Stake and Dust (Stake and Dust series, Book I) (19 page)

"What is going on in that pretty little head
of yours?" he asked.

"Just trying to figure you out. Trying to
figure us out."

He leaned near and kissed the top of her
head. "That's what dating is all about. We get to unravel the
mystery. Believe me, Cassandra Hayes, you have me just as
mystified."

"What do you mean?" But before she could
question him further, he turned on his heels and headed toward the
kitchen. She followed.

He strode over to the cupboard to retrieve
glasses. "I mystify you?" she asked.

"Aye. But I'll tell you what I do know."

"Yeah, and what's that?"

"You're smart, courageous, and a darn good
kisser. I have the mind to kiss you now, right and proper."

She was taken aback by his forward behavior
and a little turned on by it too. "Is that a challenge?" She lifted
her chin.

"It's a promise." He strode toward her and
took her in his arms. He lowered his mouth gently to hers,
savoring…seducing. Anticipation for more curled through her as his
kiss deepened. His hand moved to the nape of her neck as he moved
closer until their bodies were pressed together. Kissing came
natural to this man, and darn it if she didn't love that about him,
too.

When he finally allowed her to breathe once
more, she felt a little lightheaded. Is this what swooning was all
about? She liked it and…she didn't. She wanted to be in control and
right now…she definitely wasn't.

"Why the frown?" he asked.

She looked at Tremayne.

"Why the frown?" he repeated and gently
rubbed the pad of his thumb between her brows. "Was the kiss that
bad? 'Cause I could try again."

He made a move to make good on his promise,
but she placed a hand firmly on his chest to halt his advances.
"Later. Let's pace ourselves, shall we?"

His smirk told her he knew how he affected
her.

"Hey, Boss," his employee strode into the
kitchen and came up short. "Oh…uh…"

"This is Cassandra Hayes," Tremayne said to
his employee. "Cassandra, my tongue-tied employee, Morris. I should
have introduced you both yesterday. My apologies."

"Nice to meet you," the young man recovered
and stepped forward to shake her hand. Dark haired and lanky, but
he had a firm grip.

"Likewise," she told him then glanced at
Tremayne. "I'll go upfront. Maybe when you get a break we could –"
she shrugged, "find something to do." She didn't give him a chance
to answer, but she didn't miss his grin as she headed up front.
Man, he did have a great smile, and the dimple proved to be way too
sexy for his own good.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Tremayne enjoyed having Cassandra there at
the pub. Not that he asked her to, but she helped with the orders
when it became too busy to keep up. She was a natural with the
customers, and joked with them with ease. She hit it off with
Georgina and Morris too as if they were long lost friends,
delighted to be reunited.

"Nice crowd tonight," Cassandra said as she
joined him behind the bar. "Did you know there's quite a few that
are preternatural beings?"

"Is that a problem for you?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Not really, I guess."

"You're a hunter," he said, making sure he
kept his voice low. With the chatter and the band playing, he
didn’t fear their conversation would be overheard.

"So are you." She tilted her head to glance
at him. "I don't see you having a problem with it."

He sighed and wished he could tell her the
truth. Tell her he was one of the creatures she'd been trained to
kill, but he didn't want to put a damper on the evening. She would
be leaving soon. She'd be given another job and she'd forget about
her time here with him.

"I don't do this, you know," she said
throwing him off guard.

"What do you mean?"

"Go out with other hunters." She chuckled. "I
don't date much at all really." She met his gaze and added, "What
is it about you that keeps me coming back for more?"

She asked the last as if she were angry with
herself, as if this hunger for more was a defect in someway and she
wished to eliminate it. He understood the emotion perfectly. "I
don't know, Miss Hayes, but I suffer from the same dilemma."

"We are truly a pair, aren't we?" She looked
away, but his next words drew her back.

