Stake and Dust (Stake and Dust series, Book I) (12 page)

Once inside the hotel room, Cassandra
retrieved her laptop and sat down at the table. Tremayne pulled up
a chair next to her.

"How do we know Gunthorn spoke the truth,"
she asked and met Tremayne's gaze. "About the Lamia stashing her
victim elsewhere. How do we know the victim isn't sitting right now
in the hotel room, too weak to move?"

"We don't know," he said. "We could drive
over there and find out, but I'm telling you if we do, we'll
contaminate the room and she'll know we're onto her. We may save
one bloke and that's if he's really there, but what about the
others? She won't stop. We have to catch her in the act, and we
have to do it right. Even if it means we lose this guy she has
now." He placed a hand over hers and for a moment she forgot to
breathe. "Cassandra?"

"Huh?" She finally lifted her eyes to meet
his. "I get it," she said and pulled her hand away. "I don't like
it, but yeah, I get it." She concentrated on her computer screen.
"We need the layout of the hotel where this sea-bitch is taking her
victims," she said. "If I can't find it on the agencies outlets
then I'll see if my brother can hack into the hotel's archives."
Her phone buzzed and she retrieved it. "Speak of the devil," she
said and answered the phone. "Hey Derek, you're just the guy I
need. Hold on." She put him on speakerphone. "Okay, we can both
hear you now. Tremayne is with me."

Silence greeted them.

"Derek?" she questioned, wondering if they'd
lost the connection.

"Where are you?" Derek asked.

"Back at the hotel. Why?"

"With Mr. Green?" he asked.

"Yes," she said slowly and looked at
Tremayne. He sat there with a smug look and she frowned. "Listen
Derek, we need the layout of the Seafront Inn. We have a possible
lead on where the Lamia is keeping her latest victim."

Silence again.

"Derek?" She was getting perturbed. What was
wrong with him?"

"I'm on it." He ended the call.

"That was weird," she picked up her phone and
stared at it.

"How many brothers do you have?" Tremayne
asked.

"Three," she said still wondering why Derek
had acted so strangely. "Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering if Derek's the brother I
should worry about or if the others will come after me too?"

"What do you mean?" She turned to look at him
in confusion until she realized his intent. "Oh," she said for lack
of anything else to say since he was leaning in so close, words had
ceased to exist. Really she should stop him, but she didn't want
to. His lips touched hers and she forgot everything else. Forgot
about the case, forgot about Derek and his odd behavior, once she
told him she was back at the hotel with– She broke the embrace and
placed a hand on Tremayne's chest. "Hold on a second. Are you
trying to seduce me to tick off my brothers?"

"No, on ticking off your brothers. As for the
seducing part… I must not be doing a very good job if you need to
ask." He chuckled and she really liked his laugh, along with
everything else. Darn him for being so charming.

She didn't move as he brushed her hair behind
her ear. "We should get back to work," he told her.

"Huh?" She didn't want to work now. "You
shouldn't have kissed me then." She didn't wait for him to respond.
She didn't want to talk. She threw her arms around his neck and
pulled him close as she did a little kissing of her own. Her mind
kept telling her she needed to slow down, but her body didn't want
to listen.

She broke the kiss and stared into his eyes,
those beautiful hypnotic eyes that said he'd like to do a lot more
than kiss her. Her breathing hitched and her heart pounded a few
beats faster at the thought. "I think we should–"

"Stop," he finished.

"Yes," she agreed, but her gaze lingered on
his lips.

"If you keep looking at me like that…"

"Like what?" she asked and met his gaze once
more.

"Like you want me to take you. I can only
remain a gentleman for so long."

She shook her head with a chuckle. "Then stop
looking at me like you want to devour me."

This time he laughed, a deep rumble from the
chest and his dimple dented his cheek with his wide grin. "I will
do my best to curve my appetite."

A few seconds ticked by or maybe time just
stood still as they tried to slow down their breathing.

"All three," she broke the silence.

"All three?" he asked in confusion.

"All three of my brothers will come after you
if they believe you're using me." She tilted her head as she stared
at him. "Are you, Mr. Green? Are you using me?"

