Aaron's Kiss Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 7) (81 page)

He took her hand and half-led, half-dragged her out of the building. He had her seated in a nice pub and a glass of water in front of her before she was able to respond.

“You…you kissed me.”

“Yes, so glad that you noticed. You kissed me back as well. And I must say, you did a very nice job of it too. I’d very much like to do it again in the very near future.” He had a tone. She didn’t like it either.

“Don’t be insufferable. Why? I don’t understand why you’d even do something like that, especially to me. I mean, don’t I…you know, the tissue thingy? Don’t I have, I don’t know, millions of germs on me too?”

“It was a chance I was willing to take. A lot.” He moved closer to her on the bench. “I’d very much like to take another chance right now. You taste like ambrosia to me. Fresh oranges much like the blossoms on the tree in our front yard where I grew up.”

When he moved over on the bench to kiss her again, she stopped him with a hand to his chest. This had to stop. They couldn’t do this. At least she didn’t think they could, but the closer he got to her, the less and less she was beginning to remember why.

“Now you stop right there. This is just as much a public place as the hospital, and I don’t want you…you can’t…you can’t just go around kissing people willy-nilly like that. I don’t think…you can’t want to kiss me. I’m…I’m not right.” She realized he had turned her into a ninny. Bailey hated ninnies.

“How are you not right, love? You certainly tasted all right to me, delicious as a matter of fact. But maybe I should have another taste, just to be sure.”

This was the third time he had asked for a kiss. This time, she wasn’t fast enough. He cupped her head with his hand, jerked her to him, and sealed his mouth over hers before she could protest. 

His tongue dueled and danced with hers, sliding along it, and he sucked it into his mouth. He pulled a shadow around them. She was glad for that. She didn’t want to be interrupted this time, not until she had her fill of him, of his mouth and taste. Bailey was afraid that this was only the beginning and it terrified her beyond reason.

“Your name, love, tell me your name.” H
e whispered through her mind, low and urgent, soft and sexy. She couldn’t have refused him even if she wanted to. And she most certainly didn’t want to.

“Bailey, I’m…my name is Bailey Morrison. Please, you must stop, you can’t…Oh God, yes!” H
e cupped her breast in his palm, brushed his thumb across her hard peak. 

His moan moved through her, touched her in places she thought to be long dead, her heart for one. He pulled her closer, over him and onto his lap. Her legs instinctively straddled his thighs and she pressed her body, her heat, closer to his cock. His hands cupped her ass, cradling her to him as he showed her what he wanted, showed her how to ride him. He reached down between her thighs, and pressed his thumb against her clit through her jeans. Over and over she rode his fingers as he pressed his cock hard against her.

She was going to come and come hard. When he licked the pounding pulse at her throat, just as she was doing to him, he nearly sent her over the edge as he nipped at her. She needed him, wanted him. He sank his teeth into her the moment she did hers. Her fangs sank deep and into him and he came with her, exploded with an unexpected roar that tore out of her.

