“ANGEL, PETRA, WHAT are you both doing here?” I said with a big smile that didn’t reach my eyes. The tone in my voice matched my eyes, not the smile.
Angel turned with a smile until she saw the look in my eyes, and then it wilted a little around the edges. “Hey, Anita.” She moved to the side so she could keep an eye on Olaf and still see me and the men with me as we came up through the cars. Her base makeup was almost white to highlight the scarlet lipstick and the black-and-red eye makeup. There was a tiny cluster of fake cherries pinned at the center of the rounded collar of the white button-up blouse. More black lace traced the collar. She had a red heart-shaped enamel watch pin on the left side of the blouse. The small touches of red brought out the red in the makeup, or maybe it was the other way around. Either way, it was adorable and sexy.
Pierette’s makeup was subtle in comparison, a natural look except for the eyeliner around her dark eyes. The slight uptilt to them was emphasized and made her look more exotic than her original French and English ancestry. Though she might have been older than either country—I wasn’t sure when France and England officially became countries. Pierette, through her vampire master’s marks, was a lot older than that delicate triangle of a face looked.
I wanted to ask out loud, What the fuck are you doing here? You know you’re his perfect victim, but that seemed a little blunt, so I tried, “I asked a question, ladies. What are you both doing here?”
“You know I travel with the Coalition to help new Therianthropes control their shifting,” Angel said with a smile.
“You and Ethan are two of the best we have at helping the newbies. I need the help with Bobby, so great.”
Angel smiled at me. It was a version of a smile that I’d seen a lot—mischief with an edge of evil. That expression reminded me so much of her twin brother, Mephistopheles, that it was disturbing. I still had some issues with the fact that both of them were my lovers now. It just seemed a little incesty. Was that smile on purpose to pull on Olaf’s tail and see what would happen, or was it just her smile, too? When we got some privacy, the good Angel and I were so going to talk.
I turned then and said, “But Petra doesn’t have your skills with keeping weak little Therianthropes in human form, so I’ll ask the question one more time. What are you both doing here?”
Pierette gave me the full weight of those big brown eyes and said, “I have come to be whatever you need, my . . . Anita. Whether by sword or flesh, I am yours.”
She’d almost used the title, my queen. She had lived more centuries with kings and queens than presidents, but I really hoped she didn’t forget and call me queen in front of Leduc or even Newman. Oh, hell, anyone but the people who came with her on the plane.
“What does she mean by that?” Olaf asked.
“Oh, let me explain,” Angel said, and the mischievous smile that went with the words blossomed until it was mostly just evil. It was the smile that Mephistopheles, our Devil, Dev for short, wore when he was about to do something unfortunate.
I shook my head at her. “No. Whatever you’re thinking, just no.”
“Well, you are the boss of me,” Angel said, but the tone implied strongly that she was humoring me.
“You are not the boss of me,” Olaf said, voice almost growling low.
I looked up at him, and for a second, he let me see all that creepy-as-fuck murder lust. The puzzlement at Pierette’s phrasing hadn’t been enough to dampen it, as if he was tired of wearing his civilized mask the way that Edward seemed to be getting tired of being Ted so much of the time.
“No, I’m not, but you heard what I told Duke about the SEALs.”
“I did.”
“That applies to Angel and Petra, too.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” he said.
“The hell you don’t,” I said.
Olaf smiled at me, and he put all that happy creepiness into it that usually spooked me, but in that moment, I was done. Maybe later he’d creep me out again, but not now. For now I was done with this shit. My lioness raised golden eyes and stared up through me.
Nicky moved a little closer to me, and Ethan moved up on the other side so they flanked me.
Olaf looked disdainful. “You would let them fight your battles.”
“That’s what bodyguards are for,” I said.
“I had thought better of you than this, Anita.”
“If I ever want to just kill you, I’ll do that myself, but up to that point, I’m going to need some help arm wrestling you.”
His lips moved upward. Other people would have called it a smile, but it was a snarl, a warning. “I know that you sent the others inside. No witnesses.” His body settled into a deep stillness like the breath before you leap into space.
“The women are mine. You do not play fuck-fuck games with them.”
“And if they play them with me first?”
