Freeing His Tiger

by Day, Vella

  As if he dismissed her request, he continued to draw her tiny pearl between his lips, and her lower body rose off the bed. Her need was so strong that bolts of electricity shot across her body, and she came hard. Even though she’d just climaxed, he continued to flick her nub. Anna pushed at Dalton’s head. “Stop, it’s too sensitive right now,” she said, panting. It was time to tease Dalton. “Get on your back, please.”

  He looked up and grinned. “Are you going to ride me?”

  She hadn’t considered that position, but it might be fun. First, however, she was going to take great pleasure in sucking on him. “Sure.”

  With Dalton on his back, Anna straddled him. He latched onto her arms, presumably to help guide her, but after she grabbed his shaft, she pushed her hips back, bent down, and then drew him deep into her mouth.

  “Fuck, girl.” Dalton’s nails grew, and so many sparks flew off him that his arms pulsed a color closer to navy than royal blue. Her glow was lighter.

  Because she couldn’t swallow all of him, she wrapped her palm around his length and pumped her fist up and down his big cock. His growl deepened, and his hold on her intensified. When two squirts of cum escaped, she pulled off.

  “Warned you,” he said, his voice low and oh so sexy.

  “You did.” With her gaze on him she rose to her knees and inched forward until she was in position to be impaled.

  With a firm grip on him, she pressed the head of his cock against her opening and eased down. Whoa. He seemed to have grown even bigger, forcing her to lift up and try again.

  Dalton’s eyes were closed and his breathing ragged. Please don’t shift on me now, she silently begged.

  Anna needed to figure out just how much he could handle before he blew. Dalton took the decision out of her hands the moment he clasped her hips and held her still. With her firmly in place, he drove into her, and heat swamped her. When she leaned forward to kiss him, the change in angle made his size easier to handle but felt so much deeper. On the next thrust, Anna nearly came again. Here she thought shifters were the out of control ones.

  Dalton lifted his head and captured her lips, and the intensity of his passion had her body’s blue glow nearly encompassing him. Even Dalton’s aura was large enough to almost reach hers. Hoping this was the moment when he would make her his, she broke the kiss and dragged her lips to his neck. She inched her way to his earlobe, and when she gave it a tug, his responsive groan edged her closer to that perfect climax.

  He sucked on her neck, and his sharp teeth scraped along the skin.

  “Oh, Anna.” Dalton tunneled into her so deep, he pushed her off that climactic cliff, and she yelled her release. A second later, his hot seed filled her.

  Exhausted, Anna collapsed on top of him. Dalton held her tightly, kissing the top of her head. “You make me happy, Anna Fairchild.”

  He made her feel like she belonged for the first time in her life. “Ditto.”

  “Ready to watch that movie?” Dalton patted her butt.

  “In a minute. I need some recuperative time.” He kept his arms around her, and when her breathing returned to normal, she lifted her head. “Okay. I think I can move now.”

  He tapped her butt again and slipped out of her. As he walked to the bathroom, presumably to get a towel, she called after him. “You are so going to be scared.”

  He laughed. “We’ll see.”

  *

  Dalton yawned as he climbed the steps to the sheriff department the following morning. Anna and he had stayed up late watching the movie Halloween, which he had to admit, had been somewhat frightening. The best part was having her clutch his arm and suck in an audible breath when Jamie Lee Curtis believed she had killed the evil Michael Meyers, and then turned her back on him. When Meyers sat up, Anna whimpered and shouted at Jamie Lee to turn around, and then buried her face into his shoulder. Dalton loved that Anna turned to him as if she needed his protection.

  She said it didn’t matter how many times she’d seen the movie, that scene always got to her. Given what he did for a living, he preferred something lighter.

  If he were to spend more time with the sexy siren, he’d have to figure out a better sleep pattern though. Usually at night, he’d go over the day’s cases and often would fall asleep on the sofa. With his mate close by, sleep was the last thing on his mind.

