Misled (Carnal Thirst #1)(9)
Author: Sylvia Day

“Introduce me to your plaything, Sable,” Marius growled.

“Derek, darling,” she cooed, deliberately goading the bristling blond man. “Meet Marius. Marius, this is Derek.”

Marius extended his hand. “I am Sable’s Master,” he said with a satisfied smirk, watching with glee as his rival stiffened at the news.

But Derek recovered swiftly and smiled a purely male smile. “Well then, I must thank you. Your infection of Sable allowed her to live long enough to become my mate.” He bowed. “I am in your debt.”

“She’s not your mate, so enjoy her while you can,” Marius snapped. His hands clenched into fists. “She won’t be able to avoid my calling forever.” He looked at Sable. “Have a care, love. For yourself and your toy.”

Sable took a quick step toward him, the murderous expression on her face causing the Master vampire to take a step back. “Don’t threaten me and don’t threaten Derek. Trust me, you won’t like the way I handle threats.”

Derek grabbed Sable around the waist and pulled her backward. He bared his fangs in a territorial warning as Marius stepped toward them. The blond man wisely backed down—for the moment. Derek knew he would have deal with Sable’s past eventually, but tonight was not the time and the RetroBall was not the place.

Once they had retreated a safe distance away, he set Sable down and linked his fingers with hers, dragging her from the room. “Have you lost your damn mind?” he muttered.

“You heard him,” she said crossly. “He was threatening us, the slimy bastard! He’s lucky I didn’t rip out his balls.”

Derek looked at her over his shoulder and winced. “Ouch. Remind me not to get on your bad side.”

She grinned. “Don’t get on my bad side.”

“Point taken,” he said dryly, then he turned serious. “You leave Marius Drake to me. You’ve got guts, baby, but you’re a novice and you’re his novice. You don’t have enough control yet to be tangling with a Master.”

“You’re a Master,” she pointed out. “I think I’m pretty good at tangling with you.”

He stopped and pulled her to him, lowering his lips to hers. He kissed her long and hard, with one hand at her waist and the other at her breast. His thumb stroked across her nipple until it peaked, eager for more. Instantly hot for him, she moaned into his mouth, heedless of the crush of partygoers around them.

“You don’t want to tangle with him like you do with me,” he murmured.

Breathless, she stared into his intent face and got lost in the swirling desire she saw reflected in his eyes. “No, I don’t.”

“No, you don’t.” He straightened and pulled her toward the exit. “I’m far older than Marius Drake. There are very few vamps who are as old as I am, so leave the heavy lifting to me.”

She tugged on his hand, digging in her heels. “Okay. Slow down. I can’t leave yet. I haven’t found Agent Leroy.”

“I saw him leaving on my way in to claim you.”

“What?” Sable’s shoulders slumped in disappointment. “Shit, we’ll never find him now.”

“Yes, we will,” Derek assured her.

“Have you got a tracking device on him or something?”

Derek snorted. “Listen. I did find a tracking device on your ship. And it’s not a Fed design. It’s Council.”

“What the fuck?” Sable stumbled to a halt, gaping at the back of his head.

“Yeah.” He tugged her along again. “My thoughts exactly. When we get through with Leroy, we’ll see if the serial number is registered somewhere.”

“Wow,” she breathed, her stomach roiling. “I don’t know what to think about that.”

“Don’t think about it now,” he soothed. “I’ll take care of you, Sable. Don’t worry about that.”

“This has been a really trying day, Derek. Look at everything that’s happened.”

“You’ve got me, so it can’t be all bad.” He tossed her a careless smile over his shoulder. “And I overheard Leroy getting directions from the front desk. I know just where he is.”

“Getting you is worth all this shit,” she said softly, profoundly affected by that smile.

He stepped out into the lobby and headed for the elevators. “We’ll go to our rooms and change out of these ridiculous clothes. Then we’ll see what he’s up to.”

“I happen to think you look very tasty in those clothes.”

