Predatory Game

“So how did you find out where I was?” Jess asked. “I thought I’d covered my tracks.”

Saber leaned on the banister, unashamedly listening. Chaleen? Who was named Chaleen? She wrinkled her nose in disgust. And did Chaleen darling have to purr at Jess? Why couldn’t the witch talk like a normal woman? Even her perfume was drifting up the stairs. Saber sniffed in distaste and curled up out of sight but where, if they stayed in the living room, she could hear every disgusting, purring word. Or, if the woman wasn’t out for sheer sex like she sounded to be, then Saber could put a bullet in her head before she made a wrong move against Jess.

“I ran into your parents in Paris.” Chaleen settled herself on the plush sofa, crossing her silk-covered legs to show them to their best advantage. “I still can’t believe it, such a tragedy. Poor Jess had his wings clipped in such a brutal way.” A long red-tipped nail traced delicately through the fur of her coat.

“Cut the crap, Chaleen, you left the moment you found out.”

“I loved you too much to see your pain, Jess.”

Saber rolled her eyes. What rot. Jesse. Jess and Chaleen. How juvenile. It grated on her nerves the way darling Chaleen said it. Jess. Chaleen purred it. Tasted it. Saber’s fingers tightened around the gun until her knuckles turned white. Fuming, she missed Jess’s response, but not Chaleen’s tinkling laughter. The sound made her want to throw up-or shoot somebody. Little did Chaleen darling know she was seconds away from death.

“Oh, darling! You’re so funny! And so brave, to bear this horrendous burden so heroically. But why bury yourself in this backwater town? You’ll never be happy here. You need excitement, the hunt. You’ll wither here.” Chaleen fluttered her lashes, ran a restless hand along her silken leg.

“I’ve managed not to wither so far.” Jess sounded bored.

“Jess, I’m just so devastated to think that such a virile, sexy man could have been struck down so cruelly.”

Saber winced at that, and nearly bit a hole in her lower lip. How did the carcass wearer know that? Sexy. Virile. Good old Chaleen had better keep her red-tipped fingers to herself.

“You’ve always needed a real woman, one who could satisfy your appetites, and now…Oh, Jess. Can you…I mean…is it possible for you to…” Chaleen trailed off, a hand to her throat.

Furious, Saber jumped up and rushed to her bedroom. That-that disgusting hussy. She was throwing herself at Jess. And she was doing her best to make him squirm, make him feel less than a man. The viper. She was trying to strip him of his pride. Well, Saber would be damned if she’d stand by and let that happen.

She tossed clothes in all directions, searching for something sexy. She didn’t own anything sexy. And how was she going to compete with a five foot ten blonde with more cleavage than good manners?

She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror over her dresser. A slow, saucy smile curved her soft mouth. There was no competition. She drew on Jess’s shirt, the one she always wore to bed, the one that made her feel so close to him every time she put it on. The one that had his scent all over it.

Saber tossed her gun aside, the knives following, and kicked her jeans into the corner of the room, wishing she could be in two places at the same time. She wanted to hear every word that painted witch said to Jess.

On bare feet Saber padded down the stairs, clad only in lacy underwear and Jess’s shirt.

The vamp was wound around Jess, running her poisonous, bright red fingernails through his hair, bending low to murmur in his ear, clearly in danger of falling out of her dress.

“Jesse.” Saber wasn’t above using the Night Siren’s whispery voice. It worked on the airwaves, why not at home? “You didn’t tell me we were expecting company.” She smiled, syrupy sweet. “I take it this is the old friend you told me about.” Saber maliciously emphasized the word “old” and just for fun giggled as though Jess had given her an amusing tale.

Jess held out his hand to Saber, grinning in conspiracy. “Chaleen Jarvos, Saber Wynter. Chaleen happened to be traveling through Sheridan and was kind enough to look in on us, angel face.”

Chaleen straightened abruptly, glaring daggers at Saber, cold hazel eyes sweeping her up and down. “Who is this little urchin, Jess?” she demanded.

Jess brought Saber’s hand to the warmth of his mouth. “Is that what you are, love? My little urchin?”

