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Red Stone of Passion

ISBN #978-1-906590-86-4

©Copyright Tuesday Morrigan 2008

Cover Art by Lyn Taylor ©Copyright July 2008

Edited by Christine Riley

Total-E-Bound Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-E-Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork

Published in 2008 by Total-E-Bound Publishing 1 The Corner, Faldingworth Road, Spridlington, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, LN8 2DE, UK.

Warning:  This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has been rated total-e-burning.

RED STONE OF PASSION

Tuesday Morrigan

Dedication

This story is dedicated to my family and friends for understanding my need to write and for appreciating my love of gemstones.

Chapter One

Life of an Outlaw

Riana Ruben signalled to Celeste, the classically beautiful blonde woman beside her before sneaking away from the museum tour. Once out of earshot, she pulled the vibrating cell phone from her pocket and pressed her left index finger on the screen. The LCD panel blinked as it read her fingerprint.

“Welcome Agent Ruben.”

The small screen lit up seconds later and Daphnia appeared. Her beautiful caramel skin was scrunched up in a mask of displeasure. “Tell me you’ve found Ms. Waters’ gem.”

“Yes, we have, D. We should be acquiring Waters’ jewel tonight and return should be no later than a week from then.”

Daphnia said nothing for a few moments. Riana knew Daphnia was reading information off the gigantic computer screen she kept to her left. No doubt Daphnia was double-checking the information from Interpol, the FBI, the PIA—the Preternatural Intelligence Agency— and Ms. Waters.

“You’re sure we got the right stone?”

“I’m positive.” Riana pressed a few buttons on the right hand of the screen, pulling up some of the files she had been working on and emailed them to Daphnia.

“We double checked last night. It’s definitely Ms. Water’s gem. I almost can’t believe that they stole the old broad’s rock only to sell it to a museum.”

“The museum’s board of directors has no idea it has a stolen artefact. The curator purchased it knowing it was stolen and fabricated the provenances for the big guys when Waters refused to sell it. Waters wants it returned without police involvement, and he has refused to give it back.”

“Good thing she called us, huh?”

Daphnia smirked. “Good thing the right people know we’re the Robin Hoods of the gem world.”

Riana smiled to herself as she thought about the gifts that made the women of Greedy Girls, Inc. different from every other gemstone bounty hunters. Unlike most hunters, the ladies of Greedy Girls, Inc. were mutants. Riana was a mutant with the ability to shape-shift into any type of feline whether house cat or, her favourite, panther.

The ability had saved her life on several occasions.

“Yeah. Everything in order?” Riana asked.

Daphnia compared the files Riana had sent. After a few seconds Daphnia smiled. The icy fire of amusement in her topaz eyes made Riana uneasy for just a moment. Its presence reminded Riana of just how cold and calculating her boss could be.

Rather than unnerving Riana, Daphnia’s cool exterior impressed her. Daphnia was the sole owner of Greedy Girls, Inc., a discreet firm that specialised in the retrieval of stolen pieces of jewellery. She was the best of the best in their field. Riana couldn’t help admiring her.

“Yes, everything is order. I’ll be damned. It really is Waters’ stone.” The last few words were spoken with awe. Daphnia obviously hadn’t really believed the curator would be stupid enough to put the stolen Waters’ gem on display. The woman and her gemstone collection were, after all, world famous.

“Dismissed,” Daphnia said curtly without looking.

Celeste barely glanced at Riana when she returned to the tour group. “Everything set to go?” she threw over her shoulder.

“Yes.”

“The Garland Garnet is a historical gem that was once a part of the most infamous of the queen’s pieces of jewellery,” the tour guide said as she led the way through the long aisle to the famous stone. It was once Queen Cleopatra’s favourite necklace. “The Garland Garnet has a history as long as time. There is an ancient myth that the garnet once belonged to the Egyptian goddess Isis. From there on it passed through the hands of almost every great queen the history books have known. It is unique for its size and colour. The Garland Garnet weighs over one hundred and twenty two carats and its signature colour is a combination of red and purple.”

Riana stared at the perfectly crafted gem. It was inside a cold glass case that made the deep, blood red colour of the stone all the more shocking.

The tour guide swept one slim arm in front of the stone’s glass pane, highlighting the beauty of the infamous rock. “The Garland Garnet is better known as the ‘Red Stone of Passion’. Every queen who has had it has had great luck with the opposite sex. The stone was rumoured to be owned by the six times married movie star, Winifred Waters.”

Riana stared at the gemstone. She glanced at Celeste to find that the blonde was riveted by the jewel. Riana didn’t blame her. The stone was absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous.

It was their first official tour. She and Celeste had taken their own tours late at night after the museum had closed, so this was the first time she’d heard the tour guide speak about the rock’s legendary past. “Now’s there a rock I need. I had the shittiest blind date last night,” she muttered to herself. The members of her tour group immediately burst into laughter. Apparently she hadn’t muttered the words quietly enough.

The sad part was she was telling the truth. Last night had been horrible. It had been her first and only blind date, as far as she was concerned. Riana had figured since she was studying abroad, the men might be different.

She should have known things weren’t going to get well. Annemarie was a fellow classmate and member of Greedy Girls, Inc. Riana trusted her colleague and friend implicitly. So, when Annemarie had described her cousin to be a knight in shining armour, Riana had figured that when you threw in the British accent, the man had to be absolutely perfect. She had been seriously wrong.

She shuddered and pushed aside thoughts of her horrendous date and turned to the woman beside her. At that moment, the guide signalled for the group to move forward and onto to the next museum piece. Riana and Celeste stayed behind. As far as they were concerned, the tour was over. They saw what they’d come to see. After a quick glance confirmed the two women were alone, Riana asked softly, “What do you think, Celeste?”

“I think we both need that rock,” Celeste responded just as quietly.

“Tonight?”

“Yes, definitely tonight. The plan is in order and we have everything according to clockwork.” Celeste glanced at her watch. “The guards should be changing right…now.”

At that exact moment a second guard came to great the large, uniformed man that stood beside the entrance.

Celeste turned and gave her a bold grin. “Definitely tonight.”

There was a bold light in Celeste’s eyes that Riana imagined was mirrored in her own. There was something incredibly nerve wracking and exciting about recovering a stone. There were so many elements and factors to consider and anything could go wrong. That characteristic made repossession all the more exciting, because no matter how well you planned the extraction process, there were some occurrences you just couldn’t plan for.

Riana and Celeste’s ability to respond to those surprise elements at a moment’s notice were what made Greedy Girls , Inc. the most efficient, talented gem retrieval company in the world.

Several hours later, Riana met Celeste a block away from the museum. “Are you ready?” Celeste asked as she walked up to her.

Riana shrugged. “I’m as ready as I ever will be.”

“Good, let’s go then.” Celeste turned and headed towards the museum’s side alley. Riana followed behind. Every single step she took seemed to pound through her mind. She was nervous and excited. Very excited. There was nothing like breaking into a highly protected building and taking something from it. It was so exhilarating. Almost as good as having sex.

Halfway to the alleyway, Celeste moved back, stepping into the shadows. Riana didn’t falter because the two women were so attuned to one another that Riana knew the exact moment Celeste left. She proceeded, moving slowly, totally focused on her goal and the change going through her body. By the time she reached the side alley entrance to the museum she was in her full cat form. During this particular occasion she shifted to take on the shape of a black house cat.

Just as Riana fully took on her new image, the back door opened and out walked Jean-Luc, a security guard. He slipped the pack of cigarettes he had been holding back into his pocket when he spotted her small frame. He walked several steps into the corridor before kneeling down and beckoning to Riana. She meowed loudly and rubbed up against him. For the past week she had been snuggling up to the same guard, gaining his trust.

Fully aware of her senses, Riana knew the exact moment Celeste employed her mutant abilities and turned into a dark cloud. The small mist moved over the man and slipped into the museum. Riana’s purr became even louder as she rubbed up against the guard’s calf. He stood and beckoned Riana forward.  She watched as his hand slipped into his pocket. When she saw his fingers grip the box of cigarettes that lay there, she ran forward, surprising Jean-Luc with her swift actions. With a switch of her tail, Riana entered the museum, content that everything had gone as planned.

Celeste was, in mist form, inside the building and she had, literally been invited into it.

With every step she took her senses seemed to strengthen until she could see everything around her as though it was daylight. After following the guard through the museum for approximately two and a half minutes, Riana reached her destination. She took off, running into the tiny enclave she knew hid the museum’s state of the art system. When she found the door, she pressed her small body against the door and listened for any sign of life. She heard the distinctive sound of a few mice’s heartbeats but nothing more. Once again Jean-Luc was working alone. As he had been for the past six days.

She mentally purred before shifting her form to stand in her fully dressed humanoid form.

Riana turned and strode into the women’s bathroom that was one hallway away. Once within the restroom she headed straight for the third stall on the left. Feeling sufficiently pleased with the mission so far, Riana glanced at the steel and black watch on her wrist. She was a little early. That gave her cushion time. With a smile, she slipped her hand behind the toilet and grabbed the sealed package that hid there.

When her fingers closed around the cool plastic she felt the cool comfort of a well-crafted mission. She lifted the items and quickly opened the sealant. She dumped it into a trash and dropped a few vials of dissolvent on top. The sealant immediately melted.

Riana then grasped two black slips of fabric and lifted the utility belt. It snapped around her waist easily. She grabbed two silver glinted items from the front pouches. One was a knife and the other was a small cell phone.

She quickly made her way over to the security door and once again listened to make sure it was empty. Pleased to find that Jean-Luc hasn’t change his procedure and was still looking for her, Riana used the small knife she held and opened the almost invisible flap in the wall that served as a cover to the security room’s keypad.

Riana pulled forward two small wires from the top of her cellular and hooked them up to a keypad. The cell phone lit up and a series of letters and numbers appeared. Teeth in her bottom lip, Riana texted furiously. After a series of tense moments Riana bypassed the museum’s security and unlocked the door. With a soft click it popped open. Riana strode in and headed straight for the main guard’s desk. She leaned over the series of screens to hook her cell phone directly into the building’s main brain. Riana glanced at her watch as she felt the last wire enter the CPU. She counted to five. A small text message appeared. She clicked it open and stood back. A dubbed video of the security room protecting the Garland Garnet appeared on the screen that had been watching the stone. It gave Riana exactly seven and a half minutes to get the gemstone out of the building and into a safety zone.

It was plenty of time.

Especially since at the moment, Riana knew Celeste had broken into the Garland’s display and slipped a piece of worthless stone that was the same weight into its spot.

Riana grinned, satisfied. Now it’s time for the fun to really begin, she thought as she shifted back into the form of a black house cat. She was going to force Jean-Luc to let her out.

She was suddenly feeling the need to run free.

Chapter Two

Two of America’s Most Wanted

Jacques Fredericks curled one thin lip in disgust the moment he sighted him, but Blaze Garnier wasn’t fazed by the museum curator’s reaction. He and the curator had an understanding. Blaze allowed Jacques to display his hatred of him, up to a point, and he, in turn, didn’t kill Jacques. At least not as long as his money came on time.

“We have a problem,” Jacques said the moment Blaze closed the office door.

Blaze had figured as much. Especially since Jacques was conducting this meeting in his office. Their typical meeting place was some decrepit warehouse in one of the slums that tourists never saw.

The Paris no lover wanted to venture into.

Places he was very comfortable in.

“Please, sit.”

Blaze raised one pale blond eyebrow. Jacques never addressed him as a human being and here he had actually said the word “please”. Things had to be bad.

“I prefer to stand,” Blaze growled. He was tired, dirty, and irritated. It had been a long night.

“Feeding on the tourists again?”

Blaze flashed the curator a cold smile that made the smaller man flinch in fear. Blaze was a vampire and Jacques was a werewolf. Their dislike was ingrained.  Unlike the myth claimed, vampirism was a virus that increased the individual’s lifespan, strength, and senses. He did breathe and even indulged in food. Although he got sunburns, he never once was forced to hide from the sun. Unfortunately, he did need blood, but in much smaller doses than the legend stipulated. “We both know I prefer the natives. There is nothing quite like Parisian food,” Blaze retorted.

Jacques flicked his gaze to Blaze. There was obvious displeasure on his face at the sound of Blaze’s voice. Jacques was privileged and aristocratic, able to trace his family line hundreds of years. He did not like the fact that he was forced to associate with someone like Blaze. A man he would never befriend. A man he couldn’t decipher. Unlike Jacques, he had not lived his whole life in France. Earlier in their “relationship” Jacques had tried to figure out where he had come from, where Blaze had been born, who he was.

But Blaze had many secrets, and his true identity was just one of them.

Jacques eyed him uneasily for a moment.

A shiver ran down Blaze’s spine. Jacques had shifty, soulless eyes that reminded him all too well of a hyena. Blaze wondered for the millionth time why he worked with Jacques.

Because I don’t have a damned choice.

For the last three months Blaze had been playing the part of a mercenary at the Preternatural Intelligence Agency’s request. He glanced at Jacques. Blaze was already looking forward to the moment he could close the case on Jacques and leave behind what was turning out to be a truly unpleasant experience.

“Would you like something to drink?” Jacques asked before striding to the small fridge that took up the left corner of his office.

Jacques’s gait was stiff, jerky, almost as though the curator was tensed, waiting for something to happen. Coupled with the fact that Jacques was wasting time offering him a drink told Blaze as much.

The shit had hit the fan. Blaze just needed to know what was going to be forced to clean up.

Blaze stifled the urge to sigh. “Jacques,” he growled softly.

The other man jerked at the underlying deadly tone. He turned slowly. “We have a situation.”

Blaze remained silent.

“The Garland Garnet has gone missing.”

Blaze lifted both eyebrows. The security around that particular gemstone rivalled the British Queen’s protection. It would have been a feat for him, and he was the best in his field.

“And you want me to get it back.”

“Yes.” Jacques’ grip on the small can of juice tightened. “The museum must never know it was missing. I have placed a replica in the display.” Jacques turned his gaze to him. “I don’t care what it takes. We must retrieve the stone.”

* * * *

Ishmael Evans was in a bad mood and unfortunately he couldn’t take it out on the source. Instead, he lounged in the supple leather chair he had been directed to as if he was a child and imagined all the things he would do to the bastard had the other man not been paying him so much money. With a carefully crafted expression of concern he regarded the man that sat across from him.

“You believe your niece is in trouble, but you don’t know what kind of trouble.”

“No, I want you to find out what exactly is going on,” Robert Ruben replied.

“Exactly what makes you think something is wrong?”

Ruben stood and paced the length of the tiny office. Ishmael watched the man make his way across the room four times before he finally turned to him.

“She doesn’t pick up her phone. She’s out all times of the night.”

“She sounds like a normal college student,” Ishmael said softy. What he really wanted to do was roll his eyes. Another paranoid patriarch, he thought as he looked over the Minister of Finance. Nothing the man had said made him think this was a case for his agency, let alone something that required his specific expertise.

“There’s one other thing. Every time I ask her where she’s been she says she was at the museum.”

“Okay?” Ishmael said. He was unable to hide his irritation. The museum wasn’t exactly a drug infused rave. The minister had yet to give him an actual reason to check up on his niece.

Not that he wasn’t going to take the job. Fifty grand for babysitting was more than fine with him.

Maybe his luck was changing. He had been on one bad mission after another, each one ending worse than the last. He grimaced as he thought of the last three days he’d spent in London, trying to track down an heirloom choker.