"Tremayne," he corrected. "And no, I'm not
using you. I like you. I think you like me."

That was an understatement. "So?"

"How about we finish this assignment and see
where this goes?" He brushed a finger over her lips and she had the
urge to take it into her mouth and suckled it like a babe.

This was so not like her. She should tell him
no. They lived on the opposite sides of the country. Long distance
relationships never lasted, but then who said it had to be a
forever kind of romance? She'd go with her brother Wade's motto on
this one. When it came to his girlfriends, he lived in the moment.
Never know when it will be your last hoorah
, he would say.
Have fun. Kiss. Make love. Then say your goodbyes.

"It's a date, Mr. Green…Tremayne," she said
and that won her another huge grin. She could just kiss him
senseless. "Oh heck, why not?" she voiced out loud. Before he could
ask her what she meant, she grabbed his shirt and pulled him toward
her for a searing kiss. His hands went to her waist and she could
tell he was itching to do more, but held back.
Darn him
. She
wouldn't force the issue, but she wouldn't stop him if he decided
to take it further.

He broke the kiss and took a deep breath. It
was good to know he wasn't the only one rattled.

Her phone buzzed on the table.

"You better answer it," Tremayne said. "Or
your brother will be on the next flight out."

She retrieved her phone. "I'm here," she told
Derek.

"Check your email," Derek said. I have what
you need."

"Thanks. Will do."

"And Cass…"

"Uh-huh," she said, but she was more
interested in Tremayne's lips and how she wanted to kiss them
again.

"Be careful," Derek told her, drawing her
attention. She had a hunch his warning had nothing to do with going
after the Lamia.

"I will." She ended the call and pulled up
her email on the laptop. She looked at Tremayne. "This is what we
need."

How she managed to stay focused as they went
over the plan, she'll never know, but they had to have it right.
Their lives would depend on it.

"It's almost sunrise," Tremayne said as he
gestured at the time on the laptop's right hand corner of the
screen. "You should get some sleep. We both should," he added.
"We'll meet at Eternal Bliss later tonight, and then we'll head
over together to make our move."

She closed the laptop and glanced at him.
"Sounds like a plan." She thought he would go, but he just sat
there. "Oh yeah." She felt stupid. Of course he just sat there.
She'd driven him here. He didn't have a car to go home in. Had that
been his plan all along? She shrugged. She could get onboard with
that. "Do you want to–"

"Don't say it," Tremayne interrupted her. "I
won't say no if you ask me to stay. And we both know it wouldn't be
a good idea. We both need sleep, and I assure you if I stay, sleep
will not be an option." His gaze wavered to the bed with
meaning.

Heat burned her cheeks. "I'd like to argue
with you about the sleep option, but you're right. Just for the
record," she added, "I hate it that you're right." She grabbed her
car keys and strode to the door and opened it. The rain had stopped
but the smell of damp earth and concrete still scented the night.
"After you." She waved her hand in front of her.

He stood to his full height, all long lean
and muscular. She could tell him she didn't care. Tell him he
should just stay, but she didn't want their time together just to
be a tumble into bed. She realized she wanted much more from this
man. She wanted to unravel the mystery surrounding him, and know
him better, before she loved him senseless. She was shocked at
where her thoughts had taken her, but there it was, and she planned
on pursuing her desires as soon as they took down the Lamia. Duty
first. Fun later. Lots of fun later.

Tremayne stood in front of her now, and he
reached for her, touching her lips with the pad of his thumb,
before he caressed her cheek. "You are a temptation difficult to
resist, Cassandra Hayes."

Why did those words make her legs turn to
jelly? Before she could regain her composure, he strode out the
door.

* * * * *

Back from delivering Tremayne safe and sound
at his pub, she received another call from Derek. "Yes?" she
answered.

"Are you alone?"

"What if I wasn't?" she countered.

"Jeez, yes or no?" he insisted.

"I'm alone," she said as she plopped onto the
bed.

"Good. I tried to do a little more digging
about your Mr. Green."

"Give it a break, Derek."

"I'm getting the feeling you're into this
guy. Correct me if I'm wrong?"

"And what if I am?" Really her brother needed
to back off.

