Night Embrace (Dark-Hunter #2) - Page 7
By the time Talon reached Sunshine's club again, it was complete chaos on the street outside the club's entrance and in the alley behind it.
A large crowd of people stood around outside where two ambulances were parked while medics tended three wounded officers. Someone had beaten them to a pulp.
He paused near one ambulance as he heard the officer giving his report to a detective.
"He was at least six feet six. Lean, muscular build. Caucasian male dressed in black, with long black hair and a goatee. Mid- to late twenties with this huge silver claw thing on his hand. He looked like the devil himself when we came up on him. Man, he tore through us like we was nothing. I got at least two bullets into him and he didn't even flinch when I shot him. He just kept on coming at us. He must be on PCP or something."
Talon froze.
Zarek. There was no one else who could fit that description.
Damn. He shouldn't have left the area while Zarek was here. Zarek must have attacked them just a few minutes after he left.
"So what happened?" the detective asked.
"Me and Gabe had a disturbance call about a fight in the alley. We got here in time to see the claw guy fighting two men. We yelled for them to stop, but the guy ignored us. He ripped their hearts right out of them. Right in front of us."
Talon groaned. They had seen Zarek take out a pair of Daimons. Great. Just great. He closed his eyes and cursed. This night was starting to rate right up there with abscessed teeth.
"Johnny got here right as I pulled my weapon and ordered the claw guy to stop. He turned on us like a wild beast. Next thing I know, I'm on the ground bleeding, you guys are here, and he's gone."
"And the bodies?"
"He must have taken them with him while we were trying to get to the cars for safety. I'm telling you, Bob, the man was insane."
Talon raked his hands through his hair. Not even in town one night and now Zarek had the entire police force looking for him.
How had the man managed to last so long?
His phone rang again, but the caller ID didn't display the caller's identity. Expecting it to be Acheron since Acheron's phone almost never registered a number, he was surprised to hear Zarek's thick Greek accent on the other end. "The Daimons wanted to party with your girlfriend, Celt. Don't leave her unprotected."
The phone went dead.
An eerie chill went up Talon's spine. How could Zarek have known about him and Sunshine?
The man's powers were rating right up there with Acheron's.
His instincts on alert, Talon looked up to the roof above his head-to the old abandoned drugstore next door to the club. Silhouetted against the dark sky was a figure. To a human's eyes, the man standing on the rooftop would be invisible, but Talon's honed Dark-Hunter vision saw him clearly.
It was Zarek.
Zarek inclined his head to him, put the phone in his pocket, then stepped back and vanished into the darkness.
Talon frowned. Psycho Zarek had been watching over Sunshine all this time? Even while the cops were looking for him?
How unlike Zarek was that?
Talon immediately hit the automatic call-back feature on his phone.
"What?" Zarek asked, his voice surly. "Can't you see I'm trying to get out of here before the cops find me?"
"What were you doing at Runningwolf's?"
"Picking my nose, Celt. What do you think? I saw the Daimons on the street and I tracked them inside."
That explained that, but Talon had a bigger concern. "How did you know about me and Sunshine?"
"I overheard the Daimons talking about the two of you. You should be more careful, Celt. A mistake like that one could be costly."
"Costly how, Zarek? I've just seen the body of a woman who'd been drained of her blood and her soul."
"Ooo," Zarek breathed. "Here's a news flash. It was a Daimon attack. Ever notice that tends to be their MO?"
"Yeah, but I've never known a Daimon to claw a woman up while killing her. Have you?"
There was a brief pause. "What are you saying?"
"I think you know, Zarek."
"Yeah, and you can kiss my ass, Celt. Maybe I should have left your bitch to them after all."
The phone went dead again.
Talon ground his teeth, torn between the deep need to find Zarek, beat the crap out of him, and wash his mouth out, and a deeper need to make sure Sunshine was okay.
Putting his phone in his pocket, he decided to leave Zarek to Acheron, who'd already said he was going to talk to him. Acheron was much better at handling Zarek anyway.
At least Ash could kill the bastard and not die in the process.
Talon expelled a long breath as he thought over Zarek's warning that the Daimons were after Sunshine. It didn't make a bit of sense.
Why would the Daimons be after her? And how could the Daimons know about the two of them?
