It was past one in the morning when Erica walked out of the sheriff’s department feeling fried. Twelve-hour shifts were a bitch, though there was something to be said for the longer weekends. Given that she’d caught a killer -- and spent most of the day ass-deep in paperwork -- today had been particularly exhausting.
So she was less than thrilled to see the four deputies gathered around her patrol car where it was parked in solitary splendor at the other end of the lot. She was even less pleased when she recognized them: Tom Green, Scott Clary, Mary Hampton, and Bob Martin.
The four Talent-hating cops Jake had warned her about.
The hair rose on the back of her neck. For a moment she was ten years old again, back home in Screamer Mountain, North Carolina.
The gang of kids surrounded her on the playground. “Witch! Witch!” They knocked her down, kicked her, punched her, despite her desperate fists and feet. The sharp, bright pain in her broken nose, the taste of blood from her cut lip, pain jolting her dislocated jaw every time she screamed defiance…
It hadn’t been the first time. It wouldn’t be the last.
The muscles of her shoulders tightened, but she forced herself to walk toward the four cops as if she felt no fear at all. I’m not that kid anymore. I’m an Arcane Corps veteran. If they fuck with me, I can fuck back.
Besides, if her childhood had taught her anything, it was that you didn’t back down from a bully. They loved a sense of power like Clarence loved catnip, and they’d go after her even harder if she showed weakness. She didn’t let her steps falter, drawing on her Talent to study them as she approached.
The blend of colors floating around them suggested Clary felt cruelly amused, Hampton resentful, and Green nervous. But the one who worried her was Martin, a big man with so much crimson in his aura, he obviously balanced on the blade-edge of violence.
Despite the cold evening air, sweat rolled down her back. The deputies of Charlie shift were already on the road, while their lieutenant was at his desk in the depths of the building. If the situation went sideways, she wouldn’t have backup.
Don’t be ridiculous. They won’t do a damn thing. There are cameras mounted all around the parking lot.
Assuming I didn’t park in an area the cameras don’t pick up… She kept the thought off her face and gave them her best good ol’ girl drawl. “You folks need something?”
Clary’s easy smile might have seemed comforting, if not for the vicious amusement in his aura. He was a tall, lean man with the build of a marathon runner, thick, dark hair, and a mustache that reminded her of a 1970s porn star. “We just wanted to congratulate you on catching that killer.”
“Bet you think you’re some kind of hot shit hero like your freak boyfriend.” The red roiling Martin’s aura made it difficult to see his features clearly. He was a head taller than she was, with a broad, square face that looked even broader and squarer thanks to his auburn brush cut. He carried enough muscle for an NFL lineman; rumor said he liked to use it.
Erica looked at him and slowly lifted a brow. “Jealous?” If he took a swing at her and the cameras caught it, he’d hand the sheriff that firing offense Gable wanted.
“I wouldn’t touch you with a ten-foot pole.”
“I’m crushed.”
“If you think they’ll make you a detective ‘cause of those busts, think again.” Mary Hampton was a beefy blonde woman an inch or so taller than Erica. She had the kind of snub features and round face often described as cute in children and pleasant in adults, but the look in her narrow eyes was neither. “There’s no way the sheriff is going to promote a freak.”
She didn’t look away from Martin and his psycho’s aura. “I’m just happy the killer’s in jail.”
Resentment tightened Clary’s mouth. “That case could’ve been solved just as well with normal police work. Ormond had multiple domestic violence charges. We’d have caught him regardless.”
Erica lifted a brow. “We? Don’t you mean Sawyer? Because you were running your usual speed trap over by the women’s college. I understand you get a lot of dates that way.”
Clary stiffened, sullen red anger sparking in his aura.
“I’ll bet the witch just saw a picture of this boyfriend at the vic’s house,” Hampton announced. “That’s how she drew that sketch. Then she pretends to be a ‘psychic.’” Her fingers sketched air quotes.
“Either I’m a witch or I’m a fake. Make up your mind, Deputy.”
