Passionate Investigations (2 page)

“You’re going to deny that, sunshine?” Rob said softly.

She could hear a faint hoarseness in his tone. With the low
volume of his words, he clearly felt as affected as she. Zahra swallowed and
shook her head, partly in denial of their link but also to try to help clear
her mind.

The wizard could weave a sensual spell around her like none
other. She could admit that to herself, but she refused to be drawn by him,
even if her faith in Miles had taken a hit with his behavior with that gorgeous
brunette.

A charged silence settled between them. Zahra tugged a few
loose curls behind her ear as she sought a safe topic to discuss.

“Are you Investigating someone here tonight?” she asked. “Or
did you merely feel as if you couldn’t turn down the invitation because of your
association with Tanya?”

Rob narrowed his gaze at her and Zahra wondered if she had
touched a nerve. He watched her steadily, as if he were trying to penetrate her
thoughts with his mind. Shifting uneasily, she understood for the first time
just how powerful Rob might be.

She’d heard stories of what a tireless, ruthless
Investigator he was—tenacious to a fault. Under his intense scrutiny, she could
well believe how people would share the information he sought simply to get out
from under the laser beam of that gaze.

“What?” she asked, feeling both aroused and uncomfortable.

Rob remained silent for a moment. His gaze remained intense
and thoughtful. Zahra had the distinct impression he debated something
important within himself.

“I’m not one to do something purely because it’s expected of
him,” Rob replied slowly.

Zahra frowned, not from what he said, but from the strong
instinct there was more he still hadn’t voiced. Her intuition was proven
correct when after another slight hesitation he continued.

“I suppose you’re surprised that I’m here at all, what with
the level of tension between Tanya and me.”

“What do you mean? You and Tanya have always butted heads,”
she said when he didn’t expand on the comment. “Tanya is strictly by the book.
She keeps the ramifications and politics of the information she deals with as
her top priority. You’ve always struck me as a wizard to whom the truth—good or
bad—is the most important aspect. You don’t mind whose feet you step on,
whether supposedly important people get hurt or how you get the answers, you
just get them.”

Rob nodded.

“That’s a fair assessment. The differences between your
sister and I have been known from the start of our working together. But lately
there has been more…tension than usual.”

“Why? What’s changed?” Zahra asked, genuinely curious.

Once again Rob hesitated before seeming to pick his words
carefully.

“In the last few months there have been some discrepancies
with our information. Everyone is starting to feel the strain from it. Tell me,
Zahra, do you think for the right cause or under pressure Tanya could
be…underhanded?”

The sensual way Rob spoke her name had Zahra’s heart
pounding faster. She could drown in those wild, alluring green eyes. Struggling
to not let her emotions overcome her common sense, it took her a second to
register his question about her sister.

“Tanya?” she repeated with a chuckle. “Underhand? Circe, no.
I can’t think of anyone more rule-abiding than her. Why?”

“If everyone instantly dismissed any thought of corruption
about your sister, don’t you think that would make her being able to get away
with such actions even more likely?”

Zahra frowned, not at all liking where Rob seemed to be
going with this.

“Let me be really clear on this,” she replied heatedly. “My
sister and I have our differences and I’ve stooped to my own fair share of name-calling,
especially when we were kids. Tanya is a lot of things, I won’t call you on
that. But in no way is she dirty, corrupt or anything other than the
straightest arrow and most lawful witch I know. Are we clear on that?”

“You wouldn’t even consider the possibility?”

“Not for a second.”

“If this were anyone other than your sister, surely you’d
have to admit that since she’s the least likely to be suspected that would
automatically make an excellent cover?”

“People become the usual suspects for a reason,” Zahra
pointed out firmly. “If someone lies, cheats or steals once then they’re far
more likely to repeat that action. I agree I’m biased to be defensive of Tanya,
but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong, either.”

“People change,” Rob insisted in a quiet tone.

Zahra took a deep breath and calmed herself down. There was
no need to get into a spirited debate with the sexy wizard. Tanya’s ethics and
history clearly spoke for itself.