  When Dalton walked into the station, Kalan was at his desk, looking refreshed. Lucky guy. Aiden, their baby, must be sleeping through the night. Dalton stepped up to him. “Solve the case yet?”

  His partner tossed down his pen. “Fuck no. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am they all did it.”

  Dalton pulled over a chair from the empty desk next to Kalan’s. “What did Jackson say about the possibility of the stone being under the bookstore?” While the humans wouldn’t have any idea why sardonyx was important, Kalan, and he feared they might slip and mention the Changelings by name.

  “It was marked on John Ernst’s map.”

  Dalton drummed Kalan’s desk with his fingers, not sure if that was good news or not. It added another suspect or suspects to the already growing pool. “How do you want to handle this?”

  “I don’t know. We do need to investigate Carlton Wedgewood to see how close he was with his secretary. I’d like to know if there are any surveillance cameras that will show Carlton in his office during the time his wife was murdered.”

  “I can ask George to pull the traffic feeds near his office and look for his vehicle. You want me to take Wedgewood?” Dalton asked.

  “Sure.”

  “What are you going to do?” Dalton asked, wanting to make sure no stone was left unturned.

  “I want to speak to the person from the big box store who wanted to purchase the Silver Lake Bookstore. If nothing else, I need to inform him that his client is deceased.”

  “Are you thinking someone from there might have harmed her? That if the owner was dead, the store might be sold at a cheaper price?”

  “I’m not sure what to expect, but I want to cover all my bases. I don’t trust any of the workers, or the husband for that matter.”

  That was one lesson he’d learned from Kalan—everyone was a suspect. Dalton pushed back his chair. “Touch base with me if you learn anything,” Dalton said.

  “You too.”

  Dalton’s first chore was to find the make and model of the husband’s car. Once he learned that, he asked George to check the few traffic cameras in town to see if Carlton had driven by them when he said he had. After an hour of looking, they weren’t able to prove or disprove Carlton’s claim. The one black Mercedes that drove by had mud smeared on the plate enough to obscure most of the numbers. Damn.

  That meant a trip to Wedgewood Financial’s headquarters on River’s Edge, located three blocks from the sheriff’s office. Come to think of it, given where Crystal’s husband worked, it was possible he wouldn’t have crossed any traffic cams driving from work to home. That made things harder.

  The exterior of Carlton’s office looked rather run down, which wasn’t what Dalton expected for a high-end financial firm. Then again, perhaps Carlton’s clients didn’t want the whole town to know they had money.

  As soon as Dalton stepped inside, however, he realized the brilliance of the man’s strategy—unassuming exterior and lavish interior. Music that sounded like it was recorded in a Costa Rican jungle was piped in. It went well with the hand painted walls that contained monkeys, toucans, and large colorful lizards. It was possible this building had been a travel agency at one time.

  The part that didn’t fit was the expensive marble flooring. No travel agency would have installed something like that. Dalton liked the ten-foot tall waterfall feature on the far wall that added a relaxing element to the environment. Anna for sure would get a kick out of it.

  Whatever theme Carlton Wedgewood was going for, Dalton couldn’t guess. Was it work or vacation?

  A tinny squeal coming from the hallway reverberated toward him
, followed by the clickety-clack of heels coming his way. A stunning redhead wearing clothes that looked like they were purchased from Rodeo Drive approached him. “May I help you?”

  “I’m here to see Carlton Wedgewood.”

  “Do you have an appointment?” He couldn’t tell if she was displeased to have been disturbed or merely wanted to know his reason for being there.

  The fact he wore a brown sheriff’s department uniform should have told her why he was there. “No, but I’m here on official business.”

  “Of course. Follow me, Mister…?”

  “Officer Garner. Can I ask you a question, Miss?”

  “Julie Dominick. I’m Mr. Wedgewood’s secretary.”

  It would be bad manners to ask if she was having an affair with her boss, so he kept that question to himself—for now. Even if she were involved with him, it wouldn’t mean she’d killed Crystal. “On the night of Mrs. Wedgewood’s murder, were you with Mr. Wedgewood?”

