Shadow Thief (Flirting with Monsters Book 1)
Page 20
For now, it only made my intentions easier to carry out. I closed my fingers around his naked cock, reveling in the smoothness of the skin over his rigid member, and Snap let out a guttural sound. His tongue flicked right into my mouth to twine with mine, provoking a giddy shiver. I kissed him back just as enthusiastically as I swiped my thumb over the head of his erection and spread the precum forming there down its length.
Snap yanked at my panties and delved his hand beneath them. My chest hitched in delight at the stroke of his fingers right across my clit. The same instinct that must have guided his first kiss brought his touch down to my opening, testing the slickness there and then slipping inside me. He began a gentle pumping motion that became more blissfully forceful with each repetition.
I moaned, bucking toward him in pursuit of release. “That’s good. So good.”
He brought his other hand to the side of my face, watching me as the motions of his fingers built me up to that ecstatic shattering apart. Pleasure had flushed his face a deeper shade than before, and his breath came raggedly, but his attention never left me.
The swivel of his thumb over my clit and one final thrust inside me sent me reeling with the burst of my orgasm. My eyes rolled up, stars sparkling behind them while my body clenched around his fingers.
Snap caressed my cheek even as he rocked inside me through the aftershock. His voice came out soft and fierce at the same time. “My peach. My Sorsha. Mine.”
I wasn’t in any state to argue that sentiment, if I’d even wanted to. It was all I could do to keep my hold on his cock and stroke him faster to bring him with me.
As the rest of my body sagged with satisfaction, he let his eyes haze, giving himself over to the pleasure now that he’d fulfilled my end. A groan reverberated from his chest. His hips jerked.
He tugged me to him suddenly, his mouth crashing into mine. A tremor raced through his body as the hot gush of his release spurted across my hand.
“Oh,” he mumbled. “That—”
He cut himself off with a breathless laugh and kissed me once more. This one lit me up from head to toes even in my sated state. I nestled closer to him instinctively, resting my hands against the warmth of his chest.
When the kiss ended, I glanced at him coyly through my eyelashes. “So, was ‘more’ the right choice?”
“Yes. Yes. And for you too.”
Apparently my enjoyment had been so clearly on display that he didn’t feel the need to ask. I was okay with that.
As I tipped my head to rest it on the pillow, Snap gazed down at me. A hint of uncertainty crossed his face. “What usually happens now?”
Ah. Yeah, I guessed in some ways that was a trickier subject than the sex act itself.
I skimmed my fingers up and down the taut planes of his stomach. “Sometimes people like to consider it done and leave. Sometimes they’d rather be close for a while longer, so they stay together while they sleep.”
“Then I will stay,” Snap said decidedly. He wrapped one arm around my shoulders and lay his cheek down by me on the pillow, tucking my head under his chin. His mix of bright and dark scents enveloped me. I relaxed into his embrace with only a small pang of regret that for all I knew, this might be the only interlude we’d get before our lives went even more to hell.
27
Sorsha
The computerized interface in Ruse’s snazzy car was so complicated I couldn’t figure out how to connect my phone, so I settled for making my own soundtrack. “Don’t stop deceivin’,” I sang as the four of us cruised into the docklands, hidden behind our tinted windows. “Hold on, send ‘em reeling.”
Ruse shot me an amused smile as he took a turn. “You’re lucky you don’t get arrested, messing with the words that badly.”
I stuck my tongue out at him, because I was just that mature, and leaned my arm against the window ledge. The faded factories along the river looked even drearier today with a haze of clouds graying the sky. There was no rush hour out in this part of town. The growl of our engine was the only sound on the street.
Of course, that’d be exactly how Meriden and his co-conspirators liked it.
We’d already decided that parking right by the drop-off spot was too risky. Ruse drove a few blocks farther and pulled up to the curb around a corner. The plan was that Thorn would lurk in the shadows where Meriden had gotten out yesterday, and Snap would linger close to our corner. When the minivan arrived, Snap would alert us and Thorn would give chase on foot. We were hoping either he’d discover a building here where Meriden was conducting his current work, or we’d be able to close in on whatever other vehicle picked the guy up in the area, if one had.
At the very least, we’d figure out more about his route than we’d been able to last time.
Thorn swiveled in his seat to beckon to Snap. “It’s an hour earlier than yesterday’s drop-off. We’ve got time to patrol the wider area first. Come on.”
Snap balked, his gaze sliding to me for a second before he met Thorn’s eyes. “I’d rather stay close to the car. Isn’t Sorsha’s safety the most important thing?”
“We’ll be ensuring her safety by confirming none of our enemies are staked out nearby,” the warrior said. “You can test the surroundings for signs of where they might have been here before as well.”
“And, y’know, I’ll be right here in the car with her,” Ruse said. “You’re not leaving her unprotected. Not that she’s defenseless on her own either.”
“Of course she’s not,” Snap said insistently. “But we’ve seen how aggressive these people are. You’re the only one who doesn’t have any kind of power that’s meant for combat.” His hand crept across the seat to give mine a quick squeeze, his chin lifting. Apparently last night’s interlude had stirred up a brand-new possessive instinct. I hadn’t anticipated that.