“I agree,” she said. “Just because someone makes a mistake
once doesn’t mean they should be forever tarred with that brush. But I know my
sister, Rob. She lives and breathes the rules. It’s always been her following
the ‘right’ path and me driving my father crazy. I don’t really know what
discrepancies you’re talking about, but believe me, Tanya would no more do
something underhand than she would shave her head or dance naked down the
street.”

Rob grinned at that, and Zahra had to smile in return. The
thought of Tanya stripping off her power suits and doing a shimmy for all to
see was insane. Neither could Zahra ever imagine her conservative sister doing
something outrageous to her long, straight, always perfectly coiffed blonde
locks. It was amusing. Her words broke the gathering ice and dispelled most of
the tension that had crept between them.

“I trust you, Zahra. I’m just not convinced—” Rob’s words
cut off as the high-pitched trill of feminine laughter cut across the gardens.
Rob’s gaze snapped up and behind her.

Before Zahra could turn around and see anything, he had
wrapped an arm quickly around her shoulders and dragged her further into the
privacy of a low-hanging tree and the thick growth of a number of bushes.

“Come around here,” he insisted in a soft undertone, leading
her farther away from the others.

“We aren’t doing anything wrong,” she replied, keeping her
voice low.

“That has never stopped gossip getting around and ruining
innocent reputations.”

The low sound of a masculine voice came toward them before Zahra
could argue further. Although she couldn’t hear the words spoken, something
about the tone and inflection in the sound rang a bell in her head.

“I didn’t think you’d ever get us out of there either,” the
witch said.

Zahra didn’t know if the other woman simply spoke more
loudly or whether her voice carried better than the wizards’. Either way, her
words were unmistakable.

“Do you really know all the most secretive places?” the
witch continued. “Or was that just an excuse to drag me out here?”

The wizard replied, but again she couldn’t hear what he
said, only the tone of his voice. Zahra craned her neck, catching a glimpse of
warm brown hair and a set of very familiar brown eyes. Miles had his face
buried in the witch’s cleavage, his tongue doing sensual things to her nipple.

Zahra’s jaw dropped and a strangled gasp escaped before Rob
swore and pulled her farther back into the deep shadows of the thick bushes. No
wonder she couldn’t make out Miles’s words, with his mouth so busy in there!

Tears filled her eyes as the image burned itself onto Zahra’s
retinas. She no longer had any doubts whether Miles might be intimate with the
sultry brunette with the long curls. Their body language had been explicit,
those of long-term lovers well used to one another. Zahra turned around,
wanting to flee the garden and hide somewhere far, far away.

Dimly she heard the other witch speaking. The words seemed
muffled to Zahra’s ears, as if they came from far away or something blocked
them from being clearly audible. Shrugging her shoulders, she tried to slip Rob’s
grip, but his hands tightened on her.

“Don’t, sunshine, they’re moving past us,” he whispered in
her ear.

Pressing a hand to her mouth, Zahra tried to get a hold of
herself. A few tears leaked from her eyes, but she managed to keep from
bursting out in sobs. A million questions raced through her mind as she
struggled to come to grips with his betrayal.

How long had Miles been cheating on her? Was there more than
one witch? Why hadn’t he broken up with her, if he so obviously didn’t love or
respect her?

Rob cupped his hand around her jaw and tilted her chin up.

“Shhh,” he soothed her.

Only then did she hear the ragged pants of her breaths and
feel her heart pounding in her rib cage. Blinking hard, swearing she’d not waste
a single more tear on the cheating asshole who used to be her boyfriend, Zahra
nodded to indicate she’d be okay.

Tenderly, Rob wiped at the remaining tears that ran down her
face. Suddenly, her heart pounded for an entirely different reason. His eyes
seemed to come alive, the dark-green depths shining with his magic and lust.
Rob’s palms were warm where they cupped her jaw on either side. He seemed about
to say something, but she worried it would be something soothing, some form of
denial of what they had both seen.

She didn’t want to hear it. Not one word.

