Immortal Moon (5 page)

“You haven’t told anyone your suspicion that
she hadn’t lost contact with her handler because she was being held
captive, but rather because she’d switched sides?”

“Just you. I had no real proof, other than
her hysterical rantings on that roof.”

Sam raised an eyebrow. “Other than the fact
that the fight you mentioned in the report was actually her trying
to kill you, not her trying to escape from Dread’s men?”

“Details,” Jarrett quipped. “You know those
reports are supposed to be concise. I was just being
efficient.”

Sam rolled his eyes, but then nodded. “True.
If it matters, I agree with your decision not to give voice to your
suspicions. I believe you’re correct, and if she truly is gone,
sullying her name does nothing. Better to have her remembered as a
dedicated agent. After all, whatever happened in that last year,
she gave seven centuries of loyalty to the Blades.”

Jarrett had known his friend would see it
that way. It was how he, Jarrett, had viewed the situation, as
well. “It does matter.”

Sam let out another long sigh. “I’ll keep my
ears open just in case, but I think you’re right. It’s time to put
this behind us and move on. I appreciate you letting me know the
truth though.”

“Hey, we may not be partners anymore, man,
but we’ll always be brothers. You knew Cora even longer than I did.
There’s history there. I felt like you deserved to know.”

Sam nodded, and then slammed his hand on the
table. “So, on leave, huh? Headed off to parts unknown? Take that
leaky tub of yours out to sea for a few weeks?” he asked, swiftly
changing the subject and mood.

Six months ago, that is exactly what Jarrett
would have done. But that was before his last leave, when he’d
stayed in Nash to meet an informant with information on a possible
sighting of Cora. He’d ended up helping his friend Fiona out on a
case and meeting her sister, Anya. Now, two weeks alone on his boat
didn’t look as appealing as it always had before.

“I think I’ll hang around town for a few
days. It’s been a while since I’ve spent time in Nash.”

“Not so long, at least not compared to your
usual comings and goings. I don’t suppose your sudden interest in
taking leave time has anything to do with a certain red-haired
bartender?” Sam asked, a note of humor in his voice.

“And if it does?” Jarrett didn’t bother
pretending he didn’t know what Sam was talking about. Neither did
he wonder why Sam was asking. Though he and Anya had been discreet,
Sam hadn’t kept his job as the head of the Blades in Nash City for
almost a hundred years by being unobservant.

“Need I remind you that Anya is like a niece
to me?”

“Is this where I proclaim that my intentions
are honorable?” Jarrett laughed.

“You could, but I’d know you were lying.
Besides, I highly doubt Anya has ever had an honorable intention in
her life, at least where a man is concerned, which is why I asked
in the first place. I’ve never known you to dally with a norm, or
to go back for seconds.”

“Don’t read more into it than there is, Sam.
It’s been a hard few months. I’m ready for a couple of weeks of
relaxation. I just happen to be in Nash. Anya is my best friend’s
sister. I’m sure we will run into each other. If we do, we are both
adults and can conduct our business accordingly.” His tone was
light, but there was an edge of warning to the last sentence.

Sam raised his hands in surrender. “Okay, I
get it. It’s none of my business. Just a warning though, Fiona
might be your best friend, but she won’t hesitate to kill you if
you hurt her sister. I really don’t want to have my best agent
executed for murder. It would be a hassle replacing you, too.”

Jarrett laughed. “Your concern for my
welfare warms the cockles of my soul.”

Sam grinned. “That’s me, a big bundle of
love and concern.”

Jarrett laughed again, truly enjoying his
friend’s company for the first time since he stepped into the
office. “Yeah, you’re a big bundle of something,” he said, then
ducked to avoid the file folder that whizzed past his head.

“
I don’t
date vampires,” I said, my voice little more than a gasp as I
pushed my hands under Jarret’s shirt to get to the smooth skin
beneath. I let my fingers play over the taught muscles of his
back.

“
This isn’t a date,” Jarret replied
against my neck. His tongue traced a path from my chin to my
ear.

That was true. Jarret was technically on
duty for the Black Blade Guard. He was my bodyguard while my
sister, his best friend, worked a case that potentially put my
family in danger. So despite the fact that we had spent every
waking moment together for the past few days, we weren’t
dating.

As I thought about what Jarret had said, I
pulled his shirt up over his head, giving my hands full access to
his broad, muscular torso. I slowly ran my hands over his ridged
stomach and up so that my palms grazed his tight nipples, eliciting
a moan from the big man.

“
I don’t have sex with vampires, either,”
I said, holding my arms up so he could remove my shirt. A low moan
forced its way through my lips as he lowered his mouth to my
breasts, dropping soft, light kisses over each one. Then he moved
to the nipples, sucking one into his mouth, laving it with his
tongue, and nipping lightly with his teeth before moving to the
other.

“
And I don’t have sex with my friends’
sisters,” he said in between nibbles. “I guess that makes us both a
couple of rule breakers.”

Jarret knelt in front of me, kissing my flat
stomach as his hands slid up my thighs, under my skirt, and hooked
onto my panties. He pulled them down in one agonizingly slow,
sensual movement, and then lifted each of my feet to pull them off.
“Are you sure no one will hear us?” he asked, his voice so thick
and husky I could barely understand him.

I rolled my head back against the wall as he
began kissing his way back up my torso. We were in the back storage
room of Pinky’s Pub. It was well past dawn and the pub was closed
for business. “We should be fine. Fiona slept at Ian’s last night
and River has already gone to the market. Though Pinky is asleep
upstairs, the noise-canceling spells will block any sounds, even
from his vamp ears.”

