“Who, Jaya?” She swayed a bit on her feet, but forced herself to stuff her toiletries into a travel case.
“Yes, Jaya.” His eyebrows drew together as if in confusion. Then again, he had no idea where her thoughts had wandered. She rolled her eyes at herself.
“She was . . . awesome.” She dropped onto her bed and organized everything into her two suitcases. It might all fit. With some magical help. If she kept talking, maybe Merek wouldn't notice a few spells buzzing through the air. “Jaya was one of those people who grabs onto life and
lives
every single second of it like it's her last. She pulled everyone else into this whirlwind of fun and energy. She was intense. You couldn't help but have a good time when she was around.” Those bittersweet memories crashed into her all at once. She swallowed and dropped her face into her hands, pressing her fingertips to her eyelids. “It wasn't until years later that I figured out she lived every moment like it was her last because she knew it might be.”
His hard hand closed over her shoulder, more comfort than she'd thought possible in that simple gesture. “She was sick? I thought wolves couldn'tâ”
“Not sick, exactly.” Running her fingers through her hair, she fought the urge to pull him down to the mattress with her. “Her family had a history of dying during the Change. It was like her own personal Sword of Damocles hanging over her head. She pointed that intensity at finding a treatment for the Change, something to make it easier to survive, more controllable. I sometimes wonder if she
knew
that her time was limited, if she somehow sensed that she wouldn't live to see Alex grow up, but she wanted to make sure that she left behind a future brighter than the one she'd faced. I wonder if it was all to save him, rather than to save herself.”
He squeezed her shoulder, then slid his hand up and down her back. “She sounds like a hell of a woman.”
“She was. She was my best friend and she was just . . . beautiful inside and out. Alex has his father's green eyes, but the bronze skin and dark hair are all Jaya. His face is even a male version of hers.” She grinned, finally able to meet his gaze as all the good times streamed through her mind. “Alex was just like her.”
“Alex?” The doubt was plain in Merek's voice. “The kid is intense, yeah, but notâ”
“Fun? No. Not anymore, anyway. He was there when she died. All I know is that Ivan and Jaya fought that day. A big, rip-roaring shouting match and total relationship meltdown. It was a full moon that night.” She seesawed her hand through the air. “Alex and Ivan completed the shift and Jaya . . . didn't. Change can be so unpredictable, and wolf magic fluctuates
so
much at full moon. More than most Magickals would guess, and far more than I realized before I started my research. Though some werewolves maintain control better than others,
anything
that throws a wolf off-balance can be the difference between controlling the full moon shift and not. Jaya's getting into a fight . . .”
“What did they fight about?”
“I don't know. That's all I've ever been able to drag out of Alex. He and his father never talk about her. Absolutely never.” Her voice broke on that last sentence, and she cleared her throat. “It's a shame, really, because she was so wonderful. Her life should be celebrated. She should be
remembered.
”
Merek sat down beside her, his hand still warm and solid on her back. “
You
remember her.”
“Yeah. I do.” She gave a small smile and sighed. “I hope Alex gets to the point that he can ask about her someday. It'd be criminal if the only thing he ever associates with her is fighting and a horrible death.”
He pulled her close, tucking her against his chest. “If anyone can help him get there, it's you.”
“Thanks.” She half laughed, half sighed. He had more faith in her than she did, but she let herself lean against him and absorb some of this strength. Just for a moment, she'd allow herself the weakness. The desire to touch him and taste him was eclipsed only by the need to let him comfort and care for her. The feeling was powerful enough to scare her, so she did the only thing she could doâshe ripped herself free of his arms and hurried to her closet to grab a Seattle Seahawks baseball cap she hadn't worn in years.
He reached for her again when she tossed the hat into her suitcase, but she flinched away. Her hormones were rioting, and she didn't trust herself to get near him. Not again. His expression flattened, and he stood to glare down at her. “What's going on, Chloe?”
What was going on was that she wanted him so badly her hands shook like an addict looking for a fix. She fisted her fingers at her sides. They were going to have to play nice for the next few weeks or months or however long it took Luca to wrap up this case with Smithâand she refused to think that he might never catch the guyâso she might as well lay her chips on the table. Alex didn't need a tense environment to live in, and his comfort and safety were more important to her than anything else. She met Merek's gaze squarely. “Look, we're going to be stuck together for a while, so you should know your bodyguard job duties don't include being a gigolo. I appreciate your doing this for Alex and me, and I'm not going to jump you again like I did at the safe house. Your virtue, or whatever's left of it, is safe with me. Not a single seduction spell will I cast.”
“Well, that's a shame.” He moved around behind her, his breath ruffling the hair at her temple.
She shuddered, snapped her suitcases closed, and lifted them off the mattress. Merek reached around her, took the bags, and dropped them on the floor. Then his hands were on her, turning her to pull her to him, trapping her between his body and the bed.
“I thought I made this clear last night, but if not, allow me to reiterate.” His hands slipped up to cup her face, his eyes a stormy gray. “I want you. I have wanted you from the second I laid eyes on you. I fucked you at
work,
for gods' sake. The
only
reason I didn't fuck you at the safe house when you pressed this sweet, soft little body against me was that you'd been
tortured,
and we were in an exposed position. Even then, it was a damn close call. Because I want you, and I have wanted you since the moment I met you. And every single moment since, I've still wanted you.”
“Me, too.” She swallowed, her pulse pounding in her ears as the simple, stark truth spilled from her lips. “IâI dream about us, about that first night. All the time.”
