The Dark-Hunters (85 page)

Picking it up, he was impressed by how well she had captured his likeness.

The woman was a brilliant artist. She was able to put emotions and meaning into even the simplest of lines. He’d never seen anything like it.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t leave it here.

He tore the page out and used his powers to burn it. Dark-Hunters were forbidden to allow their likenesses to be captured in any medium or form. No one needed proof of their immortality. Such evidence would only lead to questions and complications none of them wanted.

He just hoped she didn’t reproduce it after he left.

Talon glanced around the loft and noted that the entire area was littered with framed and unframed art. The floor, a long drawing table, and three easels were scattered with half-finished projects.

Crossing the room, he went to examine them closer. He lost track of time as he looked them over, then found more paintings leaning against the wall by the bedroom. Sunshine liked vivid colors in her work, and her brushstrokes on canvas were as light and gentle as the lady herself.

But it was her pottery that fascinated him most. The pieces were a fiery mixture of color, and the designs of them were far from modern. She must have studied Greek and Celtic cultures extensively to reproduce such authentic copies. It was remarkable how true to the past they were. If he didn’t know better, he would swear a Were-Hunter had brought them forward in time.

A knock sounded on the door.

Talon set the bowl he was looking at back with the others on the shelf by the door. He stepped to the door and opened it to see Kyrian and Julian standing on the other side.

They both gaped as they caught sight of him standing virtually naked in the loft.

Talon quickly slammed the door shut.

Kyrian roared with laughter. Talon cringed.

“C’mon, Tally,” Kyrian teased from the other side. “Don’t you want your clothes, your keys? Oh wait, how about some dignity?”

Talon opened the door, grabbed Kyrian by the shirt and hauled him inside. “You are such an asshole.”

Kyrian laughed even harder as Julian Alexander walked in.

By his expression, Talon could tell that Julian wanted to laugh too, but he was trying hard not to. Talon appreciated it.

Kyrian, on the other hand, wasn’t so kind. “Nice knees, bud, but the hairy legs could use a Bush Hog.”

“Shut up.” Talon grabbed the bag of clothes from Kyrian’s hand and pulled his leather pants out. “Julian, I just want to thank you for being a grown-up and not laughing at my expense.”

His hands in his pants pockets, Julian nodded. “Well, having been in your shoes, I can relate. Of course, in my defense, my towel was at least dark green and not pink.”

The two of them roared with laughter while Talon groaned.

Kyrian flicked at the edge of the towel. “What is this? Lace?”

“No,” Julian said, “I think it’s called crochet.”

Talon bared his fangs at the two of them. “Better be careful,
humans,
or I might decide to feed off you.”

“Uh, half-human,” Julian reminded him. “Feed off me and I’ll give you a bellyache from hell.”

Growling at them, Talon quickly exchanged his towel for his pants.

“So,” Kyrian said. “Have you become Ravyn now? Do I need to forewarn Nick you’ll be shedding your clothes on a daily basis or what?”

Talon rolled his eyes at the mention of the Katagari Dark-Hunter. Ravyn was a shapeshifter who often got caught naked after sunup. “No, it’s a one-time thing.”
I hope.
“Speaking of Nick, where is he? I tried to call him for this chore.”

“He’s in class.”

“Yeah, well, he’s still on Dark-Hunter payroll, so tell him to keep his phone turned on.”

“Ooo,” Kyrian said. “Getting testy in your fierce nakedness.”

Talon ignored him as he pulled his black T-shirt on.

*   *   *

Sunshine paused beside Selena Laurens’s tarot-card stand in Jackson Square. Selena’s brown frizzy hair was tied back with a leopard-print scarf, and her thin body was covered with a black-and-white houndstooth coat.

“Hey, Sunny,” Selena greeted her. “I was wondering if you were sick or something since you’re not out here with your art.”

“Oh no, someone came up.”

Selena arched a brow at her. “Someone old or someone new?”

“New.”

Selena looked a bit skeptical. “I hope this one is nicer than that last bozo you dated.”

Sunshine wrinkled her nose as she remembered Greg. A rough biker, he’d been less than desirable and he’d kept confusing her with his ex-girlfriend Sara—nothing like being called the wrong name while having sex with someone.

