Joran had just made his way to the forest edge when he saw the fog fill the air between them and heard the growl in the woods. If they hadn’t been watching Agatha so closely, he would have sworn she was personally summoning the fog.
“Joran Smith?” Nicole asked. She glanced at him in the mirror, still frowning.
He nodded, trying to hide the smile that always came about over the last name Rem had chosen. It wouldn’t have been his choice, but it didn’t bother him all that much, either.
“That’s an unusual first name for such a common last name,” Nicole said. Joran could hear the skepticism in her voice and knew she wasn’t totally buying that it wasn’t a fake name. “Are you with that group at the base of the mountain?”
Suspicion filtered into her voice, making it clear what Nicole thought of his people. Joining forces with Anassa had only put the hybrids in a more difficult situation, and there was no denying that they likely seemed like a strange bunch to the rest of the townspeople.
Joran shrugged. “My… family and I moved to town recently to get away from the bustle of the big city. We have our reasons.”
None of the hybrids shared a family resemblance, before even taking into account things like skin color, but Joran didn’t quite know how else to refer to the others. His hybrid brothers felt like a family to him, and it didn’t help that Rem had given each of them the most generic last names. If they lived and died together, how was that different from a family?
Nicole nodded. “That’s an usual family you’ve got up there from what I hear. I also understand that you’ve been adding townspeople to your group.”
The woman was sharp. Joran already knew this from their many nights together. It killed him not to just tell her everything, but this wasn’t the time or place. Being handcuffed in her police car didn’t exactly set the mood for an open exchange of strange truths. Not that he would have minded one of them being cuffed.
He kept quiet. It might be best to not arouse her suspicions with too much chitchat.
“Have we met in town?” Nicole asked after some time.
Joran shrugged. He figured it was best to keep things light until he confirmed he was out of any possible legal trouble. “It’s a small town,” he said simply.
Nicole looked at him for a moment longer before turning her eyes back to the road. They sat in silence once again.
“Mind telling me just why I’m being taken in?”
“How about assaulting a deputy?” Nicole raised a brow, but Joran could tell she was reaching.
Joran frowned slightly. “That’s what it seemed like I was doing?”
Nicole sighed, and her shoulders sagged slightly. “Likely not,” she said. “It seemed like an animal hit my car. Did you even see what kind of animal that was?”
This time Joran’s face tightened. “No.”
He’d not been able to make out much of anything in the fog, but the sound the creature made was unlike anything he’d ever heard. There was no telling just what Agatha was cooking up behind that blue dome with the new Glycon hybrids.
“So what exactly were you doing out there, then?” Nicole asked.
Joran shrugged. “Just out for a late-night jog. No law against that, right?”
Nicole frowned. “At this time of night? This far away from your place?”
He shrugged again, a small smile on his face. “I have stamina.”
The deputy quickly looked away, but it didn’t stop Joran from spotting the blush that spread across her face. Something warmed deep inside him.
Even then, dressed in the ugly khaki uniform and large hat, he could see just how beautiful she was, and he wanted her even more.
“And how do I know you didn’t set out those logs to trap some unsuspecting woman like myself there?” she asked.
Joran snorted. “Pretty sure I’d have to be an idiot to try and trap a woman as capable as you.”
This time when Nicole glanced at him in the mirror, he could see the briefest of smiles before she turned back to the road.
It hadn’t been the win he was necessarily looking for, but he would take it.
There was something so familiar about Joran. Likely because she’d been dreaming of the man nearly every night, and all the wonderful things she’d like to do to him.
Nicole could feel the blush spread even further. How had a man like that been walking around, and here she was spending her nights fantasizing about him? There was something almost scandalous about it.
She glanced in the mirror once again and found his blue eyes staring back at her, a small smile on his lips as if he knew just what she was thinking. It was unnerving just how connected she felt to this man she’d just met, not to mention the strange way being near him made her feel.
When he’d pushed her to the ground, she’d never been afraid. Lying there protected in his arms, she’d felt safer than she ever had.
It was unnerving. So much so that Nicole had acted on impulse when she slapped the cuffs on him. Her heart told her she could trust him, but her experience told her he had to be hiding something.
Something strange was going on, and she would bet that Joran knew more than he was letting on. That alone ought to be worth him sitting in the jail overnight. Maybe in the morning he would be willing to talk more.
Nicole stopped the car outside of the department and stepped outside. Warm, sweet air met her, and for a moment, she was reminded of the cold air she had run into before. Just thinking about it chilled her to the bone.
She sighed. Something might be up with Joran, but she doubted even he had the ability to control the weather. But one thing was certain, something was going on in Eagle Ridge, and she was damn well going to find out just what that was.
Not wanting to waste more time, Nicole stepped over to the back door and opened it. She reached in and wrapped a hand around hard, thick muscle.
Her mind rushed exactly where it shouldn’t. She shook her head and pushed those thoughts out of her mind.
