Passionate Investigations (4 page)

“No,” Zahra spoke with mingled sadness and wistfulness.

Rob’s heart ached for her, his hand tightened around hers,
but he focused fully on her words. Heightening his senses, he controlled his
magical power, channeling it to read every nuance in her body language, to hear
every different tone in her voice as he gently questioned her.

Getting information out of people, reading them, their
tones, inflections and gathering data was what he did. Putting the pieces of
the puzzle together had always been an addiction for him. When he had learned
he could use his magic to gather a wealth of data not usually available to
others, to Investigate situations and scenarios far more deeply and
conclusively than others he had relished the task. While it was always
important, this could well prove to be the biggest case he’d ever looked into.

“Tanya and Dad have always been careful with what they
shared with me,” Zahra said. “Ever since the allegations were raised against
you…well, they pretty much dried up after that. They never spoke of work or
sensitive data, not even oblique references amongst themselves like they often
would in the past. They took their privacy and work security very seriously
after that.”

Everything about Zahra proved she spoke the full and
complete truth. Rob nodded, not letting his gaze waver an inch.

“Did you see or speak to Tanya about anything related to
work in that last week?” Rob knew the question was similar to the one she’d
just answered, but he’d often found if he came at the same problem from a
slightly different angle it could work a new memory loose.

Often looking at something from another perspective made
something new become clear.

“We were meeting for lunch on Saturday,” she said forlornly.
“Tanya had been really busy the last fortnight, though she refused to say with
what, just that it was work. I know she’d been working on something big. I
mean, she was always busy, but she was hectic recently. Even Dad complained
that she hadn’t spared him their usual time.”

“Do you think she confided in him?” Rob asked. He could only
focus his power for so long before he grew dizzy or got a migraine, but this
was important.

The manner with which Zahra shook her head spoke of her
certainty.

“If Dad knew what she had been researching he’d have
mentioned something to me about it after her death,” she said confidently. “He’s
particularly upset because he feels she had been working on an alternate
project lately, one he didn’t know about. He’s really grieving. If he had any
indication it was murder and not an accident, he’d be riled up, demanding the
Enforcers investigate her death and shouting from the mountains. He’s
just…grieving.”

“One more question for now,” Rob promised her. “Did Tanya
give you anything? A letter to hold on to, a file for safekeeping?”

Zahra shook her head again. Silently Rob cursed, feeling the
faint edges of a headache begin behind his forehead.

“Do you have keys to her apartment?” he asked hopefully.

“Oh, yes. I’ve been meaning to clean it out, but I just
haven’t been able to bring myself to do so.”

“Do you think we could go over there sometime?” Rob queried.
“Check to see if she left anything for you to find and perhaps pass along to
me?”

Zahra nodded but seemed to struggle to keep a hold of her
emotions, tears filling her eyes once again.

Rob slowly unfocused, letting the magic slowly seep out of
his senses as he lowered himself down. Rubbing at his forehead, he closed his
eyes and willed the faint pain away. Zahra seemed aware of what he’d just
spent, and the gentle touch of her cool fingers at his temples felt like bliss.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help,” she spoke in a soft
tone.

Rob grinned before he opened his eyes and captured her gaze.

“Negative answers can be helpful,” he insisted. “Closing
down one avenue means I won’t be chasing false leads. I can focus myself in
other areas. There’s no need to apologize.”

He stared at her as she seemed to drown in his gaze. Rob
wished he’d kept his senses heightened, craving to stare at her for hours at a
time and memorize every minute gesture and look. He could never get tired of
watching her, the way her eyes laughed and sang, the tiny twitches of laughter
that would tilt the corner of her mouth when she struggled not to grin at him.
Her curls had a mind of their own, often falling wherever they may. Even when
she worked and had them pulled back into a short, sassy ponytail they fell
hither and yon.

Everything about her captivated him.

“Do you really think Tanya discovered something and was
killed?” she finally asked.

Rob nodded without hesitation. “I don’t believe Tanya would
have called me if she didn’t strongly believe I was innocent. If that’s true,
it means she had a firm belief someone else was responsible for the information
leaked. Until then I would have sworn Tanya was certain in her condemnation of
me, so she must have solid, convincing evidence contrary to that.”

