Grave Destinations (11 page)

“Maybe not.” He leaned in, caging her between the wall and his body. Her chest pressed against his every time she took a breath, the heat of her body making his blood pound with need. “Maybe you just want to make me work harder for it.”

“Maybe I’m worth it.” She looked up at him through lowered lashes, her voice a smooth, sensual purr. “Maybe I’m not convinced you deserve another chance.”

Jack gripped her hands and twined her fingers with his, raising them up so they bracketed her head. She made no move to break his hold, her body soft and supple against him. This close, he could feel her breath against his skin, could smell the subtle scent of her perfume. She smiled at him and licked her lips, and his body flushed with arousal.

The curse stirred, eager for action, but Jack ruthlessly forced it into submission. No way was he missing out on this.

“Maybe . . .” His brain fogged when she arched against him, the craving so strong his body throbbed with the ache. He inhaled and exhaled, clearing his head just enough to form coherent thought. “Maybe I should just show you.”

He kissed her then, savoring the throaty moan she made against his mouth. She tasted like citrus, and tequila, and the rich, exotic flavor that he’d come to associate with her alone. Resisting the urge to plunder, he kept the kiss slow and languid, sinking into the pleasures of lips and teeth and tongue. Another moan, and he felt her muscles loosen and yield, the subtle surrender heating him from the inside out.

Ruby sighed as she shifted against him, sliding her hands free so she could drag her fingers through his hair. His hands got busy as well, stroking down her sides to the curves of her hips and back up again, his thumbs coming to rest just beneath the swells of her breasts. Breaking the kiss, his mouth skimmed along the line of her jaw, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin below her ear.

“Maybe . . . maybe . . . God, that’s good.” Her eyes drifted shut when his mouth found a sweet spot at the crook of her neck.

A group of young guys walked past, snickering to each other before one of them called out, “Jeez, get a room.”

Actually, that wasn’t a bad idea. It was only a matter of time before the curse got its second wind, and he wanted Ruby breathless and beneath him before the window of opportunity slammed shut.

He pulled back far enough to see her face. She had a dreamy glint in her eyes, her pupils so dilated the green was hardly visible. Face flushed and lipstick smeared, she looked wanton, and brazen, and sexier than hell.

“So,” he murmured, “do I get a second chance?”

“What do you think?” Her expression sobered, a perplexed look replacing the humor. “What are we starting here, Jack?”

“I don’t know, but I can’t wait to find out.”

He nipped her lower lip, and she made a soft humming sound that left him wondering about what other noises she’d make once he got her alone and undressed. Then she rolled her hips against him and he forgot all about the noises, and for a moment he entertained the notion of taking her against the wall.

He was about to drag her to the elevators when her eyes widened and her body stiffened against him.

“What is it?”

Before she had the chance to answer, strong hands clamped down on his shoulders, the grip so forceful it pinned him in place.

Then a man’s deep voice, rumbling with impatience, said, “I should have known I’d find you like this. When you’re done playing with your new toy, we’ve got work to do.”

R
uby stared at the reaper standing behind Jack, her mind a tangled mess of emotions.

Dmitri was . . . well, not exactly the last person she expected to see on board, but his sudden appearance certainly surprised her. Irritated her as well, since he’d had the gall to interrupt things just as they were beginning to get interesting. But in the end, it was relief that dominated her thoughts.

After wandering the ship for hours, she was no closer to finding the being responsible for killing the passenger. Not too surprising, since she had no idea who or what she was looking for or how she was going to find it. Not even knowing
how
the woman died didn’t make things any easier. This wasn’t her area of expertise, and Samuel’s instructions had been about as helpful as a trapdoor on a lifeboat. Tired and frustrated, she’d suspended her efforts when the ship left St. Angelique, with plans to resume the search once she’d burned off a little restless energy with Jack.

This kind of assignment was right up Dmitri’s alley. During his mortal lifetime, he’d worked for the KGB, playing spy versus spy for the former Soviet Union. From all accounts, he’d been one of the best in his field, doing God knows what for the benefit of the mother country. He’d put those skills to good use as a reaper, showing no mercy as he harvested souls like a true horseman of the apocalypse. Nothing escaped his watchful eyes, and she needed to tap that particular skill set if she stood any chance of tracking down a killer.

That said, she refused to let his bad behavior slide.

“Your manners are terrible,” Ruby drawled. “Let the man go, Dmitri.”

Dmitri released his iron grip, and Jack whirled around to face the person responsible for ruining a perfectly delightful bout of foreplay.

“You know this guy?” Jack’s narrowed eyes locked on Dmitri. His hands balled up into fists, his entire body racked with tension.

“Yes, I work with the big lug.” She shot Jack a look of warning before turning her attention to Dmitri.

“You work
for
the big lug,” Dmitri corrected, obviously not amused. During the Cold War, he used to conceal his accent to avoid unwanted attention. The habit died with the collapse of the Soviet Union, and now his deep voice carried a unique blend of both American and Russian, the latter growing more pronounced whenever he got worked up or drank too much.

