Bad Mouth(5)

A subjugate in an impeccably tailored suit held the doors open as they approached. He led them to an elevator beyond the security desk and swiped a keycard under a small, wall-mounted scanner. At the sound of a beep and blink of a light, he left them to wait unescorted. Val fidgeted in the blatant silence until Graham broke the tension.

“How long are you going to be mad at me?” he asked as they waited for Rollins’s private elevator.

“I’m not mad, Graham. I’m disappointed.”

“I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?”

“No.”

She didn’t look at him as she answered without hesitation. His change of heart about the vampires cut deep. Maybe it wouldn’t have felt like such a betrayal if he’d kept it to himself. Instead he’d proceeded to beat his newfound vampire-hugging view into her.

They entered the elevator and rode to the top in silence. Val avoided Graham’s reflection in the mirrored doors, staring instead at a point past her right shoulder because if she took one look at his puppy-dog eyes and angel face, she might soften.

The doors slid open to reveal a single wooden door carved with symbols at the far end of a softly lit lobby. The walls were a warm rust color, undecorated other than the recessed lighting. A small half-moon table sat flush against the wall midway between the door and the private elevator. Nothing in the hallway indicated a wild beast lived nearby.

The tremors began in her hands and slowly made their way toward the center of her body. This wasn’t supposed to happen until after she left a vampire’s presence. If only she hadn’t seen those pictures of his atrocities.

Val stopped short of the door and tensed. She balled her fists at her sides and tried desperately to get her shit together. She couldn’t meet Rollins in such a state. He’d eat her alive. Get it together, Val.

“I won’t let him hurt you, V.”

She shot Graham a measure of wide-eyed disbelief. He obviously had no clue what kind of monster they would soon face. Still, his preposterous yet valiant statement swept the impending panic attack away. Her smile might have been a little shaky as she answered. “I know. Thank you, Graham.”

She buzzed the doorbell. It made no sound, but there was a faint click of the lock before the door cracked open. Seconds passed before she realized no one would answer, and they had to let themselves in. She glanced at Graham, but his brow furrowed as much as hers.

Where were the subjugates? Servants? Slaves? Groupies? There were always subordinate beings to feed and cater to the vampires. Her body urged her to flee as she stared at the dark space at the open edge of the door. With shaking hands, she pushed it open the rest of the way.

Val stepped in and surveyed the penthouse. The ceilings were high, but unlike the Ancients’ mansion, the extravagance of the penthouse was understated in simple, clean lines, uncluttered. Other than a touch of red here and there, it echoed all blacks, dark and light grays, charcoals. What wasn’t smooth marble or granite was another chilly sort of construction—glass and crystal and pewter-colored metals.

There were no dividers in the main living area, just one spacious room all the way to the plate glass wall with a stunning view of the Sound. A sparse sitting area with long, low couches spread between Val and the floor-to-ceiling sliding door to the balcony. Elegant but unused fireplaces sat at each end of the sitting area. Who required two fireplaces in the same room? Like a vampire would need the heat.

She needed it now, however.

Crisp, salty air wafted in from the open door to the balcony. She drew in a lungful; the freshness revived her and drew her toward the balcony. Her three-inch heels made no sound on the thick, iron-gray carpet. She glanced back at Graham, but he’d headed toward the wet bar and poured himself a liberal drink.

She turned away to focus on the horizon and calm her nerves and her rising anger. Alice had set this meeting up personally, so the useless desk-jockey vampire had known damn well to expect them. Rollins was playing with them already, but she refused to be intimidated by his lack of attendance.

Val heard nothing, not even a hint of sound, but a heavy awareness swept through her. Her muscles tensed with a fight-or-flight burst of adrenaline. A charge of energy whispered along her nerves, causing her skin to tingle and raising goose bumps on her arms that had nothing to do with the frigid room. A ticklish sensation brushed at her nape, as if someone stood a hairsbreadth away. Though she tried for nonchalance as she turned, the movement was too fast and jerky to fool a vampire.

