Kai (A Dark Assassins Novel Book One) (5 page)

“She’s working on a formula to destroy the weapon, just in case they are able to recreate it.”

Ghost must’ve heard something in his voice when he spoke of Liv, and his next words proved it.
 
“Smart and sexy.
 
I can’t wait to meet her.”

A low snarl erupted from his throat before he thought about the repercussions.
 
Instead of a reprimand, Ghost’s booming laugh came through the line, surprising him into silence.

“It’s like that, huh?”

“Fuck you.”

Another laugh burst through before the line went dead.

Breathing deeply, he closed his eyes and replayed their conversation, looking for clues that she deceived him.
 
In the darkness, her smoky voice surrounded him, and he savored every word that had left her luscious mouth.

He drew a deep, steady breath and opened his eyes.
 
She hadn’t lied.

At that realization, he had another problem.
 
They were stuck together for several days, and he had no food in the house for her.
 
On top of that, he had no means to feed, so he would have to broach the subject of feeding from her.
 
At the thought of her blood coating his tongue and warming his body, his cock swelled and pressed uncomfortably against the front of his jeans.
 
His breathing quickened and he pressed his forehead against the window, hoping to cool his sudden lust.

Despite the fact that she had escaped, she was in danger and he needed to make sure she was protected.
 
They would make a play for her.
 
He was sure of it.
 
If there was any chance to recover their data, they would jump on it.

He strode to the desk and triggered the security shutters for all the exposed windows.
 
The doors were reinforced steel and already locked, and with everything secured, he dashed out of the office and down the long hall, cursing himself for leaving her alone.
 
There was no telling how long it would take them to realize that their research and samples had been destroyed, and conclude that Liv had a hand in it.
 
He would have to call the guys to see whether they could come early.

Rage filled him at the thought of anyone hurting her in any way, and when he reached the doorway and caught her curled up by the fire, the anger warred inside him as a new sensation overwhelmed him.

A flame flared in his chest at the sight of her in his home, under his protection, and although he’d never experienced it, a wave of possessiveness crashed over him.
 
He would keep her from harm, even if it meant sacrificing himself to do it.

It had been over two centuries since he was human, and his memories of that time were vague.
 
When he had died on the battlefield, the pain of being shot and left for dead had stayed with him.

The knowledge that she would be the key to their destruction would make them desperate enough to search for her, and when they were finished extracting what they needed, they would kill her.
 
Enraged by that thought, a feral smile lifted his lips as he thought about the torture he would put them through, and the ways he would make breathing their last breaths even more painful.

Mine.

Chapter Four

Olivia

Olivia’s heart squeezed in her chest when she glanced away from the flames dancing in the fireplace, and watched him drift back into the room.

It had been like that since the beginning.
 
There had been an awareness of him from the first moment she spotted him in the diner, unable to remember when he wandered in.
 
But his presence alone had pulled her from her work and made her cognizant of him.

Since then, something compelled her to watch for him whenever he entered.
 
She learned to observe him from beneath her lashes, not making her examination obvious.
 
For the first few months, he kept his face shielded under a hood as she tried to catch a glimpse of any part of his face, and failed.
 
Without the hood, he hurried past her, and she had the impression that he liked his anonymity, so she refrained from spying on him.
 
But she was always aware.

When he confronted her, a primitive part of her understood that he was dangerous.
 
Someone needed to know what she stumbled upon, and he was the one person she believed she could trust.
 
What she hadn’t counted on was her reaction to his nearness, or the instant attraction that slammed into her.
 
Being in his arms and feeling his warmth against her as he traveled with her up the mountain had been as close to ecstasy as she’d ever experienced.
 
She had been surprised that he couldn’t feel her heart try to beat out of her chest, or her skin flush with his touch.
 

She continued to lecture herself that Kai carrying her was a matter of convenience and not out of a need to touch her, but her rebellious heart refused to believe anything else.
 
It shouldn’t have mattered to her, and she tried to look at her reaction to him analytically.
 
But her mind kept going back to the feel of hard muscles pressed against her side, and his sizable hands holding her gently to him, as if he worried about her comfort.
 
At one point, when he tucked her into his body, she relaxed against him as she inhaled his scent—a mix of cedar and a hint of citrus, a scent that was truly unique—and she closed her eyes and committed every moment to memory.
 
If he noticed any of the signs of her evident attraction, he had the decency not to mention it.
 

Her life had been nothing but study and work, and although her roommates and colleagues tried to get her to experience life, she would refuse to stray from her plans for the future.
 
She knew that life was short, yet she chose to sequester herself away, making excuses as easily as breathing.
 
But being near Kai had woken something inside her that she couldn’t ignore any longer.
 
The one man she was attracted to, the one who could pull her attention away from her life’s work, would play another role in her soon-to-be short life.

“I understand you couldn’t lift the contract.
 
It’s okay.
 
I don’t want you to feel guilty.
 
If I would’ve paid more attention to what was going on around me, that shifter might still be alive…”
 
She trailed off at the end.

She didn’t see him move, but he appeared in front of her a split second before he wrapped his hands around her upper arms and jerked her to her feet.
 
One of his hands cupped her cheek; the other one pressed against her lower back, which brought her closer to his body.
 
As she tried to step back, she found herself locked against his harder body; her eyes stared into his.

His face contorted as he snarled a curse.
 