Hampton jolted forward until they were almost nose-to-nose. “You’d better watch your mouth.”
“And what if I don’t?” Erica smiled slowly, seriously tempted to give her an aural zap to teach her to keep her distance.
Maybe something of what she was thinking showed in her face, because Hampton’s eyes flickered. “We’ll shut it for you.”
“You sure you want to try that? Because it looks to me like you’re scared. There’s fear in your aura. Lots of pretty yellow.” As all four of them stared at her, Erica bared her teeth. “I’m an Arc, remember? I see auras. I see what you’re feeling.”
“Auras?” Martin rumbled, and the red blazed brighter in his. Shouldering Hampton aside, he lifted one bunched fist. “I’ll make you see stars.”
The nice thing about people who hated witches was that they were easy to bluff. “You’d better worry about what I can make you see.”
“What do you mean by that?” Clary demanded, looking uneasy.
“Why, nothing, Deputy. Nothing whatsoever.”
Now yellow forked like lightning across all their auras.
“What the fuck is going on?”
All five of them jerked around, even Erica.
Jake stood glaring at them. They’d been so focused on each other, they hadn’t even noticed him walk up.
“Just congratulating Harris on her excellent police work,” Clary said with a completely unconvincing smile.
“Yeah?” Jake’s nostrils flared. “So why do I smell bullying asshole?”
Hampton looked considerably less intimidated than her male coworkers. She probably figured -- correctly -- that Jake’s sense of chivalry would protect her. “Why do we have K-9s when we could put a leash on Nolan?” She turned her sneer on Erica. “Some cop you are. Always hiding behind your fuzzy boyfriend. How many times has he saved your ass in the past week? You must give really good head.”
Jake’s eyes narrowed and took on a menacing glow. “I seem to remember an asshole with a tire iron swinging at your head last week. He’d have knocked a homer if I hadn’t stopped him.” They all shifted under his stare. “Yeah, think about it. Next time you need backup, maybe I’ll just let you tough guys handle it.”
“I think this has gotten a little out of hand.” Clary gave Erica an apologetic smile belied by the swirl of enraged crimson orbiting his head. “Sorry about that, Harris. Tensions are high, what with all the Talent violence. You know how it is.” He gave his gang a significant glance, and they all turned away.
Hampton gave Erica another dose of sneer. “See you later, Harris. We’ll have to have a little girl talk sometime.”
“Looking forward to it, cupcake.”
“Come on, Hampton,” Clary snapped.
Erica stood there, the March chill biting her cheeks as she and Jake watched the four get into their patrol cars and drive away. Clenching her fists, she breathed in, working to control the tremor she could feel building in her muscles. “What the hell, Nolan?”
Jake rocked back on his heels in surprise. “What are you mad at me for?”
“I had it handled until you undercut me. Now they think I’m a pussy.”
“What do you care what they think? They’re bullying assholes.”
“Exactly. And next time they’ll escalate, because that’s what bullying assholes do.”
He hooked his thumbs in his duty belt and glowered. “You were outnumbered, Erica.”
“They weren’t going to touch me. It’s the damn parking lot. There are cameras. They’d be fired. They were just mouthing off.”
“Yeah, that’s why Martin smelled like bloodlust.”
“Maybe, but he wasn’t doing anything. And he wasn’t going to do anything. Now I’m going to have to teach the bastards a lesson all over again, and the next time it may be somewhere there aren’t any cameras.”
As they glared at each other, the softly glowing figure of Clarence wandered out of Jake like a cat door. The lion began to circle, scrubbing his jaw against her hip as he rumbled a low, soothing croon.
Despite her temper, the contact with the Familiar’s magic was as comforting as the sensation of fur rubbing over her skin. Knowing she was being played, Erica eyed him. “Quit that.”
Clarence chuffed and gave her a head butt that would probably have knocked her on her ass had he been physical. With a disgusted huff of her own, she surrendered, reaching down to dig her fingers in the thick mane behind his ears.
