Sawyer went to open it while I patted my mouth dry and tried to smooth my hair down. Whoa there, girl, I scolded myself. You just met this dude today. What gives?
There was something primal in my lust for Sawyer. I’d never craved anyone’s touch this much in my life. It wasn’t just my body that wanted him. It was — I felt stupid even admitting it — but it was almost like my soul needed him.
Yeah. That sounded stupid, even in my mind.
Cool it, I thought. This is getting way too hot and heavy, way too fast. Remember what’s important here. Deborah could be in terrible trouble, and this is not the time for a vacation fling. Or rather, a business trip fling.
So that was that. I promised myself I wouldn’t get carried away in the moment when he came back.
But I already knew I wouldn’t keep my promise. The second he was near me, my hormones took over. My rational brain couldn’t see through the desire.
In Deep
When Sawyer came back in the room, the cop from earlier was with him. Officer O’Leary. Or Jim, as Sawyer had called him.
“Good evening, Miss Bradley. Just stopped by to give you an update.”
He took his hat off and checked around his boots for snow.
Sawyer waved airily at him. “Don’t worry about that, Jim. Please, take a seat.”
“Oh, I won’t, if you don’t mind, Sawyer. I won’t take up too much of your time. Just wanted to let Miss Bradley know that we located Mr. Rollinson and he’s flying into Denver tonight. We’re hoping he’ll have some information that could help us find the guy who’s taken Mrs. Rollinson.”
I couldn’t stop myself blurting out a question. “So, you’re sure it’s a guy?”
Officer O’Leary scrutinized me intensely.
“Why? Do you have reason to believe it’s a woman?”
“No, not at all. I just — I’m just interested in the procedures you guys follow to work all this stuff out. It’s, uh, it’s interesting.”
Officer O’Leary cleared his throat. He obviously couldn’t discuss the investigation. I should’ve stopped talking, really.
But I didn’t. I just kept on going.
“I mean, do you do psychological profiling at this stage? How do you make your early assessments? What’s the first step? Do you have any suspects, yet?”
Jim cut in. “I’m not at liberty to share any of those details. We have a brief statement drafted from questioning you earlier, and we’ll arrange a time tomorrow for a more detailed conversation.”
I smiled weakly.
“Now, it looks like the snow is coming down hard. Going to be a bitter night, folks. You’ve booked that hotel, I hope? Don’t leave it too long to get over there, eh?”
I opened my mouth to reply, but Sawyer cut in. “I’ll make sure she travels safely, Jim.”
He winked at me behind Jim’s back.
As they walked back to the door, I beat myself up inside a little. Why did I have to pester him like an over-eager kid?
Probably just as well I didn’t make it as far as a career in law enforcement. My common sense could use an upgrade.
There was no getting anything past Sawyer. He stood in front of me with an amused expression.
“What was that all about?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re interested in the procedures, you said. Then, you got all excited about police work. Then you went bright red.”
“Thanks so much for noticing.” I rubbed my cheeks with both hands.
“So, you’re really interested in the police investigation, right? So, you could be a criminal, which I doubt, or maybe you’re a wannabe cop. I’m guessing wannabe cop.”
I bristled for a second. He was right on the money, of course.
“Not exactly. Well, okay, yeah. Exactly.”
He sat down next to me, looking expectant.
“So, I’m a police academy dropout. I didn’t want to give it up, but I had to, and there we are.”
He nodded. “And?”
“There’s nothing else to it. I couldn’t complete my training, so I lost my place. Now, I’m a rich woman’s PA.”
“I knew there was something going on under that prim surface. You’re not the PA type.”
“What type is that?”
Sawyer grinned his sexiest, most annoying grin. “Forget I said it. Why’d you drop out, though?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I have all evening.”
I sighed. He had me backed into a corner.
“My cousin got sick and I had to look after her. It was either that, or she’d end up in jail.”
“Intriguing. What was wrong with her?”
“She was addicted to drugs. Mainly meth, but ya know. Anything goes, once you get with that lifestyle. She got busted a third time, and they said she could stay out of jail only if someone was accountable for her. Actually, the judge insisted on rehab at first, but she wouldn’t go. So, I looked after her. I was her rehab.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes.
“So up until then, you were working toward becoming a cop?”
“Does that surprise you?”
“Everything about you surprises me.”
He took my hand, turned it over, and kissed the inside of my wrist. It was a weirdly intimate gesture.
I finally plucked up the courage to ask the question I’d been rehearsing in my mind.
“When you said I was yours, back there — what did you mean?”
“You really don’t know?”
I shook my head, confused. “How could I?”
He slid his hand off my wrist and onto my knee. My thighs tingled like he was shooting electrical currents out of those manly fingertips.
“Cadence, do you believe in fate?”
I thought about it for a moment.
“I don’t know. Yeah. I guess, I do. Kinda.”
“So, for example, you believe there was a good reason you had to drop out of your dream job?”
“Hm. Well, now. There’s a question.”
I hated having dropped out. But, I suppose I liked the idea that it was all for some higher purpose.
