Birds of Prey (8 page)

Pushing her thoughts away, she turned off the motor and opened the door. She’d called ahead and asked for a meeting with Anton Brunson.

Whomever she’d spoken with had kept her on hold for almost ten minutes before coming back on the line and informing her that Anton would be happy to meet with her.

She hadn’t told Mike that she was going to see the Flock commander. He wouldn’t have liked it. So she had arranged the meeting for before she was due to start her shift.

Mike didn’t mind that she was investigating. He was giving her the help she needed to see the case through, although he wanted to avoid any confrontation with the Coalition.

She, on the other hand, had no problem clashing with Cody. He had got the upper hand twice with her now. The next time she would be ready.

Not that it had been unpleasant. In fact, she had quite enjoyed the two times he’d pinned her. The feel of his strong body pressed against hers. His muscles bulging as Cody tried to remain in control.

It had been so damn sexy.

And familiar too. Cody was correct. She had always enjoyed the way he’d manhandled her, could control her reactions to him.

Cody was dominant, both in bed and out of it. She’d loved the in-bed times. Although out of bed, she’d resisted.

She’d been so close to begging him to fuck her yesterday. Her body still hummed when she thought about it. His scent and taste were just as addictive as they had always been before.

Aubrey had missed him so very much.

Realising that she was standing in front of the house staring, lost in her own thoughts, she started forward.

She rang the bell before stuffing her hands in her jeans pockets as she waited.

The front door was opened by a pretty girl in her early twenties.

“Hi, I’m Aubrey Reynolds,” she greeted. “I have a meeting with Anton Brunson.”

“Yes.” The woman gestured her forward. “They are waiting for you in the library.”

They? Aubrey had wanted to talk to Anton alone. She should have been clearer with her request. It didn’t matter who was with the leader, though. She was lucky to have got any time with the man.

She followed the other woman down a long hallway until she heard voices. The door to the library stood open and she recognised Cody’s voice right away.

Shit! She hadn’t been prepared to deal with him yet. She was still planning her strategy.

The young woman had knocked on the door announcing Aubrey.

It was too late now. She’d better get it over with.

She stepped into the large, open room and her gaze immediately found Cody.

He looked just as good as he always did, although the dark circles under his eyes were even more pronounced. He lifted a brow at her as their gazes locked.

She smiled, trying to come across as calm and relaxed. Cody would be able to hear the increase of her heartbeat and scent her desire. But she was intent to play it off. At least until they were alone.

He’d left her aroused and on the edge of begging. She would get her revenge.

“Agent Johnson,” she said, as friendly as she could manage.

“Ms Reynolds.” He tilted his head in greeting, although his tone held a warning. “I’m surprised to see you here.”

Aubrey didn’t really have anything to say to that, so she turned her attention to the man she’d come to see. “Mr Brunson, thank you so much for seeing me.”

“Of course, I’ve always wanted to meet you.” Anton waved her farther into the room. “Plus I want to help in any way I can with the investigation,” he assured her. “Cody stopped by and I mentioned to him that you had called. He wanted to stay too.”

Anton looked between her and Cody, amusement evident in his eyes.

Aubrey sighed. Were there never any secrets? And now Cody had busted her.

So she might as well go all in, keep her questions professional, and try to hold back any rant that Cody would go off on. “Okay, so I shouldn’t be here,” she admitted.

“No, you shouldn’t,” Cody barked. “I told you to stay out of this!”

His reaction put her back up. She glared at him. “Did you?” she replied sarcastically. “I must have misunderstood.”

“Misunderstood?” Cody said before growling and stalking towards her.

“Cody.” Anton’s voice was low and all Alpha.

Cody paused. He continued glowering at her.

A chill travelled down her spine. Damn, Anton was a powerful leader.

“Let us all calm down and have a seat,” Anton suggested.

Aubrey and Cody moved at the same time. Aubrey settled into a large, overstuffed chair across from the couch that Cody and Anton took.

She did her best to avoid looking directly at Cody. Unsure how to proceed, the only course of action was to let Anton take the lead.

