Awakening Kiss (Watcher's Kiss Book 4) (19 page)

“You’d be surprised at who works on the construction crews that win the city’s bids.”

She stopped, staring at him. “You guys do?”

“Not us.” He gave the fire ball in his free hand a lazy bounce. “The wolves like the trade, and are good at that shit.”

“The wolves…” She frowned. “Does that give them any unfair advantages? They could have secret tunnels and stuff.”

“They are creatures of their word.” Rhys said. “I have to give them credit. They don’t do bullshit. And honestly, they’re as neutral as Switzerland.”

“Okay then…that makes me feel a little better about walking into a group of them.” She rubbed her thumb along his hand. “But I still wouldn’t want to go in there without you.”

A low growl escaped his throat at the thought of her alone in, literally, a wolf den. “That will never happen.”

She didn’t reply, just pressed closer, and that made him ridiculously content and hungry for her at the same time.

After a few minutes, they reached a split that made two branches. “It’s up ahead on the left,” he murmured, and pulled her to the right hand tunnel.

“Then why are we—”

He extinguished his fire and crowded her against the cool concrete wall. “Remember what I said about scents?”

Her breath hitched and her heartrate sped up. “Yes,” she whispered, breathy. “Touch?”

He leaned down to nuzzle her neck, and in the complete blackness her pulse beat a wild rhythm clear to his eyes. His hands moved to her hips. “Yes,
bella
. We walk in there, it needs to be crystal clear that we’re together, or the attention won’t stop.”

“Attention?” She laid her hands on his chest like she had before.

“Touches, kisses, getting too close. Arms around us, invitations for sex…hell, you’ll probably see it happening to others in there.” He inhaled her sweet scent, wishing their best lead on information didn’t lead them into a group of sex-seeking creatures. “But no one touches you or they’ll be sorry.” Slowly, he skimmed one hand up her side, to the bare skin of her bicep.

She shivered, and a trail of goosebumps stood out on her arm. He repeated the process on her other side, and a tiny moan escaped her lips. He framed her face in his hands, caressing her cheeks with his thumbs. For tonight, she was his. Maybe they were just playing roles, but damn if it was the most natural thing he’d ever had to play at.

And maybe that thought should have made him pause, but any hesitation was derailed by a new, intense, protective desire to show those wolves she was off limits.

“Mmm.” She closed her eyes and leaned forward, curling her fingers into his T-shirt.

“I want your neck, baby.” He stroked one finger down from her ear to her throat, eliciting another shiver from her.

Her head dropped to the side, giving him full access to her dewy, tantalizing skin. He brushed his lips across her collarbone and sucked at the spot where her shoulder started, inhaling her scent like it was oxygen.

Her arms went up and linked behind his neck. She wiggled close, rubbing her body against him. He groaned at her soft curves, remembering exactly how firm she felt in his hands. Blood surged to his cock and he dotted kisses along her throat, lingering below her ear. A spot he already knew she liked.

She whimpered and raked her fingernails through his hair. Tingles shot from her nails to his dick, making him flex into her. He switched to the other side of her jawline, kissing and nibbling along her skin, ensuring anyone who dared get that close would smell him on her.

“Rhys…” she moaned, lifting her head and scratching him again.

Without hesitation he slid a hand into her hair and gripped. Then forcing slowness, if only not to maul her, he held her still while he lowered his mouth to hers.

Choppy breath met his own. Her lips already parted, silently begging. “
Rhys.
”

He covered her mouth with his, sweeping his tongue inside the sweet recesses of her mouth. She kissed him back with a fierceness he hadn’t anticipated. Her hands slid up and down his back, then dropped to his ass. Urgent need ripped through him.

Gods, she wasn’t holding back. The scent of her arousal curled up to his nose, an invitation and an encouragement to do more, touch more, tease more, taste more. He skated his hand over the soft damnable fabric of her new shirt and cupped one perfect breast.

“God, yes.” She gritted the word, and he swore she’d growl if she could. Hell, maybe he should make that a goal. Make his little baker growl.

But for now, he’d imprint as much of his scent on her as he could. He found the hem of her shirt and pushed his hands under it, up to her breasts, and squeezed. She let out a sexy little sigh and wiggled against him.

Seeking.
He knew what she needed. He shoved one knee between her legs and she parted them farther, willingly. “Rhys, oh my god.”

