by Gem Sivad
Shep had sent Thomas to West Virginia on a bullshit mission, pursuing a pack of elusive werewolves. When Thomas had met Miz during the investigation, she’d become the focus of both man and beast.
She was his mate. And his mate needed him now. He guided the big bike under the hotel canopy and stopped.
“Nobody touches it but you,” she mumbled.
“Not a problem.” He tipped the valet and drove the Harley to special parking. Though he knew she was exhausted, Miz stalled, fussing over the bike, wiping it down and setting a ward before she’d go inside. When they started to walk away from the Harley, she stopped as if she’d come to a decision.
“I’ll just ride on home today. It’s quit raining. I’ll be fine. Like I told you before we came—I don’t have a lot of time. I have to get back.”
Chapter Five
Thomas could have argued but sometimes situations called for muscle. She didn’t expect it when he scooped her into his arms and leapt toward the elevator. Using his jaguar speed, Thomas covered the distance before Miz could squawk more than once. After the door to the elevator glided shut and he’d pushed the up button, he caught her complaints with his lips.
“By my count, we’ve got thirty-six hours left,” Thomas muttered, keeping his arm around her shoulders and giving her a reassuring squeeze. When the elevator doors slid open, admitting another rider, he felt Miz stiffen. She rubbed her hands on her pants as if embarrassed by her leathers and stared at the control panel as the elevator climbed upward, not at the male who’d joined them in the car.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Thomas pulled her along by his side, his keycard in his hand, ignoring her hesitation. He felt her relax when the other man turned in the opposite direction, walking away from them down the hallway.
“Bet your neighbor thinks you’ve brought in a hooligan.” She brushed her hand self-consciously over her skullcap.
Thomas looked her over and shook his head. A pink flush stained high cheekbones emphasizing the beauty of her apricot-toned skin. Though she held them in an unsmiling line, her lips were swollen from his kisses and even exhausted, she walked with the grace of an athlete.
“No, he’s thinking he just saw a beautiful woman who’s about to have serious love made to her.”
“Yeah, right.” She rolled her eyes at him and resumed her silence on the trip down the hotel corridor. Once inside the suite, she looked around as if she’d never seen anything like it.
“How much does a place like this cost a night?” Miz frowned and Thomas suspected she was calculating how to pay half the bill.
“Don’t worry about it. The agency picks up the tab when I’m on assignment.”
“Well, all righty then. Can’t quarrel with using some of those tax dollars I pay each year.”
She relaxed and began to investigate. As soon as she saw the marble bathroom she abandoned Thomas in the main room and claimed the shower.
Thomas stood in the door, feasting his eyes on her as she shed her clothes and unbound her hair. The auburn mass tumbled down her back, skimming over her narrow waist to brush against her high, round ass.
She turned on the water and stepped under the spray. He watched until he couldn’t stay away any longer. Then he shed his clothes and crowded into the shower with her.
Miz kept her eyes closed while he lathered soap over every part of her body.
He cupped her breasts. His palms were slick with soap and he rotated them against her flesh, feeling her nipples pebble as he rubbed and pinched each between fingers and thumb. “Like that?” he asked.
As if admitting to sin, Miz nodded reluctantly.
Thomas turned her in a circle, watching the opaque film slide away, leaving glistening flesh. His cock stood rigid between them but he took his time, determined to reclaim every inch of her body.
He washed and rinsed her hair and then, holding her back against his chest, he wrapped his arm around her torso. Miz moaned soft sounds of pleasure as he rubbed his lips across the sensitive spot where he’d marked her.
He sent his hands downward. One stroked her belly, the other paused to pet her lower curls before cupping her heat and sliding two fingers inside. She shuddered in his arms and her pussy clenched around his digits.
“I can’t take much playing right now,” she said apologetically.
“Who’s playing?” Thomas turned and knelt before her, spreading her thighs. “I’m hungry for you.” He caught her gaze and held it, sliding his tongue along her nether lips before opening them to taste her.
