by Erin R Flynn
Except he wasn’t having fun at all.
“It really wasn’t meant to be a punishment,” I clarified as I stood, moving closer to them. “She challenged me, and I figured why wouldn’t you want a blow job?”
“Because I don’t want the STD it probably comes with?”
The bitch lifted her head. “We don’t get diseases.”
“You’re so nasty, I’m sure your body has invented one. Gods, learn some finesse. Having no gag reflex but no talent doesn’t make it any good. I don’t want you touching me.”
“You’re just saying that because she’s your Alpha.”
Hagan’s eyes filled with rage, something exceedingly rare for him, and met her gaze. “No, she’s the only reason I got hard at all. And you say anything else about the woman I love, and I’ll kick your ass. I’m not sexist. I’ll hit a chick if she talks smack about my Alpha just as I would a guy.”
“No, you’re still—” she argued, her hands playing with him.
I grabbed her by her dyed hair, her hands instinctively reaching for it and letting him go. I lifted her up by it and snarled in her face. “You heard him. You failed. He doesn’t want you, hoe.” I tossed her across the VIP section like the trash she was. Then I went over to the bar and grabbed a towel and a bottle of vodka. I poured some on the towel and went back to Hagan, wiping his groin off. “Disinfectant.”
He took the bottle and chugged some. “Her mouth almost touched mine. Gross, Sera.”
“I warned you guys I’m not good at this relationship stuff. I’m not monogamous and…” I trailed off, shaking my head. “Shit. I thought you should get your quid pro quo after watching me with Reagan like Tristan did with me after I slept with Noah. I’m sorry.”
“I’m not that jealous guy. I don’t think Tristan really ever was, either.” He righted his clothes and pulled me onto his lap so my legs hung over his left thigh, his lips on my neck as his hands touched my exposed skin. “I’m disinfected.”
“Good,” I snarled and mashed my mouth down to his. I thrust some of the Alpha’s power into him, smiling as he moaned and pulled me closer. At least I had some talents. When we came up for air, I stared down the bitch who was still on the floor crying. Crying was cheating, especially when she’d started the fight. “That’s what I do for them.”
“You’ve been outmatched by leaps and bounds, Amber. She turned every man in here on just by kissing her Beta, and even the Beta himself was bored with your oral sex while no one else gave notice to it. Apologize to our guest and go lick your wound in private. Maybe this will teach you that class is more attractive than how often you spread your legs,” Gearmo chastised harshly.
“I’m sorry, Alpha Thomas,” Amber sobbed before stumbling to her feet, grabbing her dress, and running out the door that was for employees.
“Crying is cheating,” Reagan grumbled. “She started the shit.”
I smiled at him. “I thought the same thing.”
“Me too,” Hagan agreed. “That and I really, really want to dance with you while you’re wearing this dress.”
“Only if I get to really, really drink. Do you know how long it’s been since I didn’t have to be the responsible one and could actually get drunk?”
“Sure, whatever you want, Alpha,” he chuckled, shaking his head. I stood and went over to Gearmo, leaning over so he could see all of my goods.
“What do you say, Alpha? Wanna help me out and seal it with a dance? We still have a present for you, after all, and this could be good press for the Bellagio helping out the local FBI.”
“You make a compelling offer, Alpha. Yes, let’s go play in my club. I want to see you cause another stir.” I thought about that and shrugged. I could kiss a bunch of shifters and vampires to get some more power if it made him happy and got me what I needed.
And I even knew who I would give the power to.
“I texted your team to let them know the change of plans and where we’ll be,” Reagan informed me as we entered the club, breezing right past the line. I gave him a quick kiss and caught up to Gearmo, his two guards, and Hagan.
We started at the bar, Gearmo and I having a few shots each before sharing a dance. He gave me a mischievous grin, and I knew what he wanted. I turned the vampire closest to me around and kissed him, drinking more power down from him than I had at the lagoon, before moving on to another non-human. I kissed several, and then we went for more shots. I kissed a few at the bar and danced with Hagan, kissing a few more out there too. Then more shots and kissing before Reagan took a turn dancing with me.
