Underworld Queen (6 page)

He pulled away to look into her eyes, which sparkled green. He held her cheeks with the palms of his hands and rubbed his thumbs over her lips, devouring the feel of her flawless pink skin, the look of her red hair and the beautiful emerald green hue of her eyes. “Beautiful. You are so beautiful, Molly.”

She smiled, and guided one of his hands to her breast. His thumb traced the bulge created above her pink satin bra, and, as he unbuttoned her shirt, saw there was a clasp in the front, which he quickly undid.

His groin lurched at the sight of the two pink orbs waiting for him to touch with his tongue.

A car drove by, and Carl was reminded of where they were. He pulled her inside his bachelor cottage by encircling one arm around her waist and closing the door with the other. Her scent enveloped him.

I’ve captured you.

It had been a long time, for he suddenly didn’t know what to do next. She removed her jacket and let it drop to the floor at her feet. She finished unbuttoning her shirt and let it drop. Then she removed the gaping bra by letting the straps slip down her arms as she squeezed her breasts together, distorting them, pushing up the rose-colored nipples.

She unzipped her jeans and slipped them down her hips, her eyes still nailing him. She wore no panties, and the light red fuzz of her sex called him to explore.

Her body was perfect in every way, the body that would adorn a porcelain plate as Venus herself. She could have posed for a large nude portrait that would hang in a gentlemen’s club to be lusted after for generations.
She could have been the mistress to kings.
He imagined being alone with her in a tent in the desert or kissing her body amongst vines and lush dark leaves in a rainforest jungle like in the adventure books he read as a youth.

She turned, showing him her backside, the rounded perfectly formed cheeks of her heart-shaped ass, as she pulled out several pins and her hair fell down her back.

Carl felt his knees buckle for just a second. He knew he was thoroughly entranced. His fantasy woman had come to life, just as if she had risen from the pages of history to claim his soul.

I’ll take my time.
I
will
savor every square inch of your perfect body.

He would make her moan under him and beg for more. He wanted her body to consume him in the fire of her red hair.

All night long.

J
onas flipped open
his sat phone.

“Hi there. It’s so good to hear your voice.” Audray answered.

“Same here. You okay?”

He heard the hesitation in her voice.

“Audray, tell me. What’s happened?”

Again she hesitated, but she took a deep breath and then began, “I found my mother, Jonas.”

“Good. And? Is she what you thought she was?”

“Worse. But there’s more. Jonas, I have a sister. Not only that, but she died trying to protect me when I was still in diapers.”

“How does your mother know all this?” he asked.

“I saw her picture. And I saw a picture of my father too. She is Claire, the Guardian, remember? She’s Daniel’s Claire. The one Joshua was trying to turn, remember?”

“Claire is your sister, was your sister?” He couldn’t believe this to be true. He’d helped Joshua in his attempts to snag the little Guardian.

“Well, since she’s alive she’s my sister still.”

“Are you going to try to meet with her?”

“Not yet. I’d like you with me when I do.”

“Sounds fair enough. What’s next then?”

“My mother told me where their bodies are buried and I’m going to go visit tomorrow, before—before I run one more errand and then I’ll meet you.”

“We still on for San Francisco on Saturday?”

“Can’t wait. I need to get out of the Central Valley as soon as I can. This place is sucking me down into a pit of despair. I hate it here.”

He paused.

“Jonas, is anything wrong?”

“No. Not unless you didn’t get the bridal suite at the St. Francis.”

Audray laughed. “Oh, ye of little faith. If it’s truly your favorite, I’ll buy it for you as a wedding present.”

“Wedding?” Jonas wasn’t sure he was hearing things properly. “I said bridal suite, as in the nice room with the view of the city and the big jetted tub?”

“Yes, love. And I want something more. I want to make you my legal tender.”

We haven’t discussed this.
With any other woman it would have made Jonas panic, but he didn’t mind the liberties Audray took when it came to claiming him. He smiled.

“Oh, I can be tender.”

“Yes, I know. The problem is with the legal part. Jonas, can you be legal?”

“No. I’ve always been told I am over the legal limit.”

It was Audray’s turn to laugh. “I’ve noticed.”

He remembered what he had to do in the next twenty-four hours. “Audray, I want you to be careful.”

“What’s happened?”

“There’s another one just like the one you had executed. He’s been down here a month or more.”

“So, find him. You have my permission to kill him.”

“Well, there’s something else.”

“Yes? You are beginning to worry me, Jonas. Or is this just a way for you to stall parading your luscious ass down a red carpet to say ‘I do’?”

“Funny.”

“Or maybe you don’t want the tailor measuring you all over for a tux…”

“I’ve cut men’s arms off for less.”

“There you go. But I’m not going to give up until you are mine. Truly mine in every sense of the word.”

In the old days, this would have been his cue to disappear again. But now, there was the smell of danger all about.
Tides are changing. War is brewing. People are going to die.

“Audray, I don’t want to lose you.”

“The only way I want to lose myself is in your arms and in your bed. You probably couldn’t be rid of me if you tried with all your immortal might.”

