by Lori Sjoberg
“No.” She wanted their first time to be special, and going to a hotel for sex wasn’t what she had in mind. And she’d never live it down if they got busted by the cops for having sex in the cab of his truck. That left only one viable alternative. “Let’s go to my apartment.”
His eyes narrowed in confusion. “I thought you lived with Cassie.”
“No, I’m only staying there for a few days. After what happened, Cassie didn’t feel comfortable with me being alone at the apartment.”
Apparently satisfied with her answer, he twisted the key in the ignition until the truck’s engine rumbled to life. “All right, which way do I go?”
Twenty minutes later, they pulled into a spot in front of Marlena’s building. She scanned the lot, searching for suspicious vehicles but finding nothing to sound an alarm. Most of the cars were in their usual spots, even the Mercedes that the jerk from upstairs usually parked across two spots.
With her keys in her hand, they got out of the truck and hurried the short distance to her apartment. It was impossible to concentrate on unlocking the door when he stood so close behind her.
He put one hand on her hip and leaned in close, nipping her shoulder through the thin fabric of her shirt. “Hurry up, will you?”
“I can’t when you’re doing that.” It was a wonder she could even talk. By some miracle, she finally managed to fit the key in the lock and shoved the door open. She barely made it past the foyer before stopping dead in her tracks.
“What is it?” Adam asked as he closed and locked the door.
“Somebody was in here.” Every muscle in her body tensed as her fingers morphed into claws. She raised her nose and inhaled deeply, as if trying to pick up a scent.
All of Adam’s protective instincts went on alert. In full cop mode, he scanned the room, searching for intruders. Nothing. Aside from him and Marlena, he sensed no signs of life inside the apartment. Still, it didn’t hurt to be careful. “Wait here while I check things out.”
She shook her head. “The scent’s old. They’re already gone.”
“Any idea how long ago?”
“Couple days. Maybe three.” Slowly, the claws on her right hand retracted, but the ones on her left hand remained razor sharp. Her eyes took on a savage glint that was kind of scary but also kind of hot. “It’s one of the assholes who abducted me.”
Son of a bitch. “Which one?”
“I can’t say for sure,” she said as she shook her head. “I think they’re related because their scents are an awful lot alike.”
With the grace of a predator, she crossed to the kitchen while Adam checked the bedroom and bathroom. Where she slept was as Spartan as the rest of the house: just a simple bed and a plain oak dresser, with no keepsakes or pictures on the walls. An assortment of clothes hung in the closet, and her shoes were neatly lined up on the floor. It might be the address that showed on her driver’s license, but it sure as hell didn’t feel like a home.
“You might want to check to see if anything’s missing,” he said as he came back into the main room. She was standing in the kitchen, still as a stone, her eyes closed, lips parted, and nose tilted up toward the ceiling.
“He didn’t come here to steal anything.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because a souvenir isn’t worth anything if you have no memory to attach it to.” Her eyes flicked open, and she pinned him with her amber stare. “If he’s the type to collect mementos, he won’t bother getting one until after I’m dead.”
“Now, there’s a pleasant thought to keep you on your toes.” Personally, it made his blood boil.
“Just saying.” She shrugged. “It’s the way these people think.”
He wasn’t about to argue the matter. During his time on the force, he’d seen a lot of sick shit. Once, he’d arrested a guy on the west side who’d killed four people and kept their ring fingers in a shoe box under his bed. They’d been able to identify only three of the victims, and he still couldn’t help but wonder about the fourth and the family who never got closure.
“You might as well go ahead and pack anything you need for the next couple days,” Adam said, forcing the disturbing thoughts from his mind. No way was he going to let the sick bastards turn her into a statistic. He’d keep her safe, and then he’d make sure her assailants got the justice they deserved. “It’s not safe for you to stay here. I’ll take you back to Cassie’s.”
Marlena pressed her lips together like she wanted to argue the point but couldn’t think of a strong enough reason. Her chest rose and fell on a sigh. “You’re right. Hold on, I’ll be right back.”
She disappeared into the bedroom for a few minutes, and when she came out, she had a navy backpack slung over one shoulder.
“That’s it?”
“What were you expecting?”
“I don’t know, but it was more than that.”
She let out a little huff of amusement. “I prefer to travel light.”
“So I’ve noticed.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?”
“Well, look at this place.” He made a sweeping gesture toward the near-empty living room. “For someone who’s been around for so long, you don’t keep a lot of stuff.”
The observation didn’t seem to faze her. “Memories last longer than trinkets.”
He was about to argue the point when a little red laser dot shined on Marlena’s torso. Shit, that usually meant one thing. “Gun!”
Before she could react, Adam tackled her to the carpet. A shot rang out, piercing the front window and tearing into the wall where Marlena had been standing a split second before. She wriggled beneath him, trying to get up.
“Stay down, dammit,” he growled, using all of his weight to keep her pinned under him.
A second shot plowed into the wall, and then tires peeled out in the parking lot.
“Let me up, they’re getting away,” Marlena snapped, bucking frantically in an attempt to throw him off her.