Fortunately, the necklace had been retrieved.

Unfortunately, he’d been forced to explain the jewel thief’s dead body to the officials.

Probably not going back to London anytime soon.  But that was then, this is now, Ishmael thought as he focused on the man before him.

“She hates the museum. She’s a graduate student at the School of Fashion. I didn’t understand it, so I did some research. All of the museums she’s been to since travelling to Europe have exhibitions on precious stones.”

Ishmael settled deeper into seat. It was doing remarkable things for his back muscles. The flight across the pond had been painful. Six hours spent shoved into a coach seat was hell when one was six feet five inches. He hadn’t flashed into the country because of the uncertainty of the landing. Not that the plane had landed very easily.

Ishmael was one of a few living porter wolfs, werewolves with the ability to teleport. “So that’s why you came to the reformed gem thief.”

“Yes. I don’t want to believe it’s true, but I believe Riana and her friends have something to do with the rash of thefts at the museums.”

“If, and I say if very tentatively, if what you say is true, I’m not exactly the one you should be calling.”

“You’re a private investigator.”

“Yes, but…”

“And your speciality is gemstones,” Ruben said with a raised eyebrow that dared Ishmael to deny the truth.

“Yes,” Ishmael responded reluctantly.

“I want you to investigate the Garland Garnet and if you do find anything that implicates my niece, I want you to make sure that it’s taken care of. She must never be charged. The police nationale must never even consider her.”

Ishmael grimaced. His luck wasn’t changing. He should have known the minister was going to be trouble when he told him how much he was willing to pay for Ishmael’s services.

Ruben leaned forward and pulled the discreet leather briefcase he had brought with him onto his lap. Ishmael eyed it reluctantly, half fearful of what the determined man would pull out of it.

Should it ever come to physical violence, Ishmael knew he was fully equipped to handle the minister. He was a wolf and his potential opponent was human. There was no contest.

But it wasn’t a struggle he feared.

Humans made up for their lack of physical strength with cunning. And wolves didn’t like being backed into corners.

A dangerous combination.

Ruben snapped the case open and pulled out a slim manila envelope. He placed it lightly on the desk.

Ishmael glanced at the other papers before picking up the envelope and slowly sliding out the single sheet. He stared down at the face that looked back at him as a shocking feeling akin to being sucker punched shot through him.

“Who is she?” he asked automatically, even though his wolf was already growling the answer. Mine!

The woman was striking. Her skin was rich, a dark, heavenly colour that reminded him of the sweetest milk chocolate. Flyaway strands of glossy, midnight hair covered what appeared to be a high forehead and partially masked her large, almond eyes. Her cheekbones were wide, slightly blunt, aiding to her face’s distinctive heart shape. And her mouth was wide with full, almost pouty lips.

She was no conventional beauty, but there was something about her face that pulled at Ishmael, told him she belonged to him. He tried to ignore the unreasonable feeling, but there was no denying it. His inner wolf wanted her, needed her, and was sure she was the mate he had been searching his whole life for.

It made no sense. Absolutely none. His father had warned him that a wolf zeroed in on his mate at first scent. He had never said anything about the mating call striking at first sight.

The minister sighed, a wealth of emotion in the sound. From the sound of the other man’s sigh, the woman smirking up at Ishmael was a lot to handle. She had been capable of exhausting the indomitable Robert Ruben. “My niece, Riana. She’s a very beautiful girl, isn’t she?” Ruben said, his voice gaining strength with the last few words.

Ishmael slowly lifted his head to find the other man watching him. Pride glowed in his dark eyes. Ishmael realised then that Riana was more than just a niece to Ruben.

“Although my wife didn’t bear her, she is my firstborn, as much my child as my others.” The minister had raised the dark beauty.

“Why are you showing me this?” he asked calmly and lifted the eight by ten glossy photo for emphasis. Keeping his voice neutral was the hardest thing Ishmael had ever done, but he managed it. All he really wanted to do was demand where the woman in the picture was and how soon he could find her and make her his woman.

“Because I want you to take her out. How does tomorrow sound?”

Chapter Three

Girl + Boy

For the millionth time that night Riana asked herself why she had bothered to go out with her girlfriends hours before a job. It was their routine, but lately it had gotten monotonous. She pretended to be interested in her girlfriends. They pretended to want to talk to her more than the endless parade of guys that hit on them.

Riana grimaced and admitted the truth.

Girls’ night out was no longer fun because she was the only one who didn’t get hit on. She tried not to feel like the “ugly friend”, but it was difficult when she received little to no attention. There had been a time when she looked forward to seeing a guy make his way to their table. Now she just cringed, waiting for the guy to hit on either Annemarie or Celeste. Part of the fun of being with the girls was the ability to tell the boys off using the whole “girls stick together” line.

Stupid men! They ruined everything.

She turned to tell Annemarie that she was going to call it a night when he caught her eye.

Holy Mother of God!

They sure did grow them big in France. At least that one, she thought with a smirk as she turned back to her drink. She took a sip and moved her seat just the slightest bit so she could keep him in her line of sight.

Girls’ night out just got a whole lot more interesting.

She watched him from beneath her lashes, drinking in his large, hard body, muscles that attested to physical strength, and a handsome face that elicited thoughts of determination and integrity.

He was absolutely beautiful with pale, almost white shoulder-length blond hair, deep blue eyes, a high forehead, and honey blond slashing eyebrows, a sharp aquiline nose. Sharp cheekbones that any model would have killed for and the most lush set of lips Riana had ever seen softened his hard, masculine features.

“Somebody’s found something interesting.”

Riana smiled at Celeste’s softly uttered words. She started to turn to her friend but he moved and captured her gaze. Her belly muscles fluttered and heat infused her system as the fire in his vivid, sapphire gaze caressed her. His eyes swept over her from head to toe. His gaze returned to hers and he smiled.

She turned away but there was no denying the answering flutter in her belly or the pool of desire that filled her sex. The guy was potent like 150 proof alcohol straight to the head. She bit her lip and focused on Annemarie. Unfortunately her actions did not go unnoticed.

“Come on, Riana, don’t tell me you’re not interested.” Celeste  whispered wickedly.

Riana turned to her best friend and winked. “We both know I don’t play with sharp things.”

Celeste glanced over her head and smiled. “I suppose it’s a good thing he does.” Before Riana could respond to Celeste’s reference to Riana’s tendency to cut a man down to size with her sharp words, Celeste and Annemarie stood and walked away.

“Hmmm, I think I like your friends.”

Riana shivered as the bass tone of his voice rumbled down her spine. Rough and accented, his speech caressed her senses, sending tremors through her body. Strong hands with long fingers grasped the chair in front of her. Riana immediately imagined his determined creamy hands on her darker flesh. Her eyes lifted to gaze into his eyes as he took the seat Celeste had just vacated. He gave her a slow smile that promised wicked, intimate nights and softly murmured, “Hello.”

“Hi,” she croaked out, suddenly shy. Even on her best day, the man in front of her was way out of her league. He leaned across the small table that separated them. “May I ask what your name is?”

She gave him a tentative smile. “That depends on if you tell me yours?”

He chuckled. The sound was rough gravel mixed with cream. It was unlike anything she had ever heard. The alien nature punctured something deep and unyielding within the folds of her sex. Riana barely stifled the urge to squirm in her seat, she was so hot for the man sitting across from her.

“My name is Blaze.”

She raised an eyebrow. Great! Big and Blond didn’t think she was worthy of an actual name. Two could play that game. “My name is Kitty,” she replied giving him the nickname Celeste had gifted her with.

He gave her a slow, smouldering smile that told he knew she wasn’t telling the truth. He shrugged one muscular shoulder and leaned forward. “Tell me, Kitty, where are you from?”

“America.”

His smile widened. “I gathered that from your accent. Where in America?”

Under the table, away from his penetrating gaze she gripped the chair as every word he murmured wrapped around her before settling in her sex. The man shouldn’t have such a strong effect on her. It was like he had flipped the “on” switch for her libido. Riana chewed her lip and considered just how intelligent it would be to even consider a man like Blaze.

“You shouldn’t have to think about it…that is, if you are telling the truth.”

She leaned back in her seat and gave him a wicked smile. He was sharp, sensing her silence for what it was. Caution.

He clearly didn’t want her to think about what was going on between them. What could be going on between them.

A very dangerous man.

Oooh, Mama like.

She relaxed, grabbed her drink, and took a quick sip. She was suddenly parched. “You would have to think about it if you’ve lived in as many places as I have.”

“Military or political?”

Hmmm, was she lucky enough to be an army brat or a globe-trotting politician’s child? Before their death, her parents had travelled constantly because her father was a Marine. Following their death, she’d lived with her Uncle Ruben, the Minister of Finance. For the last ten years it had been just the two of them. “I’m a little of both.”

“So are you here for business or pleasure?”

She smiled. “A little of both. I’m doing a graduate study abroad program.”

One eyebrow lifted in surprise. “Brains and beauty? What are the chances?”

She flashed him a smile and took another sip of her drink. “Thank you.”

When did her virgin drink become alcoholic or was Blaze going straight to her head? He wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary. At least not if one didn’t count the very fact that he was hitting on her, yet, she felt as though something special, something highly intoxicating was simmering between them. It was unnerving and exciting at the very same time.

“How long will you be in area, little Kitty Kat?”

Little Kitty Kat and with that soft, but husky tone and his accent…Damn, it sounded dirty. She mentally moaned. It sounded like the kind of thing you said to a girl while between her thighs. Lord, was she hot.

Riana toyed with her straw, using her tongue to twirl the plastic. Blaze’s gaze latched onto it and the colour of his sapphire eyes deepened to indigo. The blue fire in his gaze was scalding.

“Long enough,” she whispered softly before leaning low and wrapping her lips around her straw. She swallowed the rest of her drink.

“Good to know.” Two fingers lifted in the air. He took the empty glass and placed it on the waitress’s platter just as she walked past them. She lifted her eyebrows in surprise as two colas appeared on the table between them.

“I’m thinking that will give me you just enough time to show the best Paris has to offer.”

“I think I’ve already found the best,” she whispered as she grabbed her new drink.

His answering smile promised so much, Riana felt her sex tighten with arousal. Suddenly thirsty, she took several sips of her drink. She could feel his hot sapphire eyes on every inch of her face. It was unnerving to say the least.

After a moment, she looked up and caught his gaze. He held out his hand. “Come, let’s dance.” It wasn’t so much a question as it was a demand. She stood as he pulled out her chair and followed him onto the small dance floor.

Loud French rap music blared in the air, scintillating rhythms pulsed around them, and there were the endless couples bumping and grinding on the dance floor. Riana looked around them for a place to stand, let alone dance. Blaze had that covered. The crowd parted almost the moment he stepped onto the raised floor. He threw one arm out and gathered her close. She gasped as his body moulded to hers, strong, corded muscles against soft, supplicant flesh.

“Perfect,” he murmured softly, his voice dark and deep, as he fitted his hips to hers. Fingers of passion danced down her spine. Heat blossomed in her veins and desire like none she had ever felt threatened to overwhelm her.

The music changed, couples shifted around them, but they kept dancing. After an eternity he leaned low and brushed his full lips against the shell of her ear. Scalding lightning flashed from her ear to her pussy. She tried to take a step back away from Blaze, away from the passionate responses he evoked. One broad palm landed on her backside, clutching one rounded cheek and pushed her hard against him. She blushed when she felt his erection. There was no denying his attraction to her.

“Blaze!” she gasped out in shock and fear. The emotions he elicited in her were more than just passionate. There was a level of emotional attachment that tinged the waves flowing inside her. Something that she couldn’t explain, but was determined to deny.

It was the last thing she wanted or needed.

Stop it, she mentally chastised herself as she started to think about what it would be like to feel his arms around her again. In the morning…after a long night spent between her black silk sheets.

But she was not a one-night stand kind of girl. Plus, she couldn’t spend the night with him even if she wanted. She had a mission to complete. Until then, she couldn’t think of herself or the things that could not be. Riana closed her eyes, leaned into his strong arms and accepted the pleasure Blaze’s touch gave for the time being.

Chapter Four

Two for Two

Riana stared at her uncle in utter horror. “You did what?”

“Stop yelling, Riana. It’s not proper. No wonder you’re not married. I myself have half a mind to turn and run and I’m family.”

She glared at her favourite uncle and considered the possibility of murder. “What made you think it was okay to set me up on a date?”

Two nights before, she and the girls had celebrated their successful repossession of the Waters gemstone. It was not yet time to transfer the rock to Waters. Until then, she and the girls had time to enjoy the Parisian nightlife. As she had two nights ago when she met Blaze, a very handsome blond. She was still trying to recuperate from the experience, and now she was being forced to meet another guy. But this time on a blind date.

Uncle Bobbie grabbed something from the top of her kitchen counter and threw it at her. “He will be here in…” He glanced at his watch. “Thirty minutes. I suggest you dress quickly and read up.”

“Thirty minutes!” she shrieked as her eyes widened. “You expect me to get dressed and read in thirty minutes. It takes me thirty minutes to do my hair.”

He shrugged. “Open the file,” he said with a soft smile. Her glare hardened. She didn’t like the look in his eyes. But as much as she hated to admit it, she was curious. Uncle Bobbie was the one member of her family who wasn’t trying to get her married as soon as possible.  The guy had to be something special for her very overprotective uncle to want her to meet him. She dug into the envelope and pulled out an eight by eleven portrait.

Oh, Mama likes.

His eyes were bright green, filled with intelligence. But the quality that captured her attention was the glimpse of danger in them. He was nothing like the privileged prep school boys she was used to. His skin was a golden honey colour that told of his Middle Eastern forefathers. He had fine cheekbones and full lips, all of which combined to make him a stunning male.

Riana felt herself being drawn to the beautiful green eyes staring up at her. Even though it was only a photo, she felt a connection with the man that seemed almost overwhelming. It was akin to the pull she had felt when she first looked into Blaze’s eyes. It was like there was a force field between them that connected them on a level she had never experienced before. Riana pushed the emotion aside, feeling it was nothing more than an instant crush.

Dark hair, green eyes, and chiselled features. She bit her lip as she ate up the sight of her still unnamed date’s lush lips and corded throat. Unfortunately the photo stopped just below his collarbone. She’d have to wait twenty-nine minutes to see if the body matched the face.

Twenty-four minutes later Riana heard someone knocking on her townhouse door just as she zipped up her sequin studded black sheath. Her uncle had left the minute she agreed to go out on the date. She stopped in front of the mirror and glanced at herself. Her makeup was fine and her clothing was the best she could do at the last minute. Hopefully, the evening would go better than her night with Blaze. He hadn’t called. Not that he should have. It was, technically, still too early in the game for that.

Too bad I really wish he had.

She didn’t like the thought of Blaze waiting until the obligatory two or three days to call her back. It meant his desire for her was not so overwhelming he couldn’t control his need to see her.

It meant he wasn’t feeling the overwhelming need to be next to him that she felt.

You win some, you lose some…So tonight she was putting her best foot forward. Riana was determined to change her luck with men.

She skidded across her marble floor and smacked her palms against the etched wooden door of her Parisian townhouse. She glanced down at her shoes and considered the intelligence of wearing the four and a half inch pumps when she had no idea where she and her date were going.

She shrugged and opened the door, and promptly lost her breath. He was even more gorgeous in person. Paper couldn’t capture the twinkle in his emerald eyes or the masculine grace that exuded off of every inch of his body.

