access.
'Yes, they have.'
He took a sip of wine, then place the glass back down on the table and said, 'I didn't know Bovel personally, but I did hear he'd been doing well with the importing business he'd set up. Armel was one of the older ones, so yes, I knew him.'
His tone had my eyebrow rising. 'I take it you didn't like him?'
'He was a player. He took risks. And all too often he included others in those risks-mostly to their detriment.' He shrugged eloquently. 'On another note, I always thought bright red lingerie wouldn't suit a redhead, but that bra looks lovely against your skin. I don't suppose there's panties to match?'
I took a sip of wine. The rich fruity taste rolled around my tongue and made me want to sigh in pleasure. 'That's for me to know and you to find out later. We have wine and food to enjoy first.'
His sigh was dramatic, but the effect was spoiled by the twinkle in his bright eyes. 'And there's nothing I can do to change your mind?'
He raised a hand as he said it and trailed a finger across the top of my breasts, just above the bra's lace line. Though his touch was light, it seared my system with a heat that was pure and lusty. A tremor ran across my skin and the deep-down ache suddenly leapt into focus.
'Nothing at all,' I said, voice husky. 'Do you think someone could have held enough of a grudge against Lambert to kill him?'
'Easily,' he said, his gaze thoughtful as his fingers slipped underneath the edges of my jacket. 'But from what I understand, Bovel had nothing in common with Armel. No similar friends or interests.'
His hand slid down lace, until he was cupping my breast. Casually, he brushed his thumb across the nipple, sending a ripple of pleasure across my skin.
I licked my lips, saw the knowing smile play across his mouth. The damn man knew which strings to pull to get me aroused, but I'd be damned if I'd let him win me
'Well, they do have one thing in common-they died the same way.' I took another sip of wine but its taste was suddenly sour compared to the dizzy sweetness of his touch. 'Both were drained, decapitated, and had their legs chopped off.'
'It would have taken a great force to subdue Armel. He was a powerful vampire.' His hand was on the move again, drawing back to the buttons on my jacket. One came undone, then another.
'There was no sign of a fight. It looks for all the world like he caught robbers in the act and they overpowered him.'
The front of my jacket fell open. 'Lovely,' he murmured, then leaned forward and brushed his lips across the red lace. I close my eyes against the sensation, but couldn't suppress the shudder of delight.
But I wanted to play, to tease, and draw out the time before sex, so I pushed my butt back and put some distance between us again.
He smiled, but there was a determined spark in his eyes that suggested he wasn't about to give up his sensuous assault.
And I certainly didn't want him to.
'Trust me,' he said, picking up his wineglass again and taking a sip. It was an action so sensual I practically melted. 'Someone like Armel would never be overpowered. Not only was he a vampire, he was an extremely strong telekinetic. He could have blown any attackers into the next suburb had he wished to.'
I took a gulp of wine, but it really didn't do a whole lot to quench the fire inside. 'We think there might have been magic involved.'
'Magic done on the run shouldn't have been strong enough to contain psi elements.' He slid forward, so that his legs were pressed hard against mine again.
'Shouldn't being the operative word.' I stood up and retreated a few steps.
'True.' He smiled lazily and took another drink. 'I can hunt around and see if there's any whispers about either of them, if you'd like.'
'I think Jack is already doing that.'
'Ah, but he is younger than I, and will not be able to push as far.'
He rose and stepped toward me. I took several more steps back, flashing a nice bit of leg as I did so. His gaze drifted down and the rich scent of desire increased, until it felt like I was drowning in it. And oh, what a way to go.
'Armel was Jack's friend,' I said, amazed my voice was sounding so normal when every inch of me was practically shaking with need. 'I think he'll push as far as he damn well needs to.'
He continued to walk toward me, and I continued to retreat, all the while sipping my wine and giving him a lazy, come-get-me smile.
'What you forget,' he said softly, 'is that vampire hierarchy is very feudal in its structure, even in this day and age. He's restricted in what he can say and do to the older ones.'
My back hit the glass hard enough to slop wine over my hand. He closed the distance separating us, leaving only a few bare inches between us and overriding my senses with the delicious scent of man and lust.
'Have I told you about these windows?' he said, neatly pinning me in place by placing his hands on either side of my head.
'They're windows,' I said, my voice steadier than my pulse, but only just. 'Why do you need to tell me about them?'
'Because they're made from a special glass that reacts to heat.'
Then they'd be reacting now, because I was burning. And it wasn't just his closeness, but the brush of his breath along my lips and the caress of his desire across my senses. Everything about this man was hot, and everything he did made me want him all the more. And he didn't even have to touch me to achieve this.
'And this is important because?'
'Because when something hot touches them, it becomes visible to the outside world.'
My heart began to pound that much harder at the thought. Danger might be an aphrodisiac to a wolf, but so was exhibitionism.
'And will something hot be touching them?' I asked, the words little more than a gasp of air.
He smiled and plucked the wineglass from my hand, putting both of them on the sill. Then he leisurely hooked his thumbs under the bra's underwire, and slowly slid it up and over my breasts, until the lace no longer covered them.
'I think perhaps it will,' he said, his voice little more than a low growl as his hands replaced the lace and gently began to press and tease and massage.
God, it felt
And my resolution to prolong our lovemaking for as long as possible was getting more frayed by the moment. I took a deep breath and tried to remember what we'd been talking about.
'Jack's sister is one of the older ones.' She was also the head of the whole Directorate in Australia, and based in Melbourne right alongside her brother. 'Surely she'd-' the words came to a sudden halt as he caught both nipples between his thumb and forefinger and lightly began to pinch. A shudder went through me and my knees just about gave way. I licked my lips again, and somehow managed to add, 'help him out?'
'Madrilene Hunter will not tie herself to personal vendettas, even for her brother,' he murmured, his touch leaving my breasts and moving down my stomach.
I didn't know whether to sigh in relief or whine about the temporary reprieve from the sensual assault.
'Meaning she won't help him, either.'
'No.'
His hands slid around my hips, until the length of me was pressed against the long, hard length of him. It felt so good I stopped thinking and just started reacting, letting my hands slide down his back to cup his butt and press him even harder against me. Slowly, sensually, I rubbed myself against him, enjoying the heat of him, the hard press of his erection.
He smiled, his dark gaze holding mine, afire with the same need that burned through me. His hands slid up my back and with one clever flick of his fingers, my bra came undone. A second later, he was sliding both my jacket and my bra from my shoulders and dropping them to the floor.
