Ripper (47 page)

The boat slid across the water and Marcus’s dark eyes lit up as Venice rose like a jewel on the ocean. My eyes opened wide to take it all in. I’d never been out of the US before. Hell, besides Arkansas and Louisiana, I’d never been out of Texas before. Venice was a stunning sight, a beautiful, alien world, and Marcus seemed extremely satisfied to be home. He pulled my hand to his lips and kissed it firmly before holding it to his heart. This was our home for now.

I studied the man beside me and wondered what would happen between us. I wanted to open myself to him, but I hesitated and I knew why.

The drugs were out of my system. I was no longer under the influence of any spell.

I still loved Grayson Sloane.

It wasn’t like before. My love for him was a wary thing. If I met Gray at this point, I would push him away. I would never let him in. I would find a way to sabotage any relationship we could have. I had to heal myself before I could consider even talking to Gray. I needed to discover who I could be. I wanted to be the woman Marcus was sure I could become.

“That is it,” Marcus said, a wealth of satisfaction in his voice. He pointed to an elegant townhouse with a pier for his private boat. There was a line of servants waiting to greet us. “Welcome home,
cara mia
.”

I smiled at him, genuinely happy to be alone with him. I would take this time to explore, to learn, to grow because I needed to become all I could. I had a new mission. I might not be able to be with Gray, but he was my client even though he didn’t know it.

I would save Grayson Sloane if it was the last thing I did.

The boat pulled up to the pier and Marcus hopped out. He placed his hands around my waist and lifted me lightly onto the landing. He leaned over and kissed my forehead affectionately. The sun was going down. I slid my hand into his and walked into the night.

* * * *

Kelsey, Gray, Marcus and the entire Thieves gang will return in Addict.

Author’s Note

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Addict

Hunter: A Thieves Novel, Book 2

By Lexi Blake

Coming Soon

When Kelsey Owens returns home to Dallas, she is a changed woman. After months of training with Marcus Vorenus, she has more control over her abilities. She’s ready to start her new job, even if it means dealing with the King of All Vampire and his partner, Devinshea Quinn. Her first assignment, however, will force her to face her past. Grayson Sloane is in trouble and she has to find him.

With the help of Gray’s brother, a full empath demon, Kelsey tracks her one time lover down. Before she knows it, she’s pulled into Gray’s undercover operation in a demon sex club and sitting across from a Duke of Hell. Abbas Hiberna plans to use her city to test his new drug, Brimstone. It doesn’t just give supernatural creatures a high. It also leaves them vulnerable to demonic persuasion.

When the king’s own men begin to turn against him, even the royal family is in danger. Keeping them safe will put Kelsey in the duke’s crosshairs and test her fledgling relationship with Marcus. With her new life crumbling around her, a dark secret about her former lover is revealed and Kelsey will have to choose between saving Gray Sloane and the revenge she’s waited a lifetime for.

* * * *

Excerpt:

“Stop fidgeting,” the demon ordered as the elevator began its climb.  He’d told me to refer to him as Matt.  It wasn’t his real name.  Demons jealously guarded their real names.

“You try having a piece of dental floss shoved up your ass, and we’ll see how you like it,” I grumbled back.  I tried not to look at myself, but it was hard because the entire elevator was mirrored.  I didn’t like to think why they’d done that.  I was just thinking about the fact that my ass was hanging out.  We’d been allowed into the club when Gray’s brother had explained he’d procured me for Gray.  I could tell the bouncer wasn’t that impressed.  He’d looked at me differently after I walked out of the “dressing room.”  The demon had taken charge, briskly ordering me out of my nice clothes that covered me up and into lingerie.  I don’t even know if I could call it that.  Marcus had bought me a ton of pretty, frilly things he liked to see me in, but they tended toward filmy nightgowns and beautifully made corsets.