Saber laughed and rubbed her cheek along his knuckles. “I’ll run in and grab your robe.” She glanced up at Chaleen guilelessly. “Would you care for coffee?”

Saber made herself look as innocent as possible, but deep inside she was as cold as ice. This woman might be Jess’s ex-girlfriend, but she was definitely far more than that-and she was a threat to Jess. Those eyes were flat and cold and filled with venom. Chaleen Jarvos was someone other than who she pretended to be.

“I doubt Chaleen will be staying that long,” Jess said.

“Jess!” Chaleen purred the name. “I’ve traveled all this way to see you, talk to you.” She made a gesture encompassing the house. “This isn’t you, you’re no family man. You were born for wild excitement, not this cutesy little home scene. You’re wasted here.”

Saber’s arms circled his neck. She pressed against the back of his chair. Jess could feel the heat of her body, the warmth of her breath. She smelled fresh and clean in contrast to the heavy, cloying perfume Chaleen had poured over herself. A part of him wanted to send Saber far away, where Chaleen couldn’t sink her claws into her, and another part of him desperately wanted her there.

Saber gave a husky, intimate laugh. “Don’t worry, umm, Carlene, is it? Jess is definitely not wasted here. And we provide each other with more than enough-how did you put it?-wild excitement.” She exchanged an intimate, bedroom smile with Jess, bending her head slightly to brush the side of his shadowed jaw with her soft, satin lips. “Let me just run and get the robe.”

“It’s Chaleen.” The blonde glared furiously, tapping her high heel on the hardwood floor. Miffed that Saber sailed right out of the room without so much as acknowledging the correction, she paced back and forth. “I cannot believe that a man of your caliber, of your education, Jess, would team up with a little…”

“Urchin,” Jess mocked.

“Exactly!” Chaleen pounced on that. “We have a past, we know each other. We’ve shared danger, excitement.” She placed her hand on Jess’s thigh. “We’ve shared each other.”

“That was a lifetime ago, Chaleen. Another world.”

“A world you belong in. Losing your legs can’t change that.” Chaleen loomed over the wheelchair. “You need to come back, be part of it all again. Maybe you are already. I can’t imagine that you’d give up your work for that silly little kid. She has to be just out of high school. You need a woman, not a child.” She flashed a smile. “You are working for the navy, aren’t you, Jess?”

Saber cinched the belt of the terry cloth robe tighter around her small waist, wishing for one moment the tie was around Chaleen’s scrawny neck.

Jess leaned forward, circling Chaleen’s wrist with his hand. Saber’s heart dropped right down to her toes. What if she had guessed wrong? What if this vampish viper was the mystery woman from the other night? What if she was making a fool of herself, leaping to Jess’s defense when he really didn’t need or want it? She held her breath as Jess lifted Chaleen’s hand.

Everything in her stilled. The world narrowed, tunneled. She was suddenly focused and in complete control. Because if he kissed Chaleen’s fingers, Saber knew with certainty that Chaleen Jarvos was a dead woman.

Jess dropped her hand as if it were distasteful. “I’m exactly where I want to be, Chaleen.”

Saber slumped against the wall with relief, closing her eyes briefly, distaste of her first, most primal reaction to an enemy beating at her. That wasn’t a normal reaction. Had she waited too long to leave? Had she already become the very thing she’d always feared she was? She pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead even as she strained to listen to the conversation.

“This is my world. Sheridan, Wyoming. And Saber is everything I need. Go back to your boss and tell him I put in my time and I want to be left alone.”

“But there’s so much more you can still do. All your people, they’re still loyal, they still trust you. Your name could open doors.”

“Who are you looking to contact?”

“I need some answers, Jess. You know who I work for. Whatever you’re doing is pissing off some powerful people.” Chaleen pinned him with a cold gaze. “They know you’re involved in something big. No one is buying your legless charade. I’m trying to keep you out of trouble, and watching you pretend to be an idiot for your little teenybopper is making me want to throw up.”

“Sorry, I don’t do that kind of work. And my injuries are fully documented. Whatever you’re looking for isn’t here.”