This made the second attack on her in as many nights. Daimons took their victims where they found them. They didn't stalk someone who got away. They just moved on to the next handy meal.
He didn't know what they wanted with her, but until he found out, he wasn't going to leave her in danger.
Scanning the crowd, Talon found Sunshine standing just under a light outside the club, next to a large, muscular man with black hair who was speaking to a uniformed police officer. She wore only her thin black sweater without the fuchsia one she'd had on earlier. Her arms were crossed over her chest as if she were cold.
Talon made his way through the crowd to her side.
Her face lit up the moment she saw him. "Talon? What are you doing here?"
He was more relieved than he would have thought possible. Just seeing her here, unharmed, and hearing his name on her lips…
He shouldn't feel anything for her and yet there was no denying the raw emotions he felt every time she met his gaze.
"Are you okay?" he asked, shrugging off his jacket and holding it up for her.
She nodded as she allowed him to help her into his jacket. "Did you hear what happened? Some guy went nuts in the alley where I park my car and killed two men. Then, he attacked the police. It's terrible!"
Before he could think, Talon pulled her into his arms and held her close. She was shaking and cold, but she still felt so wonderful that he didn't want to let go of her. "I'm glad you weren't hurt."
The man who'd been talking to the police officer looked at them with a stern scowl. "You know, bud, I don't know you from Adam, but that's my baby sister you're hanging on to. So I'm thinking the wisest course of action for you is to let her go and introduce yourself. Pronto."
Talon bit back a smile. He knew exactly what the man meant. Some things were very sacred and little sisters were one of them.
Reluctantly, he withdrew from her.
Sunshine punched her brother gently on his arm. "Talon, this is my brother Rain. Rain, meet Talon."
Her brother snorted. "God, with a name like Talon your parents must have been holdover hippies too."
"Something like that."
"That's his pet phrase," Sunshine told her brother. "That and not exactly."
Rain sized him up, then offered him his hand. "Nice meeting you, Talon. I better get back to work. Sunny, yell if you need one of us."
The implied threat wasn't lost on Talon, who bit back a smile. If the man only knew how much power a Dark-Hunter wielded…
"Us?" Talon repeated.
Her brother indicated two men over Talon's shoulder who were also talking to the police. The older man was a Native American whose shamanic powers were easily discernible, and her other brother was almost a facial clone of Sunshine. "Our father and older brother, Storm, work in the club too."
Talon gave a tight-lipped smile as he turned back to face Rain. "Storm, Rain, and Sunshine, huh?"
She grimaced. "My mother's doing. I'm just glad she stopped at three. I was told the next one would have been named Cloudy Day."
He laughed at that. Gods, how he'd missed her. All he wanted to do right now was take her into his arms and run her up to her bed and inspect every inch of her to make sure she was unhurt.
Yeah, okay, so he had another, less pure, motive for that thought too. But still he felt an insane need to prove to himself that no one had touched her.
That she was completely whole and safe.
He darted his gaze all over her body, assuring himself that she was fine. His concern for her was so unlike anything he'd experienced in such a long time that he wasn't really sure how to cope with it.
Rain excused himself and drifted back into the club, leaving them alone.
An awkwardness fell between them as he tried to think of something to say to her.
Finally, she cleared her throat. "I didn't think I'd see you again."
He didn't know what to respond to that, especially since that had been his intention. "I… um…"
"Oh, you want Snoopy back."
"No," he said quickly. "I came back for you."
A slow, seductive smile spread over her face. "Really?" she asked.
"Yeah. I heard about the attack and was worried," he said before he could stop himself.
"Really?" she repeated.
He nodded.
Smiling wider, she walked herself into his arms. "That was very sweet of you."
Not really, Talon thought as he held her and inhaled her warm patchouli scent. But he had to admit she felt good in his arms. Her breasts were flattened against him and all he could think about was how delicious they had tasted, how soft and good they had felt in his hands.
He groaned inwardly at the thought.
Walk away from her…
I have to protect her.
He was sworn to protect humans. Especially those the Daimons would prey upon. It was his duty to keep her with him. To watch over her.
Hey, how stupid do you think I am, Talon? This is yourself you're talking to and all the lies in the world aren't going to convince me that you have a moral or noble reason for this. You want in her bed again. Admit it.
