Free Awakened by Virna Depaul

with the terrace railing, giving the illusion that one could swim off the building into the air. There was no one else there. Barrett counted three security cameras, slowly panning the terrace. She was probably safe enough. But she was relieved when she saw Nick come through the glass doors.
    He walked over to her, looking around. “Spectacular pool. You going in?”
    She nodded.
    “I can’t. No trunks. I’ll just take a chaise and watch, if you don’t mind.”
    “Suit yourself.” She waited until he turned around to find one, then took off the gauze top, lifting it quickly over her head and dropping it onto the slatted surround.
    Barrett went down the low ladder into the shallow end without making a sound. The rippling water enfolded her. She pushed away from the tiled wall, keeping her head high as she stroked out into the middle of the pool.
    Then she rolled over onto her back, making tiny motions with her hands to stay more or less where she was, looking up at the dark sky, thinking about nothing at all.

CHAPTER
FIVE
    High above in the penthouse suite someone else was watching her. Vladimir Ouspensky was mesmerized by the shimmering woman, her pale, slender body stark against the midnight blue of the water. He opened the window and leaned out slightly.
    “What are you looking at?” His girlfriend—he disliked the childish American term but he had to call Tamsin something—came over to see for herself.
    “Not what. Who. A woman. She is beautiful.”
    Vladimir adjusted the thick towel wrapped around his loins, too vain to cover up his torso or legs with a robe. He was impressively built for his breed, smooth-skinned and muscular with glossy dyed black hair that reached below his shoulders. Both nipples were pierced with platinum rings. His tongue had been pierced, too, with several studs precisely placed to intensify female pleasure—or pain—depending on his mood.
    Tamsin pressed past him, her scantily clad flesh warm with the heat of the bed she’d just left. “Think so? She’s a blonde. You don’t like blondes.”
    She turned her cat-shaped face to him, pushing back the tumbling dark waves that framed it. Her sensual moves had been thoroughly practiced. Less than two weeks ago, she’d been crowned queen of a private pageant in Miami. For call girls only. There had been no swimsuit competition, of course. Just world-class naked women, strutting in impossibly high heels in front of rows of well-dressed johns.
    There had been quite a bit of bending over and bouncing. The talent show was a lascivious extravaganza, topped off with a girl-on-girl threesome that had the men crazed with lust. Human males were conspicuously lacking in self-control in such an environment. He felt nothing but contempt for them.
    His darling Tamsin had stuck to singing and come in fifth. But Vladimir had paid off the judges to boost her points in the most important category, Sexy Bitch, for an overall win and a crystal tiara. Then he’d paid her to fly north with him.
    “My interest is purely professional, my dear.” Vladimir placed a cigarette between his thin lips and lit it. He blew the smoke out the open window. “That stupid manager has hired too many brunettes for Club Red and the opening is not far away.”
    When it came to acquiring females for the club, he no longer had Daria and Oksana to rely on. They’d been picked up during some kind of raid on Salvation’s Crossing. Whatever bargain they’d struck with the cops and prosecutors, and he was sure they had, he knew they’d be smart enough not to mention him. Even so, since Vladimir could no longer count on them to provide fresh faces for his latest enterprise, he’d had to explore other “headhunters,” so to speak. This time, his best recruiter was a man—or to be more precise, a human male turned vampire—and he obviously didn’t like blondes. Vladimir had been meaning to have a talk with him about his shortsightedness, but unfortunately he had more