“Oh yeah, I keep forgetting that part.” She flashed him an insolent grin. “Jack, this is Dmitri, my boss back home. Dmitri, this is Jack. We met on board.”

Neither man spoke, preferring to size each other up like two gunslingers from an old Clint Eastwood movie. At six four, Dmitri had a few inches on Jack, and outweighed him by at least forty pounds of solid muscle. And while Jack had the element of anger on his side, Dmitri had him trumped by a lifetime of training and a ruthless nature.

“We need to talk,” Dmitri told Ruby, still glaring at Jack like he was something he’d just scraped off the bottom of his shoe. “Now.”

“I had a feeling you weren’t here for the nightlife.” With a sigh, she shifted her attention back to Jack. Walking away from unfinished business wasn’t her style, but she didn’t have much in the way of alternatives. “Duty calls, darling. As much as I hate to say this, I’m going to have to take a rain check.”

Jack nodded, resignation plain on his face. “I understand.”

Taking her hand, he pressed a kiss against the backs of her knuckles. His lips felt warm and soft against her skin, and the simple gesture flooded her with unexpected emotion. Then he released her hand and leaned in close. The low timbre of his voice made her tingle in all the right places when he said, “Don’t make me wait too long.”

He surprised her then by claiming her mouth, the kiss hot and hungry and demanding, a display of affection as much as a marking of territory. No matter the reason, she melted against him, her mind hazing over while her body sparked with arousal. She reveled in the feel of his hand around the back of her neck, the stroke of his tongue against hers, the growl that came from the back of his throat when her teeth grazed his lower lip. Reaching up, she fisted his shirt with one hand while the other gripped his shoulder for balance.

When he broke the kiss, the promise in his eyes turned her insides to jelly. Without another word, he walked away, disappearing into the stairwell beside the elevators.

Dazed and disoriented, Ruby pressed two fingers to her lips. Her knees felt like rubber as she turned back to Dmitri. She gave herself a hard mental shake, clearing her mind of inappropriate thoughts so she could focus on the job at hand.

“When did you get here?” she asked, followed quickly by, “And how did you get here?”

“Not important. I got your message, and Samuel filled in the details.”

Good. That spared her from having to dole out the CliffsNotes version of events. She considered pressing him for answers to her questions but quickly pushed the thought aside. In her line of work, sometimes it was better not to know. “Any ideas?”

“A couple. Where’s the body?”

“Beats me. I would assume they’ve removed it from the cabin by now. Unless they took it off the ship in St. Angelique, it’s probably stored in the infirmary.”

“Lead the way.”

 

Considering the size of the ship, the infirmary was relatively small. A faint medicinal odor filled the air, like someone had left open a jar of Vicks VapoRub. Four small hospital beds filled one side of the room, with beige supply cabinets flanking them. A row of machinery occupied the opposite wall, leaving just enough space for a small desk near the entrance. A middle-aged Hispanic woman dressed in nurse’s scrubs sat in front of the computer, her fingers tapping away at the keyboard.

“May I help you?” the nurse asked when she noticed them standing in the open doorway.

Ruby was about to pour on the charm, but Dmitri beat her to the punch.

“I certainly hope so,” he said, his normal accent replaced with something higher-pitched and distinctly midwestern.

It never ceased to amaze her, his ability to alter his voice so dramatically like some sort of linguistic chameleon. At last count he spoke eight languages, and he could mimic the dialects of each one at the drop of a hat. Years ago he’d tried to teach her Russian, but the only words that stuck in her mind were ones you couldn’t repeat in polite company.

He flashed the woman an “aw shucks” look, and Ruby bit back a grin. “I wanted to talk to someone about the young woman who died last night.”

The nurse frowned, her forehead wrinkling. “I’m sorry, but in order to protect the privacy of our passengers, I’m not at liberty to discuss what happened last night at the Nautical Mile.”

“Oh, no, we’re here about the other woman,” Ruby said.

Now the poor nurse looked downright confused. “What other woman?”

“Brunette, mid-twenties, about three inches shorter than me?” Ruby replied, filling in the blanks.

The nurse shook her head slowly. Judging by her expression, she thought they’d just escaped from the funny farm. Her hand inched toward the phone on her desk. “I don’t know where you got that information, but there haven’t been any other deaths on board.”

“Are you sure?” Dmitri asked.

“Positive.”

Dmitri stepped closer to the desk, meeting the woman’s wary gaze. “I’m sorry to have bothered you, ma’am. We won’t waste any more of your time.” His eyes locked with hers for nearly thirty seconds, and when he turned away, she went back to typing as if she was the only person in the room.

“I take it you altered her memory?” Ruby asked as the infirmary door swooshed shut behind them.

He smirked. “She’ll remember a young couple asking for condoms, nothing more.”

“Great. Now what?”

“Now we check the room.”

About ten minutes later, they stood inside the cabin where Ruby had harvested the soul of the dead woman. The housekeeping crew had come in and spruced the place up since her last visit; the bed was freshly made and every surface was spotless. An origami towel sat on top of the comforter, folded to resemble a little white elephant.