Not to mention, he’d borrowed three hundred dollars from her the day before she’d kicked him out. Although, all things considered, it was worth the three hundred dollars to be rid of him.

“He seems to be.” She patted her bag with Talon’s clothes. “Well, I need to be getting back to him—”

“Sunshine!” Selena snapped. “Tell me you didn’t.”

“Didn’t what?”

“Leave him in your loft unattended.”

“It’s okay. He’s safe.”

Selena groaned. “Woman, that generous heart of yours gets you into more trouble. Do you know this guy at all?”

Sunshine took a deep breath. She was so tired of everyone lecturing her. “I’ll see you later, Madame Selene.” She rushed back down the street toward her car with Selena fussing at her the whole way.

Ugh! Why couldn’t anyone ever trust her? She wasn’t a two-year-old. And being absentminded didn’t equate to stupidity. If her kindness killed her, then she was better off dead than living a cold, unfeeling life where she misered up all her feelings and possessions.

Besides, Talon wasn’t like other men. She knew it. He seemed to have a lot more heart than most men she’d known.

He was electrifying. Dangerous. Mysterious.

Best of all, he was waiting naked in her loft.

Getting into her car, she headed home.

It didn’t take long to reach her father’s club and pull around to the back where she always parked. Sunshine frowned as she saw a huge black Harley motorcycle parked beside a black Lamborghini.

Talon’s friends?

Hmm, maybe Wayne was right. Maybe Talon
was
a drug dealer.

Not quite so sure of him, she got out of her car and used the back door that opened into the empty club.

She rushed up the steel-and-concrete stairs to her loft.

Pushing open the door, she froze as she caught sight of three men, all of whose testosterone levels were off the Richter scale. They were absolutely devastating.

Whoa, she needed a sketchbook. Pronto.

Talon was dressed in black leather pants and a tight T-shirt that hugged every crevice of his deadly male perfection.

He stood talking to the two men in her kitchen—two incredibly handsome men. Men who were dressed like professionals and not out-of-work bikers.

How wonderfully refreshing.

“Hi, Sunshine,” Talon greeted her. “These are my friends.”

The one who was Talon’s height held his hand out to her. “Kyrian Hunter,” he said in an enchanting accent that was nothing like Talon’s.

Sunshine shook his strong, callused hand as she recognized the name. “So you’re Selena’s brother-in-law. She talks about you and Amanda all the time.”

Kyrian was slightly leaner than Talon, with laughing green eyes and an easy smile. His blond hair was a shade darker than Talon’s and cut in a very hip style. “I think I should be afraid of what she says about me. Knowing her, there’s no telling.”

Sunshine smiled. “It’s all good, I promise you.”

“This is Dr. Julian Alexander,” Talon said, introducing the other man, who wore a navy sweater and khakis.

“Nice meeting you,” Julian said, extending his hand.

Sunshine responded in kind. Julian was about two inches shorter than the other two and yet his aura was every bit as strong and powerful. His eyes were a gorgeous blue and his hair the same shade as Kyrian’s. He was also the most subdued of the three of them, but his eyes were no less friendly.

“Doctor?” she asked.

“I teach Classics at Loyola.”

“Oh. Do you know Selena Laurens too?”

Julian nodded. “Very well. She’s best friends with my wife.”

“Grace?” Sunshine said. “You’re married to Gracie?”

Recognition hit them at the same time.

“That was you?” she asked, stepping around to view him from behind. Oh yeah, now
that
she remembered. “You’re Mr. Hot Bottom!”

His face went flush with embarrassment.

“Hot Bottom?” Talon asked. “This I’ve got to hear.”

“Oh yeah,” Kyrian added.

“We need to be going,” Julian said, pushing Kyrian toward the door.

“Oh, like hell,” Kyrian said. “Not until I hear this.”

“Nice seeing you again, Sunshine,” Julian said, shoving Kyrian out the door.

“Don’t worry, Kyrian,” Talon called. “I’ll be sure to give you the
full
details.”

Sunshine set the bag of clothes on her counter as the door slammed shut. “I guess you won’t be needing these after all.”

“Sorry.” He leaned against the counter and watched her. “So, tell me how you met Julian.”

