Rafael (21 page)

Isabelle was
sipping a cup of tea, trying to enjoy the quiet morning. All the questions from
the past few years were now answered. Well, most of them anyway. The missing
journals, the strange experiments, and the blood samples with odd chromosomes
were all explained in one conversation. Those answers only brought more
questions, though. Where had her mother been? If Gordon wasn’t Tessa’s father
then who was? Was Dane really her brother? Where and who were her other
siblings? She could ask her mother for answers, but she wasn’t sure she wanted
to. Of course, the obvious person to ask was Tessa.

She didn’t want
to see her cousin right now either, not really. Tessa could have told her the
truth all along, but like the rest of her family, she decided to keep the truth
from her. Since Tessa had already been through the change, she must know who
her mate was, but why did she not want Caroline to know the trigger? There was
a knock on her door, but she ignored it. She didn’t want to deal with anyone
right now. She just wanted to relax and wallow in her own jealous misery.

“Isabelle?”
Tessa was coming through the house searching for her.

“My door was
locked for a reason. What did you do, pick the lock?” It wouldn’t surprise her
if she had. Nothing her rebellious cousin did would ever surprise her again.

“No, silly, I
have a key. I thought you might want to talk some more, you know, now that you
watched Dane go through his transition.”

“You mean since
I was blindsided with the fact you’re nice and cozy with my mother who looks my
age.” Isabelle stood and walked past her, not bothering to be hospitable. She
poured more hot water into her cup and added a teabag. Standing at the kitchen
counter, she silently dunked the bag up and down in the water.

“Hey Belle,
don’t be mad. It wasn’t my decision to keep your mother’s
condition
from
you. If it were up to them, you still wouldn’t know. I think you can help us
better by knowing the truth of who and what we are.”

“And just who is
them
? My parents? If you tell me nothing else, tell me the truth now,
Tessa. Is my father really alive?” She stopped with the teabag and waited.

Sighing, Tessa
sat down at the kitchen table, stretching her boots out in front of her. She
leaned back and hooked her elbow over the top of the chair. “Yes.”

“Yes? That’s it,
yes? Not yes Isabelle, he’s alive and well, and he and your mother have been
hiding out in the South of France creating more little half-blood monsters?”

“Yes, Isabelle,
he is alive and well and he and your mother have been living their lives away
from the Goyles. They are not having more children, and I take offense that you
just called me a monster. You are a half-blood. Are you calling yourself a
monster?”

Isabelle pulled
the teabag out of her cup and took a sip of the hot liquid. “Tell me this,
cousin, how many brothers and sisters do you have? If Gordon isn’t your father,
who is? Please tell me Jonas is not your father, and you are not one of my many
siblings I didn’t know I had.”

“Of course I’m
not your sister. You know that Elizabeth is my mother. After she married Gordon
she met one of your father’s nephews, another full-blood. She was his mate. The
passion mates feel for each other is explosive, sometimes to the point of being
volatile. My mother had an affair, and I’m the product of that tryst.  Long
story short, Gordon was already becoming a tyrant before I was born. When I was
cloned, Jonas made sure they had an exit strategy in place.

“My biological
father took my mother and me, and we disappeared. Jonas took my brother and 
disappeared as well. The bombing at the clinic was the perfect cover for his
assumed death. He has lived with your mother ever since, just in secrecy. As
for my siblings, I only have Tamian.”

“How can Jonas
be a Gargoyle if they don’t age? Last time I saw my father he looked sixty
something.”

“Do you remember
the Mission Impossible movies? You know, with that old guy, Tom Crash, Tom
Cross…”

“Tom Cruise?”

“Yeah him. In
the movies, they used biometric scanners and a latex polymer to make them look
like other people. Of course, some of that was smoke and mirrors, but who do
you think developed that polymer that was used in the masks?”

“Let me guess,
my father.” What hadn’t the man created?

“Yes, your
father. Any time he was in public he was wearing a prosthetic. Belle, he looks
as young as your mom does.”

“Did you already
know about Dane when we went to his apartment? Is that why you were there so
quickly? And why don’t you want Caroline to know that you know the trigger?”    

“Yes, I’ve been
watching Dane for a while and like I already told you, your father was kicked
out of the Inner Circle for mixing with humans. If one of our mates happened to
be a full-blood, that wouldn’t go over well with them. I’m afraid they would
try to keep us separated somehow.”

