03 - You Only Live Nine Times (16 page)

She turned on her heel and flounced away, confident that he would follow. 
No fear there
.  He couldn’t get out of his pants fast enough, and actually fell over twice trying to reach the bathroom.  Her snickers did nothing to quell the raging lust inside him.

At the back of his mind, he was kind of aware that they were on the clock, that they had a job to do, a case to solve…  But he couldn’t help himself.  He’d never been overtaken by such a stark, hot need.  Maybe it was Isis; there was something about her.  Something that drew him to her above any other woman, something that tore at his inhibitions and made him want to forget everything and just pleasure her.  And damn, he would make sure she was pleasured.

The moment he stepped into the bathroom two strong hands pulled him under the cool spray.  He grunted at the coolness of the water but soon moaned at the warm, lithe body pressing against him.  She pushed him back onto the cool tiles of the shower wall and plundered his mouth in a dizzyingly, erotic kiss.  Her tongue swept over his, fighting for control.  Pulling back from his lips with a satisfied grin, Raf twisted them, so she leaned against the wall and kissed her again.

“You sure you want this?” he panted as his lips brushed over hers.  “We barely know each other.”  He held his breath, fearing the answer.  What if she said stop?  Could he stop at this point?  His mind, while considerate of her, could only retain so much control.  His body wanted this woman and wanted her now.

“You think too much,” she hissed and bit his neck.

Groaning, he grasped her leg and hooked it around his waist.  Without hesitating, he aligned their sexes and pushed inside her with a firm thrust.  He almost drooled at the warmth and tightness of her sheath and was amazed and more than a little proud to feel her rippling around him in orgasm already.  Breathy moans escaped her lips as she wrapped her arms around him.  He gritted his teeth as her inner muscles clamped around, almost drawing out his own release.

After a few moments, her body sagged a little, still impaled on his rock-hard shaft.  She rested her head against the wall, eyes closed.  “Fuck, I needed that.”

Raf, still hard and throbbing inside her, worried for a moment.  “Do you want me to stop?”

Isis growled and opened her eyes to annoyed slits.  “One orgasm and you think we’re done?  Ha!”  She pushed him away from her, and he almost whined as his cock slipped from her body.  She turned, showing him her back and leaning against the shower wall looked over her shoulder.  “We’re not even close to done.”  She wiggled her rear saucily and licked her lips.

He didn’t need another invitation
.  Gripping her hips he brushed the head of his member along her lips and she barked at him to hurry.  With one fluid motion, he drove himself deep into her embracing walls.  She mewled as he pulled out to the tip and plunged inside her as hard as he could.

He watched entranced as his manhood dipped in and out of her body, pulling out covered in her nectar and then disappearing again into her glorious, clenching sex.  Had he died and gone to heaven?  No, heaven couldn’t possibly be this sinful.  He caressed her soft flesh, his fingers massaging her creamy cheeks as she bucked against him, urging him, hurrying him to completion.  He covered her body with his and nipped at her shoulder.

“Yes, bite me, bite my shoulder,” she panted.

He only hesitated for a second before clamping his teeth into her flesh.  Not hard, he didn’t break the skin; he wouldn’t dare mar the perfectness of her body but it was enough to tip her over the edge.  She shrieked in pleasurable alarm, and her body violently shuddered.

Raf was at boiling point, and with a bellow of pleasure he exploded, pulsing inside her as she shivered around him.  He released her from his bite and rested his forehead on her shoulder.  Almost delirious from the shattering orgasm, he could have sworn she murmured the word ‘mate’.

Chapter Eighteen

Isis wound her wet hair into a braid.  After their shower adventure, which did, eventually lead to them actually washing, she had donned a pair of Raf’s sweats and a t-shirt.  She really could have insisted on going home at that point, but she preferred to have his scent, his clothes against her skin. 
She smelled just like him
.  Her tiger reveled in the nearness.  It was the next best thing to the intimacy they had just shared.

She eyed Raf through her lashes.  Any thoughts she might have had about Raf not being able to keep up with her had been smashed to smithereens.  Raf had proved himself to be exceptional -
repeatedly
.  Her perception of human males had been obliterated.  He wasn’t weak or slow or lacking in stamina like her arrogant preconceptions had believed.  Nor was he rough or boorish like so many other shifters she had wasted her time bedding.  His caramel body, so taut, so toned made her mouth water.  And as for his sex… oh, it was a thing of beauty.  He wasn’t uncomfortably big nor disappointingly small - their bodies fit together perfectly.  Hell, he was barely inside her for more than a couple of seconds before she came.  Just a crooked smile set her off. 

He was the best lover she ever had. 
Or will ever have
.  Mine, purred a very smug Ms. Kitty.  Isis didn’t even bother to sneer at the word.  How could she?  She was currently in Satisfaction Land, and it would be a while before she left.  Raf was so deliciously perfect. 

But damn him if he didn’t have her all gooey and giggly like a love-struck teen. 
It was revolting
.  She’d managed to avoid this kind of man-worship her whole life – even when she was a teen.  It annoyed the hell out of her while simultaneously elating her in a way that had her all tingly and glowing.

