17. Marilee
Marilee
Hazel stiffened, closed her eyes briefly, then huffed out an aggravated breath.
“I just wanted to go out and have a drink,” she mumbled. “But no, I can’t have one relaxing night without it going to shit.”
She turned to face her parents, and I positioned myself a half a step behind her right shoulder, silently telling her that I had her back.
I slid my hand inside my jacket, resting my fingers on the butt of my gun.
I didn’t think her parents would be so brazen as to snatch her right off the street, but then again, someone had just staged a fake emergency and dragged her out of a crowded bar, so you never knew.
“You don’t have a hug for your mam and da?” her father asked in a faintly mocking tone.
Colm O’Brian was tall, with red hair the exact shade as Hazel’s.
He wasn’t bulky, but he was definitely wiry and fit, despite the fact that he had to be in his mid to late fifties.
On the surface he looked perfectly casual, but he was radiating with coiled energy and his shrewd brown eyes missed nothing.
“I see you’ve been eating well wherever you’ve been hiding,” her mom spoke up.
She was a hard looking woman, thin and angular. Elizabeth’s hair was darker than my mate’s, almost black, but she had green eyes and a freckled complexion that matched her daughter.
“What do you guys want?” Hazel asked with exaggerated patience.
“The money you stole from us, for starters,” Colm said. “But we’re willing to forget all that if you come home with us and take your position in the organization.”
“Hard pass.”
My mate had what my father would call balls of steel.
I’d come out of the bar just in time to see her head butt and kick that German bitch who was trying to kidnap her.
The only thing that stung more than realizing she didn’t need me to save her was knowing that I’d fallen for the distraction that allowed Greta to get to her in the first place.
She didn’t appear at all affected by her parents being here, even though with my enhanced sense of smell I could tell she was nervous. She stood with her legs wide, shoulders back, fingers curled into fists, ready to fight.
Her father’s face turned hard at her retort. Colm O’Brian clearly wasn’t a man who was used to being told no.
“Look Moira, either you come back home with us, or you keep fighting off every damned hunter who’s hoping to collect the bounty on you. I guarantee you that the Italians won’t be nearly as accommodating as your mam and I are.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
Whatever he was going to say next was cut off by one of the Sapphic Security SUVs coming to a screeching halt on the curb. Wanda and Lois jumped out of the front doors, surveying the scene as Boris unfolded his giant bear body from the backseat.
“Where are Allie and Martha?” I asked, surprised to see them.
“They’re stuck in the elevator at the hotel,” Wanda said. “They were gonna climb out the top, but I told them to sit tight and wait for maintenance. Don’t want anyone asking questions because those idiots are channeling freakin’ Spider Man to escape an elevator.”
I turned my attention back to the O’Brians, but they were gone, as if they’d faded into thin air.
“What happened to your parents?” I asked Hazel.
“They disappeared,” she shrugged. “Probably thought these guys were cops.”
“As if,” Lois sniffed. “Lazy assholes can’t be bothered to do a damned thing. Couldn’t solve a crime if I handed them a map with an X that said, ‘find bad guys here’.”
Lois hated cops. And the FBI. And politicians. Basically anyone who wasn’t her mate, but particularly anyone who interfered with our cases. It was a miracle she was able to be as successful in the military as she was. It helped that she’d been assigned to an all-shifter unit though.
“Let’s get you back to the hotel where we’ve got the perimeter secured.”
It was worded like a request, but the tone of her voice made it clear that this was an order she expected us to obey immediately. Unfortunately Hazel didn’t get the memo on that.
“I want to figure out where my parents are staying, and who they’re working with,” she said.
“Negative,” Lois barked. “Those idiots will show up again later, we all know that. You’re a damned sitting duck being outside like this. Now. Get. In. The. Car.”
This time even Hazel heard the steel in my boss’s tone. We slid into the back seat, crowding against Boris who took up more than half the space by himself.
Martha and Allie were in the lobby, having just escaped the elevator.
“You guys okay?” Allie asked. “We heard there was trouble.”
“Yeah we’re fine,” I said. “But let’s get out of the lobby.”
“We’ll have to take the stairs,” Martha said. “The elevators are down for now.”
We trudged up ten flights of stairs with Allie in the front and Martha at the back, me and Hazel in the middle. By the time we made it to our floor, my mate was breathing heavily.
“Damn, I need to do more cardio,” she wheezed. “That was way harder than it should be.”
“Come on,” I said, grabbing her by the waist and throwing her over my shoulder. “Let’s get into our room.”
“Hey!” she protested, landing a few half-hearted punches on my back. “Put me down.”
I smacked her ass and she squeaked, then stopped struggling.
The scent of her arousal filled the air, enough that I knew my coworkers could smell it, even though they were too polite to say anything.
I made a mental note to remember how much the single smack turned her on.
We’d have to try adding some spanking when this was all over and we could be together.
