Kiss of the Night (8 page)

“Shit.” Derek fell back in his chair. “I take it Representative Michaels hopes to open the route to researchers?”

“That’s the plan. Briana thinks if they can determine how the regeneration works, they can regenerate the reproductive systems of vamps. She knew opposition would be high if her true intent was revealed so she’s kept it under wraps.”

“Well, someone figured it out,” Derek growled. “I’m really starting to feel out of the fucking loop here. I went through every report on Rep. Michaels and the only droid purchase I could find was a sex bot a few weeks ago.”

“That’s the one I was talking about.”

“You said a PA droid.”

“That’s what she’s using it for,” he grumbled. “She’s had its programming altered.”

Derek threw his head back and laughed. “What I wouldn’t give to be on that ship! I’ve never mixed it up with a sex bot and I sure as hell wouldn’t let one anywhere near Sable, but the idea is intriguing. You can tell me all about it and I’ll live vicariously through you.”

Alex snorted. If anyone even looked at Sable wrong, Derek got pissed. Alex had always thought that kind of protectiveness was funny. Now that he was on the possessive side himself, it wasn’t such a laughing matter. “That damn droid is in the cargo hold where it belongs. It’s lucky I didn’t eject it, like I have half a mind to.”

“Uh-oh. Sounds like somebody’s getting attached,” Derek chimed in softly. “Don’t forget she’s human, Night. The fact that she’s not a vamp helps our cause immeasurably. There’s no future with her. You’re immortal, she’s not.”

“I know that.” But it was too late to stop the way he felt about her. He suspected he’d been half in love with her before they’d even met. The heat, the need between them…hell,
the mind-blowing sex
had finished him. “How’s her family?”

“Fine. For now. Listen, Night, are you planning on telling her who you are? She hasn’t notified anyone about the threats to her family, including her own personal guards. She obviously didn’t trust anyone to assist her. Are you certain she trusts you?”

No, he wasn’t certain and he hated that. “I won’t jeopardize the mission, sir. I know what the risks to her are if she handles this alone.”

“Don’t discount the risks to our kind. We need her.”

Alex took a deep breath and willed away the frustration that ate at him. “I know.”

“Good. I trusted you with this assignment. Don’t fuck it up by getting emotionally involved. Understand?”

“Yeah,” he bit out. “I understand.”

“I don’t have the schematics on the sex droid readily available, but I’ll get them to you in an hour. And your hunch was right about the would-be assassin. A traveler bearing a Shinite passport went through Thieves’ Cove port the same time you were there.”

Alex kept his face impassive, but inside him everything changed. Shinite assassins didn’t fail. The blaster shot in the bar had either been intended as a warning or it was only by a whim of fate that Briana was alive today. Either way, she was in deadly serious danger and that knowledge solidified his next course of action.

“I’ve got all my security safeguards on their highest levels,” Alex said grimly. “But I’ll run through them again every day. I won’t take any chances with her life. And you were right about her dad. He’s hidden himself away at her request. Even she doesn’t know where he is.”

“Good. That takes care of that concern. Tap into the droid at your first opportunity. We need to know everything it knows. Atkinson out.”

Derek signed off and the comm screen went black.

Alex double-checked the navigational settings and did a quick sub-space scan, before rising from his seat and heading back to Bree. In a little over a week they’d be in Tolan. Somehow he had to make her fall in love with him before then. She had to trust him implicitly or the mission could fail, and he couldn’t let that happen. This wasn’t about doing his job anymore or impressing Derek. This was about Briana and protecting the woman he cared about more anything.

His heart ached as he entered his room where the scent of sex and her skin inundated his senses. If she grew to love him, it would rip him apart to say goodbye to her. But he’d suffer the pain gladly if it kept her and her family alive.

* * * * *

“Ugh! Get off,” Bree complained. “You’re crushing me.”

James rolled to his back beside her on the padded mat. “We should continue this another time, Mistress. You are too distracted to fight properly.”

“I am not distracted.”

“You have yet to knock me down and we have been sparring for hours.” He stood and held out his hand to her.

She blew the hair out of her eyes and then brushed the strands away that clung to her sweaty skin.
Alex. Alex. Alex.
He was all she could think about and it was affecting everything, including her ability to concentrate.

