Black and Shadow (15 page)

Jessica looked at Joe. He nodded. Her
hands sweated as she picked up the phone and dialed.

Someone picked up the phone on the
other end, but said nothing.

“Stinger, this is Thanatos,” Jessica
said. “There’s been a change. We need to meet.”

“I don’t meet,” a mechanical voice
echoed over the line. He seemed to be going for the ruse. Kelly
must have called him before.

“I want the hit called off. You can
keep the fee.”

“Why the change? Your man seemed
pretty adamant before.” Something about the voice didn’t sound
right. Had he used something to disguise it?

“I don’t have to explain myself to
you. Don’t take the hit. Do you understand?”

“Hey, lady, it’s your money to lose.”
The phone went dead.

“Did you get the trace?” Jessica
asked.

“We got it,” Hugh said. “Our team
should be knocking on his door right about now.”

“Have them report as soon as the man
is in custody. I need to know this is over.” Joe ran his hand over
his eyes.

Jessica sidled up to Joe and wrapped
her arm around his waist. “Why don’t we find something constructive
to do while we wait?”

“Like what?” Joe put his arm around
her shoulders.

“We could take a shower.”

“A shower, huh?”

“Yeah, you know. Hot water and soap
suds.”

“Sounds like a plan. You know where to
find us, Hugh.”

Hugh laughed. “I can find you. The
question is, will you answer the door?”

§

It didn’t take them long to get to
Joe’s apartment on the fourth floor. They both started taking off
clothes, flinging them here and there in their hurry to get
undressed. Once naked, they stood staring, both of them
panting.

Joe held her in his arms before she
could blink. “You’re so beautiful.” His lips touched
hers.

Jessica wrapped her arms around his
neck. His tongue plundered her mouth. She moaned. It felt so good.
Joe drew away and kissed her nose. She squeaked as he swung her
into his arms and carried her into the bathroom.

He set her down on the cold marble
countertop and stepped between her legs. She squirmed. Joe kissed
her. His fingers delved into her hair. He nibbled at her bottom lip
before kissing it again. Jessica wrapped her legs around him and
pulled him closer. Her hands ran down his back and landed at his
waist. She wouldn’t get a shower if they continued this
way.

“Shower, Joe,”
she sent into his thoughts.

Joe grabbed her waist and lifted her.
He turned and walked into the shower stall before pressing her up
against the tile. He held her there, kissing and nipping at her
lips.

She squealed when the cold water came
raining down on her. Joe quickly adjusted the taps and the water
warmed.

“Better?”
Joe’s lips trailed from her mouth to her neck. He
licked at the water running down her collarbone.

“Much, but I can’t get
clean if you don’t stop kissing me.”

Joe grinned.
“You’re the one holding me between your
legs.”

Jessica groaned and slowly lowered her
legs to the floor. Joe kissed her once more on the lips before
stepping away. She immediately missed his warmth.

“Don’t frown. I’ll wash your back if
you wash mine.” Joe grabbed a sponge and soap.

“Deal. I kinda hoped you’d want to
wash more than that.”

“Anything and everything, baby.” Joe
ran the soapy sponge down her chest and around her breast. Her
nipples hardened. Jessica sighed.

“You’re seducing me. We won’t get
clean this way.”

“Sure we will. It might take a little
time, though.”

Jessica smiled and reached for the
soap. Joe wasn’t the only one who could tease.

§

How did he lose control of this
situation? Jessica kneeled at his feet, her mouth sucking at his
member. He could only groan and lock his knees so he didn’t fall
into a puddle on the shower floor.

“Holy hell, baby. You’re killing me. I
won’t last much longer.”

Joe tried to draw away, but long
feminine nails sinking into his legs warned him not to move. He
groaned again as teeth scraped against his shaft. His head fell
against the tile. He would expire eaten by a tiger, but he loved
it. His body trembled. He’d held back since Jessica started kissing
her way down his body. Every suck and pull felt like liquid
fire.