“You’ve transitioned.
Who is your mate? You have to know.”

The phone
ringing broke up their discussion. “Hello?”

“Dr. Sarantos?”
A very deep voice was on the other end of the line.

“Yes, who is
this?” She watched Tessa come out of her chair, eyes wide.

“Gregor Stone.
Dr. Sarantos, I’m the Warden at New Atlanta State Penitentiary, and I have
recently had an opening I would like to speak with you about.”

“Mr. Stone, I
have a job. I own my practice, and I have no interest in working for you.”
Tessa was waving her arms and shaking her head no.

  “You haven’t
heard the offer. Please, at least hear me out. Allow me a few moments of your
time and then decide.”

“Isabelle, you
can’t. Your family needs you.” Tessa must be using her super hearing to
eavesdrop on the conversation. Screw them. Her family hadn’t needed her for the
past thirty two years; they could continue on without her.

“All right, Mr.
Stone, I will listen to your offer. When would you like to meet?” She turned
her back on her cousin who was now cursing like a biker. Hmm, fitting.

“Are you
available this afternoon? It is crucial we hire a doctor soon, and whether you
agree or not, I want to get the ball rolling.”

“This afternoon
is fine, Mr. Stone. Is one o’clock good for you?”

“That is
perfect. I will see you then.” They said their goodbyes, and Isabelle hung up
the phone.

“What the fuck
are you doing, Belle? Did you not hear me tell you we need you now? Your
brothers and sisters are going to require a doctor who knows about them and can
help them through the change!” Tessa was throwing her arms around dramatically.

“Oh, I heard you
all right. I also heard the rest of what you said. I haven’t accepted the
position yet, but I do think it would be an interesting change of pace. I have
been feeling stifled and bored. I am at least going to meet with the man.”

“Then I’m going
with you. Do you even know the kind of monsters they put away there? Jesus H! 
You think I’m a monster? Belle, you haven’t seen anything yet. Have you ever
come across an Unholy?
That’s
the kind of monsters you’re going to be
dealing with there, not your family.”

“How do you know
who they keep in the prison? It doesn’t matter. Come with me or not. I don’t
care. I’m at least going to see what the Warden has to say.” Isabelle left her
cousin standing in the middle of the room while she went to shower.

Dane was phasing
with little trouble. He had stayed awake most of the night trying to come to
terms with his new body and all he’d learned. Caroline stayed with him, talking
him through each change. He preferred the cute redhead until he found out she
was his cousin somewhere down the line. Even though he shouldn’t be, he was
shocked to learn that Dr. Sarantos was his sister.

“Dane, I assure
you, Isabelle was unaware of your relationship until last evening. Our family
is divided on how to handle the shifters who are coming into their own. The
full-bloods do not know that any of you exist. Oh, they may have met you, but
they don’t know that it’s possible for humans to mate with shifters. My husband
and I want to keep this knowledge hidden if possible. The Gargoyles turned
their backs on Victor when he rebelled against them to be with me.

“We would love
for you to work with us in some capacity. Tessa has her hands full with your
brothers and sisters, especially since we don’t know what causes the shift. So
far, there is not a common thread that we can find. If you decide to continue
in your current position, we will support you. You will be better equipped to
battle the Unholy.”

For Dane it
really wasn’t a hard choice. Being a cop was all he knew, and he was good at
his job. He enjoyed it and if being a shifter gave him an added advantage in
catching the bad guys, then all the better. “So the Unholy, do you know how
that happened?”

Caroline sat
down beside him. She had tears in her eyes when she told him, “Unfortunately,
yes. Gordon Flanagan and his men came across one of my sons, Gabriel. He was in
the beginning of his transition. When Flanagan saw what Gabriel was, he
abducted him and kept him drugged. For months, we searched for him to no avail.
Finally, when the scientists had no further use for him, they threw his
lifeless body in the river. The fact that he managed to pull himself out of the
water and find his way home was nothing short of a miracle.

“When he came
back to us, he was a shell of the man he used to be: traumatized to the point
of deep depression. The scientists had talked around him, thinking he wouldn’t
be alive to tell what he overheard. They used Gabriel’s blood in their clones.
We believe that because he was between human and shifter, his blood had
anomalies the scientists didn’t synthesize properly. Instead of creating a
strong shifter, they ended up spawning monsters. The Unholy are stronger and
faster than humans, but they cannot control their shifting. Once they
transition the first time they usually cannot change back.

