True Nature (18 page)

I shivered at the memory, but before I could reply, Mike leaned in close again. “You know, this is my first night off in eight days, and I wanted to spend it with a gorgeous woman. Not talking about murder.”

“A gorgeous woman, you say?” I glanced over my shoulder. “When’s she going to join us?”

He kissed me, leaning over to cup my face, draw me close, and fasten his sexy mouth on mine.

God, I wanted him.

We gazed at each other. Then Mike moved back and raised his hand for our waiter. I thought he was going to ask for the check and we would do the horizontal bop in the backseat of his SUV. Instead, he said, “Coffee, please. Black. How about you, Zoe?”

I ordered a cappuccino and sat back, thinking, oh, but this man is really smooth, playing patient and controlled. I liked him and his style.

We sat close together, talking easily—movies, pop culture and books. I was excited to learn Mike was addicted to the cable series “Justified,” was a rabid Robert B. Parker fan, and loved Stephen King as well.

“My last Stephen King was
Cujo
,” I said with a laugh. “I saw the movie, but it scared me to death. I slept with the lights on for three nights and swore I’d never have a dog.”

Mike laughed, and I enjoyed the way his face changed completely. “I guess I’d better keep Barney in the garage if you ever come to my place.”

“Barney would be your dog, right?” I said, disappointed. I was, for obvious reasons, a cat person.

“Don’t worry. They don’t come any friendlier or dumber than Barney. I’ve seen him lie still for thirty minutes while my eighteen-month-old nephew hit him with a stuffed hammer. I think Barney would rather be hurt himself than do anything to anybody else.”

Mike told me about his family. There were three sisters between him and his older brother. “Lots of estrogen in the house,” he said. His brother, Dominick, had been a member of the New Jersey Army National Guard. Dom, as he called him, had died in Afghanistan protecting a wounded buddy during a firefight.

The open admiration and pure love in Mike’s voice touched me. He said he spent many of his days off at Dom’s house doing odd jobs for his sister-in-law and two nephews.

“I feel like I need to be their male role model,” he explained. “They’re great kids. Anthony’s fifteen and Michael’s twelve. They both play basketball and hockey and love the Yankees. We try to get to at least two or three games every year.”

“Kids definitely get under your skin,” I agreed. I told him about my visit that afternoon with Kinley’s daughters.

“I want to try to help Kelly.”

“So she’s still not talking.”

“All she did while I was there was draw pictures. She used a lot of red, pressing down on the crayon like she’d never get enough color on it.”

“Expressing her anger, maybe?”

I shrugged. “I promised Lydia I would go over to Kinley’s and pick up a few things.”

Mike glanced at his watch. “It’s not quite ten. How about we go by tonight? I can help you.”

I hesitated. This was not the sexy end to the evening I had in mind. On the other hand, his company would be nice on this difficult task.

****

Kinley’s little house looked lonely in the moonlight as we pulled into the driveway. I closed my eyes. Unfortunately, all that did was make me think of the vision from Fraser. I hadn’t thought about Hunter in the last two hours. But now, very clearly, I could hear Fraser telling me to protect him.

“You okay?” Mike asked as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

“Sorry, I didn’t think it would bother me so much to be here,” I lied.

“If you need to wait out here, I’ll get the stuff Lydia wants.”

He put his hand on my shoulder, and I immediately felt better. There is great value in human touch. I handed him the house keys while we walked up the steps. I waited while Mike cut the crime seal and unlocked the front door.

I felt Kinley’s presence everywhere, and I was filled with a suffocating sadness. Mike put his hand in the small of my back, and we stood, absorbing the grief that surrounded us.

Mike flipped on the lights as we went upstairs. I read off items on Lydia’s list and he gathered. He was surprisingly knowledgeable about kids’ toys and clothes. He told me he had six nieces as well as the three nephews he had already mentioned. Together, we packed a couple of suitcases we found in the hall closet. He helped me fold the quilt from Kinley’s bed, and we carried the bags downstairs.

Mike did a quick walk-through of the house. As we passed the kitchen, I glanced inside and noticed the refrigerator was covered with childish artwork.

“Hang on a second.” I stepped into the room to study the pictures.

