Lust Unleashed (Night Seekers, Book One) Read online

  All conversation stopped at the team members looked at each other, the horror of Dante’s words freezing them in place.

  * * * * *

  They were lying side by side on the bed, facing each other, Jonah’s body tightened against hers, his cock flexing. His eyes darkened for a moment, with something far different from passion, and she wondered if she’d made a mistake. Dakota started to move away from him but he tightened his arms around her.

  “Stay still. This feels good.”

  She giggled. “I’m beginning to think you’re a sex maniac.”

  He grinned. “You may just be right. At least with you.” Just the way it was with Jenna. “I hate to say this but I really have to call my team, and I should get back to the motel.”

  She tensed, thoughts spinning around in her mind, wondering if she dared tell him what she was thinking. He’d blown into her life like the desert wind, scattering her wits and her defenses but something inexorable was pulling her toward him. Now she was about to do something impulsive. Still, she’d allowed him to invade her mental spaces, why not her living space?

  She placed her palm against his cheek, feeling the end of day stubble rasping against her skin. “So, Jonah. You could stay here with me while you investigate what happened.”

  He went completely still beneath her touch and apprehension snaked through her. Was she being too bold? Stepping over a line? After all, they’d been together less than a day. Still, he’d say…

  “You sure that’s what you want?” His question broke her train of thought.

  “What?” She blinked. “Yes. Yes, I’m sure.”

  He threaded his fingers through her hair, holding her head in place, his eyes boring into hers. “You’ve never invited anyone inside here before. Now you’re willing to let me move in. That’s a big step.”

  She tried again to withdraw from him but he threw one leg over both of hers, trapping her against him.

  “I’m just making sure, Dakota.” His voice was like warm syrup, dripping over her and coating her with its thickness. “Twenty-four hours ago we didn’t even know each other. Now something’s happening here and I don’t want to ruin it.”

  She let out a long breath she didn’t even realize she’d been holding. “I’m sure. Definitely. Absolutely.”

  “Okay, then.” He brushed his lips against hers. “Why don’t you come with me while I check out of the motel. We can pick up a pizza to bring back here with us. Maybe some more wine.”

  Her muscles tensed again he frowned. Go into town? With him? Subject him to the comments she knew would be thrown around? “Why don’t you just go on ahead. I’ll build up the fire and fix some snacks.”

  He frowned. “You don’t want to be seen with me?”

  She shook her head. “It’s the other way around. I’m used to the things people say about me, but it shouldn’t have to spill over to you. It might affect your investigation.”

  The frown deepened and when he spoke she sensed the underlying anger. “If anyone has something to say, they can say it to my face, and I’ll have an answer they might not like. And if anyone tries to step into my work, I’ll have reinforcements down here faster than they can turn around.”

  “Okay.” Something warm flowed through her. Except for Neil and her late grandfather she’d never had a champion. Her mother had been too fragile and withdrawn to deal with the scorn they faced, hiding herself away in her garden and her mixing shed rather than carving out a place for the two of them in Eagle Pass so-called society. “If you’re sure.”

  He brushed his lips against hers, soft against soft, the whisper of a bird’s wings but enough to send sparks through her body straight to her cunt. She was wet again, she could feel it. He wasn’t unaffected by the simple gesture, either. Against her thigh his cock thickened and flexed.

  She felt his lips curve in a smile.

  “If we don’t go right now,” he murmured, “we’ll never get out of this bed.” He untangled himself from her and gave her a soft slap on the buttocks. “Let’s do this so we can get back here and attend to business.”

  She softened at the gleam in his eyes. “I think that’s the kind of business I like.”

  Dakota dressed in jeans and t-shirt while Jonah pulled on his clothes, then followed him out to his dual cab truck. He navigated the rutted drive back to the road as if he’d always been driving it.

  “So how did you end up in that cabin in the middle of nowhere?” he asked once they hit the highway.

  How indeed. Luck and a wonderful grandfather.

  “My grandfather on my father’s side owned it. He was a guide for Neil Washington’s father just my father after him.”

  “So it’s kind of a family tradition?”

  Dakota shrugged. “I guess. My folks lived in town until my grandfather died.” Pain shot through her stomach at the memory of those days. Her father had thought it might be easier for her mother, until he discovered they were all pariahs, the white hunter, the Kickapoo squaw and their half-breed daughter. “Then they moved out here.”

  “How long ago did your folks die?”

  Dakota tightened her fists in her lap. The loss of her parents still pained her. She and her father had been very close. Her relationship with her mother had been different, and after Dean Furcal passed away her mother had simply just withered until she slipped away like a ghost. Thinking about it always made her unhappy. And cold.

  “My father died ten years ago. Bad case of the flu. My mother two years ago.”

  “I’m sorry.” He reached over and placed one of his warm hands over both of hers, infusing her with his heat. “I could hear the pain in your voice. I didn’t mean to make you unhappy.”

  “No, no. It’s all right.” She sighed. “It’s just that it’s so…complicated.”

  “I can relate to that,” he told her.

  “Are your parents dead, also?” She was curious about the background and family of this unusual man. He took so long to answer that she wondered if now she’d stepped into difficult territory.

