Turning sideways on the bed, he watched her sleep, awed by the fact that he was lying there peering at the face of his very own lifemate. Despite the fact that Lissianna was four years younger than he and had found her own lifemate some years back, Thomas had expected to have to wait another century or so before finding his own lifemate. His male cousins had all been older when they"d finally found theirs. In fact, he was the youngest male Argeneau to find his lifemate that he knew of. And yet there she was.
Inez Urso.
Thomas smiled faintly at the name. Urso was the one word he did know in Portuguese. It meant bear. He knew that because he"d had a friend with the same surname almost two centuries ago. A mortal friend, the only mortal friend he"d ever allowed himself. It was too hard to watch them age and die when you knew you yourself wouldn"t. Thomas had grieved the man"s pa.s.sing, but now wondered if he might be an ancestor of Inez"s. Whether he was or not, the name Urso suited her. She was like a little she-bear when in a temper. He actually liked that. He"d found it adorable when she was babbling away at him in Portuguese, her little finger waving. Mind you, he doubted he"d have found her quite as adorable if he"d understood what she was saying.
Reaching out, Thomas brushed a strand of hair away from her cheek thinking she reminded him of an old painting he"d once seen, and that he"d be happy to wake up to that face every morning for the rest of his life. Thomas actually liked everything about Inez so far. He liked her feistiness and her intelligence. He even found her shyness adorable, and she was shy. He hadn"t realized that during their first meeting in New York. Inez had been the very personification of efficiency and command then, and she"d seemed to be pretty much in command and confident with him as well since he"d arrived in London, but he"d been coming out of the last bar when those three Brits had sat themselves at her table that night and her reaction hadn"t been what he"d expected.
Thomas supposed any woman might have felt a little leery of having three drunks pester her, but Inez had been more than leery. At first, she"d seemed completely shocked that they"d chosen to bother her, as if she had no confidence in her attractiveness. And then she"d shrunk back in her seat as if trying to make herself disappear from view. He hadn"t liked seeing her so obviously scared and uncomfortable, and that had been part of the reason he"d reacted as he had, that and the fact that she was his.
Of course, the S.E.C. probably hadn"t helped, it certainly hadn"t left him clearheaded enough to control himself and handle the situation as he should have. Or maybe he was fooling himself. Maybe his rage had been purely and simply because she was his lifemate. He had waited two hundred years for her and hadn"t liked seeing any other man trying to chat her up.
Grimacing, Thomas ran a finger lightly over her cheek, smiling when Inez shifted sleepily and instinctively turned her cheek into the caress. It was something else he liked about her, her response to him. He liked the pa.s.sion she"d revealed both times he"d kissed her; when he"d kissed her the first time in London and when he"d pretty much attacked her here in Amsterdam Inez had more than met his pa.s.sion. It boded well for their future... as long as he didn"t screw it up and scare her off with he-man outbursts at bars or attacking her in alleys. So far, Thomas didn"t think he was doing a very good job of wooing the woman. That was something he"d have to work on. She obviously had some issues when it came to her attractiveness and he"d work on that as well, he decided as his eyes slipped closed.
Inez shifted in her sleep and murmured a grumpy protest as she b.u.mped against something, and then sighed and snuggled into the warmth offered as that something wrapped around her. It was the scent tantalizing her nose that finally forced her out from under those last veils of sleep. She blinked her eyes open and peered at the black before her with confusion until she realized it was a black T-shirt, and then glanced up to find herself peering at Thomas"s sleeping face.
Inez sucked in a startled breath, her body stiffening with surprise, but not alarm. Alarm was curiously absent considering the circ.u.mstances, and the circ.u.mstances were that she had no idea how he had got there. In fact, she had no idea how she had got there either.
A glance around showed they were in her bedroom in the suite in Amsterdam, a glance down showed her that while Thomas was still completely dressed and sleeping on top of the covers, she was naked under the sheet and blankets covering her. However, she didn"t recall going to bed. The last thing she remembered was heading out to search for Marguerite after...
