But when two of his friends exited the dance club right after the huntress left, Atreides forgot all about the vampiress he held stiffly in his arms. What the hell were Renault and Colt up to?
He had no reason for concern, he told himself. But he released Iconia so suddenly, she stumbled backward, and he headed for the door anyway. The music instantly stopped, and the telepathic communication began again.
“Atreides is not so immune to the huntress as he attempts to pretend,” a vampire Atreides didn’t recognize said.
“Can you blame him? If she’d been grinding against my body like she did his, she’d have been with me in my pad next,” another male said.
Atreides had no intention of taking the huntress to his home. He merely wished to see her safely to her car and on her way with one last warning to stay away. But when he exited the dance club and heard Renault and Colt badgering the huntress somewhere in the dark near the edge of the parking lot, his teeth instantly extended.
Like a raging bull, Atreides charged into battle.
Chapter 3
Selena wasn’t as much worried about the two vampires attempting to seduce her as the eerie feeling someone watched her hidden somewhere in the trees flanking the parking lot on the misty night. Was it Twilight?
Not one of the blood bonds had approached her in the dance club, and she still wondered if her friend, Tara, had gotten the information wrong. But if it was Twilight, Selena needed to rid herself of these men—who were not making it easy—so she could speak to the woman alone.
“Are you sure, darlin’, that ya don’t want to go with me?” the grizzly bear of a man asked, his blond hair tied back, his blue eyes expressive.
He wore black denims, though the rest of his outfit was more like something from the old west: a satin vest, a black shirt, a red neckerchief, and cowboy boots. She imagined he thought he was a cowboy without his horse. After giving it another thought, she realized he might have been a real cowboy in the old west. Woe to the horse who had to carry such a big man.
The other vampire was tall and lean, darker hair and eyes. He dipped his head and gave her an uplifting smile. Dressed in classy formal black attire, he was much suaver. “The lady would prefer a gentleman rather than a bowlegged—”
“Renault, you uptight, French milksop!”
“Or maybe the lady would like to share?” Renault said. A brow rose while he waited for her response.
“I was…” She almost mentioned Twilight, but then thought better of it.
“Yes?” Renault asked, his interest piqued.
The other man looked just as intrigued. She figured if she told them what she was doing here, they would inform the rest of the vampires at once and make points for themselves. But what if one of these guys, or someone they talked to, really did have something to do with her sister’s disappearance? What if someone tried to silence Twilight?
Normally, Selena wasn’t that suspicious of people. Then again, she didn’t have a lot of experience dealing with vampires either socially or otherwise. They were the stuff of legends—able to control mere mortals with their vampiric charms and though they couldn’t control her, as far as she knew, she didn’t want to prove herself wrong.
She shook her head.
Renault reached for her arm, but before she could push him aside, Atreides swooped in for the kill, his wicked canines bared. Startled out of her skin at his deadly intervention, Selena screamed.
Tackling Renault with as much force as he could muster, Atreides knocked him to the asphalt. Colt bellowed with laughter.
Finally getting over the shock of Atreides’s forcing him to the ground, Renault cursed out loud. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
A car door slammed, then an engine roared to life.
Leaping to his feet, Atreides watched the cherry red Firebird speed away. Part of him was relieved to see the huntress tuck tail and run. But the other part, he couldn’t account for as his blood still coursed through him like a raging river, his anger smoldering beneath the surface.
Renault rose from the pavement and brushed his clothes off. “I never would have wagered your interest in a huntress, Atreides,” he said darkly, though a glint of humor touched his serious expression.
Colt snorted. “She’s fair game comin’ here like she did, wearin’ that blood red, silky dress, stirrin’ us up. There wasn’t a vampire in the joint who didn’t want her.”
That’s what had concerned Atreides, though he told himself he shouldn’t have cared. If she was witless enough to enter the lion’s den, it served her right. Yet, her vulnerability touched him somewhere deep inside in the place he attempted to hide his darkest feelings. The same innocent susceptibility reminded him of his cousin, whom he’d felt brotherly toward, when she had lived. But then again, he didn’t feel in any way brotherly toward this woman.
“Who’s she after?” Renault asked. “Did she tell you?”
How the hell would Atreides know? From the beginning, the woman was a puzzle.
“She came to the wrong place.” Atreides gave his friends a hard look. “Being a huntress, she was too proud to admit it. Anyone could have seen from the expression on her face when she first walked into the club that she hadn’t realized it was one of our hangouts to begin with.”
Colt shook his head. “I’ll buy that she might have ordered the drink, but dancing with you?” He cocked a brow.
“She was grateful.”
“Did Basil lace her drink with drugs?” Renault asked.
“No, Basil did not,” the owner of the club said, joining them. “What the hell was that all about? In the over one-hundred years I’ve been running this establishment, even in the days of the speakeasies, not once has a hunter so boldly walked into the place.”
“She got lost,” Renault said and gave Atreides a half smile.
Basil cast a questioning look at Atreides, who shrugged in return. “I have no idea why she came here. Your guess is as good as mine. Though I still suspect she thought it was just a human dance club.”
Basil didn’t look like he believed it any more than Atreides did. “And why would she go to a human club? Hunters notoriously stick with their own kind.”
Atreides rubbed his chin and considered the notion further. Basil was right. If she was in the mood for dancing, she would have found a hunter club to go to. And she would more than likely know where they were and not have mistaken this one for one of her own. Unless she was new to the area.
His brows pinched in a frown, Basil looked more than a bit perturbed. “Why the hell did she dance with you?”
“He saved her,” Renault shared with a smirk, “from the drugs you laced her drink with.”
Basil shook his head and glanced at the club. “I don’t have to drug my women.”
“You think this one could be your woman? Atreides has already claimed her for his own.” Renault brushed at his skinned-up satin shirt sleeve, looking somewhat miffed.
“Hell, looked to me like the huntress claimed Atreides. You sure you’re not on her terminal list?” Colt smugly asked.
Everyone judged Atreides’s reaction.
No, Atreides didn’t believe so. “She danced with me, even offered to do so again. Hunters don’t dance with their intended victims, as far as I know.”