"You're missing the point. I tried to find
out information, meaning the agencies' files about him are
encrypted. I can't break the code. Doesn't that make you
curious?"

She sat up in bed. Derek could hack into
anything. If he was admitting he couldn't, she'd better not dismiss
his concerns.

As much as she trusted Tremayne, she also
felt like he was keeping something from her. What in the world
could her partner be hiding? Did it have to do with his involvement
with preternatural beings? His contact was a vampire. He admitted
it to her and the way he spoke about the vampire, she'd bet the guy
was a friend, someone he talked to often, someone he trusted. She
frowned at the thought. Hunters could not be friends with vampires.
It just wasn't done.

"Maybe he knows someone high up in the agency
that is covering for him," she offered an explanation.

"But for what?" he asked. "I'll keep digging,
but I think someone has tampered with his file. You just be
careful, Cassandra," Derek said. "I don't trust people who have
secrets."

"I'll be careful," she told him before she
ended the call. She didn't bother mentioning how she kissed
Tremayne and made a date with him as soon as they finished this
assignment. No, Derek, didn't need to know what she had planned.
She could take care of herself.

Darn it. She wished Derek hadn't planted the
seed of doubt. "You're a walking contradiction," she murmured about
her partner. Or maybe it was her own hang up hampering all this.
Maybe she couldn't accept Tremayne's friendship with the
Otherworldly creatures and Derek's suspicions just added to it?

She changed for bed, opting for her favorite
T-shirt and sweatpants, both comfy and practical. She crawled into
bed and turned off the light. She tried to clear her mind, but she
kept returning to Tremayne as she rehashed the entire evening
before she thought kissing him had been a good idea.

Gunthorn's comment earlier weighed heavy on
her mind? Tremayne's reaction when Gunthorn said Lorelei didn't
like him. Gunthorn stated it like the Lamia knew Tremayne on a
personal level.

Also when she'd first contacted Tremayne, he
told her he knew who had kidnapped the young men. He was going to
confront the culprit at Eternal Bliss. Only when she arrived at the
pub, Tremayne acted as if he didn't know what the vamp looked like.
Things didn't add up. Then again, it could be he wanted this job
for himself and hadn't wanted her in the way, and just made up the
contact, hoping she'd think he could handle the assignment
alone.

Heck, she'd wanted to do the same thing.
Still…she liked things to make sense. Once she and Tremayne took
down the Lamia and managed to recapture Gunthorn, she'd stick
around and take Tremayne up on that date he promised her. This way
she could find out more about him and his operation here. Staying
had nothing to do with the way he kissed. Yep, right.

She rolled onto her side and closed her eyes.
Finally, sleep found her, and her dreams weren't about vampires or
sea creatures, but of tantalizing kisses with a promise for
more.

Chapter Seventeen

As Tremayne entered through the
Employees
Only
entrance facing the alleyway, he nodded hello to Georgina,
who was busy untangling Christmas lights. It was that time a year
again, and his employees liked to decorate the pub.

"Hi." Georgina looked up with a smile. "How
in the world do these get so tangled just sitting in a box?"

"Don't rightly know," he said. "I have
confidence you'll manage though." He headed up front.

Morris manned the bar when Tremayne couldn't.
He was a good and reliable employee, and was also acutely aware of
the preternatural world. Tremayne often wondered if Morris didn't
have some Fae in his bloodline. He had a sixth sense when it came
to the supernatural.

Morris inclined his head in greeting. "Hey,
Boss."

"Good evening, Morris. A fine one it would
seem." He nodded toward the crowd near the bandstand and seated at
the tables. The buzz of activity told him it would only get better.
Tonight's local band, the Firecrackers, was on stage. Not a great
name, but their talent as musicians earned them a return visit to
the pub.

As Tremayne took a couples' order of two
bottles of imported beer, he thought about Cassandra. She'd been
occupying his mind for the last few days. It was like the hunter
had cast a spell on him. Or perhaps it was only wishful thinking on
his part. Then he'd have a good excuse why he couldn't resist her.
He wanted her, wanted to kiss her senseless, and he wanted to take
her to bed.