“Jessica, I’m warning you. I can’t
hold on much longer.”

She hummed, and the vibration coursed
through him like a tsunami. He grabbed her hair, thinking of
pulling her away, but Jessica sucked him deeper into her mouth.
Something primitive rose its head and Joe’s hips moved. He pushed
in, feeling the back of her throat.

“You want it, baby? Then take it all.
Suck me dry, beautiful.”

In as deep as she could take him. Then
she swallowed. Her throat constricted around him. Joe lost it,
yelling like a fiend as flashes of light detonated in his
head.

He poured his essence into Jessica.
She swallowed everything he gave her, and then licked around his
shaft, looking for lost cream.

Joe’s whole body felt weak. He looked
into Jessica’s eyes. Supreme satisfaction glowed in their depths.
His tiger purred.

He reached down and pulled her to her
feet. She leaned against him, soft and pliant. He took her mouth,
his tongue searching for any lingering taste of his essence. He
groaned when her nails kneaded his scalp. Great Spirit, how he
loved this woman.

§

Jessica sighed. Once again they got
called into the sheriff’s office. The way it was going, she should
rent a room. Officer Curtis wasn’t too happy. Stinger had
disappeared. At least this time Hugh Thunder Hoof got questioned
along with her.

“How is it a known assassin left a
message addressed to you in a local hotel, Mr. Thunder Hoof?” The
muscles in Officer Curtis’s jaw clenched.

“I have no idea. I don’t know how
Stinger got my name, or how he knew we wanted to catch
him.”

“Something the police should have been
included in. Don’t you think?” Officer Curtis slammed his hand on
the table. He must’ve been taking lessons from Joe.

The Shadow Walkers went over the hotel
room where they traced the call with a fine tooth comb and found…
nothing. That in itself troubled her. Even Hugh was surprised the
assassin addressed the note saying she was safe to him. He put his
vast resources into finding “Stinger” and so far had no
answers.

Joe smoldered. From the look on his
face, Officer Curtis would meet the bear real soon. Jessica shook
her head. Curtis might deserve what Joe dished out, but it wouldn’t
get them away from the sheriff’s office. Jessica laid her hand on
Joe’s knee. Hopefully, her touch would calm him. He put his hand
over hers.

“Officer Curtis,” Jessica interrupted
his latest tirade. She made sure he looked at her before reaching
for his mind. Having the ability to control minds did come in handy
now and then. “Your theories of me and the Shadow Walkers working
against you are wrong. We’re friends and want to help each other.
You know this and are happy to have such good friends. Isn’t that
right?”

“Good friends,” Officer Curtis
replied, his eyes glassy.

“Now you say goodbye, knowing we are
friends and will work together again in the future. Having friends
like the Shadow Walker tribe makes your job easier.”

“Job easier,” Curtis said.

“That’s right. Now you will go and
concentrate on catching criminals, knowing your friends will be
there to help you if you need them. Goodbye, Officer
Curtis.”

“Goodbye, Miss Black.”

Jessica rose and, keeping Joe’s hand
in hers, led him from the room. Hugh followed behind them deep in
thought. They walked out of the building and out to the
car.

“I’ll meet you at headquarters. I want
to look into this a bit further,” Hugh said.

Joe nodded as Hugh walked away. He
didn’t say anything. Jessica frowned. Was he upset she took over
Curtis’s mind? Joe opened the car door for her and then went around
to the driver’s side. She wanted to get them out of there. Joe
always took control of situations. Did he not like that she did the
same thing?

Joe started the engine and backed out
of the parking space. Jessica ground her teeth in frustration. He
pulled into traffic and headed down the street. He glanced at her
and then cleared his throat.

Jessica closed her eyes. Here it
comes. Probably a lecture on how using her abilities like that
degraded their specialness. It wasn’t anything she didn’t tell
herself.

