Chandler: Books 4 The Witch and the Vampire (7 page)

Chapter Twelve

It was better to be on the safe side than risk his very existence by entering
Johannes
’s private office in his vampire body. He stepped into the alley running beside the building and shapeshifted into a bat. He sensed
Johannes
had left the building, perhaps to feed. The club was closing up on the lower level. A few late patrons lingered on the sidewalk near the corner of the building waiting to hail cabs. The lock clicked on the massive front door, ending speculation as to the club closing for the night. Two bulky men, whom he recognized as bartenders, got into a waiting car at the curb and soon disappeared down the avenue.

Chandler
took to the sky and flew to the window in the rear of the building, hoping to find the office Jada spoke about. He hovered near the pane, his keen eyes discerning the shapes of office furniture inside a large room. A dim light glowed in one corner illuminating the door. He perched on the window ledge, assessing the interior before entering. The consequences of getting caught materialized in his mind again. It would be a fight to the death once
Johannes
realized he had invaded his sanctuary. There would be no deceiving the powerful vampire. He would smell his scent once he set foot beyond the glass windowpane.

Jada’s face suddenly flashed before his mind’s eye. He grimaced and started to vaporize, seeping beneath the wooden sash of the window.
I’m such a fool!

The gray mist swirled and gathered, falling onto the floor beneath the window frame. It mounted, grew, took on shape.
Chandler
drew in a long breath and stepped away from the window, crossing the room to the large desk. Wary of being in the room, he rushed to investigate the contents of the drawers on either side of the desk. Rifling through the contents and deciding there was nothing of value as far as proof of stolen paintings or their sales, he moved on to the middle drawer of the desk. It was locked. His interest was immediately peaked. In his time, valuables were concealed within strongholds. He took hold of the drawer pull and jerked it open, forcing the lock.

Fuck!
Cursing himself for being too forceful, he discounted the broken lock and scanned the contents of the drawer. A little black book caught his eye. He lifted it into his hand, rifled through the pages quickly and shoved it into his pocket. Taking further note of the remaining contents—a gold embossed pen set, several sheets of writing paper with the nightclub’s letterhead, The Royal and a calendar with pictures of naked women on it, he closed the drawer and moved on to a metal filing cabinet sitting against the far wall.

He found the first drawer locked and quickly forced it open without further thought. It contained neat rows of manila folders. He plucked one from the middle of the group and opened its cover. A series of names and figures covered four pages. Uncertain whether the file had any meaning, he searched through the sheets until he spied the name of the nightclub in one column.

Business papers for the club, nothing more.
He pushed the first drawer on the cabinet closed and opened the next. It slid easily, drawing his attention to the fact that it was unlocked—unlike the top drawer. Pausing a moment, he considered the upper drawer and its contents.
Maybe there’s something valuable in there after all.
He returned to the top drawer and rifled through the folders again, choosing one toward the back of the file.

Dawson Enterprises, LLD jumped off the page at him. He poked the file under his arm and searched for others with that name among the remaining folders. Finding none, he pushed the drawer closed and checked the remaining drawers in the cabinet. They were all unlocked. He shook his head, dismissing the unlocked drawers. They evidently didn’t hold any papers that were of value to Jada’s investigation else their locks would be secured like the other drawers.

He finished with the file cabinet and stood searching the room for other places the vampire might hide papers pertaining to his alleged art thievery. Jada had mentioned a safe in the office. He called up on his powers of perception, quickly finding the safe concealed behind a painting in the room.

How ironic, an art thief hiding his safe behind a painting.
He chuckled slightly and hurried to remove the picture and investigate the metal stronghold set into the wall. He brushed a palm across the round lock. It was secure, as he had known it would be.
Johannes
certainly wasn’t a fool. He had been privy to deal with mortal man for centuries—he knew what they were capable of.

And should he be the art thief Jada presumes him to be, he is adept at hiding the evidence from prying eyes.
Chandler
knew the moment he forced the lock, there would be hell to pay.
Johannes
would be all over his staff and anyone else that got in his way. He paused a moment, thinking.
Disrupting
Johannes
’s smooth operation between himself and his staff at the nightclub could be to my advantage. If I can throw suspicion on any one of his cohorts, he might not suspect Jada or her cop friend,
Mike
.

He shook his head. The nose of a vampire was exceptional. A creature of the night could smell another like soul where a mortal thought no scent existed. He was fooling himself if he thought for one minute that
Johannes
wouldn’t know who had been in his office.
He knows of me already. I have little to conceal from the master.
He grasped the dial of the lock and yanked it free of the metal holding it in place.

