11. Marilee
Marilee
Iwasn’t going to touch my mate until the case was over. I swear I wasn’t. But then she looked at me with those huge green eyes, and I scented her arousal and I couldn’t help but get closer.
Kiss her, my wolf urged me.
It’s too soon, my vamp said. We promised the boss restraint.
Kiss her, the wolf insisted.
Silently I told them both to shut up. I probably could have restrained myself if Hazel hadn’t initiated the kiss. Then our lips touched, and for the first time since my wolf had woken up, both of my inner demons spoke as one. Mine!
Surging forward, I deepened the kiss, sliding my tongue into Hazel’s mouth as I took control.
She made a little noise of surprise, opening for me, allowing me access to explore.
I pressed my body against hers, pushing her against the door behind her and noting how well we fit together.
As if we were made for each other. And if you believed mate lore, we were made for each other.
I wasn’t sure I believed in mates before, despite the fact that I’d watched coworker after coworker fall for their own mates. Part of me had always feared I was somehow defective. That was why my wolf never made an appearance. Surely a broken shifter couldn’t have a mate.
It never occurred to me that finding my mate would be the thing that would fix me.
My wolf was getting more and more active in the two days since I’d met Hazel and then there was the spontaneous shifting today.
I’d been too surprised to stop it, too freaked out to do more than let it happen.
Shifting was something our kind learned to control when we were kids, but I’d never learned about that side of me since it was dormant.
I had a good grasp of my vamp, but I’d need to figure out how to control my wolf too.
But not now. Now I needed to show my mate how I felt about her, even if she had no idea she was my mate.
I dropped my hands down to her hips, gripping her tightly as I rolled my pelvis against her, desperate for some friction.
We were surrounded by the sweet scent of her arousal, and it only made me more excited.
Hazel was as attracted to me as I was to her, and while I’d suspected it was true, it was a relief to know it for sure.
When my vision started getting a little fuzzy I broke the kiss, allowing us to catch our breath.
“You’re so beautiful,” I whispered as I kissed my way down her neck, stopping to nip at the skin at the junction of her shoulder. The place where I’d mate mark her when the threat had passed. Hopefully.
Bite now, my wolf offered helpfully.
It’s too soon, my vampire argued. Hazel doesn’t understand yet. She can’t give consent for a lifetime commitment.
Idly I wondered if now that my wolf had woken up I was going to spend the rest of my life listening to her argue with my vamp. But then Hazel reached around to squeeze my ass, and I forgot all about my inner beings.
I dragged her jacket off her shoulders, then pulled off her top, leaving her in just a red lacy bra. I lowered my head and sucked a nipple into my mouth, suckling her through the fabric. Hazel’s hand went to the back of my head, pressing me closer as I drew on first one nipple, then the other.
“Oh my God,” Hazel gasped. “That feels so good. Why does that feel so good?”
Ignoring the voices inside me telling me to answer that question, I surged up to take her mouth again, cradling her face between my hands as the kiss went on and on.
When I heard the door open next door, telling me that Allie and Martha had checked in and made it up to their room, I forced myself to take a step back.
My coworkers’ arrival reminded me of Lois’s warning, and the reminder of how pissed my boss would be if she saw me kissing our client finally broke the haze of lust that was consuming me.
I had a job to do. I couldn’t keep Hazel safe if I was a horny mess.
Although I wasn’t sure I could be anything but a horny mess until I’d officially claimed her. That was the only way my inner beasts would calm down, I was sure of it. I just needed to remember that I was the human. I was in control here.
And ignore the chuckling I heard inside me.
Hazel was still leaning against the door, her breath coming in ragged pants. “That was… that was… something.”
“Yeah.” I took a few more steps away from her, needing to put some distance between us. “But it can’t happen again.”
“Sure. Right.” She paused, then asked, “Why is that?”
“My job is to protect you. I need to focus on that.” There was a knock on the connecting door, and I felt grateful for the reprieve. “Lemme get that.”
“I assume we’re going to the cocktail reception and dinner,” Martha asked.
I looked at Hazel, who nodded in confirmation. “I need to make an appearance,” she said. “I have people to talk to.”
“Okay, then we’d better get cleaned up,” Martha said, looking between us like she knew exactly what we’d been doing. “Maybe comb your hair.”
I couldn’t resist looking in the mirror across from me. My hair was a wild mess thanks to Hazel running her fingers through it while we were kissing. Meanwhile Hazel’s hair was halfway out of her ponytail, and her lips were red and swollen from our kisses. Oops.
“You can have the bathroom first if you’d like,” I told Hazel. “I don’t need long to get ready.”
