“Nicholas,” he said. “What’s up?”
“My lord, I wanted you to know that Agent Hunter is on the premises.”
“Is she, now?”
“Yes, my lord. She’s down in the barn . . . currying.”
“Currying?”
“Yes, my lord. It appears Judy has put her to work.”
Lucas laughed. “She has a habit of doing that with people. Okay, Nick. I’m going to finish up here and go down to the barns myself. I’m fancying a ride in the moonlight with my personal FBI agent.”
“My lord . . .”
“Go ahead, Nick,” Lucas sighed. “Say it.”
“She’s not just a cop, Lucas. She’s a fed. The forbidden fruit of cops.”
“Aye, she is. Which will just make it sweeter when she drops into my hand.”
* * * *
He found Kathryn exactly where Nicholas said she’d be, with the sweet smell of fresh hay and horses all around her, using a curry comb on Sassy, who despite her name, was one of his more mild-tempered mares. Kathryn had donned a pair of faded denims, and they showed her ass to perfection, just as he’d known they would. Much better than the boxy slacks she’d worn the previous night. The barn was warm, despite the cool night air, and she was working hard. A tailored blouse hung outside the box stall, leaving Kathryn in a stretchy white tank top that accented her smoothly muscled arms with every stroke of the comb.
Lucas tilted his head and listened. Kathryn was talking to the horse as she worked, speaking so softly that even his vampire hearing couldn’t pick up the words.
He started to say her name, then changed his mind. She was so entranced with the animal and the repetitive motion of the curry comb that she hadn’t even noticed he was there. The mare noticed him, of course. But after a soft whicker of greeting, she ignored him. Which left only Kathryn. Walking as quietly as only a vampire can, he stepped up right behind her and dipped his face into the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply as he deposited a soft kiss just below her right ear.
Kathryn gasped and spun around, her hand going to her hip for the weapon she’d left sitting on the tack box beneath her shirt. That didn’t hamper her any, however. She swung the damn curry comb instead, and if he hadn’t been a vampire, he’d have been wearing more than a few stripes on his face.
Lucas caught her wrist gently, laughing in both surprise and appreciation. He did love a woman with spirit. And he should have expected it from Kathryn Hunter, he thought ruefully. After all, a woman didn’t make it in the man’s world of the FBI without being able to take care of herself. Nor did such a woman traipse halfway across the country looking for her missing brother. He was lucky he wasn’t sporting a bloody face about now.
Kathryn wrenched her arm away from him and shoved him back a step. Neither of which she could have done if he hadn’t let her, but she didn’t know that yet.
“You’re lucky that pretty face of yours is still intact,” she snarled angrily.
Lucas widened his eyes. “Was that a compliment, Agent Hunter?”
“No, you ass, that was a warning. Don’t ever sneak up on me again. What if I’d been armed?”
“Then I trust you’d have held me gently as I bled onto all this nice, clean straw.”
She bit her cheek, trying not to smile, but it was a lost battle. “Are you ever serious?” she asked, trying to recover lost ground.
“Only when I have to be.”
Tromluí bellowed angrily from his box stall at the other end of the barn, demanding Lucas’s attention.
“Excuse me a moment. Tromluí is very possessive. You and he will have to work something out if we’re going to continue this relationship.”
“What relationship?” she muttered behind him. He smiled as he made his way down the uncluttered aisle to his beautiful black. The stallion poked his head out before he got there, blowing and snorting as if to say, “What took you so long?”
“Och, boyo, I missed you, too,” he murmured, rubbing the big horse’s broad nose.
“Is this the horse I saw you working with last night?” Kathryn asked from several steps away.
Lucas glanced over his shoulder and received a solid head bump from Tromluí for his trouble. The stallion rolled his eyes in Kathryn’s direction and shifted behind the gate of his box stall, as if trying to interpose his considerable bulk between his beloved master and the interloper.
Lucas laughed at the horse’s antics. “You’ve nothing to worry about, mo Tromluí,” he crooned, then spoke to Kathryn in the same smooth tone, without looking back at her. “The horse last night was Nightshade, Tromluí’s oldest son. He’s barely a yearling, while Tromluí is a strapping man of four.”
“He’s gorgeous. I mean, they both are, but Tromluí is larger than life.”
“Did you hear that, boyo? The lady thinks you’re handsome.” He glanced at Kathryn.
