Wicked Sunset (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 4) (37 page)

I nodded to him and proceeded down the carpeted hallway, past offices that hummed with the sounds of a typical office setting: typing, phone calls, and shuffling of paperwork.

“Caleb!” Marla Kendrick exclaimed with a bright smile. “It’s so good to see you again.”

Alton’s assistant looked ever the consummate professional in her crisp gray suit. I hadn’t seen her since my surgical recovery during the summer.

“Hi, Marla,” I said warmly. “You’re a sight for sore eyes, too.”

She hugged me in a warm embrace with one arm while holding a stack of files in the other. Marla was definitely one of my favorites.

“Mr. Rutherford mentioned that you arrived last night. Would you believe he didn’t even tell
me
you were coming?”

That was surprising; Marla was usually in on everything Alton was up to.

“It gave me such a fright when I heard about the attack you were involved in last night,” she said.

Various individuals peered out from their offices to stare at us with curious expressions.

“Yeah, pretty scary. But I’m fine, really,” I said.

“You look healthy enough, but it looks like you’ve lost some more weight since I last saw you,” she observed with a frown as she gently squeezed my bicep through my jacket. “No, this simply will not do.”

Was there a conspiracy around here regarding my weight or something?

“Oh, not you, too,” I said.

Between her Dutch accent and the manner in which she arched an eyebrow at me in an all-too-familiar fashion, she pulled off quite a stern headmistress impersonation; or, given her green eyes, perhaps just a blonde-haired Kat.

“Come,” she said, ushering me toward a set of large oak-finished double doors. “I’ll announce you. Ms. Rawlings is in with Mr. Rutherford, and they’ll want to see you straight away.”

She knocked at Alton’s office door and entered.

“Mr. Rutherford, please forgive me, but we have an impromptu celebrity visitor and he’d like to meet with you,” she said in a serious tone.

“Celebrity?” Alton asked incredulously.

Marla motioned to me and I slipped past her to enter the palatial office. Kat and Alton’s curious expressions were priceless until they realized it was only me.

“Oh, Marla, honestly,” Alton said with near-exasperation.

She winked and closed the door behind me.

Despite the regal-looking office décor and a breathtaking view of London’s business district, my eyes were immediately drawn to Kat.

She looked absolutely beautiful with her hair down and wearing a leather skirt and sweater.

“Good morning, young man,” Alton said, dressed impeccably in his Armani suit. “Nearly good afternoon, in fact.”

I embraced Kat and we exchanged a quick kiss.

“Good morning, Dom-Kat,” I teased.

“I thought you’d like that. Did you sleep well, my love?” she asked, staring down into my eyes.

“Yep, though a bit longer than I’d planned,” I said. “I didn’t come all this way to see you, only to sleep the time away.”

She frowned. “Stop that. You had an exhausting flight, followed by a nearly fatal evening. You needed the sleep.”

“I’ll consider myself properly admonished,” I said.

“Not until I say so, you won’t,” she said with a smoldering look as her fingertips caressed the side of my face.

The arousal that flooded through me at that moment was palpable, and I felt the heat rise in my cheeks.

Turning quickly to Alton, I shook his hand as he regarded me with an amused expression.

“Katrina mentioned you have something to show me,” he said.

“Oh, yes,” I said, withdrawing the device from my jacket pocket and handing it to him.

He examined the plain-looking metal tube, turning it over in his hand. “So, this is what your grand experiment netted. Quite a small result for over half a million pound investment, wouldn’t you say?”

My mouth dropped open and I heard a small gasp from Kat.

Half a million pounds? No way!

“Ohmygosh, that’s a helluva’ lot more than I thought it would end up being,” I said.

Kat regarded me with a disapproving look. “
You
came up with this idea?” she asked. “And why, exactly, didn’t you come to me about this instead of him?”

Her rebuke almost stung, and I suppressed a wince.

Aw, crap.

“Well, I—I,” was all I managed to say.

“Now, now, Katrina,” Alton interrupted, placing the flashlight on his desk. “The young man wanted to fund it himself, in fact, because he was hesitant to ask you for the capital. He only called upon me because only I have direct access to the investment trust account that we set aside for him.”

