by Синтия Иден
Her eyes widened. “Your apartment. That fucking big snake—”
McNeal coughed. “That was…ah…actually my mother’s.”
This just kept getting worse. “Your mom talks to snakes?”
A quick nod.
It was unbelievable. No, it should have been unbelievable.
But she knew it was the truth. “So what do you do?”
“Cats.”
“Like what? Meow-meow kitties that—”
“Tigers.”
Of course. No soft and friendly little cats for him.
“I found my connection with Shaman, a white tiger who used to be housed at the zoo, when I was a kid.”
The man talked to tigers. Her head pounded so hard that Smith was a bit afraid of passing out, and she refused to humiliate herself that way in front of him. “Get out, McNeal.”
Another step toward her. This time, the move put him close enough to touch. “We’re not all bad, babe.”
She stiffened at the endearment and the touch that had her wanting to lean closer to him. “I can’t deal with this” you “right now.”
There was a flash of torment on his face. “I am so fucking sorry about what happened to you. I never, ever wanted anything or anyone to hurt you—”
“But you just didn’t want me, right?” The words she’d held back for so long burst forth and she was glad. She was tired of pretending everything was fine and that she wasn’t human enough to feel pain.
Because she was human, even if he wasn’t.
The saddest smile she’d ever seen curled his lips. “No, baby, that wasn’t it at all.”
Liar. She knew her eyes said what her mouth didn’t.
“I was afraid if you found out the truth, you wouldn’t want me.” He glanced down at her, eyes narrowed.
She realized that she was all but flinching away from him. Her body recoiling, knees shaking.
“I guess I was right.” He dropped his hand. Stepped back. Then turned and walked away.
Before she found her voice, the door had swung shut behind him and she was left with the sting of memories and the bitter taste of fear on her tongue.
“Brooks.”
Colin’s gruff voice stopped him just as Todd reached for his Vette. He tensed at Colin’s approach, really not in the mood for a pissing match.
But when Colin stood beside him, the guy hesitated. Colin drove his hands into the deep pockets of his jacket. Glanced around the all-but-empty parking lot.
“What is it, Gyth?” Maybe something had come up about the case or about Cara or—
Colin’s bright stare turned slowly back to him. “I couldn’t tell you.” Stark.
Todd didn’t speak, just waited.
“When I was in Illinois, my partner—he found out what I was.” A pause. “He tried to kill me.”
Well, shit.
“I couldn’t take the risk that you’d—I just couldn’t risk another partner turning on me.”
Yeah, Todd could see where an attempted murder would make a guy hesitate. “I’m not your old partner. I’m not gonna reach for my gun just because you’re…different.” Too tame of a word for a werewolf.
“Good to know.” Colin’s eyes held his. “Why didn’t you say something, after you saw—”
Because at first, he’d been too damn stunned. Then he’d tried to convince himself it hadn’t happened, then he’d gotten so furious and then—“I wanted you to tell me.” But now, knowing what Colin’s last partner had done, Todd understood more about the guy—and he knew that Colin probably would never have told him.
He tried to kill me.
Shit. No wonder it had been hard for Colin to trust him.
Colin exhaled. “So what happens now? Are we gonna keep working together, or—”
“Hell, yeah, we’re gonna keep working together.” Like he’d really go to the trouble of breaking in anybody else. Besides, Colin was one damn fine cop.
With a few peculiarities. What had shocked him weeks ago, now just, okay, still shocked him. But he was dealing with the situation—or at least learning to deal with it.
Todd narrowed his eyes. “But no more secrets, man. You trust me, and I’ll trust you.” Simple.
A grim nod. “Agreed.” Colin held out his hand. The shake was brief, strong.
“Now get the hell out of here,” Todd said, jerking his thumb toward Colin’s old Jeep. “You don’t want to leave that sexy doc of yours waiting too long.”
