Shifting Positions (8 page)

She only hummed in pleasure, making his fingers flex as the vibrations shot fiery sensations through his pulsing cock. Then she peered up at him through her lashes, eyes glinting with desire, lips stretched wide to accommodate his thrusting shaft, and he exploded. He threw his head back as the orgasm tore through his balls and bulleted out his cock. Wave after wave of painful pleasure made lights dance behind his eyes as he emptied himself again and again into Tess’s waiting mouth.

When he could think again, Caleb traced trembling fingers over Tess’s cheeks, silently thanking her, and drew his still hard, and now very sensitive, flesh from her mouth. She let him go with a popping sound that echoed in the quiet room. He lay on his back next to her, eyes closed, breathe heavy. His heated cock was moist from her mouth and as the cool air brushed over him, it twitched as if in regret, or renewed hunger. Caleb groaned, knowing his need for Tess wouldn’t abate in the least until he’d emptied himself in her pussy, again and again. Maybe after a month of gluttony he’d be able to ease off and only take her once or twice a day for the next forty years. His shaft bobbed in agreement.

With another groan, Caleb shifted down the pillows and turned on his side, dragging Tess down as well until they lay face to face. He traced the curve of her cheek with a rough fingertip, the skin so soft and smooth against his own calloused flesh. “You are so fucking beautiful. I’ll never get enough of you and I fear that will be the death of me.” Her brows arched and after a moment she said in a teasing tone, “Since I don’t want you to die, maybe we shouldn’t take this any farther.”

With a low growl he rolled on top of her, pinning her under his body. Resting his forearms on either side of her shoulder he wrapped his hands around the nape of her neck. His erection, hard enough to pound nails even after the best orgasm of his life, pressed into her thigh.

“Not in this lifetime. Besides,” he said, nibbling her ear lobe, “I can’t think of a better way to go.”

She let out a sigh as he shifted his attention to her throat, placing open mouthed kisses down the throbbing pulse and then licking his way back up.

“You have too many clothes on, woman,” Caleb said and drew back on his knees, anxious to rid her of said clothes when his phone rang. He closed his eyes and bit out a curse.

“You have got to fucking be kidding me.”

“What is it?” Tess asked.

“I’m off duty.”

“And?”

Caleb gave her a hard look. “And I’m with you. There’s only one thing that would drag me away right now.”

Tess licked her lips. “How do you know it’s work related?”

“The ring.” He scrubbed his face with both hands in agitation and then reached for the phone still clipped to his waist band. “Bennett,” he barked, eyes still on Tess.

“I’m really sorry…,” Phil Davis, one of his deputies, started but Caleb snarled, uninterested in his apology.

“Just tell me.”

“We have a dead body,” Phil blurted.

Caleb’s eyes went cold and flat. “Where?”

“On the east side of the highway at mile marker 260, approximately two hundred yards in.”

“How?”

“That’s the bad part.” Phil sighed and lowered his voice. “Looks like a wolf, Sheriff and not the normal kind either.”

Caleb went still, muscles locking as dread seeped through every pore. If the victim was human… “Who?”

“Dave Collins. Still just a kid really.”

Human, Caleb thought running a ragged hand through his hair. Fucking fantastic. This was beyond bad. Woodcliff had its fair share of crime, but murder, even with the violent and sometimes unpredictable actions of the shifters, was rare. There hadn’t been a shifter on human killing in over thirty years. Not since the Woodcliff pack had fought the neighboring Bridgetons, resulting in the loss of many shifter lives on both sides of the territory, including five humans who’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Since the change in pack mentality, shifters came and went from each pack with moderate ease, as long as they received approval from alpha of each pack. Candidates were measured on their physical and mental strengths and then placed in the pack hierarchy as befitting their abilities. Caleb himself had placed second upon his arrival in Woodcliff two years ago. A rare feat as most members had to work their way up. But he’d more than earned that exalted position and now he had the respect of his pack and the whole community. Until now. To Caleb, a murder in his territory was akin to a middle finger salute to his authority.

He growled in anger, both man and beast more than ready to hunt down the rabid killer like the coward he was.

Oblivious to his thoughts, Tess squirmed under him and he pinned her with his gaze. She went shockingly still, her eyes filling with something a little too close to fear for his own good.