He groaned, his fingertips caressing her face, sliding along her cheekbones and down to her chin to force her to meet his gaze. “We have about a half an hour before Alex, Millie, and her chauffeur / bodyguard / gigolo get here.” She huffed out a laugh, and he stepped even closer, his fingers cupping the back of her neck. “That's not as much time as I'd like, but I'm willing if you are. I'm willing to continue this thing between us for as long as we're together on this case.”
The half smile that tilted his lips melted any protest she might have made. She sighed. As if there would have been any protest anyway. The temptation to touch him whenever she could had been irresistible from the first.
“I'm willing,” she breathed. If he was, she was. She swayed toward him to close the negligible distance between them. Her breasts flattened against the hard wall of muscle that was his chest.
He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers, a soft caress after the rough claiming in his office. She pressed closer, tempted beyond reason, beyond caution, beyond logic. His lips molded hers, sipping small kisses until she moaned and deepened the contact herself, sweeping her tongue into his mouth. He tasted the same, like warm honey and hot man.
His hands settled on her hips, pulling her tight to his groin to fit her against his thick cock. She arched closer, trying to get his erection right where she needed it. Frustration twisted inside her at the barriers of their clothing. She wanted his hard dick pushing into her. Right now. Her flesh burned, her core melting until she was wetter than she'd ever been in her life. His tongue twined with hers in a sinuous dance, their kisses growing wilder, rougher, but it wasn't enough.
Balling her fingers in his shirt, she tried to communicate her urgency. He sucked her lower lip between his teeth and bit her gently. It did nothing to assuage her. Her nipples hardened to tight peaks, and she wanted his mouth on them, wanted him touching her bare skin. She broke her lips away from his and let her head fall back. Her fingers still fisted in his shirt, and she wanted it gone. “
Naked.
”
The word was more a ragged expression of utter need than a conscious spell, but the golden sparks of her magic answered anyway. Their clothes fell away, dropping to the floor at their feet.
“How the hell did youâ” He choked on a startled laugh, but groaned when she rubbed her breasts against the crisp hair on his chest.
Her heart pounded in her ears, her blood rushing so fast she felt faint. “Touch me, Merek.”
“I am. I will.” His lips moved down her throat until he could bite down on the sensitive tendon that connected shoulder and neck.
A strangled cry broke from her, need fisting her insides. She captured his hand and slipped it down her torso. He followed her lead, his palm sliding obediently over her skin until he dipped between her legs. “No, I mean
touch me.
”
“
Gods,
” he breathed. He pulled back to meet her gaze, his eyes heavy-lidded and molten silver with lust. The heel of his hand rubbed her clit, making her nerves jump at his touch. Both of their fingers pierced her core, stretched her. His voice became guttural. “You're wet for me.”
“Yes,” she whispered. Her body arched into their hands, and she guided their movements within her drenched pussy, hot magic from both of them ratcheting up her pleasure. She was going to come; she could feel the clench and release of muscles deep within, building and building until she quivered on the edge of orgasm.
She snapped her fingers around his wrist and jerked his hand away. His eyes widened in surprise when she shoved him onto the bed on his back. After the pain and chaos of last night, she needed to be in control, needed to take, to ravish, to make him groan her name in that deep voice of his.
He seemed to understand because a slow, sexy smile curved his lips, and he licked her cream from his fingers before he tucked his hands behind his head. “I'm all yours, sweetheart. Enjoy.”
“I'm going to.” She let a fingertip drift down the centerline of his chest. “I hope you will, too.”
“Oh, I guarantee it.” The heavy muscles in his arms, pecs, and abs flexed as he settled back against the pillows.
Gods, he was gorgeous. She wanted her hands on him, her body rubbing against those hard angles, her sex filled by his long cock. Grinning, she leaned forward to lick his flat brown nipple. It tightened against her lips, and he hissed out a breath.
Hot power rushed through her that she could make this man react to her so strongly, that he was willing to let her use him for both their pleasure. It was headier than any magic she'd ever known. A shiver rippled along her nerves, and her pussy clenched in a helpless spasm. She grazed his nipple with the edge of her teeth and he jerked beneath her, groaning. The sound vibrated through his chest and against her lips.
Her hands moved over his skin, her fingers toying with his other nipple until it was a hard little nub like the one she teased with her mouth. Her other hand slipped down his stomach, her nails scraping a light circle around his navel that had him cursing between clenched teeth.
She hummed in pleasure at his lack of control. Not enough, though. She wanted more. Stroking over his muscular thighs, she touched him everywhere but where she knew he wanted. His hands came down to fist in the sheets, but he made no move to stop her, to take control away from her.
Glancing up at him, she saw that his eyes were pinched closed, a flush of lust running under his tanned flesh, his skin stretched tight across his sharp cheekbones. His teeth were bared in a grimace of what could have been pain if it weren't for the harsh sound of need that ripped from his throat.
She followed the path of her fingers, kissed her way down his chest, sliding her tongue along the hard ridges of his abs, swirling around his belly button. He sucked in a sharp breath, and she nipped at the taut flesh beneath his navel. His body went rigid, a shudder rippling through his muscles.
Beads of pre-cum slipped down his hard shaft. The ragged sound of his panting echoed in the room. She smiled against his skin, and finally put him out of his misery. A delicate lick at the head of his cock made him strangle on a choke, and the salty flavor of him burst over her tongue.
Her fingers curled around the base of his dick, stroking the soft flesh and the hardness within. She sucked him into her mouth, relaxing her throat to take as much of him as she could. Working him with her hand and her mouth, she had him gritting out swear words, his big body arching into her. It turned her on even more, made her breathing almost as rough as his. The scent of him, of her, of sweat and sex, intoxicated her. She didn't know how much longer she could lastâher own wetness slipped down the insides of her thighs, her pussy fisting on emptiness she wanted filled.