“Agent Hunter?” Nicholas said.
“Yes.” The woman’s voice was deeper than expected, sexy. Her voice over the phone had been much more businesslike. It was too much of a difference to be explained away by the idiosyncrasies of phone transmission alone. She probably worked at sounding professional, but as far as he was concerned, she’d only sounded robotic. Maybe he should tell her. Maybe he would.
Out in the hallway, Nicholas could be heard introducing himself, and then the door opened. His lieutenant entered first, which was probably unusual in a human corporate setting. In his experience, the guest would normally be permitted to enter first, followed by their escort. But in Lucas’s world, especially while they were at war with their neighbor, Nicholas would never permit a stranger to approach Lucas directly. And then there was the fact that Kathryn Hunter was FBI. Nicholas had been infected by Lucas’s distrust of police authorities, and so he entered first, with the FBI agent sandwiched between him and Magda, who stood at the door.
Lucas didn’t stand. Why should he? Agent Hunter wasn’t a guest. She was an interloper, an interrogator. And she certainly wasn’t due any respect of position from him. He was far more powerful than she was.
“My lord,” Nicholas said formally, and stepped aside, giving Lucas his first real view of Kathryn Hunter.
Well, well, he thought to himself. Agent Hunter was definitely not what he’d pictured. He’d expected someone who lived up to that robotic phone voice—some sort of Brunhilde with sturdy hips and shoulders to match. What he got was the sexy-voiced version instead. Kathryn Hunter was quite lovely. Or, she would be if she permitted herself. She was tall, nearly six-foot despite those sensible boots. Put her in a pair of lipstick-red, fuck-me heels and she’d definitely top six-foot. Lucas liked tall women. He liked to fuck tall women. Well, okay, he liked to fuck women of pretty much any height. But his favorite fuckable women were tall because he was well over six-foot himself, and he liked to kiss the women he bedded. He especially liked to kiss them while he was inside them, and that was always easier when the parts matched up so nicely.
And speaking of kissing, his personal FBI agent had a mouth to match the voice. Soft, puffy lips that were made for wrapping around a man’s cock, and she was wearing just a hint of pink gloss that she probably considered practical. But it gave her mouth a vulnerable, little-girl-lost look. Not that she was a little girl. Oh, no. Miss FBI was very much all grown up. She was, however, very prim and proper, just like Kofi had said, with her long, blond hair pulled into a high and tight pony tail, and every hair in place. Her figure was slender for the most part, although he suspected her breasts were much fuller than they appeared. She probably wore some sort of sports bra to flatten her natural assets. He supposed it made sense, given her profession, but it only made him more curious to see the real things.
The rest of her body was camouflaged by a boring, dark blue pants suit and a white button-up blouse that was definitely buttoned up . . . all the way to her neck. His fingers itched to twitch open that top button and reveal her delicate neck. Actually, they twitched to do a lot more than that, but he’d settle for that top button. No woman should ever be that buttoned up.
Slender hips, long legs . . . his perusal traveled back to her face and a pair of dark blue eyes that were regarding him with something short of a friendly look.
He grinned unapologetically. “Agent Hunter,” he said, without rising.
Her jaw tightened, but she stepped forward and reached across his desk to offer her hand. “Special Agent Kathryn Hunter,” she said, aiming for crisp, but that bedroom voice of hers wasn’t made for it.
Lucas stood slowly and took her hand in his. It put her at a disadvantage, because she’d stretched across the desk to reach him. She was now left leaning forward while he stood straight, holding her in place by virtue of their joined hands. Lucas made no attempt to alleviate the uncomfortable position. He kept his gaze steady as he wrapped his fingers around hers, catching the slight flair of concern in her eyes as she quickly rebalanced.
“Lucas Donlon,” he said smoothly, still grasping her hand. “And you’ve met my lieutenant, Nicholas. How can I help you, Special Agent?”
Hunter immediately tried to take her hand back, but Lucas wasn’t ready to let her go, and she clearly wasn’t willing to force the issue by jerking her hand away from him. She was aware of him, though. A slight flush lit her cheeks, and it was more than just embarrassment or even anger. Her pupils were dilated, and her heartbeat had just kicked up a notch.
He released her hand with a wink. She took a step back from the desk at once, putting distance between them. She didn’t wipe her hand on her pants leg, but he could tell she wanted to. Kathryn Hunter was clearly used to denying her more feminine urges. She probably had to, working where she did. But Lucas was a vampire lord. When he touched a woman, she knew she’d been touched, and, in this case, desired.
