"Ian." With a shaking hand, she touched his arm. He jerked as though shocked, his eyes, gleaming ice blue, turned to her, unseeing and wild. "Let him go, Ian. You don"t want to kill him. Not truly."
Northrup c.o.c.ked his head, his nostrils pinching as though he were inclined to disagree. His tense frame vibrated as a series of low growls rumbled in his throat. Daisy blanched but did not let him go. She had to trust in his promise not to hurt her. "Ian. Stand down."
On a shudder, his body began to ease back to normal and the confusion and rage in his eyes cleared, to be replaced by a possessive heat that made her blush. A grunt of acknowledgment left him before he turned away from her.
Northrup hauled his prey close, his nose b.u.t.ting up against Lucien"s. "Play with yer own la.s.s, aye?"
With a final snarl, he shoved Lucien back into his seat. The chair slid a foot before Lucien"s boot heels stopped it. "A thousand pardons," Lucien said, panting. "I forgot myself."
Daisy, on the other hand, having just realized that the cold touch was Lucien, suddenly felt far from appeased. "That was you?" she said through her teeth.
The man held up his hands in apology, and she turned to Northrup. "I was wrong. Tear his hands off."
Northrup"s eyes glinted with wicked humor as he winked at her, his smile feral and still showing a bit of fang. He turned back to Lucien and let his claws free. Lucien backed into his chair, his handsome mouth opening in alarm. "Here now!"
Daisy gave him an evil smile. Now that Northrup had calmed, he wouldn"t follow through, but he put on a very convincing show. "I wouldn"t be too alarmed, Mr. Stone," she said. "After all, it appears you do not need your hands to get into mischief."
Northrup took another step, making a great deal of growling, and Daisy almost laughed.
"Oh now, sweet, I do apologize." Northrup grabbed his flailing arm, and Lucien yelped. "I was disrespectful, and I was wrong. Now call off your dog!"
"I suppose we ought to let him alone," Daisy said with a sigh. "After all, I abhor violence."
Northrup chuckled and let him go.
"Quite good of you," Lucien muttered to Daisy. "I am in your debt."
The door opened and in walked a woman Daisy presumed was Mary Chase.
Sugar and spice and everything nice. It was all Daisy could think as the young woman glided toward them. Golden-brown hair, glinting like spun sugar, framed a heart-shaped face from which eyes of pale b.u.t.terscotch glittered with bright, watchful intelligence.
Those eyes glanced over her, taking note and then moving on as if she found Daisy a rather boring addition to her day. Lucien, however, saw the way Daisy gaped.
"It is the eyes that snare you." Smoothing out his rumpled coat with a shaking hand, he forced a wide smile. "As is their purpose. Crystalline eyes to draw you in. Entice you to tell us your secrets."
Daisy closed her mouth. "You pick your bodies well."
Mary Chase"s petal pink lips quirked but she said nothing as she perched on the arm of Lucien"s chair.
"Mary"s"-Lucien ran a knuckle down the woman"s arm-"delightful body is her own. As she had the choice offered to her moments before her first death."
Mary Chase accepted the man"s touch with neither encouragement nor rejection. Her odd eyes rested a moment longer than proper on Northrup before sliding back to Lucien. "What is it that you want, sir?" Her voice was warm toffee, and some base part of Daisy bristled with pure feminine jealousy.
"Northrup here wants us to play shadow to The Ranulf." Lucien handed her the stickpin. "Are you up to the task, ma pet.i.te?"
Her b.u.t.terscotch eyes settled on Northrup. "A dangerous thing to follow a lycan."
A slow, wry smile curled Northrup"s lips as he took his seat once more. "Very dangerous. You might not survive."
Lucien laughed again. "Helping along our bargaining, are we, Ian?"
"Hurrying it along, more like," Northrup said. "We all know what it is I am asking."
Daisy leaned in. "Do we?" She rather hated being the ignorant party.
"Lycans can see spirits," Northrup said patiently. "For a GIM to spy on one is a tricky business." Well, at the very least, Daisy understood how Northrup had known what Lucien had been up to with his tricks.
"An understatement," Lucien cut in. "I don"t lightly risk the welfare of my brightest." Lucien"s hand drifted from Mary"s arm to the narrow curve of her waist, cinched in golden silk. Daisy could not help but admire the gown, or the woman for choosing it. Here was a woman who knew proper dress.
"One wonders why you don"t volunteer for the deed yourself then," Daisy said.
At that, Mary Chase"s gold gaze flicked to Daisy"s. A small smile sparked in those strange orbs. "Because he needs the best," she said. "That would be me."
