Holiday Mates: Supernatural Enforcers Agency Short Stories (9 page)

Erin placed her hands on his shoulders.  “It’s nothing like that.  But I’m afraid our new house is haunted.”

He blinked at her a few times before swearing under his breath.  “I didn’t even think about that.  Damnit, I should have bought a new house, that way nobody could have died in it, except maybe some careless construction workers.  I’m sorry, babe.  You don’t need this kind of stress.”

She melted for her protective mate and leaned forward to kiss his forehead.  “That’s not really the problem.  I’m fine with ghosts usually, but this one… she’s kind of pushy.”

Erin quickly explained about Shannon while Gunner went from mildly put out to outright livid at the ghost threatening his mate and unborn cubs.  Not that he could do anything about it. 
Although he did start throwing around the word exorcist.

She rubbed his arms, trying to soothe him.  “Try not to blame Shannon.  I can’t imagine being murdered was easy to come to terms with.”

“I thought ghosts were supposed to be peaceful,” grumbled Gunner.  “Why do we have to get the ghost from hell?”

Erin frowned.  It was a point that had been niggling her all day, too.  Ghosts, in general, were passive.  They didn’t have feelings or emotions, which is why they weren’t exactly bad houseguests.  Their friend and fellow SEA agent Isis was a little psychic, and her mom’s ghost lived with her and her mate, Raf full time.  Raf couldn’t see or hear the ghost, but he often felt comforted by her presence. 
So why was Shannon still so bitter?

“Maybe we should consider looking into her case.”

Gunner grunted.  “I remember seeing it on the news a year ago.  I remember Mike offering rewards for her return.  He mentioned his wife in passing today.  But all he said was that this was her house, and he didn’t want to live in it without her.”

“Maybe we need to give both Mike and Shannon some closure.”

He sighed.  “Sure, I’ll look into it.  But this ghost better behave.  I won’t have her scaring my mate and cubs.”

“Thank you.”  She pressed her lips to his, and he growled into her mouth.

“Now, no more talk of ghosts.  It’s Valentine’s.  I look hot.  You look beautiful as always, and we are really going to celebrate.”

He pulled her nightshirt off, baring her to his lascivious gaze.  In spite of her insecurities, she didn’t bother trying to hide herself from him.  There was no point.  He’d just admonish her.  Besides, he’d seen her naked time and time again.  She sometimes woke to him ogling her. 
There were worse ways to wake up.

Gunner pried her thighs apart.  He settled her legs over his wide shoulders, his fingers firm but caressing on her skin.

Erin leaned back on the bed and closed her eyes as Gunner blew warm breath over her naked flesh.  She arched her back slightly as arousal moistened her sex. 

“My mate,” he muttered, softly yet possessively.  “Mine.”

She moaned his name as he circled her clit with his tongue.  He nibbled on her nub, lazily, allowing the desire to mount slowly, before he pulled away and let the tension inside her deflate before he started all over again.  The ebb and flow of her pleasure were both agony and ecstasy for Erin.  His teasing brought her so close to the edge over and over until she could no longer take it.  The sensual torment was too much and her body was begging for release.

“Gunner, please,” she moaned.  “I need to come.”

Finally relenting, he stroked her mound, his fingers pushing through her drenched folds.  Two fingers delved inside her needy channel as he pressed his mouth back to her nub.  As he pumped his fingers inside her, he devoured her flesh.  She clutched at the covers, her body rocking against him.  He curled his fingers, stroking her sweet spot and she shattered.

Erin cried out and bucked against him as pleasure poured through her.  She panted and waited for her fingers to unclench.  Gunner chuckled as he lazily licked away the evidence of her release.

“That was amazing,” she murmured.

“Sure was,” said a very unwelcome voice.

Erin snapped her eyes open to find Shannon standing next to the bed, apparently enjoying the show.  “You wouldn’t believe the things I had to do to get my husband to go down on me.”

They heard Erin’s scream throughout the whole building.

