Tempting the Enemy (4 page)

It didn’t leave her much to think about other than the length of the hallway and its complete lack of access to the outside. As decoration went, the Moonridge Police Department could only be described as depressing. Dark green walls brightened only by gray stone or the occasional pair of exposed fluorescent tubes affixed to the ceiling. She didn’t want to identify what occasionally scuffed or smeared the walls. So she was back to him.

Detective Palen Rysen… She considered his name, testing it in her mind. Was he the one the Magistrate feared she’d find before they could see her properly bred to a Sibile male? Were her hormones simply responding to the pheromones of a strong male? Why not a controllable human male instead, like the one who’d greeted her?

No. She curved her tongue around her left fang with instant distaste at the remembered sight of Chris Dee Tenorio

25

Jorgensen. The signature coming off him almost made her sick. He’d been a mishmash of colors, all shades, as if he’d been rubbed on by several different people before coming to work. The word
unclean
came to mind. If he’d managed to touch her, she’d have burned a hole through his hand. Just for a start.

It had to be because Rysen was a Wolf. Since she didn’t feel like going stupid with his lust again, she kept her mind’s eye closed, but the urge to see his colors tugged at her. Even with his anger clear in the arrow straightness of his spine, she wanted to touch it again.

Feel
him
again, his strength and vitality as pure as a drug in her blood, taking her over effortlessly.

Reason kept intruding on the urge, keeping her from giving in. Why was she so drawn?

He looked nothing like the males she’d been introduced to at the enclave. No thin, prettyish boy with a nervous smile. She couldn’t even imagine what he might look like if he did smile. Half his face was covered with a thick, bristly black beard, and the rest hid behind the black hair he took no pains to deal with. She wanted to push back the strands and see him clearly, but even then it probably wouldn’t help. There was no telling whether his jaw was squared or round or pointed. Whether his upper lip was thin or full. He hid his face with an effectiveness she almost admired.

He couldn’t hide his eyes, though. Milky-blue, with intensity radiating from them like a bonfire. He dressed nearly the same as the other men on his floor—dress coat hanging on the back of his seat, button-down shirt, but instead of slacks, he’d donned supple denims that clung to his legs, showing muscle shifting as he walked. She had a 26

Tempting the Enemy

feeling the difference in clothing wasn’t expressly permitted. And that he didn’t particularly care.

Desire hit so strong, it clenched her insides and she bent slightly in response. She hungered to taste him, so much her teeth actually began to feel longer, sharper.

What’s happening to me?

Logic. She stretched for logic. Clear thinking. She’d read every book in the Order’s extensive library on the subject of Wolves, most of it unpleasant but informative.

Could this be something the Order hadn’t warned her about? A side effect or a mutation?

Before she could decide either way, Rysen opened a door and strode into what appeared to be an interrogation room. Peering inside first, Jade noted only the gray walls, a table, three chairs and a camera mounted in the upper corner. Nothing dangerous.

She entered, but her sense of safety didn’t last long.

Rysen yanked the camera plug from the wall, turned in place and came at her. Without even time to gasp, she found her back pressed to the door, slamming it closed with the force of the impact.

His large hand pulled her head back by her
flos
, the decorative cover for the braided bun at her nape, leaving her throat taut and exposed to his satisfaction. She flailed her hand between his arm and his torso, pulling the light from the room and shaping a small dagger that glowed in the sudden darkness. She even pulled it back, ready to slice into his side, but…he didn’t attack.

He waited for her breathing to still, staring down at her, a grim expression hardening his stark gaze even more. She refused to yield her weapon, but he didn’t seem to care about the light blade in the slightest. Instead, he Dee Tenorio

27

searched her face for something, his stare lingering on her fangs until the throb in them grew painful with wanting.

Wait. How could she still want him? He was holding her completely at his mercy, effortlessly stifling any physical struggle she could give. But she wanted him.

More so
because
of his domination.

No wonder the Order considered her an abomination.

