Deadly Desire (Riley Jenson Guardian 7)

"Don't ever threaten me, Riley," he said quietly, his voice so silky soft, carrying no hint of threat and yet full of it all the same. "Because I will kill you if I have to. Nothing personal, of course. I'm just here to do my job."

I stepped away from his touch, but I could still feel the heat of it on my skin. Part of me wanted to scrub it away, the other half wanted to exalt in it.

"You have no idea what I'm capable of, Kye. Don't ever think you'll come out on top in a fight with me."

"Ah, but I have the advantage of knowing what you are. You have no idea what I truly am, and therein lies my advantage."

And with that, he turned and walked around the front of car and climbed in. The big car roared to life and, within seconds, he was gone.

Leaving me standing there wondering who was the bigger fool-him or me.

After a second, I grabbed my cell phone and called the Directorate as I walked to the car. Sal answered.

"Of course it would be you," she said tartly. "It's nearly my quitting time."

"I'd hate for you to be bored in your final few minutes, Sal," I said cheerfully. "I need you to start a search for me."

"Of course you do." In the background I heard keys tapping. "Okay, who?"

"Kye Murphy. Werewolf, bodyguard, and gun for hire. Rhoan and I did a basic search on him awhile ago, but I need a deep one. I want it all-gossip, secrets, family, the lot."

"And why would you be needing all this?"

"Because he's turned up on a crime scene twice now, and each time he's gotten there before us. I want to know where, or how, he's getting his information."

"You could always arrest his ass."

"I have a bad feeling that would not be easy-and that's another reason why I need this information fast. He's hiding something, and I want to know what."

"Sounds like you've got a thing for this bad boy," she said dryly.

"All werewolves have a 'thing' for each other during the full moon phase, Sal. It's beside the point."

She sniffed. "I'll initiate it, but it'll take awhile to collect the information."

"Let me know when it's there."

"Will do."

I hung up and climbed into my car, then headed home to write up my overdue reports. Neither Rhoan or Liander were home when I got there, but I found a note on the fridge saying they'd gone out for dinner.

Which made my stomach rumble a reminder that it needed something more substantial than a burger. So once I'd typed up the report and sent it off to Jack, I grabbed my cell and rang Quinn.

"I was wondering when I was going to hear from you," he said.

The sexy lilt in his voice made want me to sigh in pleasure. "I didn't want to disturb any vital business meetings."

"All business meetings are vital, and they all drag on into boredom if there isn't a reason to take a break." His voice was wry. "Am I going to see you tonight?"

"That depends on whether you intend to pay for dinner or not. I gave my last spare cash to a street kid and now I'm broke until payday."

"And I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason for you doing that. Only it probably won't make sense to the more logical of us."

"That's a rather catty remark from someone who wants sex tonight."

"Not when I'm paying for the dinner you obviously can't afford."

"True. Apology accepted then."