“What has he done?” I dared to ask, and Kano laughed at the insolence. The other men stood with wide eyes darting between their leader and me.
“He sold a shipment of my weapons to another bidder. I want to know who. Hiromi is already working on the cyber trail, but I assume we can get him to speed up the process.” Kano gestured for me to have my way with the traitor while they watched. I didn’t care about the man’s life as I walked over to him and asked for the information. He spat blood at me, then laughed. It would be easy to look him in the eyes and ask again, but I couldn’t risk exposing myself. An assortment of knives had been set on a little roller table. These men wanted to see the monster side of me. I could smell the excitement wafting off their bodies.
“After seeing your skills in the fight, I can see you becoming one of my deadliest warriors. With me, our power could be limitless.” Kano attempted to stroke my ego and failed. I already knew I was the deadliest warrior around. Still, he coveted power, and I was power incarnate. He sensed that as soon as I stepped into the fight and chose to protect Katsumi. Once he gave her to another, he would seek to claim me as his guard, to fight for him and bring his legacy to new heights of authority in Japan. If this man found out I was a vampire, he’d seek to use me to his advantage and destroy his enemies. I listened for Katsumi and heard her laughing with her sister above. Whatever happened between her and the boy was over now.
“Yes, sir.” I bowed my head at Kano and got to work on the man. I’d tortured many men in my life of war. Botan had brought me back from my bloodlust and through the temple, fought to protect the world from men like the ones before me.
“Give me the information, or I will make you beg for death,” I warned. The scent of the leader’s anticipation had me growling. They were practically wetting their pants like young boys before a woman’s warm touch. Disgusting. I killed without remorse, even though Botan tried to get me to find my humanity. I’d say he almost accomplished that goal, until he died because of cruel men like them. Without wanting to get blood on the suit Katsumi picked for me, I rolled up my sleeves then gripped the man’s head and curled my finger around the man’s eyeball.
Chapter Sixteen
Katsumi
I sat in the hot bath outside and stared at the stars. The get-together at the house had ended an hour ago, and I eagerly stepped into the water without bothering to take the dress off. The façade of having my shit together was getting harder to keep up. Romi kept worrying about me like a mother hen, while Mother kept pushing me to talk to men at the party. Father was so enamored by his guests and Tatsou that he didn’t pay much attention to me. Then there was Rei. My entrance into the world of crime made him feel like he had a chance with me. He could fight for me like Takeo was doing with Romi. He’d asked me for a night out with him, and I told him I’d think about it. He dragged me out of normal human earshot and then asked me about that one kiss we had shared five years ago. It had been a drunken mistake. Of course, I didn’t say that out loud. This time when he asked, I admitted that I sometimes thought of it. Truthfully, I did, just not in the way he would like. He kissed me again tonight, and my head hurt from the emotions the simple peck stirred in me. I ducked my head under the water and hoped the warm warmth would heal my thoughts.
“Is my little kitten broken?” Tatsou emerged from the shadows, and I shook my head. He looked good in a suit. The few women that were present tonight noticed it, too. I gazed at the stars and ignored him.
“Why have you not taken the boy up on his offer? Clearly he wants you.” Tatsou stepped into the water, wearing his clothes, too. He had disappeared with my father and some men once I came back from talking with Rei. I doubt they were sipping tea and talking about Teddy Bears together. More than likely, they did something I’d rather not hear about.
“Rei has been my friend for a long time. I always thought I’d grow and want to be with him. He expected us to, but that passion in me never happened. I don’t want to be with a man without that fire.” I chuckled, knowing I sounded silly, especially to him, but it was the truth.
“He’s a nice, strong, protective man.”
I thought about a life with him, and the emotions flattened within. “Life with him would be normal, and I’m not sure I want that. Even when he kissed me tonight, there was no spark. It was just a kiss.”
The darkness around us swirled above, blocking my view of the stars for a few seconds. My gaze darted to Tatsou. His golden eyes glowed, which unnerved me.
“What did you feel when you kissed me?”
He asked personal questions without the use of his magic. It surprised me that he wanted to know my thoughts or even cared to ask them.
