Blood.
He bounded up the steps and shoved open the door.
And slammed into Erin.
They fell to the floor in a tangle of limbs and a cloud of curses. He tried to spin to protect her from the fall—and his weight—but it was too late.
They hit hard.
She didn’t even flinch.
Her golden eyes met his and Jude tried not to notice just how incredibly good she felt beneath him. Tried, failed.
Her br**sts were crushed beneath his chest. Her thighs were spread, cradling his hips in just the, oh yeah, right way.
If the scent of blood weren’t clogging up his nostrils, he sure as all hell would’ve enjoyed the moment.
Later.
He levered up onto his forearms. “What the f**k is going on, Erin?”
She licked her lips. “Get up.”
No. Dammit. He wanted to stay exactly where he was.
And he wanted to find out why there were shadows in her eyes.
He got up.
Erin exhaled. “I—this has to stay between us, okay?”
Jude blinked. “What has to stay between us?” He had a real bad feeling about this situation, and much as he liked the sexy ADA and wanted to get her naked, he wasn’t about to break the law for her.
Well, he wouldn’t break it much for her. A little bending, he’d do that.
His nostrils twitched again.
That was human blood.
Shit. Wary now, he kept a close watch on Erin as she rose to her feet. She still wore the sexy blouse from earlier. Her makeup was gone. Faint brown smudges were under her eyes.
He could all but smell the fear dripping off her.
“I thought you didn’t scare.”
She gave a rough laugh at that, kind of a desperate sound. Her fingers raked through her black hair. “No, hunter, I said there wasn’t much that scares me. He does.”
Jude tensed. “Someone else is here?” He didn’t smell him. Just that thick blood, coating every breath he took.
The animal inside loved the scent of blood. It was a response Jude couldn’t control. Primal.
Like the response he felt for Erin.
But the man knew the coppery scent was bad. Trouble.
“Not anymore,” she whispered. “He’s…gone.”
Jude’s hands fisted. His gaze swept the room. Caught sight of the old staircase, twisting up to the next level. To the left, he saw the gleaming wooden floors and the oversized doors that led out of the parlor. Doors that were firmly shut.
“I-I went back to the police station after I left your place. I needed to talk to Antonio and find out what the ME had to say about Burrows.” The words came out fast. “I was tired when I got back and didn’t even notice the smell until—” Her gaze darted to the left, to the white doors.
He crossed the room, body alert. His fingers curled over the old door knobs—two doors, French style. He wrenched them open, ready for any threat.
Sonofabitch.
The lights were on in the other room. Bright and stark. Shining perfectly on the bloody message that had been left on the far wall.
Missed you.
The blood had trickled down, blurring some of the letters a bit, but the message was clear.
What the f**k? His growl filled the room.
This shit was twisted. “You searched the house?” Sprawling places like this one had too many rooms and far too many places for someone to hide.
With his nose…no one would hide from him.
He spun around, ready to stalk from top to bottom and—
She caught his arm. “I told you, no one else is here.” Plump lips tightened. “The bastard delivered his message and ran.”
“Some message.” Not every day a woman got a love letter in blood.
Her fingers tightened around him. “I need your help.”
“You need the cops. What the hell? You’ve got some psycho ex-lover stalking you—” With freaking blood.
“Not my lover.” She shook her head. “Never that.”
“Call. The. Cops.”
“Some jobs aren’t meant for the cops.”
“And some are, sweetheart. You’re an ADA—you know this shit.” She should. But he’d worked with victims before, and he knew that even the professionals would forget the rules when the deadly games became personal. “Erin, when someone breaks into your house and leaves—”
“He’s Other. ”
He’d figured that. Well, either Other or seriously f**ked up human.
Seriously f**ked up Other.
“The cops can still track him.”
“No one can track him. The bastard’s too good at hiding.” She exhaled, and, for a moment, he thought he saw…calculation in her gaze.
He tensed.
Be careful with the ladies, Jude. You can’t always trust a pretty face.
His grandfather’s warning. Given right before his senior prom, the night Susie Jo Hill had left him on the dance floor to make out with the quarterback.
He’d pounded the quarterback and come away with the scar on his lip, courtesy of a big-ass class ring and a lucky punch.
Then he’d left a furious Susie Jo shouting on her doorstep.
Erin was no Susie Jo. She was something much, much more dangerous.
Her hand fell away from him and damn if he didn’t miss her touch.
Not. Good.
“I’ve got a stalker, Jude. A guy who has been trailing me and making my life hell for the last year.” Her eyes held his.
A stab of pain in his palms made him realize that his claws were out. He unfisted his hands and the claws sprang to their full length.
Erin didn’t so much as blink.
“I came here to get away from him,” she said. Her shoulders were straight, her chin up, but she still looked vulnerable.
And that made him want to roar with fury.
“He scares me. I’ve caught his scent before. This isn’t the first time he’s come inside my home. He’s a shifter, I know that much.”
A shifter. Like me.
No wonder the lady hadn’t been so wild about gettin’ down and dirty with him.
“I-I don’t know where he got the blood.” She glanced over her shoulder at the painted wall and shuddered. “What if he hurt someone? What if…”
Oh, the odds were good that he had. “We’ve got to bring Antonio in on this.” That much blood, yeah, someone had been hurt. “It’s human blood.”
Her gaze darted back to his. “I know.” Whispered. And she looked like she was going to be sick right then. Her hand rose to her mouth and she paled.
“Erin…”