Black and Shadow (10 page)

“Say you want me,
Jessica,”
he sent into her mind. He needed
her to say it.

“I want you. Take your
shirt off. I want to see this tribal tattoo that burns for
me.”
Jessica threw off the blanket he’d
used to warm her and reached for the shell buttons of his shirt.
She groaned in frustration when she couldn’t open them with one
hand. Joe brushed her fingers away and sat up. He took off his
shirt and then reached for the sterling silver buckle of his
belt.

Jessica licked her lips and her eyes
grew wide as he pushed his pants to the floor.

“Now you. Let me help you so we don’t
jar your arm.”

§

Joe removed the hospital gown, taking
great care to protect her arm. He acted so gentle with her. She
appreciated it, she did, but the man drove her crazy. A fire burned
between her legs and only Joe could stop the burning. She reached
up and ran her fingers over the bear tattoo on his chest. The skin
was raised and she traced the edges. He shuddered. She smiled.
“I’ve never seen a tattoo like this where the skin is
raised.”

“I got it the first time I walked into
the Shadow Dimension. Shadow marks each warrior as a symbol of
acceptance.”

“What happens if she doesn’t accept
you?” Jessica asked, her fingers wandering lower, over his abs and
down to the V of hair that pointed to treasure. She gripped him. He
felt like solid steel wrapped in silky softness.

“You die.” Joe moaned and pressed his
hand to hers. “Not yet, sweetheart. Let me ease that ache for you.”
He removed her hand and placed it up over her head on the pillow.
“Lay back and enjoy. I want this to be for you.”

Jessica nodded. All thoughts of
tattoos fled her head when Joe leaned down and kissed her. Then he
moved lower to her breasts. Jessica quivered as goose bumps covered
her skin. She sighed when he sucked her nipple into his hot mouth.
He lapped at it and then nipped lightly before moving on to the
next one.

The fire inside worsened. She
whimpered.

Joe skimmed his fingers down her
stomach and then honed in on the curls between her thighs. He
dipped one finger in and then held it up for her to see the
moisture glistening on his skin. When he sucked it dry, Jessica
moaned.

Joe moved lower. He lifted one leg and
laid it over his arm as he settled between her hips. One of his
huge hands splayed wide over her stomach as he licked up her
crease. Jessica jumped.

“Easy, baby. Try to lay
still. I don’t want to hurt you
” poured
into her mind as he pushed his tongue into her core.

Jessica cried out. She almost lost it
right then, but Joe pulled away. Jessica clenched. Her whole body
needed to be filled.

“Dammit, Joe!”

He pushed his tongue in deep again and
then chuckled. The vibration echoed through her. “Joe!”

He sat up. “I can see you have a
problem staying still.”

“Joe, please. I need you, inside me.
Now!” Jessica panted. If he didn’t get moving, she would take
things into her own hands.

“Bossy little thing. I’m being
careful.”

“To hell with careful!”

Joe frowned. “All right. I’ll move you
closer to the edge of the bed.”

He lifted her and turned her so her
legs hung off the side. When he moved between her thighs, she
wrapped her legs around him. Joe smiled.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’m not
leaving you.” He nudged at her core. Jessica shuddered.

“Look at me, baby. I need to see your
eyes when I fill you the first time.”

Jessica nodded and locked her gaze
with his. He pushed in and paused. Sweat glistened on his forehead.
He leaned forward and braced himself with his hands on either side
of her. He rocked his hips, each push going a little deeper until
he filled her completely. It burned, but part of her reveled in the
invasion.

“So tight,” he gasped.

“More, Joe. Give me more,” Jessica
demanded.

Joe pulled out and then plunged in
again. His eyes never left her face. One hand moved to her hip,
holding her so she didn’t move too much and re-injure her arm. He
pushed in again. An inferno licked at her insides. She hung on a
precipice.

“Please, Joe,” she begged.

