by Nancy Gideon
Max tensed. “I don’t recall asking for your opinion.”
“You didn’t. Figured you’d want to know it.”
“We need to sort some things out between us, is all.”
“And that’s gonna happen by you moving another family in while her back’s turned?”
“That’s not what I did.”
Then Max caught the unmistakable rumble of a big-block engine, and his spirit settled. And as the vehicle approached, he hoped no regrets were coming his way.
Eighteen
THE TWO PARTNERS approached the porch as a team. Max’s expression was inscrutable. Giles broke the standoff with a friendly overture.
“Charlotte, this is a new look for you. Very, pardon me for saying so, hot.”
“Hello, Giles.”
“Here for a professional or personal visit?”
Max coolly said, “It’s always business first. What can I help you with, Detectives?”
“Doing some off-the-clock follow-up on a witness statement,” Babineau stated with equal chill. “One vic dead at the scene with a gunshot wound a few blocks from our motel. The witness claims there was another DB minus a heart that somehow managed to disappear before the police got there. Plenty of blood to suggest she was telling the truth.”
“If you’re asking to search the premises for your missing body, I’ll want to see a warrant first, and to have my attorney present. But perhaps I can save you some time by telling you there’s no one on site without a pulse.”
“You must have walked right by that alley on your way back to your car. Right about the time the DB was bleeding out. Did you happen to see anything, Savoie? Like some kind of freak with fangs and claws yanking the beating heart out of some guy’s chest?”
“No, Detective. I didn’t see anything like that. If those are your only questions, your family is upstairs. They’d probably like to see you.”
Babineau hesitated, then he went in through the door Giles held open, the bodyguard following on his heels.
Alone, Max frowned at the sight of the bruises on Cee Cee’s cheek and brow.
“Why did you kill those men?” she asked in a voice as tight as the ratchet of her cuffs.
“Are you here to arrest me, Detective? If that’s what you want, here’s your confession: I killed them. Their own foolishness and greed initiated it. I did one with his own gun, the other with my bare hands. And I enjoyed doing it. To the very last bite.
“It’s what I am. That part of me you loathe. What a monster that must make me in your self-righteous eyes.”
She said nothing, standing on the top step of the porch, keeping that neutral distance in space and attitude. And that goaded his temper up another notch.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Not enough physical evidence for you?” He surged up off the swing. “I’ve just the thing.”
Cee Cee waited while he disappeared into the house. Small tremors began to build into seismic waves of fear. Why was he doing this? What was he trying to prove? That there was no hope for them? Instead of working to resolve their differences, why was he determined to emphasize how impossible it was to span them?
He burst from the house full of dark, forceful power. She caught the wet garment he flung at her.
“There,” he said in a low snarl. “I think I managed to preserve everyone’s DNA.”
She recognized the shirt as the one he’d been wearing, and her heart clenched at the vicious knife slashes in the material. Her gaze lifted, shimmery with emotion. “Are you all right?”
The quavering words almost undid him, but he held tightly to his anger. “Of course I’m all right. You think a few petty thieves could bring me down when seven skilled assassins couldn’t? The only one who’s ever taken me to my knees is you, and you know it.”
She fingered the torn fabric, her hands shaking, then stepped onto the porch and crossed to him. She touched his side, his arm, in gentle exploration.
“Self-defense,” she said. Then her eyes were all glittery again. “They attacked you, hurt you. I’m glad they’re dead.”
As her arms slipped about his waist and her head rested on his shoulder, the tension ebbed from Max in relief. He rubbed his cheek over her false red hair; his hands came up to knead her strong shoulders. He took a huge, satisfied breath—and his body stiffened.
Cee Cee heard the quick snuffles and the rumble of his growl vibrate through him, and she held tight to ride out the whiplash of his discovery.
He gripped her chin and thrust her head back so that her face tilted up to him. Her gaze held his firmly, her expression open without the regret, guilt, or the defiance he’d expected as he leaned close to sniff her. She watched possessive rage and tortured pride build in his tough features, and she locked her hands behind his back as if to form a circle he couldn’t break.