And the cycle repeated, again and again and again, gulping, not sipping power, until I was full of it and booze to the point where my heels ended up coming off or I would have died from them. Finally, about the tenth or maybe twentieth round of multiple shots—I had no clue at that point—I saw who I wanted and raced towards them.
“There you are!” I squealed and jumped, smiling when he caught me. Then I grabbed his head and kissed him, giving him some of the power. He moaned as his hands went under my dress and cupped my ass, shaking against me as the kiss deepened. “Did you like it, Harris? I’ve been collecting it for you, the whole time I’ve been kissing frogs and dancing. Just for you.”
“What is it, Chief? Why did I just fucking cream myself?”
“Power,” I purred, nuzzling his neck. “I realized I’d forgotten the one person I wanted to have more power so he never, ever had another painful shift again.”
“Jesus, Sera, you’re amazing,” he mumbled, rubbing his cheek against mine. “They’re not so bad anymore. I’m not that new.”
“I can make it better, though,” I rasped and then kissed him again, giving him more. I had to do it slowly, even drunk I remembered that. Mike Harris, one of my agents, had been accidentally cut up by a cheetah kid in the middle of their first shift, so he’d started off as one of the weakest shifters possible. I’d heard horror stories about what he went through to get his animal under control, including how he’d begged them to kill him it was so painful. I bet it was still pretty bad for him if that was where he had started.
“God, just god, Sera, you have to stop. I-I can’t take more. I won’t be able to control myself,” he whimpered, turning so he sat me on the stool. I was about to ask what he meant when I saw images from his mind of him unzipping his fly and doing me right there, not caring where we were or who was around. Harris was an incredibly loud broadcaster and exceptionally vivid for my clairvoyant tendencies.
“You can fuck me here,” I giggled, smiling up at him.
“No,” Hagan and Reagan growled together. I glanced between them and frowned. It was Reagan who explained. “You’re drunk and probably drunk on power with all you’ve fed tonight and shared. That’s a lot of in and out and processing, Sera. Harris works for you. You would never just give in and sleep with him and certainly not at a club. He’s your friend.”
“But he always has such pretty images of me in his head,” I bitched, sounding whiney even to my own ears. “He’s really inventive, and I always look so good doing what he’s thinking. I mean, I’ve never had someone drink shots off me while they—”
Harris’s hand moved over my mouth. “Chief, I think they’re right because I’ve never heard you share what you saw in someone’s head unless it was a case. Thank you for the huge power boost, but I think it’s time that pretty wolves went to bed.”
I moved his hand away and put my own on his cheeks, pulling him down for one final kiss with the last of the power I thought he could handle for the night. “Cute, kitty. Be good, and we’ll do it more so you get nice and strong and grow up to be a big boy.” I froze, sounding stupid in my own head. I looked at Reagan and gave a nod. “I think you’re right. I just called Harris a kitty and that I want him to be a big boy. I think I’m allowed to get drunk or drink power. Not both.”
“Sounds wise,” Hagan agreed. He moved Harris out of the way—carefully since I was going commando and Harris’s body had moved my leg
s apart—and picked me up in his arms.
“No, don’t, I tend to puke when people do this when I’m drunk,” I warned, tapping his arm. “I can walk. Let’s just go to bed before everything spins.” Hagan set me down carefully, and we said goodbye to Gearmo who was talking up some girls.
Outside the club, Davis, Shaw, Barnes, Rodriguez, and Cooper waited with the bags. Davis moved closer and took my arm. “Hey, boss, have a lot to drink tonight?”
“Yeah, and a lot of sex. I mean, a lot,” I rambled, smiling at her. “Hagan’s enormous. Just as huge as Reagan. I mean, they’re twins, so I suspected, but seriously, mammoth, and I’m gonna have to be careful. Then again, Noah’s like a goddamn horse. Huh, every man in my house could do porn with the dicks they have.”
“Sera, stop talking,” Davis hissed at me, everyone laughing.