She forgot they were in yet another public place.

~~~

“We will never be able to step foot in that restaurant again. I hope you’re happy. And I never got to eat. Food, I didn’t get any food. I told you there was something you needed to know. I can’t believe we did…shit, us…we?” She wouldn’t look at him.

“Yes, love we did. And I’ll feed you. Just tell me what you want to eat and I’ll have the driver stop and we’ll get it. You’ll need to keep up your strength.” He touched her, ran his fingers down her arm and up again. He loved the way she reacted to that, the slight shudder that raced through her body and into his.

“Don’t you even care…of course you don’t. Why should you? It’s probably like some Tarzan thing, the equivalent to pounding on your chest, us being thrown, literally thrown, from a restaurant because we were…because we. Stop smiling, it is not funny. Sheesh, you’re impossible.” She looked out the window again. “Where are you taking us?” 

“To my home. We can stay there and…talk.”

His tone suggested something other than talking, and he did want everything from her. He was suddenly glad she was too fuzzy to realize what he’d done. Tristan wanted her beneath him as soon as they walked in the door. Now would make him just as happy, but he wanted a proper bed this time and he needed to be inside of her, deep and hard.

They had nearly had sex on the bench in a restaurant. He wondered what his brothers would think if they knew. They wouldn’t believe him, he knew it. But every person in that restaurant did and had stared at them after they had come. They had both yelled, quite loudly as a matter of fact, yelled out their release. Tristan thought Bailey had it right. It was a Tarzan thing. He lifted his fist to his chest and pounded it twice just for the thrill of it.

“You have a home here too? Sure, why not? I guess if you live a million years you can own just about anything you want. And don’t look at me like that, you arrogant ass.” Tristan glared at her when she continued to call him names. “You have no idea what you’ve done.”

“Oh, but I do. We have mated, bonded in the way of my kind, our kind. You are my true mate, Bailey, love. And we’ve taken care of the final part in a very public place and once we talk, because as much as I’d like to take you again right now, bury my cock deep into you, I realize there are things we need to discuss. But mark my words, as soon as the last word leaves my mouth, you are going to be flat on your back, naked, with me pounding another release from us both.”

“I think…” Her cell phone chirped at that moment. She dug around in her pocket until she found it. Not even looking to see who it was, which he found curiously odd, she answered.

“I can’t talk right now. And a printing job is out of the question for you right now…no…you told me…you said that it was clear…a clean print up. It wasn’t.” Her pauses were getting longer, the voice at the other end louder. He felt her pull a shield down the moment she answered, so that all he could hear was her end of the conversation and loud noises from the other. “Bonus aside…okay triple that and I’ll think about it…shit…yes. Send the job to the main office…fuck off.” She put the phone back into her pocket and he could feel her anger.

“Bailey, I suppose if I asked you what that was about you wouldn’t tell me, would you?” She was silent for so long that he thought she wasn’t going to answer. When she did, he wished that she hadn’t.

“I’m a hired killer, Tristan, a hit man. I have killed seventy-three people in the past eleven years.” She looked at him then. “So if you know anyone who has a lot of power, I suggest that you ask them to reverse this bond you say we have. And soon.”

~CHAPTER SEVEN~

They didn’t speak the rest of the ride to his home. When she had started to tell him more, he simply held up his hand to stop her. She slid away from him to the other side of the car and he let her, releasing her hand as well as his warmth. She should have figured it would happen. She had never told anyone what she did before because of this very reason. She reached out to the only other person in the world she trusted.

“Griff, I have a rush job coming in. It may arrive by this morning. I want you to contact me as soon as you get it. I will also need some cash. Can you manage that, please?”

“Yes, mistress, anything you wish. I am at your command, as always. How much do you need? And who am I sending it to?”

She frowned at his question. Who was she anymore?
“The name, I don’t know yet. I may need to get something more very soon. Send the usual.”

“I understand.”
He hesitated for just a second and she waited for him to ask. But he didn’t. She wasn’t sure what she would have said if he had asked her if she was all right. But what he did say didn’t surprise her either.
“I will take care of the rest, all the identification as well. Also, mistress, there has been someone checking for you, under your name. It appears someone has found you.”

It was both of their fears that someone who had gotten away from Co-Tech would find them and begin the project again. They had destroyed everything in the building that night, but nothing was perfect. The people had gotten out, they had made sure of that. Also the prisoners, those that had wanted to leave. The rest, the ones who just couldn’t stand to move among humans, had stayed behind when the building went up. She tried her best not to think about that.

She glanced over at Tristan. He worked fast, and she’d only told him her name about an hour ago. Since she had been with him since she had given him her name, she could only assume that he was contacting another of his kind by telepathy. 

“How long do I have?”
She asked him, knowing it didn’t matter. The man sitting next to her not only had her real name, but he’d seen her as well.

“I have set up the usual blocks, so you will have no more than forty-eight hours. Less if they have good connections with money to spare.”

“Count on both,”
she told him.
“All right, I’ll need to know the particulars as soon as you get them. Thanks, buddy. Night, my friend.”

“Good night, mistress. Be careful.”

The car pulled up in front of a castle, an honest to goodness castle, a few minutes later. Bailey had never been to a castle before, and didn’t expect to spend too much time in this one.

She would give him what he needed to know and take off. She didn’t know what they needed to do to complete their bond, or even if they had somehow already finished it, but she had a pretty good idea and had no intentions of letting that happen, not that she thought that he would want to anymore.

She’d heard of mated couples, of course. One couldn’t be around other beings without some knowledge of their rituals. But she had never really studied the process and didn’t really think it was all that big of a deal. He’d just have to find someone else to mate with. She was just too busy. Not that she held out any hope that after she talked to him he’d want it to happen anyway. There was an older woman standing in the doorway when they entered the estate.

“Maria, this is my mate, Bailey St. James. She will be staying with us,” Tristan introduced. “Could you please show her to my room on the upper floors, and then she will require some food. Please, have Stanley see to that for her as well for me.”

“Yes, my lord.” She curtseyed to him and then turned to Bailey. “Mistress, would you please come with me? Will your bags be following soon, or shall I have someone pick them up for you?”