“It was nothing, Max. Trust me.”
“Trust you,” he repeated in a toneless whisper. “The only reason my fist isn’t breaking through his rib cage right now is because he’s sitting upstairs with his wife and child.”
“Max, listen to me,” she petitioned quietly.
“Listen to you. Trust you. You come to me, to my home, with the smell of him all over you, and ask me that? You ask me that?” he roared as he shoved her away then paced the porch fiercely
“Don’t be stupid, Savoie. You know there’s nothing going on. He’s having a difficult time dealing with what he found out about his wife.”
He faced her with a deadly chill in his eyes. “Did you convince him to accept his animal bride? And what happened to your face?”
Her hand rose to her cheek, her eyes darkening with dismay, and a stark realization struck Max. He’d been with her in her motel room. What had happened there? He couldn’t remember. He didn’t know what he’d done, only what he was capable of: hurting, killing the one thing most precious to him without being aware of it.
“Maybe he’s right, Charlotte. Maybe it’s madness to think you can mingle with monsters without things ending badly.”
“Max.” She gripped his arm, but he jerked away.
“Don’t try to rationalize what we both know is true. Not now. Collect your lover and go—it’s dangerous for you to be here right now.”
“Dammit, Max, don’t push me away!”
“If you won’t leave, I will.”
In two gigantic strides, he vaulted over the rail and disappeared into the night.
She stared after him, furious. “Don’t you run away from me,” she shouted.
She plunged into the night in pursuit. She crossed the back lawn knowing it was stupid, but pride and panic kept her going. She’d plowed through fifty yards of the thick woods before her ridiculous shoes failed her, snagging on ropy vines to send her sprawling, rolling down a steep incline into a mossy ditch far below.
Once she’d recovered her breath Cee Cee tried to stand, then collapsed onto the ground with a cry of pain.
Damn shoes. Damn Savoie.
She lay there on the cold, boggy soil, cursing them both, cursing the need to crawl back to the car to slink off in shame, when she hadn’t done anything wrong. She sat up to take off her shoes, but the agony knocked her down onto her back with a groan.
“Max! Max, I know you can hear me. Don’t you just leave me out here, you son of a bitch.”
“You should speak a little more nicely to someone if you want them to help you.”
“To hell with you,” she grumbled. “Don’t help me, then. I’ll just lie here and let you explain why you have a decomposing police detective in your backyard.”
He was suddenly crouched at her feet, and his hands were warm and soothing where her ankle throbbed. He removed her shoe and began a light massage.
“You shouldn’t have come after me.”
“I shouldn’t have had to.” Pain gave her words an extra sharpness. “How could you be so . . .”
“Stupid? I’ll carry you to your car and let your partner take you for x-rays.”
“Why, that would be damn
ed decent of you.”
“Or I could just tell him where to find you, and let him drag your thorny ass out of here.”
She winced at the harshness of his tone. “Whatever unruffles your vanity.”
“Vanity?” His head came up and moonlight bathed his incredulous expression.
She reached out to bracket his face between her palms. “How many times do I have to tell you, there’s only you? Alain Babineau is my partner, my friend. Nothing more. He’s never been more.”
She sighed. “We were never lovers, Max. We never had sex. I only said that to provoke you, and I shouldn’t have let you continue to believe it. He’s no threat to you, or to what we have. He needs to get back to his family. And I need to get back to you.”
Relief was short-lived in his expression. He shook free of her touch. “So I’ve been imagining that you’ve been having reservations, that there’s a sudden uncertainty between us? Tell me I’m wrong, Charlotte, and I’ll believe you. I want to believe you.” He handed her the shoe and lifted her easily into his arms.
Outrage and indignation hit hard. “Reservations? What about your cozy little business deals with Manny Blu? And your new family here.” Here, the only place besides St. Bart’s that had ever been home. Pain pinched her heart. “Put me the fuck down.” She gave him a hard elbow and he opened his arms, letting her plop to the ground on her rump. She glared up at him, jealous and upset beyond reason.