His shaft throbbed. He was one second away from taking her. But his brave, stronger-than-she-knew girl who surprised him deserved better. Not to be fucked in a goddamn tunnel.

“Don’t I…don’t I need to do the same to you?” she murmured, barely audible. “You said there would be nymphs…they’ll want you, right?”

Hell. He wouldn’t notice a nymph, with Enza at his side. But her mouth and hands on him seemed like the best idea ever. “Yeah, females will be there.” He dropped his hands to her waist, keeping them under her shirt, needing to feel her soft skin.

“Then it’s my turn.” She straightened and tugged his head down close to her mouth. With bold sureness, she kissed his neck. But it was more than a kiss. She savored him, lips moving with care and purpose. Her tongue flicked out to tease and taste, like he’d done to her. Was she always like this or was this new, as her power awakened? Because everything she did turned him on and heightened his desire for her to a crazy level.

“You taste so good, you smell like…” She bit down gently on his neck as she moved up to his ear. “I don’t know, just delicious. I could do this all day.”

“Fuck,
bella
, you wouldn’t get a chance. Five minutes of your mouth on me like that? You’ll be naked in three seconds.”

“What if I already was?” she whispered, tugging his lobe between her teeth.

Fuuuck. “Then I’d be buried inside you before you could take your next breath,” he growled, grabbing her hands and holding them up against the wall, over her head. “You make me insane, baby. Next time you tease about being naked, you’re gonna be that way. Need your mouth.” He bent to kiss her, hard and urgent. A claim, if only for now.

C
HAPTER
20

E
NZA GASPED AS
R
HYS KISSED
her more roughly than he had before. Naked…god, all she could think about was getting naked with him, right now. Who would know, who would see them? These tunnels were supposed to be sealed up. No one should be down here.

She willingly let him move her, bend her, touch her. Everything he did, from teasing to blatant grabbing, felt amazing. And his leg between hers, his wide, muscular thigh, provided the perfect friction. She couldn’t help rocking her hips.

The velvet thrust of his tongue made her ache for more, for him to do that between her legs. Her breasts felt swollen and achy, and she tried to arch against him, needing contact. As if he read her mind, he shifted her wrists into one of his hands and dropped the other to her chest, pinching her through her brand new top. It was too much and not enough, and she was dying to caress him back. She tried to pull her hands free, but his grip was like a lock.

“Tryin’ to get away?” he murmured, dropping to that magic spot on her neck again. God, she could be rendered speechless from that alone.

“I want to touch you too.” She writhed and tugged her hands again.

With one last nip that made her gasp, he let go. She yanked up his T-shirt to reveal the muscles she had only felt up until now. A perfectly carved eight-pack. Sinewy cuts above his hips. Thick pecs…and a tattoo over his heart. A cobra poised to strike with fangs extended, and a knife through its coiled body. Sexy and mysterious…but she wasn’t about to stop to ask about it. That could come later. She leaned in to kiss his warm skin, moving from one side to the other, pausing to flick his flat nipple.

A rumble sounded from his throat and he knotted his hands into her hair, holding her to him. Greedy, she skimmed the patterns of his muscles and then moved to his back, tracing, caressing. The whole time she kept up her kisses to his pecs. His scent, that sexy soap-sweat-and-man scent was concentrated here and it stirred a new, unfamiliar feeling in her chest. It was the strangest desire to make sure he smelled like her. The desire to cover him with her own natural fragrance, so that it emanated from his pores, letting everyone around, especially those nymphs, know that this was her man.

Her man. Right now, that sounded like a perfect idea.

She wasn’t sure where that thought came from…but his hands dropped to cup her ass and her brain lost the capacity to think. She still rode his thigh and his scent surrounded her, morphing her into a hungry, impatient, possessive version of herself.

With a tug, he pulled her head back and she pouted as his shirt fell back into place, covering that miracle of a chest. “I think we’re good, baby.”

“Are you sure?” She licked her lips.

A pained chuckle escaped his sexy mouth. “Yeah. Much as I want more of you…we’re still on the job.”

“Right.” She swallowed, remembering the two Deserati males and the menace in their eyes. With a sigh, she stood up straighter and adjusted her shirt, smoothing the black-to-gray progression of hues. “Who knew you’d like this so much?”

