* * *

The ringing of his cell phone stirred Duncan to alertness sometime later. Emma had fallen asleep and he hadn’t wanted to disturb her, so he’d held her while she slept and let his mind continue working over the many details demanding his attention these days. Everything from the continuing construction, to the question of Lacey’s killers, to the all important issue of Emma’s safety. If it was up to him, she wouldn’t leave the residence until he knew that all of those responsible for Lacey’s death had been dealt with and were no longer a threat. His preferred mode of ensuring her safety was the most permanent one, although rationally he understood it would raise a few flags if several elected officials died all at once. So he’d kill the worst of them and ensure the others left town. For now.

Emma stirred at the sound of the phone, her eyes fluttering open slowly. She stiffened, probably realizing she wasn’t in her own bed. And then, to his great pleasure, she relaxed against him. It did something to his heart to know that waking next to him made her feel secure enough to relax.

“It’s probably Miguel,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “I should talk to him.”

Emma sat up, then leaned over to give him a thorough kiss, her naked breasts swaying close enough that he cupped one in his hand, smiling when her nipple immediately hardened in response. She hummed with pleasure and pushed against his hand before pulling away. “Tell Miguel he has lousy timing,” she said, then slipped out of bed and headed for the bathroom.

Duncan watched her shapely ass until she closed the door, then padded out to the other room to retrieve his phone from the desk. He didn’t actually have to answer to know it was Miguel calling him. The connection between a Sire and his vampire child was very strong, especially when the Sire was as powerful as Duncan.

“Miguel,” he said, answering the phone.

“Sire,” Miguel said cautiously. “I don’t mean to interrupt—”

“You’re not,” he assured his lieutenant. If it had truly been an interruption, Duncan wouldn’t have answered at all.

“My lord, the guard we had on Ms. Duquet today tells me she spent a great deal of time with Violet Slayton.”

“So I understand,” Duncan said. “Emma and I will join you in the computer room shortly.”

“Thank you, Sire.”

Duncan disconnected, smiling at Miguel’s discretion. What he’d told Emma about the room being soundproofed was true. None of his vampires would have heard what was going on. But that didn’t mean their brains stopped working. Even without their blood link to him, they would have detected the strong emotions being generated. When one added that link into the mix, they knew very well what Duncan had been up to this evening.

Emma emerged from the bathroom, her beautiful breasts and everything else on full display. She glanced up to see Duncan watching her hungrily.

“Stop that,” she chided him. “Or we’ll never get out of this room.”

“Would that be a bad thing?”

Emma laughed. “Eventually you’d get tired of me.”

Duncan crossed to her in two long strides, sliding his arm around her waist and pulling her firmly against his body. “Never,” he whispered in between nibbling kisses to her ear and throat. Emma wrapped her arms around him with a hungry little cry of her own, and tilted her head against his shoulder, giving him full access to her neck. She shivered when he bit the lobe of her ear, and her nipples poked his chest.

“You’re a very bad man, Duncan,” she whispered, her breath hot against his skin.

“I’m not a man at all, Emma. And while some may consider me bad, I’m very good at what I do.”

“And what’s that?” she asked, kissing his shoulder before pulling away to give him a curious look.

“I take care of the people who matter to me, and especially those I consider mine.” He kissed her soft mouth. “And you, Emmaline, are most definitely mine.”

Chapter Twenty-One

“I don’t want her badgered,” Emma said for what felt like the hundredth time. She was sitting in the makeshift computer room along with Duncan and several of his vampires, including Phoebe. The chair was hard and uncomfortable, the room was cold, and she was bone tired. She’d been up most of the previous night, had worked a full day today, driven out to Violet Slayton’s home and back again, and then spent a vigorous couple of hours with Duncan—not that she’d give back one minute of her time with Duncan no matter how little sleep she had. But it was beginning to look as though she wouldn’t get much sleep tonight either. That was the problem in working with vampires. They were fresh and raring to go, just getting started on their day, so to speak, while she wanted nothing more than to sleep for about eight hours straight.

Except that they were discussing their approach to Violet Slayton, which was something Emma cared a great deal about. She was not going to let them badger the poor woman into telling them what she knew, no matter the stakes.

“Emma,” Duncan said patiently. “She’s probably our best source for getting the identity of the men involved in Lacey’s death.”

