Cougar Needs [Cougarlicious 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (2 page)

Hearing the bitterness in her friend’s voice, the ever-comforting Stacy reached out and patted her friend’s hand. “Don’t worry, someone will pop into your life when you least expect it. Just keep your eyes open, keep the faith, and keep putting together those hot, sexy, kickass covers.”

“I think for our next weekend together we should break with tradition and bring our hot young studs with us. Since it’s Kimber’s turn to play hostess, maybe we should rent a beach house with lots of room and lots of privacy.” Gwen looked more excited by the prospect of this new challenge.

Stacy nodded in agreement though she silently wondered if she would have such a man to bring with her. She did not want to go into this new challenge with a defeatist attitude, but it was difficult to look at things positively. She had grown so strong in the past years she had been surprised when a couple of the men she had dated complained that she was too strong, too independent, and too controlling for them. Others had informed her that they preferred women who were less constricted by morality. Just because they already had a wife or girlfriend did not mean they were not willing to have a sexual relationship with her.

Would she be able to meet a good man in the next six months? Would she be able to let down the walls that guarded her heart and let him in? Would she be able to trust him enough to give him her body?

Stacy looked through the pile of paperwork for the third time, but the catalog she had been searching her office for over the last ten minutes was nowhere to be found.

“Damn, girl, if you’re not careful, Gwen and Kimber are gonna have you tested for Alzheimer’s,” she muttered to herself as she headed down the stairs from her over-the-garage office. “You’ve got to get better organized if you’re serious about doubling the size of this business in the next two years.”

At the side door that led to the driveway, she slipped her feet into the pair of purple flip-flops that waited there for just such occasions. Though she would never admit it, she was not nearly as organized or put together as her two best friends and clients thought. She kept the disorganization hidden from the world behind the closed door of her home office, though the rest of the house was not in much better shape these days.

Since she was just going to be outside for a minute, she did not bother to pull on the old, stretched-out, white sweater that hung from the hook next to the door. At four o’clock in the morning, none of her neighbors would be awake. Besides, her sleep shirt fell to mid-thigh so all her bits and pieces were covered if someone did happen to see her.

Grabbing her key ring, she opened the door. “I’ll right back, sweetheart,” she called over her shoulder

“Be right here!” Tookie, her gray-and-white cockatiel, replied from his large cage in the great room where she was the feathered queen of all she could see, which was most of the main part of the house.

The interchange was a routine they went through every time Stacy left the house. The only thing that changed was the length of time Stacy said she would be gone.

Stepping outside, she was surprised at the weather that met her. It was the middle of summer, but nights in central Pennsylvania were never this humid. Tilting her head back, she noted the lack of stars and the mottled look to the clouds overhead.

“Oh great, the last thing I need today is rain. I’ve got errands and client meetings all day.”

Dropping her head forward again, she looked at the Jeep Wrangler she had backed into the driveway and frowned in confusion.

Why is the dome light on? she mentally asked herself as she approached the passenger’s side. Instead of pushing the unlock button on the key in her hand, she slowly approached the vehicle. When something crunched under her flip-flops, she looked down and her confusion deepened.

It took another few seconds to put together the glass under her feet with the fact that the passenger’s door glass was missing and the door stood half open.

“What the fuck?” she muttered. She automatically reached for her left hip where her cell phone resided. When her hand came up empty, she realized the phone was in her office, plugged into the charger, and she was not wearing pants.

All at once, fear exploded. Her chest tightened, and every muscle in her body tensed. Though she wanted to run, she backed away slowly as she looked around the yard then up and down the street beyond. But the shadows yielded nothing except that she needed to make time to do some yard work.

When she reached the steps that led to the house, she turned and ran, stopping only long enough to close and lock the door behind her. She threw the deadbolt for extra protection. Then she hurried to her office and her phone. Checking it, she saw it was fully charged, so she unplugged it before dialing nine-one-one with fingers that shook. By the time she hit send, her entire body trembled. Feeling exposed even though she knew no one could see her up here, Stacy sat down and leaned against the side of her desk.

After reporting the break-in to a woman who sounded less than impressed, she agreed that she would not be going anywhere in the next few minutes. Hanging up the phone, she pulled her legs to her chest, wrapped her arms around them, and, while she waited for someone to show up, tried to figure out who would do such a thing to her.

* * * *

Police Sergeant KJ Katz listened as the dispatcher asked for anyone in the area to respond to a destruction of property call only a few blocks from where he sat finishing up his hated computer work. Normally he assisted, consulted, and provided backup for the other more junior officers working, but at this hour, he needed something to take his mind off the fact that he was lonely, bored, and exhausted. Besides, he was only a couple of blocks from the call.

Keying his microphone, he said, “Dispatch, this is Charlie fifty-two responding.”

Once the dispatcher answered and confirmed he was en route, KJ turned the next corner and hit the gas. Taking a deep breath, he shifted into the warrior mindset he used on the job while his eyes scanned the neighborhood he drove through, looking for anything or anyone that was out of place.

Having patrolled this planned development for most of the six years since he had joined the force, he knew every tree, bush, and vehicle. He also knew that at this time of the morning on a Tuesday the only people on the streets would be cops, drunks, or those up to no good.

As he approached the address given by the dispatcher, he slowed and was even more careful in his examination. But there was no one around and nothing out of the ordinary that he could see. Not until he parked the car and climbed out did he see the passenger’s door of the four-door Jeep Wrangler stood open and the interior light glowed.

