The Darkest Kiss (Riley Jenson Guardian 6)

I pulled away, felt the coolness of the room caress my skin, washing away the heat of her. She smiled, and flicked her skirts away from my legs. "You do not taste like a wolf, guardian."

"You got your kiss, vampire. I want my name."

She considered me for a moment, then said, "Aron Young."

"Got that," Sal said into my ear. "Instigating search."

"Thank you," I said, more to Sal than Vinny. I stepped back again, relishing the distance each step was giving me. "If he happens to return, Vincenta, please call the Directorate straightaway."

"I will. I'd hate to have the force of the mighty Directorate brought down on me." Her voice gently mocked. "I will see you again, guardian."

No, you fucking won't, I thought, and got the hell out of there.

Rhoan still hadn't arrived back home when I woke the following morning. I picked up the storm of clothes that were still scattered everywhere, dumping them all back into their various baskets, then made myself a coffee and some breakfast and turned on the TV to see if I could catch a glimpse of him and Liander on the entertainment channels.

I didn't, but they walked in the door about ten minutes later, arms around each other, both of them half undressed and looking more than a little worse for the wear.

"You two," I said, around a mouthful of cereal, "look like shit."

Liander waved a hand and gave me a silly grin. "But we're feeling fine."

He tripped over the end of the rug as he said it, and would have fallen flat on his face if Rhoan hadn't hauled him upright. Though that effort caused the two of them to stagger sideways, missing the coat stand by the merest of inches. I snorted. Drunk as skunks, the pair of them.

I dumped my cereal on the coffee table, then got up and walked to the kitchen to flick on the kettle. "I gather last night went well?"

"Very. The effects are a hit."

Leather groaned as the two of them fell more than sat on the sofa.

"What about the movie itself?"

"You know what the movie business is like. Some will rave, some will tear it apart, some will equivocate." Liander waved a hand about airily, then leaned into Rhoan's arm. "The effects looked gorgeous, and that's all I was worried about."

Rhoan gave him a hug, then looked at me. "So how did you fill in the evening while we were out partying?"

Of the two of them, he looked slightly less pickled. Though at least both of them could talk without slurring their sentences. I leaned a shoulder against the doorframe and smiled. "I went out and kissed a girl."

They both blinked owlishly at me for a moment, then Rhoan said, "What?"

I didn't answer straightaway, making them coffee first, then sitting back down and reclaiming my breakfast. "The girl was a vamp who wasn't a bloodsucker, and I kissed her to get the name of a rogue who was beating up an accountant."

"So what was it like?" Liander asked. "Kissing a girl, I mean?"

"Not in the least bit arousing." Which was the truth, and yet not the whole truth. I picked up my coffee and took a sip. The fact was, the caress of her lips had haunted a good part of my dreams, but the cause was trepidation rather than desire. Even my dreams had been filled with the certainty that something more than lip-locking had happened.

Rhoan untangled himself from Liander and leaned forward. "Why would you kiss a vamp to get information? Why didn't you just read her mind or beat it out of her?"

I waved my spoon at him. "It's not polite to run around beating up women."

"It is when they're vamps who could beat the shit out of most normal people."

"We're not normal people." We weren't even normal in the nonhuman sense of the word. According to Jack - who apparently kept an eye on such things - we were the rarest of the rare. Who'd have thought, after all those years of getting beaten up because we were half-breeds?

He waved the comment away. "They don't know that. So why kiss her when you didn't want to?" He hesitated a moment, then added with a cheeky grin, "Or did you?"

"I'm still hetero all the way, bro. Trust me on that." I took a sip of coffee, then added, "I tried reading her mind, but it felt like falling into a black hole."

"So why not use threats or force? If she's withholding evidence, you're entitled to."