Flowers and Fangs (Stake and Dust series, Book II) (25 page)

Wade shot the day blaster through a window
that stood adjacent to the front door. Glass shattered and a
blinding light burst within the dwelling. A screech from inside
told them the demon was indeed at home. Unfortunately, light did
not harm demons, but it played havoc with their retinas. They were
prone to wear dark shades even if they were indoors.

The demon stormed out of the warehouse, his
hands covering his eyes.

Derek took aim, but before he could release
his arrow, another flew through the air and nabbed the demon in the
chest. The demon screeched in pain, grabbing at the arrow in a
desperate attempt to dislodge it, but the weapon had hit its mark.
The demon stilled, his bellows silencing as death froze him in
place. He fell back onto the ground, his glamour fading away and
revealing his true hideous self before sizzling and dissolving into
a black tarlike goo.

Derek's gaze riveted to the ground below him,
searching for the person who had taken the shot because he damn
well knew this person wasn't part of his team.

He spotted the culprit to the left of the
building and froze. There was no mistaking who he saw. Her
determined stance…her curves... She was dressed in dark clothing,
and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, allowing the onyx
colored length to cascade down her back. In the next moment, she
glanced his way.

"Sloane," he murmured her name, but she must
have heard him for her lips curved. What was she doing here? In the
next second he was about to find out. She flitted. He whirled
around as she made her appearance on the rooftop. She looked more
beautiful than he remembered, more alluring than his dreams about
her—and his dreams were pretty darn vivid.

"Hello, Derek." Her smooth cultured voice
sent desire spiraling down to one particular spot. Even after all
these months, he still yearned for her touch.

Then it dawned on him why she was here. "You
are the one who called in the tip, aren't you?" He spoke the
obvious, but wanted to hear it from her.

"We've been tracking the demon for some time,
but the slimy bastard kept eluding us." She placed her crossbow and
quiver down beside her. "He left two teens pregnant back in Boston
and three more in Jersey," she told him. "I guess he thought
California girls were more his style and headed out here. Tremayne
had his cousin Sheerin fix a concoction for the girls to drink and
miscarry. Red eyed, horned babies would cause the
end-of-world
fanatics to go crazy—well, crazier than
usual." She shrugged.

"He didn't manage to knock up anyone here,"
he told her though she probably already had that information. Then
he recalled what else Sloane had said:
We've been tracking the
demon
. "Who else is with you?"

"Tremayne and Cassandra of course."

Derek glanced below and spotted his sister
heading toward Wade and Axel. He had no doubt Tremayne stood nearby
in the shadows. "My brothers… Axel won't understand." Wade would
tolerate Tremayne and Sloane being here, but it didn't mean his
brother wouldn't stand by Axel's decision to take them out no
matter their allegiance.

"I was careful. Your brothers didn't see me
and besides Cassandra will give me a second to say hello to an old
friend."

Maybe that was true, but it wouldn't be long
before his brothers wondered why he hadn't come down from the
rooftop. He figured he had maybe a minute or two while Cassandra
distracted Wade and Axel. "So I'm an old friend, am I?" He tilted
his head as he gazed at her.

"Would you rather I called you an old lover?"
She lifted a brow.

"I'm not old."

This made her chuckle. Her gaze slid over him
and her eyes blazed a brighter blue. "I suppose you're right."

"So…you're a hunter now." He changed the
subject before it became too heated. They had minutes not hours to
allow something more intimate to take place.

"I'm training to be one. This was my second
gig." She met his gaze.

Why hadn't she called him then if she was out
and about dusting the bad guys? If she was working with his sister,
she obviously could walk among the humans without draining them
dry. Funny, Cassandra never mentioned Sloane's new occupation when
he spoke to her last week. His conversation came back to him,
annoying him all over again.

Derek stared at his phone, trying to decide
if he wanted to call Cassandra or not.

He'd dreamt about Sloane for the up-teenth
time. It seemed cold showers were beginning to be his thing. Wade
tried to set him up with a woman he met at a bar he frequented in
Los Angeles. Matchmaker, Wade was not. He liked sex as much as the
next guy, but since he'd been with Sloane he couldn't think of
being with anyone else.

