She arched a brow. “He checked me out of my hotel room. Without asking me?”
Josh’s features changed and he put his hands up. “It’s safest here. Surely you can’t argue with that.”
“Well I certainly can’t if no one even bothers to ask me about it.”
She wrapped the towel around her body and riffled through her bag until she found clean underwear and pulled them on, finding her bra, which he’d picked up from the floor and folded on the counter. He watched as she got dressed.
“I’m sorry I didn’t ask. There’s something you should know. While I’m not an alpha at Tracy, Nick and Gabe’s level, I am an alpha wolf in general. My job, the place I hold in the pack, is one of protection. It’s hardwired into me. I do things to protect the people I care about. You’re one of those people. I act and forget about the permission part.”
That was a bald truth. She looked him up and down, and her body came to life again. She knew he knew because his nostrils flared and he got that face. Oh he was going to be such a handful if she went forward with any sort of relationship with him.
Which seemed a given. Because she liked him. And maybe the protective, bossy thing he had. Though it would not do to give him even an inch. A man like him would run right over a woman in the name of protecting her if she didn’t push him back when he stepped over the line.
“Here’s the deal, Joshua. No one makes my decisions but me. As it happens, I agree it’s probably safer here than in a hotel. Given our…relationship status, it seems stupid for me to go to the expense of a hotel when I sleep here anyway. But that does not mean you can make my choices. I am not down with that, no matter how good you are at making me come. You got me?”
He moved to her, pulling the towel from her hands and drying her hair. He bent to kiss her shoulder. “I got you. Thank you.”
“How long will it take to get to the jail where I’ll be interviewing Charlie? I’ll have to check in and turn over my weapon and all that stuff so add time to the travel for that.”
“We should leave in about twenty minutes. Can you be ready?”
“Yes. But you can’t be in here or I’ll get distracted.”
“I’ll shower while you get ready.” He peeled his clothes off, and she made herself stop looking and get dressed.
On the drive over, she watched the city out the window as she thought. She realized he’d yet again used a condom. She knew her body pretty well, and she was pretty sure she wasn’t fertile. How did you broach that in a conversation though? He’d begged her to stay in Portland to be with him so it wasn’t that he was grossed out by her.
A shiver went through her as she remembered what he’d said about her scent.
He made a sound next to her as he drove, and she looked over. One corner of his mouth was turned up as supremely male satisfaction was stamped on his features.
“I love that I can scent when you’re turned on. You’re an incredibly sexual woman. I like that.”
He kept his eyes on the road, and she was glad because she blushed down to her toes.
“What if I was thinking about Daniel Craig or something? You’re pretty ballsy to assume you’re who I was thinking about.” She hmpfed and he laughed, reaching out to tangle his fingers with hers.
“Ah, but you aren’t thinking of Daniel Craig. You’re thinking about me. Just like I’m thinking about you. Remembering the way you felt around me this morning as I fucked you.”
“If I stay in Portland, how am I ever going to get any work done if you get me hot and bothered all the time?” she mumbled.
“It’s my pleasure to get you hot and bothered. But I assume you’d get a job and I won’t be with you every moment so hopefully there’ll be no horny pussy when I’m not there. I don’t share.”
There was a pause just then. Not a spoken one. But she felt it in his demeanor.
“What?”
“Huh?” He turned down a street. “The jail is this way. Pam said to call her when we parked so can you do that now? She’ll be waiting so she can escort us through.”
She let it go and grabbed her phone, making the call. Pam, true to her word, met them, escorting Michelle through.
“Josh, you need to wait here,” Pam said quietly.
He grimaced and his wolf showed. “No, I can’t. I need to be with Michelle.”
“You’re not a cop. We’re in cop central, it’s not like anything is going to happen to me.” Michelle probably should have been annoyed by his bossiness, but she must have been crazy because it worked for him and she was flattered and touched more than annoyed.
Pam nodded. “Wait here. We’ll be out when we finish. Or go to Pacific and do your work, and I’ll bring her over when I finish.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” He turned to Michelle. “You will be careful.”
“I’ll do my best. Me being all helpless and stuff.”
Pam fought a smile but managed to hold it back.
Josh snorted. “I know you’re more than capable of taking care of yourself. I’ll see you in a bit.”
It was hard to remain flustered when he was so adorable so she let it go, telling herself she’d have to continue to get used to how protective he was.
They followed him to a group of chairs in the lobby, preparing to leave him there until they’d finished with Charlie. Michelle pulled her cop all around herself like armor and turned to Pam. “I’m ready.”
But all hell broke loose before they could get on the elevators.
Cops rushed past and she felt it. Dark, ugly magic was being worked.
Michelle turned to Pam. “Shit. Get me to where he is. Now.”
“There’s a lockdown. I can’t override it.”
“They’re here. The mages. Something ugly is being worked.” She gagged, and Josh was at her side, touching her.
“What is happening?”
“Get Charlie safe. They’re here for him.”
Josh took her upper arms in his hands and shook, once, to get her attention. “What if they’re here for you? Have you thought of that?”
A blast of something very dark sent her to her knees. She heard shouts about a prisoner being down, and she knew. Josh pulled her out of the way of the traffic, shielding her with his body. Pam had rushed off to get information.
“What? Should I call Gina? Damn it, Michelle are you all right? Answer me!”
“Charlie is dead. Or close to it. I…my skills aren’t that good, but I can tell that much.”
He patted her all over. “Are you all right? Did it hurt you?”
She pushed his hands back. She was a cop on the floor for God’s sake. “I need to stand up, and you need to back off or get kicked in the sac.”
He relaxed a little, standing and letting her do so without his assistance. “If you’re threatening to kick me in the junk, you must be all right.”
Pam hustled over. “Another prisoner killed Charlie. They were walking him to an interview room. He was in cuffs and with two guards and another prisoner walked up and snapped his neck. The other prisoner is dead too. He’d been shot several times because he wouldn’t stop. They didn’t injure anyone else. I…this is beyond my skill level.”
Hers too.
He led her to his office at Pacific. She was still pale, and his wolf noted the remnants of whatever spell that’d knocked her to the ground. Her scent was slightly off. A little dirty. And not the good kind of dirty.
“Michelle, I’d like you to meet someone.”
She looked up from where she’d been studying her phone. “Sorry. I was texting with Gage. They’re going to get in contact with Gina, and she’s going to call me when they get all that figured out.”
“No need to be sorry.” Gabe stepped into the office and the room seemed to shrink around them. “I’m Gabe Murphy. Tracy said she met you earlier. I wanted to stop in and introduce myself and extend our offer of help. Are you well?”