Death & Desire: A Snarky Urban Fantasy Detective Series (The Jezebel Files Book 2)

by Deborah Wilde

  “Levi should sing.”

  “No way.”

  “Why?” She nudged me with her shoulder. “Don’t you want to know your friend’s musical tastes?”

  Evil, evil wench. We’d spent far too many drunken nights discussing the importance of karaoke song selection and my current conviction that the perfect guy would perform a cheeky version of “You Shook Me All Night Long” by AC/DC, that dirty and double-entendre filled rock classic.

  “I’m not the romantic you are, Pri. Leave it.”

  She smoothed a hand over her dress. “I made a fool of myself in front of my boss.”

  “Levi won’t care.”

  “Not Levi. Miles. I have to apologize.”

  I followed close on her heels, ready to tear a strip off him if he was his typical belligerent self.

  Priya sat down, lightly touching Miles’ shoulder. “I’m sorry for my behavior. I’m generally not a drama queen.”

  Miles jutted his chin at Arkady. “No, that’s his schtick.”

  Arkady made an insulted noise then shrugged and reached for my tiara. I slapped his hand away.

  “Besides, you’re not on the clock and life happens.” Miles smiled kindly at Priya. “Don’t worry about it. I know I hired the best.”

  Look at him being all nice and shit to her. It wasn’t flirtatious either. If Miles had harbored some attraction for Priya, it was gone now. He and I would likely never be friends, but Pri needed all the support she could get. I’d try and remember that the next time he made some asshole comment to me.

  “Does he get to live another day?” Levi sounded highly amused as he whispered the question to me.

  “I suppose.”

  “Since fun-killer here won’t sing.” Arkady nudged Miles’ shoulder. “Who’s going next?”

  “You should,” Priya said to Levi.

  “No, he shouldn’t. Let’s focus on you,” I hissed at her.

  “I’ve had my epiphany. I’m good for tonight,” she said.

  “I can sing.” Levi headed for the song selection book.

  Arkady leaned over. “Am I missing something?”

  “Yup,” Priya said. “Carry on.”

  Levi flipped through the book.

  “Fuck,” I said and pushed my way to him, but by the time I got through the crowd, it was too late.

  One of the newbies finished mangling Whitney Houston and Kenneth handed Levi the microphone. His selection wasn’t written down.

  Whatever the song was, it was not “You Shook Me.”

  I smirked at Priya, not recognizing the tune until Levi rapped the chorus. It was “Get Ur Freak On.” I stood at the side of the stage, my smirk falling away, because he was nailing the rap. He was just drunk enough that his words were slightly slurred, but his voice was low and rich, rolling through me.

  About three-quarters of the way into the song, Levi started twerking, one arm flung up like a drunk bride claiming her victory dance, and suddenly AC/DC wasn’t much of a barometer of anything.

  When he got off the stage to a standing ovation from our table, he came over. “Surprised?”

  “Hot damn, son,” I said, “you’re my hero.”

  “Am I?” His deep blue eyes were unguarded and soft as a lazy summer sky and his lips curled wickedly doing kicky up things to my insides, and it was very hard to remember that we were friends now and not the kind with benefits.

  I ran my tongue over my bottom lip, Levi tracking my movements.

  “Come home with me,” he said.

  “What happened to the whole boss-employee paradigm?”

  He ran his finger over my lip and I swallowed hard. “Technically, you haven’t started yet. Are you going to report me to HR?”

  “Are you going to give me an orgasm?”

  “That’s the plan.”

  “Then you’re good,” I said.

  “Get your jacket. Now.” He grabbed my hand and hauled me back to our table, where he tossed a credit card down. “Stay. Drink. We have to…” He looked to me to provide the lie, but I was caught off guard.

  “We know what you have to do, thanks.” Priya rolled her eyes.

  I placed the tiara on her head and kissed her cheek, then waving at the guys, I let Levi lead me out the door.

  Chapter 27

  We jumped into a taxi, laughing at our terribly obvious escape. Levi gave the driver his address, and we spent the ride in silence, the only part of us in contact the sure curl of Levi’s fingers around mine.

