Temptation Rising (25 page)

“With all due respect, Elder, I decide if there’s one person for me,” Rome stated adamantly. “We are not in the forest.”

“No, Faction Leader, the forest is in you.”

Nick and X remained silent as Rome’s temples began to throb.

“You cannot take out that which is a part of your soul, your blood, your heritage. You are a Shadow Shifter, one of the legendary men who are also beasts. Your entire existence is a legend to some, a truth to others.” He nodded toward X and Nick. “You are also a leader of many. To deny what is your destiny is not an option.”

“I have given my life to the Assembly, dedicated my time and my money to the care of the tribes. This,” he said insistently, “I cannot give them. I am not looking for a mate, nor will I accept one on legend alone.”

The fact that he was blatantly going against the word of an Elder was not lost on Rome. It was a serious offense, one that could cost him his role as Faction Leader. But he didn’t care. He would not be linked to a woman just because their legend said so. It was yet another responsibility to him, one he was not willing to take on. Another life he would be responsible for protecting.

Besides, a
companheiro
had to also be a shifter. Which Kalina was not.

He left the room before anyone could speak another word, before the legend could begin to make any more sense given what was going on around them.

*   *   *

“Is she a shifter?” Nick asked X when they were leaving Rome’s place later that morning.

“She has to be,” X answered.

“But why wouldn’t she just tell Rome what she was?”

“Maybe she doesn’t know. Maybe she’s a half-breed like us and was raised to believe she was human.”

Nick sighed, approaching the driver’s side of his Porsche. “So what does Chavez want with her? You can only be a lifetime mate to one cat. If Kalina is Rome’s mate, why does Chavez want her?”

X shrugged. “You know some always want what others have.”

“But nobody knows Rome has her. He just met her a few days ago.”

“Are you sure about that?” X asked.

Nick looked contemplative. “No, I guess I’m not. So we need to find out who Kalina’s parents were. Because if she’s about to make her first shift and the Rogues have picked up her scent, we’re looking at a much bigger problem than we first thought.”

X nodded. “I’m on it. I’ll check in with you later. What about Rome?”

Nick thought for a moment about the pensive look on his friend’s face, about the fact that he knew Rome’s hesitancy. A mate would be someone close to him—someone he could lose, the way he’d lost his parents. That type of loss would devastate Rome, most likely driving him to a deadly rage. It wasn’t something Rome ever wanted in his life. He would fight it like a vicious attack were it to be true.

“Let’s keep this quiet for now. We’ll tell him what he needs to know when he needs to know it.”

“You don’t think he needs to know it now?” X asked.

“You want him killing every Rogue in this city without giving a damn who sees him or finds out about us? Because that’s exactly what he’ll do once he realizes they’re out to take his mate.” Nick took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and looked around to the clear summer’s day. “I want to exterminate those bastards as much as anybody else, but I don’t want all that blood on Rome’s hands. He’s dealt with enough. Let’s find out what the threat is before we pull him in.”

“He’s not going to like us keeping shit from him,” X said, opening the car door and sliding inside.

Nick followed, putting the key in the ignition. “True, but we’re his friends. He’s not going to snap our throats. He’ll thank us later.”

“Don’t bet on it,” X said as they pulled out of Rome’s driveway. “And get yourself a full-size car or a truck, man. This tight-ass toy car makes my legs hurt.”

“That’s because your thick-ass body wasn’t built for a sleek, smooth vehicle such as this. Me, on the other hand—” Nick slipped on dark Ray-Ban shades. “—I look damn good behind the wheel of this puppy.”

Chapter 17

Kalina had just finished dressing and was on her way out the door headed for work. She was already going to be late, but at least she’d called.

She really needed to close this case and get on with her life. This attraction to Rome had been a source of conflict for far too long. And she wasn’t about to let sex—even terrific mind-blowing sex—mess up her career aspirations. Roman Reynolds was a job and nothing else.

He’d sealed that deal the moment he climbed out of that bed, leaving her there to wake alone.

It was petty and probably a small thing to a more experienced woman. But to Kalina, who had taken only two lovers in her adult life, all before the incident two years ago, it was a big deal. Sleeping with a suspect was something she’d never imagine she’d do. But she had, because she’d felt something deep inside when Rome looked at her. She’d felt … like she belonged. To him, in his life, somewhere, finally.

But it was an illusion. No, it was a hit-and-run, a booty call that she’d answered like a wanton hussy. He’d probably kidnapped her—she was still fuzzy on exactly how she came to be in his house, in his bed. She remembered Mel and the cookout—which meant she’d have to face the cheerful woman this morning and explain why she’d gone AWOL on her last night. She remembered something else, too—eyes that glowed in the night. The thought sent a chill right down her spine.

Surely she was seeing things—again. No, that wasn’t possible; crazy didn’t go on hiatus for two years then resurface. On the short drive to work she thought about that over and over again. What had she seen, and was it real? Kalina also thought about Rome, about how she would react facing him again. That was an easy fix: She wouldn’t go near him. She would stay in her department and find a link between Rome’s money and that cartel in South America. In the several texts that she’d received from Ferrell yesterday after she’d ignored his first one, he’d mentioned the Cortez Cartel. Kalina would pore through financial records looking for the name Raul Cortez; once she found it Rome’s ass would be toast.

*   *   *

“The minute she comes in I want to see her in my office,” Rome said into the phone to Dan Mathison, his chief financial officer.

Rome had been furious when he’d left this morning’s impromptu meeting. Kalina was not a shifter! She was a woman and she was soft and passionate and … something he’d never dared dream of in his life.

And she was his.

