Now or Forever Read online

  “See those Hunters out there?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well. They have friends. A lot of friends. Some of them are here, staked out throughout the place. That means they’re going to notice when four guys don’t answer the next check-in. And we’ll be lucky if it’s Hunters finding four dead bodies, and not some tourist who is probably just looking for the Stegosaurus stone said to be carved into the Ta Prohm Temple. Because if that happens, we’ll have an International inquiry to deal with. That will include major publicity on a global scale. Which does mean your sojourn at this temple of eternity here is over. And that is why humans are handling the situation and not one of the associates.”

  “Three and a half,” she replied.

  Damn it! There was that kissing shape again. Focus, Man. Focus. Len took a deep breath. That just expanded his lungs and ribcage, and that just got him more sensation as her palms held him up.

  “Three and a half, what?” he asked.

  “Bodies.”

  “Your guy?”

  She nodded.

  “You left half a guy? Figures. Okay. Some poor tourist is going to stumble on three dead bodies and one pulverized corpse, and that’s really going to get some attention. You want to debate details some more? Oh. Trust me, babe. I’m your man. But we really need to get moving. I’ll help you pack. Or... screw that. I’ll just help Stan while you pack. Get moving. They probably check in every hour or so, and that gives us a window.”

  “Every thirty minutes,” Stan supplied.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be busy?” Len asked.

  “Oh. I am. But I have great hearing.”

  “Figures,” Len mumbled.

  “They check in every thirty minutes. I heard it. We have about twelve left.”

  “I sure hope you live close, sister, because I—”

  She didn’t wait for him to finish. Or even get a breath. And close wasn’t appropriate. She lived right beneath the House of Fire. She flew past where the half body resided and then went up a wall. Through a dark area that became a ledge and then dropped into an abyss of black that just kept going down. That’s when he lost sight. It was too black. And it seemed endless. The entire thing felt like a span of tunnels or streets or something spacious, intersecting throughout the entire place.

  She didn’t have any qualms about traversing the area in the dark. At hyper speed. Without touching the floor, the walls, or the ceiling. And his one hundred and ninety pounds weren’t doing a damn thing to slow her. And then they went up again. And for some reason, it got lighter. As if the ceiling had access to daylight. But that was ridiculous. They were too far underground. And the sun had set. It didn’t change the obvious. Maybe she had access to electricity. Or a lot of torches. Because the place was light enough to see, so somewhere way above him was a light source. And he was in for more fun. It looked like the vampire babe lived in a span of carpet-covered luxury. She had leagues of drapery-lined walls, and an acre of bed. And that’s where she dropped him. Len bounced twice before coming to a stop and rolling onto his belly. For preservation and concealment purposes.

  “You live here?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “By yourself?”

  “Yes.”

  “With this much uh... space?”

  He had to get his mind moving. This span of bed was giving him images. As were the gossamer trousers she wore. And the blue silk, square bodice thing that didn’t even have a back to it. He’d been a bit off on her hair length, too. It reached mid-thigh. She had to swish it behind her as she kneeled at the edge of the bed, putting a really nice rounded ass in his line of sight. Those trousers weren’t sufficient. They might be made of layers of material, but each one was worthless as a covering. And they cinched at the ankles. Like a harem outfit. Or a genie.

  “I like the space, as you call it. It makes me feel... sinful. And sensuous. And decadent. And lush. And a thousand other words I’d like to learn.”

  He swallowed hard. Moved his eyes. Did a few push-ups that made the bed bounce. And made his mouth work, somehow coming up with light, bantering words. “Okay. But we’re going to have a hard time taking all this with us. This bed alone is going to take up some major air cargo space.”

  “Oh. No. I only have a pallet. And some dirt.”

  “Then why the huge bed?” And why did he have to ask?

  “I found it centuries ago. In the palace. It was just left like this. To decay. Just like the drapes. And carpets. And my clothing. They all came from...the harem.”

  “Figures,” Len mumbled again.