A smile broke Colin’s lips. “No, man, I sure don’t—my doc’s not exactly the waitin’ type.” He turned away, then hesitated. When he glanced back at Todd, his smile was gone. “Be careful with your lady, Todd. A woman like her, she’s got a lot of secrets, too.”
Yeah, he knew she did. And he also knew those secrets weren’t going to stand in his way. He wanted Cara—and he intended to have her.
Todd heard the soft knock at his door just as he was about to head into the shower. He paused, sent a quick glance at the clock.
Midnight.
His steps were swift as he hurried from the bedroom. He knew the identity of his caller even before he opened the wooden door.
He’d smelled her.
Cara stood just past the threshold, dressed all in black with her hair pulled into some sort of sexy twist. Her eyes were lined with dark shadow, her lips tinted red.
“You missed my first show tonight,” she said. Then stepped forward.
He fell back, knowing she’d come fully into his apartment and wanting her there.
Needing her there. “It’s still early. Shouldn’t you be at Paradise?” The woman usually played at least three sets.
“I told Niol I had business tonight.”
“Business,” he repeated the word softly. “Is that what I am?”
A slow shake of her head. “I looked for you in the crowd, but you weren’t there.”
There was something in her voice. “Missed me, did you?”
A faint frown appeared between her brows. “Yes, actually, I think I did.”
Well, damn. He hadn’t been expecting quite that level of honesty from her.
“We need to talk, Todd and—” Her gaze darted behind him, landed on the pile of books he’d tossed haphazardly onto the sofa. A golden brow arched. “Doing some light reading?”
Shit. “Just some books I picked up. Nothing important.”
But she brushed around him, heading straight for the sofa, those delicate hands reaching down and—
“Demonology: A Hunter’s Guide.” She grabbed another heavy volume. “Unmasking the Demon.” As Cara reached for the third book, the one he’d made the mistake of leaving open, a gasp tore from her lips. “And what the hell is this?”
He didn’t need to see the picture to know what had pissed her off. He could remember the image perfectly. One side of the page featured a sketch of a beautiful, naked woman, hair streaming down her shoulders, lips curled in a smile of anticipation.
Then, on the other side of the page, the illustrator had drawn the picture of a “real” succubus. It was a demon with a long, pointed tail, a body covered in scales, a face like a dog, and a snarling mouth full of jagged teeth.
“Ah, Cara…”
She threw the book at him. It missed his head by about three inches. “Is that what you think I am?”
He hoped to heaven not. “You said demons used glamour—”
“I use it to hide my eye color, not to disguise the fact that I’m some kind of freakish hag! Ugh!” A flush stained her cheeks. “That writer is a complete moron, and so are you, if you’re buying into that crap. A succubus looks, well, damn it, look at me! Just like a woman.”
A beautiful woman. Seductive. Physically perfect.
He lifted his hand to her. “I think you’re exactly what you appear to be.”
Now she eyed him suspiciously. “And what’s that?”
“The woman I want.” His head still swam with the new knowledge that he had, but one thing was absolutely clear to him. He wanted Car
a.
Her face softened.
“Why did you come here tonight?” He asked, trying to force his gaze to stay on the lines of her face when the hunger demanded that he stare at her body. Those breasts. Such a wonderful size for his hands—and they tasted so sweet in his mouth.
And her legs…He wanted them wrapped around his waist. Holding him tight as he thrust deep inside her.
“I didn’t just take from you, Todd. You aren’t prey to me.” She crossed back to his side. “I want you to understand that.” Her hand rose to his chest, pressed just above his heart.
At her touch, his cock swelled even more with a flood of arousal. “I thought that was what you had to do. Take energy.”
“We can take, but we can also give to our lovers.” The heat of her hand seemed to sear him through the thin fabric of his T-shirt. “Tell me, how have you been feeling since we made love?”
Better than he had in weeks. Months. A cautious “Good” was his only answer.
Her lips curved. “We did that. The energy from our bond spilled into us, renewed us—and made us both more powerful.”
