Ivory (The Manhattan Ten Series Book 1)

by Lola Dodge

  Jag lay in my bed.

  Not the jungle cat, but the man. He was naked above the waist, the rest hidden under the comforter.

  Black against white. I’d had this vision before.

  Now that I’d acknowledged his true beauty, I couldn’t un-see it when I looked at his human form. Those toned muscular lines.

  Would his skin feel as soft as his fur when I touched it?

  My hand lifted on its own and I took a step forward.

  The brush of air against my legs reminded me I was clad in a skimpy towel, and he was very much admiring the view.

  I froze. Now neither of us could turn back.

  “I like the show, but you sure you don’t want to join me over here?” He patted the pillow beside him.

  I thought about it.

  Goddess, I thought about it. I wanted to wriggle in next to him and test how he stood up to my fantasies.

  It would break me.

  He would break me.

  I fled into the bathroom and punched on the shower. I had nothing to wear but the expensive gown I’d left rumpled in a ball, and I wasn’t going out in my towel again.

  For the first time in my life, I was truly a coward.

  Trapped in the bathroom and cowering. I knew I had no chance of facing Jag without giving in.

  Shower it was.

  “Ivory?” I was still waiting for the water to heat when his knock sounded. “Robe’s on the doorknob. I’d leave, but we need to talk, so I’ll be bonding with the flat screen when you’re ready to come out.”

  His soft footfalls moved away, but I didn’t open the door until the living room television clicked on. The robe hung where he said it would be, and I belted it hard around my waist.

  Why was I acting like this?

  So he’d seen me a little vulnerable. So I’d responded.

  I should have been offended if he hadn’t liked what he was seeing. We were adults, and I was well past the point where I could deny the attraction.

  My cowardice was the only thing keeping us apart. But there was so much to lose.

  I’d seen how much he wanted me in those burning eyes. As much as I wanted him.

  I had to explain why I couldn’t take his invitation.

  Jag sprawled on the sofa in sweatpants. Had he been naked in my bed or not? I couldn’t help but fill in the blanks.

  “What happened with your friend?” He flipped through channels without turning my way, and that was fine. I didn’t need him reading the thoughts on my face.

  “We’re not friends. I don’t plan to go after him.” Kevan’s decisions were his own and I didn’t want to lead the press, or the Ten, his way.

  “Good.” Tension eased from his body. “Except I was wondering more what he was doing with the bowing and the cocktail-waiting and the whole being in New York.”

  “Let’s not talk about him.” I was curious, but it wasn’t my affair. What I wanted now was to clear the air with Jag.

  “No?” He sat up, giving me the full view of his eight-pack as he shifted his attention my way. “What do you want to talk about?”

  “About...” I swallowed. I was a grown woman, not some unblooded girl on her first hunt. “You’re attracted to me.”

  His brows quirked. “You didn’t just realize that.”

  “Are you?”

  “Ivory.” Jag’s gaze raked me from head to toe in a screaming wordless yes that sparked heat in my cold blood. “From moment one, you were the wildest thing I’ve ever seen. All I do is imagine how you’d taste.”

  Goose bumps again.

  “I want...but I...can’t.” I gripped the robe’s knot. “If I ever let go...”

  It would be the end of me.

  I’d spin out of control, and if I didn’t take the high road while I could, the next time I saw the M-10, I’d be their target instead of their recruit.

  “I can handle it.” Jag rose from the sofa to loom over me like no other man could.

  “I don’t know if I can.” Every step he took, I teetered on the edge of finding out.

  “Ivory. Valdís.” Jag touched my robe over the fabric of my shoulder. It was like the heavy terrycloth wasn’t there. His energy zinged through the fabric, through my skin, and straight to my soul. Or maybe it was the heat as he mouthed my name. “I saw you let loose on that plane. You might’ve been all instinct, but your truth was in your eyes. Let go. If you get lost, I’m here to help you through it.”

  I wanted to.

  With my true self so close to cracking free, I couldn’t imagine the relief it would be to finally stop fighting.

