Her smile would have tempted a saint—and it sure as hell tempted a cop. “Good.”
Then she was positioning his length, lifting her hips, and pushing the head of his arousal into the tight opening of her sex.
He thrust up, jerking his hips off the chaise at the exact moment her hips drove down onto him. Their moans filled the air as his c**k lodged deep within her.
When her sex clenched around him like a hot fist, there was no stopping him. Todd’s hands dropped to the cement for balance and his hips began to piston up against her. Harder. Faster. The night sky glinted above—a million shining stars winked over Cara and he thrust, sinking into the hottest paradise he’d ever know and starring at stars—and his succubus.
Her eyes were shining. A glow inside the darkness. Her hand was on his chest, right over his heart.
The heart that had always been hers. He just hadn’t known—
Her sex contracted, a ripple of movement that had Todd gritting his teeth and choking out her name.
Release was moments away, but damn it—he never wanted the passion to end.
Never wanted to leave her.
Her thighs clamped over his legs. The site of her bare br**sts tormented him, and his head jerked up. Todd caught one nipple in his mouth, then slammed deep into her again.
The warmth of her palm seared his skin. Power filled the air. Danced over his body.
The climax hit him, and the world exploded into a shower of those stars he’d seen. Millions of stars. Pleasure flooded him as he pumped into her, driving as fully into her honeyed clasp as he could go, and filling her with the hot essence of his release.
Her magic roared through him and she called his name. Her hips bucked, her sex clenched, and the quiver that shook her body shivered through him.
He licked her breast as the aftershocks of pleasure hummed through his system.
His hands rose from the cement and wrapped around her.
Todd’s head lifted and he stared up at her face.
His Cara.
The spark of her energy danced in the air, the spark that even now was heating his flesh and sending energy pumping inside him.
When he kissed her again, he tasted the magic and he tasted the power of the woman he’d gladly fight the devil to possess.
And, well, perhaps he already had.
The bull pen was all but deserted when Smith knocked lightly on Danny McNeal’s office. It was well after 11 P.M., but she knew he was still working. Though the blinds were drawn in his office, faint light glowed from beneath his door.
“Come in.” His voice was gruff, hard, as it usually was.
Her shoulders straightened and her left hand rose automatically to smooth over her hair.
Then she walked inside, keeping her head high and her strides long and easy.
She saw his eyes widen, just the tiniest fraction, when he caught sight of her.
“Dr. Smith.”
Ah, so she was back to doctor, hmm? Smith placed her report onto his desk. “My notes on Cameron Komak’s body.”
He dropped his pen. “That was fast.”
Well, there hadn’t exactly been a lot left to work with.
“What’s the determination?”
Now this was the tricky part—but she had a feeling she’d probably be dealing with a lot of tricky cases from now on.
The thought wasn’t as unsettling as it had once been. In fact, now, well, the cases almost seemed…challenging.
The visits she’d been secretly having with Emily were starting to pay off.
All of the Other weren’t evil. She was understanding that. Accepting that.
Smith met his stare directly. “Off the record, my belief is that Mr. Komak self-combusted.”
He didn’t blink. “Self-combusted.”
“Um. The fire appears to have originated internally—as opposed to an external stimulus like gasoline or—”
McNeal held up a hand. “Go back to the internal part.”
Simple enough. “I think the fire started inside Mr. Komak’s body. Specifically, in the region near his heart.”
“Shit.”
Yes, she’d expected that response. He pointed toward her notes. “That’s not in the report, is it?”
“My notes list a fire of undetermined origin.” And that was true. She didn’t know how the fire had started—just where it had flared to life.
“Thanks, Doctor. That should be all I need, for now.”
A dismissal. Her eyes narrowed. “Does that mean the case is closed?”
“My detectives discovered indisputable proof to link Komak to the killings.” His lips twisted. “Shortly after Komak died from that fire of undetermined origin, Gyth searched the guy’s apartment and found one of those hell walls that the serials like to keep. So, yeah, the case of the Bondage Killer is closed.”
“But there will be more, won’t there? More cases like…this.”
His chair squeaked as he rose. His shoulders were so wide, so strong, and his face—she’d always thought he had the face of a warrior. “There have always been cases like this. The only difference is that now we aren’t transferring them away from you anymore, they’re coming to you.” He stalked around the desk. “That gonna be a problem for you?”
The Other, they still frightened her. Or, some of them did. Whoever had managed to burn Cameron Komak from the inside out, that guy scared her, but Smith realized she had to start trusting the supernaturals that she knew well. Like Colin.
And it was definitely past time for her to trust the one she’d let into her heart so long ago. “They won’t be a problem.” Deliberately, she looked him over, running her gaze from his gleaming head down to his too-big feet. “But you will be.”
Her eyes returned to his face just in time to catch his wince. “We’ve been over this. I’m not gonna bother you, personally, anymore, Dr. Smith—”
“Ah, see, now that’s my problem.” She closed the distance between them. Wrapped her hands over his shoulders. “I want you to keep on bothering me.” She kissed him. Mouth open, tongue ready.
His arms locked around her, jerking her tight against his chest—his heart.
Just where she liked to be held.
The kiss was hungry, wild, and held a desperate need—his need, hers.
Oh, God, but she’d missed him.
Her hands pushed between them, began to fumble with the buttons on his shirt.
McNeal dragged his mouth from hers. “Nathalia…Hell, babe, don’t tease, don’t let me think you want me again when—”