Shifter, P.I. (werewolf detective)

by Bonnie Dee

  “Kids? Whoa.” Her eyes widened. “Maybe we should just start out with, I don’t know, going on a date or holding hands or something and see what happens next.”

  She startled a laugh out of me. Trust Amy to put things in perspective. “Holding hands, huh? Yeah, that would be good.” I hesitated a moment then held out my hand to her. “So, I guess what I’m asking now is …do you wanna?”

  She stared at my hand. “You mean, like, right now?”

  “Yeah. Right now.” I let my voice go low and husky as I moved in closer to her. “I want to hold your hand.” I wrapped my fingers around her hand and clasped it.

  She tilted her face up, eyes fixed on mine. She was so close I could feel a puff of warm breath from her parted lips. I lowered my mouth to cover those soft lips, a light brush of mouth over mouth. Sweet, delicate, innocent but with desire humming just underneath the surface.

  After a moment, I pulled away. “Well, that wasn’t so bad.”

  One corner of her mouth crooked up. “I could get used to it.” Her eyelids lowered and she looked out from under a fringe of thick black lashes. “Maybe another, just to be sure.” She reached up and curled her hand around the back of my neck, drawing me down to her.

  My exhaustion was forgotten as our kissing turned from polite, gentle exploration to a passionate clash of lips and tongues in seconds flat. I ran my hand down her back and cupped her ass, pulling her tight against me.

  She angled her head to deepen the kiss, clutching a fistful of my shirt. My hard-on pressed into her belly and her breasts mashed against my chest. Her body felt as delicate as porcelain in my hands, but not hard and brittle like that. She was soft and supple and her flesh molded around mine.

  Inside I felt a primal stirring, the other being waking again. This had never happened with other women I’d been with. The wolf stayed sound asleep, buried under layers of my consciousness. But with Amy, it was roused and ready to rise up and take over if I let it. It freaked me the hell out. This could be a problem.

  I stopped kissing and grabbing and pulled away from her, breathing hard. “Wait. Just a second.”

  “What?” Her voice was hoarse and breathy. Her tongue darted out and skimmed over her lush lips. I gazed down into her eyes, so dark I couldn’t tell the difference between pupil and iris, and felt as if I could fall into them.

  “I just ... Nothing.” Fighting back the stirring beast, I reached for her and pulled her close again. I just what? Can’t control myself when I’m around you? I’d find a way to do it if the alternative was not to have her at all. “Nothing,” I repeated.

  My tongue dipped between her lips and coiled around hers. I cupped her jaw, my thumb stroking over the incredibly smooth skin of her cheek. A kiss. So intimate and personal. Such a surrender of the very essence of a person that supposedly prostitutes will perform any act except that. I could’ve stood there in my kitchen kissing Amy for hours. But inevitably kissing led to touching, fondling and other things.

  As my mouth roamed from her lips to her throat, I ran my hand through her black hair like I’d wanted to do since I first saw her. The strands slipped between my fingers like water. Her pulse fluttered and I let my mouth rest in the hollow of her throat just to feel it. But deep inside, the wildness stirred again. I wanted to bite her and I wanted to fuck her hard and fast, claiming her as mine completely. Breathing in the smell of soap and Amy’s own natural scent, I quelled my urges. Instead I licked over her pulse and tenderly kissed my mark on the curve of her neck, before moving down to where the T-shirt scooped low to reveal the top swell of her breasts.

  A tug of the shirt pulled the neckline low enough to expose the plump tawny mounds and pointed burgundy nipples. I drew one erect bud into my mouth, rolling my tongue over its hardness while kneading the other breast lightly.

  Amy’s hands cradled my head, pulling me to her. Her moan sent a stab of desire straight to my rigid cock. Mine. I fought back a growl that rose in my throat as I suckled one pebbled nipple then the other. She tasted so good, a sharp tang of soap and salty skin. I wanted to eat her up as if she was Little Red Riding Hood.