Rising up onto her tiptoes, she still barely reached above
his shoulder. Lifting her hands, she brought his head down to meet hers and
kissed him passionately. Her fingers threaded through the silky strands of hair
as his black strands mingled with her straw-blonde curls. Zahra cupped the back
of his skull and opened her mouth, teasing the outside of his lips as she urged
him to open for her.

A strangled moan was emitted as he complied. Hastily she thrust
her tongue inside him, relishing the intoxicating rush as she tasted the scotch
he’d evidently drunk earlier. Pressing her curves flush along the length of his
body, Zahra unleashed every wicked, forbidden desire she’d suppressed over this
wizard.

Rob lowered one arm to thread around her waist, drawing her
even closer against the hard warmth of his body. Through the material of his
tuxedo pants, she could feel the thick, hard length of his cock. Radiating heat,
she rubbed herself against him, loving how the friction shot sparks along her
skin and how powerful he felt restrained beneath her.

Their mouths ate hungrily at each other, as if all reserve
had finally left them both. Incoherently they both murmured, unwilling to
withdraw even far enough to speak to one another, needing to taste and explore
everything they could while they had the chance.

The trilling, high-pitched female laugh echoed once again
across the gardens, snapping Zahra back to reality more than a slap or dash of
cold water ever could have. She jerked back her head.

“Circe,” she swore, taken aback by her reckless behavior,
and stunned by how badly she wanted to go back for more. A lot more.

Sucking in a deep breath, she reminded herself Rob was worth
far more to her than a casual rebound or revenge fuck. She genuinely liked the
wizard, had a lot of respect for him and his talents. More importantly,
this…thing that had blossomed between them was better than a quick roll
together.

She knew without a doubt they would burn the sheets up together,
literally if the sparks of magical energy zinging at the edges of her
fingertips were any indication, but she didn’t want to ruin their camaraderie
and friendship by complicating it just now. Zahra knew she was a mess
emotionally and she wanted to start something with Rob for the right reasons.

“Don’t say it was the rebound,” Rob insisted thickly. His
voice was a full octave deeper, lust still wildly flickering in his gaze. “We
both know there’s more than that between us. There always has been.”

Reluctantly she nodded. “I don’t want to doubt us though, or
question why it was we got together. I need to sort myself out first. Can you
understand that?”

Rob made a face before he agreed. “Don’t expect me to give
you much time, though. Not after a kiss like that. A wizard only has so much
patience.”

Zahra instinctively moved toward him, stopping herself just
before she could kiss the sexy wizard once more. Forcing herself to step two
paces back, she fiercely restrained the impulse to throw herself at him, kiss
him until nothing else mattered and tear their clothes off and have her way
with him. Rob’s gaze darkened with heat, clearly knowing exactly what she had
very nearly done.

“Well, I guess that answers the question of how you feel,”
Rob said calmly. “I have so much passion burning inside me for you, I’m pleased
you return a semblance of that.”

Zahra smiled, though it was a bittersweet one. The betrayal
by Miles still burned inside her. Upset as she was, it hadn’t broken her heart.
She swore to herself she’d take some time to sort her emotions out, but she
couldn’t deny the chemistry and the growing depths of her feelings for Rob.

“I don’t want to rush in to a quick fuck with you, Rob,” she
said with brutal honesty. “I’d rather wait a bit and see if we could have
something…well, something more than that.”

He nodded stiffly, but there was understanding in his gaze. “You’d
better go back in, before my cock overrules my brain.”

Her gaze flickered down to the tent in his pants, his shaft
still highly aroused and his impatience beginning to show through the thin
veneer of the gentleman. She’d always known much of his bad boy demeanor was
just to annoy the many stuffed shirts at his work. This proved it.

Political wrangling aside, the Investigators and Consultants
worked predominantly for all the varying levels of the Council and Tribunal.
Zahra had always thought there were more repressed feelings and fake masks worn
in that elite circle than anywhere else on the face of the planet. Rob relished
being the black sheep there. His power and talents, coupled with his reputation
for always getting the job done, had earned him the position he held even
though he rubbed more than a few people the wrong way.