That is, my former, and now completely dissolved, trust fund.

Kat’s expression softened a bit, but she still looked injured over the matter. I carefully reached out to hold her right hand in both of mine, gently massaging it between my fingers.

She silently stared back at me. “I see,” she finally said. “Though it hurts you didn’t have enough faith that I’d support your venture.”

“You’ve already done too much for me as it is,” I said.

Her eyes glistened at that.

Oh, please don’t cry.

“Listen, I’m sorry,” I said. “I really wasn’t trying to hurt you, much less insult you.”

I brought her hand to my lips and reverently kissed it.

“The boy meant well,” Alton said. “And I was overseeing his efforts.”

She took a deep breath and let it out. “Alton, a moment with my mate, if you please,” she said coolly.

The two of them shared a silent exchange.

“Very well. I’ll be right outside,” he said.

He calmly exited the office to the hallway beyond, pulling the door closed behind him.

She stepped closer to tower before me, gazing down at me with a neutral expression.

Her green eyes were nearly piercing as I stared up into them, and I sensed a strong, commanding influence that felt simultaneously intimidating and slightly arousing.

“Harboring secrets from me is not within your purview as my mate,” she said.

“But I---”

Her eyes narrowed. “I will not have it,” she emphasized.

My heartbeat pounded.

“No more secrets. Understood?” she asked.

I nodded and swallowed hard, momentarily speechless over the aura she projected.

Then her expression softened. It felt like a roiling storm had passed as she lightly stroked my cheek with her fingertips.

Okay, this is a lot better. Yet…

“Love and trust go hand in hand,” she said. “I’ll give you every bit of both that I’m capable of, but I will not spare calling you out, when necessary.”

Who is this woman towering before me?

“Now, kiss me,” she said.

My eyes never left hers as I stepped up to her and craned my neck to offer my lips, which she met with a long, passionate kiss.

“Now, do again…only better,” she insisted.

I smiled, and initiated a passion-filled kiss of my own. Her arms encircled me and pulled my body against hers, garnering a powerful surge of arousal within me as my pulse raced.

When our lips parted, the edges of her mouth upturned slightly. “That’ll do.”

I was gobsmacked.

“Who
are
you?” I asked.

“I’m who you want…and who you need,” she said simply.

I stared back at her blankly.

“Surely you understand yourself, my love? After our chat in the club, I know I finally do,” she said. “As I promised, I’ll do my utmost to fulfill the key role you need and desire. In fact, I relish it.”

I blinked.

Our conversation that night in the Goth club quickly resurfaced in my mind.

She reached up, using both hands to lightly run her fingertips down the sides of my face and all the way down my neck in a manner that elicited a shiver through my body.

“Remember to be true to yourself and embrace it, just as I embrace you,” she said. “And to hell with what anyone else thinks.”

She kissed me softly, affectionately.

“I’m your mate,” she said. “I’m not trying to rule you, or smother you, or demean you, or take away your independence. I’m only trying to protect you and fulfill you…”

She looked down into my eyes with affection, and I nearly dropped to my knees.

I will do absolutely anything for you.

I felt virtually rooted to the floor in awe as her words slowly sank into the depths of my mind.

“You’re so endearing-looking right now,” she said. “Which is in stark contrast to how I’m feeling about you.”

She gave me a smoldering look. “I want to do some really wicked things to you right now.”

My breath caught in my throat and the muscles in my body tensed with anticipation.

Oh, I want that, too.

“Nothing that’d hurt,” I said.

“Only if you want it to,” she said in a husky-sounding voice.

Her eyes drilled into mine with a predatory, hungry look that made my blood burn for her. She reached out to slowly scratch the tips of her fingernails down the back of my neck.

Her touch sent erotic chills down my spine, and I closed my eyes. Then, I felt her lips against mine and she breathed in as our lips locked, momentarily drawing the air from my lungs.

It felt like pure ecstasy.

The seal of our kiss broke just in time for me to take in a large breath of air, refreshing my senses.

“I love you so damned much,” I said with all of the fiber in my being.