  Releasing her breasts, I stooped and put an arm behind Amy’s thighs, another around her back and swept her off her feet. My wrenched shoulder complained, but I gritted my teeth and carried her to my bedroom. She rested her head against my shoulder and her arms clasped around my neck. The trusting gesture floored me; it was so not Amy. I felt like a conquering hero who’d rescued a village maiden—although honestly we’d both done our share of fighting that night.

  I laid her on my rumpled bed, which I wished I’d made up when I got up--how many long hours ago? For a moment I stood there looking down at the inconceivable sight of Amy Chang resting on my bed, her bare breasts peaking out of the neckline of my Saints T-shirt. She smiled at me and my heart literally ached. Amy never smiled at me. I hadn’t known she could be even more beautiful.

  “I thought we were just going to hold hands,” she teased.

  “I thought maybe we could hold hands while lying in bed.”

  She laughed and reached for me.

  I whipped off my clothes then climbed onto the bed, straddling her hips. I paused, kneeling there and simply feasting on the sight of her hair fanned across the pillow and her heavy-lidded eyes glittering in the dim light.

  She ran her hands over my chest and down my abs. My muscles twitched beneath her feather light touch. I sucked in a breath as her hands drifted lower over my twitching stomach muscles.

  Intercepting her hand, I kissed the palm and her wrist, stopping where the bandage covered her burn. “Does the brand hurt?”

  “I took ibuprofen. It’s not too bad.”

  I placed a light kiss on the gauze then continued up her inner arm until I reached the sleeve of the T-shirt. I stopped to pull it off her and glanced at her panties—plain white cotton, no frills. So Amy.

  I leaned slowly down. Our skin glided together, the points of her breasts sweeping my chest. Then our mouths met and I kissed and kissed her, making up for all the times I’d wanted to but hadn’t.

  When at last I paused to draw a breath, Amy murmured, “Damn! If I’d known you kissed this good, I wouldn’t have wasted a year trying to pretend I hated you.”

  “You were only pretending? Cause it seemed pretty real to me.”

  “You know me. An irritable temper and a smart mouth. It’s a character flaw but I don’t mean anything by it.”

  “I love your smart mouth.” I bent to kiss it again.

  When I pulled back to face her again, Amy ran her hand through my hair. “And I love this floppy hair. I’ve wanted to ruffle it for so long. God, I’ve had such a crush on you.”

  “Really?” I was shocked.

  “You know how in grade school little kids torment the one they have a crush on? I guess I never outgrew that.” Amy smiled. “Plus, I was scared. After what I went through with Jesse, the last thing I wanted was to get involved with another charming southern man who’d use me and lose me.”

  “I would never fuck you over like that. You can trust me.” Because you’re mine. Forever. My mate, the beast inside declared. But I didn’t want to scare the pants off her, though I did want to take them off, so I kept those thoughts to myself. “Do you trust me?”

  She gazed into my eyes as if reading something there and her forehead puckered. She paused so long I knew she was seriously considering the question and wouldn’t answer lightly.

  “Yes,” she finally said. “I trust you, Rick.”

  I quit talking then and concentrated on kissing her. First her mouth again, then lower. I kissed her small breasts and sucked her tight little nipples. I slid my hand down stomach and beneath the waistband of her underpants to touch her soft, curly mound and explore her slick folds. I groaned into her breast as my fingers entered her body.

  Amy let out a soft, breathless groan and lifted her into my seeking hand. Dipping into her searing heat, I drew wetness up and swirled it around the hard bud o
f her clit. I circled with light pressure until she was squirming then I moved off her and pulled her panties off at last.

  She lay naked before me, sprawled open and hiding nothing from me. To see Amy so unguarded, so trusting was miraculous and I felt honored to be the recipient of that trust. Her body was slim, almost boyish, but curved in all the right places. “God, you’re beautiful.”

  She grimaced. “Cut it out.”

  “You don’t like compliments?”

  “They make me uncomfortable, especially when they’re so obviously absurd.”

  I lay beside her, cupping one breast and rolling the nipple between my fingers. “You don’t think you’re beautiful?”

  “Cute, maybe. No more than that. Beautiful’s over the top.”

