“So our guys lost them?”
“Lucas’s guys, but yes.”
She glanced at Raphael, but he didn’t seem particularly perturbed by any of this. He seemed to sense her doubts, though, because he gave her a small smile, and said, “I trust Lucas absolutely, my Cyn. Whoever this was, Lucas had nothing to do with it.”
“Then who did?”
“That is something we’ll discuss with Lucas when we arrive.”
Cyn wasn’t particularly happy with his answer, but she knew it was the best she was going to get. And she had to admit that there was very little else they could do at this point. She slouched down in the seat unhappily. Raphael’s arm came around her, and she supposed he meant it to be comforting. It might have worked, too, if not for the grin he was fighting unsuccessfully. She elbowed him, and he gave up the fight, chuckling softly.
She sighed, pretty sure she’d never manage to get back to sleep. “I was having a great dream, too,” she muttered.
“What were we doing?”
She smiled up at him. “What makes you think you were in it?”
“You said it was great. I assumed that meant it included me.”
She tsked loudly. “What an ego you have.”
He shrugged. “Of course. So, what were we doing in your dream?”
Cyn regarded him evenly, then rolled her eyes and said, “What do you think?”
He laughed and pulled her into a hard embrace, hanging onto her when they hit a pothole so deep the whole SUV tilted to one side.
“Jesus, did we blow a tire?”
“That’s just Lucas’s idea of a security perimeter.”
The road continued rough for a short distance, then smoothed out as a white fence appeared seemingly out of nowhere, gleaming in the headlights like a guideline to whatever came next. That turned out to be a big barn, surrounded by white-fenced paddocks in the distance. Cyn leaned across Raphael to see better.
“Horses?”
Raphael stroked a hand down her back and nodded. “Lucas breeds them.”
“Pretty,” she said as they drew closer. She sat up and looked at Raphael. “Do you ride?”
“You forget how old I am, my Cyn. I grew up on a farm before the invention of the combustion engine.”
“Doesn’t mean you ride, old man. Maybe you drove a buggy or something.”
Raphael stroked a finger slowly over her cheek. “You do enjoy poking at the beast, lubimaya. I believe we’ll continue this conversation later,” he growled, his eyes glittering with power. “When we’re alone.”
Cyn swallowed hard as she met his silvery gaze. Raphael would never hurt her, but she sometimes forgot just how much power he wielded. And he was right, she loved teasing him. But that was partly because he was so powerful. Everyone constantly catered to him, and she felt it was her duty to keep him humble. Well, okay, not humble. Raphael would never be humble, but she teased him as a reminder of his humanity.
She leaned forward and bit his lower lip, licking away the blood as she slipped her tongue into his mouth and gave him a slow, sensuous kiss.
“I look forward to it,” she whispered.
Raphael’s gaze was heated as he gazed back at her. “I love you, my Cyn.”
“I love you back, my Raphael.”
At that moment, the SUV made a final sweeping turn and Lucas’s main house came into view. It was a clearly modern construction, but an effort had been made to include a strong Southwestern flavor in the overall Craftsman style. It was built into the hillside, giving it a low profile, but the roof was high and peaked, with red tile and skylights. The skylights were an unusual touch in a vampire’s home, but maybe Lucas liked to look at the stars and moon, or maybe he just liked the way it looked. The structure shone almost golden against the dark night, all lit up by artistically placed landscape lighting. The front door opened as they arrived at the house, casting an even brighter rectangle of light down the stairs and right onto the spot where their SUV pulled to a stop.
“My lord?” Jared said from the front seat, asking, without saying it specifically, if Raphael was ready to disembark.
“Give the word, Jared,” Raphael said.
Jared nodded, then muttered a few words into his Bluetooth mic. The doors on the two security SUVs popped open at once, and Raphael’s vampires poured out, forming a security phalanx up the stairs and right to the open doorway. This wasn’t their usual deployment, and it gave lie to Jared’s early assurance that the trailing vehicle had been nothing to worry about. Cyn loosened the safety strap on her Glock just as Jared opened the passenger door next to her. He glanced up, meeting her eyes briefly, then stood back without offering his hand to assist her. Smart vampire. First, Cyn didn’t need help getting out of a fucking truck, and second, she wouldn’t have accepted his hand even if he’d offered it. She knew it was petty, but she’d always been good at holding a grudge, and apparently that hadn’t changed.
Raphael exited behind her, his arm slipping around her waist. Cyn grinned inwardly at the show of possessiveness. Lucas was not only a friend, he was also madly in love with Kathryn, his newfound FBI lover. But when it came to these guys, possessiveness trumped pretty much everything, even when it wasn’t necessary.