When her orgasm rippled over her, he sipped her honey and kissed the lips of her sex, paying homage to the wonder of having her. Willing her to understand how much he needed her, he worshipped her with his mouth, tongue and fingers until the water ran cold, pelting them with icy spray. When he kissed his way upward and moved to shut off the shower, she stopped him.
“No, leave it on. It’ll carry away what we don’t burn.” She slid down his body and held his gaze as she said, “My turn.”
Miz touched the tip of her tongue to his cock. It jerked in response as a current of heat stoked the fires inside him even higher.
“You’re playing with fire, little girl,” he growled.
“Am I?” She gave him an innocent smile right before she took him between her lips and deep throated him.
“My God, woman,” he growled, not sure if he’d made a sound or if their connection had automatically kicked in. They were so together right now he could feel his pleasure in her brain. Her lips softened around him, sucking and caressing as she massaged his length in the back of her mouth.
Thomas leaned his arms against the shower stall and gave in to the bliss she provided with lips and tongue. His hips thrust and thrust until hot semen gushed and she swallowed all but the final drops. Those she caught on her tongue, spreading the white cum on her lips before she licked it away.
The gesture went straight to his groin and though he’d just come, his cock sprang back to life, stiff and randy. Thomas lifted her high, sliding in with one thrust. He’d thought the earlier fucking and multiple orgasms should have been enough to siphon off her excess energy, but her channel squeezed his cock in a hot pulsing rhythm that announced he was wrong.
The heat radiating from her skin dried the water between them. Her orgasm vibrated through her body and Thomas pressed against her breasts, absorbing the spilled energy that heightened his senses and made him stronger with each stroke. When he came, jaguar and man both roared.
“That is so damned sexy,” Miz mumbled and went limp in his arms.
Thomas shut off the water and carried her to the bed. He lay with his head on Miz’s belly and she stroked her fingers up and down his spine, petting the jaguar as much as the man. Both purred under her affection.
The jaguar stirred as she reached out tentatively with her mind. For once Thomas and beast agreed. They’d been separated from her too long. That wouldn’t happen again. He rolled his head sideways and blew a strawberry on her stomach, sighed and sat up. Playtime over.
“Tell me about Braddock’s daughter, Lynette.”
“There was chocolate in her stomach. I’d look for whoever gave her silver-laced bonbons. I don’t see it being accidental.” Miz shrugged. “It wouldn’t have killed her. She’d have worked it out of her system eventually, but not in time to go to the Harvest Ball.”
Because silver poisoning was lethal to his kind, it wasn’t a metal kept on the premises in shifter homes. It sure wasn’t a food additive. “What’s the Harvest Ball got to do with it?”
“Call it female intuition,” she said and shrugged. “I’m guessing Lynette has a boyfriend and a rival for his affections.”
Miz didn’t seem overly concerned about Braddock’s kid, so Thomas quit worrying about Lynette and focused on what he’d brought Miz to DC for.
“What’s wrong with Shep?” he asked. “When you looked at his thoughts, I felt it rock you.”
“Pure animal rage blasted a
t me. I didn’t stop to say hello, that’s for sure.”
“The sonofabitch put his beast in charge.” Thomas smiled, feeling hopeful for the first time in weeks.
“You mean as in shifter? Shep Buchanan is a werewolf? Or is he a big cat, like you?”
“Nothing so tame.” Thomas thought about the beast living inside Shep Buchanan and snorted. “We need to get him out of here and take him back to West Virginia where you can work on him. If he loses his grip on his beast in this town, it might be an international incident.”
“What about Lynette?”
Thomas had one too many open cases right now to worry about. ”Braddock can take care of finding out who sent his kid the bonbons,” he growled, flashing his teeth at Miz.
She growled back, mocking him. Thomas held on to his control as the sound roused the jaguar from slumbering beast to predator on the hunt.