He made the call.

"Hello, Derek," Cassandra greeted him.

Did he detect a note of annoyance in those
two words? Possibly, but who gave a flying—

"Are you there?" Cassandra's voice snapped
him out of his stupor.

"I'm here. I was calling to see—"

"I know why you're calling." Annoyance
dripped off her words and he had a hunch she'd like to reach
through the phone and smack him on the back of the head. "You need
to stop," she warned. Yep, his hunch rang true.

He closed his eyes and gripped the phone
tighter. "I miss her." There he said it. "Throw me a bone, will
ya?"

"She's moved on. Is that what you want to
hear?"

Hell no, that wasn't what he wanted to hear.
"I thought Tremayne said she wouldn't be able to have a
relationship for at least the first year."

"Then why are you calling me?"

His brows furrowed. So did that mean she
wasn't seeing anyone? "Can you at least tell me if she's all
right?"

His sister sighed heavily on the other end.
"She's a good student. Determined."

Good to know. "Can you let her know I'm
taking care of Lad?" His hand brushed over the lab's head and his
tail wagged, recognizing his name.

"I'll let her know."

"I don't understand why you get to see her,
but I can't."

"Because, dimwad, I don't want to sleep with
her."

He rolled his eyes. "You can't keep her away
from me forever." Though he supposed they could. Sloane had
forever.

"I know you and her had a thing in high
school—"

"Wait, she told you?"

"You're missing the point I'm trying to
make." She paused for a moment, obviously waiting to see if he was
going to interrupt again. When he didn't she continued, "The heart
wants what it wants. If you two are meant to be, you'll find each
other again.

Well, here she was in the flesh and looking
gorgeous and dangerous all rolled into one. He had wondered if he
chanced upon Sloane if he would still feel the attraction or if it
had only been a good case of lust and nothing more. He had his
answer. He wanted to be with her, but did she feel the same?

* * * * *

Sloane learned with her training that every
human had a distinct scent and a signature heartbeat only blood
drinkers could pick up. She often wondered if she would recognize
Derek in a crowd. Now she had her answer. She knew Derek was close
the moment she'd entered the parking lot. His scent hit her first,
then she picked up on his steady heartbeat next.

She tried to forget about him, Tremayne all
but glamoured her into doing so. He warned her that it wouldn't be
wise for her to be with a human so early on in her transformation
from human to vampire, and especially not with a human she'd
tasted.

His blood called to her, but she forced down
the urge to sample. She'd been fortunate that she had a good
teacher. Tremayne was patient. God how he was patient with her. He
never lost his temper when she'd tried to do things her way and not
listen to his instructions. Becoming a hunter took hard work and
discipline. Things she needed, not just for hunting but for being
out with the populace. Control was the key to her finding Derek
again. She'd grown strong, but still she shouldn't be this close to
Derek, but God how could she not see him?

He was here. He was really here!

Cassandra told her Derek had moved on, but if
that was the case, why did he look at her as if he'd like to take
her to bed? Heck, the rooftop would do just fine. She didn't need a
bed. She inhaled sharply, realizing where her thoughts had
wandered.
Down girl
, she told herself. "Are you seeing
anyone?" she blurted out before she could bite her tongue. No
matter what he said, she had to be a big girl about it.

His dark brows lifted in surprise. "That's
rich coming from you."

She frowned, but he was right. Where did she
get off asking him such a question? "I'm sorry." She shook her
head. "I—"

His next words spoke over her apology. "I'm
not seeing anyone." Silence hung between them for a heartbeat of
time.

"And Lad? How is he?" she asked.

His kissable lips curved and she couldn't
seem to take her eyes off his mouth as he spoke. "Your big lovable
dog is just fine. Though he has no manners. I bought him a plush
doggie-bed, but he thinks my king size bed is better."

She chuckled. "You've spoiled him." Though
she liked that he had bonded with her dog. It was sweet.

"My turn," he said, and his gaze held her
captive.

