Lisa Jackson's Bentz & Montoya Bundle: Hot Blooded, Cold Blooded, Shiver, Absolute Fear, Lost Souls, Malice, & an Exclusive Extended Excerpt From Devious (203 page)

He was, without question, her dedicated disciple.

Her tongue flicked upon her lips as the water chilled.

Soon she would be ready. She was already letting out those soft, sexy moans that were his signal. His nostrils widened and he drank in the scent of the aromatic water, the blood, and his own rising lust in this dark cavern.

Soon she would invite him into the tub. Her legs were opening and she was beginning to draw in quick little breaths.

Soon he’d fuck the living hell right out of her.

He reached for his belt and let his pants fall to his ankles. Kicking them aside, he unbuttoned his shirt, his eyes never leaving her. His erection was thick, his need running hot through his veins, the water over her body now murky and red. He stepped inside and lowered himself against her, expecting her to welcome him, for her nails to dig deep into the muscles of his back.

Instead she tipped her head upward so that she could breathe against his ear. “The next one,” she said hoarsely. “When you take the next one, I want to go with you. And it won’t be some aging pole dancer who works for dollars stuffed into her thong! It has to be someone smarter, cleverer, more vital. Not someone whose life has already been drained from her. I should never have agreed to your ‘lessers.’ If they are indeed less, I don’t want them.”

“There are only so many I can take from the school,” he protested.

Her beautiful features twisted into a sneer. “Do I have to do
everything
myself?”

“Of course not.”

But she wasn’t dissuaded. “I will come out with you; I will see that she’s worthy.”

“You’ve already helped me pick them,” he reminded her. Elizabeth, too, had sorted through the pictures of the students at All Saints.

“I should never have agreed to the lessers.” She was seated upright now, glaring at him as the bloody water drained over her exposed skin, running in red rivulets from her shoulders, over her breasts, to the dark pool surrounding her.

Oh, how he longed to lap up that tangy sweetness.

But she wasn’t in the mood. “Don’t you get it?” Elizabeth demanded, hands rising from the scarlet depths. “That’s why this isn’t working, why my skin hasn’t improved. The blood of those whores is tainted, lacking life.”

“They weren’t whores.”

“Then where did you find them?”

His jaw tightened but he bit back a sharp retort, not allowing her to bait him about his previous life, one that she knew intimately. Only she knew his real identity, only she could ruin him.

Only she could make him complete.

“Of course you can come,” he said.

“I wasn’t asking! It’s not your decision. Remember that!” Mollified, she settled into the bloody water again.

This was new. She’d never ventured out for a kill. But then she was always evolving, never content to let things stagnate or become routine. And truth be told, he was a little concerned about the girl who would next give up her life. Once she’d been so avid and zealous about being a part of their inner circle. He’d approached her and she’d leapt at the chance to belong, to connect with someone. Now, however, he sensed she was nervous. Wary. Unsure.

He might have to change his routine a bit to ensure her compliance. Elizabeth wouldn’t like that. It would be best if he acted alone.

“You’re certain about this, that you want to be a part of it?” he asked again, and Elizabeth smiled cruelly up at him, her eyes in this half-light dark and unreadable.

“Of course.” Her red lips twitched a bit as the now warm, bloody water swirled around her. “I thought you understood. The next time, I intend to watch. Not just the mating, but the surrendering of her soul. The sacrifice.”

CHAPTER 18

“C
hrist Almighty!” Jay stared at the tiny vial and shook his head. “What in God’s name is this?”

“It’s Tara Atwater’s blood,” Kristi said with conviction. She eyed the angling bit of glass as if it were a precious, though cursed stone, and her stomach curdled as she thought about how or why the blood within it had been extracted. “I’d bet my life on it.”

“Then we have to take it to the police.” He transferred the delicate chain carefully from his hand to hers. “And you have to own up to what you’ve found out.”

“There’s still no proof of murder.”

