To Hiss or to Kiss (23 page)

I want to cry, and damn these sappy emotions. I’m ill-equipped for this level of intimacy, but I plow ahead, resuming my drying when he releases me from his hug. I sink to my knees, patting up and down his legs.

I give in to temptation and flick my tongue over the end of his penis. He moans as his erection jumps to high alert. My fist wraps around the base of his cock. He gasps and leans back toward the wall, his hands splayed to keep him upright. I move my hand up and down while squeezing, but it takes another flick of my tongue to get him to mutter incoherently. This is definitely the fun kind of power.

“You like that?”

“Hell, yeah.”

My mouth closes on his tip, my tongue flicking in time with the pumping of my hand, and I can feel he’s getting close. He stops me, pushing me back to look me in the eyes.

“I want to come inside you.”

I’m not going to argue with that.

He sweeps me up and carries me to the bed, burning me up with his gaze the whole way.

I see his neck is already bruising where I bit him. “Sorry about your neck. Guess I got a little carried away.”

“Believe me, it’s not a problem.” His voice has lowered an octave with his lust and passion. I guess he didn’t seem too upset at the time. I’m sure he’ll be just fine.

He sets me on the bed, covering my body with his. He kisses down my torso, then licks the inside of one thigh and then the other. I thrust my hips up, trying to get the contact I need. He presses me harder into the bed. “Not so fast. I want to savor you.”

In other circumstances I might’ve found that romantic, but at the moment I am more concerned with getting release. But, damn him, he keeps kissing and teasing all around my sweet spot.

“Fucking hell, you’re going to kill me.” My hips writhe under the weight of his arm.

He just laughs. That kind of power isn’t nearly as fun. Not that I don’t enjoy his attentions.

He swipes his tongue from my slit to clit, and I just about come up off the bed. He goes back to my thighs. I restrain myself from just grabbing his head and directing.

When I’m about ready to lose it, he removes the arm holding me down, slips a finger inside my slit, and takes my clit in a bruising kiss. The orgasm slams into me and I practically scream myself hoarse.

I’m almost back down to earth when he adds a finger, and his mouth closes over me again. My next climax is so intense my fists pound the bed, a string of curses lacing my screams.

After my hips fall to the bed, he slowly pulls out, kissing his way back up. When he’s to my face, he kisses the tip of my nose. “In this context, I rather like making you swear. It’s very ladylike.”

I lightly nip his bottom lip. “In this context, I don’t really mind you making me swear. Maybe you ought to try again. I might have a bit more cussing in me.”

“Yeah? Let’s give it a try.” He shifts over me, entering me in one quick stroke that makes me gasp.

His pace quickens, and as we ride toward orgasm, I let rip a string of cuss words. Only this time it is on purpose.

Chapter Seventeen

I awake with my legs tangled with Jorge’s, his arm thrown across my waist. When I stretch, he pulls me closer, nuzzling my neck. Aw, isn’t that cute? Sleep cuddling.

I snuggle in and enjoy the moment for a while. Eventually my bladder insists I get up, and I wriggle myself free of his arms and slip out to the bathroom. The clock says it’s 2:13 p.m. So that was a nice little nap we had.

When I come back, Jorge’s awake. He’s on his back, arms behind his head, chest deliciously uncovered by the sheet. My heart skips a few beats.

“Hey.” His eyes have a wicked glint.

“Hey, yourself.” I crawl back into bed, snuggling up to his muscled chest and giving him a chaste kiss.

“That kiss is completely unacceptable.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. I think this is more in order.” He proceeds to ravish my mouth.

As if they know we’re about to get stuck in bed for the rest of the afternoon at least, the dogs start barking up a riot.

“What do you think that’s about?” Jorge’s face is a mix of annoyance and concern.

“Let me check.” I close my eyes to concentrate.
“Hector?”

“Someone just drove by real slowly. We didn’t like his look, so we barked to scare him away.”
He exudes pride at their accomplishment.

“Good job. You guys are good dogs.”
I try to reassure him, but my stomach is churning. Did someone see us at the original scene? Did they figure out I left a tip? Shit.

