Hungry for You (33 page)

The phone still pressed to her ear, Alex turned slowly toward Cale, Mortimer, and Bricker. One look at their grim faces told her they’d heard everything. Jacques was out to get her, she realized with dismay. She already knew that Bricker and some other men had cleaned up the crash site and moved her car so that no one would come upon it and ask questions. No one but the people in this house knew about the crash … except for the driver of the black pickup. There had been no newsreport. Jacques had been fishing for information and made that up to get it.

“Bev, I’m at Sam’s. Get the number from your call display and call me if you need me,” Alex said, and pushed the button to end the call.

“Umm, our number won’t show on call display. It’s unlisted and blocked,” Bricker announced as she set the receiver back in its cradle.

Alex waved that away, not particularly caring, and glanced to Cale. Only one word came out of her mouth. “Why?”

Cale came forward at once, taking her in his arms. Hugging her, he rubbed her back soothingly. “I don’t know, honey. But we’ll find out.”

“Yes,
we
will,” she said grimly, pulling back to stare at him firmly. “I’m coming with you.”

Cale opened his mouth in what she suspected would have been a protest, but Mortimer beat him to it. “I’m afraid I can’t allow that.”

Alex jerked out of Cale’s arms and stepped around him to glare at her sister’s boyfriend. “Can’t allow it?” she asked sharply. “Who the hell do you think you are? You can’t stop me if I want to go.”

“Umm, well actually, Alex, he can,” Sam said gently. “It’s his job.”

Alex narrowed her eyes and then turned them onto Mortimer. “Not in a band, I take it?”

Mortimer grimaced, which made Bricker give a bark of laughter before he said, “He hated that cover.”

Alex sighed. She should have known. She’d been at the house several times and never even seen a musical instrument here. Why had that never occurred to her before? Probably because they hadn’t let it, she answered herself. Jesus. They were like little demigods, controlling people and arranging things the way they liked. Shaking her head with disgust, she asked, “So what are you? ”

“Vampire cops,” Bricker said at once making both Mortimer and Cale wince. He seemed amused at their pained reactions and told her, “The old ones don’t like the term vampire.”

“And you shouldn’t either. Vampires are—”

“Much sexier than immortals,” Bricker interrupted firmly. “Heck, they’re all the rage today. We’d get a lot more tail if we came out to the world and called ourselves vamps.”

“Right, because so many people are necrophiliacs looking for undead lovers,” Sam said on a laugh. “I don’t think so, Bricker.”

“Back to the point,” Mortimer said grimly, turning his gaze back to Alex. “I’m afraid you can’t leave here until you make up your mind about being Cale’s life mate or not.”

“I already have. I told him outside that I’d be his life mate,” Alex said at once.

“Oh, thank God!” Sam rushed across the room to hug her tightly with relief. More tightly than she realized, Alex thought as she began gasping for air.

“Sam, honey, you’re a bit stronger than you realize,” Mortimer said gently. “You might want to let Alex go before you suffocate her.”

“Oh, sorry!” Sam let her go and patted her armapologetically. “Sorry, I’m just so happy.” She hugged her again, less tightly this time, and babbled, “I was so worried you’d say no, and then they’d wipe your mind, and we’d never be able to see you again.”

Alex frowned. “You mean Cale wouldn’t be able to see me again.”

“No. Jo and I wouldn’t either now that we’re immortals too. It might have sparked memories, and they wouldn’t have allowed it. You’d have been lost to us forever.”

Alex stared at her blankly, feeling like she’d just been punched in the gut. She then shrieked, “Jo’s an immortal too?”

Sam winced, and then offered apologetically, “Yeah. Nicholas turned her just days after they met.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Alex asked furiously. “It was bad enough when you didn’t tell me about Mortimer, but I can sort of understand that. But Jo? Our baby sister? You should have told me!”

“They wouldn’t let me,” Sam said at once. “They were afraid it would influence your decision on whether to accept Cale as a life mate and turn or not. That’s why they wouldn’t let me tell you that if you said no, you’d lose us too.”

Alex turned to glare at the three men, but they were no longer there. They’d used the opportunity her distraction had afforded and slipped out of the house.

