by Anya Nowlan
Just looking at Sawyer’s handsome face, only inches away from hers, made her want to kiss him again. When she glanced down at the package still tucked underneath his arm, she thought better of it, though.
“Shouldn’t we get that stolen priceless artifact inside?” she arched a brow at him.
“Right,” he replied.
Yet they still stood there, with him reaching up to brush his thumb over her cheek. Something between them had permanently shifted. Electricity sparked between them, potent and heady.
“I have a safe upstairs,” Sawyer suddenly said, as if snapping out of whatever dream they had momentarily slipped into.
“Great, great,” Naomi nodded, taking a step back.
Sawyer got out his keys, and they both walked up the stairs to the front door. As they stepped inside and made their way to the elevator, Naomi’s thoughts started to rush. What did she really know about Sawyer?
Their partnership had worked out well thus far, despite some friction. And he had already fought a demon to keep her and Melanie safe, after only meeting her once. That already spoke volumes about his character.
More than that, she found she already had a deep trust for the man. Whether it was instinct, or a gut feeling, it felt like she knew more about him than she actually did. That might have been foolish, but that was how she felt nonetheless.
The elevator ride dragged on, her shoulder bumping against him as they stood side-by-side in the small metal box. The quiet gave Naomi plenty of time to let self-doubt creep in. What did Sawyer really want from her? What did the kiss mean to him? Was it misplaced jealousy toward Roy that had spurred him on, just simple attraction, or was there more to it?
To fill the silence, and to distract herself from her thoughts, Naomi blurted out the first thing that came to mind that didn’t have something to do with the kiss.
“Did you see the statue? I can’t decide if it looks cool or creepy,” she said, just as the elevator jerked to a halt on the ninth floor.
“I got a look at it when you did,” Roy shrugged. “I’d go more with creepy. The whole no-eyes thing seals it for me.”
“That’s a good point,” Naomi agreed. “I’d feel a lot better if we knew why it was so important. For all we know, it could come to life every night and wander around, eating everything in its path.”
Did I really just say that? One of these days I’m going to have to learn when to stop talking.
The elevator doors dinged open, and she and Sawyer stepped into the hallway.
“I highly doubt that,” he cocked a brow at her. “But you’re right. More information wouldn’t hurt. For now though, I’ll take the victory of us getting it before Verin had his chance.”
“I just hope that Dakota woman calls us back,” Naomi said, as they walked over to Sawyer’s door. “Maybe she can fill in some of the blanks.”
As they stepped inside and the door closed behind them, Naomi let out a breath. Unless Roy went back to the university, which she doubted, no one would even know the statue was gone until Monday morning at the earliest.
Roy. Now there’s a man who’s probably regretting ever showing interest in me.
In one day, she had managed to ask him out twice, and bail both times. She was pretty sure she wasn’t going to hear from him again after she all but jumped out of his car on the way to the restaurant he’d chosen.
But she wasn’t really that broken up about it. The only thing she did worry about was how her odd behavior might be put under a microscope once the theft was discovered. Then again, it would be hard to pin anything on her. She had left the room where the statue was being stored with Roy, and he could testify it had still been there when they had taken off.
“I’ll go stuff this in my safe,” Sawyer said, pointing his chin at the container he was holding. “Make yourself at home.”
With that, he walked off, leaving Naomi hesitating in the hall. She had already had her concerns about sharing a space with him before the kiss, and now her nerves were worse than ever.
But, as the events of that day had shown, she had a lot more courage than she had thought. And Sawyer wasn’t nearly as scary as he’d like to believe. Not to her, at least.
Time to get to the bottom of the mystery that is Sawyer Blake.
Twenty-Two
Sawyer
When Sawyer returned to the living room, Naomi was already curled up on the couch. This was the part of the evening he would usually crack open some beers, maybe open a bottle of bourbon… But with her there, drinking was the farthest thing from his mind.
No, it was Naomi’s lips that had his full attention. He walked over, sinking into the seat next to her.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“What, are you going to take me out for Italian?” she grinned.
“I don’t want to go anywhere,” Sawyer replied. “But I am a decent cook.”
It wasn’t just that he only left his apartment to run, buy groceries or consult with Hill. He also wanted to have Naomi all to himself, no distractions. They had barely had time to catch their breath from the moment they met, and Sawyer found himself enjoying their current reprieve.
As if on cue, Naomi’s stomach grumbled.
“Well, I think that speaks for itself,” she laughed. “My last meal might have been…” she trailed off for a moment. “That cup of tea at the café, when I met with Roy.”
“Very nutritious,” Sawyer nodded, drawing another laugh from her.
“So, what’s your specialty?” she asked, glancing over at the open kitchen.
“Steak with a side of mac ‘n cheese,” he replied. “Never disappoints.”
“I bet,” she remarked, a glint in her eye.
Sawyer’s wolf immediately growled to life, his muscles tensing under the surge of primal energy. Naomi blinked at him, having clearly heard the grumble in his chest.
