Kiss of Temptation: The Kavanaugh Foundation, Book 3 (2 page)

When he caught her hand again, he pressed a keychain into her palm. “Your room is being watched. Stay here tonight.”

Icicles formed in her veins. “What do you mean my room is being watched?”

He chuckled softly. “Morwen needs to learn not to give her employees a company card.”

“But my things—”

“Already taken care of.”

“Why should I trust you?” Blood pounded in her veins as she waited for his answer. Her gut told her she could trust him, even though her mind remained cynical. And she wasn’t even going to start on how much her body craved a repeat performance.

He closed the space between them until their noses touched. She caught a faint whiff of mint as he replied low enough for only her to hear, “The staff is no longer here in Rome. I moved it.”

His confession shocked her. Perhaps it would’ve been easy for him to figure out what she was looking for, but for him to tell her he’d beaten her to it? It was almost unbelievable. “Where?”

“That’s for me to know.” He backed away. “Stay safe, little witch.”

He spun on his heel and disappeared into the crowd, leaving her hot, bothered and confused.

She studied the hard, oval-shaped plastic keychain he’d given her. Pensione Preziosa, Room 7. No address. No idea where in the city it was. Nothing.

I need a drink.

Daniela headed straight for the bar of the café. “
Due bicchierini di grappa, per favore.
”

As the first shot of the liquor burned down the back of her throat, she formed a game plan. First, she needed to call Morwen and update her on the status of the mission. Then, she needed to find this hotel and get her things.

But as she sipped the second glass of grappa, she wondered if the sexy stranger would be waiting for her when she arrived. As much as she wanted to blame her fevered skin on the alcohol, she knew it was the lingering aftereffects of his seductive kiss.

Chapter Two

Luc hung back in the shadows and watched Daniela leave the café. The lights reflected off her caramel-colored hair, creating a golden halo from the long, tousled waves. But she wasn’t an angel. More like a temptress based on the way she’d kissed him back. His cock twitched at the thought of it. She looked yummy enough to eat, and it took every ounce of willpower to keep from approaching her.

He’d followed the vampires back to her old hotel room before backtracking to find her. As if he’d have any trouble finding her. The one benefit of all the years he’d spent trapped in his own private hell was that he could pick up on subtle cues faster than Colette and her two goons. He’d recognized Daniela’s magical signature from over a kilometer away.

But what shocked him was his physical response to her. The second he touched her, something lurched in his chest. Then her scent hit him and his mouth began watering. His fangs elongated. Her lips had been just an appetizer. Now he craved her blood. Thankfully, he’d managed to enthrall her before she realized what he was.

Mon Dieu
, give me strength to avoid temptation.

He clutched the simple wooden cross around his neck and tried to remember the prayers from his youth. It had taken him centuries to accept that God could show grace on an abomination like him, and he didn’t want to squander his redemption by sinking his teeth into the delicate curve of Daniela’s neck.

She paused at the corner and studied the map on her phone. He laughed to himself. If the vampires didn’t take advantage of her distraction, a pickpocket would. Perhaps he should tell Morwen to train her witches as well as her hunters how to be aware of their surroundings.

When he was still human, he would have said the Divine Hand of God interceded and led him to her. Now, he believed it was sheer luck. He’d heard rumors circulating in the vampire community that Marcellus was building an army to take down the Kavanaugh Foundation. The latest plot involved gathering magical artifacts to use against the Foundation’s hunters and witches.

As soon as he’d heard the rumor, he’d raced down to Rome. Although he’d removed the Staff of Octavius from its hiding place in the catacombs decades ago, he’d wanted to see if anyone would dare go after it.

Daniela had entered the mass grave with a fearless determination that would have put Lara Croft to shame. She seemed to have an inner compass guiding her, leading her within minutes to the same markers that had taken him weeks to find. Perhaps her ease in spotting them had to do with her witch’s blood. He wondered what her reaction would have been if she’d come to the end of the trail and realized that someone else had beaten her to the staff.