Eighteen

The sound of the front door opening stirred Alex
from the light doze she’d fallen into on the couch, and she sat up to glance tensely toward the hall as she heard the men stomp their way inside. Sam got up at once and moved out to greet them, but Alex stayed where she was, almost reluctant to know what had happened. She didn’t want to believe anyone had been behind her run of bad luck, but Bev’s phone call had convinced her Jacques must have been the one who had forced her car off the road … which made it possible that he’d had something to do with the other problems she’d been having of late. To her it was just plain stupid. She was the one who’d been wronged in their relationship. Why the hell had he set out to make her life such a misery?

Cale appeared in the doorway, and then crossed the room to join her, and Alex saw Sam lead Mortimer and Bricker to the kitchen. They were giving them timealone. That didn’t seem like good news, she decided, as Cale paused before her.

“Is it okay if I sit down?” he asked, eyeing her warily, and she found herself smiling wryly. He wasn’t sure of his welcome. At least he knew sneaking out had been dirty pool.

“Yes, of course,” she murmured, and waited until he’d seated himself beside her before turning to sit cross-legged facing him. “So?” she asked. “What happened? Did he do it?”

Cale blew his breath out on a sigh, and then admitted, “He wasn’t at the restaurant when we got there. It seems as soon as you hung up, Bev called Mark to ask him what kind of vehicle Jacques drives so that she could pass the information on to you. She then ripped into him about what a jerk the guy was for saying you’d had a terrible accident when you were fine. Mark told Jacques about the call, and he left at once.” He grimaced. “We figure he got spooked because you were asking what kind of vehicle he drives … which was a black pickup, by the way. According to Mark’s memories, he was driving that until Monday, when he showed up at the restaurant in a rental car claiming his pickup was in the shop.”

Alex ran her hands through her hair with a little sigh, acknowledging that that was pretty damning. It seemed Jacques had tried to run her off the road on Monday morning. She was just lucky it had been Cale behind the wheel. Not that she was happy that he had been hurt, but she never would have survived. “I suppose you checked his house after that?”

When Cale appeared surprised, she shrugged. “Mortimer and Bricker are vampire cops, cops would check the house next.”

He nodded. “His drawers were open and half-empty, and there was a spot in his closet between a large suitcase and a small one where a medium-sized suitcase would have fit. We think he packed in a hurry and got the hell out. They’re having someone check his bank records right now to try to track him, and Mortimer has sent some men out to hunt. They’ll find him eventually and figure out just how many of your recent problems were caused by him and how.”

“And then what?” she asked quietly. “And please don’t tell me they’ll hand him over to the authorities. I know the car has already been sent to the wreckers, so there’s no proof he did anything wrong. What will they do with him?”

“I don’t know,” Cale admitted quietly. “Lucian will probably decide what should be done. He makes all the decisions like that.”

“Lucian.” Alex murmured the name with dislike. Sam had told her a lot about the immortal while they waited for the men to return. She’d explained that just because she’d chosen to turn didn’t mean she could now go about her life. If she didn’t turn right away, she would have to be “interviewed” by Lucian Argeneau. He would decide if it was safe to allow her out with the information about who and what they were. It was an effort to keep their secret and their people safe.

Alex understood but, judging by Sam’s description, would rather avoid that interview. Sam had described it as brain rape. She also didn’t particularly want to goweeks worrying about having to go through the turn. It had looked damned painful to her when she’d seen Sam suffering it. She’d made her decision, and as always, just wanted to get to it and get it done.

Deciding not to worry about Jacques and his future now, she said, “So … if you turn me tonight, will I be recovered enough to work tomorrow? ”

Cale looked shocked by the question. “Tonight? This morning you weren’t sure what to do.”

“And then I had a nap and decided I wanted to be with you and turn,” she said firmly. “I don’t want to waste any time.”

“Yes, but it’s a big decision. If you want more time—”

“Geez,” Alex muttered, and shifted up onto her knees to climb into his lap. She felt a little awkward doing it at first. It was all still new to her, but she settled in his lap and slipped her arms loosely around his neck. Looking him in the eyes, she said solemnly, “You sound like you’re having second thoughts.”