  “Cute and beautiful,” I insisted, leaning to kiss her lips again.

  Her cheeks were flushed a deep rose when I pulled away. “Are you going to be like this now? All mushy?”

  “Maybe.” I liked having habitually composed Amy act flustered. God knows, I’d been at a disadvantage with her often enough, caught me in awkward positions—like naked on the floor of her living room. I stroked her hair and looked into her eyes. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  She glanced down at her naked body, the glistening folds of her pussy. “Yeah. I’m pretty damn sure.”

  “Good.” I don’t know what I’d have done if she’d changed her mind. My cock was a bar of iron by then and I was ready to stop talking and start acting. I got a condom from the nightstand and slipped it on, acutely conscious of Amy watching. My erection swelled even harder under her gaze, as if trying to prove itself the biggest, thickest dick in the history of the world.

  I nestled between her thighs, covering her body with mine, our stomachs rubbing against one another. I reached down and guided myself to her entrance. With a grunt of satisfaction I sheathed my cock in her hot channel. It glided in as smooth as a knife through butter, until I was seated deep within her. I paused that way, gazing down into her eyes, breath mingling, living the moment, and then I began to move.

  As I rocked against her, a low growl rumbled in my chest. I was getting used to the sensation of my wolf aspect straining its tether and knew I could control that wild part of myself, unleashing its primitive passion only a little as I thrust into Amy. It was a delicate balancing act allowing my senses to heighten without physically changing form.

  Amy drew in an audible breath in reaction to my growl, but her expression was one of lust not fear. Her eyes glittered like diamonds in a dark mine and narrowed to mere slits. Her breath panted between parted lips. She looked as predatory as I felt.

  I pushed harder, deeper and faster. My arms were braced on either side of her, holding my weight off her, but Amy gripped my ass and pulled me even closer. She wrapped her legs around my back and I could penetrate her even deeper. Each stroke plumbed her deeply, hitting a place inside that made her cry out.

  “Okay?” I gasped.

  “God, yeah. Keep going.”

  I needed no more encouragement to loosen the reins on the beast. Her heat surrounded me and her body arched beneath me. Heat built between us, the tension exquisite and I skated on the rim of a vortex. Amy’s nails dug into my ass and her legs clamped around me like a vice. Her head fell back against the pillow, neck arched and vulnerable. I sucked on the bite marking her neck and pumped faster.

  She groaned and I felt the moment her body released. Her slick pussy clenched around me, inner muscles gripping my cock like a fist. Then she let out a wail. The wordless sound of her pleasure reached into me and tugged at my own ecstasy. Her orgasm unleashed me. I was sucked into the vortex, tumbling over the edge into a whirlwind. An incredible sense of euphoria burst through me. I shuddered against her, lifted my face from her throat and howled.

  It took all my concentration to let go yet hold back the beast. At that moment I think I was both at once, ego and id, perfectly balanced. For the first time in two years I felt like a whole being instead of fractured parts. It was the strongest orgasm I’d ever had in my life. I was left weeping, collapsed on top of Amy with my face buried in the crook of her neck.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Amy

  Sex with Rick was more powerful than any I’d had before, not that I’d been with that many partners. A high school boyfriend, a few brief encounters in college, and then Jesse, who was a skillful lover--probably from all the extensive practice he’d had with other women. But I’d never felt this…full-bodied release before. So strong and overwhelming.

  When Rick moved against me, pumping slowly yet intensely, the bite on my neck began to throb. Its pulsing marked time with his thrusts. Arousal built inside me like a gathering thunderhead. The first pangs of yearning quickly flared into a wildfire of desire. My breasts burned where they rubbed against Rick’s slick chest. The sensation of his strong ass pumping beneath my grasping hands made me wild and I arched into every powerful thrust.

  His mouth covered the mark on my neck--a throb as painful as the brand on my arm. I felt his growl reverberate from his chest into my body, and I wondered if he would shift right there in my arms. The idea repulsed and perversely excited me. Like a release static electricity, my synapses suddenly began firing. My body jerked, my pussy and those towering clouds on the horizon exploded into a violent storm.