That sounded like a pretty good deal to him. “So it’s not always like that? What usually happens?” Not that he wanted to think of her with others.
The smile faded away. “Usually we take what we want. Humans are left with pleasure, but their bodies are much weaker than before. The weakness can last for a few hours or even days.”
“Why didn’t you just take from me?”
“I don’t know.” Stark.
Again, more honesty than he’d expected. Her lips were just a few inches away from his. Her eyes were so blue. A deception, that. He didn’t want any more deceptions. “Show me your eyes. Your real eyes.”
Her lids lowered in a slow blink. When her lashes lifted, her eyes were blacker than the night. He raised his hand. Traced a fingertip under her left eye. “Beautiful,” he murmured, and meant it. With Niol, the dark eyes looked scary as hell, but the darkness didn’t detract from Cara’s appeal. It added to it. Made her look mysterious, wild.
“I want you.” There was no coyness in her. “Naked. Inside me.”
That was exactly where he wanted to be.
“I don’t want anything between us. I can’t catch any diseases that humans have, and I control my own fertility.”
Handy.
“I want you, flesh to flesh, with me.”
The lady had caught him at “naked.”
He bent his head. Kissed her. A slow, tasting kiss. When she moaned, the sound rumbling in the back of her throat, every nerve in his body tightened.
She pulled away from him, licked her red lips. “But first, I want a taste.”
Her powerful scent surrounded him. Sex. Woman. Magic. When she dropped to her knees before him, Todd actually felt light-headed for a moment. “You don’t have to—”
But her hands were working on the buckle of his jeans, easing down the zipper and then shoving the rough denim and his boxers out of the way.
His cock bobbed toward her. The head was stiff and a drop of moisture already coated the tip of his arousal. Her hands wrapped around his swollen length. Tightened. Stroked.
Pleasure lashed through him.
“Relax,” she murmured softly and Todd realized he was growling in anticipation. “I’m only going to give.”
Then her mouth was on him. Lips parted and soft. Tongue caressing as she closed her mouth over him.
His fingers wrapped around her head, dug into the silken tendrils of her hair.
A powerful energy snaked through him. Her mouth was heaven. Every sexy move of her lips paradise. But there was more. More than he’d ever felt.
The feelings were magnified, spiraling along his nerves and cells, the pleasure pulsating within him.
Her mouth caressed his cock, her lips featherlight. Her fingers circled the base of his shaft and she moved her hand in time to the seductive motions of her lips and tongue.
Driving. Him. Insane.
His cock swelled even more under her ministrations. His hands fisted in her hair, and each move of her mouth had him nearly begging.
But then she pulled away. Easily broke his hold and leaned back, bracing her palms against the floor as she gazed up at him.
No, damn it, not yet, he wasn’t—
“I like the way you taste, Todd. I like it a lot.”
He swore he could actual hear the rip of his control shredding. He fell to his knees beside her, hands trembling. A roar filled his ears and a growl churned in his throat. A red haze of need covered his eyes and he reached for her with hands that were too rough, far too strong for her delicate skin.
She met him eagerly. Fought with him to jerk off her shirt. To bare those breasts that he loved. Then he shoved her bra out of the way. Caught one tight nipple between his teeth while his right hand fondled her other breast. The heady scent that was pure Cara thickened in the air.
He suckled her, drawing her breast into his mouth, then slipping back to lave her nipple. God, but the woman had great breasts. Pink nipples. Sweet, firm flesh. Not too big. Just right for his mouth.
He dragged his fingers down her body. Managed to push down her pants as she shifted, and Cara kicked off her pumps and the pants in a hard, fast move.
With a last lick, he lifted his head. She wore only black panties now. A small scrap really. Barely covered her mound. His fingers wrapped around her hips, and his eyes zeroed in on that tempting flesh.
She’d gotten to command his body. Turnabout was only fair.
“Spread your legs.” A guttural demand.
Cara smiled, pure enticement, and spread those long, slender legs.