Jorge places his hand on my arm. “Chloe, what’s wrong? You’re white as a ghost.”

“Hector says someone just drove by slowly. They barked to scare him away, but I don’t know if that worked. Shit, couldn’t we have just one nice, uneventful day?”

Jorge is up and already half-dressed. “I’m going to check on things. I’ve got a camera on the road.”

“You do? Is that even legal?”

He shrugs. “I don’t much care.” Pulling on a shirt, he heads out of the room.

I scramble out of bed and pull on one of his T-shirts so I can follow him down the hall. He goes to a room farther down the hall that I’ve never been in or paid any attention to.

I follow him in and am stunned. A wall of monitors lines one whole wall with shots of the entire property as well as every room in the house, including the bedroom.

“Please tell me that doesn’t record things forever.” I start counting up how many sex tapes Jorge must have of me by now.

He shoots me a knowing look. “Don’t worry. It erases every four days. And I don’t make a habit of watching recordings back without a reason. Although now that you bring it up…”

I slug his arm. “That is not funny.”

“Ow. I swear your honor is safe with me.” He laughs, turning to the computer keyboard and going to work. Shortly, the previous ten minutes of road footage plays. Sure enough, a white utility van drives by. The camera angle never quite catches the driver’s face, but he definitely slows down, then speeds away after the dogs run toward the van. Even though we never see the guy’s face, we do get a pretty good shot of the license plate.

Jorge’s expression is grim. “We need to get the dogs inside.”

“You think this is about the dogs?”

He nods. “The dogs and maybe us. At the very least, this guy must be connected to the dogs and wants his property back. At worse, well, he might be looking for revenge. Otherwise why the slowing down and casing of the property?”

Shit. I don’t want to process that, so instead I focus on the practical. “I guess the police didn’t get everyone in the ring at the bust.”

“Yeah, I bet not everyone goes to all the fights. Too risky.”

I don’t want to dwell on that thought, so I gesture to where he wrote down the license plate info. “You got someone to run those plates? I don’t want to wait for the police.”

“Always trying to break the law, aren’t you?” His tease can’t get me to even muster a smile, and he sighs, going back into action mode. “Unfortunately I don’t have magical access to police databases.”

“You have all those crazy gadgets. You have to know someone.”

“I do technically know people, but I don’t make a habit of asking favors of government officials who contract with my family’s company.”

I decide to let that little tidbit flow in one ear and out the other. Jorge connected to the government is just too much to process right now. “Fine. Let’s call the police. But what else can we do?”

“Keep our heads down. Call the police if we see any suspicious activity. Obviously they can’t arrest someone for driving by slowly, but getting something on record might speed things up if we have problems.”

“So, we’re hiding out then?” I can’t help the disappointment in my voice. I don’t like sitting around doing nothing.

“I kind of figured that’s what we’d be doing anyway. I plan to spend a whole lot of time in the bedroom.” He winks at me.

“Sleeping? Alone?” I feign innocence, feeling better as I realize there is
something
we can do.

“Definitely not and definitely with you.”

I almost let him charm me right back into bed, but a glance at the wall of security footage reminds me that I want to get to the bottom of this security thing. “So I get you want to keep your private life private and you have access to gadgets due to your work. But why all this?” I gesture to the wall of screens. “And why do you have those gadgets?”

“Secrecy and security are important, especially in this day and age. Can’t have someone taking a video on their phone of us shifting.”

“I can see that, but geesh. Is that why you have all that security-busting equipment? In case you need to steal someone’s cell phone?”

He cocks his head. “I suppose that could be one reason, but I try to stay out of it.”

“But you keep the equipment on hand? Just in case?” Now that I’m on a roll, I really want answers to some of the questions that have been gnawing at me.

“Chloe, please go let the dogs in.” His voice and face are strained.

“Fine, but I’m coming back for answers. This isn’t over.”

He sighs. “No, you deserve answers and you will get them. Just not yet.”

I’m not satisfied, but I am worried about the dogs. An argument can wait.

When I open the front door, the dogs barrel in, still riled up by the van, but a nice meal calms them down.