She turned the corner and he followed. For a brief second, he questioned his actions. Why was he following her? He’d confirmed the rumor that both the vampires and Morwen were looking for the staff. He’d informed Morwen’s witch that it wasn’t there. He’d saved her life. All noble and rational behavior. But then he’d overstepped his bounds and kissed her.

He hadn’t planned on it. At the time, he’d merely wanted to conceal her from the other vampires. The next thing he knew, his lips were on hers. He’d half-expected her to hit him with some sort of spell that would make him wish he had never been born. Instead, she’d kissed him back and awakened a desire that surpassed the purely physical and filled his mind with whispered thoughts he’d be better off not thinking.

Luc had learned to suppress the bloodlust centuries ago, refusing to feed on humans unless absolutely necessary. Thanks to modern blood banks, he no longer needed to hunt rats in the sewers or deer in the woods. He could have expired pints of O-negative delivered right to his door. With the exception of being confined to the non-daylight hours, he almost felt human again. But the second his lips touched hers, he discovered it was all a farce.

The jolt he’d experienced when he first touched her returned with a fury when he slipped his tongue into her luscious mouth. It was only after they parted that he realized it was his heart. It hadn’t beat since the day Marcellus drained the life from his body, but somehow, Daniela had revived the long-silent organ like a defibrillator.

He placed his hand over his chest and felt nothing now. No thumps, no flutters. Just stillness and an ache that made him want to cry out in frustration. He could lie to himself and say he was following Daniela just to make sure she got to the new hotel safely, but the truth was he wanted to figure out what was so special about her. How could one woman affect him this way and make him want to abandon the moral code he’d clung to for centuries?

Maybe Morwen would have the answer.

Daniela glanced down at the GPS map on her cell phone and made a right. The Pensione Preziosa stood just ahead, tucked away on a quiet street a few blocks from St. Peter’s. A shiver coursed down her spine. It seemed to be the perfect place for someone to lure her into so he could kill her. No one would see her. No one would hear her scream.

She retraced her steps back to the main road. Why should she trust this stranger? For all she knew, he was in league with Colette and wanted to capture her so she could be their midnight snack. She stopped when she remembered Morwen’s advice from their conversation an hour ago. If he wanted to harm her, he would have done so already. More importantly, he knew where the Staff of Octavius was. In the current war between the vampires and the Foundation, every weapon could turn the tide, and she didn’t want to be the person who cost them the battle.

Her gut told her something was different about the stranger. He seemed too strong, too quick to be a mere mortal. But then, her gut often made her wary of strangers.

Daniela remembered the first time she’d met Morwen. The Head Witch set off every type of internal warning bell she had, but over the last eighteen years, the woman had grown to be Daniela’s mentor and closest friend. Perhaps the same would hold true for the man whose kiss still made her sex ache just from the memory of it.

She stared at the keychain and traced the words engraved on the plastic. If he was waiting for her, would she throw him out or throw him into her bed? A brief fantasy of his lips trailing down her neck played out in her mind. Her nipples tightened as she imagined how his tongue would swirl around them. Perhaps he’d even catch the stiff peaks between his teeth and nibble on them until she cried out.

A whimper rose in the back of her throat. She needed to soothe the throbbing between her legs before she went insane.

Without a second thought, she rushed to the pensione, hoping she could find some relief once she got to her room. Too bad a locked door prevented her from getting what she wanted immediately. The key didn’t work on the outside door, so she rang the bell and waited.

When she glanced behind her, something darted between the buildings and her breath caught. Could Colette or one of the other vampires have found her already? She peered into the shadows. The second the bloodsucker jumped from its hiding place, she needed to be ready to attack. Magic flowed through her veins, gathering in her hands and coiling around her fingertips like a snake poised to strike.

“Can I help you,
signorina
?”

A yelp broke free from her mouth and a spark erupted from her fingers as the magic discharged. Daniela hastily stamped out the tiny flame licking at the doormat and prayed the elderly woman standing in the doorway hadn’t seen it. “I have a key to a room here.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed as she inspected the writing on the keychain Daniela dangled in front of her.