She appeared quite pleased over that. “And I’ll love you forever.”

She tapped me lightly on the end of the nose with her forefinger. “Now, what are we going to cease?”

“Secrets,” I whispered.

“Good boy,” she said with an endearing expression. “Don’t forget.”

She spared me a reassuring look and walked over to open the door to the office as I stood speechless.

“I sincerely appreciate your patience, Alton. I believe we’re done for now,” she said simply.

For now? Oh, please let this meeting end very soon.

I peered out of the corner of my eye at Alton, who observed me with a partially amused expression.

He walked over to his desk and picked up the flashlight again, as if there’d been no earlier interruption.

Kat watched me with a self-assured expression. She winked at me as I regarded her with an imploring look.

She knows exactly what she’s doing to me. I feel like I’m about to explode right now.

“Better now? Good,” Alton said. “About this new invention of yours…”

With great difficulty, I fought to focus my mind and return my attention to him.

“Um, you might want to be careful with that,” I said, holding up my hand.

Ignoring me, he turned it away from him and activated the power button. The light blared out from one end and he quickly switched it off.

“Odds-bodkins, that
is
powerful,” he said, handing it back to me. “Mere proximity to the beam makes it almost too painful for me to hold.”

“The batteries are specially engineered for high output. However, that limits the battery life to a few minutes, at best,” I said. “At least they’re rechargeable. And I was thinking perhaps we could have some more manufactured. You know, maybe a few for both me and Dori?”

Alton nodded. “Absolutely. Capitol idea, actually.”

I was quickly reminded of an unfortunate funding matter, given the revelation about the initial development costs.

“Although I’m sure not much, if anything, is left in my investment fund,” I said.

“I’ll cover his costs,” Kat said.

Alton held his hand up at her as he stared at me.

“My dear boy,” he said. “You’ve paid for none of this. Consider it part of the Rutherford research and development process.”

I hadn’t expected that.

“Really?”

“I’ve funded your little experiment since the very start, Caleb,” he said. “I’ve happily discovered that you have a promising instinct; one I’m willing to grant some latitude to.”

He stared directly at Kat. “An instinct I believe others should embrace and not discount out of hand, wouldn’t you agree, Katrina?”

She looked at him, then at me, and finally, back at him. “Oh-so-subtle, my old mentor,” she said irritably.

Then she looked at me with a searching expression. “However, I’m willing to concede that your assessment may have merit where a specific human is concerned.”

I mouthed the words:
Your human.

She smiled. “I’m willing to grant him some degree of latitude; within reason, of course.”

That seemed like quite a victory, of sorts.

Maybe she’ll begin to trust my observations a bit more.

“No need for either of you to worry. I’m funding the production orders for additional units for Caleb and Dori; and perhaps for special human agents in my employ,” Alton said before his gaze settled upon me. “Don’t forget, you’re family. You’re a Rutherford now.”

I felt very gratified to hear that.

Then I withdrew a smaller version from my jacket’s interior pocket. “Oh, and it comes in penlight, as well,” I said, holding it up.

Kat and Alton looked at the item in my hand, and then exchanged glances.

“I should’ve known,” he said.

I offered him my best smug look.

“Here,” he said, while handing me back the larger version. “You may yet need this.”

“I should hope not,” Kat countered darkly.

A light knock sounded at the door, and we all turned toward it.

“Come,” Alton said.

The door opened to reveal Ms. Kendrick, who wore an apologetic expression. “I’m sorry to interrupt your conference,” she said. “But one of our field agents, Mr. Thomas, requires a consultation with the General. Oh, and Ms. Turner, as well.”

“I’ll be right back,” Kat said.

She quickly departed the office, pulling the door closed behind her.

I watched her leave, and wondered what Paige was up to. I hadn’t heard from her since we arrived at the hotel last night.

I turned to Alton, who appeared circumspect as he quietly regarded me.

“Nephew, while you and Katrina were having your earlier exchange, I couldn’t help but overhear part of your conversation through the door. So, please pardon my boldness, but would you mind if I offered you a small piece of advice?” he asked.