  By the time we got to Levi’s house, anticipation had made my nipples hard and I was dizzy with wanting him. He got us inside in record time, and pushed me up against his front door, his body pressed along mine.

  “You were pretty fierce on stage,” he said.

  I slid my hands around to his ass and squeezed. “You weren’t so bad yourself.”

  “Now I'm going to do something I’ve been wanting to all night.” He brushed his mouth against mine and arousal licked through my veins.

  I nipped his lower lip, returning the kiss more forcefully. Levi groaned and arched his hips against mine. The kiss was intense, hungry, flavored with alcohol and desire. I slid my hands under his shirt, over the ridges of his abs, his skin as hot as his mouth.

  He gyrated against me, his hand curled possessively around my waist. Stars exploded behind my eyelids and I hooked my fingers into his waistband for balance.

  Levi pulled away, his breathing ragged.

  I tipped my head up to his with a smile. “All night, huh?”

  “Maybe a little longer.” He trailed a finger across my jaw and down my neck, worming it under the scarf, until one end of the fabric floated free. Twining it around his fist like a boxer’s wrap, he unwound it until it slid away, then he set his lips to the skin.

  My head fell back against the door, my fingers playing with the silky strands at the nape of his neck. He kissed his way back up my sensitive throat and then bit down on my bottom lip, punishingly. I moaned.

  “Strip,” he said in a smoky voice.

  “Just me?”

  “Yes.” He snapped the scarf taut between his hands.

  My breathing sped up. This was going to go one of two ways: both involved being bound, but only one ended with my limp body accompanied by a shit-eating grin.

  I curled my fingers into the hem of my shirt but didn’t take it off. “Is this payback for barging into your office and making demands?”

  Levi chuckled. “I’d need a lot more rope and a body disposal system. This?” He slid his hand along the bare skin on my side, his lips brushing against mine again. “Is because you banked your future on my help. Do you know what that did to me? This maddening, mouthy–”

  “Monster?” Spare me the alliteration. I got the point.

  “–magnificent, motherfucking woman, who antagonizes me at every turn and fights me more often than a feral cat, trusted me.”

  Oh. I bit my lip, turning my head away so he couldn’t see the flush on my cheeks. It’s not like I’d never had a man compliment me before, but somehow coming from Levi, who’d thought the worst of me for so long, it was especially sweet.

  “Let’s not get crazy.” My voice was reedy because Levi was lazily kneading my left tit. “You had resources. I had resources. It was a business proposition.”

  “No, bella.” My stomach flipped over at the purred endearment. “You trusted me and I don’t take that lightly.” He flicked a finger over my tight nipple and I hissed. “Now I’m going to fuck you boneless.”

  I squeaked and peeled off my shirt and bra so fast, I almost lost an ear. I tried to walk past him to collapse on a horizontal surface because I wasn’t sure my legs would support me for much longer, but he caught my wrists and wrapped the scarf around them, tying it off with a bow.

  I held my bound hands in front of me. “You’re complicating the undressing process unnec–”

  He captured my mouth, his tongue sliding inside and his hand exerting the tiniest pull on my hair. The mechanics o
f breathing were temporarily dashed from my brain, which was good because Levi kissed me for so long he’d moved on to some oxygen-optional plan. I lost the ability to stand, but he helpfully dug his fingers into my hips, pinning me in place.

  He lifted my hands above my head. “Keep them there.”

  My clit pulsed at his growl, but I figured I should register a token protest. “You’re very bossy.”

  Levi popped the button on my pants open and put his hand inside to cup me. “And you’re soaking, so are you honestly objecting?”

  “Yes. I do not get off on your presumptuous and arrogant ways.” I rolled my hips mindlessly against his hand. “Should you tell anyone otherwise, I will rip your balls off and feed them back to you, and fucking hell, put your fingers inside me already.”

  “That would be presumptuous and arrogant.”

  “I hate you,” I said.

