Memphis Heat 1 Stakeout (2 page)

But what if
…

He didn’t want to even think the words, but now he had no choice. What if even this limited contact, the few stolen moments when he’d buried his cock balls-deep in her cunt, before he’d managed to pull away,
what if
… What if he’d turned her, if he’d ruined her life the way that bastard had ruined his before Jarod had shot him dead…

Then he’d have a partner. A real partner.

Selfish bastard
!

He should have eaten a bullet the moment he knew what he’d become. Werewolves couldn’t be allowed to roam the city, infecting others with their foul disease. Condition. Whatever the fuck it was. He’d known then what he needed to do. But he couldn’t do it. Not till he made sure there weren’t any more. Not until he was sure they wouldn’t come after his partner. He had to protect Belle. Even if that meant protecting her from himself.

“Ouch!” The sting of Belle’s slap pulled him out of his internal argument.

“So you can speak. Are you listening to me? Have you heard anything I’ve said? What the fuck were you thinking, trying to hide a thing like this from me!”

His cock ached for her with a madness that threatened to break him. “No choice. Can’t -- no control. Might hurt you.” His voice was gruff, husky, nearly more growl than human. “Besides. You’d have locked me up.”

She barked a short laugh that sounded more than a little desperate. “I still might.”

They stood there, staring at one another, the stakeout all but forgotten. Finally, Belle moved. She planted her hands on his chest and shoved him back onto the ancient excuse for a bed. “You’re bigger than I remembered.” She licked her lips. “Everything still work the same?”

She couldn’t… Not even Belle… But she was reaching for his wallet, for the condom he’d always kept there for emergencies. He swallowed hard. “No idea.”

The thin latex stretched in protest, but it didn’t break. “Then I guess we’re going to find out.” She snapped her cuffs around his thick wrist, passing them around the bedpost, then held out her hand for the other arm. “Just the way we’ve always done things. Together.”

She’d leave him there. Cuffed and naked. Jarod bet the local bureau had cells just for guys like him.

This was
Belle
… He wanted to trust her. He
did
trust her, damn it. He did. Almost. She was everything he wanted. Everything he needed. He’d shared his secret with her, intentionally or not, and she was still here. He wasn’t alone. Closing his eyes, Jarod put his fate in her hands.

And howled like the beast he was when she straddled him to sink down over his swollen, aching cock.

“Fuck, you’re big. I’m not sure you’re gonna fit.”

“You’re so tight!” he managed, bucking up into her, aching to drive his cock home.

“And whose fault is that?” She eased herself down, pulling back, and trying again. “If you weren’t such an idiot, we could have figured this out months ago.”

“Yeah, well…”

Up. Down. Deeper. “Admit it.”

“Admit
what
?”

She raised her hips, then sank back down, harder this time, her pussy juices easing the way, her heat wrapping around him nearly to the balls. “That you shoulda told me, you moron.”

Up. Down. Hot, wet friction covering him in need stronger than anything he’d ever felt before. “If I’d thought…” The urge to snap the cuffs and take her, really take her, was nearly more than he could suppress.

Thighs like steel gripped his hips, riding him now. Her pussy held him like a vise before letting go, only for her to thrust down again. Liquid fire consumed him as her tits bounced with every stroke, adding to his torment. “Men don’t think,” she breathed.

“Pinch your tits for me.”

“Admit it.”

It.
It was so many things. “I admit it. I’m a guy.”

Laughing, she grabbed her thick, puffy nipples and twisted, harder than he ever would have, in any form. Holy fuck, that was hot. She must have thought so too because she leaned forward, grinding her clit into the thick, coarse hair at his crotch, squirming against him with every stroke. He howled, speech no longer possible. Unable to do anything else, he bucked up against her, trying desperately to give her what she wanted. What they both needed.

I am an idiot
, he managed, out loud or not, he wasn’t sure. “Need you. Need this. Need… you.”

“You’ve got me,” Belle gasped, head thrown back, cunt spasming around him. “You’ve got me, baby. I’ve got your back,
and
your cock.
Mine
.” She looked down again, a frown of warning on her face. “Don’t break the bed.”

