“Jonah,” she breathed, tilting her head back to give him greater access.
Her voice had a musical lilt to it that that reminded him of the sounds of the forests he loved so much. He sucked one taut nipple into his mouth, fabric and all, and she tightened in response.
Jonah moved his mouth to her ear, tugging at the lobe with his teeth.
“If I move this to the bed I see over there are you going to turn that shotgun on me?” he whispered.
She shook her head.
Before she had a chance to change her mind, Jonah swept her up in his arms and carried her to the big bed against one wall, placing her gently on top of the quilt. He toed off his boots and kicked them to the side. Then with great care he proceeded to undress Dakota, kneeling to kiss each area of skin as he exposed it. He paid homage to every part of her body, tickling her ankles and her inner thighs with his tongue, swiping it across the quivering muscles of her tummy. His hands skimmed her thighs and hips, the skin like the softest satin. The beast within him was raging and again he reached for control.
He braced himself on either side of her, flicking her nipples with his tongue. She slid her hands up and down his arms, her breathing uneven, eyes glittering.
“You have too many clothes on,” she whispered.
Pushing himself upright, he shucked his clothes, tossing them to the floor, then knelt and drew her legs over his shoulders.
“Oh, oh, oh,” she breathed as he took the first lick of her slit.
She tasted as good as he thought she would. No, better. A taste that could easily become addictive. He lapped at her, fingers opening her labia to give him greater access, teasing her, the tip of his tongue now dancing around her clit.
Dakota dug her heels into his back and tried to lift herself to him.
“Ohhhhh.” It came out on a long drawn-out sigh.
Jonah cupped the cheeks of her ass with his palms and lifted her to his mouth, thrusting his stiffened tongue inside her cunt and fluttering it against her quivering walls. She was tight and his cock was so swollen he wondered if he’d be able to penetrate her with it when the time came. Her honey coated his tongue, ambrosia. He closed his eyes and let the taste seep into him.
Shifting one hand he sought her clit, pinching it between thumb and forefinger, feeling it swell beneath his touch. Dakota’s breath rasped and her hips jerked. Jonah splayed the fingers of the hand still supporting her ass, holding her close to his mouth as he plundered her with his tongue. Her tiny moans were like matches under the fire of his own lust and he lapped harder.
Her body stiffened and the muscles of her cunt clamped down on his tongue as he pulled the first orgasm from her. A cry of carnal satisfaction ripped from her throat as she shuddered in his grip, hips rocking, her liquid pouring onto his tongue. Fire raced through his veins as he sucked her dry. He had to be inside her. Now. But he wanted her mindless with need so she’d not only be able to take him but also welcome him completely.
Gripping her hips to hold her in place, he nibbled the sensitive skin of her inner thighs, then sucked hard on her now sensitized clit, drawing those sexy moans from her that fired his own lust. He wanted to take more time with her, lick and nibble every inch of her body, but he knew his control was near the snapping point. Leaving her only long enough to fish in the pocket of his jeans for his wallet, he pulled out a condom and in seconds had it rolled onto his thick erection.
He bent her legs at the knees and pushed them back, opening her wide to him, and pressed the head of his cock at the opening of her pussy.
“Jesus,” he murmured in a hoarse voice. “You’re so tight and wet, you’re burning me alive.”
Dakota reached out her hands for him, grabbing at whatever part of him she could touch as he pressed steadily inside her. He pushed her knees almost to her shoulders to give him greater access. The taut walls of her pussy clamped around him, the heat of her liquid bathing him as he thrust forward until he was fully seated. The heavy sac of his balls slapped against the cheeks of her ass, creating a tingling sensation that danced through him.
Jonah closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of her around him. For one brief moment he swore it was Jenna beneath him, Jenna’s cunt tightening around him, Jenna’s body welcoming him. But then, as if wiped away by an invisible cloth, it disappeared and he opened his eyes to see Dakota’s exotic face flushed with carnal pleasure.
“Open your eyes, Dakota,” he commanded. “Look at me. I want to see your eyes when I make you come again.”
