiliated with Roberto Balderama, and what the hell did you inject me with?”

Selena let out a long breath. “I was in Kyrgyzstan on business that is none of your business. Señor Balderama was a dear friend of my late mother, we keep in touch. And what I injected you with?” She shrugged. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you, and that would defeat the purpose, wouldn’t it?”

“Why were you following the trailer?”

She strode over to the door and opened it. “I’ve told you all I’m going to tell you. I have work to do, please leave.”

Nikko strode to the door and put his hand over hers on the knob. “We’re not even close to being done, Selena.” Jealousy tore through him when he thought of her with Madeo. “Go fuck your Cuban. Make sure you wash his stench off before you come back downstairs. I’ll be waiting for you.”

He slammed the door shut behind him.

CHAPTER EIGHT

S
elena’s knees wavered beneath her. She steadied herself against the closed door. Every inch of her—body, heart, and soul—screamed for succor. Succor only Johnny could give her.

What had just happened? One minute she’d been lulling Armadeo into believing he’d get lucky, and the next minute her past in the form of Johnny Cicone came bursting into her present with a vengeance. Old wounds had been ripped open, and she was bleeding from the inside out. He still had the power to make her knees weak. Cause her heart to ache.

He looked good. Too good. The first time she laid eyes on him ten years ago, it was the sparkle in his crystal blue eyes and his easy smile that had caught her attention. If she had met him for the first time tonight, his dark, dangerous looks would have lured her. His jet-black hair, smoldering blue eyes, and sinful lips aside, it was the way he moved, arrogant, sleek, sure, pantherlike, that turned heads. There was nothing weak or unsure about the man. Everything about him was extreme.

And it was going to be extremely difficult to maintain her composure when he was near. Selena pushed her long hair from her eyes. She’d survived the past eight years because she’d had purpose, but everything was different now. Johnny knew she was alive, knew she was after the cask, and knew she had injected him with something illegal. He wasn’t going to go away until he had his answers. If he stayed, they would both be vulnerable not just to each other, but to her father. It was why she had been so cold at the end of their encounter. For her sake, but for Johnny’s, too.

Dear God, where had he come from? Whom did he work for? How had he found her? And,
Dios míos
, he had changed. He was not the man she had known. But did she really think he would be? Not only had what seemed like a lifetime passed, but the Rev she’d injected Johnny with had worked, and then some. If she had just met him, she’d swear he was a full-blown vampire, albeit a new one. He was having control issues. Not only had he yet to learn how to manipulate his new abilities, but the shot of Rev didn’t seem to have run its course of a few days as it did with her. Was it because her half-daemon metabolism was faster?

Rev was not created for humans. Joran had created it to revive dying vampires. In her case, it was like a prolonged shot of adrenaline with healing properties. Giving it to Johnny had saved his human life, but at what cost?

She rubbed her fingertips against her sore neck. He had broken her skin and tasted her blood while he ravaged her. Her skin warmed. She closed her eyes and recalled his touch. How she was on the verge of begging him for more. No one made her feel so alive, so wanton, so—

Her eyes flashed open. How had she allowed herself to be so vulnerable? And dear God, why?

But she already knew why. It had been the daemon part of her. Even Madeo drew a certain amount of desire from her with his touch. It was the nature of her beast. But only Johnny inflamed every inch of her. She had not been able to control it all those years ago, and she could not control it now.

It was why she had resorted to such extreme measures to drive him away from her in the first place. She didn’t have the strength to stay away from Johnny, so she had forced him to make the break. She’d made him believe she’d killed their child. Made him hate her. The primal vampire in him wanted her now, but his human hatred would keep him away from her.

It was what had saved his life long before she’d saved it in Kyrgyzstan.

She slowly pushed away from the door. If she had to do it all over again, she would. Their daughter was safe. Johnny was safe, and she had the tools and skills to destroy the being who would take it all away in a heartbeat.

Absently, Selena stroked the stones around her neck. No help there. Her response to Johnny had been instantaneous combustion. While she wanted to blame it all on her daemon half, her human female heart had broken a thousand times when she saw him. Had yearned for him. Had reveled in his passion, regardless of what drove it.

Next time she would call upon the power of the nanorians to resist him.

Next time?

She shook her head. There could be no next time. She’d be damned if she’d meet him. His threats to shut her down meant nothing. He had no idea who she was or the power she held over half of Miami’s most influential men and women. She knew their dirty little secrets, secrets they would kill to protect. If she had to, she’d use her power to keep Johnny away.

With her resolve firmly in place, Selena pulled the vestiges of her thoughts and her $2,000 Versace sheath up over her tender breasts and hurried into her private rooms to change. She had work to do, and her window of opportunity was quickly closing.

As Nikko strode down the hidden stairway, he reinserted his earpiece and mic.

“I’m wired,” he said, stepping into the club.

“Cruz!” Cassidy’s voice blared into his eardrum. “You fucking moron! What did you do?”

“Got a little payback.” Being with Selena had only whetted his appetite for more. It pissed him off, his inhuman need for her body. So did his human need for the same.

He’d known it would be painful to come face-to-face with her again. What he had not expected was the catastrophic collision of emotions, all of the love, suffering, and longing that came crashing down on his resolve, his confidence, and his heart all over again. She was alive! He still could not believe it.

