Hotter After Midnight (Midnight 1)

If she were his mate.

But she wasn’t. She was human. Human.

His balls tightened. His spine stiffened. He clenched his teeth, forced his mouth to move away from the sweet flesh of her throat.

His hands were tight upon her. His hips pistoned. Oh, damn, it’d never been like this before, never.

Colin came, pumping into her, shuddering, and spilling his seed in the hot depths of her body.

Moonlight spilled through the open window, fell onto the bed. Emily stretched slowly beneath the covers and turned onto her side, staring at Colin.

His chest rose and fell slowly. But she knew he wasn’t asleep. Not yet.

“I-I need to ask you something, Colin.” When she’d gone into the bathroom, she’d found scratch marks on her hips. And when they’d been making love, she’d felt the sharpened edge of his teeth against her. Strangely, she hadn’t been frightened when she thought he was going to bite her.

She’d been…aroused.

And she’d never been one of those girls with a vampire fetish.

But with Colin, none of her usual rules seemed to apply.

She lifted her hand, trailed her fingers over the broad expanse of his chest. She liked his chest. Liked the smooth muscles, the dark curling hair that arrowed down to his groin.

Her hand moved to his shoulder. Found the faint, raised scar.

“What do you want to know?” He caught her hand. Brought it to his lips and kissed her palm.

She drew in a quick breath. The signs were starting to mount up against Colin, and she really, really needed to know…“Colin, what animal do you carry?” The teeth, the claws, the shining eyes—had to be a panther, a leopard, or maybe a wolf.

He stiffened against her. “Does it matter?”

Once, she would have said that it did. But now, she wasn’t so sure. “You don’t have to hide from me.”

“And you don’t have to worry about the beast I carry.” His fingers tightened around hers. “I’ll never let him hurt you. I control him, he doesn’t control me.”

She’d heard that from others before. Heard them swear they could contain the beast inside. And she’d known they lied.

Because the beasts inside the shifters, they were strong. Deadly. And if the man was pushed too far, the animal would take over.

It was the nature of the beast.

Someone was pounding at the door. Emily grabbed a pillow, pulled it over her head. No, no, she didn’t want to wake up yet.

“Shit!” A masculine growl that was way, way too close.

She shoved the pillow aside as her eyes snapped open. Colin. Her memory came flooding back.

Darla.

The killer.

The dumb-ass kid who’d busted into her house.

And the hottest sex she’d had in years.

“Stay here.” She had only seconds to admire his tight ass before Colin jerked on a pair of jeans. His stare shot to the clock.

“Whoever that is had better have a damn good reason for being here at 6 A.M.”

Six o’clock. That meant they’d gotten a grand total of three hours’ worth of sleep.

Emily pulled the sheet over her br**sts. She wasn’t sure where her clothes were. Maybe still in the den? And where were her glasses?

Colin stomped out of the room. She heard the click of the lock, then, “What the hell are you doing here, Brooks?”

Emily frowned and inched to the edge of the bed.

“Where’s Dr. Drake?”

Her gaze scanned the room. The closet. She hurried across the floor, her toes tingling at the contact with the cold wood. She grabbed one of his shirts, pulling it quickly over her head. Luckily, the T-shirt fell to the middle of her thighs so she wouldn’t be flashing Colin’s partner.

“She’s here, isn’t she?” Brooks’s voice rose. “Dr. Drake, I need to talk to you. Now.”

She blinked. He sounded pissed. What’s wrong with him? Sure, she might have accidentally shoved him last night when she’d been locked on the killer, but that was hardly any reason for him to be an—

“Watch your tone, Brooks.”

“You’re the one who needs to watch what he’s doing, partner. You’re screwing this woman and you don’t even know—”

Emily shot down the hallway, found Colin glaring nose to nose at Brooks. “What’s going on here?”

Brooks glanced toward her, eyes narrowed. “You tell me.”

Emily shook her head. “Look, it’s too early for me to play some dumb-ass guessing game with you.”

“Where were you last night between eight and ten P.M.?”

“What?” No, no way had that too-pretty, GQ wannabe just asked her for an alibi. “Why do you want to know?”

“I just spent the last three hours breaking apart Darla’s hard drive.” He cocked a brow. “Wanna know what I found?”

Serenity Woods.

“Back off, Brooks.” Colin didn’t raise his voice. The utter coldness of his tone cut through the room.

Comprehension widened Brooks’s eyes. “You knew, didn’t you? You knew and you didn’t tell me.”

“Cause there’s nothing to tell. Darla had her facts wrong about Emily.”

“Oh?” Brooks stepped away from Colin. Paced to her side. His gaze swept over her body. Returned to her face. “So she’s not crazy? She wasn’t admitted to a juvie psychiatric ward when she was eleven because she was seeing monsters?”

Emily lifted her chin. “She is right in front of you. And, no, I’m not crazy. I’m completely, perfectly sane.”

“Umm, you just see monsters. But other than that little oddity, you’re completely normal.”

“Stop being a dick, Brooks.” Colin positioned his body in front of her. “Emily, go get dressed.”

“No.” She’d be damned if she’d skulk away while the boy blunder called her a nutcase. “I think I need to clear up a few points with your partner here.”

Colin looked over his shoulder, his jaw clenched. “Fine.” He turned back to Brooks. Jabbed his finger into his chest. “But if your eyes drop one more time, I’m knocking you out. Partner or not.”

Emily crossed her arms over her chest. Tapped her foot. “I don’t know what you found on her computer, but Darla’s facts were wrong. I’m not now nor have I ever been”—her back teeth ground together as she gritted—“crazy.” No, she just saw monsters.

But the monsters were real.

“A story like that, it would have ruined your practice.”