Night Games (3 page)

The corner caught her by surprise. One minute solid stone lay beneath her fingers, then nothing. The rain, darkness, and frenzied sea sounds made for a great horror-movie backdrop. What a fun way to spend the night.

Gritting her teeth, she shuffled onward. Besides being wet and windblown, she was bored. Ally was open to a few vampires and demons livening things up. She sure wished
something
would happen.

While a sudden crack of thunder shook the ground, a jagged streak of lightning illuminated the scene for a few seconds.

Ally looked up and froze.
God, cancel that wish!

The brilliant white flash outlined a massive figure. Huge dark wings floated around the shape as it moved inexorably toward her.

The logical, no-nonsense upbringing of twenty-seven years deserted her in a surge of primitive fear. This was absolutely
not
on her itinerary of things to see in Ireland. Her voice was locked in an off position as she whirled and ran.

She panted and her arms pumped frantically as she tried to put space between
it
and her, but that last slice of banoffi pie at dinner weighed her down.
Please, let me escape, and I'll never whine again.
A sweeping promise she probably couldn't keep, but it was worth a shot. She glanced back
to see that Black Liam was gaining. God wasn't bargaining tonight.

“Ally, did you see a vampire yet?” Katy's voice drifted to her on the suddenly still air.

Yep. Been there, done that. Feet, fly.
At least she was leading Black Liam away from Katy. They could put that on her tombstone: The vampire didn't get Katy.

“Blood of Boren!”

The husky male voice behind her made her pump even harder. She didn't care how often he mentioned his favorite drink, she wasn't going to be part of it.

She splashed through a stream and scrambled up the steep incline beyond. The thud of pursuing footsteps sounded above the frantic pounding of her heart.

Wait. Human voice. Human footsteps.
Human?
Her logic struggled to its feet and dusted off the footprints her stampeding brain cells had left when they made a dash for the door.

Human.
Not a vampire. Some human scumbag was chasing her. She'd allowed herself to get caught up in superstitious claptrap she swore she didn't believe in.

Now she was mad. Her fury stopped her headlong flight with a suddenness that brought the man barreling into her. She crashed to the ground, pinned by his weight.

“You're trespassing, babe.”

Ally blinked at the wet blades of grass tickling her nose while she processed the huskily murmured
accusation. Where? Where was she trespassing?

“This castle's
mine.
” His declaration of ownership warmed the side of her neck.

She tried to concentrate on his words, but the weight of his body, the pressure of his groin tucked against her behind, sort of distracted her from any deep focusing. “Fine. So you own the castle, and I own the Boardwalk. Who the heck cares? Get off me. I can't breathe.” The breathing thing had nothing to do with his weight.

His soft chuckle didn't sound friendly as he rolled off her and stood.

“If the vampire's hassling you, you tell him he doesn't want to mess with Katy Gallagher.” Katy's voice would have thrown fear into a Viking berserker.

“I'm fine,” Ally hastened to assure her. But was she? There were different degrees of “fine.”

She thought about her pepper spray. No, he didn't pose
that
kind of danger.

Ally scrambled to her knees, then looked up at him. “If this place belongs to you, why don't you sound Irish?” If she kept him talking, maybe his scary index would go down or her fearless index would rise.

He shrugged. “I don't live here. Just visiting. Couldn't wait till morning to see the old place, so I hiked out here tonight.”

“So, you're kind of an absentee landlord.”
Keep him on the defensive.
“Sure have let the old homestead get run down.”

His laugh was low, not defensive. “It isn't working, babe.”

“What isn't working?”
My heart, my lungs?
Seemed like every part of her was either speeding up or slowing down.

“Trying to keep me talking until Katy comes to save you.” He turned his head at the sound of Katy's noisy approach, and his long dark hair shifted across broad shoulders.

“That's a lie.”
That's the truth, but I'd rather dunk my head in ice water than admit it.

His all-weather coat flapped open in the breeze. How humiliating. She'd been scared witless by a flapping coat.