Ruby checked the closets, behind the shower curtain, and under the bed. Nothing. Not a trace of the woman whose soul she’d reaped less than twenty-four hours before. “Don’t look at me like that, Dmitri. This is the right cabin.”

Dmitri didn’t respond. Instead, he strode across the room and opened the sliding glass door. The sound of the ocean flooded the cabin as he stepped onto the balcony and peered over the rail. “It wouldn’t take much effort to pitch the body over the side.” He walked back inside and pulled the door shut, muffling the outside noise. “Do it late enough in the evening, and no one would be awake to notice.”

“Yeah, but it looks like she’s not the only person staying here. There’s more than one toothbrush in the bathroom. Wouldn’t the other person notice she’s missing?”

He shrugged. “Eventually. Right now, the roommate probably thinks her friend’s out somewhere getting lucky.”

“Good point.” Ruby slid open one of the dresser drawers and began rooting through the stacks of clothes.

“What are you looking for?”

“A picture of the victim. I thought it might help you to know the killer’s taste in women. She’s got to have ID in here somewhere.” Finding nothing, she turned her attention to the walk-in closet.

Dmitri stepped in behind her and began searching the clothes hanging on the opposite side. Two people in such a small space left little room to maneuver. This close, she felt the heat of his body, smelled the spicy scent of his cologne. She caught the faint whiff of gun oil, confirming her suspicion that he’d somehow smuggled a firearm on the ship. Since the man rarely went anywhere without at least one weapon, she would have been more surprised if he’d come aboard unarmed. Where he had it hidden, though, was anybody’s guess.

His hands moved a lot faster than hers, probably because he’d had a lot more experience at this sort of thing. “So who’s the fresh meat?” He asked the question without looking up, his deep voice filling the tiny closet.

“I already told you his name,” Ruby replied, annoyed because she wasn’t finding a damn thing as she searched through the clothes, pocket by pocket.

“So you said. But I have never seen you look at a man like that before.”

She cast a sideways glance in his direction. “Like what?” “You know what I’m talking about.” He didn’t elaborate. Didn’t really need to. She knew exactly what he meant, but refused to touch that particular topic with a ten-foot pole.

Finished with his side of the closet, Dmitri concentrated his focus on the tiny safe in the rear corner.

“It’s locked.”

“Not for much longer.” He studied the safe for a few seconds, then pulled a small, slender gadget from his back pocket and began fiddling with the electronic keypad. A minute or two later, he turned the lever and the safe swung open. Reaching inside, he took out a small manila envelope and rifled through its contents.

“Is this your girl?” he asked as he handed Ruby a passport.

She flipped it open and studied the photo. The woman in the picture sported shorter hair that was two or three shades darker, and she looked to be about fifteen pounds heavier. But the facial structure matched the dead woman’s perfectly. Same short, button nose, same prominent forehead. Same rounded cheekbones and heart-shaped face.

Damn it, now she knew the woman’s name. Shannon K. Perkins. Age twenty-six. Knowing the particulars changed the dynamics, a personal investment she couldn’t afford in this line of work. It was bad enough to know she’d left a child behind, but putting a name to her face made the loss more tangible. Now she couldn’t help but wonder about Shannon. What did she do for a living? Did she have a boyfriend, a sister, a dog? Who would miss her now that she was gone?

“Yep, that’s her.” She slapped the passport shut and handed it back to Dmitri. “You still haven’t told me what you think happened to her.”

He placed the passport back inside the envelope, the envelope inside the safe, and locked the safe back up. He motioned for Ruby to follow as he stepped out of the closet.

“Incubus,” he said as he closed the closet door behind them. He gave the cabin one final cursory inspection before turning to leave.

“Are you kidding me?” The idea never crossed her mind. She thought of Jack, of what he’d told her about the curse, and felt a little hollow inside. It couldn’t be him. She refused to even consider it. “You think some sort of sex demon killed her?”

Dmitri scowled. “I never kid about such things. From what you told me, the body showed no signs of physical trauma. No pills or suicide note. And since she required your services, she obviously did not die from natural causes.” He peered through the peephole before cracking open the door. “That limits the field of possibilities.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean a demon stopped by and sucked the life out of her.”

“Why not?” He checked the hallway, signaled the all clear for Ruby to follow. A young woman emerged from one of the cabins and walked in the opposite direction, so he didn’t speak again until they’d rounded the corner and the elevators came into sight. “Cruise ships are prime hunting grounds for creatures that prey on humanity. The atmosphere lends itself to lowered inhibitions, making it easy for the incubus to feed.”

“Do they always kill?”

“No. Killing attracts too much attention. They prefer to keep a low profile. Usually, they drain just enough of the victim’s life force to suit their needs. It leaves the person feeling exhausted for the next day or two without causing any permanent damage. But every so often they get reckless or greedy, and you get what we have here.”

The elevator dinged a few seconds before the doors opened. They waited for an elderly couple to exit, then stepped inside and pressed the button for deck nine.