She opened them as if with a great effort and he saw heat dancing in them that matched his own. He set up a steady in-and-out motion, bracing himself with his hands on either side of her, each time plunging in until his balls struck her ass. He wanted it to last, to stretch out, to carry them slowly to that ultimate pinnacle, but he was too close to the edge and she was already primed from her first climax.
Her pussy gripped him and the color of her irises darkened. She dug her nails into him, panting, clawing for her release. His spine tingled and his balls tightened and with a roar he surged forward one last time, tumbling them both into an orgasm that was like on enormous pulse. Again and again they shuddered together, his cock flexing inside its latex sheath. And he never took his eyes away from hers, looking so deep he was sure he could see into her soul.
When the final aftershock subsided, he collapsed forward, licking the perspiration from her face before taking her mouth in a deep kiss.
Chapter Four
Jonah leaned against the headboard of the bed, pillows propped behind him, and watched as Dakota opened a bottle of wine, poured the amber liquid into two glasses and carried them to the bed. They were both still completely naked and her body was fluid motion. Graceful. Artless. If he were an artist he’d want to paint her.
Her skin was a golden color and he noticed there were no tan lines. Out here in the middle of nowhere she could sunbathe nude without fear of prying eyes. Her breasts were high and firm, tipped by dusky nipples still hard from the attention of his mouth. Her dark hair cascaded down her back, wispy bangs drifting across her forehead. Thick lashes framed eyes blacker than night and high cheekbones defined the exotic quality of her face.
Her long legs moved easily around the room, the rounded globes of her ass tempting him as she turned her back to him. His cock swelled and hardened just watching her.
A tiny frisson of guilt raced through him as he realized he had given himself to this woman as completely as he had to Jenna. Would she see it as a betrayal? No, Jenna was a person who believed in giving completely, holding nothing back. Inexplicably he’d felt her spirit encouraging him, urging him to do this. But he feared the guilt would always be there, a barrier to a new relationship, until the devil beast was finally captured and killed.
“Heavy thoughts?” Dakota was standing beside the bed.
Jonah wiped everything from his mind but her naked presence. Something was pulling them together and he wasn’t about to throw it away. Somehow he’d deal with the inner turmoil of his conflicting emotions.
“Not too bad.” He curved his lips into a smile. “Thinking about you.”
“Here.” She handed him the wine. “I don’t usually drink this early in the day but today I’m making an exception. I thought it might be more appropriate than coffee.”
Jonah grinned. “I think all things considered it’s a good exception to make.”
He shifted to make room for her next to him, holding the wine with one hand and looping his other arm across her shoulders. The press of her body against his was like a lit match to his skin. God, how could he want this woman so fiercely when he barely knew her and they’d just had off-the-charts sex?
Mate!
The word singed his brain. Forcibly he pushed it away. He was no longer in the market for a mate. Besides, he was sure if she saw him shift that would kill any relationship.
No! She believes in legends and the unusual. Don’t write this off.
He took a healthy swallow of his wine, hoping to derail his thoughts. He had a mission and he couldn’t lose sight of that, no matter how much he desired this woman or how fantastic the sex was.
“Would I sound too unsophisticated or cliché if I say I don’t usually do this?” she asked.
Jonah had to stop himself from chuckling. He was pretty sure she didn’t do this on a regular basis, considering her situation. And
he
was the one who practically attacked
her
. Shifters acted on their lust when it surged through them. He was just worried she’d think
he
made a regular habit of it.
“No worries.” His fingers drew circles on her shoulder. “I felt the heat between us and so did you. It’s all good.” When she didn’t say anything else, he asked, “So are you saying you don’t have any…relationships with men?”
“I’m saying I learned long ago to keep my urges to myself and live alone.”
Her voice was flat but he detected the undertone of pain. Someone had hurt her, badly. Or maybe several someones. A sense of protectiveness flared within him. Who would deliberately hurt an erotic flower like this? Who could be so cruel? But he could answer his own question. In his life, both personal and professional, he’d unfortunately seen all kinds of cruelty.
