Death Bringer

Chapter Four

“He was just so...immature, you know?” Penny Jordan glanced from Vadim to Ella, who nodded understandingly. “So full of himself that I couldn’t trust him at all. He flirted with all my friends and lied to my face. I was sick and tired of it and finally broke up with him.”

“In the Blue Flamingo bar last night?” Ella asked.

They were sitting in a small consulting room on the first floor of the hospital, near Penny Jordan’s workstation. The space smelled of disinfectant and fear and made Ella’s empath senses jangle like a toothache. She and Vadim sat on the only two chairs, and Penny perched on the side of the paper-covered gurney, legs swinging in her green scrubs. She was a slim, dark-haired woman with a sweet expression and a wide smile.

“Yes. I asked him to meet me there, because I hoped he wouldn’t make a big scene in public.”

“Had you been to that particular bar before?”

“Not with him. I chose it because it’s a great place to pick up a taxi, and I wanted to make a quick escape.”

“How did he take being dumped?”

Penny grimaced. “He smiled right in my face and said that he was okay with it because he’d already hooked up with someone else and was going to dump me anyway.”

“Did you believe him?”

“It doesn’t matter if I did or not, does it? It was just so typical of him to try and turn everything around and make it all about him. It actually made me glad I’d found the nerve to break up with him.” She sighed. “No doubt he’s telling everyone he dumped me.”

“He’s not saying much at all at the moment, actually.”

“What do you mean?” Penny put a hand to her mouth. “He didn’t go and do something stupid, did he?”

“To be honest, I don’t think what happened between you had much to do with what’s happened to him, other than that Brad was in the wrong bar at the wrong time.”

“Was he mugged? I don’t want to date him anymore, but I don’t want him dead or hurt.” She stared at Ella. “You don’t think I did something to get back at him, do you?”

“It’s okay. You don’t seem the type to send someone to break his legs.”

“So, he is hurt?”

“In a manner of speaking. From what we can make out, he stayed at the bar until closing and got drunk. Someone took him home in a taxi, and he didn’t turn up for class this morning.”

Penny shrugged. “That’s a fairly normal night for him, so what else happened?”

“He was found in a distressed state this morning by the emergency services and brought into hospital for further observation.”

“Did he use something illegal?”

Vadim sat forward. “Why would you think that?”

“Because he liked to experiment with stuff.” Penny shook her head. “That was another reason why we argued. I’ve seen addicts come into the ER. I wouldn’t want to end up like that. Brad should know that too. He’s training to be a freaking doctor!”

“At this point, the medical team isn’t quite sure what Brad took, or didn’t take. All we know is that he is in a severely heightened state of anxiety.”

“He’s probably scared his daddy’s going to cut off his money because he missed class again. I kept telling him he should just admit to his parents that he doesn’t want to be a doctor, but he’s too afraid of letting them down.”

Vadim smiled. “I know that feeling. Do you really think he’s scared of his parents?”

“Wouldn’t you be?” Penny’s faintly mocking smile disappeared. “He called them the Kennedys on speed. He was terrified of messing up.” She hesitated. “Is Brad here? Do you think I could see him?”

“He’s heavily sedated at the moment, Ms. Jordan, and not receiving visitors. But we will keep you informed of his progress, if you wish it.”

“I’d like that.” Penny rose and tossed her coffee cup in the trash. “He might be a jerk, but I still care about him. When he was nice, he was really nice, you know?”

“Oh, I know. The jerks always are.” Ella held out her hand. “Thanks so much for talking to us, and as my colleague said, we’ll keep in touch.”

She waited until Penny closed the door behind her before sitting down next to Vadim again.

“She seemed way too nice to be going out with Brad.”

“He certainly didn’t come across as a very admirable or likeable character, did he?” Vadim stretched out and crossed his legs at the ankle. “I actually felt quite sorry for him.”

“For Brad?”

“He’s under a lot of pressure from his family to conform. It’s hardly surprising that he’s acting out and is so immature.”

“You can obviously relate. Was that your excuse for getting kicked out of Otherworld?”