They dressed fast. Miz seemed recovered. Actually she looked damn good, almost glowing with health. As for himself, he was relaxed and ready for action. He wanted Miz to visit the spot where Shep had been attacked.
“Let’s get down to business,” he said gruffly.
“What’d ya have in mind?” she drawled.
“I need to line up transport, and then you and I are going to sneak Shep out. But first, we eat.” He was starving and with all the healing she’d done, he knew Miz had to be hungry too.
“You’ve got thirty-two more hours before I have to be back.” She pointed at the clock, all playfulness gone from her expression.
* * * * *
After Thomas slid in behind Miz, she started the engine. The sound of the Harley’s motor throbbed, interrupting the silence of the parking area.
“Where to?” she asked over her shoulder.
“Have any favorites you want to see before we go sleuthing?”
“Never been here before, Sunny.” She flashed him a grin, telegraphing her excitement. “Get ready to play tour guide.”
He hugged her waist and leaned closer than necessary, using his proximity to keep the connection between them strong. Holding her made him feel euphoric. “Well, if I recall,” he drew out the words in a drawl, mimicking hers, “take a left at the next corner.” Happiness he’d never experienced permeated every molecule in Thomas’ body.
Miz followed his directions and he guided her to the intersection of Tenth Street and Constitution Avenue. She pulled into a parking spot and let her motor idle as she studied the building in the predawn mist and half-lighted landscape. The moon, still a bright wedge in the sky, cast a luminous glow over the majestic Smithsonian.
“Sometime when it’s open, I’d like to come back,” Miz murmured.
“We will,” Thomas promised. “Right now, let’s eat.”
Morning traffic began to stir and before it became intense, he offered to drive the Harley. Miz snorted at the suggestion.
“You tell me where you want to go and I’ll get you there,” she boasted.
They cruised along the early morning streets of DC with Thomas pointing out the sights and Miz stopping once in a while to look closer. When the sun was up and Thomas was certain it was safe to stop, he pointed the way to the diner at the corner of Chesapeake and Davenport.
“I’m hungry, how about you?” Miz asked as she climbed off the bike and took off her helmet.
“I could eat a whole side of beef,” he told her.
She looked at him sharply and then made that silly female snorting noise of hers before she drawled, “I bet you could, Sunny.”
Not until they were seated and had ordered did she ask about the car that had been attempting to trail them. Thomas hadn’t pointed out the dark sedan but she’d seen it just the same. It was one of theirs, keeping tabs on him.
Miz had made a last-moment dodge, leaving the tail behind as she cut between two tractor-trailers to merge onto an exit ramp. After hair-raising swerves that scared the shit out of him, Thomas conceded that, been here before or not, his country girl had no trouble with city navigating.
“Pretty fancy driving,” he complimented her and meant it. “You go to daredevil school or something?”
She grinned at him and winked. It jolted a spot inside his chest, right about heart level.
“I taught myself to ride on a trail named Devils’ Backbone,” she told him. “Maybe I’ll get to show it to you sometime.” The laughter went out of her expression then and she became somber.
The waitress refilled the coffee and Miz grimaced but didn’t complain at the pot of cream she left. Thomas made a mental note to always carry packets of coffee creamer from now on. It was hard to concentrate on his courtship with the agency business in the way. It irritated him and made his beast surly.
The steak and eggs were delivered and Miz waited until they’d both eaten a healthy portion of their food before she asked her first question. Leaning forward she said, “I’ve been thinking about this whole mess you’ve got going on here. Why didn’t someone just kill Shep if he was a target? Or if he’s holding some top secret information why not just read his email or break into his office files?”
“Shep doesn’t write anything down. He carries every piece of agency business in his head.” It had always seemed sensible before Shep’s brain got hacked.
“It’s either a small agency or he’s got a big brain,” Miz observed wryly.
