Untouched (9 page)

“Absolutely,” Steven said, smiling, but the smile quickly faded. “You don’t think it’s a coincidence. The shoot location, I mean?”

Dante shook his head. “Kerry’s a hybrid, and the shoot just happens to be taking place at a home owned by one of the Vasullus family members?” he said skeptically. “I’d say that’s a little too much of a coincidence, wouldn’t you?”

“The Vasullus live to serve and protect our people,” William scoffed. “Why would they want to hurt one of us? Even a hybrid?”

“I don’t know, William. But I do know that I’m not willing to be complacent and risk her safety. Until we know more about the Vasullus who owns that house, we stick close.” Dante’s face remained as serious as his voice.

Steven nodded in agreement. “Malcolm did tell you that one of them lived down here. He must know more about them. We also have Amoveo kin that live here. Pasha Zankoff. She went to college with my sister. She’s a member of the Tiger Clan.” He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

William made a sound of disgust. “She isn’t your mate, Steven. Really, show some dignity.”

“Whatever man, she’s still a hottie.” William rolled his eyes, but Steven ignored him and continued. “She and her twin brother Boris own a little bar down here in the French Quarter, The Den. We could ask them for help.”

“No!” Dante said sharply. “We can’t be certain that they can be trusted. We don’t know who else was working with my father.” Frustration edged his voice, and he swore softly.

“Dante, we don’t have to tell them who Kerry is. But they live here, and my guess is she and Boris could be pretty helpful. They must know the scoop on the guy who owns the house. And one other thing, fellas. They haven’t found their mates yet either,” he said pointedly. “If you ask me, the only Amoveo we can trust are the ones who are unmated like Willie and I.”

“Our uncouth friend has a point.”

“Thanks, Willie,” Steven said with a smile.

“Piss off,” William shot back.

Dante smiled at their familiar banter and let out a sigh. “You’re right. We should find out everything we can. But I don’t want them to know about Kerry. Not yet.”

His friends stood up and faced him. The three remained silent for a moment as an unspoken fear of the unknown flowed between them. Their race’s existence stood at a crucial point, the future uncertain for all of them. Dante stretched his arm out with his palm facing down. Steven, and then William, reached out and joined their hands with his. They closed their eyes, and together they silently uttered the ancient language.
Iunctus.
Each man proclaimed loyalty to the other, each willing to lay down his life and ensure the future of their race.

After William and Steven left, Dante decided to investigate the client. Kerry had been hired as the new face of
Le Fleur Designs.
Le
Fleur
was a fairly new company, and it surprised him that they would be able to afford Kerry as their spokeswoman. It seemed odd that such a young company would hire a model of her caliber. The designer, Jacqueline Petite, was a native of New Orleans. Dante figured she must have some major investors onboard to score a model like Kerry.

Much to his dismay, they specialized in high-end lingerie, and he shifted in his seat as anger and jealously reared their ugly heads. She would be prancing around in underwear in front of perfect strangers? Other men? The very idea of it ignited the crushing urge to smash every piece of furniture in the suite. The rational side of Dante’s brain reminded him that this was her livelihood, and she’d been doing this for her entire adult life. Something told him Kerry would not find jealousy an attractive attribute and would only confirm her suspicion that he was indeed a Neanderthal.

Dante leaned back in the chair and ran both hands over his face. Various images of Kerry floated over the computer screen. He laced his hands behind his head and let out sigh of defeat. He knew modeling was her business, but it didn’t mean he had to like it. The shrill of his cell phone interrupted his private pity party. Dante snatched the phone from his pocket but kept his eyes fixed on Kerry’s image.

“Hello?” he barked.

“Hey boss. It’s Pete. You okay?” Pete’s familiar voice snapped him back to reality. As Kerry’s bodyguard, it was his job to keep her safe, not beat the shit out of any man who looked at her.

“What? Yes.” He fumbled over his words, embarrassed by his poorly veiled irritation. “I was just having a problem with the computer,” he lied, slamming the laptop shut. “So how is it?”