Ruse rolled his eyes. “Are you referring to that dangerous skill of yours that gives you the shakes when you even think about using it? How many attackers could you take down at one time anyway—two? Three? I could charm them into not wanting to attack us at all.”
“I don’t remember that strategy getting us out of the last few attacks.”
“All right, all right.” I held up my hands in a time-out gesture. “I appreciate everyone’s intense concern for my well-being, but for all we know, an entire militia is descending on us while you all argue about it. If anyone comes at Ruse and me, he can simply drive away, which so far has been the most useful power of all.” I gave Snap’s hand a reassuring pat in return. “I’ll be fine. Go see what you can find out there. Without your other powers, we wouldn’t have gotten even this far.”
My touch and the reminder of his past contributions appeared to mollify my new lover. His posture loosened. He nodded in agreement and then, so suddenly I didn’t see it coming, leaned in to give me a swift kiss.
His lips pressed warm against mine for all of a second. I barely had a chance to return the gesture before he’d slipped away into the shadows. Thorn let out a wordless mutter of what sounded like consternation and vanished too.
Ruse shifted in his seat to lounge sideways where he could look back at me. There was nothing surprising about his smirk or the raise of his eyebrows. “Well, that was certainly interesting.”
“Shut up,” I said, because that had worked so well before.
“I did notice that Snap wandered off for quite a while last night. Now I’m getting an inkling where he might have gone.”
“Which part are you having trouble with: the shutting or the upping?”
“Who said I was criticizing?” A sly glint had lit in his eyes. “I’m impressed. I didn’t know he had it in him, but you obviously woke up a sleeping dragon.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “Is it going to be a problem? I really don’t need you two arguing like that all day long.”
The incubus laughed. “I’m hardly one to push for monogamy, Miss Blaze. As far as I’m concerned, you should take your pleasure wherever and from whoever
suits your fancy. I’d just like to stay in the mix if that’s an option.” His gaze turned more heated.
I couldn’t say that I wasn’t imagining a repeat of our past encounter when he looked at me like that. “We’ll see.”
“Making me work for it. That just turns me on even more.” He winked. “I could teach the newbie a few things, you know, if you ever wanted to invite me along for the ride. How to get you off, how to heighten that enjoyment…” He extended his arm to trail a finger down my leg from knee to shin. Sparks coursed from me from that line of heat.
Ruse and Snap attending to me in unison? What gods had I sacrificed goats to in some past life to be worthy of that bliss? It’d depend on Snap being okay with the idea, though…
Ruse’s smirk grew. “I can see you’re thinking the possibilities through.”
I huffed and nudged his hand away with a playful kick. The incubus just chuckled as he withdrew. “The offer will stay on the table as long as you’d like. Or if you’d really like, we could put you on a table. What a lovely platter to feast on.”
If he kept going, I might melt into a hot, horny puddle right here on the seat. “Maybe we should be focusing on the whole saving your boss problem right now?”
“Spoilsport,” he teased, and shifted to peer out the window. “No wave of soldiers crashing toward us so far. I wonder how long we’ll be able to hole up in that motel before they—”
Snap cut him off, wisping out of the shadows into his seat with a quiver through the air. “Thorn’s gone to the drop-off spot already,” he said without preamble. “He thinks he saw the van heading this way.”
I checked our car’s clock and frowned. “It’s way earlier than yesterday.”
“Maybe they change up the times a little every morning to throw off anyone like us,” Ruse suggested.
That was totally possible, but it didn’t quash the prickling of my nerves. Sucking my lip under my teeth, I leaned toward my window, even though I couldn’t see much of the street the van had taken from there. If Thorn was right, we’d find out what was up soon enough.
A rumble of an engine sounded, distant but getting louder by the second. Ruse rested his hand on the ignition. Snap hastily looped his seatbelt over his chest. We knew better than to count on a smooth drive.
As I waited for the pause in that rumble when the minivan would let Meriden out, my heart pounded as if it were chasing the passing seconds. The engine sound droned louder. Any moment now—
The gunmetal-gray minivan zoomed right by us, cruising on down the street without any sign of stopping. A startled noise hitched out of me just as a second car zipped after it—the baby blue compact we’d thought might be following us yesterday.
Fudge me sideways ‘til Sunday. What the hell was going on?
“Ruse?” I said.
He was already starting the engine. “If we need to get going, we’ll stage that getaway, but right now I think we’d better see where they’re heading.”
Thorn wouldn’t be able to keep pace with the vehicles on foot, even through the shadows. As Ruse swerved into the road and around, I gripped the door handle, my pulse thudding faster. Snap grasped my hand again, this time holding on tight. Despite myself, I actually did find the gesture comforting.
We’d just pulled around the corner when the minivan jerked to a halt a few blocks ahead of us. A side door flew open; a slack figure tumbled out onto the sidewalk with a thump. Before the door had even slammed shut again, the minivan was tearing away.
They had made a drop-off—but I didn’t like the look of that crumpled body. As we drove toward it, it didn’t stir.
