by Elle Thorne
He’d be lying if he said that seeing her didn’t affect him. He’d spent years getting to know her, working closely with her on cases. They’d saved each other’s lives on more than one occasion, she with her Intuitive skills, and he with the brute force innate to his grizzly shifter.
He hadn’t seen her since that one morning. The morning after the night they made what clearly she thought was the biggest mistake of her life.
She had to have thought that, for why else would she have said what she did? Why else would she have requested a transfer to another unit and left before Monday morning?
The new unit had sent her deep undercover. Judge never saw her again. He’d left texts. He’d left messages.
No response.
And now she was here.
He studied Lani, sitting at his table, her eyes ringed by hollowed, dark circles. Her curvy body was hidden from him by the table’s wood surface. Her long dark hair was pulled back, from her face, reminding him only too well of the time’s he’d held it back, fisting it in a ponytail while she leaned down and took him in her mouth.
Damn her.
Damn her to hell for leaving him in a lurch, with no explanation, no decisions to be made.
In a short twenty-four-hour period, they’d gone from team members and best friends, to lovers, to nothing. Not even acquaintances.
Her throat worked, as if she were swallowing her words.
“Well?” He crossed his arms across his chest. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
He fought to keep the sarcasm and hurt from his voice.
He failed. He could see it in her face.
How the fuck could she put on a hurt look when she walked out on their friendship and their—
What the fuck would I even call it? It wasn’t like it was a relationship.
His bear bellowed in Judge’s mind.
To his bear, Lani was the one. The only one. And her disappearance put his bear into a tailspin.
For more than a week, his bear had refused to come out, refused to morph, refused to allow Judge to take his shifter form. Judge had a hell of a time explaining his poor performance away that week.
Then he’d had a come-to-Jesus moment with his bear. He’d explained to him that if they were kicked out of the Compliance Unit, there’d be no chance of ever seeing Lani again, no chance of ever finding her. The bear relented and Judge was able to return to a shadow of his former life.
Gone were the afterhours breakfasts he’d enjoyed with Lani when they’d finished an assignment.
Gone were the Friday and Saturday pizza-and-a-movie nights.
Gone were the late night phone conversations when she was having a rough time with her Intuitive mother.
Poof. Vanished. And now she was here.
And she’s AWOL, his bear reminded him.
As if he needed the bear to tell him this.
Is that why she was here?
“Are you hoping I can help you with the AWOL thing?”
Her face blanched. “How do you—” Her gulp was loud to his supersensitive shifter hearing. “They called you? Looking for me?” She looked toward the door, as if expecting someone to come barreling through it. “You’re going to tell them, aren’t you?”
“Give me a reason not to.”
“I—I—Well, I—” She moved as if to rise from the table but held onto its ledge, like she might have needed the support.
Judge stepped forward. “Why are you here? Why are you AWOL at all? You should be done. You should be on furlough. We signed the same day.”
“I was extended because I took an extra month away.”
Bitterness curdled his stomach, a bitterness at the idea she had taken a month away, for some reason, and they’d granted it, and he’d never known.
“So why’d you leave? Why didn’t you stay for the last month? What’s the damned hurry that’s got you risking AWOL?” He frowned. “Your contract is binding. You know they can exact justice on you for this.”
“I had to.” Her voice was weak, her eyes filled with a sadness.
“Why, Lani? Why?”
A big swallow, then, “Pepper. She’s in trouble. I can feel it.”
Judge cocked his head. “What do you feel exactly?” No lie, he had no clue how this Intuitive shit worked. No clue at all. He’d scoffed at it until he’d seen Lani in action during their first few missions. After that, he’d always wondered why his kind scoffed at the contributions her kind had to offer.
“She sent a signal. She needed help. Then she went silent.”
“Silent? Like dead? That kind of silent?”
Lani shook her head. “The kind of silence like she was unconscious, then conscious. Then out again. That’s not natural. The pulsations she’s sending are more like ones of someone in distress.”
“Can you peg where she is?”
She glared at him. “You know it’s not like a GPS.”
There was the Lani he’d known, full of fire.
Welcome back, a part of him wanted to say.
The other part of him wanted to slam his fist into the wall. She had a lot of nerve, showing up like this, expecting…
What the hell does she expect?
“So why are you here then?”
Granted, he didn’t have to say it like that. He didn’t have to let the vitriol of her betrayal show in his voice.
Her jaw dropped and an emotion he didn’t want to give a name to flashed across her face.
Her skin went from a tired pale white to an angry red flush quicker than he could have snapped his fingers.
She pushed off the table, strode toward the door, bypassed him with a swift sidestep.
Judge took a deep breath as she passed.
She opened the door and closed it with a slam behind her.
Judge let the scent of her sit on his senses. It wreaked havoc on his bear, who in turn roared in Judge’s mind.
As if Judge’s own body didn’t feel like he had whitewater rushing through his veins and nerves. As if he didn’t feel like he had firecrackers popping in his nerve endings.