Humble girl, she was.
"What is that you want to know?" Mary asked Northrup.
Daisy tried to take her eyes from Lucien"s roaming hand, but she could not as it slid slowly up to cup the young woman"s small breast.
Northrup"s seat creaked beneath his muscled frame. "The werewolf terrorizing London, does Conall have it? And if so, where?"
Long, dark fingers idly circled a budding nipple, a whisper of a caress. The woman leaned into the touch, slightly, subtly. Heat bloomed between Daisy"s legs and spread over her flesh. She shifted in her chair, pressing her thighs together.
"That shall take some time, and finesse."
"Are you willing?"
The questing fingers stilled but did not give up their prize. The blunt tip of one finger rested gently over a hardened nub. Daisy swallowed, the tightness inside of her clenching. Her cheeks were surely aflame. Yet she could not move her eyes from the sight.
Mary Chase"s small breast lifted and fell with the rhythm of her breathing, causing dark fingers to slide over the curve of flesh. A pale, feminine hand fell upon a muscled thigh encased in blue satin. Slowly, the hand stroked up to the bulge growing between his thighs. Daisy squirmed and gripped the side of her chair.
"I am always willing." The questing hand stopped, having found its prize, and squeezed. A blast of heat hit Daisy"s cheeks.
Lucien"s voice was surprisingly benign for a man who had a woman"s hand on his c.o.c.k. "There is the matter of payment, old friend."
Northrup"s arm moved. A pile of pound notes scattered among the plates and goblets.
"Money is lovely, Ian, but I think I"ll need something more this time." He made a show of straightening his cravat.
So they would have to pay for Northrup"s temper.
Northrup"s jaw tightened. "What do you want?"
Lucien let go of his moll and leaned back in his chair. "Do you know your brother will not work with the GIMs?" A cold look frosted over his features. "Rather, he"d prefer not to pay but to force our hand into providing services."
Northrup did not move. "What, Lucien?"
"You." His expression grew deadly serious. "You get that brother of yours off the throne and take it."
A bitter laugh escaped Northrup. "Why does everyone seem to think I"ll be a better leader? Did ye no" think I might be inclined to hold it against you once I got there?"
"Ah, but that is why I shall also ask for your a.s.surance that you shall treat us fairly." Lucien waved an idle hand. "Fairly, that is all. No favoritism. You could not ask for a better deal."
"I can ask for a h.e.l.l of a lot," Northrup snapped.
He turned away and lowered his head. But Daisy could see the capitulation taking over his expression, and it made her want to shout in protest. He wanted a normal life. He would not do this. He could not.
"I"ll need a.s.surances as well," Northrup said. "I do this, and not only will you tell me what I want to know, but you will work for me exclusively until the were is dead. Daisy"s safety will be as important to you as it is to me." He leveled a glare at Lucien. "I trust you understand the full extent of that importance."
Lucien"s smile was the devil"s. "Of course. She shall be as dear to me as... well, let us say a daughter, shall we? I wouldn"t want you getting your fur up once more."
Northrup began to nod his a.s.sent but Lucien held up a hand. "To be clear, protection is null and void should you fail to become The Ranulf. As much as I"d love to help the lovely Daisy"-he glanced at her with humor-"I cannot risk all for nothing in return."
Dead calm colored Northrup"s voice when he spoke. "When I challenge Conall, I will not fail." His eyes held with Lucien"s. "But I will not do so until the werewolf is destroyed."
With a chill, Daisy understood. The werewolf was a threat to her. He could not risk his own life until he knew that she was safe.
"Northrup," Daisy said, coming forward, "do not do this. Not for me. There are other ways."
"There are always other ways," he agreed, not looking at her. "But this is the best." He gave a sharp nod to Lucien. "Done."
"Why did you do it?" Daisy asked him. "You told me you wanted out of that life."
Ian sat back against the squabs, as comfortable as he could get given that he"d been fighting off an erection for the better part of the hour and had only just got it under control. d.a.m.n Lucien and his antics. Ian had seen the display before, and he didn"t give a fig if the sly GIM fondled his protegee. Daisy"s reaction, however, was another matter altogether. Seeing her grow agitated with desire had set him aflame.
"You know why."
Her white teeth caught her lower lip and worried it. "I"m not worth this trouble."
"You are." Ian cleared his throat. "My course was set the moment those Ranulf darts. .h.i.t me, la.s.s. At least this way I"ll know the GIMs will be watching over you. It isn"t the best of arrangements, I grant you. They are a sly lot, but we needed the help. I can a.s.sure you, however, that once a deal is struck, they will hold up their end."