Jake watched her, tapping his fingers on the plastic buckle of his duty belt. “Why did they take that risk? Why start something in front of the cameras to begin with?”
Erica looked up from Clarence’s insubstantial ears. “It’s a power play. Nothing gives assholes at the bottom of the pecking order a buzz like bullying somebody.” Her jaw tightened as her temper heated again. “Which is why you should have let me handle it.”
* * *
Jake stared at her in frustration. She was wearing that stubborn expression he’d come to know so well when they’d served together. “If you think I’m going to stand back and watch four assholes jump you when I could stop it, you’re out of your mind.”
“Then they’ll never learn to respect me. And that’s not doing me any favors.” Her gaze met his, eyes big and dark as a moonlit lake as a fine muscle flexed in her jaw.
Deciding to take a chance on getting his head bitten off, Jake reached out and cupped her cheek. Her skin felt like silk under his fingertips, tempting, soft, warm. “This isn’t Screamer Mountain, Erica. You’re not alone this time.” He brushed a thumb over her cheek. “You’ve got me now. And I’m not going to fail you.”
He thought he saw longing flash in the depth of her big dark eyes. Then her gaze cooled. “Not willingly, but things happen.”
He shook his head in frustration. “You could at least try trusting me.”
“That hasn’t really worked out in the past.”
Damn it, Bobby. “You haven’t tried it with me.” He stroked her lower lip. It felt soft against the pad of his thumb, warm and tempting. He wanted to kiss her so badly he could taste it. “I don’t play by anybody else’s rules.”
“I have noticed.” Her voice sounded dry.
“So notice this.” He lowered his head…
For a moment Jake thought she was going to let him kiss her, but at the last moment, she swallowed and stepped back. “Don’t you think we’ve caused enough gossip for one day?”
He paused, reluctantly realizing she had a point. “Then let’s go to my place and talk about it.” He wanted to touch her so badly his back teeth ached. But then, he’d been battling various impulses since the moment he’d walked up to see those four dickheads surrounding her, violence reeking in the air. It had been all he could do not to manifest Clarence and roar.
Erica’s chin took on that jut, and for a moment he thought she was going to refuse. Damn it, Erica, I need you…
As if she read his mind, something in her eyes softened into yearning. “All right. I’ll see you at your house.”
“Do you know where it is?”
Her smile was a little dry. “Yeah, I know. See you in twenty.” Turning away, she unlocked her patrol car, got in, and drove away.
Some of the tension drained out of his muscles, replaced by anticipation as Jake headed for his own vehicle. He was a bit surprised she’d agreed, considering how pissed she’d been. But maybe she felt the same need to burn off a little steam that he did. The memory of those bastards standing around her…
Clarence growled, a low rumble in the depths of his brain accompanied by a complex wave of emotion: anger that anyone had dared to threaten her, pure leonine territoriality, the need to make sure none of those bastards dared touch her. Ever. Again.
And the cat had some definite ideas on how to ensure that last one. “Sorry, Clar, the brass frowns on that kind of thing.” His voice dropped to a mutter. “Though God knows I’m tempted.”
The idea of Erica in danger made him want to hurt somebody. Badly.
* * *
Twenty minutes later, Jake pulled into the carport with his heart pounding.
Erica had parked under the oak out front. As he got out, she did the same, looking tall and slim and a bit tense with anticipation.
And she wasn’t the only one.
The need he felt was ferocious, a hot craving to taste her again, feel her silken body under his hands. He felt acutely conscious of Clarence’s low rumble in the back of his mind. Reacting to his emotion, his need.
Jake remembered the way it felt making love to her, the stroke of her power along his own, so delicious and so alien. Maddening, beautiful, proud Erica, too courageous for her own good.
He tried to remember if he’d made the bed.
She moved toward him, tension in the line of her body, a certain heat lingering in her eyes. He thought it was anger, but there was need too. The same craving he felt.
He met her halfway with no memory of closing the distance. It was one of those clear, brilliant March nights, and moonlight silvered the soft curves of her features and glittered in her eyes.