  “That’s also complicated,” he said at last.

  “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to,” she said quickly. “It’s really none of my business.”

  “Yes. It is.” His voice was firm. “But it’s a long story and not something I want to get into on a short drive.”

  There was some tone in his voice she couldn’t define, some underlying emotion, but she decided to drop it. At least for now. If this all proved too good to be true and he was gone when he got whatever he’d come to Eagle Pass for, then it wouldn’t matter. She knew it was foolish of her to hope for anything else. Still…

  “We’re here.”

  Jonah’s voice broke into her reverie and she looked up to realize they were parked at the motel in front of what was probably his room.

  “I’ll wait for you here,” she told him.

  But he simply ignored her, came around to her side of the truck, opened her door, unlocked her seat belt and tugged her out of the truck.

  “I have this weird feeling that if I leave you alone for five seconds you might disappear, like some figment of my imagination. Come on. This won’t take long.”

  The motel room was just as depressing as she’d expected it to be. Eagle Pass wasn’t exactly a tourist spot and the hunters either arrived in RVs or didn’t much care where they slept. As she ran her eyes over the room, Dakota spotted a thick volume sitting on the nightstand, old judging by the cloth binding which was frayed at the edges. The title, Legend of the Pack, was splashed across the cover in an old-fashioned script.

  “I’ll take that.”

  Jonah lifted it easily from her hands as she picked it up.

  Curious, she asked, “What’s it about?”

  “I’ll tell you about it sometime.” He slid it easily into his duffel bag and returned to collecting his belongings.

  Dakota sat in one of the two straight-backed chairs while Jonah quickly and efficiently finished p
acking up the few clothes he’d brought with him and gathered his toilet articles from the bathroom.

  He dumped his duffel bag in the backseat of his pickup and then helped her into the front seat.

  “I won’t make you come in with me while I check out,” he told her. “I’d never put you in that uncomfortable position. It won’t take me a minute to take care of this.”

  She forced herself to stand next to him while he ordered their pizza, and then sit in a booth drinking sodas while they waited for their food to be prepared. The place was pretty full, as close as it was to dinnertime, and she was acutely aware of the stares everyone cast their way.

  “Ignore them.” Jonah placed one of his hands over hers, a gesture she realized he did quite often, maybe as a way of reassuring her. “They’re just jealous because I’m in here with the most beautiful woman in Maverick County.”

  Dakota made a face. “Yeah, right.”

  “I mean it. Look at me, Dakota.” When she raised her eyes she saw heat in his and something else. Possession? After less than a day together? Not possible. “Listen to what I’m going to say. I’m proud to be with you. And if no one around here likes that, tough shit. It’s their problem.”

  She wasn’t sure what she would have said if the man behind the counter hadn’t called their number just then. She slid out of the booth and stood next to Jonah while he paid for their food, doing her best to ignore the rude stares of the customers. Jonah balanced the cardboard box with one hand and opened the restaurant door with the other, ushering her out to the parking lot.

  “I hope that wasn’t too uncomfortable for you,” she murmured as she climbed into the truck.

  He placed the cardboard box carefully on the backseat, shut the door and leaned in to her. “I’ve been in situations a lot worse than that. Do what I said. Ignore them.”

  “It’s kind of hard when I live here, you know.”

  He frowned. “Did this make things worse for you in some way?”

  “No, no, no.” The words came out quickly. “That’s not what I meant at all.”

  Jonah reached into the cab of the truck and cupped her face with his warm hands. “Then we won’t worry about it. Okay? Tell me where I can pick up some wine to go with this pizza and we’re all set. The hell with these people.”

  Dakota sat silently in the truck on the drive back to the cabin, wondering if Jonah was telling the truth when he said the attitude of the people in town didn’t matter to him. Or maybe he just didn’t care because he’d be gone before long. That thought made disappointment ball in her stomach and a shiver race over her spine.

  What did you expect? No matter what he said, he still didn’t promise anything. And when have I ever gotten what I really wanted?

  A warm hand landed on her thigh and squeezed. She glanced over at Jonah. He was concentrating on the road ahead but his lips were curved in a smile.

  “I can almost smell your brain burning, Dakota. Try not to overthink everything, okay?”

  She placed her hand over his where it was burning through the fabric of her jeans and imprinting itself on her thigh. “In my situation it’s hard not to.”

  “So, don’t you ever talk to anyone when you go into town? Shop for groceries? Buy clothes? Whatever?”

  She shrugged. “I pump my own gas, buy groceries once a month and order everything else online. I don’t have to talk to anyone at the gas station, or at the post office when I pick up my mail.”

  He squeezed her firm flesh, tiny darts of electricity spearing from her leg directly to her cunt and giving rise to a flood of her cream.

  “That has to be a very lonely existence. Don’t you ever want anyone’s company?”

  Her laugh was bitter. “Been there, tried that. It never works. So…I find I’m just better off by myself. Mostly.” She wiggled her fingers between his. “Until you.”

  Should I have said that? Will he regret accepting my invitation? Think I’m somehow pressuring him? But he jumped at the offer, and I don’t think he really needed a place to stay.

