Ultimate Warriors (35 page)

     
As if
reading Nikandros’ thoughts, Korbin said, "And this time, I don’t just
mean romance her. Get her into your bed and screw her--"

     
"I
understand," Nikandros interrupted with a deepening frown.

     
"What?"
Korbin asked, sensing his friend’s hesitance. He almost looked as if he felt
sorry for Nikandros’ situation, as he asked, "Is she that appalling?"

     
The
answering scowl deepened.

     
"Ahh,"
Korbin began to laugh and pounded his fist on his nightstand so that his video
phone bounced. Nikandros detected a woman to moan sleepily from behind his
friend’s back. Sniffing in merriment, Korbin lowered his tone to say,
"She’s not, is she? Hell, man, it’s about time you got laid. Go get her,
tiger."

     
"I’m
hanging up now," Nikandros
said,
his tone dry.

     
"No,
wait, Nick," Korbin demanded. "I have to tell you something. It’s
important."

     
"What?"

     
"Do
you still know how to do it? If not, I--" Korbin’s laughing voice was cut
off as Nikandros shut the video phone.

     
All
right, so it had been awhile since he was attracted to someone enough to sleep
with them. He lowered his head onto his hands and groaned. Even know he could
smell the erotic perfume of her body. As far as attraction went, Quinlan St.
James had all the right equipment.

* * * *

     
Silk
pulled low over the balcony. Scaling the side of the old Victorian hadn’t been
too hard. Seeing a soft light in the window, she crept under it on her stomach.
Then, coming to the edge of the balcony, she climbed over the rail. Weaving a
strand from her spinnerets, she jumped off the side and swung herself from one
balcony to another. Her cape flapped around her, displaying the tight gray body
suit underneath.

     
Within
moments, she worked her way to an opened window and slipped inside, headfirst
over a windowsill. Standing, she saw she was in a small bathroom. The
decontaminator unit was made to look like an old fashioned shower. She crouched
underneath the moving light sensors, not wanting them to detect her. Hitting
the black leather pouch on her belt, she again stood. The box would emit a
pulse that scrambled any household droids or contraptions, keeping them from
alerting their owners as they tried to ‘serve her’.

     
Opening
the bathroom door, she stepped out into the hall and stealthily tried to make
her way to the stairwell at the far end. Suddenly, a door opened and she froze.
Her eyes widened as she pressed into the wall. She was too far from the
bathroom to duck back in. Her heart began to pound.

     
She
heard a woman’s voice giggle from within the bedroom. Silk looked all around
for a place to hide. About to reach up and jump to the ceiling, she noticed
movement by her side. A large, naked man came from the bedroom. His muscles
rippled like an Olympian God and his member was still very much erect and
vibrating. Sniffing, Silk grimaced. It was a pleasure droid and he reeked of
sex.

     
Holding
very still, she watched as the naked robot passed right next to her. She
couldn’t help the curious glance over its backside. She grinned naughtily. For
a machine, it was certainly a work of art. A darker face flashed through her
head and her smile faded. Why was she thinking of Nick Grant at a time like
this?

     
Hurrying
down the stairs before the droid made the return trip back to his mistress’
bedroom, Silk rushed across the dark house. She barely noted the antique
furniture, or the endless lace and frippery draping all over of it.

     
Taking a
scanner from her belt, she held it up and began to search around, examining
behind the walls. She stopped as she found the inner working of a time lock
safe hidden behind some paneling. With a push of a button, she looked inside
it. Only a packet of money and some family jewels flashed on her screen so she
ignored it. Working her way from room to room, she suddenly stopped as she
found what she was looking for. It was the entrance to Dr. Nathaniel’s laboratory.

     
Pulling
back a fake wall, she pushed her pointer finger to the lock and filled it with
a hard tissue, packing it full. Then, turning her hand, she unlocked the door
and slipped downstairs to the basement.

     
The
laboratory was as long as the courtyard outside. Bright light flooded the metal
structure. Silk stealthily made her way over the walkway, pulling her cape over
her shoulder so it could not tangle amongst her feet. Holding onto the rail,
she hopped over the side. Her fingers wrapped their silken cords over the metal
bar and she slowly lowered herself down, her arms directly over her head. Then,
stopping, she grimaced.

     
A full
head of dark hair was beneath her, lying on top of a messy desk. If she let go,
she would land right on top of the late working scientist. Silk frowned. The
lab was supposed to be empty. Dr. Nathaniel was out of town for business and
his very lovely trophy wife was enjoying her rental upstairs. As she looked
back up, her body began to twist and she turned slightly in the air.

     
Ah,
hell!

     
Silk
released the gossamer strands from her fingers and flipped through the air,
dropping to the ground with a heavy thud behind the scientist’s body.

     
Nikandros
felt the presence above him. He didn’t move, pretending to sleep on the desk.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. His senses peaked, ready to do
battle. As he heard the thud behind him, he swung around, ready to strike.

     
Nikandros
stiffened, not moving as the lovely creature before him held his fist in her
hand. A silver clasp of a stylized butterfly kept a hood to her forehead. He
couldn’t see her features beneath the tight mask and the cloak shaded the color
of her eyes.

     
A tight
gray body suit hugged every one of her curves, leaving nothing to the
imagination but the texture of her skin. A black weapons belt hung low on her
hips. Her waist was slender, curving delightfully up. The cape hid her upper
body from view. The sexiest vinyl boots he had ever seen in his centuries of living
molded over her calves. Nikandros smiled in manly appreciation.

