Sixx (The Stone Society, #7) (29 page)

Rae must have felt his erection growing against her pussy. She deepened the kiss and rubbed back and forth against him. Maybe sex wasn’t out of the question. If Uri had left as soon as Sixx called, they had at least thirty minutes until he arrived. That wasn’t a lot of time, but it would be enough to keep his mate’s mind off other things. Rae had always liked sex, and she never shied away from letting him know when she wanted him. Sometimes she said the words, others, like now, she moved against him. Using her movements as permission, Sixx slid his hands under her dress, cupping her breasts in his hands. He rolled her nipples between his fingers and was awarded with a moan.

Rae rose up on her knees so she could get to his shorts. When they were unfastened, she pushed them down his thighs. She realized her panties were in the way, so she said, “A little help?” Sixx grasped the fabric and ripped it down the middle. “Thanks,” she husked as she grabbed his cock and lined it up with her core, impaling herself. “Oh, god,” she gasped. Rae set a slow pace that was killing him. He allowed her to move up and down along his shaft for about a minute before he took over.

“Hold on,” he growled. Rae grasped his shoulders at the same time he slid his hands to her waist. Sixx thrust upward into her wet heat, pounding away with the fury of his shifter. It was a good thing his mate liked it rough, because there was nothing gentle about his movements. This wasn’t lovemaking. This was pure, unadulterated fucking. There would be plenty of time for slow and sweet later. Rae’s whimpers each time he bottomed out fueled his desire. He met her moans with grunts and heavy breathing.

“Holy shit, Baby,” Rae muttered. “Oh, god... I’m... oh... oh...” When Rae became unable to string a sentence together, that was her tell that she was ready to come. He didn’t lessen the intensity. If anything, he ground into her faster. Harder.

“That’s it, Doll. Let me see you come apart,” he demanded, and she obeyed. Rae’s pussy clamped down on his dick as her orgasm overtook her. He held off until she was no longer pulsing around him to allow his own release to take over. He continued to move in and out as his orgasm slammed through him. The force of his release was almost as strong as when he’d claimed Rae as his mate. As he shot his seed into her heat, his words from earlier rang out in his mind...
I’m going to put another baby in you.
Would this coupling be the one that gave them another child? Could their coming together to forget for a few moments what their first child was going through be the beginning of a sibling for Desi?

“Michael?” Rae whispered.

“Yeah, Doll. I’m fine,” Sixx lied. He pressed his lips to hers, pouring all the love he felt into the kiss. He had never told anyone he loved them. He’d never felt the emotion for anyone before her, and now he was blessed to know what real love was with both Rae and Desi. It was different, what he felt for each of them, but he loved them equally. “Let’s get cleaned up. Uri should be arriving soon.” He helped her to her feet, pulling his shorts up his legs without bothering to zip them, before Sixx followed Rae into the bathroom.

Urijah knocked just as they returned to the living room. Sixx reached out with his senses before opening the door to the Goyle. “Uri, thanks for coming, Brother. I know you’re busy, but other than you, Sin, and Finley, I don’t know the Goyles out here well enough to trust them with Rae.”

“You don’t have to explain. I am honored to watch over your mate.”

“Thank you. This shouldn’t take too long if the old man is home. I’ll be back soon.” Sixx shook hands with Uri before turning to Rae. He placed his hands on either side of her face and kissed her softly. “I love you,” he whispered, not caring that Uri could hear. He did love her and never wanted her to wonder about his feelings. He didn’t wait on her to say the words back. He didn’t need to hear them to know how she felt. He could see it in her eyes. Feel it in her touch. In the way her heart beat differently around him.

Sixx didn’t bother with the GPS. He had studied the address and the surrounding area extensively, memorizing the roads in and out of the neighborhood where Gustav Larson lived. The information Julian had come up with stated the man was sixty-eight. He’d lived at his current address for going on forty years. He was retired from a factory job with little pension. His wife of forty-seven years passed away several months before from cancer, leaving Gustav with a lot of debt the insurance hadn’t covered. The latter explained why someone his age was working after retirement. It might also explain why he was doing dirty work for someone like Alistair Gianopoulos. If the man was even aware of what he’d done. That was what Sixx intended on finding out.