  “You like it?”

  Like was not the word. And if she didn’t get a move on, he was afraid she’d be finding out exactly what sensuous felt like. On this span of bed. With a bit of bounce to it that would definitely match sinful. And rhythmic. And powerful. Deep...

  Len. Stop. She’s a vampire.

  “Well?”

  “You really need to quit wasting time and just get your stuff. Okay? I’m taking you out of Cambodia. Tonight. Before they shut down the air travel due to things like finding corpses at Angkor Wat.”

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “Good question. I had planned on stashing you at my place until Akron gave me specifics...but that is not happening now, is it?”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you are not a guy. And I am. And I’m a confirmed bachelor. My neighbors will probably notice.”

  She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. And his cock went even harder. He had to shuffle a bit to find room. Stupid. Tight-ass. Briefs. Bane to mankind... Keep your mouth moving, Len.

  “And I live in Malibu. Lots of sun there.”

  “I’m old, Leonard. I don’t have much trouble with the sun.”

  “How... do you know my name?” His heart ramped up. No. No. Not happening, Len. Never. Ever.

  “It’s beneath your VAL tattoo. In small letters.”

  The relief was tangible. And cooling. And totally needed. Len licked his lips. “Oh. Yeah. That. Look, we gotta go. Stan is probably wondering what the hell happened to us.”

  “Do I frighten you, Leonard?”

  Oh shit. She was on her hands and knees and crawling toward him, hauling a piece of roughly woven cloth in one hand. And that little square piece of material she wore for a bodice was just perfect for sending cleavage right into his line of sight. Good thing the mattress of hers had major give to it, because he shoved his hips into it and tried not to grind them.

  “Uh...no.”

  Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. He lowered his forehead next. Clamped his eyes shut. Tried to bring Stan’s face to mind.

  “Not even a little?”

  She was right in front of him. He didn’t have to look. He could feel her breathing again. And vampires didn’t frickin’ breathe. This was insane.

  “Frighten is not the word, babe. It’s closer to terrify.”

  She had a laugh that probably stopped traffic. Light. Shiver-inducing. Sweet-toned. And she was a vampire. This wasn’t acceptable. Leonard Griggins worked with vampires. He did not bed them. He didn’t lust for them. And he refused to start now. He had a decade of training on controlling every bit of his reactions. Now was not the time to lose that. He didn’t care if she had the most winsome face he’d ever seen, the most rocking ass, the sweetest voice. The lushest lips. Mouth-watering tits. Thighs that would look good on a gymnast. And vibes that sent him into overdrive. He refused to have anything to do with a vampire. Because mating was an eternal sentence. There was no going back. No second chances. And there wasn’t a woman around that would put up with him for a week.

  Hell.

  Less.

  She’d break up with him, and then his existence really would be hell. And it would be eternal.

  “You ready yet?”

  The words came out guttural. Thick. Almost unintelligible. That’s what happened from speaking them into a mattress, with every muscle at his command in a rigid, tense state. Incl
uding his dick. That part wasn’t obeying a damn thing except giving him fits against his zipper and fly. Because these hellish underwear had a front slot and his cock had found it. Contact with a zipper should pain, or at least chill. Nope. It felt more like a mouth caress. With teeth.

  “Oh, yes.”

  She replied with that voice that created a whole new level of definition on the word sin.

  “Then get moving. And don’t touch me.”

  “You won’t be able to find your way out if I don’t.”

  “Just get walking, sister. I’ll be following. Now.”

  She sighed heavily. No big deal there. That was a normal reaction women gave him. It was also ridiculous. Vampires didn’t sigh. Len looked up just as she disobeyed completely, pulling him to her, and acting a bit surprised as his problem stabbed into her lower abdomen. And then they were up. Moving. She stopped at the entrance to her enclave, slammed a fist to the wall, and Len watched the ceiling start to collapse onto that massive bed. Her motion started a slight rainfall of earth, dirt, and rocks, and then it became a massive wall of it, until even the light source got obliterated by debris. The cave-in sent a wall of dust swirling outward. It would’ve choked anyone who wasn’t flying. As it was, the smell of decay followed their flight. Yep. That was exactly what a vampire liked. Dirt. Decay. Dust.

