“We’re alone, and there’s no chance of anyone listening in on our conversation. You can tell me.”
“Maybe I only tell women I’ve seen naked.”
“Is your name Bastard?” I fluttered my lashes at him.
“Wrong.” A hint of amusement laced his tone. “Only two guesses left.”
Frowning, I stopped and stomped my foot. When I realized what I had done, my frown intensified. I hated when I reverted to my old princess ways. “That wasn’t a true guess, so you can’t count it.”
“Too bad,” he said, never slowing. “I am.”
My frown became a scowl, and I jumped back into motion. “Forget it. Don’t tell me.”
“I wasn’t going to. But now that I have your permission not to, I feel so much better,” he said, sarcasm dripping from each word.
“You are such a jerk.”
A teasing light sparkled in his eyes, softening his entire face. “My mother always told me women like mysterious men. If I tell you, I’ll lose my mystery.”
“You have a mother?” I hadn’t meant the question to sound so shocked, but the words whipped out of my mouth before I could stop them.
“Yes, I had a mother. I didn’t get much time with her, but she was very real. What, did you think I’d been spawned magically from fairy dust?”
“No. I thought you’d been spawned magically from the devil.”
He laughed, the sound rich and husky and so inherently sensual my blood warmed.
“You read my file,” I said, “so you saw that I’m Eden F. Black. Tell me your real name, and I’ll tell you what the F. stands for.” I frowned again when I realized I was skirting around the need to beg him for the information. Why the hell did I even care about his name? I wondered. The answer eluded me, but the fact remained that I did care. I had to know.
“That’d be a good bargain if I were even remotely interested in knowing your middle name.”
My hands clenched at my sides as Lucius quickened his pace. He didn’t dart a glance behind him to see if I followed. After a moment, I did. I was too curious to wait behind and play games. Besides, I didn’t want him to know how much his lack of interest in my name bothered me.
When I caught up, he said, “You ready to talk business?”
“Always,” I ground out.
“Jonathan Parker is old money, just like Sahara Rose said. I did a job here in New Dallas a few years ago. Jonathan’s brother was abducting other-worlder children, as well as human children, and forcing them to—perform with each other.”
Our eyes met in a moment of unspoken understanding. Child pornography. I’d seen a lot of evil, but crimes committed against children always disgusted and infuriated me most. “You completed your job, I hope.” We both knew I was asking him if he’d killed the brother.
“With relish,” he said. “Slowly and painfully.”
“Good.” Very good.
“The point is, only a few people—very few people, at that—are allowed into Jonathan’s life. We can capture him, but he won’t talk under torture. His brother didn’t. That means we have to gain his trust, get into his inner circle.”
The catch in his tone warned me of impending ire on my part. I would have missed it, but I was extremely focused on everything about this man. “By we, you mean—”
“Me. I’m already in.”
Of course. Every muscle in my body clenched.
“He knows me as Hunter Leonn,” Lucius said, “the wealthy, pampered son of a dead Onadyn smuggler.”
“Hunter,” I said, playing the name across my tongue. “Cute. Nice irony. I also like the pampered part. You make a lovely spoiled little prince.” I jerked a hand down my ponytail. “So you want me to sit back and watch you do the job, I guess.”
“No.” Moving his head left and right, he popped in the bones in his neck. When he spoke again, he broke down the situation like I was a child. “I go in as Hunter. You’ll go in after me as bait.”
“Okay. So…who am I to become?”
“Yourself. You’re a Raka, a rarity. Your people have been hunted for their skin and are now nearly extinct. We can’t change your identity. More than that, Michael is high-profile. Most believe he’s a wealthy weapons dealer, and too many people know you as his daughter.”
“I’m with you.” Michael purposefully cultivated his image as a weapons dealer. After taking a job with the government, he’d needed a good cover, something that offered mass appeal to criminals and distanced him from his true identity. “Wait,” I said after a moment’s thought. “EenLi used to work for Michael. If I go in as myself, he’ll suspect I’m an agent. He’ll know Michael is protecting me.”
“He won’t know about me, however, and that’s the important thing. From everything I’ve read on him, I think he’ll find it amusing to steal an agent.”
“All right. I’m on board.”
“Good. We’re going to spread the word that Eden Black is moving to New Dallas. You’re getting old, anyway, so you need a place of your own.”
I sucked in a breath, the scent of sun, pine, and blooming flowers taunting me with their vibrant freshness. I glared up at him. A good motivation, yes, but not something I wanted to hear.
“Actually, we’ll tell people you’re moving out to escape a stalker. Does that suit your vanity?”
I punched his arm.
“You’ve acted as an other-worlder interpreter for Michael in the past,” he said, rubbing the bruised muscle. “We’ll find out which high-powered humans are in need of an other-worlder interpreter. As their employee, you’ll have to attend parties and political functions, and that will put you in contact with Parker. And me. Your stalker.” He eyed me up and down, lingering on my breasts. “Think you can handle it?”
A wave of awareness battled with a flood of irritation. I ignored his stupid question, already making a mental list of the things I needed to do. Rent an apartment here. Obtain a new wardrobe. Recondition my feet to high heels.
“I’ll work my way back into Jonathan’s circle,” he said, “and mention that I met you, learned you were moving here, and followed. I’ll let him know that I wanted you, pursued you, but you turned me down.”
“That won’t be difficult, since it’s the truth.”
“Shut up and listen.” He glared at me. “You’ll begin attending all the parties, and I’ll play the lovesick fool.”
I opened my mouth to offer another little gem: it was always best to stick to the truth, so we didn’t get caught in a lie. He cut me off with, “You’ll continue to rebuff me. Hard. I’ll grow more desperate.”
“I see where this is leading,” I said. “After I turn you down, you’ll place an order for me.”
“That’s right. Other men will probably want you too, if not Jonathan himself. Either way there will be an order placed for you, and you’ll be taken. All you have to do is let them take you.”
I nodded my head in approval. “I like it. How are we going to proceed after that?”
“I’ll buy you, whatever the cost, then purchase us passage to another planet, where I will claim that I can keep you without worrying about legalities.”
“And once we know how they’re planet-hopping, we strike.”
“Exactly. You’re going to need new clothes,” he said, giving me another intense perusal, a perusal that stripped away my clothes and devoured the naked body underneath. When his eyes reached my breasts, my nipples hardened. When they reached my stomach, my belly quivered. When they reached the apex of my thighs, a flood of warmth pooled there.
“I’d already thought of that,” I said, my voice hoarse, dry. “I’m still known as Michael’s spoiled, reclusive daughter. I know how to dress the part.”
“Good. Because a sophisticated interpreter would not wear”—he gestured to my scuffed leather pants and hiking boots—“whatever it is you’re wearing.”