She shrugged. “I sell my artwork at Jackson Square and I have a booth space next to Selena. A couple of years ago, she brought this bodacious guy to work with her wearing a tight tank top and shorts. Julian had really long hair back then. Anyway, there was this huge crowd of women who had gathered around to watch him. Selena thought it was a disaster, but I made so much money selling sketches of him that I didn’t care.”

Talon frowned as a very peculiar wave of jealousy went through him. And before he could stop himself, he asked, “Did you keep any of the sketches?”

“I only had one left, and I gave it to Grace about a year ago.”

More relieved than he cared to admit, Talon watched her watch him. Her gaze traced the curve of his lips, the line of his jaw, and it made him ache to possess her, to kiss her lips one more time.

“You know, you are really handsome when you smile.”

“Am I?” he asked, taking a strange amount of satisfaction from that.

“Yes, you are.”

Sunshine swallowed as she realized there was no more reason for him to stay. Not that she should care; she needed to get back to her work. And yet at the same time she didn’t want him to leave. “I guess you’ll be going now that you’re all dressed.”

He looked askance at the sunlight. “I’m afraid I can’t leave until the sun goes down.”

“Oh.” Sunshine tried to stifle the giddiness inside her.

He cleared his throat. “If you have things you need to do…”

“Oh no,” she said quickly, then paused. “I mean, I … um … it would be rude,
very
rude, to leave you here alone. Especially since I don’t have a TV or anything else for you to do.” She licked her lips. “Well, since you can’t leave, what would you like to do for the rest of the afternoon?”

“Honestly?”

“Yes.”

“I’d like nothing better than to make love to you.”

Chapter 4

Sunshine pulled back, startled by Talon’s frankness. But more than that, she was stunned by how much she she wanted the same thing from him, a man she barely knew at all. And yet there was no denying how much she wanted to make love to him.

How much she ached to caress every inch of that divinely powerful masculine body.

Her lust didn’t seem wrong to her. It seemed oddly right and only natural. In a strange way it felt as if she did know him. As if they were supposed to be much more intimate than just strangers who had collided by happenstance out on a dark street.

She wanted him on a level she didn’t comprehend.

“You don’t beat around the bush, do you?” she asked flippantly.

“No,” he said, his jet-black eyes burning her with their heated potency. “I don’t.”

The power of his desire rolled over her, captivating her. He was so intense, so mesmerizing. And she found herself inexplicably drawn to him.

He reached out and touched a lock of her hair. Desire coiled through her veins, making her throb.

Nowhere else did their bodies touch and yet she swore she could feel him with every single cell of her body.

She quivered with need.

With heat.

With desire.

He bent down and whispered in her ear, his breath tickling her skin. “I’ve always been a firm believer in seizing the moment. In taking what I want when I want it. And right now, Sunshine, I want
you.
I want to taste every inch of your body. To feel your breath on my neck while I make love to you. To take my tongue and explore every part of you until you beg me to stop.”

She shivered at the way he said that. “Life is short, I suppose.”

He gave a short laugh at that as he nuzzled her cheek with his lips. His whiskered skin teased hers and she shivered at the manly feel of him. “More so for some than for others.”

Sunshine drew in a deep breath as seriousness settled back over them both. The mood of the room wasn’t just serious, the air between them was rife with salacity.

With sexual electricity.

Talon moved his mouth dangerously close to hers.

Slowly.

Seductively.

Time was suspended as she waited for his lips to claim hers. As she waited to taste his passion again.

Then, he took her into his arms and kissed her so possessively that it made her breathless.

Sunshine moaned as she tasted him with her lips and with her heart. He invaded every sense she possessed. His muscles bunched and flexed under her hands as his tongue swept against hers. She heard him growl low and deep in his throat like some uncaged beast.

She shivered again.

She brushed her fingertips against the warm nape of his neck, playing with the soft, tender skin there before she ran her fingers upward, through the golden strands of his hair, letting them wrap around her flesh.

How she liked the way this man felt in her arms. The scent of leather and Talon invaded her head and made it reel. He surrounded her with the strong hardness of his body.

She felt his desire for her as his erection pressed against her stomach, and it ignited her own, making her ache for his body, his touch. She wanted him inside her so desperately it stunned her. Never in her life had she wanted a man like this.