“Would someone murder her for that?”

“They were willing to see me jailed or killed taking the
blame for their actions,” Rob reminded her. “Murder is a small step from that.”

Zahra fell silent, staring out into the gorgeous gardens.
For a moment Rob had forgotten where they were, lost in Zahra’s beauty and the
excitement of being with her once again.

“I’m sorry I didn’t return your call,” she repeated, turning
to look at him once again.

Rob grinned and cupped her jaw in a sensual, intimate
manner. He moved closer to her so their thighs pressed together.

“I told you, sunshine, I don’t blame you in the least. It
was me who pushed you away. I’m just grateful we’re here, together, right now.”

Rubbing his thumb over the plush, soft pad of her lower lip,
he stared into her warm blue gaze once again. She tilted her face into the
warmth of his palm, and Rob couldn’t have stopped himself even had he tried.
Lowering his lips to hers, he kissed her gently at first. Her hands freed
themselves and cupped his head, her fingers lightly threading through his hair.

He loved the feel of her touching his scalp, tugging his
hair and pulling him closer. He craved to lay her back right here on the grass,
but he knew he’d have to go slowly, at a pace that suited Zahra. Willingly, he
followed where she led. Opening his mouth, he inserted his tongue into her,
passing her lips with a quick swipe and eagerly tasting her deeply.

His hands stroked over the smooth, soft skin of her neck,
the pads of his fingers tracing patterns over her sensitive flesh. When she
moaned he could feel the vibration run through her, both against his lips
pressed to hers as well as dancing over the tips of his digits as he felt her
neck move. Her back arched, pressing her small, round breasts against the flat
plane of his chest.

Hungrily, eager for more, he deepened the kiss, angling her
head so he could draw her into his lap. Her thighs fell to either side of his
waist. She straddled him in an easy, comfortable motion and he rocked his hips
up into her, pleased when she ground her hot pussy down over him. They
simulated a slow coupling through their clothes, each of them lazily exploring
one another without removing anything just yet.

Rob’s cock grew thicker and harder. He could feel the desire
running through his veins, the pounding of his heart quickening his breaths and
making his hips jerk up harder, needing the stimulation from the friction. When
Zahra cupped him through his pants, he moved to begin unbuttoning her black
silk shirt. When it gaped open almost to her navel, he palmed both pert breasts
through the lace of her bra.

Her nipples peaked instantly. Teasing her, he toyed with
them for a moment. Pinching them lightly, tweaking them enough to arouse her
but not harm her, he tested the levels of what she enjoyed and where the line
was. Zahra’s back arched enticingly, her murmurs and pleas for more driving him
crazy with lust.

Eagerly, he lowered his lips, stringing hot, nipping kisses
down the delicate column of her neck, over the lush roundness of her breasts
and over the scratchy lace of her bra until he could suckle the pointed peaks
for himself.

“Ooh, yes,” she panted, clearly enjoying this move. Her
fingers fumbled with his pants, struggling to unbutton him and free his aching
shaft.

Pre-cum coated his head, the slickness only adding to the
heat at his crotch. Lowering himself further, he planned to taste her most
intimately, wanting to lick and tongue-fuck her to completion for their first
time together.

“No, I want to taste you,” she insisted.

Rob lifted his head. “I was going to eat you whole, fuck you
with my fingers and tongue.”

Surprising him, she took the initiative by pressing his
shoulders gently, moving him to lie back on the grass.

“I can suck you while you do that,” she whispered naughtily.

Lust fired in his belly, shooting down to harden him
painfully with deepening arousal.

“Circe save me,” he swore. He watched her like a favorite
vision or fantasy as she shed her pants and a tiny scrap of lace that passed
for a thong. Turning around on top of him, she presented her naked ass and
pussy to his face. Entranced, he lifted his fingers to pull apart the small,
round globes of her ass. Licking his index finger, he first drew a damp trail
between her crack and down over her tiny, puckered anus. Chuckling, she
wriggled before lifting herself higher and showing him her pussy instead.

