by J. C. Diem
Without a word, he put his foot down and the SUV sped off into the encroaching darkness.
With the forest to our left, we turned onto a road that took us to a large, picturesque town. As promised, Mark had already booked us into a hotel and had sent the information to my cell phone.
We pulled into the parking lot behind the hotel to find it half full. Checking that my holster wasn’t showing beneath my blue leather jacket, I grabbed my bags from the back and followed Reece into the lobby.
Forest green carpet muffled our footsteps as we walked over to the reception desk. I glanced at a sunken lounge area and noted deer heads mounted on the walls. The theme seemed to be that of a hunting lodge, going by the taxidermy and an old rifle mounted above the fireplace.
“Can I help you?” the receptionist asked. At least double our age, she ignored me completely and focused on Reece. Her hair was honey blond, but two inches of dark roots gave away that she was a brunette. Blinking false eyelashes coquettishly, she angled her sizable chest at him. Her sheer red blouse was open to reveal her impressive cleavage. A lacy black bra peeked through the opening.
“We have a reservation,” he said. He hid his grin when I put my bags down and slid my arm through his. We were supposed to be acting like a normal couple and that was how girls usually staked their claim on their man. It was far less aggressive than my urge to leap over the counter and plant my fist in her face.
“What name is it under, sugar?” she asked sweetly determinedly ignoring me.
“Garrett.”
Turning to her computer screen, she scrolled through the list until she found our reservation. “Ah, yes. Here it is. I see your room is already paid for. You must be a man of action.” Her eyes roved from his face down to his chest and back up again suggestively.
“You have no idea,” I said in a breathy voice and pressed myself up against him. “Reece is a take charge kind of guy.” I followed that up with an inane giggle.
Turning sour when he smiled at me indulgently, she handed over two key cards. “Enjoy your stay,” she said with a nasty glance at me.
“What was that?” Reece asked when we stepped into the elevator and headed up to the third floor.
“That was my undercover persona.”
“What exactly were you going for? Brainless bimbo?”
“Exactly,” I said with a pleased grin. “It sounds like I nailed it.”
He let us into our room, dropped his suitcase to the floor then pulled me inside. I put my bags down then he yanked me into his arms. “You should be careful,” he warned me. “You might give me some ideas.”
I was almost afraid to ask. “What sort of ideas?”
He didn’t answer my question and instead issued an order. “Take your clothes off.”
Normally, I’d have bristled at his imperious tone. Since I could feel his desire through our bond, I didn’t argue. His eyes tracked my hands as I took my jacket off and dropped it to the floor. My holster, t-shirt, boots and jeans followed it until I was clad only in my underwear. Still not used to being unclothed in front of anyone, I felt shy and awkward.
“Take it all off, Lexi.” Reece’s voice was hoarse now and his gaze was hungry.
The force of his will bore down on me. Not trying to fight it, I reached behind me to undo my bra. I slipped it down my arms and it joined the rest of my clothing on the floor. My hands shifted to the waistband of my panties and Reece went into a flurry of movement.
Far faster than me, he stripped off until he was naked. Tanned and perfect, he knelt in front of me and put his hands on mine, stopping me from sliding my underwear down. His eyes had darkened slightly and they were intent with purpose as he stared up at me. Leaning forward, he tasted me through the thin fabric of my panties. My body reacted instantly. My back arched as my hands went to his shoulders. Just a few seconds of his tongue on me had me worked up into a state of intense arousal.
He slid my panties down and I stepped out of them. His eyes travelled from my feet up to my face, lingering here and there. My body heated when his hands cupped my butt. He stood and lifted me off the ground. My legs went around his waist then he speared himself inside me. I gasped in reaction and he froze, thinking he’d hurt me.
“Don’t stop,” I pleaded.
“Brace yourself,” he warned me then drew back and thrust into me again. My back slammed into the wall each time our hips met. If I’d been human, it would have been painful. Instead, heat burst inside me and I had to strangle my moan with my hand.
I understood what he meant about me giving him ideas now. He was nailing me to the wall with his body. My legs tightened and I instinctively moved with him, driving him deeper into me.
Tilting my head back, he kissed me and I felt myself already nearing the edge. His lips trailed down to my left shoulder and my insides clenched in anticipation as his teeth grazed my flesh. Then he bit down hard, sending me spiraling into ecstasy.
Licking the blood away until the wound healed, he angled his head to the side, offering me access to his shoulder. His pelvis moved faster and I felt him nearing the edge as well. Knowing what he wanted, I sank my teeth into him and sucked hard. The combination of pain and pleasure was too much. He gave a hoarse groan as he surrendered to his body’s needs.
He leaned his forehead against mine and our breath mingled as we panted for air.
“Are you okay?” he asked after a while.
“Mmm.” It was the only response I could give him.
“Did I hurt you?”
“I don’t think so, but I can’t feel anything below my neck at the moment.”
“So you can’t feel it when I do this?” he asked. Lifting me higher, he took my breast into his mouth.
“Okay, I think I’m starting to get some feeling back,” I breathed when he began to tease my nipple with his tongue.
“I thought that would work,” he said smugly. His shoulders shook with laughter as he carried me over to the bed.
