Page 41 of New Nebraska Heat
And being a cop, that was my specialty.
Serenity, looking adorably casual in her robe and towel turban, looked at me with eyes wide and sincere. “If I come with you now, do really think it might help catch any of…them?”
“Absolutely.” Almost certainly not.
I was even more sure now, from the lingering scent on her thighs and hands, she’d given herself a release a short while ago. Choosing to exclude her two male admirers too. Promising. After all, she was meant for me, not them. With every move she made, my body shifted to match her, to maintain the magnetism firingbetween us. I just had to help her see it, get her away from these two mewling kittens who’d been trying to snuggle up to her all night. My jaguar grumbled and snarled. I told him to relax and leave things in my hands.
I was almost certain Serenity hadn’t gifted anyone else the bond my animal and I craved, especially as I looked at poor, blue-ball Bryce and half-restrained a smirk. Nodding at the lump in his trousers, I said, “If you’re coming, you’d better tie that thing into your waistband, and try not to pee up your three-thousand-dollar shirt next time you take a leak.”
Hunter scowled. Bryce clenched his teeth. And Serenity looked at me with an arched eyebrow.
But a restrained smile crept onto her mischievous face. So at least my personality wasn’t fucking things up too badly as I tried to win my mate.
Serenity
“Erm, I’m confused,” I said, zipping my waterproof jacket and scanning the shadowed street outside Hunter’s loft. A lackluster drizzle layered our clothes in watery beads as I turned to Dagger. “I thought you’d come in a police car.”
Bryce crossed his arms and eyed Dagger. “I was under that impression too.” Gerald stood behind him with an open golf umbrella, fending off the clouds’ dampening sighs. My first instinct was to shelter shoulder to shoulder with Bryce, but I didn’t know if he wanted others to know about our shared touch immunity, for lack of a better word. I wouldn’t even have known how to explain it if anyone asked. Was it… a kind of magic?
“There’s room for three.” Dagger nodded at his motorcycle. Matte black, it was one of those huge kinds that had a chunky, broad back tire and ample double seat. Three would have been pushing it though, even without Bryce’s condition.
Bryce shook his head and pointed a backward thumb at hislimo. “I’m sure she’ll be more comfortable riding in the car with me. We’ll meet you there.”
Dagger clunked open one of the motorcycle’s side storage boxes and pulled out two helmets, slipping one on and offering the other to me. “Why don’t we let the lady decide? We’re not at Midas, and you’re not the boss here.” He gently pressed the shiny, visored helmet into my arms.
I couldn’t help but accept. I’d never ridden on a motorcycle before, and I thought maybe I should, in the name of my new “live a little” mantra. Besides, this tattooed, brash version of Hunter was hard to refuse. So was his handsome, cocky smile.
“It’s okay, Bryce.” I turned to him, wishing Dagger weren’t here and I could reach out and give him a hug. Though, maybe limiting physical contact until we talked again was smart. Things were complicated, and had been a little strained before I’d raced off to shower. I’d just sat down on the couch in my robe to talk to Bryce and Hunter again when Dagger had appeared. “I’m sure the detective will keep me safe. We’ll see you at the police station.”
Dagger waved a playful —slightly goading—goodbye to Bryce as he helped me put on the helmet. He and Bryce didn’t seem to share the hostility that he and Hunter did, but clearly there was tension.
I wasn’t going to let that keep me from enjoying this though. The inside padding of the helmet was squishy, snug and smelled fresh out the factory. I immediately pulled the visor up to let the refreshing weather film my cheeks and chase away mild feelings of claustrophobia.
Stooping, Dagger motioned to tighten my chin strap further, but I held out a palm, pushing his hand away. “Nothing too tight near my neck please. This is fine.”
His eyes narrowed, but he nodded, inviting me to sit behind him and hold on tight as Bryce’s stretch began its lazy roll down the road, picking up speed.
Once the limo had slipped out of sight around the first corner, Dagger revved the bike, releasing the exhaust’s rasping rumbles. We shot forward, only to zip around in the middle of the road and head in the opposite direction of Bryce’s car.
As the growling engine sent pleasant vibrations pulsing up my body, I wrapped my arms around Dagger’s massive torso and asked, “Aren’t we going the wrong direction?”
He shouted through the side of his mouth, the words muffled by his helmet, thundering engine, and whooshing wind, making me press closer to hear. “What’s the point in riding a Harley if you can’t take some fun detours?”
His smoky gunpowder and leather scent, the firmness of his back against my torso, the way he seemed to be taking corners and speed bumps with extra care on my account… All of it combined with the aggressive rumble of the big bike between my legs made my toes curl in my shoes and my thighs tighten against the leather.
I bit my lower lip, pressing myself tighter against the top of Dagger’s rock-hard ass.
Damn. Turned out I had a soft spot for the bad boys, too. They just had to be the right kind of bad, with a hint of Hunter and Bryce’s sweetness.
Or maybe I didn’t know what I wanted. Overcompensating for the teenage years lost.
The thought worried me. This couldn’t be normal. I’d gone from zero interest in males—especially paranormal men—to casually almost-dating one, and then to fantasizing about him and his best friend in the shower. Now I felt myself adding my boyfriend’s twin to this imaginary harem. Hell, I’d even found that nerdy reporter, Sebastian, attractive until his vamp fangs had poked out. It was as if my body had bottled up lust and now every attractive guy I met was tugging at the cork. But that wasn’t exactly true, there’d been plenty of attractive guys at the club and Midas I hadn’t been drawn to…
Still, I had to knock it off. One guy was a distraction—one I could maybe indulge as part of my healing. But three?? Or four?! That seemed greedy. And it was like binding my hands and wrists. I couldn’t get tethered here, which meant I needed to focus on my new job at Midas. That was my ticket to freedom.
I needed to stay focused.
Or maybe… I thought as a bump in the road made my stomach somersault and my arms wrap tighter around Dagger… I needed to get it out of my system.