Wish that were true.
He didn’t like thinking Audray could become someone’s target because of her relationship with him.

“I mean it, Audray. There are things going on that are not good. Not good at all.”

“What things?”

“Peter sponsored both of them.”

“Well, he was supposed to troll for souls, in addition to running the Underworld. I don’t find that odd at all.”

“They were both related to him, blood related.”

“I never thought family was important to that bastard. He seemed so consumed with himself. I didn’t think he had any family. Odd he never told me.”

Jonas never liked to think about how close Audray had gotten to Peter, and what she had to perform to be given the ability to vaporize, which was usually something only the most powerful dark angel possessed. Even past Directors failed to have the skill.

“So you can see how this changes things,” Jonas continued.

“I misjudged him. That could be dangerous in my current occupation,” she said. Her voice was strained, a little hoarse. Her internal chatter seemed purposely jammed so he couldn’t tell what she was feeling. But he knew she was getting nervous.

“That’s why you have me here, my Queen. Remember? I am the keeper of your soul.”

He heard the satisfying exhale and then came a flood of images he liked much better.

“Thank you, sweetheart.”

“I guess I’m just missing you, Jonas. It’s getting harder and harder to be away from you.”

“Me, as well.”

Jonas knew about family and what desperate people would do to retain power. He had lost himself in the Underworld, thinking he could escape it all. If Peter hadn’t been eliminated, who knew what he would have done? Would he have been able to establish a family dynasty that could never be overthrown? How far along in this process had he gotten?

“I just want you to be careful, until I can be by your side again. I think there’s someone out there worse than Peter, Audray. And I think he’s coming here. Just watch your back.”

If he had known about all of this, would he have involved her?
Probably no fucking way I would have been able to control myself.
Were assassins being sent to eliminate him so they could have a clear shot at Audray? He was beginning to feel they both were being sought after.

After all, Audray had already helped to bring down the former Director. That would have made her a target without the added burden of being the one woman in the whole universe Jonas wanted to keep from harm’s way.

A
udray had to
stay at a motel a hundred miles away to find something decent enough that didn’t make her skin itch. So it was after ten when she pulled into the parking lot of the dilapidated metal building that was her old dance studio. There was one car parked near the front door.

On hot days, and there had been many of those, her instructor, former skating sensation Michael Murphy, would roll up the metal corrugated door and turn the music up to play over the slogging water cooler that managed to sound like it was working. As she approached the glass door with the tinkle bell over the top, she heard music coming from inside. Some light jazz.

She looked through the glass, all of a sudden shy about invading this man’s space—probably the only man who truly cared about her way back then when she was 16. She used to go to bed at night and fondle her own breasts, pretending Mr. Murphy was doing it. Every correction he made to her form was an intimate act to Audray, and it left her skin burning in strange places, not just where his fingers had been.

Audray had been tall for her age. She smiled as she remembered Mr. Murphy was always getting on her about leading her male partners around.

If he only knew who I am today.

Michael Murphy walked across the padded blue floor in his bare feet, shirtless, wearing a towel over his shoulders. His grey warm-up pants were filled with stains and holes. He rolled his neck and arms, stretched his calf and thigh muscles to complete his warm up exercises.

The muscles in his chest were still well defined, and Audray knew he would look fit and handsome until he got sick and could no longer dance. She found all the things she had wanted to say to him over the past ten years well up inside her. She pushed open the door and the little bell warned him.

She could see he recognized her immediately, but waited, his hands pulling down on both edges of the white towel as it draped over his neck. His breathing was just beginning to go back to normal, but Audray could see a small catch in his chest a couple of times as he watched her approach him.

She tried to walk towards him as if she were a ten-year-old. It was impossible to do. Her female equipment and years of training got in the way.

“Hi, Mr. Murphy. Do you remember me?”

“Audray. There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t wonder what became of you.”

She spread her arms to the side and did a full turn in front of him. She had on a red nylon slicker, black stretch pants and white mohair turtleneck. She hadn’t put on her thigh-high red boots because Jonas wasn’t around to help her remove them, but her red spiked heel ankle boots felt just as constricting.

“Still wearing red and black, I see.” He grinned. “I’d say you did okay after all. I was hoping…”

“I’m fine. You heard what happened?”

Murphy nodded his head and looked at his toes. “Yeah, and your mother took it pretty hard too. We thought perhaps he came back and killed you, but then the police found a truck driver who…”

“He was my Guardian angel that day.”

“I’m glad he was.” He stepped closer to her, the space between them reduced to only two feet. “I wish you had waited for me after the contest. I looked for you. I wish you had trusted me enough to let me help you. I would have, you know.”

“I know.”

“It’s been the biggest regret of my life. I should have been there for you.”

“You aren’t my father.” Audray didn’t like excuses.

“But I should have protected you.”

Audray broke the space and walked toward the center of the floor, then remembered her red heels and slipped them off. She looked at the rusted walls and beams of the metal building, the broken window repaired with duct tape, the metal chairs surrounding the floor she used to sit on impatiently awaiting her turn.