  I’d never been a noisy lover, preferring to keep caterwauling to a minimum, but the force of that orgasm rocketed through me with too much strength to suppress. I cried out and clamped my legs around Rick as I rode the wave of pleasure coursing through me.

  Rick actually howled as he came and when he was finished, he collapsed and buried his face against me. Then the most amazing thing happened. I felt his body shaking in my arms and realized he wasn’t just breathing hard. He was crying. Hot tears wet my shoulder.

  Crying! Jesse had never cried from passion or anything else. My eyes prickled too and I held Rick tight, rubbing my hand soothingly on his back and pressing kisses to his sweaty shoulder. Finally he stilled and breathed deeply. He lifted his head, rubbing a hand across his eyes.

  “Jesus! What a dickwad. Sorry about that.”

  “No. It’s fine.” I smiled and wiped a trickle from the corner of my own eye.

  “I don’t usually … ah, break down like that. It was intense for me.”

  “For me, too.”

  Rick kissed me then rolled away. He discarded the condom then lay on his back, stretching his arms over his head and popping a couple of vertebrae with a twist of his back. I admired the long, lean lines of muscle up his sides.

  He turned his head on the pillow to look at me. “Thirsty?”

  “Yeah.”

  Rick went to the kitchen for water. Jesse had never fetched water for me. I’d always been the one to get it for both of us. At the time I’d never thought about what selfishness that signified. The simple, gracious gesture of Rick getting me a drink seemed so sweet and precious I felt like crying again. It really had been a very long night and my emotions were closer to the surface than I usually allowed them.

  When he returned and handed me a dripping cold bottle of water, I took it and gratefully chugged. “Thanks.”

  With the afterglow dissipating, I suddenly felt shy. I pulled the sheet up over my boobs and turned onto my side. Rick climbed under the covers behind me and pulled me back against him. It was easier to talk, facing away from him and lying under the sheltering weight of his arm.

  “So, I guess this changes things,” I said.

  “Guess so.” He kissed my shoulder.

  “Are we an item now?”

  His hand was resting on mine; our fingers twined together. “I hope so. Do you want to be?”

  “Sure,” I feigned casualness. “But you know what that makes you.”

  “What?”

  “Rebound Guy. You’re the first man I’ve been with since Jesse. That means you’re just filling a transitional function.”

  “Well, that’s not good. I don�
��t want to be Rebound Guy.” Laughter shimmered in his voice.

  “I could quick go on some other dates then get back to you,” I teased.

  “No. I don’t think so.” He held me even tighter.

  I smiled and leaned into Rick’s warmth feeling safer and happier than I had in a long time. “We’ll figure out a way around the rebound thing.”

  “Have to, cause I don’t plan on letting you go.”

  * * * *

  I woke to the sun streaming through the window. The bedside clock read 2:15. I’d slept so deeply that I hadn’t moved from my spoon position against Rick all night. Now I turned in the circle of his arms to study his sleeping face.

  Eyes closed he pulled away from me, flopping onto his back. A shadow of sexy beard stubble covered his jaw. His eyes moved restlessly behind his eyelids and I wondered what he was dreaming about. His ridiculously long eyelashes rested against his cheeks in two arcs. I reached out to touch the roughness of stubble and the soft fringe of lashes.

  Rick frowned and batted my hand away.

  I smiled and folded my arm back under my cheek. I didn’t really want to wake him. Wasn’t ready to make conversation. It was wonderful to just lie here and gaze at him to my heart’s content.

  But then I started to get nervous. Old habits die hard, and I began second-guessing what we’d done. How did I feel about it? What would I say to him? How did his “special condition” impact on me? The emotions were too raw for me to deal with. I needed some space and had to get out of there before Rick woke up.

  I slipped from the bed and into the clothes he’d lent me, padded to the kitchen and called a cab. As my day persona slid firmly into place, I prioritized all the things I needed to accomplish. I must go home, shower, dress, and get my car and purse back from the side of the road where DuShayne had kidnapped me. I also had to contact Brian Addington to talk about everything that had happened.