”We did the best
we could by him. His girlfriend, Rebekah, tried to help, but Gabriel pushed her
away. Isabelle was just a toddler.  For a while, Gabriel wouldn’t have anything
to do with any of the family except for her, but even she couldn’t save him.
Eventually Gabriel disappeared. We haven’t seen him in almost thirty years.”

That was all
Dane needed to hear to know he was making the right decision in returning to
the precinct. He would take a couple more days until he was sure the phasing
was under control, and then he’d call Kaya and get back to work.

Kaya looked at
her ringing phone. Rafael. “Hello?”

“Good afternoon,
Miss Kane. Do you feel like company?” He sounded hopeful, and she wasn’t
getting anything accomplished.

“If you are
referring to yourself, then I would love some company, Mr. Stone. How soon can
you be here?” There was a knock on her front door.

Kaya pulled back
the curtain to see Rafael grinning at her. She unlocked the door and took in
his appearance. He was dressed in faded jeans and an untucked button-up shirt.
The sleeves were rolled up, showing his muscular forearms. She liked him in
dress clothes, but she loved him casual. He didn’t give her time to say hello.
Grabbing behind her neck, he pulled her mouth to his and kissed her like he
hadn’t seen her in days, not hours.

When he finally
pulled his lips away, he leaned his forehead to hers. “Hello, Love.” Those two
words left her breathless. There it was again. She should probably protect her
heart, but the way this man had her body pulsing was beyond anything she could
ever imagine.

“Do you want to
come in or are we going to stand in the open?” She looked behind him. “How did
you know I wasn’t at work?” They both disconnected their phones.

“Because you’re
being watched.” He pulled her into her living room. “Speaking of open doors, I
want to talk to you about your security system among other things. Can we sit,
please?”           

She led him to
her sofa, and they sat side by side. She turned to face him, angling her knee
between them. He pulled her leg across his lap and began massaging her calf.
“Kaya, I want you to allow Julian to upgrade your security system. Until
whoever is after me is caught, I want to add a security detail to you as well.”

“That would be
much appreciated. You probably thought I would argue with you but honestly? I’m
scared. And I don’t think the shooter was after you. Think about it. Both
bullets hit you after you covered me. I think I’m the target.”

“I am not happy
you were the target, but I am glad you figured it out on your own. I know you
are a strong, smart woman, not some damsel in distress. I agree with your
assessment, I just didn’t want to scare you. And make that three bullets.
Julian took one at the warehouse on Saturday.”

“You must be
mistaken. He didn’t tackle me.”

“No, he was more
subtle. Remember the sneeze? That was actually a grunt covering the blow to his
back.”

“Holy crap. And
the jacket?”

“Was to cover
the wound. We all keep extra shirts and jackets in our vehicles for incidents
such as that. Now, I have a favor to ask. Can you do without your laptop for a
few hours?”

“I can, but I
shouldn’t. Rafael, that’s Government Issue.” She could get in a lot of trouble
if anyone found out he had access.

“It’ll just be
for a couple of hours, I promise. I want Julian to see if he can find out where
the video originated. If we can find the sender, we may be able to locate the
shooter.”

“What makes you
think Julian can find it better than my department?”

“We have a state
of the art tech facility at our disposal, and we have a Julian. Kaya, I trust
you to keep this to yourself. If the government ever finds about us and our
abilities, it wouldn’t bode well for anyone.”

“Rafael, your
secret is safe with me. Who would believe me anyway?”

“So, you’ll let
us have your laptop?”

“Yes, as long as
I get it back today.”

“I promise.”
Rafael dialed a number and put his phone to his ear. “Jules, you can have it.
You have three hours.” He hung up, and there was a knock at the door. “That
would be Julian.”

“You’re pretty
sure of yourself aren’t you?” She wasn’t annoyed, not really. Not when he was
trying to find out who was trying to kill her. She pulled her leg from his lap
and stood, going to the dining room table to retrieve her computer. He followed
behind, stopping in the opening to the kitchen. “No, I’m pretty sure of you.”
The look on his face was filled with another emotion she couldn’t recognize.
Maybe someday she would be able to read all of his looks.