I was dressed in a white lace demi-cup bra that pushed my boobs up and made them look a lot bigger than they were.  There was the white thong currently stuck between my ass cheeks.  I had on thigh-high white hose and four-inch stilettos.  Gray’s brother had brushed out my hair and placed a white mask over my face. I didn’t know what I hated more, the shoes or the so-called underwear.  I longed for my nice cotton bikinis and my comfy Uggs.  Apparently both of those were a no-go in the house of sin Gray was currently residing in.

I was grateful for the mask as the elevator stopped on the fifth floor, and my heart started to race.  I reminded myself that I was here on a case.  I was just going to make sure Gray was all right.  That was all.  I didn’t have any interest in him beyond the fact that he was my brother’s best friend and potentially had information I could use.

So why was my heart thumping as loud as the heavy rock beat that filled the space as Matt led me out onto the floor?

There was a large man in a tuxedo standing at an elegantly appointed desk.

“My lord,” he said deferentially.  His eyebrows arched as he looked at me.  “Trying something different tonight, my lord?”

Matt laughed.  “Not at all, Kevin.  Let Tristan know I’ll be requiring his services.  This one is for my brother.”

“Very good, sir.  Lord Sloane does like slender brunettes,” Kevin said, nodding us in.

We walked past the security desk and into some combination of a strip club and a place for swingers.  All of the women were dressed in a similar fashion to me, though they seemed to favor leather and dark colors.  I was the only one in the room wearing white.  Naturally every eye turned to me. 

Behind my half mask, I studied the room.  It looked like a grand ballroom.  The floors were polished hardwood and the room was lit with chandeliers.  The walls had those white panels favored in European palaces.  It had an old world feel to it, if one ignored the stripper poles at the far end or the various women and men tied up and being spanked across the room.  There was also a bar, naturally, and several intimate spaces with antique couches. 

“You do seem able to catch my little brother’s attention, don’t you?” Matt said, satisfaction oozing from his pores. 

I turned and there he was.  He was sitting on a couch, his big body lounging negligently.  He was wearing tight black jeans and a dark shirt he’d left open as though he’d walked out of the bedroom without bothering to button his shirt.  It left his perfectly cut chest on full mouth-watering display.  The tattoo that covered the left half of his torso looked sexy as hell in the low glow of the room.  His face was a tribute to masculine perfection.  Marcus was the perfect European male, all fine lines and aesthetic grace, but Gray was an all-American hunk of masculinity.  He screamed dominant male and for good reason.  He was and made no apologies for it.  He was the kinkiest man I’d ever met.  He preferred to tie up his sexual partners and when I was that partner, I’d been happy to do it.

I was thinking about doing it right now.

His deep blue eyes were looking lazily around the room.  He had a female at his feet, her head resting on his lap.  He didn’t seem terribly interested in her.  He was talking to another man whose face I couldn’t see.  He was smaller than Gray, with almost white hair.  Gray stopped midsentence when his eyes caught sight of me.

Gray sat up, and I noticed that his hair was longer than it had been when we were engaged.  He used to wear it in a strict, military-style cut.  It was a little shaggy now, reaching to the tops of his ears.  It was thick and wavy.  I had always wanted to run my fingers through it.  I flushed under his gaze, unsure if it was just the outfit I was wearing or complete and abject shame that I had a man who cared about me, and I couldn’t help but think about someone else.

He was the ultimate bad boy.  Grayson Sloane was a half-demon who had lied to me, used me, and had potentially tried to trick me into going to Hell with him.  And I was shaking at the thought of his hands on me.  I was also resolute.  No matter how much I was attracted to the man, I was going to resist because I knew the score.  Marcus was good, and Gray was bad.

Gray was also observant.  He stood up abruptly and looked curiously at the new girl, namely me.  He stalked across the room just as another big man moved to intercept me.  He was shorter than Gray, though he still towered over me.  He didn’t have great control over his form.  His eyes gave him away. 