He filled her again and again, each
time reaching deeper inside her. It felt like he intended to climb
in and never come out. She gripped the sheets under her hands. In,
again. She shook. Her eyes grew moist.

Joe frowned. He moved his hand from
her hip to the little bundle of nerves near her core. He fingered
her clit, squeezing the bit of flesh. “Come for me, Jessica. Let
go, baby.”

A wave of heat washed over her. She
felt her whole body clench and then… release. Her eyes closed. She
floated. It was heaven.

Joe filled her with warmth. He called
her name, as he joined her in ecstasy. Jessica blinked away tears
at the magnitude of emotion. She placed her hand over his
heart.

The small tattoo on her left breast
burned and then cooled. Jessica smiled. She had been claimed, as
archaic as that sounded in this day and age. But if the thudding of
Joe’s heart gave any measure, she wasn’t alone. She claimed him as
well.

She could feel her brother smiling
down at her from heaven. He’d always spoken so highly of Joe. She
even accused him of matchmaking. Fred didn’t deny it. He’d said he
wanted the best for his little sister. Now she’d had the best and
it blew her mind. Never had sex been so intense.

“Love making. I made love
to you. That wasn’t just sex.”

Jessica blinked and opened her eyes.
Joe looked down at her, his gaze tender. He leaned down and kissed
her gently. Then he kissed her eyes and nose, little butterfly
kisses. He kissed her cheek and then the other.

“What are you
doing?”
she asked telepathically, liking
the intimacy of this way of communicating.

“I’m kissing your
freckles. I’ve always loved these little dots of
sunshine.”

Jessica couldn’t help but laugh. And
he thought he wasn’t a teddy bear.

Jessica’s laughter took away Joe’s
guilt. He should have waited to claim her until her arm completely
healed.

The chime on his door sounded. “Don’t
move. I’m sure that’s your things from the clinic. I told security
to collect them and bring them up here.” Joe reached for a robe and
belted it.

“Convenient. Is the whole tribe
telepathic?” Jessica grabbed the blanket and pulled it across her.
She wasn’t sure she could move yet.

“Pretty much, though Raven, our chief,
acts as a hub when the whole tribe needs to communicate. I can hold
a link with three or four, but more becomes a strain.” Joe smiled.
He liked seeing Jessica in his bed. Her hair lay tousled on her
shoulders. He turned and went to the entrance.

Expecting to see one of his team, he
instead found Hugh on the other side of the door.

“Hey, is this a bad time?” Hugh looked
him up and down taking in the bare feet and robe.

“That depends? Is this a social call?”
Joe didn’t want to hang with a friend when his warm woman waited in
his bed.

“No, sorry. I wanted you to see these.
I’ve been canvasing security cameras all over the town to try and
find something about this new drug dealer. Now that we know Fred
must have had dealings with someone in the group, I started looking
for him. This picture was taken from a jewelry store security
camera the night Fred died. It’s across the street from one of the
entrances to the park.”

The picture wasn’t very clear, but
Fred stood smiling at a woman. Joe looked closer. She looked like
the same woman from the Rattler the night Jessica got shot. “Run
these by our friends at the sheriff’s office. See if they can tell
us who this is. I’ll show these to Jessica. I’m sure she’ll
remember seeing the woman at the bar.”

“I’ll do that, but wait. Look at the
last picture. This is taken a half hour after the picture of the
woman and Fred.”

Joe flipped to the last picture. The
woman now talked to a man in a light coat. They possessed a slight
resemblance to each other, though she had dark hair and he blond.
Joe guessed they were related. “Isn’t that the DEA agent I asked
you to check out?” Joe had looked over the man’s file before
calling the general for help.

“That it is. Kurt Kramer.”

“Hmm, the general mentioned he had a
sister, but she’d fallen off the grid.”

“That could be her, or someone else
related to him. Either way the question remains. What was Fred
doing with this woman?”

“See if you can find out who she is
and get me an address. I think we need to speak to her.”

“You got it, Joe.”