I walk back to the bedroom and sit on the bed.
“Gracie?”
In a few seconds, she materializes.

“What’s up, Chloe?”

“Well to start, our first mission was successful. Twenty dogs were rescued and four men arrested.”

“That’s great.”

“It is. I need your help, though.”
I describe the van to her and what happened.
“Can you find it and follow them? They can’t be that far away.”

“I can do that. I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t, Gracie.”

After she fades away, I fall back on the bed, rubbing my temples to soothe my ever-growing headache. I thought at least this issue with the dogs was all behind us, but it appears it’s not. And after my bumbling of the last in-person mission, I don’t relish any more danger in my life. Anonymous tips I can do; facing down criminals, not so much. But I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my dogs, to protect Jorge. They’d all do the same for me.

I feel the bed sink and look over to see Jorge lying beside me. He brushes a stray lock of hair from my face. “I called the police. They seemed uninterested overall but said they’d send someone by.”

“So we’re basically on our own then?” An edge of anger works into my voice.

“Perhaps, but this is why I have a security system and cameras. They try something and we’ve got evidence. For now, we keep the dogs inside, and you can explain to them why it’s important to stay close. When they need to go out, we watch them.”

I’m glad that one of us can stay calm in this situation. “This isn’t the first time something like this has happened to you, is it?”

His lips turn downward. “I come from a wealthy, powerful family of shape-shifters. We get threats from both those who fear our abilities and those who just envy our wealth. It’s not a common occurrence, but it happens. At times in the past, my people were actively hunted. Thankfully, now it’s usually just some fringe group that can be dealt with easily.”

“You, uh, don’t, uh, kill them or anything, do you?”

He gives me a baleful look. “I’m going to choose not to be insulted by that.”

“Sorry. But you do have to admit that you know an awful lot about illicit activities.”

“Nothing that isn’t necessary to keep my family safe. Plus, this is part of our business. One division deals with high-tech security. It ensures we are always prepared and keep up on the latest technology.” He rubs my cheek with his thumb. “And it’s not just about gadgets. When we need to deal with a security risk, we rely on diplomatic measures more than anything.”

“Like you have peace summits? Or are you more the sanctions type?”

“Well, we’re not talking about me personally. I prefer avoidance and just playing with gadgets, hence why I’m here taking care of this place.” He grins. “But my family and other shape-shifters are adept at using the media and the authorities to our advantage. Most hate groups aren’t careful to hide their zealousness, and we can get the police involved. As for public opinion, it is easy to make these groups look foolish. No one wants to believe in shape-shifters anyway. It’s easy to convince everyone we’re being targeted due to our wealth and status.”

“Huh. I want to know more about shape-shifter society. Where did you come from? What’s your history? Are there other types of shifters? Do you all get along? I’ve got a million questions.”

“Let’s see. There are six types of shape-shifters: jaguars, wolves, bears, dingoes, lions, and tigers. We all intermingle now and are spread out around the world, but it wasn’t originally like that.”

“And?” I encourage.

“I already mentioned that in some societies, like Central and South America, we were practically worshipped as gods and led the humans. In other areas, shape-shifters just rose to positions of political power.

“It didn’t last. As you know from what I told you about jaguar shape-shifters, humans were not content to let us keep the power and sought it for themselves. Our numbers simply weren’t enough to maintain power. By the early 1000s CE, many humans were systematically hunting and killing shape-shifters whether they knew what they were or not. In the case of jaguars, we and regular jaguars both suffered indiscriminately. In Europe, wolves were actively hunted as monsters. Unfortunately, the humans were not completely wrong to hunt and kill us.”

He looks sad, so I reach out and take his hand. He squeezes mine in return. “Many shape-shifters withdrew into hidden villages and cities, but as the human population grew and spread, it became increasingly difficult to stay apart. Over the last four hundred years or so, most have learned to blend into society, and we began intermarrying with humans. We carefully choose humans to entrust with our secret. Shape-shifters mostly choose human mates.” He pauses here, squeezes my hand again, and gives me a heated look.