Black and Shadow (14 page)

Evidence of Joe’s arousal pressed
against her thigh. He moved lower down her body. Her fingers fell
from his back. He kissed her stomach, and dipped his tongue into
her belly button, coming closer and closer to the sensitive flesh
weeping for him. He moved between her thighs, opening her legs
wider and blowing across the wet curls at the juncture of her
hips.

“You taste like honey,
sweet and creamy,”
Joe sent to her
telepathically..

He dipped his head and licked. All
thoughts fled from her brain. He flicked her clit and then pushed
his tongue deep. She moaned. It felt so good. In and out, he teased
her. Heat built inside her core. She needed more from
him.

“Joe. Deeper, I need more,” she
demanded.

He sucked her clit into his mouth
while pushing a finger through her folds. Jessica almost rose off
the bed. Joe held her hips with one hand while plunging deep with
the other. He added another finger, then a third, his tongue
swirled around the little bundle of nerves. She panted. Her body
trembled. She felt on fire. Even the bottom of her feet burned. A
storm of desire crashed over her. Jessica screamed.

§

Joe smiled. He moved up and positioned
his shaft at her core. Jessica trembled. Her eyes closed tightly.
He could feel the pure pleasure washing over her mind. He surged
into her sheath. Her eyes flew open.

“Again, baby. Give it to me again.” He
pulled out and plunged in deep. He wanted to be inside where she’d
never think of leaving him. Jessica’s head thrashed on the pillow.
She felt so hot and wet. He slid in with little resistance. Her
body tightened around him. She would come hard and take him with
her into the ether.

He drove in, again and again.
Determined to reach that pinnacle with the woman he loved. He held
himself above her. Watching her face as it flushed. Fire licked at
his body. He gritted his teeth, holding himself back. His balls
drew up. She was killing him.

At last, she broke. Her whole body
bucked. She cried out. He held her to him. In and out, in again.
She clenched down around him. Joe felt heat flow over him. He
gripped her hips, riding out the storm as he filled her.

“My God, woman, I think you destroyed
me.”

Jessica looked up at him, her eyes
glazed with pleasure. She smiled and… went to sleep.

Joe waited until his breathing calmed
before withdrawing. He curled himself around her, and pulled up the
covers. Kissing her gently on the temple, he wrapped his arm around
her waist and let sleep take him.

Joe jerked awake to the sun shining in
his eyes. Pounding on the door filled the air. Jessica mewled and
stretched. Joe swore and reached for his robe.

“What the hell is it?” He swung open
the door. Sarah and Hugh stood waiting. “What do you two
want?”

Hugh shook his head and ran his
fingers through his hair.

“Have you been up all night? You look
like hell,” Joe continued.

“Can we come in, Joe? I don’t want to
wake anyone else up with your yelling.” Hugh gestured down the
hall. Joe stepped back and ushered them into the suite.

“I need you and Miss Black to come
down to the station. You’re lucky I’m not here with a warrant,”
Sarah said, plopping into a chair. “The police found the company
car at the warehouse, along with blood we expect belongs to Miss
Black. The deputy sheriff is asking a lot of questions, including
how the hell you got her out of a burning warehouse.”

Joe clenched his jaw. “That’s
classified information you need a clearance to know. The deputy
sheriff is aware Isanti contracts with the Pentagon.” He tried to
lower his voice.

“Joe?” Jessica asked, coming out of
the bedroom, her hair rumpled from sleep. She’d thrown on her jeans
from last night and one of his T-shirts hung on her like a dress.
Joe smiled as warmth filled him. She walked over and put her arm
around his waist. “Morning, grumpy bear.”

He leaned down and kissed her,
uncaring of the audience. “Morning, beautiful.”

“I need you to come with me to the
sheriff’s office, Miss Black,” Sarah said. “I need a statement
about what happened last night. I’ve convinced the deputy sheriff
you were the victim at the warehouse, but I need to know exactly
what transpired.”

