"You got that information rather quickly."

"Once I had some keywords it wasn't too hard. Carey had already started before we spoke the first time, and by the time I was ready for dinner I had a dossier. She hasn't tried very hard to keep her details quiet. Ego is always the Achilles' heel of younger, powerful Vampires. Cliches with fangs, one and all. Sure, Victoriana is powerful, but Flavius had other, older children. Why not one of them instead of her?"

"I don't know. She's being rash."

It didn't need to be said that rash was a stupid way to come at Theo. It was beyond rash. A Vampire didn't get to be as old as Victoriana or ama.s.s as much power by being rash.

"I think I'm missing something. Maybe she's got a death wish and she's too afraid to just walk into the sun. Also, the Blood Front? Ugh with the dumb names. Victoriana of the Blood Front. It sounds like bad anime. Or one of those movies Hollywood pays a jillion dollars to make with eighteen very pretty young actors and it has no plot, lots of special effects and the hero is a broody Vampire with a dark backstory."

"I have accepted I don't understand about sixty percent of your cultural references. But the hero should wear a Saville Row suit. I'm broody."

"You're not broody. You're utterly civilized. You grew up in a two-parent home in an upper income bracket. I mean, hundreds of years ago, but still. Your backstory is not dark. But until me you had really questionable taste in women. I bet she t.i.tters and makes men open jars of things even though she's got Vampire strength."

"Enough about Collette please. It was a century ago. I'm sorry you were blindsided by this. It's uncivilized and hurtful."

"My feelings are not hurt. I don't care that you hit it a hundred years ago with her. You're hitting it with me right now." She shrugged, kissing the spot on his neck where his pulse would throb if he had one. But he still had plenty of nerve endings there.

His body relaxed against hers as he reached down to grab two handfuls of her a.s.s and haul her closer. "I take it back," she murmured against his collarbone before running the edge of her teeth there.

"What?"

"You're not utterly civilized." She fisted his c.o.c.k, sliding her hand up and down a few times. "When it comes to f.u.c.king, you're unleashed. It's my favorite part. Knowing that just beneath all that elegant veneer, beneath the suits and perfect manners, lies a man who will growl orders at me to suck his c.o.c.k."

He groaned. "You're enough to make a man forget his manners."

He pushed her to her back, looming over her. She smiled up at him. "Yeah? That's a really good compliment."

Shaking his head a moment, he leaned down to brush his lips over hers before he cruised down her neck, leaving gooseflesh in his wake.

There was no need to discuss any of the rest further that night. She let him off the hook, instead remembering there were only two hours until sunrise and she wanted to use the time for things far better than talking about Clive's ex-girlfriends.

He kissed the words away. His tongue sliding between her lips and into her mouth. His taste-cognac, she thought-suited him. Though he was warm from feeding, her skin was hot against his, bringing a hiss at how good he felt after two weeks away.

She gave his bottom lip a nip, just shy of bringing blood. His hips jutted forward and he brushed his c.o.c.k against her until she shuddered, widening her thighs enough to wrap them around his waist, exposing herself fully to him.

He snarled something unintelligible in some other language. Italian, she thought. Whatever. It worked. "In me."

"Not yet."

She nipped his bottom lip again, undulating, rolling her hips to slide her p.u.s.s.y against him. "Why not? In me!"

His laugh was a tease as he moved past her mouth, sliding his body down hers, kissing to her left breast where he licked over her nipple until she writhed at how good it felt.

"Because I'm in charge right now. I want my mouth on you before I put my c.o.c.k in you."

Oh. Well. Like she'd argue with that.

He bit, tugging, just shy of real pain, just on the very edge of drawing blood. The tension of that ramped up between them. She knew he wouldn't, not without her permission. But he pushed that line until the danger of it got them both off. For all his growling and snarling, his control was exquisite.

His tongue soothed the sting right before he bit and tugged again, only to start over with the sweep of his tongue. She lost track of time as he drove her insane with want.

His lips brushed over her ribs. Lower and lower, over her belly b.u.t.ton, until he breathed over her p.u.s.s.y and she nearly jumped off the bed with delight.

The first slide of his tongue through her nearly drove her straight to o.r.g.a.s.m then and there, he'd spent so much time building her desire up. But he backed off just a bit, gentling the pressure.