He considered her for a long moment, his expression bleak. “For my youthful behavior? No, although the damage I caused was far more long lasting than Brad’s.”

“What did you do?”

“Eventually I conformed.” His mouth twisted. “That’s why I got kicked out of Otherworld.” He rose to his feet. “Do you want to go back to the office and start looking for Adam, or stay and talk to Brad again?”

“Brad’s in a fairy-imposed coma.”

“From which I can awaken him.” He stood by the door and stared down at her. “What do you want to do?”

“I suppose we should go back and tell Feehan what we’ve learned so far.” Ella groaned. “Liz might have more information too. We can also check in with her about the mysterious Adam.”

“So let’s go back.” He held open the door for her and followed her down the hallway. “Brad’s probably better off sleeping, at the moment.”

Feehan opened the door into the big conference room and snapped on the fluorescent lights.

“Let’s get everyone in here, shall we?”

Ella followed him in, glad to see that someone had taken down all the horrific pictures and info about the empaths the Siren had murdered, from their last case. She was happy that he was dead, but it didn’t bring back her fellow empaths, especially her best friend, Laney. She missed Laney like a sister...well, more than a sister. Ella’s real sister drove her nuts. If it hadn’t been for the Siren, she wouldn’t have met Vadim and ended up mated to him, likely to live a long and happy life. Was she only allowed one special person in her life at a time?

“Sit down, Ella.” Feehan pulled out a chair for her and hovered over her solicitously. “How are you feeling? I know your twenty-seventh birthday is coming up next week.”

“I’m feeling good, boss. How about you?”

She gave him her best shark smile and he backed off and took a seat at the other end of the table. She supposed, being her superior, he had a right to inquire about the state of her mental health. Unmated empaths had a tendency to go nuts from psychic overload as their twenty-seventh birthday approached. And hers was next week. He didn’t know she was mated to Vadim yet. No one did, although Liz had skated pretty damn close to working it out.

Not even her parents knew she was going to survive. She’d refused to consider choosing an Otherworld-approved mate until Vadim had practically forced her to take him on. She’d only done it then because he’d made it seem more attractive than death in an elevator shaft. If she was honest, admitting she was going to live after spending the last twenty-seven years deliberately pissing everyone off in the belief she would die young was somewhat embarrassing. She was still debating whether to mention it to them or not. She’d agreed to go to their house in the East Bay and eat birthday cake on the weekend. If she wasn’t going out of her mind, that might just do it for her.

Vadim slipped into the seat to her left and Liz took the one on her right. A minute later, Andrew and Rich came in, accompanied by her trainee empath, Sam. As usual, they were arguing about something baseball related and barely stopped to acknowledge anyone else in the room.

“Here you are.” Vadim put a cup of coffee in front of her.

“Thanks.” She smiled at him and then noticed Liz was staring at them with a knowing look. “About time, too.”

He merely raised his eyebrows and looked away. Liz nudged her. “He is so hot, Ella, I don’t know how you can stand not jumping his bones.”

She felt her cheeks heat. “Whisper that a bit louder, Liz. I don’t think Morosov got it all.”

“Oh, I heard.” His low, amused voice held a hint of sex that sent little shivers up and down her spine. “For the record, I don’t know how she resists me either, Liz.”

Feehan picked up a pen and headed for the whiteboard.

“Now that we’re all here, let’s talk about the new case.” He wrote Brad Dailey’s name on the board, followed by the name of the bar and all the other details Ella and Vadim had given him. “What else do we know?”

Liz put up her hand. “I’ve been searching the Fae-Web for other cases like this, and as I was telling Ella, it’s really hard to find anything concrete, because the victims tend to go mad or die fairly quickly.”

“That’s not good.” Feehan frowned. “Can you share what you have anyway?”

Liz handed out some sheets of paper to the team. “I typed this out really fast, so excuse any errors. The Fae-Web refused to connect with our internet. I’m still waiting for some photographs of the victims.”

Ella scanned the pages. “Have you come across any mention of a man called Adam?”

