by Watts, Mia
“You aren’t finished with me yet,” he prompted. He needed to check the connection now that she had tucked in her shirt, but damn if he didn’t want to see her riled up some more.
“Yeah, I am. I’m more than finished with your sorry fed-ass.”
“So what you’re saying is, rejection isn’t something you handle well?” he egged her on to check one last thing. And because he fucking loved how she let go and ranted.
Willow’s snarl sounded adorably feminine. She stomped toward him and poked him in the chest repeatedly as she spoke. “I’d have to put something out there for your behavior to qualify as rejection. You are so full of yourself. I bet you think women fall all over themselves when you walk in the room with your blond hair and broad shoulders, don’t you? You think that every woman you meet is going to drool over your crooked smile? Well, this woman isn’t.”
Kane grabbed her finger, wrapping a fist around it. He swung the arm holding the receiver around the back of her neck and hauled her close, claiming her lips with crushing force as he gave in to the thing he’d been dying to do since he’d first laid eyes on her.
Willow’s mouth firmed momentarily, stiffening in defense until he gentled. Then a muffled complaint was her only protest before her lips parted. She took his kiss and answered it with her own angry possession. Their teeth clashed, and instead of nipping her lip in soft reprimand, he gave way, invading her mouth with his tongue.
As suddenly as he’d started it, he ended it. Kane grabbed his bag. As he stepped out of the office he called out, “Your wire is working. Get that proof.”
The silence at his back was deafening. He winced but kept walking. If he threw this investigation over a kiss, eighteen months of research and legwork went out the window. And just for a moment, he thought kissing Willow Harper might actually be worth the loss.
Chapter Four
Willow’s knees gave out from under her. Actually, all of her gave out as her faery curse reduced her to nothing more than a pile of singed sawdust. That kiss had knocked her off her faery ass. She didn’t even know what started it. One minute she was yelling at him through a bruised ego, the next his stony silence turned into an erotic make-out session.
And poof! He’d dusted her. Thank goodness he hadn’t turned around.
Sage entered his office and took one look at her piled self on the floor. He grinned and squatted low. “This ought to be a good one.”
He dragged over an office chair and waited.
She didn’t know if he could read her mind in her wooden state, but she gave it a try, sending him every mental picture of Bruce that she could. If Sage would just send him in, Bruce could have stabilized her faery faux pas and made her human again. Sage seemed immune. He loosely crossed his legs. Propping his chin on his fist, he grinned at her.
He was so going to pay for this.
Finally, the feeling of being completely undone subsided. Her dusty self pulled together until she became a person again. She sat on the floor glaring up at her brother. “You could have called Bruce in.”
“I could have, but this was too amusing.”
“Sometimes you really suck as an older brother.”
Bruce wandered in. “Did I miss something?”
Sage shrugged. “Apparently Agent Wilcox packs one hell of a kiss.”
She felt her cheeks burn.
“Oh yeah?” Bruce asked. “Think he’ll be interested in a threesome?”
“I think he’s pro-girl,” Willow muttered.
“Hey, I can share,” Bruce assured her.
“I’m not sure he can. Besides, I don’t really know what happened. Or if it will happen again.”
Bruce grinned and sent a wink to Sage who was chuckling.
“But you want it to,” Bruce deduced.
“Not if he’s going to be an asshole.” Willow plucked at the wire taped to her body. She was relieved to see that it was still in place.
It had behaved like everything else that she was wearing at the time of a transformation. It had dematerialized and rematerialized the way it had been on her body. At least, she didn’t have to call Agent Wilcox to retape her. She didn’t think she’d live through the humiliation of knowing he thought she’d taken it off on purpose.
Like I’m trying to get naked for him again, or throw myself all over him. As if! She mentally shied away from the reality that getting naked with the sexy agent would definitely be a bonus.