  Her cool composure crumbled for a moment, but she quickly regained it. “Yes, Carlton and I were working late that night.”

  “So you were with him the whole time?”

  “Yes.” A pulse beat hard at the base of her neck, almost as if she were hiding something.

  Both of them could have been in on the murder and decided to use each other as alibis. He’d seen it before in Los Angeles.

  She inhaled and then twisted around. Dalton followed her down the hall to the end office. Julie knocked then held it open for him. He was surprised she didn’t have him wait in the lobby while she spoke with her boss, but that might have been because she’d just been in his office, and Carlton was free.

  “Mr. Wedgewood, an Officer Garner to see you.”

  “Show him in.” Carlton stood and walked around his desk with his hand out. Dalton shook it. “Have a seat. Do you have news of my wife’s killer?”

  “I’m afraid not.”

  Either the husband was innocent or he was a good actor. Given he had a mistress—or at least someone thought he did—Dalton was surprised at his level of concern for his dead wife.

  “What can I do for you?” Wedgewood asked.

  “Besides your secretary vouching for you, can you verify that you stayed at the office late the night of your wife’s murder?”

  Carlton Wedgewood’s brows pinched. “Verify? I don’t punch a clock if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “Did you order any take out, speak with anyone on the phone, or send any emails during the time of your wife’s murder?”

  Sweat beaded on his forehead as he glanced around. “I don’t think so.”

  This wasn’t looking good for the man. “What about the janitor? Did he see you?”

  “Hank doesn’t come in until eight.” Mr. Wedgewood looked off to the side again, acting as if he was reliving that night. “I don’t see why my secretary’s word isn’t good enough. Do your other suspects have to have two witnesses?”

  “I’m not at liberty to say.” Or rather he couldn’t say, as he hadn’t asked them.

  “You shouldn’t be wasting your time with me. I didn’t kill my wife. I loved her.” Wedgewood’s face reddened.

  “What about Julie? Do you love her too?”

  A tic formed around his eye, and his chest expanded. “We had a brief affair a few months back. I told Crystal about it, and then we moved on.”

  “Why would you tell your wife?”

  Wedgewood ran his hand through his hair then straightened his tie. “She found out and confronted me. I’m not proud of it.”

  Dalton had heard enough. “Thank you for your honesty. I’ll see myself out.”

  Even after he left the building, Dalton wasn’t sure what to believe. Hoping Kalan had learned something, Dalton headed back to the station. When he arrived, his partner was on the phone and waved him over.

  Seated, Dalton tried to follow the conversation. Kalan leaned back in his seat and looked at the ceiling. “Could someone else have spoken with Mrs. Wedgewood?” he asked the person on the other end. “Well, thank you for your time.” Kalan hung up.

  “What’s going on?”

  “You won’t believe this. No one—and I mean no one—has ever heard of Crystal Wedgewood at Books Galore.”

  “Perhaps Merry got the name wrong.” As soon as he said it, he realized the likelihood of that was slim. “Or not. So where does that leave us?”

  “It’s possible our friends up the mountain decided they wanted the building. What better way to gain access to the store than to pretend to be big time buyers? They probably figured that Crystal wouldn’t want to sell the store to just anyone. She might agree to the sale if she thought the new owners would transform her store into something special, and the best way to convince her would be to pretend to be the big retailer Books Galore.” Kalan picked up his pen and twirled it on his knuckles. He’d told Dalton that his pen fixation helped him think.

  “It’s a good theory, but how are we going to prove it?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Do you think your brother and his firm could do a little investigating on the possible sale? There might be chatter in the mountain community about the purchase. I’m sure it wouldn’t have come cheap, and many of them would have to agree.”

  “I can ask Jackson,” Kalan said. “All real estate in Silver Lake costs a lot, especially downtown.”

