Chapter Three
The evening’s squad room was abuzz with energy, but Raven didn’t know what was causing the excitement. She hadn’t seen the captain yet. Her incubus, the boss, was keeping secrets from her, and she had no protection from hell. She was one of the best bounty hunters working for hell and knew she had met her quota of bad souls. But still, there was something up, and she didn’t like being left out of the immortal loop.
She leaned against her desk, waiting for the captain to call the meeting to order. Today she looked like all the other detectives—no sexy clothing, no red wig, no fuck-me shoes. She shifted so her black dress pants didn’t aggravate the aching in her sex. She could still feel the giant’s touch, his heat, the way his cock filled her and excited her. Don’t go there, girl.
The captain, a stubby man with a bull-dog face, appeared in the doorway and signaled for her to come into his office.
Raven nodded, crossed the squad room, and followed him into his office. “What’s up?”
“Meet Detective Marcus Dionysius. Your new partner.” Stepping to the side, the captain smiled as the giant from last night’s sexcapade stood up to greet her.
No. Not him. It couldn’t be. Her heart somersaulted up her throat, then did a back flip down to her toes. “But…Stephen…”
The captain’s eyes narrowed. “Has left to handle family business. Say hello to your new partner.”
Damned the captain to hell and beyond. What was he thinking? He expected them to work together, but then he didn’t know about last night.
Looking onto the giant’s mocha eyes, she didn’t see any signs of recognition, just a blank business-formal stare. Good, he didn’t recognize her. She could act cool and aloof, and he’d never realize that it was her last night. He extended his hand, “Nice to meet you Detective Hart.”
Raven looked at his massive fingers. Her breathe caught, her pussy moistened with an awareness, an ache, that needed to find release. Taking a calming breath, she said, “Nice to meet you Detective Dionysius.”
Giving her a quizzical look with those innocent, angelic eyes, he lowered his hand a few inches.
Did he think she couldn’t reach it? She took his hand and his raw sexual essence pulsed up her arm, causing her nipples to harden and her pussy to cry out with need. The intensity of their flesh-lust seared through her again. She dropped his hand to break the urgency building deep in her core.
“Please call me Marcus.”
“Call me Raven.”
The captain cleared his throat and walked past her out into the squad room. “Come.”
Come? She’d damn well come close. She couldn’t work with the giant, with his saintly expression and sinful body, not as closely as partners should. She couldn’t control her ravenous hunger for him and, for a succubus, that was dangerous. Sex was used to get her bounty, not to be enjoyed. Raven followed the captain, but all the while Marcus’ scent bewitched her.
The captain stood with authority at the front of the room. “People, let’s ‘go. We have a lot to discuss.” Everyone except her scurried to find a seat before the captain started the roll call. Raven made sure she was on the other side of the captain, as far away from Marcus as possible.
Placing his papers on the desk in front of him, the captain cleared his voice and then said, “First, I’d like to welcome Detective Marcus Dionysius to the squad. He is replacing Detective Stephen Jones, who had to leave to take care of some family business.”
Raven knew Stephen didn’t have any close family. The captain had lied, not only to the humans but to her as well. She’d never liked Stephen, but she didn’t want a new partner. Especially not Marcus Dionysius, the giant who had taught her the true meaning of animalistic lust.
Even though he stood a distance away, she could smell his raw sexuality, and her libido kicked in. Damned, she couldn’t afford to react like a silly schoolgirl. She was sure he hadn’t recognized her. All she had to do was control her sexual urges and act normal around him.
The captain glared at her as if he read her lusty thoughts, and she turned away from him, watching the floor.
He faced the group of detectives. “Let’s get out there and keep the citizens of this fair city safe.” He hurried away before she could get to him.
Raven walked over to her desk and sat down, wondering what she should do. She’d been trying to talk to the captain for the last few days, but he had been locked behind closed doors and she knew he was avoiding her. Grabbing her phone, she pretended to call her informants, but all she wanted to do was get the captain alone and demand that he tell her what in hell was going on.