Most of the drawings were done by Kelly. They were actually a story of her family. There were pictures of a house with the mom, dad, and two little girls standing in grass with flowers at their feet. At the top was what I assumed was a newer picture of a mother and two girls standing by the same small house, with the flowers and grass in place.

These pictures were a stark contrast to the ones Kelly was drawing now.

“Something wrong?” Mike asked from behind me.

I turned and headed for the living room. “I’m sorry. This is such a sad place now. Kinley wanted it to be a happy home.”

As I walked down the sidewalk to the car, I looked back and shivered. Mike locked the front door and put the police seal back in place. I hoped I never returned here.

We put the bags in the backseat of Mike’s car. “Why don’t I take these over to Lydia’s in the morning?” he suggested. “I need to talk to her anyway.”

I agreed. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw something. A man?

I whipped around and saw Hunter’s grandfather standing just at the rear corner of the garage. Gasping, I ran forward.

“Zoe?” By the time I reached the spot where Fraser stood, Mike was at my side with his gun drawn.

And there was nothing and no one there.

“What is it?” Mike asked.

“I just thought—”

A bolt of silver shot past us, and we jumped. Then a cat’s plaintive meow sounded from the darkness.

“Hunter?” I murmured, stepping forward again.

“What?” Mike touched my arm. “What about Hunter?”

What was I supposed to say, something like, “Hunter becomes a cat all the time. I thought he might be checking up on our date.” Instead, I just shook my head.

Mike walked around the garage but found nothing, of course. He paused and looked at me but said nothing as he holstered his gun. He took my arm. “Let’s get you out of here,” Mike said. “This place is nothing but bad memories.”

Maybe that’s all it was, I thought on the drive to my house. Perhaps being back at the scene of Kinley’s murder made me jumpy. Just to be sure, I pulled out my cell phone and checked. Nothing from Hunter. No phantom texts from Fraser telling me what to do next.

“Expecting to hear from someone?” Mike asked.

I put the phone away. “Just a client.”

I don’t think he believed me. He was quiet when we got to my place.

But as we stood in the circle of light from the lamp beside the door, his expression softened. He put his arms around me and pressed a kiss along my jaw line. His voice was a deep caress against my skin. “I’m really glad I met you,” he whispered.

Boldly, I slid my arms around his waist and pulled his body against mine. He didn’t resist. The chill began to leave my body as he hugged me tight against his heat. In his arms, I didn’t feel so lost, alone, and worried. His mouth made a trail of soft kisses to my shoulder.

I leaned back and looked up at him. “I really wanted dessert at the restaurant. Didn’t you?”

His answer was a long, deep kiss that curled my toes and started a heat in my belly that spread throughout my body, making it sensitive to the brush of my clothes in strategic places.

He stepped back, dropping his arms and reaching for my hand. “Lead the way.”

Fumbling with my keys only slightly, I opened the door and pulled him inside. We shed coats and shoes along the way to the bedroom. Just inside my room, I dumped my purse, cell phone, and gun. Mike unhooked his shoulder holster and dropped it on my dresser as he reached for me again. My bed was rumpled and unmade, but that was actually kind of convenient as we fell onto the cool Matouk sheets I had splurged on as a Christmas gift to myself.

By the time we hit the bed he was pulling my sweater off and pushing my bra aside.

“I want to see you.” He turned to click on the bedside lamp.

Then he was beside me again, kissing my breasts, lifting them, and running his thumb across my nipples. Desire went through me like a warm wave.

It had definitely been a long time since I had shared this bed. I got his shirt off as quickly as I could and pressed my breasts into the mass of soft, dark hair on his chest. He hugged me tighter against him and bit my earlobe. I went to work on getting his jeans off and out of the way.

We both struggled with snaps and zippers and finally stood to remove the rest of our clothes. I took a foil package out of the nightstand drawer and dropped it on the bed. “We might need to check the expiration date on this,” I said, talking too much, as usual.

“Like any good cop, I have back-up,” Mike retorted.

We were laughing by the time we were naked, but stopped to study each other in the lamplight.

His muscles were tight and well defined. His body, to my mind, was perfect—from his chin with the sexy dimple to his penis, that saluted me with a little twitch when I reached for him.