Heat rushed to her cheeks, burning them as if
she'd drank blood from a vein. She really hated that she still
blushed.

"Why did you want to know if I was seeing
anyone?" he asked.

She shook her head and backed away. "This was
a mistake." She would have flitted, but he was upon her before the
thought fully crossed her mind. He gripped her shoulders. His gaze
latched onto hers, searching her face for the answers. Then his
eyes lingered on her lips. She growled, but it didn't seem to
bother him as he drew her into his embrace and kissed her. She
should push him away, but instead her arms went around his neck,
drawing him closer.

When her training had overwhelmed her and she
had wanted to give up, all she had to do was think about Derek. She
would then push herself harder to survive and adjust to her new
life. She didn't want to disappoint him, but she also wanted it for
herself, too. She wanted to take back her life and live again. She
deepened the kiss and this time it was Derek who growled.

"I'd hate to break up the happy reunion."
Tremayne's deep timbered voice made Sloane and Derek jump
apart.

"I was just…coming to find you," she
stammered.

Tremayne stood there with his arms crossed
over his wide chest, eyeing both of them in turn. "It looks like
you were detained." He leveled his gaze on Derek, giving him the
scary-eyed look meant to make an enemy cower, but Derek didn't
budge. If anything he stood taller and met her maker's eyes head
on.

"It was my fault," she hurried to say,
drawing Tremayne's attention to her.

"You two could never keep your hands off each
other." Tremayne shook his head, but his lips curved and she
relaxed. "It was destined I suppose that you would run into each
other again. Make it quick," he said to Sloane. "And keep the
foreplay to a minimum, will you? This isn't a hotel and we have an
audience down below. Cassandra can only keep Wade and Axel busy for
so long." He didn't wait for them to comment, but flitted away,
finally leaving them alone once more.

"Now where were we?" Derek turned her in his
arms and his all too sexy mouth slid into a wicked smile. "You
asked me if I had a girlfriend? Right?"

She stiffened, not sure she wanted to
know.

"Well, I do," he said. "She's in my
arms."

She chuckled and shook her head. "I'm your
girlfriend? Just like that?"

He kissed the tip of her nose, her cheeks,
and then her lips. "Yeah, just like that. You got something to say
about it?"

"Yep, I do." Her gaze shifted over his
features. She dreamt about this moment, had hoped it would one day
be a possibility… "What took you so long?" Her mouth covered his.
Her fangs throbbed to release and sink into his flesh, but longing
to have so much more with this man kept her primal instincts in
check. He didn't hold back as he took, becoming the aggressor. She
gladly surrendered to his caress.

He gave her another quick kiss. "You better
go," he told her, his voice raw with emotion.

She knew she should, but she didn't want
to…not yet. She trailed her finger over his lips and he pressed her
closer, making it painfully obvious how much he wanted her. She
closed her eyes with a groan.

"To be continued." He kissed her again. "I'll
wait for you. No matter how long it takes."

"That's a grand gesture." Especially when she
had forever on her side, but his gaze did not waver. He really
meant his pledge.

"What are you doing up there," Axel called up
to Derek. Thank goodness they stood far enough back and couldn't be
seen from where Axel stood below them.

Derek pulled away from Sloane and covered her
lips with his forefinger.

"I'm on my way down," he called.

"Make it quick. Our wayward sister is here
and we're off to have a drink with her."

"Well, tell her the first round's on her," he
shouted back.

Axel chuckled. "Already did."

Derek returned his attention back to Sloane.
"You better go." He still hadn't released her.

Her lips curved, loving his arms around her.
She'd missed this. "When you're through with family time, I'm
staying at the Comfort Inn." She slipped him her key card. "Room
311."

She grabbed her weapon and flitted away
before she had time to rationalize what she'd done. Tremayne would
probably want to stake her, but too bad. She loved Derek and she
would sooner walk out into the sun than harm him. Besides, she
wasn't stupid. She would feed before he arrived tonight. Tremayne
had proven a great teacher and it was about time he realized the
student should graduate.