“Welcome to my den.”

He wasn’t sure why he was welcoming her as if he was bringing home a date. Hell, he hadn’t brought a female here for anything but the full-moon feeding since his mate died. Even then, he sent the females on their way afterward, while he went through the misery of the lack-of-sex cramps by himself. His regular blood partner of late, Benet, had been open about her willingness to sleep with him, but every time he thought he could go through with it, his interest—and his cock—flagged the moment she touched him intimately.

Inexplicable irritation made him grind his molars as he strode through the doorway and turned to Nicole, who remained in the hall, lower lip trapped between her teeth.

“You waiting for a different kind of invitation? Because they’ll get less polite.”

Nicole entered cautiously, as if she expected to step into a bear trap. “This is your place?” She glanced around, gaze landing on the rustic furniture, the hand— made sofa and dining table, the small kitchen off to the right, and the doorway to the bedroom. “I didn’t expect . . . I don’t know . . . a home.”

The irritation veered to anger. “No doubt you thought we’d live in dirt holes lined with leaves, like wild animals.”

She inhaled sharply. “It’s not that. It’s just that I didn’t expect such modern conveniences.”

“No? What do they teach you in your vampire courses? That we cook over fires made by rubbing two sticks together? That we use dishes made of human skulls?”

A soft pink blush spread across her cheeks as she turned away, and yep, he was right on target. Although truthfully, there were clans like that. With the help of  human sympathizers, some clans had built permanenthabitats, villages like this one, with all the trappings of modern human society, including electricity, phones, and even vehicles. Others clung to the old ways, living in the forests or city sewers with only loose ties to any particular territory. Still others were loners, scrounging out a life however and wherever they could.

Nicole looked down at her feet as if ashamed, but when she looked up, there was fire in the green of her eyes. “I’m sorry I’ve had a mistaken view of how you live. I’m sorry I expect the worst from you. But you know, you’re doing the same thing to me.”

As much as he liked the way her temper stirred his blood, he didn’t like what she’d said. She was dead wrong.

“No, it’s not the same thing.” He shed his jacket and tossed it over the back of a chair. “Your family owns my kind. Your family literally built a business from our blood and created the vampire industry. You’re the CEO of a company that’s responsible for more vampire deaths than all the others combined. A company that killed my wife. So no, it’s not the same thing.”

Instead of responding right away, she wandered around the room, touching his aircraft prints, running her hands over the guns mounted on the walls. He could no longer fire them, but being a sniper was in his blood, and he doubted that would ever change.

Nicole’s hand skimmed along the barrel of his M-16, and abruptly, his body hardened and his skingrew clammy. His c**k stirred as she caressed the coldsteel he himself had handled with such care, and he nearly groaned when she took the trigger between herforefinger and thumb, testing the gentle curve. Christ,what a turn-on. Terese wouldn’t go near his collectionof weapons.

He drifted closer to her, drawn by Nicole’s curiosity, her strength, her beauty, and the glow of life that radiated from her. Whatever else he might think about her, she was a survivor, and that was a turn-on all by itself.

“When I was little,” she murmured, “I overheardone of our servants talking about his home. At the time,it didn’t make an impact, but I guess now I can seewhat he was talking about. He lived like this, I think.”

She started toward the bedroom, and that fast, his lustveered to panic.

Leaping in front of her, he slammed the door to thebedroom closed. At her blink of surprise, he growled, “That room is off-limits.”

She sniffed. “I’m happier about that than you canimagine.” Her expression shuttered, she crossed herarms over her chest, closing herself off to him. Whythat irritated him, he had no idea. “Why are we here,anyway?”

Cursing, he swiped his cell phone off the desk.

“You’re going to call your company, and you’re going toarrange an exchange. Neriya for you.”

“Gladly.” She snatched the phone, and he wondered if she suspected at all that he was lying.

Chapter 15

Nicole dialed Chuck’s number with trembling fingers. Her brother would get her out of this mess, and if she could just explain to the board why she’d missed the meeting—

“Charles Martin speaking.”

“Chuck!” Nicole turned away from Riker, who was watching her like an eagle. Such an apt comparison, given that both were striking. Formidable. And deadly. “Oh, my God, it’s good to hear your voice.”

“Nicole?” There was a crash and a curse on the other end of the line, probably Chuck jumping up from his desk chair and knocking crap over. “Shit, Nicole, is that really you? Where are you? Are you okay? Roland’s dead, but there was no sign of you. Where are you?” he repeated, clearly rattled.

She took a deep, bracing breath. Hearing his voice was a soothing balm to her seriously frayed nerves.

“I’m fine. I’m being held—”

Riker snared her arm in a vicious hold and shook his head, a warning to not reveal anything that might hint of her location. She jerked away from him. She didn’t know where she was, anyway.

“I’m being held by vampires.”

“You’re what?” Chuck roared. “Where?”

She slid a covert glance at Riker. “I can’t tell you that.” She was so lost in these woods that she’d never in a million years be able to find her way back to the clan stronghold. “I need you to arrange to have a female vampire named Neriya set free. She was taken from the forest outside Seattle two weeks ago by bounty hunters.”

“You know it’s illegal for individuals or companies to capture wild vampires.” Chuck’s voice had gone flat.

Lifeless. Guilty as hell.

Chuck was well aware that Daedalus had gone outside the law to acquire vampires. Doing so would be faster and cheaper, and it would bypass regulations regarding the number of vampires allowed in specific spaces—not to mention directives regarding their treatment.

“Yes,” she said sickly, disappointment in her brother putting a cold knot in her belly, “I do. But apparently, Daedalus doesn’t.”

She could practically feel the anger steaming off Chuck. “How do you know we have her?”