And what a body it was. He was at least six feet tall with the kind of muscles one didn’t hone in the gym.

He looked her up and down. “My God, you’re even more beautiful than your uncle let on.” His deep southern drawl purred over her skin. Riana barely stifled the urge to shudder as his caressing tone moved over her. She knew what she was and what she wasn’t and Ishmael made her feel like a very beautiful woman with his tender compliment. She relished the experience. It wasn’t everyday that a gorgeous man told her she was attractive.

“I could say the same about you.” She froze. She felt like such an ass. She couldn’t remember his name from the file. If it had been in the file?

“Ishmael,” he murmured softly as he held out an arm.

“Ishmael,” she repeated, loving the way his name rolled off her tongue.

“Your uncle told me you had no allergies, was he right?”

Riana looked at him in confusion. “Yes, he was right.”

He smiled at the look on her face. “I was planning on taking you to the gardens. They’re gorgeous at this time of the day.”

She stared at him in surprise. For the past week she had been trying to sneak off and go to one of the region’s beautiful gardens. Here Ishmael was  offering her the opportunity she had been dying for and to top it off, she was going to be able to share it with him. After she managed to catch her breath she smiled. “I would love that.”

An hour later, Riana was sure her luck with men was changing and this time for the better. The flower gardens were gorgeous to say the least. She turned in a full circle and took in everything around her. So far she had not been able to do anything truly exploratory in Paris, but Ishmael was correcting that. With the moonlight streaming down on them like it was like something from a romantic movie, something she never thought she would be lucky enough to experience herself.

“It’s the most gorgeous thing I’ve seen.”

“Your uncle told me you were an artist. I’ve always considered nature to be the most beautiful piece of art created. I was hoping you would like it here.”

She turned and caught his warm green gaze. “I love it,” she murmured as she took a step forward. Her heels dug into the soft, manicured ground and she lost her footing for a moment. Ishmael was immediately there, arms around her waist, steadying her.

Air rushed out of her lungs as the heat from his hands settled over her. She felt itchy and needy. Her whole body ached with desire. He glanced at the hands around her shoulders. “Sorry,” Ishmael murmured in a dark, throaty voice before taking a step back.

Riana laughed softly and lifted one heel. “As you can see I’m not exactly properly dressed for this.”

Her mouth dropped open as she watched Ishmael’s dark head descend.

He knelt before her and grasped one ankle. “You should take these off then.”

She teetered for a moment before grabbing his shoulders. Her fingers sank into the strong cords of his mountainous shoulders.

Every one of her nerve endings lit up as he undid the ankle straps for her leather platforms. He took off the left shoe and danced his fingers under her sole. Her toes flexed and she giggled at the tickling touch. And then he massaged her aching feet, taking his time to caress her toes, the balls of her feet, and the arch. She bit her bottom lip to stifle the moan that threatened.

“Ishmael,” she gasped when he moved to her right foot. Lord, his hands were talented, soothing and invigorating every inch of her foot. The energy quickly spread up her legs to settle in her core. Her lashes fluttered open when she felt the cool allure of the grass beneath both of her feet.

He stood and held out one broad palm. The handsome planes of his face spread with a smile. “Come on, Sugar. Let’s explore the gardens.” His voice was dark and had the sweetest drawl.

Lord, what she really wanted to do was explore him. “Okay,” she murmured softly as she twined their fingers.

She took one step forward and came to a dead stop. She was on fire. There was no other word to describe the potent attraction she felt towards him. Throughout the evening Riana had been fighting the attraction, but it was getting damned difficult to tell herself she couldn’t have what she so desperately wanted. If she didn’t know better she would say she was in heat.

But she was a mutant. She wasn’t necessarily a normal human but she wasn’t an animal. She didn’t go into heat.

The little voice in her head snorted. Yeah, but you’re definitely feeling an animal attraction to him.

Ishmael stopped and looked over one shoulder, giving a perfect glimpse of his strong profile. “Which flowers would you like to explore first?”

She smiled. She was on a date. With a gorgeous man who wasn’t balking at the idea of spending the night in the middle of a flower garden. “The tulips. I love tulips.”

She turned too quickly and she tripped over the small pile of her shoes. Her feet tangled in his. Together they went down but Ishmael turned their bodies so that she landed on top him. And judging by the sound of the impact she had plenty to be grateful for.

“Are you okay?” he murmured softly.

She laughed and pressed her face into his dress shirt as his words wafted over to her. Riana should have been embarrassed by her clumsiness, but she was too pleased by the feel of Ishmael’s body against hers to feel anything but satisfaction. She purred against him in bliss as he rubbed her back. After a moment she lifted her head and held his gaze. “I should be asking you if you’re okay.”

He shrugged and she felt every inch of his six-foot plus body moving under hers. “I’m a big guy. Besides I’ve definitely been in worse positions.” Mischief and desire shone in his wide emerald eyes.

He wanted her. The knowledge was both intoxicating and frightening, because she wanted him too. “Yeah?” she whispered as her belly did back-flips.

“Oh yeah,” he murmured as he lifted his head, moving towards her. Riana watched with her heart racing as his lips slowly made their way to hers. She sucked in a deep breath and drank in the sweet, musky scent of his masculinity as his lips moved over hers. Her eyes slammed shut as his surprisingly soft, lush mouth moved hers, coaxing her lips to grant him entrance.

Ishmael was a good kisser. His firm, determined lips went straight to her head, making her hungry for more.

One strong hand moved across her back, the sensitive skin of her nape, before tightening in the midnight strands of her hair. She moaned at the feel of his fingers in her hair. She never let anyone touch her there, afraid of ruining whatever hairstyle she’d constructed, but Ishmael…Riana wanted to give him full reign over every inch of her body. She moved her parted lips back and forth against his mouth, moaning and moving against him with every sensual glide, but he refused to take what she offered. Instead he teased her with flicks of his moist tongue against her lips. It wasn’t enough.

Riana placed her thighs on each side of his hips so she sat astride him. She ignored the slow rise of her sheath as it lifted with her movements and focused on the devastating man beneath her. Her nails moved against his scalp as she gripped his head. She whispered Ishmael’s name against the plump contours of his mouth seconds before his tongue snaked past her parted lips and into her mouth.

God, the man knew how to kiss, was her last intelligent thought before she fully fell under the spell he wove so perfectly.

Several moments later, Riana lifted her head and stared down at Ishmael. She knew her surprise was on her face. She had never really been into kissing, never truly gotten lost in a kiss. She could no longer say those things.

“Want to explore more of the garden or are you ready for what’s next?” Ishmael asked as his fingers tentatively squeezed her waist.

Riana licked her lips slowly and almost groaned when she tasted him on her tongue. Judging by the wetness of her panties she was definitely ready for what came next. “That depends entirely on what’s next?” she whispered.

“Dinner,” he growled out. It was clear from the look on his face and the sound of his voice that the last thing Ishmael wanted to do was dine. He wanted her immediately, but he wasn’t willing to cut their date short. Riana couldn’t help but hope that was because he was interested in more than just one night with her.

Riana smiled and rolled off of him. He knelt beside her just as she reached for one of her platforms. Teeth gripping her bottom lip, body tight with need, Riana watched as Ishmael helped her with her shoes.

With efficient masculine grace he rolled to his feet and held out his hand. She wrapped her smaller palm in his and stood. When Riana looked into Ishmael’s eyes she knew he was aware of his effect on her. He could have her if he wanted, but he was going to take her to dinner and probably walk her to her doorstep.

Riana was already looking forward to the goodnight kiss. And when he asked for her number she was going to give it to him with the knowledge that Ishmael would actually call.

Chapter Five

Ski Mask Way

Riana stood in the shadows waiting for Celeste to appear. She had been waiting for hours for that first glimpse of the golden beauty before she shifted. Two nights ago they had recaptured the Garland Garnet and tonight was to be the switch off.

Her gaze slipped across the crowded room to find the same man who had been watching her earlier was still staring her down. Riana had been trying to avoid his gaze from the moment she entered the ritzy pub. His cobalt blue gaze kept straying to her. Normally, Riana was able to ignore the looks others gave her. She knew she was unusual with her milk chocolate skin, a long dancer’s body, and six feet two height, so she had dressed purposely. Her dark clothing allowed her to blend into the bar’s shadows. Still he watched her.

And she wanted him to watch her.

Just as she wanted to watch him. He too stood in the shadows. With her keen eyesight, she could see every inch of his perfect body. Unfortunately, her mind was not so sharp. It kept playing tricks on her, making her think the guy was Blaze.

He was tall, tall enough to catch her attention and make her breath hitch. He stood at least six feet seven inches. He hid in the shadows so that the only feature she could see was his bright blue eyes.

Vivid baby blues that reminded her of Blaze, the young giant she’d met less than three days ago. If she wasn’t on a mission she would have gathered her courage and walked past him and gotten a closer glimpse. If only to dispel the image of Blaze’s handsome face in her mind.

She sighed and searched a little harder for Celeste. There is no point in thinking about a guy who still hasn’t called. He’s probably not interested.

As it was, she had to focus on something more important than her curiosity.

Like acquiring the Garland Garnet.

Because of her unnatural abilities and her job, she found it impossible to meet a man, let alone one that complemented her. But the giant blond…

She shifted as her panties moistened with her slick desire. He would probably complement any woman lucky enough to get in his bed.

Riana brought her mug to her lips, peering over the thick, frosty glass as she waited for her companion. For a moment there was nothing but the thick, dark bodies of the many men and women that littered the pub. Then a mist appeared and for one second Riana spotted Celeste. The blonde disappeared almost immediately into a thick mist that appeared to float over one of the smokers that gathered in a corner.

But that one glimpse was all Riana needed. She made her way to the back of the bar, through the door she had marked out earlier.

As she made her way through the crowd she spotted him again. From where she stood she could see the obvious sexual heat in his vivid blue gaze. She skittered to a stop as recognition slammed through her. It was the first time she’d gotten a truly clear picture of the blond and there was no doubt about who it was.

Blaze.

She thought about the chances of meeting him in the same club in a city as large as Paris and doubled them. As far as Riana was concerned she had too much on her mind to consider it was anything but random.

Riana wanted to chalk his presence up to fate but she knew better. He hadn’t called. Still, her pussy clenched at the sight. Her nipples puckered and her heart thumped. “It’s been too long since you had sex,” she muttered to herself as she slipped through the back door.

“Took you long enough.”

Riana paused for a moment at the thick, sultry sound of Celeste’s voice. Even though she knew the woman was standing on the other side of door, her voice still edged its way under Riana’s skin.

Celeste had that effect on everyone.

“You got my stone?” Riana purred.

One blonde eyebrow lifted. “Your stone?”

Riana held out one palm. Celeste placed a medium sized black velvet bag in her palm. Riana’s long dark fingers curled around the bag before she slipped it into a pocket that sat on the inside of her bra, above her breast.

“You should have no problem carrying it into England. Olympia is waiting for the stone there.” Olympia was another one of the Greedy Girls agents. She was usually a carrier rather than a transporter, meaning she usually transported the jewels to their final destination.

“Have I ever had a single problem making a delivery?”

Celeste’s full lips spread into a mischievous smile. “No, Kitty Kat. You’ve always delivered,” she whispered before disappearing.

Riana took two steps forward, slipping deeper into the darkness that cloaked the brick building.

“That’s a nice trick your girlfriend’s got there.”

The voice was dark, deep, and husky, laced with an iron strength that slithered down Riana’s spine. She knew that voice. Had dreamed about it.

She didn’t need to see the source of the voice to know who it was. Still, she peered over her shoulder, and was immediately struck by the heat in his sapphire gaze.

Blaze.

“Come out little one. I promise not to hurt you. It’s not you I want.” He chuckled. “Then again, you just might be the chocolate icing on the cake.”

Frigid ice swept through Riana’s veins chilling her to the bone. He wanted the Red Stone of Passion. The bastard! She didn’t know what about her actions had made garnered his attention, but he’d obviously followed her for the stone.

He’d played her. She felt like such an idiot believing that someone like him was interested in her. Riana couldn’t believe she had been foolish enough to let him use her to find off the switch off point.

Riana turned and ran down the alley, keeping close to the shadows, knowing it was her only ally. Behind her she could hear the soft footsteps of the giant following her. His every step thundered in her ears.

He was gaining on her.

Blaze hadn’t even thought to check out the chic restaurant in 4ème, near the centre of the Ile de la Cité. It wasn’t often that the lower level scum that littered Paris pointed him in that trendy direction when he was searching for someone, but somebody had sent the little bit of information his way.

He still couldn’t believe what he’d stumbled upon. When he’d walked into the club and spotted the woman who’d called herself Kitty he had been dumbstruck for a moment. He’d decided to keep his eyes on her. He didn’t believe in coincidences.

In his world, everything happened for a reason.

He knew the reason why Kitty was there, hiding in the club’s dancing shadows, when he saw her make her way out the back door to pick up the same damned gemstone he was tracking.

If Blaze wasn’t careful, he was going to lose both the jewel and the girl.

Neither outcome was acceptable.

She ran to the left, her long, thick thighs eating the ground, increasing the space that separated them. Blaze let her go, knowing that the little space he gave her would cloud her head, make her think that she had lost him.

When she got cocky she would make a mistake.

After twenty minutes of running she stopped, slipping into the doorway of a simple, but luxurious townhouse.

She had made her first mistake

Blaze stood at the corner of the block for several moments readying himself. He pulled the ebony knit cloth over his face. Blaze knew that his prey had already spotted him, probably already memorised his face, but it wasn’t her he was worried about.

The last thing he wanted was to be seen by the neighbours.

He made his way to the townhouse.

Blaze knew the exact moment she realised he had breached her fortress. She turned to him wearing only a sports bra and panties. His hungry eyes ate up the sight of her barely clothed body, taking in the long, strong length of her calves, the thickness of her mocha thighs, the flatness of her stomach, the heavy fullness of her breasts. And then there was that face that had made his heart jump in the middle of the dusky pub.

Oval shaped and delicate, her face almost didn’t belong on her warrior’s body. Her milk chocolate skin was flawless. Her eyes were large, tilted up at the edges, and heavily lashed. Her Cupid’s bow lips were full and a naturally deep red colour and her midnight hair fell in a short bob around her face.

She reminded him of a sexy kitten. Kitty Kat she was.

His eyes dropped low. The silver light of the half moon glinted on the two double-edged blades in her hands.

He didn’t know whether to get hard or get angry. She was like a wet dream come true, Blaze thought as he eyed her battle stance.

“What is your name?” he growled as he circled her.

She flinched at the question.

Neither of them had been expecting it, but suddenly Blaze needed to know who she really was.

Tension rode on the air. Sweat ran in rivulets down her mahogany skin. He followed one trail as it moved down her chest, over her belly to land beneath the elastic band of her panties.

It was too much and not enough.

He lunged for her.

She threw up both deadly blades and aimed them straight for his head. Blaze blinked at the sight of the knives, surprised by their presence and the heat that curled through his body at the vision.

With shocking speed Riana moved towards him. At the last minute, he threw up an arm and blocked her left sweeping arc inches from his face. He moved too late to prevent the right blade from making contact with his skin. The knife made a thin line across the right half of his face, cutting right through the ski mask he wore into the skin. He grimaced at the sharp, sweeping pain.

The bloodthirsty woman gave him a heated, smug smile at the sight of his dripping blood. The smile chilled when the dark beauty realised his skin was healing right before her face.