Jessica looked quickly to Joe. He
squeezed her in reassurance. She leaned into him and nothing felt
better.

“I should change. I’m not exactly
dressed to go out.” Jessica smiled and shrugged.

“I’m afraid I must insist you come as
soon as possible. I’m sorry,” Sarah said.

“Well, then. Let me grab a clean shirt
and brush my teeth. Can we get something to eat while we hurry out
the door?” Jessica asked.

“I’ll go downstairs and get donuts.
You might want to get dressed too, Joe.” Hugh waved a hand at Joe’s
robe.

“We’ll be right back.” Joe turned with
Jessica and walked into the bedroom. She drew off his T-shirt and
he picked it up and slipped it on. “I like seeing you wear this.
You should run around in my T-shirt and nothing else more
often.”

Jessica grinned. “I’ll do that, but
not in front of other people.” She pulled a clean shirt and socks
from her suitcase. Joe would have to make room in his dresser for
her things.

“Deal. When you make your statement,
you need to leave out the Shadow Dimension. I’ll come up with a
plausible alternative. I didn’t think about your car. I should have
ordered one of the men to fetch it.”

“I wasn’t thinking much at all. Sorry
about that.” Jessica put on her shirt and shoes and hurried into
the bathroom. Joe could see her brushing her teeth at the
sink.

“Nothing to be sorry about. We both
got shook up.” Joe finished getting dressed and walked into the
living room. “Hugh, get coffee when you run downstairs.”

“I’ve already called down to the
kitchen. They’ll have it waiting for us. I went with Sarah to the
DEA officer’s apartment. We found interesting papers and his
laptop. The contract out on Jessica got paid before the fire. She’s
in danger. I’ve got a name and a phone number for the assassin. He
goes by the name of Stinger. How do you want to play
this?”

“You’ll let the police take over,”
Sarah said with a scowl.

“How exactly will they do that? I’m
not leaving an assassin out there gunning for Jessica. I think we
find the guy and take him out. Use the number. Have Sarah call as
Thanatos. Hopefully a woman’s voice will surprise him. Set up a
meet. Take a team of Shadow Walkers and grab the guy. We’ll give
everything to the police, evidence and culprit in a nice neat
package.”

“You can’t keep running things, Joe,”
Sarah said. “You aren’t in charge here. The sheriff’s department
will go after the guy. There’s plenty of evidence against him. My
job here is finished. I found the evidence Kurt Kramer was dirty.
It’s only because I made friends with people at the sheriff’s
department that I’m in the loop.” Sarah ran her hands over her
knees.

“Hugh, you looked at the laptop?” Joe
asked.

“Of course. I’m the one that got
through Kramer’s passwords. Oh, and Joe, Kramer planted the car
bomb that killed Sheriff Tom.”

Joe nodded. Hugh had an eidetic
memory. He’d know the assassin’s identity and how to contact
him.

“Okay, I’m ready. Did the police find
my purse in the car?” Jessica asked.

“Yes, it’s at the station. Where did
the blood in the car come from?” Sarah asked.

“Probably a nose bleed. The woman
socked me a good one across the face with the gun in her
hand.”

“Probably?”

“I was unconscious. I didn’t wake up
until I was tied up in the warehouse.”

“All right. Let’s go get this over
with,” Joe said, taking Jessica’s hand.

§

“You can’t hold the fact that Kramer
got caught in his own fire against Miss Black, Officer Curtis.
She’s the victim here.” Joe slammed his hand against the
desk.

Jessica rubbed at her temples. One
donut and half a cup of coffee wouldn’t hold her for much
longer.

“Two people died, Mr. Running Bear.
Including a DEA officer,” the officer that spoke to her at the
clinic argued.

Officer Curtis was tenacious, she’d
give him that much, especially when he thought you guilty of
something. It surprised Jessica he hadn’t asked more questions
about how she escaped the fire. She’d worried on the forty minute
car ride to the station about how to answer. The Shadow Dimension
remained a closely held secret of the Shadow Walker
tribe.

