Department 57: Rubies of Fire (6 page)

She swallowed back her concerns. “Yes, I know. We’re working a case. The last thing we should do is get personally involved.”

He grimaced, but even that slight twist of his lips made her want to touch them and smooth out the frown marring his forehead. That wasn’t sex; that was caring. It worried her. “Then we’ll agree not to get involved.”

He laughed and drew her closer. “If only it were that easy.”

If only. She feared she felt more for him than a work colleague or a casual lover. “I don’t see how I could think anything else. I thought I knew you. I read you.”

“You read what I wanted you to read. You’re not as highly trained as I am.”

“I’m older than you. I’ve had more practice. How do you know you’re more highly trained?”

His arm around her made her feel safe. She hadn’t felt that way for a long time. “I’m a field agent, Roz. All the senses I possess, including the psi ones, are honed toward that. Unlike my DIB profile, my security clearance is very high because I need it for my job. Have you always worked for the CIA? Are you undercover too?”

She sighed against his chest. “No. No, I’m not, at least I wasn’t until my family asked me to look for some evidence of my dead cousins.”

His tone sharpened. “The two Gardiners who died? They were your cousins, not just members of your vampire family?”

“Kind of. When you’re a Gardiner, anyone you’re not directly related to is your ‘cousin.’”

“Did you know either of them?”

She couldn’t keep the emotion out of her voice. “I knew them both. One was a particular friend.”

He hesitated, then asked the question she knew he had to ask. “How particular?”

“We were lovers.”

He pushed her away, and she hated the hurt expression on his face, also her instinctive response to go back to him. What was wrong with her? She took lovers when she felt the need and walked away without a backward glance. She’d sworn not to get involved with anyone else again. Once was enough.

Before she could move away from him, he pulled her back, and this time he imprisoned her firmly with his arms. “That was childish. I’m sorry. I don’t understand my reactions to you. We can be lovers, can’t we? I’ve never been particularly possessive, so I’m sure it’s just instinctive.”

That was the problem. Instinct. It told her to burrow close, to hold him as tightly as he held her, but it wouldn’t do. He was right; she didn’t know him. “Bill was a good man. I wasn’t in love with him, but we had a good relationship. When Neville disappeared, he went after him, didn’t think once about his own safety. They took him too, and we found their bodies where they’d been dumped.” This time his arms didn’t seem imprisoning. They seemed comforting. She hadn’t needed protection or comforting for a long time. “I went in to investigate.”

She sensed his withdrawal rather than saw it, and then his muscles tensed and he drew back physically, holding her away from him so he could study her properly.

He reached the conclusion quicker than she’d thought he would. “So you were conveniently situated in the DIB. Who is conveniently situated in Department 57?”

For a full minute Roz said nothing but let him draw his own conclusions. Eventually the dark eyes boring into hers grew uncomfortably keen, and she glanced away. “You know who. Me. I’m working for the Gardiners as well as helping you. What did you expect?”

He dropped his arms, leaving her standing alone. “Who else?” She’d never heard this tone before, hard and unyielding. The casual laziness of the office worker, the gentleness and passion of the lover, but not this inflexible, determined tone.

If he was the agent he claimed, he’d be tough. This voice belonged to the real Andreas, not the one he’d let everyone in the DIB see.

He had a few things to learn about her too. “Just me.”

“So who is feeding Department 57 information to the DIB?”

How had she ever thought his eyes were soft! Had she ever seen passion there? She couldn’t believe it looking at him. “I don’t know that. I swear it. We’d like to know too.”

She couldn’t look away, however much she wanted to. His eyes held hers captive until he closed them. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I have to know. Please, Roz. What’s the problem in telling me?”

She spun away, taking the steps to put as much distance between them as she could, folding her arms under her breasts, careful to avoid eye contact. While she knew he could read her from here, without looking at her, she went with her instinctive reaction. For more effectiveness, she should close herself to him, but she couldn’t.

He had a point. Roz had never questioned her family before, never needed to. They’d always supported her, but she had taken an oath when she entered government service. Bill had warned her against taking it, explaining that the loyalty to her family could at times conflict with loyalty to her country, but she’d emigrated to the States after John’s death and loved it. She owed the USA a lot, and this was payback time.