“This is a difficult situation for everyone,” Anton started. “Not only have you both lost people you were very close to, there is also your personal connection to take into account. So let’s move forward. I’ve already informed Cody of this, but since it does involve your Cast,” Anton told her, “I see no reason why you shouldn’t be aware too.”

She nodded slowly. As soon as she’d realised Cody was there, she’d been certain that she wouldn’t get the information she wanted. She was pleasantly surprised.

“About two months ago, a young man, the one in the photo, approached both Gregory and me,” Anton explained. “He is a falcon shifter and contacted us under the pretence of joining with the Cast or my Flock.”

Aubrey bit her lip as a dozen questions raced through her mind.

“I had a bad feeling about the kid. He was young, yes, but there was something…dark about him. I gave him a few vague statements about the Flock and encouraged him to speak with the members. I don’t know whether he did or not. I never spoke to him after that, but I did notice that he showed up in several of the places I did around the city.”

So the kid had been following Anton? That was interesting.

“Three weeks ago, I ran into Gregory and saw him again. I can’t… I’ve tried racking my brain, but I can’t remember his name.” Anton waved it off. “Anyway, Gregory noticed the young man and told me how he’d gone to the Cast and asked about joining them too. Gregory hadn’t felt right about the meeting either. So we compared notes.”

When Anton paused, Aubrey took the opportunity to ask her question. “So Gregory had him followed?”

Nodding, Anton replied, “There was just something…not right.”

“Who did you have follow him?” she asked. “It wasn’t anyone from the Flock or Gregory’s law firm. Mike would have known if any of Gregory’s people were involved.”

“No, we decided that we needed to keep it off the records. If we were wrong and the guy was just looking for family, then we didn’t want to have any paperwork on the search,” Anton responded. “Starting an investigation on someone is a big deal.”

Aubrey knew that. While they did a basic information check on any new member of the Cast, there were too many privacy regulations, especially with the new shifter laws in place, so they had to be careful.

What had been in the file was way more than just a basic search.

“We used a private detective with no connection to shifters. His name is Sam Gibbons. Sam reported that the kid had visited other communities, but spent most of his time following Gregory and me around. Gregory was killed before we could decide what to do.” Anton shook his head sadly. “I was planning on contacting Cody about what Gregory and I had found, but Kevin was killed before I could. I was stuck in meetings all day and never got to call. And now another good man is dead.”

Aubrey’s heart went out to him. The guilt was obvious on his face.

She opened her mouth to try to comfort him when Cody gripped Anton’s shoulder.

She glanced over at Cody and saw grief in his eyes as he met her gaze.

“I’m very sorry,” Aubrey told them both.

Cody nodded. “It’s not Anton’s fault,” he said loudly and squeezed Anton’s shoulder again. “It’s not,” he repeated to the other man.

Anton dropped his head with a heavy sigh. “Maybe,” he conceded. “Doesn’t matter. Now that you both know and have Gregory’s file, hopefully no one else will be murdered.”

Aubrey breathed deeply. This was more than just a simple matter of finding this kid in the picture. For the first time, she started to feel a little out of her depth. She couldn’t impede Cody’s investigation. But she couldn’t sit on the sidelines either. She was torn on where to go from here.

Anton’s phone rang. He pulled away from Cody before running his hands roughly over his face.

“I’d better go,” Aubrey said, standing. “I do appreciate your time, Mr Brunson.”

Anton and Cody both stood too.

“Please, call me Anton,” he said and held out his hand. “Like I said, I’ve always wanted to meet you.”

Aubrey placed her palm in his and he gave her a gentle squeeze.

“Thanks, Anton,” she said again, softly.

She ran her gaze briefly over Cody before turning on her heel and making her way out of the door. She moved quickly, wanting to escape the sorrow that had filled the room.

She yanked the front door open when she reached it, ignoring the sound of fast footsteps behind her. She’d just reached the front porch when her shoulder was grabbed.

“Stop!” Cody ordered.

Aubrey complied before she had even realised it.

