Entangled With the Thief (7 page)

“You trust him?”

They entered Marco’s dining room, though room wasn’t exactly the correct term. He’d transformed the patio into a tropical paradise. A large table stood at the center, surrounded by palm trees and tropical flowers. Torches offered meager light. Even so late in the year, the weather was pleasant, with only the slightest chill in the air.

Servers brought out the first course, a spoonful of cold soup and assorted vegetables that might have been a full appetizer in a fine restaurant.

Marco called down from the head of the table, “Mel, tell us about your friend. I’ve always wanted to host someone of Lucio Torres’ caliber. I understand he has his own roots in this fine country. And that we even have something like a family connection.”

Mel didn’t look over at Luke and she hoped he didn’t give himself away. At this point she had to trust him to follow her lead. “I knew you would appreciate him,” she said. “Though I apologize for the subterfuge. There are always layers of red tape when he travels without his entourage.”

“Once I heard about your event I couldn’t resist the invitation. I hope I’m not intruding.” Luke held up a glass, “To a fine host.”

The rest of the guests followed suit. Lupe Mendoza was the first to speak. “What family connection is there?” she asked.

Neither Luke nor Mel answered, so Marco took over for them. “Señor Nunca is now alpha over the land Mr. Torres’ father once called his own. Why, that practically makes them brothers, I think.”

For the first time, Nunca studied Luke. “Torres, you say?” He looked the other alpha up and down, taking his time. Luke didn’t take his eyes off of him. “I seem to recall a different name all those years ago. And you were quite young. Rumor was that you didn’t survive. I’m glad to know the rumor was false.”

Mel wanted to reach over and grab Luke’s hand, though she didn’t know if she wanted to offer comfort or beg for restraint. But she couldn’t let him look weak. Even though she had brought him here, this was his battle. And he’d promised not to take his revenge. She would trust him. It was the only thing she could do.

“I was tougher than I looked,” Luke said with utter calm. “And it was years ago.”

The tension didn’t disperse. It couldn’t. But conversation turned away from a leadership challenge that took place decades ago to certain political matters in the region. Only then did Mel slowly move her hand under the table and give Luke’s thigh the tiniest squeeze. He was doing well.

And it was just about show time.

Dinner broke up and it was time to put their plan into action. Mel looked at her watch. At exactly 9:32 she would leave the room. They had six minutes, at which point she’d either have the powder or she wouldn’t, and they’d have to figure out something else.

Mel waited until the appointed time and ducked out of the room, trusting that Luke would do his part. She used the information that he’d given her about the guards to extrapolate their rotation and didn’t meet a single one on the way to Marco’s office.

The office was closed with a simple lock. Her lock picks took care of it in an instant and she was inside. Under normal circumstances, she would have disabled the security cameras or tried to avoid them. But she hadn’t had time. So she hoped she could work fast enough that she would be done by the time the guards came to stop her.

The powder was stored in a fingerprint coded safe behind Marco’s desk in a locked cabinet. Mel assumed that, like most people, Marco didn’t remember to wipe away his old fingerprint when he accessed the safe. She covered her finger in latex and pressed down on the finger scanner. The light turned green.

Success.

Inside the safe was a clay container with the anti-hex powder inside. Trusting Bob’s assessment, Mel scooped out just a little bit of powder and put it into a plastic bag. She stuffed the bag into her bra and closed the safe and the cabinet. All in all, the theft had taken less than three minutes.

She turned the stone on her ring to green and ran out of the house, continuing to avoid the guards. She got to the car first and drove away, not waiting for Luke to get to the car. He was expecting it, they couldn’t risk getting locked on the property if Marco realized that she’d robbed him.

Mel drove to the rendezvous point and waited. After fifteen minutes she had nearly given up hope. Either Luke had been captured, or he had abandoned her. Or worse. Her ring wasn’t lit up, so he didn’t want her help. And she had no other way of knowing if he needed it.

Another five minutes passed before the passenger side door opened and he slid in the car. The alpha panted, but he’d moved with such stealth that she hadn’t heard him approach.

“Did you get it?” he asked.

Mel put the car in gear and took off. “I did. Anyone following?”

He shook his head. When he moved to put on his seat belt he winced, sucking in a pained breath. But he fastened the belt as quickly as possible.

“Are you hurt?” It came out more harshly than Mel intended.

“I’m okay, just a bruised rib. Had a bit of an altercation back there.”

Mel couldn’t stop the car to see if his injuries were even worse than he said. She put her foot on the gas, accelerating so that she could speed all the way back to the safe house.

Luke might have underestimated the extent of the damage to his side. But Nunca’s goons had fists like brick walls, and even avoiding most of the hits had left him aching. Shapeshifter healing was a boon, however, and by the time they were back to the safe house he could move without wanting to wince with every step.

Mel wasn’t prepared to let him tend to his own wounds. She made him sit on one of her chairs and ordered him to remove his top if he didn’t want her to cut it off. He thought she was serious and moved as quickly as he could, baring himself from the waist up.