₪₪₪
Chapter Fourteen
Well satisfied after our second, much longer bout of sex, our hunger sent us in search of food. Showering, we dressed and left the hotel.
We walked to the closest restaurant and spied three men sitting together through the window. From their sagging shoulders and general despondency, they had to be the men who had reported their friend missing.
Entering the restaurant, Reece guided me to a table near the small group. It took some practice to filter out the conversations from the other diners and to hone in on theirs. They were whispering, but we heard every word they exchanged.
“You have to tell the cops what you saw,” one of them was saying. They were all in their early twenties and were dressed in jeans, t-shirts and flannel over shirts. They looked like college students who had decided to spend a few days camping. That had been unfortunate timing, if Mark’s hunch was right.
“Yeah, like they’d really believe me,” another scoffed. “I can just see the looks on their faces when I tell them that I saw a beautiful blond woman turn into a hideous monster right in front of my eyes. They’ll lock me in the looney bin and throw away the key.” His black hair was unkempt and dark circles had formed beneath his eyes.
“They need to know what really took Reggie,” the third man said. All were pale and were still shaken by what they’d witnessed last night.
“They wouldn’t believe me,” the second man said. “I say we buy some guns, go back to the campsite and hunt that thing down ourselves.”
“You can’t be serious,” the first man said. He was appalled at the suggestion. “You said she turned Reggie into her puppet just by looking into his eyes. How do we know she won’t do that to us, too?”
“I don’t know exactly what she did to him,” the second man said stubbornly. “All I saw was her staring at him then her eyes started glowing yellow. Then she turned into an ugly old hag and they both disappeared.”
“Maybe she’s a witch,” the first guy said as he toyed
with his coffee. Their meals were only half eaten.
“Whatever she is, she can’t be human,” the third man decided. “Maybe we should buy some guns. Someone has to go out there and kill that thing before she kidnaps anyone else.”
Reece and I shared a disturbed glance and he reached for his cell phone. It only rang once before it was answered. “It’s me, boss,” he said quietly.
“I was expecting you to call an hour ago,” Mark replied. “Did you run into some trouble?”
“No. We arrived on time.” He sent me a guilty look that he’d forgotten to call our boss when we’d first arrived. Our hormones had gotten in the way of our duty. “We were…distracted for a while, but I have some information on the three surviving campers.”
To our relief, Mark didn’t ask why we’d been distracted. I heard Kala snort out a laugh in the background. She knew very well what we’d been up to. Not for the first time, I wished her hearing wasn’t quite so acute. “What did you learn?”
“One of them saw more than he told the police. He saw the succubus put his friend beneath her spell.”
Mark was quiet for a few moments. “Are they planning on doing anything stupid?”
“You guessed it. They want to purchase some guns and hunt her down themselves,” Reece said wryly. “Then she’ll have four meals instead of just one.”
“I’ll call the Sweepers and ask them to meet you in the morning at the campsite where their friend went missing. It would be best to draw them to a location where their memories can be erased without anyone interfering with the process.”
“I’ve been to this rodeo before,” Reece said with a hint of impatience.
“It doesn’t hurt to remind you,” Mark said almost primly. “Not when you’re so easily distracted at the moment.”
I winced at the pointed barb and resolved to be more alert during the rest of our mission.
Reece had the same thought. “Point taken,” he said.
“I’ll let you know what time the Sweepers will arrive. I’ll also access the Sheriff’s files and send you everything he, or she, has so far.” They hung up just as the waitress arrived to take our order.
We were two of the last customers to arrive for dinner and we were served fairly quickly. We kept our eyes and ears on the trio of campers while doing our best to look like an ordinary young couple.
Spooked by their encounter with a creature that they knew wasn’t human, the three men lingered in the restaurant. It was obvious they didn’t want to be alone and I couldn’t blame them. Most people would have been terrified after their first encounter with a monster.
Reece ordered coffee for us both when we finished our meals. He reached across the table and I linked my fingers through his. When he leaned in, it probably looked like we were having an intimate conversation, but he was all business. Mark’s earlier barb still stung us both. “I want to follow them when they leave,” he said quietly.
“Good idea,” I agreed.
“You know Kala is going to give us hell when we get back.” His smile said it would be worth the ribbing we’d receive.
“She’s just jealous that we get to have alpha sex and she doesn’t.”
“The stories aren’t wrong,” he confessed. “Being with you is far better than anything I’ve ever felt before.”
I made a face at the reminder that I hadn’t been his first. “Have you been with many girls?”
He shook his head. “Not that many. I’ve been too busy with work to think about dating.”
I didn’t ask the exact number of girls he’d been intimate with because I really didn’t want to know. He had enough experience to be very good at giving me pleasure and I told myself to be content with that.
Soon after we finished our coffee, the campers left. We waited for them to exit before following them. Strolling along arm in arm, we trailed the trio at a distance. They didn’t go far and stopped at a hotel that was only a couple of blocks down from ours.
Walking past their hotel, we continued our stroll for a few minutes before turning back. We didn’t need to follow them inside and see which rooms were theirs. Mark would be able to discover that information if we needed it.