Judge knew Lani was his fated mate. He’d accepted and embraced that fact long before their one-night stand.
A one-night stand he’d never intended to have as such. He’d thought it was the beginning of something.
He never thought it was the end of everything.
Chapter Five
God, Judge could not rid his memories of the scent of her, the sex of her, the everything of her from his mind. Their night together had imprinted itself on his soul and left him unable to even glance at another woman.
That night… so long ago… and yet as if it were yesterday…
They’d been at her place, eating pizza, watching a movie on a thick carpet next to the fire in front of the TV.
This time the movie had been Lani’s choice. Some chick flick. He couldn’t even remember the title. At the end of it, he’d turned to tease her about how sappy it was, when he’d seen the tears winding their way down her cheek. Her eyes glistened with more unshed tears.
“Damn,” the word escaped him in a hiss. Judge wasn’t so good with emotions. He had no clue what to say to her.
“Sorry.” She gave him a half-smile, her face still shiny from crying. The smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“It’s okay.” He grabbed the first thing he could, a pizza napkin, and dabbed at her cheeks.
He’d left pizza sauce where the tears had been. He burst into laughter.
“My turn to be sorry.” Judge pressed the pad of his thumb over the sauce, ran it down, then showed it to her.
“Oh God. It looks like I’m crying blood.”
She seized a clean napkin and went to town cleaning the streaks he’d left on her face.
He took the napkin from her. “Let me. It’s the least I can do, since I made that mess.”
The firelight flickered gold and amber flames in her eyes, pulling him and his bear in, closer, closer, even closer.
&n
bsp; Lani’s eyes remained open, drawing Judge and his bear. His lips hovered over hers, their warmth emanating, the energy between them palpable.
“I like being with you too much,” she said. It was as if it was a confession she didn’t want to admit to. And it made alarms ring for Judge and his bears.
“Truth?” He reached out a hand and placed it over hers, her skin felt almost feverish. His hand completely covered hers.
“Always.”
* * *
Lani squirmed under Judge’s dark gaze. Especially with the way his bear’s presence flared golden flames in the depths of his eyes.
He took so long to answer that she finally looked up at him.
“I like it too much myself.” He curled his hand under, and ran his thumb over the tender skin on her wrist.
She wondered if he could feel her pulse racing. She knew shifters had extrasensory types of perceptions. So did Intuitives, but a different type. Her pulse matched the butterflies zigging and zagging in her stomach.
God. I’ve never felt this way before.
“You’re a shifter.” Shit. I did not just blurt that out. Yes, she had.
Judge frowned. “And?”
* * *
Judge drew in a deep breath. He and his bear savored her scent—stimulating warmth along with a hint of her longing as it filled his chest, driving his bear crazy with a need to push out of his skin and make this woman see they were meant for each other.
Despite the Compliance Unit’s regulations.
Regardless of their careers.
In the face of the old rules that Intuitives had about shifters.
Even though the old notions persevered that shifters didn’t appreciate or think highly of the Intuitives skills.
Was she trying to tell him to stay away? It was way too late for that. There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell he could lose the feelings he had for this Intuitive woman. His bear knew she was their mate. He knew it, too.
He felt the gentle touch of her fingertip on his chin. Her touch was so feathery, he looked down to be sure it wasn’t his imagination. His bear grumbled at Judge to seduce her, to make her theirs.
Judge tuned his bear out, one of the few times in his life he’d done that. He captured her hand in his and pressed her palm against his lips, fighting the urge to unleash his desire, to crush her to his chest and claim her mouth.
To touch her lips with his and feel her curves against his without the barrier of clothing. Her body—hips to hold on to, offset by a waist that was just the right amount of narrow. His dick twitched. Judge grunted to contain it and his bear, hoping she hadn’t noticed his reaction.
He studied the fire to keep from thinking of driving deeply into her. He could scent her wetness—musky, sexual, female, all Lani.
She swallowed, the sound loud, her pulse pounding in his ears. He wanted to cover them because hearing her reaction to him served as a fuel that heightened his desire.
She swiped her tongue over her lower lip, nervously.
That did it.
There’s just so much a man can handle.
He dropped his head, locking his lips to hers, the ache and passion he’d been holding back, craving more from her.
His bear took control, done with waiting.
* * *
Lani had never been kissed like that. She’d never known anyone like Judge. His hands ran down her body, and shivers followed the trail his fingertips forged.
He took hold of her top and pulled it upward gently.
Could she do this?
Yes!
The answer to that question was ingrained in her mind, heart, body, and Intuitive senses.
Lani sighed her assent. She wanted him. She’d have to accept that.
Right or wrong.
Repercussions with the Intuitive community.
Ramifications with the Compliance Unit.
She’d deal with all that later.
His lips departed from hers for a fleeting nanosecond while he drew her top over her head. Before her lips could get cold or her mind and body could protest, he’d claimed her mouth again. He took control, helping himself.
The fabric of his shirt rubbed against her flesh as he pulled her closer.
She grabbed his shirt, the barrier that kept her flesh from his, and jerked twice, clumsily—her fingers fumbling with urgency and need.