It wasn't often that she gave over to him so completely, so he relished those moments when he had them. Her taste wended through him, rich and vibrant. When he finally made her come, the magic rushed from her skin as she arched toward him.

Her nails dug into his scalp as she pulled his hair. Rough. She loved it hard and rough, and they shared that in common. He never had to worry about hurting her, though he remained careful never to bite her.

For long moments she went soft against him, relaxed, catching her breath. Her muscles jumped from time to time, sending male satisfaction through him. He'd rendered her to this state. She could wield her intellect and her sword, but at these moments she was his utterly.

"That'll do nicely."

He laughed, settling in between her thighs, pushing into her body as slowly as he could, savoring that hot, wet embrace. The heat of her body around him...it was exquisite. No matter how much he fed, he'd never be that warm. It slid up his spine, the pleasure flooding his body. Her taste on his lips, her scent on his skin.

He brushed a kiss against her lips and her eyes fluttered open, focusing on his. She had no walls up, letting him see all she felt all over her features. It was brief, but she let him in a little more.

"Now then, I'm in you. Satisfied now?"

She nodded, a smile on her lips. "Very. I'll fill out a comment card later. You should get Employee of the Month for this."

It started slow and she let him set the pace, her body wrapped around his. He wanted to savor her like the cognac he'd had after dinner. "I missed you. Missed this."

Her gaze swept down, and he scented her blush. She could insult someone with the most vulgar of words, could punch someone in the face and step over their body, she could argue and get spitting mad, but his compliments made her blush.

Nothing could have affected him more, or more deeply.

"I'm sure your people have forgotten how much they hate me since I've been away. I'll need to remedy that when we get back to Vegas."

"Some of them might even like you. Horrors."

Her eyes opened again as she grinned up at him. "I'm falling down on the job, Scion. We can't have that."

He hiked her thigh up, sliding into her body even deeper. She arched, her nails scored down his back, exciting him, driving him higher, pushing him to dig deeper, harder, to go faster, until after breathless minutes he came so hard he saw white at the edges of his vision.

"I'll need one of those comment cards too," he mumbled as he pulled her close.

"I love that I continue to be a bad influence on your manners." She kissed his chest.

"Certainly I don't keep you around only for the s.e.x, Hunter."

He lay with her a long time afterward, neither of them saying much, just enjoying that coming together again after being away. But dawn beckoned, and he needed to get himself settled before the sun rose.

She looked up drowsily as he rolled from her bed and began to dress. "Who pulls Victoriana's strings? It's not Marcilius. He might be her f.u.c.kbuddy but he said two words at dinner and she seemed more interested in Collette than him. Still, from what I've seen so far, she's too stupid to do this on her own without prompting."

Clever. It had taken him until an hour before they'd come up to her rooms to figure that out himself.

"I don't know. She's more aggressive than usual. The First is quite rankled at this point."

"And why you'd want to go drawing his attention over and over when he's already p.i.s.sed off, I don't know. Maybe she's just blind to the danger he poses in this state. Not like his discipline for Vampires is a secret, though. And if Flavius made her, she'd know firsthand what he's capable of. I'm guessing she's here to mess with my amendment. But she's alienated Paola already, which is a stupid way to go about blocking anything."

She sat up and he let himself watch the sheet fall enough to bare her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. "We're a dramatic bunch. There's always something."

"I'm here to get that amendment pa.s.sed. She needs to keep out of my way or I'll get vexed."

He snorted a laugh, bending to kiss her. "I need to get to my rooms. I'll see you after twilight. Watch yourself. Something is going on, and you're so often at the center of anything dangerous."

"I'll do my best. Maybe."

Chapter Nine.

She bowed, never taking her eyes from Recht as she did. He'd chosen the medieval training sword for their first round. Though not sharp like the real thing, the weight was remarkably close, it felt the same in her hand. And it would still hurt if she let her guard down enough to get a shot to the ribs.

"Let's see what you've learned, little G.o.ddess, shall we?" He circled her slowly as she let herself fall fully into the exercise. Her focus never left him and the way he moved as she kept him from getting behind her. It had been years since she'd been on the training floor with him. She'd forgotten how he leaned ever so slightly to the right just before he struck out.

