This is ridiculous. She was a hundred and seventy-six years old, for crying out loud. Yet here she was, reacting like a schoolgirl with her first crush. But she’d have to be dead inside to not appreciate that walking advertisement for tall, dark, and sexy.
Dante’s head was bent as he listened to the officer, and the sun glinted off his dark hair. As usual, it was brushed back from his forehead, but stubborn strands insisted on falling forward. They made Tori’s fingers itch to stroke them off his face just so she could watch them flop down again. He gestured, and her attention was caught by his masculine hands. Long, square-tipped fingers and broad palms.
She’d love to feel those hands on her skin.
Dante must have felt her gaze on him, because he lifted his head and looked right at her. Sexual interest flared in his brown eyes before he turned back to the man beside him.
“Uh, Tori?”
She jerked back to awareness and looked at Knox.
“You okay?” the vampire asked. Blue eyes stared at her with a mixture of concern and bewilderment. “You’re just standing there, in the middle of the lot, staring…” His gaze drifted to Dante and he gave a soft grunt. “Ah. Never mind.”
Tori felt her cheeks heat. She’d been caught gawking at Dante like a teenager. It was mortifying. She cleared her throat and deliberately turned her back so she wouldn’t be tempted to start watching him again. “So, what did your guy have to say? What was he doing here?”
“Picking up a bottle of red wine.” Knox pointed toward a broken bottle and the spill of wine near the front door. “He said your wolf-boy attacked him without provocation.”
“Oh, come on.” She put one hand on her hip. “Barry may be a little impetuous, but even he wouldn’t go around jumping vampires without cause. Your guy definitely provoked him.”
Knox shrugged lazily. “Eh. A few words about a car. If your wolf got all riled up over a guy with a big mouth, well…” His gaze dared her to defend that. “Besides, wolfie’s the one who injured the human.”
“You’re sure about that?” Tori glanced over at the van to where Barry sat slumped on the seat, blanket still modestly covering his privates. He met her gaze for a second and then looked away. Tori faced Knox again. “It could have been your vamp.”
Knox shook his head. “Nope. Wolf-boy is the one who took the human down in his hurry to get to the vampire. Who, by the way, kept his fangs to himself.”
Tori sighed and rubbed her forehead. This did not bode well for Barry. “All right. Hopefully, Barry didn’t release any pret essence when he hurt the guy. That’ll make things easier for him.”
“Hmm.” Knox glanced over her shoulder. “Heads up. Here comes your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my…” Tori scowled at Knox’s easy grin. “Shut up. What are you, like, twelve?”
“Four hundred and sixty-seven, actually.”
“Well, you’re acting like a twelve-year-old.” She put a smile on her face and turned to greet Dante. “How’s it going? Any word on the vic?” She couldn’t keep her eyes from drifting down the lean length of his body. This close, his scent was stronger, more enticing.
“Not yet.” His smile was slow and lazy. “You’re lookin’ good.”
As usual, Dante was charming and flirtatious, completely impossible to ignore and utterly not serious about her. But she could flirt with the best of them, especially when he so easily revved her engine. “You’re looking mighty fine yourself.” Her voice came out throaty. She couldn’t help it. He did look fine. More than fine. Any finer and she might jump his bones.
Dante winked at her, then glanced at the vampire liaison. “Knox, you look well, too. Rested. Have a nice vacation?”
Knox grimaced. “I was reassigned to Yuma, MacMillan, not spending a week in Paris.” He muttered something that sounded like “Teach me not to get on Caladh’s bad side again.”
Tori pressed her lips together against a grin. Caladh was a seal shapeshifter and one of the more powerful members of the council. “Yuma’s the third largest city outside of Phoenix and Tucson,” Tori defended. “It’s got the territorial prison. That’s kinda cool.”
Knox just looked at her.
She liked Yuma, personally, but the fact that Knox, the consummate urban dweller, had been assigned there tickled her to no end. She couldn’t resist giving him a few verbal jabs. “It’s right next to California. You could go dune bashing in the Imperial Sand Dunes. And San Diego’s not that far away. You can go whale watching,” she offered. “Or check out the sea lions in La Jolla.”
