The Haunting (Immortals) (6 page)

She walked over to take a closer look. The glass seemed strangely translucent and insubstantial—as if it weren’t there at all. Unable to resist, Mai reached out to touch it. Instead of stopping at the hard surface of the mirror, her hand passed straight through.

With a small cry, Mai snatched back her hand. She backed away from the mirror, her heart racing because she half expected something to jump out at her.

It wasn’t possible for her hand to have gone through like that. Was this another figment of her imagination? She had to know the truth.

Gathering her courage, she reached out again, slowly. Her fingers stopped when they touched the hard, cool glass and went no farther. She felt all around the surface just to make sure, but everything was back to normal.

Mai let her hand drop to her side and backed away from the mirror, her troubled reflection staring back at her. She wasn’t crazy. It was the wine coolers. All she needed to do was sleep it off.

Making her way into the bedroom, she climbed into bed and closed her eyes. Sleep didn’t come right away—but it did, eventually, come.

Nick held the woman in his arms and trailed kisses along the side of her neck, working his way to the base of her throat. There he gently sucked on the skin before quickly
soothing the spot with his tongue. He felt her shudder beneath him and reveled in the effect he had on her.

“I want you,” he told her, his voice husky with desire. “And I mean to have you.”

He peered into a face he couldn’t really see, yet knew it to be beautiful. He felt her smile at him as her arms stole about his neck and pulled him close for her kiss. The touch of her lips teased his senses and sent blood pumping to that part of him that was already throbbing with the need for release.

He moved between her legs, careful to keep from crushing her beneath his weight. Her hips lifted in invitation and when he pressed into her, tight muscles sheathed him, held him, and squeezed him until he thought he might explode.

Soon, his breath was coming in hard gasps and the tension inside him built until he thought he could take no more.

Nick came awake, his body drenched in a cold sweat. His need for release was a physical ache and he turned to the woman lying beside him, only to find a stranger sharing his bed.

He stared at the tangle of blond hair against his pillow and knew that this wasn’t the woman he ached to make love to. That woman didn’t exist—except in his dreams.

This was someone he’d picked up the night before, after he and Dave had flown into New York City. In his attempt to lighten up and do less work, Nick had let Dave talk him into hitting his favorite clubs.

Dave was well-known at these places and it didn’t take long before they had all the female company they could want. As far as Nick could remember, they’d all enjoyed the night.

Hoping to regain his dream, Nick sighed and rolled
over, quickly falling back asleep. When he woke again, the woman was gone. Only the lingering scent of her spicy perfume and a stray blond hair remained. At least he wouldn’t have to deal with the awkward morning-after moment.

As he went through his morning routine, he mentally reviewed the day ahead. There was the luncheon with the Lampson group at noon, which could easily run well into the afternoon. Nick needed to be ready to make a presentation if asked.

He searched his pants pockets for the flash drive with their PowerPoint presentation that detailed the various survival training courses available to corporate clients. When he couldn’t find it in any of his pockets, he searched the dresser where he’d put his watch and cell phone. Still not finding it, he went to ask Dave.

The apartment he stayed in when he was in New York City actually belonged to the Survival Training Company. It consisted of four suites coming off a common family/kitchen area. He and Dave, as the two who regularly came to New York City, each had his own permanent suite while the other two were available as needed for other members of the company who happened to be traveling to the Big Apple.

As soon as Nick stepped out of his suite, he knew from the rhythmic pounding coming from Dave’s that he didn’t have to worry about waking Dave up. Nick had never known anyone to have sex as much as Dave did. The man never stopped. Which was why Nick didn’t bother to wait until Dave was finished before knocking on his door.

“Be out in a sec,” Dave shouted. Nick went into the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. About the time the coffee was finished brewing, Dave came out of his bedroom, naked except for the sheet wrapped around his waist. He
was escorting a small but buxom brunette who looked very much like a wood nymph. The outfit she wore looked uncomfortably tight to Nick, but he had to admit that it showed off
all
her assets.

Nick pulled two cups from the pantry and filled them both with coffee while Dave walked the woman to the front door.