Fortunately, her relationship with Bruce was fluid. He was a full faery after all. Sexy, and sexual to the core. He wanted it however he could get it, from whomever was offering it. He had no qualms about sharing partners or keeping their relationship monogamous. It’s one of the reasons they’d hooked up in the first place. The other was his talent to keep her humanoid in the face of her faery talent for turning into wooden objects. He’d saved her ass a dozen times, at least.
“If he’s an asshole, I’ll take him,” Bruce teased. “I wouldn’t mind gettin’ in there.”
She smirked. “If he were even interested in that, I’d bet money that he’d be a top.”
“That’s okay. I’m versatile.” Bruce sent her a goofy grin, but his black faery eyes twinkled with mischief.
“Damn, where were you when I was single and looking to fuck?” Sage joked.
“I’m not your type anyway.” Bruce tipped his head. “You and Dill both liked guys you could control, until you met the ones you couldn’t. I’m not a permanent relationship kind of faery.”
Sage grew serious. “Where does that leave my little sister?”
“Enjoying life,” she snapped. Willow caught Bruce’s arm and dragged him with her to the car. “I have to pack and get over there. If you think discussing sex with someone’s older brother is a good idea, then you really don’t know humans very well.”
“What’s the big deal? It’s just bodies enjoying bodies for however long it lasts. He and Dill weren’t virgins when they met Joe and Mason.”
“It’s different for little sisters. Human males don’t like hearing that the women in their lives have sex.”
“That’s stupid.”
She snorted. “I agree. But humor me and don’t discuss it with them.”
* * * *
He’d fucked up, Kane decided. Kissing Willow Harper hadn’t done anything but make him want to keep kissing her, and a host of other things he wasn’t supposed to be wanting.
And there was that weird discussion the wire had picked up after he’d left, Kane still had to decipher. Bruce was a faery? Kane had thought for sure that derogatory term had gone the way of the 90s. And what self respecting homosexual man slept with women? It just didn’t make sense.
He glanced at Bruce, who was sleeping on the floor of the service van which held the receiving equipment. A lot of help he’d been. Other than looking at Kane with his unnerving black gaze, Bruce had slept and eaten through most of the stake out.
Kane found himself thinking of the unintentional transmission again. The prodding from Sage and Bruce that Willow wanted him? Well, that was more intriguing than Kane cared to admit. And grudgingly, so was the admission that Bruce wanted a threesome with him and Willow. Kane had never been attracted to men before, but Bruce had a magnetic quality about him. Kane just couldn’t take his eyes off the other man, unless Willow happened to be in the room. But sex? The three of them?
Gotta quit thinking about it, Wilcox.
Kane adjusted his earphones, listening closely through a long winded discussion about the best make up brands, from Austyn. After nearly thirty six hours, Willow had failed to obtain any information about the missing artifacts. She seemed just as irritated.
For the second time this hour, Kane heard her excuse herself to the bathroom. She’d taken to covering the wire with something when she actually had to go, but otherwise, she used it as private time to tell him what her thoughts were about where the investigation was headed.
“So, here’s the problem.” Willow began her one-sided conv
ersation with him once he heard the sound of the door closing. “Austyn is completely missing the point of my fantastic acting. I’ve only made a couple of brief forays into the mansion that don’t involve bathrooms and food, aside from that initial grand tour. I still think there may be something to searching her dad’s study, so I’m going to give that a try as soon as I can shake her for long enough. If I’m lucky, I’ll run into her dad and try that seduction thing you were so hyped about.”
He heard her sigh.
“I hope you’re getting all this, because you haven’t sent Bruce around to check on me yet. Which means—”
Her line went dead. Kane taped the earphones. He fiddled with the frequency in minute degrees trying to find her again. This had happened two other times, in different parts of the house. Finally, he gave up and waited. If it didn’t fix itself in five minutes, he was sending Bruce in. Bruce, who’d previously convinced him to let the wire work itself out. So far he’d been right. Kane pulled one ear piece off his ear.
Sure enough, the transmission picked up again.
“A toilet paper dispenser? Really, people? That’s just twisted,” she snapped. “I’m so going to have a talk with Mom after this. There has to be something her people can do.”