He realized he was trying, and might succeed at any moment. The wolf in him needed to dominate. To control. “Mine,” he agreed. His cock was swelling, so thick and hard now he was sure he’d hurt her. “Mine!” he screamed. And he came, but not all in a rush -- no -- in slow, searing jets that didn’t stop, just went on, and on, and on…

* * *

Belle stared down at him, her hands fisted in the matted fur of his chest, her brain a quiet, peaceful place for the first time since… since he’d been shot. Since she’d seen the thing that had attacked him wither, its bits and pieces returning to remnants of its human form.

Had she known what the monster had been? Not really. Not like this. She hadn’t wanted to know. Not wanted to admit what she’d seen might be real. A dark night. A full moon. Her partner shot. Bleeding to death before her. And there had been nothing she could do. Nothing but yell at him, tell him to hold on. Help was coming.
Hold on
…

She’d blamed it on too many romance novels. Werewolves didn’t exist. She couldn’t have seen what she’d seen. But the fur under her fingers turned softer, and faded away, and the smooth, hard body of her lover, of the man she’d lived without these months, shook off the now too-large cuffs and shrank around her, pulling her down tight against the length of his body.

How she’d missed this.

She’d trusted him. Trusted him with her life. She still did. Just didn’t trust him to tell her everything. Werewolf or not, he was still a man. What the hell was in that warehouse that was worth risking their lives over?

When the afterglow faded, Belle sighed and sat up, pulling on her jeans and fastening them with shaky fingers. She finally met his gaze. “So this is what you’ve been hiding?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “I just… I didn’t know how to tell you.”

“You still haven’t. Told me, that is. Though I think I know. The fur kinda gave it away, but what I’m thinking sounds insane, even to me.” She smiled at that. “If I hadn’t seen you shift… What exactly are you, and how did this happen?”

“That night. When I was shot. He came at me. His face turned all… long. And furry. With wicked teeth. Just his face. And he bit me. I think
what
I am is pretty obvious.”

He looked so normal, now. But she knew what she’d seen. “OK, someone has to say it. You were bitten by a werewolf. And I can see how that might not be the last thing you wanted to see on your way out. Teeth coming at you, I mean. You still had the presence of mind to blow his head off. That’s something at least.”

“Had to. He said…” Jarod swallowed hard. “He said, ‘The bitch is mine.’ I knew I was dead. Nobody survives a wound like that. I couldn’t let him take you out, too. I also realized right then just how dangerous it was for anyone to know how much… to know I cared for you. Having any kind of relationship like that is just asking for trouble. If the brass finds out, they’ll transfer one of us. I’m beginning to think I agree with the policy now that I’ve experienced the result firsthand. I never should have chased him into that alley. I could have gotten you killed.”

“But you didn’t. No one’s ever blown a guy’s head off for me before. I appreciate that, but I can take care of myself. You of all people should know that.” She stopped fidgeting with her jeans. “Wait. Is that why you’re alive? Because you’re a werewolf?”

He shrugged. “Modern medicine to the rescue?”

She wasn’t letting go that easy. “You’d have died, wouldn’t you? If he hadn’t bit you. They tried to tell me in the ER that it was just a flesh wound. Looked a lot worse than it was. Bullshit. I saw you go down. We’ve both seen enough shootings to know what’s bad and what’s not. I didn’t believe that crap then, and I don’t believe it now. Maybe it was a kind of miracle.”

“I’d say more of a curse. I passed out after his head blew all apart, but I woke up in the ambulance. I heard the EMTs talking. They told the ER doc they didn’t understand how I was still alive. They’d done all they could, but I was bleeding out. They were holding the pieces of my chest together with as much pressure as they could, and then the bleeding just… stopped.”

“Well, you’re alive. I like that part. So. Other than that, you can shift into -- whatever that furry man thing’s called. Obviously you don’t need a full moon. And you heal really fast. What else?”

“I’ve never shifted like that before. Usually I’m a wolf.” He grinned. “A big, badass wolf. No moon necessary. I just need to be pissed. Or, apparently, horny. Now you know as much as I do.”

“That’s it?” She’d expected… more. She wasn’t sure what, but surely in three months he’d learned something.

“Well, hunting saves on the grocery bill.” His grin widened. “I prefer my meat raw.”

