by Clara Cody
Gripping her thighs, he slid between her legs. She opened up to him, feeling his cock at her entrance. The muscles of his back rippled under her fingers as he eased himself inside her, stretching her, filling her. Her breath hitched at his size.
“Are you okay?” he whispered.
She nodded. “God, yes.”
With every thrust, he grazed that bundle of nerves deep within. He bucked again, harder this time, angling his hips so that his cock put even greater pressure on her g-spot. She gasped, gripping his shoulders. “Yes,” she cried. “Harder!”
He complied, driving her into the mattress, pushing her towards another climax. She cried out, feeling her whole body taken over once again in ecstasy. In the back of her mind, she was dimly aware of Dane’s own body going rigid as he came with her.
With a grinning curse, he collapsed on top of her. They were both panting, wrapped in each other’s arms. “Holy crap!” she gasped, trying to catch her breath.
“I know.” He laughed, in disbelief. “I was not expecting that.”
She scoffed, sitting up. “What were you expecting?”
“I don’t know.” He rolled to his side, resting his head on his palm. His finger ran up her thigh. “You’re always just so…tight-laced. So serious.”
“And what? You figured I’d be bad in bed? Just lay there and scowl at you?”
He chuckled. “That’s not what I meant.”
She slapped his hand away. Of course he’d thought that. Isn’t that what they all think? Tight-assed Sarah Hazelwood who wouldn’t know a good time if it bit her in the ass. She snatched her clothes off the floor.
“I didn’t—”
She shrugged his hand off her shoulder, and pulled her skirt back on. “It doesn’t matter.” She tried not to look at him, sitting there on the bed, half-naked. “We’ve gotten it out of our systems. Now, we can just focus on the case. No more of this sexual tension nonsense.”
“Nonsense? Get it out of our systems?”
She nodded. Her mind went to the conversation she’d had with Olson. Way to keep the situation under control, Sarah! “I think from now on, we should keep things…professional.”
“Ah, there she is again. I was wondering where the uptight, ice-queen Sarah had gone to. Good to see you back.”
That stung. But she wouldn’t let it show. She lifted her chin, jaw clenched tight. Ice Queen. He had a point. Maybe that’s exactly what she needed to be. “Be ready early tomorrow,” she snapped. “We have work to do.”
Chapter 8
Sunlight blinked through the trees, decorating the forest floor with bright sun spots. The air was fresh, the green vegetation moist with dew. Dane sniffed at the air and shook his head. “She’s not close by.”
“Mmm-hmm,” was all the answer he got from Sarah. That was about as much as he’d gotten all morning. She was sitting on the hood of the car, legs crossed.
“Are you meditating or something?”
She scoffed, opening her eyes. She looked at him with pure, unadulterated disdain. “Don’t you remember anything from the academy?”
He stared at her, blankly.
“Magic takes energy. Like that ward I performed last night? That energy needs to be replaced.” She opened her palms, gesturing to the trees overhead. “Witches absorb energy from nature.” Her eyes hardened at him. “End of lesson.”
He held his hands up in mock defense. She’d been touchy all morning. Ever since leaving his bedroom the night before. What the hell was her problem? She was the one that told him that she’d just had sex with him to get it out of her system. If anyone should be pissed, it was him. If regular women were confusing, a witch was impossible to decipher.
Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have gone for the jugular with the Ice Queen comment. Especially if his suspicions were correct. If he was right, both him and Sarah were in trouble. Fated to a witch, he thought. The boys at work would get a kick out of that.
“Are you going to find her or not?” Sarah snapped. She closed her eyes and returned to her earlier pose.
He turned to face the forest and stripped off his shirt, then pants. The morning air chilled his skin. He’d be better in a minute, once he was in his wolf. He glanced back, catching Sarah staring at his nakedness. She met his eyes and inhaled sharply, pinching them shut again, her face turning red. Well, if she hadn’t been pissy before, she sure-as-shit was now. Still made him grin.
He let the change come over him, wondering if she was watching again. He forced himself not to look back and see, just in case she called a lightning bolt down upon him.
Once in his wolf, he gave a shake. It felt good to let the animal out now and then. It had been a while. With his thick coat of black fur, the chill was gone. He was warm and his muscles itched to run. But the man within forced him to sniffed at the air one more time. Everything smelled stronger, more intense. Even with his heightened sense of smell, there was no trace of another wolf in the area.
He took off at a run, flying through the forest. Air blew his fur back as his great paws thudded across the ground. Damn, it felt good to run like this. There were few places like this in the city. The shifters in Hill Haven were truly lucky to have this. A place where they could run free, unafraid of being spotted or worse, shot, by humans. A place where they could be one with their primal selves.
He ran for what felt like ages before coming to the river that Carl had mentioned the night before. There was a small waterfall that stretched across the river downstream. Between the bright sunlight beaming off the crystal clean water and the rich, green foliage all around, it was like something out of a fairytale. Beautiful. Untouched by humans. He could perfectly picture Carl and Ollie standing over it, two bears swiping at salmon jumping out of the water. He took a long drink of the cool water to quench his thirst before checking the air again. Still no sign of Melissa or her wolf.