“That wasn’t your stomach, was it?” she asked, scooching closer to him.
“My wolf side sometimes likes to remind me it’s there,” he replied. “I haven’t gone for a run in a while, so it’s getting restless.”
“That’s so fascinating to me,” Naomi said, resting her elbow against the back of the couch. “I’ll never know what it’s like to have that wildness inside. And you’ll never know what it’s like to live without it.”
“There are a lot of things like that, though,” he replied. “Everyone has unique experiences that mold us. All we can do is try to understand each other while acknowledging we can never fully know another person.”
“I guess having been a cop gives you a unique perspective on that,” Naomi nodded. “You know better than anyone that everyone has their secrets. And reasons for making the choices they’ve made.”
“We all have different sides,” Sawyer shrugged. “Some we share with others, some we don’t.”
“And that’s how we get the news reports of dudes burying fifteen people in their backyard, and the neighbors are always like ‘he was such a nice, quiet guy’…” Naomi replied.
“Exactly,” he chuckled. “This isn’t a confession, I hope.”
“No,” she said lightly. “I have skeletons in my closet, but not literal ones. And you already know about my baggage.”
“Your parents,” Sawyer remarked.
It crossed his mind that maybe he shouldn’t have brought that up. But Naomi didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she even looked relieved that he had been the one to broach the subject.
“Not that I have told a lot of people that they’re dead, but the ones that have known have never wanted to talk about it much. I think they’re afraid it might bring up bad memories or something. As if I’ve somehow forgotten what happened to them,” she said.
Sawyer nodded. He had his own experience of people walking on eggshells around him. It didn’t help. He hadn’t sought out people to talk to, because he wasn’t much for talking it out in general, but with Naomi, it felt different.
Like she actually understood.
“All of this, what’s happening now, it has to tear open some old wounds, though,” he commented.
“That’s true,” she admitted. “I keep thinking that if I would have been able to convince someone of what I saw back then earlier, maybe David would still be alive.”
“You can’t think like that,” Sawyer shook his head. “That’s taking the weight of the world onto your shoulders. Trust me, no good comes of that.”
“Speaking from experience?” she asked, but it wasn’t a question he was ready to answer.
“Do you want to help me in the kitchen?” he asked in response, effectively shutting down that line of conversation.
Naomi didn’t push the issue. Instead, she just smiled at him.
“I’d love to,” she said.
Naomi’s laughter filled the apartment as Sawyer plated his carefully prepared steaks. She sat behind the breakfast bar, a bowl of grated cheese in front of her. He had been entertaining her with tales of his stranger cases, from a burglar that dropped his driver’s license in the house he’d just robbed, to the time he had to chase down a man wearing a full Santa Clause getup.
“Wow,” Naomi said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. “I have to admit, academia is not nearly as exciting.”
“Yeah, well, you don’t get shot at either,” he replied.
“Did Santa shoot at you?” she asked.
“No,” he admitted. “But I didn’t know if he was armed or not at the time.”
“What attracted you to the job? I know I’ve asked once before, but maybe this time you’ll actually answer,” she joked, as he took the bowl of cheese from her.
Mixing the cheese with the macaroni, he put the finishing touches on their meal while thinking how to best convey what being a cop had meant to him. With all that he and Naomi had already gone through together, he didn’t see any reason to keep dodging the question.
“Wolf shifters are pack animals,” he said. “And I left my pack back in Pinedale, Wyoming. Those wolves were my brothers. Even now, years after I’ve even talked to them, I know I could call up any wolf from my pack and it would be as if no time had passed at all. We would do anything for each other.”
Elbows on the kitchen counter, Naomi leaned forward, listening intently.
“So it was a sense of family you were after,” she remarked.
“Brothers in blue,” he shrugged. “And I’ve always liked the combination of structure and discipline and a little bit of danger. What I hadn’t counted on was how I would actually fall in love with the work. The times I actually got to help someone, those are the moments I remember the most, not the car chases or gunfights.”
He was aware of how trite that probably came across, but it was the truth. She had wanted an answer, and this was all he could give her. That badge had come to mean a lot to him. And to his surprise, it actually felt good to share that with someone.
“You’re a regular hero, Sawyer Blake,” Naomi sighed.
“Now you’re making fun of me,” he laughed. “Not very nice, after I just spilled my guts.”
“Oh, no, no,” she shook her head, an embarrassed smile on her perfect lips. “It’s just… After my parents’ death, I got dismissed by so many police officers, you could say I developed somewhat of a mistrust of the whole system. Rationally, I know that someone taking a teenage girl at her word when she says she saw a monster crush her dad’s head is more than unlikely, but…”
She looked up at him, and whatever expression he had been inadvertently wearing made her stop in her tracks. Sawyer usually had a very good poker face, but it seemed none of the things he knew about himself could be trusted when it came to Naomi.
The thought of her actually seeing her parents’ murder up close was unsettling. He found himself wanting to reach back through time, to shield her from that life-altering sight. But he knew he couldn’t. And she didn’t need him to. Naomi was tougher than most, whether she herself believed that or not.