  Once I’d made the decision, it was easy to lose myself in Jag’s electric yellow eyes. I walked him back until he hit the couch and his knees folded. “You really want to know what I taste like? Then taste.”

  Jag gazed all the way up. “You sure this is the way you want to test this? We could always spar or...”

  What I had in mind was a little like sparring, but nothing like fighting. All my body wanted was to match the heat in Jag’s eyes. I let the robe slip off my shoulder. “You need more invitation?”

  “No.” Hunter-fast, he pounced.

  I was in his arms for a second, then flat on my back on the sofa. He loomed dark, his jungle-hot skin searing through me. “I don’t.”

  My hands were pinned and as he stared, a thrill of fear shot down my spine. He dipped, licking the line of my jugular in a long kiss. I drew in a shuddering breath.

  Not a thrill of fear. This was pure lust.

  Jag growled low and hot. His hands roamed downward, toying with the robe’s tie as he kissed and licked his way along my jaw line.

  He sucked my bottom lip, adding a gentle nip of fang that made me gasp.

  “Like snowflakes.” He growled, shifting for a deeper kiss. I moved my tongue, licking one of his long teeth.

  A challenge glowed in his eyes as his hands slipped beneath my robe.

  The heat of him.

  Intoxicating.

  Jag pressed me hard into the sofa, his knee parting my bod. The rigid length of him ground into my thigh. I already ached to feel him inside me.

  I wriggled my hands free and smoothed down tight muscles to his waistband. “No more pants.” Pulling down, I made the movement a caress of his corded thighs.

  Fully erect, he was massive. Dark and beautiful. How had I tricked myself into brushing off such a glorious man?

  I edged up, tilting my head to take his velvety tip into my mouth. A swirl of my tongue and he groaned, his claws extending with pleasure. I worked under his head, but when I eased off, he pulled back, kicking away his pants. “No more robe.”

  I moved to oblige him, but Jag was faster. He tore away the robe’s belt.

  With his teeth.

  Fabric ripped away until I lay naked, him kneeling at my side. With claw-tips, he traced a line from my earlobe, down my neck and around my breast, grazing my navel and hip, only stopping to trace the juncture of my thigh, where the claws retracted, and his very human, very smooth hands came to rest. “Beautiful.”

  Jag was all predator, and I was ready to try him on.

  I moved toward him, but he twisted our positions until I sat on the soaf and he was kneeling between my legs.

  Oh.

  “Don’t mind me taking my time. Been thinking about this for a minute.” Jag lifted my legs upward and a little outward, tilting my hips until he had the angle he wanted. He gave one long, flat-tongued lick that threw me back into the cushions with a gasp. “Damn. I could do this all night.”

  And he seemed ready to try.

  In swirls and twirls, slow and fast, he spun my head until the sweet ache spilled over and I cried out. Toes curling so hard they nearly cramped.

  When I could see straight again, Jag grinned and licked his lips like a cat who’d gotten into the cream. “I’ll go another round any time you’re ready.”

  With the teasing challenge in his eye and the heat in his voice, my body didn’t need to wait. I leaned un
til our lips met, and sucked his tongue into my mouth. As he gave a happy growl, I flipped him onto the couch.

  Maybe I wasn’t as smooth as him, but it worked. I kicked a thigh over his body, maneuvering into position. “I’d like to be on top.”

  “What a coincidence.” Jag rolled his hips, easing my movement. “I’d love for you to be on top.”

  Again, the challenge in his eyes.

  One I was more than ready to meet.

  I leaned forward, leaving his hardness pressed between us as I took a long draw at his mouth. For a predator, his lips were impossibly soft. He tasted like fire, and the more I worked my body against his, the hotter he grew.

  “Ivory…Valdís…” The heat that lived in his body coursed through his voice. He arched and groped for my thighs, ready to be inside me, but I was in control.

  I sat back on his hips and took the swollen length of him in my palm. So hot. I gave a few appreciative strokes and Jag’s spine arched.

  “Fuuuuuck…” The words dripped from his lips in a moan and the sound was addictive as candy.