Kane frowned. What toilet paper dispensers and her “mother’s people”, had to do with this mission was beyond him.
Bruce’s satiny voice spilled over his right ear. “Anything yet?”
Kane jumped. “Goddamn it, Bruce. Make some noise next time.”
“Jumpy?”
Kane spared him a wry look.
Bruce squatted next to his chair, looking up at him with a smile and those endlessly black eyes. Once again, Kane found himself sucked into their depths, searching for a pupil that couldn’t be found, and captivated by his masculine beauty.
Bruce’s smile widened. “You’re staring, Kane.”
“Agent Wilcox.” Kane muttered the correction.
“Cuff me if you don’t like it.”
“I’m not a cop. I don’t cuff,” Kane said shifting in his seat and forcing himself to look at the panel of dials and wires.
“A shame.”
Kane got that shiver down his spine. The same one he got every time he thought about that bit of conversation where he and Willow should hook up with Bruce. It was seeming less and less farfetched. And boy, wasn’t that confusing for a guy who’d never wanted a man before.
He wasn’t sure he did now either, except the prospect of having Bruce naked, with those wicked eyes and laughing grin, loving the same woman as he did, definitely got Kane going.
“I need more sleep,” he muttered to himself.
“Want me to take over for a while?” Bruce offered.
“Would you know what you were looking for if you did?” Kane countered.
“Sure. Someone admitting they stole stuff.”
Kane couldn’t help but grin. “Thanks, but no thanks. This is officially an FBI investigation, and you are a civilian.”
“Yeah, aren’t you supposed to have a partner?” Bruce asked.
“Budget cuts.”
“Huh. You’d think the FBI would be immune from that shit.”
“You’d think,” Kane said, by way of agreement.
Silence resumed in the little van. Kane kept one earphone off his ear as he listened to Willow’s shuffling on the other end of the wire. The phone wire tap hadn’t proved productive over the past month. It had been crucial to get someone inside. Now that she was, Kane only felt his frustration mount. Someone was stealing those artifacts, but as far as Kane could tell, they weren’t being sold off. Why? Private collection hoarder? It had been known to happen. Maybe Dr. Felix was just waiting for suspicion to die down, and he’d sell it off in a few years.
Maybe. But Kane didn’t want to wait a few years to let it happen.
“Fucking teacup Chihuahua,” Willow exclaimed. “Back the fuck off, you little brat.”
A faint growl crossed the wire.
“I might smell like a tree, but I’m not one. How many trees do you know walk around and tell you no? Huh?”
“What’s her problem with dogs?” Kane asked Bruce.
“She hates them.”
“I get that. Why?”
“They, uh—they like to pee on her.”
“What?”
Bruce nodded. “Yep. All the time. It’s gotten to the point where seeing a dog anywhere near her, sets her off.” He reached over and unplugged the headphones.
“Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit! Did I not just say I wasn’t your territory marker?” Willow demanded.
“Wow, Willow, I have no idea why he keeps doing that. He’s normally a sweetheart,” Austyn could be heard saying.
Bruce laughed. “Score one for the pup.”
He casually dropped his hand on Kane’s thigh. Kane moved his leg out of reach, not bothering to comment.
“I’m going to go clean up,” Willow said. “Maybe wander around your dad’s library. He had some cool stuff in there.”
Kane’s ears perked up.
“Yeah, he collects stuff from all over. You’d be surprised at some of the things sold in bazaars. Pottery shards and all kinds of things, taken off dig sites before he gets there. It’s crazy,” Austyn explained.
“Does he ever, you know, borrow any of the finds before they get to the museum?” Willow asked.
Kane winced at the obvious lead in.
“Dad? No way. He’s as straight as they come. He’s all about preserving history.”
“But it’s illegal to buy them at the bazaars, right?” Willow asked.
“Something like that. It’s stolen property at some point. And on the site, everything gets categorized and shipped off, so once he has his hands on it, it’s as good as putting it in Fort Knox.”
“Huh,” Willow answered noncommittally.