But his encounter with Selena had proven fruitful by what she refused to tell him. She had vital information. He was hell-bent on getting it. By whatever means necessary.

He scanned the perimeter and caught sight of Cassidy and Cross standing one floor up. As he turned to approach them, Armadeo stepped in front of him, flanked by four of his soldiers.

Nikko slowed and gauged them. He could take them, wanted to beat the sawed-off runt of a man to a pulp. But he wasn’t going to. Regardless of who ran it, Lost Souls served an important role. It was a haven for criminals at the top of the food chain, and it was a hot spot of underground information. Hell, probably enough power and money were in the club to stage a successful coup in most countries around the world. What better place to pick brains, throw around some serious cash, and find out who had an unexpected inventory of enriched uranium?

“You will pay for what you just did with your life,” Armadeo hissed as he approached.

“That’s Armadeo Vegas, aka
el carnicero
,” Cassidy said in Nikko’s earpiece.

The butcher.

“Cuban kingpin Luis Fernandez’s captain and numero uno assassin. Known for his penchant for carving his victims—alive—and delivering their body parts in white butcher paper to the victim’s friends, family, and business associates.”

“Got it,” Nikko said.

Vegas’s eyes burned a preternatural red. It didn’t faze Nikko. After that encounter with Selena, nothing fazed him. He strode straight toward Vegas. “We can take this outside,
señor
, or if you want to ruin the lady’s reputation for running a clean club, we can take care of business right here.” Nikko stopped less than two feet from him.

Vegas twitched anxiously. He obviously wasn’t used to anyone taking up his personal space. Especially with his goons so close.

Nikko stepped closer.

“Outside,” Vegas said, striding past Nikko, slamming into his shoulder.

“We’re right behind you,” Cassidy said.

As they approached the main front doors, Selena materialized out of thin air, stopping all of them in their tracks. Nikko’s body instantly responded to her. His heightened sense of hearing picked up the quickened rush of her blood. She was just as aware of him.

Emotionally, he might despise what she had done, but as a man, he admired everything about her. He’d wreaked enough havoc on her white dress that she’d changed into a black two-piece sarong number. The slinky material was nothing but a thin haze of gossamer. The way it shadowed her curves and valleys played with a man’s imagination. One thing he didn’t imagine was her nipples puckering under his heated gaze.

“Madeo,” she purred, slipping between Nikko and the gangster. Her exotic, spicy scent wafted across Nikko’s nostrils. He fisted his hands, forcing the heat in his blood to cool. “My apologies for deserting you, but I had urgent business to attend to. Now,” she seductively said, leaning into him, “I am all yours.” As she rubbed against the man, Selena deliberately locked gazes with Nikko, the taunt in her eyes clear. She took Madeo’s hand and placed it around her waist. “Let’s make this a private party.”

Madeo yanked her possessively to him. “Don’t make me wait again.”

“Oh,” she huskily purred, “I won’t.”

Heat spread like wildfire through every cell in Nikko’s body. The urge to rip her out of the man’s arms was so overwhelming, his muscles hurt.

He shouldn’t care that another man touched her. She was dead to him. Yet the sight of Vegas’s hand on the small of her back disturbed him viscerally. He took a step toward them.

Selena swept past Nikko and Vegas’s goons to a set of brass elevator doors. The same type of brass doors that opened to the anteroom to her office. The doors opened and closed behind Selena and Madeo.

Nikko headed for the hidden stairway leading to Selena’s office.

“Nikko?” Cassidy’s voice called over the mic. “You okay?”

The compassion in her voice stopped him. “I’m fine. Behind the DJ’s booth is a door that leads to a hidden stairway, which leads to the third-floor office. That’s where she’s headed. Stand by,” Nikko said into his mic. “I’m going to play a fly on the wall.”

As the elevator door closed behind them, Vegas grabbed Selena and whirled her around. Under any other circumstances, she would break a man’s arm for touching her so rudely. She curbed her instinct to put him in his place. The assassin was too valuable to her to allow pride to interfere.

Selena threw her head back and laughed seductively, grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the back of the elevator. “Are you jealous, Madeo?”

He scowled, and her laugh deepened.

“I like my men jealous.”

Vegas maneuvered her into the corner of the elevator and braced his hands on the wall on either side of her head. “You push me to my limit,
tentadora
.”

Selena was an expert when it came to letting a man think he had control of her. She smiled seductively at his tense face, running her hands up his chest. His body stiffened. The elevator doors opened.
“Vamos, señor.”

She slid her hand into his and led him into the anteroom outside her office and private rooms. The large, octagonal room was soundproof, the smooth granite floors easy to clean. Tucked safely in a hidden sheath in the wall to her right were her swords. Tonight would not be the first time she had used the anteroom as her kill room. It would be the first time she extracted a nanorian here.

Armadeo’s heart rate had climbed with his excitement. With it, she got her first whiff of Hellkeeper. She turned and smiled alluringly as she backed toward her swords. “What would you like me to do to you?”

The Hellkeeper stench intensified. She could feel sorry for Madeo, being possessed and not knowing it, if he were not as twisted as the daemon who drove him. “The question is not what you can do to me, Selena,” Vegas purred as he slowly stalked her, “but what do I plan to do to you.”