Temptation Rising (36 page)

“Who are the Rogues?” she asked, hoping to gain more info and steer them away from the part of the conversation that involved her staying in this house.

“Bad-ass shifters who think they’re taking over,” Nick said then cleared his throat. “They were born Shadow Shifters, but somewhere along the line thought they could do better on their own.”

X intervened. “We’re thinking they might be starting to make their move here in the States.”

“The three that approached you at that party were Rogues. They knew who you were and followed you home. When I was at your place yesterday, I picked up their scent. They’d been there.”

Putting a hand to her throat, Kalina refused to show the fear coursing through her body. “In my house? Why?” Then she remembered the pictures she’d found the night of Kensington’s banquet. The pictures that were in her house and she’d wondered how they got there.

“That’s what we’d like to know,” X stated.

They all looked at her now, but she had to admit that they weren’t looking at her like she was the enemy. More like she was the point of interest and they had to keep an eye on her if they wanted to get to the bottom of whatever was going on.

“I told Rome I didn’t know those guys.”

“Have you ever seen them before?”

She shook her head. Then paused, remembering the guy who’d delivered the pictures to her apartment. No, she would know that guy anywhere. At the memory a sliver of heat eased down her spine. “No. Never,” she said, clearing her throat.

“Get everyone together,” Rome told X. “Tell Eli I want him to stay here with Kalina.”

“Where are you going?” Nick asked Rome before Kalina could get the question out herself.

“I have something I want to check on myself.”

Something, Kalina thought, that she was thinking of checking on herself. She didn’t say anything, but her plan was simple. Wait until Rome left then follow him.

Chapter 25

Three hours later Kalina found out that plan was a lot easier thought than done.

The man named Eli—or should she say the guard from Hell—kept so close an eye on her, all she could do was go to the bathroom alone. He sat right outside Rome’s bedroom door, but every time she moved he knocked and came in, like he was expecting to see her hanging over the balcony trying to escape. Which she’d thought of doing a couple times.

Ferrell was calling her cell phone like there was no other number in his phone’s memory, but she refused to answer. Whatever he wanted with her Kalina was going to feel a lot better if he went through Agent Wilson and the DEA to get. She didn’t want to deal with Ferrell on her own ever again.

But the next call that came in was one that startled and cheered her.

“Hey Mel,” she answered.

“Hi, Kalina! It’s so great to hear your voice. I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for days.”

Kalina sighed, guilt relaxing on her shoulders. “Yeah, I’ve been meaning to call you about the other night.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I just figured you’d had enough of Stephen. Anyway, it’s been a while since we’ve chatted. Want to have lunch?”

Kalina looked around the room. She didn’t actually want to have lunch with Mel, but she did want to get the hell out of here. She’d felt caged, trapped for the better part of the day.

“Ah, sure, that sounds like a good idea.”

“Great. I’m off today so I can pick you up in about an hour. I have one quick errand to run. Then we can get a bite to eat, do some shopping. You know, have a girls’ day.”

Mel sounded so excited, a little too excited for Kalina’s taste, but it was the excuse she was looking for to go against Rome’s wishes.

“Good plan,” she said then rattled off the address and disconnected the call.

It took Kalina about ten minutes after the call to realize she probably shouldn’t have told Mel to pick her up from Rome’s house. That would certainly generate more questions about her relationship with Rome, questions she definitely did not want to answer. But it seemed like her only way out and right now, getting out to learn what was going on with Rome was much more important than trying to figure out how to handle Mel’s inevitable questions about her love life.

Rome had asked her to trust him. She did. But he also needed to trust her. She still had a job to do, even if it had shifted focus in the last couple of days. Besides, did he really expect to keep her locked up in his bedroom until he returned? Well, if he did then he didn’t know her well at all.

Kalina went into the bathroom and switched on the water in the jet pump tub. Eli wouldn’t dare come into the bathroom to check on her. At least she hoped he wouldn’t. Sitting on the side of the tub, Kalina thought about all that had happened to her in the past few weeks: the job promotion, seeing Rome again, falling in love. With a heavy sigh she tried not to think about the last too deeply. Rome hadn’t said he loved her, just that he wanted her, needed her. That should be enough since Kalina had never heard that from anyone before. But somehow it wasn’t.

She hadn’t told him she loved him, either. No matter how strong a woman she considered herself to be, that sort of rejection wasn’t high on her to-do list. Besides, how did one go about loving a shape shifter? That was a world she knew nothing about, but she admitted it intrigued her.

When about ten minutes had passed and the tub threatened to overflow she turned off the water and went back out into the bedroom, making a big show out of going to take a bath. Then she returned to the bathroom, pulling the door closed loudly. She waited a beat and when she didn’t hear Eli attempting to come in, she moved to the double glass doors. Quietly she undid the lock and slid the glass door open just enough so that her body could slip through the opening. On the balcony she eased over the railing and prayed she didn’t break a bone on the one-story drop down. An army of soft blue hydrangea bushes broke her fall as she landed steadily on her feet.

She had no idea if Rome had cameras that scanned his property or not, but figured with the secret he was guarding he probably did. So crouching low, she moved beside the line of trees that ran along the back of the house. When they abruptly stopped, giving way to the front lawn, the winding driveway, and a small fountain, she tried to figure the best way to get to the gate without being spotted.

It was a hot sticky day, the sun beaming down with a vengeance. A light sheen of perspiration had already begun to line her back when she finally decided it was do or die. Kalina broke out into a run, her legs moving swiftly, smoothly beneath her as she covered the length of the front yard with extreme ease. Larger, fuller trees lined the iron gate that circled the perimeter of Rome’s house. She slipped through a section of them to a narrow space between gate and trees then waited. She was close enough to the front entrance that she could make herself visible as soon as Mel pulled up but still guarded enough by the trees that she was positive any cameras in the house couldn’t see her.

