“Kat, you’re beautiful. I love every inch of your body,” he said. “You’re a real woman. You’re soft and warm and delicious. Never be ashamed of that.”
And then he was moving lower, lower…he dipped his tongue into her navel and she gasped in surprise and pleasure. “Oh,” she said, surprised. “That feels good.”
“We’re going to discover every erogenous zone on your body,” he promised, his voice husky with desire.
Then he moved down even lower and settled himself on the ground between her legs, spreading them apart with his strong hands on her thighs. Her arousal was swelling inside her, turning into an urgent, burning need that cried out for release.
“Please,” she begged, brazen and unashamed. “I want it.”
She kept her pubic hair neatly trimmed in the front and shaved bare on her lips. He spread her apart with his fingers, bent down, and ran his tongue lightly from front to back, and then from back to front.
“Ohh!” she cried out, jerking as she was zapped by a bolt of pleasure so intense, it was shocking.
“I’m just getting started, baby. You taste like heaven. Like honey and cream mixed together.” He ran his tongue over her again, lightly, teasing her as she lay helplessly, her hunger a raging inferno.
He ran his tongue along the seam between her labia, lapping at the juices of her arousal and moaning appreciatively as if he’d dived into a delicious hot fudge sundae.
Then he moved up to her clit, which was swollen and so sensitive that she shrieked when he sucked it into his mouth and swirling his tongue around it. The pent up dam of her desire was agony now. She’d die if she couldn’t come.
He sucked harder, moving his mouth and his tongue, and she felt that heat gather inside her into a tight, hot little ball right below her navel, in a place she’d never known existed before. Oh, she’d made herself come all right, plenty of times, but this was a sensation she’d never dreamed off. Her body felt hollowed out and lighter than air, filled only with electric jolts of pleasure that sizzled down her nerves.
His mouth continued moving, sucking at her hungrily, as if he were savoring a delicious dessert. Groans of satisfaction rumbled up in his throat, making his mouth vibrate on her pussy.
Suddenly, the pleasure gushed forth from her, flowing out, spreading in waves that washed through her entire body, to the tips of her fingers and toes, to the roots of her hair. She was limp and boneless and gasping. She heard her wails of pleasure drift through the air as if they were piped-in music from somewhere far away.
Tate sat up, grinning at her like a cat who’d just lapped up cream. “You like?” he said, trailing his fingers down the inside of her thigh.
“Ohh. Ohh…” She was still beyond words.
“I assure you, that was just the preview.”
She sat up, still breathing hard. “My God. That was the most intense orgasm I’ve ever had. It was crazy.”
“Tell me more,” he begged, his grin stretching even wider.
“I saw stars. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. If you make me come any harder, I might have a heart attack.”
“I’m willing to take that chance,” he teased. “Come on, baby, I know CPR”
She batted at his arm, laughing.“Now, that’s an irresistible pickup line if I ever heard one.”She glanced around. “You know, this might be even better in a bed. It’s getting a little chilly out.”
“If only I weren’t staying in a house with my darling siblings. We’re crashing with friends of the family. Now, my home town is only an hour from here, and we live in a very big house. And I can assure you—”
He was talking about the future, and she couldn’t let that happen. It would give her hope, and hope was too painful when it bloomed and then was trampled on.
“Let’s just think about tonight,” she pleaded, softening it with a smile. “We can go back to the boarding house. I’d be willing to sneak you in, and if you play your cards right, you might even get lucky.”
“I got lucky the day I met you,” he said softly, trailing his fingers down her arm, and she felt her heart squeeze.
Seriously, this man was dangerous.
She shivered as a breeze whipped through the air, cooling her sweaty skin. His jacket lay on the ground next to her, and impulsively, she picked it up and wrapped it around her shoulders.
As she did, something fell out of the pocket and thudded to the ground, and she reached down to pick it up.
It was a glass.
It was her glass, the one he’d picked up at the bar when she went to use the rest room. It was obvious why he had it. He’d brought it with him because he was planning on having it fingerprinted or DNA tested or whatever the hell he was going to do.