“I’m just not used to fighting in artificial gravity,” she muttered, using his proffered help to pull up to her feet. “That’s all.”

“Your excuse is dreadful,” he scoffed.

“Bite me.”

“That’s a pleasure I reserve for myself,” Alex said behind her. Startled, Bree spun swiftly to face him.

He lounged in the doorway with his arms crossed, the picture of seductive leisure in his sapphire-colored vest, loose trousers and bare feet. He looked like he’d just rolled out of bed, which he had. Since she started sharing his quarters a week ago, she’d learned another thing about vamps—they slept like the dead. He hadn’t moved a muscle when she’d slipped out of his cabin earlier.

His dark eyes never left hers. “Send that thing away. I’ll spar with you if you like.”

She snorted. Alex was never going to accept James. He’d been furious to discover she’d reactivated her droid and it had taken a hefty dose of carnal persuasion to cheer up her vamp again. “Sparring with you won’t help me. You have abilities I can’t compete with.”

“Then send it away and we’ll get our exercise in more pleasurable ways.” He pushed off the doorjamb and came toward her with a sultry stride she knew.
Let’s fuck
, it said, and she always responded immediately.

“You’re a menace,” she grumbled as her body shivered in anticipation, her breasts growing heavy, the nipples beading up tight. She’d wanted hot sex and orgasms with a gorgeous guy and that’s exactly what he gave her. But she hadn’t expected Alexei Night to be so tender. She hadn’t known he would want to be with her as often as possible, that he would want to feed her by hand, wash and brush her hair, hold her close while sleeping…

What
did
you expect?
His voice, low and throbbing with something that made her sweat, curled in her mind and the way he looked at her made her breath catch.
Did you think I’d only pay attention to you in bed?

“You said you didn’t have to be charming.”

He arched a brow and came to a stop before her. Lifting his hand, he brushed the backs of his fingers across her damp cheek. “I don’t
have
to be anything, sweetness. But I choose to be everything for you.”

“Why?”

“Because it gives me pleasure to do so.” His firm lips brushed along her eyebrow. The sex appeal so innate to his kind was magnified in Alexei. She could almost breathe it in, almost taste it.

Bree lifted her face for his kiss, but he licked the corner of her mouth and then moved away.

She groaned in frustration. “Why won’t you ever kiss me?”

His hands circled her waist and he stared down at her with a smile. “I thought you wanted to fight?”

“No,” she said slowly. “I want you to kiss me.”

“Can I choose where?”

“On the lips.”

“My thoughts exactly.” The wicked glint in his eyes told her they weren’t thinking about the same lips.

Shoving out of his embrace, she turned away. “Go walk on the ceiling or something, Alex, and leave me in peace.” She was so sick of the tight control he kept himself under. It wasn’t natural, and they both knew it. Every time they made love—and it was definitely making love—he restrained his baser instincts. Every time they ate, he suffered through stored blood when she would have given hers gladly. His reticence was a barrier between them, a huge one, and she couldn’t live with it anymore.

He sighed. “Bree—”

“Don’t ‘
Bree
’ me! What is it with you and your fucking control? You want a certain level of intimacy and that’s it. You decide the level for you, but you want everything from me.”

“It’s not like that and you know it.”

She rounded on him. “I know you won’t kiss me! Sorry, but to me, kissing is far more intimate than fucking.”

“Mistress,” James interrupted. “I need to speak with you.”

Alex turned. “Get the hell out of here!”

“Don’t talk to him like that,” she snapped, silently ordering James to her room.

“Why?” Alex asked. “I can’t hurt its feelings.”

She shoved past him, intent on following her droid. “Don’t be an ass.”

“Where are you going?” He caught her by the elbow.

“To my room.”

“You mean
our
room?” he bit out.

“No, I mean
my
room.” Bree tried to shake him off. “The one I slept in the first night.”

He drew himself up and loomed over her. “Why can’t you discuss whatever needs to be discussed in front of me?”

Titling her head back, she stared up into his gorgeous face with its tightly drawn lips and intense gaze. His grip was unrelenting. He wasn’t hurting her, but neither could she escape.