  “I can live with that because you truuuussssst me.” Levi grinned and I rose up on tiptoe to kiss him because I was losing the taste of him and losing my damn mind. When I broke the kiss, he knelt down to help me take off my boots, then walked away. “Coming?” he tossed out over his shoulder.

  “Not if you keep teasing me, you son-of-a-bitch.”

  Levi chuckled, padding down the hallway to his bedroom. “Strip along the way.”

  Muttering that this better be worth it, I wriggled out of the rest of my clothing, more hopping than walking. I entered his bedroom and sighed softly.

  The curtains were thrown open to the inky sky and the waves gently lapping at the beach beyond. Levi stood naked in silhouette, all long lines and velvet skin over corded muscle, night-kissed.

  “Get on the bed, bella.”

  I lay back on his decadent mattress, his ridiculous thread count sheet as soft as a baby’s blanket.

  Levi pinned my arms above my head and lazily claimed my mouth again, one of his legs between mine. I tried to buck up against him and kiss him more frantically, but he whispered, “You got some place better to be?” which made me laugh and slow down.

  Behind my closed eyes, I lost all sense of time and perspective, anything that wasn’t his mouth on mine of secondary importance. His hands mapped my body, charting each curve and swell with gentle awe.

  My hands remained above my head on a pillow. He no longer held them, but I needed him to call the shots. I was touched where Levi chose to touch me, kissed at a pace he set. My brain shut down, my magic cravings drowned out by every precious dose of contact.

  Achingly, tantalizingly slowly he worked his way down my body, melting me inch by sweet inch.

  “I feel bad that there isn’t a high level of audience participation here,” I said huskily.

  Levi hauled himself back up to cover my body, pressing his hard cock against me. “How bad?”

  I kissed him again. “I mean, if you fuck me, I’ll move.”

  He laughed. “Wow, what a high bar. I’m honored. Okay, prepare to do the bare minimum.”

  “Always.” I licked my way across the perfect smattering of freckles on his collarbone and he groaned.

  He opened the bedside table and I rolled onto my side, closer to him, working the scarf off my wrists. Once I was free, I took the condom from him and slid it on to his dick.

  Levi sighed softly. His eyes were a blown-out deep indigo, his lips swollen, and his hair a mess. Something squeezed tight in my chest. He was woven from shadow and moonlight and I wanted the same feeling of utter abandon from him as when I was lost in a good song, even if he had to wring it out of me.

  Especially if he had to wring it out of me.

  Levi pushed inside me, his hands on the side of my face. I grasped one and kissed his palm, two people tangled up together in the darkness.

  “Brace yourself,” I said, and gave the feeblest roll of my hips imaginable.

  Levi blew a lock of hair out of his eyes. “Mind blown.”

  I pushed him off me and straddled him, sinking slowly down and then up again. “Better?”

  “Uh-huh,” he said in a choked voice.

  I sank down once more and that low simmer of desire we’d stoked exploded. Hands grasped and tongues tangled while I rode him in a frenzy, my hair falling forward to shield us from the world.

  When I came, my entire body lit up, incandescent.

  Levi orgasmed seconds after me and I rolled off him, my limbs all floaty. “You done good,” I said.

  He propped himself up on his elbow. “Can we skip a magic crisis or you running out and go with the part where you sleep over?”

  “Are we friends?”

  He scrunched up his face, his hand covering it for a second, before unfurling a slow, brilliant smile. “Yes, Ash.”

  “That’s good.” My words came out in a rush.

  “But you’re still leaving?” His voice was flat.

  “Can friends be enough for now?” I rolled out of bed, missing the warmth of him already.

  “I don’t know. Can it?”

  I kissed the top of his head. “I'm still leaving.”

  “Why?”

  “Do you want the PowerPoint presentation? I have talking points.”

  He followed me back through his house, wrapping a sheet around his waist, while I retrieved my fallen clothing and got dressed. “We’re in the reality where you trust me now, remember? Or was that just to butter me up and get what you wanted?”