On impulse he reached for her hand and wound his fingers through hers, squeezing them gently. He was surprised when she gave him an answering compression.
She took a sip of her wine as if to distract them both from the conversation. “Tell me about the story you’re writing.”
Story? Oh, yeah. My cover.
“It’s actually a series for
National Crime Magazine
. My boss is fascinated by the legend of the Chupacabra. There have been so many conflicting stories. Each time a body’s discovered the interest flares up again. So I’m checking things out.”
“That’s all it is, you know. A legend. People have created this absurd story for publicity value. And to explain what they don’t have answers for.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You really think that?”
Dakota ran her fingertip around the rim of her glass. “This town’s really been crazy since the hunters’ bodies were found. Without any other resolution, it was natural for them to bring up the legend. But I don’t believe in it.”
“Are you sure you didn’t hear anything that day?” It was hard for him to believe some sound hadn’t carried out here.
“I told you I didn’t think so.”
“No shots fired?” he prompted. “There were two hunters. I’d think if one of them was attacked the other would have tried to shoot whoever or whatever was attacking them.”
“I always hear shots from there. People come there to hunt.” Dakota carefully set her wineglass down on the little table next to the bed and shifted so she could look at him. “I told you what I remember, Jonah. Are you saying you don’t believe me?”
He could feel her withdrawing from him. He drained his own wine in two swift gulps—not the best way to drink wine, he reminded himself—and put the empty glass down beside him. Carefully he lifted her until she straddled him, his hands firm on her stiff, unyielding body.
“Dakota, listen to me.” She put her hands on his chest and tried to push off but he held her in place. “No, don’t try to turn away from me. Listen to what I have to say.”
“Don’t worry, Jonah. I’m used to skepticism. Or downright disbelief.” Her face had tightened so it almost looked like a mask. “The good people of Eagle Pass dispense it in healthy doses.”
“Damn it, Dakota.” He bit back his frustration. “I never said I didn’t believe you. I’m just asking you to jog your memory a little.”
He leaned forward and touched the tip of his tongue to one deep rose nipple. She jerked in his hands. He waited for her to say something, but when she didn’t he licked the other nipple, then nipped it gently with his teeth. Beneath his hands he could feel her body heat just from that barest touch, so he did it again.
Dakota moved her hands to his shoulders. When he looked up the look on her face had softened.
“I know we just met,” he said in a quiet voice, “and you have no reason to trust me, but I’m asking you to try. We made a connection here, Dakota. I’m not the bad guy, I promise.”
She sighed and touched her forehead to his. “I’ll try, okay? But it’s hard to break a lifetime habit. So. Maybe I can help a little bit after all. Do you want to look at the spot again? I don’t know what you’ll find after all this time.”
He brushed his lips against her. “I’d like nothing better than to fuck you right this minute, but yes, I need to see that site. Can we walk there? Or take my SUV? It’s got four-wheel drive.”
She laughed, a musical sound, and Jonah wondered how often she allowed herself to do that.
“I have a better way. Come on. Let’s get dressed and I’ll show you.”
* * * * *
“I’m making more coffee,” Sam Brody announced.
The former investigator with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was the acknowledged king of coffee consumption, a habit he developed after his father was killed by the Chupacabra on a hunting trip. Everyone had agreeably given him the responsibility of keeping the pot full. With the hours Night Seekers kept at their Desolation Ranch headquarters that had become an important job. The tall, heavily muscled man, a former football player, deftly filled the reservoir and shook grounds into the coffee filter.
“If this falls apart, you could always get a job in a restaurant,” Chelsea Roland teased.
Like Sam—and several others of the team—the petite brunette was a shapeshifter. But unlike the others they both preferred to run in early morning rather than at night. The five hundred acres of ranch property provided that opportunity and they often ran together.
“Any word from Jonah?” Sam wanted to know.
Chelsea had been taking her turn monitoring incoming communications. Craig Stafford, the money behind Night Seekers, checked in frequently. Additionally, while Jonah was out in the field, the others were running down any source they could find. Whoever was on comm took all returned calls and logged them in.