“Okie dokie artichokie,” I giggled and glanced back at Harris. “Can you take more yet? If not, I have to swallow it down or however it works.”
“I think you’ve had enough,” Reagan worried, suddenly in front of me. He hurried us as fast as possible to the elevators without making my world spin. “Give a bit to Harris and split the rest between us. I don’t want you processing any more. What if your body stalls like when you fed from Igor?” Just hearing that name made me flinch. “I know, I’m sorry. I hate talking about the bastard too, but you’re acting weird, Sera. Please? I’m worried, and you’ve got a lot of dangerous things to do tomorrow.”
“Check with your siren, honey,” Hagan suggested, holding the door open for us as we all piled on. “Does your siren feel full, or is she stuffed?”
I checked with her and found she was stuffed to the point of needing to vomit it for lack of a better word. “Oh crap. I took too much. She’s not ready for it. I wanted to make Harris never have a painful shift again. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Hey, it’s okay. Share some with each of us,” Reagan suggested again. I nodded and kissed Harris, giving him just a bit. Then I turned to the next person who ended up being Davis. “She can feed on power now and give it back to someone else. Just let her give you some. It’ll boost your overall power abilities, but it won’t hurt.”
“No, it feels fucking good,” Harris chuckled, sounding sated.
I gave a portion to each of my team, weirded out when it came to Cooper since things were still uncomfortable for me with him. By the time I got back to Hagan and Reagan, there wasn’t much left, and I was glad to be rid of it.
“Better?”
“Yup, going down,” I muttered as the elevator doors opened, but it had nothing to do with floors. I knew what about to pass out felt like, and sure enough, my vision fuzzed out as my legs gave way.
“I’ve got you, Sera,” Hagan whispered, his strong arms cradling me to him. Then I felt his lips on my forehead, though I was still unable to swim up to the surface of consciousness. “I didn’t realize you had a bad time shifting, Mike.”
“Yeah, I thought she believed me that it wasn’t a big deal anymore and that part was over for me, but I guess not. She says I’m a loud broadcaster, so she must have pulled images from me.”
“She asked me last month if shifters bruised around the full moon, and I told her no unless they were new and had trouble changing forms,” Reagan muttered. “She was talking about you after you guys got help from Quantico and you went to shift, right?”
“Probably. I’d been pushing it down so she could take the time she needed. I’d never done that before. When I finally changed, it was bad. The next day I was one big bruise and healed human slow I was so drained. I thought I hid it better.”
“No, she saw,” Davis muttered, and I heard a keycard go in the lock and bink that it was accepted. “I walked into the bathroom, and she was freaking that it was her fault and how bad she’d hurt you. She thought it was because she swallowed your anger that day, ate the chi of it and somehow slowed your healing. I told her that wasn’t true. She said she saw the whole shift from your head, and she was upset. Felt guilty maybe?”
“She said it to me before that she never knew shifts hurt. I think she feels bad mine do and she can do them fluidly. Which is stupid since it’s not like she doesn’t have bucket loads of crap that came with her becoming a wolf too. I just can’t get over how she learns this new talent and overfeeds trying to help me.”
“She’s been trying to figure it out for a bit now, thinking of helping the women of the pack who Engle engineered to be weak get up to a better level. She never stops thinking of ways to help or protect others. I wish sometimes she just took a damn day off,” Hagan told them, hugging me tighter.
My stomach chose that tender moment to growl loud enough that it actually echoed in the room. It helped me find my voice and come back to lucid. “I’m starving. I think I zoinked from being on E, not power back and forth.”
“Makes sense. We shift and we have to eat more,” Harris agreed. “You use this ability and not simply feed your siren or whatever, and it stands to reason you need to fuel your body more since it’s handling that inside of it.”
“Thirsty too,” I admitted, glad when Hagan sat down with me and I took stock of my body. I blushed and tried to move off his lap.
“Hey, you stay still.”
“I can’t, I need to freshen up,” I muttered.
“I don’t get it.”
I met Terry’s eyes, hoping Davis would know what I meant as a woman. She did, coming to help me. “A girl’s gotta pee when she drinks too much booze.”