Inez"s shifted to Thomas, looking him over with new concern as she recalled his being stabbed and her removing the knife from his back. He didn"t look pale anymore, and obviously he must have recovered enough to get up and walk in here because there was no way she could have carried him. Still, she wanted to see the wound to be sure.
Easing away out from under the arm he had wrapped around her at some point in the night, Inez pressed the sheet and blankets to her chest and rose up slightly to bend over him and try to peer at his lower back where the knife had protruded. Thomas"s T-shirt covered the spot. Biting her lip, she glanced to his behind and legs, noting the large blood stain darkening them, then reached out and gently tried to lift and move the bottom of his shirt. Unfortunately, it was stiff with blood and stuck to his skin and she glanced toward his face nervously as she lifted it away, afraid she"d wake him.
When Inez saw that his eyes were still closed, she finished shifting the material out of the way and peered at the spot where he"d been wounded the night before, her eyes widening as she saw that there was absolutely no sign of the injury anymore. Not even a tiny scar. The skin was completely unmarred, as smooth and unblemished as a newborn baby"s behind.
"It"s healed."
Inez jerked her head to the side to see that Thomas"s eyes were now open, they were alert and it made her wonder if he"d been playing possum and been awake the whole time. Letting the T-shirt drop back into place, she eased away and then hesitated. Her first instinct was to get out of the bed, but she was naked and rather trapped there unless she wanted to flash Thomas. Inez was pretty sure she didn"t want to do that. They may be lifemates and all that, but that didn"t mean he"d see her through rose-colored gla.s.ses that would show him a long, leggy figure rather than her own imperfect one. At least, she didn"t think it would.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, his voice having a slightly gravelly quality first thing in the morning.
"Me?" Inez asked with surprise. "I"m fine."
"Are you?" Thomas asked solemnly, his hand sliding soothingly up and down her upper arm.
Inez swallowed as she noted the sudden increase of silver in his eyes. Her body responded to it like a flower opening to the sun.
She could feel her nipples hardening and a slow, warm liquid pooling in her lower body. Her eyes also reacted, taking on a sudden laziness that left them at a sleepy half-mast. Inez knew she wasn"t the only one to notice the changes taking place when a slow satisfied, male smile curved his lips.
"I love the way you respond to me," Thomas said quietly. "I love your scent as you do."
Inez fought off the sudden urge to sniff her underarms and simply stared at him, unsure how to respond, and then his fingers slid from the outside of her upper arm to the inside, gliding perilously close to her breast. Her skin tingled as his fingers brushed lightly over it, and despite his not touching it, her breast did as well in a sort of antic.i.p.ation.
"Your heart is racing," he whispered, his fingers gliding over the inside of her elbow and Inez knew he was right, it had sped up along with her breathing which was now shallow and rapid. "You want me."
Her eyes dilated at the simple words and embarra.s.sment almost made her deny it, but instead she managed one short, slight nod.
Thomas"s smile widened with approval at her honesty as his fingers slid up her arm, but this time when they slid down, one finger shifted to tug at the top of the sheet and blankets she held to her chest. Unprepared for the move, she lost her hold on the material and it slipped out from under her fingers, pooling around her waist. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were suddenly bare and then his hand was there in place of the cloth, closing warm and firm around one.Inez bit her lip and closed her eyes as Thomas caressed her and then opened her eyes in surprise when he suddenly sat up and replaced his hand with his mouth, his tongue hot and wet as it swirled around the nipple. He laved and teased her, alternating between sucking, licking, and nipping and sending little arcs of electricity shooting through her until she moaned aloud, and then let it slip from his mouth and raised his head to kiss her instead.
Inez kissed him back, her mouth opening to welcome him, her body leaning instinctively forward to press against his chest and then he was easing her back onto the bed, his mouth becoming more demanding before pulling away to slide to her cheek, and then her neck. Thomas followed her vein down to her collarbone, nipping teasingly as he went, and then lifted his head.