“Never,” he assured her, slipping his own arms around her waist. “I just don’t want you jumping into it before you’re positive.”

“I’m afraid that’s my nature,” she admitted, pressing her forehead against his. “I fuss, and then I decide, and then I race ahead with whatever decision I’ve come to. It’s part of my charm,” she added wryly.

“Yes, it is,” Cale murmured. “And
I
think things through, calculate the pluses and minuses, and then after a suitable time has passed, decide if it is feasible.”

Alex snorted. “From what Sam said, you decided I was your life mate the first night we met.”

“That is different. The nanos chose you. There was no decision to be made.”

“Then why drag it out and wait?” she said simply, and kissed him.

Cale responded at once, his mouth opening to allow his tongue out. Alex sighed as he invaded her, her hands dropping to run over his chest, sending little ripples of pleasure through them both as she found his nipples and began to play with them through his shirt.

“I never knew men liked to have their nipples touched too,” she gasped as his mouth left hers to trail to her ear.

“Maybe they all don’t,” he murmured.

“You do,” she almost moaned as he began to nibble at her earlobe.

“So do you,” he breathed, his hands now finding her breasts through her sweater and kneading lightly.

Alex moaned as the pleasure sliding through her doubled, and then doubled again, but then gasped in surprise when Cale suddenly stood up, taking her with him. His hands cupped her bottom, holding her up, and she instinctively wrapped her legs around his hips. Alex hooked her ankles around each other as he began to walk toward the door, but asked worriedly, “Do we have time? I have to be well enough to go to the restaurant by four tomorrow.”

“We’ll be fast,” he assured her, carrying her out into the hall.

She chuckled wryly at the promise. “We always are. But if we sleep too long afterward …”

Cale’s response was to shout, “Mortimer, check on us in an hour and make sure we’re awake!”

He didn’t even wait for Mortimer’s assurance that he would, but started up the stairs, his eyes moving to her face as their bodies rubbed together, sending shock waves of pleasure through them both.

Alex shifted against him with a little moan, grinding herself against the hardness growing where their bodies met, and said breathlessly, “I think you’d better hurry.”

“I am,” he assured her, and she realized he’d picked up the pace and was practically jogging up the stairs now. It just ground her body into his more firmly, pounding them against each other with each step. By the time he reached the top, they were both panting, and it had little to do with the exertion of mounting the stairs.

Instead of carrying her on to his room or hers, Cale groaned and bore her backward. He pressed her against the wall, allowing it to help take her weight as he claimed her lips and removed one hand from her behind to bring it around to cover a breast. Alex wasn’t still. She immediately began tugging at his sweater, pulling it up to bare his chest, and then urging his arms up so that she could pull it off. Cale immediately released her, pinning her against the wall with his hips and breaking their kiss so that he could do her silent bidding and raise his arms.

“This is insane,” he muttered, as she dragged the sweater over his face.

“Uh-huh,” Alex agreed, tossing the sweater the moment she had it off him. She caught a glimpse of it sailing over the balustrade, and then her attention moved to the bare chest she’d revealed. She didn’tthink, but bent her head to lick the bare skin of his upper chest, her lower body squirming between him and the wall as she nibbled at his collarbone, sending up a maelstrom of pleasure. Who knew a collarbone could be so sensitive? she thought dazedly, as his pleasure mixed with hers.

She felt him tugging at her sweater now, and pulled back enough to allow him to remove it as well, then shivered as he tossed it over his shoulder. She saw it float over the balustrade, and then closed her eyes on another shiver as his hands, still cool from outside, slid over her heated flesh. Her eyes opened again when her bra suddenly went slack around her, and then Cale was slipping that out from between them and sending it flying as well so that he could cup her breasts, unfettered by the silky cloth.

“God, you’re beautiful.” He almost sighed the words as he lifted her higher to close his mouth over one now-bare nipple.

“Hey! Sam, Mortimer! You gotta see this. It’s raining clothes out here.” Bricker’s words sounded on a laugh, and Alex heard Cale growl deep in his throat, and then his hands slid down to cup her behind again. He lifted her away from the wall to continue up the hall, still suckling at her and Alex closed her arms around his head, her body arching and twisting against his head.