“New girl, huh,” the demon said.  His shirt was off and he had a girl on a leash trailing behind him.  She didn’t look terribly upset to be on a leash.  I wondered how much she was getting paid. 

“This one is for my brother,” Matt said, attempting to dismiss him. 

“Oh, it’s you,” the man said.  “I didn’t recognize you, sir.  His lordship has enough pretty brunettes, don’t you think?  This one looks practically angelic.  That’s really not his style.”

“I’ll decide what my style is, Kall,” Gray snarled at the smaller demon.  “Go away and don’t look at her again or we will have a problem.  Do you understand?”

Kall bowed from his waist and murmured, “Yes, my lord.”

Kall slunk away, pulling his girl behind him.  Gray’s face was tight.  “Explain yourself, brother.  How dare you bring her here.”

Matt looked perfectly innocent.  “I thought you would be thrilled, brother.  This is the woman who has caused you such distress, is it not?  Here she is.  I didn’t even have to threaten her.  The moment she heard you were in trouble, she was scrambling to get here to you.  I think she still cares for you. You know I can’t stand to see lovers kept apart.  I know the feeling too well myself.”

“I’m not in trouble.” Gray spoke to Matt, but his eyes were on me. 

The woman who had previously had her head in Gray’s lap crawled across the room and attached herself to his leg.

“Don’t leave, Sir,” she begged prettily.

Gray looked down like he’d already forgotten she existed and wasn’t pleased to be reminded.  “Go.  Now.”  He pointed to the elevators and she crawled off, her head hung low.

It was a disgusting display, and I wondered if that wouldn’t have been me had I stayed with him.  “Well, if you’re not in trouble, then I’ll feel free to get on with my life, Sloane.  Matt, where are my clothes?”

The demon with the upper-crust British accent waved his hand.  “Probably in the incinerator by now.”

“What?”

He gave a negligent half shrug.  “Well, they didn’t suit you, dear.  It looks like some old man picked them out, perhaps trying to de-tart his ‘much too young for him’ girlfriend.”

“You asshole. How am I supposed to get home in this?” How was I supposed to explain being more than half naked to my trainer?

“That’s your problem, dear.  I’ve done my level best to help.  You can’t expect me to solve all of your problems.”  Matt’s mouth turned up in a slow smile.  “And now my date for the evening is here.”  A thin young man with curly blond hair and blue eyes was walking toward us.  He kept his eyes downcast and sank to his knees when he reached us.

“My lord, how may I serve you this evening?”

“I’ll think of something, Tristan.  And tell the colorist your hair should be a bit lighter to get it just right,” Matt said, turning the young man’s face up toward him.  “Come along, now.  I know public sex is all the rage here, but I prefer a bit of discretion.  I’m going to take my sweet, little puppy somewhere private to play our games.”  His face turned serious as he regarded Gray.  “I’m making due tonight, brother, as I have every night for the last ten bloody years.  The object of your affection is in your grasp.  I suggest you don’t let it go.”

With that I was left alone with the man who had lied to me.  I was left alone with the first man I ever loved.

“You’re supposed to be in Italy,” Gray said and he made it sound a little like an accusation.

“I just got back yesterday,” I replied, wishing I had more clothes on.  I noticed that the man Gray had been talking to was watching us now.

“So it only took you twenty-four hours to get into serious trouble,” Gray complained.

It wasn’t how I expected the reunion to go.  I was the injured party.  I was the one who had come to save him even though he’d treated me like crap.  The least I expected was a little gratitude.  “I’m on a case.”

“That’s your excuse for everything, sweetheart,” Gray said flatly.

I hated the fact that I felt tears welling in my eyes.  That mask was coming in handy.  I should have been happy.  He was making it easy on me.  I could go home to Marcus and cuddle up and know that I was in the right place with the right man.  The time I had spent with Gray had been a huge mistake.  “Then it can be my excuse for leaving.  I can see you have everything under control here, Sloane.  I won’t bother you again.”