“Jessica,” he said. She looked over
surprised at his gentle tone. “What do you think about going to
Vegas and getting married?”

“Well, Joe, it’s almost time,” Raven
Darkwood said while standing in front of the window in Joe’s
apartment. He ran his hand through his long, coffee-colored hair.
Joe was glad to see his friend looking so well. Marriage to Cara
agreed with him. “It wasn’t long ago we stood here waiting to go
down for my wedding.”

“Yeah, but no crazy woman attempting
to kill me will mess up my wedding.” Joe ran his hand down the deer
skin shirt passed down in his family. He liked the fringe and red
quill patterns and wondered about the ancestor who first put them
there.

“No, your crazy woman crashed our
computer system four times this last month and your mother might
have come after you with a gun if you’d convinced Jessica to
elope.”

Joe grinned. “Mom slapped me upside
the head for even thinking of denying her a proper
ceremony.”

Raven’s cell phone pinged. “Looks like
everyone is ready. Ferguson is taking Jessica down now. We better
hurry if you want to be in place on time.”

“Well, I don’t want to be late. My
tiger lady would have my head.” Joe headed for the door.

“I noticed she does have a temper to
match that red hair,” Raven laughed as they walked to the elevator
and stepped inside.

“She’s a wild one. By the way, thanks
for being my best man. Sucks Derek isn’t here. I always thought
he’d be at my wedding.”

“I spoke to General Holland. Derek
should be finished with his assignment soon. Hopefully the idiot
will realize his mistake and come home. He won’t answer me when I
try to contact him telepathically.”

“If Katherine doesn’t stop looking so
wounded, I’ll hunt Derek down and drag him back. I can’t handle
weepy women,” Joe said, as the elevator arrived on the ground floor
and they both walked out.

“Does Jessica know of your fondness
for Katherine?” Raven asked.

“Oh, sure. Katherine has
become Jessica’s new
BFF
.” He rolled his eyes at female
lingo. “They have lunch together at least once a week, if not more.
They even went shopping for leather goods in Italy last week.
Jessica complained about the cold of Shadow.”

“Cara wanted to talk to Jessica about
which computers to purchase for the school. I think they planned a
business lunch last week. The new women of the tribe are smart, and
fierce. They’ll probably end up taking over if we don’t watch out.
I hoped Sarah would find a mate with one of the tribe. She would
have been another good addition.”

“She went to Washington, D.C. now that
her case is over. If you want one of the men to take her for a
mate, they’ll have to hunt her down. Come on, it looks like Isanti
is waiting for us.”

Joe and Raven hurried to their places.
Joe winked at his mother, who sat proudly in the front row. His
father smiled. Joe wanted to laugh at Hugh, giving him a thumbs-up
from farther down the aisle. It looked like the whole tribe had
turned out for the ceremony. Then Isanti called everyone together
with a prayer to the Great Spirit. Joe silently added a few words
of thanks for having such a wonderful mate chosen for
him.

The wedding march started and everyone
stood. Joe turned to watch Jessica come forward on the arm of
Daniel Ferguson. She smiled at him and his heart beat harder. She
looked beautiful in the white gown and veil. Her red hair fell in
waves around her shoulders. He couldn’t look away and didn’t even
try. This woman was his future.

She put her hand in his and they both
turned to the old shaman. Everything inside him settled into peace.
Jessica calmed his worries with a touch. He hoped Fred knew he
would take good care of her.

§

Jessica frowned at her brother’s best
friend. “Of course, I’m going through with the wedding. I love him,
Daniel.”

“But, Jesse. He’s a dangerous man.”
Daniel fidgeted with the cummerbund of his tux.

She knew her bear man was dangerous,
that was part of the attraction. But he wasn’t dangerous to her.
“Look, I worked hard to convince Joe to go through a formal
ceremony, when he would’ve happily eloped to Las Vegas. You should
be glad I asked you to give me away.”