“I want to be able to take you into the field office, and you needed clearance. Here’s your key card.”
She slung the lanyard around her neck and followed Dom out the door of the loft. “I’m a little nervous. Won’t they all want to...ah, you know, bite me?”
“As a Guardian, part of our training involves becoming desensitized to attractive nuisances. You should be fine, although you shouldn’t sneak up behind someone. In fact, that cat bell idea you joked about earlier isn’t a half-bad idea.” She glared at him as he pressed the elevator button. “I wish I were kidding, but I’m not. Chuck has a theory that— Never mind. I’ll be with you at all times. I’ll never let you out of my sight when we’re around other vampires. Except for Lily. You’ll be safe with her. And Cordell. Changelings don’t seem to be as affected by Sweet as the rest of us.”
“Why is Lily okay?”
“She’s been around several sweetbloods. I think one of her last human boyfriends was one. Oh, and Kenz, just so youdon’t think I’m keeping secrets from you, she and I have slept together.”
Mackenzie bristled. “Were you in love with her?”
“Hell, no. And she doesn’t and hasn’t ever loved me. She’s just a very dear friend. Remember when I told you about our sexual drives? For us, it’s a relatively common occurrence among unmated couples. It was very casual, but I know it might be hard to comprehend.” He gave a reassuring squeeze of her shoulder. “But in a committed relationship, we’re completely monogamous. Much more so than most humans are.”
Mackenzie relaxed somewhat, although she was prepared to hate this Lily chick. “What is Chuck’s theory?”
The elevator doors opened, and they stepped inside. Dom flashed her a naughty smile—the same smile he’d given her back at the resort—inserted his I.D. card in a slot on the panel and pressed the button for the lower level.
“He thinks that when we’re together—when we’ve made love—it alters your scent slightly to make you less...how shall I put it? Less potent-smelling to other vampires.”
She almost choked. “You mean the more sex we have, the safer I am around your kind?”
“I think so. Chuck said it was...ah...very obvious when we left.”
With a clunk, the elevator stopped and the doors slid open. She followed Dom into a dimly lit corridor. The lights must’ve been on a motion sensor because every time they were about to step out of the ring illuminated on the cobblestone floor, the next overhead bulb clicked on. Good thing she wasn’t claustrophobic as the tunnel seemed to stretch out endlessly in the dark. The air had a stale, dry smell to it, as if it didn’t get aerated much.
Ten minutes later, Dom inserted his key card into a slot near another heavy door. It slid open and they stepped into a gold-carpeted foyer. A huge bouquet of fresh flowers stood on an ornately carved Queen Anne table between two elevator doors.
“Geez, with all this walking, a girl wouldn’t need to work out.”
Another hallway, another door. When Dom grabbed the handles and pulled the door open, she heard the sound of country music coming from inside. She followed him into a mammoth workout facility. A gym at the field office? The high, open-beam ceilings had to stretch at least three stories tall. State-of-the-art cardio equipment was clustered together on the right side of the room, while free weights and weight machines were on the other side. Just beyond what she thought was a juice bar, a boxing ring sat in one far corner, a fenced-off trampoline in another, and thick mats lined the floors. She smelled chlorine. There must be a pool somewhere down here, too.
A blonde with a face that belonged on a skincare commercial approached them. Barefoot, she wore baggy pajama bottoms rolled down at the waist, a glittery something in her belly button and a cutoff shirt that barely covered the underside of her breasts. When she yawned and stretched her arms up, Mackenzie averted her eyes in case a boob popped out. Dom introduced the woman as Lily, the only Class-A scent-tracker assigned to Seattle.
Great, just great. Dom’s ex was a cover-model.
With wide-set, Bambi eyes, Lily looked at Mackenzie’s outstretched hand and shook her head. “Don’t want to accidentally slog any of your energies, love. I’ll leave that for Dom, eh?” Even the woman’s voice, with its subtle accent, was sexy. Canadian, maybe? Lily closed her eyes, lifted her nose and smiled. “Good God, you smell fabulous, though.” Then she gave a slight nod, and Dom visibly relaxed.
Damn. Did everyone know about Chuck’s theory? Mackenzie might as well wear a sign announcing that yes, they’d had a lot of sex, and save everyone the trouble.
“Nice to see you dressed up,” Dom said to Lily.
“Bite me. Sorry, Mackenzie. I ended up crashing here and didn’t get to bed till way after dawn. Didn’t know you were coming this early, or I’d have gone back to my place and changed. Usually I don’t look this horrid.” She fluffed her hair and there was that boob again. “Oh, here’s Jackson,” she said, looking over Mackenzie’s shoulder. “This ought to be interesting.”
Mackenzie turned to see a bare-chested, muscular man stumble through one of the doors off the main room. He had light brown hair that might be long enough to touch his shoulders if it weren’t sticking up everywhere. One hand was inside his sweatpants, stretching the waistband precariously low, and the other held an apple. Dom’s hand on her shoulder suddenly felt even more protective.
“If it’s not you,” Dom said to Lily, “it’s him.”
“Dom. Lil. Hey, Mackenzie,” Jackson said. “We’ve never really met, but I know you.” He pulled his hand from his crotch and extended it to shake hers.
“For God’s sake, Jackson.” Dom knocked his hand away.
“I was just scratching an itch. Sorry.”
Mackenzie stifled a smile. That’d be something Corey would do. She cocked her head, trying to place him. “Sorry. Mind-scrub.” She tapped her forehead. “I seem to have forgotten you.”
Jackson threw his head back and laughed. “I was the one who— Mind if I tell her, Dom?”
“Whatever.”