“Thanks.” I let her brace me as I walked. Sure, I’d tell Hagan and Reagan later, but everyone didn’t need to know if I shared that much power so fast I got wet in intimate places. I had some pride left.
I did end up peeing as long as we were there and cleaning up, ignoring Terry’s huge smile as I washed my hands. Finally, I turned to face her and waved her to go ahead.
“Tell me everything.”
So I did. I filled her in on the fun, not just the work stuff since we were friends, and her eyes gleamed at it. “Feel better?”
“Yes, but I have something to say as Terry your friend to Sera that kind of bothers me, and I get you didn’t understand, but I thought you should know so you’re aware of it.”
“Of course. I wouldn’t ever do anything to hurt you, Terry.”
She bobbed her head and then sighed. “You sent back stuff for Nina, bought extra for your new witch friend from one of the best distributors in the country, Sera. Didn’t you think to ask your other witch friend who you’ve known longer if she would like anything or had supplies she needed?”
I opened my mouth and shut it before opening it again and then shaking my head. “No, I wouldn’t have thought about it. Nina asked me, and I said sure. I thought it was more like I have a Costco card and Nina asked me to pick up batteries since they’re the good ones and totally cheap there. And since I have the membership, I can do it easily. But I wouldn’t ask all my friends if they need batteries just because I did that favor for one.”
“I figured that’s how you’d see it.” She came over to me and gave me a hug. “It’s not, though. It’s like when we went to Quantico and you asked the office if they wanted any FBI stuff since they have the big shop there we get discounts at. You asked your FBI people about FBI goodies, but more than that. Jennings isn’t a practicing voodoo priest, but if you go to New Orleans, you ask if there’s anything he needs.”
“Okay, sure, but you’re in charge of me following protocols so I never offend anyone.”
“Sure, count on me, boss.”
“So we good?” I asked when she pulled away.
“Make sure we fit a trip out to Nina’s contact so I can get some supplies I need as well, and I’m good.” She laughed when I stuck my tongue out at her. “Hey, the stuff I need is for your house, lady.” I raised an eyebrow at that. “My family, our magic, it’s protective magic. It’s part of what made me want to go into law enforcement. There are charms and wards I can put at your new house that ar
e family secrets, and with Nina’s power and help, they could really make a big difference if anyone ever comes for the boys.”
“Thanks, Terry. You’re a good friend to have. I won’t ever forget you for any other witch field trips, I promise.”
“Good deal.”
I felt better as we rejoined the others, exhausted, but at least my head was cleared from the booze. Room service was arriving at perfect timing. I practically devoured a burger before Reagan could sign for the bill.
Luckily he was smart and had ordered several others just for me. I loved smart people.
13
I wasn’t surprised Gearmo had called in for reinforcements so his pool and hotel didn’t get trashed. He thought I’d be pissed, but I simply laughed, assuring him that help was always welcome, but if they blew my op or let bad guys get away, I’d bite them and not in a good way.
Simone found a swimsuit that was a little bit more accommodating for being active than the string bikini and thong Alena had packed. Just in case I didn’t understand the fact I needed to dress sexier in her mind, she’d packed two. Awesome. But at least what Simone got me were swim shorts and what was basically a swim sports bra. Both were tiny, sure, but I could move in them if I needed to and not worry about my goods coming out.
Always a female concern for any sting.
The councilwoman was running a bit late, but we had more than enough people to be convincing for a party right before lunch. There was tension in the air, but that could be attributed to a visiting Alpha or rough negotiations anyways. I decided to step out to the bathroom before we crossed into the official invite of lunch time and get that out of the way.
I’d just finished, leaning over at the sink washing my hands, when I realized we had one extremely crucial piece of intel wrong. See, the cheetahs had moved fast on camera, and in their third forms it wasn’t always easy to tell them apart. We’d thought it was a four man crew. Maybe five. But as the bathroom door opened and the creep cheetah walked in with seven friends, I knew we’d been sorely off the mark.