Savage Redemption

chapter 12



Kat purred with pure pleasure. Conlan’s skin was slick and damp from the shower. She lapped up a few droplets from the top of his shoulder, smiling when Conlan’s muscle flexed in response. He headed straight across to the bed, the only piece of furniture in the room, and tumbled them both down onto the mattress. They landed with Kat on her back and Conlan sprawled on top of her. Perfect.

Somewhere between the hallway and the bed, he’d lost the towel he’d wrapped around his hips, not that she was complaining. The thick terry cloth had done nothing at all to disguise how much he wanted her. She found it incredibly erotic to have free access to all that wonderful warm skin and muscle while he was going to have to work to get equal access.

But Conlan was nothing if not goal oriented. Between bone-melting kisses and teasing touches, he stripped her bare. Not only physically, but emotionally, as well. How could she have forgotten what it was like to have all that chancellor strength and power focused only on her? As if his hunger wouldn’t be sated until he devoured her completely.

She couldn’t wait.

He pushed himself up on his elbows and stared down at her as if trying to decide where to start. His fangs were on full display. She reached up to touch the tips, smiling when he nipped at her fingers.

“Careful there, Kat. I might bite.”

They’d never gotten that far before. She’d always suspected he’d held back for fear of frightening her. This time was different. She wanted it all.

“I might let you,” she whispered and then tipped her head, offering him easier access to her throat.

“Not yet, but we’ll get there.”

His eyes flared wide as he slowly lowered his mouth to kiss his way up her shoulder to the pulse point right below her jaw. He gently grazed her skin with his fangs, a promise of what was to come. The sensation sent delicious shivers dancing across her skin. She whimpered and arched her neck, asking for more of the same.

Conlan’s smile held a great deal of masculine satisfaction as his lips brushed across hers before finally settling there to teach her more about kissing than she could have ever imagined. He tasted hot and spicy, all male and powerful, overwhelming her with a combined assault on her senses from his hands and tongue and the full weight of his body pressing her down into the mattress.

She dug her fingers into his hips, trying to pull him closer, to take him into her body, to soothe the damp ache that had her legs stirring restlessly.

“Conlan, please.”

“Please what?” He kissed the corners of her mouth. “Maybe this?”

He eased down her body to capture her nipple with his lips, using the rasp of his tongue to coax it into a tight bud. All the while, he cupped her other breast with the warmth of his palm and kneaded it gently. She tangled her fingers in his hair, holding him close as his mouth continued to suckle hard.

The tugging sensation was so amazing that it took her several seconds to realize that his hand had already moved on, stopping briefly to trace the curve of her waist and following it along the flare of her hip. When he rolled to the side, she protested, missing the hard feel of his body on top of hers. But then he slipped his fingers between her legs, stroking the damp folds and seeking out her secrets.

When she moaned and lifted her hips, demanding more of the same, he looked entirely too smug. When she tried to push him over onto his back, he resisted briefly and then let her win that little battle. She immediately rose over him, straddling his thighs and taking the situation in hand. Gripping his erection, she slid her hand up and down several times. Conlan’s head kicked back on the pillow as he grabbed a handful of the sheets, as if needing to anchor himself somehow.

She leaned down to nibble his chin and this time traced the length of his fangs with her tongue. When she rocked against him, Conlan murmured his approval, finally grabbing her backside to help her establish a faster rhythm. The growing tension escalated until her breath was coming in shallow pants, her skin covered in a damp sheen as they both strained to get closer, to find satisfaction. Finally, Conlan abruptly flipped her over onto her back and settled himself between her legs again.

“Playtime’s over, Kat. Brace yourself,” he said, his words a low growl, the gleam in his eyes hot, predatory.

Then he took her hard and fast, plunging deep into her core with one long stroke. The sudden intrusion hovered on the right side of painful, stretching her, filling her, completing her. The fit of their two bodies was perfect.

He froze briefly. “Are you all right with this? I’m telling you right now, my control is shot all to hell. This is going to be hard and fast.”

“That’s how I want it, how I want you.” She stared up into the blue of his eyes, no longer icy but reflecting all the warmth of a hot summer sky. Then she lifted her legs up high around his hips as they flexed again. She latched onto his arms, trying to counter his powerful thrusts.

As promised, he didn’t hold anything back, and she reveled in knowing she’d broken through his chancellor’s control. He’d been holding himself up, his arms at full extension. But then he rocked back on his haunches, bringing her up off the mattress to straddle his thick thighs. Still thrusting deep, he pulled her hair back from her face, exposing her neck, bending her head to the side and stretching her skin taut.