“Specifically?” Liz’s silver Fae-Web unfurled over her head and started to shimmer. “Not that name, although from the fragments we have, most of the victims claim they did meet up with a helpful stranger just before their faces disappeared.”

“A helpful stranger.” Feehan wrote a question mark on the board. “Are we assuming that we’re dealing with something from Otherworld?”

Ella nodded. “Both Morosov and I felt some residual magic clinging to Brad Dailey, so we assume that’s the case.”

She glanced at Vadim for confirmation, but he appeared to be lost in thought. She kicked his shin under the table and he jumped.

“Yes, after some discussion, Ms. Walsh and I came to the conclusion that magic was involved in some way. It would be easier if Mr. Dailey had left his face alone, so that we could’ve seen what he looked like.”

“You mean we’d know if he’d been surgically interfered with rather than bespelled?” Feehan asked, his pen poised over the whiteboard.

“It’s a faint possibility. Brad is a medical student, after all, so he and his friends have access to surgical equipment.”

“But unlikely.” Feehan noted Ella’s nod. “So we’re fairly sure this is Otherworld.”

“Yes.” She tried to catch Vadim’s eye, but he was sipping his coffee and reading through Liz’s report. Why was he so reluctant to agree that the perp was from his old stomping ground? “What is interesting is that none of the people who met Adam can describe him very well, so it’s not as if he switches his identity with his victims.”

Sam raised his hand. “It says here that last year, three people in the Bay Area were taken into medical care claiming to have lost their identities. All three of them committed suicide.”

“That’s terrible,” Ella said.

“Maybe it’s one of those legendary hunters from Otherworld—you know, like their dark-angel dude who brings justice and death to the wicked.”

“In Otherworld, Sam, not here.”

“But what if he was here?” Sam looked around, his eyes wide. “What if that bloodthirsty dude was in our world?”

“We have no way of knowing whether such a creature exists, or why he would murder innocent humans.” Vadim cut across what Ella had been about to say, his tone cold. “I suggest we at least try and ground this discussion in reality.”

“Sorry, Vad.” Sam closed his mouth and hunched down in his seat. “I just thought I’d throw it out there. Otherworld has the scariest shit around.”

“Then let’s do our best to make sure we keep Brad Dailey alive and able to answer our questions.” Feehan surveyed the team. “What can we do to find this man ‘Adam’?”

“I’m going to check local conference records and hotels and see if anyone called Adam did register and attend anything in the city this week.” Ella leaned back in her chair. “It’s highly likely he used a false name when he met Brad, but you never know. If he’s been successfully stealing faces for years, he might not be that careful.”

“Okay, what else can we do?”

“I can liaise with Liz and work on extracting more information from the Fae-Web.” Vadim appeared to have come out of his trance.

“That would be great.” Liz smiled at him. “We can also extend our search criteria to the rest of the U.S.A. and the world, and see if there are any other cases to consider.”

Feehan wrote busily on the board and then turned back. “Anything else? Do we need to contact anyone directly in Otherworld for help yet?”

Vadim shook his head. “It’s too early. We need to have some idea what we’re dealing with before we go charging in with our demands.”

“And what do you think we’re dealing with?”

“A killer with exceptional magical powers he can use in the human world as well as his own. That is quite rare.”

“That’s true,” Liz agreed. “A lot of Fae magical powers are weakened when transferred to this realm. Only certain families have the ability to function fully here.”

“Maybe Morosov can come up with a list of those families,” Ella said. “He probably knows the bloodlines better than anyone. It would at least narrow the field.”

“I’d appreciate that.” Feehan smiled at her hapless partner and then turned to Andrew. “Maybe you and Rich can check with the shape-shifting communities as to whether this Adam could come from them. It’s unlikely, I know, but stealing a face could be a facet of shifting we just haven’t come across before.”

Feehan rambled on for a minute and then started gathering up his papers. His idea to involve the shape-shifters was an excellent one. Maybe he was growing into his job after all. It was about time. The look Vadim shot her wasn’t entirely friendly. What the hell was chafing his ass? She’d promised to meet him later, and to have sex, so why wasn’t he smiling?

She waited until everyone exited the room and then put her hand on Vadim’s arm as he started to rise.