Inez blinked her eyes open to find him simply looking at her, his eyes blazing silver fire as they traveled over flesh suddenly covered with goose b.u.mps. She stiffened and bit her lip to keep back a protest as he used one hand to sweep the sheet and blankets lower until they rested below her belly b.u.t.ton so that he could see more of her. Her head was filling with all the flaws he must be seeing and how imperfect she was when he said, "Beautiful."
Inez"s eyes widened incredulously at the p.r.o.nouncement, but then he suddenly caught the hem of his T-shirt and lifted it off over his head and she was distracted by her first sight of his chest unclothed. Thomas, she decided, was the one who was beautiful. A work of art.
Reaching out tentatively, Inez ran one hand over the muscles of his chest as he tossed the stained T-shirt to the floor and then he turned to peer at her and caught her hand against his chest with his. Watching her face, he raised her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her fingers before slipping one into his mouth and suckling at it lightly.
Inez gasped lightly at the sensations that suddenly jolted through her as he drew the finger slowly out. He then released her hand and bent to kiss her again. He used one hand and arm to hold his weight off of her, but the fingers of the other hand moved over her body, caressing first one breast and then the other before sliding over her rounded stomach.
Inez clutched at his shoulders and moved her legs restlessly as his hand slid beneath the sheet and blankets and across her lower stomach to one hip as he kissed her. His hand paused there, fingers tightening slightly on the outer side of her hip as his thumb ran along the sensitive flesh on top and then it continued down along her outer leg, smoothing over skin she hoped to G.o.d wasn"t stubbly.
When was the last time she"d shaved her legs? Inez wondered a bit frantically and realized it hadn"t been for two days at least.
d.a.m.n! There would be stubble. It would give a whole new meaning to her last name, which she thought was perfectly apt because-like a bear-she seemed to have a lot of hair. Honestly, she seemed to even grow it in her sleep. During the day was the worst, though, she sported a five o"clock shadow on her legs after shaving them in the morning. Why had she been cursed with this body? She should have been a tall, leggy blonde with- "Aiyeee," Inez cried out, her eyes opening with shock as Thomas"s hand suddenly closed over the very core of her. She"d been so distracted with her self criticisms she"d hadn"t noticed that his caresses had stopped going down her outer leg and had started up the inside. She"d missed the whole upward journey... also missing that he"d broken their kiss and was now nibbling on her ear.
She wasn"t distracted now, however.
"Are you back with me?" Thomas asked with amus.e.m.e.nt as his hand glided over her warm core.
Inez nodded breathlessly, her hands digging into his shoulders as he caressed her.
He chuckled against her ear and then asked in a whisper. "Where were you? What were you thinking?"
Inez would have swallowed her own tongue before telling him the truth. Unfortunately it was impossible to come up with a lie with him doing what he was doing. Much to her relief she didn"t end up having to, because the hotel phone chose that moment to begin ringing.
Thomas stiffened above her and cursed. Inez closed her eyes and silently thanked G.o.d for the intervention and making sure Thomas would never know how close he"d come to getting whisker burn on his hands from her legs. Releasing his shoulder, she reached out swiftly and s.n.a.t.c.hed up the phone to draw it to her ear."Good morning?" Inez said with a cheer that made Thomas jerk his head up with surprise.
"Good morning, Inez," Bastien said, sounding crisp and well rested. "How are you feeling?"
Her eyebrows rose at the sudden turn in his voice. The question had sounded solemn and concerned, but she had no idea why he"d be concerned about her. That had been Thomas"s first question too, she realized now and frowned to herself.
"I-What happened last night?" Inez asked with sudden apprehension as she searched her memories and found she had no recall of going to bed last night.
Bastien hesitated and then asked, "Don"t you remember?"
"No," she admitted, feeling suddenly sick. Taking the phone from her ear before he could say anything else, she handed it to Thomas and then scooted off the bed, dragging the sheet and blankets with her and nearly rolling Thomas to the floor as she did.
