Kade's Dark Embrace (Immortals of New Orleans) (10 page)

He needed to get her alone so he could tell her everything. “Sydney, I have to consult with a few people about what we found. I have a witch on retainer back home. Let’s get the scene cleaned and then we can go back to my place and make some calls, together.”

Sydney looked up at him somehow knowing it was important for her to trust him on this. She could sense he knew more than he was telling her. Yet, she felt she should hold off on asking questions. Maybe they did need a witch to consult on this? She sure as shit didn’t know the answers to all this Voodoo crap. “Okay Kade, let’s get the scene wrapped up. The faster we get this done, the sooner we can call the witch.”

Kade felt an enormous relief. She was finally starting to trust him, and they were starting to work as a team. He also was acutely aware of the intense, sexual connection growing between them. One that he wanted to explore as soon as he knew she was safe from Simone. But more importantly, he was feeling emotionally connected to this incredibly smart, tough-talking detective. Sydney was turning him inside out, and he suspected she was destined to be his, and not just for a night. Kade wanted to make love to her until she screamed his name in ecstasy. He wanted her to know that with every cell of her being, she was his.

For now, he needed to keep his feelings to himself. It was hard enough keeping his hands off of her every time he saw her, let alone torturing himself with thoughts of what would happen in the future. If Simone was indeed after him, she would see Sydney as competition to be eliminated. He would not let Sydney be harmed even if that meant taking her off the case, better she hate him than end up dead.

It was several hours later when everyone had finally left the scene. Sydney was still looking around the edge of the row homes hoping she’d find something the killer left. She looked over to Kade and saw him talking on his cell phone. He said he would call Luca to come pick them up. She agreed to let an officer take her car back to the station so she could meet with Kade and Luca. As much as she loved her convertible, it was a two-seater and not very practical at times, and if she was honest with herself, she knew she would not mind letting someone drive her around in a nice limo. They’d been on the street for hours now. She was sore, hungry, and tired. At this point, she could use a few Advil considering her back was still very much bruised.

All of a sudden, Sydney felt a cold breeze sweep across her neck; it was the middle of August.
What the hell?
She looked around at Kade, and he seemed unfazed, as if he didn’t feel it. She looked up for lightning. She didn’t think they were expecting rain tonight, but it was common to get thunderstorms in the summer. Suddenly, she heard laughing, a conversation? No, maybe it was just a woman’s voice. She waved over to Kade getting his attention and pointed down the small covered tunnel that ran between two of the row homes. He was still on the phone as she turned into the small alleyway.

Sydney could smell the trickling, stagnant water in the darkness. The odor was overpowering: urine, rotted food, feces. It could have been left by animals or humans; either way, it was gross. That’s the city for you. She could barely see where she was walking, so she dug in her vest to find her flashlight. Before she reached it, a woman’s laughter cackled in the distance. It was getting closer. Almost frozen, Sydney watched in awe as a small orb of light appeared about twenty feet away from her; it floated in the air like a tuft of feathers. It flashed and in its place was an apparition of a woman floating where the orb had been.

A ghostly woman with a beautiful face and long, flowing, black hair hovered in the cramped, dank alley. Sydney could hardly believe what she was seeing. While the woman seemed to have the outline of a body, there were no feet, only a long, red dress that stopped a foot off the ground. The woman began to laugh maniacally and stared at Sydney. The laugh turned into deadly silence as the woman’s lips straightened into a tight line.

Sydney had dealt with enough women to know that this one was aggressive; there was no mistaking a bitch on wheels. She had no intention of letting any woman frighten her off the street...ghost or no ghost. Sydney quickly reached for her gun. She had no idea what killed ghosts but she wasn’t going down without a fight. She decided this might be a good time for backup and called out to Kade, “Kade love! Could use a little help down here!” Sydney wasn’t sure if her eyes were playing tricks on her, but she thought she saw the woman’s eyes flash red.

As soon as she called for Kade, ghost woman let out a shriek, “He! Is! Mine!!!!!!” In a flash, the spectral woman flew toward Sydney. Sydney fired off a round just before she fell onto her side dodging the apparition. She landed on the gritty, wet alleyway and everything went black. As Sydney fumbled for her broken flashlight, she felt Kade pick her up off the ground. She put her arms around his neck allowing him to carry her out of the tunnel.

