She had argued with Jonas over this one. Jonas believed the prosecutor would fight with everything he had to make good on the promises given the Breeds when several of them had made hefty donations to his political campaign.
They had learned better quickly.
"I really need to check out the information coming in myself, Jonas." She sighed as she turned to face him, her nervousness gaining in strength the closer they got to the bed.
"Forget it. I'll contact Brim in a few minutes and put him on it. We have a party to attend, and hopefully Drey has indeed managed to pull in some information for us. Now get dressed. I'll see you before we leave for the party."
Rachel chewed at her lip as he left the room, and restrained the need to stomp her foot.
She didn't want to go to that damned party. Not only were there spies, killers and general troublemakers who attended these soirees, but the very ambassador who had tried to force her to whore herself to return home would be in attendance as well. If that wasn't a recipe for disaster, then she didn't know what was.
And if those obstacles weren't enough, there was the fact that she was able to have fun with Jonas now. Perhaps Merinus should have warned him that once she felt her job was secure she could make his life hell? Or perhaps Kane should have warned him?
It wasn't that she caused trouble, or deliberately set out to make anyone crazy. It was simply that she did have rather a smart mouth. She could be quiet and unemotional, or she could be fun and playful. There was no in-between.
And it seemed there was no getting out of this party either. She would definitely have to make Jonas pay for this one.
At least she was able to pander to the girly part of her when she had to attend these events. Merinus always ensured that the Bureau sprang for some really pretty dresses.
The one awaiting her was an evening gown of sapphire silk overlaying a gorgeous slip of silver lace. The skirt was slit to the knee, allowing the lace to spill from the side to the toes of sapphire heels. The bodice was held by narrow straps and cupped her breasts like a lover's hands. It was the most exquisite dress by far that Merinus had provided. With the dress were silver stockings shot with sapphire thread and banded with delicate lace at the thigh.
She had never worn a dress so lusciously feminine in her life. It was enough to make her want to attend that party.
Lifting her hand, she nibbled at her thumbnail as she wondered exactly how she was going to navigate the tricky waters that Ambassador David Slussburg was certain to churn up.
The man was a prick, and on top of it, he hated Breeds. He hated them to the point that he had on many occasions commented that the world would be better off if the Breeds were dead.
He was the type of man who wouldn't care a bit to be snide and mocking in Jonas's presence, and Rachel had a feeling Jonas would be less than charitable once Slussburg got started.
She only hoped she herself could be tactful enough to steer Jonas well clear of him.
CHAPTER 7
Jonas scented Rachel's nervousness as she paused at the top of the stairs, staring down at where he waited below. Turning, he had to forcibly control the animal growl that rose in his throat and the need that had claws threatening to slide from the tips of his fingers.
Had he ever seen anything, or anyone, so damned beautiful? Jonas was certain he hadn't, just as he was damned certain there was no way he was going to make it through the night without taking her.
Hell, he wasn't going to make it from the house before he touched her. He could touch her in reasonable safety, he told himself. But that sounded rather lame even to him. There was no way to truly ensure that the mating hormone didn't affect even the fine hairs that covered his body.
It was damned certainly affecting his tongue. The glands were so swollen they were painful, the taste of cinnamon and cloves filling his senses and reminding him how easy it would be to infuse her with the same arousal tearing through him.
Not that she wasn't aroused. She was. Just not insanely aroused. She wasn't in mating heat, and that was where he wanted her. Now.
Before he realized what he was doing, his foot was on the top step, his intentions clear in his mind. To kiss her. To taste her. To fill her with the hormone tearing through him, demanding sex, touch, taste. Possession.
"Merinus outdid herself." She touched the skirt of the dress self-consciously as she watched him. "The dress is exquisite."
Merinus hadn't arranged for the dress; he had. Jonas kept that information to himself for the time being and watched, waited, as she made her way down the curving staircase.
The dress cupped and hugged her upper body like a possessive lover. The skirt flowed over her legs, lace spilling down the side, the glittering blue threads sparkling through the material.
He wondered if the stockings looked as pretty on her as they had on the mannequin the dressmaker had kept in her shop.
"Are we ready to go?" she asked as she secured the fur-lined silk wrap that went with the dress.
"Not yet." If he didn't touch her, he was going to die. He was going to do something he knew they didn't want to face when the cold light of morning revealed itself.
But did he have the strength to pull back from just a touch.