“Wait a sec.” He subsided back into his seat. “What’s up?”

“Nothing.” Under her hand his biceps flexed and hardened as if he was considering fleeing. “I’m just thinking about the case.”

“Morosov, as a woman, I already know that the answer ‘nothing’ means ‘everything.’ What are you worried about, and why are you so reluctant to get involved in this?”

“I am involved in it.” His smile was distant.

“Then why won’t you share your knowledge?”

“It’s not that simple.”

“It never is, with you. What’s the problem?”

He turned to face her, his expression far too serious for her liking. “I suspect the man who calls himself Adam is involved with an ancient Otherworld sect.”

“A sect? Like a cult or something?”

“I suppose that is as good a word as any. They...collect trophies.”

“Like a serial killer.”

“Yes, but this is for their amusement. They make bets with each other to see who can collect something that is hard to find like, say, a mermaid’s tail or a unicorn’s horn.”

“Both of which don’t exist, right?”

“They did before the Otherworld sect started hunting them.” His smile was wry. “They don’t care about the consequences of their actions. It’s all about the hunt and the winning.”

“And you think Adam is involved with them?”

“The magic he left behind held a certain signature I recognized.” He met her gaze. “I’ve come across it before in Otherworld.”

“When you were doing what?”

“Fulfilling tasks for the queen.”

“Oh, damn. Why didn’t you share this with Feehan and the rest of the team?”

He looked away. “Because I’m worried that if I bring this up, Feehan will immediately go to Otherworld and make this all aboveboard and public. If he does that, he and the rest of us will probably be killed fairly swiftly. The membership of the sect holds considerable power.”

“Then why did you tell me?”

His eyebrows rose. “Because you’re my mate.”

Sometimes his honesty confounded her. Now she was the one to look away. “So, what can we do?”

“If we track down Adam and execute him ourselves, he will simply be out of the game. No one will care.”

“That makes sense, but what kind of game is he playing? And if we kill him, won’t someone else take his place?”

“The members don’t compete directly against each other. It’s more about how an individual chooses to interpret a challenge. His choice of prey, the way he kills and the way he displays his trophies count toward the eventual winner’s score.”

“That’s macabre.”

“That’s Otherworld.”

“So you’re saying that a challenge could be, to find an interesting use for a human, and our guy could’ve interpreted it to mean let’s steal their faces and make them into, I dunno, carnival masks?”

“Exactly.”

“Gross.” Ella shivered. “So how can we nail him?”

“The number three is a very powerful symbol to this sect. Did you notice Sam saying that there were three reports of similar deaths earlier in the year?”

“So you reckon Adam will be trying to add two more to his current collection?”

“I would assume that’s his goal.”

“But we still have no idea how to find him.”

He sat back. “We’ll find him. I know his scent now.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I’m trained to hunt prey.” He smiled at her and his eyes glinted black. “I’m certain he’ll return, especially if he knows I’m seeking him.”

“Because we leave a trace of our magic at every scene, and if he goes back to check on Brad...”

“He’ll find a trace of me.”

“Will he want you?”

He rose to his feet. “Everyone wants me, Ms. Walsh.”

Ella made a rude noise and grabbed her backpack. “Then maybe we’d better head back to the hospital right away.”

San Francisco General was its usual chaotic self, but Vadim had learned to ignore it. Since hooking up with his mate, he was finding it harder to deal with his emotions and the impact of other human minds. He wasn’t surprised that most unsupported empaths went mad at the age of twenty-seven. His shields were constantly buckling under the pressure of the onslaught of feelings. Since joining minds with Ella, he’d come to respect her abilities quite considerably.

He was also glad she led the way through the maze of identical hallways to Brad’s ward without faltering. Delia, the nurse who’d offered him her services as a guide to the city, was sitting outside the door, looking rather important. Flanking her was an enormously tall guy wearing dark shades and a suit cut to fit a bulky shoulder holster. He scanned the hallways like a pro and immediately tensed as Vadim and Ella approached the door.

He held up his hand.

“This room is secured. Please step back and then state your business.”

