Once Upon A Midnight

by Stephanie Rowe

  “Be alert. He’s digging.” She wanted to knock the guy on his backside, but no sense in getting arrested for assault because a suspicious-looking character was hunting for his phone.

  Mina laid her hand on the Siggy’s shoulder as she pulled her 9mm and laid it against her thigh. Mr. Trench Coat withdrew the object from his pocket and Mina instantly recognized the grip of a gun.

  She shoved Siggy off his chair and pinned him to the tile. “Get down, Mr. Mason.” Brick dropped to the floor without an argument. Kneeling behind the table, she watched as Bobby and Mike moved swiftly toward the threat.

  “You, like, can’t treat Siggy like that,” said a girl with pink hair. “He’s, like, a star.”

  Mina ignored the girl, and whispered, “He’s packing. Take him down.”

  Bobby tackled him from the right side as Mike threw his body low to the man’s left. Mr. Trench Coat slammed to the floor on his backside, struggling as Bobby and Mike attempted to subdue him. The crowd drew back, murmuring as they pulled out their smartphones and started taking pictures and filming.

  Mina’s gaze switched to the perpetrator. Damn it. Somehow the bastard managed to keep a hold of his gun. He raised the barrel and aimed toward the ex-Marine.

  “Mike!”

  Mina’s shouted warning came too late. The gun wielder squeezed off a round, nailing Mike in the shoulder. He fell back, blood spurting. People screamed and panicked, some running toward the exit, others toward the back of the room, and yet others hiding behind each other.

  Bobby kicked the assailant’s hand and the gun skittered across the floor. Following with a knee drop to the chest, Bobby ended the fight by cold-cocking him with the butt of the 9mm. He rolled the guy over and put cuffs on him.

  Mina allowed Siggy to sit up, and the man looked pale and shaken. She gestured to his manager. “Get him out of here.” Brick didn’t need to be told twice. He hauled Siggy to his feet and hustled him toward the elevator.

  Mina went to check on her men. Bobby knelt next to Mike using cloth napkins to keep pressure on the wound. “How bad?” she asked.

  Bobby smiled. “Went clean through. I called 9-1-1. Ambulance is on the way.”

  Mike grimaced. “It hurts like shit.”

  “Well, kid,” she said, “welcome to private security.” She patted him on the back. “Nice move out there, by the way.”

  “Thanks, boss.”

  “How’s the client?” asked Bobby

  “I think he’s going to need a new set of britches.”

  Grinning, Bobby shook his head. “They don’t pay us enough to change diapers.”

  ***

  ERIC BISHOP WATCHED from across the street as the police hauled away the trench-coated man. He hadn’t expected to run into Semina Vail, not after all these years. He’d been meeting with the hotel’s vice president and security officer now that he’d brought the company on as a new client for their top of the line security system. Seeing Mina, feeling her touch, had taken all his energy—the heat he’d felt in her presence and the rush of his own blood pounding his arteries until he thought he would burst, had nearly undone him.

  Eric had been a normal kid. Nothing special. But when he’d reached puberty, something inside him mutated, and with the mutation, his physical appearance changed as well. He grew six inches, his skin cleared up, and suddenly women, and some men, couldn’t resist him. He learned quickly he had no real super powers except the ability to seduce just about anybody whether he wanted to or not. When his grandfather saw what was happening to Eric, he revealed a dark family secret. Eric carried a demonic presence inside him. An incubus.

  Eric had almost laughed in his grandfather’s face, but he could be scary when angered, so Eric resisted the urge. According to the old man, the incubus gene occurred every two generations in the males of his mostly human family. He’d been in the second generation since the last and the only male. His grandfather told him he had to hide what he was at all cost. There wasn’t a cure, the elder Bishop explained, but finding one right lover might keep his incubus side from seeking out many.

  ***

  MINA SPENT MOST of the night downtown at the cop shop. Dealing with human law enforcement meant a shitload of bureaucracy and red tape. At least, she wasn’t in front of a warden tribunal. When the new Triune of Caledon dissolved the group, Mina had had her doubts about the wisdom in doing away with a system that had kept others in check for more than a thousand years, but Gray and his shadow warriors had been even scarier in some ways. The incidence of OW crimes had gone down significantly, even the crimes against humans, which in the past, the wardens usually ignored.