His mouth curved with sardonic amusement. “I have to wonder at your taste, Sable. You liked me in my uniform too.”

“I like you best nak*d,” she purred.

The elevator doors slid shut and he engulfed her in a warm embrace. “This crap with Leroy better be over quick,” he groaned, his hands caressing the length of her spine. “Yours is the only body I’m interested in chasing right now.”

* * * * *

Derek kept his large form tucked closely against the wall of the small motel on the outskirts of town. Music wafted across the still night air as various room occupants held impromptu parties. Out here, away from the city, the night was darker and the sounds of transports less intrusive. Stars shimmered in the sky above, as did the moon, which hung low and full.

It was a night made for lovers.

Or hunters.

He glanced back at Sable. She moved on silent feet behind him, her hand twitching restlessly by the hilt of her lasersword, which was strapped to the side of her lithe thigh. She wore tight black trousers and a tighter black tank top, her erect n**ples easily delineated through the thin fabric. As a slight breeze blew Sable’s luscious scent to him, his c*ck swelled with an unwanted erection.

He was going to throttle Jeff.

Glancing forward again, Derek inched his way along the dimly lit outside corridor. He’d forgotten to mention to Sable what he’d discovered about Marius Drake accessing, and possibly deleting, her records. At the time, he’d been too grateful that the other man hadn’t recognized him to remember to tell her.

In any case, that definitely hadn’t been their last meeting.

The President was obviously not in agreement with Sable that their relationship was over. Derek intended to do something about that. Somehow, he would convince the other Master that Sable was now off-limits and by her own choice.

As they reached the motel room door that shielded Leroy from their prying eyes, he slowed and placed a finger over his lips. Sable stepped past him and took a position on the other side of the portal. She cocked her head and listened. Her nostrils flared and her eyes widened.

He’s f**king someone! she mouthed.

Derek knew his face had to be as shocked as Sable’s. Jeff was married for Christ’s sake and had always seemed devoted to his wife who even now lay dying. Raising his brows, Derek shrugged sheepishly.

Sable snorted with disgust and walked away.

He followed. “Damn, I’m going to beat Jeff within an inch of life when he gets out of there.”

“For cheating on his wife?”

“No, for doing what we would be doing, if we weren’t out here chasing him down.”

She laughed and Derek softened his posture. Only a few days ago she’d been openly hostile toward him. Now they shared a growing connection that he was beginning to value greatly. “Sable?”

“Yeah?” She turned those stunning blue eyes toward him.

“If I hadn’t trapped you on my ship a couple of days ago, would you have come after me when your mission was over?”

She scratched the back of her head. “Probably not.”

“Why not?” He was surprised that she’d answered without hesitation. “You said you were interested in me from the beginning, that you’re crazy about me.”

“I was. I am.” She crossed her arms under her chest. “But you’re an arrogant bastard. I had my share of inflated egos with Marius. And your reputation precedes you. You never stick with the same woman for long. My track record with men isn’t very good, as you witnessed tonight. I doubt I would have thought you were worth the risk.”

“I’m not arrogant,” he protested.

Raising a brow, she said nothing. Which said a lot.

“And now?” he prodded. “Do you consider me a good risk now?”

She met his gaze and her ripe lips pursed in thought. Finally, she said, “The jury’s still out on that one. You’ll have to prove it to me, I guess.”

“And how do I do that?”

“Stick around, Derek,” she said quietly. “Just stick around.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but she shook her head. “Do me a favor, okay? I’m beginning to suspect your friend Leroy is doing nothing more criminal than adultery. I’m not blowing my cover for that. Will you question him when he comes out? If my suspicions are correct, it will prevent the waste of two years of work.”

“No problem,” he agreed. “I’ll come up with a good reason for being here.”

“Good, I’ve got something to take care of.” She strode down the hall.

You’re just going to leave me here? he called after her in surprise.

“Sure,” she tossed over her shoulder. “I trust you, Derek.”