  So, why the hell didn’t his body listen?

  CHAPTER THREE

  Tassanee hadn’t been exactly truthful. She hadn’t found anything in a decaying harem. She’d actually been in there when King Suryavarman II was killed during yet another military campaign. There followed a succession of claimants to the throne, each one ending more violently then it began. Nobody was safe, including the women of the harem.

  Especially the newly chosen ones.

  The third king had noticed her. And that’s when Tassanee had been poisoned. Akron had come to her that night, appearing out of the dark beside one of the pools. Tassanee had crawled there and dropped, driven near mad by thirst, yet too numb to drink. He’d been there just as darkness was climbing through every section of her body. He’d offered her an eternity, a position in his corporation. Told her about vampire mating, and finally he’d guaranteed revenge. That’s why she’d done it. She’d taken the bed that belonged to the king’s favorite. Nobody had noticed more bloodshed and missing women, especially if they disappeared along with their bed.

  But all of that was ancient history when placed beside this moment. Now. With Leonard.

  Her mate.

  She rolled her belly like she’d been taught so long ago and felt his rod-part slide against her lower abdomen. He shuddered, and sent a whispered curse into the spot right above her left ear. The man was better than blood to her. He had no idea. Which was an oddity. He was a league member. He’d been around vampires. Surely he knew all about vampire mates. His body certainly did. She knew exactly what that signified. His desire was more than tantalizing. It was close to swoon-inducing.

  He was still trying to ignore her, though. That was evident the moment they reached the open air once again. Twilight was settling in. It was still misting rain. That combined to show her how incredibly handsome her mate really was. She was glad he didn’t wear a hat. It would’ve have shielded how the rain flattened his hair to his scalp, as well as slid over the planes of his face. He was studiously looking over her head with his teeth clamped shut, if the line of his jaw was any indicator. She looked in that direction as well. His partner was just disappearing around a tree.

  “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

  Her mate snapped it. The sound was still sweet. Deep. And reverberated through where she had him locked against her bosom.

  “Oh. You’re back. Finally. I thought you guys might need help.”

  The guy turned back around and just stood there, with a hand on his hip.

  “Me? Or the vampire chick?”

  “It’s Tassanee,” she told him.

  Leonard looked aslant at her, stopping her newly awakened heart for a full beat. And it felt amazing. She almost laughed.

  “I don’t want to know your name, ok?”

  “Too bad,” she replied, and blew him a kiss. And watched his eyes go wide and his breath skip.

  “Uh...you.”

  It was his partner interrupting. They both turned their heads toward him again.

  “Why? We were gone what? Four minutes... and...,” Len lifted his wrist and checked something before finishing. “Eight seconds. It’s not even dark yet. We’ve got at least five minutes left.”

  “More. They sent a message. Check-in is cancelled.”

  “Well. They are dumb pricks. Nice to know they keep proving it.”

  “Don’t you even want to know why?”

  “I’d rather know if you handled collateral damage.”

  “None found.”

  “The bullet that grazed my head found a home somewhere. Find it.”

  “You have a head wound? No wonder you’re acting funny.”

  “Put me down, sister.”

  Len dipped his chin and whispered it at her ear. The result was a blizzard of gooseflesh. She had to swallow to get her mouth to work.

  “Don’t make me ask again,” he continued.

  “Why don’t you ask once?” she replied.

  “Please.”

  It wasn’t asked. But he gave her another sidelong look, and she really liked the kick her heart gave over it. So Tassanee hovered above ground for another pulse beat of time and then lowered both of them to the stone. But she didn’t loosen her hold around his waist. Not just yet.

  “Who shot you?” his partner asked.