“I know, but it’s a police matter.” He rubbed at the beard stubble on his jaw and wondered what the hell they’d stumbled onto. “You think this is what whoever was in your apartment was looking for?”

“Maybe. They didn’t take anything.”

“Then the place will have to be dusted for prints.”

“Can’t you do it? You’re the police. You work with the crime lab.”

“Not if you want to nail the bastard, whoever the hell he is. We’ve got to do this by the book.”

She sighed. “They’ll take my notes. Confiscate my computer. Check me out.”

“Probably. I called a friend in the Baton Rouge PD. He gave me the name of a detective I think will help us. Portia Laurent. Seems as if she’s taken an interest in the missing girls and thinks they might have come to bad ends.”

“Finally. Someone who doesn’t believe the cock and bull about all of them being runaways. Now if I could give her something more…then maybe they’d work with me.”

The doorbell suddenly pealed and both Kristi and Jay reacted. “I’ll get it,” he said. Through the peephole, Jay spied a teenager with long hair, bad skin, and a nervous tic causing him to wink. He was carrying a flat box in an insulated pack.

“Pizza’s here,” the kid called.

Jay looked at Kristi and they both laughed. He opened the door, paid for the pizza, tipped the kid, then threw the dead bolt. Meanwhile, Kristi was careful with the vial, placing it in a plastic sandwich bag and carefully setting it on a cotton towel in the kitchen. It creeped her out, thinking it held Tara’s blood, but she didn’t want Jay to see how she felt.

“Before we call the cops, I’m backing up all of my files,” Kristi told him around a piece of pizza, her eyes inadvertently straying to the vial. She was having a certain amount of trouble swallowing. “Not only for my homework and personal stuff, but for everything about the case.”

Jay nodded, wondering if they were sitting in the middle of a crime scene. The box of pizza was placed between them on the daybed while Bruno watched their every bite, hoping for any spillage. He, at least, was unaffected by the discovery of the necklace and vial.

“So why was the vial hidden?” Kristi asked, dropping the remains of her slice back into the box. “Or, was it just forgotten?”

“Hidden. The necklace was pushed into a crack near the wall.”

“Why hide it? Some of the girls who have them—and as far as I know, it’s just girls—wear them openly.”

“You think Tara hid it herself?”

“Who else?” Kristi asked. She wiped her fingers on the paper napkins that came with the pizza, then pushed herself upright and walked to the desk. Once there, she began transferring information to a small pocket-sized jump drive. She chewed on her bottom lip as she worked. “If we’re going to the police and Detective Laurent, then I guess we’ll have to call Dad.” She made a face at the thought. “He’ll have a fit, of course, but at least he’ll make sure none of my stuff is ruined or lost.”

“You’re willing to suffer through his lectures?” Jay asked, closing the pizza box and disappointing Bruno.

“It’s not as if I’m not used to it.”

“In the meantime, as I said, I’ll camp out here.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I do.” He was positive.

“But—”

“Admit it, Kris, you want me to stay.”

“Oh, please.” His arrogance knew no bounds, even though he was partially right.

He wasn’t intimidated. “You still want me.”

She made a strangled sound. “Y’know, I’m fine. It’s better if you just go.” Snagging her jump drive from the computer, she capped it with more force than necessary and stuffed it in a small pocket in her purse.

He shrugged, making no move to leave.

“I can’t believe you said that,” she added.

“You’re still thinking about it.”

“Jay, so help me…” She cut herself off as she walked to a closet, where she found a sleeping bag that had seen better days and a tattered throw pillow with the stuffing exposed, compliments of Hairy S., Kristi’s stepmother’s scrappy little dog. Jay watched her with a knowing air that really chapped her hide. She should just toss him out. But he was right in one regard, damn him: she didn’t really want to be alone.

But she did not
want
him.

“If you’re staying, you’ve got the chair. You can use the coffee table for an ottoman.” She tossed him the pillow and sleeping bag, then stopped for a moment, regarding him seriously.

“What?”

