Hotter After Midnight (Midnight 1)

And the good doctor had succeeded in both royally pissing him off and turning him on.

She wasn’t wearing her glasses now. Her eyes looked soft, sexy.

His head lowered toward her.

“Wh-what are you doing?” She stiffened against him.

The lady had a Ph.D. He figured she had a pretty good idea of what he was about to do. Slowly, deliberately, he brought his lips to hers.

Her mouth parted on a startled breath.

Perfect.

His lips brushed hers, his tongue thrust inside the wet warmth of her mouth.

Oh, damn, but she tasted good. His tongue slipped past the edge of her teeth, rubbed against hers. Stroked. Teased.

A faint moan rumbled in her throat and she kissed him back.

Her br**sts brushed against his chest. The ni**les were tight, pebbled. He wanted to touch them, but he didn’t think the doc was ready for that.

He sucked her tongue slowly, drawing out the kiss, wanting to make every second count. His c**k was rock hard for her, pressing tight against the tempting cradle of her sex.

What he wouldn’t give to have her naked beneath him right then.

Colin forced himself to break the kiss, forced his head to lift. Her lips were red, wet from his mouth.

She glared up at him, and her breath sounded ragged to his ears. “Are you satisfied now?”

Not by a long shot. But he had a good idea of just how the doc could satisfy him.

Her bedroom had to be down the darkened hallway. He could take her in there, strip her, and—

“Not going to happen.” She exhaled slowly, shaking her head. “So you can just forget about that. A kiss is one thing, shifter. Sex is a whole other game.”

He blinked. “Ah, now, baby, what makes you think I was—”

“Hands off, now, ” she snapped, not answering his question, but instead narrowing those gorgeous green eyes of hers.

He liked her eyes. Liked the dark, emerald green. Course, those eyes were starting to shine with a rather furious glint.

Reluctantly, he dropped his hands. Colin inhaled her delicious scent one more time, then he stepped back, completely freeing her.

Her hands dropped to her sides. “Future reference note.” Her chin jutted into the air. “If I want you to kiss me, I’ll tell you. I’m not a big fan of the He-man routine.”

“Ah, so you’re already thinking of our future.”

Her lips thinned.

“That’s fine, Doc. When you want to be kissed, you just let me know.” He’d be more than happy to oblige her.

“What I want is for you to go.” She pointed toward the door. “Now.”

Colin didn’t think that was what she really wanted. He could smell her arousal in the air, and her ni**les were still tight with desire, thrusting against the white T-shirt she wore. But he nodded.

He’d accomplished most of his goals by coming to see the doc.

He’d discovered that she knew he was a shifter, and she’d given her word that she wouldn’t reveal his secret. For now, he’d take her at her word. Wasn’t like he had much choice in the matter. He’d try trusting her, and for the doc’s sake, he sure as hell hoped that she didn’t betray him.

So he’d gotten her to lay her cards on the table, and he’d finally gotten to taste her. For nearly three straight hours, he’d wanted to feel her lips beneath his. Now that he had, well, he wanted to taste her again.

And he would. Soon.

He stalked toward the front door, flipped the locks.

“You never wanted to talk to me about the case, did you?” Her voice stopped him.

Colin glanced back at her. She still stood against the wall, but her arms were crossed over her chest now and her left foot tapped out a hard rhythm on the floor. “I don’t want to talk about that yet.” Not until he’d gotten his report from the ME and he’d talked to McNeal about the possibility of bringing Emily on the case in a more official capacity.

If she was right, if the killer really was Other, then he figured the PD would need all the help it could get in solving the case.

And who better to hunt a monster than the good doctor?

“Would you work with us?” he asked as he began to make his plan of attack. McNeal had brought her on originally; he’d probably okay pulling Emily completely onto the case.

“Work with you?” Her foot stopped tapping. “I already did. I told you what I know and—”

“Lady, I have the feeling you know a hell of a lot more than you told me.” About the case, about him—but he’d deal with all that in due time.

Her expression never altered. “What is it you want from me?”

Once he’d gotten the official okay, he wanted her to be—“A profiler. I want you to give me a workup on this guy, want you to tell me exactly how he thinks, how he lives.” So that he could catch the bastard before he hurt anyone else. “Can you do that?”

She nodded.

“Then I’ll be seeing you soon, Doc.” And they’d start tracking a killer.

Hmmm. Not a usual date, but with the doc, he had a feeling he’d have to take what he could get.

They’d been inside the house for twenty minutes. The cop had gone in, like he owned the place, and he’d been inside with her for twenty minutes.

A slow rage began to build inside him. This shouldn’t have happened. This should never have happened.

Her front door opened. The cop appeared. He looked back at the woman, muttered something, then marched down the steps.

His body tensed as he watched them. He’d hidden himself well; they wouldn’t be able to see him in the darkness. He was—

The cop froze. Lifted his head. Looked slowly around the yard.

“What is it?” Her voice. Dr. Drake stepped onto the porch. The light cascaded over her. For an instant, with that shining light all around her, she almost looked like an angel.

But he knew she wasn’t an angel. No, not an angel. Never an angel. The doctor was a demon. Just like the others.

The cop was looking right at his hiding spot now. The guy took a step forward.

“Gyth? Is someone out there?” Dr. Drake crossed to the cop’s side.

A trickle of sweat slid down his cheek. He realized the crickets around him had stopped chirping. The night was quiet, too quiet.

Now wasn’t the time, he realized, inching deeper into the brush.

He’d come back for the doctor another night. Wait until she was alone.

Then he’d destroy the demon.

After all, hunting demons was his job.

Colin stared into the dark, twisted trees on the vacant lot across the street. For an instant, he’d sworn he’d heard something, someone.