He still thought of her as a suspect, but a suspect who he’d be willing to have a quick roll in the hay with, while dangling false promises of more before her. How could he have been so cruel? Why did he have to make her think that he wanted more, that he cared about her as a person?
His eyes met hers as she leaped to her feet.
“Kat, I can explain,” he protested.
“Don’t bother,” she snapped. Before he could say another word, she’d shifted into bobcat form, grabbed her purse in her mouth, and dashed into the woods, leaving her clothes behind.
Chapter Six
Tate was a Florida shifter, born and bred, and normally he didn’t blink an eye at the muggy summer heat, but this morning he felt like he was swimming through a swamp as he walked the short distance from his pickup truck to the front door of the sheriff’s office. Last night’s fiasco had soured his mood and curdled the breakfast in his stomach.
When he swung open the front door, the blast of icy air conditioning slapped him in the face as if he’d stepped inside a walk-in freezer. He ran his fingers through his rumpled hair as he walked in, the sweat instantly drying on his forehead.
Loch was in his office, sitting behind his desk. “You look like ten miles of bad road,” he observed.
“You have a talent for stating the obvious.”
Tate knew Loch was right. He looked terrible, and he felt worse. He couldn’t stop thinking about Kat. He didn’t have her phone number, so he couldn’t call her and explain, but as soon as they’d dealt with the Sinclairs, he planned on heading right over to Imogen’s to apologize and try to talk to her—if only she’d let him.
“Do I?” Loch said irritably. “Okay, here’s some more obvious. You’re acting like an ass, and whatever your problem is, it’s not with me. If you want to talk about it, I’m all ears. Otherwise, put on your big-boy pants and try to act like you’re all growed up, if you think you can manage that.”
“Sorry,” Tate muttered. Loch was right. He didn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of Tate’s snappishness.
He’d spent all night long tossing and turning, and not just because of the raging erection he’d been left with. That was a problem that could have been easily solved, if he’d wanted to. Women came on to him all the time; he could easily have found another woman for a quick roll in the hay. What was really plaguing him was the fear that Kat would never speak to him again.
More and more, he was starting to wonder if she could possibly be his fated mate.
There was no other explanation for it, for the fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about her, and the strong physical reaction he felt every time she was near him. He’d been attracted to women before, sure, and he could still admire a pretty face, but he’d never felt anything like what he felt for Kat. She crowded all rational thought from his mind. It was thrilling and frightening all at the same time—especially frightening considering how little he knew about her.
“Anything I can do to help?” Loch asked.
“Unfortunately, no. This one’s all on me.”
Before Loch could press him any further, the Sinclairs bustled through the front door of the station, and it felt as if the air, cold as it was, suddenly dropped several more degrees in temperature.
Quincy, his s
ister Aurora, and his sister-in-law Cornelia, Portia’s mother, were there. Loch had specifically asked that they bring in Quincy’s son, Frank Sinclair. They hadn’t. It was clearly a challenge to Loch’s authority.
Or, Tate reflected, it could be because Quincy and his son were known to loathe each other, which gave Tate even less reason to trust Frank. Frank had moved off of pack property as soon as he turned eighteen, and he didn’t work for any of the Sinclair businesses, which was unheard of for most of the Sinclair pack. When someone was too obnoxious even for Quincy Sinclair, one knew they were bad news.
As soon as the Sinclairs walked in to the station, three of Loch’s deputies, who were also members of his pack, walked in to Loch’s office, in a show of solidarity.
The Sinclairs entered the inner office behind the deputies, and Quincy shot Loch a frosty look. “There was no need to bring your pack in here,” he said. “What is the meaning of all this? We are attending your wedding as a courtesy, and we’ve been shown none in return from the moment we arrived in town.”
