Goddess With a Blade (12 page)

“The next time he makes a mistake means he’s killed another human. That’s a pretty unacceptable loss.”

“What is it you want?” He shoved a file at her. “I’ve given you all the information I have. My best people are on it. I’m doing all I can. And yet you want more.”

She sighed, running her hands through her hair. “I do. Do you know where his nest is? Or who the Vampire who cracked the code is? Have you questioned anyone?”

“It’s all in the file. My lieutenant has made detailed notes on everything. We don’t know who it is or where his nest is.”

“He’s old and working with at least one human.”

“Yes. You knew this?”

“I’d planned to share it with you when we were alone.” One brow slid upward.

Like a madman, he stepped the last inch between them and pressed his mouth to her forehead, impeding the movement of that ridiculous eyebrow.

The sound he made echoed against hers. That deep, full-body compulsion to do something even though you knew it was absurd.

He kissed her temple, over her ear. Her skin warmed as her scent ripened. Her power, whatever it was that came off her in waves, danger, violence, control—she was ruthlessly driven and it perfumed her skin. Nothing had ever caught his attention the way she had.

The heat of her blood pulsed with so much energy, Clive felt it as his lips brushed against the hollow just behind her jaw.

Her fingers left a butterfly of a touch against his side. He shivered as she caressed the curve of his ribs. Hissed when she dug her nails into his biceps as he licked over her jugular, teasing himself senseless with what he knew he’d never have.

In this, with his hands sliding up and over her breasts, with the indrawn breath and the exhaled sigh, with their mouths on each other, they were in sync. No tussling for control, no arguments. He was completely sure he wanted her. Equally sure she wanted him just as much.

One-armed, he picked her up around her waist, hauling her to him to take her mouth as he moved to his bedroom. He kicked the door closed, throwing the locks he used during the day as he rested.

His bedroom. Intimate. Vampires didn’t allow many people into the place they slept. A French winged bed dominated the space. Sumptuously upholstered in a deep-as-the-ocean blue, it complemented the slate-gray walls and black-and-chrome accents. Luxuriously appointed, it was also classic and elegant.

This was the bedroom of a man who liked his sleep. All Vampires were hedonists. Every one she’d ever met had at least one thing they indulged in for the pure pleasure of it.

Clive Stewart may have been a control freak, tight-assed, all-business Scion outside this room, but here was where Clive the man lived.

He put her on the bed and stepped away while she got rid of the boots and he kicked off his shoes.

Rowan obliged, helping as he pulled her sweater up and over her head. Her bra followed. She liked the way he undressed her. As if he was warring between a need to see her naked and being a gentleman. But when he pulled his shirt off without bothering to unbutton it, as the sound of buttons hitting the bed and floor fell around them, all she could do was shiver at his loss of control.

He raised gooseflesh in the wake of his lips as they cruised from one nipple to the other.

“You smell of magick,” he murmured against her belly.

None of that belonged here. She pulled at his hair to move him again and he went back to work, kissing her hip while he made quick work of her pants and panties.

And his mouth was on her, his tongue doing all sorts of delightful things. His hair cool and soft against the skin of her inner thighs. He drove her toward orgasm at a relentless pace.

When it came so hard her back bowed from the bed, his mouth still on her, she may have pulled his hair a little hard, but he didn’t seem to mind as he wasted little time scrambling up her body, fitting the head of his cock at her entrance and pressing in slowly.

All there was was the slide of flesh against flesh, flex and bunch of muscle, slick, sweat-sheened thighs against hips and ass. His eyes went emerald, glittering with the desire to take her blood.

But he kept that control, even as that roguish lock of his hair dared to fall against his forehead.

His body was a thing of beauty. Lean, hard muscle hidden by the tailored clothing seemed a delicious secret. He certainly knew what he was about. He’d put those hundreds of years to good use, honing his sexual skills to a sharp point.

His sexuality was instinctually connected to hers in a way that unsettled her even as she couldn’t seem to resist it. He knew what she liked, pushed her boundaries all while playing her every instinct like a magician.