  “I won’t give you cause to be sorry you asked me to stay with you.” His voice was very solemn, as if he’d been reading her thoughts.

  “I know,” she told him softly. I hope not.

  “I need to call my team as soon as we get back to the cabin,” he went on. “They should have received the photos I sent them and had enough time by now to compare them with the ones we have from other killing sites. I’m hoping something stands out, although I’m not optimistic.”

  “It must have been terrible for you finding Jenna the way you did,” she said in a quiet voice.

  “I still have nightmares.” He squeezed her leg and let out a long breath. “Okay, here we are. Home sweet home.”

  * * * * *

  The animal couldn’t sleep. The restlessness would not leave it. Its blood raced through its veins, hot liquid that threatened to burn it alive. It hadn’t fed for too long now and the hunger was spiraling out of control.

  It’d tried to make do with substitutes, choosing its prey carefully. The hunters were tracking it. It knew that and knew it had to be careful. But its mouth salivated for the taste of human flesh, the cooling sensation of human blood. It wouldn’t be able to contain the urge much longer.

  It scrabbled in its bedding, pushing things around to try to find a more comfortable place for its body but nothing seemed to help. It closed its eyes and tried to call up the images of its most recent kill. What a tasty meal that had been. And just like always, it’d been able to whisk itself away without leaving a trace. Its scent was so peculiar it wasn’t worried about anyone defining it. No, in that area it was safe.

  In the distance a coyote wailed again, a mournful sound that so aptly described how it, too was feeling. It would have to run tonight, to hunt for some small prey to tide it over. Until the next big kill. Its heartbeat quickened at the thought. Yes, it needed something right now.

  Pushing itself to an upright position, it carefully sniffed the air for danger.

  All quiet.

  Keeping to the shadows, it slipped into the night.

  * * * * *

  Dakota busied herself getting out plates and glasses and setting up their meal while Jonah finished his conversation with his team.

  “All right.” He sighed. “I’ll get back to you when I have more. If I have more.”

  He disconnected his call and set the phone on the low table in front of the fireplace. His hair was rumpled from running his fingers through it in frustration and his jaw was set in a determined line.

  “Come sit down,” she urged, pouring wine into two glasses. “Have a drink. You need something to soothe your nerves.”

  She turned to pick up the pizza from the counter and was startled when strong arms came around her, pushing the box back down.

  “I don’t think food or drink is going to do it for me right now, darlin’.” Jonah’s voice was thick with need. He swept her hair to one side and pressed his lips to her neck, touching the tip of his tongue to her skin.

  She shivered as fingers of heat danced over her, her already damp panties soaking even more.

  Jonah’s warm hands rubbed softly up and down her arms while his mouth continued to trace patterns on her neck, her ear, and the underside of her jaw. She leaned back against his hard body and felt the thickness of his cock pressing into her backside through the layers of their clothing. Her muscles turned liquid and her breathing hitched just from that simple touch.

  “You taste so damn good,” he murmured, his hot breath whispering against her skin. “I want to run my tongue over every inch of your skin.”

  She wanted to turn, to wind her arms around his neck, but her feet were rooted to the floor, immobilized by the sensual thrill of his mouth and tongue.

  He moved his hands around to her front and slid them beneath her t-shirt. His fingers rested briefly on the warm flesh of her tummy before sliding up to cup the bottom swell of her breasts. Her nipples were so hard she was sur
e they could push through the flimsy fabric of her bra. She leaned her head back, exposing her neck to his marauding mouth as he kneaded her breasts and flicked her nipples with his thumbs.

  “Feel how hard I am.” He pushed his hips forward so his cock bumped against her ass more firmly. “My cock swells every time I touch you. Every time I look at you. How am I supposed to get any work done with such a temptress so close to me?”

  She made her laugh seductive. “You could always go back to the motel. No temptation there.”

  “Not on your life. You can just forget that.”

  With a casual movement of his hands he flicked open the front clasp of her bra and pushed the material aside, leaving her breasts free to his touch. The rough calluses on his fingertips rubbed her skin, stimulating the nerves and causing her breasts to ache and feel heavy. When he pinched her nipples she gasped, pain lancing through her and bringing with it waves of pleasure.

  “You like that, don’t you.” He nuzzled her neck again, then bit lightly on the tender skin. “I wonder what else you might like.”

  She had no idea but at that moment she’d have been willing to give him anything. Try anything. She moved her hips back and forth, rubbing her backside against his erection and bringing forth a low groan from him.

  His hands slid down to the waistband of her jeans. The pop of the button opening and the snick of the zipper as he lowered it sounded uncommonly loud in the thick silence of the room. Hot fingers traced a path down over her tummy to the curls covering her mound. He riffled them lightly, as a soft breeze might, before plunging lower to tease her clit.

  Dakota moved her legs apart to give him better access, rocking slightly to urge his fingers deeper. But Jonah seemed to be in no hurry. He brushed a fingertip back and forth across her clit until she thought she would go mad with desire. Her panties were now soaked through and the scent of her arousal so strong she could even smell it herself.