Read Hunted (A Cyn & Raphael Novella) for Free Online

expression said there definitely was a but .
    “Boy’s got a problem with women,” Lucas admitted. “Doesn’t mind fucking ’ em —” He shot the two women a guilty look, and said, “Sorry, ladies.”
    “We’re both familiar with the word,” Kathryn said dryly. “But how is it possible that you hung out with someone who doesn’t like women?”
    Lucas grinned and flashed her a lascivious wink. “I told you, he doesn’t mind bedding them, and there was never a shortage of volunteers for the job. But other than that … he thinks they’re beneath him, and that that’s where they belong.”
    “Hmmm,” Kathryn said thoughtfully. “Sounds like bad mommy syndrome. I guess we should be glad he’s only a vampire instead of a serial killer.” She paused a beat. “Oh wait, they’re the same thing.”
    Cyn started laughing, and Kathryn joined in, the two of them high-fiving. They looked over at their respective vampire lovers, wanting to share the joke, and found the two of them staring back blank-faced. Which only made the two women laugh harder.
    “An FBI agent, Lucas? Really?” Raphael said grimly.
    “Oh, right,” Lucas drawled. “Because yours stays home and bakes cookies all night.”
    Cyn looked up from wiping tears from her eyes. “Hey! I can bake cookies.”
    That only earned her a disbelieving scowl from Raphael, which threatened to set her off again. He shook his head and turned back to Lucas.
    “Where is Aden now?”
    “In St. Louis, but he can be here tomorrow.”
    “All right. I’ll meet him as favor to you.”
    “Thank you, Sire,” Lucas said, leaping gracefully to his feet. “In the meantime, this house is yours. Kathryn and I will stay at the homestead, and I’ll tell Aden to meet us out there tomorrow. It’s more discreet.”
    “That’s acceptable,” Raphael said. “But, Lucas,” he added, his voice going cold and deadly, “once that’s done, we’re going to find out who was after us and why. Because, if there’s to be a hunt, I intend to be the hunter, not the hunted.”

 
    Chapter Four
    Cyn waited while Raphael sealed the elevator door behind them, then turned and eyed the well-appointed bedroom.
    “This isn’t Lucas’s and Kathryn’s bedroom, is it?”
    “No,” Raphael replied, dropping his leather jacket on the back of a chair. “This is a guest room. Would it matter?”
    “Yes,” she said emphatically. “I don’t like sleeping in someone else’s bedroom.”
    “You slept in mine.”
    “Back in the day,” she clarified, moving restlessly around the room.
    He laughed. “It wasn’t that long ago.”
    “Just feels like it,” she said absently.
    “Should I be insulted or flattered?”
    “Take your pick.”
    “Cynthia,” Raphael said. He didn’t use her full name very often. She looked at him. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
    She studied him a long moment, then said, “What’s the situation , Raphael? When you were talking to Lucas,” she clarified, when he gave her a puzzled frown. “You said something about how he understood the situation. Well, I want to understand it, too. What is it?”
    “Ah.”
    Cyn watched him intently, holding her breath as she waited to see what his next words would be. Would he answer her question? Or would he deflect it with casual humor, or even sex?
    He picked up his jacket from the chair and hung it in the closet, then sat down. Her lungs squeezed hard enough to become a physical pain in her chest when he lifted his black-eyed gaze and said, “Sit with me, lubimaya .”
    “I can stand.”
    “Please.”
    She eyed him doubtfully, her lips flattened against the emotions clogging her throat. But he’d said “please,” which he rarely did, so she walked over. She intended to sit on the opposite chair, but Raphael had other plans. He snagged her hand and tumbled her onto his lap, holding her there when she would have gotten up.
    “Raphael. I’m serious.”
    “I know that. I’m ensuring that you can’t get