Temptress Read online

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  I sat at the bar, stirring an amaretto and orange and waiting for the blond muscle head in the corner to look my way. He and his buddies were preoccupied sucking test tubes from the shot girl’s cleavage. Their cheers and catcalls tangled with the thumping hip-hop, and my head pounded.

  Left alone, I would’ve been snuggled in sweats and glued to the Food Network. Not trawling the bars.

  But when was I ever left alone?

  No way was I missing my Iron Chef for this frickin’ mission. It was time for Plan B.

  I swiped my fingers in the condensation on my glass and rubbed at my mascara. Once raccoon eyes were in effect, I rumpled my blonde ringlets, slipped my dress straps off my shoulders and casually elbowed my glass as I stumbled off the barstool.

  Crash.

  That turned some heads. The bachelor party cheered, and my mark whistled with two fingers in his mouth.

  Cute.

  I swayed over, stumbling past the shot girl. Biceps caught me before I could hit the floor.

  “You okay?” He licked his lips, and I could feel him eyeing the smudged make-up and slipping neckline. As much as I despised it, the floozy ploy never failed.

  “Fiiiiine.” I pulled away and faked another stumble.

  He caught me again. “What’s your name, sugar?”

  I wanted to knee him in the balls for the ‘sugar’, but I could do that on my own time. “It’s Jenny.” I used to give out an alias, but it was pointless. As soon as I got their powers, my targets forgot me. The sooner the better with this guy.

  I giggled and stroked his arm. “What are you, a boxer?”

  “They call me Steel.” He puffed out his chest, waiting for me to recognize the name.

  It took me a second to bite back a snicker, but hopefully he took the silence as awe. “You’re the Steel? What’re you doing in Vegas?”

  “Panther’s bachelor’s party.” Steel tipped his head toward the cat-clawed future groom, whose whiskers were buried in the shot girl’s double D’s. “The Manhattan Ten are in the house.”

  Always with the superhero card. But if Steel wanted to brag, I could play that game. All the better to get back in time for the Battle Prosciutto.

  “Ohmigod!” I fisted my hands in Steel’s shirt. “I love you guys!”

  Steel chuckled. “Want an autograph?”

  “I think I have a Sharpie or…” I fumbled with my purse.

  “Chill.” Steel tugged me away. “Let’s go upstairs. I left some photos in the VIP lounge.”

  Lamest. Pickup line. Ever.

  With Steel’s super-strength, I couldn’t get free without causing a scene, and the mission was a covert capture. Coded DNGC.

  Do Not Get Caught.

  I let Steel pull me up the ramp, faux-giggling all the way. The bouncer was an ex-NFL linebacker, but he jumped out of Steel’s way like a pimple-faced freshman from the chess club.

  The rest of the Manhattan Ten clustered around stripper poles, ogling the dancers. Cyclone kept shooting jets of water at the chick in the nurse costume, soaking her teensy scraps of fabric.

  So classy.

  My stomach flip-flopped as I counted the heroes. Steel and Cyclone. Red Ruin, Jet and The Annihilator. Plus Panther and Thunder out in the club, and Thinktank in the corner. Only he was staying out of the action. He sat with his eyes closed and an untouched drink.

  I’d thought Steel was exaggerating the whole “all of us are in the house.” It was supposed to be Panther, Steel and one or two others at most. Apparently a terrorist threat in Manhattan wasn’t reason enough to miss a good bachelor party. How the hell was I supposed to get Steel away from them?

  Thinktank glanced my way, and I blanked my thoughts. His dark gaze penetrated, fluttering against my mind. I’m just a floozy. Drunk and hooking up with a superhero. Nothing special.

  Either I didn’t register, or Thinktank was tired of all the debauchery. He closed his eyes and sank back into his own head. He’d be a problem later. I had a bigger one to deal with first.

  Steel scooped me up and pinned me to a sofa. He sucked at my neck, suffocating me in a cloud of Axe and Cuervo. My heart pounded, and I had to remind myself that I was in control. Kind of.

  His kiss took me full on the mouth. My power stirred, but I could hold it back when I wanted a real lip-lock. Too bad Steel wasn’t on my make-out list

  “Steel…” I wiggled away. “Can we go in the back? I want to be alone.” I couldn’t use my powers in front of the Ten. As soon as I struck, they’d all be after me. I couldn’t risk it.