And Kathryn Hunter didn’t like being reminded of that.
* * * *
Kathryn found herself staring. If everything she’d seen so far in the vampire’s headquarters had surprised her, Lucas Donlon himself was the final stunner. And that was the right word, too. Because he was one of the best looking men she’d ever seen. He had straight black hair that wasn’t long so much as it looked in need of a trim. It touched his collar in back and threatened to drop over his forehead in front. He didn’t bother to stand up, the ass, but lounged back in his chair like some sort of bad boy making a point. Still, she could see he’d be tall and well built. Not as thickly muscled as his bodyguard, or whatever Nicholas was, but his shoulders were wide and appeared well-muscled beneath the leather jacket he wore over a black T-shirt. She met his eyes briefly. They were hazel, she supposed, but the brown had so much gold in it, they almost defied classification. And they were scanning her from head to toe, lingering in all the inappropriate places. She waited until his perusal finally made it back to her face, then gave him her most frigid stare.
He grinned in response, and some deeply buried feminine part of her shivered at the sight. Kathryn steeled herself against it.
“Agent Hunter,” he said lazily, still not bothering to stand.
Kathryn suppressed the urge to tighten her jaw in irritation. She leaned across the desk and offered her hand. “Special Agent Kathryn Hunter,” she said, meeting his arrogant gaze.
He remained seated, but his big hand closed over hers, his fingers hard and a little rough, as if he did more than sit behind this desk all night long. He stood then, uncoiling a tall, well-muscled body with a grace that only emphasized his looks and strength. Kathryn almost groaned. The black T-shirt was tucked into a pair of faded denims that showcased his flat belly and clung to his narrow hips like a lover’s caress.
His standing unbalanced her, and she gripped his hand tightly before looking up and meeting his eyes for an awkward moment. She steadied quickly enough and tried to give his hand only a perfunctory shake, but he didn’t release her. Her heart slammed against her ribs, and she cursed her body’s instinctive reaction to his overwhelming masculinity.
This shouldn’t be happening. Kathryn worked in a man’s world where women were still barely tolerated by too many. SAC Fielding was only one example of the misconceptions and resentment she faced all the time. She’d long ago come to grips with the fact that in order to succeed, she’d have to set aside her femininity and be simply one more agent, since she would never be one of the guys. She wore no makeup other than a touch of nearly clear lip gloss to keep her lips from drying out completely, and while she couldn’t bring herself to cut her long hair, she always wore it pulled away from her face, either in a French braid or a ponytail so severe she didn’t think she’d ever need a facelift.
But somehow Lucas Donlon had broken through all of those precautions with nothing more than a look and a handshake. He’d managed to awaken feelings and desires buried so deeply that she’d all but forgotten she ever had them. And she wanted them left buried. This was her job, her career. This was what she did with her life, and she wasn’t going to let some handsome vampire or anyone else shatter her carefully won reserve.
“Lucas Donlon,” he was saying, “And you’ve met my lieutenant, Nicholas. How can I help you, Special Agent?”
Kathryn thought of all sorts of things she’d like to say to him, most of which involved sharp, pointed objects drilling into his heart. But she reined in her temper and forced herself to back a couple of steps away from the desk, telling her heart to stop acting like such a fool.
“As I explained on the phone, Mister Donlon—”
“Lucas,” he said easily. “And do sit down . . . Kathryn.” He slouched back into his own chair like a big, graceful cat, and regarded her over steepled fingers.
Kathryn sat, using the motion to conceal her irritation at his familiar use of her first name. She considered correcting him, reminding him of her title and that she represented the FBI. Except she didn’t in this case, not really. That thought shocked her back to the matter at hand. She had ten days to find her brother, ten days before her bosses would expect her back on the job. She didn’t have time to waste bandying words with Lucas Donlon. Besides, she had a feeling it would only encourage him if she insisted on her proper title.
“As I explained on the phone, Mister—” Donlon raised one eyebrow, and she switched words mid-syllable. “Lucas. I’m looking for a photographer who went missing after completing a shoot in BadlandsNational Park.”
“There are several towns closer to the park than we are.”
“I’m aware of that. But he was staying very near here, and this area is where he was last seen.”
“And how does this relate to me . . . Kathryn?”
Kathryn blinked. He was actively flirting with her, although flirting was too tame a word for anything Lucas Donlon did. And damn it, her body wanted to respond to the seduction in that deep voice, to the crooning way he kept repeating her name. Kathryn bit her tongue, letting the sharp pain redirect her senses. She didn’t have time for his games. She needed to find Daniel.