“Because one of the vampires who was with her heard a hunter say he had a buyer from Daedalus lined up. So she’s got to be at one of our facilities.”

“Please,” he scoffed. “You believe a f**king scumbag vampire? You’re smarter than that.”

Beside her, Riker stiffened. And, she realized, she’d done the same thing. “I have my reasons for believing this, so please, just check on it for me.”

He uttered a nasty curse under his breath. “Hold on.”

She waited, listening to Chuck type furiously on his computer’s keyboard.

“Got it,” he said. “Feral number eight-two-six was sent to the South Seattle B-lab.”

She frowned. Besides the main corporate offices in downtown Seattle, there were nearly a dozen Daedalus holdings around the city, from laboratories and trainingcenters to manufacturing pl ants and vampire-holding kennels, but she didn’t know about a lab on the south side. “B-lab? What is that?”

There was a long pause, and the longer she waited, the more her stomach churned. And the more agitated Riker became. She heard the clink of ice in a glass and then the pour of liquid.

“Nicole, you haven’t been back for long—”

“What. Is. It?”

Chuck’s voice went low. Almost to a whisper. “It’s a research facility. Top secret. Only a handful of people know about it.”

“And why is that?” When he paused again, she repeated the question, sharper this time.

“Come on, Nikki. You know how those vampire-rights freaks get. We don’t need them up our asses because we aren’t giving those poor, helpless vampires cable TV in their cages or some shit.”

She couldn’t believe what Chuck was saying.

“Bullshit. It’s because we’re running the facility outside the confines of the law, isn’t it?” She cursed at his lack of response. Which, really, was an answer. “Why wasn’t I told about it?”

Chuck’s pauses were really starting to piss her off.

Finally, he said, “Plausible deniability.”

Jesus. What were they doing in that place? “I need you to get Neriya out of there.” She looked over at Riker, who was watching her like he expected her to drop clues to her whereabouts or maybe just shout for help outright. “Now.”

“Nicole . . . that won’t be possible.”

“Why not?”

“The partners won’t allow it,” Chuck said, impatience leaking into his voice. Yes, it must be such a burden for her to ask for something as simple as releasing an illegally obtained vampire.

“What do you mean, they won’t allow it?” she snapped. “They have no choice. I’m giving an order.”

“That’s the thing. You don’t give orders anymore. You missed the meeting, Nicole.”

Unbelievable. “I missed the meeting because I was kidnapped. I think, given the circumstances, my inability to attend a board meeting can be overlooked.”

“It’s too late. They enacted code twelve-point— two-nine of the company bylaws.”

She swallowed. Hard. Her father had made surehis offspring retained full control in the event o f his death . . . unless said offspring was incompetent or unable to fulfill his or her role as CEO. In wh ich case, after a board hearing, the CEO could be stripped of that position, and his or her company shares would go to the next in line to inherit.

Which, in this case, was Chuck.

“So . . . you’re in charge now?”

His answer was a long time coming. “Yes.”

Anger lit her like a fuse, but right now, she was more concerned about her survival than her company.

“Then you can get the vampire out of the facility yourself, in order to make the trade for me.”

“I’m sorry, Nicole. I can’t.”

Her mind spun at his incomprehensible answer.

“You’re in control of the company. You can do whatever you want!”

“That’s where you’re wrong. This is a legal matter now. If I help you, I’ll risk the company and jail time.”

Her legs turned to rubber beneath her, and she sagged onto Riker’s couch. “I don’t understand. Why is this a legal issue?”

Again, there was a long, tense pause. Finally, Chuck said firmly, “Because the VHS somehow got hold of the video documenting the vampire deaths you signed off on, and it’s now on every news channel on the planet. Public outrage has grown. It’s a small minority, but they’re loud. They’re calling for your arrest on charges of cruelty and inappropriate execution.” She heard more clink ing of ice in a glass and the gurgle of another liquor pour. “I’m sure it’ll blow over.

The majority of the population doesn’t care about a couple dozen dead bloodsuckers. The board thinks that as long as you aren’t in charge of the company anymore, the VHS will be satisfied. But that means you need to stay out of sight. At least, until we announce your kidnapping.”

They hadn’t done that yet? “You can’t be serious. Chuck, you have to get me out of here!”

“Nikki, I’m sorry. This is killing me, but I don’t know what I can do. Most of the board doesn’t know about the lab, let alone how we’ve been procuring vampires. If they find out—”

“The entire company will be at risk, and everyone involved, including you, will go to jail.”

“Yes,” he whispered.

Her heart sank. Dear God, she was screwed. He was going to let the vampires keep her. “Dammit, you’ve got to do something. You have to—”

Riker swiped the phone from her. “Listen to me, you human scum. You have twelve hours to get Neriya back to us, or your sister dies.”

Nicole sucked in a shocked breath, her heart squeezing painfully. She’d known she wasn’t exactly a guest here, but she thought she and Riker had an understanding that would at least make him a little hesitant to kill her.

He didn’t even have the courtesy to look her in the eye as he waited for her brother to reply. After a long moment, he quietly closed the phone.

“Well? What did he say?”

“He said he loves you.” Riker swore, and her heart stopped completely. “And he’s sorry.”

• • • • • •

Charles Martinwas a piece of shit. Oh, he’d said he loved Nicole. He’d said he was sorry.

But it was all a load of crap. If Riker were in Chuck’s position, he’d stop at nothing to save someone he cared about. He’d spent months searching for Terese after she’d been captured. After he’d located her at the Martin estate, he’d spent months planning to free her. Then he’d spent another eight months searching for her again when she disappeared, only to return pregnant.

Chuck’s words were hollow, and Nicole knew it, too.

The devastation in her expression, her mottled cheeks, her liquid eyes, spun Riker off balance as she sat there, staring at the phone in his hand.