Eternal Hunter (Night Watch 1)

Damn. It was his mouth. The man sure knew how to use those lips.

And his tongue. He was very, very good at using his tongue and—

“Your breathing’s changed on me, Erin.” She caught the flare of his nostrils. “And your scent…”

Shifters. She couldn’t quite get used to being around another shifter again. The rules were so different. The whole polite society thing was thrown right out the window. Her legs stretched. Yeah, her scent had changed, and she figured the guy probably had caught the smell of her arousal. No point playing a game with him. “I want you, Jude.” There. That sounded confident and tough and like she didn’t give a crap if he knew that her panties were getting a bit…wet.

Just from thinking about the guy and the things he could do with his mouth.

“Oh, baby.” He accelerated as the pickup zoomed off the ramp and onto the interstate. “You know how to make me suffer, don’t you?”

No, she didn’t.

“Just so you know, we’re getting one room when we get to Lillian.” Gruff words, hard with a lust she couldn’t miss.

Her hand reached out, trailed up his thigh and she felt the strong clench of his muscles. “So I have to wait until then, huh?”

A couple of hours. Shouldn’t be too bad.

Her fingers rose just a bit more and traced the swollen length of his cock. Maybe she could—

Jude caught her hand. He tangled his fingers with hers. “Unless you want me plowing into the semi in front of us, yeah, you have to wait.”

Her gaze shot to the windshield and she saw the lumbering big rig.

He rubbed the back of her hand over the ridge of his c**k in a rough caress. “But don’t worry, I’ll make it worth the wait.”

Lillian.

She cleared her throat. “You’d better.” Because going home was hard. There were too many secrets there. Too much pain. Being with Jude, touching him, taking the pleasure from his body would help her pull through.

She tugged her hand back. After a slight hesitation, he let her go. Erin settled into her seat and tried not to look at his crotch. Maybe she’d sleep. If she could stop thinking about him. Maybe she’d—

“Gonna tell me about the ‘down and dirty’ Erin?”

She winced. Oh, but she’d known this would come. Her eyes closed. “You’ve already met her. Not much to tell.”

“Ummm…”

Her left eye opened. Then the right.

“Playing with humans, were you?” He shook his head. “You’ll find those males don’t always have the stamina you need.”

A choked laugh broke from her. “Wasn’t really a question of stamina. More like the problem of them freaking out when I got too, um—”

“Rough? Wild?”

Yes, to both.

“Don’t worry. I like wild and I like rough.” His index finger tapped on the wheel. “But I think you already know that.”

One room.

This drive was going to be hell.

“Just so you know…I can also do slow.”

She gulped. Damn dry throat.

“I can do easy. Thrusting as light as you want, kissing and stroking the whole night long.”

Her clothes were too thick. Or maybe the truck’s cab was too hot because she was sure starting to sweat.

“Whatever you want, I can give you.”

Didn’t she know it.

“But, Erin, you’ve got to trust me.”

Easier said than done.

And Jude knew it.

She crossed her legs, fought to ignore the growing tension in her body, and stared out her window at the pine trees.

The silence in the car wasn’t comfortable and it wasn’t easy.

Just like her relationship with Jude.

Loose ends were a bitch.

He paced down the shining white hospital corridor, the green scrubs rustling softly as he walked.

If Lee Givens had been an accommodating bastard, he would have already been dead. But no, he was still alive. Still fighting to survive as he clung to life.

And why?

There was no reason for that piece of garbage to keep living.

A woman brushed by him, pretty, but scrawny. Her thin arms were around a kid, some little freckle-faced brat who had thick tears sliding down his cheeks.

“It’s gonna be okay, Tommy,” she whispered, clutching the boy. “It’s gonna be—”

He rounded the corner and caught sight of the room he wanted. 409.

But a guard stood outside. What the hell? He stumbled to a stop. Why was a cop there?

Loose ends were a bitch.

He’d learned that back in Lillian when one of those loose ends had tried to confront him one night. Better to just cut them off before they could do any harm.

Givens hadn’t seen his face. Well, he didn’t think the lawyer had. The road had been dark. Too dark for a human to see, surely and—

“Something I can help you with?” The drawling voice came from behind him and was followed by a tap on his shoulder.

One that was a little too hard.

He spun around, his clipboard up and ready. “Uh, what—” He let his eyes widen, then narrow as he studied the man before him.

A Night Watch hunter. He’d seen the guy with Donovan. Tall, dark, with eyes that seemed too sharp for a human’s.

Probably because the guy wasn’t.

His nostrils flared, just a bit, as he caught the hunter’s scent. Not shifter.

But that still left at least a dozen Other possibilities.

He forced a smile. “Just making my rounds.” He shifted the clipboard, a light move to draw attention to it.

“Room 409 isn’t on your rounds, Doctor”—the green gaze dropped to his nametag—“Walters.”

Smug jerk. “No.” He bit back the rage and kept his voice flat. “But room 407 is.” And he was standing right in front of that door then. “So if you’ll excuse me—ah, sorry, who are you?”

“I’m one of the babysitters for room 409.” A grim smile. “Since you don’t know my patient, there’s no need to know me.”

Ripping him apart would be fun. One fast swipe with his claws. He could slash the jerk’s throat. Let the blood spray and soak the too-white tiles and walls. Or he could cut down the guy’s chest. Catch the bastard’s heart and tear it out.

So many choices.

The hunter inclined his head and sauntered toward the waiting cop.

Two guards. Too much attention. The lawyer would have to wait.

A loose end he’d get—sooner or later.