Sid gave a careless shrug. “I do my homework like any other reporter,” she said, pretending he’d actually asked the question. “I asked my sources which vampire was the most likely to win this . . . whatever you call it,” she said, gesturing at the gathering of vampires. “And your name was the only one that came up.”
He regarded her a moment longer before his gaze dropped in a typical male response and did a quick toe to chest scan, starting with her Louboutin peep-toe pumps—far too cold for a Chicago winter—raking up silk-clad legs, taking in her short, form-fitting silk sheath, with its bare shoulders and arms, and ending with a sneering glance at the mandarin neckline, which was so high that it nearly met her chin.
“What can I do for you, Ms. Reid?” he asked, his voice a deep growl of sound that had her heart kicking into high gear even before she’d processed what he’d said.
Her eyes flashed to his face. “How do you know—”
He laughed, and it wasn’t a happy sound. “You played Travis for three weeks to get into this party. I created him three decades before you were born. Do you really think he’d bring a human around without my permission? I do my homework, too, sweetheart.”
“I didn’t know he was—”
“That much is obvious. So, why are you here? Not for the party, I’m guessing,” he added, eyeing her unsubtle choice of neckwear.
“No,” she said quickly. “I don’t—” She was going to tell him she didn’t play in vampire circles, that she was no one’s food, but something in his eyes made her stop. She froze beneath that gaze, abruptly aware of every breath moving in and out of her lungs, of her heart pounding within her chest until she was sure he could see it thumping beneath the second skin of her tight dress. She bit her lip nervously, and Aden’s hooded gaze grew heavier. God, he was beautiful. She wondered just for a moment what it would be like to bed someone like him. A powerful vampire. Sexy, savage, uncontrollable. An image flashed across her brain of a na**d Aden lying beneath her, muscles flexing, strong hands locked on her hips, slamming deep between her thighs with every upward thrust as she thrashed helplessly above him.
And she realized her body was already responding to the vision. Heat was pooling between her thighs, right where she’d imagined him pounding into her, and she was afraid to look down for fear she’d find her ni**les visibly swollen and demanding attention.
She shot a nervous glance at Aden and saw one corner of his sensuous mouth curve slowly upward, as if he knew what she was thinking, knew what her body was feeling. She pushed such thoughts forcibly out of her head. She had no intention of falling under any vampire’s spell, much less one as dangerous as Aden.
“You were saying?” he prodded her smugly.
Sid wished viciously for a nice sharp stake.
“If you’re the next vampire lord,” she said intentionally, “then I’d like to meet with you. There are things going on in this city, crimes against humanity that you may not be aware of.”
He frowned. “Such as?”
“This is not the place, Lord Aden. But know this: they enslaved and killed a friend of mine, and I intend to expose every—”
His gaze hardened, every bit of seduction vanishing in an instant. “You will come to my office tomorrow night.” He reached into an inner pocket and produced a thick white business card, flipping it through his fingers as he held it out to her.
Sid didn’t take well to orders, especially not from rude, but sexy, vampires. Her gut reaction was to tell him to shove it, but that would have been stupid. And stupidity was not one of her many faults. This was what she’d wanted—a private meeting with the next Midwestern Vampire Lord—and he was offering it to her. Okay, so he’d pretty much ordered her to show up, but she wasn’t going to argue semantics when the inside track she needed was being offered up on a platter. Or, in this case, a business card.
She took the card. It held an address and phone number, nothing else.
“There’s no name on this. How do I know whose office it is?”
He gave her the raised eyebrow again. “Because I just handed you the card,” he said slowly, as if speaking to a nitwit. “Be there two hours after sunset tomorrow evening.”
“What if I don’t know when sunset is?” she asked, just to be obnoxious. She knew exactly when sunset was. She’d been checking it daily for the last several months, ever since she’d decided to try and get inside vampire society.
“Then check your father’s newspaper,” he said impatiently, proving that he knew far more about her than she did about him.
She was trying to think of an appropriate comeback when he abruptly shifted his gaze over her head and gave someone a curt nod. Sid spun, but whoever he’d been signaling was too far away for her to identify. She started to turn back and nearly crashed into Aden. He reached out to steady her, curving the fingers of one big hand over her hip.
Taking advantage, he leaned in and put his lips right next to her ear. “Do wear something more suitable tomorrow night, Ms. Reid. I’m rather fond of redheads.”
Sid gasped at his temerity, but he was already gone, walking easily through the crowded room, a path clearing before him like magic. She watched him go, his height and size making him easy to follow until he joined a small group of men and women who stood apart from the rest. She stared until Travis sidled up next to her once again.
“Was I right?” he asked.
“Right about what?” she asked absently.
“About Aden. He’s going to be the one, don’t you think?”
She opened her mouth to tell him she had no idea, no basis to judge something like that. But then she frowned. “I don’t know,” she said honestly. “But I think you might be right.”
Travis grinned proudly. “You see those guys over there?” he asked, nodding toward the small group which now included Aden. “The one in the back, looks like a rich Wall Street exec? That’s Raphael, probably the most powerful vampire on the planet. The two closest to him are Lucas and Duncan, but all of them up there are vampire lords, Sidonie. The real deal.”