He wasn’t afraid he’d break her; he touched her exactly how he wanted. It was so bold and sure in that supremely masculine way of his it made the back of her knees tingle when he looked at her just so.

Arching, she canted her hips to get more, his near snarl when she changed angle and he got deeper sent a shiver through her.

She left her grip on his biceps to tangle her fingers in his hair, urging him deeper, harder, faster. He teased her, driving into her over and over only to back off with gentler, slower strokes.

Needing more, she angled her other leg and rolled him to his back.

“You’re greedy.”

She added a swivel of her hips as she came down on him fully. “Yes and I often eat my dessert first. I have many moral flaws.”

“Impatient,” he grunted as he grabbed her hips and drove up into her.

“Yes!” Her nails dug into his sides where the heels of her hands pressed hard for balance.

“Brilliant in bed.”

Her next sharp comeback wisped away. Flattered, she fluttered her lashes before closing her eyes. “Thank you. A girl could get used to a man who’s been taking lovers for over four centuries. You’re quite adept yourself.”

God above, she was magnificent. Her hair had come loose and lay wild against her bare skin as she rose and fell above him. Her blood raced just beneath the skin. So pretty, flushed with pleasure and her exertion, her lips swollen from their earlier kisses.

And when he began to tip over, she sat against him hard, arching her back, her head dropping as she came around him, crumbling the last bit of control he had.

Chapter Fifteen

Her muscles were relaxed as a great deal of her anger at the Scion was burned off after the second orgasm. By the time he’d had a glass of champagne with her, some number of orgasms later, Rowan figured there might be a way to resist staking him. He made her laugh, she admired him and she forced herself not to think past that.

Later, Rowan wondered if all that post-naughty-business glow was the reason she didn’t hear the female Vampire stalking her in the parking garage of Die Mitte until she was nearly on top of her.

Rowan barely kept her feet when the female rammed into her full on. She stumbled rather than being able to shift and toss the bitch to her ass.

“Stay away from him!” Vampira was all types of upset harridan just then.

“Whoa, crazy bitch, what is your deal?”

“You’re going to die!”

“We all will, baby, we all will. Now why are you making me consider punching your ticket? Or is this a guessing game?”

“He’s too good for you. You’re using him and I won’t allow it.” She rushed Rowan again, landing a slice of her nails, snagging her sweater. The sting told her Vampira got the skin too.

“See, now you’re making me mad. I’m warning you to stand down and get the hell away from me.”

The Vamp hissed, so typical Rowan rolled her eyes in response. And then she punched the bitch square in the face.

“You can’t have him,” Vampira slurred as she spat out blood.

“You’ve said that.” Briefly, Rowan considered saying,
And guess what? I have had him. More than once.
But that would create a whole new bucket of shit to deal with. “I take it you’re speaking about the Scion? If you have issues with who he speaks with, you need to address him.”

“Before you came back things were just fine. You have to go.”

Rowan sighed, relaxing her muscles, keeping her stance easy. “I’m Rowan Summerwaite, the Hunter here in Las Vegas. Have been for years. Staked your last boss, remember? In my job description I sometimes have to speak with Vampires. You should get hold of yourself and realize a man like Stewart speaks to lots of women. If you get all upset over that, you’re going to walk around perpetually annoyed.”

She must be getting soft in her old age because Rowan didn’t want to kill this bimbo, she just wanted to go home to report the new information on the blood barrier being broken to the Motherhouse and go to sleep. She had an early flight the next day and the last thing she wanted or needed was yet more drama with the Nation.

“I don’t care who you are.” The Vampire moved in again and Rowan narrowly avoided another claw to the face.

“You’d better care. You’re what? Three years turned max? Bitch, I will clean your fucking clock and not blink an eye. I’m really getting agitated and after a certain point I
am
going to give you what you’re begging for. So, if you’re not going to run away like a smart girl, why don’t you tell me your name?”

Good Goddess did this place have no security or what? There should be at least a security guard or two out here by now.

The female feinted left and clipped Rowan slightly on the right. A decent enough kidney shot.