  Steel chuckled. “Let’s play here, baby.” His hand slipped up my shirt.

  I snagged his wrist before his fingers found my bra strap. Exhibitionism wasn’t really my thing, especially with a super-powered audience. My stomach twisted. I was going to have to be more persuasive.

  Even though he was drunk and ten times stronger than me, he let me shift positions. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and nibbled his earlobe. Steel moaned softly.

  “Don’t you want me to yourself?” I whispered. “We’d have more fun without your friends watching.”

  “Whatever you want, sugar.” Steel lifted me like nothing, though he copped a feel or two as he moved us to one of the private rooms. I kissed his neck to avoid Thinktank’s glare.

  I breathed a sigh of relief when he elbowed the door shut. This room wasn’t messing around. Instead of token couches, a king-sized bed took up the floor space. There was a mini-bar, a nightstand whose contents I didn’t want to know and some intense mood lighting. Disco ball and everything.

  Before Steel could toss me again, I yanked his head back. “I like to be on top.”

  He grinned and sat on the bed, lowering me so I straddled his hips. I pushed him down. Now I was in control. I reached under my skirt for the handcuffs on my thigh garter and let them dangle and clink in front of him. “Do you like games?”

  “Kinky.” Steel didn’t fight as I attached him to the headboard.

  “Robert Donavan, alias Steel.” The cuffs clicked. “I’m authorized to take you into custody under section three point eight of the Superhero Justice Act. You’re to be tried for the rape of one Miranda Hutchins.”

  His eyes widened. With his super-strength, he could’ve snapped the chain, but he didn’t have the time. I lowered my mouth. As soon as our lips met, it was too late.

  He gasped, but my power worked fast. I sucked in his breath, sifting through his life force until I sensed the glowing center of his being. His powers. Once I could feel them, they were mine.

  Steel’s eyes rolled back, and he sagged against the bed. I left him cuffed and disentangled to straighten my dress and hair.

  That was one obstacle down. Now all I had to do was get a three hundred pound lump of unconscious muscle past seven of his closest hero friends, out of the club and down to the station.

  It was asking a lot, considering I was just freelance. But who else could do it? If they got to keep their powers, supers tended not to sit around and wait for trial.

  Hooray for justice.

  With Steel’s strength coursing through me, giddiness outweighed my nerves. I could make this work. I had plenty of powers of my own. As long as I kept it stealth, I’d be fine. Though Iron Chef was looking like a bust.

  I hovered up to the ventilation panel in the ceiling and heaved it open. It was big enough that I could squeeze in, but Steel’s shoulders were twice as wide as mine. That was out. I could make us both invisible and walk out the door, but that wouldn’t fly with Thinktank outside. A little invisibility wouldn’t fool him.

  Widening my eyes, I focused on the walls. My vision sank through the layers. Paint, drywall, frames and wiring, and back out again. We shared one wall with the
club, one with the VIP lounge and one with another private suite where Jet was occupied with a couple of strippers. I flinched away.

  The fourth wall was more promising. It connected to an empty men’s bathroom, and I stretched my vision further.

  Two women were touching up their lip-gloss in the adjoining women’s bathroom, and past that the only other obstacle was a service hallway. Through there, I could get into an alley, go invisible and fly away. The ladies grabbed their purses. I grinned and cut the X-rays.

  The handcuff key was tucked in my bra, but I wanted to test my new strength. It was always best to show a new power who’s boss.

  I gripped the metal headboard and pulled. Decorative iron snapped, and Steel slipped free.

  I flipped him over my shoulders. He reeked of booze and sweat, but the smell was the only way I could tell he was there. This whole super-strength thing was clutch, though I knew I’d regret it later. I even had a free hand to press through the wall.

  My skin tingled. Steel’s weight hit me as I yanked him through. It took three times more focus than usual, and I almost snagged him on a hot water pipe. Breathing hard, I stumbled into the men’s bathroom.

  I was halfway to the sinks when the door cracked against the wall. Thinktank thundered in with energy crackling around his temples. Of course it was him.

