SEDUCTIVE SUPERNATURALS: 12 Tales of Shapeshifters, Vampires & Sexy Spirits (148 page)

He smiled first. One of those smiles guys get when they know they’ve got you interested and there’s no way you’re going to push them away. Which was almost enough to make me give him a shove. Almost.

Then he kissed me and this time, he really put everything he had into it. He dragged me across his lap and I felt the hard, solid proof of just how glad Logan was to see me. I scooted around a little to get comfortable, and, (I admit it,) to make him a little more
un-
comfortable.

He groaned a little and tightened his hold on me, his hands sweeping up my back to hold me even closer. His tongue danced with mine and breath was really hard to come by. In a tiny corner of my mind, I remembered that Thea was just a hallway away and that was the only thing that kept me from stripping off my shirt and slapping his hands to my breasts.

Yes, I know I’m a terrible human being. Get over it, okay? I already admitted to being a slut puppy. I refuse to feel guilt twice over the same thing. I think there’s a law that covers that. Double indemnity or something? Doesn’t matter.

Anyway...while he was kissing me, I couldn’t help wondering if I shouldn’t send a thank you note to his ex, Spanky, for letting him hone his talents on her. Nah.

He dipped my head back, pushed his fingers through my hair and used his tongue to give every one of my teeth the once over. Very thorough and I really appreciated the attention. I mean I
really
appreciated it. There were parts of me that were sitting up straight and cheering him on from the sidelines, pom-poms waving!

Logan groaned and I did, too. Amazing just how well we still fit together. Was that a good sign? Or a bad one? Who knew? And at the moment...who cared?

His mouth was warm and soft and hard and demanding and I leaned into him, enjoying the rush of being kissed by an expert.

I admit, there was one small voice in the back of my mind, shrieking at me to stop. But who listens to small voices?

As it turns out, I should have.

CRASH.

A rock sailed through the front window, splintering glass into a crystal rain and landing just a foot or two away from us.

Logan threw me to the floor, shielding me with his body, then a second later, he pushed himself to his feet and raced out the front door like a man looking for a battle. I was still sitting there stunned into stillness and Sugar was spinning in circles howling like a maniac.

“What was that?” Thea bolted into the room and came to a quick stop when she saw the glass shards all over the floor.

“Stay there,” I ordered, knowing that she, like me, was barefoot.

“What happened?”

“Rock. Window.”

“Who would do that?”

“Beats me,” I said and scooted further away from the broken glass littering the floor. I sounded pretty calm, but inside, I was shaking.

Logan came back into the house, his features grim. “I heard a car peeling away, but it was too dark to get a look at it.” Crossing the room, he bent, scooped me up and carried me away from the mess. Looking down into my eyes, he forced a smile. “Gotta say, life with you is still exciting. You okay?”

“Yeah,” I said as he set me on my feet before I could get much of a charge out of being carried. “Just surprised.”

And totally cowed by Fate. For God’s sake, one lousy kiss and a rock has to sail through my window? What was next? Locusts? Plague? What is it about me? Why did the gods want me to go touchless? Did I have bad sex Karma or something?

“Stay away from the glass,” Logan ordered. “I’ll clean it up.”

I looked up at him and shook my head. “No thanks. I appreciate it but you should just go.”

“Cassie...” He didn’t want to go. I saw that in his eyes and if I’d looked down, I was pretty sure I would have seen it in his jeans, too. But for whatever reason, this intimate little moment had been shattered big time and there was no recapturing it.

“Thanks for the pizza,” I said, then half turned to Thea. “Take Sugar into your room and then get me my sneakers so I can clean this up, okay?”

Thea was still shocked enough to do it without a big production and I was really grateful. While the now whimpering cowardly dog followed Thea out of the room, I turned back to Logan.

“You better go,” I said again.

For a minute or two, I thought he’d argue with me. But he nodded and said, “I’ll go. But not for long.” He reached out and cupped my cheek. His thumb stroked my skin and I sucked in a breath. “We have unfinished business,” he said, smiling. Then he dropped a kiss on my forehead and left.

I blew out a breath and got a grip on the few remaining hormones that were entirely too hopeful. By the time Thea came back with my shoes, I was alone and wondering what the hell was going on with my life.