  “Camo pants.”

  “Right. That puts the trajectory from there... to over here. Add in a slight deflection from grazing your hollow head, and...”

  His partner was moving. His voice gave it away. Leonard wasn’t watching. Tassanee wasn’t either. Leonard was studiously looking over her head, more like he was avoiding her than watching anything. Tassanee was observing him. It was totally fascinating. And then he looked down.

  “Tassanee. You need to let me go, already. I’m the senior operative here. He’s the novice. I need to check his work.”

  “You’re my mate, Leonard.”

  He took a breath so deep it moved her. And then he let it out in a rush with air that cooled. And that had the opposite effect on her as something sparked deep into life. In her lower belly. Maybe lower. She had to narrow her eyes to hide it.

  “How about we discuss that issue... uh, later?”

  “What’s wrong with now?”

  “How about you do one thing I ask?”

  “What if I don’t want to?”

  “Look. Lady. You got me. You can outmaneuver me. Out-dexterity me. You got me hands down on strength and ability. Agility. Speed. Stamina. About the only thing I can do better than you is bleed to death. You say I’m your mate? Fine. We’ll argue for points later, after the assignment is finished and we check in with the boss. That puts us in a dead-lock here. And I can’t change it. Only you can. So, how’s about taking a timeout on the mate thing? You’re making me look bad to the kid over there. And I don’t need much assistance with that at the moment.”

  “You need help?”

  The other guy asked it. He chuckled through the words. He was pretty loud, too. Tassanee watched the skin of Len’s lower jaw darken as he flushed. Ah. This was a man ego thing. She didn’t have much experience in real males. It was mystifying. She not only made him powerless, but she did it in front of another. She shouldn’t do that to her mate. She took one last lingering look and opened her arms. He didn’t move. Only his head swiveled, giving her a nice view of neck. And jaw. And everything on her went up another degree in heat.

  “What happened to quiet and covert, Stan? We’re surrounded by Hunters.”

  “Thought you’d never ask.”

  “And the answer is...?”

  “Oh. They carried walkie-talkies. Message came through
about action over at Krol Ko. Dust cloud coming from temple doors. Possible cave-in. That’s where I was heading.”

  “Seriously? Why? You planning to stand in for the missing Hunters?”

  “I thought it might involve you and your new friend... Miss uh... her. The vampire chick.”

  “Her name’s Tassanee. And it did involve us. She hit the light switch with a little too much punch. It’s a vampire thing. They can’t seem to figure out how much power they’re packing.”

  Len stepped out of her embrace. A second later her arms fell. She instantly felt weird. Odd. Bereft.

  “And... found it. Looks like we have a .38 slug in this tree. You got a pen-knife?”

  “You lose yours?” Len asked.

  “It’s in the Flying Hunter’s neck. I figured he could keep it. It’ll give the forensics team something to do. If they even have forensics teams here.”

  “I’m really starting to like you, Stan. You should talk like me more often.”

  Len shuffled through a jacket pocket with one hand, while the other was pulling at the material of his crotch. He found a metallic looking thing in his jacket and tossed it. His partner caught it and turned back to his work.

  “Don’t worry. I won’t let it go to my head. So... tell me. Did you ask your new friend how she knows English, yet?”

  Len looked back at her and raised his brows.

  “I taught myself,” she answered.

  “Right. Let me guess. You had a set of encyclopedias down there. Damn. And I was worried about collateral damage topside. Having them stumble on an underground library at Angkor Wat – in English – is really going to spark some publicity.”

  “I have a laptop,” she replied.

  He tipped his head to one side next and tried to look stern. She almost smiled.

  “Okay. I’ll just wait to ask the how, but first I need to know why, if you actually have a laptop, did you leave it back there?”

  She lifted her burlap sack, and saw his eyes flick to the distinct flat bulge in the bottom before returning.

  “Okay. Now answer the why. And then the how. Why do you have a laptop and how the hell do you power it?”