Gregor (Stone Society Book 2) (9 page)

Gregor’s
breath was hot in Tessa’s ear. “I just wanted to bring Isabelle’s car to her
and to tell you to be careful. Watch that ass while you’re gone.”

When
he groaned, Tessa realized her attempt to get away was turning him on. Feeling
his erection against her ass gave her all kinds of dirty thoughts. “What do you
care about my ass?”

“I
would hate to see something happen to it. It’s a mighty fine ass, and it’s
mine, Tessa. Just like you, that fine ass is all mine.”

She
was panting. He had her panting like a fucking dog. “What...what are you
planning on doing with
your
ass?” She knew what she imagined him doing
with it.

He
pulled her back even tighter to his body, his erection rubbing against her
jeans. She couldn’t help the shudder that flowed through her or the juices that
were soaking her thong. He licked the rim of her ear then grabbed her hoop
between his teeth and pulled. “First, I’m going to spank it. I’m going to spank
that pretty ass until it’s pink. Then, I’m going to eat it. I’m going to eat
you out from your pussy to your tight pucker, until you beg me not to stop.” 
He scraped his fangs down the side of her neck. Another shiver took up
residence in her nerve endings. “And just when you think I’m going to let you
come, I’m going to flip you over to your stomach and put you on your knees so
your pretty, pink ass is waiting for my dick. I’ll stretch your hole with my
fingers, and when you’re ready, I’m going to ease my hard cock into your tight
little ass.
My
ass.”

If
Gregor hadn’t been holding her so tightly, her legs probably would have given
out. The promise of him doing what he just described had Tessa ready to get
naked. Gregor’s thoughts about her ass were right in line with hers. She had to
get away from him, out of his arms. Hell, out of the fucking country. She had
to go. She wiggled her ass against his erection, hoping it was tormenting him. “That’s
never going to happen. I told you not to touch me again. When I get loose from
here…”

Gregor
interrupted her, “You’re going to what, Red?  You know what I am and what I’m
capable of. Sure, you might be a shifter, too, but you are a female.”  Now he
was just pissing her off. The wet between her legs was still there, but the
urge to fuck him was quickly dwindling.

“Boy,
you sure know how to entice a woman. Go all fucking caveman. Why don’t you beat
on your chest while you’re at it, grab my hair, put me in my place.”

“I’ll
grab your hair all right, but you’ll enjoy it.” Gregor fisted her hair and
pulled her head back so he could see her face. She glared at him, hoping he
would let her go. Instead he kissed her. Hard. She kept her lips closed for all
of five seconds, but the mate pull was too strong. She opened her mouth to him,
allowing his tongue entrance. She didn’t want to want him. She wanted to push
him away and run for her life. Her body had other ideas.

Gods
could the man kiss. He kept his mouth firmly against hers. His tongue, however,
was softly caressing her own. She had no doubt he could make her come by
kissing alone. When they both needed air, Gregor finally turned her loose. “I
want answers, Red. I
need
answers. And according to your brother, you’re
the only one who can give them to me.”

She
whirled around, “My brother? What the fuck did he tell you?”  She was going to
kill Tamian if he had told Gregor anything.

“Not
enough. Look, I don’t know what you have against Gargoyles, seeing you are half
Goyle yourself. Why don’t you explain that to me?”

“Tessa?”
Isabelle chose that moment to come outside. Saved by the Belle. Tessa laughed
at her own joke.

“What’s
so funny? Oh, hello, Mr. Stone, I didn’t realize you were here.”  Isabelle’s
eyes got wide, realizing she had interrupted something. “Uh, I’ll just go back
inside now. Good to see you.” She turned, but Gregor stopped her.

“Isabelle,
don’t be silly. I just came to bring your car and find out how you’re feeling. How
are
you feeling?” If Gregor was affected by their kiss, he was doing a
bang-up job of hiding it. Tessa glanced at his crotch. His shirt was hanging in
front of his groin area, but she would bet any amount of money his dick was
throbbing as hard as her pussy was.

The
two of them chatted, and Isabelle finally said goodbye, hoping to return to
work in a couple of days.

“As
you can see, she is fine. Thank you for bringing her car. Now, you should go.”

“Are
you really going out of town?” Gregor adjusted his cock and stuck his hands in
his pockets. She wanted to adjust his dick for him. With her mouth.

“Yes,
I really am. Now if you’ll excuse me...” He was on her again before she could
finish. Dammit he was quick.

“Listen
to me.” He had one arm wrapped around her waist, holding her body to his. His
erection was evident between them. He lifted her chin with the other hand so
she had no choice but to look at him. “I want you to be careful. There are
women being murdered, and they all happen to look just like you.”

Tessa
gasped. “What?  How do you know this?”