I looked at Angel. She tried to give me that grin again, but I let her see how unhappy I was with her, and she decided not to risk it. “I’ll be talking to Angel in private later. She won’t give you a problem unless you start one.”
“Anita,” Angel started.
“I give you my word,” I said.
“Your word is good,” Olaf said, “but I do not know this angel of yours.”
I looked at her. There was no laughter in her voice or face now. She was trying to tell me something wordlessly, but I didn’t have the ties to her that I did with her brother. She couldn’t whisper her message in my head like he could. All she could do was stare at me and try to tell me something with her eyes.
She laid her fingertips on my arm. The warmth of her golden tiger was instantly there, either from anxiety or on purpose. Angel had near-perfect control of her inner beast, so it was probably on purpose. I could have stepped away from Olaf and let her tell me whatever was so important in person. If she hadn’t been standing there just minutes ago, flirting or pushing his buttons . . . if Pierette hadn’t been standing there, the perfect prey for the big guy . . . if, if, if— It all translated into me being pissed at Angel. I’d sent for help, and now I just had more problems.
“I’ve given my word, Angel. You have to honor it.”
I moved away from her so that warm rush of energy wasn’t breathing along my skin. It had felt good, but I didn’t want her to use her energy to calm me down. I was going to hold on to my anger at this whole situation. I’d invited the Coalition to town to make things better; this wasn’t better.
“Don’t make her promise, Anita, please,” Ethan said.
I looked at him, surprised. I’d thought it was just Angel being Angel, but if Ethan was asking, then it was a plan, a plot. What the fuck was going on?
“They are playing both of us, Adler,” Olaf said.
“I’m beginning to think you’re right, Moriarty.”
“They aren’t playing you, Anita,” Nicky said.
“I don’t care what’s going on. I gave my word. I expect anyone that’s mine to honor that and not make me into a fucking liar.” I looked at Angel.
“You’re ruining my fun,” she said, but there was no teasing look to go with the words.
“You keep saying that she is yours,” Olaf said. “How is she yours? Is she one of your lovers?” He rolled the last word off his tongue in a way that would have pissed me off a few minutes ago, but I had the taste of Nicky’s mouth lingering on mine, and Olaf always fucked with me. I wasn’t used to my own people doing it.
“I told Leduc that Milligan and Custer were my people, too. You didn’t ask if they were my lovers.”
The lust-killer look slid into angry killer; it wasn’t really an improvement. “Are they your lovers?”
I shook my head. “No.”
He stayed angry, the tension trailing down his hands so they curled into fists. He wasn’t getting ready to fight; he was just so angry, it had to come out physically. I was the same way sometimes. “Tell me which of them are your lovers, Anita.”
I’d have liked to tell him to go to hell because it wasn’t any of his business, but there was something in the way he held himself that told me not to play games. If we were going to pull the pin on this particular grenade, I wanted it to be over something important.
“You know about Nicky, and you were on the same warrant with me in Washington State when I met Ethan, so you know we’re intimate.” So there wasn’t confusion later, I added, “Though Ethan has a serious girlfriend now, so he’s emergency food for the ardeur, not on the main list.”
“That is why you kissed Nicky hello and not Ethan?”
“Yeah.”
“So, the women are not your lovers either?”
I sighed and so wanted out of this conversation, but truth was truth. I wasn’t ashamed of my female lovers, but these were not the women in my life I was the most comfortable with. They were two of the newest, and we hadn’t worked out all the kinks in things yet. Angel slept with Jean-Claude and Richard, Ulfric of the local werewolves, more than me. She and I had sex with the men in my life together more than sex with just each other. She was cheerfully bisexual, just like her brother. The only other person I knew who was as truly bisexual as the twins, without a strong preference for either sex, was Nathaniel.
“It’s okay, Anita. You don’t have to stake a claim you don’t feel,” Angel said, and there was no teasing or smiling now. Some of the light had dimmed in her blue-gold tiger eyes, because they were the eyes of a tiger caught in her human face. All the pure-blooded clan tigers were born with animal eyes, though most people just thought her eyes were exotic human eyes. People see what they expect to see.
I looked at her unhappy face, and I didn’t want her unhappy. I closed the distance between us and slid my arms around her waist, which was surprisingly slender for someone so much taller than I was. I was still more accustomed to touching men. She smiled down at me and put her arms around my shoulders.
