1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Twelve Read online

  Kayden hid his grimace, allowing a silence to fill the truck. It was ridiculous to feel a pang of regret that he was forced to terrify her. After all, her father was a butcher who’d destroyed his life. And from the files he had uncovered, his parents weren’t the only Pantera he’d used in his sick experiments.

  This female was the spawn of the devil.

  Unfortunately, his cat refused to agree with his human heart.

  It was prowling beneath his skin, urgently wanting to be released so it could rub against the female, coating her in his musk.

  Almost as if…

  With a silent curse, Kayden slammed the door on his dangerous thoughts.

  Soon enough he would send a message to Joshua Ford, demanding a meeting. Once he had his hands on the man, he would release Bianca and she could return to her home. That would be the end of it.

  Repeating the words over and over, they’d driven nearly an hour when she abruptly spoke.

  “Are you at least going to tell me your name?” she asked, her voice strained as if she was struggling to contain her fear.

  “Kayden,” he grudgingly offered.

  “Do you work for my father?”

  He released a sharp laugh. “Not hardly.”

  She turned her head, her golden tresses escaping the scrunchie to tumble over her shoulders.

  “Then why are you so angry with him?”

  His brows drew together as he shot her a curious glance. “How do you know I’m angry?”

  “I can feel it.” She held up her slender hands. “I know it sounds silly, but I’ve always been able to sense emotions.”

  A wild, crazy idea drifted on the edges of his mind.

  Was it possible that she was one of them?

  No. If she had Pantera blood he would be able to smell it in her. Not to mention being able to sense her cat.

  Right?

  Of course, Joshua Ford was a scientist who’d spent years experimenting with Pantera blood and DNA. The Goddess only knew what he’d done to his own daughter.

  “Tell me about yourself,” he abruptly demanded.

  She blinked at the edge in his voice. “Why?”

  He shrugged. “It will pass the time.”

  She hesitated, clearly aware that he was digging for something.

  “There’s nothing to tell,” she finally muttered.

  Kayden glanced in the rearview mirror, ensuring that no one was following. He didn’t doubt that Bianca’s absence had been noticed and a frantic search was already being organized.

  “What about your parents?”

  She sent him a confused glance. “My father’s a doctor who is researching a cure for cancer.”

  Seriously? That was his cover story?

  “For Benson Enterprises?” he asked.

  Her confusion deepened. “There’s a Christopher Benson listed on the board of directors, but my father works for Cruise Clinic and Laboratory.”

  Kayden’s jaw tightened. Christopher Benson was the man at the center of the evil. A true monster who Kayden fully intended to kill.

  After he was done with Joshua Ford.

  “And your father researches cancer?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said with absolute sincerity. She truly believed that’s what her father did. “He actually cured me when I was just a child.”

  Ah. So she’d undergone treatment. So what the hell had Joshua been doing to her?

  “Really?”

  She frowned at his blatant disbelief. “Yes, really.”

  He didn’t press her. It was obvious she had no idea what her father might or might not have been doing to her during her treatments.

  “And your mother?” he instead asked.

  “She died when I was just a baby.”

  Died or was killed? Kayden was aware that Benson had been impregnating Pantera females with human sperm.

  “Was she a scientist?”

  A deep sadness rippled over her expressive face. “I don’t know much about her,” she admitted. “It’s too painful for my father to discuss her, so I stopped asking questions.”

  “What about brothers or sisters?”

  “None.” She shook her head. “It’s just me and my father.”

  Kayden gave a low grunt, falling back into silence. He didn’t have any proof that this female was anything more than the daughter of Joshua Ford, but he was growingly convinced that there was something different about her.

  Or maybe he just wanted to think that she was more than a mere human.

  “Are you going to tell me why you kidnapped me?” she demanded.

  “No.”

  His sharp refusal tightened her lips, and with a loud huff she folded her arms over her chest and glared out the side window.

  Kayden gave a small shake of his head, breathing deep of Bianca’s honey scent that drenched the air.

  What the hell had he gotten himself into?

  Chapter Three

  Bianca was determined to remain silent. If her annoying captor didn’t want to tell her what was going on, then fine. She wouldn’t talk.

  After all, her father would soon track her down.

  She had every confidence that he would use his considerable power and money to organize a search that would be capable of finding her within a few hours.

  But as soon as they entered the fringes of town, she easily forgot her determined pledge of silence.

  “Oh,” she breathed, her eyes wide as she took in the familiar skyline and the silhouette of a towering Ferris wheel. Not that she’d ever been to the bustling city. But even she’d seen it on TV. “This is Vegas, isn’t it?”

  Kayden sent her a startled glance. “You’ve never been here before?”

  She shook her head. “My father occasionally takes me to Phoenix, but I spend most of my time at home.”

  Easily negotiating the traffic that was surprisingly heavy considering it had to be past nine o’clock, he continued to study her with blatant curiosity.

  “You didn’t attend school?”

  “I had a private tutor when I was young and then I did my college courses online,” she said, not surprised by his confusion.

  She had an unconventional childhood.