“Well, I took a look around the new location,” he began. “It’s a pretty rural spot, and the place is really rundown, but we should be able to get in and out without a problem. It’s privately owned. Get this. The old guy who owns this place lives in a tiny shed on the edge of the property. How’s that for weird? He lets this big old house sit empty and get completely run down—but lives in a little shed. Word has it he works as one of the tarot readers on Jackson Square.”

“Thanks, Pete.” He let out an audible sigh. “Pick us up tomorrow morning at seven. She’s got an eight o’clock call time, so that should get her out there in plenty of time.”

“You got it, boss. “He was silent for a moment. “I have one question.”

“Sure,” he said absentmindedly. “What’s up?”

“Why would they do a fashion shoot at this place? Wait until you see it. It looks more like a horror movie set.”

“Apparently, this designer is born and bred here in New Orleans, so perhaps she’s got some kind of personal connection.” He shrugged. “I’m not sure, but you can bet I’m going to find out.” He glanced at his watch and then to the closed door of her bedroom. “Kerry has dinner in about an hour with the clients and that obnoxious rep of hers. I better go wake her up.”

Pete delivered a catcall whistle into the phone as if he knew exactly what Dante was thinking. “Nice. You get to go into Kerry Smithson’s bedroom and wake her up, while I scout out the boondocks. It’s good to be the boss.”

“Very funny, you smart ass.” He smiled in spite of himself. Pete could dish it out pretty well. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Dante hung up to the teasing sound of Pete’s laughter.

Dante slipped the phone into his pocket and went to Kerry’s bedroom door. His fist was poised to knock but stopped at the sound of the shower running. Images of her naked, soapy body blasted into his mind. Dante placed both hands on the door and closed his eyes in an effort to gain some kind of control and rein in his raging hormones, but it did no good whatsoever. It only made it worse.

His eyes shifted, a low growl rumbled in his throat, and he pushed himself away from the door. His desire for her had the animal inside clamoring to get out. This entire experience with Kerry was uncharted territory. He always thought that when he found his mate everything would fall into place, smoothly and easily. That was the way it had always been for all of his people, but she was not like all Amoveo. Kerry being both human and Amoveo had changed the rules. Boy, had he been off base.

He ran a hand over his face and let out a low sound of frustration. In fact, it had been nothing but an uphill battle. Dante stood at the heavily draped window staring out over the city streets below. He wanted to sleep when she did and connect with her in the dream realm again, but he knew that would have been selfish. She specifically asked him to be alone, and connecting with her in the dream would not exactly be doing as she’d requested. They were making some progress, but the biggest hurdles still lay ahead.

He’d seen her pictures in magazines and on billboards but never made the connection. After all, he thought she was human, and according to his people’s history it was impossible to mate with a human. He didn’t know until he saw her in person and felt her energy call to his. The moment he’d clapped eyes on her at the beach he knew she was his mate. He also knew she was a hybrid.

Dante snorted and shook his head.
Lie.
Everything they’d been raised to believe had been a lie. The existence of Kerry and Samantha proved that Amoveo and humans could mate. Obviously cross-mating did not happen often, but it did happen. For years his people were under the impression that Samantha’s parents had been killed by the Caedo family. It had been easy enough to believe. Over the last several generations the Caedo had hunted his people to the brink of extinction. But it hadn’t been the Caedo that killed Sam’s parents. It had been something far more sinister.

The Purists were infuriated over the pairing of Samantha’s parents—an Amoveo man and a human woman. They felt human blood would muddy their ancient heritage and weaken the race. They were willing to kill their own people in order to keep the race pure.

Samantha had stayed hidden until she connected with Malcolm. Prior to connecting with him, all of her abilities lay dormant—but now they were strong, very strong. Kerry had a powerful psychic gift and had managed to keep her heritage a secret, but once they were mated her secret would be out. What then? It was the unknown, the uncertainty of their future that clawed and nagged at him mercilessly.