“I’m starting to think Lisetta can really see future shit. That top is too damn hot.” He took her hand. “Let’s go. It’s around this next bend.”

She walked beside him and nerves crawled over her skin. Werewolves. Would they be all fangy and hairy? Her grip on Rhys’s hand tightened.

He draped his arms over her shoulders. “I got you,
bella
. Just stick close to me.”

“I will. Like glue.” She focused on his tall strong body as they walked around a curve in the tunnel.

Rhys stopped at another scraped and scratched metal door. He pounded three times, right in the center, where there was a fist-sized dent.

She was about to comment that that must be where everyone knocked, when he pointed up. A tiny camera rotated above the door, moving from left to right. Rhys looked straight into it. “They scan everyone. Protocol.”

She nodded. They waited. Four seconds…five… “Are you sure this is the—”

The door swung open and the heavy pumping of bass poured out. A man—er, wolf?—almost as tall as Rhys stood in the doorway, huge arms folded over a broad chest. Dark hair that was a little too long framed a face that was void of any humor. “What do you want, Watcher?”

Rhys pulled her closer. “A little social time with my girl, in the town’s most exclusive club. What else?”

The guy’s eyes slid to Enza, assessing her from shoes to hair. His nostrils flared. “Deserati.”

“Mine.” Rhys’s voice dropped low.

“Yeah, yeah. I can smell it.” The man stepped aside. “You know the rules.”

“Got it.” Rhys put himself between her and the bouncer and guided her inside.

Dim light greeted her eyes, but anything was better than the total darkness of the tunnel. They stood in a small anteroom, where she could glimpse a larger room beyond—but two more men blocked their way.

“Weapons check. Both of you,” the first bouncer said.

Enza glanced at Rhys. He hadn’t told her that any of the werewolves would actually touch her.

“It’s okay, babe,” he said to her and then turned a steely glare on the wolves. “Touch her one second more than you need to and you’ll be sorry.”

One male began a brisk, efficient, and definitely non-sexual pat-down of Enza’s back and legs. “Tone down the attitude, demon.”

The other one frisked Rhys and snarled. “You see how many nearly naked nymphs we got in here today? Shit, man, your girl is all yours. Damn Watchers.” He retrieved a knife from each of Rhys’s boots and shook his head. “You get these back when you leave.”

Enza’s brows went up. He had those on him back at Java Genie?

Both wolves stood back and gave a nod to the first male. He gestured broadly to the larger room. “Welcome to Morso.”

“Appreciate the hospitality.” Rhys grunted and wrapped an arm around Enza’s waist.

“Are you always armed?” she asked.

“Yup. And if nothing else, I have my fire.”

An image of the fire balls he created so easily sprang to her mind. “Aren’t the wolves worried you’ll use it here?”

He shook his head. “Nah. We value our neutrality with them too much to jeopardize it. A fight can always be taken outside.” He led her into the next room.

Dark and spooky, Enza thought as her gaze roamed the interior. Like an old basement that had been spiffed up for a party. Recessed lighting shone from the top edges of the walls, which were a rough brick. Had to be hand-made, and a hundred years old, given the bumpiness and irregular edges. The ceiling was low for a club, maybe only nine or ten feet, which made sense for a place underneath the subway. No soaring spaces here.

Techno music played from large speakers that Enza could barely make out in the dimness. The room was big, with a bar at one end and a dance floor in the center. Several scantily clad women giggled and moved to the beat. Multicolored spotlights roamed over them as they flitted around the open space.

“Are those the nymphs?” she whispered.

“Yup.” Rhys’s fingers flexed into her hip. “They’re kind of a fixture here.”

A man walked onto the dance floor and right up to one of the nymphs, laying a hand on her arm. She smiled up at him and before Enza could blink, they were locked in a heated embrace, hands groping everywhere. The rest of the girls cheered and kept dancing as the couple beelined for a dark doorway on the opposite side of the club.

“Um…I see what you mean, I think.” Enza stared as the man picked up the tiny female and carried her into the darkness.

“Happens all the time.” Rhys guided her around the dancing women, through tables scattered all around the room. At the bar, some men watched the ladies, while others were in deep conversation. Enza wondered idly if they were seeking information too. They all carried an air of menace, and eyed Rhys as if sizing him up for a fight.