Ripper

by Lexi Blake

  I had to consider something I never had before. Maybe this was what they meant by finding “the one.” Maybe there actually was a “one.” I liked Gray. I really liked Gray—like super liked, maybe-one-day-would-think-about-the-other-four-letter-L-word like.

  I grinned goofily and then forced the dippy smile off my face. Liv would be beside herself at the thought of me even thinking the words true and love in the same sentence. Which I wasn’t, but even thinking I liked a guy was kind of a big freaking deal.

  Of course my potential soul mate wasn’t here now. I touched the indentation in the bed where his body had lain against mine. I didn’t remember it, but I instinctively knew it was true. Gray would have cuddled me, pulling me into his arms. He might have been somewhat happy I was unconscious and unable to fight him, but I was going to prove less stubborn than he imagined. The night before had been enough to make me rethink the whole playing hard to get thing. Life was really freaking short and you never know when some weird magician/witch is going to try to kill you by running some crazy test that ends with horse tranqs.

  Oh, I wasn’t saying anything yet about love or commitment. I was still too wary to put myself out there like that, but I hadn’t felt this way about anyone before and it felt good. If Gray really wanted a partner, I was willing to give it all a try. Liv was right. It was far past time to move forward. What had Dan said to me? He told me he’d embraced possibilities and he’d seemed ridiculously happy to have done so. Was I really so less deserving? Stretched out in the warmth of Gray’s bed, smelling the glorious evidence of bacon frying, I had to wonder if I didn’t deserve a little happiness.

  I didn’t bother with my clothes from the night before. At some point in time, Gray had undressed me and slipped one of his T-shirts over my head. It hung to my knees and covered everything I needed it to. More than that, it was comfy and I liked being comfy. I got out of bed and let my bare feet find the hardwood floors. I wandered into the bathroom. Gray hadn’t been kidding about his family’s money. Most of my house could fit in his bathroom, and I was pretty sure he hadn’t been forced to buy his sinks and faucets when Lowe’s had a sale. And that tub…I was already thinking about what we could do in that tub. It was built for two or more.

  I cleaned up and then went looking for Gray. I crept almost silently through the house that seemed far too big for one person. It was elegantly decorated, but it didn’t seem much like Gray. It had been done in tasteful neutrals and I figured a designer had furnished this place.

  Except for the den. I walked through the small room that was obviously used for entertainment and I smiled. Everything else about the house was designed with a nod to exquisite taste, but this room was all about comfort. There was a large screen TV that dominated the room and a big leather couch with a La-Z-Boy. I could see Gray there yelling at a Cowboys game on a Sunday afternoon, beer in one hand.

  “I’m in the kitchen, sweetheart,” I heard him yell across the house.

  “Okay,” I said more to myself than him because he shouldn’t have been able to hear me. Demonic hearing is pretty sharp. I shrugged and followed the sound of his voice.

  The kitchen was as well designed as the rest of the house. The cabinets were a deep rich cherry and the countertops were marble. Gray worked efficiently over a top-of-the-line stove. Pancakes were already stacked neatly on the small breakfast table. There was a carafe of orange juice and two place settings. It was intimate and I realized I had zero experience with relationships. I had never in my twenty-six years had breakfast with a man. I hadn’t really slept with one either, not in the sleeping close, arms wrapped around each other sense. What the hell was I doing here? I asked myself with a sense of panic.

  “Drink some coffee,” Gray ordered with a knowing frown. “It’s only breakfast. It’s not an engagement ring.”

  But that would come if Gray had his way. He thought we would get married and fulfill his little psychic flash. I couldn’t see myself in a fluffy white dress walking down the aisle of a church.

  Gray laughed and I saw the utter ridiculousness of my panic. I didn’t care what his vision said. I had control of whether or not I got married. This was just breakfast and I was freaking hungry. I took a drink of coffee and forced myself to relax. “Sorry. I’ve never done the whole breakfast thing with a man before.”