Prior to this the enemy had always been clear and the lines between friend and enemy distinct—the Caedo—but not anymore. Now the enemy hid among them. His father had been killed before they could discover who the other Purists were. It had been a betrayal of enormous proportions, and he never thought he would fear his own people.

The soft click of Kerry’s bedroom door opening drew Dante out of his trance. When he turned around, the image before him, quite literally, caused him to catch his breath. Her long jet black hair fell loosely around her creamy bare shoulders. Her voluptuous body was draped deliciously in a strapless sapphire blue dress, which hugged her full breasts and was short enough to give ample view of her long lovely legs.

One look at her sent an electric shock right to his crotch and hardened every inch of him. He wanted to devour and discover every bit of her. He drank in the sight and allowed his gaze to wander leisurely over her spectacular form, savoring every delectable curve.

The twinkle in her eyes, a combination of lust and trepidation, let him know she knew exactly what kind of effect she had on him. He held her gaze and bit by bit closed the distance between them. Her heart rate increased as he invaded her space. Her energy waves pulsed wildly through him, and it made him want her even more. The stiletto heels made her just over six feet tall, but she still had to tilt her head up a bit to look him in the eye. Dante smiled. He imagined that there weren’t many men who had her looking up.

“You look stunning, Ms. Smithson.” He didn’t take his eyes off of her, watching for any sign of discomfort. Dante took her hand and raised it to his lips. Her large eyes remained locked with his as a breathy sigh slipped from that luscious mouth.

God, how he wanted her. He wanted to taste, nibble, and lick at every delectable inch of that porcelain skin, to be buried deep inside and have her body writhing beneath his. Gazes locked, he brushed his thumb over hers. Her breath hitched, and he reveled in the pulsing energy waves that flooded off of her.

He was in big trouble.

It took an enormous amount of restraint to keep from taking her right then, but he knew it was too soon. He knew she wanted him, but he had to remind himself that he needed to take it slow. She may look like a sex vixen, but he knew better than anyone that looks were deceiving.

“If I may say, you are even more beautiful in person,” he murmured softly against her fingers and placed the lightest of kisses on her soft, warm skin. All the while he held her gaze.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice just barely above a whisper. “Please, call me Kerry.”

“As you wish.” Dante smiled. He released her hand and gestured toward the door. “Shall we go? It’s almost seven, and something tells me Arthur doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

Kerry laughed softly and shook her head. “No, he doesn’t.” Dante’s heart squeezed at the sound of her laughter. He led the way to the elevator and prayed for the strength to keep her safe.

They walked into The Carousel Bar and found Arthur waiting impatiently at a table for four along the wall. His unpleasant energy rippled distinctly through the bar, and although he didn’t realize it, distinguished him from the rest of its patrons. The Carousel Bar was exactly that—a carousel. The bartender moved confidently at the center of it all as he served drinks to people sitting on the circus-themed bar stools. The back of each chair flashed hand-painted images of circus animals. Zebras, lions, and elephants frozen in time circled slowly around the mahogany center. The entire bar spun bit by bit in the center of the room and Dante had to admit it was one of the most interesting bars he’d been in.

Arthur held a gin and tonic in his hand and a look of displeasure on his face. Kerry waved at him and was rewarded with a curt get-your-ass-over-here gesture. Dante reminded himself to ask Kerry exactly how she hooked up with a jerk like this. He had all the sleaze of Hollywood and the slippery slickness of New York. To make matters worse, there was no sign of the client anywhere.

“Time to make nice,” she sang through a painted-on smile.

“I’ll be right here if you need me,” he said discreetly, touching her lower back and sending her subtle waves of reassurance.

Kerry cast him glance of gratitude and went over to play the game with Arthur. He did his best not to grin like an idiot. She was, slowly but surely, becoming more accepting of him and no longer flinched or withdrew from his touch, but seemed to welcome it.