  I tugged on my shirt, stuffing my bra into my jeans’ back pocket. “I have stuff to do in the morning and I have to mentally prepare. Please don’t ask me what.”

  “This is about the vials, isn’t it?” He grabbed me by the shoulders far more gently than I’d have expected, given his tone, and spun me around. His body was a taut line of muscle from the strain of holding himself in check. “What’s she making you do for them?”

  “Levi…”

  He threw his hands up, already walking away. “Close the door on your way out.”

  “Hey!”

  Startled, he stopped and turned around.

  “Trust has to go both ways. My magic requires me to do ugly things. Coming out on the side of good requires me to do ugly things. It’s”–I unclenched my fists–“hard enough reconciling them for myself. I don’t want others seeing all of it. Not even you. I’m giving you everything I can right now.”

  “Ash.” His expression was carefully arranged into a soft sympathy. “I know you have warts.”

  “That was one plantar wart one time, you jerk, and if you dumb boys had cleaned the changing rooms at the dock like you were supposed to, I wouldn’t have even gotten that.”

  “Go be ugly.”

  “Phrasing.” I shrugged into my jacket, and knelt down to put on my boots.

  “If you want to talk, the monster support group is open 24/7.”

  I looked up from tying my laces. “Is there biscotti?”

  He winked.

  Abraham Dershowitz lived in Dunbar, an upscale residential neighborhood that bordered the University of British Columbia and was characterized by large tracts of forested land and stately Craftsman and Edwardian homes, most of which cost upwards of two million dollars.

  I spent the drive over wanting to puke, unable to meet my eyes in the rearview mirror. There had to be another way to get the vials that wouldn’t require a heinous act.

  The Queen appeared as I was parking the car, resplendent in a double-breasted red pantsuit, and holding a metal case. “Don’t look so glum, blanquita. Do your job and you can console yourself that you’ve taken these dangerous smudges off the streets for good.” She tapped the case.

  Her heels clacked on the flagstones and her knock on the front door was brisk.

  The door opened to the soundtrack of a symphony recording played loud enough to simulate an orchestra in the next room and the sight of a hunched-over old man in sweats and a bright yellow visor from a cruise line, holding a long-barreled antiquated gun.

  “Is that a musket?” I said.

  Abraham jabbed it at us. “Fully lo
aded and in perfect condition. If you won’t take no for an answer, you can take a bullet.”

  “Hear me out and then make your decision.” Completely unruffled, the Queen pushed past him into the foyer and through an archway into a living room that was dominated by the largest vintage stereo system I’d even seen.

  The separate components were housed in an intricately carved wooden shelving unit, while two massive speakers sat directly on the floor, encased in their own carved housings and streaming crystal clear sound.

  The Queen walked over to the middle component and flicked a switch, stopping the reel-to-reel tape and killing the music dead. She pointed to the sofa, set a few feet back from the speakers in front of a wall lined with brackets. All of them held muskets, except for the empty bracket dead center. “Sit.”

  Abraham’s trigger finger twitched, I flinched, and the Queen merely raised an eyebrow.

  He sat.

  This woman was a stone-cold boss.

  She motioned for me to proceed.

  “You understand the gravity of the situation with Hedon?” I sat down beside Abraham, pushing the scary end of the barrel away from me.

  He humphed. “Not my problem.”

  “It is,” I said. “If you don't save it, I’ve been ordered to take Shannon’s magic.”

  “That’s impossible.”

  Manifesting a blood dagger, I made a small cut on the fleshy part of his thumb and sent my magic in, hooking into his and tugging. “I can pull it out of your body and destroy it. We can have Shannon here in minutes if you’d like a demonstration.”

  His face drained of all color. “You’re evil,” he whispered.

  I took advantage of his total and utter shock, grabbed the gun, and yanked it away, tossing it into the corner.

  The old dude was down but not out. He swung, clipping me across the jaw.

  I grabbed his wrists. “Enough. You know that Shannon is staying in Hedon right now?”

  His caterpillar eyebrows drew together. “So?”