  After she had signed her witness statement at the police station, she spent the rest at the hospital with Mike. The ex-Marine was tough and finally talked her into going home. She arrived at her apartment about four a.m. She shed her clothing and put on her favorite night shirt. A faded blue shirt, with a cartoon panda on the front, his arms open, the words “I’m huggable” underneath, and made of the softest tee-shirt material ever, hung just past her thighs.

  She couldn’t stop thinking about the well-dressed man at the hotel. He’d definitely made an impression. Mina had chosen a solitary life, but she never felt settled.

  She rubbed her eyes, turned on the lavender infuser next to the bed, and flopped back on her pillow. Fantasies would do for now. She concentrated on the gorgeous man who’d managed to raise her desire with a simple touch. Oh, my green-eyed mystery man, make my wet dreams come true.

  With one last wistful sigh of regret, Mina closed her eyes and conked out.

  Chapter Two

  THE PHONE RANG, rousing Mina from a hard sleep. She looked at the alarm clock. Jeezus, it was six in the morning. Fumbling for her smartphone, she knocked it on the floor. “Damn it!” When she retrieved it, she swiped open the call and said, “Hello. You’ve woken Mina Vail. Be afraid. Be very afraid.”

  “Semina?” the female voice on the other end answered. “You sound gruff, babe. Rough night?”

  “Hey, Charlie.” Mina relaxed. “You should know better than to call me before ten.” Charlie had been her best friend since the sixth grade, and she was one of the few people allowed to call Mina by her legal name.

  “I know, I know,” she said, “but I have a favor to ask, and I wanted to catch you before I headed to work.”

  Rubbing her sleep-worn eyes, Mina sat up on the edge of the bed. “Name it.”

  “Well, why don’t you hear what it is before you make any promises?”

  ***

  AFTER MINA HUNG up the phone, she found herself wide-awake despite getting only two hours of sleep. She tried closing her eyes and making her mind blank. When that didn’t work, she tried reading and soft music, but nothing helped. Charlie had asked Mina to escort her younger brother to a formal business party later in the week. Apparently his date had canceled at the last minute, and he needed someone on his arm to impress. Charlie was the one person Mina never wanted to disappoint, so she’d said, “Yes.”

  Charlie’s little brother had been sixteen the last time Mina had seen him—gangly with a bad case of acne. Strange boy, really. That had been twelve years ago during her senior year of high school. He’d been a nice kid. Too eager to please, but pleasant enough. It was the same year Mina’s empathic abilities had developed. Since she’d been in the foster care system at the time and a ward of the county, they hadn’t quite known what to make her. That same year Keane Silvertail found her and recruited her to become a warden for Caledon. In other words, a complete lifetime ago. Back then she’d been a slightly damaged teenage girl, abandoned by her father, no mother, and who dreamed of a having a family like Charlie’s. She’d worked too hard to shed that girl, but sometimes she really missed the innocence that came from never having killed another person.

  Rolling over, she checked out the clock, again. Shit, it was only seven—her prime sleepy time. She brushed her teeth and checked out the tube. An old rerun of Supernatural played. It ma
de her think of her super hunky ex Gavriil Doyle. He was a homicide cop—and someone she’d dated for six months until he asked for more and she panicked. If she could love anyone, it would be Gav, but still not in the way he wanted. Marriage, babies, and house with the white picket fence. Normal wasn’t something she could see for her own future.

  However, Gav conveniently lived in the apartment right across the hall from hers.

  Mmm, Gav. One hot ticket, a beautiful body, curly black hair, and blue eyes. His father was Irish and his mother, Greek. The lethal combination made him look like he belonged on Mount Olympus with the other gods.

  Mina really liked him, more than liked him, but that whole life mate idea—so not for her. Gav was a leogenus, a werelion, born to it on his father’s side, and once a leogenus pair bonded with someone, it was game on. She’d already been down this path with her Gav, and it had been a colossal mistake for both of them. Why did she keep falling for the furry and determined?