She drew a sharp breath when she saw Rollins. He wasn’t right behind her but at least ten feet away. Lord, if he had that much presence at ten feet, he would overwhelm up close and in full contact. Before she could examine the thought further, he made a slow approach like a predator stalking his prey.

She had to remind herself to breathe. The man was devastating. The top of her head barely made it to his shoulders, and he was nearly twice as wide as her, his broad shoulders straining the white fabric of his T-shirt. His denim jeans were dark but faded in the area snug around his strong, thick thighs.

Where Graham had the soft features of an angel, this man was all solid, firm angles, his jaw a determined square, cheekbones high, and nose perfectly straight and proportioned, like Olen’s. His lean cheeks gave him a harsh aspect. His hair was shiny and black, but cut military-short in the back and slightly longer in the front. He wasn’t GQ pretty, but raw and wickedly handsome, so ruggedly sexy the sight of him made her inner muscles clench. The sensual being that had slumbered for too long inside of her unfurled and sat up at attention.

Those seductive, kiss-you-senseless lips moved up into a humorless curve. Then his eyes registered through her daze. They were colder than the room, the deep bloodred of them reminding her just what he was and what he liked to do to humans. No matter how handsome his appearance, animosity hardened his face. It didn’t take a genius to figure out how he felt about the VLO’s investigation.

“Mr. Rollins?” Her voice came out more like a whisper. She knew she must look like a deer in the headlights, and she would swear she’d tried to make her words into a statement, not a question. So much for appearing nonchalant. Despite the chill in the room, heat shot straight down to her core.

“Valerie.” His voice fed dark chocolate to her senses, rich and decadent. The vampire was a hot, enticing male, and she was a healthy female in the midst of a sexual dry spell, so her attraction made perfect sense. It made her want to heave. Her body might respond to him, but her mind reeled at the idea.

He was evil and cruel and as guilty of Will’s derangement as whatever vampire had done it.

Somehow she worked her demeanor down to the temperature of the room, her tone dropping to subzero. “You kept us waiting.” Her temper flared when his smile widened.

“I apologize.” He looked as if he wanted to bite into those words and kill them where they sat on his tongue. “I was on my cell when you arrived.”

His gaze dropped slowly down the length of her body. It felt like a touch, and her skin heated along the path he took. Oh, man. He could melt an iceberg. Then she met his gaze again. No, he could make an iceberg with those. She’d encountered angry and prejudiced vampires before, but this man seemed absolutely hateful.

This arrangement was never going to work.





Chapter Four


When the liaison whirled to face Kade, a jolt powered through the center of him. She wasn’t what he’d expected. Someone mousy maybe or someone butch, some kind of tree-hugging, nature-loving, hairy-legged creature. Instead, she looked pale and fragile, like he could blow on her and knock her down.

She was a tiny little thing, slender with generous, well-placed curves that teased through the thin fabric of her suit. Her cleavage didn’t show, but her blouse gently cupped the sides of her breasts. He doubted she had any idea how provocative that was. Kade wanted to bare his teeth at the pounding of blood to his southern region. And damn, it had been a long while since that area had raised its lazy head. Most days his heart rarely beat at all, a side effect of age.

His knee-jerk reaction to her was about as welcome as a beheading.

She cleared her throat, drawing his focus to the graceful column of it and the swift pulse fluttering under her delicate skin. For once, the thought of his mouth settling over that tempting spot didn’t inspire disgust, only an aching hunger. “Now that you’ve deigned to grace us with your presence, Mr. Rollins, we should get to our business here.”

Although her insolence made no impression on him, his name formed by those plump, bow-shaped lips raked down his spine in a pleasurable shiver as surely as if it had been her fingernails. Since when did a name warrant a raging hard-on? The fact that he could smell her anxiety and arousal incited his erection further until it damn near sprang from his jeans. His eyes should have been glued to her body, but instead they returned to meet her dazed but direct stare. Those irises of hers were electric and so brilliantly green they seemed unnatural. The heavens had to have colored them.