Immortal Unchained(29)

"Si," he breathed, easing her back to her feet. "Talk."

"Good," Sarita said with relief and tried to gather her thoughts again.

"I like this nightgown," Domitian murmured, one hand rising to toy with a nipple through the lace.

"That's not very helpful," Sarita growled as he caught the excited tip through the cloth and pinched it between thumb and finger. When his other hand then slid under the skirt of the nightgown again and clasped her bottom, Sarita was sure she was lost . . . until his fingers began a lazy meander around in front and along the top of her tender thigh. It was the first time she'd felt pain since cutting it. All she could think was that he'd unintentionally caught the skin of the cut and pulled it slightly. Whatever had happened, it was enough to help her fight off her attraction to him and pull back. When Domitian tried to follow, she slapped him sharply across the face and hissed, "Snap out of it! We have to talk about Dressler."





Five




Domitian gave his head a shake and peered down at the little spitfire in front of him. Her face was flushed with desire, her lips full from his kisses, but her eyes were on fire with fury, passion, and despair. It was the despair that reached through his surprise and anger at her slapping him and brought on immediate calm.

They were in a tenuous position and needed to find a way out. The desire and need they were both obviously experiencing was playing havoc with their ability to do so, and they were both suffering under that desire and need. He could see it in Sarita's face. But she was trying to fight it while he had followed his growing erection across the room, thinking only of plowing it deep into the woman presently trying to come up with a way to save them both.

Letting his hands drop away, Domitian straightened and took one slow step back. He nodded and then, voice flat, said, "You are right. We should talk."




 

 

He saw regret flicker briefly across her face, but Sarita took a small step back and simply asked, "Do you know why we were kidnapped?"

After a hesitation, he said, "I was kidnapped because I am immortal. Dressler has been collecting immortals for the last couple of years."

"Do you see any other immortals here?" she asked dryly and then pointed out, "And I'm not immortal."

Domitian shook his head slowly, and then eyed her with curiosity and asked, "You have some idea why we are both here?"

Sarita sighed, and nodded unhappily. "Dressler has been experimenting on the immortals he took."

"Experimenting how?" Domitian asked at once with concern.

"I only know about one experiment, but it was absolutely awful," Sarita said grimly and quickly told him about the experiment she'd interrupted and then inadvertently helped with.

"At the end he explained about the nanos that made your kind immortal, and mentioned that my life mate was coming." She frowned and then added, "Before that though, he said he'd made it his business to find out everything he could about your kind. I'm quite sure this experiment was just one of many. I wouldn't be surprised if every one of the immortals he has is strapped to a table with different limbs or pieces missing. The man is sick."

"Madre de Dios," Domitian breathed. His stomach was now churning at the thought of what the one immortal Sarita had seen had suffered and what the others might even now be going through. The worse part was he knew some of those immortals. Hell, he was related to four of them. Glancing at her sharply, he asked, "What color eyes did the man you saw have?"

She appeared surprised at the question, but then thought briefly before saying, "He only opened his eyes once and it was quick, but I remember thinking they were the most beautiful silver-green eyes I'd ever seen."

"Green," Domitian breathed with relief.

"What is it?" Sarita asked with a frown. "Do you know one of the immortals on the island?"

He wasn't surprised she'd guessed that. The woman was smart and a police officer. She was probably trained to put clues together.

"Si. Or at least I know five men who have gone missing and suspect they are on the island," he admitted, but he didn't mention that one was his uncle Victor and another three were his cousins Lucern, Nicholas, and Decker. The fifth man, Santo Notte, was related only by marriage and very loosely at that. He also didn't mention his aunt by marriage, Eshe Argeneau, or her partner Mirabeau La Roche.

"I'm sorry," she said solemnly and Domitian winced as her words made him realize that while none of his relatives could be the man cut in half, they were probably being subjected to other, equally horrible experiments as she'd suggested.