Part 7 (1/2)

Just the sight of Jimmy Hallahan sickened her. She wanted to go to him, right there, press a gun to his chin and pull the trigger. When he'd thrown her father's body from the car, he'd leaned out, laughing.

”Not yet,” he said softly, bending his head to put his lips against her ear. His hand rubbed along her thigh. The gesture wasn't in the least s.e.xual. He was comforting her. ”We want information. Once you kill Hallahan, this place will go crazy. Especially if you do it out in the open. Have patience.”

That settled her stomach. She hadn't even known until that moment her stomach was churning and bile was rising. Not until his soft, mesmerizing voice and the stroking caress of his hand calmed her.

”No one can really see my body, either, can they?” she asked with sudden insight. She turned her head and looked up at him. His jaw hardened, and it was already pretty hard. His black eyes burned, almost glowing in the dark.

”Do you really think I would expose your body to other men's eyes? They do not see you. They see a woman with short black hair, in a white, not very decent dress, revealing what they believe is her body. It is not. Not even close.”

She should have known. He had created an illusion for himself; of course he would do the same for her. She saw herself, but no one else would. No one else could. Whatever body he had chosen, whatever face, definitely didn't look a thing like her.

”I can feel your hands on my skin.”

”Because I can touch you. No matter what form either of us takes, we can always feel and see each other. If you look close enough, you will see past the form I created for me.”

”So do you see me in the dress, or do you see the form you created?” She was curious, because she could see her own body in the dress, the material teasing her nipples. She could feel his hand stroking up her thigh and over her bottom, sending a series of flames dancing through her core.

”Of course I see only you. I touch only you. You are beautiful, and in that dress-which should only be worn in a bedroom, not a club-I can feel a physical response. I do not have a physical response to other women. I am playing the part of a letch who cannot keep his hands off a woman. I have to make it look somewhat believable, and the only way I can do that is to see you and touch you.”

She liked that. She liked that a lot. She wasn't certain, once the dancing started, that his a.s.sessment would hold true, but she liked that he thought it.

”I like that no one in the club can see me in this dress. More, I like that you don't want them to,” she admitted.

”As long as I am close to you the illusion will hold. That is one of the many reasons you do not leave my side in this dress.”

”I will have to leave it in order to take care of Hallahan.” She looked right into his eyes. ”It will be me taking care of him, not you. And not your friend.” She made it a firm statement, watching him the entire time. She wasn't going to allow anyone else to avenge her father, and she wanted Jimmy Hallahan to know it was Sean's daughter who took him down.

Maksim leaned into her, his body s.h.i.+fting slightly. At once she felt protected. Sheltered by him. His hand cupped her face gently, his thumb tracing the line of her jaw. ”I know you now, lifemate. I see your need and as your lifemate, it is my duty to provide for you. I will not have you in danger, but when you can safely get to this man, I will s.h.i.+eld you from the rest of the world and you can do what you have to in order to rid the world of a monster. Make no mistake, Blaze, Jimmy Hallahan was a monster long before Reginald c.o.o.nan got a hold of him, and now that he is under the influence of a vampire, he is worse than you can imagine. If your girl Emeline catches his eye, she will be in great danger.”

Blaze took a breath. ”She'll catch his eye. She'll catch everyone's eye.” Including his. Emeline was beyond beautiful and if she was dancing . . . Blaze had seen her moves on the dance floor of clubs and in the privacy of her home when Em and Blaze were having fun, drinking and showing off dance moves. No one moved like Emeline. She had always been super proud of Emeline, but now, she suddenly realized Maksim's eyes would also be on her friend. He might believe he wouldn't have a physical reaction to another woman, but once he saw Emeline, dancing or not, he would know he was wrong.

Maksim caught her chin in a firm grip, tilting her head, forcing her gaze to meet his. His eyes, so black she caught her breath at the emptiness she saw there, the endless black void. Cool. Remote. And then they blazed with life, with emotion, only for her. Only hers. Her breath caught deep in her lungs and she felt him there, inside of her. Moving in her mind. Deep in her body. Surrounding her.

