I wasn’t thinking. My body was humming with desire, craving a man’s touch. A little voice was also reminding me that Christian was my partner, and if I craved a man’s touch, I needed to head over to the bar and find someone else.
His lips grazed the shell of my ear. “Do you want my blood?”
I felt myself trembling beneath him. Was that all it took to make me wet? To make my body flush with need?
“A few drops should patch you right up,” he continued.
Which deflated my balloon. Was this all in my head? Christian’s offer was to heal me. Otherwise, he would have kissed me by now.
“Get off,” I whispered.
He rolled to the left and stood up. “It’s going to snow in the morning. It’s not good for you to take so much light from Niko. It might create an addiction.”
I arched an eyebrow. “And your blood won’t?” I began to unbutton my shirt with my left hand. “Why don’t you go check on Shepherd?”
“Exactly what happened tonight to get him so langered?”
“I don’t know, but maybe he’ll talk to you since you’re drinking buddies.”
Christian folded his arms and sighed. “Do you think men sit around and share their innermost secrets over a glass of ale?”
“Don’t you?”
“We talk about which nipples are the most beautiful and which knives are the most effective when severing a head.”
“So which are best?”
He circled his fingers around his chest. “I’m partial to the larger ones that aren’t too dark or too pink. It depends on the size of the breast. If they’re too small, a large nipple will only—”
“I meant the knives.”
Christian stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I can’t seem to recall beheadings in your file.”
“I’m just curious. Maybe someday I’ll get over that squeamishness.”
He leaned forward on one foot and gave me a pointed stare. “No one gets over the squeamishness. It’s the best way to kill an immortal, to be sure, but it’s a brutal act that requires a man to reach deep down inside himself and shut off his emotions. Leave the dirty work to the men.”
“Maybe you need my help since there seems to be an abundance of male criminals to behead.”
“What are you saying? That women are incapable of evil? Take my word when I tell you there are women out there who are as cold and heartless as a serial killer, with just an empty chamber of darkness for a soul. And rest assured that there is nothing more dangerous than a woman who’s lost touch with her emotions.”
“Is that going to be us in a thousand years?”
I stripped away my shirt and winced, several bruises showing up on my ribs and upper arm. I was lean but had a toned body. I glanced down at my bra and smiled, wondering what Christian would think of my nipples. Too big? Too small?
Christian dodged the opportunity to gape at me and turned on his heel to face the armoire.
“It’s too late to be gallant,” I said. “It’s nothing you haven’t seen before.”
“Maybe I don’t like reruns.”
I sat on the edge of the bed and unzipped my pants. “We were so close tonight. We almost had him.”
“And then what? He confesses all his crimes?”
“No, but you could have charmed information out of him.”
“Along with a few teeth,” he ground out. Christian peered over his shoulder and closed the distance between us. “Let me do that.” He gripped the waistband of my jeans and winked at me. “I’m quite talented at removing women’s clothing.”
I leaned on my good arm and lifted my hips as he pulled my jeans down, revealing my black panties and the Keystone tattoo on the right side, below my navel.
When I caught his eyes lingering on the tattoo, I sat up. “That’s enough. I can do the rest.”
He stepped back a few paces. “Switch lost out on his chance. He’s probably an old fat bastard by now.”
I kicked off my pants. “Not that old. Just in his thirties.”
“Potbelly, seven kids, a part-time job at the gas station, probably a criminal record. I bet when he buys his carton of smokes and drives home in his El Camino, he thinks back with regret and wonders why he didn’t flatten you in the back of his Chevy.”
“Ford, actually. And that’s the takeaway you got from my story? Nothing about loyalty or teaching a woman to conquer her fears?”
He shrugged and strode toward the door. “Just an observation. Poor Switch. I’ll be sure to remember him in my prayers tonight.”
I fell back on the bed and laughed. “If you ever put your hands together to pray, you’ll probably turn into a pile of ash.”
He opened the door. “Be sure to sweep up my remains. You know how I hate littering.”