“At least they accept me for what I am. Why shouldn’t I want that, Charlotte? Why shouldn’t I expect that from those I love?”
She spat, “I accept you for what you are, Savoie. I’m your mate. I wear your mark.”
He shook his head. “It means nothing. That ties me to you—not the other way around. You’re not bound by my rules or to me.”
“Not bound to you?” She glared up at him through the haze of her tears. “What about what I want?”
“Tell me.”
“I want you. I want you to chase after me and claim me. I want you to fight for what we have. I want you to say fuck our differences, and take me right here on the ground in your beast form until we both howl at the moon.”
When he said nothing, she added more quietly, “What do you want?”
A hint of a smile. “You’ve pretty much covered it, sha.”
Relief poured out in a soft laugh. “Come here to me, baby.”
He dropped down over her, straddling her hips, hands splayed on either side of her shoulders as she reached up for him, lacing her fingers behind his head. She lifted up to meet his mouth, gripping hard when he started to rear back at the reminder of where Alain Babineau had been. She wouldn’t let him go, kissing him fiercely, licking his lips, his chin, his cheeks, then rubbing her face against his.
“I want the only scent on me to be yours.”
With a lusty growl he pressed her into the loamy earth, mouth devouring, hands impatient as he tore through the gauzy bits of sequin and ribbon. She arched into his palms, and cried out as he feasted roughly from her unusually sensitive breasts. She had his sweatshirt and pants shucked from him like she was peeling a crawfish and dinnertime was long overdue.
As her lips and hands moved hungrily over him, an eerie heat began to rise, heightened as they touched, prickling along the surface of their skin like static electricity. Arousing, hot, feeding their urgency for the other like a battery charger. So their bond meant nothing? she thought wildly. He was so gloriously mistaken.
She clutched at his dark head as his hands slid over her tight skirt, caressing her hips, the slight mound of her sex through the supple leather. When her legs began shifting restlessly, he reached under it to coax her silky panties off. She was making incoherent sounds of encouragement by the time he pushed up the skirt and wedged her thighs wide open.
The flicker of his tongue sent her hurdling over the edge. His insistent mouth kept her at that urgent pinnacle, at the junction of pleasure and an intensity so sharp it was almost pain. Making her writhe and finally beg for him to stop so she could breathe.
He raised over her on all fours as she sprawled on the ground, panting, shivering, mad for him.
She stroked his face, his shoulders greedily, and smiled. “Now,” she purred, “let me have you. Show me, Max. Show me all that you are.”
His eyes began to change, the cool jade heating to molten gold. Beneath her hands she could feel his bone structure strengthening, angling into bold, more lupine contours. Her touch adored him, because it was Max. As she felt him shifting, that strange energy played havoc with her senses. Through the lusty heat, in a hazy sort of double exposure, she saw the features she loved beneath the beast he’d become. She laughed in amazement, the sound filled with dizzying joy and a relieved abandonment as she gave herself to him.
Because of the bond they shared, everything was different and new. Desperately exciting, richly dimensional. Touch, scent, even the sound of his hurried breathing, were all erotically textured.
Overwhelmed by the colors and layered images, she closed her eyes to simply feel. Trembling at the long strokes of his tongue over her skin, quivering as he nipped at her with sharp teeth, never fearing he’d harm her. His huge hands made rough circles over breasts, hips, and thighs, his nails scratching lightly, causing dangerous thrills of sensation.
She said his name, a low, awed whisper. Or at least she thought she did. She was completely out of touch with her surroundings, floating in that timeless, dreamlike state where only Max existed. Max, her lover. Max, her mate.
She didn’t resist as he rolled her over and hiked her hips up high. The need to be one with him was an intoxicating drug, making her rock back against him, rubbing, moaning in instinctive female heat.
She’d never wanted anything as much as the feel of his hands, his breath, his mouth on her skin. She’d never yearned for anything as feverishly as that first probe of him between her spread thighs. That relentless pressure searing, spreading, invading. She encouraged him to fill her, backing into him until he seemed to touch the door to her womb. And she began to move, building those brilliant shivers of delight that went on and on. Tears filled her eyes in sheer wonder.