The vampire’s look went even drier.
“Give it up, Tori.” Dante never lost his grin. “I think Knox here is a city boy through and through.” He lifted a brow. “It must be torture for you to be here with us instead of L.A. or New York.”
“Tell me about it,” Knox muttered.
“So, what’d you do to get stuck here?” Tori asked. She knew he’d been assigned to one of the Los Angeles quadrants a few years ago, and she also knew he’d never have left L.A. voluntarily.
The vampire’s lips tightened. “Never mind.” His gaze flicked to over her shoulder. “Here comes the poster girl for comic book heroines.”
Tori turned to see the quadrant’s new human liaison, Piper Peterson, coming their way. The young woman had a lilt in her step, her eyes covered by round, dark sunglasses, her mouth curved in its customary smile. She always seemed perky, and with a name like Piper Peterson…well, Tori understood how a guy like Knox could be a little snide about her. She just hoped he wouldn’t give Piper a hard time to her face.
The human liaison stopped next to Dante and pushed the sunglasses up on top of her blonde head. Ignoring Knox, an action that interested Tori greatly, she looked at Dante and Tori and said, “So, I just got word that the guy who was hurt is going to be all right. He wasn’t, ah, enhanced in any way.”
Tori blew out a sigh. Barry was still in trouble, just not as much. She’d go break the news to him. “I’ll be right back,” she said and headed toward the police van where Barry still waited.
As she approached, he looked up and then stiffened. “What? You found something out?” he asked, his voice holding a slight tremble.
“The vic wasn’t turned. You’re off the hook, for that at least.” Tori glanced around the parking lot and saw some of the crowd had dissipated.
Barry gave a nod and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. Staring down at his hands, he murmured, “I really messed up this time, didn’t I?”
She wasn’t going to sugarcoat anything for him. “Yeah, you did. But they’ll go easier on you since you didn’t accidentally turn the guy.” She kept one ear on the conversation going on behind her and heard Piper talking about another case involving a distant relative of hers. A car pulling into the lot caught Tori’s eye. She recognized the two council guards who got out. “Looks like your ride is here,” she told Barry.
He exhaled and climbed out of the van, keeping the blanket securely around him. He paused and looked at Tori. “Thanks.”
She tipped her chin. “Take care of yourself.”
“Right.” He walked toward the guards and got into the back of the car.
As the vehicle pulled out of the lot, Tori returned to Dante and the other two liaisons.
“If anything,” Piper was saying, “I think the council treated him more harshly because of me.”
“Oh, no doubt,” Knox said. “Family members of liaisons are supposed to conduct themselves with the utmost comportment.”
Piper rolled her eyes. “There aren’t too many prets that I know of who can manage to comport themselves utmostly.” She made quote marks in the air, and her glance at Knox suggested he had little room to talk about proper behavior.
Tori frowned. Man, she must have missed something between these two. The tension was almost to the point of animosity.
The vampire scowled. “I’m done here,” he stated and walked off.
With another roll of her eye
s, Piper said, “Good riddance to bad garbage.”
“I heard that,” Knox called out.
Piper shrugged. “It’s not anything I wouldn’t have said to his face.” When Tori started to say something, Piper waved a hand with a muttered, “I’d really rather not talk about it.” She looked at Dante. “So, I saw Nix last night, and she told me to tell you hello the next time I saw you. So…hello.”
Dante’s face softened with concern for Nix de la Fuente, the former human liaison. Well, Nix Caine now, since Nix and Tobias had gotten married a few months ago. Tori knew Nix and Dante had worked together for a short time but had formed a solid friendship, one that Tori would never admit out loud had made her envious.
Dante said, “I haven’t talked to her in a couple of weeks. She doing okay?”
“I think she’s having a harder time acclimating to being a vampire than she wants to admit. Plus her mom…” Piper shook her head and frowned. “Her mom isn’t exactly thrilled to have a vampire daughter. And of course she blames Tobias.”