"I'm willing to take a risk, and see where
this leads. How about you?" Why oh why did he encourage her with
another challenge? It was like he loved flirting with death because
let's face it, the more time he spent with her, the closer she
would come to realizing he wasn't who he'd claimed to be. Being
human was a big deal to her. Lying about what he was probably
wouldn’t win him any points either. However, just maybe if she got
to know him, he could change her position on the preternatural
world. Wouldn't it be something to have a hunter on their side? The
Warriors for the Light seemed to think all creatures human and not
could work together to eliminate evil and not eradicate species in
the process. He was beginning to see their point. In the WFTL's
world, Cassandra and he could be together.

"You want to see what we have will work?" she
asked and licked her lips. That innocent move almost undid him, but
she seemed not to notice. "What exactly are you asking me?"

She was good. She threw it right back to him.
And she had a point. What exactly was he asking? Heck, he didn't
know either. "Stay for a few weeks," he found himself saying. "Stay
and see what comes of this." The holidays were around the corner.
Would she really stay with him when her family would demand her
presence?

Without even asking, he knew the Hayes
exchanged presents and probably had Christmas dinner already
planned with all the fixings. He didn't partake in any of it. He
was of the old world where they celebrated Yule. They didn't go
around chopping down perfectly good trees to decorate with
ridiculous trinkets, nor did they have elaborate dinners, being his
kind preferred a rare vintage of wine and blood.

He met her gaze head on. Anticipation
thickened the air in his lungs as he waited for her to make a
decision. No matter if she stayed or not, he knew his life would
never be the same. Cassandra intrigued him when very few beings
ever did. Maybe he was going soft in is old age.

Cassandra's mobile buzzed and the tension
between them evaporated. She pulled out her phone. "I need to take
this," she said and glanced around the crowded pub.

"You can use my office if you'd like," he
offered.

"Please, if you don't mind." She followed him
and he opened the door for her, and then headed back up front to
allow her some privacy.

He hesitated when he spotted both of his
cousins sitting nice and pretty at the bar. No doubt here to
lecture him once again on the stupidity of keeping company with a
hunter. It seemed to be their favorite pastime of late. Truly, they
needed a hobby.

"Bram, Sheerin." He inclined his head in
greeting as he approached. "Any word from the GOJ? Have they caught
up with Gunthorn?"

"Not yet," Bram said. "But the bugger can't
hide forever, now can he?"

He'd hoped the situation was already under
control. He didn't like the idea of a vampire, with serial killing
tendencies, hiding out in his territory. "Thought the GOJ were
better than that."

Bram chuckled. "They're short handed. Seems
quite of few of the Nephilim have ventured over to the Warriors for
the Light branch. They tend to investigate the situation thoroughly
before offing the trouble makers without a trial."

"In this case, the kid gloves can come off.
Gunther is as bad as they come. He can't be rehabilitated. He is
what he is, a killer of the worst kind. He preys on the innocent.
You've seen his trophy case."

"Aye, the limey bastard," Sheerin said. He
has been doing this for a long time. He knows how to avoid being
captured."

"I couldn't help but notice the hunter is
still hanging around," Bram said, changing the subject. He inclined
his head toward the back room where he'd obviously seen Cassandra
go.

"Of course you couldn't," he mumbled.

"She's now working for you here at the pub?"
Bram asked, knowing full well it wasn't the case.

"She's just helping out for the evening. It's
no big deal." He shrugged and tried to keep his anger in check.

"Seems odd," Bram voiced.

"Is it so difficult to believe a woman would
fancy my company?" Tremayne asked and didn't quite keep the
terseness out of his voice.

"Yes," both Bram and Sheerin said at the same
time.

"What we mean to say," Bram took over again,
"a hunter does not dilly dally."

He laughed at his cousin's choice of words.
"She's taking a holiday."

"Here?" Bram insisted.

"The Hamptons are a prime place for
vacationers. Don't act so surprised."

Bram and Sheerin exchanged glances again,
before Bram spoke his mind, "She needs to go home before she
discovers you are not Mr. Green. You're days spent with her are
based on lies. Surely you see this. What can come of such a
relationship?"

"Let me worry about it, will you?"

Bram didn't appear pleased to have his
warning dismissed.
But bly me, he needed to butt out.

"Who do you think called her just now?" Bram
continued to plague him with negativity.

"I don’t care," he said, but couldn't help
himself from glancing toward the closed door.