“Quincy, when you pretend not to know what’s going on, it just wastes everybody’s time,” Loch said. “We asked you to bring Frank with you, and you already know why. We have undercover deputies working security on the Beaudreau property, and he was spotted there last night. When the deputy called out to him, he shifted, and ran into the woods, where he managed to elude law enforcement. The scent trail led to the area where the reception is being held. We also smelled scentsbane, but not enough, clearly, because we could still pick up his trail. Inside the reception hall, we found that someone had spray-painted the walls with curse words involving my family.”
“Strictly circumstantial.” Quincy, who was a lawyer, spoke quickly. “Frank has visited the Beaudreau property several times recently. He could have left his scent then.”
“Why?” Tate growled, his face turned hairy and his eyes glowing. “What the hell is a nineteen-year-old boy doing hanging out at some old mansion? Sight-seeing? He was up to no good, obviously. If he was anywhere near my sister Megan, I’m throwing down a challenge right now.”
Quincy swallowed hard, no doubt aware that the last time Tate had issued a challenge, he’d killed a crazed Alpha.
“The scent was fresh,” Loch added. “It was clearly Frank that defaced the reception hall. That’s equivalent to a declaration of war, Quincy. I strongly suspect that Frank was the one who poisoned several flower beds on the property as well, because I asked around, and he was seen lurking near the Calloway’s truck on that day. It would have been very easy for him to put weed killer on those beds.”
Loch stared at Quincy, and Quincy stared back only briefly before dropping his gaze. Twenty years ago, Quincy might have accepted Loch’s challenge. Now, Quincy was fifty years old, and time and luxurious living had not been kind to him. Soon, he’d have to step aside to let someone else in his family take over as Alpha, or face a Death Challenge for his position as pack leader.
“My family and I will, without admitting guilt, pay for any damage as a gesture of good will and as a desire to indicate our good wishes to you and your bride,” Quincy said.
“Frank is no longer invited to the wedding, and must leave town immediately. And if I catch another member of your family vandalizing my property—”
“You won’t,” Quincy said.
Aurora looked Loch straight in the eye. “I still believe that these incidents are part of the Cypress Woods Witch’s prophecy,” she told Loch. “I do not believe my nephew had anything to do with the vandalism.” In many ways, she was braver than her brother, although she also knew that Loch wouldn’t issue a Death Challenge to a female unless she directly physically assaulted him or someone under his protection.
Cornelia shot Loch a murderous look, and grabbed Quincy by the arm. “Quincy, please let me tell him,” she pleaded.
Quincy shot her a look that froze her words on her lips. She stared down at the ground. “Sorry,” she mumbled.
Now, what was all that about? Tate wondered. Despite the fact that Cornelia was a snob and a bully whenever she could get away with it, he pitied her. She was bullied, in turn, by members of the Sinclair family. Her husband had died in a Challenge a few years earlier, and her brother-in-law and sister-in-law were notorious for insulting her and belittling her in public.
“We’re done here,” Quincy said, and he turned to walk out. Aurora and Cornelia followed him. As they walked out, Cornelia shot a quick, miserable glance at Loch, and then followed her relatives with her shoulders hunched and her fists clenched.
“I never thought I’d say this, but I actually feel sorry for the woman right now,” Tate said, shaking his head. “It seems as if she’s in some kind of trouble, but her brother won’t let her ask for help. She wouldn’t be able to ask for help from the police in their own county, because the Sinclairs pretty much own that county.”
“If she needs help, she could come to me, despite my bad blood with her family, and I’m sure she knows it,” Loch said.
“Yeah, but she’d risk being kicked out of her pack if she did that. By the way, do you think it’s odd that Portia has pretty much vanished from these parts, when she was constantly calling you and harassing you until recently?” Tate asked.
“I threatened her with a restraining order, and I made sure her uncle knew about it. The Sinclairs are very conscious of their public image. They probably sent her on some nice European cruise until the wedding is over,” Loch said.
Tate shrugged. He wasn’t going to knock himself out worrying about the Sinclairs. “Well, I’m going to round up the family, head back out and get to planting. Any news on the tiara?”