“For Christ’s sake, will you knock it off? I’m trying to keep you safe.” When she opened her mouth to say something, he shushed her. Peering around the end of the couch, he stared at the window, listening for the sound of approaching footsteps. Odds were, the peeling tires belonged to the shooter, but he wasn’t about to lower his guard until he knew for certain. Reaching out with his mind, he searched the area outside her apartment and was relieved when he found nothing but the life force of a small animal.
“We could have caught him,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Or one of us could’ve taken a bullet to the head. Trust me, it’s not a fun experience.”
Now that the excitement was over, he was starting to enjoy the feel of her body beneath his. So warm, so soft. So supple. He could damn near feel every breath she took, every subtle shift of her muscles. When she licked her lips, desire raced through his veins and shot straight to his groin. His growing erection strained against his zipper, and he shifted his weight to ease the discomfort. With his eyes never leaving hers, he captured her wrists in his hands and held them firmly at the sides of her head.
Her breathing hitched, her eyes going wide. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like?”
“Like you’re about to do something highly inappropriate.”
“I’m a guy. What do you expect?”
Dipping his head, he took her mouth in a hungry kiss, his tongue sliding past her lips when she parted them on a sigh. He let go of her hands and dug his fingers into her hair, cupping her head to hold her steady while he savored her with long, deep licks. God, she tasted incredible, like sex and candy, and he suspected he’d never get enough of her.
She moaned, her nails digging into his shoulders, and he couldn’t help but wonder how great they’d feel digging into his ass. Already, his dick ached with the need to be balls-deep inside her. He wanted her writhing beneath him, naked and sweaty, her heels driving into his ass while he drove them both i
nto oblivion. If they kept at it much longer, he’d take her right on the floor, and she deserved so much better than that.
A knock on the door spared him from having to break the moment on his own.
“Police. Is there anyone inside?”
Adam pulled his head back on a curse. He should have known somebody would call the cops. Now he’d get to suffer a case of blue balls while filing a police report.
“Do you want to answer, or should I do it?” Marlena asked, her pupils wide and unfocused. With her lipstick smeared and her hair messed up, she was the sexiest damn thing he’d ever seen.
“Well, it’s your apartment. It might be better if you answer.”
Marlena craned her neck toward the door. “Be there in a minute,” she called out, her tone light and nonthreatening.
Even though he didn’t want to, Adam pushed up from the floor. He held out a hand and hoisted her up, already missing the heat of her body. He watched as she walked toward the door, his gaze lingering on the curve of her ass and the gentle sway of her hips. Damn, he had it bad.
Two hours later, the police finally left and property management covered the front window of Marlena’s apartment with a sheet of plywood. Adam drove her back to Cassie’s house and walked her to the front door.
“I can stay, if you want,” he said, leaning his shoulder against the doorjamb. He really shouldn’t—he was already an hour late, but he couldn’t leave until he was certain of her safety.
“No, it’s okay,” she said, although the gleam in her eyes screamed yes. “Cassie’s wards will keep everything out.”
“Even me?”
A conflicted look crossed her face. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder as if making sure no one was eavesdropping. Still, she lowered her voice. “We can’t. Cassie’s bedroom is right next to mine.”
“I can be quiet.”
“What if I can’t?”
His pulse jumped at the thought. Now he’d spend the rest of the night wondering about the noises she made during sex. In truth, he understood her reluctance. He couldn’t imagine having sex in the same house as his parents, much less one room over. “I want to see you tomorrow.”
“When?”
He was about to answer when his phone vibrated in his pocket. A sense of foreboding rippled through him because he couldn’t come up with a single good reason for anyone calling at this hour. He checked the number. It was Gwen. She was probably pissed at him for being late.
“Hold on a sec, let me answer this.” Angling his body away from Marlena, he accepted the call. “What’s up?”
“Something just set off the outside sensors,” Gwen said, her voice harder than steel. “How soon can you get here?”
In normal traffic, he could make the drive in a little less than thirty minutes. “I’ll be there in twenty. There’s weapons and ammo in the back of the bedroom closet.” Not that she’d actually need them. She and Dmitri were probably better armed than a number of third world countries. Adam disconnected and turned back to Marlena, who was watching him with concern in her eyes.
“Sorry, I’ve got to go. Emergency.” With no time for finesse, he gave her a quick kiss on the lips before tearing off for the truck.
Adam broke damn near every traffic law on the books to get across town in record time. He flew up the driveway and skidded to a stop in front of the house. Dmitri’s car was parked on the grass with the engine running and the driver’s side door wide open. That couldn’t be good. Adam flipped the safety off his Sig as he jumped out of the truck and raced toward the front door.
The inside of the house was a wreck. Everything that could be overturned was, from the couch to the kitchen table to the shelves that used to hold his collection of books and DVDs. Dozens of bullet holes dotted the walls, and the sliding glass door was shattered. Dmitri was crouched down on the floor beside Gwen, her face puffy and swollen on one side and her left arm hanging at an odd angle.
“Where the fuck have you been?” Dmitri demanded, a look of murder in his eyes. A shotgun was on the floor by his feet, alongside several boxes of shells.
“Busy. What happened?”