  I needed him.

  Wrapping my fingers around his shaft, I guided Jag inside me. We both gasped as I worked myself down on him. He was large, but I was more than ready, and when I finally took him to the hilt, we fit like our bodies were made for each other.

  I pulled back from that thought. Fast.

  Stay in the moment.

  Jag’s hands found my hips and I jolted back to him. This was too good to waste with thinking.

  “Mmm…” Jag’s lids were half-closed, his muscles tight, head tipped back with pleasure. “God, you’re amazing.”

  Slowly, so deliciously, torturously slowly, I rocked my hips. He lifted to match my rhythm, forcing himself deeper and deeper inside.

  I stifled my gasp. “Goddess.”

  “Yes. You are.”

  That wasn’t what I’d meant, but it wasn’t the time to argue. Jag smoothed his way up my hips. He caressed up my ribcage and cupped my breasts, circling each nipple with a lazy thumb.

  A soft moan escaped my lips. I’d wanted to go slow, but as pleasure built and Jag’s soul-searing heat pumped my blood with aching need, my hips moved faster. He thrust in perfect time, building, building, until his spine arched and his release pushed me into an inferno.

  Goddess.

  The heat.

  Every inch of me burned, and every lick of flame sparked a deeper pleasure.

  I came again and again until I finally fell against Jag’s chest so spent that lying next to him was the only thing that made sense.

  I panted, but the sweat that beaded my forehead didn’t freeze. Part of me knew I should move, but all I could do was bask.

  I’d always wondered what it would be like to be warm. Wrapped in Jag’s arms it was as if the ice woman had never existed.

  I was as close to normal as I’d ever been.

  Human. And it felt amazing.

  I curled into him, and he nuzzled at my cheek. A contented purr vibrated from Jag’s chest and my eyelids drooped.

  Why had I wanted to run?

  It was a worry for the morning.

  Nothing could make me leave Jag’s warmth and its accompanying bliss.

  Seven

  JAG

  Afterward, I carried Ivory to her bedroom and gently arranged her with soft down and pillows. I couldn’t stop purring.

  She slept so soundly. It had to be the first time I’d seen her anything like vulnerable, and as much as I was falling for the warrior sex goddess, this suited her. Her scent was sugar and glacier water, and that sheet of long blonde hair rumpled all seductive around her shoulders.

  I slid into the bed and took her into my arms. Most women felt like dolls I might break, but Ivory fit against my chest like she was made to be there.

  Strong, but soft in all the right places.

  She was fucking perfect.

  The night ticked on and my lids drooped, but I couldn’t sleep and miss the sound of Ivory’s breathing. Which made me kind of obsessed with her, didn’t it?

  I’d followed her and teased the hell out of her, but I was ready to tear the appendages off any asshole who so much as smelled her.

  Textbook fucking mating behavior.

  Maybe I’d been into her before, but I hadn’t been expecting...this.

  Some amazing sex, sure, but mates were forever, and I was not Ivory’s favorite cat.

  She wanted out of the tower and the crew.

  I was still getting to know Ivory. It would take a lifetime and I still probably wouldn’t figure her out, but I needed every one of those minutes. Now that I’d found her, no woman could fit into my life.

  She accepted the beast.

  Hell, she liked the cat more than she liked me. I’d be jealous if we weren’t the same guy.

  And if she left? My heart. Meat cleaver.

  I stared away the night, watching the moonlight glisten on her skin. Under the sheets, her natural chill mingled with my heat until we averaged out warm and normal.

  Two halves.

  Even a few hours ago, I would’ve kicked my own ass for being this sappy, but fuck it. Ivory was mine, and I could be romantic. If she let me. The sun started working its way up, but all I could do was stare and wonder where we went from here.

  A ringing phone popped my bliss bubble and I jerked fully awake. I patted around for my cell before realizing it wasn’t the one ringing. Ivory stirred but didn’t get up. She’d better not.

  I snagged the landline receiver and tried not to growl into the line. “What?”

  Silence. Then Tank cursed. “Sounding a little rough this morning, Ivory. Bad night?”