  “If our friends couldn’t buy this bookstore, what’s to stop them from moving on down the road? Hell, they might end up buying half the town in order to procure enough of their precious stone. Can you imagine what they’d be like if they did get a hold of that much red stuff?” Talking in code was frustrating, but they were used to it.

  “Fuck. This could turn into a nightmare.” Kalan tossed the pen on the desk. “I’ll talk to Jackson and Rye.”

  “Why Rye?” Most likely Kalan who was the Beta to their Clan wanted to keep his Alpha appraised of anything that involved the Changelings.

  “If that stone is the cause of this mess, he’ll need time to develop a plan.”

  “I see.”

  “So what did you find out?” Kalan asked.

  “Not much, other than Carlton Wedgewood admitted to having an affair with his secretary.”

  His partner’s eyes opened. “Could they be the killers?”

  “I have no proof they weren’t where they said they were, nor do I have any proof they had anything to gain by killing Crystal. I’ll try to find out if Carlton and Crystal had a prenup or a large insurance policy. It’s possible Carlton needed the money.”

  Kalan pressed his lips together. “If he was broke, he’d want the sale to go through to bring in the cash.”

  “He did say they kept their businesses separate, but with her dead, Carlton would get the money. On the other hand, she might have wanted the money so she could break away from Carlton. Crystal knew about the affair.”

  “Why kill her before the deal was done?”

  “You’re right. That was what bothered me the most. I guess it’s time to turn our attention elsewhere.”

  Kalan glanced to the side and rocked in his chair. “Do you think Crystal was planning to leave town with her sweetheart? What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, so to speak.”

  “Ed Santaria said that Tom DeLuca was sweet on her. Maybe they were having an affair, but unless Tom comes out and tells us that, we’ll never know.”

  As interesting as it was to talk about the possibilities, all of these theories were just that—theories. They needed something solid and soon or this case would go cold.

  Then the image of Anna appeared. “I know this is unorthodox, but Anna said she could touch a person and possibly tell if that person killed Crystal. If one of our suspects did kill her, Anna might be able to point us in the right direction.”

  “I’m all for her narrowing down our pool of suspects if Anna can be circumspect. If the killer catches on, whatever we learn after that will be thrown out of court,” Kalan said.
/>   “Well damn. Seems like we’re no further than when we started.”

  Chapter Eleven

  ‡

  Just thinking about her wonderful date with Dalton last night—from the wild sex to the popcorn and movie—put Anna in a great mood all day. Dalton may have acted as if the movie hadn’t scared him, but when the scene came from Michael’s point of view, and he was following someone with a knife in his hand, Dalton had clutched the seat cushion. Oh, yeah. He’d been scared.

  In the future, however, she might have to suggest something lighter, like science fiction or a comedy. After all, Dalton was a cop who worked with dead bodies. He probably needed something happier in his life.

  When five o’clock rolled around and Dalton hadn’t texted her about his plans for the evening, Anna decided to head to the bookstore to buy him a science fiction book. He’d mentioned he wanted to set a slower pace to their dating, claiming he often needed time at night to review the facts of a case. Given he was in the middle of a murder investigation, she was okay with not seeing him—but only for a night or two.

  Smiling, she pictured their future together with them sitting around and reading in front of a roaring fire. That would only happen of course after they had wild sex. Hell, they couldn’t be in the same room and not kiss and touch. The draw between them was that intense.

  She sighed. Anna had never felt as adored as when she was with Dalton. He was special, and it wasn’t because they were mates. The whole idea of being cherished by someone, and then being able to lavish affection back on him unconditionally resonated with her.

  Stop thinking about it. She was already turned on and didn’t need to be more excited.

  Needing some fresh air, Anna decided to walk to the bookstore, which was on Robin’s Ridge about a half mile north of the flower shop. The summer evening was warm and delightful, and the streets were filled with folks shopping after work.

  She told herself she was just going to check out books, but that if she happened to touch one of the employees—by mistake, of course—so be it. What she learned wouldn’t be admissible in court, but it might help Dalton direct his search.