“Roz, you’re not betraying anybody. The Department looks after Talents first, the country second. That’s why so many of us aren’t full-time agents but consultants. I can feel your dilemma. I know what you’re thinking, because I’ve felt it too. So far I haven’t had to choose, but I think, soon, I might have to. This isn’t the time.”

“How do I know? What would you do if you found a traitor in the Department? You know the law of Talents—never tell, never compel. That’s all we have to do. So what if a Talent is talking to mortals, letting our secrets go?”

“They die.”

She swallowed. She knew it but wondered if he did, or how seriously he took the laws. “So why are Talents working for Cristos? Who sanctioned
him
?”

She could hardly believe it when a low chuckle filled the room. He was laughing!

Whirling on her heel, she faced him directly, furious that he could take her concerns so lightly. “Cristos is mortal, isn’t he? And there’s no record of him ever getting any sanction to receive all this information. How can Talents work for him?”

The chuckle stopped, although the smile remained, the one-sided quirk of the mouth that made her hot. Not that she should be thinking of that at a time like this. Suppressing her undeniable desire for this man, Roz forced a frown. Charm could only get him so far.

“Roz, he’s not mortal. Just because we don’t know precisely what he is doesn’t mean he isn’t a Talent. No one has seen him shape-shift, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a shifter. No one has seen him take blood, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t feed. Current rumor has it that he’s a Sorcerer, though he’s not a virgin Sorcerer—that I know for sure. However, some Sorcerers retain their power, and his is awesome. I’ve seen… Well, I’ve seen enough to know he isn’t mortal.”

She frowned. “Why?”

“Why doesn’t he say what he is? He says it’s to avoid favoritism. Cristos doesn’t want any group to have an advantage over another.” Andreas took a step toward her, but she took one back, maintaining the distance between them.

“Let me think about this.” She swallowed, studying his face. He gazed back at her, and too late she realized he’d reinstated eye contact. But he didn’t try to probe her, only gazed at her, melancholy shading his dark eyes.

“You’re going in undercover tomorrow. On your own. If I weren’t sure you were going to be safer there, I wouldn’t let you go.”

A tide of fury rose in her, one she didn’t even attempt to suppress. She put her hands on her hips and pushed her chin at him. “
Let
me go? Fuck that, buster. I’ve been in worse situations than this, worse than you know. I lived in London in the middle of the Blitz. I’ve spent time in Korea, nursing the wounded. You think because I look like this I’m helpless? I’m a vampire in full possession of my powers. Which is more than you are!”

He strode across the room faster than she could move and swept her into his arms. “And you’re going in during the day, when you won’t be vampire. What training do you have?”

If she struggled, all she’d do would be to embarrass herself. His strength easily equaled hers, and probably surpassed it. “A little kickboxing and karate. Target practice.”

“More than the standard required by the Company?” His mouth flattened again. This close she could smell him, that indefinable odor, part pine, part citrus, mixed with something else she couldn’t identify, that spelled “Andreas.” It didn’t help her concentrate.

“Some.”

He gripped her shoulders and pushed her away from him so he could meet her eyes. “I usually operate at night, but I’m almost as strong during the daytime. I have to be. I’ve practiced several martial arts, including karate and kung fu. I can shoot any firearm you put into my hands. I can handle explosives, fly a small plane or a chopper. In short, I’ve had proper field agent training. Many vampires hide away during the day when they’re vulnerable and use only their God-given powers. Why should they bother to do anything else? But I chose a different career, one that needs me to be on guard twenty-four hours a day. Can you say the same?” When she opened her mouth to answer, he covered her lips with one gentle finger. “No, it’s not fair for you to answer. I already know. That’s why I worry. You’re going into a place I regard as safe with a man I’d trust with my life. Forgive me, Roz. I know I have no right to care about you, but I do. I just do.”

He removed his fingers and replaced them with his lips. Gentle at first, but when she opened her mouth, he took possession, thrusting his tongue deep into her. She accepted him, responded by stroking the side of his tongue with hers, relishing his taste.