“What are you?” she sputtered.

“What is your name?” he retorted before grabbing her around the waist and pulling her to him.

At the last second he moved to the right, barely missing her knee. “Somebody’s been a bad girl,” he whispered against her neck. Blaze threw out two fists, knocking her knives from her hands. She gasped in shock, obviously surprised by his quick movements.

The ebony warrior kicked high, connecting with his jaw and knocking his head back hard. For a second stars danced behind his eyes. “Damn, that hurt,” he growled in pain.

Blaze grabbed her around the waist and flung her back against the wall. The impact knocked the air out of her lungs. It whooshed through her full, parted lips in a gasp of shock and pain. In a flash of speed, Blaze was up against her before she got the chance to take a breath. He hated the fact that he had to hurt her in any way, but the woman refused to give up the fight. And he wasn’t about to just let her walk out of the townhouse.

He moulded his body to his, mapping the mountains of her breasts, the plane of her stomach, the soft valleys of her thighs with his larger frame. She stilled against him. The musky scent of her fear, thick and addictive, clung to the pungent air that swam between them.

It turned him on, but not nearly as much as the desire he could smell. It was just budding within her and with every moment it grew stronger.

Blaze pulled off his ski mask and moved closer. “I don’t want to hurt you, little one,” he whispered. He was very aware that he was dealing with a cornered animal, a woman with her back, figuratively and literally, against the wall. One large, callused hand stroked her naked shoulder, following the curve to her tense bicep, over her arm, until he reached her wrist. He lifted her arm and placed it around his neck.

She relaxed against him, letting her head fall back so that the strong column of her beautiful neck was revealed. He pressed his lips to the wildly beating pulse at the base of her throat.

She shuddered against him.

The movement ignited his arousal. Blaze pressed the growing bulge of his erection against the cradle between her thighs. She instinctively swivelled her hips, caressing him with the heat of her pussy.

His fingers tangled in the strands of her hair. She glanced at him with a question on her luscious mouth. He took advantage of her parted lips and kissed her hard, thrusting his tongue deep into her mouth.

She was getting wet. The lips of her pussy were swollen. Blaze could smell her growing desire, the slight musk of her creamy cunt and it was too powerful to ignore.

“Tell me your name, little one.” He whispered the words against lips that tasted like the sweetest honey.

She smiled, eyes closed. “Kitty Kat.”

Blaze understood a little of what his Kitty Kat was feeling. She lusted after him, but she didn’t trust him. Not enough to tell him her real name.

Not that he could blame her.

They were in the midst of a dangerous game. One he’d never played before. Never before had he been so driven towards a mark.

His answering smile was a flash of light in the dark room. “Fine, we can keep playing that game, Kitty.”

His Kitty Kat had not learned the hard lessons he’d been taught. She stilled beside him, telling him without words of her unease and confusion. He moved down her body, kneeling at her feet. After a moment her muscles relaxed. Blaze looked up and found her watching him.

There were so many issues between them.

The Red Stone of Passion.

And secrets they each had to reveal.

Blaze did not want to think that Kitty was the one who’d stolen the stone he’d been sent to retrieve. He sent up a silent prayer that she was a middleman as his fingers danced across her flesh.

“Tell me you don’t want this and I will stop.”

Passion shined in her deep brown eyes. “This doesn’t make sense.”

“Lust never does.” Blaze curled his fingers over her simple white lace panties and pulled them down her hips. She quickly stepped out of them. His fingers wrapped around both thighs, spread her legs, and propped one on his shoulder.

The first touch of his tongue to her pussy brought a moan to her succulent lips. Blaze followed the sound and swirled his tongue against the swollen nub at the apex of her sex.

She shivered against him and shrieked. He smiled to himself. His hellcat was sensitive.

He wrapped his lips around her passion bud and suckled her clitoris hard, flicking his tongue against it at the same time. Her fingers landed on his shoulders. Her nails dug into his skin, making Blaze painfully aware of just how much his touch excited her.

He ran his tongue against the inside of her nether lips, south to north and then back down.

“Oh God,” she moaned as she clung to him.

Blaze couldn’t wait anymore to be inside of her. He slowly lowered her thigh from his shoulder, stood and grasped her waist.

“Gods, you’re gorgeous,” he growled against her lips before capturing her mouth in a torrid kiss. His free hand drifted between them to free his aching cock. He pressed the hard length to the parted lips of her sex.

She shook her head. Dark hair flew around her face, a cloud of midnight silk. “Protection?”

For a moment he considered telling her about his condition, what he was, but thought better of it. Now was not the time. He could barely formulate coherent thoughts with the wet, hot promise of her pussy inches away from him.

He pulled a small red package from his back pocket, tore it open, and quickly fitted it over his erect cock.

“Holy Shit!”

He looked up to find his Kitty Kat staring at his rigid length in shock. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, he’ll fit. All ten inches of him.”

Blaze grasped one of her thighs, lifted it slightly, and thrust the full length of his cock deep into her wet heat in one stroke. She groaned his name. The sultry, throaty sound reminded him of his name for her. Her nails clawed down his back, past his shirt, digging into his skin, as she pressed her hips to his, taking him deeper within her pussy.

The scalding heat of her moist cunt shredded the little control he held over himself. She felt too good, too right, too perfect to ignore.

He withdrew only to thrust back into her pussy.

“Yes, just like that. Hard.”

He brushed aside the strands of hair that were plastered to her sweaty face, caught her gaze and held it as he plundered her cunt, stroking inside of her to touch the indentation on the inside of her sex. She lowered her lashes and she screamed his name as her tight pussy convulsed around him.

She was absolutely breathtaking when she found satisfaction. He had never seen a more beautiful sight, never wanted to please a woman more.

Blaze blinked hard at the streak of pleasure of that shot through him when she climaxed. He ground his teeth and staved off the desire to come with her.

“Let’s try that again.” He withdrew before surging back into her. He grunted with the force of his thrust as he fucked them both into a deep oblivion full of passion and pleasure.

“Oh God, Blaze.”

He continued his sensual assault with deliberate strokes. She pressed forward, her clit brushing against the underside of his clothed belly. Her legs shook, trembling against him. He pumped his hips harder and faster.

She threw her head back and shrieked his name as her cunt broke out into powerful spasms around his turgid length, coercing him to come with her.

The pounding pulse at the base of her throat called his name with a seductive, enchanting voice. The length of his canines increased. He growled low before piercing the skin with his fangs and drinking from her.

She gasped when his teeth sunk into her flesh.

Her blood tasted sweet, delicious and it was highly addictive. With every gulp he felt his cock harden more. With a roar he removed his fangs from her neck.

Bloodlust!

Blaze had searched his whole undead life, four hundred years to find his mate, and she was in his arms. The satisfaction he felt was almost overwhelming. Blaze had feared that he would never find his bloodlust. Now that he had he was never going to let her go.

He knew the effect of the drink. Yet, he was shocked when a third orgasm shot through his Kitty Kat’s body, tightening her cunt pleasurably around him, milking another orgasm from his cock. He licked the twin holes on her neck, closing them with his saliva, and growled against her neck as he pulled her hips to him.

Bodies slick, hearts pounding, he laid against her pliant body. After a few moments of catching his breath he looked down to find her staring at him.

“What are you?” she asked, her voice trembling.

“Your mate.”

Chapter Six

God Bless The Dead

Blaze had expected anger at his declaration. It wasn’t everyday that a masked man with the ability to suck blood claimed you were his eternal mate.  He had not expected the flash of pain that lit her deep brown eyes. It made him shudder deep in his soul. Before he could think of a way to discover the source of her sorrow and coax her mind away from whatever thought had brought upon the rush of pain, she hissed at him. Her beautiful, full lips parted, her mouth widened and the white glare of her lengthened canines shined in the moonlight room.

He paused at the sight of her canines. Blaze had known from the moment he scented Riana in the nightclub their first night that she was different, an Other. She didn’t smell like a human and she didn’t wear the distinct scent of a vampire or werewolf. After seeing her lengthened canines he knew she had to be some kind of shifter, a breed he’d never run across.

Vampire strength or not, Blaze knew enough to know not to mess with an angry, hurt woman. He took an instinctive step back.

It was a mistake. The moment his body wasn’t touching hers, she transformed, taking on the shape of a large black cat with gold rosettes peppered all over her fur.

He stared at her shocked. He had been chasing the infamous Jacquard Jaguar, one of the world’s most notorious jewel thieves.

And she was his bloodlust!

She growled and pounced. At the last moment, Blaze stepped to the side and narrowly missed having her run him over. When he turned she was out the room and down the hall.

* * * *

Ishmael saw the gigantic black and gold cat the moment it burst through the townhouse window. He’d scented Riana and a male, a preternatural male, back to her townhouse. Thus, he’d been prepared for the sight of the massive blond man running down her front steps. The cat on the other hand made him pause. But only for a moment.

Ishmael took a deep breath and took in the scent that was distinctly Riana’s. It came from the jaguar.  During their date, Ishmael had recognized that Riana’s scent was different than most humans. He knew she wasn’t a werewolf and hadn’t been able to place her scent among the family of shifters he knew. Now, he realized why. Ishmael had yet to run into a jaguar shifter.

Without another thought he shifted, changing form into that of a large, dark wolf. He took off after the cat, following behind her, but staying out of the sight of the male.

He and the blond both lost sight of Riana a mile from the townhouse when she darted into a veterinary clinic in the form of a nondescript mixed breed housecat.  He had tried following her scent, but had lost it within the clinic.

He had to give it to her, she was smart.

* * * *

Hours later, Riana sat in a luxurious private room on a train leaving France. She hadn’t bothered to go back for any of her stuff. She had called Daphnia and requested that the lead agent send a discreet team out to clear her house and send her stuff to her permanent address.

Daphnia hadn’t asked her why she couldn’t move herself. She hadn’t even blinked when Riana told her she needed a new identity and funds. Riana suspected the omnipotent one already knew about her run in with the vampire. Unfortunately, Celeste had not been as unconcerned when Riana showed up at her flat in her bestial form. After Riana shifted back, Celeste took one look at her face and knew something was wrong. Once Celeste had Riana dressed and fed, she asked an endless amount of questions, determined to figure out why Riana was so upset and how she could make her feel better.

Riana had, of course, ended up telling Celeste everything.

Her pussy moistened and she trembled as she thought about the gorgeous blond she had allowed to take her against her wall.

The sex had been good, fantastic even. She had come three times with him. Three times!

Before Blaze, Riana had thought she would have to settle for slight tremors between the sheets, but he had rocked her world.

A vampire!

With her ability she knew there were people in the world who weren’t exactly normal, but vampires…

Riana stared out the Plexiglas window as she remembered the sight of his fangs. A buzz broke through her thoughts of her nocturnal lover.

She pulled her new digital communicator out of her breast pocket and pressed her thumb to the screen. Celeste immediately appeared on the screen.

“You will no longer be meeting Olympia at the scheduled drop off site.”

Riana stared at the screen for several seconds. They had never changed plans during a mission unless they were forced too. Tendrils of apprehension ran down her spine.

“What went wrong?”

Celeste sighed. “Nothing, Waters wants to meet you. The drop off site is not safe for her.”

“She wants to meet me?”

“Yes, you specifically. She asked for you by name, Riana.”

The screen blackened before Riana got out a word. She slid the communicator across the tabletop and headed for the sleeping area. She undressed until the only layer of clothing she wore was the thin band of bulletproof cloth that doubled as a bra and carrier. She pulled the large rock from the hidden compartment beneath her left cup.

The gemstone felt warm in her hands, warmer than her body heat. It felt alive. An inescapable need demanded that she bring it to her face. Lights danced in the middle of the blood red stone. She instinctively knew that the lights were a reflection of the passion in her heart.

“I hear your cry and I answer your prayers.”

The softly spoken words were ancient, cultured by wisdom and understanding. Riana brought the stone closer to her.

“Your heart cries out for your greatest desire.” The husky words thundered in her mind.

She heeded the unspoken command and placed the gemstone against her skin, against her wildly beating heart. The room exploded in a blinding red light that left her with unseeing eyes. But in her mind’s eye she saw so clearly the picture of her greatest desire.

The room was dark, barely lit by the assortment of scented candles that littered the tabletops. She sat in the middle of the bedroom on a large, featherbed.

She waited for her lovers.

As if they heard her silent plea, they came to her, standing side by side in the large doorway. They were equally handsome, beautiful actually, with their masculine grace and sexuality.

And they both belonged to her.

They looked down on her supine body with heat in their eyes.

“Come,” she whispered, sitting up. The endless array of bangles on her wrists sang with the movement.

Her vampire lover, Blaze smiled at the sound. He loved the beautiful song the jewellery made as he fucked her hard. Her second lover followed in Blaze’s wake, his face hidden by the shadows that cloaked her bedroom.

“Down,” Blaze commanded. She lay back on the bed. The vampire came to stand on her right, her hidden lover on her left. Riana started to turn to her masked lover. Blaze’s long, strong, tender fingers grasped her face and pulled her to him as he bent low and took her mouth. He kissed her hard, fully, taking advantage of her passion and the pleasure he knew he could wring from her body.

When he broke off the kiss they were both breathing hard.

She took several breaths to steady her raging heart and tasted her hidden lover on her tongue. She turned to the left and found him watching her with heavy lidded, passion-drenched eyes. She lifted her mouth for his tempting kiss.

Moments before her lips were meant to touch his, her lover disappeared.

Riana came back to reality with a shudder. She stared at the glowing stone in her hand with wide eyes. She had held the gemstone before. In another life. When she had reigned over a dynasty. The deep red colour of the stone had gleamed against her dark skin as it shone in a gold necklace.

Hands shaking, she stared at the jewel as a thousand questions swam through her mind. Each one was more chaotic than the last. And they all ignited one emotion: fear.

What am I going to do?

The story of the Red Stone of Passion was more than a myth. It was her past. It was her destiny.

Chapter Seven

The Cat Who Cried Wolf

Ishmael watched Riana from the shadow of her bedroom. He took a deep breath and drank in the scent that cloaked every inch of her room. It was distinctive and addictive. It smelled like summer, passion, and long nights between the sheets.

It was just a few hours after he had lost Riana at the veterinary clinic. He glanced around the private room on the international train. They were headed for London.

His cock hardened. He shifted and tried to ease the ache between his thighs. It was no use. She was deep in his bloodstream, had been ever since the minister gave Ishmael her picture.

And then that kiss…His fingers clenched as passion poured through him.

Riana glanced at the mirror, looked at her own face as it was the first time she had seen it. A question hung on her full lips. She grimaced at the Garland Garnet and slipped it into the compartment hidden in her bra.

“Something tells me that pretty little thing is not yours.”

She turned quickly, arms braced on the sides of her, ready for battle.

Riana had been trained. By someone who knew what he was doing. Her uncle had failed to mention that. But something told Ishmael the patriarch didn’t know about her lessons.

“How did you get in my room?”

He shook his head. “Tsk…tsk. You’re not the only professional around here.”

She dug into the pockets at her hips and whipped out several small silver items. She flung them at him. At the last possible moment, Ishmael realised what they were and darted to the left. But she had been prepared for his actions. Several of the throwing knives caught him in the thigh.

He growled low and ripped them from his flesh, throwing them aside. “Damn it. That bloody fucking hurt.”