“Let me help.” There was a chuckle in his voice.
Instantly and deftly, he took the shirt off.
She appraised the dark olive skin, taut with muscles, wide chest, devoid of hair, broad shoulders that tapered to a vee.
Judge pulled her close, his body hot against hers. Lani held him as if there’d be no tomorrow.
There will be no tomorrow. There can’t be.
She trailed her fingers on his chest and found his muscles flexed and hard beneath her touch. Gliding her hands lower, his abdomen contracted. Her nails raked the flesh, rewarded with a groan that came from deep within him and scorched Lani’s desire and center.
She’d wanted him for too long, denied this for what seemed an eternity.
Achingly stiff and tender, with a need for Judge’s touch, her nipples pushed at the lace fabric of her bra. She unhooked it with a snap and lowered it, relishing the way his eyes dropped to her rosy nipples, enjoying the way they reacted to his gaze, pearling, tingling with an excitement, clear to her mound.
“Beautiful. Damn. Just beautiful.” Judge cupped her breasts, thumbing her nipples brusquely. The throbbing between her legs grew, moisture gathered.
Her desire skyrocketed with his touch. “I want you.”
“You’ve got me. Right here. Right now. Forever.” His own voice was hoarse with passion as he tugged her pants down.
Forever.
First, that word sent the right kind of shiver through her. Then it sent the wrong kind.
She was breaking the fundamental taboo of her people by being with him.
Lani shoved the thought away. She’d deal with it later.
He lay her back, spreading her legs, then leaned forward, inhaling. She watched his chest expand with the breath.
Judge ran his tongue over his lower lip, almost throwing Lani into a climax at the idea of that tongue on her—in her. His face neared her breast, he moved the short distance and took her nipple in his mouth.
His five-o’clock shadow was a coarse stroke that made a surge of electricity travel the distance to her core, lighting her on fire with an intensity that made her moan.
“I have to taste you.” His tongue trailed between her breasts, then seared her skin as he drove southward.
He spread her lips with his fingers, and the coolness of the air touched her heated flesh, causing her to tremble.
Judge lowered his head, his breath warm, countering the cool air on her pussy, caressing her lips. A tremor traveled over Lani’s body.
He put his arms under her thighs, her legs hooked over his wide shoulders. She was fully exposed and a feast for his bear’s vision, even in the dimness. Knowing he was surveying her body and enjoying the slick pink and redness he found between her legs, watching his face as lust settled on it, making his dark eyes even darker. Lani moaned with need for Judge. Only Judge. Always Judge.
He blew on her clit, making it spasm, making her legs jump.
“Please, Judge.” She didn’t even know what she was asking for.
“I aim to.”
God, yes.
He drew in the swollen, sensitive button of her need, then licked her from up from her ass to her sleekness with a long, deliberate swipe of his tongue. He reversed his path, letting just the tip travel the same distance, allowing it to penetrate her.
Lani released a guttural groan, grabbing his head, bringing him closer.
She panted as he plunged his tongue deeply inside. A roar from his chest turned her on even more, drowning out the sound of her panting.
He plunged his fingers into her while he sucked on her tender, swollen core an
d sent her into a turmoil. Her nails dug into his flesh, scoring it. She thrashed as a climactic wave overtook her, sending her off a cliff of pleasure.
Throwing her head back, she screamed her pleasure, sure the neighbors would hear. He kissed the inside her thighs, first one, then the other, then covered her body with his.
Breathing hard, unable to move, Lani lay in place, immobile and recuperating, panting and fighting to catch her breath.
His eyes glowed with his bear’s amber-colored light.
Lani locked her lips onto his, tasting herself, loving how her essences merged with his musky manliness. Boldly, she reached down, cupped his hardness.
Her breath caught in her throat. He was so very large. Judge rose, but she nudged him back, and unzipped his pants, easing his length out.
She slid down his body and appraised his thickness, lowering her head, she touched the tip of her tongue to the large drop of moisture on the tip.
His essence glided across her tongue. Lani paused, savoring Judge’s flavor, relishing the earthiness and manliness of him. This only served to fire her desire all over again. She licked the rim of his engorged head.
Judge released a groan that grew into a rumble when she wrapped her lips around his cock snugly. She sucked until his rumble deepened into a growl.
“Enough.” Judge grabbed her roughly, pulling her up his hard body.
He captured her tongue into a kiss, while she straddled his muscular body, his cock tucked against her slickness. Leaning back, Lani pushed off, and rose, ready to slide onto his shaft. She dropped her body, impaling herself on his hardness. His thickness elicited a gasp and a cry as her body fought to accommodate his girth.
She rocked on his cock, her breasts swaying close to his face. Judge reached for her breasts and cupped them, tweaking her nipples roughly, pulling and pinching, then rolling the hardened nubs between his fingers.
Lani moved faster in tempo with the passion he was pushing to a crescendo. Palms on his thick chest for leverage, she pushed herself up, then slammed herself down.
Again.