“Okay, yeah. I’d feel like less of a failure if leaving was written in the stars, or whatever.”
“What if I told you fate arranged things so you had to give up your spot in training, just so you could work for Mrs. Rollinson, come to Aspen, and meet me?”
We stared deep into each other’s eyes for a moment, unblinking.
“That would sound like you’re a rampant egomaniac who thinks the world revolves around him.”
“Can’t argue with that.” He smiled and sat back, arms resting on the back of the sofa, with legs wide apart.
He was so over-confident, it was maddening.
For a second, I really disliked him. But, the heat between my thighs told a different story.
“So, what are you saying? That you’re my destiny?” I said it in the cheesiest daytime soap voice I could manage.
“Pretty much.”
He looked me right in the eye. And he wasn’t laughing.
My heart was beating so hard, I half-wondered if it might leap right out of my chest and dance around the floor.
“But before we go any further down this road, there’s something we need to talk about.”
Uh-oh. Here it came. I knew there had to be a catch.
I braced myself for whatever he was about to say.
* * *
He held my hand firmly, looking down at it.
My heart sank. What did he mean?
“You have a sexually-transmitted disease?”
“What? No!”
“You’re married?”
“No! Can you just let me finish?”
“Sorry. Okay.”
Sawyer took another deep breath, like he was getting psyched up for something. Then he lifted his jaw and looked me square in the eye.
“Cade
nce — I’m not like other guys.”
His green eyes were locked on mine. They were so luminous they almost shone. Like glow stars on my old bedroom ceiling at Mom’s.
“Tell me about it,” I said in a dry voice.
“I don’t just mean my devastating good looks, wit and charm.”
I rolled my eyes. He grinned, his eyes crinkling at the edges.
“So what do you mean?”
“I mean…” He dropped my hand and stood up, pacing to the edge of the room and back. He seemed to be trying to find the right words.
“You’re scaring me now. Just spit it out, okay?”
“Okay.” He sat down next to me again. “Cadence, I’m a shifter. Do you know what that is?”
My jaw dropped open. Of course, I knew what a shifter was.
“Yeah. Yeah, I know what they are.”
“Have you ever known a shifter before?”
“No. Not personally.”
“But you know about us? You know about the magical community?”
The words ‘magical community’ jangled in my ears, like they were echoing round a cave.
“I did my senior year English project on shapeshifters in literature. I’ve always been interested in shifters. And, I always knew it wasn’t a myth. I just—”
I almost had to pinch myself to make sure I was awake.
“Go on?”
“I’ve just never met one before. And, now you’re telling me we’re meant to be together? You’re saying I’m fated to be with a shifter?”
“Yeah, I am.”
I felt lightheaded for a second. There was a folded newspaper on the table, and I fanned myself with it.
“If you need a moment, I can go get the food started and let you think for a while.”
“No, it’s okay. It just wasn’t what I was expecting you to say, that’s all.”
“What did you think I’d say?”
“I thought you’d mumble something about needing an open relationship because you’re all man, your cock is free range and cannot be tamed, blah blah blah. Something like that.”
He roared with laughter, eyes sparkling. Then the smile faded.
“And instead you found out I’m not all man. I’m something else too.”
“What are you? What kind of animal are you?”
“I’m a snow leopard, Cadence. You saw me on the road earlier.”
I gasped.
“So, that was why you suddenly appeared, right afterwards? Why were you half-dressed?”
“Shifting rips up your clothes. It’s easier just to take them off first. I have bundles of clothes hidden all over the mountainside.”
“Wow. You’re one hell of an organized kitty.”
“I try.” He passed me my drink. It was nearly empty. “Want more?”
I shook my head. It would take me a few moments to find my breath and sense of normality again. Adding more alcohol wasn’t going to help.
“So, let me get this straight. We’re ‘fated mates’? Isn’t that what you magical people call it?”
“Ding ding ding. Jackpot.”
This had been the weirdest day ever.
Here I was, sitting opposite probably the most handsome man I’d ever seen in my life. And he was telling me in all seriousness, that I was The One.
And oh, by the way, he’s a shifter. Of course. Why wouldn’t he be?
Holy shit.
My mind was totally blown by this point.
And, I knew I had a choice here.
Either I could walk away from this crazy situation, go to the hotel and concentrate on finding Deborah, or, I could stick around and find out where in hell all this was leading.
“I think maybe I’d like to explore this in more depth,” I said with vast understatement, and clasped his face in my hands. He didn’t need a second hint.
New Flame
Without another word, our hands and lips found each other.
Just one touch of his tongue against mine made me wild with desire. Warmth flooded between my legs. I squirmed, feeling how my panties were wet through.
He moved his lips down to my neck and slipped his hand up my thigh. I tipped my head back, unable to stop my moan of pleasure.
With one swift motion, he pulled me onto his lap. I slid my legs on either side of him, so I could feel his hardness pressing against my hot, aching pussy. It was shameless, and I didn’t care at all. I ached to tear his clothes off.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered against my face.
