Kat and Mouse (5 page)

Katrina stared at him, her face flooding with red heat, her fists tight balls of incredulous rage, her pussy a spasm of raw want. “How…” She stopped the question before it fell from her lips.

“Los Magia knows, Ms O’Lauchlan.” Abaddon smiled, the action both utterly charming and completely disturbing. “And I am more than willing to deliver.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Yes. You do
.

Whose voice was that in her head? Hers? Abaddon’s? Or someone else’s?

“I’m here on a holiday… a vacation. Nothing else.”

He chuckled again, and another wave of those unseen fingers caressed Katrina’s body, this time brushing over her taut, aching nipples, the column of her neck. “Ms O’Lauchlan. Katrina… A vacation to a paranormal city? A city you knew nothing about until you landed here?” His deep laugh made her throat tighten. “You
think
you’re here to find a man, but the moment I saw you, the moment I
smelt
you,
tasted
you, I knew there was so much more you wanted. You
think
you’ve destroyed that want deep inside you, but you haven’t. Los Magia felt it and I felt it.” He leant toward her, his eyes blazing. He closed his hand over hers, his thumb tracing lazy circles in the centre of her palm. “And you feel it too.”

In a blur, Katrina flicked her wrist and grabbed his, smashing her other hand against his elbow as she twisted his arm until locked straight, ramming it backward, driving his shoulder up until it would go any further. “You’re right,” she said, calmly, folding his hand back to his wrist and pushing his arm further backward even as she ignored the warm throb between her thighs at his words. “I
do
feel something. Your shoulder-joint just about to pop.”

Sharp teeth glinted in a grin. “Oh, I
like
your style, Ms O’Lauchlan. But before you break my shoulder, answer me one question. How did you know The Mouse was coming here? To Los Magia?”

At the words ‘The Mouse’ Katrina’s mouth went dry. Heart hammering, she shoved harder on Abaddon’s wrist. “How do you—”

He smiled, his eyes refusing to move from hers. “I told you, Ms O’Lauchlan. Los Magia knows…”

And before she could blink, before she could tighten her grip on his wrist, he was somehow free of her hold and standing by the table, staring down at her. “Forgive me, but I must leave you. Until next time…” He smiled and took a step backward, making room for a waiter carrying a tray laden with large plates of bacon and eggs to pass between he and Katrina’s booth. The waiter obscured her view of Abaddon for a split second, barely a heartbeat, but when he’d passed completely, Abaddon was gone. Nowhere to be seen.

Katrina clenched her jaw and her fists. “I really wish people would stop doing that,” she muttered.

Collecting her suite access card, she left the bistro, in just as much turmoil as she was when she’d entered. Abaddon had pressed buttons she’d thought long since removed. She’d spent the last ten years of her life telling herself cops didn’t want to be dominated in the bedroom, controlled by someone stronger than them, but with every syllable that feel from the man’s lips, she’d felt that fire blaze deep within her being again. That fire she’d only let one man feed.

Damn it, she hadn’t been prepared for this, and it was her own damn fault. She never
never
pursued a suspect to a place unfamiliar to her. She should have suspected Los Magia wasn’t just a more expensive Vegas. She definitely should have realised it the second she’d stepped foot outside the airport. The winged people, the surreal atmosphere… Yes, she was just a cop from Australia, but seriously, how naïve could she be?

This is what you get for skipping those workshop the Commissioner held on paranormal beings and the law
.

Biting back a curse, she crossed the foyer, searching for Abaddon, The Mouse, hell, anyone who looked
remotely
familiar would do at this time. No one.

Heading toward to front entrance, she shoved the map of the city into her back-pocket. Back to the original plan.

Los Magia knew her so well? Well, now she was going to get to know it. In all its paranormal glory.

***

He watched her exit
The Wicked Lynx
. Saw the determination in each step she took. Australian Federal Police Office Katrina O’Lauchlan. Trouble. She looked angry. And gorgeous. International travel agreed with her. Her deep, deep auburn hair tumbled about her face and shoulders in a tousled, worried mess, so different from the tightly coiled bun she always wore back in Australia.

A fitted black tank-top covered her torso, leaving her arms and shoulders bare. He admired their finely-formed but steely muscles, knowing they were the result of hours of sweat and dedication. Katrina O’Lauchlan was fit. Very fit. A fact he knew first hand. A fact further highlighted by the faded blue jeans hugging her legs, emphasising their toned perfection and the toned perfection of her butt.

His cock twitched and he clenched his jaw.

He had to get his mind out of his pants. Or should that be
her
pants?

A frown pulled at his forehead. How
did
she know he was here? He couldn’t believe her appearance in Los Magia was sheer coincidence. She hadn’t taken a holiday since high school. What were the odds she’d turn up in the very US city he was meeting a client by coincidence? Or that she’d be staying in the same resort he himself was booked into?

So
how
did she know he was here?

Or more to the point,
how much
did she know, full stop?

He narrowed his eyes, watching her be devoured by the hustling crowd on the sidewalk outside
The Wicked Lynx
.