For a moment she just stood there looking up at him, hands down by her sides. Something in her stance suggested she felt conflicted, as if she was second-guessing her decision to come back here with him. “I…” she began.
In the depths of his mind, Clarence growled. Jake agreed. Before she could get the rest of her objection out of her mouth, he covered her lips in a kiss infused with all the seduction he could pump into it. The taste of her made him want to moan, though his conscience muttered. I’ll let her go in a minute, he told it. Now I need this.
If that made him a selfish son of a bitch, so be it. He had to taste her.
To his relief, Erica moaned softly and leaned into him, slimly muscled arms wrapping around his waist just over his duty belt. Equipment rattled and plastic clicked, their gear a frustrating barrier.
Erica opened to him, and Jake angled his head to suckle her tongue with teasing sips. As they kissed, his hands slid up to cradle her face. She made a soft, needy sound against his mouth, and he drank in the sound.
At last she pulled away to slant him a wicked little smile. “I think we’d both enjoy this a lot more without two layers of Kevlar and twenty pounds of gear.” Reaching out, she flicked his ASP baton, making it swing beside the thicker bulk of his erection. “Notice I’m resisting the obvious nightstick joke.”
He chuckled and brushed his knuckles across her jawline. “I appreciate your self-control.” Wrapping his hand around hers, he turned her toward the house.
Anticipation rolling hot through his blood, Jake felt his erection pressing against his fly. It made the task of getting his key in the lock a little more demanding than usual. Finally he wrestled the door open, flipped on the hall light, and led the way into the kitchen.
“Nice house,” she commented, though she barely glanced at the room’s stainless steel appliances and granite countertops.
“Managed to get a VA loan,” Jake said, gaze hot on her mouth. Wanting only to taste it again. “Nickel tour now, or later?”
“Later. I’m a little… distracted.”
“Glad I’m not the only one.” Resting a hand on the small of her back, he guided Erica into the hall and up the stairs to the master bedroom. And was more than a little relieved to find the California King neatly made under its pewter spread.
“Damn, Nolan, you could land jets on that bed.”
“Hey, I’m a big guy.”
“You’re five feet ten inches.”
He smiled so slowly and suggestively, she snorted. “I see -- you need the extra room for your ego.” Her gaze swung and caught below his duty belt. A dark brow rose. “Among other things.”
“I find you very inspiring.”
“I’m flattered.” Erica rose on her toes as he leaned down for another taste of mint and magic. But as their bodies brushed, her ASP baton tapped his thigh again. Erica chuckled against his lips. “Gotta get rid of the armory.”
“Sounds good to me” He reached for the wide plastic buckle of her duty belt, clicked it open, then went to work unfastening each of the straps that attached the belt to the leather one beneath it.
While he worked on the belts, she started unfastening the buttons of his uniform shirt, revealing the black bulk of his Kevlar vest. A deep breath reminded him he’d just spent the past twelve hours encased in the thing. It might be April -- he got really ripe in August -- but still. “Want to share a shower?”
“God, yes. I probably smell like a goat.”
Jake gave her a slow grin. “Nope. Nowhere near that baaaad.” He gave the last word a realistic magical bleat.
Erica wrinkled her nose at him. “What, Dave’s writing your material now?”
But when she shed her shirt and pulled open the Velcro tabs of her bulletproof vest, there was nothing even remotely goat-like about her scent, just heated, healthy woman. His erection bucked in hot interest.
They undressed each other slowly, tossing clothing and equipment on the armchair by the bed. He enjoyed the sight of her clothes lying tangled with his. Every inch of skin they revealed was an invitation to touch and kiss, and he lost himself in the taste of her, in the silken textures of her body, the intoxicating scent of sex, Erica and magic.
At last he had her naked, her body slim and strong, with just enough curve to soften the lean athlete’s muscle she’d built as cop and soldier. Her breasts tempted his hands with their small berry nipples. So did those long, lean legs and the soft triangle of chocolate hair between them.