  Why hadn’t I checked his dossier before the mission? Right. He was supposed to be in New York. I knew he could read minds, but there was definitely more, and he looked way too muscular for a brain. His power jabbed against my skull like a fist squeezing my brain.

  “Who do you work for?” With the question, pain jolted so hard my knees almost gave.

  Fight or flight? I could win if I had to, but it wouldn’t be pretty afterward, and Thinktank hadn’t done anything wrong. It was time to cut my losses and run.

  I swung Steel off my shoulders and tossed him like a horseshoe. He hit Thinktank like the whole horse, and they crashed into the bank of urinals.

  I sprinted for the wall. God, I needed a teleporter to break some laws. This was ridiculous.

  I dove. Thinktank’s energy contracted around me. Instead of going through the wall, I face-planted. White streaks shot through my vision as my nose made a sickening crunch.

  Blood dripped to stain my dress. I glared over the hand cupped to my face.

  Steel lay crumpled under the spray of a shattered urinal, but Thinktank was on his feet and approaching. The closer he came, the more my head ached. I couldn’t let him get his hands on me. Which meant letting loose the fireworks.

  I flung my hands, casting a wall of fire between us. He cursed and jumped back. If the flames burned him half as badly as they seared my skin, it was worth it.

  Another pang, and the fire guttered. Thinktank looked sooty but unharmed.

  Bastard.

  I let loose a wave of ice, with some laser beams for good measure. The cold was excruciating on burnt skin, and the lasers felt like atomic buffalo sauce jetting through my retinas. So much for my TV lineup. Or being coherent the next few days. My body was going to hate me for using this many acquired powers.

  Thinktank dodged, lifting his fingers to his temples. A laser sizzled into his arm just before it fizzled. I slipped on leftover ice as his power clamped down.

  He grabbed me by the back of the neck and kicked open a stall. “Who do you work for?”

  With the question, Thinktank plunged my face into the toilet.

  Ick. Cold. Disgusting.

  I spluttered and kicked, but he must’ve done this before. His grip wouldn’t budge. I thrashed harder.

  “The Rogue Alliance?” He plucked me out and thrust me down again.

  Couldn’t the bastard just read my mind? If he couldn’t, I had one more card left. He was going to pay for making me use it.

  Suppressing the urge to vomit, I took a huge gulp of toilet water. It tasted like bleach and things I didn’t want to think about, but thanks to the wannabe pirate/merman I’d apprehended off Somalia, my body pulled out enough oxygen to clear the spots from my eyes. I let my limbs go limp.

  Thinktank hoisted me up and peered into my eyes. His mental hold relaxed—just barely. It was enough.

  Gluing my mouth to his, I gave him back some of the nasty water as I sucked out his powers. He toppled, and I collapsed on him, hacking up whatever I’d swallowed.

  My lungs burned and my body ached, but I scrabbled over to Steel. I dragged him out of a puddle and headed for the wall.

  Thinktank twitched. I really, really wanted to leave him. He’d interfered with my sting and almost blown the mission. And what kind of guy had the stomach to keep a rapist on his crime-fighting squad?

  But whatever Thinktank’s questionable leadership policies, he was a hero. Bona-fide. He saved babies from four-alarm fires, disarmed bio-weapons and had kicked enough supervillain ass to warrant a knighthood, a Congressional Medal of Honor and a Nobel Peace Prize. Anyone with a TV knew that much.

  He was a good guy. And I’d have to give him back his powers.

  I grabbed each of the heroes by an arm and dragged them through the wall, glancing back in time to see Red Ruin and The Annihilator tear through the door.

  They had no chance with their leader out of commission. We flashed invisible as I flew us out into the alley and into the air.

  Vegas glittered below us, but hauling the men took away from the spectacle. Just because I could lift them didn’t mean I should. Pain ripped up my arms, tearing through my shoulders.

  We were all going to have dislocated shoulders if I didn’t get to the station soon, and hauling both of them, I couldn’t exactly jet. Despite the pain, I shivered. Even in summer, Vegas got cold when the sun set.

  Nothing like flying over the nighttime desert in a soaked mini-dress.