“Thanks, love,” he told her, giving her a quick peck. “It’s always a pleasure.”

A second later, she was out the door and Nick was handing Dave the second cup of coffee. “Did you have a good night?”

“As always.” He looked around. “Did Darcy already leave?”

“Oh, was that her name?”

“You didn’t even bother to get her name?” Dave shook his head in disbelief. “What’s with you these days?”

“Nothing. I—” He tried to think of a way to explain his confusion, but couldn’t. “I didn’t get much sleep last night, that’s all.”

Dave gave a boisterous laugh and slapped Nick on the back good-naturedly. “Neither did I. Ain’t New York great?” He took a swallow of coffee. “Happy birthday, by the way.”

Another year older. Nick didn’t want to be reminded. “Thanks.”

“Wait till you see what I got you this year.”

“Please. You know I don’t like surprises.”

Dave laughed. “Don’t give me that. As I recall, you enjoyed the hell out of last year’s surprise. And the year before that, too, if memory serves.”

Nick couldn’t argue with that. The year before, Dave had rented a belly dancer to perform for him on his birthday. Afterward, Nick and the dancer had disappeared behind closed doors so she could give him a few private
lessons. The year before that, Dave had hired a woman to dress like a policewoman. She’d come to the office to “arrest” Nick and then proceeded to conduct a highly erotic strip search. Afterward, it had been Nick’s turn to play cop.

In truth, both instances had been wild times and Nick couldn’t help but look forward to this year’s treat. Still, he couldn’t spend the day playing. “You do remember that we have the Lampson luncheon today?”

Dave poked through the pantries, looking for food. He opened a pack of Pop-Tarts and put two into the toaster. “Of course, but don’t worry. This won’t interfere with the luncheon.”

“Speaking of which—do you have the flash drive with the presentation on it?”

The toaster popped and Dave grabbed both pastries. “Here,” he said, handing one to Nick. “I thought you had it.”

“Nope.” Nick took a bite and chewed thoughtfully. “Maybe Joe can e-mail the presentation to us.” He pulled out his cell phone and made the call.

“Don’t tell me you’re in trouble already,” Joe said by way of answering. “You haven’t even been there twenty-four hours.”

Nick heard a woman’s voice shouting in the background. “What’s that?” he asked.

Joe laughed. “Gina wants to know if you need bail money.”

“Why does your wife think that all Dave and I do is get into trouble?”

“I don’t know,” Joe said, pretending to be confused. “Maybe it’s because the last two times you two went to town, I had to bail you out of jail before your old man found out.”

“It wasn’t our fault the police raided those places,” Nick
said, smiling. The truth was that he and Dave did tend to get into trouble when they went out to have fun.

“I just don’t get the attraction of those vampire clubs,” Joe went on.

“Oh, but you should see the women who go there. Why don’t you come with us next time?”

“Thanks, but I have no interest in being with anyone but Gina.”

“I suppose that’s what having a spirit mate will do to you. No more sense of adventure, no more variety.”

Joe was one of the rare members of Nick’s village who had searched the dream realm and found his true spirit mate, the one woman who was his perfect match. It was little wonder to Nick that Joe opted to stay home with his wife rather than accompany him and Dave to the city, where they spent their nights going to clubs and picking up women.

Nick, on the other hand, liked his independence and having a good time. He wasn’t interested in finding his spirit mate. If he ever did get married, he’d be loving and loyal—and most likely miserable. “Listen, Joe. The reason I called is that I need you to e-mail me the Lampson presentation. Do you mind?”

“No problem.”

“Great. Thanks.” They talked for a few minutes more and then Nick said good-bye. “So, we’re all set,” Nick told Dave. “I’m going to the office. You coming?”

Dave grinned. “You bet. I wouldn’t miss today.”

Nick watched Dave take his time eating the Pop-Tart and then proceed to put two more in the toaster. “Are you coming
now
?”

“Nah. You go on. You’ll want to get a little work done before…” He let his words trail off and gave Nick a knowing smile. “This is going to be great.”