Was this how people with mates felt all the time?  While she doubted she could get an asshole like Cutter to admit to feeling glowing, she had to concur that he took on a pretty goofy, dazed grin whenever his mate was near.  Was that how she looked whenever Raf was near?  Like she’d been run over by a truck and somehow enjoyed the experience?

Raf was pleased with the turn of events but a little embarrassed.  She didn’t know why.  Sure she was getting all uncharacteristically girly, but that was over her silly feelings, not over what they had done together.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” she soothed.  “Sex is a very natural thing.”

“I know, I just, I don’t want you to think I took advantage of you.”

He started at the roar of laughter emanating from Isis.  He sat waiting patiently as she chortled with delirious mirth, almost falling off her seat.  “Trust me, I don’t think that,” she snickered in between hiccups.  “You take advantage of me?  Puh-lease.”

“I mean because of your heat and all,” he muttered, a flush settling over his cheeks.

Oh, how cute!
  Ms. Kitty preened.  Wasn’t their human adorable?

“Oh, sweetie, you’re so funny.  Trust me, no man could ever take advantage of me.  I was a little guilty about me taking advantage of you.”

His eyebrows almost raced off his face.  Uh-oh, she may have hurt his manly pride.  But, no, thankfully not.  Instead, he laughed.  “Well, if that’s you taking advantage, feel free to do so anytime.”

“Don’t tempt me.”  Her voice smoldered at the thought of pinning him down right now and taking what she wanted.  But she figured she ought to be a little considerate.  Even male shifters needed recuperation time.  She’d cut him some slack.  Her tiger swished her tail. 
For now
.

“Yeah,” he sighed, “we have a job to do, I guess we could consider that our lunch hour.”

“You’re so responsible,” she rebuked, playfully.

“Hardly,” he snorted.  “Responsible cops don’t give their partners oral sex in cars or nip home to have shower sex in the middle of the day.”

“We come from two very different worlds.  Oh, check it out, an e-mail from Jessie.  Hmmm, she did a little digging on Forever Young and apparently a lot of their investors heard about the body debacle and have pulled out.  Also, they’re having trouble finding people willing to donate their bodies to them.  Things are not looking good.”

“Couldn’t they just find another medical supply company?  Surely they’re not the only company that wants cadavers.”

“I wondered about that and Jessie made inquiries.  There are a few others who source dead bodies, but they’re not keen to get involved with Forever Young.  They don’t want the stigma of Crowe Medical Supplies to reach their companies.  Forever Young is screwed.”

“So maybe it’s not such a huge leap for them to steal bodies.  Well, it’s not normal, but if they’re desperate they might.  Hell, I once arrested a woman who murdered her best friend for borrowing her favorite pair of shoes.  It doesn’t take much to push people into committing crimes.”

Isis bit her lip thoughtfully.  “I’d say let’s check out Howler’s financials, but I doubt he’s dumb enough to pay anyone from his own private account.  He’s probably got a hidden account for that.  But just in case it is any of the employees, Jessie sent me their profiles, and oh, goody there’s over one hundred and fifty.”  That last part was definitely sarcastic. 
Too much to hope for a mom and pop operation
. 

“Maybe we’ll have more luck with the camera footage from the bank.”

“When did you get that?”

Raf gave her a warm smile, dimples popping, that sent a thrill straight from her heart down to her sex.  “Remember after you caught that bag-snatcher, you were running around chasing that butterfly before you changed back into human.”

“Oh yeah.”  Isis clutched her fists.  “I wanted to eat that thing so much.” 
Stupid, wily butterfly.

“Disturbing, yet weirdly hot,” he admitted as a desire flashed in his eyes.  Her tiger perked up in interest and Isis had to beat her down again.  Not yet – later.

“Anyway,” he continued, “it was then.  I went into the bank and at first the manager didn’t want to give me anything, so I told him to look out the window at the butterfly chasing tiger and told him you’d be asking him next, and suddenly he promised to e-mail me the digital files.  For some reason he seemed kind of scared of you, can’t imagine why.”

“No, me neither,” she lied, blatantly.  “Okay, so you start looking at the footage and I’ll trail through the employees’ records.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Yep, a boring, very unsexy plan. 

*

“Here, I think I got something,” chirped Raf, almost excitedly.  “Look.”

Isis perched herself on Raf’s lap.  Yeah, she could have pulled up her chair, could have stood behind him, but she liked the feel of him, hot and stirring beneath her bottom.  She wiggled and was met by the frustrated groans of the human beneath her.  Annoyed at her, maybe, but he still slipped an arm around her waist, comfortably resting there as he used his free hand to play the video.

They watched the camera footage on his laptop.  A large, dark car pulled up in the parking lot.  It tilted towards the driver’s side magnificently and then sprang up as a huge weight lifted out of it.  The weight being a large looking man – for surely it couldn’t be anything other than a man – who heaved himself out of it.  With a lumbering shuffle, he moved around to the trunk and produced a black bag.  Seemingly uncaring and unhurrying, he continued his shuffle into the alley.  He returned moments later and packed himself back into the car; it dipped, almost scraping the road as he drove away.

