Grim tilted his head, ears cocked forward. His blue/brown gaze went from Selina to Jack and back again. His hackles smoothed and he snorted. Lying back down, he rested his chin on his paws.
“That dog has attitude.”
Grim’s blue eye opened and focused on Jack, a growl rumbling out. Message received. Jack was being watched, and the jury wasn’t out yet on whether or not he was getting a chunk taken out of him.
Scooting around on his lap, Selina tried to get off of him. Her squirming made him grit his teeth and grab her hips to still her. Just like that, his cock was as hard as blue steel. The feel of her, the feminine scent. He groaned, pulling her around so she straddled his hips.
Her eyes widened when she felt his erection, but instead of pulling away, she arched forward to slide her sex over his cock. Even through their clothing, the effect was electric, heat shooting through his body. There was magic in her touch when she grabbed his shoulders for leverage. He groaned, rocking his pelvis upward. Shoving his fingers into her short hair, he pulled her down for a kiss.
She tasted as sweet as she smelled, like one of those fancy coffees with caramel in it. He licked into her mouth, twining his tongue with hers. Releasing his grip on her hair, he slipped his fingers down her back. Her slender body flexed and bowed as she thrust her sex against his, the stimulation so erotic, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to hold back. And he still had his clothes on. It was insane, but there was no way he’d stop this runaway train.
Reaching between them, he feathered his thumb over her clit through her pajama bottoms. She whimpered into his mouth, a pleasure spell wrapping around them. He didn’t know if she could feel his passion for her, but he sure as hell could feel hers. The heat they generated together was likely to set the house on fire, and it built to a towering inferno. He continued to tease her sex with one hand, and moved the other around to fondle her breast. When he pinched and twisted her tight little nipple, he knew she was close to orgasm. The spell intensified its grip on him, her body went tight, her breathing hitched, and her fingers dug into his shoulders.
He wanted her to come for him. Jesus, the explosive spell spinning between them might just drag him under with her. His cock throbbed, and he thrust his tongue deeper into her mouth, stroked her clit harder and faster.
Every muscle in her body locked, and her hips jerked. He could feel climax thrumming through her, and the blast of magic that hit him, centered right where she ground her sex down into his, brought him right to the edge of orgasm. Another few seconds and he might come in his pants.
They both groaned when the doorbell rang. He let his head drop back against the couch, lungs heaving for air. So close, and his body ached with the missed opportunity. “Fuck.”
She whimpered, collapsing against his chest.
Another knock sounded, louder and longer this time, and both Grim and Jack growled.
“I’ll get it.” He laid her limp form on the couch next to him, watching her sigh with contentment.
He kissed her bent knee before he rose to his feet and walked unsteadily toward the door. He tugged his shirt forward to hide his erection, hoping he wasn’t about to shock some teen. Opening the door, he fished out his wallet and paid the middle-aged delivery driver, then brought the bags back to Selina. The scent of Chinese food had both their stomachs gurgling. Loudly.
“I guess we should eat.” He laughed as she slapped a hand over her belly.
“Yeah, or else my stomach is going to start digesting itself.”
“There’s a nice mental image.” Setting the bags on the coffee table, he sat down and dug through the bags until he found napkins and wooden chopsticks. He handed her a set while she sat up and snagged the white carton with the chow mein in it.
A deep moan filtered out of her when she took the first bite. “Oh, gods, I’ve had orgasms that weren’t this good.”
“Hey!” He laughed.
“Not with you, sheesh.” She waved her chopsticks between them. “This is good sex, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“I had noticed, actually.” He stabbed apiece of chicken with his chopsticks and forked it into his mouth. Not their intended use, but whatever. The spicy flavor hit his taste buds, and he groaned. The food was just as delicious as Selina had promised.
“Awesome, isn’t it?” She gave him a smug look before she took another bite of chow mein.
He nodded and stole some of her noodles, offering her his carton in exchange. They fell into a companionable silence as they ate, and it felt ... nice.
“So.” She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “You’ve mentioned the marines. How long did you serve?”
She was curious about him. The thought warmed him in a way that it probably shouldn’t. He shut that down. She was a cop and she was stuck working with him for a while. Of course, she was curious. Even if they weren’t sleeping together, she’d want to know what kind of person she was dealing with.
“I was in ROTC in college, then I served as an officer for fifteen years. I did a couple of stints in Iraq and Afghanistan. When Cavalli recruited me, I took an early retirement from the corps.”
Three sentences to describe the bulk of his life. There was so much history piled into those years—events that had shaped the man he’d become.
“What made you want to become a marine?”
“My dad was a marine.” He rooted around in the plastic bags until he came up with their order of eggrolls. He offered her first grab. “It just seemed to fit. I always knew I was going to be a lifer in the corps. It was the FBI that was a surprise, but it fits me, too.”
“Why did you make the switch? You didn’t wake up one day and say, ‘I think I’ll join the FBI,’ right?” Her brows drew together, a thoughtful expression on her face when she bit into the flaky shell of the eggroll.
“No, I never considered it until Cavalli approached me.” He shrugged. “It was something different, interesting. It let me wash the taste of war out of my mouth.”
“How did Cavalli even find you? I mean, I know Normals who know about magic are registered with the All-Magickal Council, but—” She waved her hand to indicate she couldn’t explain it.
He set the eggroll container down without taking one. “My mom and stepdad moved to Seattle for his job about ten years ago. I came to see them when I was on leave a few years back and met Cavalli through a mutual acquaintance.”
“That tells me not much.” She nudged him with her elbow. “What kind of mutual acquaintance exists between a vampire FBI agent and a Normal marine? Is your stepdad a vampire?”
He snorted. “Exactly the opposite, actually.”
“Werewolf?” There was only one species diametrically opposed to vampires. The two fanged races had a serious hate on each other. Open warfare had existed between them for centuries until the All-Magickal Council had put the kibosh on it in the late 1800s. It was too dangerous for every Magickal for the war to continue. The hatred still remained and occasionally caused skirmishes, but they’d managed not to degenerate to that kill-on-sight kind of war again. So far. Jack was as aware as anyone else in the Magickal community how tenuous the peace was at times. He’d had to clean up the mess of their fighting before. He wanted no part in more war.
He’d had enough of that in the military to last a lifetime. War was an ugly, grinding thing.
Selina touched his hand, dragging him back to the present. He realized she was staring at him, waiting for him to answer her question. “Yeah, my stepdad is a werewolf.”
“I guess that brings us back to—how did a man in a werewolf family meet a vampire agent?” She gave him a pointed look. “That’s not usually on the vacation to-do list.”