Oh shit, I’m in trouble now. I wonder if I can erase her memory before she calls the police and has me charged with arson.

Then the woman’s face unexpectedly brightened. “Ah, you must be the young woman Padre Luc said was coming.” She wrapped her arm around Daniela’s shoulders and invited her into the
pensione
like a long-lost daughter. “You poor girl. The stories you must be able to tell after everything you’ve been through.”

“Excuse me—
Padre
Luc?” Her stranger was a priest? What kind of classes were they teaching in the Vatican to turn him into that kind of kisser?

The woman laughed. “Forgive me,
signorina
. Even though he’s left the priesthood, I still think he’s a man of God, always rescuing you poor lost souls from the streets.”

Daniela stiffened. “I’m not a lost soul.”

“Of course,
signorina
. Whatever you say.” She led Daniela up a staircase and pointed down the hall. “He brought a bag full of clothes for you earlier this evening. You’ll find it in your room. I’m Sophia. Sleep well, and I’ll come fetch you for mass in the morning.”

Mass? Was this some sort of religious halfway house?

Sophia disappeared down the stairs, leaving Daniela alone. She gritted her teeth. Now more than ever, she wanted to grab her bag and disappear. Padre Luc could go rescue some other
lost soul
. She wasn’t going to fall for his little game of seduction, nor was she going to participate in whatever plan he had for her here.

Inside room number seven, her backpack sat unopened on the bed. At least the spell she’d cast to keep thieves out of her bag prevented him from rummaging through her stuff. When she grabbed it, a piece of paper floated to the floor. She picked it up and studied the elegant script.

You will not find what you seek in Rome. Stay here until tomorrow night. Then I will tell you more about the staff.

Luc.

Daniela sighed and sank onto the mattress. She wanted answers. She needed to find the Staff of Octavius. And the only person who knew where it was happened to be a defrocked priest who had a habit of rescuing girls off the street and made her want to fuck him senseless when he kissed her. All in all, a bad combination.

She glanced at the open door across the room. With a flick of her wrist, it slammed shut and locked. One night wouldn’t be too long to wait, but she’d take precautions. She closed her eyes and began casting a protective spell on the room that would guarantee no one could barge in on her unexpectedly, including the sexy priest that plagued her thoughts.

Luc waited until the light in room seven turned off before he approached the
pensione
. Unfortunately, the light downstairs remained on. Sophia was waiting up for him. Even though he was ten times her age, she still fussed over him like a mother and considered him a saint. Too bad she didn’t know his true nature.

The unlocked door swung open as he approached the stoop, and she stood there with her hand on her hip. “This one is different from the others.”

“Different?” he asked, feigning innocence as he slipped past her. “How so, Sophia?”

“Older, less frightened. More
worldly
.” She closed the door and winked at him. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you sent her here for a different reason. Why else would you give her your usual room?”

“Perhaps because she deserves the nicest room here.” He smiled and winked back. “Do you have another room for me?”

“Of course. You’ve been my favorite guest for years.” She gave him a key and caught his face between her hands. He ran his tongue over his fangs when he noticed the intensity of her perusal. Nope, they’d long since retreated back to their normal size. “There’s something different about you tonight, Padre Luc.”

He covered her hands with his own and gently pried them from his face. “Please, it’s just Luc. I don’t know how you weaseled out that secret from my past.”

“I don’t know why you left the priesthood. If you’d stayed in, I swear you’d be Pope in ten years.”

A bitter taste filled his mouth as he remembered the way Marcellus forced the blood into his mouth, changing him from a humble priest into a monster. “God had other plans for me.”

“One day, you’ll tell me what happened.” She patted him on the cheek and turned toward her room. “How long will the
signorina
be staying with us?”

“We’ll leave tomorrow night.”

“We?” A mischievous light danced in her eyes. “That’s the first time I’ve known you to take someone with you.”

“That’s because you were right, Sophia. This one’s different.”