His hands roamed under my sweater. I writhed beneath his hot touch. Automatically, I lifted my arms straight up, and he pulled the sweater off over my head.
“Oh god yes,” I breathed into his hair. I was excited and scared, and I wasn’t sure I believed this ‘fated mates’ thing yet, but it was as if my body was refusing to listen to my mind. My body—my heart, wanted this…wanted him. Suddenly, the other things in my life—my job, poor Mrs. Rollinson—they didn’t seem as important any more.
He yanked my bra open and flung it aside, taking one rock-hard nipple in his mouth, and circling the other with his tongue. I moaned again, louder this time. The feeling was too much. I wondered if I might come there and then, just from that one feeling.
His cock shoved hard against me. He felt huge and I was a little wary of his size. But, I was so turned on, I didn’t care.
“Let me take this off you,” I panted. I tore at his shirt, pulling it off him as he swapped his attention to my other breast. When I thought I could stand it no more, he stood up, holding me up. My legs were still wrapped around his waist.
“I want you on the rug,” he growled.
He placed me gently on the soft expanse and knelt over me. I could hardly stand it; I couldn’t wait, my feelings were so intense.
“Please,” I whispered. “I need you right now.”
“We have all night,” he said in his sexy deep voice. “Relax,” he breathed.
Then, his firm hands tugged down my pants, so I was just lying there in panties. I gyrated furiously, needing him inside me so badly.
He hooked his fingers inside my panties and pulled them down. I lay totally nude in front of him, and for the first time in my life I wasn’t self-conscious at all. I felt sexy and womanly, and totally hot.
The look on his face told me he saw it, too.
“Goddamn it, you’re perfect.” He pulled my legs up roughly, and draped my knees over his shoulders. His face was right up close to my most intimate area, and I could hardly contain myself.
“Oh god, Sawyer,” I begged. “Now. Now. I need you inside me.”
But, he wouldn’t move. In what I was realizing was typical Sawyer style, he just did whatever the hell he wanted. Luckily, what he did was amazing.
Instead of filling me up like I begged him to, he just licked me in one firm sweep, from ass to clit. I almost exploded right there. As I wailed and thrashed under him, he set to work all over with his tongue. The sensations were so raw and so powerful, and his tongue seemed to be everywhere, so I just about lost my mind.
Before long, I was screaming in ecstasy, calling out his name. He buried his tongue deep inside me, riding out the waves of pleasure until I slumped back onto the rug, exhausted.
“Oh my god, Sawyer,” I half-sobbed. I reached down for him and grabbed hold of his cock. I stroked it gently.
“Don’t you dare,” he said, as I pulled myself up to a sitting position and licked a bead of wetness from the very tip. “You can’t — oh fuck, yes. Fuck. Yes.”
I sucked him slowly and lazily, enjoying his loss of control. He wasn’t in charge at the moment. I looked up and caught his eye as I took the whole of him into my mouth. As our eyes locked, I shuddered with renewed longing, and his gaze was filled with lust.
“That’s it,” he growled, pushing me off him and back onto the rug. “I can’t wait another second. I need to have you.” He fumbled in his pants pocket for something. I heard the crackle of cellophane and the faint s
cent of latex.
Before I could make another move, he pulled me up hard by my hands. I sat on his lap as he kneeled on the floor. By this time, I was so wet, we almost fit together without trying.
He held onto my hips and pulled me down onto his cock. He was rough and hungry for my body, taking what he wanted like the animal he was. I yelped as he filled me up, all the way, in one thrust. Damn, he was big. But I was so aroused, the pain only lasted a second. After that, it was the most incredible feeling of my entire life.
He pumped me up and down on top of him, doing half the work with his arms around me. I ground my hips into him, faster and faster. The world was just a blur of feeling, and sound, and Sawyer’s lips and Sawyer’s cock, and oh god, oh god, oh god—
Before long, we collapsed together in a crashing orgasm and I screamed my head off. He called out my name, over and over.
Drenched in sweat and suddenly still, we sat locked together for a long while. When he softened inside me, he pulled out, tying the condom at the end and wrapping it in a tissue. We stayed in the same position though, just hugging.
“I didn’t even think it was possible to, um, finish at exactly the same time,” I whispered. “I thought that was just a myth started by porn.”
“It’s pretty rare,” he said with a small laugh, kissing a line from my collarbone to my jaw. “It’s because it’s us, the two of us together like this.”
“It is,” I agreed. “It’s just us.”
I don’t remember much about the rest of the evening, except an overwhelming sense of calm. Life was all upside down, and yet it had never felt more right. I still wasn’t sure how I really felt about everything, but I did know that being with Sawyer like this was making me happy, and I wasn’t going to question it right now.
“It’s going to be okay, Cadence,” he said, just as I drifted into slumber.
“I know,” I said, as I felt Sawyer pull me close.
Wined And Dined
I woke up in semi-darkness to the sizzle and hiss of food in a pan. My stomach growled noisily. It smelled delicious.
Running a hand through my tangled mop of hair, I sat up. It dawned on me that I was naked.
And also, where the hell was I?
Shifters in the Snow Page 61
