Enslave Me Sweetly (Alien Huntress #2)(64)
Author: Gena Showalter

Alone now, I entered a busy street lined with cars. I picked the most expensive and heavily secured because I knew how to reprogram it. Luck was on my side. The black luxury sedan was covered in shadows. Kneeling down, I opened my duffel bag. After withdrawing the proper tools, I used a mini wire cutter to rearrange the ID pad, then inserted a new control chip. Standard issue. The driver’s-side door opened automatically. I then reprogrammed the command unit to my specifications, and the car roared to life.

Quick.Easy.

I followed the map Michael had given me and drove within a mile of the house, unwilling to risk hidden cameras and security by stopping too close. I parked the car in a thicket of trees and emerged. I didn’t bother with the duffel bag. Everything I needed was strapped to me.

Weighed down as I was with weapons, I had to move slowly through the forest. Slivers of moonlight guided me. Too bad the air was warm and dry.

Finally, the old house came into view. It appeared like an average home—well kept, gray stone. Not too big. A rush of emotions overtook me: fury, hope, dread. For an instant, I flashed back to the first mission that had brought me to EenLi. I’d gone in alone then, too. I’d also failed. But I wouldn’t fail now. Too much was at stake.

Though the lights were out, making the isolated residence appear empty, I didn’t relax my guard. My gaze constantly soaked in the details of my surroundings. It wouldn’t do to trip a wire or motion detector and alert the inhabitants of my approach.

Pyre-gun in one hand, blade in the other, I entered the house. No alarm sounded. I moved through the shadows, searching every room, every corner—even the dungeon. The sentinels were gone; the women were gone.

Lucius was gone.

“Damn it,” I snarled. I leaned against a corner wall in the living room—the very place my auction had been held—staring down at the blood dried on the carpet. Lucius’s blood. There was a large pool of it that blended with Jonathan’s, making the air reek with a metallic tang.

Where was Lucius? Where had the women been taken?

Think, Eden, think.Where would EenLi have gone from here? Most likely the same place he’d been hiding all these many weeks—a place we had been unable to discover.

A board creaked.

My hands clenched around my weapons. Instinctively I sank deeper into the shadows and slowly turned to find the source of the noise.

“Eden,” a familiar male voice said. “I know you’re there. I can smell your woman’s scent.”

My mouth pulled in a scowl. I didn’t relax my hold on the gun. “How did you get here so quickly, Targon? I had to take a hovercraft.”

“I knew where to land.” He entered the living room completely. Moonlight flooded through the far window and bathed him in light. “You won’t find anyone here.”

“I know.” I, too, abandoned the shadows as I reholstered the pyre-gun. “Do you know where EenLi is?”

He grinned, a familiar expression of smugness. “Of course I know where he is. I am his best customer.”

I stepped toward him. “You swore to help me, and I’m holding you to your word. Take me to him.”

His grin widened, stretching across his entire face. So handsome. So in need of a beating. “You also promised me one night. We failed to work out a few details, though. Like who would get their reward first.”

So, he wanted to rebargain. I pretended to soften, to sink into his body. His arms instantly wrapped around me. I let my blade slide past my wrist cuff until my fingers circled the handle, and then I inched the sharp edge toward his penis. “By all means, let’s rebargain.”

“Ah, Eden, you are so predictable. If you’ll notice, I’m wearing a metal shield this time.”

I scowled as I sheathed the knife. Intimidation wouldn’t work with this man, this sex fiend. “Will you help me for a kiss?”

“Just one?”

“With tongue,” I snapped.

“Now?”

“Now.” I stood on my tiptoes, but let him come to me.

“Deal.” Slowly, so slowly, he lowered his head. Our lips met, soft and gentle. He didn’t give me his tongue. No, he made me give him mine. I cupped his cheeks and angled his head, then swept my tongue into his mouth.

His arms locked around my waist, holding me captive in his embrace. He tasted hot and virile. He was strong; he was all man. But he wasn’t Lucius, and he didn’t make me burn for more.

He pulled from me with regret and trailed his fingertip over the seam of my lips. “I must be losing my touch.”

“EenLi,” I prompted.

“He is at his warehouse, and if your human is alive he will be at the warehouse, too, soon to be sold as a slave.”

Frowning, I shook my head. “They are not at the warehouse. We have control of it.”

“Yes, I heard about that. Too bad you didn’t seize his other one.”

Breath whooshed out of my lungs. I’d never thought, not once, that EenLi might have another warehouse. I felt stupid; I wanted to scream. And dance. This was it; I was at last on the right course. “Where is it?” My voice was raw, hoarse with emotion.

Devyn sighed, and his warm breath fanned my cheek. “Why, next door to the first. Isn’t that the way of it? Hide under your enemies’ nose, and they’ll never find you? There’s a big sale tonight, a sale I originally planned to attend.”

Yes, this was it. I practically hummed with the force of my fervor. “I need you to take me to that sale.”

“And I need you to promise me another kiss.”

I didn’t hesitate. “Done.”

“I love bargaining with you, sweet.” He leaned down until his lips brushed my ear. “But you know what? I would have taken you to the sale,” he said, drawing out the words and giving them a proper Texas accent, “for free.”

Chapter 27

Devyn kept a car in this world, so I left the one I’d stolen and climbed into his—a sleek red Jaguar parked in back of the home. As we drove to EenLi’s second warehouse, my stomach tightened and my blood heated. Soft classical music poured from the speakers, which surprised me. I’d expected Devyn to like gyrating rock, fast and hard, the way he wanted his sex.

Minutes dragged by as we sped down the highway.

More minutes dragged by.

Even more passed without a word.

“What did you think of my kiss?” he asked me. I think he asked just to cut through the silence. Maybe to relieve my tension.

“It was…good.”