By the time Sixx reached the area where Larson lived, it was going on nine o’clock. Sixx didn’t pull into the driveway. His Jeep was too conspicuous, so he left it in the parking lot of an overnight market and walked the few blocks to the man’s home. Sixx knocked on the door of the house that had seen better days, keeping to the side in case the man actually used the peephole. Reaching out with his senses, Sixx was able to detect a television being turned down, footsteps walking toward the front of the house, and the locks being turned on the door.

The man from Rae’s drawing opened the door and asked, “Can I help you?”

Sixx pushed his way past the man, not waiting for an invitation. “Close the door.”

“I don’t have any money. Please don’t hurt me. Take anything you want, but please...”

“Shut up, old man. I’m not here to hurt you, only to ask you a few questions.”

“What kinds of questions?” Gustav didn’t move from the door, so Sixx grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him farther into the room. He closed the door and turned on the old man.

“Who hired you to deliver flowers to Desirae Rothchild?”

“A man called in the order. Four days’ worth of plants. The last order was cancelled,” he said, his hands shaking.

“Yet you delivered a vase of roses on the fourth day. Why?”

“Someone called back and requested they be delivered.”

“Who called? I need to know who sent those flowers.”

“I... I don’t know. I don’t take the calls; I just make the deliveries. I swear to you... What’s this about?”

Sixx got in the man’s face and dropped his fangs. “Who the fuck told you to send roses?” he roared. If the man was telling the truth, he might have a heart attack at Sixx’s theatrics. If he was lying, he probably wouldn’t be shocked at a little show of fang.

“Oh, God! Please, I don’t know!”

“I think you’re lying. You know why? Because there was more than flowers in that vase. There was a small transmitter attached to the outside. How do you explain that?”

“What transmitter? I swear to you, I only deliver. If a transmitter was on the vase, the owner would have been the only one to know about it. She wouldn’t have, though. Elaina is a good woman. I can... I can take you to the shop. Maybe we can find the order. Please don’t hurt me!” The man was genuinely frightened. His heartbeat was accelerated and his breathing erratic.

“That sounds like a good idea. Grab your keys; you can drive us there. But I’m warning you, if you try anything at all, you won’t make it home alive. Are we clear?” Gustav nodded, sweat beading on his forehead. “Good, now let’s go.”

The man found his keys and motioned, “This way. The car is in the garage.” Sixx followed the older man out to a beat-up sedan. Sixx sat in the passenger seat but angled his body toward the driver. There was no small talk, no sounds other than Gustav’s nerves rattling in his body. He parked at the back of the store and used a key on his keyring to let them inside. He punched in a code to the alarm and hurried to the office.

“All of the orders are logged into the computer. I’m not savvy with electronics, so it will take me a few minutes to get you the information.” Sixx didn’t respond. He crossed his arms over his chest and stilled his body. Gargoyles could remain unmoving for days if they needed to. He’d found over the years that the stillness coupled with quietness unnerved humans more than words did. Gustav poked at the keyboard with his index fingers, glancing up every so often at Sixx. “Here it is. The buyer didn’t leave his name, but he paid with a credit card.” A few seconds later, the printer spit out a piece of paper that Gustav handed over to Sixx.

Boris Crane. Good. He could send this to Julian, and hopefully they would be one step closer to finding Desi. At the least, they would know who was listening in on their conversations. Sixx searched for security cameras. He couldn’t leave evidence of his being there. When he didn’t see any, he shook the paper at the old man and said, “This is good, but if I find out you were an accomplice in ways other than merely delivering a vase of flowers, I will come back and find you. If you tell anyone about tonight, I will come back and find you. Do you understand?”

Gustav nodded. “I don’t know what’s going on, mister. I only deliver flowers.”

“You mentioned the owner, Elaina. What is her last name?”

“Green. Elaina Green,” Gustav whispered.

Sixx stared him down a good minute before leaving out the back door. He texted the owner’s name along with the information for Crane to Julian, telling him what he needed before putting the paper in the cargo pocket of his shorts. Sixx hid in the shadows of the building, listening for any indication of the old man calling someone. Retching sounded from somewhere inside, and Sixx almost felt bad for the old man. The toilet flushed and the sink was turned on. A few minutes passed before the driver locked up the shop and walked to his car. Once seated, he ran his hands down his face before putting the key in the ignition. As soon as he drove away, Sixx took off jogging to the Jeep.