He cursed low and rough, damning himself for putting that look in her face.

Pushing to his feet, he placed the phone between his shoulder and ear as he carefully tucked his raging hard-on in his jeans. Zipping was damn near painful and he welcomed the sensation as it dampened his anger. “I’ll be there in ten minutes,” he told Phil and snapped the phone shut, hooking it back on his belt. Then he bent over, placed his hands on either side of Tess’s waist and lifted her to her feet in one smooth, powerful move. So as not to scare her further, he slowly reached out and touched a lock of her silky hair, sliding it behind her ear. “I have to go.”

“All right.”

Not liking her distant tone, Caleb pulled her close, pressed a kiss to her head. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. I’m angry and not at you. I’d never hurt you.” He drew back, grasped her chin with a finger and thumb. “You know that, right? I’d die before I ever did that.”

Her face morphed into that cool mask he hated so much. “Sure.”

“Damn it, Tess,” he couldn’t stop the low rumble that came out. “I’m pissed because we were interrupted. I’m angry because I have to leave you and I’m beyond enraged because someone is dead.”

Her eyes flew wide. “Dead?”

Shaking his head at his bluntness, he cursed again, dropping his hands to his hips.

“Christ, I’m an idiot.”

Tess narrowed her eyes as he stood before her, his muscles still and tense as a coiled spring. His chin tipped down, his eyes closed, his breath sawed in and out as he reigned in his temper.

Caleb might
act
like an idiot at times, but he was far from being one. Tess placed a tentative hand on his chest. “No, you’re not.”

He laid his hand over her’s, pressing it to his thudding heart and let out a derisive laugh.

“Yes, with you I am. It’s just…” he paused. “This is new for me, Tess. This need I have for you.

It’s so strong it’s distracting and a distracted shifter - or cop for that matter - can be a death sentence. It’s terrifying.” He tunneled his hand through her hair to hold her head. “And exhilarating,” he whispered against her lips before taking her mouth with his.

The kiss started slow, almost tentative, coaxing. Tess sighed and Caleb swept in, his tongue hot and hard. “Soon I will be inside your sweet little sexy body,” he vowed, his breath caressing her swollen lips, his eyes fixed with hot anticipation on hers, “and it will be…perfect.” Then with great reluctance, he moved back and searched out his shirt. “But duty calls.”

“Caleb,” she said softly, “can you tell me what happened?”

He yanked on his top. “I won’t know until I get out there. Just lock the door behind me.” She put a hand to her throat. “That doesn’t sound good.”

He raked his gaze over her body, puffed out his cheeks. “No, it doesn’t. Walk me to the door?” he held out his hand, palm up.

Tess placed her smaller hand in his and Caleb kissed her knuckles before twining their fingers. At the front door he stopped and gathered her close for a hard kiss. “I’ll call you later.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’ll be fine.”

“It’s not a matter of have to, sweetheart. It’s a matter of want to.” A shy smile curved her lips. “I’d like that.”

Pleased, Caleb pressed his lips to her forehead. “Keep your cell close.”

“Will do. And Caleb?”

“Hmmm?”

“Be careful.”

He smiled against her soft skin. “Anything for you.”

And as instructed, Tess locked the door behind him, her nerves taut with need and worry.

She blew out a heavy breath and walked into the kitchen to sooth her senses with the food Caleb had prepared. If she couldn’t feed one hunger, she would just make do with another.

Caleb crouched down by the cooling body of Dave Collins. Born in Woodcliff, Dave had been a likable and quiet man just shy of his twenty-second birthday, which he’d now never see.

Legs sprawled, one arm thrown wide, the other lay awkwardly behind his back, sightless brown eyes staring up at the treetops. No sign of a struggle. The attack was swift and violent as illustrated by the deep claw marks on the victim’s jacket and shredded jugular. .

With a tinge of regret, Caleb pulled his gaze away and searched the thick woods, his eyes slowly adjusting from the bright flood lights pointing down to the body to take in the surrounding darkness. The calming pine scents and shuffling sounds of nocturnal animals were gone, replaced by an ominous foreboding that made his gut clench.

“Couldn’t have happened more than an hour or two ago, though Doc Peters is on his way for time of death.” Phil’s voice was shockingly loud in the silence of the forest.

