Federal Paranormal Unit Bundle: Shape Shifter Paranormal Romance (25 page)

An overload of sensations took place. His lips on her breast, his other hand drifted between her legs, rubbing over her clit. Faster. His thrusts increased in speed as did his flicks. When she thought it couldn’t get better, he bit down on her nipple.

“Oh. My. God!”

Her pussy squeezed at his driving cock. Her body shuddered time after time with the intensity of her orgasm. She choked out a scream as her pussy clenched on his dick. His moves turned faster. A growl sounded from inside him. Growing louder by the second. His thrusts increased in speed. So fast it felt as if he were on fire inside her. Her body continued to contract around him. Then it was his turn to fall. He held stiff, his cock pulsing and filling her with his cum.

It took long moments of heavy breathing and her hugging him close before either could move. When he pulled out of her, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. A soft whisper of a kiss that only reminded her how much she loved him.

“Time for real food.” He winked.

“Is there any way I can convince you to bring this to bed?”

“Darlin’, if you promise to stay naked I’ll be yours to command.” He smiled wickedly.

“I think we can work something out,” she said, curling her hands around his neck to pull him close. She couldn’t deny how much she loved holding on to him. He was her heart. Insecurity tried to cool the heat from their lovemaking, but she willed it away. She needed to enjoy whatever time they had together. One thing was for sure, it wouldn’t last.

* * *

Brock watched Cyn refill her coffee mug. Her emotions were all over the place. He hated that she felt so distressed over them, but he wasn’t letting up. She was his. He’d mated her. Marked her. There was no turning back.  She mumbled to herself about not getting attached to him again. He would’ve found it amusing if she didn’t seem so serious about it.

“Are you okay?”

Her gaze jerked up to meet his. Her eyes spoke volumes to him. They were that rich amber, liquid gold. The vulnerability he saw in them wasn’t new. He’d seen that before. Right before she’d decided to leave him.

“Yes, I’m good.” She sat down at the kitchen table, put her mug in front of her along with her cousin’s diary and pursed her lips. “I’ve been thinking about this.”

She flicked the diary open and leafed through the pages. Her hand shook slightly.

He couldn’t take it. Her pain dug into his chest and tore at his heart. “Sweetheart, stop.”

She glanced up. The sadness in her eyes was too much for him. It shred him apart with that single look of pain.

“Tell me what’s wrong?”

“This,” she said waving her hand between them. He’d known it was coming. She’d been thinking so hard. Too quiet and too fidgety. “I don’t know if I can do this. We have to work together. I’m your superior. This isn’t going to be good for the team.”

Fuck that. There was no way he’d give her up again. Not for the team. Not for the job. Not for his own life.

“Stop it,” he ordered sternly, his beast just below the skin, wanting to comfort her in her time of need. “You’re stressing yourself out when you have too much on your mind.”

What he really wanted to say was that there was no need to question their relationship. He wasn’t letting go of her, and she wasn’t going anywhere. She’d get used to it. Eventually.

“Focus on your cousin. Let’s find her. Everything else can wait until after.”

She glanced down at the diary in her hand. “I called the hospital but Luis hasn’t woken yet. They promised to call me as soon as he does.”

“We need to talk to the sheriff,” he said and placed his own cup down on the table with a clank. “It’s about time he did something to help look for your cousin. It’s been more than forty-eight hours. They should be searching for her too.”

She nodded, her eyes filled with fear, pain and sadness. “Yes. They should. Let’s split up to cover more ground.” She grabbed her bag and headed for the door, opening it in a rush. “I’ll take the police station, and you go see about Josh.”

He knew what she was doing. Trying to push him away. It wouldn’t work, but he’d let her figure that out herself. They hopped into the SUV. “That’s fine. The station isn’t far from that house, so it’s easy enough.”

“Great.” She snapped her seatbelt and turned to him. “I have a good feeling about today.”

He had the opposite. He could sense danger coming, but couldn’t tell when or where. Power shifted at his palms, until he had to grind his teeth to hold it together. The thought of Cyn in any kind of danger pushed his control to near breaking. He wouldn’t allow anything to happen to her. Cyn’s safety was his sole priority. He didn’t care what happened to him, as long as she was safe.

* * *

Soon they were headed in the direction of the station. She’d been quiet. He knew she had a lot on her mind. Mainly, her cousin and their relationship. She could deny it all she wanted, but he knew she wasn’t going anywhere a second time. If she tried to, he’d chase her to the ends of the earth. She’d clearly returned because she wanted to be with him. Even if she didn’t want to admit it.