This time when he grazed her throat with his teeth, it wasn’t a promise but a warning. He didn’t give her time for second thoughts or fear, biting down hard and fast.

She screamed, but not in pain. The sensations just kept coming, building, overwhelming her. The pull of his mouth on her vein matched the rhythm he’d established, riding them both hard and fast. Then it all exploded, her body shuddering in bliss as she took everything he could give her and demanded more. Her reward was the amazing sensation of his release pulsing deep inside her.

Gradually, the world came back into focus again as their heartbeats slowed back to normal. One last kiss and then he wrapped her in his arms, and they slept.

Morning came in fits and starts. It had been a long night, not that Conlan was complaining. After they’d all but passed out in sated exhaustion, Kat had woken him up again only a short time later, using her mouth in wicked, wonderful ways to coax him into making love a second time.

The third time had been all him. He’d taken his time, paying due homage to every part of Kat, revisiting a few favorite spots several times before joining his body to hers. This time, their loving had been slow, easy, almost lazy but satisfying all the same.

The next time he surfaced, he heard the shower running. The other side of the bed was still warm. He confiscated Kat’s pillow and dozed while breathing in the scent of her hair and her skin—wishing like hell that Kat’s problems had somehow magically disappeared overnight.

But they hadn’t. The threat was still there, growing stronger, closer. Definitely time to get moving. He’d finish the shower he’d only started the night before and get moving. They’d refuel with some breakfast and then he’d take notes while Kat picked up where she’d left off yesterday evening. He hated putting her through all of this, forcing her to relive the nightmare her life had become.

Especially because none of this was her fault. He believed that was true. Kat was innocent of all charges. Once he proved it, she’d have a future, and so would he, at long last free of any further entanglements with Kat and her problems. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He’d spent three long years wishing he’d never met her, and now he couldn’t imagine his life without her in it. How crazy was that?

With that happy thought, he sat up, noting the shower had shut off. He picked up his pack and headed into the bathroom, passing Kat on her way out. A few minutes later, he thought he heard Kat say something through the door, but he couldn’t make out the words over the shower. Rather than yelling for her to repeat herself, he quickly finished and got dressed.

The minute Conlan stepped out into the hall, he noticed the silence. It felt heavy, wrong somehow. With his chancellor senses, he should’ve been able to detect Kat’s presence even if she were sitting perfectly still and simply breathing. Listening as hard as he could, he got nothing. Except for him, the condo was empty.

His gut was screaming a truth that his heart didn’t want to believe: Kat was gone.

He pulled his gun and sidled down the short hallway, hoping against hope that he was wrong, that she was there waiting for him. But no, the living room was as empty as his soul. So was the kitchen. The scene was all too peaceful for her to have been abducted—no signs of a struggle, everything just as they’d left it last night.

“Son of a bitch!”

He kicked a toss pillow across the room, getting no satisfaction from either the gesture or the curse. Punching the wall wouldn’t help either, but it was damned tempting. Where the hell had Kat gone, and why?

Frustration and anger wouldn’t answer his questions. It took a hell of an effort to rein in his temper, but his cold analytical skills would better serve him now. Shoving his gun back into the waistband of his jeans, he positioned himself so that he could see most of the condo from one spot.

Starting in the far corner of the living room, he slowly scanned the area, looking for...what, he didn’t know. Some sign, some clue as to why Kat was missing. For the moment, he needed to be the investigator he’d been before he’d met her: aloof, calculating...whole.

His notes were undisturbed, his laptop still in sleep mode. Her pack sat by the door to the garage. What did that mean? Had she forgotten it, or had she merely set it there so she could grab it on their way out? She’d washed the few dishes they’d used. Okay, that made no sense. If Kat had been planning on escaping, why would she hang around long enough to do chores?

He checked the garage. The transport was parked right where he’d left it. No surprise there, although he patted his pocket to confirm he still had the key. The security system verified the garage door hadn’t been opened since they’d arrived. That left the front door.

It was unlocked. He closed his eyes and replayed his return from the deli last night. Yeah, he’d locked the door as soon as he’d come in and double-checked it again later. He studied the frame and the doorknob from inside and then outside. No fresh marks. In fact, it was pristine, because Rafferty had replaced the door and the jamb after the attack on Ambrose.

If Conlan were to draw the logical conclusion, Kat had walked out of the front door of her own accord. Unless she’d called for a ride, she was on foot. Where was the sense in that?

His was the only phone they had, and it was sitting right there on the counter where he’d left it. He checked the log. There were no new calls, incoming or outgoing. Of course, she’d already erased one call. She could’ve done so again.

