“Look, it’s more than we had when we walked in.” Lian straightened. “If we take this as our prototype for the killer, then we can ask a few more things. Like why does it kill? Does it need flesh for food?”
Karl pursed his lips. “In real life? It’s a small omnivore. It’ll eat what it likes, which includes the occasional small bird or fish. It will also eat flowers. This doesn’t make it a full-blooded predator. In fact, it’s prey for a large number of other species. Basilisk burgers are the preferred snack of a lot of critters higher up the food chain.”
“That’s a terrible visual and not a lot of help.” Buck shuddered.
Karl looked at the two of them, his gaze moving from Buck to Lian, all traces of humor gone from his handsome face. “Lian, you mentioned sensing something else. Control.”
Lian nodded, not sure where Karl was going with this.
“You remember the Svengali mess?”
“Oh shit.” Buck sat up straight. “Yeah. I remember.”
Lian frowned. “I heard something maybe…but that was decades ago, wasn’t it? I thought that had been shut down.”
Karl steepled his fingers together and met her gaze. “It was. The notion that Afterglow had also released a psychological torrent of skills that could be tapped into and controlled—well every civil rights and privacy group screamed bloody murder.” He winced. “Sorry for the phrasing there. Bottom line, the government stepped in and shut the project down.”
“For good.” Buck’s voice was flat.
“Yeah. Taking the lead scientists out, putting ’em up against a wall and shooting them will pretty much do that.”
Lian gasped. “You’re kidding.”
Buck turned to her. “No, he’s not. These weren’t sanctioned experiments. They were damn close to torture. Those assholes got what they deserved. I read a few files on the subjects they found in those labs. They weren’t human any more. Or AGs. They weren’t anything you’d want to see in your darkest nightmares.”
“Christ.” She rubbed her arms as chills swept over her. “So you’re thinking someone is doing that again? Trying to control an AG? Mentally or psychically or whatever?”
Karl nodded. “I haven’t found anything to suggest a basilisk would turn serial killer. It’s prey. It needs to survive, and therefore it probably has strong sexual urges. It wants to mate and breed more basilisks. So I can see the need to hang around places with a high sexual atmosphere. It might even respond to female pheromones and get a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction out of fucking like a crazy bunny. But it doesn’t kill after mating.”
“Unless it’s being told to.” Buck finished the thought.
“You got it, champ.” Karl slid from his chair. “So all you gotta do is find the dude who’s hosting a basilisk AG gene. Then stop him from chomping down Pleasure Pets and ask him who’s broadcasting the kill switch.” He paused. “Oh—and get me some of his DNA while you’re at it, will you? I’d love to run that through some of my analysis equipment.”
Buck’s face was expressionless. “Piece of cake.”
Chapter Seven
It was late when they left Karl and his grotto of technological magic. Buck hadn’t realized how much time had passed, locked away in a world of impossibilities and theories.
It had been such a surreal experience, he was almost surprised to find himself on the street, with life going on around him uninterrupted. He took a breath and looked at Lian. “Well. What now?”
Her strangely dark eyes were unfocused and he knew she was also processing all the information they’d gathered. He was in tune with her mind, aware of her body and learning all the time that some sort of bond existed between them that went beyond the norm of horny male and attractive female.
Although he had to admit that he was hornier around her than he’d ever been with any other woman in his entire life. There was something different though. It wasn’t just the sexual chemistry.
He realized that during these past hours he’d relied on Lian’s intelligence. Her sharp mind, her immediate grasp and leaps of intellect that matched and often outpaced his own. While always aware of her body, he’d enriched his mental picture of this woman to include so much more.
It was fucking scary on some levels, arousing on others. Yet no matter how he looked at it, it was right.
And he confessed to himself he was thinking intensely about her in order to avoid thinking any more about the horror that roamed free—and that he seemed helpless to catch.