“Here you go.”
She handed him the laptop bag. He carried it outside and handed it off to
Julian, who was waiting on the porch, scanning the surroundings. “Miss Kane, I
will have this back to you soon. Would it be convenient for me to upgrade your
security at that time?”

“Yes, that’s
perfect. Oh, and thank you. Rafael told me you took a bullet for me. You saved
my life.”

Julian didn’t
immediately respond. He seemed to be thinking about his answer then finally
whispered, “It was my honor.” He looked to Rafe. “I’ll just be going.”

“Wait, he
doesn’t have my password.”

Rafael shut the
door and took Kaya’s hand, leading her back to the sofa. “Trust me, he won’t
need it. Now, there’s one more thing we should talk about.” He waited until she
was seated and once again had her leg stretched over his. She really liked
sitting like that. “As I already explained, once Gargoyles reach maturity, we
stop aging. When that happens, we have to either remain in isolation as I
choose to do, or change locations and start over. One of my Clan, Jasper,
recently came to me from out west. He is going to put in his application with
your department tomorrow.”

“That shouldn’t
be a problem. I’m down two detectives so the added personnel will be welcomed.”
Rafael grabbed Kaya’s ankle and directed her leg behind him on the sofa so he
was between her legs. “Good, because I’m tired of talking.”

He released the
button from its hole and slowly unzipped her jeans. Each tooth being released
from its counterpart made the anticipation almost unbearable. He pulled her
pants down her legs. She raised up making it easier on him then watched as he
tossed her jeans onto the floor. Every movement he made was graceful yet
powerful.

 In this
position she was wide open to him. He was staring at her pussy like he was
looking over a menu filled with all his favorite foods. Without taking his eyes
off her core, he asked, “Do you even own panties, Miss Kane?”

“Yes, I just
prefer to not wear them. Uh, Rafael…”

“Shhh.” Slowly,
like a big cat stalking his prey, he placed his hands on her inner thighs. He
pushed her knees to her chest so that her legs were even farther apart.
“Absolutely perfect.” Rafael lowered his mouth to the inside of her knee and
nipped at the tender skin. He alternated legs, kissing and biting his way
closer to where she wanted him to be.

 “Rafael,
please.” He placed his thumbs on either side of her wet lips and pulled them
apart, massaging just inside. He let his tongue tease her clit while his thumbs
tormented her. “More, oh God, more.” She pressed herself into his face, trying
to coax him into going faster.

“The first
introduction of my face to your pussy should not be rushed. You will get what
you need; I promise. In giving you what you need, I am going to take what I
want and that, Bella Mia, is time. I am going to take my slow (lick) sweet
(lick) time (lick) worshiping at the altar of my Queen.”

His tongue,
along with his words, were sparking a fire in her nerve endings. His thumbs
were replaced with first one finger, then two. Those digits were like the rest
of the man, thick. His two fingers filled her up almost as much as his cock
had. His mouth lavished her aching clit. He alternated between licking and
sucking. Her blonde curls didn’t deter his feast. The moans and growls coming
from her lover were proof enough that he was enjoying himself.

Kaya leaned up
and pulled her thermal over her head, tossing it in the vicinity of her jeans.
Her hands found her breasts where she pulled on her nipples. Rafael was looking
at her, eyes dark. She really wanted to close her eyes, but she was frozen in
place. It was like he cast a spell on her, forbidding her to look away. With
their gazes locked, he continued stoking the fire.

She wanted to
touch him. Removing one hand from her breast, she reached out with a fingertip,
touching his tongue as it licked her clit. She dipped that wet fingertip inside
herself, pumping in rhythm with his fingers. She pulled her finger out and
stuck it in her mouth, tasting her own juices. Rafael growled like a feral
animal. Kaya gasped when she noticed his fangs. Holy shit!  The fact that her
lover was sucking on the tenderest part of her body with teeth sharper than
knives protruding from his mouth should scare her. Instead, it prompted her
orgasm to rip through her body, the nerve endings exploding back inside.

The lack of heat
from her thighs brought her back to reality. She looked to where Rafael should
be, but instead, he was across the room, chest heaving. The wave of her orgasm
that was crashing into the rocks turned tide and rolled back out to sea when
Rafael growled, “Kaya, RUN!”