She didn’t bother with a first aid kit. Instead, after taking a minute to secure their bounty in a hidden safe, she knelt down in front of him and placed her hands on the purple bruise on his naked torso.

Luke sucked in a breath, and not because it hurt.

Well, it did hurt, but the feel of her delicate fingers on his exposed flesh was enough to turn his mind in another direction. He clenched his fists at his side and tried to think of anything else, anything appropriate that wouldn’t lead him down the road to another massive mistake.

“It’s bruised now,” she told him. She didn’t poke hard enough to make it hurt any more. “Should be completely healed by morning. We’ll fly out at 10.”

She didn’t remove her hand from his chest. “You’re sure that you got enough of the powder?” he asked.

Mel rolled her eyes up and smiled. “Not my first rodeo, Alpha.” She tried to slide her hand away, but he covered her fingers with his own, clasping her to him. The smile slid off her face, replaced with something hotter.

She licked her lips.

It would be incredibly stupid to do anything with her. Whatever they’d done in the past was the past. But Luke was tired of being smart.

He slid off the chair and to his knees in front of her. Only inches separated them and their hands were still locked together against his side.

“This is probably a mistake,” she tried to warn him, but her eyes were glued to his lips and lit with a desperate desire.

Luke felt the same thing within himself. Something about Mel felt so right that every moment apart from her felt like something hollow, like he was missing something integral that he hadn’t known that he needed to function. Ever since the first moment he saw her it had been a constant ache inside of him.

“Some mistakes need to be made,” he said. And this was a mistake he couldn’t go another second without making.

He closed the distance between them as she slid both of her arms around him, planting her fingers on his back. Their lips met. Luke hadn’t kissed her in more than two days, and he never wanted to go so long between tasting her lips again. In this she was his equal, neither dominating him nor letting him dominate.

Fire roared inside him, hardening him, bringing him to life. If he thought that he’d been riding adrenaline earlier, it was nothing compared to this.

They tumbled to the floor, Mel careful of his wounded ribs but otherwise giving him no quarter. She lay on top of him, hands in his hair and lips mad against his own. Luke pulled her closer, his fingers digging into her sides. He needed the contact, needed to touch her.

He found the hem of her shirt and let his fingers explore under, splaying across her naked skin. It was hot, silken. He was already hard, aching for her and only her. Since the moment he’d seen her it had just been Mel. Whatever name she used, whatever disguise, he was hers in this madness.

Her own hands quested, unbuttoning his shirt, spreading her hands across his chest and stripping him. The shirt revealed his chest, but without moving he couldn’t take the whole thing off. And though he was an alpha, he liked Mel on top of him.

Mel broke the kiss and Luke tried to follow, but his ribs protested the sudden jerk. Mel wasn’t stopping. She kissed her way down, starting with his neck and nipping at his jumping pulse. Luke’s cock twitched. Just from a little play, and he was near the edge. His thief was going to break him. He couldn’t wait.

Mel took her time exploring his chest. She took each of his nipples into her mouth, licking him until he moaned, calling out her name. She smiled up at him but kept moving down, her hands finally landing on the button of his trousers. She undid them carefully, exposing him to the warm air of the room.

Luke held himself absolutely still. He was nearly naked below her and desperate for her touch. But he felt like speaking would ruin this moment between them, break the magic and make them return to whatever their existence was before. Separate.

Alone.

Mel could sense his desire, his need. She didn’t take the length of him in her mouth or even kiss the tip. She kissed his thighs, reverently moving her hands up and around, feeling every inch of him. Every inch but the ones directly in front of her.

And then, pure bliss. Luke closed his eyes, choking on another moan as she let her lips engulf his thick length. She worked him slowly, making him her slave with every stroke of her tongue. And Luke was glad of it. He bucked against her, completely spellbound and rapt with pleasure. Nothing could ruin this moment, nor prevent their joining.

His phone rang.

Luke didn’t immediately hear it, so caught up in his delicious thief. But the incessant ringing cut through and Mel pulled back. “It’s yours,” she said, reaching into his pants pocket and handing him his phone. If not for the heat in her eyes and his own desire, Luke wouldn’t have known she’d had his cock in her mouth a second ago.

But they weren’t people who could afford to become wrapped up. Especially not hours fresh from committing a theft in a foreign country. Luke looked at the caller ID and answered. “Hello, Maya.” He hoped he didn’t sound as frustrated as he felt.

Mel crawled off of him and straightened her shirt. Luke wanted to pull her back down, to sit with her while he sorted whatever mess Maya had to clear up. But Mel was already walking away and he couldn’t afford to neglect his duties. No matter how much he wanted to.

Mel slept through the night with a clean conscience, even if her dreams were anything but. She didn’t regret what she’d done with the alpha, but it had been a mistake. Not to be repeated. She thought that she’d learned her lesson when it came to mixing work and pleasure, but where Luke Torres was concerned, all bets were off. He set off something inside her that she hadn’t known existed. And it wasn’t just about lust. Lust she could handle. Impulse she could handle. He made her want, made her need something that she couldn’t ever remember having.