He ran another ten minutes before turning back in the direction of the car.
Sarah was still on the car, looking like she was in deep meditation when he stopped alongside the car and shifted back. He was pulling on his t-shirt when she finally noticed he was there.
“What’d you find?”
“Nothing.”
“What? What does that mean?”
“I couldn’t find her.”
She scoffed, tossing her hands up in the air. “So, you just gave up?” she looked down at her watch. “You were only gone twenty minutes!”
“What do you want me to do? I couldn’t find her. You try running for twenty minutes.”
“Oh, please, you haven’t even broken a sweat. Besides, instead of just running, did you ever think of, oh, I don’t know, coming up with a different plan? There are more ways through a closed door than just breaking it down. Ugh, look who I’m talking to. You know what? Forget it. I’ll just do a tracking spell. It’ll zap the energy I just accumulated, but—” She continued mumbling her displeasure as she slid off the hood of the car and walked around to the back.
Of course, Sarah had to make this into a bigger deal than it was. It couldn’t just be that he couldn’t find Melissa, no it was because he was lazy and not persistent enough. He huffed, crossing his arms. Maybe she just liked feeling superior to him. Well, not this time. “Wait.”
She poked her head out from behind the open trunk. “What?”
“I have an idea.”
“Really?” she asked, her eyebrow arched high.
“Yes. It does happen from time to time.”
She closed the trunk and shrugged. “Okay. Have at it.” She sounded doubtful. But he’d show her. “So, what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to have her come to us.”
Ten minutes later and he returned to the car, trotting up with a rabbit between his teeth. He dropped it at Sarah’s feet before shifting back into his human form. She looked away, blushing as he pulled on his pants.
“What makes you think she’ll come?”
“I’ve been leaving a trail of bloo
d all around the forest. If she’s the least bit hungry, she’ll find us.” He led Sarah further into the forest, away from the car, and placed the rabbit in the center of a small clearing. They hid behind a large group of bushes and waited.
In the meantime, Sarah pulled out a book from the satchel she carried and started reading.
“What’s that?” he whispered, lifting the corner of the book to read the cover. “Shifters? You’re reading a book on shifters?”
“Of course. It’s called research.”
“Do you ever stop and just relax?”
“I was relaxing for twenty minutes, remember?”
“That wasn’t relaxing. Like you said, you were absorbing energy so that you could do more magic. That’s work. Do you have any hobbies or anything that isn’t related to work?”
“What, like playing volleyball or salsa dancing?”
“Something like that.”
“No.” She returned to her book. “I didn’t get to where I am today by being unprepared.”
“What makes you think you need that book and all the crap in your bags to be prepared? You’re a witch, you’re powerful and strong. And smart. Isn’t that enough?”
She looked up from her book, her face difficult to read. She seemed to be searching his own face, looking for hidden meaning. She probably thinks I’m teasing her. He wasn’t.
“Well,” she said, finally, “it isn’t enough.”
“Why?”
“Just…” She met his eyes, and he could see the inner struggle in her eyes. She was on the precipice of saying something, and he was dying to hear it. Anything that might let him in, get a glimpse into what was going on in her head. “It just isn’t.” She returned to the crisp pages of her book, shutting him out once again.
Just then, he heard heavy sniffing. He pivoted to the side, landing on his hands and feet, ready to launch himself into the clearing. Peering through the leaves, he scanned the area before him until he saw a slight, brown wolf creep into view. He could practically feel her nervousness. She could smell them, he knew that much and she was skittish for some reason. Maybe Melissa’s mother was right, and her wolf was taking over, making her more wary of humans. Only one way to find out.
He stepped out from behind the bush and into the clearing. Melissa stopped, staring up at him with nervous eyes. “It’s okay, Melissa,” he said, keeping a soothing, soft tone to his voice. “We’re here to help you.”
Her lip curled back in a snarl.
Shit. Better try another tactic. He backed away, stripping down for what felt like the hundredth time.
“Is that a good idea?” Sarah whispered from the trees.
“I don’t know. We’re about to find out, though.” With that he let the shift come over him. He changed quickly so as not to give her a chance to flee before she saw him in his wolf form.
Melissa, it’s okay. He sent the thought across to her. I’m a friend. I’m here to help.
A friend? she answered, snarling. I don’t know you. What’s going on? Who’s the woman?
She’s…she’s my partner. We’re from the Agency.
The Agency? Melissa’s black nose went into the air, sniffing at it. She’s not a shifter. She snarled. You better not have brought a witch into our woods. Not after what they did to me.
He could feel the anger pouring off her. Her hackles stood up, her ears back. She’s here to help, too.
She better show herself, Melissa growled. Tell the little witch to come on out.
No.
She growled, leaping forwards. He snapped back, tossing her aside. She was smaller than him, thankfully, but she had the advantage of not caring whether she hurt him or not.
STOP THIS!
Melissa fell away, crouching low to the ground.
He’s an agent, Melissa. They’re here to help you.
Dane turned to see another wolf had joined them. A male with grayish brown fur and hazel eyes.
Who are you? Dane asked.
