Stephanie began to speak, but cut herself off when she saw Cole reach over his shoulder to pull his spear halfway from its harness. Locking eyes with him, she said, “I’m fine. Just go back to the security room.”
With every inch of the second level floor covered in such thick carpeting, it was impossible for Cole to hear if the people in the hall walked away or not. He looked up and couldn’t find the camera, but did pick out a few cheap little sculptures along the edge of the ceiling that could easily hide an eye in the sky.
“The last time we met, I probably didn’t make a very good impression,” he said.
She smirked and replied, “You tried to hit me with a trash can lid and then pushed me into the sunlight. Hah. And you’re the one calling me cliche?”
“What was your girl doing in our part of town?”
“My who was where?”
Cole narrowed his eyes and stepped closer to the bed. “You know goddamn well what I’m talking about. All of your girls are marked with pigtails tied back with the little cat bands. One of them, some asshole with a mullet, and a guy named Sid were caught sucking businessmen in an alley.”
“Did they tell you who they worked for?”
“The one with the mullet did some talking, especially after I cracked his skull against the side of my car.”
“Yeah,” Stephanie said as she stood up and took the single step required to put her within a foot of Cole, “but did they tell you they worked for
When she was that close, he could smell the fruity scent of whatever she used in her hair. He could see the subtle texture of the tendrils that slowly writhed beneath her skin, and felt the heat emanating from her body. Apparently, that stuff about vampires being cold was as big a myth as the one about them burning up in the daylight.
Her eyes looked brown or possibly dark green from a distance. From where she stood now, Cole thought they had a slight purple hue to them. Those eyes silently assured him that they could pick up any lie he tried to float past her. Of course, there was one surefire way to test that theory.
“Yeah,” he lied. “Mullet boy brought your name up once or twice.”
Without skipping a beat, Stephanie raised her eyebrows and shrugged her shoulders. “I guess you got me. Seems like Paige really has whipped you into shape. Tell me something. Have you fucked her yet?”
“There’s the Stephanie I remember.”
“You haven’t, have you? I can feel that much just like I can feel, well, this much.”
Before Cole could do anything about it, Stephanie slipped her hand between his legs. She squeezed a bit too hard, as if to remind him who was in control, but eased up quickly and started rubbing him back and forth. “You’ve been with her all this time and no action? What’s the matter? Oooh, I can tell it’s nothing to do with your plumbing. Must be her. Is she freezing you out?”
Cole shook his head, intending on saying something but not quite getting there.
“I may have been a little rough on you when we first met, but you’ve shaped up since then.” Placing her hands upon his arms, she squeezed them and smiled. “You’ve been working out.”
Trying to distract her as well as himself, he asked, “Do your customers even know what you are?”
“I doubt it.”
“What about those?” he asked while tapping the thickest black line on the side of her neck. “Don’t they notice anything strange about those? I mean, sometimes they move.”
“They move a lot of the times, but we keep the normals too busy to notice. We tell them they’re tattoos, and that’s good enough. I told one of my customers something of the whole story when he put some of the pieces together about what’s actually going on. You know what he said? He said it was weird. Can you believe that? A guy who paid me to make him bleed and lick the wounds actually called me weird!”
Pulling the strap of her dress over her head, Stephanie wriggled just enough for the garment to slide off her body. A few more well-practiced shimmies and the dress was bunched around her high heels. “I mean, see for yourself. Do I look so weird to you?”
Cole knew he shouldn’t look at her. Stephanie might not have been his favorite person if she was human, and being a Nymar only cranked her attitude up to unbearable degrees. She knew just how to roll her eyes or curl her lip in a way that made him want to wrap his hands around her neck and squeeze. Even so, with her standing naked in front of him, he had to remind himself over and over again why he shouldn’t like her.
She was a Nymar.
She admitted to sending more Nymar to scout a few blocks from where he and Paige called home.
She’d threatened their lives more than once.
She…looked damn good wearing nothing but black heels and a grin. The markings beneath her skin didn’t cover her entire body, but radiated from the middle of her chest. Spots along her stomach and waist were perfectly smooth and clean, while sections of her neck, arms, and thighs were marked in a way that resembled standard black tribal tattooing. As he examined her, he could see the tendrils writhing slowly inside of her. With his eyes already below her waist, he couldn’t help but notice the way she’d trimmed her pubic hair into a design that resembled more tendrils running between her legs. That was a little unsettling, but she made it work.
“I’m not the same woman I was a few months ago,” she purred. “I was angry and things were so bad with all the trouble that was going on. But you stopped that.”
“Paige and I stopped it.”
“Right. You stopped it and I’m so grateful. Your partner just wants to fight. If she has her way, there won’t be any progress.”
“Progress?” Cole scoffed.
“Look around you, sweetie. This place ain’t some alley. This is a real business. Do you know how much money we pull in every week?”
“No, but I bet you’re going to tell me.”
“Or…” she said as she eased her hand up along Cole’s stomach and chest, “you could find out for yourself.”
“Why would you want to give me such an opportunity?”
“Because the two of us could make things in this town run smoothly. I could keep the Nymar in line and you could—”
“I could be the one to take out anyone who you don’t like,” he cut in.
“You could take out the troublemakers. Isn’t that what Skinners do already?”
Pushing her hand away, Cole said, “You’re not supposed to come down to Cicero. You were warned, and I suppose you needed to see if Paige and I were really paying attention. We are, and if anyone wanders where they’re not supposed to go, we’ll shut down all your places. Starting with this one.”
Stephanie put on a hurt expression as she tugged at Cole’s belt. Somehow, she managed to get it open in a matter of seconds. “There are other fringe benefits,” she said as she took his hand and guided it to the front of her body. “And the first one’s free.”
Cole tried to pull his hand back, but lost the will to struggle when he felt just how soft Stephanie’s body was. Her breast was firm and her nipple rigid with anticipation. Even the Nymar markings added a smooth, ridged texture to her flesh. Soon, her leg was rubbing against his and he could feel the warmth between her thighs through his jeans.
He knew damn well what she was doing, and thanks to some of his more recent sparring sessions, wasn’t so eager to partake. “Get away from me, Steph.”
“You don’t mean that, sweet stuff.”
“Yeah,” Cole snapped as he shoved her away. “I do.”
The slightest hint of confusion drifted across her face as she grabbed his waist. She struggled with him as if she’d forgotten she wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing, holding on using the strength that set her well above human norms.
Breaking her hold with more force than he would have normally used for any woman, Cole took Stephanie by the wrist and tried to shove her aside. She was Nymar and he knew that well enough, but it still went against his grain to treat a naked girl like that. Even with his clear thinking and extra effort, he was only able to move her a foot or so in the other direction.
Rather than admire the way the black tendrils framed her upper and lower assets, Cole looked at her mouth. Like any Nymar being threatened, the fangs were starting to show. Instead of just the two upper sets, however, the