When Ishmael looked up he found Riana clear across the room, spread out on her bed, pulling something from beneath her pillows. She turned, short barrel 12-gauge shotgun in her hand. Ishmael pounced on her, jumping clear across the room to land on top of her, and smacked the gun across the bed.

Air whooshed out of her lungs on impact. Ishmael felt her take a deep breath. Her pert, high breasts moved against his chest. He felt her nipples, hard, insistent, blackberry tips that proposed pleasure.

She stilled beneath him. He knew she felt the evidence of his desire against her belly. He tried to assuage the fear he knew she must feel.

“My real name is Ishmael. Our date…it wasn’t a lie. I’m here to protect you, Riana. I’m not going to hurt you.”

She slapped him hard with the full of her palm. The powerful blow snapped his head back. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. “I said I wasn’t going to hurt you.”

“Like I’m going to believe that,” she growled before kneeing him. If Ishmael hadn’t turned to the right Riana would have caught him right in the balls.

He grabbed both her hands and pinned them above her head. The lower half of his body lay between her thighs. She was at his mercy.

Still she bucked against him, brushing her breasts and pelvis against him.

“For the love of God, don’t tempt me.”

She stilled and licked her lips. Ishmael’s hard, feverish gaze followed the slow movement of her pink, wet tongue. He wanted to feel that tongue, taste it, and suckle on it.

He looked into her eyes. They shone brightly with the same heat that sang beneath his veins.

“I feel like I’m dying…on fire.” His fingers, long and golden, traced the sharp line of her jaw. “I want you, Riana.”

“Why?” The whispered word tugged on his heart, making his chest hurt. The simple question let him know she didn’t think she was worthy of him. And so he spoke the truth.

“Because you, Sugar Girl, are everything I have ever wanted...and more.”

Her eyes searched his face for long moments. He waited with the thumping pulse of his erratic heartbeat thundering through his mind. Finally when Ishmael knew he could take no more, she spoke.

“I don’t understand why I feel the way I do. I’m afraid to even look for the reason. I only know that if I don’t have you inside of me soon, I’ll die.”

“Ah, Sugar Girl.” Ishmael pressed his lips to her sweet mouth and took her lips in a tender, drugging kiss. His tongue stroked over her top lip, capturing the honey taste of her lips, before plunging it deep into the inner recesses of her mouth.

Riana’s tongue tangled with his. Ishmael’s cock hardened and lengthened further, pressing against her, seeking the tempting heat between Riana’s lovely thighs. She tasted so heavenly he thought that he would never get enough.

His hands moved up her belly, over her softer than silk, naked skin until he cupped her beautiful, pert breasts. She curled against him, rubbing her body against him in an insistent plea for pleasure.

He kissed the underside of her jaw, her collarbone, the soft swell of her breasts.

“Yes, yes,” Riana gasped when his fingers found her swollen, blackberry nipples.

He watched her face as he pinched the turgid buds, looking for signs of pleasure or pain.

She raked her nails down his back, scrapping against the simple button down shirt he wore. Her hands snaked between their bodies to attack his shirt, popping every button she could reach. Ishmael leaned up, just enough to give him room to rip off the rest of the cloth and throw it aside.

Glazed eyes stared up at him, drinking in the sight of his naked flesh. Ishmael knew what Riana saw. He’d been with enough women who found him pleasing. But he wanted to know if Riana felt for him a smidge of what he felt for her. When she looked at him did her heart skip inside of her chest? Did the need she felt almost overtake her?

Ishmael straddled her thighs. “Do you like what you see, Riana?”

Her deep brown eyes looked him over from his shoulder length midnight hair to his size thirteen feet. Riana gave him a slow, unwavering smile. “Ishmael, I love what I see.”

“Thank God.” He growled low and tangled the fingers of one hand through her hair, holding her immobile for his fierce kiss. The other hand skimmed down her body until it reached the moist heat between her thighs. Anxious to touch her, he quickly lifted her skirt, settling the fabric at her hips. He cupped her sex, massaging her swollen cunt lips with tender touches and ministrations that had her moaning his name against his mouth.

She broke off the kiss, wrenching her lips from his. “I need you. Now, Ishmael. I cannot wait any longer.”

He shook his head. Before he appeased his desire for her pussy, he wanted to taste the sweet tips of her breasts. He grabbed the straps of her bra and pulled them down. They were stronger than any fabric he had come across before.

He grasped the strip of cloth between her breasts and pulled with all his might. The fabric snapped in half.

Riana stared up at him in shock. “How…”

Her words were forgotten when he wrapped his lips around the distended tip of one breast and suckled her nipple deep into his mouth. His tongue swirled around the hard bud, rimming it. She shivered beneath him and moaned his name.

“Sensitive?” he whispered the word against the wet nub before dragging his teeth against it. His hands drifted towards her lonely breast. His fingers plucked the blackberry nipple, pulling it taut, teasing the raised flesh of her dark areole, stretching out her pleasure.

She arched against him and raked her nails down his back. The pain drove him on, setting a flame to his already ignited libido.

“Play later. Fuck now.”

Her harshly whispered words floated through the thick pungent air that cloaked the room. He looked down to stare into her feverish eyes. The espresso colour had darkened so that it looked like he was looking into the midnight sky itself. A single star shone in her gaze.

“Sugar Girl…”

“No,” she growled. She didn’t want to think about why she wanted — no needed him. She didn’t want to hear Ishmael question the source of her burning desire.  Her thighs clenched around his waist and she flipped him over until she straddled him.

Riana was on fire. The heat that had been consuming her since the vampire touched her was raging out of control and only Ishmael could put out the flame. It was the same kind of relentless hunger that burned inside of whenever Blaze touched her. Rather than make her fearful or question her actions, it calmed her.

Both men were potent enough to make her forget her one-night stand rule. She was fully willing to deal with the consequences later. At the moment she was focused on only one thing — her pleasure.

She wanted him.

She had wanted him from the moment she saw him. The hard-edged nonchalance that clung to every inch of his six feet five inch frame called out to her.

And his scent. From the first whiff of his heady, masculine scent, Riana had known she had to feel Ishmael deep inside her, thrusting inside of her cunt.

She moved down his body, grasped his silver buckle and quickly removed his belt. Riana took her time moving his simple blue jeans down his hips, revealing the indents and lines of his perfect body. She marvelled at the way his chiselled abs clenched as her breath moved over him.

Riana had that much power over him.

At the sight of his hard body, she thought of the other man whose figure she had appreciated. Blaze.

She knew she had not seen the last of him, especially since he had made it very clear that he wanted her and the Red Stone of Passion. Rather than fear his return, Riana looked forward to it. She had no intention of giving up the garnet, but she was planning on spending whatever time she could with Blaze. He had pleased her like no other lover had before. Riana glanced up and found Ishmael watching her with hunger darkened eyes.

She rarely dated two men within six months of one another and here she was, ready to take her second lover in a week.

Riana should have been appalled with herself, but… It feels so right, as though it’s supposed to be.

“Riana?” She heard the question in Ishmael’s voice. He was wondering if she had changed her mind about them. Never.

She tugged harder on his jeans and paused when the denims sat just below the demarcations of his hips. She traced the line with her tongue, running it from top of his hips until she reached the springy midnight hair. She repeated the wet, hot caress against his other hip.

His fingers dug into her shoulders. “Riana.”

Still, she didn’t pull the jeans down to reveal his cock.

Riana ran her tongue up his body, following the midnight trail of hair until she reached his bellybutton. She swirled her tongue inside the small circle and smiled when she heard his answering groan. Swallowing the dark, intoxicating taste that was distinctly Ishmael, she pressed her lips against his hot flesh, peppering kisses over his stomach and rib cage, until she reached his neck. She captured his full lips in a fiery kiss.

His hips ground against hers, pressing the thick length of his cock against the wet heat between her thighs. She moved against him instinctively, pushing her soft cunt against his hardness.

Riana broke off the kiss and pulled Ishmael’s pants just far enough down his legs to reveal his cock.

His thick, hard dick pointed to his navel. Riana stared at it hungrily. She needed it deep between the moist folds of her cunt. She started to hike up her skirt when Ishmael’s hands brushed against hers. The simple act of feeling his hands against hers, caressing her thighs nearly brought her to climax.

He grasped the strings of her thong and ripped it from her body. Fingers skirted around the ebony mass of crinkly hair that hid her most potent secrets. When Riana began to wonder if she could take any more of his sweet tortuous touch, two fingers delved into her wet, hot pussy, diving deep between her dripping folds. In. Out. Deep. In. Out. Deeper. She shivered above him feeling passion unlike any she had ever felt before. No, she mentally corrected. She had felt an intensive, parallel level of satisfaction with Blaze. She gasped as the untold pleasure shot through her system. Eyes closed, lips parted she rode his fingers until she felt herself on the edge of a shattering orgasm.

Her lashes fluttered to reveal her hot, heavy lidded gaze. She gasped the thick length of his cock, marvelled that her long fingers couldn’t wrap its girth. When she looked up she found Ishmael holding a small silver foil with a smug smile on his face. He knew his size was impressive.

“Cocky, aren’t we?”

His grin widened. “Sugar Girl, I’m not taking the bait.”

A bubble of laughter escaped her lips when she snatched the foil from him. The smile melted off his handsome face when she rolled the condom over his cock and pressed it to her pussy.

Riana watched Ishmael as she slowly lowered herself until he was fully imbedded deep inside of her. Pleasure hardened the fine lines of his sculpted face. Both their chests rose and fell with each panting breath they took. Then Riana moved, lifting her thighs, slowly letting her cunt caress Ishmael’s cock as she rose.

He growled a curse, grabbed her hips and slammed into her as he pulled her down for his thrust. Heat shot through Riana’s body as her pussy tightened almost painfully at the pleasure. She cupped her breasts and tweaked the diamond hard nipples as she rode him.

Passion held her prisoner as she fucked Ishmael with abandon. He grunted beneath her, calling for her mercy, moaning her name, but Riana ignored him as she took her pleasure. She was a woman, a powerful, natural being caught in the midst of her own desire.

She lowered her head and brushed her lips against his. Her gaze caught his. “Harder, Ishmael. Fuck me harder.”

He grasped the back of her head and pulled her down for his kiss as he lifted his hips and surged deep into the heart of her core. Her pussy fluttered wildly around him. He withdrew only to thrust back into her, pushing past the tight, slick walls of her cunt. Riana broke of the heated kiss and screamed Ishmael’s name as she climaxed around him.

“Oh God. Oh my God.”

“Yes. Yes!” he growled as he thrust into her over and over again, forcing her back upon that precipice she’d just left, until she was hovering over the abyss of passion, waiting to fall head first, waiting to feel another body shattering, mind numbing orgasm rip through her system.

Ishmael leaned up and the fingers of his right hand sifted through the midnight curls at the apex of her spread thighs. He quickly found her clitoris and pumped the engorged bud.

Riana shrieked above him and convulsed as pleasure ripped through every inch of her body. Ishmael’s fingertips moved along her scalp, setting off nerve endings before they tightened in her hair, pulling her closer to sweaty planes of his hard body, until she was pressed against him. He took her lips in a savage kiss that robbed her of what little breath she had as he pumped himself deep into the slick, tight folds of her cunt.

“Ishmael, I need more.”

He smiled at her, flashing a grin full of mischief and promised passion, before flipping them over so that she lay on her back beneath him.

Riana groaned at the feel of him deep between her thighs. The press of slightly furred hard muscles against her smooth skin was highly intoxicating.

“Yes, oh yes.”

His long, strong fingers grasped her hips and pulled her hard against him so that she slammed into him, taking every last inch of his thick, long length deep inside of her. Imbedded as he was, Riana felt filled to the brim with him.

“Fuck me hard.”

He stared into her dark eyes for several seconds, his cock fully immersed within her, twitching with the force of her clenching cunt. “You asked for it, Sugar Girl.”

It was like she had opened a dam and allowed his surging need free. Ishmael thrust his long, hard cock into her cunt with so much power she moved up the bed a few inches. Riana threw both legs around him, curling them so that she was cradled against his chest and her thighs surrounded his hips. He sank deeper into her wet folds.

“Come for me, Sugar Girl.”

“Oh God, yes. Yes. Yes. Yes!” Riana threw her head back and gasped at the exquisite feeling of bliss. The tantalising sensations in her lower belly tightened and spread, strumming through her every erogenous zone, swirling through her body until she felt like she could no longer contain them.

“I’m coming. Oh lord, I’m coming.” She screamed as her cunt clenched forcefully with the power of her shattering orgasm. Ishmael’s fingers tightened on her hips, holding her closer to him as he pumped into her, pushing her higher and higher, forcing her to take more and more satisfaction. Her voice was hoarse from screaming her carnal delight.

Through the dark haze of desire that wrung painful pleasure from her body Riana realised something was wrong.

She gasped seconds before Ishmael’s canines sunk into her shoulder, piercing the skin to tear into her flesh. He thrust harder, deeper into her cunt. Desire and passion snaked from her pussy to the bite and back again. It was too much. Sharp, intense tendrils of pleasure raced up her abdomen to explode in her chest and tighten her pussy. A breathless scream escaped her lips as another fiery orgasm flared through her body.

She opened her eyes to find he was still hard. “Didn’t you…?”

He smiled at her. “Sugar Girl, we’ve just begun,” he whispered before capturing her lips.

Chapter Eight

The Cost of Love

Riana lifted her hands for the burly security guard to pat her down. Once he was satisfied she was unarmed he stepped aside and allowed her to enter the palatial suite. The room was decorated in an abundance of satin, silk, jacquard and cashmere ivory fabrics that left her spellbound.

She stood in the midst of a decadent, white palace. It was a long way from where she had come. Riana chewed her lip as she considered the fact that she had left Ishmael in her private room on the train.

She had ached with the need to stay beside him, lie with him throughout the night, but she knew better than that. She understood that despite her needs, she had to leave him. She wanted to be with Ishmael. The truth was she wanted Blaze and Ishmael.

Needed both of them.

Winifred Waters appeared from behind an inconspicuous door. Her long, graceful body moved with determined strides towards Riana. Dressed in all black, with her silver hair swept up, Waters exuded the confidence and grace that made her a movie star in the forties.

“Hope Sean didn’t give you too much trouble. He’s always so cautious, especially lately with this whole jewel theft issue.”

Riana gaped at the infamous Winifred Waters. The woman was dynamite incarnated. She was even lovelier in person than she had appeared on the silver screen.

She shook her head. “Sean wasn’t any trouble at all.”

“Good. Good.” Winifred murmured before gliding across the room to take a seat at the breakfast that sat in the corner. Sunlight streamed in through the giant bay window that seemed to take up the whole wall. The golden lights surrounded Winifred in a spot light.

Riana grinned. Once a movie star…

“Won’t you take a seat, my dear?”

Riana sat across from Winifred and pulled out an etched box. She placed it on the glass tabletop.

One silver eyebrow lifted. “So you got my Garland back. Darn, you Greedy Girls really are good. Didn’t you take any time at all.”

“We’re the best.”

Sean appeared beside them with a silver tea set. “Tea?” Riana shook her head. Winifred leaned across the table and grabbed the box. Sunlight glittered on the single canary stone on her right ring finger. She flipped the top over and stared down at the blood red stone.

She picked it up. “It’s glowing.”

Riana stared at her for several moments, watching Winifred as she stared at the shimmering stone.

Winifred’s gaze lifted. She stared into Riana’s eyes. “Did Daphnia tell you how my gem came to be in Frederick’s hands?”

