“No,” he responded, the lack of concern in his voice a relief. “The blood is ours and we’re both so accustomed to seeing it that it means little to us. And, on my part at least, I wanted you so badly that I could think of nothing else.”
She smiled. “Me, too.”
A teasing glint once more entered his light brown eyes. “If, however, it troubles you, I think there is only one thing we must do.”
“What’s that?” she asked with false gravity.
“Head in there . . .” he pointed to a door across the room that opened onto a bathroom.#p#分页标题#e#
“Okay.”
“Immerse ourselves in the cleansing waters of a whirlpool bath . . .”
“I’m liking it so far.”
“Bathe every inch of each other’s body . . .”
“Really liking it.”
“Then make love again, giving me a chance to do some of those things I mentioned wanting to do to you.”
Her pulse jumped. “Go get the water running,” she encouraged him in a throaty voice she barely recognized as her own.
Grinning, he stole a kiss, then leapt naked from the bed, giving her an eyeful of aroused immortal male as he headed into the bathroom.
Smiling, Krysta scooted off the bed and followed.
Seth felt his fury rise as he examined the unconscious mercenaries. There were eight of them being held in one of the holding rooms designed for vampires at network headquarters. All were chained together and lay on cots that had been hastily erected. Not to make the men more comfortable, he suspected, but so he wouldn’t have to kneel down to read their minds if touching them became necessary.
Two of the mercenaries were brain-damaged. The immortals were still having trouble determining how hard they could hit humans without killing them or rendering them useless.
He rested his palm on the forehead of a third, then a fourth, a fifth, his anger mounting.
He turned to face his companions.
Chris, Bastien, and Melanie all took a cautious step backward.
Bastien wrapped a protective arm around Melanie’s shoulders.
Seth drew in a deep breath and let some of the rage drain out of him. “There’s nothing.”
Bastien frowned. “Did Richart and Étienne hit them too hard?”
“A couple of them. But those who are merely unconscious yield no information that can aid us. They don’t know who their commander is. They don’t know the name of his operation. And they don’t know where it is located.”
Chris swore. “How the hell is that possible?”
“Each one of them was recruited from another PMC, except for that one. He’s an army veteran. Chris, I’d like to see if we can’t win him over to our side. He seems like a good man. He’s just been misled.”
Chris nodded.
“All are single—no families—and were approached by a man who claimed he worked for an elite Private Military Company that regularly received government contracts. He told them he had a highly secretive mission that involved homeland security.”
“Was he bullshitting?” Chris asked.
“We won’t know for sure until we confront their commander. Once they consented, he sedated them and took them to the compound from which they operate. They travel to and from it either blindfolded or in windowless transport vehicles. They don’t know where it is. And they don’t know who he is. He gave them a code name.”
Bastien frowned. “Are they stupid? How can they just go gunning for people based on something someone they can’t even identify told them?”
“They aren’t stupid. Just gullible. Mostly. Those three there would shoot their own grandmother for a paycheck. And they were offered a big paycheck.”
“How big?” Melanie asked.
“The equivalent of a Second’s salary.”
Chris whistled. “So whoever these guys are, they’re very well funded.”
“Which makes them even more dangerous,” Seth finished for him. More money meant more resources.
Bastien released Melanie and strolled forward to scowl down at the men. “So there’s nothing?”
“Nothing.”
“Did you see the face of the man who recruited them?”
“Yes. I don’t recognize him.”
“Shit.”
“Exactly.”
Bastien combed his fingers through his long hair. “If these men know nothing, we have no reason to believe any of the others will tell us anything.”
“Precisely.”
Quiet filled the room as brows furrowed.
They had been operating on the assumption that, if they could capture one of the mercenaries, Seth could learn the whereabouts of the group and they could swoop in and kill them.
And they did intend to kill them this time. All of them.