Lian turned and sighed. “I don’t know what’s next, Buck. We’ve got new data, sure. I just can’t figure out how to use it.” Her eyes sharpened as she watched him run a hand through a few windblown strands of hair. “And I’m sorry to change the subject entirely, but I just got a real powerful shot of do-me-sizzle when you did that hair thing.”
Buck blinked. Then grinned. “Do-me-sizzle? I knew there was a reason I liked you, Herrick.” He moved closer and let one finger drift down her cheek. “What about when I do this?”
She looked at him, licked her lips and smiled. Such simple gestures, yet they sent a bolt of electricity right to his balls. “Shit, Lian. How can we do this? Jump from the case into sex like it was nothing at all?”
“It’s not nothing, Buck. It’s a link we have. And I reckon it’s an escape for us both right now.”
He leaned to her and rested his forehead against hers. “Can we go to my place? Can we get naked and explore each other in every way there is? Can we spend the night inventing new ways to have sex? Or should we push all that aside and work on what we need to work on, figuring out how to stop this monster?”
Lian grinned. “Can’t we do both?”
“Dunno. The sex may kill me.”
“Possibly. But if I’m the only survivor, I promise I’ll keep up the good work.”
“You’re all heart, lady.” Buck dropped a light kiss on her nose and took her hand, walking them back to his truck. “Let’s go home. Let’s fuck like minks for a while. Clear our minds, drain our bodies and then see if the exercise can stimulate our creativity.” He sighed. “Because I gotta say I’m out of ideas here, in spite of your friend Karl’s data.”
Lian buckled her seatbelt. “Any data is useful, Buck. We know more now than we did this morning. All we need to do is sort it out and figure out how to use it to catch him.”
“Yeah.” Buck snorted and started the engine. “Like I said before, piece of cake.”
A hand slipped down to his thigh and squeezed. “We’ll think of something. I have faith in us.”
He bit his lip. “A bit higher if you wouldn’t mind?”
“Perv.” She laughed. “Drive, Detective. The brain is at its most creative when relaxed. We need to relax.”
“Hmm.” Buck determinedly kept his eyes on the road.
“I’m thinking…” There was a decidedly naughty tone to her voice. “I’m thinking I might want to play a bit. After getting you naked, of course. Since we’re attuned on so many levels apparently, perhaps you wouldn’t mind if I spent some time on this big fella here…” Her hand crept up and teased his cock beneath his jeans.
“Uh…”
“I reckon some soft and wet tongue action might be good.”
He gulped. “Uhh…”
“Along with the delicate touch of a few fingers, of course. And a warm sucking motion.” She smacked her lips together loudly.
“Christ. I’m sooo dead, aren’t I?”
“Yep.”
Buck gunned the engine.
“Do you think we should check in with your captain first though?” Lian withdrew her hand.
“Noooooo…” He knew that was a squawk that should have shattered his windshield. He pulled his brain back out of his hardening cock. “Not until we have something practical for him. The department’s doing everything they can. When we’ve got a plan, we’ll tell him.”
“Okay, you’re probably right.” Lian’s hand went back to his crotch. “Now, where were we?”
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By the time Buck had reached his apartment—miraculously without racking them up on a road sign or getting busted for excessive speed—he was hard, ready and damn near foaming at the mouth to get into her hot little body.
He all but dragged her through the building to his door and barely managed to unlock it before reaching out and pulling her roughly against him. His cock clashed against her softness and his mouth was on hers as the door slammed shut behind them, locking them into their own private world.
“Mmmmpf.” She mumbled something, her lips parting, her tongue darting out to find his and toy with it, dueling and then teasing as her hands tugged at his jacket.
He would have mumbled back, except for the fact that at that exact moment her hands ripped his shirt open and found his bare skin. He returned the favor, slipping his fingers beneath her top and urgently seeking her breasts, groaning with frustration at her bra and pushing it roughly up so that he could cup them and tease her nipples.
She gasped, leaning back, thrusting herself into his grasp, forcing the center of their bodies together and grinding fiercely as her arousal kept pace with his.