Not his
companheiro,
but his woman. He’d thought that each time he touched her last night, each time he’d stroked inside of her, each time she’d called his name as if he were the only man for her. He’d dreamed of her, longed for her for two years and she was finally here, finally a part of his life.

But she wasn’t.

When he’d returned to his room she’d been gone. Baxter, who normally had eyes in the back of his head, hadn’t seen her go. Rome suspected that wasn’t totally true. Ezra had bought her car back to Rome’s house sometime during the night, which proved just too damn convenient for her getaway.

He’d made it into the office in time to find out she still wasn’t here but had called in saying she was on her way. And the minute she arrived he wanted her here, in his office. He wasn’t letting her get away from him that easily. He couldn’t.

In the meantime, he had a phone call to make.

“Roman, my boy. It’s good to hear from you again,” Bingham said in his gravelly voice.

“I want to know who his contact was,” Rome said without preamble. He’d pored over his father’s notes on that disk and knew that there was a good chance Bingham knew what was there and who to contact about that information.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t lie to me, Bingham! I know what’s on that disk and I know you do, too. Don’t bullshit me. Tell me who my father was getting his information from.”

Silence filled the line. Rome’s patience grew thinner. “Look, he’s gone. You gave his secrets to me. I have to handle this, and the sooner the better.”

“He didn’t tell me everything. There was so much I didn’t know,” Bingham insisted.

“Tell me what you did know,” he insisted. Bingham didn’t know about the shifters, that was most likely true. The notes on the disk were just cryptic enough that if a person didn’t already know about the tribes, they would simply assume Vance Reynolds was making a play for political office. The outlines for enforcement of a new government could have possibly been construed as treason or even a long-shot attempt at a terrorist uprising. Any of which was enough to plant his father’s name firmly on Homeland Security’s hit list, a thought that threw a few more suspects into the pool of killers. But Rome knew it wasn’t a human who’d taken his parents’ lives. The house had been invaded by shifters. He remembered their scent, remembered their laughter and the pure hatred that had flowed through them.

But Vance had known someone within the government was on to him, to what he was doing. Rome needed to find that person, he needed to know what they knew before he ordered them taken care of. He wouldn’t kill needlessly, but he would protect their secret. That was a promise.

*   *   *

Kalina didn’t want to be here, she didn’t want to knock on this door or see the person on the other side. But her choices were limited. Dan had been adamant about her coming to see Rome immediately. Causing a fuss would have no doubt drawn unwanted attention to the reasons, so she’d simply clamped her lips shut and stalked all the way to the elevators. She’d staunchly ignored Ava’s snide remarks about her being late and whatever else had come out of the woman’s mouth.

Mel, thankfully, had not been at her desk, because that was another person Kalina wasn’t up to facing. At least not before coming up with a convincing reason why she’d disappeared from the woman’s house last night without saying a word. She should have never gone there, she thought now. Her resolve to keep to herself should have remained in place. Making connections and building relationships was just not in her. She was a loner and always would be. No matter how much that thought hurt.

So her knock on Rome’s office door was rapid as emotions rippled through her body, making her temples throb. She braced herself, waiting to hear his deep voice telling her to come in, but the sound didn’t come. Instead the door swung open and she was pulled inside and pressed against the wall as it slammed closed again. It happened so fast she lost her breath.

“What—” She tried to speak but words were lost by the crush of his lips against hers.

Kalina didn’t want to kiss him. No, this was not how this meeting was supposed to go. There were things she had to say to this man, words that were meant to rip him a new one for the callous way he’d treated her. But damm if she could stop it.

His lips were like a drug and she sipped heartily, taking her fill of everything he offered at this moment. Her fists stayed clenched at her sides as she dared them to move. All he had was her lips and really, wasn’t that enough? Her body responded to his instantly, heat pooling in her center, moisture dampening her folds already. She tilted her head, hoping maybe to end the connection, but it didn’t work.

Rome plunged deeper, his tongue touching every recess of her mouth. She couldn’t breathe, her chest heaving as her nipples tingled. She wanted to scream, to lift her hands to his handsome face and scratch until she’d given him just an inkling of the pain he’d inflicted on her. No, she wanted her gun, then she could shoot him right in the balls. But as his thick erection pressed against her she heard a moan escape and knew that was the last thing she wanted to do to that particular body part.

Damn her, she still wanted him.

He was the one to break the connection of their lips, but his mouth stayed hungrily on her as he scraped his teeth along the line of her jaw. She was so out of breath she let her head rest against the wall, panting, needing his touch and hating it just the same.

“Don’t you ever leave me,” he growled, moving down to ravage her neck with his mouth.

“What?” she asked through a mind blurred with arousal.

“When I returned you were gone.” His hands moved to her arms, giving her a little shake as he spoke. “Don’t ever do that again!”

Lifting her head Kalina blinked, then stared up into his eyes. “Are you serious? You’re the one who left.” A tiny remnant of her backbone reared up, and she lifted her palms to push at his chest. The action must have caught him off guard because he took a step back. And she took two steps away from him.

“I woke up and you were gone. All that was missing was the money on the table,” she snapped. “If you wanted a cheap fuck you could have hired someone for that. Oh, I forgot”—she feigned innocence—“I do work for you, don’t I? But sleeping with you wasn’t in the job description.” And that was no lie. Nowhere in the DEA’s or the MPD’s description of this assignment did it say fuck Roman Reynolds. She could attest to that.

“Wait a minute, you think I left you?” Rome said, moving to the door and switching the lock in place before turning to face her.

He wore a dark suit, or at least the pants were dark; his shirt was white with a coral-colored tie that was the perfect shade to offset his mocha skin. She assumed his suit jacket was somewhere in the office because he always wore a suit to work. His shoes shone like the gold watch at his wrist. He looked impeccably perfect, and her body ached for him.