“A DEA officer who blew up your
sheriff. The evidence is on the laptop. The guy was as dirty as
they come.” Joe got up and started pacing.

“That may be true, but I need to
question Miss Black.”

“Officer Curtis, I’ve told you
everything I know.” Jessica stood up. “We’ve been over it for the
last hour. If you intend to charge me with something, then do it.
Otherwise, I’m leaving.”

“Wait. I’m not finished with you,” the
man said, rising from his chair.

“I think the lady is finished with
you.” Joe took Jessica by the hand and escorted her out of the
room. The officer hurried after them.

“I must insist Miss Black not leave
town.”

“Don’t worry, officer. Miss Black
isn’t going anywhere.” Joe lengthened his stride and Jessica
struggled to keep up. She stumbled and Joe immediately slowed down.
They walked out of the large brick building and stood a moment on
the stairs leading to the street. The sun shone brightly and
Jessica wished for a pair of sunglasses.

“That man is an ass. I’m tempted to
file a complaint,” Joe said.

People hurried by, coming and going,
busy with their business in the sheriff’s office.

Jessica took a deep breath. Officer
Curtis thought her involved in this up to her eyebrows. She’d
almost laughed when he suggested she might have started the fire
when she realized Kelly Mason killed Fred. Jessica shook her head.
“He’s doing his job.”

Hugh ran up. “Hey, you guys stayed in
there so long, I went to the corner coffee house.”

Jessica’s stomach growled. “I could
use food. I’m starving.”

Joe grinned. “Let’s feed her. It
sounds like she has a tiger in her tummy.” They started down the
stairs to the street.

“No, I’m the tiger. My stomach is
empty.”

“Right this way, there’s a great diner
down the road,” Hugh said. Jessica turned to follow him.

A piece of cement column holding a
street light exploded next to Jessica’s head. Joe grabbed her and
pushed her into a doorway of a building. “Not again,” Jessica
groaned.

“Leave it to the police, Sarah said,”
Joe growled. He stood in front of her daring the assassin to take
another shot.

“I think he’s on the building across
the street,” Hugh said from his crouched position behind a parked
car.

“I’m taking Jessica to Isanti. Meet us
there when you can.” Joe reached past her and pulled open a doorway
in the shadow of the alcove. He pushed Jessica inside, following
right behind her and taking her hand.

She grimaced and her teeth chattered.
She needed to do something about the cold in here. It looked like a
leather coat would be her new best friend. She stared out at the
street through the darkness of shadow. Hugh had called the police
and officers poured out of the building. The assassin would be long
gone before they made it across the street.

She saw a sudden wrenching movement,
and then instead of looking at the street through a dirty mirror,
she looked at Joe’s apartment. He opened a portal and pulled her
through. Warmth surrounded her and she shuddered even as she
welcomed the change in temperature.

“Dammit! This has got to stop!” Joe
twirled her around, his hands hard. He took her mouth in a
ferocious kiss. Jessica melted against him. Her bear man feared
losing her. His mouth gentled and then he pulled away. Leaning his
forehead against hers he sighed. “I can’t lose you,
sweetheart.”

“I’m right here, Joe. Safe and sound.
I don’t want to lose you either. Don’t think I didn’t notice you
daring the shooter to take another shot. Don’t do that again,”
Jessica growled.

Joe chuckled. “My little tiger. Let’s
get you food. I don’t want you to expire from hunger.”

“Yeah, I’m sure my favorite sheriff’s
officer will want to ask me more questions.” Jessica shook her
head. Joe was right. This needed to stop.

§

The technology department looked truly
impressive. Jessica’s fingers tingled with the need to finger the
keyboards and play with the systems. Hugh hurried around the space
like a spider pulling on webs. He sat in his chair and
smiled.

“We’re ready. I’ve got a Shadow Walker
team on standby. All you have to do is make the call. Try and keep
him on the phone as long as you can. It’ll take me a few moments to
track him.”