Master of the Night by Angela Knight Read Free Book Online Page A

women who wouldn’t even meet his eyes.
    As it was, she wasn’t the only one skidding out of control. Now Reece craved the release he’d find in her lush, hot femininity far too much to care about playing fair.
    They’d both have to take their chances.
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    The waiter balanced his tray of canapés as an overweight guest made her selection. His gaze, however, was focused on Reece Champion and Erin Grayson as they slipped out through the ballroom’s double doors.
    â€œTargets are leaving,” he murmured, just loud enough for his body mike to pick up the words.
    The woman looked up, her plump fingers hesitating over a quiche. “What?”
    He smiled at her. “Nothing, ma’am. Nothing at all.”
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    Inside a catering truck in the ComTec parking lot, James Avery frowned as he watched the monitor for the elevator security camera. Erin was wrapped in Champion’s arms again as they kissed with the same ravenous hunger the waiter’s button camera had recorded when they’d stepped onto the balcony.
    At his elbow Steven Parker snickered. “I thought you said she was a pro.”
    Avery frowned. “She is. I’ve known her ten years—hell, I trained her. She’s intelligent, capable, and controlled, and she breaks the rules only when she has to. That’s why I hired her for the Outfit to begin with, despite the mess with her partner. So what the devil is she doing now?”
    The blond’s lips curled into a thin smirk. “Looks to me like she’s about to put her assets to good use.”
    Which certainly played into their plans. And yet…Avery drummed his long brown fingers on the monitor console. “This is totally out of character. Wonder if Champion’s doing something to her?”
    â€œIf he’s not, he certainly intends to.” Parker’s pale eyes were focused hungrily on the monitor. “At least, judging by the way his hand is sliding up her skirt.”
    Avery eyed the other agent in distaste. Parker might be the nominal head of this operation, but if he kept up the attitude, Avery was going to bitch to the FBI until they sent in somebody else.
    Frowning, he switched his attention to the monitor. Grayson and Champion stepped hastily apart as the elevator neared the lobby. The camera angle didn’t allow a view of her face, but Avery thought she staggered slightly.
    But why? He knew good and damn well Erin wasn’t tipsy. She’d had one glass of champagne and a sip or two of another. Not nearly enough to test the tolerance of a woman who’d drunk Avery himself under the table a memorable time or two.
    Had Champion done something to her?
    â€œWe should have told her what she was getting into,” Avery said aloud, voicing the thought that had been nagging at him since he’d learned the details of Parker’s plan. “I don’t like sending her in blind.”
    The agent snorted. “She’d have been terrified, and with Champion’s senses, he’d have known it.”
    Avery glowered as he remembered watching a tech tape a body mike to Erin’s flat belly just last week. They’d all known if the cultists of Death’s Sabbat made her for a government agent, they’d kill her on the spot. Yet there’d been nothing in those clear blue eyes but ruthless determination.
    Erin was completely dedicated to shutting down the cult she held responsible for her partner’s death, and she was willing to do whatever it took to accomplish that aim. Her hunger for justice was so great, it left no room for fear or self-doubt. “Erin Grayson is no coward,” he growled.
    â€œShe’d better not be.” Parker leaned back in his seat and laced his hands behind his head. “But think about it. What if we’d asked you, ‘How’d you like to be a vampire’s dinner date?’ What would you have said?”
    â€œI’d have done my job,” Avery