“Judy thinks the two of you make a pretty picture.”
Lucas laughed easily. “The truth is he’ll take no other rider. It’s a bad habit, but one I indulge since we both enjoy the relationship. Speaking of which, it’s a beautiful night, would you like to ride?”
“Now? I mean, in the dark?”
“It’s not dark. The moon is only a day past full. Besides, the horses know the trails, and we’ll stick to the easy ones for now.”
“But I’m not dressed—”
“You’re dressed just fine, Kathryn. Even wore your boots. Are you looking for an excuse? Afraid to be alone with me?” He glanced at her again, long enough to wag his eyebrows suggestively.
“Of course, not. But I left my jacket in the car, and—”
“Jackets, we have.”
They’d been having most of this conversation with Lucas directing his words at the jealous Tromluí, but now he turned and called down the aisle, “Judy!”
“Yeah, boss?” Judy Peterson’s head popped out from the tack room. He’d known she was back there, because he’d heard the television. She liked to hang around in the evening just in case he managed to get down to the stables. Usually, if he didn’t make it in the first couple of hours, he wouldn’t be coming at all, or if he did it would only be to visit Tromluí, not to ride.
“Saddle Sassy for Kathryn, would you?” He turned to Kathryn. “You do ride western, don’t you? You’re not one of those horse snobs?”
“That’s hardly snobbery, Lucas, but, yes, I ride Western, as well as English.”
“If it’s English, a cuisle, it’s not worth doing.”
Kathryn rolled her eyes at him, but he only grinned and turned his attention back to the stallion. “What do you say, Tromluí? Nothing like a fine moonlight ride with a beautiful woman, is there?” He stepped back enough to open the stall. The stud surged out as soon as the gate was wide enough, but Lucas was ready for him. It was a little trick his horse liked to play. The animal had a bit of the devil in him—more than a bit to be truthful—and he did love to see the silly humans run.
Lucas didn’t run from anyone. He grabbed the stallion’s head and brought their faces together. “You be good now. You’re embarrassing me in front of the lady.”
He knew the horse didn’t actually understand what he said, but his tone got through well enough. Tromluí rubbed his big head against Lucas’s chest.
“Aye, I love you, too, boyo.” He grabbed the stallion’s bridle from the hook next to the gate and was about to slip it on when his cell phone rang. He frowned. Most of his calls were routed through the main number at the house, so this could only be Magda or Nicholas, both of whom rarely disturbed him when he went riding. Lucas pulled the phone from his pocket.
“Nicholas?” he answered.
“I’m scrambling the troops, my lord,” Nicholas said urgently. His voice was jumping, as if he were running as he spoke. “We just got a call—”
And that quickly every plan Lucas had made for the evening was changed. He stopped listening to his lieutenant, his mind already searching the thousands of vampires in his territory for whatever it was that had Nicholas gearing up for battle.
“Fuck,” he swore softly. The compound in Minnetonka, Minnesota was under attack. It was filled with civilians, which should have put it off limits, but Klemens was breaking all the rules in his hunger for power. Civilians wouldn’t stand a chance against Klemens’s fighters, but at least the compound’s leader, Thad, had some combat experience. And the compound itself should have had security in place. “Who called us?”
“Some kid, my lord. Says his mom’s mated to one of ours—”
“Dex. His mom’s been with Thad since the kid was a baby. Not mated, though. What’d he say?” Lucas began walking Tromluí toward the open barn doors at the other end. He walked the stallion out and released him into the big paddock which was always empty and reserved for him. The horse would throw a major tantrum if Lucas tried to put him back into his box stall now, and Lucas didn’t have time for it.
“They hit a half hour ago. Thad rallied a defense, but the kid doesn’t know how long they can hold it. He was pretty upset. A lot of screaming in the background.”
“Where is he?”
“He was on his way home from a friend’s. Saw Klemens’s troops arrive and was smart enough not to go running into a situation he couldn’t change.”
Lucas walked back into the barn and caught Judy’s attention. “Judy,” he said in an aside as he listened to Nicholas. “I have to leave. Let him run awhile, then bring him inside. I won’t be back until late, if at all.”
“Yes, my lord,” she said briskly and immediately began putting away the saddle she’d just gotten out for Kathryn.
“What’s our ETA?” Lucas asked, going back to Nicholas.