Oh, come on, I can control myself for a few days. She has to be protected and who else could do it?
Zarek was out of the question. He'd end up feeding off her and Talon would kill him if the psycho dared to touch her. Valerius would sooner die than watch over a "plebeian." Nick would make a move on her, and he'd have to kill the horny toad. Kyrian had a new baby and was too exhausted to think, and Acheron…
He had too many responsibilities pulling at him to worry about baby-sitting.
That left him and him alone.
"You know, Sunshine, I don't think you should stay in your loft alone."
She stepped away from him. "Believe me, I'm not. I'm going home with Storm tonight."
Talon paused. That wasn't an option either. Her brother was a big man, but no match for a Daimon.
"I don't know, Sunshine. I'm thinking…" Well, he couldn't really say what he was thinking, especially the part that bordered on salaciousness.
But then he didn't have to. She smiled a wicked smile. "You know, if you want me to go home with you, all you have to do is ask."
"I didn't think it would be that easy."
She rose up on her tiptoes and gave him a devilish look. "For anyone other than you, it wouldn't be."
Those words made his heart soar. He really liked this woman. She was bold, quirky, and sassy.
Sunshine took his hand and led him into, and through, the club to a door in the far right rear corner. It opened into the back hallway that Talon recognized from earlier in the evening. On the right was the door to the outside where her car was parked and on the left was the steel staircase that led up to her loft. She headed for the stairs.
Sunshine held tight to Talon's hand as she mentally castigated herself. She probably shouldn't be doing this, especially since two murders had been committed tonight. But instinctively she knew Talon would never hurt her.
He'd saved her life and he'd done nothing even remotely harmful to her.
Besides, she liked being with him. She could take her art supplies with her and get back on schedule tomorrow.
Tonight, she just wanted a few more minutes with him. One more evening to bask in his warmth before she went back to the rigors of her life.
It had been so considerate of him to offer her his jacket. His warmth and scent clung to it, making her want to snuggle in deep.
She entered her loft, gave him back his jacket, and left him by her white and pink striped couch while she went to pack an overnight bag. In all honesty, she'd rather stay with him than Storm anyway.
Storm snored.
Loudly.
Not to mention that the last time she had gone to her brother's place, she'd had to spend two hours cleaning it before she was able to touch anything in the apartment without cringing. He was an absolute pig and he didn't care about making her feel welcome. Rather, he treated her as a live-in servant who should be happy to do for ole big brother.
And ole big brother stunk. Not literally, but in the figurative sense.
She grabbed a change of clothes, shoes, and hair ties and shoved them into her wicker tote bag along with her toothbrush and moisturizer-a woman always needed her moisturizer-then she rejoined Talon.
He stood at the rear of the loft, near the windows, looking through the landscape paintings she'd done of Jackson Square. Her breath caught in her throat.
What was it about this man that was so powerful? His wavy blond hair fell around his face while his two thin braids hung down to his shoulder. His black leather pants cupped a butt so fine that it should be stamped with Grade A Prime on each cheek. And his back… Even with his jacket on, she knew how perfect and well sculpted it was.
She stared at his large, tawny hands that held her work. They were so strong and at the same time tender. She loved the way they had felt on her body, the way his fingers had tasted when she nibbled them.
The man was simply scrumptious from the top of his blond head to the bottom of his black biker boots.
He turned slightly as she joined him. "I like the way you painted the sun coming in over the cathedral. I can almost feel the sun when I look at it."
His compliment warmed her. An artist never heard enough compliments on her work. "Thank you. My favorite is the sunset over it. I love to watch the light fading around the buildings. When it hits some of the signs and glass, it makes them glow and sparkle like fire."
He reached out and cupped her face in his warm palm. "You have such an incredible way of capturing things."
She bit her lip and gave him an impish smile. "Yes, I do." And little did he know it, but she fully intended to capture him as well. At least for a little while.
He was like some wild, untamed creature that you could keep and feed for a time, but in the end you knew you'd have to let it go for its own sake as well as yours.
"So, tell me, where do you live?" she asked.
He cleared his throat and dropped his hand from her cheek.
The uncomfortable look on his face made her stomach sink. "Oh Lord, you do have your own place, don't you? You don't happen to live with your mom or some creepy old aunt?"