He needed to know. Which meant he needed to talk to her.

He dragged a hand through his hair, refusing to acknowledge the stirring excitement in his groin. Well, trying to.

God, was he in trouble.

Chapter Four

Feet sore, limbs sun-kissed, Katrina approached
The Wicked Lynx
.

She’d walked the main strip of Los Magia during the course of the day, following its pentagram formation and was now heading for a shower before going out again. She’d taken in the five main casinos, she scouted out the museums and main retail section, paying particular attention to the jewellery stores and porn-brokers. She asked the managers of each store she entered if they’d seen a tall male who spoke with an Australian accent in the last few days. None had.

It didn’t surprise her. The Mouse had never sold on any of the diamonds he’d stolen before and nothing in her gut told her he would do so here, but she wanted to suss out the stores and put some ‘feelers’ out, just in case.

So, no further hint of The Mouse.

So how are you going to catch him
?

Katrina gnawed on her bottom lip, raking her fingers through her hair as she passed through the
Lynx’s
wide sliding doors. The cool air-conditioned interior wrapped around her with delicious ease, making her nipple pinch tight. She needed to set a trap. But what would she use as bait?

Yourself. He knows you’re here. He wants to play, then let him play. But by your rules. At the ball.

A wicked throb came to life between her thighs at the thought, troubling and seductive at once. Since when had The Mouse turned her on?

Since touching down in Los Magia
?

No. Earlier than that. Much earlier. She just never let herself admit it until now.

“Ms O’Lauchlan?”

Katrina jumped, spinning about. A woman approached her, oozing sensual poise. Tiamat. Again. Twelve hours later and still looking fresh and stunning and pleasant.
Maybe she’s not human
?

The woman smiled, handing her another folded piece of paper. “Another message for you, Ms O’Lauchlan.”

Taking the note, she ran her gaze over the familiar scrawl, a distant part of her mind noting the confident structure.
Blackjack tomorrow. 6am. Or has the Kat become a chicken
?

Pulse pounding, Katrina folded the note and looked at the hovering Tiamat. “Can you describe the person who left this for me, please?”

Tiamat’s smile widened. “Tall. Brooding. Black eyes and dark hair. Very handsome.”

Handsome? Katrina cocked an eyebrow at the word and the throb in her sex grew stronger. Scowling, she fixed the woman with a level gaze. “Did he leave a name? Someway I can contact him?”

“No, Ms O’Lauchlan. Just the note and a request I deliver it to you the moment you returned.”

Damn it
. “Was he Australian? Did he have an accent? Like mine?”

Tiamat shook her head. “I did not notice, Ms O’Lauchlan, I’m sorry.”

The glint in her unusual amber eyes told Katrina what
had
occupied Taimat’s attention while she’d been speaking to the note-writer. The woman looked positively hungry. “Handsome?” she asked. “Really?”

Taimat’s smile turned into a grin. “Really.”

Katrina scowled. Again. Handsome. An image of a man with hazel eyes filled her head, the only man she’d ever associated with that word. He fixed her with a knowing look before merging into a mysterious jewel thief she couldn’t see clearly but knew all the same, a jewel thief who made her want to scream, who in-turn dissolved into an even more mysterious man with blue eyes and an annoying habit of knowing exactly what was in her head.

Damn, she wished she had her gun.

But who do you want to shoot, O’Lauchlan? Which one
?

“All of them,” she muttered.

“Excuse me, Ms O’Lauchlan?”

Katrina started. Tiamat still stood before her, studying her with eyes no longer amber but now a deep, deep bronze. “Sorry,” she said, giving the woman a slight smile.

Tiamat returned it, her strange eyes back to amber. “There is no need to apologise, Ms O’Lauchlan. It is late. Would you like me to arrange for dinner to be sent to your suite? The Lobster Thermidor is exquisite.”

Katrina’s mouth salivated. Lobster. God, how wonderful would it be to have lobster. But catching The Mouse was the priority, not indulging in a dish she’d never afford back in Australia. “No, thank you,” she said. “I’m just going to have a quick show and then head back out again.”

Tiamat’s smile widened, her expression unreadable. “If you say so.” She turned and Katrina watched her go, a frown pulling at her forehead.
If I say so? What does that mean
?

She slipped into her suite and headed straight for the shower, stripping as she went, trying not to think of Lobster Thermidor. A shower would clear her head. The day had been strange, hell, the whole trip had been strange, but she couldn’t let it distract her. The Mouse was here, he was playing games with her and, unless she was focussed, he’d escape her once again.

She wasn’t returning to Australia without him, be damned with what Abaddon—and her traitorous psyche—was suggesting. Catching the jewel thief was her
only
goal.

Fifteen minutes of seductively invigorating water streaming over her body later, she stepped from the shower and wrapped herself in a thick towel the size of a bedsheet. Okay, she felt better. She felt in control again. She felt
herself
again. She’d hit the streets and by nine am tomorrow have it all figured…