“Not a peep, unfortunately.” Loch sighed.
“Hey, buck up. You’re marrying Ginger.”
A smile spread across Loch’s face. “I am, aren’t I? I’m a lucky son of a bitch. All of this petty crap is meaningless. I’m marrying the woman I love.”
Tate saluted him and walked out of the office, trying without success to push thoughts of Kat from his mind.
Maybe when he was done working today he’d try again. Head out to the boarding house and plead his case with her, try to make her see reason. He knew she had feelings for him too. Why was she holding back? What was she hiding?
* * *
“I know it’s only nine o’clock, but maybe you should start drinking,” Marigold said, watching Lainey with concern as she listlessly stirred her coffee without bothering to take a sip. They were at the Henhouse. She’d dragged Lainey into town because they’d forgotten to buy earrings to go with her wedding outfit.
“I’m fine,” Lainey said, pushing her scrambled eggs around on her plate.
“Fine? You’re totally off your feed. This is not like you,” Marigold protested.
“Eh, food. Who needs it?”
“Seriously, I think I’m going to call 911,” Marigold said.
“Okay. Have fun.” Lainey stared out the window into the distance, looking at nothing.
“I am going to have you taken away and put in a rubber room,” Marigold continued. “They’re going to feed you gruel and shave your head. They’ll probably paint daisies on your bald scalp.”
“That sounds nice,” Lainey said idly, pushing her plate away.
“Are you even listening to me?” Marigold asked, exasperated.
“What?” Lainey said, frowning. She stifled a sigh, finally looking at Marigold. “Sorry, I’m a little distracted.”
“You don’t say. I hadn’t noticed.”
“I know,” Lainey said. “I hide it well.”She stood up. “I’m going for a walk. Maybe it will clear my head. You can finish my breakfast if you want. It would be a shame to let all of that food go to waste.”
“Don’t forget those earrings,” Marigold called after her. “I’ll meet you back at the house.”
Lainey didn’t answer. She walked outside, so distracted she almost walked into an elderly couple who were strolling into the diner hand in hand.
<
br /> Watch out, I bet he wants to fingerprint you, Lainey wanted to say to the old woman, but she restrained herself.
She walked down the street, with no idea where she was going, until she heard children yelling coming from around the corner. She hurried towards the sound.
Felix was sitting on a second-story fire escape, peering down at the street. His brothers and sisters were gathered below, yelling at him to come down.
This looks familiar, Lainey thought to herself.
When Felix saw Lainey, his little round face lit up in a smile. “I’m stuck!” he called down happily.
“You sure are,” Lainey called back.
“Aren’t you going to shift, and save his life?” Schuyler asked. “It’s really high, and he could fall. He’s pretty stupid, and he’s also kind of clumsy.”
“Fine, I’ll go get him,” Lainey said. “I’m not going to shift, though. I don’t want to ruin another outfit, and he’s not in any danger.”
Schuyler sighed, and the rest of the kids looked disappointed.
“I wanted to pet her when she was a bobcat,” Ashley said, pouting. “I didn’t get to pet her before.”
“Me, too,” Richard said.
“Some other time,” Lainey promised.
“Tonight?” Robin asked. “You could come have dinner with us.”
“Want to see me be a wolf cub?” Richard asked. “I’m really fierce.”
Schuyler tipped her head back and yelled to up to Felix, “Come on down! She’s not turning into a bobcat.”
Felix promptly scrambled down the fire escape with no problem whatsoever. When he got to the bottom, he scrambled over the railing and dangled from the edge, and Lainey ran to catch him. He fell into her arms with a plop.
“You kids are really a handful,” Lainey said, laughing despite her dark mood. She set him down gently on the ground.
“Tate says that all the time, but he’s usually mad when he says it,” Felix said.
“He just gets mad because he loves you and worries about your safety.” It was true, she knew it. She didn’t doubt in the slightest that he would lay down his life for them. How could a man like that also be so deceitful?
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