He looked offended by that. "Of course I have my own place. It's just…" His voice trailed off and he looked away.
Oh sheez, here it comes… "You have a live-in girlfriend?"
"No."
Ugh! It was even worse than she thought. "Live-in boyfriend?"
He gaped at her while his midnight eyes flashed with indignation. "Jeez, Sunshine, what do you think I am?"
"I don't know, Talon. I asked a simple question and you got all weird on me. What am I supposed to think?" She swept her gaze down the expensive biker's outfit he wore. The man had a body to beat the band and was too bodacious to be real. That tended to make a woman go, hmmm…
"And you do wear a lot of leather."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
She gave him a duh stare. "I am an artist, you know. I tend to hang out with an awful lot of homosexual and bisexual guys."
If he had looked offended before, it was nothing compared to the look on his face now. "Now there's a stereotype I hadn't even considered. Thank you very much. For your information, I happen to like leather since it tends to protect my hide on the occasions when I wreck my motorcycle and go skidding down asphalt."
"Well, that's true too. So why did you get all weird on me when I asked you where you live?"
"Because I figured if I told you where I lived, you'd get all weird on me."
She hesitated as a million scary locations came to her mind. He lived in a cemetery or crypt. A run-down shack. A cardboard box. A dock house. A broken-down camper or bus. Good Lord, in this city there was no telling where he might make his home. "Okay, you live somewhere freaky, don't you?"
"I live out in the bayou."
Relieved, she scoffed at his evasiveness over something so silly. "Oh please, I know several people who live out by the bayou."
"Not by the bayou, Sunshine. I live in the bayou."
Was he serious? Who in their right mind lived in the bayou with the snakes and gators and other things she didn't want to even think about? Things that carried guns and did lots of illegal activities like feeding murdered bodies to gators.
"You live in the bayou?"
He nodded. "It's really peaceful out there. No modern sounds to intrude on you. No neighbors. No traffic. You can almost feel like you're living centuries ago."
There was a wistful look to him as he said that. "That means a lot to you, doesn't it?"
"Yes. It does."
She smiled. Yeah, she could see Talon out in the bayou all alone. He reminded her a lot of her father, who loved to spend hours outside just soaking up nature. They both shared that quiet kind of peace-with-the-universe attitude.
"How long have you lived there?"
He avoided looking at her. "A really long time."
Sunshine nodded.
As they started for the door, she dropped her wicker tote and retrieved her Studiopack French Easel Backpack from the corner. She always kept it well stocked in case she decided on a whim to go some place else and paint.
"What is that?" he asked.
She winked at him. "An artist on the go, that's me. I never go anywhere without supplies."
He smiled as he took the backpack from her. "So, you're still feeling adventurous, huh?"
"Always. Just bring the gator-be-gone spray and I'm all yours."
Talon stared at her as he felt another stupid urge to grin. His face was starting to ache from the effort it took to not expose his fangs to her. She was extremely funny and amusing.
If not, to an extent, insulting.
He was still chafing over her assumptions about his clothes. The things this woman got into her head…
But he liked that about her. She didn't play games with him, but spoke whatever thought, no matter how outrageous, was on her mind.
Sunshine locked the door, got halfway down the stairs, then stopped. "Oh man, I forgot my overnight bag." She made a disgusted sound before sprinting up the stairs and rushing back inside her loft.
She came out a few minutes later with her wicker bag, reached the top of the stairs, then remembered she had no coat.
One more time, she went back inside before she rejoined him. "I swear I'd be wearing a pumpkin on my shoulders."
It took a second for her words to sink in-she'd lose her head if it ever came off her body.
Laughing, he paused on the stairs as she walked past him. "By the way, I don't look gay in leather."
Sunshine turned to look up at him. She passed a hot, lustful glance over his body that made him harden instantly. "No, baby, you don't. I honestly have to say you wear that outfit like nobody's business."
A slow smile spread across his face as he followed her the rest of the way out of the club.
Oh yeah, the two of them had some unfinished business to take care of once he got her home.
Business he shouldn't even be contemplating, but he had his reputation to uphold. Besides which, he owed her a payback. When she left his cabin, she'd never again doubt his sexual orientation or his attraction to her.