We returned to our room and I unpacked my clothes while Reece switched on his tablet. Mark had sent us the police files as promised. I took a seat on the bed next to Reece, trying to ignore the rumpled sheets and the memories they conjured.
“The campers didn’t tell the sheriff or his deputies very much,” he said. “We won’t need to arrange for their memories to be altered.” He read much faster than I did and patiently waited for me to reach the end of the report.
“What are the Mind Sweepers going to do to them?” I asked. I only had a vague idea of what their job entailed. Flynn had told me they used a combination of drugs and hypnotism to make people forget what they’d seen.
“I haven’t seen the process myself, but Mark described it to me. They’ll isolate the men and inject them with a cocktail of drugs. They’ll use hypnotism to convince them that they didn’t see anything strange.”
It sounded much less scary than I’d imagined. Maybe the procedure wouldn’t be as awful as I’d feared. I guessed I’d find out for myself tomorrow.
₪₪₪
Chapter Fifteen
We were woken the next morning by Reece’s phone. Checking the screen, he sat up. “It’s Mark,” he told me before answering it.
“Good morning,” Mark said. He kept his tone businesslike. “I trust I’m not interrupting anything?”
“Just our sleep,” Reece replied. I shifted closer and reached up to run my fingers from his chest down to his abs. He caught my hand before it could stray any lower, but his body had already responded to my touch.
“I have the room number of the hotel where the three campers are staying. I suggest you call them and pretend to be from the Sherriff’s office. Ask them to meet you at the campsite where their friend disappeared. I’ll arrange for the Sweepers to meet you there in an hour and a half.”
“Copy that,” Reece said and hung up. Giving me a rueful grin, he kissed me then slid out of bed. “I wish we had a few minutes to spare, but duty calls.
With a sigh of regret, I knew he was right. I dressed while he made the call to the number that Mark had sent him.
“This is Deputy Hanover from the Sheriff’s office,” he said briskly when one of the men answered. “We have some more questions for you. If it isn’t too much trouble, we’d like you to meet us at the campsite.” He was silent while the camper consulted his friends. “Thank you. We’ll meet you there in an hour and a half.”
That would give us a few minutes to reach the campsite ahead of them. We didn’t waste any time and headed downstairs to our SUV. It had rained during the night. The ground was wet and puddles had formed on the side of the road.
“That’s going to make searching for the missing camper much harder,” Reece said with a grimace. Our sense of smell was excellent, but the rain would dilute the man’s scent to the point where we might not be able to pick up anything useful.
An unmarked black van had arrived before us and was parked in the lot near the campsite. We climbed out and Reece nodded at whoever was behind the wheel. The tinting was too dark for me to see more than a vague outline of two people. They nodded back, but remained inside. I could hear three more men in the back of the van. They didn’t make any move to exit their vehicle.
A few minutes later, an elderly station wagon chugged into view. Reece and I hid behind the SUV so the campers wouldn’t realize that we weren’t cops. The station wagon lurched to a halt beside the van and the three campers piled out.
We waited for them to be halfway to us before we stepped out from behind the SUV. The men came to a stop, realizing we weren’t who they were expecting. The backdoor of the van slid open and three men climbed out. I knew they were PIA agents, but they looked more like FBI with their dark suits and sunglasses. Maybe it was deliberate misdirection to avert suspicion
from our organization.
“What is this?” one of the campers asked nervously.
“There’s no need for concern,” Reece lied. “We just want to ask you a few questions.” As he spoke, all three agents pulled guns from holsters beneath their jackets. Instead of firing bullets, they shot tranquilizer darts into their necks. Rendered instantly unconscious, the three campers collapsed to the ground.
One of the Mind Sweepers approached us with his hand extended. “Agent Garrett, I presume?” He took his sunglasses off to reveal a pleasant, yet forgettable face.
Reece nodded as he shook the man’s hand then gestured to me. “This is Agent Alexis Levine.”
The Sweeper held out his hand to me. “Your father is a living legend, Agent Levine. It’s a pleasure to be able to meet his daughter.”
“Thank you.” I shook his hand, being careful not to squeeze too hard. As far as they knew, we were ordinary humans. Only a few select people at the upper levels of our organization were aware of what we were. Mark’s superiors were of the opinion that it sometimes took monsters to kill monsters. We were far more equipped to deal with the paranormal than anyone else in our agency.
They couldn’t leave the station wagon out in plain sight just in case the real cops turned up. The black van wasn’t large enough to comfortably accommodate three more bodies anyway. Two of the agents carried one of the unconscious campers over to the vehicle. They lay him down on the backseat and one of them buckled him in for safety.
Catching my amusement at their caution, Reece flicked me a warning glance and I schooled my face to neutrality. It was sometimes hard to remember that I was supposed to be an adult now rather than a teenager.
“We have chosen a remote, derelict house where we will be conducting the mind sweep,” the agent said as one of his men climbed into the station wagon. “You’re welcome to join us and watch the procedure.”
Reece looked at me for my opinion and I nodded. My curiosity was too strong to miss out on this opportunity. I sensed that he was interested in witnessing the process as well. “We’ll be right behind you,” he replied.