“Is head-crushing talk a little much before dinner?” she asked with an embarrassed smile.
“It’s not,” he quickly assured her. “Who are we going to talk to about this stuff if not each other? You can tell me anything. I’m here to listen.”
Sawyer might not be that good at talking, but listening he could do. Having her trust meant a lot. And without it, they could never be an effective team. But he would be lying if he said it didn’t have a more personal significance to him.
It had been a while since he had let anyone in. And now, he had come to the point where he could no longer ignore the reason why Naomi had such a profound effect on him. With her, things effortlessly fell into place. Being around her felt like being home.
So there he was, standing in his kitchen with two plates of steak and mac ‘n cheese in front of him, talking about murderous demons, while all he could think was…
Holy shit. She’s my mate.
Twenty-Three
Naomi
Plate of food in front of her, Naomi suddenly had to force herself to eat. Sawyer had said they could talk about anything, but had been pretty tight-lipped since then. The looks he was shooting her way, though, spoke volumes.
The heat in his eyes made her skin flush and burn. It felt like only his touch could relieve the fire spreading through her. The steak she was making herself chow down on was delicious, but it could hardly distract her from playing that kiss they had shared over and over in her head, only working herself up more.
Jesus. I don’t think I’ve ever felt such pure… lust for someone.
Naomi had already trusted Sawyer with a lot. Would she trust him with her body, too? Should she? The swirling excitement in her gut told her that on some level, she had already decided the answer was ‘yes’.
Sawyer’s eyes snapped to her once more, and she watched him wrap his lips around a glass of water. Her own mouth was now drier than the Sahara, the implications of being alone with him in his apartment ramping up the tension gripping her body.
“You smell like trouble,” he remarked, after a sip of his drink.
“I don’t know what you mean,” she replied, gulping down her own water in an attempt to sound less hoarse.
His nose ridged as he took in a deep breath, and the way he looked at her as he did made a shiver run down her spine. This was a dangerous game they were playing. It felt like anything could happen at any moment.
And she had never felt so alive.
“People’s scents change all the time,” he explained, leaving his fork and knife on the plate and folding his hands on the counter. “It’s subtle. Each person still has that smell unique only to them. But in certain situations, it can take on different notes. Pheromones, for example, add an unmistakable layer of smoky sweetness.”
“Pheromones?” she questioned, even though she knew very well where he was going with this.
But if she let him do the talking, maybe he wouldn’t pick up on the sense of pure need slipping into her tone. She crossed her legs on the barstool where she was sitting opposite Sawyer, and let her eyes wander around his hard body.
I’m not really surprised he doesn’t get out much. Women must throw themselves at him as soon as he steps into the street.
Sawyer nodded, slowly getting up from his seat. Naomi’s heart thundered in her chest as he walked around the counter, as casual as a predator who is sure of his next meal.
“You can really smell it at the pulse points,” Sawyer went on, standing beside her as she swiveled in her chair to face him. “The warmth from your blood expels your scent into the air,” he said, reaching out to trace a finger down the side of her neck.
Naomi felt her pulse jump against his touch, her insides tightening and clenching. He just stood over her, the way he looked at her enough to turn her on like never before.
“And do I smell smoky then?” she asked, her voice only a whisper.
“You smell like you want to kiss me again,” he replied.
Naomi gulped. Could he
really smell that on her, or was he just messing with her? In the end, it didn’t really matter. She didn’t even have a chance to say anything before Sawyer’s mouth came crashing down on hers, his hand grabbing the back of her head.
Naomi sank backwards in her chair, melting under the force of his kiss. The outside world melted away, and in a flash, nothing mattered except getting more of him, and giving more of herself.
Her relationship with Sawyer had been a whirlwind from the start, and it only made sense when they finally gave in to their desires, it would cause a tidal wave like no other. Naomi let her hands roam over his body as she got up from her seat, pressing herself against him.
He growled deep in his throat, grabbing hold of her shoulders, his large hands sliding down her arms and to her back. Nipples already aching, Naomi moaned when her breasts rubbed against his chest, the lengths of their bodies crushing together.
Their dinner forgotten, there they stood in the middle of the kitchen, kissing like they couldn’t possibly get enough of each other. She let out a long sigh when his hands reached her ass, grabbing her buttocks and squeezing.
Her clit was already throbbing, her panties already wet, her blood boiling at the thought of getting to touch his bare skin. Fingers slipping past the edge of his t-shirt, she let her fingernails graze across his lower back before she moved toward his shoulders, pushing his shirt up.
Before long, they were all but ripping each other’s clothes off, the passion between them ramping up until it felt like it might consume them whole.
“You’re beautiful,” Sawyer murmured against her swollen lips. “I want all of you to be mine.”
Arching her back, Naomi groaned in anticipation. His back muscles flexed beneath her touch as she ground her pussy against his thigh. The moment he kissed her again, she had known this was it. There wasn’t enough willpower in the world to resist a man like Sawyer.