She managed to dodge all but a glancing blow, but it was enough to drill that reminder into her brain. Enough that she feinted with her sword and kicked at his knees, knocking him back a few steps.

He grinned at her. "Good to know you remember this isn't about just the weapon in your hands, but your entire body as a weapon. Each bruise you give me makes me proud of you."

"You're weird."

"I'm a Vampire."

"Same thing," she muttered as she ducked a blow before arching away from a follow-up.

They were far better matched than they'd been when she was a young girl, strong and eager to learn, but not fully owning her power.

Now, as they ducked and dodged, punched, kicked and struck with the practice swords, each made the other work for every single point of contact. Occasionally she'd really kick the s.h.i.t out of him and he'd laugh, delighted.

That he was so clearly proud and impressed moved her in ways she didn't want to acknowledge, but couldn't avoid.

They moved to broadswords, the muscles in her arms screaming even as the work and clean sweat helped her think about just exactly the kind of crazy s.h.i.t that was happening. She was convinced the appearance of Victoriana and the ploy with bringing all those people in direct opposition to Theo's orders was a feint. Smoke and mirrors while the real threat waited in the wings.

She heard the doors open, and the efficient gait approaching the practice mats she knew was David.

Recht never took his eyes from her as they finished the round. Never had the last three minutes of a bout seemed like years, but each blow that came toward her seemed to be in slow motion as her speed kicked into high hear. He didn't make contact with her a single time, though when the buzzer sounded, she relaxed slightly and he kicked her feet out from under her.

She landed on her a.s.s, the breath rushing from her.

"Never take your attention away from the enemy." He said it as he held a hand out to bring her back to her feet. "Especially now."

"Anything you want to share?" She looked over her shoulder to David, letting him know she'd be with him momentarily before walking with Recht to the weapons racks on the other side of the room.

"Nothing I think you're not already aware of." He bowed before taking her hands and kissing her knuckles. "You've done well. You're faster than me. You need to keep working on your agility. You'll be back here the same time tomorrow and we'll work on that. Trust your gut."

He bowed again and left as she headed back to David.

"I'm sorry to interrupt."

She shook her head. "No, it's fine. We were nearly done, and my arms are so tired I feel like they might fall off. Glad we don't fight with broadswords anymore. What's up?"

He sighed and she echoed the sound. "Go on, we're relatively alone in here."

"Hunter Corp. has sent someone. He's asked to see you immediately."

"Is that so? Why wasn't I informed of this? Who is it?"

"It's Roth Wesslyian."

Ugh.

"I should have seen that one coming. I lit into Valerie last night after the way she acted. Of course she called home to cry about me. He's her mom's boyfriend."

He was also a Full Partner of more than thirty years with Hunter Corp. and had an established power base. He was a snooty p.r.i.c.k who thought he was better than other people in Hunter Corp. because his family had some t.i.tle or other. He was an earl or a baron or some s.h.i.t she didn't care about.

"Please let him know I'm in meetings for two hours. I need to get ready for those. He can meet with me right before dinner. I have about fifteen minutes."

"He's not going to like that."

"Yes, well, I'm all about reshaping paradigms. I'm a busy person. He can't just fly in here and expect me to drop my actual job to hold his hand while he has to give me a frown-filled lecture about his girlfriend's dumba.s.s daughter."

David allowed himself a small smile before he got himself back together.

They went up the back stairs to her rooms. "He can't get past the guards up here anyway. There's another plus of being up here. I'm going to shower and then I truly do have a meeting right after that. I'll also need you taking notes."

"By the way, I've got all the materials you said you'd need."

Of course he did.

Clive wasn't in charge of the committee, Paola was. So he came in and sat where he could keep an eye on the room without too much hardship. He liked watching people's expressions when they spoke. Vampires were excellent liars, but most beings couldn't lie with their eyes, and so he'd made it a habit to look at people when they talked so he could gauge their veracity.

Alice came in and placed a stack of folders in front of him. "Top three are home business, the rest concern this meeting."

He looked to the stack and back to Alice. She gave a small shrug. "There've been proposals to change the membership of the committee."

Great.