Ella held up her badge. “We’re from the SBLE. We’re here to see Mr. Dailey.”

“I have no instructions to admit anyone except approved medical staff and Mr. Dailey’s immediate family.”

Before Ella could get up in the man’s face, Vadim stepped in front of her and smiled pleasantly. “I think you’ll find that you are mistaken and that both Ms. Walsh and I are on that list. Please feel free to confirm that information with Ms. Phelps, the administrator dealing with this case.”

“Morosov, get out of the way. I can get in his head. I can make him let us in.”

“That’s our next step. Let’s try and do it the official way first.”

Sometimes he agreed with her that it would be easier to blast his way through the obstacle, but since leaving Otherworld, he’d been attempting to cultivate more reasonable habits.

“Why?”

He smiled again at Delia. “Hi, how are you, today? How’s Brad doing?”

After a swift glance at the security agent who appeared to be whispering into his mike, Delia turned to Vadim.

“Brad’s grandfather is in there with him, but he’s still sedated and unable to respond to them.”

“Poor guy.” Vadim shook his head. “Perhaps we’d better not disturb him, then.” He turned to Ella, who wasn’t looking very pleased. “Shall we go and find Ms. Phelps and get her up to speed?”

“I’d rather see Brad.”

He took hold of her elbow and propelled her along the corridor. “We’ll do that in a moment. Do you particularly want to go in there and face his grandfather? We can’t answer a single damn question for them yet.” She went to speak, and he kept talking. “It’s not likely that Adam will get in there either, with Delia and that thug on the door.”

“I suppose you’re right. Maybe we should come back later.”

“Let’s do that. We can ask Ms. Phelps to call us when the ex-senator leaves.”

She grimaced. “Okay, but I just have a bad feeling about this.”

So did he, but he didn’t want her to know that. “How about we catch an early dinner at my hotel and return this evening?”

“I suppose that would work. Look, there’s Ms. Phelps.” She walked over to the nurse’s station. “Hey, we just got barred from Brad Dailey’s room by some secret-service guy.”

“You did?” Ms. Phelps took them back into her office and shut the door. She patted ineffectively at her blond bun. “I’m not surprised. That man was demanding I show him full security checks for every single member of staff and patient on this ward! If the ex-senator wants his grandson to have more privacy, he’ll have to pay for a private room on a secure corridor.” She lowered her voice a fraction. “It’s not as if Brad is a VIP.”

“How long is he staying?”

“The former senator is leaving in about two hours. He’ll hopefully be taking his security detail with him. Brad’s parents are due in tonight at around eleven. They are flying in from Florida. They were on their yacht.”

“Nice.” Ella said. “So will you call us just before the senator leaves? We need to talk to Brad.”

“He hasn’t been very responsive today at all.” Ms. Phelps shook her head. “His doctor fears he might be going into a coma of some kind, his body signs are so minimal.”

“Well, thanks for the heads-up. We’ll do our best to get him to talk to us, but we’ll understand if he can’t.”

Vadim held the door open for Ella and then followed her toward the stairs and the elevator bank. She looked back at him over her shoulder.

“How much time do we have?”

“To get something to eat and get back here? Just under two hours.”

She groaned. “At this time of day it’s going to take us that long to get to your hotel in the commuter traffic.”

“Not if we don’t use the car.”

“I keep forgetting about that.” Her smile made his body come to life. “Can you take us right into your room?”

He could.

As soon as they materialized, he wrapped his arms around her and backed her up against the nearest wall, his tongue in her mouth, his hands roaming her jeans-covered ass.

“Morosov, what about my dinner?” She slid a hand around his neck. “I’m starving.”

There were so many filthy things he could say to that. “Sex first, dinner after.” He lifted her until her thighs hugged his hips and his cock ground against the seam of her jeans.

“But what about our talk?”

He scowled down at her far-too-innocent face. “After.”

She rolled her hips against his hardness and he fought a groan. Why did she always wear so many clothes? He had her naked in a second and stretched out beneath him on the bed, her legs spread wide by his. With a sigh he bent over her breasts and licked one hard nipple into his mouth. She started to squirm and he increased the pressure, sliding his fingers over her swollen clit and into her welcoming warmth.

