Page 31 of Licence To Howl
‘You’re referring to Lord Horvath.’ Her voice was flat enough that he knew he was getting to her.
‘I don’t mean it as a bad thing, Scarlett. He’s lucky to have you. I’m only saying that I could never be beholden to someone else like you are. It proves that at heart we’re completely different kinds of people.’
Scarlett’s eyes were flecked with rage. ‘I’m notbeholden,’ she spat. ‘It’s an honour to be able to work for Lukas Horvath. There’s not a vampire in London who doesn’t feel that way.’
‘Okay.’ Devereau looked baffled. ‘If you say so.’
‘You jumped up furry dog! You work for a bunch of bloody humans! At least I’m with my own kind. You follow the orders of people who think that you’re some kind of freak.’
‘I don’t follow all their orders. And I choose to work for them. Did you really choose to work for Horvath or is it just that’s the way that things are done? Are you only following the crowd?’
‘Following the crowd?’ her voice rose. ‘Following the fucking crowd? Why you … you … you …’ She stopped in mid-sentence and dropped her arms. ‘You stupid shit, Devereau.’ She walked up to him until their noses were almost touching. ‘You stupid furry shit,’ she whispered. Her eyes met his. ‘Did you really think that was going to work?’
Fuck. ‘What?’ he asked.
‘You were trying to goad me into an argument. You wanted to piss me off enough that I’d storm out of here. Then you could waltz back to Solentino and tell him that you can’t kill me because I’m not here.’
Devereau gazed at her. Then he sighed. ‘Would that be such a bad thing?’
‘You still have my ring.’
‘You’ll get your damned ring back. I’ve already promised you will.’
‘I’m not the kind of coward who runs away because of one madman.’
‘It’s not running away,’ he argued. ‘It’s a strategic retreat.’
Scarlett jabbed him in the chest with her index finger. ‘You’re the one who got me into this. You’re the one who persuaded me to join forces with you.’
‘I’m sorry,’ he said quietly. ‘I shouldn’t have done that. I was wrong to involve you.’
‘Too late, Devereau.Waytoo late. Now that I’m here, I’m not backing out. That’s not the way I work and I definitely don’t need you to protect me. I’ve been at this sort of thing a hell of a lot longer than you have. You might be the big bad wolf but I’ve still got more power than you. I’m still smarter than you.’
He wasn’t going to disagree with that. He couldn’t. ‘I know you’re smarter than me, Scarlett. I also know that the smartest thing to do here is to remove yourself from the equation so that I can work on Solentino.’
‘Would you walk away if MI5 told you to, Devereau? If your spy boss, whoever they are, told you that they were putting together a crack team of specialists to take care of Solentino without your help, would you get on a plane and go home?’
He didn’t immediately answer.
‘Devereau?’ she prodded.
He gritted his teeth. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because now I know what sort of man he really is, I can’t leave him be.’
She leaned forward slightly. ‘Then it appears,’ she murmured, ‘that we’re really not all that different after all.’
They stared at each other. All of a sudden, Devereau was painfully aware of her proximity. He breathed in and inhaled her scent. He could almost taste Scarlett’s retreating anger in amongst the combined smells of the perfume she’d applied that morning to the coffee she’d only just finished. In fact, it wasn’t only anger he could smell. There was something else there, lingering underneath her other turbulent, undefined emotions. Scarlett’s eyes dropped to his mouth and her cheeks flushed a faint pink. There was no mistaking it now. That was desire.
‘Scarlett,’ he began.
‘Shut up, Devereau.’ Her hands reached for him and pulled him towards her and then her soft mouth was on his.
There was a tiny logical corner of his brain that told him to put a stop to this now. He wanted far more from Scarlett than mere sex and there was every likelihood that if they saw this encounter through to its inevitable, joyous conclusion that she would withdraw from him even more afterwards. When her hands drifted down his chest, however, and began to toy with his belt, that logic all but fled. Devereau groaned, his own hands reaching for Scarlett’s curved waist. It was as if they were made for each other. Their bodies moulded together, their heat combining to create a raging inferno of hot, unbridled desire. Scarlett’s fang scraped lightly against his bottom lip. In return, he dipped his head and nipped at the soft flesh on the base of her throat. Beneath his skin, his wolf growled in pure animalistic delight. This. This was what they both wanted. This was –
There was a sudden, loud insistent knock on the door.