“Mr. Thunder Hoof. Mr. Running Bear.”
They both turned to Sarah as she walked up. She had the file left
in Jessica’s room at the clinic as well as two bottles of pills in
one hand while pulling Jessica’s suitcase behind her.

“Let me help you,” Hugh said reaching
for the suitcase and setting it inside the door.

“Thank you.” Sarah glanced at the
pictures in Hugh’s hands. A startled look came over her face.
“Where did you get those? That woman is thought to be connected to
the new drug lord. We can’t seem to find out who she is.” She
pushed the file and pills at Joe and reached for the pictures Hugh
held. She looked through each of the pictures and stopped at the
one showing the DEA officer. “Hmm, this is interesting. I wonder if
this is the mole Officer Kramer has in the gang. He told the deputy
sheriff he had someone inside feeding him information.”

“His mole? What kind of intelligence
has he been getting?”

“I’m not sure. I do know they planned
a big bust on his word and it turned out to be one guy and a few
bags of crack in his trunk. I wasn’t even sure the bust was legit.
The guy said he’d never seen the stuff before. Of course they all
say that, but something told me he might be telling the truth and
got set up.”

Joe shook his head, more confused than
ever. How did Fred know this woman? Was she a mole for the DEA,
gang member, or something else? “Thanks for telling me, Sarah. Any
idea how Fred’s involved in this?”

“No clue. I didn’t even know he knew
this woman, but then I didn’t know the DEA knew her either until
now. We caught a lucky break and observed her walking into a
building we know is owned by the local drug lord. She walked out
with a couple of men known in the higher echelon. It always helps
to follow a money trail. Several buildings have been purchased by a
South American business we believe connected to drug shipments
coming through Mexico. Anyway, that’s all we know right
now.”

“Joe? Is everything okay?” Joe turned
to find Jessica standing behind him. The blanket wrapped around her
like a toga. If Hugh and Sarah didn’t know they became a couple
before, it was apparent now.

“Fine, sweetheart.” Joe held out his
arm and Jessica slipped underneath it, her arm going around his
waist. She smiled at Hugh and Sarah.

“Oh, Miss Black. The doctor sent pills
for you to take,” Sarah said. “He wasn’t very happy about you
disappearing. Went on about Shadow Walkers and their women. He also
said not to forget to have the sutures removed.” Sarah
shrugged.

“Sarah is one of my security officers.
She is also a reserve sheriff working on the local drug lord case.
You remember Hugh, of course.”

“Hello, again, Mr. Thunder Hoof. Nice
to meet you, Sarah.”

“Well, I better get to work.” Sarah
thrust the pictures at Hugh. He dropped them.

Jessica looked down and gasped. “Is
that Fred?” She knelt down and picked up several of the
pictures.

“I’m so sorry. I’m not usually this
clumsy,” Sarah said kneeling down and picking up the
rest.

They both rose. Sarah handed the
pictures in her hand to Hugh. “Okay, well, bye. Nice meeting you,
Miss Black.”

Jessica nodded absently as she reached
for the pictures in Hugh’s grasp. Sarah hurried away down the
hall.

“Isn’t that the woman we saw at the
Rattler?” Jessica asked. “How does Fred know her?”

“Leave it for now, honey. You need to
rest, and I need to feed you. The doctor won’t like it if you end
up downstairs in his clinic again, especially since I broke you out
of there. Come on.” Joe took the photos from her hands and turned
her into the apartment. “I’ll be in touch, Hugh.”

“Roger. Have fun.” Hugh smiled and
walked away.

§

Jessica wanted to study the pictures,
but her arm hurt. Instead, she reached for the pill bottles Joe
balanced in his arms. She opened the pain killer and then looked
around for something to take it with.

“Let me get you water.” Joe put
everything on the table, then, he pulled two bottles of water from
a small refrigerator and handed her one. Jessica took the bottle
and sat at the table. After taking the pills, she reached for the
pictures and started flipping through them. Then she laid them all
out across the surface of the table according to the time
stamp.