“Just to be clear. I need one more week before I tell Dad or Portia Laurent what’s up. By then, I should have more information for the police, but if we go to them with what we know now, my hands will be tied. To Detective Laurent and the Baton Rouge PD, I’ll just be Rick Bentz’s daughter playing amateur detective. To Dad, I’ll be risking my neck again and he’ll freak.”

“He should.”

“I need some time,” she stressed.

“I can’t give you any, Kris.”

“Sure you can. It’ll ultimately make the case stronger.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do. It’s you who has doubts.”

“We should both have doubts,” Jay retorted. “There’s a lot we don’t know. We’re just surmising, Kris. Let the police handle it.”

“I’m only asking for a week. No one seems to have cared about these girls all this time. One…week.” Crossing the room, she walked up to him, only stopping when the toes of her shoes touched his.

Jay tried not to be affected but he smelled some kind of soap mingled with sweat on her skin. Her flesh was so near to his, and in this light her hair was shot with streaks of red. It was a potent combination. Craning her neck to look up at him, Kristi offered the faintest of smiles, that little, sexy grin that always cracked his armor.

“Please, Jay, it’s important. You can keep the vial and all of Tara’s things, if it makes you feel better. But give me a few more days, one lousy week.”

“And then you’ll cease and desist?”

“Then I’ll take a back seat to the cops.”

Oh sure. Like that was her style.

“It could be dangerous.”

“I won’t do anything stupid.”

That, he didn’t believe. “Kris—”

“Come on,” she begged.

He felt it then, that little twinge of desire when he looked into her wide eyes, watching her pupils, dark and large, as they pleaded with him. Damn the woman. She
knew
what she was doing to him. His gut tightened and deep inside the wanting began, a light tattoo beating inside his skull, a wave of heat expanding within his chest. Desire grew as he caught a glimpse of the slope of her cheekbones, the intelligence in her gaze, the quirk of her lips.

“You’re trying to seduce me into this,” he stated flatly, trying to keep a rein on his emotions.

“That’s just plain insulting.”

“Is it?”

“Yes! When did you become an egomaniac?” she demanded. Her green eyes snapping fire, she looked as if she might slap him. But she wouldn’t. “If you remember, I was the one who broke up with you, right? It wasn’t the other way around.”

“Biggest mistake of your life,” he assured her calmly.

“The biggest mistake of
my
life was getting involved with you again!” she blurted. The minute the words crossed her tongue, she regretted them, wished she could call them back. He was staring down at her as if he could actually read her mind, the big oaf. Oh, hell! What was it about Jay that drove her nuts? “I’ve changed my mind. Just go.”

“No.”

“GO!”

“You want me to stay, you’re just too thickheaded to admit it.”

“You make me crazy!”

“Good.”

Talking to him, trying to reason with him, only made things worse. Somehow he’d gotten the upper hand. She’d
given
him the upper hand. And now he was smiling that damnable boyish grin that she found so stupidly irresistible. One side of his mouth lifted and in that second she knew he was going to kiss her. Oh, God, she couldn’t let that happen.

Never.

She warned, “Don’t even think about—”

Too late. In an instant he’d dropped the blanket and pillow and had yanked her hard against him. His lips slanted over hers in a kiss that sucked the breath from her lungs and left her bones feeling weak.

Which was just damned ridiculous!

And that warm tingle that slid through her bloodstream?

Totally out of line!

Totally!

Yet she didn’t pull away when his tongue pressed against her teeth and she heard a soft, almost eager moan escape her own throat.
Oh, for the love of God. Stop this, Kristi, stop it now!

His hands splayed over her back, pulling her even closer, and she began to be lost in the moment, in the desire that swept through her. She finally found the strength to push him away.

“Bad form, McKnight,” she said, stepping back, aware her chest was rising up and down more rapidly than normal, her voice disgustingly breathy. “You’re my professor.”

He laughed aloud. “And you’re of age. Try again.”

“We have a history, Jay. And it’s not good.”