I stopped talking as his mouth returned to
mine, and we melted together in a frenzy of tasting and exploring.
I fumbled with the button fly of his pants until he pushed my hands
away and quickly divested himself of the garment. With no effort at
all, Jarret lifted me, his hands sliding under the smooth globes of
my butt. I slid my legs around him, pulling myself tight against
him as the hot, throbbing evidence of his desire nestled between my
legs.

“
Last chance to say no,” Jarret said
through clenched teeth.

“
If you stop now, I will kick your ass,”
I retorted, sinking my teeth lightly into his earlobe.

Wordlessly, Jarret lifted me higher and
positioned himself at my entrance. Then, with one hard, swift
thrust, he was inside me.

***

I came awake on a gasp.

“Oh, shitballs!” My breathy exclamation
reverberated in the quiet of the empty room. I clutched the sheet
to my bare chest, breathing hard and trying to get my bearings. I
was shaking, actually freaking shaking, from the dream. It had been
so vivid and real, an almost exact memory of the first time Jarrett
and I had been together a little over six months ago. Even now, I
could almost feel the warmth of his touch, the scent of him,
lingering on my skin.

I was losing my mind. That was it. There
could be no other explanation. For some reason seeing Jarrett again
had caused some sort of psychotic break. Yes, that was it. That
too-hot-for-words kiss coupled with the fact that I hadn’t had sex
in six months had melted my brain and made me start having vivid,
sweaty, leave-you-shaking sex dreams. This was just great.

Wait. Had it really been six months since
I’d had sex? I sat in my bed, naked under my sheet, and thought
about it. Yep, it really had been six months. I hadn’t been with
anyone since Jarrett. Not a single person. And it wasn’t just sex.
There hadn’t been a make-out session, a sexy dance, or even a kiss.
How was that even possible?

Well, it was no wonder I was having sex
dreams about the hunky vampire. It was a surprise I wasn’t having
naughty dreams about every random man I met. Yet, I hadn’t. Until
now I hadn’t even thought about it. Well, that wasn’t completely
true. I’d had more than a few fantasies about Jarrett in the first
few weeks after our fling. But that was totally normal, nothing
weird or obsessive. And the fact that I hadn’t had sex, or even
wanted to, with another guy since then meant nothing. I was growing
up, maturing.

Yes, that was it. And it was only natural to
be a little shook up after such a sexy kiss with no follow through.
Okay, yes. It was all normal. It had nothing to do with Jarrett as
a person. I had no particular attachment to him. None at all.

With that decided, I threw back the covers
and crawled out of bed. Glancing at the clock beside my bed, I
realized I’d been asleep less than six hours. It didn’t matter.
After that dream there was no way I was getting back to sleep any
time soon. My skin still felt a little tingly and my whole body was
buzzing. If I were seeing someone, I’d go find him and give him a
wild ride to work out this excess energy. But since I’d just
established that I hadn’t had a guy on the line in six months, I’d
have to find something else to do.

Dressing in a loose tank top and shorts, I
went down to the training room on the third floor. The room was
large, taking up half of the third floor, but sparsely decorated. A
large, heavy bag hung on one end and a variety of weapons, weight
training tools, and padded mats were lined up against one wall, but
the rest of the room was empty, giving plenty of space for exercise
and sparring.

I did some stretches to warm up, and then
spent the next hour throwing kicks and punches at the heavy bag.
When the last of the pent-up energy left my body, and I started to
feel tired, I gave up the workout and went in search of humans and
food.

I found River and Pinky downstairs in the
pub’s kitchen bottling honey-mead. Standing next to each other, my
twenty-year-old sister and my over-two-centuries-old adoptive
father looked like they were the same age.

“Hey guys.”

River turned around, her smile wide. “Anya!
You’re up early.”

I grabbed an apple from a bowl on the
counter and bit in. “I’ve been up a little while, I couldn’t
sleep.”

“Everything okay?” Pinky asked.

“Yeah, just weird dreams,” I said, quickly
adding, “Weird, not bad,” when I saw Pinky’s expression fill with
concern. When I first came to live with him and my sisters, I had
nightmares almost every night. For the first few months, he let me
sleep in the backroom of the pub instead of upstairs so he could
check on me throughout the night. I hadn’t had a nightmare in
years.

“Okay,” he said. He pointed to my clothes.
“You been working out?”

“Yeah. I figured I might as well do
something constructive. You guys need any help?”

River placed three bottles of mead alongside
several others on a rolling cart. “I don’t think so. This is the
last of the mead, and nothing else is ready to bottle.”

“Do you need help setting up the bar? I
didn’t see Farrah around,” I said, referring to the newest employee
and resident of the pub. Farrah had been one of many victims in the
case Fiona and Jarrett had worked on last year. For some reason,
she hadn’t been able to, or hadn’t wanted to, return to her own
home when she was released from the hospital after recovering from
her wounds. Fiona, a consummate savior of kids in trouble, had
asked Pinky to take Farrah in. At first, he had told her she could
do a few chores around the pub for room and board, but she’d
quickly started working full time cleaning the pub and helping
River in her garden. She was also slowly becoming a part of the
family.

“She already did most of the prep, but she’s
taking a nap right now. She’ll be up in a couple of hours. Since it
will probably be a pretty slow night and it’s Gerald’s night off, I
figured it was a good time to start showing her the ropes of
bartending. She should know how to do things so you can take off
more than one night a week once in a while.”

“Or so you can take a night off, ever.”

“Bah, why would I want to do something crazy
like that? I live to serve.”

Pinky laughed as he said it, but it was
truer than he probably would have admitted. Running the pub wasn’t
a job for him; it was a part of his nature. One only had to watch
him in action to tell he truly enjoyed chatting with patrons,
serving drinks, and laughing. Whenever Pinky was around, there was
usually a lot of laughing.