As they came back into the light, Sydney realized that she was enjoying him picking her up a little too much. “Kade, I’m good. Really, you can put me down. I just fell, that’s all. She’s gone.”

Reluctantly, Kade gently let go of her legs, placed her upright and then pulled out of the embrace. He had to let her go. Things were getting out of control but fast.

“Sydney, are you sure you are okay? I heard you scream for me. And then I heard a shot. What happened down there? I sensed no one. No humans. No supernaturals. Wait, who do you mean,
she
?”

Really? A floating ghost woman and my vampire sees nothing?
“Yeah, I’m fine. But Kade, I have to tell you…it's going to sound crazy. I heard voices, laughter, a woman’s. And when I got in the tunnel, there was just this small light and then it turned into this ghost woman. She was beautiful with long, black hair and then she seemed like she wanted to attack me. That’s when I called for you...and well, Kade. I know it sounds crazy, but it was like she knew I was calling for you. She screamed, ‘He is mine,’ and rushed me, and that's when I got off a shot. Do bullets even kill ghosts? All I know is that I dodged right, but she missed me and then I fell down. And shit!” Sydney looked down at her clothes. She was covered in slimy, malodorous water. “Look at me! Ewwww. This is so gross...I gotta get home and take a shower. What the hell was that thing back there, anyway?”

“Wait, Sydney. Let me see you and make sure you are okay,” Kade said, checking her over for injuries. There was no blood and she appeared uninjured as she claimed.

“I’m fine. Really, I just fell when that…that ‘woman’ flew at me. I'm telling you Kade, I didn’t really believe in ghosts before tonight. But that was no person. I don’t know what the hell it was.” Sydney shook her head in frustration.

Kade could tell that Sydney was pretty much freaked out by her spectral experience, not to mention that she was covered in a mystery liquid that smelled of urine and who knows what else. Truth be told, Kade was shocked at her description. It was Simone, but how did she transport herself as an apparition? Magic? Someone or something was helping her. He had to get Sydney home and away from this place.

Within minutes, Kade’s limo arrived. On the way over to the brownstone, Kade and Sydney told Luca what happened in the alley. While Kade did not mention Simone, Luca could tell from Sydney’s description exactly who had visited them in the alley.

“Luca, I want to you to locate Ilsbeth,” Kade commanded. “I tried calling her shop but there was no answer. If you can’t reach her at home, then try her coven. Do not tell her the details of what happened. I want to speak to her myself.” Ilsbeth was a local witch from the French Quarter. She was cagey at times and not always easy to deal with, but Kade and Ilsbeth had been allies for several years. He could not claim they were close friends, but she could be trusted.

Luca was eager to make progress in the case so he could go home to New Orleans. “Right away. I will call her on my way over to Eden. I was planning to go there to feed and see Tristan. Do you want me to update him on today’s events?”

“Thank you, Luca, yes. Please let him know what happened, but do tell him up in his private office. We cannot afford to be overheard. Tell Tristan that Sydney and I will be at the brownstone for the rest of the night.”

Sydney shot him a look of surprise, but didn’t voice her concern.
She was going to be there all night? Working the case? Or working Kade?
She wasn’t sure she was going to be staying all night with Kade, but they did need to go over the details and work through the facts of the case. Maybe they were missing something. She could tell Kade wasn’t being completely honest with her. Sydney wasn’t ready to press him back at the crime scene, but she would damn sure find out after she got a shower and some food. She could tolerate a lot, but not lying.

When they arrived at the brownstone, the garage door opened to let the limo in under the house. Kade and Sydney exited the car and went into the house through the garage door. As they entered the living room, Sydney couldn’t hide her thoughts, “Nice place. I love the woodwork. A little dark, but beautiful.” Dark mahogany wood lined every hallway and room: rich, masculine.

“Thanks. It’s a rental that belongs to Tristan. As much as I like visiting, I have no intention of living here. As soon as the case is over, I need to get back to New Orleans.”