“But Tobias had to turn her to keep her from dying.” Tori planted one hand on her hip. “What, her mom has a problem with not having a dead daughter?”
“Apparently she has a real thing about vamps. You know how demons are.” Dante hooked his thumbs over his belt, large hands framing his silver belt buckle.
That little action drew Tori’s gaze to his midsection, then lower. He caught her looking, of course, his smirk knowing. She met his eyes and held them, challenging him. The man knew exactly what he was doing. So if he wanted her to look, she’d look. She deliberately dropped her gaze and saw the faintest twitch behind the placket of his zipper.
He cleared his throat and pulled his jacket closed, fastening one of the buttons. “So, I’ll just take a look around the scene, do my job.”
“I’m going to head over to the hospital and talk to the victim,” Piper said. “I’ll keep you two posted.”
Tori murmured a good-bye to her and turned with Dante as he walked the parking lot. “So, how about a cup of coffee?” She rested one hand on his upper arm, able to feel the firmness of his biceps beneath the layers of clothing. “My treat.”
The muscles beneath her fingers tensed. His tongue swept out to wet his lips, drawing her gaze to that sexy mouth. “I’d like to, Tori. I would. It’s just…” He gestured with one arm. “I have a ton of cases right now. I should finish up here and get back to the station.” Dislodging her hand, Dante rubbed the back of his neck. He looked as uncomfortable as a dog that had just gotten skunked.
“No problem,” she said easily. “Tomorrow’s Saturday. We could meet for breakfast.”
His tongue swept across his lower lip, a gesture of nervousness that on him managed to look sexy. He gave a little wince and said, “Sorry. Weekends I’m tied up with my horses.”
“I understand.” But she didn’t. Not really. He flirted, he teased, and then he turned skittish and shut down any time she made an approach. One of these days maybe she’d get it through her head that he just wasn’t into her, and give up.
“Rain check?” he asked, his voice as polite as the expression on his face, though his eyes were awash with swirling emotions she had a hard time deciphering. Indecision crossed his face before his lids drooped, hiding his feelings even more.
“Of course.” She should go back home and fiddle with that device, since Dante wasn’t going to let her fiddle with him. Maybe she’d discover something new and see if she could reconnect with a brother who blew as hot and cold as a certain Special Case detective.
Chapter Three
Dante forced himself to focus on the job and not on how fresh and enticing Tori smelled, or how sexy she looked. He swore those damned jeans she wore were sprayed on, and the flimsy blouse accentuated the enticing curve of her breasts. But between building his career and taking care of a sister recovering from the double whammy of breast cancer and a divorce, he didn’t have time for a relationship. So while he might flirt with Tori, because she was a beautiful woman even if she did go furry at least once a month, he wasn’t ready for anything serious. Especially not with a pret. Not because he was prejudiced, but because simply being a pret meant she lived in a world even more dangerous than the one he did. Every day he fought back fear that he’d lose his sister to the cancer that had tried to ravage her body; he wasn’t ready to go through a loss with someone else he cared for. If he had anything more with Tori than a working relationship, his admiration for her intelligence and abilities and, yes, his attraction to her would deepen to something he wasn’t ready for. Because if he fell in love with her and lost her…
He blew out a breath and tracked bloody footprints across the pavement, stopping next to a torn denim jacket lying a few feet away from the entrance to the now-closed grocery store. “This belong to the vic?” he asked her.
“I guess so.” She glanced around. “The crime scene specialists are running late on this one.”
Her sultry voice wrapped around him, tightening his gut and other parts that had no business getting tight on the job. He cleared his throat. “The CSS unit doesn’t have the same sense of urgency for nonfatal incidents.” He hunkered down and looked over the torn and stained jacket, careful not to disturb it. Criminalists would need to photograph it before anyone could move it. “From what I can see, there are holes in the shoulder area.” He tilted his head to look closer. Parts of the jacket were shredded, he guessed from the werewolf’s claws, but several holes had been punctured in the jacket as well. “More than two, which would support the supposition that it was the werewolf who bit the guy, not the vamp.”