Maybe there was another way to check. He hit the third number on speed dial and waited to see if Finn answered. Conlan let out a sigh of relief when the young chancellor picked up on the fourth ring.

“Hey, boss, what’s up?”

Boss? It was unlikely Conlan could still lay claim to that title. Well, unless Rafferty hadn’t told anyone what Conlan had done. Again, unlikely. The vampire wouldn’t leave his security team in the dark. They’d have to know what was going on in case the mercenaries put in another appearance.

“Did Rafferty happen to mention me?”

“Sure thing. He said that you’d taken off with Ms. Karr because you decided that you were the only one capable of keeping her safe. Gotta tell you, Conlan, he sounded pretty insulted by that.”

Finn actually laughed. Then his voice dropped lower. “Even so, despite how pissed he acted, I think he was glad for the excuse to take charge of things. Got him out of entertaining those vampire ladies who’ve been driving him crazy.”

That might be true, but if this mess didn’t end soon, Conlan was afraid Rafferty’s patience would run out. “Listen, Finn, I don’t want you to risk your job over helping me. Don’t get Rafferty mad at you, too. If helping me is going to cause you problems, say so.”

His assistant didn’t sound at all worried. “Don’t sweat it, Conlan. He told me that if you called to do whatever you asked within reason and then wait to tell him about it when Ambrose O’Brien wasn’t within earshot.”

So the bridges weren’t burned yet. That was a relief.

“Okay, if you’re sure, then, can you run the master phone logs on my number? I got a call last night. I want to know if you can trace the number and if there were any incoming calls this morning, especially from that same number.”

While Finn typed, Conlan asked, “So you’re telling me Ambrose is still there?”

“Oh, yeah, and you should’ve seen the look on his face when that friend of yours Lucius landed inside the fence and introduced himself. Seriously, it was like watching two stud dogs circling each other trying to figure out if they really want to fight. Finally, Lucius grinned and stuck his hand out for Ambrose to shake. They’ve been thick as thieves ever since.”

If Conlan wasn’t so worried about Kat, he would’ve thought it was funny, too. He’d had a feeling that the two men would hit it off despite Lucius’s shady dealings. The friendship would probably only last as long as they were on neutral territory, but at least someone was smiling today.

Finn got back on topic. “Looks like the call that came in last night had a blocked ID. Doesn’t mean much. Give me a couple of hours, and I’ll see what I can come up with for you. No calls since that one.”

“Good, thanks, Finn. That helps.”

Or maybe not. If the same guy hadn’t called with a new threat to up the ante, it made her absence even more of a puzzle.

“Let me know if I can do anything else, boss. Or if you need backup, I’ve got some vacation time coming.”

He was touched by the unexpected offer. “I appreciate that, Finn. It means a lot. For now, though, I’m fine. I’d better go now.”

He hung up before Finn could say anything else. Now what? He was no closer to the truth now than he was before. Damn it, if he’d only heard what she’d tried to tell him earlier when he was in the shower.

If he didn’t figure this out soon, he’d have to call Rafferty and Ambrose and confess that he’d managed to screw up big-time. They’d both assume she’d taken off on him again, but he couldn’t believe that—or maybe didn’t want to.

He circled the kitchen again, looking for some sign, some hint as to what Kat was up to. Nothing. Same in the living room. Obviously he wasn’t going to learn any more running laps inside the condo. Maybe outside he’d pick up some hint.

Just in case Kat returned while he was out looking, he scribbled a note and left it propped up on the counter. He pulled on his jacket to cover his gun and headed out the door. All he learned in the yard was that the grass needed mowing. No footprints, no drag marks, nothing. Same for the backyard.

His frustration growing by leaps and bounds, Conlan stood at the curb and stared up and down the road. Considering sunrise was still an hour away, he couldn’t see much outside of the pool of light from the lamppost up the street. Then the blinking neon light at the deli down the block caught his eye. Surely she wouldn’t have taken it upon herself to go pick up something for breakfast.

He started off at a slow lope, hoping like crazy she’d been that stupid. If so, she might still be there. About halfway there he slowed down to study a wet splash on the sidewalk. It had come from a disposable coffee cup that was lying on the grass. Next to it was a bag with grease stains and another empty cup.

He picked up the cups and held them up to the light, trying to make out the notes the barista at the deli had scribbled on the side. One had been black; the other double sugar and cream with cinnamon sprinkled on top—Kat’s favorite combination. He tossed the cups back down on the ground and took off for the deli at a full-out run.

Inside, he shoved his way through the crowded room to the order counter, apologizing as he went, promising he wasn’t butting up in line. Not that he gave a rip about proprieties right now, but he didn’t want to waste time on arguments.