He eased down between her thighs, lowering his head right over the dark silk. His nostrils flared as he caught the scent of her cream. The rich promise of hot sex.
The promise of her.
His lips pressed against the silk. A stark kiss. She arched beneath him, sliding more fully against his mouth.
Just where he wanted her.
He could feel the soft nub of her clitoris pressing through the underwear. He rubbed his tongue over the sensitive spot, loving the way she sighed his name with each soft touch.
But it wasn’t enough.
The fingers of his right hand caught the silk. Tugged and the fabric tore free. Then her sex was bare. Open. Ready for his kiss.
He put his lips against her first. Explored her creamy flesh. Moved as slowly as he wanted so that he could learn every inch of her. Learn what she liked. What made her moan and twist and shake.
Then he used his tongue, sliding it into the folds of her tight core, taking the rich cream and giving pleasure. He lapped at her. Tasted. Drove his tongue deep. Again and again and—
Todd felt her climax against him with a shudder.
He drank up her release, driving his tongue deeper into her body, hearing her cries and loving the feel of her nails as they dug into his shoulders.
When the shivers faded, his head lifted, just a few inches. Todd licked his lips as his fingers slipped over her mound and stroked the center of her need. Oh, damn, but she was wet and more than ready for him now. The flesh swollen, warm and waiting to be fucked.
Todd drove two fingers deep into her straining sex.
He felt the sudden tightness of her body beneath his with a rush of satisfaction. His succubus wanted to come again for him. Her sex clenched around his fingers, a telling sign that he wouldn’t ignore.
Todd pulled away from her, only to reposition his body, lodging the head of his cock against her moist opening. The feel of her sex against his, the creamy warmth, the silken skin, had him gritting his teeth as he thrust forward.
Her hand rose. Covered his heart. For an instant, he stilled.
Then her gaze met his. Black eyes. Dark and deep.
Her lips curved.
He caught her hand with his. Pressed it harder against his chest. Felt the air around him seem to shimmer, to pulse.
He drove int
o her, burying balls-deep in one hard move.
Then he was moving. Thrusting. Withdrawing. Thrusting. Cara wrapped her legs around him. Arched into his driving hips.
Her face took on a faint glow. A light from within. A faint stir of gentle wind blew against his face, then all over him, and her hand stayed steady and warm against his chest.
His thrusts became harder. Deeper. “I want to feel you come,” he gritted. He wanted to feel her release, to see it on her face.
“Then you will,” she whispered, and gasped, tipping back her head and squeezing her legs even tighter around him.
The feelings hit him then. The ripples of pleasure that weren’t his own. The shattering euphoria that danced along his skin.
Hers.
He didn’t understand how, but he was feeling her release. Riding the wave of her pleasure, just as he plunged into her body.
“Ah…Todd! Kiss me!”
His lips caught hers. His tongue drove into her mouth.
And his hips pistoned against her.
His climax hit him, rolling over him in a furious burst of power.
When she stiffened and moaned into his mouth, he knew she felt the surge of release, too.
An exchange. Not just taking. Giving.
From both.
He held her tighter. Kept thrusting, trying to wring every drop of sensual satisfaction from their bodies. His skin was slick with sweat, his muscles trembling. But he didn’t want to stop.
Not ever.
So when the climax ended, he just kept thrusting. His cock swelled within her. Her legs gripped him tight, and she stared straight up at him with her midnight eyes.
Magic was around him. Pressing in the air. Dancing on his skin. The glow of power lit her body.
And his.
It gave him strength, a stamina he’d never had. Not so quickly. Never as fast—
So the thrusts continued. The strange link that he had with her intensified. He knew what she wanted. Knew exactly where to touch and kiss, without her having to say a word. Their breaths panted out, their hearts thundered in a mad, matching rhythm, and the furious race to climax had them locked tight.
So tight that he could almost touch her soul.
When they came again, they came together. Mouths, bodies.
Spirits.