“It’s not bad.” He wasn’t giving an inch as he stood glaring down at her, his amber eyes dark with desire, his lips thin and hard.

“Stay back…I’ll think of something.”

“Your excuses are getting weaker.”

“Jay—”

“What?” His mouth was coming close to hers again.

“You’re deluded,” she said, pulling back sharply. “That’s what you are, McKnight. Blind-ass dumb and deluded. And even if I was interested in you—which I’m not—but if I was, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to get involved with you again. Especially now. Didn’t I already tell you this? You know it as much as I do. We’ve got too much to do. And come on.” She mustered up a disgusted glare. “There might be a little something there, between us, okay. But it’s nothing.”

“It’s something,” he argued.

“Nothing.” She picked up the forgotten bedding and tossed it to him again, pointing to the chair. Then she turned to Bruno and pointed to the rug. “As for you, you sleep there.” He cocked his head and thumped his tail, but didn’t move.

Jay whistled. “Here, boy,” he said, and Bruno ambled to the rug. “The boss has spoken.”

Kristi ignored the jab. “The way I see it, we don’t have much time. I figure whoever was here earlier was looking for the vial. I bet he’s not giving up. I bet he’s going to strike again and soon.”

“And maybe you’re his next target.” Jay’s tone had changed from playful to serious. “That could be the reason he was here earlier.”

“No.”

“Let’s hope not.” He patted the dog’s head absently, then walked to the bike and rolled it in front of the door. He propped the frame against the jamb and lever, ensuring that it would fall over and crash loudly should anyone try to enter. Once the bike was balanced to his satisfaction, Jay turned and looked at the ceiling, as if searching for divine intervention. Shaking his head, he said, “I should have my head examined, but you win.” His eyes returned to hers, their amber irises steady with determination. “Okay, we’ll play it your way. I won’t call the police. For now. You’ve got one week and not a second more.”

Could she go through with it?

Ariel looked around her small apartment and wondered what the hell she’d gotten herself into. Sure, she’d needed friends and the rush of being in some exclusive, secret cult. She’d even loved all the vampire stuff that went along with it.

She’d never felt so alive as when she’d allowed “the master” to bite into her neck, to let some of the blood flow out and to collect those drops into a vial.

The ritual had been exciting, the feeling of belonging, of doing something dark and sensual and out of the norm, seductive. To have been chosen had been heady and she finally, for the first time in her life, felt like she was someone, that she belonged, that she was even better than a lot of her peers.

Now, she had doubts.

Tomorrow night there was another meeting, one scheduled after the morality play, and she was nervous. Though she didn’t really know who was a part of their secret group, a few girls had dropped hints and she realized that Trudie and Grace and probably Zena were all members of the elite few. There were others, she knew, but had no idea who they were.

She felt more than one frisson of fear slide down her spine. Because, damn it, she sensed that some of those girls who were missing, the ones the press brought up every now and again, had been part of their inner circle. Though she couldn’t be certain…who could? The ritual was so bizarre, so…dark…But the girls were definitely missing. And during the ceremony, she’d heard their names…he’d called them each sister and used their names.

Had they been willing members of their group?

Of course they were! Don’t be an idiot. They’re gone because of what they got themselves into, what you, yourself so eagerly embraced. They’re either dead or—

“No!” she said aloud to the four walls of the tiny walk-up where she lived alone. “No, no, no!” He wouldn’t betray them so. Those other girls, Tara and Monique and Dionne…they probably left because they’d been scared after the vampire ritual, that was it. The same with Rylee, the last girl reported missing. Ariel remembered her as kind of shallow, always worried, truly a lost soul.

Could they really all be dead?

Her heart turned stone-cold as she stared at the tiny room she’d called home for over a year, noticed the cheap faux-designer touches she’d bought to try and make the apartment appear homey, the worn, broken-down furniture that had come with the place, the few pictures of a family who really didn’t care about her scattered on the tables and plastic yellow bookcase she’d put together herself.