 
The thick door opened, its hinge giving way to his brutal force. He thrust one hand inside the dark space and pulled out a sheath of papers. Deciding to forego taking the time to look through them—he was uncertain of exactly what he was looking for anyway—he poked the pages into his jeans pocket and turned from the safe. An eerie feeling had suddenly taken root in his gut. He needed to leave the office. Now.

He grabbed the file folder he had taken from the cabinet and crossed the room to the window. Quickly vaporizing, he seeped beneath the frame into the night. Taking to the air, he set his course for Jada’s house, the foreboding feeling that began in the office still with him.

Seeping quickly beneath her door, he materialized into his vampire body and stood in the light reflected by a single lamp in the spacious living room. He could hear Jada talking to someone in the next room. He listened, heard only her voice and discerned she was talking on the telephone. He clutched the folder and the articles from the safe, then strode toward the sound of her voice. He would give her the papers, allow her time to go over them, then insist she remove herself from the case.
Fuck! She won’t go for that.

Jada looked up when he stepped inside the bedroom. She was lounging on the big bed, a stack of pillows behind her back. She swung her feet to the floor and quickly hung up the phone.

He sensed a torrent of anger building inside her. He cocked his head at her, assessing the scowl across her face. She wasn’t angry because he had come into her home without warning—it was something more.

“You’re no fucking cop!” She backed away from him, putting the wide bed between their bodies. “I just called
Captain
Martin
and he said he didn’t send an undercover detective to help on the case.”

Chandler
tossed the manila folder and the contents of the safe on the foot of the bed. He stared at her while he slid one hand into his pocket to retrieve the black book he had taken from the desk drawer. Her eyes widened and she stretched out one hand toward the nightstand, as though reaching for her revolver for protection from him. “You don’t need your gun. You’ve no reason to fear me.”

She glared at him for a moment, then lowered her eyes to the things he had laid on the bed. “What’s this?”

“Things I found in Collins’s office.” He shrugged his shoulders. “It might be evidence.”

She propped her hands on her hips. “Why did you let me think you were a cop? Hell! You don’t even carry a gun!”

He smiled slightly. “The notion was harmless and it got me into your bed.”

“You son-of-a-bitch!”

Chandler
cocked an eyebrow. “Your tone is venomous.”

“That ain’t the half of it! You deceived me! You led me to believe that you were sent from the department to help with the investigation. Who are you really? Are you one of Collins’s men…or a rival thief?”

Chandler
shook his head. “I’m not a thief. Or anyone you need to worry about. I merely happened into the club and saw you dancing and thought you’d be a good lay.”

She bristled. “And I’m supposed to turn the other cheek? You led me to believe you were a cop and I shared secret information with you about a case I’ve sweated blood over.”

“I brought you some evidence, maybe.” He chuckled slightly.

She lowered her gaze to the assortment of rumpled pages he had tossed on the bed. Stepping closer, she picked up the little black book and opened the cover.

He watched the expression on her face change and sensed her anger dissipating. He released a relieved sigh.
Damn! Women are so fucking hard to please!

Chapter Thirteen

Jada lowered herself slowly to the bed, her eyes transfixed on the little black book
Chandler
had taken from
John
Collins
’s desk drawer.
Chandler
watched her flip through the pages of the book, her expression growing more animated by the moment.

“There’s enough evidence in this little book to put
Collins
away for the rest of his life.” She turned her gaze on
Chandler
. “I assume you broke into his office.”

“Is that a question, or a statement?” He smiled and crossed the room toward the bed. He paused very near where she sat, a bit reluctant to approach further. Though he sensed her anger at him had dissipated somewhat, her eyes still harbored distrust when she met his gaze.

She scooped the pages he had taken from the safe into her hands and began scanning each rumpled sheet. “This is a list of European buyers for the stolen art.” She shuffled the page to the back of the stack and scanned the next. “And this is a list of art that prospective buyers are willing to pay big bucks for.” She pulled in a quick breath. “I can’t begin to tell you how important this evidence is,
Chandler
.”

Relief flooded his big body. He sat down beside her on the foot of the bed. “So you have the evidence you were wanting and can quit the investigation.”

She met his gaze. “There’s going to be hell to pay when
Collins
gets back in town.”

Surprise filtered through
Chandler
’s body.
That’s why I couldn’t discern the master’s whereabouts.
“He’s out of town?”

She nodded her head. “He told me tonight that he would be gone for a couple of days.” She smiled and placed one hand on
Chandler
’s knee. “You may not be a cop, but you managed to find the right evidence so we can charge
Collins
with art theft and selling stolen property.” She suddenly threw her arms around his neck and hugged him close.