     
He’d
never been so turned on in his life--or, at least since earlier in the park.
The woman blinked, looking more fully at him. He swore her eyes were flecked
with purple.

     
Silk
grabbed the hand that flew at her, surprised that the scientist would attack.
Usually such men didn’t have it in them. Without warning, she froze,
recognizing the handsome face. Her breath caught in her throat.

     
Silk
looked the attractive man over, from his firm parted lips to his solid dark
eyes that studied her. He had been in her thoughts since their meeting in the
park. She desperately wanted to kiss him, wanted to fulfill the strange
fantasies she had of him. But then, something odd happened. His eyes began to
shift and change with red, just a tinting. If she hadn’t have seen him out
during the day, she would have thought him a vampire.

     
Silk
shook herself from the depths of his sultry dark gaze. The image of the naked
pleasure droid came to mind to taunt her, as did her dreams of this man earlier
in the day. She had the strangest urge to see if his body could even compare to
the robot upstairs or to the fantasies in her head.

     
Unable
to stop herself, she released his hand and twirled. The silk from her fingers
pulled his arm around. In one swift motion, she had his wrist pinned behind his
back in a silken web.

     
Nikandros
froze, knowing he could get out of her trap if he wanted to. He’d have to
reveal his powers to do it, but he could. He didn’t move. He didn’t want to.
The action had brought her body close to him and she was pressed fully along
his frame. Though her eyes were hard, the body molding into him was anything
but.

     
Silk
allowed herself to feel him, never knowing why she let temptation overcome her.
Beneath the lab coat, she could feel that he was all solid man--from the
definition of his abs to the rock-hard feel of his thighs against hers. To her
amazement, she felt his body twitch and rise between her legs. His manhood
pressed full into her, giving away its master’s thoughts.

     
Fear,
she would have expected from him.
But this?

     
"This
is private property," he whispered, his voice dipping low to send chills
over her. He felt her reaction, smelled it in her. His lips brushed forward to
where her mouth would have been under her disguise.

     
"Then
I guess I’m trespassing," she murmured back.

     
Nikandros
swore he saw her mask shift with a smile. He knew she felt his body’s response
to her and yet she didn’t back away.

     
"What
do you want?" he asked. Vivid images of conquering her over every surface
of the laboratory came to mind. "Why are you here?"

     
Feeling
the insistent shove of his rising center as it burned firmly into her hip, she
collapsed her body against him and whispered, "Not for this,
sweetheart."

     
Silk
swung her hand around him, cocooning him faster than he could think to protest.
Grabbing a handheld computer off the desk, she turned at a full run, leaping
into the air as she flipped onto the top walkway.

     
Nikandros
broke his arms free just in time to see her body swinging over the side rail.
Giving chase, he leapt behind her. His lab coat fluttered to the ground as he
stripped of it in midair.

     
Silk dashed
through the living room. With a press of a button, she disarmed the front lawn
security and was out the front door. Nikandros cursed as he came from the lab.
Dr. Nathaniel’s maid unit sensed his presence and switched on. With a press of
her cleavage beneath a skimpy French maid uniform, she tried to get in his way
to offer him a drink.

     
Nikandros
pushed her aside. The maid gasped. Her mouth widened with affront. His eyes
growing molten with red outrage, he ignored the machine as he ran out the front
door. His vision pierced through the darkness with ease, only to stop at the
cloaked figure hiding in the shadows. He growled, running up the side of the
tree to soar over the fence. Seeing her blurring body, he went after her.

     
Silk
detected the moment he saw her hiding and jumped down from the gate. With a
supernatural speed, she began to take off down the quiet residential street.
She tired to lose him, jumping down an impossible side cliff with the aid of
her gossamer threads. He was right behind her, springing without fear as if he
could glide through the air with ease. Seeing a hover bus, she hopped on top of
it, clinging to the roof as it sped down the street. Attaching herself with the
thread from her fingers, she turned over onto her back to ease herself down the
side.

     
Nikandros,
his red gaze flashing fire, landed on top of her. Silk jolted. Nikandros’ body
came hard against her as the bus hastened forward over the city streets.
Everything blurred along their sides until trees and houses were no longer
recognizable.

     
Silk
didn’t dare let her fingers go, lest she lose her grip. If she did, they would
both go flying to their deaths. Nikandros’ fingers curled strong and sure
around her wrists. She tried to buck him off of her, but he merely bounced. She
struggled against him, grunting to be free.

     
Nikandros
growled. It was a horrific noise meant to drive fear into her. The woman merely
continued to fight him. In her efforts, his hips worked between her thighs
until his body pressed intimately into her.

     
Feeling
the hard length of him digging and grinding as the bus bounced in the air, she
froze. Desire swam into her racing blood, heating her with a liquid excitement
she had never felt before. Her heart thundered wildly in her chest with the
thrill of the fight, the adrenaline of his chase, the passion in his loins
pressed thoroughly into hers.

     
"Who
are you?" he asked in a frustrated growl.

     
"Silk,"
she answered simply, not stopping to think.

     
Nikandros
sensed her body heating. Unable to help himself, masculine hunger overtook him
and he dropped a hand to her covered breast. He pressed his lips to her masked
mouth. Silk moaned in surprise. His lips parted, as if he could taste her
through her disguise. His fingers boldly caressed her, as if they could part
her from her clothing. He could find no seam in her outfit from which to
liberate her.