*

“You won the lottery in the husband department,” drawled Shannon.  She gave Gunner an appreciative once over.  And yes, even though he had a scowl on his face that would turn Medusa to stone, he was still gorgeous.  Probably wasn’t best to bring it up right now, given the mood he was in.

“What is she saying now?” ground out Gunner.  His suspicious eyes wandered the kitchen, hoping to catch a glance of their unwanted houseguest.  No matter how hard he tried, he wouldn’t.  But he knew she was there so he couldn’t help himself.

“She, ah…”  Erin hesitated.  “She was apologizing for interrupting us last night... and then again this morning.”

Shannon snorted.  “Yeah, right.  Why’d you stop?  It was just getting good.”  Shannon licked her lips as she waggled her eyebrows at Gunner.  “Those looks and oral sex on tap - you got it made, lady.  And his schlong – it’s freaking enormous.”

Erin sighed as the heat rose to her cheeks.  Shannon was turning into a very irritating houseguest, and Erin was very tempted to tell her to shove it.  But… she just couldn’t.  Although an uncharitable part of Erin was starting to understand why someone might have been tempted to kill Shannon, nobody deserved the nasty end that befell her.  She, at least, deserved justice.

After the very unfortunate incident last night, Erin hadn’t been exactly in the mood to continue.  Gunner hadn’t been pleased and had threatened to track down the Ghostbusters, but he understood.  In the morning, however, the coast was clear, and Erin had all been for a little morning delight.  She insisted she treat her mate a little reciprocation after his efforts the previous night.  She had him right where she wanted him when Shannon popped up and… to put it mildly, Erin was slightly shocked, and it wasn’t the best time to leap out on her.  It was a good job that Gunner was a fast healer. 
His howl could be heard throughout the whole building
.

Gunner had made it clear that if Shannon weren't already dead, he’d kill her.

Erin picked at her meatball sub – she’d had a serious craving for the things since she got pregnant.  Actually, anything laden with meat products and swimming in calories floated her boat.  She figured that was down to the babies… or cubs.  They could be human or polar bears or even polar bears with psychic abilities.  She’d prefer them not to take after her.  She didn’t like to admit it to Gunner because he had a protective streak as wide as the Grand Canyon and deludedly thought she was perfect, but she didn’t want any of her children to take after her.  Seeing ghosts and having visions was awful for a child.  Hell, seeing ghosts was no picnic as an adult. 
Particularly if they were coarse red-heads who would not stop ogling her mate.

Gunner walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer.  Shannon watched his every move with glee.  His muscles flexed lightly, as he took a long swig.

Shannon virtually licked her lips.  “Damn, how’d you get him to marry you?  No offense but he is way out of your league.”

“Do you want my help or not?” snapped Erin.  Her patience was wearing ice thin, and Shannon was the epitome of every mean girl everywhere.

“What’s going on?” demanded Gunner.  “What is she saying?”

Erin shook her head.  “She's just a b… mean person.”  Instinctively she stroked her stomach.  It somehow felt wrong even to swear in front of the bump.  “What did you find out?”

He grunted and pulled up a chair next to hers.  He dragged her feet into his lap and started massaging them.  Shannon snorted and opened her mouth to say something but decided against it on seeing Erin’s glare.

“Raf and I talked to some of the LLPD dicks he knows.”

Erin raised an eyebrow, and he affected an innocent look.  “Dicks is short for detectives.  It’s also accurate in this case,” he added almost under his breath.

Raf was human and a former cop who left to join the SEA when he mated the tiger shifter, Isis.  To say his former colleagues were intolerant of shifters was to say that ice cream was somewhat tasty.

“They think the husband killed her and hid the body, hoping to make it look like a kidnapping.  But they don’t have any evidence.”

“Ridiculous!” snarled Shannon, followed by a multitude of colorful curse words.

“Shannon doesn’t agree with that theory,” said Erin, dully.

“He worshipped the ground I walked on!” she howled, attempting and failing to pick up their blender and throw it across the room.

“So, not much to go on?”

Gunner rubbed her ankles.  “No, and any evidence will be long gone by now.”