“So, lemme know when you’re done avoiding Peanut, here, and we can get back to studying for that final.”
“Okay.”
Presumably, Willow waited for Austyn to walk out of earshot, because Kane heard her mutter, “Pee-nut. Perfect name for the little bastard.”
Chapter Five
Willow couldn’t wait to yank the wire off her body and throw herself into the shower. A whole weekend of sponge baths was not her preferred method of personal hygiene. She hopped in her car and waved to Austyn who stood smiling from the steps of her mansion, bladder-impaired pooch in arm.
She didn’t acknowledge the white van parked down the street either, just made the corner and stopped to wait for Bruce. Turning into a plank of wood while driving, wasn’t her idea of a good time. This is why the Harpers kept a driver on retainer, damn it. But of course, being that Agent Wilcox was hounding her for cooperation, she couldn’t very well explain that without explaining why.
It would happen soon enough. He had to have questions about the Harpers’ odd behaviors. It was a miracle she hadn’t shifted into something in front of him already. Okay, there was the time she became a fucking coat rack in his office, and the pile of saw dust after he’d kissed her. But all in all, she’d been lucky.
Bruce slid into the passenger seat. He put his arm behind her chair, as she stared stonily ahead, aiming the nose of her car toward home. The van followed.
“That man is tightly wound,” Bruce said after a few minutes.
Willow smirked. “Bet you offered to relax him.”
“Not officially. He seems a little freaked out by my interest.”
“Well, you are intense,” Willow offered.
“I don’t understand humans. If you want something, take it. What’s so hard about that?” Bruce complained.
“We’re a complicated breed, Bruce. A complicated breed.”
“Your mom gets it. She bought me the first box of condoms I used with you.”
“Excuse me?” Willow’s voice cracked. God, she was so going to kill her mother.
“What did you expect a faery to do when she knows we’d be a g
ood match?” Bruce asked. “Besides, she thought you needed to get laid.”
Willow rolled her eyes. “Of course she did.”
“She was right.” Bruce leaned over, nuzzling her neck as she drove.
Willow tried to shrug him off, but he slid a hand up her thigh, and truthfully, as much as she needed a shower, she wanted his hands on her. It could only be made better by having Kane’s hands on her too.
“When we get to my place, make sure Kane comes inside,” Willow told him.
“What do you have on your hot little mind, Willow Harper?”
“A little fun.”
“I like the way you think,” Bruce whispered into her ear. “I think you’re more faery than you realize.”
“Bite your tongue, winged-one.”
“Hey, these wings don’t come out unless I want them to,” he argued.
“Which seems to happen every time we have sex and you lose control,” she finished.
“Yeah, well, you bring out the horny faery in me.”
“Let’s hope we bring out the faery in Agent Wilcox.”
“Kane, his name is Kane,” Bruce added.
“Kane.” Willow smiled as she remembered reading it off his badge.
It was a good name, she decided. Kane brought to mind naughtiness, and long hard shafts. Yeah, a guy with a name like Kane offered a whole lot of promise. Getting Kane to admit that he wanted her, was going to be a challenge she enjoyed. Because that’s what it was all about. His rough edged ego and all-business all the time demeanor needed a little humility, and she was just the girl to make it happen.
Willow pulled up in front of her tiny house. She and Bruce exchanged looks, and Willow hurried into the house, leaving Bruce to get Kane inside.
She hurried to the back of her one-bedroom home. Dropping clothes when she got there, she tugged off the wire and cranked the hot water faucet. Willow tilted her face to the hot spray as its fingers penetrated her hair, reaching her scalp.
If she were honest with herself, this self imposed competition to get Kane in the sack, had more to do with proving something to herself than anything else. She and Bruce had a no-strings relationship. He stabilized her faery abilities so that they didn’t come up at bad moments. The fact that she liked him, enjoyed his company, and found him incredibly attractive, made their intimate relationship evolve naturally. Or as naturally as it could given that her mother had buried her nose deep into her daughter’s business.