I’m Melissa’s brother. He turned to her. Sis, you have to try harder to control your animal. Mom’s worried about you. The Agency is going to come and take you away if you can’t. It would kill her.
Dane felt the anguish inside Melissa, saw it in her wolf eyes. I know…I just…I feel so angry sometimes. It’s so unfair.
I know, sis. Just…try, okay? These people are here to help. And I’ll make more of an effort to get out here and spend time with you. I’ll even bring my tablet so you can watch Keeping up the Kardashians.
She laughed. Thanks.
Dane stepped forward. Sorry to interrupt, but I just have a few questions I need to ask Melissa.
She nodded. Go ahead.
What do you remember from before this happened? Was anyone angry with you? Who did you see or talk to?
Nothing. I just went out with some friends to the bar. Had some drinks. I—I don’t remember much.
Were you that drunk, sis?
No…I just don’t really remember much from that night. My memory is foggy.
Okay, don’t worry about it, Melissa. I’ll come and see you if I have any more questions, okay?
“So what did she say?” Sarah asked when they were back at the car.
“Not much,” he answered, shaking his head. “It’s like her mom said. She’s getting wilder, her human self seems to be slipping away. We have to figure this thing out before she loses it completely.”
“How long will that take?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. It takes awhile, I think, but being out here, stewing in her anger and all alone in the woods doesn’t help.”
“You think we should call the Agency? Have them pick her up and keep her there?”
“Yeah, maybe. They’ll be able to monitor her, keep her human half engaged with more than just the Kardashians.”
“Please, don’t,” a voice came from behind them. A man stood behind them, pulling a baseball hat down over his shaggy brown hair. Dane recognized him from a picture he’d seen in Melissa’s room. “Don’t take her away. I’ll do more, I promise. But, I don’t think my mom or sister could handle being separated. Please, just wait a little while longer.”
Dane nodded. “Okay. We’ll leave her for now.”
He thanked them profusely before grabbing a stack of magazines from his trunk. “She likes the advice columns,” he said, walking away from them.
As soon as he was gone, Dane climbed into the car. Sarah joined him, slamming the door behind. “You shouldn’t have said that. We should be calling the agency right now.”
“I know. But…she hasn’t hurt anyone yet, and I have to believe that she’s better off with her family than a bunch of doctors in a facility. We just have to find any kind of solution before she goes any deeper.” Or before she hurts someone. He kept that thought to himself.
Chapter 9
It was a long day. Sarah stripped off her clothes, discarding them on the floor and climbed into the shower. The hot water felt magnificent on her skin. God, she wished she could wash away the last eight hours.
They’d driven from this place to that, talking to a dozen people, and they’d gotten nowhere. As the daylight crept away, the atmosphere in the car just grew tenser. They were both anxious, needing desperately to find something to lead them somewhere.
Nothing.
They’d found nothing, learned nothing. They were in exactly the same place as they’d been that morning. Finally, an hour ago, Sarah called it a night. She wanted to get back to her room and do some reading before the next day. At least that might give her some progress. Apparently, Dane didn’t have the same idea. A few minutes after closing her door, she’d heard his open and his footsteps pass by. She’d peeked out the window to see him crossing the parking lot in the direction of the bar. A part of her thought it was a good idea. He’d gotten some information last night about some possible dirty business on the part of the mayor—not that it had much to do with their case—and met some locals. On the other hand, she suspec
ted that with the mood he was in, he was just as likely to make an enemy as a friend.
She stepped out of the shower, feeling renewed. Her skin tingled in the cool, humid air. She grabbed a towel and dried off before pulling on her fluffy, white robe. Settling down on her bed, she pulled out her book on shifters.
She read through the pages, skimming for anything relevant to the case. The chapter was about shifter abilities. There was little that she didn’t already know on the subject. They were stronger and faster, even in human form. They healed faster and had stronger immune systems. She kept reading, just in case. The research part of the job was painstakingly slow and arduous, but it was worth it. In her experience, a bit of research could pay dividends later.
When she finished the chapter on shifter abilities, she looked at the clock beside the bed. It was half past eleven. She rubbed her eyes, closing her book and set it next to the clock.
She lifted the covers on her bed and crawled in. The sheets were cool, just like she liked them. She was about to reach for the light when a loud bang sounded at the door. Gasping, she sat straight up.
Another bang came at the door. No, it was more like a knock but clumsy and a little too loud. It was quickly followed by a deep chortling. Sarah frowned and climbed from the bed.
She went to the door and yanked it open. Dane, who was sitting on the ground, fell backward with the door, spilling into her bedroom. He snickered.
“Ugh, would you get up?”
“Help me.” He reached for her. “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up.”
She tried to suppress a smile as she helped him to his feet. He threw his arm around her, smelling strongly of whiskey. She stumbled back, unable to support him on her own. “Whoa, whoa!” She fell against the wall, him pressing against her.
“Sorry.” He pushed himself off, holding his hands up. “Look.” He gestured to the short distance between them. “Look. Space.” Thumbs up. “Professional.”
She rolled her eyes. “Come on. Let’s get you to your room, drunky.” She opened the door on her side that separated the two rooms and held out her hand to him, flicking her fingers. “The key?”