Now she shook her head. “Not since earlier today. He called after seeing the man whose dogs were killed, said he had a lead he was following, but nothing since then.”
“He’s a loner,” Ric Garza reminded them as he brought his mug to the sink and rinsed it out. “He’s pretty much used to being on his own and running his own game.”
“Craig said no loners on this project,” Chelsea pointed out. “We’re supposed to be a team effort all the way.”
“He’ll call,” Sam assured them. “He’s not stupid. He knows what he’s supposed to do.”
“Text coming in,” someone called.
Stafford had brought in a team of highly trained technicians to set up their electronics and train the team to use them. One of the things he’d done was to set up a cell phone for texts only and connect it to a large screen so everyone could see both incoming and outgoing messages. The three people in the kitchen hurried into what had once been a massive living room but now served as the nerve center of Night Seekers.
Sophia Black, the former detective with the Maine Highway Patrol, was pointing to the screen.
“New contact. New lead. More later. J.”
“Not big on long messages is he,” Sophia joked.
“He doesn’t have to be,” Sam told her. “He’s checked in and he’ll get back to us. Meanwhile I’m going to pour myself some fresh coffee and go back to my research project.”
Sam, an internet junkie, had volunteered to find everything ever written on the Chupacabra, sift out what they didn’t need or what was patently off-center, and compile it into one mammoth working document.
“I hope he knows we’re probably going to be looking at two more killings before the animal leaves the area,” Chelsea pointed out. “If it follows the pattern, that is.”
“Jonah knows,” Sam told her as he sat down with his coffee.
“And I guess I should get back to my research on Maverick County,” Chelsea sighed. “Do you know there’s a Kickapoo reservation not far from Eagle Pass?”
Sophia frowned. “You think they have anything to do with this devil beast?”
“No.” Sam shook his head. “But they might know more about it than anyone else around there.”
“But the Chupacabra’s not Indian in origin,” Ric pointed out.
“They still have a mystical understanding of legends. Maybe someone can tell Jonah something others down there don’t know.”
“It is to be hoped.” Chelsea went to refill her mug and everyone else settled back down to their assignments.
* * * * *
Jonah stood in the shed beside the house and stared. Dakota had just whipped a tarpaulin cover off a shiny, over-sized all-terrain vehicle in gleaming black and red.
“This is yours?” He walked around it slowly.
“Uh-huh.” She was grinning at him “What? Did you think I kept a horse out here to get around? My truck certainly isn’t built for anything but going to town and back.”
Jonah looked around. “You really could keep a horse here. Ride him everywhere. Think how great you’d feel with the sun on your face and the wind in your hair.”
“Not to mention the muscles from shoveling horse shit and currying the poor animal.” She snorted. “Are you some kind of poet or something?”
He laughed. “Nope. You just inspire me. And anyway, I thought all Indians liked horses.”
“Bigot,” she grinned. “Besides, I’m only half Indian and this half doesn’t like to ride things with four legs, only four wheels.” She climbed in behind the wheel and patted the seat next to her. “Come on, mister writer man. We’re going for a ride.”
The motor kicked over and growled like a well-fed tiger, settling down to a smooth purr. Dakota backed the ATV out of the shed, executed a smooth turn and headed toward the rocky incline beside her house. And the turn was the last smooth thing about the ride.
By the time they’d left the hunting preserve closest to them and headed around the next one, Jonah was sure every organ in his body had been displaced. He’d ridden some rough terrain before but not like this.
“You’re a maniac,” he shouted at her, checking again to make sure his seat belt was secure.
Dakota laughed. “Chicken.”
He thought she looked like a pagan goddess, even in t-shirt and jeans, her hair flowing behind her in the wind, her face lit with joy. He was struck with a sudden rush of lust to stop the ATV right there, strip her clothes off and take her in the embrace of the open air.
Watch it, Grey. You met her five minutes ago. Put the wolf back where he belongs. This is a human. Her desires aren’t going to match yours. And besides, what happens when she sees you shift for the first time?