When they reached the station, she jumped out of the SUV. “Okay, go see about Josh. I’ll go speak to the sheriff and meet you here?”

“If the kid isn’t home I’ll return right away.”

Less than five minutes later he was at the Landley home. Josh’s hot rod was still missing. Brock knocked on the door, and a small blonde woman answered.

“Can I help you?”

“Hello, my name is James Brock.” He showed her his ID. “I’m from the FBI and need to speak to Josh regarding Luis Gomez.”

Theresa Landley frowned, her eyes coolly distant. “Why do you need to speak to my son?”

“Mrs. Landley, Luis Gomez was found beaten, bloody and unconscious in an abandoned warehouse.” He grimaced, watching the woman pale before his eyes. “Your son was the person who told us where to find Luis.”

Theresa’s eyes widened. Her features turned a sick shade of green under the bright sunlight. “I don’t understand...”

“We don’t either, ma’am. It’s why we need to speak to your son,” he urged.

She shook her head, short blonde hair swinging around her shoulders. “I don’t know where he is. He—” She blinked and paused. “I’ll call the sheriff and speak to him about this. I don’t believe my son would do anything to that kid.”

“That would be a good idea, but do you know where we can find Josh?” he asked again.

“No. He left yesterday. Said he was going to go camping or something and hasn’t returned.”

“What about Roxy Santos. Do you know where she could be?”

Theresa’s brows shot downward. “That girl. Why would I care where she is?”

Hate. There was enough of it in Theresa’s tone that the words dripped acid when she spoke.

“She’s been missing for over three days, and we’re trying to find her,” he explained.

“I don’t know anything about her other than I prohibited my son from seeing her.” She curled her hands into fists at her sides. “But he’s weak and refused to do as I said.”

Brock watched her. There wasn’t anything hesitant about Theresa. She genuinely disliked Roxy, but wasn’t lying about knowing where she could be. “Do you have any ideas on anyone who might know where she is?”

“Talk to her crazy mother. They’re just alike. Insane,” she muttered and stepped into her house. “I don’t know where that girl is, and I don’t know where Josh went. If I hear from him, I’ll have him come into the police station and straighten this all out.”

“Thank you.” He didn’t bother handing her a card to call him. He knew she’d just throw it out.

ELEVEN

Cyn marched into the police station ready for a showdown. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be anyone there to make that happen.

“Hello?” she yelled over the quiet counter. Then the sound of a toilet flushing reached her, followed by heavy steps on the wooden floor.

The young deputy showed up from around a corner. “You’re back.”

He said the words with surprise. She didn’t know why. It wasn’t like she’d just forget her cousin was missing, and Luis was in the hospital.

“Yeah, I’m back. I need to speak to the sheriff,” she demanded. Fuck being nice anymore. “Where is he?”

“Sorry, ma’am, but he said I shouldn’t talk to you. That you have no reason to be here, and that he called your superiors.”

She clenched her jaw and tried not to yell at the kid. It wasn’t his fault the Sheriff was an incompetent. “What superiors?”

The deputy reached into his pocket and pulled out a wrinkled piece of paper. “A Mr. Galvez.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. “What did he say?”

“Mr. Galvez said you weren’t on a case for the Bureau and didn’t have any permission to be here asking questions.” He folded the paper and shoved it into his shirt pocket. “In fact, Mr. Galvez said he’d come over and make sure you weren’t giving us any trouble.”

Great. Just great. “Where is your sheriff, Deputy?”

“Sheriff Kemp is out on patrol. I told him about the boy you found in the warehouse, and he decided to go see what information he could gather on that.”

Useless. The whole lot of them were completely useless. She did an about face, fuming over her lack of progress and rushed out the door. So much for a great day.

Beads of sweat gathered on her upper lip with each hurried step she took out of the station. Outside, things were even worse.

It started to rain heavily, the sky dark with clouds after she’d already walked a decent amount toward the Landley home. She cursed her bad luck and decided to continue to move. She’d meet Brock halfway. Squinting against the rush of raindrops, she chastised herself for not going with him to begin with. She wanted some action. Some answers. Something! Roxy was still missing and now she had more questions than she started with.

Where the hell was the sheriff, anyway? She stayed on the side of the road, not that there were many cars in Holy Oak. Besides, at that time of the day most people were working. Not to mention the town and the number of people in it could probably fit in their office building. The rain let up quickly, but she was already wet.

