Derek wrapped a towel around his waist and said, “You sure you don’t want to stay in?”
Sable laughed and left the bathroom. “Sorry, lover. I’ve got a mission to see to. And now I’m late.”
“Alright, alright,” he grumbled. “I need to feed anyway, and then I’ll go back to the Starwing and look around. I have my suspicions about how those Federation ships found us.” He tossed the towel in the corner and started to dress.
“You think they tracked us?” She turned to look at him.
“They must have. And for them to come after you like that…well, it was obviously a warning.” He brushed the hair from his forehead. “You must be getting closer to the truth then they’re comfortable with. If I can find a tracking device on the ship, maybe we can trace it.”
“I don’t just leave my ship open for tampering, you know.”
“Never? Not once? How about when you caught Castle? You were locked up in your ship before I could catch you and I’m pretty damn fast.”
“No, it was locked. I just had it programmed to open at my bio-signature, just in case my weapons drew attention from Concourse security.”
“Then it must have been installed at headquarters.”
Her eyes narrowed in thought. “If that’s true, it would exonerate Leroy since he was already here on Rashier 6 at that time. Or,” she said excitedly, “he could be working with someone else!”
She looked at Derek to see what he thought of her suspicion and found him watching her with rapt attention.
“You really like your job, don’t you, baby?” he queried softly.
Sable chewed her bottom lip for a moment before answering. “I don’t like finding out that someone we all trust, someone we believe is working toward the good of the Council, is actually harming us. I hate that part of my job. But when I solve a case, when I know that someone who violated the oath I believe so strongly in has been removed from the force, I love it.”
Derek kissed her, long and deep, then swatted her on the butt. “Get dressed. And call for me if you need any help.”
He headed toward the door. He seemed so happy and relieved that she’d told him the truth about herself, she wished she’d trusted him sooner. She shuddered to think of how different the outcome would have been had he not been persistent and stowed away on her ship. She might have lost him.
“I don’t know how to use my calling yet,” she called after him.
“You’re stronger than you realize. Just think about me and I’ll hear you. I promise.” With a rakish wink, Derek left.
Chapter Five
Derek lay on his back and stared up at the tracking device in confused anger. He recognized the design and it was Council, not Federation. Sable was being tracked by their own people. But why?
With a curse, he removed the offending piece of technology, ripped off the serial number for future use and easily crushed the rest of the tracker in his hand. What the hell was going on?
He dissipated into mist and remerged in the captain’s chair. There was no way in hell he was going to wait another two years to court Sable like he wanted. He’d lived several hundred years and he knew a lot of things could happen in just two. He wasn’t willing to risk losing her or the wonderful feelings she inspired in him. He sure as hell wasn’t going to sneak around, trying to find the time to squeeze in a little lovemaking. He’d never get enough of her that way.
Resting his head against the headrest, Derek closed his eyes and relished the fullness in his belly. It’d been as easy as usual to find a meal. In the past, he’d enjoyed the triple impalement of his cock and fangs in an eager woman who he then gifted with a mind-blowing orgasm for her donation.
Tonight though he’d only fed. He’d given his meal her orgasm with his calling and nothing more. Sable had completely drained him with her wicked mouth earlier, but even if he hadn’t been sated, he still wouldn’t have had the heart to fuck another woman. He’d asked Sable to remain faithful to him and for the first time in his life, he had every intention of being faithful in return.
She was his perfect counterpart, his equal. They were so alike in so many ways—their jobs, their vampirism, their sexual appetite. Whoever said opposites attract was an idiot. He much preferred a woman who could understand him without asking and know what he needed before he did.
Now he just had to keep her safe and get her through her assignment in one piece.
As his eyes remained closed, he felt a brush of feeling across his mind. He concentrated on it and tried to amplify it. Suddenly, he sat upright in the chair. It was Sable. Her thoughts were in a jumble, her pulse was racing and her breathing was erratic. He could sense something dark, insidious and possessive curling through her mind.
Moving too fast to be seen by human eyes, Derek flew out of the Starwing and was on his way to the RetroBall.
* * * * *
Sable stood motionless, her mind urging her to flee while her body refused to heed its dictates. She watched in stunned horror as Marius Drake approached her, his lips curved in a predatory grin of anticipation. Why the hell did he keep popping up in her life at the most inopportune times?
The expansive hotel ballroom was well lit, as befitted the RetroBall and Sable fought off the headache brought on by the unaccustomed bright lights. Multicolored streamers draped across the ceiling, and guests wore odd hats and blew on bizarre-sounding horns, all of which had her gritting her teeth.