* * *

“You have enemies.”

“You think?” I bent at the waist, struggling for air and gave the old woman in front of me the death glare. How could she run all over my backyard and not get tired?

September sun was hot and burning down on us out of a steel blue sky. Not even the slight ocean breeze was enough to cool me off. I was really ready for Fall.

“The demon population knows you are active now,” Jasmine said. “They won’t be happy about it.”

“So you’re saying a
demon
pitched a rock through my window last night?”

“Who else?”

She had me there. Nobody I knew was a rock thrower. Insults, sure. But rocks? Nope. Straightening up, I tried not to notice the roll of sweat down my back. This getting into shape was going to kill me.

“And,” she asked quietly, “did you see the driver of the car who hit yours?”

“Got a quick look. Guy. Ugly goatee.” Wheels started turning in my brain. “You think he was a demon and he ran into me on purpose?”

But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed that there was no way that could have been an accident. We were in a parking lot, for God’s sake. The engine had gunned and revved for a couple of minutes, like whoever was behind the wheel was really getting up some momentum.

He’d hit only me and then taken off like a shot, giving me the one finger salute. That did seem a little personal.

“It is certainly possible,” Jasmine said.

“Well that sucks.” I bunched my fists into the lawn and came up with dirty fingernails. Really pissed me off that some
thing
had deliberately hurt my VW. I could fix a window. But my car was something else again. Nobody messed with the Yellow Machine. “What’s the matter with these guys? Hitting a person’s car? Is nothing sacred?”

“Not to them.”

“Well, they’ve really pissed me off, now.” And now I was beginning to wonder some more. Had that guy in Devlin’s office been my car killer or not? And if he was, why was he there talking to Devlin privately? Did all bartenders spend one on one time with the big boss?

Okay, paranoia rears its ugly head.

Get a grip, Cass.

“I’m delighted to hear it. It is time for you to begin your duty.”

“I thought I had,” I pointed out frowning, still winded from all the running, crouching, jumping.

Jasmine shook her head, folded her hands at her waist and said, “You must begin to patrol the city.”

I laughed at the thought, despite the flare of temper still bubbling just beneath the surface. “Just like Buffy.”

She sighed. “Has it occurred to you that perhaps the television shows of which you seem so fond are based on reality?”

“Uh, no.”

Jasmine rolled her eyes up so high, they went completely white. Yeesh.

“No matter now. This is not fiction. This is reality. And to kill the demons you must first find them.”

“Seems reasonable,” I allowed. “Can I start with the little shit who wrecked my car?”

“If you can find it, certainly. Until then, you will spend a few hours each night, searching out the demons in La Sombra.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” I said. “I mean, I’m not saying I won’t spray ‘em if I run into them, but going out
looking
for them seems a little pushy.”

“They will not come to you.”

“Hah!” I jabbed my index finger in the air to make my point. “You just said yourself somebody came to me and tossed a rock through my window.”

Jasmine rubbed her forehead. “You must hunt them. There is no choice.”

Then she added something that sounded like,
If only there were,
under her breath. I let it go.

“Fine, I’ll look around a little.” I was kind of a night person anyway.

“Starting tomorrow.”

Oops. “No can do.”

Her eyes slitted and she hissed in a breath through gritted teeth. “Why not?”

“I’ve got a date.”

“You would put off your duty in favor of the pursuit of pleasure?”

I grinned at her. “Oh, yeah.”

* * *

Naturally though, there was lots to do before the big date. Had to go shopping with Rachel, which wasn’t easy. We had to squeeze it into her lunch hour and the entire time, she hit me with advice and questions.

“Logan
and
Devlin?” Rachel’s brown eyes gleamed with amusement. “Let’s all pause to remember just how sucky you were in high school at juggling more than one guy. You never could keep your lies straight.”

“I’m better at it now,” I said. Wow. A better liar. What a proud moment for me.

“So you like living dangerously.”

“Oh, yeah,” I said, “No dates in two years. I’m dangerous. Ladies, lock up your men!”

“See, that’s what’s dangerous. This is the bottled up theory.”

