Ecstasy in Darkness (Alien Huntress #5)(11)
Author: Gena Showalter

Had she not come to him tonight, as he’d hoped, he would have gone to her tomorrow rather than waiting a few days. He hadn’t wanted to seem too eager, but he was determined to have her. And not just to use her to lure other vampires.

“No kiss this time?” he asked, hoping he’d managed to mask that hated eagerness.

He sat on the same boulder he’d occupied last night. Difference was, his weapons were now stored in places the girls wouldn’t think to look. Since darkness had fallen, he’d been too distracted, watching for Ava, to even pretend to clean them.

“No.” She shook her head, causing moonlight and shadows to fight for dominance on her delicate features. “You’ve been a bad, naughty boy, and don’t deserve a reward.”

Her voice … as close to sex as a man could get without actually removing his clothing. Sure, he’d considered it “sweet” before. After lying in his cave all day, replaying their interaction through his head over and over again, however, he’d realized that sweet obviously equaled dirty to his body. “I did nothing to you that you didn’t deserve. So a bad, naughty boy? Ha! You, though … you took my weapons.”

“Yeah, but you got them back.”

So she wasn’t going to apologize for her actions? “No one takes my things, Ava. Ever. They are mine. Mine.”

She shrugged, his growing rage clearly of no consequence to her. “Whaa, whaa, whaa, and heard it all before. As if that was the worst of my crimes.”

His eyes narrowed. “Why are you here? You can’t defeat me, and you know it.”

“We know no such thing,” Noelle replied. She was still here? “But we’re here because we want to talk to you.”

She did, perhaps, but Ava clearly did not. That female wanted to shoot him. Anger now filled those dark eyes.

McKell couldn’t help himself, wanted to stoke the anger into rage. While she watched, he withdrew her lipgloss from his pocket and coated his mouth. He smacked for good measure. But rather than launch herself at him as he’d expected, she smothered a laugh.

Baffling woman. He’d just taunted her about her failure with him, and she’d gifted him with amusement that stroked his ears. Why hadn’t her anger intensified?

“That’s a good color for you. Now. Before we start chatting, I want my phone back,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “No one takes my things.”

“No. It’s mine now, and you know I keep what’s mine.” There were hundreds of pictures stored in that phone, and he hadn’t finished scrolling through them. Well, hadn’t finished his third scroll-through.

It was just, the camera loved her, paying that angel-face nothing but tribute, highlighting the luminous sheen of her skin, the rosy glow in her cheeks, the sparkle in her eyes, turning the brown to melted chocolate and golden glitter. And, well, he’d learned so much about her. Things he’d needed to know since they were at war and he planned to drink from her and use her—not because he was curious about her, the woman. Of course.

She clearly liked posing next to Noelle while Noelle looked her worst and was not happy about being photographed. Which proved she was delightfully vindictive. There were also action shots someone else had taken, since Ava’s hands had been occupied punching different sets of teeth. Which proved she was deliciously feral.

He shouldn’t have been impressed by those facts. He shouldn’t have been aroused. But he was.

“I’ll wrestle you for it,” she suggested. “No-rules wrestling, at that, where hands are permitted to roam anywhere.”

Tempting. To have her hands on him, squeezing at him, her body pressed against his … To have his hands on her, not just squeezing but kneading, his body not just pressed against hers but pinning …

“No.” He couldn’t wrestle one girl and freeze the other. Well, he could, but Ava would distract him, so he’d forget to hold Noelle in place, and then the agent (in f**king training) would attack him. He had a feeling his hands would be too full of Ava for his brain to care about protecting his body.

Why did she entice him so intently? She was beautiful, yes, but other women were more so. At least, he was certain someone out there was, though he had yet to meet her. And why did his mouth continue to water for Ava, even though he wasn’t legitimately hungry?

“Fine,” she said on a sigh. “Forget the phone. We’ll just jump right into our chat.”

“Now you’re acting just like the other agents,” he said, disappointed.

That seemed to please her. “Where do you hide during the day?”

Hide, she’d said. As if he were a coward. Rather than tell her where she could stuff the direction of her chat, he found himself growling, “I rest.”

“Whatever you need to tell yourself to feel better,” Noelle replied, striding forward and plopping to her ass a few feet away from him. She was still here?

He needed to keep better track of her.

Ava claimed the spot across from the girl so that he had one on each side. Their ease didn’t fool him, and he remained on guard. Though he needed something to do with his hands. They were empty, and now that he’d thought about that wrestling, they ached to be filled with Ava.

Stupid hands. They kept this up, and he would cut them off. They’d regrow in a few months, and hopefully have learned to behave. “Why do you wish to speak with me, anyway? Aren’t you afraid I’ll hurt you? Again.”

Noelle stretched her long leg toward him and rubbed her booted foot against his. “Are you kidding? One, we aren’t afraid of anything, and two, you hurt several other AIR agents. That’s why we need to speak.”

“I hurt no more than five.” He frowned and pulled away from the contact. She was a beautiful woman, but she wasn’t Ava, and for some reason, he didn’t welcome her touch. Was even uncomfortable with it. Because Ava was watching? Seemingly unaffected by Noelle’s attempt to seduce him?

He wanted her jealous?

Not missing a beat, Ava blinked over at him. “And because you hurt no more than five, that makes your actions justifiable? You removed their fingers without cause, McKell.”

He liked his name on those lush, red lips. “They were chasing me and touched my things. What better cause is there?”

The two women shared a look before Noelle shrugged. “You have to admit, Av, he makes an excellent point.”

“Of course you’re on his side,” Ava said, exasperated. She lifted a twig from the ground and tossed it into the crackling fire. “You still have dibs.”