“You don’t need to know my name. Just that I plan to kill you. You’re not meant for him. You’re going to ruin him. And you can’t hurt me. I’m not human.”

The Vamp danced closer, gloating until Rowan popped her a solid right hook to the face. Then all her rainbows and kittens disintegrated with the fangs and the bloodlust eyes.

“Guess what? Neither am I.” Rowan straightened and let her power shimmer around her. “You cannot best me. Not ever. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I’m very good at killing Vampires who prey on humans.”

Rowan delivered three more solid punches to Vampira’s face. In return for this, she earned an answering pop to the gut and dodged the other lunge.

“It’s embarrassing to keep referring to you as Vampira in my head as I beat your ass. So let’s revisit the name thing. Given your fashion sense and astounding stupidity, I’d say you probably came to Vegas with one perfectly lovely name your parents gave you and changed it to something with all sorts of unnecessary letters to make it unique. By the way, in case I was unclear, I’d be making finger quotes right now if my hands were free.”

“It’s Kimberly.”

“Like K-i-m-b-e-r-l-y? Even ‘ey’ would do.”

Kimberly, who was most likely Khymberleahey with an umlaut or something, flattened her mouth into a sour line and Rowan couldn’t help but snort.

“Don’t worry about how I spell it. I can smell him on you. Don’t deny it. And I don’t care who you say you are. You broke my nose!”

Rowan sighed. “It’ll heal. But I have this awesome sword, made with blessed steel. You won’t heal from that so why don’t you give it up, for fuck’s sake. I don’t want to do this with you. But I will. How about we skip the rest of this little jealous tantrum? I’m walking away and you’re going to head in another direction. You got in a few punches to assuage your ego. Let it go or end up dead.”

Rowan turned to go walk to her car, hoping to avoid the inevitable. By the time the female reached her again, Rowan was ready, her sword unsheathed. The female’s incisors were fully extended, her mouth open and head cocked to rip Rowan’s throat out. Her other hand was around Rowan’s throat, nails digging in to hold her in place. Kimberly with extra letters and an umlaut meant to kill Rowan and that was not going to happen.

They met eye to eye, nose to nose when the steel sliced up and through her heart.

“Die well, Vampire. I hope death brings the peace you could not find in life.”

She sighed and turned, heading home.

As David cleaned and dressed the wounds on Rowan’s neck, face and arm, Rowan contacted the Motherhouse.

Susan got on the phone immediately. “Darling, I think you need a vacation,” she said, reading the report Rowan had David transcribe and send to HC.

“I’m leaving tomorrow morning. I’ll be in Kildare and I can leave all this insanity behind for a little while anyway.”

“I must tell you I wholeheartedly approve of your going to Ireland. I wondered if you’d try to skip it and I had a very lovely but stern speech about how your duty is also to Brigid prepared. I’ll save it for some future date.”

Rowan laughed. “I already got a lecture about it today. I’m supposed to go and I will. Even if I hate the idea of being gone for several days right now.”

“Things seem to be very tense given this little stunt. You have Carey there. Thena helps often enough. If there’s an emergency you’ll know and return posthaste. Your head will be clearer in Ireland. You’ll still be working on the case. I know you.

“As for this kill tonight? It appears to be a case of self-defense. We’ve just received an official complaint from the Nation about an unsanctioned kill, you should know.”

Maddening. Why would he do that to her? “Tell them you want the surveillance footage. It’s a casino parking garage, everyone has cameras in Vegas.” She rubbed her eyes. “I had no choice. I know this stirs up trouble, I’m sorry.”

“Well I’m sorry they forced you into this yet again. They’re like children, I swear. Is the report truthful?”

“Yes.”

“You gave her a warning to stand down and she attacked you with your back turned. She attacked a Hunter and you defended yourself as you’re allowed to. Trouble or not, this was a legitimate kill, Rowan. Do not let anyone make you think otherwise.”

She smiled. “All right.”

“Darling…you know you can always talk to me, right? Not as your trainer, or a coworker, but as your friend.”