Joran moved out of the car as if the cuffs he was wearing weren’t a hinderance at all. He stood tall in front of her, and for the first time, she could see his handsome face up close. The dark contours were no longer hidden in the shadows.
He smelled of pine and soap. The two made her think of a fresh spring day. Nicole found herself leaning toward him slightly, his bright blue eyes staring at her as she did so.
A bright blue halo of light rimmed his irises. She gasped and stepped back. Almost instantly it was gone, and all Nicole could do was shake her head. Clearly the night was getting to her.
“Let’s go,” she mumbled as she looped her hand back around his upper arm.
They moved quietly up the stairs and into the building. The front desk was empty, and Nicole frowned. There was supposed to be someone there at all times.
“Hey, Ed?” she called. She heard movement in the back where the breakroom was. Nicole turned to Joran. “Don’t move,” she said sternly.
Maybe not the best idea, but she figured if the man had wanted to run, he could have easily done so before. She was strong, but she’d felt his muscles. Joran was much stronger.
Nicole stepped toward the desk and peeked around the corner. “Ed?”
She found the man standing in the breakroom with headphones in as he popped a bag of popcorn in the microwave. In the long list of things not to do in a Sheriff’s Department, this had to be at the top of the list.
“Jesus, Ed.” Nicole sighed and shook her head. She glanced over at the now curious Joran, who seemed more amused than anything. This was the last thing the department needed getting around town. “Hey, Ed!” she shouted.
It was the wrong choice, and she knew it instantly. Startled by her shout, the idiot deputy used his buttery fingers to make a grab for his gun. The weapon slipped from his fingers, and she watched in slow motion as it dropped to the floor.
BANG!
The shot rang loudly in her ears, but it still took Nicole a moment to realize she hadn�
��t been hurt. She opened her eyes and looked around. Joran was standing in front of her, and they were easily twelve feet from the spot she had just been standing.
Nicole stared at his concerned face with surprise.
“Are you okay?” he asked quietly. His voice shook as he spoke.
Once again she spotted bright blue light behind his eyes. Only this time, she couldn’t blame it on the night playing tricks on her eyes.
Nicole watched, open-mouthed, as he turned to Ed.
“If you can’t handle your gun then maybe you shouldn’t have one,” Joran growled.
Ed’s face turned bright red as he picked up the weapon. “And who are you to say that exactly?” He snorted. “You’re just some asshole in cuffs.”
Nicole could see tempers were flaring, and there was no way in hell she was dealing with that after the night she’d had. Quickly, she stepped between the two men, her back firmly against Joran.
“I’ve got this, Ed. You figure out just what the hell you shot and how you’re going to explain it to Frank.”
All the color drained from the other deputy’s face, and she knew she’d found just the thing to defuse the situation.
Nicole turned to Joran. “Let’s go,” she said quietly.
His eyes remained fixed on the man behind her.
“Please,” Nicole said.
Joran’s gaze slid to hers before he nodded and turned around. Nicole led him to the back where they kept a couple cells, mostly as a drunk tank, but they had been known to house the occasional more serious criminal.
Nicole unlocked a door and nodded inside. Joran moved without comment. She could still sense the anger rolling off him and wondered if he might have beat the shit out of Ed if the cuffs hadn’t been on.
She placed her fingers on his wrists behind his back as she uncuffed him. “Thank you,” she said quietly.
Joran turned around and stared at her for a moment.
“I don’t know how you did that, especially cuffed, but thank you,” Nicole added.
She turned around and stepped out of the cell, closing the door behind her. She didn’t want to look at him. Something was growing between them, and she couldn’t let that happen. She needed to keep her wits about her if she was going to get to the bottom of things.
“There’s water and blankets under the bunk,” Nicole said, and glanced to the front. “You likely won’t hear from Ed, and Frank will come in a few hours.”
Joran chuckled. “You know, you could just let me go.”
He was sitting on the bed now, leaning back like he had all the time in the world. After everything that had happened, he could still look so calm and collected.
Nicole frowned. She had to make sure she didn’t let personal feelings interfere with her duty.
“What were you doing out there in the woods?”
Joran pressed his lips together hard and shook his head.
“Fine.” She sighed. “I need to get some sleep before I’m back on the clock. You can just sit in here and think about it until then. Maybe you’ll feel more like talking in the morning.”
Joran just smiled back at her. “Sweet dreams, Nicole.”
The soft way he said it only irritated her more.
In a huff, Nicole made her way to the front where Ed was sitting at his desk staring blankly at a piece of paper, likely trying to decide just how to tell Frank he’d fucked up.
He looked up at her. “I’m so sor—”
Nicole held up a hand. She was over the night. She grabbed the holding form from the file box and scribbled quickly on it.
“He’s back in a cell. I’m going home to sleep. I’ll be back in the morning to talk with him.” She stared directly at the pale man in front of her. “Do. Not. Fuck. With. Him.”