I wrapped my fingers around him. I felt his knees give, but he quickly caught himself and held on as I caressed him, feeling him grow harder and longer at my touch.

“Slow down,” he whispered.

“Not a chance.”

We hit the bed once again, and he was immediately touching me everywhere. I was wet and waiting when he slid two fingers inside me. With his thumb rubbing my clitoris, my orgasm built.

I came really fast. It was like light exploded throughout my body. While I was trying to catch my breath, he put the condom on and moved over me. He slid slowly inside me and I clenched my muscles, making him groan and stop for a moment while he regained control. Then he was kissing me and moving inside me with quick, deep strokes. I responded eagerly, opening up to him.

When my orgasm grew again, I couldn’t stop my cries of encouragement. I came with a scream, digging my fingernails into his arms as my body arched against him. He drove into me one last time with a triumphant groan, squeezing my hips and crying out. I was savoring the rush of sensation when everything turned.

I was in the woods. A monster was leaping toward me. No, not me…

Mike was still lost in his own climax when I clenched my hands on his arms and screamed, “Hunter!”

Mike jerked away from me. For a moment, he was silent. Then he pulled out of me and got up without a word. The door to the bathroom closed with a little snap.

I was scrambling for what to say or do, even as I dealt with trying to reconnect with the images in my brain. When I’d screamed, the vision had faded and I didn’t know what happened to Hunter.

Mike walked out of the bathroom, and I sat up on the side of the bed.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Let me explain.”

“I think you explained yourself pretty well,” he said, pulling on his jeans and zipping them.

“You don’t understand.”

“When a woman yells another man’s name while you’re making love, it’s pretty easy to understand what’s going on.”

“Wait a minute.” I reached for my robe.

“Don’t bother, Zoe,” he said as he pulled his sweater over his jeans. “I know the way to the door.”

Before I could speak again, he was on the move, yanking up his holster and gun and exiting my bedroom without a backward glance. The floor vibrated when he slammed the front door.

Falling back down on the side of the bed, I dropped my head in my hands, and then I remembered Hunter. I got up, searching for my cell phone.

Hands shaking, I pressed the number one, Hunter’s speed-dial code.

Good God, was I a fucked up mess or what?

Chapter 14

Hunter tried to move but he couldn’t. He heard his men yelling and running but he could do nothing. His face was wet with what he thought was his own blood. His lungs were screaming for oxygen.

“Come on,” Craig yelled. “Help me get this bastard off him.”

They struggled. It took Craig, Evan, and two others to lift the heavy body off Hunter, and when he was free, he could do nothing but drag in air. He felt like a turtle, on his back unable to turn over. Finally, he controlled his breathing and rolled to his side. When he did, he came face to face with a huge, shaggy lion’s head.

For hours they had tracked the beast through woods around the estate. Hunter began to think the creature was playing a game with them, but when the attack came it was sudden, violent, and aimed straight at him. Thankfully, Evan had a clean shot.

The beast’s mouth was open, and Hunter shuddered at the size of the large feline teeth. They were almost four inches long and would have killed him with one bite. Evan saved Hunter’s life with a well-placed arrow that went straight through the chimera’s heart while the animal was in mid-air above Hunter. One of the massive claws had scraped Hunter’s head as it fell, bringing the blood that was chilling on his cold face.

Craig and Evan each offered Hunter an arm and helped him stand. When they let go, he staggered but straightened at last. Still drawing deep, ragged breaths, Hunter looked down at the animal, half lion and half man.

“It’s Patrick Killin.” Craig crouched beside the big body. “Michael’s younger brother.” He looked up at Hunter. “There’s only one person Michael Killin loves more than himself and that’s his mother. She adored Patrick. He was her youngest, and she will push Michael relentlessly to kill you in the most painful manner possible.”

Hunter wiped his hand across his mouth. He was trembling. He was sure it was shock. He felt cold, clammy sweat all over his body, and his heart was still banging in his chest.

“How do you know it’s Patrick?” he asked when he could.

“I recognize his mane.” Craig touched the tawny, black-tipped fan of hair around the beast’s face.