She waited for the shame to fill her. But there was simply no room for it, not with the flood of sensation coursing through her veins. Her heart fluttered and, deep in her belly, liquid desire softened her defenses further.

His heat seeped into her through their clothes, spiking her temperature even higher. The pressure of his hand on her back, his broad chest rubbing her suddenly sensitive nipples through her sweater gave blessed relief to the wanting that crawled over her skin.

It wasn’t enough. She wanted him closer. Wanted to taste him. Wrap every limb around him. Feel him everywhere, even inside, where the want had become a hollow desperation to be filled. She watched him warily, ignoring the needs snaking through her as best she could.

Either he’d give her what she needed or not. The choice, she realized as she stopped pushing him, had never been hers.

Slowly, not lowering his guard, he pressed his face against her throat. She felt his deep inhalation, shuddered at the warmth of his lips, then quaked as his beard grazed up along the excited ends of her nerves. Heat flash-flamed inside her. The moisture between her thighs increased.

The sliding sensation of her own legs shifting felt so much like a stroke, her entire body jerked.

The light blade dissipated, bringing the room back to its normal brightness. Maybe brighter. She wasn’t sure 28

Tempting the Enemy

because her lids slid closed at his long, hot lick over her pulse.

“What
are
you?” Rysen growled into her ear.

She melted against her will, those deep vibrations strumming her senses even more than they had upstairs.

She felt as if she were dissolving at her very bones.

Molding to him.

He growled again, and this time his fangs grazed her pulse point, as if he couldn’t help but allow himself another moment of satisfaction before pulling away. “Tell me, little Sibile. What game is the Order playing this time?”

“Not a Sibile,” she replied, her breathless voice alien to her own ears. His hold stiffened when she brushed her belly against his, relief from the contact flooding her along with her own moment of satisfaction when she felt the ample evidence of his interest. More than ample. “Not entirely.”

“There’s no such thing as a half-breed,” he said, voice a moist whisper across her ear. He rocked his hips against hers, searching. Was he as helpless to this as she?

Did he feel as desperate to be touched? She undulated into him in response, gasping when he pumped harder. The light flared behind him, haloing his dark hair with fire.

Caution glimmered in the back of her mind.

He pressed closer, turning her head to face him again. He glared down at her from half-lidded eyes, their glow heated and still…angry. “Answer me.”

“You d-didn’t—” She gasped when he tugged her head again. Not to hurt her, just to rattle her. Her indrawn breath this time was swift with fury. Over his shoulder, the light bulb began to make a cracking sound.

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She didn’t dare shift her focus, but she heard it.

Control. Remain in control…
She focused on her answer like a lifeline back to sanity. “You didn’t ask me anything, Wolf.”

A growl rumbled against her chest. Warning, pure and simple. “What. Are. You?”

He could tug all he wanted; she wouldn’t be intimidated by him. It took effort, but she managed to lift her chin. “My father was a Wolf. My mother ran away to be with him. The Order took me in when they died.” Not technically a lie. “Just because you’ve never met a mix doesn’t mean we don’t exist.”

But the answer didn’t satisfy him. “The Sibile would never accept a Wolf in their midst. What are you playing at?”

“Let me go, Detective.” She didn’t have to try to make her voice cold now. She knew far better than he ever could what her people thought of her.

“Do you have any idea of the danger you’ve put yourself in? Coming here, smelling the way you do. Are you trying to lure me out?” He pressed his face to her throat again, inhaling deeply. “You have me now, though, don’t you?” His hold tightened again, but it was his bite—

heavy teeth pressing against the cord in her neck, his tongue caressing her skin—that started the overload.

Behind her eyes, power flared like a star. Emotions, thoughts not her own, racked her, rich with sensation, scent and sound. The shock of it all made her clasp his sides, her sharp nails cutting through the leather of the gloves, sinking into his skin as blue visions took over her senses completely.