Caleb locked his jaw. At that time Tess had been driving down the highway, not very far away. Alone and in the fading light. His blood boiled, knowing his mate could have been hurt, even killed if her vehicle had broken down or if she’d come into contact with whoever got a hold of Collins. Then his cop instinct kicked in. He’d have to question her. Ask if she saw not only the blue Camry on the side of the road, but if anything or anyone appeared. Christ. His stomach tightened in knots. She’d just become a possible witness.

He looked over his shoulder at his deputy. Phil stood straight, hands clenching and unclenching, fidgeting. The kid looked ashen in the dark, his eyes wide and not a bit frightened.

At twenty-four, the Woodcliff native was smart, friendly, ambitious and a shifter. And right now, by the way he kept glancing from one side to the other as if expecting an attack, the rookie deputy was a bit overwhelmed by the current situation.

“You smell something?” Caleb asked him.

Phil shook his head. “No, sir, and that’s just plain weird. I should be able to smell something, but other than…” Phil swallowed and waved a shaking hand at the body. “I just smell normal forest scents. I mean, we’re still a few days away from the full moon. Other than the alpha, you and some of the other sub-leaders in the pack, I don’t know of anyone else who can shift without the draw of the full moon. ”

Caleb arched a brow. “So you’re saying either Dean or I did this?”

“God no!” Phil’s Adam’s apple bobbled wildly. “Never.”

Caleb stood and turned to face Phil fully, the look in the sheriff’s eye cold enough to cause Phil to take two steps back before he came to an abrupt halt.

Good for him
. Though Caleb approved the kid’s resolve, Phil had more to learn about law enforcement. “Always use your brain, Phil. We shifters have complicated lives. Not only do we have to adjust to being half-human and half-wolf, we have allegiances to our pack, alpha, family and profession. Just because you’ve sworn an oath to Dean doesn’t necessarily take him off the suspicion list.”

Phil sucked in a breath. ‘You think he might have done this?” His voice was low, his eyes wide as saucers.

Caleb’s face twisted as he smelled something rank. “Hell no. But that’s because I know the man, not because of some damn allegiance or oath.” He slanted his eyes to the body on the ground, the claw marks on the torso, the torn out throat. “You look at the evidence, investigate and re-check everything. Never assume. You doand someone else could die.”

“And you don’t want to live with that kind of guilt,” the new male voice was raspy and low. Caleb had heard Brandon Dermot sneak up and the resulting startled yelp from Phil had him shaking his head in amusement.

“Jesus, Brandon. What’d ya do that for?” Phil gasped at the other deputy.

Brandon narrowed his dark eyes. “Learn to use all your senses, kid, or you’ll get yourself killed.” Brandon turned his back on Phil so only Caleb could see the pleased look in the big man’s black eyes. At six-four, Brandon was built like a line-backer, broad shoulders, thick chest, huge arms and thighs. His military short black hair was only a few shades darker than his skin, making it damn near impossible to see his expression, but the rolling of his eyes said it all.

Caleb manly held back a grin. “What can you tell me?”

“Single wolf attack, went straight for the jugular.” Brandon was all business now. “Claw marks on the torso suggest a big wolf as the kid was tall, nearly my height but a hell of a lot skinnier. They grappled a bit before the wolf got the upper hand. Deliberate or defensive attack on the wolf’s part. A shifter wolf and definitely not from our pack.” The last was said with deliberate intent at Phil.

“Really?” Phil took a few steps closer. “How do you know?”

Brandon grabbed him by the back of the neck and thrust him over the body. “Take a big whiff, cub. What do you smell?”

Caleb rubbed a hand over his mouth to hide his smile. Brandon was third in the pack, tough-as-nails, rough around the edges and had been heading straight towards self-destruction before coming across his mate in St. Louis, Missouri. Both Caleb and Brandon had been on the police force when a beautiful reporter got caught between them and a bad guy. After a short hostage situation, in which the feisty brunette had done more damage to her captor then he to her, Tia made the decision to return to her hometown and take over the Woodcliff Press from her uncle. Brandon had, of course, followed. Not six months later Brandon had convinced Caleb to do the same and he’d never regretted it. Especially since the move brought him into contact with Tess.

The warm thought of his mate was interrupted by Phil’s gurgling. The kid barely made it out of Brandon’s hold before he ran a short distance away and lost his dinner.