As they reached the outside doors, Sunshine led Talon away from the club.
"Are you going to tell your brother where you're going?"
She shook her head. "I'll call him in a little bit and tell him. Believe me, it's not something I want to do face to face."
"Stern, is he?"
"You've no idea."
Talon led her to his bike and pulled out a spare helmet from the saddlebags. "You want to put your backpack in here?"
She shook her head as she took the backpack from him and shrugged it on. "It's designed for motorcycles and hiking. I'm fine wearing it. It's really not that heavy."
"Ride many bikes, do you?"
"Yup, I do."
Talon watched her pull her helmet on and fasten it. Man, the woman was beautiful to him. Her long, graceful fingers tucked her braids in easily and her dark brown eyes glowed.
He removed the small sunglasses that he wore at night and pulled his own helmet on, then got on the bike and kick-started it. Sunshine joined him on the bike. Her arms came around his waist as she slid her body closer to his.
Talon almost moaned. He could feel every inch of her pressed intimately, erotically against him. Her breasts on his back, her inner thighs against his hips.
And the way her arms held him…
He could just imagine her sliding her hand down from his waist to the hard bulge in his pants where she could cup and stroke him through the leather. Of her unzipping his pants and kneading him gently with her hand as he hardened and strained to possess her.
Better yet, he could see her down on her knees in front of him, taking him into her mouth…
Unknown feelings swirled inside him, turning him inside out. All he wanted was to keep her here like this for eternity. To stop the bike and sample every inch of her lush, full figure with his mouth and fangs.
He wanted to devour her.
To taste and tease her until she called out his name while her body shook from ultimate pleasure.
Unbidden, he mentally felt her body arch against his as she clutched at his back in the midst of an orgasm.
He'd learned today that she always tensed her body until the last orgasmic shudder had subsided, and then she relaxed and rained kisses on his skin.
It was a sweet sensation that had no equal.
Talon clenched his teeth in an effort to control himself from yielding to the craving he felt for her body. He drove them through town, out toward the bayou where he lived.
As they rode, Sunshine leaned her head to rest between his shoulder blades and tightened her hold around Talon's lean, muscular abs. She remembered how he'd looked standing naked in her loft. The way he'd looked leaning over her as they made love. Slow. Easy. Then fast and furious.
This man had an indefinable way with his body. He knew every way and then some to give a woman pleasure.
Sunshine could feel his chest rise and fall under her arms as they rode through the dark night. What she was doing with him was insane and yet she couldn't seem to stop herself.
Talon was compelling. Dangerous. Dark and mysterious. Something about him made her just want to crawl inside him and stay there forever.
Crazy, huh?
Yet there was no denying what he did to her. What she felt every time she thought about him. The way she wanted to yell at him to stop the bike so that she could tear off his jacket and lick every inch of his tattoo.
Every inch of his powerful, masculine body.
Oh, how she wanted this man.
"Are you okay?"
She tensed at the sound of Talon's deeply accented voice in her ears. "Hey, your helmets are microphoned."
"Yeah, I know. But are you okay?"
She smiled at his concern. "I'm fine."
"You sure? You kind of jumped a second ago like something startled you."
"No, really. I'm fine."
Talon wasn't so sure and at the moment he wished one of his Dark-Hunter powers included mind-reading. Unfortunately, his powers ran more along the lines of commanding the elements, healing, projection, and telekinesis. He was better able to shield himself and others, which was why, unlike Zarek, he never had to worry about cops or anyone else seeing him slay a Daimon.
He could summon the elements to shield him from people's sight or to confuse them. If need be, he could even project new thoughts to someone to alter their perceptions of reality.
But he preferred not to do that. The human mind was frail and such tactics had been known to leave lasting damage.
With his arcane powers came a great deal of responsibility. Acheron had taught him that.
Having been abused as a child by those who had more strength and power than he did, Talon had no wish to victimize anyone else. There was nothing he wanted or needed so badly that he would violate someone else to get it.
They didn't speak again until he reached his garage at the end of a long, winding dirt road. There were no lights out here, no pavement. Nothing but Louisiana wildlife.
Sunshine frowned as their headlight illuminated a strange mailbox out in the middle of nowhere. It was a black box that appeared to be pierced by two long silver nails. One was going horizontally through the box, the other diagonally.