Flipping the safety on his weapon, he slowly approached. He noted the broken window on the vehicle, the glass on the ground and that the glove box was open. Not moving too close to the scene of what appeared to be a vehicular breaking and entering, he continued moving toward the house. A porch light glowed bright between a door into the house and the closed garage door, but the light did not reach the Jeep. As he moved closer, something in the air shifted, and his nose twitched. As it did, a warm shiver shot through him and his cock began to stiffen though his mind had yet to connect what was happening.

Growling softly to himself as his body shifted into an “I want sex” mode like he had never felt before, KJ pulled the screen door open. Making a fist, he banged hard against what felt and sounded like a heavy metal door. As he mentally counted to a hundred, he noted there was no peephole, no window for the occupant of the house to check his identity. KJ hesitated a moment as he considered the possibilities. Was the person who had called in the report a prankster trying to screw with whoever lived here? Or had whoever broken into the Jeep entered the house and he was now facing a hostage situation…or worse? Or had the caller simply fallen back to sleep?

Keying his radio, he asked the dispatcher to and let the woman know the police were at the door. It took awhile, but finally he heard the deadbolt twisted open.

“Ms. Covey?” he asked when the door eased open a few inches and wide frightened eyes stared out at him from a too-pale face. “I’m Sergeant Katz, State College Police Department. You called about a break-in?”

“Yes. Someone broke into my car.” Her words were soft and shaky.

The need to protect and claim that he had felt in the driveway grew. In seconds it was a gut-tightening urge to pull her into his arms and stand between her from the world. As he met a pair of wide and frightened mossy green eyes, his cock surged to full attention. A fraction of a second later, his brain registered what his body had recognized several minutes earlier.

This woman was his life mate. After fifteen years of looking for the woman he was destined to be with for the rest of his life, he had found her right under his nose. Was that why he refused every time he was offered a different route? Had he always known he needed to be here to keep his mate safe even without knowing exactly who she was?

Taking a deep breath, he filled his lungs with her light, tangy-tart scent that brought to mind Christmas spices and oranges. His cougar wanted to surge forth and claim the woman right here and now. Somehow he successfully forced his beast to settle while he focused on the job.

“Do you know if anything is missing?” he asked as he tried to discreetly check her out.

Her ivory skin was pale and she looked shaken, but there was a fire in her mossy green eyes that told him she was stronger than she appeared. That strength would serve her well as his mate. Cops’ wives were also a rare and special breed, and he hoped she could handle the role. She met his eyes with a wondering gaze, as if she could feel there was something between them as well.

He refused to ask how old she was but figured early to midthirties was a good guess. It did not matter to him anyway. Age was just a number and destiny had chosen her for him, so she could have been twenty or sixty and he would not have cared. She was his mate. That was all that mattered.

Her reddish-brown hair was pulled back from her face in a ponytail, but the thought of sliding his fingers through it while she was on her knees with his cock in her mouth had his cock jerking with excitement. His eyes dropped, and he saw she wore only an oversize deep purple T-shirt that ended at midthigh. The shirt was huge and hid her curves, which was a disappointment, but KJ knew he would have her naked in short order, one way or another, though he hoped it would be with mutual pleasure.

“I went out a few minutes ago to look for something and found it like that.” She waved toward the driveway. “I didn’t touch anything, just came back inside, and called you.”

KJ nodded as he forced his eyes back up her body to her face. The sight of her shapely, naked legs distracted him for a moment. He wondered what, if anything, she wore underneath the shirt. Forcing his eyes back to hers, he watched as she looked down at herself just before her fear shifted to embarrassment.

“If you’ll wait here, I’ll be right out,” she said, taking a half step back.

“Sure, take your time,” he said.

Though he would have preferred her to stay just the way she was, the crime scene unit would be joining them. He did not want to have to kill any of his fellow officers for drooling over his mate.

* * * *

After closing the door on the best-looking man she had ever seen, Stacy raced through the house to her bedroom with embarrassment burning at her cheeks. How could she have opened the door while wearing just her sleep shirt and a thong? Maybe she really did need her head examined.

But what a sexy cop Sergeant Katz was. She had glanced at his hand and wondered if the lack of a ring on his left hand meant he was single, or if the job demands kept him from wearing a wedding band. He was young enough to fulfill Kimber’s cougar challenge, but not so young that Stacy would feel she was mothering him, though he was several inches taller than she was, making her feel like a woman and not a five-foot-eleven-inch sideshow freak.

His department baseball cap covered up his hair, so she could not tell much, except that he kept it very short, probably another demand of his profession. But his eyes were a deep, intense blue that made her think of the spring sky in North Carolina the last time they had met at Kimber’s house for their girls only weekend.

Going to her closet, she grabbed a pair of black yoga pants that were loose and comfortable. It shocked her to realize her thong was wet as she pulled them on. She grabbed a bra from the basket on the shelf and worked it on under her sleep shirt. She gasped as the bra brushed against her erect nipples, sending heat straight to her clit.

What was happening to her? She had never felt such arousal before just meeting a man. What was it about this police officer that had her turned on like a schoolgirl with her first crush?

Returning to the back door, she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself as she slipped her flip-flops back on. Opening the door, she stepped out and found Sergeant Katz standing with another man studying the damaged door of her Jeep. She gasped silently as her pussy clenched and gushed when he turned and his laser-blue eyes met hers. There was definitely something going on, an electricity in the air that seemed to be connecting them. For the first time in several years, she decided to not fight the attraction, but instead see where it led even if he was a lot younger than she was.