  Besides, his family hated her. Specifically, his mother. Aspasia Doyle, Azzy to her friends—and practically anyone else—insisted Mina call her Mrs. Doyle. The woman talked loudly, succinctly, and with lots of gesticulations. She whole-heartedly believed that Mina wasn’t good enough for her golden child. Though, it didn’t really matter what his mother thought. She’d already told Gav their relationship couldn’t have strings attached.

  Unfortunately, Gav hadn’t seen it that way. He didn’t know about her past. Maybe if he did, he’d have less of a problem seeing her as strictly as a booty call. Or maybe he’d hate her. A man like Gav, someone moral and ethical, wouldn’t be able to get past that part of her life. But it didn’t stop her from fantasizing. The man was sexy as hell.

  Lord, just thinking about him made her twitch. She turned off the TV. Damn it! She focused on the door, wishing he would come-a-knocking. She considered doing a little early morning knocking herself.

  No, she told herself, I will not go across the hall.

  Gav had made it perfectly clear that unless Mina wanted more than a bedmate, he was out. Besides, he had started dating some woman named Linda or Belinda or Calinda—or something like that.

  She sat quietly on the couch, her frustration creating an ache that begged for release. “Fuck it,” she mumbled. Gav didn’t leave for work for another two hours, and who knew…

  Mina didn’t even bother to comb her mess of long, black hair. Instead, she bee-lined across the hallway to Gav’s apartment and knocked on his door.

  From inside she could hear, “Just a minute.” Then a small crash. “Shit, Jesus, fucking plant.” Finally, the door opened, and Gav, wearing nothing but flannel pajama pants, his broad muscular chest staring her in the face, or rather her staring at the firm pecs, stood eye to eye with Mina while holding his big toe. Not a great start.

  He looked confused. “Is something wrong? Something’s gotta be wrong if you’re ringing this early. I heard about the shooter last night. You didn’t get hurt did you?” He let go of his foot. “Not that I was checking up on you. Pierce in intake called last night. He thought we were still dating.”

  He’d gotten a call about her? Wow, cops really were a tight-knit bunch. She didn’t like that he might be keeping tabs on her, but it warmed her to know that he still cared. Still wanted to be a part of her life, even if only peripherally.

  She crossed her arms as he examined her from head to toe with a quick glance up and down. “You look like hell, Mina.”

  She put her hand up and stalked toward him. “Stop talking before I change my mind.” She kissed him. His lips were unyielding at first, but quickly they warmed to hers. His tongue slipped between her teeth. She put her hand on his groin, feeling it swell beneath the flannel.

  “Wait, wait…” he said a little breathlessly. “I can’t do this.”

  “Because of your…girlfriend?” The word was bitter on her tongue.

  “It’s not…”

  Mina’s grip tightened on his shaft, not enough to hurt, but enough to get his attention. “I can’t stop thinking about you.”

  Heat touched Gav’s blue eyes as she pushed him into the apartment, closing the door behind them. She wrapped her arms around him. He captured her lips in a hungry kiss and explored her mouth. His hands brushed down to caress her ass.

  “Mmmm, nice Panda.”

  Mina blushed, remembering she was wearing her panda nightshirt. She stripped the nightshirt over her head, leaving only black silk panties against her pale skin. “How’s this for something sexy?”

  Gav smiled as he stared at her leanly muscled body and her bare breasts standing erect and ready for attention—not so erect that she could pass the pencil test, but still… “It works,” he said.

  She moved closer for another kiss. “You’re just lucky I brushed my teeth.” She playfully bit his lower lip.

  Gav, a couple of inches taller than Mina, growled, lifting her off the ground. He cradled her body, kissed her neck, and carried her to the kitchen counter. Sidling between her legs, he rubbed a hand between her breasts then down to her abdomen. “You’ve got a great body, sweetheart. I love the way it feels in my hands.”

  She put her tongue in his ear and whispered, “I don’t need sonnets, Romeo. More action.”

  In response, he looped a finger around the wet silk of her panties, and she moaned as he slid the tip between the folds of her wet sex. “Damn, do you walk around in a constant state of horny? You’re the only woman I know who’s always ready.”

  “That a bad thing?” She squirmed with frustration, grinding against him as he withdrew his hand and placed it on her shoulder. Crap!