The heady scent of feminine arousal struck him. Breathing in
the light, fragrant musk, he obligingly lowered his curious fingers and stroked
her red, puffy labia. Zahra gyrated enticingly. He felt her lips press around
the head of his cock, swallowing him down.

This time he moaned his appreciation as the wet heat
encircled him. Her tongue laved his sensitive skin and his hips lifted of their
own accord, thrusting his long shaft deeper down her throat. His appetite
whetted, Rob lifted his head, holding Zahra’s hips to tilt her to a slight
angle and he began to eat her in earnest.

Salty juices ran down from her opening, making her thighs
slick with need. Lapping her cream, he gently scraped his teeth along the
erogenous zone, enjoying the feel of her squirming in his hands. Harder and
faster, he lapped at her, stroking his tongue along her lips, circling her
clenching entrance and then finally penetrating inside her core.

Fucking her with his tongue, pumping in and out of her slit,
he drank down the juices she continued to lavish upon him. She sucked him hard,
working her tongue furiously around his thick veins and circling his head,
polishing him like a pro. Rob panted hard, the entire world flying away.

Forgetting everything except for himself and this miraculous
witch, he stroked her clit with his fingers. Tweaking her with careful
precision, hard enough to stimulate but not cause real pain, he pushed her
higher until her pants and moans blended into a symphony with his own rising
passions.

Magical electricity sparkled between them, the hum of both
their powers tingling along his body and zapping them both with the rising
force as it continued to grow. Rob had never experienced this with anyone else.
It added a depth to his arousal, the potency of their mutual attraction
alluring beyond his wildest dreams. The urgency grew between them. Zahra moved
faster, her motions jerky as she, too, appeared caught up in the moment, magic
snapping and sparking between them.

The force of their joined magic and passion was visible,
clear and undeniable.

A hard knot formed in the base of his belly, the rapid
thrusts of his cock into her delicious mouth warning him he would not last much
longer. Moving his tongue to start suckling her clit, hardening the pressure at
her most delicate point, he thrust three fingers deeply into her pussy.
Crooking them slightly, he sought her G-spot.

Stroking over the small nub of nerves, she groaned deeply,
the sound reverberating in her throat and vibrating around his cock. Pumping
inside her, stimulating her fully, he felt the tightness of her pussy contract
against his fingers.

Feeling her climax shake through her body, Rob continued to
pump through the spasms. When her teeth lightly scraped over his skin, her
tongue circling underneath his sensitive head, his own orgasm detonated. Crying
out hoarsely, he pumped into her mouth as deeply as he could reach, shooting
his seed down her throat and into her belly.

Zahra swallowed convulsively around him, sucking his every
last drop down.

She pulled her mouth away with a wet plop, turning around to
grin at him in evident pride and satisfaction. Rob guided her down beside him
on the grass. For a few moments they there curled together, elated and catching
their breaths.

Finally recovered enough he felt he could speak, Rob pressed
a tender kiss to her forehead.

“That was a lovely appetizer, sunshine,” he purred as he let
his fingers wander over her round breasts. Slowly he worked his way back,
expecting to remove her bra next. The faint sound of voices floated over the
expansive gardens and reality snapped back into place.

Frustrated they were not somewhere a bit more private, he
recalled while certainly not in view, neither were they really in a situation
to indulge in further exploration. Zahra sighed, but cast him a naughty glance
as she pushed her gorgeous curls out of her face.

“You know, next time we really should try and do this in a
room—any room that has a door we can close,” she suggested more humorously than
in complaint. Rob chuckled and kissed her fiercely.

“Next time, I promise,” he swore.

They redressed themselves with far more haste than grace.
Rob couldn’t help the swelling of masculine pride to look at his lover. Zahra
looked deliciously rumpled, her curls askew, her eyes bright, her cheeks
delicately flushed. He could still see the marks of grief with the tiredness
showing in a faint cast to her mouth and the slightly wooden nature of her
movements, but it no longer weighed her down like the burden it had been when
he’d first seen her.