Scarlet (33 page)

Her pixie face paled and fear filled her green eyes as she continued to struggle. Her knee shot up and caught him in the solar plexus. Raphael grunted, but didn't let go. Instead, he pulled her closer, squeezing her like a python in order to control her.

He didn't realize his mistake until he had her against his body. Despite her small size, she had
very
womanly curves. Full and lush, like goddesses of long ago. Her chopped hair hid her beauty, but it was there, lurking just below the surface, waiting to be coaxed out. The sudden awareness almost caused him to release her.

She twisted in his grasp. "I didn't do anything. I don't know what you're talking about. If you don't let me go, I'm going to scream." Her gaze darted around in search of escape. There would be none for her today. She managed to work a hand free to punch him.

Raphael's head snapped back and he smiled, licking the blood oozing from his lip. He got a hold of her arm once more. In some cultures, this would be considered foreplay. Goodness knows he was getting harder the longer they fought. "Catherine, did you know that when you lie the tips of your ears turn pink?"

Her fingers moved of their own volition to her ears before she realized what she was doing. "How did you know my name?" she asked.

"I'm curious, does Roark know what you are? Does the team? Or have you kept yourself hidden?" he asked, slowly walking her backward toward the dissecting labs rear entrance.

"I don't know what you mean." Fear flashed in her eyes, before quickly being doused with anger. "Let me go or you're going to be sorry."

"That's an empty threat. You and I both know that." He inhaled, taking her strangely alluring scent into his lungs. Raphael still couldn't readily identify her Otherness. She was a puzzle. And he
loved
puzzles. "I only asked a simple question. I'm genuinely curious. Can't you do me the courtesy of answering, since I've yet to hit you back?"

She glanced at his hands, no doubt taking in their large size for the first time. Raphael had no intention of striking her, but she didn't know that.

"Roark doesn't care who or what I am," she said with a little too much bravado.

"Now that's where you're wrong, little one. He cares very much." Raphael tilted his head. "My guess is he doesn't know or you'd be locked up, buried in some hole, praying for a glimpse of sunlight."

She trembled. "Are you going to tell him?" she asked hesitantly, looking oddly vulnerable.

Raphael's heart stuttered in his chest. "That depends," he said, surprised by his reaction to the fiery urchin.

"On what?" In a flash, Catherine was back to fighting and being indignant.

"On what happens next," he said, pressing forward. The door opened behind her and she fell inside.

Raphael landed on top of her before she could get up. "Now, you and I are going to have a talk."

"I don't know anything. I'm here under orders just like everyone else."

"Your orders were to shoot first and ask questions later? I find that odd given that no one else has fired a shot."

The fear was back in her green eyes, along with genuine confusion. "My orders are . .. they are ..." She blinked. "I always follow orders."

Raphael noted her hesitance, her confusion. She wasn't lying. He would have scented it on her had she been. She genuinely couldn't remember. He'd known soldiers who'd had their thoughts altered, but that had been a lifetime ago. He stared at her, memorizing her lightly freckled face. For a moment, he saw another's face superimposed upon hers Just as quickly it faded from memory, replaced once again by Catherine's. Raphael inhaled, taking in her musky scent. "Despite your protests, you aren't like everyone else."

"I am, too," she squeaked. "Now let me up. You're squishing me."

He shifted, allowing her to breathe easier, and then carefully probed her mind. Raphael was met with a wall that had no beginning and no end.
Very interesting.
He pressed harder and her hand tried to fly to her head, but he held her down.

"Ouch!" she said, glaring at him. "What are you doing to me? Whatever it is knock it off."

"Apparently nothing." Raphael had never met anyone he couldn't access mentally, at least to some degree. Others were harder to gain entry to, but it was possible. The trick was getting past their defenses. She had defenses like he'd never seen before.

Raphael
nuzzled her neck and felt her shudder beneath him. Her breathing deepened and she stopped struggling. Her scent changed subtly and he smiled. So she was enjoying their
tussle, too. Maybe it wouldn't be impossible after all.  Raphael hadn't intended to seduce her. That had been the furthest thing from his mind. He just wanted answers. Or at least he had until she intrigued him.

Catherine moved restlessly beneath him and his shaft hardened instantly. The response was both unexpected and unwelcome.
He took a breath and closed his eyes. Raphael's fangs ached with the need to bite her.

"Meyers, report," Roark's voice blasted over her navcom, shaking
them both.

"Tell
him you're okay." Raphael said, squeezing her wrists
in warning.

"No way," she said.

"Do it or I'll take you away from here so fast they won't ever find you."

Catherine
stared into his eyes, gauging his words, then finally did as she was told. Raphael released a breath he didn't know
he'd been holding. "Meyers reporting all clear."

"We heard shots. Is everything okay?" Roark asked.

"I'm fine. I want to stay here and look around some more. I'll catch up with the team tomorrow."