* * * * *

Sable crossed the street and entered the nearby telecomm café. She’d checked in with her superior earlier that day, but already so much had happened since then. She needed to know where IAB wanted her to go from here. Slipping into a privacy booth, she closed the door and inserted her identi-card. She was pulling on the headphones and mouthpiece to further safeguard her conversation, when Captain Donnie appeared.

“Good evening, Captain.”

The jovial Donnie smiled good-naturedly. “It’s barely morning here, Taylor. What have you got?”

“Another all-nighter? How does your wife put up with you?” She smiled at his grimace. “I’m not positive yet, but I’m fairly certain we can rule out Leroy.”

The captain sat back in his chair and frowned. “Another agent cleared. This case has me stumped.”

“Yeah, me too, but we must be getting close. Someone at the STF field office placed a tracking device on my ship yesterday.”

“You told me about the tracker earlier, but you didn’t tell me it was implanted at headquarters.”

“I didn’t know until a few minutes ago. The device found on my ship was a Council design.”

“But it was the Fed that attacked you.”

“Exactly. Can you imagine the ramifications if the Federation has purchased the codes to our trackers and have access to our tracking information? They could locate any of our ships, at any time. We’d be sitting ducks.”

“Shit, Taylor.” Donnie shook his head. “If that’s true, this is a lot bigger than we thought. I’m going to assign someone to assist you in investigating the remaining agents in that field office. I don’t want to step on your toes, but it would make the work go twice as fast.”

Sable nodded and tried to hide her relief. If she’d been presented with that idea yesterday, she’d have been mad as hell. Today, however, she realized she was in over her head. She was proud, sure. But she wasn’t stupid. “Sure, Captain. I’m all for wrapping this up as soon as possible.”

“Good. Glad you’re not getting territorial about this.” Donnie arched a brow. “Really isn’t like you to concede so easily about a case that you’ve worked your ass off for.”

She shrugged and thought of Derek. He’d taken a leave of absence for her and she longed to do the same for him. “I’m tired, boss. I could use a little time away.”

“Soon, Taylor,” he agreed. “I’ll give you three months leave when this is over.”

“Great. Divide the remaining agents and leave a list of my assignments in the database for me to check in the morning.” She stretched and yawned. “I haven’t slept in days. I’m going back to my hotel to crash.”

The captain nodded sympathetically. “You do that. You look tired and for a vamp, that’s saying something.”

* * * * *

Sable woke slowly. Opening her eyes, she could tell by the dim light creeping in around the blackout drapes that it had to be late afternoon. She stretched, grinning as her leg brushed along Derek’s thigh. He slept like most vamps did, like the dead, his heavily muscled torso rising and falling with the measured breaths of deep sleep.

She brushed a hand along the rippled planes of his stomach and smiled as he groaned softly, the bed linens starting to rise with his erection. She stroked the heated length of him through the thin sheet, feeling him swell to rock hardness with a few deft squeezes of her hand.

Watching Derek as she built his desire, Sable took in the masculine beauty of his features—the full, sensual curve of his lips, the strong line of his jaw, the bold sweep of his raven brows. Just watching him so innocent and boyish in repose made her heart ache for him. He was physically beautiful, but also emotionally supportive, something she truly had never expected from him. The last two years she’d spent watching him and wishing she could have him, she’d never allowed herself to picture beyond the heartache she’d thought he would bring.

She grew wet and hot as her hands drifted with feather lightness over his satiny skin and the light matting of hair on his chest. She wanted him. Wanted to always wake to the sight of him, gorgeous and tousled and eagerly receptive to her sexual advances. She pushed aside the sheet and licked her lips at the sight of his massive cock, fully engorged and pointing straight in the air.

As the cool air of the room drifted over his skin, Derek turned instinctively toward her warmth. Sable tossed her leg over his hip and wiggled until the hot head of his erection pressed at the creamy opening of her cunt. He’d taken her often during those two days on his Starwing. More than once, she’d woken up to the awareness of her body tensing in orgasm, discovering Derek’s tongue or c*ck thrusting deep inside her.