The Wanting (D'Shar Men 1)

“It’s a Royal Flush,” Phelan informed as he glanced over Mars’s shoulder. His dark chuckle floated behind him as he continued to his room, and Mars swore. If they wanted to give him shit, the least he could do was reciprocate with some teasing.

Chapter Six

Seated at her desk, Zasha closed the manila folder. A sense of pride and weariness enveloped her. One case down, half a dozen more to go, it’d been like this since lunch. Her reflection in the computer screen showed dark circles had formed under her eyes, and her once toned physique had begun to border on thin. She spent the past month or so with her time divided between Taye, Phelan, and the gym. Each work out session meant to plunge her into a dreamless sleep. Since the first week after the orchestra in the park, Zasha was haunted by erotic dreams of Phelan. Only to wake and give her pink rabbit a healthy work out. After she’d blazed her way through a pack of triple A batteries, she’d turned to exercise to exhaust her mind. It was heaven and hell getting to know the man she felt so linked to without the physical gratification.

Each piece of new information gained added to the intimacy being built between them. The pull of the Wanting had grown so intense it occasionally caused pain. But she needed to be sure she knew who Phelan D’Shar was before she surrendered. It was worth the struggle now that she was ready to admit defeat. Phelan successfully erased her doubts one by one and tonight, she would bare her final secret along with her body. She had extended a dinner invitation for tonight at her place. Of course, she’d neglected to inform him she was the main course. She smiled as she placed her files in the appropriate bins, locked her desk down and stood to leave. When the door swung open, she fought down the urge to scream.

“Top priority case for you, straight from the chief,” Richards said as she groaned.

“Did you get a chance to skim over it?” she asked.

“No, he made it clear it was for your eyes only,” he said with a shake of his buzzed brown head.

At six feet three inches and about three hundred pounds, Richards was built like a brick house. With a stern mug that matched his hulking frame. You’d never know the guy was a total teddy bear underneath.

“Go on and get out of her, Johnson. I’ll tell him I just missed you.”

“I owe you, Richards!”

A quick peck on his face made his cheeks redden as she rushed out of the office. For once, the last place she wanted to be was at her desk.

****

Damp and bone weary, Zasha sighed as she stomped the snow from her boots on the mat and twisted the key in the lock. It was fifteen minutes after six, and she had a lot of work to do before Phelan arrived at eight. She loved her job, but on nights like these, she longed for a vacation. Her lips curved down when she flipped the switch up on her lights and got no response. The light bulbs were dead, or the power was out because of the snowstorm. She reached down to grab the slim pin light she kept on her key chain and froze when the beam of light picked up a figure.

Her body lowered to one knee as instincts took over. Her hand pulled the butt of the standard issued 9mm from her shoulder holster, and her ears strained to pick up a sound that would give away the intruders location.

“There’s no need for that, Zasha. If I wa

nted you dead you would be,” a masculine voice said.

The click of a switch beside the intruder pierced the silence, and the light that flooded the room blinded her. Her lids fluttered as she tried to force her eyes to adjust to the lighting differential and assess the threat. Thirty seconds later, her vision cleared and the bottom dropped out as her world exploded.

“It’s been a long time,” Tavel said.

His body draped across one of the leather chairs in her living area. Her fingers clicked the safety off her gun and cocked the handle to place a bullet in the chamber.

“We both know that little pop gun won’t do more than piss me off,” he said.

His voice haughty as his lips curled up into a sneer. The arrogance that rolled off him in waves sent an itch to her trigger finger.

“That’s a good enough reason for me to use it,” she said. Her eyes trained down her barrel and pulled the trigger in rapid succession. The bullets of the P.I.U.’s 9mm were made with a chemical compound that subdued aliens, but they seemed to have no effect on the Tavel.

“I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this,” he said with a sigh as he rose from the chair. A ball of blue light shot across the room and hit her in the chest as darkness drug her down into its depths.

****

“W-where am I?” she whispered.

Her voice was hoarse as she slowly regained consciousness and found her limbs bound. Leather cuffs encircled her wrists and ankles as she lay on a metal tray. The bright circle of light that hung above her head cast shadows on the dank room she was imprisoned in.

“You don’t need to worry about that right now,” Tavel said. His came from a few feet away from where she lay.

A sinister smile spread across his lips as he leaned over her. His features grossly distorted by the light that hung above her head.

“Did you come back to finish the job?” she asked.

Fists clenched as she glared. Zara refused to give him the pleasure of seeing her fear.