  Chapter Two

  As soon as I sprawled onto the roof at the station, a detachment of officers swarmed. Four of them dragged Steel away to be booked and the rest approached Thinktank and me in a cautious semi-circle. One radioed the chief. I pressed my face against the roof, content to lay and catch my breath.

  By the time the chief puffed up the stairs, I’d managed to sit up. Go me.

  “What do we have here?” With a toe, Chief nudged Thinktank onto his back. His eyes bulged. “Don’t tell me this one went off the reservation?”

  “No…” I pushed to my feet. I should’ve spent the flight over thinking of some good excuses, but of the two of us, I was the one off the reservation.

  “Everyone clear out.” The chief waved the remaining officers back to the door. Despite the darkness, I could make out the muscle twitching under his eye. Once the door slammed, he turned the full force of his disapproval on me. “Explain, Ray.”

  At least he wasn’t mad enough to use my name in front of the other officers. “The intel was wrong. It was almost all of the Ten.” The two ladies had skipped out on the debauchery, but eight were plenty of trouble.

  “Shit.” Chief ran fingers through his salt-and-pepper hair. It had a lot more salt these days.

  “I almost made it anyway, but Thinktank sensed me. He attacked before I could explain.”

  “Could be worse,” Chief said. “We’ll brief him when he comes to.”

  “Well…”

  “Goddammit. You took his powers?” Chief’s muscle tic kicked up a notch.

  “Giving them back now. He’ll never know the difference.” I crouched next to Thinktank while Chief grumbled.

  Unconscious, in jeans and a black collared shirt, he should’ve looked like a regular guy passed out after a hard night at the bars. Not even close. He was too tall, too chiseled, and too…something I couldn’t pinpoint. He was good-looking, though not movie star gorgeous, with a crooked nose and short dark hair. No frosted tips or gangsta jewelry like all of the club rats who were trying too hard. Just an unassuming confidence that I had to admit was a little sexy.

  Then again, he’d shoved my head in a toilet.

  I planted my hands on Think
tank’s shoulders and sealed my mouth to his chilled lips. Sifting through my reservoir of power, I felt for his energy. Steel’s strength jumped to the top of the pile, but I shifted it aside. Dozens of other heroes and their powers swirled inside me—shape-shifters, doppelgangers, fliers, and weather-workers—but none of the energies belonged to him.

  Recoiling, I closed my eyes and searched deeper. There. I found the power and wrapped it around me, focusing in on the chief.

  —him out of all the heroes she could bring in? But Murdoch’s on vacation, so there’s no one to tip the press. We can spin this. Mistaken identity. Sit him down and explain the situation with Steel. He’s a good guy. He’ll—

  Between Chief’s thoughts and the pounding headache, I definitely still had Thinktank’s powers. I bent for a second kiss. As soon as our lips touched, the power slipped away like oiled marbles.

  I tried again. And again. Nothing.

  “What’s the hold up, Ray?” Chief asked when I came up for air.

  “There’s a problem.” I wiped my lips against the back of my hand. A problem with my powers, or his? Either way, I was the one in trouble. “I can’t give the powers back.”

  “Say that again?”

  “It’s never happened like this. I can feel his energy, but it won’t go back.”

  The chief paced, and I couldn’t resist the urge to listen in.—what I get for relying on heroes. Goddamn. The paperwork. She was off mission. We can’t keep him here. She’ll have to mop up on her own—

  “What?” I jerked away from Thinktank.

  The Chief frowned. “Well, Ray. You’re up the creek this time. It was an unauthorized capture, and I won’t keep an innocent hero after you’ve stolen his power. You broke it, you fix it.”

  “That’s…” Bullshit. A terrible idea. But it was mine to fix. I wouldn’t have touched Thinktank if I’d imagined this could happen. “Where should I take him?”

  “Anywhere but here. And try to have this fixed before the Feds are on your ass.”

  “Chief! You wouldn’t—”

  “I have to phone it in, Jenny.” He lifted a hand and his voice softened. “I trust you, and I know you wouldn’t pull a stunt like this on purpose, so I might forget to make that call until tomorrow, but I will make it. This guy’s the top hero on the East Coast. We keep the Feds informed or they’ll have us both in cuffs.”