“No, nothing to follow.” She left it at that.

The two of them went up the grand staircase to the second floor and was led into a massive suite complete with fireplace, sitting area, and bed, the biggest bed she had ever seen.

It had to have been at least half again as wide as even a king-sized bed and covered with the most beautiful array of colors that she’d ever seen. The deep, rich colors of the earth were a perfect match to the pieces in the room as well. Deep, dark cherry accented by lighter shades of yellows and greens. The drapes, closed now against the night sky, were heavy, hung on floor-to-ceiling frames, and looked as if they might have been made of velvet. In addition to the bed, there were two highboys and a long dresser. Along one wall was a massive shelf that was crowded with books, pieces of pottery, and objects of art. The hardwood floors had a scattering of rugs, all in the same colors of the spread. A pair of wingback chairs graced the fireplace that was lit with a cheery fire.

“Thank you, Maria. If you don’t mind, I would like to rest awhile, please?” She wanted to think. And to plan.

“Oh yes, mistress. I’ll let you know when the master…”

“Actually, I’m so sorry.” She thought to rest, but it had been a long night and she might as well get it over with. “Could you take me to the master now? I have something I need to tell him.”

“Of course. He would be in his...the study. If you’d like to come with me, I’ll take you right to him.” Maria had been surprised by Bailey changing her mind, but she recovered quickly.

Bailey had a moment to wonder how many other women he’d brought to his household under the guise of being his mate, then dismissed that thought. It was really none of her business and she was going to be out of his life soon enough anyway.

“I’d like to talk with you now if you please,” she told him as soon as Maria left her in his study and closed the door.

No preamble, just straightforward, that was Bailey. A rip-the-Band-Aid-off-not-peel-it-slowly kind of girl. She almost grinned at that thought. Bailey rarely thought of herself as a girl much anymore, even less of person most days. 

“Good.” He nodded her to a chair. “I have a few things to say to you as well. You may start.”

She tried not to bristle at that and his tone. One would never know they had nearly had sex in a public place not two hours ago.

“You asked me what I am. Well, I’m a lab project from a place that no longer exists. It was called Co-Tech Industries. We, a couple of friends and I, destroyed it about twenty years ago. There were three others that escaped with me twenty-two years ago next month.”

“What does that have to do with—”

She cut him off. This was her story and she was going to tell it her way. “Tyler Dunn, now deceased, Griff Smith, and Charlie Smith, also deceased. Charlie died before we were off the property. He had been shot and had bled out before we could…well, that doesn’t really concern you or what you want to know so I’ll skip that part.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “All that I’m going to share with you is how this may affect you, and it will. I was created in the lab, in a test tube actually. I’m the combination of several donors, all of them immortal races mixed together to try and create an elite super-race of beings that would be used for war. One of the donors was a vampire. That’s why I could bite you. I also have the ability to do other things too. Whether it’s magically, mentally, or physically, thanks to the DNA cocktail I was given, I’m pretty much a fuck up of all races.”

“May I ask you a question?” 

She wanted to tell him he just had, but thought he’d not appreciate her attempt at humor. She nodded.

“Do you know anything about the lab prior to it being destroyed? Who funded it? And who yet still lives?”

“No. We didn’t care past getting out and surviving. There are others like me, marked like us, but…I have a mark, a tattooed bar code that was burned into my skin. They put it there when I was small. We all had one. But no, I don’t know anything about the scientist.”

“What things can you do? I’ve seen your fangs, but you said mixture. Of what?”

She was hurt by his dismissive tone that sounded like he didn’t believe her. “I can shift into anything I need to so long as it has a heartbeat. I think that came from weres, a cougar and a wolf.” Now, for the hard part. “We were considered a failure, and were set for termination a few days before we escaped. When you took my blood, you subjected yourself to all that I am, including everything I can do. You will be able to shift, if you couldn’t already, your mental abilities will be exponentially stronger, also your strength. I can’t heal myself, nor am I an immortal, but those will not affect you, as they are things that you had prior to drinking my blood.”

“Did you have anything to do with Tyler’s and Charlie’s death?”

She turned away from him and looked out the window. Hurt ripped through her chest. “That would be the first thing you’d ask me, wouldn’t it, Lord St. James?” She got up from the chair and paced around the room. “Indirectly, yes, I did. They were the only friends I had besides Griff and I convinced them we could make it on the outside world. The only people I ever trusted were these three and now two of them are dead. I will ever trust again except for Griff.”

If he expected more, he would be sorely disappointed. Bailey felt him touch her mind, but she tossed him off. If he didn’t want her then he had no right to trod on her painful memories.

“Bailey, love, I’m…”

She cut him off. “You will have your information about me soon. Yes, I’m well aware that you are having me investigated, Lord St. James. I have just as good of help as you do when I need information. I’ve had it slowed down a bit until we could…but your computer whiz will break through soon enough. I’ve seen his work before. He’s quite good.”

“Bailey, you have to understand—”

“I don’t think so. Your information, it will be incomplete and most of it will be glossed over. But with what I’ve told you, you’ll be able to guess the rest.” She opened the window, leaned into it, and took a deep breath. “I want you to stay away from me, Lord St. James. If you come near me, or you send someone for me, I will kill them and then you. And have no doubt that I can and will. I’m a heartless bitch and can do what I want. There’s a woman, the queen of magic. If you go to her, she’ll help you get this…relationship you’ve found yourself in fixed. She doesn’t care for me all that much anyway.”

Bailey continued to look out the window. She wouldn’t, no, she couldn’t look at him. She had felt him touch her mind again, harder this time, trying to breach her hold, but she didn’t allow him entrance. She didn’t want him to see what he had done to her with his comment about Tyler. She needed to leave right now. She needed to get out.

She let go the first shimmer of magic then more power surged from her and around her. He watched her as her arms became covered in feathers, small white and brown feathers, as she held onto the sill. Then her hair changed, and with a snap, she was a falcon. A slightly larger than normal pedigree falcon with the greenest eyes known to man.

Bailey loved her bird of prey and how she made her feel in flight. Now, she was leaving. She hopped up onto the ledge of the window sill. He moved to her then, flashed to her and the window she had opened, but he was too late.

“Bailey, don’t…” But it was too late. She was gone.