“Probably our guy,” stated Isis, unnecessarily.  Well, it was unlikely he was dumping the contents of his trash can in that alley.  Plus his whole demeanor screamed 'suspicious'.  Ms. Kitty bridled at the mere fuzzy outline of him caught on film.

Raf hummed and rewound the video to re-watch those few moments.  “Shame we can’t see what he really looks like, too far away.  We can’t even see the license plate on the car.  The guy’s huge, though.  You think he’s a shifter?”

“From his size, I would guess so.”  Hard to believe he could be anything else. 
Unless he was actually a couple of humans standing on top of one another
.  But no, that only worked in movies.  “And I guess he’s the guy Leaky saw at the cemetery.”  What was that description Leaky gave?  Oh yeah, big and fuzzy features. 
Spot on
.

Raf rubbed his chin, thoughtfully.  “This doesn’t help us much, all we know is that he’s a big guy who drives a big, dark car.  Doesn’t narrow it down much.  But I guess by the shape of the car that it’s a BMW, but that is just a guess.”

“And he has a slight limp.  Rewind it, let’s watch it again.” 

They watched it repeatedly, and sure enough the guy walked with a strange limp.  It wasn’t very pronounced, more like one of his feet had trouble keeping up with the other.

“He has a strange gait.”  Raf opened his mouth as if he were about to say something but just chuckled.

“What?” she purred, sliding a finger along his neck.

“Strange to say, but he kind of walks like one of the zombies you see on TV.”

“Like in the Walking Dead, I love that show.”  And it’s main character was one of her favorite stars of her many erotic fantasies.  Many a time, she would come swooping in and save him from a group of walkers, and then he would ravish her senseless.  That’s right –
she
would always save
him
.  She was a modern gal, she believed men and women were equal when it came to slaying zombies.  Or at least, Rick Grimes used to occupy those fantasies.  Now, they were all about Raf.  The zombies were still there, which was a little odd.  Maybe she’d been spending too much time talking to Jeff.

“Me too,” he murmured snapping her out of her reverie.  “I’ll watch anything with zombies.”

Back to the point.  “You’re right, he does have a zombified walk.”

“You think he could actually be a zombie?”

“Ummm, I doubt it.  While Jeff is a perfect fit for the mailroom, he can take as much time as he wants sorting it all out.  But, we often do catch him trying to suck on packages every now and then.  Zombies don’t really have the concentration or hand-eye co-ordination to drive cars.  It’s best that they don’t go out on their own.  They are dead after all.”

Raf quirked his lips.  “You know I think I’d like to meet this Jeff.  Actually talking to a zombie would be interesting.”

“You should come by the SEA offices, I’ll introduce you around to all the crazy people.  I don’t want to sound too tempting, but a woman in archives is actually half fae.”

“Fae?”  His eyebrows knitted in confusion before he let out an ‘oh’.  “You mean a fairy?  You work with a fucking fairy?”

“Half fairy.” 
And a flirty minx to boot – even flirtier than Isis
.  “But she has wings and everything.”  And wouldn’t she be the jealous little fairy when she caught sight of the arm candy Isis was toting.  She’d be a dead fairy if she tried to touch, mind.

“Yeah, I’d actually like that.  Coming to your office, I mean, getting to know more about the SEA.”

Yes, that thought was enticing - Raf working at the SEA.  Her tiger growled happily.  She need never let him out of her yellow-eyed sight.  Plus there were so many cupboards and storage areas to drag him into whenever the need took her. 
So like every hour
.  How about right now?  Damn, down kitty, take it easy on the poor boy.  He deserves at least another hour, or thirty minutes, or more like ten minutes before she pounced.  For now, distraction, think of the case.

Isis nodded decisively.  “We just need to find someone who tops seven feet and has the walk of an extra from the Walking Dead and we have our guy.”

“Anything in the files?”

Reluctantly, Isis left the warmth and pressing hardness of Raf’s lap to drag her own laptop over.  She soon resumed her rightful place, though.  “No one who matches that distinctive description if that’s what you mean.  And also no red flags yet, but I’ve only looked through Howler’s, one of the nerd’s and that Topanga whore’s so far.”

His lips quivered in mirth at her choice of word for Topanga, but wisely he chose not to say anything.  “So Topanga seems normal, then?”

Isis didn’t bother to hide her moue of distaste at all the talk of another female cat.  On the other hand, her tiger snarled and made quite a few other bodily noises in a most unladylike way to show her feelings on the feline.  “I looked at her first, and yes.  Degree in business, sound financials, owns her car and her house.  All in all, I’d say she was pretty average and dull.  The only interesting thing about her is that she drives a Corvette.”

“Nice,” commented Raf.

“Glad you approve,” she said, sourly as Ms. Kitty huffed.  What was the unhealthy interest men had in cars?  They were nothing compared to bounding along on four legs, the wind rippling through your fur. 
Sigh
.  “I did find that odd lab rat though.  I know why he looked so miserable - he’s Dr. Howler’s stepson.  His mom is a pretty prolific chemist, and she works for Forever Young, too.  Junior didn’t exactly do well in high school or college, so I reckon the job was given to him out of pity by his stepfather.  Might be why he’s a little pissy.”