Ally climbed to her feet. He didn't try to help her. Carefully, she brushed dirt and grass from her jacket. She needed time to think. “If you hiked out here, where're you staying tonight?”

“I could stay with you.” His tone suggested the staying wouldn't be all that unpleasant.

Ally dragged in a deep breath to jump-start her lungs; then the humor in his voice registered. He was only kidding. Relief washed over her.

It was his voice. She knew even if he were reading a grocery list, his voice would carry the promise of danger, sex, and sin. Ally could imagine his murmured whisper, “Don't forget the whipped cream, babe.”

Okay, it was his voice
and
his body. He was tall with shoulders that were solid with muscle and maturity; it didn't matter that she hadn't gotten a clear look at his face. Two out of three made
for a tempting package. Not for her, of course. But something about his total impact still scared her. She backed up a step.

“Ally, if you've found Black Liam, don't let him get away. I have my digital camera, digital camcorder, and digital voice recorder all packed here in my fisherman's vest. We'll nail this sucker.”

“So, did you find him, Ally?” His grin was a slash of white in the darkness.

A clear and present danger to all women?
“Yes.” No hesitation. Some things were a given.

She had no time for elaboration because Katy burst from the darkness, camera in hand and orange hair flying. “Where is he? Just point me at him and move out of the way.”

Ally sighed. This would not be easy to explain. “Sorry, Katy. No photo ops tonight. Just you, me, and . . .” She waited.

“Brian Byrne. I own this keep.” End of explanation.

“Maybe it's Black Liam masquerading as the owner. Vampires are tricky bastards.” Katy moved closer to peer up into his face. “Are you the dark despoiler of virgins that McDermott guy told us about?”

“You want a dark despoiler, I can be a dark despoiler.” He stared over Katy's head at Ally.

Katy stepped back and grinned at him. “I just bet you can. I'm Katy Gallagher, and this is my grandniece, Ally O'Neill.”

Katy was way too friendly with this stranger.
Fine, so most women would want to be more than friendly with Brian Byrne.

“Guess we missed the vampire. May as well head back to the wagon.” Katy paused to give Brian time to fill in any information he might care to offer.

Brian chose to offer nothing.

“Where are you from?” Katy was reduced to direct grilling.

“Philly.”

“Tucson,” Katy countered. “Where you staying tonight?”

Brian nodded toward the keep.

Katy made a rude noise. “You camp out here, you'll have mold growing on you by morning. Grab your jammies and—”

“No.” Ally had never been so sure in her life about a “no.”

“—bunk with us for the night. The wagon sleeps four, so there's plenty of room.”

Ally blinked. She'd forgotten that Katy could ignore the end of the world if it didn't fit in with her plans for the day. Ally narrowed her gaze.
“No.”

“I don't wear jammies.”

Ally knew he had Katy's undivided attention. He certainly had hers.

“I sleep naked.”

Well, that sure cleared things up.

“That won't be a problem. Haven't seen a naked man since Padraic passed on. Sort of miss seeing one once in a while.” Katy started walking
back toward the wagon. It obviously didn't occur to her that someone else might have a problem with sharing sleeping quarters with a naked stranger.

“No!”
Ally's shout would have woken any spirits that weren't already enjoying the show. “No one is sharing our wagon. I'm sure Mr. Byrne brought camping gear with him. Didn't you?” She gave him her death glare, just in case he was thinking of giving the wrong answer.

“Sure will be cold out here.”

She knew he was smiling.

“Hmmph. Probably been so long since Ally saw a fine-looking naked man, her woman parts've all shriveled up and dried out. Hormones've stopped flowing. Her ex-husband doesn't count. Wouldn't pay squat to see him naked.” With that definitive analysis, Katy strode away, leaving Ally alone with Brian Byrne.

“Bet it'll be cold in the wagon, too.” He was still smiling. “But I'm easy. Wouldn't want to embarrass you, so I'll stay here tonight.”

Ally sighed. “Katy's used to getting her own way, and her own way doesn't always coincide with good sense.” She narrowed her gaze. “You didn't help things any.”