“I’ll collect your ashes and sprinkle them around your favorite bar,” I quipped.
“Maybe you should sprinkle them in your favorite bottle of wine. Then you can enjoy tasting me for the next century. Sleep well, Precious.”
Chapter 11
“Anyone want seconds?” I asked, eyeing a bowl of spaghetti.
A few people gave me quiet glares except for Christian, whose plate was empty as usual.
Maybe spaghetti for breakfast wasn’t the greatest idea, but it was the easiest thing to make. I was still sore from Niko’s training session where he had me balance on one leg while he tried to tip me over. Besides, inappropriate meals were part of my master plan to botch up my cooking week so badly that they’d never want me to do my rotation again.
Viktor shoved his plate away. “Do they not teach young girls domestic skills?”
I gulped down my water. “Sorry, Viktor. They just teach us how to be doctors, lawyers, and politicians.”
Gem pulled both feet up on her chair and stared at the floral print on her leggings. “Shepherd’s been reclusive this morning. I thought it was a hangover, but when I passed him in the hall earlier, he barely acknowledged me.”
Blue rested her chin in her palm. “Should we take him some food?”
Christian’s lips twitched. “Nothing goes with a hangover like noodles.”
Viktor stroked his beard and gave me a critical look. “Are you sure there’s nothing else you want to tell me about last night?”
“I told you everything that happened. Maybe the turtle didn’t sit well with him. They talked while I chased the kid around. I’m not keeping anything from you. If I was going to keep secrets, I would have left out the part where I climbed onto a Mage’s car and rode down the freeway.”
Gem gave an elfin smile. “I would have loved to have seen that. Raven flying like a bird.”
“We should have stayed behind,” Claude growled, tossing his fork down. “Then I would have been the one to give chase, not Raven. She could have been killed.”
“It doesn’t matter if it was you or me who jumped on that car,” I pointed out. “Gender has nothing to do with—”
“Bravado?” he finished.
“I was going to say aptitude. I didn’t chase after him because there wasn’t a man there who couldn’t or wouldn’t. I did it because it’s my job.”
He pressed his finger against the table. “You could have been hurt.”
Christian pushed away his empty plate. “You should quit while you’re ahead.”
“I wouldn’t say he’s ahead,” Blue added, a smile hovering on her lips. “Seems like Raven is leading by a point.”
“It’s too bad the license plate didn’t link to a name,” Gem said absently, putting a stop to the playful banter.
She was right. That guy probably wasn’t going back to Club Nine anytime soon, and he was our only lead.
Viktor steepled his fingers. “Shepherd is in no condition to leave the house. Someone must go back to the club and look for his keys. I have much work to do. Any volunteers?”
“I’ll go,” I said, raising a finger. “Maybe one of the waitresses on the morning shift will know something about that guy.”
Gem snapped her fingers and put her feet on the ground. “Smart thinking. I’ll go with you since I had luck with getting information from one of them.”
“Nyet. You have a paper to translate for me. I need it by noon for my contact.”
Her shoulders sagged. “Not even for a few hours? I promise I’ll—”
Niko launched to his feet and knocked his chair over. “Something’s wrong.”
Christian slowly rose. “It’s Shepherd.”
Viktor sat back. “What’s going on?”
We looked up at Christian, whose brow furrowed as he cocked his head to the side. “I can’t make out anything intelligible.”
Gem swept her hands down her arms, and that was when I felt it. Energy prickled against my skin like tiny rivulets of static. That was something we’d normally feel with another Mage, but sometimes rage could produce a similar effect. It was faint, but Shepherd’s room was also on the other side of the mansion.
Claude’s nostrils flared, and he rose to his feet, shoulders squared. Everyone immediately bolted out the door. Shepherd’s room was on the first level, past the stairs and down the main hall that ran along the right side of the mansion. Just before reaching the back, we turned left down a hall that had rooms on either side. Claude was in the lead with Christian bringing up the rear. Wyatt was already standing there with his hands on his hips.