Hunting? “Hunting
what
?”

“Working my way up the food chain. Tried squirrels, but they’re really fast. Did better with rabbits. Managed a couple of deer. And I’ve been learning to fight. Kinda had to. Lot of wild dogs around. Most of ’em don’t care to share their territory.”

Belle blinked at him, knowing her disbelief flooded her face. “You’ve been getting into pissing contests with packs of wild dogs? What are you, five? You’ve got some of the most amazing genetics in humankind’s history at your disposal, and the best you can do is mark your territory?” Of all the things this situation could have brought to Jarod, that was the last thing Belle expected. Men really
were
idiots.

“Hey, it’s not all that easy. You try peeing while you’re standing with one leg in the air. Downright embarrassing when you miss. Or worse, fall over. Learning how to box with my teeth’s a whole lot easier.”

Once she started laughing, she couldn’t seem to stop. Every time she thought she was done, she’d look at him, screw up her face, raise an arm, and crash back down in another fit of helpless giggles. “Men are such idiots,” she managed, voicing aloud her earlier musing because he needed to hear it. Lord! Pissing contests! “Even when they’ve got four feet.”

“Son of a cocksucker.”

His abrupt change of mood sobered her up. “What’s wrong?”

Jarod reached for his clothes. “The Russians are leaving again. We’ve got to find out what’s in that warehouse. This might be the best chance we get.”

Belle grabbed for her jacket. “We should call for backup.”

“Oh, sure. Ah, hey, guys, don’t mind me. I just forgot to shave tonight and am a bit on the furry side.” Jarod rolled his eyes. “I don’t think you get it, babe. I can’t control this thing. I could shift again. Try explaining that to the captain. Not to mention I’d end up getting dissected in some foul-smelling lab by creepy guys in white coats.”

“I’m just saying!” She punched his arm before shoving her gun into the holster at the small of her back. “We can’t go in there without backup. There’s like twenty of them and two of us. The odds are
not
in our favor.”

“We’re not following them, ’cause they left. We’re -- I’m -- going to go check out the warehouse. I want to see what they’re up to in there.”

“This isn’t on the books, is it.” It wasn’t a question.

“Hey, I
tried
to make you go home. I didn’t want you involved, but you insisted. I have to find out what these guys are up to. I don’t want them running around the city making werewolves out of everyone who gets in their way. Or worse, the criminal element. That would be the beginning of a really bad week for law enforcement, don’t you think?” And really, how much worse could the week get?

* * *

Turned out, things could get a lot worse. He knew that the moment he managed to get through the security panel at the warehouse door. Way too easy. And, sure enough, as the door swung open, he heard that click -- the one that said “You’ve just triggered something bad.”

“Get back!” he heard himself screaming, though his voice seemed to be coming from miles away. But Belle was too close. The blast would kill her. Anger and fear warred within him as he sprang for her, the weight of his shifted form knocking her down even as the first explosion triggered. He gathered her close, tucking her beneath him as the blast pushed them down, shielding her with his furred hide. He was tougher this way. He might not survive the explosion but she would, damn it. And she knew, now. Knew what he was.

Belle was nothing if not tenacious. She’d never give up. Not till she found out what had killed him, and why… “Damn good cop.” Her scent filled him. Soothed him. Her scent and more. Blood. His blood but not hers. Yeah. He could live with that. “Good instincts. Shoulda called for backup,” he whispered as his world went dark.

* * *

“Good afternoon, Miss Duprey. Please have a seat.”

“Officer.” One dark eyebrow raised a fraction of a millimeter. “Officer Duprey. And you’re in my jurisdiction, so you’d do well to remember that,
Agent
Miller.”

“Please have a seat, Officer Duprey.”

Humor her, would he? Asshole. All these bureau guys were assholes. She had a mind to… “Where’s my partner?”

“As I’m sure you know by now, Officer Duprey, your partner is a werewolf.”

“Werewolves don’t exist.” Belle answered without hesitation or surprise at his declaration. She knew it was a sure sign she knew more than she was letting on, but that was all right. Let the bastard think what he wanted to.

Another raised eyebrow. “Of course not. And the FBI hasn’t sent me to Memphis to investigate the recent incursion of Russian… family members.”