“The contract has been canceled.
 
Stop being so fucking casual about your life.
 
I won’t let anything happen to you.”

The words pierced her with relief, but with his scent surrounding her and his hard muscles pressed against her, she couldn’t concentrate on anything other than her breathing and masking her immediate reaction to his closeness.

Again, she tried to step back, but he wouldn’t allow her to pull away from him.
 
Soon, his words connected with some part of her mind that wasn’t filled with thoughts of his lips on hers or his hands on her naked body, and her mouth dropped open.

“What?”

“There is no contract.
 
The bad news is that we’re stuck in the house.
 
I’m certain that Standard already has a contract on you, so we’re sequestered together.
 
There will be a meeting in three days, but until then, some of my fellow assassins are doing recon on Standard.”

A shiver of pleasure at his words rushed through her body, and she closed her eyes as his arms tightened against her back, bringing her flush against him.
 
This attraction was quickly growing out of control for her, and she took several deep breaths to calm down.
 
When she opened her eyes, the silver of his eyes were glowing, and she was entranced by the breathtaking sight.
 
Her heart leapt into her throat, and without understanding her actions, she placed her hands on his chest and moved closer to him.
 
She wanted to beg him to touch her, to make her feel more than this wanting that hadn’t waned since he’d spoken to her, when she remembered his enhanced senses.

He could hear her heart beat faster and smell her arousal, and it was enough to bring reality snapping back into focus.

“I…don’t understand what’s happening with me, but I would appreciate you not using my attraction against me.
 
I can’t help it; you’re a very sexy man.”

His mouth dropped close to hers and a small smile played on his lips.
 
“I’m a vampire, darlin’, not a man.”

His endearment caught her off guard and she shivered.
 
Using her curiosity as a distraction, she opened her mouth to ask him about his Southern slang and where he picked it up, but he chose that moment to brush a kiss against her lips, before he pulled back to examine her reaction.
 
That one touch of his skin against hers drew a moan from deep in her throat, and her hands clutched his unrelenting shoulders, trying to guide him closer.

His intense gaze held her softer one a split second before he slid one hand to the small of her back, the other around to her shoulders, and tugged her closer.

Her choppy breaths were the loudest sound in the vast living room.
 
After a few seconds, she thought that he might have been teasing her for admitting her weakness for him, but he chose that moment to lower his mouth to hers and swallowed her moan at the contact.

He teased her lips, lightly brushing his against the corner of her mouth, along her sensitive bottom lip, and tickled her top lip, before he tilted his head.
 
Silently, she begged him to deepen the kiss.
 
Instead, his tongue darted out and tasted her bottom lip.

He froze at his actions, and in the next moment, he untangled himself and stepped back.

Her heart jumped in her chest when he took another; his eyes remained downcast, leaving her feeling cold and rejected.
 
It was his way of telling her not to expect anything between them, and in a way, she understood.
 
But it still hurt.

When he was a safe distance from her, she took a deep breath and after several minutes, she was able to get her emotions under control.
 
When he spoke, she was proud of herself that she could look him in the eye.

“I need you to make a list of food and other supplies you might need during your stay.
 
I’ll go find you something to write with, and make a call.”

“Do you happen to have a computer not connected to the Internet?
 
I’m afraid that if I turn mine on, they can trace me here,” she said.

He indicated the laptop on the coffee table, and she nodded.
 
She broke eye contact and reluctantly left the warmth of the fireplace to start working on the solution.
 
She sat cross-legged on the floor and booted it up.
 
Opening the file that contained the formula for the weapon, she soon became lost in trying to figure out a way to combat the deadly drug.
 

Without realizing that she had been doing it, she rubbed the spot on her chest right above her heart, as if something physically ailed her.
 
She did her best to ignore the actions, and soon, her mind focused on the task at hand.

It wasn’t until she detected a presence next to her on the floor that she lost her concentration, and glanced to her right.
 
Her eyes widened when she spotted a teenage boy, sitting close, and reading the screen as she worked.

“Hello,” she said.

“Hey.
 
What are you doing?”
 
He indicated the calculations on the screen.

“Working on a vaccine.”

“Is that what you do, for a living, I mean?” he asked.

“I’m an immunologist.
 
This was a man-made drug that hurts people, and I’m trying to find a vaccine to combat it.”

He quietly observed her for several minutes, not shy about meeting her eyes or scanning the emotions on her face.
 
When his brows drew down and she saw the corner of his lips pinch in concentration, she knew that this kid was great at reading people.
 
She wouldn’t be surprised if people spilled their secrets to him, just from the look alone.

“You lost someone,” he stated.

Tears filled her eyes, but she blinked them away before they could spill over.

“When I was growing up, my older sister, Molly, and I were close.
 
Our parents had children because it was part of marriage and the image they wanted to uphold.
 
But they never wanted us around, so they shipped us to boarding school or summer camp, anything to have us not underfoot.
 
When I was seventeen, Molly started losing weight and had a rainbow of bruises around her body that wouldn’t go away.
 
She was tired all the time and I tried to point out her symptoms to my parents, but they ignored it, until she collapsed on the way home from school.
 
By the time the doctor examined her, she was diagnosed with acute leukemia, which spread quickly.
 
She was dead within three months.
 
I don’t want anyone else to lose someone that they love, so that’s why I do it.”