Her own body, bare, still against the door. His hand
covered her breast, kneading, while his other hand
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Tempting the Enemy

gripped her hip, guiding her down onto him. He filled his
palms with her bottom, a growl of pleasure vibrating
through his chest when he penetrated her completely. Her
hands wound over his shoulders, her head thrown back as
her body began to rock. He ground his fangs into her
neck, thrusting against her. Soon their bodies were
pressed tight, their motion slow, deep. Perfect.

Moans in her own voice, husky and new, met his
approving rumbles. His hands smoothed over her skin,
stroking, grasping.

Claiming.

Jade’s heart galloped wildly, the vision overwhelming. She’d be shocked if she could think clearly past all the images and feelings bombarding her.

She could sense her own muscles squeezing tight around
him
. Drawing him deeper, demanding more. Could even feel his pride in knowing he was pleasing her.

He could give this to me
, she thought, shuddering when the mental pace increased and his thoughts lost all coherent meaning. They became merely sensations that washed over her in drenching waves. Desire, spinning the whole world red. Sweat and the sounds of her own voice crying out in release. Wet skin, burning with heat, riding against smooth flesh, a deep wet slide…indescribable bliss. Sweet, devouring pleasure…

She cried out, her body jerking against him again, quakes vibrating from her core outward, leaving her gasping in their wake. He held her the entire time, until she sagged limply over him, her head lolling in his hand.

She stared up at him, seeing the fire that burned in his gaze now, the flush of red at the top of his cheeks. He looked savage. Strained. She wanted to touch his lips, feel Dee Tenorio

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them soften for her. Feel everything he’d just imagined, all over again, but
real
.

“You’re telepathic.” An accusation.

“No.” She tried to straighten, tried to find the bones in her legs. Belatedly she realized he held her completely off the ground, his arm a vise around her waist. She pushed at his shoulder for release. Not a millimeter of give.

“If you’re not, then what the hell were you doing in my head?”

“I wasn’t!”
Not exactly
. It had to be his signature, serving as a direct conduit. She pushed harder, confused by the conflicting sensory barrages of his wild passion and icy rejection flooding her at once. He needed to stop touching her; his feelings were too hard to shut out.

“Don’t lie to me.” The whisper was silky.

Threatening.

“Stop trying to intimidate me.” Anger helped her fight him. She pounded on his chest. “Let go.”

“No. I want answers. What are your gifts, scarlet?

Why did your Order send you after us?”

“They didn’t. Let me go!” Her fist came off his shoulder like rain bouncing pointlessly off hard stones.

She pulled at her other hand, still trapped between his arm and his torso, yanking desperately. She felt her gift rising but she didn’t care. She wanted—no,
needed
—to be free.

“You’ll only hurt yourself this way,” he said, his voice calm, the last trigger to fire her temper.

She glared up at him, meeting his stare for the flash of a second before giving it rein. “Wanna bet?”

His face registered surprise, then shock as he no doubt felt the burning under his hands. He released her so fast she dropped to her feet, losing her balance and 32

Tempting the Enemy

slamming back into the door. That quickly, her gift slipped out of her grasp.

She tried to pull it back, to stop the force of it, but she yanked it too fast. Like a live thing, it snapped in backlash, exploding between them with a burst of light and heat, sending the man in front of her flying backward with a roar.

Chapter Three

Wolf eyes stared at her, stunned. Enraged. “What the
fuck
was that?”

She regarded him carefully, hand at her throat, trying to tamp down her heartbeat and her wild breathing.

Neither settled. He’d crashed into the table, shoving it against the back wall and upending the chairs on either side. Even the hanging light over their heads swung back and forth, pitching shadows in a chaotic circle. This was not a moment to agitate him.

But despite the release mere moments before, her body still thrummed for more of what that vision had promised, and she deeply wanted him back against her.

The disappointment that it wouldn’t happen physically stung, but she couldn’t risk letting him get the upper hand again.

Power crackled in her, then finally ebbed once more.

She met his glare with her chin high. “A warning. I won’t be commanded by you.”

“Bullshit.” His tone was even but the menace around him grew. He sat up from his sprawl across the table, a lazily graceful movement she didn’t want to notice.