The harried clerk didn’t even look up from her computerized menu. “What can I get for you?”

“Nothing. I’m here on Coalition business,” he announced loud enough for the surrounding customers to hear, hoping like hell no one asked for his credentials.

The bored-looking teen finally managed to drag her eyes up to his. “Somebody complained about their meal?”

Yeah, like the Coalition gave a rat’s ass about something like that unless someone actually died of food poisoning. Unfortunately, he needed her cooperation more than he needed to call her an idiot.

“No, ma’am. We need to know if a woman with dark hair, turquoise-blue eyes and about this tall,” he said, holding his hand up to right below his shoulder, “was in here within the last thirty minutes.”

The clerk actually rolled her eyes. “Mister, that description fits about half the women who come in here. I remember drinks, not descriptions.”

An older man came out from the kitchen. “I’m the manager. What’s the problem here?”

Conlan gave him his best hard-eyed chancellor stare. “A young woman has gone missing. We’re checking to see if she came in here.”

“Cami, open up the other register. I’ll handle this.”

When she stepped out of the way, he started punching numbers into the register. “Any idea how long ago or what she might have ordered?”

“It would’ve been within the last half hour. She most likely ordered two coffees and some breakfast food. One coffee was black, the other had double cream and sugar with cinnamon sprinkles.”

He held his breath while the manager checked the records. After a few seconds, the man nodded. “Yeah, she was here. We’ve got security cameras if you want to check the recording to verify it.”

Conlan had a sick feeling that the security footage would only confirm what his gut was already telling him was true—that Kat had slipped out to buy them breakfast and hadn’t made it back to the condo. Better to know for sure, though. Besides, there might be more to be gleaned from what the cameras had recorded.

The manager motioned for Conlan to come behind the counter into his office. “This shouldn’t take long since her purchase was so recent.”

With just a few keystrokes, the manager had the footage up and running on his computer screen. “It gets pretty crowded in here in the mornings, so she might be hard to spot until she gets right up next to the counter.”

Conlan stared at the screen full of milling people. Then the crowd parted and Kat stepped into view, holding up her number to show she was next.

“There! That’s her.” He finally read the man’s name tag pinned to his uniform pocket. “Mr. Dent, can you roll it back until about five minutes before she came in?”

“Sure thing.”

Both men watched as Kat backed up into the crowd again, eventually out the front door. Then he played it forward again. As far as Conlan could tell, she was relaxed, happy even. She spoke to Cami and handed over some money before stepping to the other end of the counter to wait for her order. It didn’t take long.

Well, other than confirming that this is where Kat had disappeared to, he still had no clue as to what had happened to her. He thanked the manager.

“Anything for the Coalition.”

Conlan started back out of the office when Mr. Dent spoke up again. “Would you like to check the street view, too? Not sure it’ll show much. The cameras are both directed at the door, so you don’t see much except for what happens right outside.”

“Sure thing.”

Conlan studied the film, asking him to replay it several times. It might be a coincidence, but it appeared that the same transport had driven by the front of the deli twice only minutes apart. The first time it had driven past, it had been heading away from the condo. The second time the vehicle had passed by in the same direction, this time much faster.

All of Conlan’s hunter instincts were running hot. He leaned in over the man’s shoulder and pointed at the screen. “See if you can slow it down enough to pick up the plate number on that transport.”

“Sure thing.”

They played it frame by frame until the light hit the vehicle’s back end just right, but they could only make out the first two numbers clearly. Conlan grabbed a piece of paper and wrote them down.

“One last thing, Mr. Dent. Can you make a copy of the file for me? I’d like to forward it to my boss at headquarters.”

“It will only take a second.”

The man fished a flash drive out of his desk drawer and copied the file onto it. “Take this. It should give you the same quality as the original.”

“Thanks again, Mr. Dent,” Conlan said. “This will be a big help.”

Conlan headed out into the early-morning light, hoping like hell with the sun coming up he’d be able to pick up more clues about what happened to Kat. If he couldn’t tell anything from where the food and coffee were spilled, he’d call Ambrose and shoot him the footage. With the technical resources available to the chief chancellor, he might be able to read more of the plate number. If so, he should be able to track down the registration on the vehicle and determine if the owner was involved.

If that didn’t pan out, Conlan wasn’t sure what he’d do next, because it meant that Kat could be anywhere with anyone. Alive or dead. No, he had to believe that she was still alive, that she was out there waiting for him to find her. And when he did, he’d make sure the bastards who were after her didn’t live long enough to try again.