Vaguely she could feel him plunging, faster, harder, making harsh, rough snatches of sounds like snarls, until finally, with one massive shudder, he let go in a tide so strong it swept her under. And as it roared in her ears, she thought she heard him howl.
The steadiness of his breathing eased her back into awareness. She opened her eyes to see stars overhead, to feel the silky rush of warm water all around her. When she gave a start, strong arms tightened about her.
“Shhh. It’s all right. You’re with me.”
She tried to sit up, but her muscles were ridiculously relaxed and wouldn’t support her. She became aware of Max’s sleek nudity beneath her, and realized they were soaking together in the big claw-footed tub.
Max nuzzled her neck. “We were all dirty and sweaty. I thought this might be nice for you to wake up to.”
She sighed and sank into him while her thoughts slowly gathered. “How’d we get here?”
“I carried you.”
Her eyes snapped open. “Is Babineau still here?”
A slight testiness crept into his tone. “He wouldn’t leave without you. I told him we had a spat, that you twisted your ankle and fainted.”
“Fainted? Hmmph.”
“It was the best I could come up with, considering you were unconscious and we were half dressed.”
“Oh. Nice story.”
A pause, then a quiet, “Are you all right?”
She made a satisfied sound and snuggled into him. “That was quite a ride.”
His lips touched her brow. “Thank you for taking it with me.”
“Anytime, my king.”
“Do you mean that, Charlotte?”
She twisted so she could look up into his eyes. Her fingertips brushed over his cheek as she whispered, “I meant every word, and more.”
He caught her hand
and pressed a kiss to her palm. She felt his smile against it and said, “I want to come home to you. Unless you think it would be too crowded.” She regretted the tense codicil the moment it escaped her.
He continued to hold her hand, but his stare grew guarded. “We can discuss it when your case is over. While we’re enjoying Sex on the Beach somewhere warm and sandy.”
“Okay.” She sighed her disappointment. Not quite the declaration she’d wanted, but maybe more than she deserved. “I need to get out before I slide down the drain.”
They dried off quickly, not looking at each other. Cee Cee found her underwear, skirt, and one shoe.
“Can I borrow a shirt?”
If he noticed the strain in her voice, he didn’t react to it. “Take anything you like.”
She wanted to take back the last three weeks.
She shrugged on a black tee shirt that hung almost to the hem of her skirt, and, with her back to him, said, “It was just once. We’d been on a really tough case, long hours and some pretty intense gunplay. It started with drinks at Newton’s with the team, then ended up at my apartment with a case of longnecks. We were drunker than skunks and just glad to be alive, which had us thinking, Why the hell not?”
“You don’t need to tell me this, cher, “he said quietly.
“Yes, I do. In fairness to you and what we have together.”
“Then tell me.”
A lot of sloppy kissing and clumsy groping ended up with half their clothes off and his impatient hands on her skin, seeking entry to places her mind slammed shut in panic. And plans for an uninhibited bout of sex suddenly became something altogether different. He hadn’t noticed when her movements went from grasping to objecting. She’d been on the edge of a scream when that desperate right hook stopped him. After his awkward exit, she’d lain there for the rest of the night, paralyzed with shame and dread.
They’d never spoken of it for fear that it would jeopardize their working relationship. And she never would have admitted to it until it threatened hers and Max’s.
“And that disaster was my most successful sexcapade until you.”
He drew her, slowly, against him and whispered softly, “You have nothing to be ashamed of. I’m sorry. I should have believed you. Something about this bond between us gets me so territorial when I even think about someone else near you. I can’t seem to control it; I can’t think straight around it. It’s there under the surface all the time, making me crazy.” He sighed deeply. “I’ve never had anything, Charlotte, and now I have so much, it overwhelms me. The most amazing female for my mate, a clan and all those dependent upon Jimmy now looking to me to lead, a brother expecting me to show him the way.”