Page 1 of Seduction in Blood
ChapterOne
I inched along,my toes curled as I pressed all my weight into the balls of my feet. The heavy fog coated the three-inch ledge with slick moisture, making it impossible to see more than a few feet ahead. With little to hold on to, the thirty-foot walk was precarious. At least I'd made a good selection on footwear when I'd splurged on that new pair of light sneakers.
The fog wrapped itself around the building like a thick blanket, almost making me forget I was crawling around the top of a four-story building. It wasn't my first walk around a ledge in the mist, not with the amount of fog we got in Santiga Bay or anywhere else along the California coast. But something hadn't felt right when I'd arrived earlier, and my nerves were on edge. Without a safety harness, it would be a long way down. I pushed the image of that landing away and refocused on the tricky part of the walk, turning the corner into the windy side.
When I poked my head around to test the wind, I could already hear the familiar voice bitching about the weather.
"Can you hurry it along? For Christ's sake, Cressa, I can barely make you out. That is you, isn't it? I'm freezing my balls off with this bloody window open." Harlow couldn't seem to find pleasure in any situation. The one time I'd taken an ill-advised vacation with him to Los Angeles, he'd complained the entire time.
His words fell away with the wind as I focused on my handholds. The breeze was minimal with the dense fog, but it was strong enough to push my short locks from my face. I braced against the cold. Not far now.
I was five feet from the window when I planted my foot on a loose piece of cement and slipped. My breath caught as I dug my fingertips into the rough surface of a stone window casing. My heart pounded so loudly it blanketed Harlow's voice, which was more of a benefit than an additional problem. An image of my head split open on the asphalt flashed for an instant, and the muscles in my legs screamed as I pushed down on my right foot. My fingers tingled with numbness as I held on, moving my left foot around for a solid piece of ledge.
Sweat dripped from my forehead, leaking into my eyes, and I blinked away the moisture, trying to make out the dim shadow hanging out of the window. Harlow, his arms flying about, tried to grab my leg. I kicked his hand away when it almost caught me. What was he planning on doing? Dangling me from the ledge by a leg? Why I kept joining his heists, I'd never know. But he was the best mastermind in the business. When my left foot connected with a solid surface, I scurried the last few feet until Harlow's strong arm grabbed my waist and hauled me through the window.
We fell onto the carpeted floor, his body resting on top of mine.
"That is you, luv." His smug grin showed off his perfectly white teeth in the dim light. "I'd know this body anywhere."
"For fuck's sake. Aren't you supposed to be on the bottom if you're saving me?" I pushed against his chest. A wiry man, he was stronger than he looked, and he didn't seem to be in a hurry to move.
"I like my women on their backs. I thought you knew that." His smile, the only charming thing about him, only widened as he took a second to run his hand over me from my upper leg to the edge of my left breast. "But I'm willing to have a go doggie style if you want to roll over."
"Get off me." This time I used both hands to push while I tangled my legs with his, attempting to roll him over.
He tightened his grip as we rolled, so I was locked in his embrace, his hands using my breasts for leverage when he landed on his back.
He laughed. "I see what you mean. I think I could get used to this."
I was ready to punch him in the face, but the third voice that crept through the room was as good as dumping ice water on him.
"I'd suggest removing your hands from her breasts if you want to live past the next minute."
Harlow's smile vanished. "Trudy, Princess, I didn't see you there." His eyes widened as he rolled his head back in a vain attempt to catch a glimpse of his jealous lover.
"Uh-huh." Trudy stomped over, her famous steel-toed boots planted inches from his head. She held out a hand and pulled me up. "Thought I'd save you the trouble of punching him. We need those precious fingers of yours." She gave me a nod before glancing down at Harlow. "Pick yourself up. We still have a sensor blocking us from the room."
Trudy, who wore an automatic rifle strapped around her shoulder, held the weapon in a two-handed grip and whipped it around as she moved back out of the room. She was our muscle, and she stopped just outside the door, monitoring both ways for surprise visitors.
"Where's Stan?" I assumed he would be on the computer trying to get rid of that last sensor, but sometimes there was a hardwired backup rather than one controlled by a software program.
That was where Harlow came in when he wasn't fucking around. But I imagined that besides him being a prankster, he was simply bored. He was the strategist, as hard as it was to believe, but he had the mind of a genius that was unfortunately wrapped with a foul mouth of sexual innuendos. The trials of a working team.
"He's having a problem breaking the last encryption. We need Harlow." Trudy glanced back in the room. "Today would be good."
Harlow sauntered by Trudy, slapping her on the ass on his way out.
She pointed the rifle at his back and yelled, "Pow." Harlow waved his hand without turning back. "Damn, why do I love that man?"
"Brain damage?" I couldn't help but smile at her scowl.
She shook her head. "God help me." Then, she grinned. "At least the sex is hot."
I waved both my arms before covering my ears. "I don't want to hear it." I cringed. "Too late. Ah, man, now I have that image stuck in my head."
Trudy chuckled as she followed me down the hall where Harlow had disappeared. "I don't know why you didn't just come in the way we did."
"I need the practice, and it makes for a quick escape if I need one. Besides, there's another job I've been casing with the same architectural structure." I shrugged and glanced at the artwork we walked by as we made our way to the opposite side of the historic mansion. "It's a small job. The artifacts will be slow to sell, but I need to stay limber."