  “Of course you have,” Gray pointed out in his calm Texas drawl. “We had breakfast yesterday.”

  I shook my head and took a seat on one of the barstools so I could talk to him as he cracked open a couple of eggs. “That was different. My brothers were there and I was recovering.”

  “Not so different. Your brothers are blissfully absent today, but you’re still recovering. How do you feel this morning?”

  “Surprisingly good.” I didn’t seem to have any ill effects from the drugs that Goth asshole had pumped into me. “How are you?”

  “Beyond my heinous sexual frustration, I’m fine,” he said with a wink.

  “Yeah, sorry about that.” It probably didn’t bode well for the relationship that I fell asleep on our first night together.

  Gray reached across the bar to tenderly brush the hair out of my face. “You needed rest more than me last night. I’m glad you could sleep. I was happy you were willing to come home with me. After I failed you with the wolves, I thought you might want to go home with your brother.”

  “He doesn’t cook like you do.” Jamie microwaved everything.

  “Well, breakfast is about the limit of my talents,” Gray admitted. “Get used to bacon and eggs.”

  “And you didn’t fail me. You couldn’t see through the illusion. I couldn’t for a while. Whoever that witch was he was damn good.”

  Gray didn’t seem to agree with me, but he moved on. “I already put out some feelers. I’ll figure out who the fucker is. I didn’t get a great look at him. He was running away when I made it to the scene. Do you remember what he looked like? I could bring in a sketch artist.”

  I tried. I really did, but all I could get was black hair and a pale face. I could remember a lot about that night. I remembered the wolves and the men who chased me back into the alley, but when I tried to picture his face, my mind went a little fuzzy. It was likely one of his powers. “I think his eyes were dark. Can we ask some of your underworld contacts? A guy with talent like that wouldn’t go unnoticed.”

  Gray sighed as he plated the rest of the food and I followed him to the table. He held the chair out for me and I sat. “We should talk about that, actually. I don’t have a lot of contacts. I’m not…well liked.”

  I frowned as I stabbed one pancake and then another, dragging them onto my plate. “Why? Because you’re half demon? That seems a little hypocritical. You can’t help who your father is.”

  He laughed, but it was hollow. “No, I think my father is the least of my worries in this case. I’m law enforcement.”

  I dug into the excellent pancakes. “So? The king is supposedly looking for his own law enforcement. Shouldn’t you all work together?”

  Gray laughed at my naiveté. “It can be hard for supes to function in the real world. An awful lot of them are criminals. Don’t get me wrong. There are supes in the police department, of course. I’m just different. I don’t discriminate. If a supe steps out of line, I don’t send him to the Council for a slap on the wrist. I bring them to trial if I can and I put them down if I have to.”

  That sounded reasonable to me. “And the king doesn’t think that supes should have to follow the laws of the regular world?”

  “No, he doesn’t. He believes supes should rule themselves and the only real law is to stay hidden. Donovan and I have had a few run-ins. The last was when I lawfully arrested a group of wolves for running an illegal gambling den. He used his influence to get them out on bail and then, of course, they disappeared. I had linked that group to drug running, but they were gone before I could prove anything.”

  I was a little outraged at the thought. “Maybe this Donovan person was inv
olved.”

  “I doubt that,” Gray said evenly. “He was a thief at one time, but he’s been careful to stay away from drugs. More than likely he handled the situation himself, but I don’t have any proof. So you can see it can be hard for me to function sometimes. They don’t exactly want to talk to me. I’ve been getting stonewalled on this case.”

  I perked up because it was morning and he had to talk to me. “I would expect that they would want to help you figure out who’s killing their daughters. Maybe they’d also like to know who’s prostituting their daughters out.”

  “Figured that out, did you?” Gray sat back in his chair. “I can tell you who’s doing that, sweetheart, but I doubt he’s involved in the deaths. He’s an asshole of epic proportions, but he’s hardly a killer. Well, not the serial kind. I’ve heard stories of what happens when you cross him, but then women never cross him.”

  “Why?”

