What Lies Beneath

Common sense told me that I was being silly. About everything. Mostly in this moment - about what I was picking to wear. It was all about trying to tempt someone who was un-tempt-able. Or, more accurately, a bad idea to try and tempt. He was a four-hundred-year-old vampire, and I was an eighteen-year-old human. Nothing about this was right. Funny how that didn't matter at all to me.

So I threw on the blue dress. The one that was cut low and the skirt was cut short. I had on some kind of fishnets. There was a flower pattern on them, making them a little less trashy than they normally would have been. I sat on my bed, waiting for Landon to come into my room.

It took him a while to come in, but once he did, I felt better. He smiled in my direction. "All dressed up with nowhere to go?"

"I have somewhere to go. I think we've been focusing on the wrong part of this. Knox. If we can find the ringleader to the kidnapping, then I can find Jaxon. He'll know where my brother was taken."

"Only problem being that we don't know who took him."

"True. But one of the names in that ledger had to be his. He made it sound like he was important to Knox. So this is what I was thinking. That guy found us in Vegas. Either he was already close, or he lives around there. There are two addresses in that book that are around there."

Landon considered that. "You want to go back to where this started?"

"It can't hurt. What do you think?"

"You're right. Couldn't hurt. How about you pack up, and we get going?"

It didn't take long. I shoved my things in my bag and got it down to the van. I set it right next to Jaxon's. It had been there since the day he'd been taken. Waiting for its owner to come back.

Landon threw his bag in. "Ready? I thought we could get something to eat first. Maybe some place where we could actually sit and eat. We need to wait out work traffic anyway." He picked me up by the hips and moved me aside, then he shut the door.

"Sure," I managed to get out.

His hands slipped in his back pockets, and he watched me. "Uh, you gonna move, honey?"

Wow, I'm stupid. I didn't even say anything before I went to the passenger's side. I buckled up and stared straight out the window in front of me. I listened to Landon get in and start the engine, also not talking. He didn't seem to notice the awkwardness I was feeling. Or he was good at ignoring it.

Landon drove for about ten minutes before he found a diner. We got out of the van, and his hand went to the small of my back as he led me inside. We sat in the middle of the row of booths close to the door. He was across from me and set his hands on the table.

"What are you getting?" he asked.

I hadn't even looked at the menu. "Probably a burger. Because seven in the morning is a reasonable time for that."

"Might as well enjoy it. We'll be in a car for twelve hours."

The waiter came over. He had a boyish looking face and light brown hair..

"What can I get you?" he asked me.

I gave him my order, and then Landon chose the same thing I did, only a different soda.

The boy laughed and smiled at me. "I like your style. Burger for breakfast."

I nodded, not up for light conversation. "Yup. I like burgers."

"Me too." He smiled brighter and walked away. Landon glared in his direction until he vanished behind a wall.

I wrote out the names and addresses that Landon needed for tomorrow, and I handed the napkin to him. We were still hovering around the West Coast for the time being. Both names were of men, and I was praying that one of them belonged to that monster.

"Do you think Knox's main house might have him?" I asked.

"It could..." Landon put the napkin in his pocket. "...but there's no telling if he is there. The security he has is something that we wouldn't stand a chance with."

The waiter came back very quickly. He set our drinks down and smiled at me again before leaving.

Landon looked at my chest. "Maybe you wanna do another button, love."

I glanced down, and I was really putting on a show. Landon didn't care, but the waiter did. So now, a waiter had a crush on me, and Landon thought I was stupid. This morning could have gone better.

I was grateful that he didn't kill me for sneaking into his bed. In fact, he was pretty cool with it. Understanding in a way I wouldn't have expected from a man who I'd literally seen cave a person's head in. And now that I thought about it, that should have kept me out of his bed. Oh well.

I ended up fastening the button.