He released a long sigh and wrapped his arms around Jada’s waist, tugging her body against his. Her breasts flattened against his chest and her warmth immediately seeped through his t-shirt, assaulting his male senses. He closed his eyes for a moment, drawing the perfume of her hair into his lungs.

Jada pushed out of his embrace suddenly. “Tell me who you are.”

“You know my name.”

“But if you aren’t a cop, who are you? And why would you risk your life to steal evidence from
John
Collins
?”

He considered lying to her, perhaps telling her he was a successful businessman, or a salesman in town for a short time, then dashed the idea. Still, he couldn’t confess he was a vampire transported to the present time by a witch with a magical amulet. “You told me to get into his office, to take advantage of the time when he wasn’t in, to find evidence that would seal up your case against him.”

She laughed suddenly. “You stole for me?”

Chandler
shrugged his shoulders. He reached out one hand and stroked her cheek, then delved his hand beneath the long blonde tresses at her nape. He curled his fingers around her neck and pulled her face close to his. “Yes.”

He lowered his head and claimed her lips, feeling her response the instant his mouth touched hers. She moaned and leaned her breasts into his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck. She parted her lips for him when he bid entry with the tip of his tongue.

He had silenced her—for now. And with her admission that
Collins
was out of town for a couple of days, he relaxed a bit. His cock began to grow hard, his thoughts turning to sexual fulfillment with Jada. He pressed her back, lowering her onto the mattress. She settled beneath him as he climbed atop her body, parting her thighs with his knee as he deepened the heated kiss they shared.

Having found out that the master vampire was out of town for the time being,
Chandler
allowed his senses to take control of his body. His cock strained against the front of his jeans. Mental pictures of Jada lying naked and vulnerable beneath his body filled his head. He slid one hand up her blouse and cupped a breast, listening to her moan as he tweaked her nipple.

Chandler
could hear Jada’s heart beating, a steady thud that melded with his. When he pushed aside her bra and pressed his hand to her bare breast, her heart rate quickened. He enjoyed her warmth, the silken feel of her skin against his palm as he caressed her breast. Her aroma filled his nose, arousing his senses to the apex.

He tore at her clothing, aiming to have her without further delay. She laughed softly and rolled to one side so he could unclasp her bra and slip off her blouse. His fingers melded with hers on the snap of her jeans. She released a sigh and pulled her hands back, giving him consent to slide down her zipper and pull her pants off. She curled warmly against him as he stripped her body bare.

Chandler
wasted little time ridding himself of his own clothing, his cock so hard with want his abdomen ached. When he was totally naked, he covered her body with his, pressing the muscles of his chest against her voluptuous breasts. He paused for a moment, savoring the feel of her body beneath his. She was exquisite and she was the perfect woman for his needs.

His thoughts spun out of control as he enjoyed her body, tucked safely beneath his own, his to command. He felt her skin and rejoiced in the sensuous feel. He listened to her breathe and heard her blood rushing through her veins. His senses, so acute and in touch with hers, picked up every little nuance of movement—soft sighs emitted from her lush lips, a hasty drawn-in breath.

I could fall in love with this woman.
His thought brought his eyes flashing open. So many times during the short time he had known Jada, he had cautioned himself about becoming too attached to her. And since discovering the master in his midst, he had even begun to worry that he had already allowed himself to fall for her. He tried to return his mind to the lovemaking at hand. He arched his body upward and fitted the head of his long cock between her splayed legs. She gasped as he lunged his erection inside her body.

She dug her nails into the ropy muscles of his back and clung to him as though he might leave her suddenly. He smiled at the notion. If only he could bring himself to leave her, he would be better off in the long run.
Perhaps it is meant for my heart to be empty for all eternity.
A knot formed in his gut. A low groan escaped his throat. He had allowed himself to become too attached to
Jada
Harris
within the short time he had known her. Leaving was out of the question.

Orgasm began in his belly and spiraled throughout his big body. He lunged his cock deep inside her as she raised her legs and clasped them around his thrusting buttocks. Her nails gouged deeper into his flesh. She held him close and panted into his ear.

The experience was all too enthralling. The touching. The climax that bore down on him, then came full bloom, ripping through his body with lightning speed. He opened his mouth and released a loud bellow as the sensations overtook his senses.
Heaven should be so sweet!

“You…are such a…good lover!” She yelled the sentence as she levered her hips upward, opening herself up for his thrusting.

“You arouse me as no other woman ever has.” He whispered the words against her ear, then delved his tongue inside the pink shell. He raked his teeth across her earlobe, drawing a shiver from her.

“I’m…coming,
Chandler
! Oh God! I’m coming!” She arched her back and bucked her hips, clawing at his back with her nails.

He tightened his arms around her body and took her over the edge.