She cringed at the sight of the dilapidated shack they neared and she hoped this wasn't his house. It looked like it was ready to cave in.
If not for the clean, crisp mailbox, she wouldn't have believed anyone had been out here in a hundred or more years.
Talon stopped the bike and held it upright between his muscular thighs. He pulled a small remote from his pocket and used it to open the dilapidated shack door. It lifted up slowly.
Sunshine gaped as the lights came on and she saw inside the "shack."
There was nothing run-down about the inside of the building. It was high tech and sparkling, and filled with a fortune in motorcycles and one sleek black Viper.
Oh God, he was a drug dealer!
Her stomach knotted in fear of what she had let herself in for. She should never have come out here with him!
He parked the motorcycle next to the car, then helped her off the seat.
"Um… Talon?" she asked, looking around his collection of vintage Harleys. "What do you do for a living? You said you were an illegal alien, right?"
He gave that familiar tight-lipped smile as he placed his helmet on a rack that contained twelve helmets she was sure cost a minimum of a thousand dollars each. "Yes, and to answer your first question, I'm independently wealthy."
"And you got that way how?"
"I was born into it."
Sunshine felt a little better, but she still had to ask the one question that was nagging her most. "So you don't do anything illegal like run drugs, right?"
Once again, he looked offended. "Good Lord no, woman. Why would you think that?"
Her eyes wide, she looked around the expensive garage and high-tech male toys. "I have no idea."
He pressed a button and closed the main door, sealing them in.
She followed after him while he led her to the back of the garage where he had two very nice, expensive catamarans docked. Everything in this building was truly state-of-the-art. "If you have all this money, why are you an illegal alien?"
Talon snorted. He could tell her that he was in this bayou before America was even a country, and that he didn't need any stinking piece of paper to make him legal, but as a Dark-Hunter he was forbidden to tell her anything about their lifestyle or existence. So he opted for an easy and true excuse. "You have go to the courthouse during daylight hours to fill out the paperwork. Since I can't go out into sunlight…"
She looked at him skeptically. "Are you sure you're not a vampire?"
"I wasn't until the moment I saw you."
"Meaning?"
He moved to stand next to her so that she had to crane her neck to look up at him. His jaw flexed as he stared down at her while his body craved hers in a way most desperate. "Meaning I would love nothing more than to sink my teeth into your skin and devour you."
She bit her lower lip and gave him an impish, heated once-over. "Mmm, I like it when you talk like that."
She stepped into his arms.
Talon's body burned as he dipped his head down to kiss her.
Sunshine moaned at the taste of him. What was it about this man that attracted her so and made her want to gobble him up?
He pulled back suddenly and she pouted in protest.
"We'd best hurry," he said. "It'll be dawn before much longer and it's still a ride to my cabin."
"Your cabin? Is it anything like this shack?"
"You'll see." He moved away from her to start the catamaran.
Sunshine took a seat and strapped herself in. Once she was secured, they left the comfort of the garage and headed out into the eerie darkness of the swamp. The engine's motor was so loud, it made her ears ache as they sped toward his cabin.
It was so dark out here that she couldn't focus her eyes on anything at all.
How could Talon see to drive the boat? Any minute, she half expected them to plow into a tree or stump.
And yet Talon maneuvered them effortlessly without any hesitation or slowing of speed.
After a few minutes, her eyes adjusted to the blackness and she was able to see outlines and swamp gas. Mostly, she just saw fog and a few things that looked vaguely like animals falling into the water.
Maybe she was better off blind after all.
At long last, they reached a small isolated cabin set deep in the swamp. Alone. Isolated. Spanish moss hung down from the top of the porch and the wood of the place had lightened to a faint gray that stood out even in the darkness of the night.
Talon parked the catamaran beside a small dock and got out. He helped her onto the dock and as she followed him up the narrow plank toward the dark porch, she realized there were two alligators in front of the door.
She screamed.
"Shh," Talon said with a laugh. "There's nothing to fear."
To her extreme astonishment, he bent down and patted the biggest gator on the head. "Hey Beth, how's it going tonight?"
The gator snapped its jaw and hissed at him as if it had understood his question.
"I know, girl. I'm sorry, I forgot."
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