“Because it’s none of your concern, Alexei. You draw the intimacy line at kissing. I draw it at discussing Council business with a criminal.”

Bree felt the frustration and hurt ripple through him. Every day she spent with him made his emotions clearer to her. She knew he could read her just as well, even better, since he could read minds and she couldn’t.

“What does it matter?” she asked, lifting her chin even higher. “Whatever you want to know, you can find out by eavesdropping on my thoughts.”

His jaw clenched. “I want you to talk to me. I want you to share things with me. I want you to trust me.”

“Like you trust me?” she challenged, arching her brow.

“Damn it, that’s different. I could kill you, Briana, if I’m not careful.”

“Perhaps what I have to say would kill you too.”

“That would be stretch,” he said dryly, “since I’m very nearly immortal.”

“In space maybe, where you’re surrounded by metal and no suns. Tolan is a whole different world. We have two suns there and one of our largest exports is trees.” She watched him run an agitated hand through his hair and released her breath in a rush. Her heart ached. “Any way you look at it, we’re from two different worlds.”

He shot her a narrowed glance. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Bree waved a hand between them. She had to swallow hard before she could speak. “Whatever’s happening between us is hopeless. I want more than you can give. I shouldn’t want more, it’s ridiculous to want more, but I do. We should just end this now.”

Suddenly his grip hurt. “What do you suggest we do?” he growled. “Reach port and say, ‘
Goodbye, thanks for the fuck of my life
’?”

“I think that’s best, don’t—
Mmff
…”

Alex’s mouth swooped down to hers—hard, expert, demanding. His hands moved to her wrists and held her absolutely still, his head tilting to deepen the angle of the kiss.

Dark, rich and exotic, his flavor flooded her mouth and made her dizzy. His tongue swept past her lips and into the deepest recesses, licking and tasting as if he were starving for her. He wasn’t the gentle, considerate lover she’d known the last week. This Alex was harsh, almost brutal, his tongue fucking her mouth in a desperate, frantic rhythm.

Bree sensed the control he wielded and felt the battle that raged inside him. Encouraged, she brushed her tongue past the sharp tips of his fangs and leaned into him, pressing her breasts to his chest, telling him silently to give it to her.
I dare you
, she taunted in her thoughts, her hands cupping his ass and squeezing the firm flesh.

He growled into her mouth, flooding her mind with images of him as a ravening beast and her as a helpless, frightened victim of his lust.

She fought back with her own visions, pictures of her giving as good as she got, taking everything he had and asking for more. Straddling him, taking him, fucking
him
.

His grip on her wrists tightened until it was bruising.
You want a taste of what it would be like?

Before she could think her reply, he was moving. He ripped at her clothing, razor-sharp claws shredding her shorts and scraping briefly across her skin. She shivered and moaned, his need for her sparking her own for him. With impatient hands, she yanked down his trousers, freeing the cock she couldn’t get enough of. Crowding her, he stepped out of his pants, forcing her to take rapid backward steps. Unwilling to give him any advantage, she reached between them and cupped his balls. His snarled response wasn’t even remotely human, but she wasn’t scared. She could never be scared of him.

Alex pulled her to the floor, his mouth locked with hers. The kiss she’d longed for cut her lips with her own teeth. The palm that cupped her breast squeezed with painful pressure and the hair-dusted thigh that thrust between hers was rough in its intrusion. Locked together, they rolled and strained to get closer, every touch and movement filled with an underlying desperation.

And then with startling suddenness he thrust away from her.

“Go.” His breathing was harsh and loud in the padded room. “Run.”

“No, damn you.” Scrambling to her knees, she crawled toward him. “Don’t push me away again.”

“Get out of here!” He curled away from her, the skin of his back rippling as he struggled to contain his hunger.

“You stop now, Alexei Night, and I’m going to kick your ass. And don’t think I can’t do it either. You won’t fight back and I’ll just keep on punching.”

He shot a glare at her over his shoulder, revealing glowing red eyes and bared fangs. Against her will, she shivered.

Last chance…
he warned.

Bree steeled her nerves. This was Alex. She knew him. She trusted him. “Bring it on.”