Wrapping them around herself toga style, Inez hurried into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. She stood there in the dark for a moment, trying to calm down. Her stomach had always reacted to her upset, and if she didn"t calm down she was likely to be kneeling over the toilet retching in a minute.
Closing her eyes, Inez concentrated on her breathing, forcing herself to breathe more slowly. When she thought she had herself at least a little calmer she felt along the wall beside her until she found the light switch and then flicked it on. Inez blinked in the sudden explosion of light and then peered at herself in the mirror. The sheet and blanket were gathered around her in a lopsided collection, her hair was wild about her head, and her eyes were a little wild and a lot scared.
"Why don"t I remember coming back to the hotel and going to bed last night?" she asked herself silently. The answer she was afraid of was that she didn"t remember because someone had taken those memories away... and the only people she knew who could do that were immortals, but who and why? The fact that she"d landed back here in her own bed in their hotel with Thomas lying beside her worried Inez. If she"d found Marguerite, the woman could have controlled her, but why? Why would any immortal want to control her and put her in her bed with Thomas? Except maybe Thomas. He"d been suffering under the effects of the Sweet Ecstasy Concentrate last night. Had he... ?
Inez killed the thought before it was fully formed, but she was terrified that the truth was that Thomas could read and control her after all. Maybe they weren"t lifemates at all.
Chapter Nine.
Thomas forced his eyes away from the bathroom door and turned his attention to the phone in his hand. Pressing it more firmly to his ear, he said, "I think she realizes she"s been controlled."
"That usually only happens if they don"t put in a replacement memory," Bastien said slowly.
Thomas grunted acknowledgment. "I wonder why they wouldn"t have?"
"Maybe they wanted her to know."
Thomas stiffened at the suggestion. "Why would they want that?"
A long silence pa.s.sed as they both considered what might be behind Inez being controlled, but it seemed obvious neither of them could come up with a reason.
"We won"t be able to solve this," Bastien acknowledged unhappily.
"No," Thomas agreed. "At least not until we find Aunt Marguerite."
"Speaking of which," Bastien murmured. "I know I was supposed to wait for you to call me, and I have been waiting most patiently. But when it got so late, I thought maybe-"
Thomas cursed as his eyes. .h.i.t the bedside clock and he saw that it was well after ten A.M. He"d slept longer than he"d intended.
"Thomas?"
"I slept in," he admitted unhappily as he sat up. His gaze slid to the bathroom door as he heard the shower come on, and then he a.s.sured him, "I"ll call Herb right now and head out as soon as he has coordinates for me."
Hanging up, he quickly punched in Herb"s number. The immortal had always kept odd hours, working well into the morning at times if he got into his programming. Fortunately, this was one of those days and he didn"t have to apologize for waking him.
After hanging up, Thomas stood and paced around the room as he waited for Herb to call back with coordinates. With nothing else to distract him, his mind immediately turned to Inez in the shower. She would be naked and wet in there, warm water spraying down over her body as she ran the soap over herself. He"d like to do that for her. Actually, he"d rather build up a lather between his own hands and then run them over her soft skin, across her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, along her sides, over her behind, between her legs...
Thomas managed to get himself quite worked up with his imaginings and was on the verge of rushing into the bathroom to turn them into reality when the phone rang.
Shaking the seductive thoughts aside, he hurried to the phone to answer it.
Herb gave him the new coordinates at once and then asked, "Are you heading out right away?"
"No," Thomas admitted slowly, a little startled by the question. "I have to shower first and dress. It probably won"t be for another ten minutes. Why?"
Herb hesitated and then said, "Because I want to call and check the coordinates again when you leave."
"Again?" Thomas asked, his eyebrows rising. "Why? She should be sleeping now and staying in one place, that"s why we left it until morning."
"I know, but I checked these coordinates on a street map of Amsterdam that lists buildings in the area and it"s not a hotel, it"s a strip of cafes."
"That"s not right." Thomas dropped back on the bed with dismay. "Aunt Marguerite isn"t a day person. Why would she be out at this hour?"