She climaxed almost immediately, and he added another finger, transferring his attention to her other breast. His cock beat an urgent pulse along with his heart, wanting to be in her, to be joined to her in every way possible.

“Morosov...”

Why did she insist on talking when he was busy savoring the delights of her skin and scent and texture?

“Morosov, let me up!”

He raised his head to look at her. “What?”

She blinked at him. “I want something to do.”

“Then touch me.”

“I can’t reach the bit I particularly want to touch.” She pushed on his chest, and he reluctantly allowed her to sit up. She immediately turned around until her mouth was a tantalizing inch from his cock, put out her tongue and licked a drop of clear liquid off the crown.

“Mmm, nice.” Ella murmured.

He rolled onto his side, and her lips slid over his cock and took him deep. With a groan he returned his attention to her clit, using his tongue and mouth and fingers to bring her to another climax. Even while she still shuddered, he eased his shaft from her mouth and, reversing their positions, pushed her onto her back, spreading her knees wide with his.

She grinned up at him, her cheeks flushed, her blond hair escaping her haphazard braids. Something inside him tightened. She infuriated him, but he needed her as he needed oxygen. Something about her made him feel alive for the first time in years, made him want to protect her with every magical power he had inside him, good and bad. She was his mate. If it came to it, he would gladly die for her.

Words pressed on his lips. He wanted to slash his chest with his nails and bleed for her, have her lick his blood, give her everything...

“Morosov.”

He opened his eyes and looked down at her again.

“Get on with it! I’m done waiting.”

Without another word, he plunged deep inside her and felt complete, their minds in harmony, their bodies even more so. Every time they made love, the bond between them strengthened. Did she feel that? And if she did, would she ever acknowledge it to his face? This was when he knew her completely, and where he felt safe. He thrust deeply. Her hands tightened on his shoulders, leaving her mark, as he wanted to mark her.

But there was still some part of her that held back, that resisted him... Sometimes he wanted to take her to the edge and force her over the abyss into knowing him and the depths of his personal hell. She was right to be wary. He could destroy her with one breath. He yelped as she tugged at his hair.

“Pay attention! Stop thinking and just...”

“Fuck you?” He increased his tempo, driving shorter and harder. Her feet crept up to his hips and he worked her even higher, her knees over his elbows as she started to come and come and...with a muffled howl he joined her, spilling himself deep inside her.

When she pushed at his chest, he obligingly rolled off her and subsided onto the covers with a groan.

“Morosov.”

“My name is Vadim. Can’t you even call me that when we’re naked?”

“Okay then, Vadim, although I doubt that’s your real name, anyway. You didn’t use a condom. Did you assume I was on the pill?”

He opened one eye. “I know you are.”

“You’ve never asked me!”

“But I know you. If you were planning on leaving this life on your twenty-seventh birthday, you would never allow yourself to conceive a child.”

Her hand came toward his cheek and he tensed, but she merely stroked him gently. “That’s pretty observant for a guy.”

“I’m your mate.” He caught her fingers in his and kissed them. “However, you should also know that I could make any method of birth control fail.”

She rolled away from him and sat up. “What the fuck?”

“Exactly.” He smiled. “I really can.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

Her scowl was tremendous but not intimidating at all, because he was staring up at her heaving breasts and tight pink nipples. It was nice to occasionally get the upper hand with his female.

“Morosov, look at me. You have to swear that you will never do that, or else that is the last time I’ll ever let you make love to me.” She climbed off the bed and started looking for her clothes, which he had folded neatly on the chair beside the fire.

He smiled slowly and put his hands behind his head. They were making love now rather than just having casual sex? That was progress. She stomped into the bathroom and the shower went on. While she was occupied, he ordered room service and then rose from the bed and followed her into the bathroom.

“That’s my toothbrush!”

Ella glanced back over her shoulder to see Vadim in all his naked glory, glaring at her. She spat slowly into the bowl and rinsed.