  “Is there a reason you’ve been so isolated?” he demanded.

  “When I was young I had to be near the lab for my treatments,” she explained.

  “What sort of treatments?”

  Bianca shrugged. There were huge chunks of her childhood that she could barely remember. And even now, she had only bits and pieces of memory from her time in the clinic.

  There was always a narrow hospital bed. And straps that held her down so she wouldn’t injure herself. And a bright light overhead that always felt like it was burning a hole in her brain.

  And pain.

  Lots of pain.

  “I’m not exactly sure,” she told him. “It’s still in the experimental stage.”

  He made a sound of disbelief. “You don’t know what was done to you?”

  She hunched a shoulder. He made her feel as if she’d been an idiot not to constantly question her father on every detail of the drugs being used on her.

  Clearly he hadn’t spent his life with death as a constant companion.

  When she wasn’t actually receiving her treatments she didn’t want to think about them. She wanted to pretend she was a normal woman with a long future stretching ahead of her.

  “I was usually sedated during the hours I had to be at the clinic,” she said.

  “And now?” he asked.

  “Now what?”

  “Do you still get treatments?”

  She nodded. “Once a week.”

  “Is there anyone else receiving the experimental cure?”

  She frowned. He sounded as if he didn’t believe that her father was a renowned scientist who was making a huge difference in the world.

  “Of course, although I never see them,” she said, her voice sharp. Whatever her feelings for Joshua Ford, she didn’
t doubt his determination to keep her alive and well. “My father is trying to get the drugs approved by the FDA, so he has to take care that each of our treatments are individually documented and there’s no chance of cross-contamination.”

  “Hmm.”

  She shook her head. There was no point in arguing. He clearly had something against her father. He was never going to accept that he was just trying to help her.

  Leaning her forehead against the side window, she lost herself in the beauty of the vivid lights and flashing neon signs. The town was bright and brash and seething with an energy that she could tangibly feel pulsing deep inside her.

  She loved it.

  Of course, it didn’t matter how distracted she was by her circus-like surroundings, she remained acutely aware of the man at her side.

  The heat of him seemed to reach out and wrap around her. His warm, musky scent teased at her nose. And the gravitational force of his male sensuality threatened to suck her in like a black hole consuming everything in its path.

  Turning off the main strip, Kayden pulled the truck into a parking lot at the back of a large hotel.

  She glanced toward him in surprise. She’d expected him to drive through the city on their way to…where she didn’t know, but she’d assumed it would be isolated. Wasn’t that what most kidnappers would do?

  “Is this where we’re staying?” she asked.

  “Yes.” Shutting off the engine, he jumped out of the truck and headed around the hood. Then, pulling open her door, he unbuckled her seat belt. “I prefer to let you walk on your own, but if you fight me I’ll have to carry you.”

  She glared at him, not nearly as afraid as she should be. “You don’t think that would attract attention?”

  He shrugged. “This is Vegas.”

  Okay. He probably had a point. Swiveling to the side, she climbed out of the truck, taking care not to brush against his lean body. She had a feeling that his mere touch would send her up in flames.

  Kayden seemed to be taking the same care to avoid an accidental touch, leading her toward a small service door. Pausing to open a silver box that was built into the wide jamb, he placed his hand against an electronic scanner. The door slid open to reveal the inside of an elevator.

  Bianca lifted her brows as she entered the stainless steel cab and watched Kayden press the button for the top floor. She might not be familiar with Vegas, but she did know this wasn’t how most guests entered the hotel.

  In fact, she suspected there was something very top secret about this entrance.

  There was a shudder of movement as they were swept upward at a speed that made her head spin. Then, before she could catch her breath, the doors swooshed open and she was stepping directly into a penthouse suite.

  She blinked, then blinked again as she unconsciously moved forward. She was distantly aware that she was in a large sitting room with plush gray furniture and a polished black floor. The coffee tables were glass and chrome, with expensive prints framed in silver and hung around the room.

  Her attention, however, was locked on the glass wall that offered a panoramic view of the strip.

  “Good. God,” she breathed. “This is stunning.” She turned her head to discover her companion was standing a few feet away, his arms folded over his chest as he studied her with an odd expression. “Have you stayed here before?” she demanded.

  “A few times,” he admitted.

  Her head tilted to the side. “Do you do business in Vegas?”

  His lips twisted. “Nice try.” With a sharp shake of his head he was pulling out a cell phone and heading across the room. “I have a call to make. Behave yourself.”

  She watched as he disappeared down a hallway that she suspected led to the bedrooms. A strange shiver of anticipation inched down her spine, while that restlessness returned to curl through her abdomen.

  Her entire body tingled with the urge to follow Kayden and tumble him onto the nearest bed. Then, she wanted to lick him from head to toe.

  Insanity…

  Giving a sharp shake of her head, she headed back across the room. Obviously, she needed some time away from the man to clear away the crazy.

  Studying the high-tech instrument panel next to the elevator, she at last copied Kayden’s method by laying her hand against the screen built into the wall.

  Instantly the doors opened and she stepped inside.