“The kiss has to be gentle,” I said, “or your lipstick will be all over me.”
She wrapped herself more securely around me, pressing her breasts into my face so I had to turn my chin up more not to touch my mouth to any of her. That mischievous smile was back on her face, and it made me happy to see it. She gave a little wiggle through the hips, which was usually an invitation to move my hands from waist to her ass, but I moved them up her back instead. Her back was strong and firm under my hands. I fought not to dig my fingers in, because I knew we’d both enjoy it. The mischief was suddenly evil, and I knew she was debating just how gentle the kiss was going to be.
“I mean it, Angel. The locals are already weirded out about the whole wereanimal thing. We don’t need to ring the heterosexual insecurity bell, too.”
“Promise me a kiss like Nicky got once we’re in private?”
“Better kisses in private, I promise,” I said, and I couldn’t help smiling up at her.
“Deal,” she whispered, and leaned over me.
I went up on tiptoe like I did for the tall men in my life. The biggest difference was that there were breasts to brush mine, though with me in body armor, it wasn’t nearly as fun as usual. Her lips were soft and full, and because I wasn’t wearing my own lipstick, I could taste hers. She wrapped her arms around me and pressed us together, and I returned the favor. She opened her lips, and I slid my tongue delicately inside. There was a moment when I forgot about being careful and started to kiss her like I wanted to, with teeth mixed in with tongue and lips until she made a small sound against my mouth. I returned the favor, finally letting my fingers dig into her back. Her hands responded to me, sliding over my body armor like she was trying to find me underneath it. When her hands touched my ass, I drew back first, laughing and a little breathless.
“Enough for now,” I said.
I fought not to glance in Olaf’s direction. If he was looking all serial killer at us, it would spoil the mood. If he looked at us like so many men who had that lesbian fantasy, that would piss me off, so I just concentrated on the excitement in Angel’s eyes, her face alight with what we’d just done.
Ethan had Kleenexes in his hands to offer to both of us. Men’s pockets hold so much more than women’s pockets.
“Thanks,” I said.
Angel laughed as she got a compact out of a tiny purse that had cherries on it to match her outfit. She started carefully cleaning her makeup. I just started to wipe the lipstick off. Since I wasn’t wearing any makeup, I didn’t need to be that careful.
I turned to Nicky and Ethan. “Did I get it all?”
Ethan shook his head. Nicky just took the Kleenex and started dabbing at the corner of my mouth and a little on my chin, which meant I looked like I was wearing bad clown makeup. He put his fingertips on my chin and turned my face to the side. “Clean.”
“Thanks,” I said, and turned toward Pierette.
I held my hand out to her, and she took it with a smile. I didn’t have to look very far up to meet her eyes. They were as solid a brown as mine, though not quite as dark. I laid my hand on the side of her face; my other arm went up and over her shoulder. Her arms slid around my waist and up my back. She was one of the women in my bed who made me think words like delicate, dainty, petite. I liked that she made me think words like that as I stared into her eyes from inches away. We leaned in together, and I closed my eyes, though I knew Pierette didn’t. She’d trained herself out of it for safety reasons, or so she’d explained one afternoon.
Her lipstick was neutral, mostly just a shiny lip gloss. It meant we could kiss without worrying about smearing it, so I did. I kissed her like I wanted to be in her arms. I let her know that I valued my hand cupping the delicate bones of her cheek, the press of her mouth against mine. My tongue slid between her lips and she opened wider, so the kiss grew as we explored each other’s mouths. I thought the same thing I’d thought almost every time I’d kissed her: Her mouth was so small. Pierette didn’t like rough kissing, so I was careful not to use teeth or dig my nails into her back. Her arms tightened across my back. I had a moment of feeling just how strong that delicate-seeming body was, and then she broke the kiss like she was coming up for air and I was water that she had to throw herself free of. She stood there with us just holding hands, her breathing ragged like we’d done more than kiss. I wasn’t nearly as breathless with her as with Angel. I missed the teeth and nails.
“You are not bothered by this, any of you?” Olaf said. I didn’t know whom he was asking, but Nicky answered.
“Why should we be?”
“She is only one woman. How can you be happy sharing her with so many others?”