“She doesn’t remember anything.”

“But she will,” Duncan insisted, also for the hundredth time. “The very fact that she’s as spooked as you say she is, that she knows something happened and is having nightmares about it, tells me that whoever messed with her head did a piss poor job of it. I can fix that and get what we need at the same time. You say you care about her, then let me repair the damage they’ve done to her mind.”

Emma regarded Duncan steadily. He was leaning back against the table across from hers, long legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankles. He looked his usual cool and studly self in black jeans and t-shirt, his hair pulled back in a neat tail. And she was pretty sure he could lie his ass off and she’d never know the difference if he didn’t want her to. But she trusted him. God knew he was wicked in bed, but he was also a good man out of it.

“All right,” she agreed. “But no one else, Duncan. If you all show up en masse, she’ll freak out and we’ll never get a word out of her.”

“Agreed,” he said, nodding.

“And I go with you.” When Duncan frowned, she added, “I don’t think she’ll see you otherwise.”

“All right, then,” he said reluctantly. “But you said she didn’t want to meet at her home.”

“Right. So we’ll have figure out someplace neutral. Not here,” she said immediately. “For all we know, this is one of the places Victor and his buddies assaulted her.”

“Miguel,” Duncan said, shifting his gaze to his lieutenant. “We’ll need someplace private, but not so isolated that she feels threatened. And none of Victor’s properties. We can’t know which ones he used.”

“You can do it at our house,” Phoebe offered from her seat next to Emma. “It’s close to where Slayton lives, and we have plenty of privacy. Plus with Ted living there, it has a messy, lived-in feel to it,” she added dryly.

“Are you sure, Pheebs?” Duncan asked, frowning.

“Absolutely. Our offices are on the same property, so we have people in and out all the time, but I’ll make sure you have the place to yourself for this.”

He nodded. “Thank you, then. Miguel, we’ll do it tomorrow night. You can check out the property tonight. Do whatever you need to do to feel secure about the setup. Emma and I will pick up Violet—”

“No,” Emma interrupted. “I’ll pick up Violet alone and take her to the house. Once we’re there, you can join us. She won’t want a stranger in her house, Duncan,” she insisted when he looked as if he’d argue. “You can have someone tail me if that makes you feel better, but I’ll bring her to Phoebe’s house alone. I’ll need the address and everything so I can map it out ahead of time.”

“We’ll program the GPS for you,” Duncan said. “You’ll be driving one of our SUVs. They’re safer.”

Emma nodded, privately hoping she’d get one of the big V8 SUVs, not some smaller, punier version. Maybe if she asked nicely. Behind Duncan, Baldwin was giving her a thumb’s up, and she fought back a grin. Duncan narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, but she gave him an innocent smile, which she was sure didn’t fool him for one minute.

“Very well,” Duncan said, clearly calling an end to the meeting. “Louis, you and the others keep working. Miguel, you and I need to talk to Alaric. He’s waiting for us in the new wing. Emma, a moment of your time, please.”

Uh oh, Emma thought. Busted.

She followed him down the hall, barely making it through the door of his office before he had her up against the wall and was kissing her. She reacted without thinking, going up on her toes and rubbing her breasts against his chest, kissing him back for all she was worth. He growled and crushed her lips beneath his mouth, his fangs fully in evidence as he bit down hard enough to draw a small taste of her blood.

Emma gasped and bit him back, tasting the thick honey that was his vampire blood a moment before it hit her bloodstream and sent a jolt of lust spearing right between her legs. She moaned into his mouth, hooked her leg over his hip and began grinding herself shamelessly against him, needing to release the heat building there like a volcano about to blow.

Duncan swore softly, ripped her jeans open and shoved his hand down into her panties, hissing when his fingers slid into the already wet folds between her legs. “You’re so damn hot,” he whispered and plunged two fingers up into her hungry pussy, tipping her over into a searing orgasm that slammed her into the wall and left her shuddering and clinging to his shoulders while small jolts of pleasure fired along her nerves at random.

Duncan carried her to the bedroom and threw her on the bed, his gaze liquid fire against her skin as he stripped away first her pants and then his, not even bothering with the rest of their clothes before he lifted her legs over his shoulders and plunged deep inside her with a single, strong thrust, his sleekly muscled arms braced to either side of her.