A honk blared past her. Her heartbeat tripped. Shit that was close. She took a quick peek over her shoulder for safety. If she hadn’t, she might have missed the car zooming right for her. Instinct pushed her to jump into the cascade of trees to her right. She tumbled down an incline, rolling through the grass. Rocks bit into her arms, cutting her skin open. The world shifted with each roll she did, until she came to a stop. Her stomach took longer to make its own stop. A sense of vertigo took over, and she was instantly nauseous. She panted, shaking from the almost hit and the adrenaline rush.

“Yeah. Great day.”

She stood, wincing at the pain on her right ankle. It didn’t feel broken, but she must have sprained it on her roll down the hill.

For a moment, she sat there, wondering what to do next. Her phone rang, pulling her out of her musings.

“Are you okay?”

Brock. She didn’t even want to ask how he knew something was wrong.

“Yeah, fine. I think an old lady almost ran me over just now.”

“Where are you?” he asked, the almost growled words enough to make her heartbeat speed up all over again. “I just came to the station, and you’re not here.”

She glanced around her. Trees surrounded her. She turned to the incline and bit her lip. “If you head toward the Landley home, I’m not far from the station.”

“Stay there,” he ordered. “I’m coming for you.”

She heard more fear through the phone. Genuine dread over her safety sounded in his voice. “That works. My ankle hurts.”

She attempted to crawl up the incline, but gave up after every other move she made she slid further down.

“Cyn?” Brock yelled.

“Down here!”

She watched him slowly use the trees to make his way down to her. Then he stopped in front of her and crouched. He picked her up in his arms, lifting her slowly to cradle her against his chest. She curled her arms around his neck and pressed as close to him as possible. It wasn’t that she was scared. Okay, maybe a little. Almost being run over could do that to a person.

“Let’s get your foot checked out in the hospital,” he said, his breath heating the side of her face.

“Okay, we can probably see about Luis. Hopefully, he’s woken up,” she said, clinging to him.

He held her tight in his grasp as he made his way up the incline. The SUV was parked on the side of the road. He slid her into the passenger side. She met his worried gaze and smiled.

“I’m okay. Just a scratch.”

He leaned down, pressing his lips hard on hers. Bruising. Owning. His hand cupped her cheek, fingers sliding down to her jaw. Their tongues rubbed, twined, a perfect mambo of need and pleasure. Passion flared to life in her chest. Their kiss turned aggressive, his lips fully branded her as his. Her heartbeat tripped, each beat thumping loud in her ears. There was a desperate edge to the kiss. As if he were ensuring she was okay through the connecting touch. Fire lanced her lungs, a reminder to breathe. He leaned back. Enough to stare into her eyes with his golden ones.

“I need you, Cyn. You’re everything,” he whispered, the words a soft growl.

“Not everything,” she denied.

“Yes. Everything. My everything.”

She couldn’t help it, couldn’t stop her hands from taking control. She pulled him into her arms and hugged him. Hard. Not because she’d been hurt, or because she’d dodged what could have been a severe injury, no. She hugged him to hold the feeling of belonging to him, with him, in her heart. She’d have to quit. There was just no way she could stay on the job and keep her hands away from him. This weekend had been eye-opening. She’d known it might be difficult to work with him, but she hadn’t counted on her love for him pushing its way to the forefront and taking charge.

Brock pulled back, ran his hand over her cheek once more and shut her door. She hoped Luis had woken. She needed to know what he knew about Roxy’s disappearance. Hopefully, something that could help them.

* * *

“Alright.” She sighed and stood, trying not to put too much pressure on her bandaged foot. “Let’s go see if Luis is awake.”

Brock offered to carry her, but she wasn’t completely useless. She limped beside him to the ICU.

They stopped outside Luis’s door. Brock’s eyes flashed red.

“What’s wrong?” she whispered.

“The sheriff is in there with Luis,” he murmured.

“Great. Let’s go see what the heck he’s going to do about this mess.” She pushed the door open.

“Cyn, wait—”

Too late. The door shoved inward, and Cyn gasped when she caught the sheriff holding Luis by his shirt, gun in hand.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she yelled.

The sheriff shoved his hand down, dropping the boy back in the bed, but she’d already seen him. “I was just asking Luis here about the injuries he suffered.”

She glanced up at Brock. His face was set to stony hard lines. “Get away from him.”

The sheriff shoved away from Luis. Cyn ran to the boy. He was barely awake, still under the influence of his pain medication.

“Hey, now. What the hell are you two doing in my town anyway?” The sheriff rushed forward. “I called your FBI office,” he spat. “You two don’t have any permission to come nosing into my town.”

“My cousin is missing, and you haven’t done anything to find her.”