“Shep Buchanan is a genius with eidetic memory. He remembers not only everything he’s ever seen, he can repeat every conversation he’s ever heard, tell you the texture of anything he’s ever touched. He likes food and he can eat a meal and name the ingredients in every dish right down to the grains of salt and amount of pepper. He can also recognize the scent of a human after he’s smelled it once.”
Thomas felt sick. Now every detail stored in Shep’s mental files about every shape-shifter Thomas knew and probably a hell of a lot more he didn’t know, every single DNA, print, scent, habit, home, girlfriend, wife, child, skin color, hair texture and fighting method—all in the hands of an unknown.
Which was why, while he’d waited for his best friend to get control again, Thomas had stashed Shep at the hospital, stuck a twenty-four-hour trusted security guard on him and lied about what was wrong. If whatever had Shep in its grip didn’t kill him, there was a town full of nervous shifters who would.
Thomas understood why Buchanan kept every scrap of information secret and filed somewhere in his brain. Shep had brought them together, organized them into a cohesive unit and convinced the government to use his special op forces without revealing why his well-trained unit had such a high success rate. Nobody knew about shifters but shifters—except for the rare human mate and even some of them were kept in the dark.
And Shep wanted it to stay that way. He’d maneuvered the politics of Washington effectively and, if what Thomas suspected proved true, Shep had deliberately placed shifters in key positions.
“Well, damn.” Miz looked duly impressed. Then she ruined her respectful attitude when she snorted. “Better hope Mr. Genius remembers where he parked all those smarts when we rescue him. And then he needs a better filing system.”
Considering all of that, it was pretty damn hard imagining Shep overlooking the existence of a healer in his own backyard. Miz and Shep were from the same state, county and backwoods country holler.
As much as Thomas wanted to protect Shep, Miz had first priority. And there were others who had families to protect too. If Shep didn’t get his brain back soon, his own kind would take him out. Then they’d scatter, start up new lives and hide what they were, as they had before Shep gave them the chance to use their beast forms.
Thomas rubbed his forehead tiredly and just like that, Miz reached across the table and brushed her fingers over his temple. To anyone watching it would appear a gesture of affection, and maybe it was. But the ache in his head disappeared, a burst of clarity cleared the fog from his brain, and his cat rumbled in pleasure.
“Start at the beginning. When you came back here af
ter being at Shep’s place, what happened?”
Thomas knew she could pull every memory from his brain if she were so inclined. He was glad she trusted him to tell her. There were parts he’d rather she not see or know. Miz was afraid of his jaguar side and seeing his cat crush a man’s skull wasn’t any way to soothe her fears.
Thomas is in a snarl, trying to figure out what to tell me and what not. Miz could have reached for his hand but she’d rather not know if he’d been with another woman while he was away. She figured he had plenty of them lined up and waiting when he was in town. The thought stiffened her resolve.
“The clock’s ticking. The sooner I know what happened to Shep, the faster I can help him and get back home.”
His eyes turned feral and she kicked his shin. Sometimes Sunny was so close beneath Thomas’ skin, Miz thought she could see his whiskers twitch.
“Get a grip. You can skip the parts where you were socializing and get on with the interesting parts. Like the night you crushed a man’s head.”
She was pleased to see his shocked expression.
“How did you—”
“Sunny kept me posted, no thanks to you.” Miz rolled her eyes and scowled. “I don’t think I had a good night sleep the whole time you were gone.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Thomas said. “Then I’ll show you what happened.”
He paid the check, which Miz considered okay since she was on the job, so to speak. He must have caught a hint of her thoughts because he said, “You’ll get a consultant fee and your expenses paid for your work.”
She nodded as if it didn’t matter. But it did. Unlike her cousin Rhee, she wasn’t some lightweight fortune-teller running around selling bullshit. And besides that, the way she saw it, she’d left her own business to take care of Uncle Sam’s.
Consultant. She grinned. That sounded pretty good.
She had her eyes open and looking for trouble when they emerged from the diner. And so did Thomas. He moved like a predator, scanning the area around her Harley before they approached. Good God he was a sexy eye-feast.