Our food arrived, and I picked at my fries while I stared at the table. I must have looked off, because Landon tapped at my foot with his. "What's up with you? Are you just always in a mood?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "No. Just when I'm stressed. You've not seen me when I'm all right, under normal everyday conditions, just brother-taken-by-monsters conditions."

He nodded. "Very true. The closest I got was your birthday. You seemed..." He smiled. "...like you were having fun."

"I was. It's a game and I'm very good at it. When I'm not bad at it. Getting the only person in my life kidnapped and possibly murdered."

"Don't get like that. I prefer you cocky, not sad."

I nibbled on a fry.

His feet appeared beside me, settling and crossing on the bench. "Fine then. Don't tell me what's wrong with you. I prefer not knowing." He laced his fingers and put them behind his head. "Though if you want me to make you feel better, I can take my shirt off."

I forced a smile and set my feet beside him on his side of the booth. "It'd take a lot more than that to pick me up, sweetheart."

His smile turned wicked, and his fingers ran up and down my leg. "I never said I wasn't willing."

"Too bad we left the hotel," I joked.

His expression didn't change. "Give me three minutes, and I can find a place."

We were locked in a stare down when the waiter came back. He cleared his throat and gave an annoyed glance when he saw Landon's hand on me. "And how is everything today?"

"Fine." Landon almost growled at him. The glare he gave the boy was close to chilling. "If we need you, we'll ask."

The boy seemed thoroughly frightened as he nodded and walked away.

Landon turned back to me. "Where were we? Oh, yes, me getting you naked..."

I smiled again. "Don't tease me." I put my feet on the floor and dug some cash out of my wallet. I dropped it on the table. "Let's go. We have a long drive."

He didn't let me up. "Take your money back." He pulled a twenty from his pocket. "Girls don't pay for dates. I'm a gentleman."

I took my cash, and he let me stand up. I put it away, and he took my hand, leading me out and smiling in the direction of the waiter.

"When did we say this was a date?"

Landon was still looking over his shoulder. "We didn't."

We went out the door and back to the van. I was about to get in when Landon turned me around and pressed me against the door. His hands went up my sides, and his fingers found my buttons. He undid two. "Figured since we're no longer in the presence of that deviant, you could fix this."

I looked down. "I only had one undone."

He kept his hands on my ribs. "Looks better this way."

"I look like I should be standing on a street corner."

He smiled. "You look beautiful. So shut up." He left me and got in the van.

****

I woke up on something soft. Then something fluffy was being pulled up over me. I made a whiny sound.

Landon laughed. "Go back to sleep."

I opened up my eyes, and he was the first thing I saw. I was lying in a bed in a room too nice for a person like me. Landon was tucking me in. "Where are we?" I said sleepily.

"In a hotel just off of the strip. I hope you don't mind, but they only had one room available. We have separate beds, of course."

Damn. "That's okay." I stretched and wiggled my toes. "Did you take my shoes off?"

He smiled in the dark. "Yeah. You fell asleep in the van, and you were mumbling about it."

"Thank you, sweetie." I moved around, trying to get comfortable. "Now, can you look away so I can take my clothes off?"

"I would never look away for that. But when you're more awake, I can imagine you being upset about being undressed in front of me. So how about I get you something to put on?"

I yawned, and he took it as a yes. He got something from his bag and tossed it to me. It was a sweater. I pulled the blanket over my head and took off my bra and dress, trading it for the sweater. And it was so comfy. Landon flattened my messy hair when I moved the blanket back. "It's later than I thought it would be, so you best lie back down."

I did. "Are you gonna lie down too?"

"With you?"

I didn't say anything. Then I did, and I wished I could take it back. "If you want to."

His expression was soft, but not what I was looking for. "Probably not a good idea."

I closed my eyes. "Whatever you want."

He laughed, and I couldn't understand why.

"Just tell me if you need more blood..." I was drifting already. Only a few more minutes now.

Something cool pressed against my forehead. "Pleasant dreams."