Well, I hoped we could be together. I had no doubt that Hazel was attracted to me.
It had been crystal clear those two times we’d made out.
But I didn’t just want sex with her. I wanted forever.
I was falling in love with my mate, not just because of the bond, but because as corny as it sounded, I’d fallen for her the instant I laid eyes on her.
I hadn’t needed my vamp or my wolf to tell me a damned thing.
Then stop wasting time and claim her, my wolf snipped. We almost lost her tonight.
Interestingly, my wolf had gotten more and more vocal the last couple of days, while my vampire had been uncharacteristically quiet. I wasn’t sure what was going on, and if I should be concerned about it or not.
After saying goodbye to Martha and Allie, I went through my routine of scanning the room for devices and threats, keeping Hazel on my shoulder the whole time. I liked having her there. Once the room was clear, I slid her down my body, setting her on her feet.
She stepped forward and gave me a hard punch to the shoulder. “You can’t toss me around like a bag of grain,” she said, pretending to be irritated with me.
I knew better. She wasn’t upset with me, not really. She was upset with herself for not being upset.
Lightning quick, I caught her wrist as she pulled her arm back, circling it with my fingers. Her bones felt fragile in between my fingers. Using her wrist for leverage, I tugged her closer until she fell against my chest, her hand stuck between our bodies.
“What are you doing?” she asked breathlessly. Her pupils were so wide her eyes almost lost their green color.
“This.”
I lowered my head slowly, giving her time to pull away, but as usual, Hazel did the unexpected. She dragged her hand out from between us, popped up on her toes, and gripped my shoulders, pulling me closer. Our lips crashed together as the kiss immediately turned hot.
My fingers found her hips, nails digging into her soft flesh, bringing her even closer to me until there wasn’t even a millimeter separating our bodies. A flood of arousal soaked my panties.
“It was so hot watching you head butt Greta,” I whispered against her mouth. “And the way you stood up to your parents without any fear… You’re such a badass. You don’t even need a bodyguard.”
I tried not to let that bother me, but it kind of did.
“I need you,” she growled, and something inside me responded in kind.
I slid her jacket off her shoulders, letting it drop to the ground before shrugging off my own. We pulled apart, breathing heavily, and I removed my holster, setting it on the table between our beds before pulling Hazel into my arms again.
We unbuttoned each other’s shirts in unison, pulling them off as we continued to kiss. When Hazel’s fingers reached for my zipper, I had the wherewithal to pull back to check for consent.
“Is this what you want?” I asked, cupping her breast and giving it a firm squeeze that made her sigh. “Tell me what you want.”
“I want you to fuck me,” she said succinctly. “Now take off your pants.”
This bossy side of her was cute, but I wasn’t one to be passive in the bedroom.
I made quick work of removing the rest of my clothes, Hazel following suit.
When we were both naked, I walked her back to the bed, pushing her down and landing on top of her with enough force that she made a loud ‘oomph’ noise.
I burrowed my face into the curve of her shoulder, inhaling her scent and marking her with my own.
Bite her, my wolf said insistently. Claim our mate!
The wolf’s right, my vampire added. Claim our mate!
I could have pointed out that it was too soon. That she hadn’t agreed to forever. But I wasn’t going to waste a minute of this talking to my inner demons, not when Hazel was sliding her hand between us to give my pussy a squeeze that made my heart stutter.
I shimmied downward, settling between her legs and catching one of her nipples in my mouth and giving it a hard suck.
She moaned loudly, and I loved that she was so responsive.
Hazel’s fingers wrapped in my hair, holding me in place.
I teased her other breast with my fingers, and when her nipple was swollen from my mouth, I switched sides before sliding farther down her body.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I murmured against her belly button.
She made a soft squealing noise as I swirled my tongue in the indentation.
“Quit wasting so much time on foreplay,” she demanded.
I smirked up at her. “It’s cute that you think you’re in charge.”
“It’s cute that you think I’m going to wait for you to come,” she shot back, her fingers pinching her own nipple for emphasis.
“Fine,” I muttered. “I’ll take the edge off for you, greedy girl.”
I shifted lower, using my fingers to spread her lower lips, revealing the soft pink folds between. Flattening my tongue, I licked her from bottom to top, then repeated the movement. Back and forth again and again I lapped at her pussy, heightening her arousal with every pass.
When she was making little whimpering noises I drew her clit into my mouth, sucking hard on the swollen bundle of nerves.
“Fuuuck!”
The word was ripped from Hazel’s mouth as the orgasm hit her, her body shuddering beneath me almost violently.
I felt a surge of pride at how quickly I’d brought my mate to orgasm, our burgeoning mate bond and instinct helping me know exactly what she needed.
I licked her through the waves, slowing as she finally came down with a long sigh.
For a full ten seconds, all I heard was my mate’s harsh breathing. Then she lifted up on her elbows and gave me a sinful smile.
“That was fun. How about we do you next?”