“Because,
Red. I know someone who works in the morgue; there are three dead women who could
pass for your sister. I’m not telling you this to scare you. I’m telling you
this so you’ll watch your back. I don’t want anything to happen to you. You
might not like me, and while I don’t understand that, I’m willing to wait until
you do.” Gregor placed his lips next to her ear. “I like you, and I have
nothing but time.”  He ran his tongue along the rim of her ear before softly
placing a kiss on her cheek. He released her and walked off. She immediately
wanted him back. Damn her traitorous body.

Gregor
removed his shirt and tied it around his waist. He continued walking until he
was out of her sight. She waited. She kept her ears open and her eyes glued to
the night sky. There. There above her was the most beautiful sight she had ever
seen: her mate with his wings unfurled, soaring higher and higher until even
she couldn’t see him. Her heart skipped a couple of beats. Yep, she was fucked.

When
Tessa walked back inside, Isabelle was on the telephone, whispering, “Okay, I
will see you soon.”

“Who
are you going to see soon?” Was Belle hiding a boyfriend? 

“Nobody.
You should go home. I appreciate your help through the transition, but I’m fine
now. Really. I just want to be alone and do some reading. I need to rest. Don’t
you have a trip to pack for?”  Isabelle was nervous and Tessa had a feeling it
was because she caught her on the phone.

“Yeah,
sure. I wouldn’t mind sleeping in my own bed tonight. Just take it easy and
keep practicing. You are going to have to be able to control yourself
completely before you go back to work. You will be around the inmates soon;
being a beautiful woman, they are going to come on to you, saying crude things.
You need to be able to handle that.”

Isabelle
was just staring at her.

 “What?”

“You
called me beautiful. Nobody has ever called me beautiful.” By the sadness on
her face, Isabelle was being honest.

“You’re
joking, right?  Alexi must have told you how stunning you are. Have you not
looked in the mirror lately?  Okay, maybe not lately. Right now you look like
shit. What I mean is, you look tired. But Belle, you are beautiful. You have a
natural beauty that most women pay good money for. You don’t need hair color,
or makeup, or Botox, or any of that stuff. Seriously, take a good, long look at
yourself. Enough with the mushy stuff, I’m outta here.  I’ll be in New Orleans
for a while. You have Sophia’s number if you need anything.”  Tessa didn’t have
her leather jacket since she had worn her flight jacket to the Pen. She’d have
to tough it out. Grabbing her key and helmet, she left her cousin sitting with
her mouth agape.

Her
first order of business was to find out who Isabelle had been talking to. If it
weren’t a big deal, she wouldn’t have been so secretive. Tessa arrived home and
pulled her boots off. She went to her office and fired up the computer. While
she was waiting on it to boot up, she grabbed a beer out of the fridge. Damn
Gregor Stone, acting like he cared what happened to her. Shit, bodies were
turning up who looked like her. She needed to check into that, too.   

Tessa
sat down and hacked into Isabelle’s phone account. She might not have gone to
college, but the skills she had accumulated over the years were priceless. “Here
we go. Enrico Sanchez, New Columbia, Tennessee.”  So Isabelle was still in
touch with her caretakers. Tessa really couldn’t blame her. They had been more
family to Isabelle than her own.

With
that little mystery solved, Tessa finished her beer, gathered as much
information as was available on the dead victims, which, so far, wasn’t much,
and called it a night. Normally, she did some sort of cardio before she went to
bed, but she had taken care of that at Isabelle’s. She had a long day ahead of
her tomorrow and needed a good night’s sleep.

Flanagan
was going to have to give Merrick a raise after this latest victim. He dabbed
Neosporin on the scratches to his face. Bitch had been a fighter; he’d give her
that. He scraped under her fingernails, hoping to remove all evidence, but one
could never be certain. His DNA was on record since he had served in the
military. Maybe it was time for a new identity in a new location.

Gordon
Flanagan had recruited Merrick when he received a dishonorable discharge from
the Army for cruel and unusual punishment. He had enlisted so he could torture
the fucking enemy with permission. Who knew the government had limits on
torture? Flanagan lured him in with the promise of free rein on the torture and
the possibility of immeasurable wealth. So far, he had immensely enjoyed his
role in Flanagan’s organization. Fucking and killing were his two favorite past
times. When you put them together, the high was better than any drug. The money
was good, but he could measure it. His bank account needed a boost, and Gordon
was going to give it to him.

When
he first started working for Flanagan, he overheard a conversation that was not
meant for his ears. Gordon was scooping up as many ex-military as possible to
add to his own army, one in which the men would be turned into super-soldiers. Where
the scientists had totally fucked up with Vincent’s DNA and the Unholy, they
were convinced the new formula would react the way they wanted it to.

Merrick
hadn’t come up with a plan quick enough to escape the long grasp that was
Gordon Flanagan, and he had become the first test subject. The scientists
injected him with the serum and sure enough, the formula worked. He was the
first soldier in their new regime. Merrick was faster and stronger, but he
still wasn’t as strong as the Unholy. Those bastards were just motherfucking
crazy. But then again, so was Flanagan.