“Hey, I did my part. She wanted to know how I slept.” He shrugged. “I told her how I slept.”

“She didn't ask you.” Ally knew she should end this conversation.

“But she wanted to know.” Unexpectedly, he moved closer. “
You
wanted to know.”

“I didn't.” Okay, so she sort of wanted to know.

“Afraid of me, Ally?”

“No.” Yes. Because she'd finally gotten a good look at his face. She might have missed out on a vampire, but she'd sure as heck found a devil, if you thought of the devil as temptation incarnate. Full sensual lips, knife-edge cheekbones, and his eyes . . . She'd never seen eyes like his. Deep forest green: cool, secret, and shadowed by a thick fringe of lashes as black as his hair. Ally noted the slight slant of those incredible eyes. Yep, definitely a devil.

“Liar.”

“What?” She'd forgotten the question. But she hadn't forgotten his closeness. He was close enough for her to feel his body heat, to catch the scent of danger and warm male. Before she could transfer the danger signal from brain to feet, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

It was a kiss to build fantasies on. His lips brushed across hers, then settled in for the long haul. They were firm, with a high enough “hot” index to melt her lips and seal them together forever. When his tongue slid along her lower lip, she was relieved to discover her lips weren't permanently bonded. She parted them so he could explore possibilities. His tongue tangled with hers, deepening the kiss, deadening her other senses to everything but the taste, the feel of him.

A sudden flash of lightning lit up the world behind Ally's closed lids. It also awoke her snoozing brain to the reality of an intruder in the house.

But before Ally could move to push him away, Brian stepped back. She blinked up at him. “What was that all about?”

“Damned if I know.” He sounded sincerely puzzled.

She couldn't read his expression in the darkness.

“Well, don't do it again.”

“Believe me, it'll never happen again.” He didn't sound amused anymore.

The conversation was becoming uncomfortable; she should just leave, but she couldn't resist one more shot at all that alpha maleness. “Guess you think all women like to be grabbed and kissed.”

“Always have, babe. Always have.”

Sensual waves washed over Ally like breakers rolling in off the Atlantic. She fought to the surface and swam for shore. Shore being the safety of the wagon where Katy no doubt waited armed with barbed comments aimed at Ally's non-relationship with men.

She felt his gaze slide down her back, linger on her behind, as she walked away.

She walked faster.

Brian raked his fingers through his damp hair as he watched her practically run away. She was escaping him as fast her legs could take her. Smart lady. She wasn't tall, but those legs went on for a long way. He watched the sway of her bottom until she was hidden in darkness.

Amazing. A woman who didn't recognize him, didn't know what he did and how well he did it. A woman who wasn't waiting for him with legs spread.

Brian Byrne thrived on the can't-be-done things in life. That's why he was tops in the sex game. The league routinely scoured the galaxy searching for females to challenge him. They hadn't found any yet.

But in this new time . . . He was a competitor, and Ally's signals were broadcasting can't-be-had loud and clear. What if he gave her a try? He clamped down on that thought fast.

Brian was a man of his word. He fulfilled the terms of his contracts, and league contracts stated that players could not have unauthorized sex without permission. Besides, sex with females who understood the game was one thing, sex with a woman who didn't realize he'd walk away from her was another. And he'd promised Jupe. . . .

He'd learned the power of a broken promise when he was six years old. His mother had left him in a spaceport with a parting order to be good until she got back. She'd never returned, and he never wanted to be the cause of that kind of pain for someone else. He'd only broken a promise once. That one broken promise had cost a life. He'd never broken one since.

He stared into the darkness where Ally had disappeared. Could've been fun, though. Females hadn't been anything more than hard training
and harder competition in a long time. Fun would've been a change.

Brian walked to his pack and pulled out the Constructor. He entered a code, focused his thoughts on a mental image, then watched distractedly as it built his heated shelter for the night.

He smiled, and women in any time would have understood the expression.

“Lucky escape, Ally O'Neill. Because next to me, Black Liam is a hell of a nice guy.”