Jenna Black - Dark Descendant

“Let’s say for the sake of argument that I am new in town. What’s it to you?”

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and pushing his untouched coffee out of the way. “You’d best have a care how you talk to me,” he said in a menacing whisper that carried just fine even in the noisy diner. “Descendants of Artemis are rare, and therefore valuable to us, but that will protect you only so far.”

Ah, we’d reached the threat-making stage of the conversation. I’d had a feeling this was coming. Maybe if I hadn’t just had the scariest night of my life, I’d have been more intimidated. Maybe it would have been smart to be more intimidated.

I let my hand slide under the table and smiled broadly—not the reaction Alexis was hoping for, if his scowl was anything to go by. “You know what I was doing before you ambushed me?” I asked, keeping my body language completely relaxed as I unzipped the front compartment of my backpack. I rested my hand lightly on the .38 Special. “I was at a gun range, polishing my skills. Turns out I’m a very good shot. Feel like giving me some more target practice?”

I had no intention of actually shooting the guy, or even taking the gun out. I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to shoot a person in the heat of battle, much less in cold blood, and I sure as hell wasn’t waving a gun around in a crowded D.C. diner. Felony charges and a prison stay would not improve my situation. But part of being a good P.I. is being a good actress.

I was a good P.I.

“You wouldn’t dare,” he growled at me.

I blinked at him innocently. “I wouldn’t? How the hell would you know that? You don’t even know my name, do you?” I’d seen no reason to introduce myself, and if he’d already known my name, I suspected he’d have flaunted the knowledge by now. “I could be sweet as sunshine or a total psycho bitch for all you know.”

I leaned forward till I was almost nose-to-nose with him, meeting his glare with a good bit of steel. “Back the hell off, or you’re going to find out the hard way,” I said as I cocked the gun, making as much noise about it as possible. The diner was kind of noisy, but not so much that Alexis couldn’t hear and recognize the sound.

I got the feeling Alexis desperately wanted to come across the table at me, but he just sat there glaring instead. Then his gaze flicked to something over my shoulder, and his eyes widened.

It was a classic distraction technique, but I couldn’t help taking a peek over my shoulder anyway.

Alexis hadn’t been trying to trick me. Standing in the doorway, giving me a decidedly neutral look, was Blake.

The hostess—who had to be pushing fifty—was giving him goo-goo eyes, and practically every adult female in the place, not to mention a few men, were surreptitiously looking him over. There’s nothing like a well-built pretty-boy to get the hormones working overtime.

Blake ignored all of them—even the hostess, who was trying to direct him to an open seat at the counter—and started toward our table. I uncocked the gun, then scooted over in my seat so I could have the wall at my back while keeping an eye on both men.

Blake had been only slightly less hostile than Jamaal last night, but he was barely paying attention to me today. He and Alexis engaged in a hot and heavy alpha-male staring contest. I could practically smell the testosterone in the air, even over the bacon grease and coffee. I’d have liked to get out from between them, but there wasn’t anywhere to go.

When Blake reached the table, he casually leaned against my side of the booth, never taking his eyes off Alexis.

“She’s one of ours,” Blake said, his voice as challenging as his stare. “Tell Konstantin to mind his own business.”

Konstantin? Who the hell was Konstantin? And what was this “one of ours” crap?

Alexis raised his eyebrows. “If she’s one of yours, then why are you letting her wander around the city unaccompanied before notifying Konstantin about her?”

“Get out. And leave her alone.”

I’d have snapped at Blake for trying to protect the “little woman,” only I wasn’t sure that was what he was trying to do. It felt more like he was claiming his territory.

“I don’t answer to you,” Alexis countered. “And if she really belonged to Anderson, I’m sure she would have mentioned the fact by now.”

“For the record,” I said, though I wondered if drawing attention to myself was a bad idea, “I don’t belong to anybody, especially you assholes.”

Both men ignored me.

Blake shrugged. “Anderson has already decided she belongs to him. He sent me to fetch her, so that’s what I’m doing. You have a problem with that, take it up with him.”

Still barely sparing me a glance, Blake reached out and grabbed my arm in a bruising grip. I, of course, tried to pull away. But he was damn strong.

Alexis leaned forward, putting both his hands on the tabletop, his eyes practically glowing with menace. “Let go of her and get the fuck out of here, or you’ll be sorry,” he growled. “Konstantin wants to talk to her, and only a fool would get in his way.”

Blake let go of my arm and smiled. He, too, leaned forward and put his hands on the table. He was crowding my personal space, but he was doing the same to Alexis. If this went much further, people around us were going to notice and try to break it up or call the cops.

I was considering how I might bring the tension down a notch when I felt a change in the air. The diner suddenly felt about ten degrees hotter, and the crowd and traffic noise became muted and dull.

Blake ran his tongue over those full, sensual lips of his, and even though I’d never been particularly attracted to him, I felt a tug of desire in my nether regions. My pulse kicked up and my breath hitched. The air filled with the musky scent of sex, and I pressed my thighs together in hopes of erasing the ache that had built without warning.

Across from me, Alexis’s eyes darkened, and his mouth fell open. His breaths came in excited little puffs, and sweat dewed his face. The look he was giving Blake screamed of something very different from anger, and I’d bet anything he was sporting quite a tent pole under the table.

“Don’t ever forget who I am,” Blake said in a chilling croon as he leaned in even closer to Alexis. “Zeus’s line may be powerful, but even Zeus was helpless against Eros. Unless you’d like me to take you into the men’s room and fuck you till you scream for mercy, you’d better go tell Konstantin that this one is ours. Understand?”

Whatever Blake had been doing, he stopped abruptly. The temperature dropped, the musky scent evaporated, and the crowd noise returned to normal.

Across the table from me, Alexis recoiled, his back slamming against the backrest as he tried to put distance between himself and Blake. There was a wild look in his eyes, the lust that had been there only moments ago completely gone.

“Konstantin would have your balls for a trophy if you tried it,” Alexis whispered, but though that was supposed to sound like a threat, it wasn’t very effective when his face was so white, and his eyes so wide.

Blake smiled easily. “Wouldn’t do you any good, now would it? Besides, you’d have to tell him what happened, and I don’t see you admitting it. Now get out. If you’re still here when I’ve counted to five, we’ll be partying in the men’s room, and that’s a promise.”

Alexis made a hasty exit before Blake got to two.

I’d have liked nothing better than to follow Alexis’s example, but I was under no illusion that Blake would let me go that easily. He slid into the booth across from me. He beckoned to the harried waitress, and she stopped everything to bring him a fresh cup of coffee.