  A faint smile curved her lips. Kayden had told her to behave herself, but he hadn’t said anything about staying in the room.

  Hitting the button for the lobby, she braced her feet as she dropped at an alarming speed.

  She wasn’t sure what she intended to do. A part of her knew that any reasonable woman would try to escape. It didn’t matter that she didn’t have her phone or any ID. If she could find a cop she could tell them that she’d been kidnapped. Once they contacted her father they would realize she wasn’t some insane person and take her to safety.

  But even as the doors to the elevator slid open and she stepped into the busy lobby made of marble floors and fluted columns, she knew she wasn’t going to find the nearest police officer.

  She could tell herself that she was afraid that if she alerted her father that Kayden might hurt him. After all, it was obvious that he’d come to the house expecting to find him. And that he’d taken her with the hope that he could use her to reach Joshua Ford.

  Or she could pretend that she simply wanted a few hours of freedom from her father’s smothering need to protect her. He would never, ever allow her to spend time in Vegas. And certainly he would never let her mingle among a crowd of strangers like she was just a normal tourist.

  But the truth was…she wanted to spend time with Kayden.

  It didn’t make any sense.

  He was a stranger who’d snuck into her home and kidnapped her. He might very well prove to be a threat to her father.

  Hell, he might be a threat to her.

  But there was a part of her that refused to dismiss the sense that she’d been destined to meet the aggravating, gorgeous man. And that he was fated to be a part of her future.

  Crossing the marble floor, Bianca entered the darkened casino and was instantly besieged with sensations.

  Not only the loud clamor of people and dinging machines, or the sound of music blaring from one of the numerous bars. It was the overwhelming barrage of emotions.

  Pleasure, excitement, desperation.

  Shivering, Bianca wandered past the slot machines, and then the velvet-covered tables where people threw dice while onlookers cheered or groaned with each toss.

  Most of the emotions washed over her like a wave, but there was one that actually tugged at her. Almost as if the person was calling her name.

  Compelled forward, she dodged past a group of drunken men who were intent on capturing her attention and headed toward a service door nearly hidden beside the bathrooms. Hesitating only a second, she entered the stairwell and quickly jogged up the steps to a steel door at the top. Pushing it open, she found herself standing on top of a flat roof.

  The late night breeze tugged at her hair that had come loose from her ponytail and cut through her thin sweater. Wrapping her arms around her waist, she cautiously moved across the tarred shingles. The sense of despair that had been calling to her was almost deafening, battering against her with an intensity she hadn’t expected.

  Stepping around a large air-conditioning unit, she at last caught sight of the cause of the emotional avalanche.

  A young woman stood on the edge of the roof, her slender body wearing nothing more than a skimpy waitress outfit and her pale face turned upward, as if seeking an answer to her problem from the heavens.

  “Don’t,” she called out, sensing the woman a breath away from jumping.

  The woman impulsively took a step back before turning to send Bianca a furious glare.

  “Stay away.”

  Pretending she didn’t know what was going on, Bianca lifted her hands and continued to inch forw
ard. She wanted to get close enough she could grab the young woman if worse came to worse.

  “You’re standing too close to the edge,” she said. “You might fall.”

  The woman reached up to angrily brush aside the tears that stained her pale face. She had blonde hair that was going dark at the roots and dark eyes that were bloodstained. As if she’d been crying for hours.

  “Are you an idiot?” the woman snapped. “I’m standing here because I want to fall.”

  Bianca took another step forward. “Why?”

  The woman bit her bottom lip. “Because I can’t take any more.”

  Bianca grimaced, her heart twisting. “I feel your pain.”

  The woman released an angry breath. “Dammit. I’m sick of hearing that. No one can feel my pain.”

  “No, I really can,” Bianca said, close enough to reach out and lightly touch the woman’s arm. “It’s a gift I was born with.”

  The woman continued to glare at her, but she didn’t pull away. “Feelings aren’t a gift. They’re a curse.”

  “Some days they are,” Bianca agreed, allowing her fingers to trace up the woman’s shoulder in a soothing motion. She’d discovered she had a strange ability to offer comfort with her touch. Even her burly bodyguards had mentioned that they felt better after she gave them a hug. “But the wonderful thing is that while they can cause us distress, they also bring us our greatest joy.”

  The woman sniffed, her tears drying as she gave a hesitant shake of her head.

  “Not tonight.”

  “No, not tonight.” Taking care not to startle her, Bianca wrapped an arm around her waist and urged her toward the center of the roof. “But the dark will pass and the sun will rise. You just have to give it time.”

  For long moments the woman leaned heavily against Bianca, her head nestled on Bianca’s shoulder. Then, sucking in a deep breath, she slowly straightened and looked around. The blank expression that had been settled on her pretty face was slowly replaced by one of horror.

  Clearly she was realizing where she was, and what she’d nearly done.

  “Oh my God,” she rasped, shaking her head. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  Bianca tried not to stiffen as she felt a sizzling heat flare down her back. At the same time the––well, whatever it was deep inside her that seemed connected to Kayden––was stirred to life.