“Somebody came looking for your friend.”
Samuel emerged from the bathroom, his right eye swollen and blood staining the front of his shirt. His hair stood up in every direction, and the handle of a knife stuck out of the waistband of his pants. His hands were filled with items from the medicine cabinet, which he carried to Dmitri and Gwen.
“What was it?” Adam asked.
“Demon,” Samuel replied. He handed Dmitri a bottle of rubbing alcohol and set the rest of the supplies on the floor. “Nasty little bugger. Unfortunately, Mr. Stavitsky killed him before we could determine who sent him to assassinate me.”
Dmitri’s eyes thinned to slits. “What would you have preferred for me to do?” His voice sounded low and lethal. “Allow it to murder my wife?”
Gwen gripped Dmitri’s wrist and said something to him in Russian. He broke eye contact with Samuel and turned his attention back to her.
“You ready?” he asked.
She gave a curt nod, her forehead beaded with sweat. “Just get it over with.”
“As you wish.”
Slowly, he bent her arm at a ninety-degree angle and rotated the elbow upward. He paused for a moment when she sucked in a breath, then continued until there was a distinct popping sound and the ball of her arm slipped back into the shoulder socket. Gwen exhaled, her eyes closed as relief washed over her face.
“Okay,” Adam said, breaking the silence. “So a demon came after Samuel, tore the shit out of my house, and Dmitri and Gwen killed it.”
Samuel sniffed. “I helped.”
As if sensing Adam’s doubt, Gwen said, “He stabbed it in the back when it came after me. I’d probably be dead if it wasn’t for him.” Her gaze cut to Samuel, and some of the hardness left her eyes. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. It’s the least I could do after you risked your life to protect me.”
Something passed between the two, a grudging respect that neither seemed willing to vocalize or acknowledge. Come morning, they’d probably be back at each other’s throats, but tonight they’d share the special camaraderie that came with fighting a common enemy.
Adam wrinkled his nose when he caught a whiff of what smelled like burned skunk. “What the hell is that smell?”
“That’s the demon.” Samuel pointed toward the broken sliding glass door, where a dark lumpy mass was fizzing into the carpet.
For a second or two, Adam couldn’t help but wonder how he was going to get the stain out. “Wow, I didn’t realize they did that.”
“The demons from this world don’t,” Dmitri said without looking away from his wife. “I don’t know where this one’s from.”
Panic slammed into Adam when he realized he’d yet to see the dog. With all the excitement, he should be barking his head off. “Where’s Buford?”
At the sound of his name, Buford limped out of the kitchen, his tail wagging so fast his entire body wriggled. His snout was covered in blood and gore, though it didn’t appear to be his. Claw marks scored the left side of his body, but the big mutt didn’t act like they bothered him.
“Hey, boy, what happened to you?” Adam crouched to inspect the dog’s wounds. They didn’t look deep, but he’d need to treat them to avoid the risk of infection.
“He attacked the demon when it broke through the sliding glass door.” Gwen flinched when Dmitri dabbed a cut on her forehead with rubbing alcohol. “If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have had time to get off a shot.”
“My brave, beautiful Gwenya.” Tenderly, Dmitri brushed his thumb over the side of her face that wasn’t bruised.
Samuel sat down beside Buford with a bowl of soapy water and a washcloth. Carefully, he cleaned the pit bull’s wounds, pulling back whenever the dog whimpered. “Stupid animal,” he murmured, but there was genuine affection in his words. He paused to pet Buford’s massive
square head, and the big lug licked him on the face.
Guilt gnawed at Adam’s conscience. If he hadn’t been so damn busy trying to get into Marlena’s pants, he would have been here to do his job. Now people were hurt, his house was trashed, and the dog might need stitches.
He made a silent vow to stop thinking with his dick until after Samuel regained his powers. With everything going on, he needed to be at his best, and Marlena clouded his thoughts.
But as soon as the boss was safely out of his house, he and the shifter were taking care of business.
Chapter 15
Jeremiah strained to contain his anger while listening to his idiot brother relay the news of what happened the night before. “You fired shots into her apartment?”
In all fairness, he had no one to blame but himself. He should have known better than to leave Elias alone while he prepared their new base of operations. But after so many days cooped up with his brother, he’d needed some quiet time to think.
The new property he’d rented was an hour’s drive away in the middle of nowhere, a double-wide trailer on ten acres of land with only one neighbor nearby, the elderly landlord. And while the location was farther away than he preferred, it afforded them the privacy and anonymity they needed to complete the remainder of their mission.
The fools on TV made them out to be murderers, but you couldn’t murder something that wasn’t human. It was more like putting down a rabid animal before it caused any more harm. God had given him the ability to sense these creatures, and he fully intended on using the gift to rid the world of this scourge.
Too bad his younger brother’s lack of impulse control had jeopardized everything they’d been working toward.
“She was right there,” Elias insisted, his hands waving wildly in the air. “I had her lined up, so I took the shot.”
“And you missed. Both times. Do you have any idea how much silver bullets cost?” Besides, given the choice he preferred to take her alive. Before killing her he wanted to catalog her weaknesses for future use against her kind.