“Do we stop?” Ruse asked. The baby blue car had, just up the block from where the minivan had made its deposit. A slim figure in a white velour tracksuit hopped out, hood pulled up, but as the driver rounded the car, the wind tugged the fabric back just enough for a jolt of recognition to shoot through me.
“Stop. Stop!” I said.
The tires squealed as Ruse hit the brake. I scrambled out and found myself face to face with my best friend.
Vivi had wobbled to a halt on the other side of the fallen body, just ten feet away from me. Her gaze caught mine for a second, wide-eyed, and then dropped to the sprawled man. A tremor ran through her shoulders.
All I could see so far was the deathly stillness of the body and a reddish tinge along his hairline, but the sickly graying of her face told me to brace myself as I stepped closer.
I was pretty sure it was Meriden. The hair was the same color and cut as the guy I’d glimpsed exiting the minivan yesterday, his jeans and tweed suit jacket a similar style of clothing. Then his face came into view.
If you could even call it that. He barely had a face at all now. The front of his head—what I could see with it tipped toward the pavement—was a mash of splintered bone and bloody flesh. The only way you could tell it ever had been a face was its position relative to his hair and ears. His chin, nose, and forehead were caved in, his cheekbones crushed, all of it beaten in as if thwacked over and over by a baseball bat.
As my stomach lurched, a chilly realization crept through my nausea. His associates hadn’t just smashed him up beyond visual recognition but shattered his jaw and teeth. Dental records wouldn’t be any help. My gaze dropped to the hands that had twisted close to his skinny frame, and I flinched. Little red rivulets of blood streamed from his fingers where it looked as if they’d been shoved into a woodchipper all the way to the second knuckles. Forget fingerprinting too.
The people who’d dumped him here had ensured there’d be no definitive ID, not just for us but for any police force unless they happened to have the guy’s DNA on file.
“Oh my God,” Vivi was mumbling into the hand she’d clapped over her mouth. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.”
None of my shadowkind companions had joined us. Had they stuck to the shadows because of the additional witness? I wasn’t sure whether to be grateful for that discretion or not. Their presence would raise more questions, but it wasn’t as if there weren’t a whole heap of those already. And I might have felt steadier with at least one of those powerful companions by my side.
I wrenched my gaze away from the mutilated man to focus on my best friend. “What are you doing here, Vivi? How did you— Whose car is that?” It didn’t have rental plates, and she’d still been driving her long-time cherry-red Beamer when she’d picked me up for a trip out of town a couple months ago. Not that the car really mattered in the grand scheme of things, but it was the most concrete thing I had to latch onto in this crazy situation.
“My grandma’s,” Vivi said in a distant voice. “She let me borrow—I knew you’d recognize my regular one…” She yanked her eyes up to stare at me. “And you clearly didn’t want me around. What the hell have you gotten yourself mixed up in, Sorsha? It’s obviously incredibly fucking dangerous—why didn’t you ask for help?”
I had help, but I wasn’t going to mention that. “Because it’s incredibly fucking dangerous. Obviously.” I waved my hand at the body. “Do you think I want people who’d do that setting their sights on you?”
“But it’s okay that they might come after you? You should have told me—told the Fund, if this is something to do with the shadowkind… Are these the hunters who came after Luna? Was this Meriden guy part of that somehow?”
Right, I’d told her I was looking into something to do with Luna when I was diverting her before. But— I knit my brow. “How do you know anything about Meriden?”
Her lips twisted. “I got it out of Jade after you talked to her—made it sound like we were looking into it together. Which, you know, even she thought had to be the case. Although I didn’t realize it was Meriden like one word until I started asking around in his neighborhood—”
Her mouth snapped shut. She hugged herself, backing up a step from the body, but I was still staring at her. “His neighborhood?” She had been staked out there yesterday. “Just how much have you been spying on me, Vivi?”
“You realize how crazy that sounds, right? Like you’re a psycho stalker.”
“I just wanted to help you,” she burst out. “You were shutting me out, and I could tell you were working on something big, something that made you nervous. I know you’ve got things you keep to yourself, and that’s fine, but you don’t usually lie to me, Sorsh. I was really freaking worried about you, okay?” A quaver crept into her voice. “And it looks like I was right to be. What’s this all about? We’ll figure it out together. You’ve got to tell me now.”
“No, I don’t.” Another realization hit me, this one cold enough to freeze my gut. I’d never spoken Meriden’s name to anyone outside my shadowkind trio except Jade, and then as “Merry Den” and a place. We’d kept a careful distance and a low profile when checking out his home. But Vivi— “How many people did you talk to about Meriden? Did you go right up to his house?”
Her expression twitched. “I called a few people in the Fund, and asked the guy who traced your call to look into it—he got me the address. After I lost you yesterday, I went back and talked to a few of the neighbors about him. Nothing too obvious, of course.”
It didn’t have to be obvious to tip off the people he worked for. My jaw clenched. “It’s because of you poking around that they realized someone was onto him. That’s why they killed him. That’s the kind of people we’re dealing with here, Vivi, and you crashed right in with this ridiculously obvious car and the questions and the following so close…”
“I didn’t know—” she started to protest, but I didn’t let her keep going.