The trees also provided some shade as she stood waiting for Mel to arrive. All the while thoughts of Rome and how upset he would be when he found her gone filtered through her mind. Her heart ached a little because she didn’t want to hurt him in any way. He’d asked her never to leave him, but she hadn’t promised that she wouldn’t.

This was helping them, Kalina thought, resigning herself to her mission. Finding out what exactly her assignment had been would help when she attempted to clear Rome’s name. Figuring out what his father had to do with Raul Cortez would go a long way to helping Rome let some of his guilt about his parents’ death rest. He hadn’t told her much about his past, but she sensed that pain in him, that sense of loss that only another person who’d lost loved ones could relate to. Knowing he’d seen those papers on his computer, she could only imagine the sense of betrayal he would have felt reading them. So she was helping Rome, helping the man she loved by sneaking out and going against his wishes.

That didn’t really make her feel better.

*   *   *

With an excited gleam, she raked her nails down his back. Once. Twice. Third time being the charm, streams of crimson blood bubbled from the broken skin. Below her he moaned and she shifted her hips, let her naked clit rub over the base of his back. He said something but she didn’t understand him, didn’t really care.

She’d been doing this guy for almost a year, giving him whatever he craved, taking what she needed and getting everything Sabar wanted as well.

“Harder!” he yelled this time, and she dragged her claws down his back once more. He got off on this, the pain. Each time she was with him it was all about causing him more pain.

Truth be told, she got off on it, too. Something about the smell of blood, the feel of power rushing through her each time she made him scream, had her coming all over the place. Take now for instance; she was creaming all over his lower back as she watched the blood from the fresh wounds trickling off the side of his torso to land on the white hotel bedsheets.

“Your friend didn’t pay up. Sabar’s not happy about that,” she said then rubbed her clit over his rough skin, loving the friction the movement created. “You’d better talk to him or he’ll end up just like Baines.”

“Come here, baby,” he grumbled and turned so that he was now lying on his bloodied back.

She adjusted herself, lowered her body until his short, fat dick managed to slide inside her wet pussy. He moaned, his dull gray eyes rolling back into his head. With pudgy hands he gripped her hips, holding her still as he pushed upward, believing he was driving deep inside her.

There was no real feeling, that’s why she had to get off in other ways when she was with him. Leaning forward slightly, she clawed his chest with deep angry strokes. His eyes opened wide just like his mouth, and the scream that ripped free made her come instantly. Then she began to ride him, being careful not to pull up too much or his puny length would slip right out of her. He was breathing heavily, the flab from his second chin vibrating as she worked him.

“You gonna get your people to pay up?” she asked, flattening her hands on his chest to feel the blood on her palms.

“Shit … shi … yes … yesss. I’ll tel … yeah … I’ll call him. Fuck!”

“That’s right, if you wanna keep being fucked by me and keep breathing long enough to make that run for the Senate you just announced, you’d better make sure all of them pay up when they’re supposed to.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll do it. I’ll do it,” he panted, his fingers pinching her hips. “Just fuck me harder. Harder! Harder!”

She moved quicker, knowing he was only good for another minute or so. Watching his face contort she leaned forward, felt her canines extend, and bit him, right on his nipple. He yelled and came at the same time. She slid off his sweaty, bloody body and went to the table where her cell phone was. Punching in a familiar number, she said, “I’m done.”

“Good. Now go get my mate,” Sabar’s gruff voice replied from the other end.

After grabbing a quick shower and slipping back into her business attire Melanie was on her way out when a half-dressed Ralph Kensington puffed on a cigarette and glared at her through the ring of smoke he’d just released. “You’re a wild one. But I can tame you,” he said.

She slipped her purse on her shoulder and chuckled. “Not in your wildest dreams, old man.”

“Marry me?” he asked.

“Can’t, I’m already mated.” She opened the door and stood there a moment. “Besides, you’re not my type.” Closing the door behind her, she missed his ending comment.

“You’re right,” he chuckled, scratching his protruding belly. “I’m not a cat.”

*   *   *

The second she approached the gate Kalina knew she’d made a colossal mistake.

Mel stepped out of a black car looking absolutely nothing like the woman Kalina had spent a Sunday afternoon with. Gone was the supermom, the housewife, the dedicated employee.

What was before her now was like a total transformation—and not like those Oprah makeovers, either. This was deeper. Mel looked at her with eyes slanted just slightly and lips poised, shoulders squared and hips that swayed with the wind. She wore a shorter-than-short skirt tight enough to choke a dog and halter top that put her breasts on display through its sheer material and sky-high heels. Her red hair seemed brighter and was pulled up so that her long neck was bare.

“So nice to see you again, Kalina,” she purred.

That’s right, her voice, her movements, everything about her said
cat.
Okay, so maybe Kalina was overreacting. Just because Rome admitted to being a cat shifter didn’t mean that everyone she saw was one now. Still, this was a different Melanie.

“Hey, Mel. What’s up? You sounded like it was urgent.” Kalina talked and measured the distance between her and the house. Mel was on the other side of the gate in a car with tinted windows, which told Kalina she was probably not alone. Besides that, it was a luxury car worth much more than the meager salary Mel was making at the law firm. This entire situation was off, and when Kalina inhaled she could swear she smelled a setup.

“Just wanted to see you again. You haven’t really been in the office. I asked Nick about you.” She was walking, touching her fingers along the gate and looking at Kalina with a sultry sort of smirk. “He seemed convinced you were all right. I guess if you’re staying at the boss’s place, you would be considered all right.”