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t really count it as a kiss. Then you kinda marred the moment with the whole biting and sucking my blood thing.” I moved my hands in the water in wavy motions, feeling it move around my skin. My mind instantly thought of kissing him again, but I squashed it as soon as it came.
“I know my dream of having that epic spark with someone sounds dumb. Maybe I read too many fairy tales as a kid. I don’t even know if you know what I’m talking about. That spark. From what I’ve seen you don’t seem to have many emotions in you besides annoyance and anger.” I smiled at him, hoping to diffuse the tension in the air.
“Show me.”
“Show you what?” I knew what he meant, but I didn’t want to say it out loud. I trusted Tatsou not to kill me but that didn’t mean I wanted a repeat of the last time. My neck still ached when I turned my head.
“What it feels like. This spark you dream of. Show me.” He waited against the other side of the hot spring, submerged in the water.
I tilted my head to the side, thinking his words over. “I don’t wanna get bitten again. Plus, the spark isn’t something I can just make happen. Otherwise, I would have tried with Rei.” I moved to get out of the water when his hand gripped mine. I made the mistake of looking at him.
“Kiss me, Kat.” His golden eyes willed me with their vampire magic.
I waded toward him and glanced at his lips just before meeting his eyes again. I brought my lips to his, and the magic compelling me vanished. I was in control again. Just as I thought to pull away, his lips pressed against mine, and I wanted to stay. He wanted me to show him the passion I dreamed of. Then I’d give it my best efforts. I closed my eyes and gave myself over to the need to bring this vampire to his knees. I closed the distance between us and straddled his lap while my hands dug into his long hair. His lips parted between a peck, and I took advantage. I licked his bottom lip and then caressed his tongue with mine. Strong arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer as he matched my need with his own. Every nerve in my body lit up like I’d been shocked by pleasure. My fingernails lightly grazed his skull, and he growled into me. I ravaged his mouth with licks, nibbles, and heavy breaths to which he reciprocated hungrily. All of my body was plastered to his, and our wrapped arms continued to bring us even closer.
Just as I went to lick the roof of his mouth, I small prick hurt my tongue. I pulled back as I saw Tatsou’s fangs had descended, and his eyes swirled like bright liquid gold again. Fearing the pain of his bite, I tried to climb off his lap and he released his tight hold on me.
“That was a spark,” I admitted and fled the bath as fast as possible. I thought to show him what it could be like, not actually feel that explosive level of heat with him. My soaking wet clothes dripped as I walked to the bathroom to take them off, closing the door behind me.
“What the fuck, Kat?” I whispered to myself in the mirror. Oh God. My reflection showed the evidence of that passionate exchange, and I had to look away. If I couldn’t see it, then it didn’t happen, right? Nope, I didn’t have flushed cheeks that wasn’t from the water or kiss-swollen lips or the tiny bit of blood on my tongue from his fang nicking it. I brushed my hair and teeth, then wrapped myself in a towel and lowered myself to the floor. I thought my emotions were muddled before; they were in a complete meltdown right now. Why did Tatsou compel me to kiss him? To torture me more? I’d wanted to feel that spark with Rei, the easy choice, but instead I wanted to live in the vampire’s kiss. A vampire who had already ruined my life and planned to damage it further before killing me.
There had to be some supernatural rule against stuff like this, right? I fretted over the kiss for about a half hour before changing into lounge pants and a shirt, then rolled myself up in blankets on the bed. I hated that I knew what Tatsou tasted like, the feel of his strong arms crushing me against his hard body, the way his growl felt against my lips, and how his tongue danced with mine like we’d been doing it for ages. I could pretend it didn’t happen, like I did with everything else in my life right now. I could wear a mask, a façade of indifference, around the vampire. He probably thought I was no better than a whore in his time, clinging to him and nibbling his lip—the horror of a modern-day woman who knew how to handle pleasure.
“Didn’t happen,” I told myself as I chose to go into fashion mode in my head. I needed sleep, and I prayed once I woke that the kiss would have been just a dream.
A hot-as-fuck dream, but still a dream.