“I’ve put it back. Keep your feathers on. After the Fae public-health service announcement you just gave me, I’m entitled to be fricking annoyed.”

She headed into the shower and allowed the steady drum of the water to soothe her tangled nerves. Her threat not to have sex with Vadim ever again was an empty one and he knew it. She could barely keep her hands off him at the best of times, and he wasn’t much better. That had surprised her. Under that calm exterior he was as wild about sex as she was, and easily the best lay she’d ever had.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t read my mind!” He stepped into the shower behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She tried to stick an elbow in his gut, but he simply laughed and held her slightly away from him. “I’m not talking to you.”

“Even here?”

She tried, but she couldn’t shut him out anymore. “You have to promise you won’t get me pregnant.”

He nuzzled her neck and then her throat, and her knees went to jelly. “Not even if you wanted me to?”

A vision of a mini-Morosov danced inside her lust-driven brain, and she wasn’t sure if he’d planted it there or it was coming from her. That was even more terrifying than the thought of being pregnant.

He bit down slowly on the tendon in her neck. “We would make beautiful babies.”

“Shut up! I’ve only just realized I’m going to live beyond the age of twenty-seven. I haven’t come to terms with having you around yet, let alone a kid!”

His chuckle reverberated against her wet skin, and his newly erect cock pressed against her ass. This time she did manage to get her elbow in his chest and spun around to face him. He looked quite breathtaking, his dark blue eyes narrowed in a combination of amusement and lust as water dripped down his perfect cheekbones to his perfect abs and his perfect...

She stuck a finger in his face. “You’re messing with my head, aren’t you?”

“I might be.”

“Can you really make me pregnant?”

“Yes.”

“But not without my consent.”

He nodded. “Naturally.”

“Do I even need to be on contraception, then?”

He shrugged. “It’s up to you. You don’t need it.” He reached down and palmed his growing erection. “It’s much nicer for both of us if there’s nothing in between us.”

“Like a nice fluffy towel, for example.”

She stepped smartly out of the shower and shut the door on him. He kept smiling, his fingers gently teasing his thick shaft. She found it difficult to look away. She grabbed a robe and walked back out into the bedroom, rubbing her hair with a towel. Her stomach rumbled and she checked the time.

“We need to order some food.”

“Already done. It should be here fairly soon.”

He appeared in the bathroom doorway, a towel wrapped low around his hips. He strolled across to her and her stomach tightened in anticipation. “We still have a few minutes.” He sat down, and before she could say anything, he brought her on top of him, his cock unerringly finding her wet center and driving home.

She pushed back at him, demanding control, and he gave it to her, his eyes half-closed, his hands riding her hips as she controlled the depth and frequency of his thrusts. He didn’t even need to touch her clit to make her come this time. She loved it when he gave himself to her like this. It was like controlling a force of nature.

With a sigh, she rested her forehead on his shoulder and gulped in some much-needed air. His hand caressed the back of her neck, his thumb circling her spine. “See? Much better skin to skin.”

She reluctantly climbed off him. “We still haven’t talked.”

“We can do that while we eat.”

She headed back to the bathroom and heard the knock on the door that heralded the arrival of their food. The tantalizing smell of barbecue made her lick her lips and hurry to clean up.

When she emerged, Vadim was uncovering plates on the small table and setting out silverware and water glasses. He was fully dressed in his shirt, tie and pants.

“It smells good. What did you order for me?”

“Ribs, curly fries and beans.”

“Really?” She smiled at him. “Does it come with a side of you lecturing me about my eating habits?”

“No, just eat.” He shook out his napkin and sat opposite her. “You need your strength.”

“What do you have?”

“Some grilled halibut, mashed potatoes and asparagus.”

“Of course.” She would’ve said more, but she was too busy devouring the ribs, scooping up beans and eating fries with her fingers. She’d probably need another shower after this. Vadim would be amazed...

“How did you manage that?” She gestured at his clothing. “You love having a shower. I can’t imagine you got dressed without one.”

“It’s an old Fae spell.”

“Can you show me how to do it?”

“If you wish. But eat your dinner first. We’re running out of time.”