Daisy frowned. "I thought you were friends with Lucien."
"No one is truly friends with a GIM. Their very immortality is based on theft, which does not endear them to many." But Ian did not want to discuss Lucien or their deal. No matter the necessity, or the facts, Conall was his baby brother. The thought of killing him crushed Ian"s heart. No, all he wanted to discuss this very moment was Daisy. And him.
"He beguiled you, you realize."
Daisy stiffened against her seat. "Into wanting the food?" With undue intensity, she studied the view outside of the moving coach. "I figured as much. I"ve never been so moved by a common grape."
He wanted to laugh at the way she so neatly sidestepped him. "That evasion was prettily done, my dear."
She sniffed. "I don"t know what you mean."
Feeling fiendish, he nudged her skirts with the tip of his booted toe. Her red- and-cream-striped visiting dress, with all its flounces and bows, put to mind wrapping paper, an irresistible present that his fingers itched to unwrap. "Did it not affect you, the way he touched the ethereal Mary Chase?"
She edged away, her plump lips flat with annoyance. "Of course it did. How can one not be affected by such a disgraceful display?"
"Mmm." He rested the offending foot over his knee. "So those blushes were out of disgust, were they?"
She glared at the pa.s.sing traffic.
A certain sense of glee lightened his chest. "See, I rather thought you found it arousing."
She did not bite but kept a bland face turned toward the window. "You would."
"Huh. Perhaps there was another reason you squirmed within your seat. I would blame it on luncheon, but as we"ve had none..."
She shot him a repressive look. "Now it is you who is being disgusting."
He laughed for the sheer joy of doing so. This was what he wanted from life, not death or clan machinations. Just her. Just them. "Daisy-girl, you are a terrible liar, did you know?"
"a.s.s," she muttered under her breath.
Planting his feet on the coach floor, Ian rested his elbows upon his knees, bringing himself into tempting proximity of her lush figure. He allowed himself one breath of her natural fragrance and felt it swim through his veins. "Are you saying you have no interest in that sort of activity?" Oh, but he was a b.a.s.t.a.r.d.
The bored look remained. "Voyeurism seems a rather unbalanced exchange."
"Were it not solely voyeuristic in nature?" He ran his tongue along the outside of his teeth and was gratified to see her twitch. Unbidden, images of the night before flashed through his mind, of her mouth opening for him and the feel of her abundant curves filling his hands as he pressed against her. By G.o.d, she"d bitten him. And he"d loved it. His fingers clenched. "Were it perhaps one man with one woman? You, I mean, with one man."
"Northrup." It was a strangled sound, a plea for silence.
But the devil in him had taken rein of his common sense. "Did you take a peek?"
She startled, but he could tell by the look on her face that she knew precisely what he was about. "What? No." Her eyes cut to his and then darted away, high color painting her cheeks red. "You were unconscious. It would have been rude in the extreme to take advantage."
"How disappointing." His smile grew. Ah, to tease her. He got more enjoyment from doing so than entertaining a bed full of women. Suddenly, it was not enough to face her. Ian moved to the s.p.a.ce beside her, taking note of the way she tensed.
"And if I hadn"t been?" His heart beat too quickly, the blood pumping through his veins too hot. "Had I been awake," he whispered in her ear, "what then?"
Her cheeks plumped on a repressed grin. "In minute detail."
Heat washed under his clothes, and he pressed his shoulder more intimately against hers, knowing it would agitate her just as it agitated him. "And then what?" His voice had gone rough and thick, not his own.
Daisy kept her eyes on the window. "From what I saw of your torso, I think..." Little pearl teeth caught on her pouting bottom lip. "I think I should like to dip you in melted b.u.t.ter and lick it off."
A shocked laugh burst from his lips. His c.o.c.k pushed tight against his trousers. He adjusted himself and took a deep breath to keep from hauling her onto his lap then and there. "I"m asking cook for b.u.t.ter when we arrive home."
A chuckle escaped before she pressed her mouth tight, but her eyes twinkled as she maintained her vigil of the road. "No, you are not. Even if you did, it wouldn"t matter. I won"t succ.u.mb."
He turned toward her, suddenly irritated. "You are evading this. Why? We are both unattached and healthy. And we want each other," he said. "Quite desperately."
Daisy drew in a sharp breath through her pert nose, but she faced him, her blue eyes steady and filled with the same desire that burned inside of him. "Yes, we do."
G.o.ds, but her admission heated his blood.
"Then let us enjoy each other."
"Is that what we are doing?" She said it so earnestly that he almost smiled, save she also appeared distressed at the very idea. "Enjoying each other? Is that what this is?"