“No.”

Winifred smiled. “Phnia tight-lipped as always. You know, I’ve known her for over fifty years.”

Riana gaped at Waters. Daphnia didn’t look a day over thirty-five. There was no way the infamous actress had known her half a century.

“She doesn’t look it does she? Well she’s a werewolf, you know, a very healthy one too. Genetics and her healthy lifestyle keep her looking so damned young.”

Riana’s eyes widened in utter surprise. She had assumed that Daphnia was a mutant like the rest of the women at Greedy Girls, Inc. Before meeting Blaze she hadn’t known that vampires, and now, werewolves existed. “Exactly how old is Daphnia?”

Winifred gave Riana a mischievous smile. “You don’t really expect me to answer that do you?”

“Guess not.”

“I knew I could trust Phnia because of our friendship. I knew she would keep the theft a secret.”

“Ah, you know the thief.”

Winifred’s smile dimmed. “Yes, my niece. She has a problem with…recreational drugs. Jacques offered to purchase the Garland Garnet from me. Then he offered to rent it. I turned him down both times. But then he asked Emily and she couldn’t afford to ignore his offer.”

“You can trust that Greedy Girls will keep your personal business personal.”

Winifred shrugged. “I’m not worried about my secret. I’m just pissed that bastard can’t get what’s coming to him. Emily hasn’t been the same since she pawned the stone. I forgave her immediately, but the guilt…It’s eating her up inside.” She sighed. “The good thing is she’s getting some help now.”

Riana stared at Winifred’s face for several moments. Waters was supposed to be over eighty years old, but if she had to guess she’d place her age at mid-fifties. Her gaze lifted to Riana’s. “I’m actually well over two hundred, dear.”

Riana didn’t blink at the confession. She had already discovered too many secrets in the last few days to be shocked about another declaration. Still, something didn’t sit well… “How did you know I was thinking about your age?”

“It’s my gift. I’m a mutant like you. My ability to read one’s thoughts is why I worked the screen so well. I gave the directors exactly what they were thinking.” She winked. “My other gift is that I don’t age. At least not nearly as quickly as I should.”

“Jacques never had a chance, did he?”

No emotion showed on the weathered planes of Waters’ face. Then as if a dam had suddenly burst, laughter erupted from her sultry red lips, spilling over Riana. Although she knew she should have felt uncomfortable at her comment, especially the thoughts she had been thinking as she spoke, Riana smiled at the elderly woman.

“He thought it was about the price, but it was never about the money.” Winifred took a sip of her tea, before setting it down and staring into Riana’s eyes. “The Red Stone of Passion has a destiny all its own. I couldn’t just sell it.”

For a moment Riana was too confused to speak. “Excuse me?” she finally managed to say.

Waters’ smile widened. “It’s spoken to you, hasn’t it?”

Riana didn’t know what to say. The conversation had gone down an awkward, bumpy road. She tried to think of something to steer Waters back to the topic she felt comfortable with. “The Garland Garnet –” she started only to have Waters cut her off.

“Is exactly what I’m talking about.”

Riana tried her damned hardest not to let any of the emotions rumbling inside of her show on her face or appear in her thoughts. One look into Winifred’s twinkling blue eyes and she knew she had failed.

“Ms. Waters I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

Winifred leaned back in her seat. “The Garland Garnet in the possession of the right woman, one with ambition, determination, and strength of will, becomes a tool, a beaconing devise to lead the other half of her soul right to her.”

“The other half of my soul was my first husband, Jeffrey. He died three years after we were married. I was only twenty then. The rock heard my loneliness and found me another soul mate. Most people think I’ve been married six times. I’ve actually been married over a dozen times. ”

“Uh huh.” Riana was dumbstruck. Every one of Waters’ six husbands the public knew of had claimed love at first sight. Now she understood.

The gemstone had brought them all to her.

Just like it had brought Blaze and Ishmael to her.

The last vestiges of her dream drifted back to Riana. Her lovers. Blaze. Ishmael.

The Red Stone of Passion.

She wore it even then.

“I married them all, loved them all, even though I knew I was orchestrating their deaths. I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t walk away from them, even when I tried. I desired them too much to let them go.”

“What are you saying?”

Waters leaned forward and grabbed Riana’s hand in a grip that was shockingly tight for such an old woman. She dropped the shimmering stone into her palm. “I killed them, Riana, not with my hands. But through my actions I caused their deaths. A year after they married me each and every husband died a natural, but untimely death. The stone demands a heavy price with the wrong woman. I only pray that it finds in you what it could never find in me. I pray that it finds you are the right woman, the woman it seeks.”

Riana stared at her aghast, feeling the heavy weight of the garnet in her palms deep in her soul.

Chapter Nine

Changed Man

Ishmael knew the moment he woke up that he was alone. The scent that was distinctly Riana was faint, the last vestiges of a woman long gone.

He shook his head slowly, wondering how she had managed to leave the room without him noticing. Then again he had passed out cold from the seemingly endless night of sex.

Either Ishmael was losing his edge or he’d let his guard down around her. He didn’t know which was worse.

Ishmael threw off the covers and stared down at his quickly hardening cock. He was fairly surprised it wasn’t bruised. That made him wonder how it was Riana had managed to even make it out of the bed, let alone the room.

He headed to the restroom to relieve himself. He paused halfway to the small room.

Ishmael was no longer alone in the room. The same male that had followed Riana in her bestial form was in the bedroom with him. He hadn’t been able to get the blond’s scent out of his head.

Anger like none he’d felt before had filled him. He hadn’t liked seeing the blond chasing after Riana in her cat form. Ishmael enjoyed finding the man hiding out in Riana’s room even less.

The vampire was good. He didn’t move, didn’t make a sound, but Ishmael knew exactly where he stood. His superior hearing allowed him to hear the nearly nonexistent creak of the wood floors groaning under the man’s weight.

Ishmael teleported to stand right behind the vampire, claws extended and pointed at his jugular. The blond froze.

“We both know a slash across the throat won’t kill you, but it sure as hell will be a bitch to heal.”

“Where is she?”

Ishmael snorted. “Obviously not here?”

“Look ‘porter, my issue isn’t with you.”

Ishmael stilled behind the vampire. There weren’t many people who knew exactly what he was: a werewolf with the genetically enhanced ability to teleport. Not many people knew that there were a few werewolves who had survived the ‘porter experiment.

“If you’re chasing the girl, you’ve got issues with me.”

“Are you her boyfriend?” The lack of emotion in the vampire’s voice put Ishmael on notice. He ducked a second before the man’s massive fist would have connected with his face.

“What’s it to you, asshole?” Ishmael growled as he elbowed the blond in the gut.

Air whooshed out of the vampire’s lungs, but he fought back with an uppercut that left Ishmael seeking stars. The blond’s body blurred as he moved with frightening speed. His bicep tightened around Ishmael’s neck, cutting off his breathing.

“I suggest you tell me what I want to know.”

“Why?” Ishmael barked out. He threw his head back colliding with the vampire’s nose. Blood spurted everywhere as the blond took a step back. Ishmael immediately teleported to stand across the room.

The vampire swiped the back of his hand across his face, wiping the spewing blood from his nose and charged Ishmael. Thick, heavily corded bodies collided in a mass of muscles as Ishmael was thrown hard against the wall.

Ishmael growled low and attempted to teleport. The vampire must have sensed his decision because he grabbed him, wrapping his long fingers around Ishmael’s neck

He breathed deeply, knowing with the hold the vamp had on him his neck was exposed. His gaze flickered to the blond’s hard face. The vampire smiled at him, flashing his lengthened incisors. “Wondering how long it’s been since I fed?”

Ishmael held the vampire’s steady blue gaze, not letting his fear show. There was an unspoken rule among the preternaturals. Vampires did not drink other prets’ blood without their permission and he sure as hell wasn’t going to give the blond brute permission.

“I’m not trying to bust your ass here. I won’t hurt you.”

Ishmael smiled. He remembered how Riana had reacted when he said those words to her. He understood her reaction a lot more. He snorted and released his claws. He aimed for the vampire’s face, particularly his bright blue eyes.

The vamp instinctively stumbled backwards.

Ishmael flashed to the other side of the room and picked up the throwing knives he’d captured from Riana.

“Look ‘porter, I’m one of the good guys here.”

Ishmael sneered. “Let me guess. You’re a cop, right?”

“I’m a P.I.A. agent.”

He paused. “A bloody, fucking Preternatural Intelligence Agency agent?”

The vampire grinned. “Minus the bloody fuck, yes. My name is Blaze. I’m a fourth level agent.”

“A P.I.A. agent. You came here sniffing around my mate and you expect me to think you’re not looking for trouble?”

Blaze jerked at his words. His fiery blue gaze snapped to his. “Your mate?” he growled and flew across the room.

Shocked by the man’s anger-propelled speed, Ishmael threw two of the knives at the last minute. The vampire had not been prepared for either. The first caught him in the chest. The second landed in his abdomen. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared down at the knives in shock. With a savage growl Blaze tore them from his flesh. “Don’t think I don’t smell her on you. I know you were with her, but that doesn’t make her your mate. She was and is my mine.”

Ishmael punched the vampire right in the jaw, angered by the reminder that Riana had slept with him. He doubted he would ever forget her scent when she ran out of her townhouse in jaguar form. “Stay away from my mate,” he growled.

“She is not your mate. She is my bloodlust,” the vampire yelled in exasperation before hurling Ishmael’s throwing knives at him.

Ishmael stood frozen to the floor at the vamp’s words. The throwing knives sliced through the air to land in the wooden panel beside his head. He turned to stare at them. They were side by side.

As if…

“If I had been aiming for your head or heart, you’d be dead, wolf.”

Ishmael grimaced, sensing the truth in Blaze’s statement. “Don’t think I’m going to thank you by leaving my claim to her.”

“I do not expect any man, preternatural or not, can walk away from Riana.”

Ishmael folded his arms across his chest. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

Blaze sighed. “According to the Republic of Others rules, we must both ask her to mate with us. Whatever decision she makes is binding.”

Chapter Ten

Rope Burn

Riana woke with the clarity of mind that comes from being frightened.

There was somebody in the room with her.

An intruder.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and reached under her pillow for the hunting knife she kept beneath it. She jerked when something bit into her flesh, preventing her from moving her arm more than an inch.

“I don’t think so, Kitty Kat.”

Riana froze at the sound of the voice that haunted her dreams. Her body couldn’t help remembering just how easily she had responded to his caresses.

Blaze stepped from the shadows to stand on the right side of her bed. She glared at him. “Untie me, you brute.”

A chuckle drifted over to her. “I don’t think she’s happy to see you.”

The soft drawl of the voice that captured her daydreams sliced through her heart. Riana turned her head to catch Ishmael’s dark gaze. He leaned against her nightstand. Quiet patience swirled around his body. She licked her lips remembering the things she had done to that body, the things that body had done to her.

She suddenly ached.

Riana turned away from the memories Ishmael’s presence evoked to stare at the ceiling. This was not good, not all. Riana had slept with both men. And she was running from both men. The fact that the two were standing before her and had her tied up was a really bad thing. She pulled at the velvet ropes that held her. “You bastards,” she growled.

“I would think you would be happy to see your mates,” Blaze replied.

The softly spoken words whispered over Riana’s skin, making her flesh break out in goose bumps. She gritted her teeth and ignored her traitorous body.

It took several seconds for his words to work their way through the haze of lust that clouded her mind. “Mates?” she croaked, bringing her gaze to his.

“Yes, mates. As in two, Kitty Kat.”

She stared at him aghast. He had to be kidding. There was no way she could belong to them. Both of them. At the same time.

Riana closed her eyes and shut off the visions that swam through her mind at those thoughts. She shook her head. “No.”

“Yes. You belong to us. Just as we belong to you.” Ishmael’s growled words drifted over her mouth seconds before his lips captured hers in a fiery kiss. His swift tongue darted past her lips parted in surprise, rolling the distinctive taste of desire, man, and peppermint onto her tongue.

Ishmael broke off the kiss to stare into her eyes for several seconds. The passion she saw swirling in the green depth of his gaze made her belly flutter with uncomfortable feelings. She turned away.

Long fingers captured her jaw and forced her to look into bright cobalt eyes. “But Kitty Kat, you must choose. Do you want us? Do you need us? Do you want a mate?” The breathed words settled upon her mouth seconds before his petal soft lips moved against hers.

Blaze’s kiss was soft where Ishmael’s had been hard. But it was just as intense with the burning need that fed both men. His tongue stroked over hers, coaxing Riana with a delicate touch into a reaction that left her moaning for him, driven by the need to taste the sweet, heady desire that clung to Blaze’s tongue, lips, mouth.

To every inch of Blaze’s long, hard body.

He broke off the kiss.

Breasts heaving, Riana stared up at him. “More,” she whispered and tried to reach for him. She growled when the velvet ropes held her immobile.

He shook his head and smiled at her obvious displeasure. “Choose, Kitty Kat.”

She turned from him.

“Ishmael.”

“Sugar Girl.” There was just enough softness to his drawled words to let her know he knew what she was asking. She waited with bated breath as he slowly lowered his dark head to hers.

“You have to choose.”

Riana stared into Ishmael’s swirling green eyes in shock and anger. “Why?”

“Republic Rules.” Blaze stood at the foot of the bed. She looked down her splayed body at him.

“Fuck the Republic.” Riana didn’t give a damn what the Republic of Others said. She only knew that she wanted Blaze and Ishmael.

Needed them.

Now!

“Love me.”

Blaze’s fingers caressed one ankle, tracing the binding that held her. The touch set her body on fire. Her nipples pebbled, becoming tight, hard nubs of yearning, and her pussy moistened with the memories of the way he had loved her.

Her hips lifted off the bed.

“I want you.”

Both men stilled at her words. Blaze’s gaze cut to Ishmael’s face. “Which man do you want, Kitty Kat?”

Riana’s gaze drifted between the two men. She spoke the truth. “I want you both. I need you both to love me.”

Ishmael’s finger traced the circle of her areole. Goose bumps broke out over her flesh and her nipple hardened further. “You want us both? You choose both of us?”

“Yes. Yes.” She shook her head wildly and turned her torso to him, hoping to force his tempting finger to make contact with her nipple.

“Two mates, Sugar Girl?”

She stared at the long, broad finger that was painfully close to the  bud.

“Yes. Two.” Her mind burned with the sweltering image of her with both men.

“See, Sugar Girl. All you had to do was answer.” Ishmael captured her lonely nipple, surrounding it with the wet, hot heat of his mouth, and suckled her. Riana felt an electric shock go through her system. One hand reached across her belly and captured her other breast. Talented fingers pulled and pinched the turgid nub. She shivered and moaned his name as fire spread from her breasts to settle between her thighs, deep in her empty cunt.

All her life she had wondered if she would ever be lucky enough to find a man that cared for unconditionally and here she was with two men who loved her.

Riana screamed with joy when Blaze’s warm mouth settled on her pussy, licking her from slit to clit before thrusting deep into her cunt. She shattered around his tongue, coming so hard her legs shook, flying so high that only the ropes kept her to earth.

Her eyes fluttered open when she felt the broad head of Blaze’s cock slipping between the slick folds of her pussy. Ishmael’s fingers trailed over her stomach, teasing the skin. One hand captured her breast and tweaked the nipple.