"You said she was over here in Europe on a case, maybe that"s forced her to work during the day," Herb suggested.
"I suppose," Thomas said with a frown. "I don"t know much about being a private detective, but they might be checking records and so on and those offices would hardly be open at night-. Could you double check the coordinates, Herb?"
"I did," he a.s.sured him. "I actually triple checked them before calling you."
"Oh," Thomas said unhappily.
"I know, it doesn"t feel right," Herb muttered. "But if they are having to work during the day... You said her partner was mortal.
They may have stopped to feed him.""Yeah, that"s possible," Thomas agreed.
"Right. Call me just before you leave and I"ll track it again to double check. That way, if she isn"t there when you reach the coordinates, you can just move on to the next set I come up with."
"Right. Thank you, Herb. I appreciate all your help with this," Thomas said, but he was still frowning as he hung up. Something wasn"t right.
His gaze slid to the closed bathroom door with new concern as his wonder about Inez being controlled and having her memory erased collided with the game of hide-and-seek they were playing with Marguerite. Why hadn"t his aunt contacted her family? She had to still have her phone on her to be moving around constantly. Had Inez found her at that park? Was Marguerite the one who had erased her memory? What the h.e.l.l was going on?
Standing, Thomas crossed the room to the door, tapped lightly, and when he got no reply, eased it open.
"Inez?" he called, stepping into the room. His gaze slid to the small shower room at the end of the bathroom, and shower room was the proper term. Showers here were not enclosed little cubes like those back home, they were small ceramic-tiled rooms with a floor with a drain in the center. The showerheads were huge, dropping water down like a rain cloud. Thomas had always liked showers here. Now he peered at the closed beveled gla.s.s shower door, his eyes swimming over the flesh-colored blur that was Inez.
"Inez," he repeated, moving to stand in front of the door when he realized she hadn"t heard him over the water.
She heard him this time. He saw her whirl to face him and saw the shape of her blur change as her hands instinctively covered the important bits. Thomas smiled faintly, imagining the startled, alarmed look on her face. A day would come when she wasn"t so self-conscious around him in the nude. He would see to that. She had a beautiful body, short but shapely and would probably keep most of that shape after her turning, thank G.o.d. He"d never been attracted to stick-thin anorexic types and couldn"t understand men who were. A woman was supposed to have curves and a little meat on them that could offer comfort to a man. At least, that was his opinion.
"Thomas?" Inez said uncertainly. He knew she wasn"t questioning whether it was him or not. Who else would be in their suite?
What she was asking was what he was doing in here.
"Inez, can you tell me what happened last night?" he asked, and then added solemnly, "It"s important."
Another moment of silence followed and then she said, "You collapsed when we got back to the hotel room. I removed the knife from your back, went through a couple towels putting pressure on the wound until you stopped bleeding, then fetched a couple bags of blood, but couldn"t figure out how to feed them to you. I didn"t want to turn you on your back to lay on your wound, but couldn"t feed you the way you were, and then Herb called with new coordinates."
"You didn"t tell him what had happened," Thomas pointed out.
"No. I didn"t know if you"d be in trouble for flashing your teeth in public and then giving away your strength and speed," she admitted.
Thomas grimaced at the knowledge that she"d seen him flash his fangs, but said, "Thank you."
"Anyway, he had new coordinates and so I put the two bags of blood beside you to find when you woke up and went out to the new spot. It was in front of a night club and I knew there was no way I could search it by myself, so it was a relief when he called again with new coordinates. Bastien called right after him, and I just told him we were still tracing Marguerite"s cell and headed out. I walked a couple blocks farther on to a park."
"And then?" Thomas prompted when she fell silent.
"And then I woke up naked in bed with you beside me," Inez said.Thomas frowned at the tone of her voice. She sounded uncertain and even frightened. He understood why when she spoke again.
"You didn"t control me and wipe my memory, did you Thomas?"
"No," he said firmly, wishing she could see his face and see the truth there. "I already told you I can"t either read or control you."