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yes sir."

"What about the shots?" he asked.

"Thought
I spotted something." She glared at Raphael. "Turned out to be nothing."

As she responded to Roark. Raphael let his teeth graze over her soft neck. She flinched when he
accidentally
sliced her.

"Sorry,"
he whispered, then quickly lapped at the cut so there would be no evidence of his intrusion. Her blood was sweet, despite her prickly personality. Raphael sucked lightly, swirling his tongue along her rapidly beating pulse. He had to taste her blood in order to break through the defenses in her mind. It wasn't as effective as a blood exchange, but it would still work. He pushed his will inside her once more. The walls shook and a crack appeared, splintering down the center. Raphael locked eyes with her and shoved harder.

He got a flash of the field where the new recruits trained from her memories. He frowned and nuzzled her neck once more. Laser blasts exploded in his mind, nearly blinding him. Raphael jumped up off Catherine.

"It was you," he snarled, drawing away.

"What?" she asked, her expression dazed from his invasion.

"You were the one who destroyed the training equipment outside of town. I saw everything."

She shook her head and scrambled to her feet. "You're mad. I did no such thing. I'm a member of the tactical team. I uphold the law. I don't break it."

"Don't lie to me." But even as Raphael said the words, he realized the woman's scent hadn't changed. She wasn't lying. Or at least she didn't think she was lying.

She brushed off her hands and looked around for her weapon, obviously forgetting she'd left it outside. Or maybe she was just looking for something else to use in order to attack him again. "You just stay away from me." Catherine was shaking now and it had nothing to do with the desire he'd elicited moments ago. She hugged herself and began to pace.

Raphael followed her thoughts. They were jumping all around like a maze that had been scrambled, which didn't make sense. Unless ...

"Come here," he commanded.

She swung on him. "I'll do no such thing."

"I said come here," his voice lowered and he pressed his will upon her. He hadn't wanted to do it, but he needed the truth.

Her feet dragged as Catherine crossed the floor, moving ever so slowly toward him. Her lungs were heaving by the time she stood in front of him. She'd fought him every step of the way and he couldn't help but admire her for it.

"How did you do that?" she asked.

"Why should I answer you, when you feel disinclined to answer me?" He grabbed her arms and pulled her close, pressing her chest against his.

"What are you doing?" Catherine asked suddenly breathless.

"Seeking
the truth. The whole truth. Even the things that are hidden within your mind," he said, a second before he bit into her neck. This time Raphael didn't treat her gently. He needed answers. And he wanted her to feel fear and pain. If she was the one behind the sabotage, she wouldn't be leaving Nuria. He'd make sure of it.

Her blood flooded his mouth. Raphael closed his eyes and groaned at the savory flavor. His hands loosened and slowly dropped, inching their way down her arms and over her waist. Information was coming at him so fast he could barely process it. He saw the training facility. Saw her shooting it up.  He even saw her escape.

Raphael was about to release her, when the cross-hairs of a rifle flashed in his mind, quickly followed by a single blade. He saw a man fall, then another. He wouldn't have thought anything of this, given her job, had it not been for the location
of the second kill. He recognized it as the back of the water trader depot.

Outraged, Raphael shoved her away, blood dripping down his chin and onto his shirt. "You! It was you who killed them."

She
was pale, whether from the blood loss or discovery. he couldn't. She trembled and retreated a step. "I—I did no such thing. I don't know what you're talking about." Catherine clutched her head and cried out.

"I should do Nuria a favor and execute you right this second. If there wasn't an entire tactical team on the other side of this building, I would."

*    *    *

Catherine's head throbbed like she'd been punched in the face repeatedly. Memories she didn't understand or recognize flashed in her mind, ending in blood and bodies. "I couldn't have. There's no reason for me to have come here before."

'Then how did you know where you were going when Roark ordered you to search the area?" he asked.

"I did—" The words cut off in her throat. She
had
known where she was going. Or at least something about the place had seemed vaguely familiar. Like a remembered dream or a chance memory, she'd wandered the back alleys as if they were second nature. But that was impossible. She'd never been to Nuria before today. "I don't understand what's happening."

"There's nothing to understand. You're a killer and a saboteur. Both of which can get you executed."

"I didn't do the things you say I did." Catherine frowned and rubbed her temple. "At least I don't think so. I can't remember."

*    *    *

How convenient." Raphael knew he had to kill her. She'd given him no choice. He considered various methods, and decided on snapping her neck. She didn't deserve a quick death, but he couldn't bring himself to draw it out. He swallowed, taking in the remnants of her blood, relishing the flavor while it lasted. It scalded his throat. He licked his lips and froze as a strange aftertaste hit him. He hadn't noticed it before. He'd been enjoying her too much. "What have you taken? Did you swallow poison in an attempt to thwart me?"

"What are you talking about now?" Catherine's fingers knotted in her short hair.

"You've imbibed something."