  Shit.

  I wouldn’t have been able to keep it from Tank for long, mind-reader and all, but I didn’t want him picking up my mental images just now. Ivory was officially for my eyes only. Then again, if he were close enough to get telepathic, he probably wouldn’t have called. “What do you want, Boss?”

  “I need you on-site for another super murder.”

  “Where?” I got busy looking for my sweatpants.

  “East 89th, between Second and Third.”

  That froze me mid-reach under the couch. “New York?” Houston had been the closest the killings had come to our home turf, and we’d liked it that way.

  “Bring Ivory,” Tank said. “They know she killed one of their guys. Maybe she can help us draw them out.”

  “Will do. Meet you there?”

  “No. Your lead. I got suckered onto a flight to DC after the party. Congressional hearing.”

  “Bummer.” I whipped on my pants and headed back to the bedroom for Ivory. “I’ll handle it.”

  “I know you will.” Tank hung up.

  Ivory stretched under the sheet. I didn’t want to bring her into this. She needed to be naked in that bed for one-hundred percent of the foreseeable future, not scavenging Manhattan for killers.

  Plus, the minute she’d moved, we’d be dealing with the morning after, and I doubted she and I had shared the same mate epiphany.

  The thought was a sucker-punch to the kidney.

  I wouldn’t give up on her—I couldn’t now—but it would fucking hurt if she were still playing Ms. In Control.

  “Ivory?” I nudged the mattress with a knee. “Need your help on a case.”

  “Mmm?” She stretched again, releasing a feminine noise that shot straight to my balls as she tangled into the sheets.

  She so, so needed to stay in that bed.

  I was more than ready to give our chemistry another try. And, not exactly hiding it in the sweatpants.

  Ivory looked me up and down and for one perfect moment, I thought she’d pull me down for a kiss.

  Instead, her eyes opened wide and I could almost hear the ice curtain crashing down.

  IVORY

  I’d been content and absolutely sated until I caught Jag looming over me. The night came back in a rush.

  Amazing didn’t begin to describe it.
<
br />   World-shattering, maybe?

  And stupid. So very, very stupid.

  I could’ve killed him if I’d lost control.

  And where did giving in to lust put us now?

  It was ridiculous to be shy at this point, but I pulled the sheet tighter around my body, still cursing myself up and down.

  “There was another murder.” Jag sounded matter-of-fact. Closed-off. “Tank wants us both on scene.”

  Of course Tank did. He wasn’t living if he wasn’t manipulating.

  I wrapped the sheet around myself and hurried for the shower. Helping the Ten wasn’t high on my list, but I needed to get away from Jag’s gaze.

  He was incredible and...not for me.

  At least, not right now.

  I had to leave the Ten at the first chance. Ice roiled inside me, even more stirred up by the night of passion. I was still a danger to everyone around me.

  And not just me. Even my family was back in play. Kevan might already have contacted my mother.

  She might already be hunting me…

  And anyone she suspected I cared about.

  I needed to be on the first cargo plane to South America.

  Shuddering, I stepped under the showerhead.

  It had been a mistake to let myself fall so deep into Jag. I’d known I wasn’t staying, and I didn’t sleep with men I had no intention of seeing again. I certainly wouldn’t let such a man have his way with my heart.

  I owed Jag an apology before I stole away.

  Because steal away, I would. Running made me a coward, but better to end this farce in cowardice than blood.

  After my wash, I peeked into the bedroom, but no jungle cats or big men were waiting for me. I stopped halfway to the walk-in closet. Why had Jag bothered to make the bed?

  I shook my head. Jag couldn’t be my concern right now. I dressed in the flight attendant’s uniform that Angel had had pressed and twisted my hair into its regulation bun.

  The familiarity eased my nerves. I was going to fly apart if I didn’t get back to myself soon. I took a very deep breath before I could open the door to the living space.

  Jag had also found a shower and some fresh clothes. He sat at the breakfast bar, busily spooning a bowl of Lucky Charms. I wasn’t surprised.