“Raphael!” Lucas’s pleased shout had Cyn glancing up to see the Lord of the Plains flanked by his own security team and waiting just beyond the front door. Cyn rolled her eyes. They had enough security here to start a small war.
Ignoring his bodyguards, Lucas stepped out onto the porch with a big grin on his face. She had to admit he was a handsome devil. Not as handsome as Raphael, naturally, but then her own personal vampire lord was unusually beautiful. Still, Lucas was very pretty with his black hair and almost golden eyes. Unfortunately, as far as Cyn could tell from their brief acquaintance, Lucas’s favorite pastime was tweaking Raphael, which was her favorite pastime. She resented the hell out of anyone usurping her rightful role. Why Raphael put up with it, she didn’t know, although she’d gotten the impression at their previous meeting that the two powerful vampires had an almost father-son relationship.
“Lucas.” Raphael’s greeting was much more restrained than Lucas’s, although he did step forward to accept the other vampire’s hug, going so far as to offer an abbreviated embrace in return.
Releasing Raphael, Lucas turned his laughing gaze on Cyn, arms outstretched, but she gave him a warning glare. She wasn’t a huggy person.
“Lucas,” Raphael growled, adding his own warning.
“Lucas, our guests have barely arrived. Be good.”
Good luck with that, Cyn thought to herself, then held out her hand to the tall blonde standing a step back and to Lucas’s right. “You must be Kathryn,” she said.
The woman grinned. “And you’re Cynthia.”
“Cyn,” she corrected immediately. “I’ve been dying—”
Lucas cleared his throat loudly and interrupted, saying, “Raphael, this is Kathryn Hunter, the love of my life.”
Kathryn rolled her eyes, but smiled as she reached out to shake Raphael’s hand. “It’s an honor, my lord. Lucas has told me so much about you.”
“And all of it good,” Lucas added.
“I’m sure,” Raphael said dryly, then turned his attention to Kathryn. “A pleasure, Agent Hunter.”
“Oh, call me Kathryn, please. Let’s not stand on ceremony. Lucas tells me we’re all friends here.”
“Well spoken, acushla,” Lucas said, “and absolutely right. I apologize for not coming out to greet you, Sire, but my security people were all hot and bothered about your shadow on the way here. Your people too, from what I’m told. Come inside, let’s be civilized. You, too, Jared. And Juro, you’re looking spectacular, as always.”
Juro didn’t say anything, only growled deep in his throat.
Predictably, that made Lucas laugh, as he took Kathryn’s hand and led the way deeper into the house.
Cyn and Raphael followed, with Jared and Juro in their wake. Cyn looked around curiously, wondering if the interior would hold up to the lovely exterior, and she wasn’t disappointed. Keeping with the Southwestern style, the floors were all tiled, with the rest of the decor following the theme. They passed a huge open room that looked like someone’s man cave, with a giant flat screen and multiple game consoles and other electronics. Cyn recognized the room’s functionality, because they had one just like it back at Raphael’s Malibu estate. It was where the vamps hung out when they weren’t on duty, but weren’t quite free to leave the estate either.
Lucas led them past that room, turning left down a hallway until they reached a pair of double doors that stood open on another spacious room, this one with an open-beam ceiling and a big stone fireplace with a good-sized fire burning cheerfully. Cyn moved automatically toward the warmth, smiling her greeting at yet another good-looking vampire who waited for them just inside the room, looking very frat boy in his faded denims and black crewneck sweater.
“You know my lieutenant, Nicholas, of course,” Lucas was saying, and Cyn nodded, remembering him from the briefing at Raphael’s Grand Junction house after the assassination attempt.
“Nicholas,” Raphael acknowledged.
“Sit,” Lucas said, indicating a pair of overstuffed sofas facing each other across a gorgeous coffee table made of artfully distressed wood.
Kathryn gave Lucas a quelling look and amended the offer, saying, “Please. Have a seat.”
He responded by grabbing her around the waist and giving her a loud smacking kiss on the cheek. “What would I do without you, Katie mine?”
“I think we all know the answer to that,” Nick muttered, and Kathryn shared a snicker with him.
Lucas ignored the exchange, collapsing onto one end of the sofa and slouching down, stretching his long legs out and plopping his booted feet on the heavy coffee table.
Raphael sat with a bit more care, taking the other end of the sofa and opening his leather jacket as he settled back into the cushions. Cyn eyed him appreciatively. He looked like someone off the cover of a glossy magazine and she wished they were alone, so she could lick him up one side and down the other. His black eyes came up to meet hers, hot with intent. She gave him a lopsided smile, and he winked back at her. A promise for later.