  “He’s a fertility god, so believe me when I say he has a way with women. He runs a club downtown. Everyone in the supernatural world goes there.”

  “If you don’t think he’s involved in the murders, why bother with him?” I reached for another pancake. Luckily Gray seemed to have made enough for a small army.

  “I think that club of his gets us access to information. It’s kind of the hub of that particular world,” the Ranger said seriously. “There’s only one problem. I can’t get in.”

  “Because you’re law enforcement?”

  “That and I might have tried raiding the club about a year ago,” Gray explained with a sigh. “I also might have actually arrested the asshole before I had concrete evidence on him. He pushed me to it. Dev Quinn is such a prick. He has a mouth on him that would make a saint crazy. I have no idea how he’s still alive. Someone should have shot him for mouthing off a long time ago.”

  I kept my amusement to myself since this seemed to be a serious subject for Gray. I was kind of interested in meeting anyone who made Gray that crazy. “So he’s banned you from the club.”

  “Yes, he has.” Gray’s expression turned ruthless. He obviously had a plan. “But there’s a party there tonight. If you have an invite you don’t have to stand in line.”

  It was a good plan and I could only think of one small flaw. “And we’re getting invited how?”

  Gray’s kissable lips turned up in a smile worthy of the Cheshire cat. “Well, this is where you come in.”

  * * * *

  Gray walked out of the shower and I admired the work that must have gone into that chest. I had something to tell him, but I just sort of stared and maybe drooled a little. The cell phone in my hand hung limply at my side as I ogled him. He was one rock-hard slab of man.

  He wore a towel wrapped low on his hips. The stark white contrasted the tan of his skin and nothing else. His shoulders seemed even broader without the trappings of clothes and it got better from there. Gray had a six-pack and he was cut all over. The water clung to his skin, defining the muscles of his body. A large tattoo covered the left side of his chest. At the center lay an elaborate dragon surrounded by what appeared to be flames and odd-looking symbols. It was strangely beautiful and I had to force my eyes away from it. He had a smaller towel over his head as he strode out of the bathroom and he was rubbing his hair dry when he finally noticed me enjoying the show.

  A slow smile curled over his sensual mouth. “I guess I can’t complain. Turnabout is fair play, darlin’.”

  He’d seen me in nothing but a towel, though I seriously doubted I was as impressive a specimen as he was. I was aware of how alone we were and how close we were to that big bed we’d slept in last night. It wouldn’t take much to let my hands find his tapered waist and pull the towel off. I could push him down on the bed and do what I’d wanted to do from the moment I’d seen his blue eyes. I could strip down and it wouldn’t take long before I was ready to ride him. So why wasn’t I doing that? Why was I standing there, breathless and the tiniest bit afraid? When did I get to be so damn shy?

  “Liv says okay.” I blurted out what I’d come in here to tell him in the first place.

  Gray gave his head one last rub and then tossed the smaller towel back into the bathroom. “She’s got the invite?”

  I nodded, wishing it were that easy for me to do my hair. Two minutes of rubbing and Gray’s hair was dry. I had to dry my hair for an hour or it frizzed, which was why I usually walked around with frizzy hair. The only reason I didn’t cut it was because I worried it was the only thing about me that was pretty and feminine. It was really lovely when I paid it proper attention. Now it was in its normal ponytail. I felt plain next to Gray’s god-like attractiveness.

  “Yeah. She was invited. Apparently this person is in her coven. It’s her birthday so they have some sort of VIP room reserved. Liv said it would be easy to get you in because the invite is for her and Scott, but it’s ninety-nine cent wing night at Kirby’s Hot Wings so he can’t go.”

  That caught Gray off guard. “Seriously? His girlfriend’s got a big party to go to and he’s going to sit in a bar and eat hot wings?”

  I nodded. “It’s his way. I’m sure Alan will be sitting beside him, drinking cheap beer and commenting on the waitress’s ass. Alan’s a shifter and his best friend. I think secretly they’re in love, but afraid of deciding who gets to pitch and who gets to catch.”

