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I might be a werewolf, and I might be willing to use sex to get the information I needed, but this man - this dark god - had centuries of lust and unholy desires behind him. When it came to seduction, I was standing at the feet of a master.
And the master had plans for me, just as Gautier had warned. The confirmation was evident in the dark and hungry gleam in his eyes.
"Riley got held up by work," Jin explained. "I apologize."
"As indeed you should." His gaze still held mine, judging, enjoying. When he held out his hand, I placed mine in his almost without thought. He bent and placed a kiss on my palm, his lips lingering, tasting. "Welcome to my house, Riley."
"Thank you." It came out a squeak and I cleared my throat. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure will be mine, I assure you." He released my hand, and yet I could still feel the lingering heat of his lips on my palm. Somehow, I resisted the temptation to wipe my hand against my dress. "Jin, escort our pretty lady inside and introduce her to our other guests."
He stepped to one side. Jin placed a hand against my spine - low down, close to my butt, so that his fingertips caressed my cheeks as I walked - and ushered me inside. Desire prickled across my skin, and the low down burning became even more furious. The moon fever was still well under control - and yet, the awareness of it was there, meaning I had to have sex sooner rather than later.
Which shouldn't be a problem, I thought, shivering.
My heels clicked on the polished marble tiles, the sound echoing through the long emptiness of the hall. Kingsley obviously wasn't big on furnishings - the hall had a coat stand near the door, and an ornate cherry-wood telephone table about halfway down, but that was about it. The pale gold walls were bare of paintings, mirrors, or any other kind of decoration. The lights were ornate, but none had bulbs, leaving the hallway a wasteland of shadows. Luckily, I didn't need light to see, but I had to wonder if all the gloom and the emptiness was a ploy to play on the nerves of their guests. After all, these were men who were aroused by the darker emotions, and fear, however subtle, had to taste mighty sweet.
As we passed the telephone table, I pressed a finger against one of the minute listening devices attached lightly to the outside of my purse, then ran my hand casually across the cherry wood, carefully but quickly placing the bug under the unit's ledge.
One down, five more to go.
A door loomed on our left. It was big and ornate and had to be as heavy as hell, given the effort Jin seemed to put into opening it.
As I stepped through. I realized why.
Power slid over my skin, cold fingertips of energy that briefly resisted my efforts to walk into the semi-dark room. And I realized then that had to be why the Directorate was having so much trouble reading the inside of this house. Caelfind had obviously set up her own kind of deadeners, and I had no doubt they would be both psychic and electronic. She seemed a thorough sort of sorcerer, even if she did turn out to be a little overconfident in the end.
With an odd sort of sucking sensation, the energy slid over my skin then released me. I scratched at my ear, wondering if Rhoan could still hear what was going on. Wondering if the tracker would work in this room, or whether I was, for all intents and purposes, on my own.
I didn't want to be on my own. Not with these people.
If indeed they could be classed as people.
Jin touched my spine again and lightly guided me forward. The room was long, and shadows haunted the far corners. The air was a rampant mix of sharp spices, flowery perfume, fear, and desire. While I had no desire to draw the mix deep into my lungs, Jin had no such inhibitions. He sucked in a long breath, then exhaled it slowly.
"Ah, the sweet aroma of a good red. Would you like some?"
If he could smell red wine in this, he had a better nose than me. "A small glass would be nice."
"I'll introduce you to the others, then get you a drink."
I nodded, my gaze already roaming across the faces of people gathered near the open fire at the far end of the room. I had no idea why they huddled there, because the room was almost unbearably hot. Maybe they just felt safer near the fire - it was the only source of light in the room, after all.
And then my gaze hit the face of a man I knew, and I stopped. I couldn't help it.
Gautier.
Oh God - what the hell was I going to do now? I should have known, should have damn well realized he'd be here. If Jin and Marcus had been ordered to attend this little shindig, it was logical that Gautier - the death head of the dragon - would also have been.
Only none of us had thought about that. It was stupid. Totally stupid.
And it might very well cost me my life.
He smiled and minutely raised his glass, as if in greeting. My stomach stirred, and bile rose. I swallowed heavily.
"Are you all right?" Jin said, a touch of concern in his voice that I didn't for a minute believe.
I somehow managed a nod. "Sorry, just letting my eyes adjust to the darkness."