He drew her into the master bathroom. It was a thoroughly utilitarian space, with a narrow sink, commode, and glassed-in tub. When he bent to turn on the water, her hands promptly sought out the width of his back to begin tracing intricate patterns over his skin.
Jake grinned over his shoulder at her as the water came on with a hiss. “Working a spell back there?”
Her smile was slow and mysterious, and her fingers moved, gliding over his aura as much as his flesh. The sensation that rolled through him was indescribable, as if she had plucked his soul like a guitar string. His cock hardened even more in response to the surge of stark lust. Jake stepped back with a sweeping gesture for her to precede him into the tub.
She lifted a brow. “Ladies first? Really?”
He flashed her a grin. “Hell, no. I’m just ogling your ass.”
Laughing softly, Erica got in, the shift and sway of that beautiful backside every bit as delicious as he’d anticipated. Jake stepped in after her as she turned to face him, backing beneath the spray. Her eyes slipped closed, head tilting back as the water cascaded over her head and shoulders. Rivulets traced shining patterns over her delicate collarbones and down the slopes of her breasts to stream off her nipples.
Unable to resist, he leaned down and took one of those raspberry points into his mouth. The water streamed along his jaw as he rolled his tongue over it. Sweet. She tasted so incredibly sweet.
And I want more.
* * *
Erica stared down at him, entranced by the look on his face. There was such fierce need in those golden eyes. His teeth rasped gently over her captured nipple, and he suckled hard, each pull sending another bolt of pleasure shafting through her body.
Her gaze skated along the width of his broad, wet shoulders, admiring the ridges of tendon, the thick pads of muscle lying over the broad bone.
Jake straightened, kissing and licking his way up her torso as he went, following the line of her throat up to her chin and from there to her mouth. His big hands closed around her waist and pulled her closer as he took her lips, his tongue thrusting deep.
Erica caught his lower lip between her teeth and bit down gently. His mouth seemed the only soft part of his entire body as he pulled her flush against him. All that slick, hard muscle was intoxicating, intriguing. Delicious.
Unable to resist the need to touch him, Erica stroked her hands up his ribs up to the tight beads of his small male nipples. She flicked her thumbs over them, and Jake rumbled against her mouth, sounding like Clarence. And returned the favor, his hands cupping her breasts, his touch exquisitely gentle.
As they kissed and teased each other, the warm spray cascaded down their bodies, pooling here in the bend of an arm, streaming along the curve of her breasts, beading like gemstones in his chest hair and along the length of his proud cock. Each touch branded itself on her consciousness.
Making love to Bobby had never felt like this. Making love to anybody had never felt like this.
Erica thrust the thought quickly away, knowing it would lead her places she had no desire to go. Not with Jake standing so deliciously naked and male against her.
She needed this too much to be distracted by dark memories. Needed Jake’s heat, his male carnality, his humor and his intelligence. She’d been alone too fucking long…
Jake dropped to his knees in front of her. Erica blinked down at him as he flashed her that dimpled grin and wrapped one big hand around her knee. She braced her hands against the wall of the shower as he lifted her leg and hooked her thigh over his shoulder, then leaned in and covered her pussy with his mouth. With one of those deep rumbles that always drove her crazy, he stroked his tongue the length of her folds and parted her labia. The incredible flashing pleasure of each hot lick made her eyes roll back, a shudder running the length of her body.
Leaning a shoulder against the wall of the shower, Erica watched in dazed delight as he ate her, his eyes closed, his expression intent. Completely focused on the taste of her. His tongue swirled over and around her clit, each little flick shooting another hot burst of pleasure jolting up her spine. The sensation was so intense it made her knees go weak.
Jake’s probing fingers found the opening of her pussy and thrust deep, forcing her to grab his head with her free hand. His hair felt like wet silk under her palm. “Jake!” she gasped, tightening the grip of her lifted leg across his back as she fought to keep her balance.