“Wait.” Buck sucked in air and held himself away from her. “We’re going to do this right this time.”
“We did it wrong last time?” Lian cocked an eyebrow at him as she slipped out of her shoes and unzipped her pants, letting them fall to the floor.
“We did it in my truck, for chrissake. This time we’re going to stretch out, roll around, scream, shout, come a zillion times and then do it again.”
“Okay.” Lian’s hands unsnapped his jeans and quickly freed his cock. “Oookaaaaay.”
He felt his arousal fall heavily into her grasp and his heart skipped a few beats when she curled her fingers around him and stroked his length, delicately and with a great deal of interest.
She studied him as her hand moved, teasingly and tenderly. “Think we should take this into the bedroom?”
“Huh?” His thoughts fractured as she found a particularly sensitive spot.
“In the interests of doing it right.”
“Oh.” He sucked in a breath. “Um.”
Her low chuckle sent shivers up his spine. Or maybe it was what she was doing with the tip of her thumb.
“C’mon.” She tugged. On his cock, for chrissake. Obediently he followed, since a man was generally inclined to do what he was told when a woman had him by the dick. Literally.
As if by instinct, Lian found his bedroom door and led him through, ignoring the rumpled sheets and everyday clutter. Buck managed to ignore them too. Not a challenging task, since every cell in his body was attuned to the warmth of her hand as she held his cock. His hips wanted to thrust into her grasp so badly, his balls tingled and he never wanted her to stop doing whatever it was she was doing to the underside of his arousal. Some kind of tiny little flutter that threatened to turn his eyeballs inside out. And he also wanted her naked while she was doing it.
They reached the bed and Lian stopped, leaning in and licking along his lips as she squeezed just beneath the flared head of his erection. His mouth opened on a gasp of pleasure, her tongue darted inside to touch his, then she pulled back, smiling as he moaned.
“Hang on.”
Buck would have pointed out that she was the one doing the hanging-on and she was doing it just perfectly thank you, but words, for some reason, weren’t actually making it to the surface of his sex-fuddled brain well enough to come out of his mouth.
With one hand, Lian managed to free herself from the rest of her clothes. He reached to help her but she shook her head, apparently enjoying the control she was exerting, the fact that she was calling the shots.
In one of the most erotic moments Buck could ever have imagined, she slithered her naked body down along his, managing to brush him with her breasts, run a hand over his chest and push his pants down to his knees all at once.
Then she was on the floor in front of him. Still holding that one piece of his anatomy that was now shrieking for more.
“Ahh, Buck…” Lian’s voice trailed away as she licked her lips. For a microsecond the world stopped for Buck. The sheen of moisture she left behind reflected a gleam from his nightlight, her gaze met his for one excruciatingly long moment and then she moved her head, opening her mouth wide and finally—finally—taking him inside.
His heart missed a beat as her hot tongue learned him, seeking and finding his ridges and valleys and playing with them along the way. Her cheeks hollowed as she began to suck, instinctively knowing how much pressure to put on which spot to give him the maximum pleasure.
He braced himself, wondering how long his poor male self could withstand this sensual onslaught and if he should stop her right now. It didn’t seem fair that he should get all this wondrous attention.
Ah, fuck it. It wasn’t polite to interrupt someone. Especially not when she was clearly enjoying giving him the blowjob of a lifetime. Having dealt with the fairness issue to the best of his ability, He closed his eyes and fell into the wonder of Lian’s mouth.
———
She was thoroughly enjoying herself. She could feel every shudder, every twitch of Buck’s muscles as she sucked his cock. His scent surrounded her, musky and very masculine, combining with the salty taste of his skin, enveloping her in everything that he was.
She soaked it all into her mind even as her mouth worked his rigid length, drawing tiny droplets of pre-come from the head. She licked them delicately, letting her hands roam where they willed, knowing everything she did brought him pleasure.