Nicky smiled and let himself look pleased. “Do you think that the only person I have sex with is Anita?”
Olaf looked at him. “I did.”
Careful not to compromise Nicky’s gun hand, Angel came and slid her arm through Nicky’s. Her lipstick was perfectly red once more; she’d retouched it while I was kissing Pierette. Angel leaned her head toward Nicky like they were posing for a couple’s photo. She gave that smile she seemed to be able to do at the drop of a hat. Nicky smiled that guy smile. The one that said, I get to hit this, and it still hasn’t screwed up my primary relationship. It wasn’t a cat-with-cream smile; it was a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too smile.
I looked at the two of them and thought of all the times we’d been together, usually with Dev or Nathaniel, and a couple of times with both of them. That had been fun. I gave a little shiver that went from my head to my feet, and now my breathing was faster just thinking about it.
“What did you react to just now?” Olaf asked.
“The possibilities,” I said and smiled, and realized that maybe my smile was a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too smile.
“Doesn’t it bother you that Nicky is having sex with all the other women?”
Nicky corrected him. “Angel and I have sex together. Petra and I don’t. It’s a person-by-person negotiation.”
Olaf looked back at me. “And it doesn’t bother you that Nicky is fucking another woman?”
I don’t know what made me be honest. Maybe it was the feel of Pierette’s hand in mine or the memory of being with Nicky and Angel together. “I’m there when he does it, so no.”
Olaf stared at me. “Now you are teasing me.”
“I’m telling you the absolute truth, Olaf . . . Otto,” I said, trying to get back in the habit of using the right name before we went back in to the other cops.
He looked from Nicky to me, then to each of the women, then back to me. He looked at Ethan. “Do you also negotiate individually?”
“I just have sex with Anita and my girlfriend. That’s enough for me.”
“At the same time?” Olaf asked.
Ethan gave a nervous laugh. “Not Nilda and Anita. No, just . . . no.”
We all agreed with him, since Nilda was an ancient werebear with a temper that had required therapy. I was glad that she and Ethan seemed to love each other to pieces, because she was one of the most unstable of the Harlequin. Nilda and Ethan as a couple helped keep the rest of us safer.
“Is Petra only having sex with you, Anita?” I realized that Olaf was asking questions of me and the men, but that he hadn’t spoken directly to either of the other women. It was the way he’d talked to me when we first met: sort of around me, talking more to Edward than to me.
If it had been almost anyone else, I’d have forced them to talk directly to the women, but if Olaf saw me and the other men as a gateway to the women, that worked for me. Maybe he wouldn’t talk to them without one of us present. I especially didn’t want him talking alone with Pierette.
“Not just me.”
“So, if I wished to negotiate with her for sex, you would have no objection?”
My pulse was suddenly trying to jump out the side of my neck. He hadn’t said anything wrong really. He’d been amazingly polite, so why was I scared?
“I do not wish to sleep with him, my queen. Please don’t make me,” she said.
There was fear in her voice. It surprised me enough to look at her, and the expression on her face matched the voice. She was scared of Olaf. I mean, he was scary, but she’d hunted scarier things than him for hundreds of years. Even if he scared her, she didn’t have to show it this much. What was she doing, and why? She moved behind me like I would be her shield, which seemed weird for someone who was supposed to be my bodyguard.
I knew too many of the older vampires who treated their moitiés bêtes, beast halves, like slaves, but Pierrot didn’t treat her that way, or I hadn’t thought he did. I thought they were lovers as well as master and servant. Now I was suddenly wondering if he did abuse her. In old vampire society, animals to call had no rights. Jean-Claude and I were changing that and stopping the abuse when we found out about it, but some of the animals to call had centuries of being more possessions than partners to their masters. I had thought better of Pierrot, but Pierette’s reaction let me know that better wasn’t the same thing as good.
“No one will make you have sex with anyone, Petra. We keep telling you that’s not how things work with us.” I stroked her face, my other hand still in hers. She wouldn’t meet my eyes. Her shoulders were rounded; her entire posture was huddled in upon herself. Shit.
I felt the heat of lion, smelled it like grass baked under a merciless sun. I looked at Olaf. He was watching Pierette like he’d seen a wounded gazelle at a watering hole. Crap, crap, crap. Her reaction had just made her even more his perfect victim.