She gave me a long look, but only said, “Okay” before scurrying into the bathroom. A few minutes later I heard the shower running. I used the opportunity to take a shot of blood. I’d had one this morning, but after everything that had happened today, I could use a little extra boost.
By the time Hazel came out dressed in a hotel bathrobe I’d changed into dressier pants, a white shirt, and a black blazer.
It was my uniform for events like this, nice enough to pass for cocktail attire but easy enough to move in if I needed to run or fight.
I strapped a knife to my ankle and pulled a shoulder holster under my jacket, hiding my revolver underneath my jacket.
“Uh, why do you need weapons? Don’t you have claws and fangs and stuff to fight with?” Hazel asked as she towel dried her hair on her side of the room.
“We try not to shift in front of humans unless it’s strictly necessary,” I explained. “Also, I have more options if I’m not stuck fighting in close contact.”
“Ah.”
When she didn’t say anything else, I headed into the bathroom to wash my face, brush my teeth, and tame my hair.
By the time I came back out, Hazel was dressed in a prim little pencil skirt with a white blouse with the first two buttons undone.
She’d pulled her hair back into a neat bun at the bottom of her head and put on mascara and bright red lipstick.
The effect was wholly professional, but that didn’t keep me from descending into naughty librarian fantasies.
I stared at her for so long that Hazel started to fidget. “What?”
“Nothing. You look nice.”
She frowned like she didn’t believe me but let me off the hook. “Thanks, you look nice too. Shall we go?”
We headed out, Martha and Allie trailing us like they just happened to be going to the reception at the same time. We’d just exited the elevators when we saw a familiar face.
“Ah friends, hello!” Boris boomed.
Boris was one of three bear shifter brothers we sometimes worked with.
Born in Belarus, they’d worked in their government’s version of the CIA before being recruited to work for the U.S.
Eventually they retired to Seattle, opening up a delicious little diner just up the street from my coworker Angie’s mate Suzie’s bakery.
They still did contract work for several government agencies, as well as helping Sapphic Security when we needed more muscle.
It had worked out well for them, given that all three of the brothers had met their mates while working jobs with us – much to Lois’s annoyance.
Boris hurried over, pulling each of us into a hug like it had been months since we’d seen him instead of a couple of weeks. He was six foot four, built like a mountain, and when he hugged me, it lifted me right off my feet.
After he set me down he turned to Hazel.
“Hello, I am Boris,” he said in his accented English. “It is nice to meet you.”
Hazel stuck out her hand to shake, and Boris brought it to his mouth, placing a kiss on her fingers.
My mate made a little giggling noise that caused me to emit a warning growl despite the fact that I knew Boris was happily mated and the father of three cubs.
Even if he could be interested in another female, his mate Elena would eviscerate him if he tried anything.
His eyes flew between me and Hazel, then his smile broadened. “Ah, another one eats the dust, yes?”
“Bites the dust,” Martha corrected. “It’s another one bites the dust.”
“I am looking forward to getting to know you better, Hazel.”
Hazel looked confused by Boris’s exuberant greeting but nodded politely. “You as well.”
“Shall we go in?” Allie asked with a touch of impatience.
We headed in together, then split up once we reached the atrium area where the reception was being held. Hazel saw someone she knew right away and headed towards them, stopping to grab a glass of wine from a passing waiter.
I stayed at her side during one boring conversation after another, smiling politely and doing my best to look interested while I subtly watched the crowd for any sign of trouble.
Martha, Allie, and Boris all moved around the room, always keeping us in their sights while they pretended to mingle with the other diplomatic guests.
It was a veritable United Nations here with so many languages being spoken.
Finally it was time to head in for dinner.
As we searched for an empty table I couldn’t help but remember the last time I’d been to a dinner like this.
We’d been called in to help out at a regional awards dinner for athletes.
Some Romanian mobsters took the guests hostage trying to get revenge for the suicide of one of their star athletes, and my friend Cassie’s mate Ruby, a soccer player here in Seattle, was one of their targets.
It had all worked out, but hopefully we weren’t going to have any issues here tonight.
Other than the terrible food that is. Why was it that every hotel event in the country served rubber chicken with bland potatoes and a piece of overcooked broccoli?
“We’re going to need to order pizza after this,” I whispered to Hazel. “This food is terrible.”
She nodded. “It is. I’m Irish, and what they’ve done to these potatoes is a crime against Irish people everywhere.”
I smirked. My mate was funny. Beautiful and funny. I just hoped we could get the bounty off her head before it was too late. I might have spent my whole life thinking I’d never had a mate, but now that I’d found her, I wasn’t letting her go.