”There is only you, Blaze. I realize it is a difficult concept to imagine that a man could be dead to all feeling, to all color, to everything but hunting until you walked into his life. Until I heard your voice and you brought me to life. That is the way our species is. You hold the other half of my soul. I cannot see other women. Not in the way that you fear. It is an impossibility.”

Her heart skipped a beat. He was telling the strict truth. She knew it by his voice. She knew it by the flaring of life in his eyes. She was in his mind and the truth was there as well. She moistened her lips. He was right. It was difficult to grasp the concept, even when he laid it out in front of her. She couldn't imagine a man like him, a powerful, gorgeous all-male man going to a club and not reacting to the women and their bodies on display.

”Tell me your plan,” Maksim said. ”I know you and your girl have got one. I have waited patiently for you to tell me.”

”You might not like it, but it makes sense.” Blaze found it strange and a bit thrilling to be sitting in a nightclub, seeing him, yet not seeing him, hearing his velvet hypnotic voice sliding over her skin-skin that wasn't hers yet still was. She liked him sitting next to her. More, she felt safe. They were in the lion's den and she felt safe.

”Tell me.”

She could give him that because already she knew his mind. She knew he kept his word, and she was beginning to know if something was important to her, it was important to him. ”The Hallahan brothers have a reputation with women. They like to force their dancers to submit to them. The more high cla.s.s the dancer, they more they're determined to break her. Emeline is going to get Jimmy Hallahan's attention, and he's going to invite her upstairs to the apartment where they bring their women.”

”I figured that part out.”

His hand dropped to her thigh. Fingers splayed wide to take in as much bare skin as possible. He had big hands, and she felt he could almost wrap them around her leg right there. Her heart jumped and then began pounding like crazy, so hard she felt the rhythm of the pounding music surrounding them pulse in time to the beat of her heart.

”Jimmy will take her upstairs. I'll find my way up there and he'll get his chance to make peace with whatever G.o.d he believes in.”

”His G.o.d is a vampire, Blaze,” he said. ”He has no mercy left in him. No goodness. He lives for others' pain and for his own depravity. He has to hurt others because it is the only way the man can get off.”

She knew he was giving her a warning. He didn't have to tell her that, though; she'd seen her father's broken, torn body. The Hallahan brothers had taken their time torturing him. They'd kept him alive a really long time, and they hadn't needed to. That meant they had prolonged his life-and his pain-for their own enjoyment. She felt that monster inside of her, opening. Blossoming. Needing. It was all she could do to force her body to sit in the booth and not walk right up to Jimmy Hallahan, shove a gun in his throat and pull the trigger.

”My man Tomas is watching your friend. I let him know to allow her to go up the stairs with Hallahan. I can cloak you so you can follow. But, Blaze.” His fingers bit deep into her thigh. ”I am going to be right there as well. You will not see me, but if you get into trouble-either one of you-I take over and kill him myself. Do you understand?”

She knew he was asking more than the simple question. He was telling her she'd better stand down when he told her to, or there would be consequences. She wasn't a woman who feared much but still, the steel underlying that velvet tone sent a s.h.i.+ver through her.

”I understand, Maksim. There are four of them. I want all four. And I don't want Emeline hurt, so yes, if everything goes south, I welcome you bailing me out.” She looked up into his eyes to see if he got it. If he got her. She was giving him her trust. Walking another step into his world. Giving him something she hadn't given any other man other than her father.

His eyes went hot. From cold to hot. For her. She leaned into him, put a hand on his chest and kissed his mouth. Hard. Wet. Delicious. Meaning it. His hand cupped the back of her head and his mouth took over hers. Harder. Wetter. More delicious than ever. Meaning it as well. So much so that she felt that meaning in every cell in her body.

Abruptly he lifted his head and pressed his forehead to hers. He is heading this way. Time for a show, Blaze. Are you up for it? Can you take it? Play the part? I do not want him close enough to see any detail of the real you.

She felt him moving in her mind, rea.s.suring her. Filling her. Holding her in strong arms. She swallowed, nodded. Maksim applied pressure to the back of her head, and she let him ease her down so she was pressed with her mouth against his lower abdomen. She knew what to do, sliding her hands under his s.h.i.+rt, to lift it enough to press her lips to bare skin, effectively hiding her face.