  Gray’s hands were on his lean hips as he radiated outrage. “You should know that won’t be happening with us. I’m sure as hell not about to let my woman waltz off to some fancy party looking hot as hell while I stare at some eighteen-year-old’s ass. If you’re going to a party where a bunch of men are going to be drooling all over you, I’ll be beside you ready to kick the ass of the first one who does more than look.”

  I laughed, but there wasn’t a whole lot of humor behind it. “You’ll have a long time waiting for a fight then, Gray. I’m afraid I’m not a fancy-party kind of girl. I don’t know what line of bullshit Jamie’s been feeding you, but I don’t date much and the truth is I haven’t had to turn many men down. I don’t get asked out. Any sex I’ve had in the last couple of years, and there hasn’t been much of it, has been men I picked up in bars and trust me, they weren’t choosy. I’m not the girl who guys fight over.”

  Gray moved in close, and I could smell the soap on his skin. His hands cupped my shoulders, warming me. “You would be surprised how many men want you. They’re just intimidated. You’re a little prickly, but I see through it. And god, Kelsey, don’t you dare even think I don’t want you.”

  He pulled me close and I could feel how much he wanted me. His erection pressed against my belly. It seemed to be built along the same lines as the rest of him—extra large. Heat flashed through my system, sizzling along my skin. My hands went around his back, feeling the softness of his skin in contrast to the thick-corded muscles there.

  I breathed in his scent, letting it fill my little world. He smelled like soap and aftershave and some unique spice that was Gray. I’d never let myself revel in the closeness of another human body. Even with my brothers, our affection was more along the lines of punching each other in the arm than hugs. I was pierced by the sweetness of another warm body against mine, a strong hand running along the curve of my spine. I wanted him so much in that moment, but not for just sex. I wanted to lose myself in his care. I wanted to put my head against his chest and hear his heartbeat, let my own beat in time with his. I longed for him to tell me again that he loved me.

  I wanted to believe it so much that it scared me.

  I pulled away and Gray sighed.

  He let me go, though I could tell he wanted to push the issue. “Go on, Kelsey. I need to get dressed and make a few calls. Why don’t you wait for me in the den? I won’t be long and then we can go over what we’re looking for tonight.”

  I was out of the room before he’d finished the last sentence. I hated my cowardice and wondered what it would cost me this time, but Gray seemed like a big old fire I was close to getting really burned by.
I forced my heart to stop racing as I made my way to the den. I had to relax around the man and decide what the hell I wanted. He was going to start thinking my name was synonymous with cold shower if I didn’t stop running away or falling asleep every time he got a hard-on.

  My mouth was still dry, the only lingering effects from the night before, so I walked through the den and into the kitchen. I opened the door to the stainless steel fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. Gray’s fridge was well stocked. It was totally different than mine, which usually only held days-old take-out containers and beer. Gray was acquainted with grocery stores.

  “Is there anything I can help you with, ma’am?” a soft voice asked, and I nearly dropped the water as I turned. I needed to get my head out of my ass because I was tired of getting snuck up on.

  The small man who stood before me was at least an inch shorter than me and probably weighed ten pounds less. He was dressed smartly in a severe black suit and dark silk tie and appeared to be a courtly gentleman of around sixty years.

  But there was something wrong with him. Something about him that made me look twice and then again.

  He continued speaking as I tried to put my finger on it. “I must say I am surprised to see a female here. The master usually stays with his female…dates rather than bringing them back to his home. I should warn you, my master rarely stays more than one night with any female. If you’ll leave your address on the bar, I will send you the requisite bouquet to thank you for your sexual services.”

  I laughed outright at that because it was so awkward. I knew I was supposed to be horribly embarrassed and outraged at the thought, but it struck me as funny. What can I say? I have an awfully dark sense of humor. It was obvious that the servant didn’t approve of Gray’s sexual conquests, so I had to needle him a little. It was all a part of my perverse personality.