"You should," Bram insisted. "Do you think
the Preternatural Regulating Bureau she works for is just going to
let her run amuck until she feels like checking in? Her job is
hunting down creatures such as ourselves."

"I know what she does for a living, Bram, and
like I said, I have it handled." He walked away to take a man's
order at the other end of the bar, but he glanced every so often at
his office door and wondered who had called Cassandra. Damn Bram
for planting the seed of doubt.

Once he'd taken care of the customer, Bram
called him over again. He would have liked to ignore him, but he
knew his cousin would just move his seat closer to where he stood,
even if he had to glamour a customer to move out of the way. Better
to face Bram head on.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Cassandra sat down at Tremayne's desk,
impressed on how neat he kept everything. Her desk at home was an
organized mess at best.

Ocean paintings decorated the walls. The one
on the far end looked like the Cliffs of Moher. She wondered if he
missed home… missed Ireland in general. She pondered how long it
been since he'd been in Ireland. She knew he'd been living in
London before he came here.

"Are you listening to me?" Derek asked. His
voice had an edge to it.

"Loud and clear," she told him. I told you
Tremayne confessed that he wasn't all that close with his family.
He told me he was no longer married, and I believe him."

"Based on what evidence?"

"On he told me," she stressed.

"I don't want to see you hurt," Derek
said.

"I know, and you don’t have to worry. I know
what I'm doing. I'm not rushing into marriage or anything. We're
just having a good time."

Her brother harrumphed. "Is that what you
want me to tell everyone at home? You're not serious with the guy.
You're just having a good time."

"I really don't care what you say. It's this
kind of attitude that makes me want stay away from home. I'm an
adult. I don't need to check in every time I sneeze."

Derek was silent on the other end. Good,
she'd shut him up. Unfortunately, the silence didn't last for long.
"I care about you, Cassandra. That's all."

"I know. I promise, I'll be careful. If it
will appease everyone, give me another assignment to work on while
I'm here. Then perhaps no one will be preoccupied with what goes on
with my private life."

"I'll still worry, but I'll put the word out
to the Bureau. Still haven't received the official case closed for
the last one you took. Not sure what's taking so long to give it
the stamp of approval."

"That's odd," she said with a frown. "The
Lamia is dead and the vamp is the GOJ's problem now. What else
could be holding up the case?"

"Dunno, but I'll keep you posted. I'll let
you go then. Stay safe."

"Stay safe," she repeated and ended the call.
She sat there for a moment, mulling over the reasons why the agency
wouldn't close the case. Did they think there was someone else
involved?

For a second she thought of Tremayne. Why had
each of the preternatural beings they encountered glanced at him as
if he were one of them? Could it be simply they knew him from
Eternal Bliss or was there something more to it?

She shook her head. She had to stop over
thinking this. If Tremayne were a preternatural being, he had
plenty of time to make his move. For Christ's sake she fell asleep
in his bed and all the man did was tuck her in for the night. He
didn't try anything. "A perfect gentleman," she murmured. Well, not
so perfect. His kiss could tempt a saint to have wicked thoughts.
And
she had plenty of those.

"I just can't figure you out, Tremayne…Gerard
or whoever you really are. But I will."

She opened the door to head up front but,
Tremayne was standing there. "I was about to knock, he said. "Is
everything okay?"

"Yeah, just an overprotective brother
checking up on me."

"He's just worried about you." He tucked a
loose tendril behind her ear. "If I had a sister…" her gaze riveted
to his. "…who was a hunter," he added, "I'd worry about her too."
He maneuvered them back inside his office and shut the door.

"That's reminds me," she said. "Your sister
has been pestering the Bureau. Said you aren't returning her
calls."

"I know." he sighed as he backed her against
the wall. "She's trying to play matchmaker. Wants me to give my
marriage a go again. My ex and her are friends. No matter what I
say, she doesn't want to hear that I'm not interested. We fought
all the time. She hated my hunting ways. And before you ask, the
answer is no. I'm not interested in giving the marriage a go
again." He played with her hair, twirling it around his finger.
"Besides, I'm already taken."