Erin tapped a finger against her chin, trying to block out the ghost throwing a hissy fit in her kitchen.  “Maybe if I went back to the house I could get a vision.  If I touched some of her things…”

Shannon stopped.  “Excellent idea, let’s go now.  You drive.”

Gunner’s hands stilled.  “No.”

“But…”

“No, Erin.  If you were going to have a vision, you would have when you were there yesterday.  Don’t push yourself.”

He looked downright fierce, but she could sense his worry through the bond. 
Her visions freaked him out. 
There was just something about her turning zombie (his words) that bothered him.  He worried she’d do it when he wasn’t around and would actually get hurt.  She regretted telling him about the time she snapped out of one of her visions to find herself holding a knife in the middle of her kitchen. 
It was nothing - she was probably just trying to chop tomatoes or something.

“But, Shannon…”

“Yeah, me,” pouted the spook.

Gunner gave her a hard look.  “I’d rather put up with Shannon the aggravating ghost than risk my mate or cubs.”

Erin slumped in her chair.  Yeah, she couldn’t argue with that.  Her safety was one thing, but if anything happened to the babies… no, she couldn’t bear it.  She nodded in agreement and wiggled her toes, trying to get him to restart the massage.

A tiny bit of tension left him, and he did.  Shannon resumed her hissy fit, but Erin barely noticed.

“So why do they think Shannon’s husband killed her?” she asked gently.

Gunner gave her a wary look but shrugged.  “Shannon has a trust fund that he can continue to collect on her behalf if she’s missing.  But if she died, or if they divorced, he’d get nothing.”

Shannon stopped and nodded.  “That’s true.  But Mike makes his own money.  The trust was never a huge amount of money, and he was always happy for me to give my money away to the animal shelter.”

“And they were arguing a lot before she went missing,” continued Gunner.  “They suspect he was having an affair with his assistant.”

“Ugh!” exclaimed the peeved ghost.  “Mike wanted kids, and I didn’t – that’s what we were arguing about.  And that slutbag hussy Shelly wishes she could get into my hubby’s tidy whities.”

“Shannon doesn’t believe her husband could have done it,” murmured Erin.

A touch of sympathy passed through their bond.  “She wouldn’t be the first wife to be blindsided.  Raf’s going to get me copies of the reports.  I’ll keep looking.”

“He damn well better,” sniped Shannon.  “I’ve been waiting far too long for my justice.”

“She said thank you,” lied Erin, narrowing her eyes at the unrepentant ghost.

Not that Gunner cared.  He could give a shit about the bad manners of their houseguest.  He just wanted her the hell away from them.

“It’s getting late, babe,” rumbled Gunner, “you should be in bed.”  He ran a hand up her leg and gave her a lusty, suggestive smile.  “You know we still haven’t really celebrated Valentine’s.”

Erin bit her lip.  “I’m sorry, I’m not really in the mood.”  She really didn’t want a repeat of what happened that morning. 
She was surprised Gunner wanted to risk it.

“Hey, you kids wanna get down, and dirty I promise I won’t look,” offered Shannon.  Although the naughty smile on her face was hardly encouraging.

Erin patted her mate’s hand.  “Another night,” she promised.

“Should have got the fucking Ghostbusters,” grumbled Gunner.

*

“You could run over there and be back within an hour,” wheedled Shannon.

“No.”

“Oh, come on!”

Erin sighed as she peeled her orange.  The babies may be making her crave meat, but Erin was determined she would have fruit, too. 
Even if it looked very unappetizing when compared to a meat platter.

“You heard what Gunner said.”

Shannon smirked and folded her arms.  “You always do as you’re told?”

“No, I do as I’m asked because he rarely asks me to do anything unreasonable.”  Apart from asking her never to cross a road without holding his hand because he was afraid she would be run over.  Or when he insisted he taste all her food first in case it was undercooked and he was afraid she would get food poisoning.  Sometimes he was
too
protective.  She decided not to mention those instances. 
Shannon didn’t need any more oil pouring on her red-hot fire.