The madness took them both again. Dimly, she thought she shouldn’t be doing this, should be fighting harder, but she couldn’t. Her body melted under his command. He tore his mouth from hers and stared down at her, eyes glazed with passion. “Say no, Roz. I’ve just enough strength left to walk away, but only just.” His expression changed slightly, and she felt his reservation in her mind, locked together as they were. “I’ve never been this scared before.”

“Me too.” She knew exactly how he felt. When they kissed, when they touched, nothing else mattered. If they were sworn enemies, the result would have been the same. “I’ve never let my body take over this much.”

“Oh God!” He bent and took her mouth once more.

Slowly they moved to the bed, unbuttoning, unzipping, caressing. She had to feel his bare flesh under her hands—she
had
to. The touch of the hard muscles of his chest eased the need a little, but not enough. Never enough. She started on his pants.

She had to stop when he wanted to lift her top over her head, but her bra was no impediment to him. His sigh when he cupped her bare breasts told her he felt the same tension as she did. Roz pushed her breasts into his hands and felt the hard peaks of her nipples rub his palms. With a swift movement, he bent to take a nipple into his mouth, and the wet, hot suctioning nearly brought her to climax.

This was wrong. She never got so hot, so fast.

Feverishly she touched him, loving the warm, smooth flesh under her hands, broken on his chest by crisp, rough hairs. “I want you. I want you
now
!”

When she sat up, she nearly fell on the floor, just catching the edge of the bed with her bottom. She could only retain her balance by leaning back, so she did, taking him with her.

His sudden, glorious weight on her body proved almost too much. He moved to the side, and it took her a moment to realize he was kicking off his pants, which she couldn’t strip off him. She swept her hands down his body, the hip bones jutting into her palms, then farther, where she curled her hands around his rigid erection.

He jerked away from her nipple, leaving a momentary chill, and reached for her shoulders, straightening his body so he leaned above her. For a fraught moment they stared at each other, eyes wide, pupils open, out of control.

“Take me inside you, Roz. Put me there.”

His low purr, so unlike his usual musically fluid voice, undid any intentions she might have, and she led him, drew him along her wet cleft to the entrance to her body. Enthralled by the sensation, she closed her hand around his cock, moved it back and forth against her pussy. She experienced the thrill again when his flesh caressed hers, along her, teasing her rigid clit, encouraging the slow beat of her pulse to quicken, strengthen, until she thought all the blood in her body had flooded there, to dampen and aid their joining.

She wouldn’t let him thrust hard, although he pushed impatiently against her hands. She wanted to feel every inch of him sliding deep inside her, uniting them mind, body, and spirit.

He watched her, braced himself on his hands at either side of her head, and lifted his upper body away so he could watch as she guided him into her pussy.

At the same time, they let out a quiet sigh as he pushed slowly deeper, until he was fully embedded in her. She drew her hands from between them, around his hips to his ass, clutching it with wet fingers. He pulled out of her and joined them again, deep and slow, watching their pubic hair mingle, sharing the vision with her because she couldn’t see as clearly as he could.

He drew out his shaft. It emerged, glistening from their combined juices, only to slip back. Roz bit her lip as he lifted his head and looked at her.

He was smiling. She’d seen him smile before, but never like this, a caress as intimate as anything he could have given her. “This is what we are,” he whispered. “Roz, this is special. Whatever it is, it’s special. I’m made for you.”

She smiled back and said, in all honesty, “Nothing has felt quite like this before. What is ‘this,’ Andreas? Why are we doing this?”

He lifted up and sank down again, and then out and in, beginning to speed up. “Don’t ask. Just enjoy.”

It was good advice, the best she’d had all day. When he dropped to his elbows so he could take her mouth in a ravishing kiss, she pushed her lower body up into his, tilting her hips to take as much of him as she could, lifting her legs to brace her feet on the bed, the better to take him, to—

To love him.

She couldn’t think like that. Neither of them wanted that kind of arrangement.
Sex is good. Don’t let it be more than that
. Closing her eyes, she forced the unruly thought away, right behind her most secure barrier until she felt strong enough to deal with it. There was too much going on for that to happen too.