“Oh, this should be good.” I flipped through the Nordie’s rack and shook my head when Rachel held up a blue shirt. She put it back.

“You’ve been tamping everything down inside for so long, you’re ready to blow—hmm. Perhaps not the best choice of words.” She shrugged. “Anyway, the question now is, whose bottle opener you gonna use?”

I laughed.

She held up a green shirt, sniffed and put it back. “Come on. Two guys, two chances for sex. Who’s first?”

“Maybe neither of them.” But I didn’t believe that either. My hoo-hah had been on red alert for days now. There was a Grand Reopening party going on down there and the whole place was ready to rock.

“Do I get a vote?” Rachel asked, gasping at a hideous blouse with red and green horizontal stripes.

Horizontal stripes are
nobody’s
friend.

“No,” I said, “yes. No. Hell, I don’t know.”

“Okay,” Rachel said, “I vote both.”

“Damn, Rach. Does Simon know about your kinky side?”

“Why do you think he loves me so desperately? Besides, not two at the same time, gutter brain—Oh! Get that red silk one, it’ll look great with your hair—I mean, have both guys on your terms. Why not?”

She was appealing to the slut puppy within and doing a damn fine job of it.

“Devlin’s famous,” she reminded me. “Oh and take pictures.”

“Pictures of Devlin?”

“Hmm.” She tipped her head back, smiled and sighed. “Not a bad idea, but I meant pictures of the club.”

“I’m not taking a camera on a date.”

“Please. It’s a sex club, there’s probably cameras in every room—do you have decent shoes to wear?” She shook her head. “I already know you don’t. Let’s go.”

She grabbed my arm, steered me to Nordie’s shoe department and snagged a pair of strappy black sandals with three inch heels.

“I’ll fall over.”

“Devlin will catch you. Romantic.”

“Unless I break my leg.”

“Trust me,” she said. “You know purses, I know shoes.” She snagged a salesman. “She wants these in an 8.”

“Seven and a half,” I said.

“Oh please.” Rachel snorted. “An 8,” she told the kid who made a break for the back room and who could blame him.

“You’re giving me a headache,” I complained.

“You’ll live,” she said then pouted when her purse started ringing. Reluctantly, she reached inside, pulled out her phone and stuck her tongue out at it. “Simon. Probably wants me back at the office.”

“Thank God. I’m done shopping.” Unless I was buying chocolate, I didn’t really enjoy the mall experience. Rachel on the other hand, was born to mall.

“He can wait,” she said as she waited for the now returned salesman to ring up my shoes. “First we have to get you some
fabulous
underwear. If Devlin’s gonna be peeling your clothes off, you gotta have something sexy to throw on the floor.”

I glanced at the kid looking from Rachel to me and back again with the kind of fascination usually reserved for car accidents. “What?” I snapped, getting his full attention. “You don’t think I can have sex?”

“None of my business, lady...”

Rachel laughed and dragged me to the lingerie department. I was too weak to protest. By the time she went back to work and I went off to clean a house for a new customer before going home myself, I had a headache like you wouldn’t believe.

I love Rachel, but she isn’t easy.

My new customer lived on one of the narrow streets of old homes that backed up against the Coast highway and a string of strip malls, motels and gas stations. La Sombra didn’t have much of a ‘bad’ part of town, but this area was at least a little more dilapidated than others.

A Mr. Harris, who owned the tiny bungalow, had called the day before and asked for an emergency cleaning, since he was having guests this weekend. He’d said he’d leave the key in the mailbox and that was good enough for me. Thankfully, it was a really small, old house, so I knew it wouldn’t take more than a couple of hours to whip it into shape and head home. Grabbing my supplies out of the back seat of the VW, I headed up the walk and took the house key from the rusty mail box.

Most of our customers were at work when we came in to do the cleaning, thank God. It’s a lot easier to clean a place when you didn’t have to make small talk with the owner. Besides, being in somebody else’s quiet house was the only really peaceful time I could get.

The inside was dark and as it had looked from the outside, cramped. Smelled a little musty too, and I wrinkled my nose, determined to open some windows and air the joint out while I cleaned.

The front door opened directly into a small living room. Then there was a short hall with a single bedroom, a bath and a kitchen beyond.