She looked into his eyes feeling a sense of rightness she’d never experienced before. Riana had known a sense of homecoming when she was initially with each man, but together…she realised she had found exactly what she was looking for. Her two mates. The other pieces of her heart. The men who made her whole.

All three of them groaned in unison when Blaze’s cock was fully seated deep inside of her. Riana’s gaze snapped to Ishmael’s face. He turned to her and glanced back at her pussy. “Beautiful,” he murmured as his fingers sifted through the midnight curls to expose her clit. His thumb pressed against the swollen bud. She shrieked as unyielding pleasure slammed through her.

“Please. Oh God.”

“That’s it, Sugar Girl. Come for us.” Ishmael’s insistent finger pressed against her clitoris, stroking the bud into compliance. Bright silver lights danced behind her eyelids. Pleasure and pain strummed through her. Riana felt her body rupture with the power of her second orgasm.

She opened her eyes to find Ishmael stroking his cock. The thick length jerked before her. She lifted her gaze to him and opened her mouth.

“Fuck her mouth.”

Blaze’s growled words turned Riana on more than she would have dared to admit.

Ishmael stepped forward, his cock bobbing dangerously close to her lips. A single drop of pre-cum leaked from the slit in the ruddy head.

“Say it, Kitty Kat and he’ll give it to you.”

“I want it.”

Ishmael slid the wide head of his dick past her parted lips. The musky scent of strong masculinity filled her nostrils. Her tongue fluttered against the underside of his cock as she suckled him. Riana flinched when his finger grasped her nipple and pinched the swollen nub. Twin stabs of pleasure streaked through her system, one from her pussy and the other from her breast.

Her eyes closed as she felt her body bowing under the pressure of her pleasure as Ishmael tweaked her nipples and Blaze fucked her.

She suckled Ishmael’s cock harder, farther into her mouth as she felt her body spiralling up towards a shattering climax. Riana moaned around Ishmael’s cock seconds before both men’s guttural roar of satisfaction ripped through the air. It was the only warning she received before the salty taste of Ishmael’s gratification hit the back of her throat. She swallowed it all.

She groaned when Blaze withdrew from her. She was so tender she felt every inch of his departure.

“Damn, Kitty Kat. That was something.”

Ishmael quickly undid the bindings around her wrists as Blaze released her legs. Ishmael grinned at her and glanced at Blaze. “I hope you know the next round is going to get even better.”

Riana stared up at him in shock. She had come so hard she thought her heart exploded. And he wanted to do it again…

Her pussy moistened.

Blaze came to stand beside Ishmael. He leaned over and pressed his lips to hers, capturing her mouth in a torrid kiss. He lifted her and held her in his arms. She glanced over his bicep and watched Ishmael settle himself on her bed.

Riana marvelled at the fact that he belonged to her. She had never been lucky with men and here she was mated to such a strong, beautiful man.

She stared hungrily at his erect cock. In his hand, Ishmael held a condom. He quickly sheathed himself.

Blaze set her on her feet. One wide palm connected with her ass. “Climb aboard, Kitty Kat.”

Riana licked her lips and sat astride, Ishmael. She slowly lowered herself over his cock. When he was fully surrounded by her wet heat she groaned.

“Lean forward, Sugar Girl.”

She leaned forward, brushing her breasts across his chest and bared her ass. “Now, that’s lovely, Kitty Kat,” Blaze’s fingers stroked the full globes of her buttocks. She shivered at the sweet caress as she felt a blush climb up her face. She liked Blaze’s compliment. There was something uniquely pleasurable about being told you were lovely.

She yelped when something warm and wet flickered against her rosette.

“Easy, Sugar Girl.”

Then a hot, slick finger slipped into her anus.

“Oh my God.” Riana couldn’t help wiggling her hips so that his lubricated finger slipped deeper inside of her. Ishmael groaned beneath Riana as her anxious movements forced her pussy to move up and down his cock.

Blaze pulled out only to thrust in two moist fingers. It burned a little. It had been some time since she’d taken anything back there. And even then, the most she’d taken had been a medium sized toy.

There was nothing medium sized about Blaze’s cock.

His fingers slipped out of her anus. She instantly tensed and looked over her shoulder. She watched his face as the bulbous head of his thick cock pressed against her ass.

“Relax, Sugar Girl.”

She breathed deeply. One arm curved around her waist to find her exposed clit. Blaze’s expert fingers brushed against it. Riana flinched and shuddered as a sharp stab of pleasure shot through her fluttering cunt muscles.

For a brief moment she wondered if she could handle both of their loving. Now she knew she would rather die than go another moment without feeling both of her lovers inside of her at the same time.

“Fuck,” Ishmael growled.

Blaze slid the first two inches of his cock inside her. Ishmael rocked his hips, brushing his lower abdomen against her cunt, increasing the friction touching her pussy lips. Her sex constricted around Ishmael’s dick. Blaze pushed in another two inches.

“Oh God.”

Blaze withdrew only to press in several more inches. Riana grunted as she was propelled forward with the force of his stroke. She felt an almost overwhelming sense of completeness as both of their cocks thrust within her. Her fingers tightened around Ishmael’s biceps as both her cunt and ass clenched with the pleasurable force of their double penetration.

“Shit, Kitty.” Blaze roared and slammed the full length of his cock deep inside her. His finger strummed the swollen head of her clitoris at the same time.

Riana exploded, coming so hard, so quickly she couldn’t even scream as satisfaction pounded through her senses, tingling along every one of her nerve endings. Blaze plunged into Riana, thrusting hard and deep, over and over again, prolonging her orgasm, until every inch of her body felt like it was climaxing.

The eerie howl of a wolf was followed by Blaze’s ferocious roar as both men climaxed in unison. Riana slumped on top of Ishmael, her pussy still fluttering with the aftershocks of her relentless orgasm.

She took a deep breath when Blaze withdrew from her body. Seconds later she passed out cold.

* * * *

“This makes no sense. I know nothing about you. Either of you.” Riana turned to Ishmael. “I know you’re a werewolf.” Her gaze connected with Blaze. “And you’re a vampire.”

“Your vampire.” Blaze snuggled closer to her and moved the flyaway strands of midnight silk from her face. Her gaze caught his. “You know all you need to know. We’re your mates.”

She would love to take his word for it, but Riana knew she couldn’t. She had too many questions that required answers to do that.  “But how is that possible? How is it that I have two?”

Ishmael shrugged. “I don’t care about the logistics. I only care that you are mine.”

“And mine.”

Riana smiled and settled deeper into both of their arms. She had never been more content before.

Two lovers.

Two men who wanted her.

And only her.

Two!

She leaned up on one arm and glanced at each man. “What I don’t understand is how is how it is I found you both at the same time.”

Both men stilled beside her. Riana looked into both of their eyes and saw the haunting truth there.

“Son of a bitch. God, I’m such a damned idiot.” She growled and jumped off the bed. She was a total fool for not seeing it sooner. The clues had all been there. She had just been too stupid to put them together. After her run-ins with both men she’d started to question her ability with men and jewel retrievals. Now she knew her worries hadn’t been for naught.

She turned an accusatory eye on Blaze. “I assumed you wanted the stone because you saw Celeste giving it to me, but you knew before I walked into the alley about the Garland Garnet.” She pointed at Ishmael. “And you, you knew that I would be on the train, rushing to meet up with Waters.”

Riana gave a self-deprecating laugh. “I thought I was slipping, thought I was losing my touch at this…but you two…Who the hell are you?”

Chapter Eleven

High Speed Affair

Riana was tired of running from what she knew was true, tired of running from what she knew she couldn’t deny.

They had both used her. And she had let them. To think Riana started to believe she had found two men who actually wanted her for who she was, men who needed her.

Riana wiped away the tears that ran down her face and spun the steering wheel, sliding the car into a tight circle and pulled the key from the ignition. The engine died just as the car jumped the kerb to land beside the outer barrier of the bridge.

Once Ishmael and Blaze had finished telling her their stories, she had excused herself telling them she needed time to think. They had grudgingly let her go.

Riana looked over her shoulder to find that both men had pulled up on the other side of the overpass. She jumped from the car to stand on the edge of the bridge, her back to the rushing waterfall.

Blaze folded his arms across his broad chest and widened the stance of his long legs. Ishmael leaned against the SUV. Both men appeared equally dangerous.

Riana took a step back, closer to the gurgling waters, knowing the waterfall was the lesser danger. She stretched one hand over the bottomless pool.

“I’ll drop it.” A simple chain of silver slipped from her hands to reveal the glittering metal and the single walnut sized blood red stone at the end. It dangled precariously above the waters.

“What makes you think we’re so concerned about the stone?”

Ishmael’s harshly whispered question cut through her confidence. “You both have been chasing me for this damned stone. Don’t try and paint me as a fool.”

Ishmael stepped forward. “How can you stand there and tell us that it is only the stone that attracted us to you. I fell for you long before you touched that goddamned stone.”

Riana stared at him, wanting to believe his words, needing them to be the truth. But she knew the facts. She had become an addictive goddess only after she touched the stone.

She looked up at him. “You wouldn’t have even known I existed if not for the stone. Men like you pass me by all the time.”

“Those men are blind.”

Her gaze snapped to the fire burning in Blaze’s sapphire eyes. “They are not blind. They are not under the spell this damned stone weaves.”

Blaze smiled. “Had you touched the stone before you walked through the restaurant in la Cité?”

“No.”

“I wanted you then, Kitty Kat. You know that. You saw it in my eyes as I watched you.”

“If you think we want that damned gemstone more than we want you, you’ve got a screw loose in that lovely head of yours.” Ishmael took a step forward. “We both want you as our life partner, our mate. It wasn’t just a ploy.”

He took another step forward. Pain slammed through Riana’s heart. He could not mean what he said. It didn’t make sense. They had tracked her for the Red Stone of Passion.

Both of them had admitted it. Ishmael worked for her uncle and was obligated to make sure that no one ever knew of her “hobby” and Blaze was a P.I.A. agent searching for the stone in order to provide the proof he needed to put Jacques behind steel bars for the crimes he’d committed against the Counsel of Others.

“Stay back.”

Blaze cocked his head to the side, stared into her eyes and strode forward.

“Stay back, damn it.” She allowed the chain she held to drop a few inches before catching it. Unfortunately, she miscalculated the length of the necklace and was forced to really reach for the chain in order to prevent it from falling into the river.

“Jesus H. Christ,” Ishmael growled. Even from where she stood, Riana could see the anger in his green gaze. “You ever do something like that again and I’ll beat you until you can’t stand for a week.”

“And I’ll stand back and watch.”

Riana bristled at the steel edged tone to both of their words. “What makes you think I’ll let either of you put your hands on me?” she retorted.

Blaze gave her a smile filled with such sensual promise Riana couldn’t help remembering the moments she had spent in his arms, the moments she had spent in both their arms. “You love it when we put our hands…mouths…cocks on you.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“No, he’s your mate. And so am I. Stop playing this damned game, Riana, and come to us.”

She shook her head and took a step backwards, closer to the raging waters. “It’s not me that you want. It’s the stone. It makes you feel things, things that aren’t really there.”

“I’m over four hundred years old. Don’t you think I’ve learned the difference between desire and need? I need you, Riana. We need you.”

“Then prove it.”

All three of their gazes snapped to the intruder. Jacques stood less than twenty feet away from her discarded vehicle. The moonlight caught the gleam of the dark chrome 9mm gun he held in his hands.

“Son of a bitch.” Blaze’s harsh curse sank beneath her skin. There was something in his tone that told her she was standing in dangerous territory.

Ishmael’s gaze snapped to Blaze’s livid face. “You never said your boss was a ‘porter wolf.”

“I didn’t think it would be a problem,” Blaze responded, never taking his eyes off the third man.

Jacques laughed. “You thought you could handle me, didn’t you Mr. Blaze Blanchard? But I know your secret. I know who you work for. I know you’ve been collecting a file on me. I’ve been collecting my own on you. I even went through the trouble of hiring a man to watch you.” He cocked his gun his gun at Riana. “I wouldn’t have found that out if not for your little piece of ass here. Didn’t even think to look until I realised you weren’t finding my rock as quickly as you should have.”

Blaze moved forward. “Jacques.” The single word was a warning.

Jacques swung around and pointed the barrel at Blaze’s forehead. “Don’t move. I know you’re fast, Blaze, but do you think you can outrun a bullet?”

“A bullet won’t kill me.”

Jacques smiled, a slimy grin of unholy satisfaction, and cocked the gun. “Won’t it? I know the only way to kill a vampire is to behead it. Wonder what happens if I put a bullet through your brain.”

Blaze paled. Riana gasped, seeing the truth in his ashen face. He would die. All for the stupid rock she held.

“You hurt him and I’ll drop your damned stone.”

Jacques didn’t take his eyes off Blaze. “I’m not stupid, sweetheart. The big stud over here might be something, but I doubt he’s worth as much as that stone. I doubt Waters will be happy to find you’ve thrown her infamous Garland Garnet away.”

“Haven’t you heard? She gave me the stone as a gift. Seems she believes I am the next destined owner. I can do whatever I want and she won’t give a damn.”

Riana felt both Blaze and Ishmael’s eyes on her, boring deep into her skin, but she couldn’t take her gaze off Jacques. She knew they wanted to know if she told the truth. Was she really the next woman in the line of Passion owners?

“You expect me to believe that shrivelled up bitch just gave you a stone worth over fifteen million Euros?”

“You know Winifred. Don’t you remember the reason she gave when she refused to sell you her jewels. I’ll drop it. The money means nothing to me, just like it meant nothing to her.”

Riana opened her fist and let the necklace slip from her grasp.

Ishmael disappeared at the same time that the shocking boom of the gun going off cut through the midnight air.

“Stupid bitch,” Jacques growled flashing.

Riana screamed, watching the bullet slice through the air, knowing she couldn’t move quick enough to save her lover.

Ishmael reappeared behind Blaze and wrapped his arms around him. The two men flashed just as the bullet intended for Blaze’s brain cut through the air. She whipped around as the air beside her swirled. Both men stood beside her. Riana threw her arms around them and held them to her.

God, she had been so close to losing Blaze.

And although it didn’t make any sense, Riana knew she had almost lost one of the two men she would love until her dying day.

Jacques appeared across the bridge. In his hand he held the Garland Garnet. He shoved it into his breast pocket and slipped into Ishmael’s rented car.

“It’s okay, Kitty Kat,” Blaze whispered before stepping away from her tight hug. He reached in his jeans and handed Ishmael an open metal bracelet. Ishmael gave him a mischievous smile and disappeared only to reappear in his passenger seat.

Ishmael punched Jacques in the face. With the force of the blow, Jacques lost his grip on the steering. The car swerved dangerously and blood spurted everywhere. He snapped the bracelet around the hand Jacques pressed against his broken nose.

Jacques shrieked in horror as he realised what Ishmael had done. The titanium bracelet wouldn’t allow him to teleport. He was caught.

Ishmael parked the SUV just as a large black van pulled up to Riana’s vehicle. The side door slid open and several men and women dressed in black emerged.

“It’s about time you got here,” Blaze rumbled.

A tall redheaded woman grimaced. “It was damned near impossible to follow your tracking signal. We got here as soon as we could.” Her sculpted eyebrows lifted when Ishmael appeared beside Riana.

Blaze cocked his head towards Jacques. “He’s all yours.” He turned and led them towards Riana’s car.

She placed her hand on both of their arms. “I want you both. God knows I do, but I need to warn you. The Garland Garnet kills. If it’s the stone that is attracting you to me, you will both die within a year.”