”Jimmy Hallahan,” Jimmy said, his accent very thick. He slid into the booth on the other side of Blaze, his thigh touching hers. ”The show's about to start and I wanted to offer you anything you might need or want. Everything here can be yours if you want it. See you got your little s.k.a.n.k in the right place. You're going to need some relief after seeing what I got to offer for you.”

”Max,” Maksim stated. ”And she's a toy, not a s.k.a.n.k. There is a difference, and if you do not know what it is, I feel sorry for you.” His hand stroked caresses over Blaze's hair, calming her when the close proximity to the oldest Hallahan made her tense, sick and wanting to kill him all mixed together.

NINE.

THE LIGHTS CAME up on the stage, and a small hush settled over the club. The dance music faded away, and men and women s.h.i.+fted eagerly in their seats for a better look in antic.i.p.ation of what was to come. The oldest Hallahan brother leaned across Blaze's body as if she wasn't there, his concentration on Maksim.

”You're going to love this,” he said. ”And man, anything you want is on the menu.”

His hand dropped casually toward Blaze. Maksim caught his wrist. Showing teeth in a semblance of a smile, but his eyes were ice-cold. ”Nothing here is on the menu.” The voice said it all.

I can't stand it if he touches me. He's so close I want to vomit. Or kill him. Blaze felt naked without her weapons. A knife. Anything. She could break his neck, but the scuffle-and there would be one-would attract the bouncers, and it was doubtful if she could snap it in time before help got to him. She had to be realistic, and it was getting nearly impossible to breathe. She'd been holding her breath since he'd slipped into the booth next to her.

Hallahan sent Maksim a toothy grin. His gaze dropped to the woman who had to mean something to the perverted man who had come to his club for playtime. A toy he'd said, but still, a treasured one or he wouldn't care if Jimmy shoved her on the floor and used her mouth while he watched the show the other worthless s.k.a.n.ks put on for the men. Teasing them. Showing off their bodies for money. He turned his dancers into what they were-wh.o.r.es. Worthless wh.o.r.es who were required to do whatever he or his brothers demanded. And they demanded anything they wanted. Anytime they wanted.

He glanced down at the woman again. Her face was pressed to the wealthy man's bare belly. He couldn't see her face, but her body was prime. He wasn't used to being denied, but he smiled anyway. He would have the woman when he wanted her-right in front of the rich man. He'd make the old man watch for that insult.

He cannot put his hands on you, Blaze. Take a breath. All you will pull into your lungs is me, Maksim a.s.sured. The illusion of you is real enough that if he touches your thigh or your back or any part of you, he doesn't actually feel you, but what I created. You think you feel him, but he is not touching you. I would never allow that.

Blaze took a moment more, her lungs burning. Raw. Needing air. She believed Maksim, but she couldn't bear it if he was wrong and she allowed Jimmy Hallahan into her, even if it was just the same air. She had no choice but to breathe. She pressed her face-her mouth-hard against Maksim's belly, down low, into the waistband of his trousers, and she took a shallow breath.

She drew Maksim deep. So deep she was almost dizzy. Her next inhale was anything but shallow because his scent, that perfect, wonderful masculine scent, obliterated everything that was Hallahan. She closed her eyes and took herself out of the club. She couldn't be there with the man who had murdered her father pressed next to her, illusion or not. Her tongue slipped over Maksim's defined muscles. She traced them with her tongue just to get his taste. To push Hallahan further away.

I can't watch over Emeline in this position, Blaze said. Worried. She hadn't expected Hallahan to approach Maksim and actually sit at his booth.

Maksim's hand stroked a caress in her hair. Tomas is up close to the stage just in case your girl gets in trouble. One of his brothers arrived a few minutes ago. Lojos. He is standing beside the stairs leading to the apartment. Leaning against the wall, eyes on the stage. Both are like me. Carpathian. Nothing will happen to her.

The first dancer came out of the shadows into the spotlight, crawling like a jungle cat, her body in nothing but leopard paint. The paint was clever, hiding everything and nothing at the same time. It was her dancing that revealed her body to them, slow, teasing glimpses as she sensuously s.h.i.+mmied around the stage to the pounding music.