Kissed by Smoke by Shéa MacLeod Read Free Book Online Page B

what
Steampunk is.” Of course I did. Victorian era sci-fi, more or less.
Someone once described it as Hot Topic meets a BBC Costume drama. I
just didn’t know what the heck a Steampunk party was. “Eddie, this
is important. Please.”
    “Very well. Why don’t you come by the party
later? It’ll go into the small hours. I’m sure we can find a place
to chat. I’ll leave your name with the bouncer.”
    Eddie was going to a party that needed a
bouncer? “Sounds great.”
    He quickly gave me the address. Before he
hung up he said, “Oh, and Morgan. Wear your hunting boots. And a
corset.”
    I stared at the phone with my mouth hanging
open.
    ***
    The party turned out to be in one of the
huge multi-million dollar houses in the West Hills. The kind that
was supposed to look like it came straight out of a fairytale, with
diamond paned windows and fake turrets. Usually they just looked
tacky, but someone had made sure they got the specs on this one
right. I’d have been hard put to distinguish it from a real Tudor
back in England.
    There was an honest-to-gods bouncer on the
door. Just like it was a freaking nightclub or something. Except
the bouncer’s muscular frame had been crammed into black leather
trousers and a sleeveless leather vest that were both way too
tight. Over it he wore what looked like an antique military jacket
of some kind. I had to admit it was kind of sexy.
    “Invitations.” His voice was low and growly
and just as sexy as his outfit. It was also not entirely human.
    “We’re here to meet Eddie Mulligan.”
    “Name.”
    Not a talkative kind of guy then. “Morgan
Bailey. This is … ” I started to give him Inigo’s name, but the
bouncer cut me off.
    “Go on in.” He stepped back and let us
through the door.
    Inside a girl waited to take our coats. She
was pretty and petite and wearing a crimson hoopskirt and matching
bustier. I decided to just go with it.
    Inigo gave me a wolf whistle as I shrugged
my coat off. I’d taken Eddie’s advice and donned a corset with my
jeans and steampunk-style hunting boots. I don’t wear a corset
often, but I have to admit I love them. They sort of nipped a girl
in and pushed her out in all the right places. And frankly, they
made my boobs look awesome. Something Inigo had clearly
noticed.
    “Thanks. You’re not so bad yourself.”
    And he wasn’t. Oh, boy, he wasn’t. I’d half
a mind to drag his ass out the door and back home. Screw the
case.
    He was wearing an ordinary pair of jeans and
a white shirt, but over the top he’d thrown a gorgeous black
embroidered waistcoat that would have made Beau Brummel drool. He’d
topped that off with a long, black duster a la Wyatt Earp. The
whole outfit on his well-toned physique was seriously
scrumptious.
    His eyes twinkled golden. His dragon half
was close to the surface and it liked that it was turning me on. I
stepped closer, my lips inches away from his, and trailed my
fingers along his right hip. The hip that bore such a uniquely
beautiful birthmark. A birthmark he’d been surprisingly
self-conscious about until I’d shown him just how beautiful I
thought it was.
    “Come on, sexy beast,” I whispered. “Let’s
do what we came to do and get the hell out of Dodge.”
    Blue flashed back through his eyes. “You got
it, baby.” He nodded toward the room down the hall where the party
was obviously taking place. I could hear what sounded like a twangy
version of Evanescence. “Let’s go see what Eddie’s up to.”
    What Eddie was up to was flirting with a
group of women wearing brass goggles and not much else. I’d no idea
he was such a lady-killer. Go Eddie.
    “Morgan! Inigo! Come! Ladies, I would like
you to meet my lovely friends, Morgan Bailey and Inigo Jones.”
    He rattled off the women’s names, but I
hardly noticed. I was too busy watching what was going on around
me. It was like the Mad Hatter’s tea party got thrown in a blender
with a BBC costume drama and the cast of Blade. Holy crap,