  His face grew somber and serious. He had the “we need to talk” expression. Never good news. “Yeah, sometimes it is. I want more than sex from you, and I’m not willing to settle for scraps anymore.” He stepped away from the counter and scooped her nightshirt from the floor. “I think you should go home.”

  She hadn’t expected that. Thanks to her empathy powers, she felt his desire, his anger, and his frustration. “Fine. I don’t need you,” she said through gritted teeth.

  “Oh, I know.” A glint of anger flashed in his blue eyes. “You are nothing if not self-sufficient.” He gestured to the door. “Goodbye.”

  A small scream of aggravation slipped from her lips. “You’re such a… such a… pussy!” She grabbed her clothes from his hands. Never smart challenging an alpha male, but he’d pissed her off.

  Before she could get to the door, Gav was on her, shoving her against the wall. The nightshirt dropped to the floor, leaving his chest pressed against her bare flesh. He cupped her naked breast, molding the soft mound in his palm as his mouth went to her lips, her jaw, kissing her, his teeth grazing her skin.

  “You’re treading in dangerous waters, woman,” he whispered in her ear.

  She answered by sliding her hand into his pants and felt the heat of his rigid cock. Her fingers tangled in the curly hair surrounding it. Her other hand traveled to the back of his head, holding his mouth firmly to her skin as his mouth moved down her chest, his lips capturing her nipple, sucking it in.

  Gav grasped her leg, pulling her thigh up to his hip. Mina moved her hand from his cock and rubbed her wet core against the rigid length. A barking grunt sounded through the quiet apartment as he lifted her off the ground and carried her to his bedroom.

  He threw her on the bed, and she landed with a whoosh of breath leaving her body. He tugged the waist of his pajama bottoms down to his thighs, his feet doing the rest of the work as the flannels hit the floor. She drank in the sight of his body, fine black hair covering his broad chest with a pleasure trail leading to the rough curly hair framing his large erection.

  “This is a mistake,” he whispered, but his eyes told a different story. Gav wasn’t going to stop, and Mina’s body rejoiced.

  She slid to the edge of his bed, pulling his hips to her, and took his length into her mouth. He moaned, his hips bucking forward in response. As her lips slid along the tende
r skin, her hand snaked into his nightstand drawer and pulled out a condom.

  She wasn’t afraid of STIs, but she was afraid of pregnancy. It would be exactly what Gav would need to tie her to him as his mate, but Mina wasn’t mommy material. Frankly, the idea of having a kid scared the ever-loving shit out of her. She hadn’t had the best role model growing up. Her dad took off when she was eight, and her mom drank herself stupid in between bad relationships. Just thinking about her mother nearly deflated her lady boner.

  Nearly.

  She licked the slit at the tip of Gav’s luscious cock then sheathed the thick length of him with the condom. “Gav,” she whispered, nearly begging. “I want you inside me.”

  Gav, standing at the edge of the bed, reached down and pulled her legs up, pushing her thighs back to position the swollen head of his shaft at her opening. “Damn, you’re so fucking wet,” he said, sliding the tip back and forth against her clit.

  She squirmed, trying to force him inside. If he didn’t hurry, she would come before he could fill her. “Stop teasing me.”

  A ferocious grunt escaped his lips as she felt the apex of his cock enter her, followed by his entire length. He thrust his hips forward, savage. Again he thrust, holding her thighs down, her knees to either side of her chest. The angle allowed for deep penetration, filling Mina completely. She reached down to her swollen clitoris, aching to be touched. She slid her hand further until she could feel Gav, slick with her juices, slip back and forth between her middle and ring fingers. The tension in her body pulled like strings on a marionette, yanking and tugging. The pressure of unadulterated pleasure began to build, growing to volcanic proportions.

  “Oh, God,” she whispered, tears forming in her eyes as his fingers dug into the muscles of her thighs. Desire overwhelmed her senses...and love. His love, it poured from him, choking Mina with the enormity of the emotion. He’d never let his guard down like this before, never let her experience all of what he felt for her. Until now. “Gav,” she breathed. “Gav, Gav, oh, shit, damn.”