He groaned as she brushed her fingertips over his balls and sighed as she returned to firmly squeeze the base of his cock, sucking hard as she did so. Experimenting with rhythms, she knew instinctively when she’d found the right one. Something about his skin, his stance—some abstract energy flared when her mouth moved in a certain way up and down, slipping over her own saliva like silk on steel.
Lost in him, she was almost surprised to feel a flash of heat on a different plane, licking up the length of her spine. Drawing back, she looked up at him, his face taut and his cheeks flushed. His eyes were closed.
“Buck.”
His lids opened slowly to reveal eyes burning with heat and desire.
“Buck, hold back.” Lian knew he would understand. This wasn’t about the link that existed between them on another level—and which they had yet to explore fully. This moment was simply about a man and a woman and the sexual passion they both experienced.
“I don’t know if I can.” His voice was hoarse and the chords in his neck were tight, shadows creasing his skin where it lay revealed by his open shirt.
“Try.” She licked up beneath the swollen head, teasing that particular spot that had brought a moan from his throat.
He shuddered, his hands reaching out blindly for her head, fisting in her hair as he found her and gently urged her back onto his cock. “Ahhh—Lian…”
Sucking him deeply, she relaxed completely and took the tip of his cock as far into her throat as she could.
This time it was Buck who pulled away, responding to that strange fire that flared between them. “I can’t, honey.” He reached down and lifted her to her feet. “The closer I get the more I lose control of it.” His hands rubbed up and down her bare arms as his gaze ate hungrily at her body. “And you’re getting me damn close.”
She smiled then, a flood of excitement sweeping over her. It worked both ways, this giving of sexual pleasure. Her breasts were sensitive to the air currents in the room and she could feel dampness between her thighs.
“Get naked, Shand.” She sat on the edge of the bed and leaned back, blatantly parting her thighs a little and letting him get a full frontal view of her pussy.
“Yes, ma’am.” Buck scrabbled at what was left of his clothing, jerking his shirt off his shoulders awkwardly and stumbling over the pants, shoes, socks and briefs that hobbled his ankles.
Lian stifled a giggle. His cock bobbed fiercely as h
e hopped from one foot to the other, kicking off the clothes. He was all man—maybe not the handsomest nor the most sexually endowed. But he was the one she wanted like she’d wanted no other in her lifetime. He was the one who met her desires with matching desires of his own. The one who knew—
A sharp knife of desire pierced her core and she gasped. He caught it too, just as he freed himself from the final irritating sock. “Now who needs to hold back?”
She gulped as he pushed her legs apart and stood between them, staring down at the hot folds of flesh his movement had revealed. “Jesus, Lian. You’ve got the sweetest pussy.” This time it was Buck who licked his lips and Lian who shivered as his tongue promised delights beyond imagining.
“Then lick it, Buck. Take me. Drive me mad.” She paused. “If you don’t mind, of course.”
The snort was short lived, since Buck immediately sank to his knees, pulled her thighs wide apart and slid her body to the edge of the bed. And then…
Oh the sensation of hot wetness, pressure on folds that came alive, skin that burst into flames as he tongued her, tasting her and sucking at each and every tiny piece of her pussy he could find.
And by the feel of things, he found them all—and then some.
Lian sagged onto her back, relaxing into Buck’s lingering caresses, aware of how her body was awakening to full arousal and climbing higher with each delving stroke of his tongue.
She could feel his breath on her clit, his fingers stroking the tender flesh of her thighs, the slight brush of his beard stubble against bits and pieces of her inflamed body.
She groaned aloud as he thrust his tongue into her tender places, writhed as he wiggled it around, then gasped as he withdrew to toy with her clit, laving it softly until she could feel it harden into an almost painful and exposed nub of passion.
Her breasts ached and she let her hands drift to cup them, toying with her nipples and adding to the sensations now swamping her body—and her mind.
It was a battle, she realized, keeping the two apart. Keeping her “other” self quiescent in the face of the sexual tumult. It wanted out, it wanted to play, to drink the desire and play in the passion Buck was lavishing on her.
Demons are Forever Page 8