Cody turned her around. His eyes hardened as he frowned down at her. “He shouldn’t have had to go through that again today. You of all people should understand how it feels to lose someone so close to you. I asked you to let me do my job. Instead, you came here to question a man who is in mourning.”

Aubrey dropped her head. “I know. I’m sorry.”

He just grunted.

Aubrey looked up. “I didn’t think…”

“No!” he snapped. “You didn’t. You just
had
to stick your nose in where it didn’t belong.”

That wasn’t fair. It wasn’t as though she didn’t have everyone’s best interests at heart.

“I told you…” Cody said in a low tone. “I told you to just let me handle this.”

Already feeling bad, she couldn’t hold her tongue. “I’m sorry!” she almost shouted. “I wanted to help! I just had to know…”

Cody finally released her to stomp away and start pacing.

Aubrey watched him in silence. He was mumbling something as his long legs ate up the ground, taking him away from her then back close again. It was the first time that she’d ever seen him do that.

Finally, after several minutes, he spun around. “I knew! I knew the first moment I laid eyes on you again you were going to be nothing but trouble!”

“Trouble?” she scoffed. ”I was going to be trouble?”

He pointed a finger at her. “Yes!”

She stepped up and jabbed a finger into his chest. “I’ve just about had it with your…”

Cody closed his hand over her wrist. He brought her arm around her back and spun her so that she faced away.

The action was done quickly and without any pain. Aubrey was yanked back against Cody’s hard body and her breath whooshed out.

“God, you’re beautiful when angry,” he said against her ear. “I missed it. Fuck, Aubrey, I’ve missed you so much.”

The heat of his body soaked into her back, but she still shivered.

No, she wanted to scream. He couldn’t miss her. This wasn’t happening.

But it was. She felt his lips at the side of her neck and gasped.

“My baby,” he murmured as he ran his hands up her arms. “I never forgot you.”

Aubrey was so turned on that her mind actually started to fog over. She pressed back into him and felt his hard cock against her butt.

She dropped her head back and he took the chance to nibble her neck.

“I have to have you again,” he whispered.

She wanted him. Each time they’d sparred verbally had led them to this moment. Their past had never been resolved. And now it was coming back around.

She slowly turned in his hold and cupped his face.

His dark-brown eyes looked almost black as they filled with need.

He lowered his head and she rose onto her tiptoes, pressing their lips together.

He gripped her hips firmly and urged her backward as their mouths continued moving against each other’s. Her body was flattened against the side of the house as he covered her front.

Aubrey sucked on Cody’s tongue, drawing a long, low moan from him. The sound vibrated through her and she grasped at his shoulders, trying to pull him even closer.

Cody tightened his arm around her lower back. She fit in his embrace. Perfectly. They broke the kiss and stared into each other’s eyes, panting.

“Aubrey.” He said her name softly.

Her nails were still buried in his shoulder and she couldn’t hold back the shudders.

“More,” she pleaded.

He dipped his head and teased her bottom lip with his tongue. She tried to catch his lips with her own, but he nipped her.

“We can’t do this here,” he told her.

Aubrey didn’t care where they were. She burned for him. “More,” she said again. “Just one more.”

“You’re going to be the death of me,” he accused gently, but gave in and kissed her.

His tongue stroked over hers and she moaned. She ran her hands down his sides and around his hips. She wanted to touch, to feel. She cupped his erection and squeezed.

He bucked against her before ripping his mouth away and growling.

She hummed in response, burying her face in the area between his neck and shoulder.

“Cody,” she urged and tongued his neck.

He continued to move against her. She had him now. He was about to lose control.

She pressed her chest against him while dancing her fingers over his trapped cock.

“Shit!” he cursed and backed away.

He moved so quickly that she started to fall forward.

Cody’s face was flushed and his breathing ragged. Aubrey was unsteady herself.

Now that there was distance between them, her mind started working again. She had enough sense to be embarrassed.

If Cody hadn’t stopped her, she didn’t think she would have come to her senses before begging Cody to fuck her. She would’ve ended up either on her knees or bent over the porch rail. Either way, there would have been a very public display.