Ouch.
Sydney knew he wasn’t going to stay here forever, but she thought that maybe he’d stay a while on vacation. Maybe he’d stay if he found something, or someone important enough. She wasn’t sure why she felt sick hearing him say that he was going to leave. She knew this wasn’t his home. She needed to build up that emotional wall. She didn’t want to have feelings for him. She was convinced she would get hurt. She needed to get back to business...talk about the case, but first, she needed to get clean. “Kade, can you show me to your washroom? I’ve got to clean up.”

Kade would love to show her to his shower...with her naked and him thrusting into her against the tiled walls. “Yes, sorry. Here, this way, love.” Silently they walked up the stairway and down a long hallway. Kade opened a door and gestured for her to enter. “Here you go. I can have your clothes laundered while we work. Just put them in the laundry chute. I will call for the maid to take care of the clothes. There are towels inside the closet, and there is a black robe hanging on the back of the door that you can wear until your clothes are finished being cleaned. Just come down when you are done. I will have some Chinese food delivered while you’re bathing.”

Sydney was aware of the sexual tension between them. It was just the two of them in the quiet hallway...alone in the house. She wanted him. She knew he’d be leaving. She knew she shouldn’t want him, a vampire, but the attraction was too much to resist. She grabbed his hand and excitement tingled throughout her body. She wanted to kiss him, taste him, feel him. Sydney held his hand and then looked down at her dirty clothes. “Kade, I just want you to know that I was glad you were there today. Um...I mean...I know I wasn’t hurt, but it felt good to have someone at my back. I don’t know what the hell that thing was tonight in the alley, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t shake me up a little. So anyway, thanks.” She let his hand drop, entered the bathroom and quickly shut the door.

She leaned against the back of the bathroom door and sighed. She almost had kissed him. What was she doing?
Get your head out of your ass Sydney. He just said he's not staying. He's leaving and going back to New Orleans.
She reached over and turned on the hot water, stripped out of her rank clothes and tossed them down the chute. A maid was going to
launder
her clothes?
Must be nice.
She stepped underneath the hot spray of the water and let the tension run down the drain.

She washed her hair with shampoo that smelled like strawberries.
A vampire with strawberry shampoo?
She smiled thinking of Kade. As she washed her body with soap, she let her hands run over her breasts. What would it feel like to have Kade’s strong hands massage her breasts? Suck her nipples? Sydney closed her eyes and moaned letting her hand wander down over her bare, waxed mound. She slipped a finger into her folds finding her core. She gently circled her most sensitive area thinking of Kade and how it would feel if he was touching her, tasting her. She groaned again as the tingle built in her womb, finally shaking as she came. Sydney let her forehead rest against the dark blue tile not ready to leave and face him.

Kade nearly died when he heard Sydney moan and smelled her arousal. He wanted to charge up the stairs, break down the door and fuck her senseless. Didn’t she know that vampires had enhanced senses? Or maybe she knew exactly what she was doing? As he listened to her pleasuring herself upstairs, he couldn’t hold back. He sat back in the large, leather chair and unzipped his pants pulling out his rock hard cock. She was touching herself. Thinking of him? He stroked himself, harder and harder. He could not believe he was doing this in the den, but shit, she made a man lose his mind. Another moan from upstairs. He could sense she was close. He stroked faster, up and down his length. She was coming. He was coming. His seed went flying onto his pants. “Ah...fuck. What a fucking mess. What are you doing?”
What was he doing? Great, now he was talking aloud to himself, just fucking great.
He was going to need to see a therapist after this little incident. He grabbed a wad of tissues, jumped up, and stomped up the stairs to his bedroom. He needed to get changed before she saw him.

Kade jumped in the shower, washed, and quickly dressed in a worn pair of jeans and a white cotton t-shirt. He could sense she was still in the shower. If he hurried, he could get downstairs first. He was just about down the flight of stairs when the doorbell rang, the Chinese food. He quickly paid the driver and set off to get things ready in the kitchen.

Sydney padded into the kitchen wearing just his robe, and sat at the granite counter bar. Relaxed from her shower, Sydney smiled at Kade. “So, Kade, not to be rude or anything, but vampires and Chinese food? What gives? Thought you guys only had blood on the menu. Unless you got that delivered too?”