TangledHunger (3 page)

Tanasha shrugged. “Why would I explain your presence?
Everybody knows that I think Sydney is in danger, nobody will even blink when I
bring you in.” She grimaced. “Marius will probably pat me on the head and
indulge my female whims.”

“How will you explain that you had to go as far as finding a
Vampire?”

“Everybody in the District, including the Guard, believes
Marius’ version. Going outside the District is the next logical step.”

“And only a Vampire would have the bad manners to use a
brainless female who’s in distress for his own money-making purpose.” He
gritted his teeth. According to Naemas, Vampires were worthless scum, worse
even than humans.

She didn’t even try to defend her species’ prejudice. “No,
that would very much fit in with the picture most Naemas have of Vampires.” She
swallowed. “And one of the reasons I’ve come to find you.”

Chapter Two

O’Clare nodded and tapped his fingers on his desk, his gray
eyes turned silver. He had beautiful hands, long fingered and with
well-maintained, clean nails. “We will add another layer to the asshole
Vampire.” He captured her gaze. “We’ll pose as lovers.”

Tanasha clung to her composure. “Certainly not.” Part of her
wanted to jump and shout with glee, but another part tried to remind her how
out of her league he was.

“This is not up for discussion.” He stood and marched to the
door.

“Estimable O’Clare, as I’m coming with you, please explain
to me why in Jade’s name you think posing as lovers will be helpful.”

He shook his head and leaned against the doorframe. Anger
blazed in his eyes, but she couldn’t hear it in his voice. “If this Marius has
indeed kidnapped his wife for some nefarious purpose, he’s not going to stand
by and let you bring an outsider and an investigator at that into the mix. Even
if I’m only a lowly Vampire he’ll run me. I stay off the StarNet if I can, but
you found enough to track me down. So will he. He’ll have to counteract and
that will endanger you.”

O’Clare smirked. “As I intend to collect all that promised
money I can’t have you in danger. By posing as lovers I can pretend that I’m
only doing perfunctory investigations while I’m fucking you. It’ll take the
focus off us, make us seem less dangerous. Now let’s go.” He opened the door.

Tanasha froze for a second. His colorful language had drawn
a picture that now dominated her mind.

When he held the door open for her, she quickly grabbed her
bag and stumbled to him. Her legs felt like overcooked spaghetti after catching
the backlash of his little fantasy.

She never in her life read another person, never had the
most basic Gift even a four-year-old Naema demonstrated.

But with him it went far beyond the vague impressions Naema
could decipher from the beings around them. With him she’d been in his head, in
his imagination, seeing pictures of his thoughts. Tanasha read what he liked
about her and how he intended to lavish pleasure on her. It was as if she had a
direct link to his brain.

She couldn’t remember ever feeling so admired and turned-on.
His graphic images had been like a touch on her nipples, a stroke across her
clit. It had been a long time since she’d been with a man. Her social schedule
being on the quiet side, there wasn’t that much opportunity to meet new people.

And definitely not a Vampire who wore his sexuality like a
formfitting coat.

Damn him, she felt off balance and unsure. Could she pose as
a lover, touch and stroke him without falling deeper under his spell?

O’Clare instructed the recepto-bot to secure the premises
and stepped out of the office. He pointed her toward the elevator and waved the
door closed behind them. The lock
snicked
without him touching it.

He put his hand on her lower back to guide her forward.
Tanasha took a step away from his touch.

“You better start calling me Duncan.”

Before she could respond the door next to his office opened.
A man and a woman, both human, stepped outside. They had their arms around each
other, barely letting go for him to order the door closed, kissing and locked
together. Their clothes looked as if they’d been through a storm.

O’Clare curled his hand around her waist and stopped her.
The heat of his touch spread across her middle.

The couple disentangled enough to stumble to the elevator.
The man nodded at O’Clare. “Duncan.”

The Vampire nodded back. “George.”

They stepped into the compartment and went right back to
kissing.

Tanasha cleared her throat and couldn’t stop herself from
meeting his gaze. The silver tint showed her that anger still bubbled beneath
the seemingly uncaring surface.