And that made him far more dangerous than any small time fling.

She wasn’t going to destroy herself again. Not over a man.

On the bright side, whatever passed between them seemed to clear up the animosity he’d exuded on their flight down. They ate a pleasant breakfast of fruit and coffee and set off for the airstrip just after dawn. Luke told her that Maya had things under control. Cassie wasn’t better, but she wasn’t any worse either. Krista had spent most of her time closeted away with Cassie when she wasn’t busy driving the second in command up the wall. In Maya’s words, the witch was ‘difficult.’ Luke laughed when he gave Mel the report.

Mel wasn’t surprised when she saw a familiar face at the airport. She stepped out of the car to see Bob standing in the bright light, a ridiculously floppy hat shielding his eyes from the bright sun. It wasn’t yet hot, but the day was getting there.

Luke was out of the car in a flash, standing just a foot in front of her but only one small jump away. Mel stepped up and placed a calming hand on his arm. It shouldn’t have worked. No matter what happened the night before they had no real relationship. But she could feel the muscles in the alpha’s arm relax. He took half a step back, standing equal with her. That freaked her out even more. Luke was silently telling Bob that she was his equal. And that meant more than any words or actions they could exchange.

“It’s a beautiful morning, isn’t it?” Bob asked, calling across the short distance between them.

“I suppose,” she replied. “What are you doing here?”

“Need a ride out of town. Figured you had something set up already. I’ll pay my portion of the bribes.” He held up a thick envelope, “Courtesy of a certain mutual friend.”

He tossed the envelope to Mel. She glanced inside. At a glance there was at least five grand in there. Mel looked at Luke. “You’re my client. It’s your call. Bob’s smart and he might have some insight into the current situation.”

Luke studied the other man. He grabbed Mel’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze before letting go. “If you trust him.”

“There’s one more thing you should know,” Mel didn’t know what possessed her to come clean, but even lying by omission felt wrong. “Bob was the third man. Krista, me, and him lifted the Scarlet Emerald.”

She didn’t know what reaction she expected. Luke looked over at Bob and studied him for another moment. “They were in EC’s with you. The diner in town.” If anything, humor laced his words. As good a reaction as she could hope for.

“Do you plan to tell your new mate about any other jobs I’ve worked?” Bob asked.

Mel felt everything still inside of her, and she could feel Luke coil up right beside her. Mate. It rang through her ears, bouncing around her head and completely taking her over. Was that what was between them? Mating was one of those funny shapeshifter quirks. Even if they shifted into animals that didn’t form any lifetime bonds, shapeshifters sometimes found just the right person and stayed by them forever. Not always, it wasn’t even that common. But it wasn't unheard of by a long shot. Most large packs had at least one mated pair.

Bob must have meant to be glib, to taunt her into a reaction. But if Luke was her mate, that made everything even worse. She didn’t want to – couldn’t – stay in one place for long. And as alpha of a pack, Luke couldn’t leave. They weren’t mates. They couldn’t be.

She recovered before the alpha, off-kilter for only a matter of seconds. Enough for Bob to notice, but not enough for him to comment. “Shut the fuck up, dude. If you want a seat, it’s yours.”

She grabbed her bag and walked into the hangar.

Their plane was a small, chartered machine. It could comfortably fit eight people in huge seats, and it included a work area with picnic seating,  with two chairs on each side of a table. They all sat there, Mel next to Bob. She wanted to sit next to the alpha so much that she forced herself not to. In a short time they would part ways, probably never see each other again. She had to get used to it now.

She laid out the situation with Cassie, leaving the girl’s relationship to Luke out of it. All Bob needed to know was that she was a member of Luke’s pack.

“Here’s the main problem. Luke has never tangled with witches before, and he doesn’t know of any reason why they would target him now. So why the hex? They haven’t said what they want. They haven’t said who they are. Krista is probably working to trace it, but that’s iffy at best.” Mel set her hands on the table, her fingers twined together. “You know what I think, but it’s probably not her.”

Luke’s gaze pierced Mel. “Who do you think is doing this? Why didn’t you tell me anything?”

Mel shouldn’t have said anything. And she didn’t want to explain in great detail. “A witch killed my parents. She’s very powerful and ambitious. But there’s no reason to think she’s involved in this. I’m not going to be some old Roman, ranting against Carthage when it’s clearly not.”

Bob grinned at talk of the classics. “Ava hasn’t made any moves in Colorado. Doesn’t mean she won’t. But last I heard she was in New England.”

“Is there some sort of supernatural Facebook that I don’t know about?” Luke asked. “I could name maybe three witches off the top of my head and half a dozen vampires. How do you know everyone?” He threw his hands up and let them land on the table.

Mel reached over and grabbed onto them with a smile. “We know who we need to know. But it’s not called the underworld for nothing. I bet you know shapeshifters better than I do.”

“Don’t patronize me.” Despite his tone, he smiled.

“Do you want my help?” Bob asked, “I may have some avenues of inquiry that Krista can’t access.”

“Yes,” said Luke. “If Mel trusts you, I want you on the case.”