Play of Passion (Psy-Changeling 9)

CHAPTER 26

Andrew was sure he’d had a rational thought a minute or so ago, but it was a distant memory. The lieutenant was making his brains leak out his ears, her tongue a fast, sleek dart in his mouth, her teeth sharp little accents on his lips, her hands brands against his skin. Groaning, he gripped her h*ps and gave in.

His reward was a kiss so hot, it turned his jeans uncomfortably tight. Unable to keep his hands still, he stroked up over her sweatshirt to close his hand around one lush breast. Her nipple was already pebbled behind the soft fabric of her bra, and he played with it through the clothing, wanting to learn each and every facet of what drove her crazy.

The sound took time to filter into his consciousness, the voice recognizable. Dorian, calling Indigo’s name. “Time to go back,” he murmured against those lush lips that had turned him into a willing slave.

“If you’re a very good boy,” Indigo murmured in a sexy, husky tone as she reached down to cup his straining c**k for one electric second, “I might kiss you other places, too.”

He bit back a very blue word as she withdrew her hand and stepped back. “How the hell am I supposed to go back and face my little sister if I have a raging hard-on?”

“Poor baby.” Except her eyes were dancing with unfamiliar wickedness. “I’m sure you’ll think of something.” She walked away, her h*ps swiveling in a fashion that he knew was meant to shoot his already boiling temperature through the roof. Sexual frustration was a bitch, but his wolf smiled—because the lieutenant was playing with him again. And Indigo Riviere was a woman who played with very few.

Blowing out a breath, he gritted his teeth and counted to a thousand, somehow managing to get his body under control. “So, what did I miss?” he asked, rejoining the others where they crouched around the object.

“It’s a transmitter,” Dorian said, holding the steel orb in hand.

He met the leopard sentinel’s surfer blue eyes. “You sound very sure.”

But it was his sister who replied. “The tech is pretty common once you strip away the fancy exterior.”

“Range isn’t huge,” Dorian added. “Maybe five hundred meters or so.”

Brenna’s eyes met Andrew’s, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth that augured trouble—but her words were practical. “We think it’s meant to act as a locator beacon.”

“Locator for what?” Indigo murmured. “This area is wilderness. Aside from the forest creatures, only wolves come—”

A pointed cough from Dorian.

“Wolves and leopards,” Indigo said, shaking her head at the blond sentinel’s smirk, “are the only ones who come up here.” Lines formed between her brows. “The only ones who should. I wonder if the Psy we scented when we were with the juveniles were scouting for places to put these things.”

“Would make sense,” Brenna said. “You were a bit more east of here, but not that much lower down in terms of the elevation.”

Dorian’s hair flashed almost white in the harsh sunlight as he lowered his head to the device once more. “We can sweep the ground with high-strength scanners, but we have a logistical problem—den territory covers too wide an area.” A glance at Brenna.

Andrew’s sister nodded in confirmation. “We need to figure out some sort of specific region to search.”

“How long would the batteries last in those things?” Indigo asked. “Best guess?”

“I’ll confirm when we dismantle one, but three months would be the outer limits,” Brenna said, looking at Dorian.

He nodded and added, “The transmitting function sucks juice. Three for safety, but I’d say two months would be a more realistic estimate.”

Andrew saw where Indigo was going. “So we can probably eliminate all the areas where the snowpack has been pretty much solid for over two months.” That would take care of a good chunk of their territory.

“Yes.” Brenna’s eyes sparked. “A telekinetic could have moved the snow, but one, it’s a massive waste of power, and two, against all that white, any intruders would have stood out like sore thumbs to our satellite.”

Indigo nodded. “I agree—we can safely eliminate the snowpack areas for now. We can also eliminate all those areas that get a high amount of traffic.”

Andrew looked at his sister. “You got a piece of paper, Bren?”

“I think there’s a pad in this bag . . .” Turning to rummage in it, she made a sound of success. “Here it is. And a pen.”

“Thanks, baby sis.” Grinning at the kiss she blew him, he flipped open the pad and sketched the basic outline of their territory. “Okay, so this is here.” He made an X on the map. “The other one’s useless as a marker since it could’ve come from anywhere, but how about this?” He drew a rough semicircle, using their current spot as the center of the arc.

Indigo looked over his shoulder. “The entire area’s equidistant from the very edge of den territory.” She took a moment to think about it, nodded. “We’ve got enough light that we can test the theory at least.”

“We have two scanners,” Brenna reminded them, “so we can go in both directions.”

“Drew,” Indigo said, her tone crisp as she slipped into full work mode, “you go with Bren. I’ll work with Dorian.”

He knew what she was doing—pairing each tech expert with someone who could keep an eye on security, but he found he didn’t want her alone with the good-looking leopard male. Her eyes met his at that moment, and from the sudden frost in them, he knew she’d accurately read the hotly possessive urge. Gritting it back with sheer strength of will—and having to fight his wolf to do so—he turned to Brenna. “You need all the gear?”