“Yes, well, until we get test results from the hospital, that part’s still up for grabs as far as I’m concerned.” Disgust dried Tori’s tones. “I still wouldn’t put it past that bloodsucker to have been the one to bite the vic. You know, just a slight slip of the fang for a quick snack.”
Dante studied the ground around the jacket, noting the splashes of blood, then rose to his feet. “You got somethin’ against vamps?” He shot a glance at her from the corner of his eye.
“Not at all.” She raised her shoulders in a shrug. “Hey, some of my best friends are vampires. I just didn’t like the looks of the guy Knox was talking to.” She blew out a sigh hard enough to ruffle her bangs. “Though it probably was Barry who bit our vic. Poor guy.”
“You talkin’ about the vic or Barry?” Dante grinned, just a little, at the disgruntled look that crossed her face.
“Both, I suppose.” She shoved her fingers into the back pockets of her jeans, an action that thrust out her breasts. She seemed completely unaware of her posture.
Dante was more conscious of it than he should have been.
“At some point I should head over to the council office to put in a good word or two…or three or four or five, for Barry.” Defensiveness lit her gaze. “He’s not a bad guy, you know.”
Where’d that come from? He held up one hand in appeasement. “I didn’t say he was.”
Her sensual lips curved down. “Yeah, well, he attacked a human. I’d think in your book that’d make him a bad guy.” Her arch look challenged him.
“In my book?”
She nodded. “In that how-to-be-a-by-the-book-detective handbook of yours.”
“Me? A by-the-book guy?” His brows shot up. “I believe you have me confused with someone else. Maybe Tobias Caine?”
“When it comes to the rules, sure, you don’t always follow ’em. But when it comes to bad guys, you’re pretty much black and white on who’s bad and who’s not.” Keeping her hands in her back pockets, she wiggled her elbows back and forth and sent him a look that was as dry as autumn leaves. “And, believe me, no one could confuse you for Tobias.”
He wasn’t sure whether he should be insulted or not. “And why would that be?”
She grinned. Her expression softened with sensuality. “While you’re both tall, dark, and handsome,” she nearly purred as she stroked one slender finger down the
middle of his chest, “Tobias has a bigger bite behind his bark.”
“Can’t argue with that.” Dante eased back a step, putting himself out of her reach. Even that light, teasing touch fired his blood. He came into contact with his fair share of shapeshifters on the job, and one thing he’d noticed was that they all seemed to possess this earthy carnality that was impossible to ignore. Tori called to him on such a primal level it was all he could do to keep his distance. But she deserved respect from him even if all he wanted to do was take her with the raw fury of an animal.
He, at least, didn’t go furry once a month. He was human. He had to remain true to himself, or what would he be left with?
He heard a couple of car doors slam and turned to see one of the crime scene vans parked nearby. “CSSU’s here.”
“’Bout time,” Tori muttered, sounding a little cranky. Even so, her voice still held those dulcet tones that made everything male within him sit up and take notice.
Dante started toward the van, glancing around the gathered crowd out of habit. One man in particular caught his eye and Dante stopped, trying to get a better look.
Tori plowed into him, giving a little grunt of surprise, and he turned to grab her. He wrapped his fingers around her upper arms to steady her, and the feel of the firm muscles beneath his fingers—her strength wrapped in softness—scattered his thoughts.
“You need to give a gal some warning.” She looked up at him, her gaze grass green in the sunlight. Her lips parted and those incredible eyes fixed on his mouth.
Before he could stop himself, Dante found his hand curled around her jaw, his thumb stroking over that provocative bottom lip. “Sorry,” he rasped through a throat tight with desire. His chest constricted, his blood fired as need pulsed through him with every beat of his heart. “I thought I saw…” He dropped his hand and looked toward the crowd again. The man he’d thought he’d seen—Natchook, Tobias Caine’s nemesis and the son of a bitch who was the reason his friend Nix was now a vampire—was gone.
Secret of the Wolf Page 3