Guilt flooded her but she tried to shake it off. It wasn’t
her fault that Naemas and Vampires didn’t think much of each other. The
animosity had been established centuries ago. He shouldn’t be offended when it
came out to bite him on his delectable behind. She attempted to step away from
his hand, but he followed her into the now empty elevator. She wasn’t going to
pet his ego because he was put out. It wasn’t as if Vampires didn’t have the
same issues with Naemas.

“I will contact the Guard and let them know we’re coming,”
she said.

O’Clare—no, Duncan—only nodded, the fire in his eyes now of
a different kind as he followed the line of her back. Tanasha swore she felt
his eyes on her rear. To say her body heat rose was an understatement.

She contacted her local Guard with her internal comp and
informed them that she was adding a Vampire to her guest list. Even over the
distance the surprise and distaste of the officer was obvious. Well, they could
go laser themselves. They hadn’t listened to her. The Guard had no reason to
deny her request and gave Duncan the necessary access.

She struggled to remain coherent while talking to the Guard.
Duncan stood too close to her in the small space of the elevator. His delicious
smell of rich chocolate with a hint of pepper surrounded her, sank inside her.
The brand of his hand on her hip seemed to melt through her layers of clothing
until the fire heated the area between her legs. Her heartbeat felt like a jet-copter
on steroids and the butterflies in her stomach were salsa dancing.

As soon as the doors opened she stepped away from him, glad
to be in more open space again. But that didn’t stop him from sticking close to
her like a tail to a comet. Why the Jade couldn’t he keep a couple of steps
between them?

Luckily, one of the many comp-driven taxi transports was
just outside the door. It was one of the smaller ones, seating only four, two
across each bench. Tanasha slid inside, expecting Duncan to do the civilized
thing and take the seat across from her. But what did he do? He came in after
her, ending up with his side pressed tightly against her. As she’d taken the
outside seat, Tanasha had nowhere to move to.

Her nipples hardened further, poking through her top. She
wanted to cross her arms and hide the traitors, but that would draw his eyes
for sure. Instead she programmed Marius’ coordinates and turned her upper body
as if looking out of her window, giving him more of her back.

She swallowed. Doubts and fears, excitement and anticipation
all jumbled through her. For some reason she’d never imagined herself as a
target. She’d never thought past O’Clare taking the case and finding Sydney.

She was no longer alone in her battle to discover what was
going on. The relief of that alone made her feel light enough to float. But now
she depended on a Vampire and her own acting skills to not only rescue Sydney
but also keep herself safe.

Talk about jumping without looking.

Duncan still felt the sting from her words earlier. He knew
Naemas looked down on Vampires, but it had been a kick in the balls when she
told him only one of his kind would sink so low and take her case. Talk about
tarring every Vampire with the same brush. Duncan needed to alleviate some of
his annoyance. In his eyes, the best way was to play some more with the pretty
little Naema that set him off.

She actually thought she could turn her back on him? He
wanted an acknowledgement of their chemistry from her that went beyond her
body’s responses. He wanted her to say it out loud.

He moved his left hand and used the back of his finger to
stroke her naked forearm. She tensed but didn’t move. Duncan continued. Her
pulse beat faster. He wanted to sink his fangs into that sensitive bend where
neck turned to shoulder.

His body became infused with a different kind of tension.

“What will be your first step in this investigation?”
Tanasha asked, her voice husky.

Duncan tried to drag himself away from her creamy skin and
another fantasy. “I don’t have any plans yet, it’ll depend on Marius and how he
behaves.”
And I’ll have to figure out if there’s an actual case or just an
overemotional, paranoid Naema
, he thought, half his mind still caught up in
how they could burn up the sheets together.

Tanasha’s whole body stiffened and she twisted out of her
seat until she sat across from him. “Why the hell did you take the job, if you
think I’m a paranoid freak?” She pressed the stop button on the transport. As
soon as it halted, she pushed outside. Duncan, cursing his wayward thoughts,
climbed after her. It appeared they’d stopped in the middle of nowhere. The
road between Districts was empty, surrounded by fields and a small forest
farther back.

Tanasha looked magnificent.

Her cheeks were flushed and gold streaks flashed in her
black eyes.

And her wings. The mythical Naema wings that outsiders so
rarely caught sight of. He’d heard descriptions, but they didn’t match what he
saw before him.