The sheriff waved his gun in her direction. “I told you to get out of my town. Or you’re going to regret it.”

Cyn didn’t get a chance to speak. The air in the room thickened to almost oppressive. She jerked to give Brock a long sideways glance. His gaze locked on the sheriff.

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” he growled, his voice animalistic. Rough.

The sheriff gasped. “What the hell are you?”

“Not someone you want to shoot at.”

But the sheriff didn’t listen. Everything moved in slow motion. Not because Cyn was scared, but it seemed Brock controlled the gun and bullet with his mind. The pop sounded, and the bullet shot out, fast at first. She screamed a warning. The bullet slowed and stopped in front of Brock’s face before dropping to his open palm.

Cyn’s heart slowed to a crawl. She knew he was strong, but that didn’t matter when a bullet was rushing for his head. Alarm locked her muscles in place. Fear for him almost choked the air out of her lungs. He didn’t move. She watched his features turn feral, the red in his eyes glowing so bright it almost hurt to look at.

Then everything shifted to real time. She gasped and glanced at the sheriff. He stood there, frozen in place.

“James?” She rushed to her man’s side, wanting to be near him.

“He did that,” he said in another round of rumbles.

She blinked at the sheriff. Even without his movement, the fear in his eyes now evident. “What?”

“He beat up the kid.”

She gasped. “Why?”

“The girl at the morgue is Luis’s half-sister,” he said, his eyes slowly dimming from the blazing red to a red-black combination. “They tried to blackmail him. Them and your cousin. The three combined to blackmail people having affairs.”

“How would they know?” She turned to Brock fully, a million questions suddenly popping into her mind.

“Roxy,” he said, meeting her gaze. “She caught them doing things and wrote down the letters and numbers in her diary. Then she told Luis, and his half-sister suggested blackmail to make some money. To be able to leave town.”

“So did the sheriff also kill the other girl?”

Brock nodded, cocking his head to the side as if still digging through the sheriff’s brain. “He promised to meet up and pay her, but instead strangled her to death.”

She gulped, unsure if she really wanted to hear the rest. “What did he do with Roxy?” She pushed away the nausea riding the back of her throat. “Did he kill her too?”

“No. I know he wanted to, but he doesn’t know where she is.”

“Fucking hell!” she screamed.

“We’ll find her,” he promised. “We won’t leave until we do. But first, let’s get someone in to take this piece of shit to jail.”

Thankfully, the hospital sat on the border of the next town, so they waited to get a different, competent, sheriff to come in and arrest Sheriff Kemp.

Luis groaned, waking from sleep. Cyn rushed to his side.

“Luis?”

He blinked his eyes open. “Yes. Where am I?”

“The hospital, Luis.”

The kid glanced around, his eyes filled with fear. “Who are you?”

“My name is Cynthia Vega. I’m Roxy’s cousin. I need to know when the last time you saw her was.” Her words tripped over each other in her haste.

“Before the sheriff caught me at the warehouse. She’d had an argument with her mother.”

“Did she tell you where she might go?”

He shook his head, his eyes dull with pain. “She knew her mom would punish her, so she came to see me to tell me to be careful with the sheriff.”

Clara punished her? That didn’t make sense. “Punish her how?”

“I don’t know. She never wanted to talk about it.”

But Clara didn’t know where Roxy was. If she did, she wouldn’t have called Cyn in order to find her. It didn’t make sense.

“Thanks, Luis.” She watched him drift to sleep.

“I’m taking the SUV,” she said to Brock. He’d cuffed the sheriff with his own handcuffs and watched him from other side of the room. “I need to speak to Clara again. She must have missed something. Maybe a place Roxy would go when angry or upset. I don’t know.”

He handed her the keys. His hand held her wrist for a moment. “Be careful.”

“I will.”

* * *

Cyn arrived at Clara’s house just as the sun started to set. She knocked on the door, waiting impatiently for Clara to open.

As usual, Clara’s eyes had that confused look to them. “Hi, Cici. Come in, it’s time for tea.”

Talk about Déjà vu. Hadn’t they had that same conversation at least twice before?

She followed behind Clara to the kitchen. She sat down on the kitchen table, drumming her fingers on the plastic tablecloth.

“Clara, are you sure you don’t know where Roxy could be?” she asked, her voice pitched with dread. “She might have told you. Maybe given you a hint?”

“No, Cici.” Clara placed a white porcelain tea cup in front of her filled with steaming tea. “Oh,” Clara gasped. “I think I might have something that could help your search.”

Finally!

“Yes, sure. Please. Whatever you have bring it here,” she rushed out.