Nick rolled his eyes and left the apartment, filled with a mixture of excitement and dread.

Mai woke up late. Her mouth was dry and her head hurt. It had been a long time since she’d had a hangover and usually she’d at least had a wild night of fun and great sex to offset the pain. Okay, well, she’d had the wild sex if erotic dreams counted.

She dragged herself into the bathroom, showered and afterward, felt a little more human. Going back to her bedroom, she looked at the multitude of boxes stacked along the wall, waiting to be opened and their contents put away. The clothes she’d worn for the last two days were definitely in need of washing and she couldn’t stand the thought of putting them on again.

Staring at the first box, her hand absently sliding the lightning bolt charm back and forth on the necklace, she wished now that Lexi would have labeled the boxes.

Puffing out a breath in resignation, she grabbed the closest one and hefted it to the bed. There was no point in putting it off any longer.

She had just opened it when her phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Groves?” a polite female voice asked.

“Yes.”

“This is Mr. Blackhawk’s secretary. As it turns out, Mr. Blackhawk has had a change of plans and will be in the office this morning. If you’re still interested in talking to him, I believe he might have a few minutes.”

“Great. I’m definitely interested. Thanks. What time?”

“Can you come now? He’ll only be here for about an hour.”

Oh, shit
, Mai thought. “Yes. Absolutely. I’m on my way.”

“Fine. We’ll see you shortly. Do you have the address?”

A minute later, Mai hung up the phone and tore through the contents of the box.
Please let there be something in here to wear
, she silently pleaded. Unfortunately, it held shoes. She went to another and opened it. This one was filled with lingerie. She grabbed a bra and panties and then tore into a third box, aware that she was wasting precious time.

The third box held her party clothes: the short skirts, flashy tops and body-hugging dresses she usually wore to the nightclubs. She quickly pulled out each item, making snap decisions on what might be respectable enough to wear to an interview. As the pile of discarded clothing on the bed grew, Mai started to grow desperate. If she didn’t leave her apartment in the next five minutes, she might as well not even bother to go.

Midway through the box, she came across a possible outfit. The skirt was still too short and the blouse showed too much cleavage, but it was positively conservative compared to her other choices. Besides, she was out of time. This would have to do.

She dressed in record time, grabbed her makeup bag, purse and notepad—and left her apartment.

As luck would have it, Will was in the lobby when she exited the elevator. The minute she stepped into view, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. Which meant her outfit was definitely unsuitable for this interview. Well, she’d have to apologize to Mr. Blackhawk and hope he’d understand. Maybe he would. Maybe he wouldn’t. She didn’t care at this point.

“Going someplace?” Will asked, immediately coming over to her with a smile. His gaze never quite reached her eyes as it lingered far south of her chin.

“Yes, very astute of you.” She smiled, hoping to soften her waspish tone as she continued past him without slowing.

Outside, the sun was shining but there was a chill in the air that snuck up beneath her skirt. It made Mai that
much more conscious of her outfit. At least when she raised her hand to hail a cab, she didn’t have to wait long to be noticed.

Climbing into the backseat, she gave the driver the address of Blackhawk’s building and then set about putting on makeup while the driver split his attention between the street and eyeing her in the rearview mirror.

Will watched the cab pull away with the tenant from 14-B inside. Mai, he silently corrected himself. Her name was Mai. He rolled the word around in his head, enjoying the sound of it. Her name didn’t fit her, he thought. She should have a name that matched her looks. Something like Sophia or Esmeralda.

She was so hot—and she wanted him, that was obvious. She was shy, though, and Will was growing impatient. He’d have to do something to speed things along. Fortunately, he knew just what to do.

Returning to his apartment, he stood before the large mirror hanging on the wall. “Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Who’s the fairest of them all?” he intoned good-naturedly.

“Not you, asshole,” the genie in the mirror growled back. “Now, if you don’t mind, I was in the middle of something.”

Will frowned at the show of disrespect. “Like you have anything more important to do than serve me.”

“What do you want?” the genie asked, clearly not happy.