Her wings were spread out. Beautiful black shadows with
golden highlights mirroring her eyes framed her petite stature. They were a
little higher than her head and went all the way to her knees. His cock
hardened.

His fingers itched to touch those beauties.

“By Jade, pay attention to me and not to my body, you
oversexed orangutan!” she shouted, bringing him back to the present.

Whoa, where did this come from?
Gone was the
blushing, wary woman. In her stead stood a Valkyrie with enough fire to
supernova a star.

“What was the question?” he asked.

She screamed, her fists tightly balled.

Duncan had trouble breathing. His cock hardened to the point
of pain and his balls drew up. He wanted to use the passion sparkling around
Tanasha and push it into an encounter that would blow both their brains out of
their heads.

But first he had to fix this.

Tanasha wanted to kill him. Tears of frustration and
humiliation leaked out of her eyes. This overgrown ape had made her believe he
would be on her side and help her. For the first time since Sydney’s
disappearance she’d thought she was no longer alone. For a moment she’d
believed she would save her best friend in time.

And then he touched her skin and she was back in his mind.

And it was all a lie.

He thought her a freak. A freak he wanted to fuck, but a
freak nonetheless.

“Tanasha, I am sorry. I do believe there is something to
what you’ve described to me, but you have to admit yourself how obscure and out
there it sounds. Seeing Marius will give me a better picture. Then I can decide
what needs to be done next.”

She turned her back on him and tried to find some sort of
control over her emotions. Part of her realized she overreacted, but her
instant connection to him, the fact that for the first time she caught a
glimpse of what any Naema could do, made her think there was more between them
than her money.

She really should have learned her lesson by now.

She exhaled.
Fine, he took you for a comet ride. Now that
you know he just wants your money you can deal with him and his bloody sex
appeal.

Tanasha bit her lip and spread her wings. They covered her
as she rubbed her eyes and attempted to stop more tears from falling. She had
no idea why the betrayal of a Vampire she met less than an hour ago hit her
this hard.

Calling herself three types of fool she struggled for her
center.

She saw his sexy—no lurid—fantasy of her earlier without
even trying to connect to him. Now he tried to persuade her he was trustworthy.
Well he could talk until the Kemi Cows came home. There was only one way for
her to be certain.

Tanasha swallowed and closed her eyes. No idea how she linked
with him earlier, she just tried to empty her mind, to find herself back in his
head, creepy as it was. She’d never heard others speak of knowing a person’s
inner thoughts.

And she sure as Jade didn’t want to read
his
inner
thoughts.

Cautiously and with a great deal of hesitation she stopped
focusing on anything. Instead she let herself float.

His picture formed in her mind. And she saw something that
made her eyes flash open. She whirled around and faced him. “There is a link
between us. Like a rope, a
¼
a
see-through rope. What kind of Vampire magic is this?”

Duncan raised his hands as if to pacify her. “I did nothing.
I just noticed it for the first time myself.”

Tanasha narrowed her eyes.
How can I trust a word he
says?
Desperate for the truth she followed the link shimmering between
them.

And found herself in a luxurious bedroom. No, bedroom wasn’t
right, a boudoir came closer.

Lush fabrics and paintings covered the walls. On closer
study Tanasha realized the latter showed acts of sexual intimacy. She quickly
averted her eyes but couldn’t stop her heart rate from increasing. A huge
four-poster bed covered in red silk and velvet dominated the room. Tufted wing
chairs sat in a corner and antique lighting gave the room a soft glow.

The room made her uncomfortable but also aroused her
curiosity. She wanted a closer look at those paintings.

As she thought that the paintings grew in size and detail.

“Your wish is my command.”

Tanasha whirled around to find Duncan lounging on the bed.
Shirtless. “Where the Jade did you come from?”

He rolled onto his side on his elbow and rested his head in
his hand.

She swallowed at the sinuous movement.

“We have a problem, Honorable Omeiko. We can share each
other’s thoughts and emotions if we so desire. I thought it would be good to
have a spot between our two minds, neutral territory so to speak.”

Tanasha gaped. “You can read my thoughts?”

He waved his free hand in a so-so gesture. “I gather more
emotions from you unless you send words directly to me. Your curiosity about the
paintings arrowed straight to me, so I adjusted them.”