The men glanced at one another. In unison they spoke. “We’ll take our chances.”

“And yet I’m not sure I’m willing to,” she murmured softly. She took one last look at them and walked away.

Chapter Twelve

Ready for Love

She was going to have to make it a point not to attract any more agents. Riana had learned the hard way that it was damned difficult breaking up with a man that the government had trained to be the equivalent of a heat-seeking missile. For the millionth time that day she checked her makeup. At least the rest of the world saw her checking her makeup. In reality she was checking to see where Blaze and Ishmael had stationed themselves in the high-end department store.

They’d been tracking her since Paris. Three months. Talk about dedication. Apparently “no” truly wasn’t in either of their vocabularies. She smiled as she snapped the lid on her compact and made her purchases. With her bags in hand she stepped through the department store’s double doors. As Riana walked out she noticed that Celeste appeared right in front of Blaze.

Perfect.  The blonde was right on time.

Riana kept walking even though every inch of her wanted to turn around and stare at the men who followed her. The only thing that kept her from giving in to her desires was the knowledge that soon enough she would be meeting with both men.

An hour and a half later, she found them waiting for her in her apartment.

“So glad you could come,” she murmured softly as she closed the door behind her.

Ishmael smiled. “We wondered how long before you tried to make contact.”

“And what did you guess?”

“Short stuff over here guessed three months,” Blaze growled. Ishmael’s smile got wider. “I knew you would miss us, Sugar Girl. Just needed a little time to figure things out.”

Blaze folded his arms over his broad and glared at her. “Have you had enough? Time that is.”

She didn’t respond. There was no need to. Riana had every intention of making sure her actions spoke loud and clear. Instead, she stood before them and allowed both men to look her over. Riana thrilled at the sight of pleasure she saw in their eyes. She was very pleased she had chosen to wear her skimpiest sundress for the occasion.

Riana flashed both men a smile, pivoted on one heel and strode from the room. She could feel two pairs of hungry eyes watching her every move.  The exposed skin of her back itched with each step. They were following her.

After an eternity, she reached her bedroom. She made her way to the wall length closet and opened the door. With painstaking care she took off her shoes. She wanted to draw the moment out, increase the anticipation she knew they could all feel. It clung to the air. It hung on her tongue. And very soon, but not soon enough she would swallow it whole.

She turned around and regarded both men. Her gaze wondered from Blaze to Ishmael to Blaze. “I’m not sure you’ve missed me.” She reached down and grasped the edge of her summer dress.

“Oh, we definitely missed you.”

She lifted the dress over her head and dropped it to the floor. “You promise?”

They glanced at each other and smiled. “We’re fully willing to show you just how much we’ve missed you, Sugar Girl,” Ishmael growled as his gaze raked over her body.

“Hmmm, we’ll see,” she murmured as she strode across the room. To her right were French double doors. Riana walked through them and into her gardens—the miniature gardens she’d had created to mimic the Parisian gardens she and Ishmael had gone to. She threw one wicked look over her shoulder just as Blaze stepped onto the marble steps. She stood at the bottom. “Catch me if you can,” Riana threw over her shoulder before breaking off into a dead run.

Blaze’s laughter drifted down to Riana seconds before she heard his foot hit the second step. She ran with all her might knowing that because of the men’s natural stride she would have to work hard just to stay in the game. They caught her right at the end of her property. Strong arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her hard against a strong, muscular chest. Her head snapped back and air whooshed out of her lungs.

Riana turned and caught sight of mesmerising blue eyes. She watched the slow descent of Blaze’s golden head as he leaned in for her kiss. His fingers tightened in her hair just before his mouth moved over hers. Another set of hands moved up her torso and cupped her breasts. Fingers brushed across the tips of her breasts, teasing her nipples into hard nubs. She groaned into Blaze’s mouth just as Ishmael’s fingers tightened.

God, she’d missed them. For weeks after her departure she’d tried to convince herself that all she needed was a little bit of time to get over both men. Nothing more than three weeks. That was the longest she’d ever been heartsick for a guy before falling in love with both men. And yet this morning she’d woken feeling as though she had walked away from them just last night.

The pain didn’t go away. It didn’t even get better.

She shrieked softly when Ishmael’s hand dipped into her panties and cupped her sex. Blaze deepened his already drowning kiss throwing her into an endless ocean of desire. One finger slipped between the moist lips of her sex to caress her swollen clitoris.

“Oh God,” she moaned as she broke off Blaze’s kiss.

Fingers grasped the sides of her panties and pulled the fabric down her thighs. She immediately widened her stance, giving Ishmael more room. Blaze’s tongue swept along the curve of her throat, moving over the erratically beating pulse at the baseline, gliding atop the same flesh he’d pierced three months ago.

She shuddered, hungry for the orgasmic bliss she knew she could find in their arms.

“Bite me,” she whispered softly just before she felt the piercing pleasure of his domination. Her orgasm was a cosmic event, leaving her breathless. A constellation burst before her eyes and her hips jerked as satisfaction rained down upon her.

“That’s it, Sugar Girl.” The words were whispered over the shell of her ear as two fingers thrust deep into her sex, forcing her back upon the precipice she had just vacated. Wet, smouldering heat glided over her ear as he withdrew and plunged deep into her pussy. Firm, full lips captured one nipple and suckled. Teeth nibbled her earlobe. Fingers stroked in and out of her cunt.

With any other males such intense pleasure would have been impossible, but Ishmael and Blaze were incredible men. And when they worked together, as they were doing then, Riana realised she was the luckiest woman in the world.

“Fuck,” Riana groaned as all too soon an orgasm thundered through her body.

She blinked her eyes open when both Ishmael and Blaze pulled away from her. She found herself staring up into glittering cobalt eyes. “If you take us this time, Riana, you take us forever.” She heard the soft tread of feet before Ishmael’s fragrance wafted over her. “’Til death do us part.”

“I’m still not sure I’m doing the right thing.” The truth was she wasn’t entirely convinced that the emotions she felt weren’t a result of the Garland Garnet. The aching intensity. The burning heat. The desire that seemed to have no end. It was all very foreign to a girl who’d never considered herself in lust, let alone love, before. But with them…Riana only knew that every moment away from them and had been painful. Her heart ached just thinking about all the nights she spent alone wishing they were by her side.

“’Til death.” This time Ishmael spoke the commanding words. There was no doubt in her mind that she would have to take both of them, as they were, with no restrictions.

Ishmael and Blaze were serious. Forever meant forever.

Riana turned to the side and caught the front of both men’s shirts at the same time. “Yes, ‘til death,” she murmured as she leaned up on her toes and kissed each one in succession. She rolled back onto the soles of her feet. “But first you have to promise to do something for me.”

“Anything.”

She chewed her bottom and watched them both. After a moment she walked past the duo and made her way to her favourite part of her gardens. The tulips. The flowerbed curved around a grassy circle. In the circle were two padded chairs and a picnic basket.

Riana nodded towards the seats and watched as the men took their places. She squatted down, opened the picnic basket and pulled out two thick strings. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Ishmael raise one midnight eyebrow in surprise as she stood. She was surprised that neither man said anything as she approached them. Not that their objections would have mattered.

She had been dreaming of that moment for several weeks. One fitful night, just a few days after walking out of JFK airport, she’d dreamed of them. Both of them. And the dream had been haunting her every since.

Today she was going to make her dream a reality.

Riana held Blaze’s glaze and knelt before him, placing the ropes on the grass beside his spread feet. She grabbed his long feet and slowly removed his boots, his socks, making sure to touch every inch of exposed skin. By the time she reached his black slacks he was breathing hard and the evidence of his desire was staring at her. Blaze lifted his hips as she pulled his pants down his strong, corded thighs.

As usual he was going commando. She licked her lips as she eyed his cock. Soon, very soon, my friend, she said silently. Riana deftly tied Blaze to the chair before moving on to Ishmael. By the time she was finished with the second man all three of them were breathing deeply. She took a step back and eyed her handiwork.

She wasn’t foolish enough to believe the bindings would be able to actually hold both men. She suspected that even at their weakest points they could tear through them, but for her they would accept the restrictions.

Ishmael and Blaze sat directly across from one another, close enough so that as she stood between them only inches separated her body from theirs. She knelt before Ishmael and spread her thighs. From that angle she knew that Blaze could see every inch of her wet sex. She leaned forward and grasped the root of Ishmael’s cock.

The throaty sound of her nickname drifted from his lips. “Sugar Girl.”

Riana tightened her grip and flicked her tongue lightly against the ruddy head of his cock. From above her she could hear air hissing past Ishmael’s teeth. She smiled and ran her tongue from the root to the head. Ishmael jerked, rocking the chair slightly. She repeated the act. Out of the corner of her eye she saw his tanned fingers grip the chair’s arms so hard they turned white.

She slid her second hand between his thighs and cupped his heavy orbs. She lightly toyed with the balls, massaging and caressing them as she licked and suckled the tip. Riana began an up and down sliding motion with her left hand as she flicked her tongue against the unseeing eye. Behind her she could hear Blaze’s breathing deepening.

“Fuck…Sugar Girl.” The unsteady tone of Ishmael’s groaned words spurred her on.

The chair rocked back and forth with his thrusts as his cock glided down her throat. She took the hand wrapped around his length and ran her nails down his thighs as she sucked him heartily.

“Holy…fuck!”

Ishmael froze, body tight with pleasure for a moment before he shuddered and his cock jerked deeper down her throat as he poured the thick, creamy essence of his desire into her mouth. Riana never stopped suckling him, even as she drank his release. After a moment, with a final gasp, Ishmael went lax as the satisfaction of his orgasm poured through his body.

Riana released him with a pop. Her lashes lifted until her gaze collided with his heavy lidded one.

“God, you’re something.”

Her grin widened. “Something?”

“Something incredibly special,” he whispered softly as he held her gaze. She immediately felt the warmth of his emotions blanketing her. His gaze lifted and she knew he was watching Blaze. “Your other mate needs your love too.”

She flashed him a grin as she stood. Riana made sure to put a rolling motion in her hips and she was not disappointed when Blaze’s soft roar drifted over to her. She winked at Ishmael before turning around.

Interesting how it was the vampire and not the werewolf who had the propensity to growl.

Her gaze landed on Blaze’s cock, travelled up the hard planes of his washboard stomach, the strong line of his square jaw, the full lips flattened with desire, the sharp nose that bespoke of an ancient legacy before colliding with smouldering sapphire eyes sharp with need.

As she took the single step to bring them closer she spoke over her shoulder. “Release yourself Ishmael and grab your cock.”

String snapped, a body moved, a chair creaked in the wake of her words. She leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Blaze’s lips. He instinctively tried to deepen it and for just one heartbeat she let him before pulling away.

“You’re playing with fire, Kitty Kat,” he growled as she turned around and gave him her back.

“What if I want to get burned,” Riana murmured softly as she threw one leg over his thighs until she was straddling him. She reached below her and grasped the root of his cock as she slowly lowered her hips until he was totally sheathed. Her lashes fluttered as she felt him breach that first inch of her sex. It had been so long since she’d been with anyone. Three months to be exact. It had not been her longest dry period but after meeting and making love to the two men, every second away from them, every moment without their touch felt like an eternity.

When she was fully seated on Blaze’s cock Riana’s eyes opened and her gaze snapped to Ishmael. He was holding his swollen length and watching her with an intensity that threatened to singe her very soul. She licked her lips slowly and moaned his name. “Touch yourself.”

She lifted her hips as Ishmael’s long fingers moved up the length of his cock. A single tear of desire leaked from the swollen head. When he reached the tip he spread the clear pearl over the turgid tip. A soft grunt drifted from his parted lips. Her own moan followed in its wake as pleasure shot through her from the pleasing feel of Blaze’s withdraw.

Riana’s thumb brushed across the swollen bud between her splayed thighs as she lowered her hips, taking Blaze’s hard, thick deep into his body. “Hmmm,” she moaned as heat shot through her sex, before burning through her body. She was still sensitive from her last orgasm and she was highly aroused. She was going to come soon.

“Harder.”

Both men complied. Ishmael tightened the grip he held on his cock and increased the speed of his fondling while Blaze increased the depth and speed of his up-thrusts.

“Yes, oh God, yes! Right there. Right…there.” Riana screamed as Blaze’s cock brushed across her sweet spot, her g-spot, sending a blinding shaft of pleasure through her body. She fingered her clitoris as Blaze began a fast, steady rhythm that left her breathless.

Pleasure and need like she’d never felt before coalesced in her sex until she felt a molten heat consume her. She was coming. And she was coming hard.

“Now,” she shrieked as her eyes slammed shut and her body exploded. The sound of Ishmael and Blaze’s grunts echoed around her as her orgasm thundered through her. After several moments of trying to get her heart rate under control, she opened her eyes and found Ishmael grinning at her.

“Damn, Sugar Girl. You sure are something special.”

She laughed and started to lift off Blaze when arms wrapped under her legs and lifted her. Riana turned her head and snagged his smouldering blue gaze. “I’m glad to have you back, Kitty Kat.”

She chewed here lip as she stared into his eyes. “The question is how long will I have you two.”

Ishmael stepped forward. “Talking about that curse again?”

“It’s taken me my whole life to find you too. I don’t want to lose you.”

Blaze glanced at Ishmael before flashing a smile. “And you won’t, love. You’ve got us for life and your mates have got long lives.”

Epilogue

From the Grave to the Cradle

Her dark gaze flittered from one man to the other. Ishmael and Blaze were nervous. Riana didn’t blame them. She had called them home from work to have this conversation. Their second anniversary celebration wasn’t set to start for another four hours. And she wasn’t one to make demands.

At least not outside the bedroom.

But Riana couldn’t wait until their party to inform them of what she had in store. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

Both men paused. She suspected they even stopped breathing.

“I’m pregnant.”

There was a moment of utter silence as they digested her words.

“I don’t understand, Sugar Girl.”

Riana squirmed in her seat. “You know how we discussed going off the birth control. I went off it.”

Blaze slumped in his chair. “Congratulations to you both.”

Her gaze snapped to his cobalt eyes. There was so much pleasure and pain in his gaze. For the past few months they’d talked about nothing but having kids. How the addition would change the dynamics? What they all would have to give up. What they all would gain. It hadn’t escaped her notice that the vampire was a little quiet during every conversation. “I’m carrying twins, Blaze. Congratulations to you both.”

His mouth hung open. Ishmael’s grin widened. They all knew it was damned difficult for a vampire to procreate as the virus that made them undead was dangerous to anything living.

But his seed had taken.

The doctor had just confirmed the fact moments ago. They were both going to be fathers.

Blaze grinned at her. “I don’t think the Republic is going to appreciate our good news, Kitty Kat.”

Riana laughed. “Fuck the Republic.”

About the Author

Tuesday Morrigan began her love affair with romance at an early age. As a child she was always infatuated with the novels she snuck from her mother. Later, in high school, the public library became her sanctuary with an endless array of romance novels. Tuesday is still an avid reader of books. Thanks to shows like Buffy, Angel, and her latest infatuation, Supernatural, Tuesday prefers her stories to have a little more grit. Her favourite genres have always been fantasy, mystery, romance and erotica, so as a writer, she tries to blend the genres to create her own personal niche.

Email: tuesdaymorrigan@gmail.com

Tuesday Morrigan loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at http://www.total-e-bound.com.

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