Marcus approached her desk. His scent made her breasts ache for his touch and her sex hot and juicy. “Detective Hart?”
He held a file in his enormous hand, and she yearned for the pure bliss those fingers had given her last night. Desire grew deeper inside her body.
Marcus pointed to the file he held in his hand as he cleared his throat. “Nothing like a stiff to make Saturday night special.”
Raven watched the dark humor shining in his angelic eyes, and her clit stiffened. “That’s what I always say.” She stood on shaky legs, grabbed her leather jacket from the back of her chair, and followed him out of the squad room. Waving at the desk sergeant as they walked past, she followed Marcus out of the precinct station, his scent driving her wild.
Once outside the building, he stopped and looked her up and down like most men did, but the usual lust didn’t pulse in his dark eyes. Good, he still hadn’t recognized her. “Your car or mine?”
One small car, his big body, talented hands, and enormous dick in my car—a very bad idea. Staring at the top button of his crisp, white shirt, she yearned to rip each button off one at a time with her teeth and fuck him till they dropped. But they were supposed to be human partners and procedure dictated they ride together. “You drive.”
Darkness filled his eyes again as a satisfying smile formed on his lips. “I’m always available to give a lady a ride.”
Despite herself, Raven laughed at his innuendo. He had certainly been available last night, but now wasn’t the time to let her appetite cloud her judgment. “Lead the way to your chariot.”
He led the way to a car parked down a side street, and his smoldering manliness surrounded her. The late fall breeze teased her cheeks and lifted her hair away from her face, but didn’t cool the burning desire ignited by Marcus.
At the car, he opened the door for her. Before she could slide in, another odor caught her senses. She sniffed the air as she surveyed the area. An immortal was near.
“Detective Hart, please get in. We’re needed at the crime scene.” His commanding voice pulled her back to reality.
Nodding at him, Raven slid onto the cool leather seat, praying the being wouldn’t show itself. She had enough to deal with without running interference for a wayward immortal. She scolded herself. Prayer was such a human habit and, being a bounty hunter for hell, she shouldn’t believe in such silliness.
As Marcus pulled out into the street, Raven caught a glimpse of yellow eyes gleaming from behind a tree. Fear snaked around her chest and squeezed the air out of her lungs. The captain hadn’t told her of any newbie in the area. She sensed a tingling across her senses. There was something wrong with the universe tonight, but she didn’t know what.
“Detective Hart?” Marcus’s soft tone drew her back into the moment.
“Sorry.” She couldn’t concentrate with his manly scent filling the space and infiltrating her brain.
Keeping his eyes on the road ahead, he said, “I just asked if you’ve been in this precinct long.”
“No, just a year. The captain requested me from another area.” And since then, she’d had nothing but trouble. The captain had proved he wasn’t a demon she could trust.
“What’s he like to work for?”
There was no way she could tell the truth, that he was truly an agent from hell. “Fair.”
“That’s not a glowing recommendation.”
How could she tell him that the captain was her master-incubus? A human could never understand that her job as a detective was simply cover for her real job—bounty hunter collecting souls for hell. “Actually it is. He’s fair. Not all bosses are.”
Marcus glanced at her before asking, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
A large, furry creature ran in front of the car. “Watch out,” Raven screamed.
Marcus swerved to avoid hitting the creature. “That mutt should be on a leash.”
The mutt, as Marcus had so kindly put it, was a werewolf. It must have been the one she’d just seen peeking around the tree.
All immortals were supposed to check in with the local arch-demon, and she must inform the captain about this wayward werewolf. As the head of the police department, it was his job to cover their mistakes. That way the humans never knew how many immortals were in the area. Again, the hairs at the back of her neck stood at attention. Something was very wrong.
A new doggie running loose in the area could mean a problem for everyone. If hell’s hierarchy hadn’t informed the captain, it meant problems for both of them. And having a new human partner meant she had to be extra careful.