God, it felt so good…
He ate until the knee of her supporting leg quivered in helpless reaction. His free hand reached up to cup her breast, his thumb flicking her nipple, the pleasure echoing the intense swirls of his tongue over her clit.
Her climax began with inner muscles clenching deep, every pulse making her entire nervous system ring like a bell. Until she had to grab for the showerhead or fall flat on her ass.
She wrapped one hand around the faucet and held on for dear life as his ruthlessly skillful mouth suckled and bit and tasted. Squeezing her eyes shut, Erica chanted through clenched teeth, “Oh God, oh God, oh God…”
She wanted to touch him, had to touch him, but she knew that if she let go she’d fall. So instead she reached out with her aura, let it play over the whirling rose and violet of his.
Jake growled softly against her pussy, the sound a dark male rumble. Staring down at him, she glimpsed the head of his cock, pressed hard against his belly. A wicked thought occurred to her, and she sent her aura questing out to wrap around the thick, flushed shaft.
Jake jerked in reaction, muscle rolling all along his broad shoulders, fingers tightening on her breast and convulsing in the depths of her pussy. Closing his lips around her clit, he sucked hard.
“Jake!” she groaned, almost tumbling into orgasm before she caught herself and retaliated with the gliding stroke of her aura along his balls.
His head jerked back, and his eyes blazed up the length of her body, brilliant gold. His mouth looked wet from her juices as he rasped, “You do like to live dangerously.”
Scooping her leg off his shoulder, he steadied her with a grip on her hip. Erica, staring down at him, thought she saw the glowing swirls of a lion’s mane curling around his shoulders as he gripped her hips and turned her back to him, then pulled her down.
“What are you…” she began, just before she splashed to all fours in the bottom of the tub.
With a leonine growl, he caught the back of her head and pushed it down. Shocked and aroused, Erica braced herself on her forearms.
A heartbeat later, Jake drove the entire rock-hard length of his cock into her wet pussy, stuffing her full in one ruthless plunge.
“Jake!” The sound was raw with shock and hunger.
His only response was a fierce growl as he drew back, dragging his thick length out of her. Only to drive in again and again, plunging, digging deep. A low rumble filled the air as he grabbed a fistful of her wet hair with one hand.
Erica should have been pissed off. Should have been offended by the raw masculine dominance in the gesture. And if it had been any other man, she would have been. But it was Jake, and she was more turned on than she’d ever been in her life.
Braced on her elbows, feeling the water slosh around her as the spray beat her flesh, hearing the hiss of the shower and his low growls -- it all felt incredibly primal. Each digging stroke of his cock spread her slick tissues, speared her with delicious friction. Her eyes felt so wide they burned, watching each furious thrust send water splashing up the tub walls.
God, she was sooooo close… So frustratingly close…
“Jake, Jake, Jake…” She heard her own voice moaning, sounding raw and desperate.
And as he fucked her, the currents of his magic flowed through and around hers until it seemed to reach parts of her far beneath the skin.
Erica wanted more. Wanted it all. Craved the savage, burning orgasm that trembled just out of reach. She threw herself open, releasing the mental shields that usually protected her. And closed her eyes.
Their joined magic spun around them like a whirlwind, a dozen shades of violet, rose, and blue, his denser, brighter than hers, surging and tumbling together.
With each pumping swirl of magic and cock, she felt the orgasm coil tighter in the base of her belly, so frustratingly close she started throwing herself backward to meet his thrusts, making her breasts dance. She felt the prick of something sharp on the skin of her hip.
He swore, and the pain faded. He must’ve manifested claws, then retracted them. “Are you all…”
“Don’t stop!” She screamed it, so close to the edge she could feel inner muscles clamping, pulsing…
He didn’t question her, just pounded, deep and grinding. The lingering sting inflicted by his claws combined with the fierce stroke of his cock and the blaze of their magic, shooting her higher, higher until…
Erica screamed, coming, as her magic exploded behind her eyelids, a boiling light show that flared out of her body -- and engulfed him.