Sixx let himself in Rae’s back door with a key he’d confiscated earlier. She and Uri were sitting at the kitchen table, Rae’s sketch pad open before the Goyle. “Hey, Doll. Showing off your talent?” he asked as he bent down and kissed her on the cheek.

“Somehow, Uri heard about my sketches and begged me to show him my other drawings. How’d it go?” she asked as she stood from the table. Uri turned away from the drawings to give Sixx his undivided attention.

“I got a name and credit card number for the man who ordered the roses. I don’t think the driver knew that he was delivering anything other than flowers. I’m not comfortable with the whole situation, and I want to get back home so I can check the other plants. If they slipped a bug onto the roses, it’s possible the other plants were bugged as well.”

“I still don’t understand how the bad guys knew you were going to send me flowers.”

Sixx had thought on this a lot. He didn’t know how either, but somehow they had. “I don’t know, Doll. At this point, we can’t put anything past our enemies. I’m ready to get home, though. Since Uri has his SUV, is there anything you’d like to load up and take with us?”

Rae pointed out several items that would fit in Uri’s vehicle. She also loaded up all the groceries Sixx had bought. As soon as the SUV was full, the three of them headed back to New Malibu. When they arrived, the first thing Sixx did was check the plants for transmitters. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found none. With that taken care of, he and Uri unloaded the items Rae had brought from her house. Rae put the perishables in the fridge while Sixx rearranged furniture to make room for her stuff. Most of Sixx’s furnishings were neutral. Rae’s belongings were bright and added color to the rooms. He liked it. A lot.

Uri disappeared to his bedroom for a few minutes. When he returned, he had changed clothes and added a spritz of cologne. “I’m headed back to the armory. With all that’s going on, I want to get busy sooner rather than later. If you need me again, don’t hesitate to call, Brother.”

“Thank you for everything,” Sixx said, shaking hands with the Goyle. “Tell Banyan I said hello,” he added with a grin. Urijah growled, and Sixx laughed. If there wasn’t a story between those two, Sixx would sell his surfboard. Why else would Uri bother with looking and smelling nice? He turned his attention to his mate, who was fussing with a box of her belongings. As long as she was busy with mundane things, it would help keep her mind off of Desi.

Sixx asked Rae if she needed help, but she convinced him she had everything under control. He had assured her this was her home now, and the decorating was all on her. He would gladly move stuff around or hammer a nail if she wanted to hang a picture. Other than that, he stayed out of her way. Sixx reclined on the sofa as Rae took her time putting things where she thought they looked best. He turned on the television to have mindless noise to distract him. Having his mate in his home – their home – should be soothing. Rae was where she belonged, but until Desi was found, nothing would be okay. His phone rang, and his heart sped up when Julian’s name appeared on the display.

“Jules, please tell me you have good news.”

“I’m not sure how good it is, but it is news. Boris Crane is an associate of Kallisto’s. When I pulled up the information on the computer, Nikolas recognized his face as being one of the Gargoyles in Egypt. The dumbass used his personal credit card to purchase the roses. Since we know he has been in the area near where Desi’s phone was found, I’m doing a facial recognition search for him. The phone number listed for the credit card isn’t turned on, so he’s more than likely using a burner phone. Crane might not be the one who took your son, but right now it’s the only lead we have.”

“What about the owner of the shop?”

“I’m sending her information to you now. My guess is he offered her too much money to turn down the proposition. Between Nik, Lorenzo, and me, we will work around the clock searching for Crane. If we find anything, we’ll call.”

“You don’t know how much I appreciate your help. Tell Nik and Lorenzo thank you.”

“Will do. Try to get some sleep, yeah?”

“Right.” Sixx disconnected. He knew sleep would elude him that night. “I’m hungry, Doll. What do you say I whip up some tacos?” Rae hadn’t eaten since the abandoned chicken strips, and then she hadn’t eaten many of those. She needed to keep her strength up, and she loved Sixx’s homemade tacos.