Ed nodded as she slapped the paper in front of him. “Of course, of course.”
“Try not to shoot anything else tonight.”
With that, she took her tired ass out the door and headed home.
Chapter Five
Joran watched Nicole from a distance through the smoky white fog that always filled the area around them whenever they shared a dream. The strange white space seemed to be exactly nowhere, but she was always waiting for him at night.
It was the very place he knew she would be in the dream. Some might claim it wasn’t reality, but how could he deny the nocturnal connection linking him to his Vestal?
He’d seen the woman so many times now but still couldn’t quite figure her out. The dream Nicole seemed to contrast with the woman he’d dealt with in Eagle Ride. Here, Nicole was beautiful, just as she was outside, but also graceful. Long, flowing honey-colored hair cascaded down her slender frame. It was such a contrast from the strong woman he’d been talking to in his waking life just hours before.
Reality and fantasy. Both the dream and the waking life felt real.
Nicole turned to look at him, her deep green eyes pinning him. A smile played on her lips and sent a jolt right to his cock. Never in his life had he felt an attraction like this. There was just something about the woman that pulled him in, and no matter how much he told himself that he wasn’t there for that, he still felt the strength of the connection they shared pressing him to make her his.
She was his Vestal, the other half of his soul. He wouldn’t be complete until she had him, and the same for her.
In fact, in the dream space, the longing was stronger. He could feel the need pulsing through him, the call of the Vestal to her hybrid.
“You came,” Nicole whispered. She stepped over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Her warm form pressed against him, and despite himself, he pulled her more snugly against his hard body. Just having her curves fit against him was like being able to breathe again after suffocating for years. The feeling overwhelmed him for a moment.
Every alarm in his head always went off at the sight of her. The animal-like side of him knew that this could be dangerous each time they met, but his body always seemed to have a mind of its own, and his instincts took precedence.
Joran leaned in and breathed in a soft hint of lavender, a scent he’d come to know as hers. He craved the smell as if it were vital to his own existence.
“I always come,” he mumbled against her neck. “I will always come, Nicole.”
She shivered in her arms. Her nipples pebbled against his chest through her sheer green nightgown. He was playing a dangerous game, but he wasn’t sure if he cared.
Nothing had really happened between them the times they had met. Mostly they just reveled in the feel of the other person. On occasion they had kissed, but Nicole was shy, more so than he would have expected.
She pulled back to stare at Joran before leaning in and pressing her mouth against his. He sighed at the feel of her sweet lips and let her take the lead. The kiss was soft and chaste. It didn’t come with the passion the hybrid craved.
After a moment Nicole pulled back and placed her head against his chest. Her fingers traced the bright blue lines on his dark chest. In the dream, he didn’t have to hide his true nature from the world. They were just two people seeking something more.
“You always make me feel so…” Nicole began. She sighed and let her hand rest against his chest. For a moment, Joran wondered if she could feel how hard his heart beat under her palm.
“I know,” he said softly.
Nicole didn’t have to say it. He knew what she was thinking.
Complete.
Being near her gave him something he’d never had before and didn’t even know he wanted. A place to just be himself. In the group he had a role. In society, he had a role. But here, in the dream with her, he was free to be the man he wanted to be, not what he was told he needed to be.
It had been so hard to let Nicole leave the jail earlier. Two times in the night, she had been in danger in front of him. Just thinking about it made him worry all over again. Knowing she might be at risk again, the hybrid could hardly contain himself.
Their tongues swirled together in her mouth. Her hands moved over his chest to his arms, teasing the muscles as she did so. The feel of it was all so very real.
His cock pressed desperately between them, aching to be buried deep inside of her. Even if it were only a dream, it all felt so real, and the emotional connection wasn’t a phantom. Nicole wasn’t a fragment of his imagination. She was real, and they were together, their hybrid and Vestal bond reaching past simple reality to something deeper.
Nicole reached around Joran’s neck and pulled him toward her, taking them both to the ground as he pressed his hard body between her open thighs, her breath quickening.
His hard length pressed against her heat, and he cursed the damned pants he was wearing. More than anything, he desperately wanted to watch her come undone in his arms, to scream and moan his name.
Nicole pulled her mouth from his, but he didn’t stop. Instead he trailed soft, wet kisses along the side of her neck, all the way down until he’d reached the hard peaks through the thin green material.
Joran glanced up her body. Her soft green eyes fixed on him.
Slowly he leaned down and covered her hard nipple with his mouth. Instantly she bucked under him, grinding her center against his thick cock as he nibbled the tender peak.
A low, deep growl filled his chest as she continued to move her hips against him. The wet spot on the front of her gown grew with her excitement. The scent of her wet heat lingered around them.
“Yes,” Nicole hissed. Her legs locked around him as she centered herself over him, desperate for a release.
Joran switched to the other nipple, his cock now eager to be released from its confines.
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