Rowan kept her sigh to herself. This thing with Clive was already far more complicated than she wanted. Careless, fucking him and trailing through the area when there might be Vampires about. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to Susan. Susan might say she should end it. Rowan knew she should. Especially in light of the attack and the Nation’s response of complaining about
her.
But.

“I do know.”

“Get some rest on that flight. Leave it all behind for a little while. And be safe. They’ll be angry now.”

“I have more. About the murders here.”

Susan sighed explosively. “Let’s get Paris conferenced in and you can tell us all.”

By the time she’d told them everything about the meth and the blood breakthrough, she was ready to keel over. They all hung up and Rowan managed to kick her boots off and climb into bed.

And that’s when hell broke loose…

Anger coursed through him as he pounded on her door.

Unfuckingbelievable! She’d walked away from his bed and killed one of his Vampires in the parking garage. Did she have no concept of the magnitude of trouble she’d created?

The assistant didn’t bother to open the door, instead, addressing Clive over the speaker from the other side of the closed door. “Mr. Stewart, Ms. Summerwaite is resting and is not to be disturbed. I will let her know you came by and that you await her return call.”

“She knows why I’m here. You have two minutes or I’m kicking the door in.” He pounded again to underline the point.

And then she was at the door, her unbound hair floating around her body as if she were underwater. He saw it clearly, just how otherworldly she was, how much she was
other
just like him.

“You broke the treaty. You may turn yourself over to my custody.”

She blinked at him, clearly surprised, and if he wasn’t mistaken, a little hurt. Only a flash, because within a breath, she’d pulled her position around her like a cloak and she was as magnificent as that first evening he saw her.

“Is this about the dumb hooker I had to stake because she had a crush on you and felt it was all right to kill me because you prefer my pussy to hers?”

“Why must you be so tawdry all the time? And did you discuss our sexual relationship with one of my people? Are you mad?”

She cocked her head. “I have no patience left, Scion, so get the
fuck
off my doorstep before I decide to take out the trash. You got me? Your stupid fucking side piece bought herself a sword to the heart. I warned her repeatedly. I’m sure you have security footage, watch it, why don’t you?”

Annoyed, he shoved past her into her apartment, which in retrospect was a monumentally stupid thing to do.

She went totally still, her power vibrating around her like a tuning fork. He felt it in his teeth.

“You have no leave to be here, Vampire.”

He knew then it wasn’t just Rowan and him in that front hallway. He was nearly five centuries old and what he faced was older than he could understand. He felt it, knew it with a deep certainty. She was death when she chose.

“One of my people has been killed on my territory. This cannot go unanswered.” He kept his gaze down and his attention on the door just a few feet behind where he stood.

“My answer is this, Vampire, your fledgling overstepped. This is your mistake to own. She has been erased from the face of this planet. You are nothing to me, do you understand this?”

Even her voice was different than Rowan’s.

“I have to answer to more than just you. With all due respect. I need to communicate with Rowan. This is not about you in any way. The Nation does not seek to upset you, Goddess.”

“I don’t need your respect, just your fear. I also have no cares for whom you have to answer to. You seek to harm my Vessel and I will not allow it. Do you understand this?”

This More-Than-Rowan stood before him, her fingers trailing over his shoulder. Ice filled his belly. “I do not seek to harm anyone. But your Vessel has broken our law. She cannot go unpunished.”

Rowan pushed to the surface, he watched the change come over her just before he found himself shoved out into the hallway with so much force it knocked the breath from his lungs.

“Fuck you, Scion. Your Vampire attacked
me
thinking I was human. Which is a violation of the treaty. I warned her repeatedly. I tried to walk away and she attacked me blind like a coward.”

She held the edge of her door so hard her knuckles stood white.

“Look at your own tapes. In the future, you can send your complaints directly to the Hunter Corporation Council. They’re in receipt of your whiny little missive. I will defend myself with the truth. I’ve done nothing wrong and you can inform the rest of your band of thugs that they will meet the exact same fate if they come at me in the dark. And lastly, if you think to threaten my household staff again, you’ll find my exhausted patience very painful.”

And with that, she slammed the door in his face.