Gregor
hated the unknown. He was 567 years old. Before last week, he’d never thought
about the future. Until now. Until Tessa, he lived his life day to day, taking
things as they came. He and Dante were happy in their jobs. Both had moved to
New Atlanta soon after the bombings to help Rafael put the city back together.
It wouldn’t be long before they would need to change locations and take on new
identities. Thirty years was a long time to look a certain age.

Because
of Tessa, he thought about tomorrow, about what happened next. He was bound and
determined to understand why she was so dead set against him just because he
was a Gargoyle.  Fuck, her own father was a Goyle. Maybe that was the problem. It
was possible she hated her old man and had been abused. He would ask her when
she returned from… he didn’t even know where she was going. Not that it was any
of his business. He wanted it to be his business. He hated not knowing if she
had someone else in her life. He hated not knowing what she was doing right
this very second. He wished with every fiber of his being that she was sitting
beside him on his deck enjoying the sunrise peeking through the tall pines.

Gregor
was used to the solitude that his cabin in the woods offered him. He relished being
alone with nature, with himself. The family of deer at the edge of the tree
line gave him the same sense of tranquility that Rafael’s garden bestowed on
him. Until Tessa. Now the tranquility was replaced with longing. The peace
replaced with sorrow. The contentment replaced with loneliness. How could this
be? How could one woman turn his whole life upside down in a matter of days?
Hell, it hadn’t even been days. If he thought about it, it had been less than
48 hours. She had him scribbling poetry for fuck’s sake. If he could not
convince her to give him a chance, give
them
a chance, he was well and
truly fucked.

At
least today wasn’t Saturday. He never appreciated having to go to the Pen more
than he did this very moment. Working would take his mind off his mate and
everything he didn’t know about her. He drank the last of his coffee and headed
to the shower. Gregor cranked the water to cold, but his cock still ached to be
touched. He would never be able to wear his shirt tucked in again. He constantly
sported a hard-as-nails erection and a set of blue balls he figured would not
be going away any time soon. Not unless he could get one little redhead on
board. Or on his cock.
Fuck.
Just thinking of those green eyes and that
sassy tongue had him stroking himself. He leaned a forearm against the cool
tile wall and studied his hand as it groped his length.

 Jacking
off was not Gregor’s favorite way of relieving tension. Of course he enjoyed
the release, but he would rather his hands be fisted in long red hair or
massaging a pair of tits while he was getting his dick sucked. Masturbating had
lost its allure a long time ago. Getting frustrated, he pictured Tessa in the
middle of his bed on all fours as he slid his cock in and out of her pretty,
wet pussy. Close. Oh gods, he was so close to coming. He placed one foot on the
bench at the back of the shower. Reaching between his legs, he slid a finger in
his hole, searching for the spot he knew would do the trick. As soon as he hit
his prostate, his orgasm sped through his balls and out his dick. He hissed
Tessa’s name as he stroked his cock until the last tremor was gone.

 Gregor
hurried and bathed, doing his best to think of anything other than Tessa,
before his dick decided it wanted more. While he dried off and put on his work
clothes, his heart was warring with his head. His heart wanted him to call
Julian and have him hack the airlines to see where Tessa was going. His head
told him that was invading her privacy, and he should leave it alone. His heart
told his head to shut the fuck up. He called his cousin.

“Gregor,
what can I do for you so early in the morning?” Julian yawned into the phone.

“I
need to you to find out where Tessa is flying to.” Gregor poured coffee into a
travel mug.

“You
mean you want me to hack into the airline system?” The keys of Julian’s
keyboard were already being tapped. Not only did Julian have a computer room at
the lab that would rival any government’s, but his home was equipped just as well.

“Yes,
that’s exactly what I mean.”  Gregor pulled his boots on and laced them.

“I
do not see any passenger named Tessa Blackmore listed. She’s probably using an
alias. What was the name she used when you met her, Trixie?” Julian chuckled. “Nope,
no Trixie’s either. Any suggestions?”

Gregor
thought back to his conversation with Tamian. “Try Andi.” 

“No
Andi Blackmore, or Andrea Blackmore. Ah, here we go. Well what do you know? We
have one Andi Stone flying first class to New York.”

 Gregor
was glad he wasn’t drinking coffee at that particular moment or he’d probably
have choked. “That can’t be right; she would never use my last name.”

“I’m
telling you, Brother, that’s the only Andi listed. It may not even be her. Are
you sure she’s flying today? Commercial? She could have a hot Gargoyle flying
her somewhere.” Julian was chuckling on the other end of the line.

“Jules,
have you been smoking pot? It’s a little early to be cracking jokes. Especially
ones that aren’t funny.”  Gregor’s heart was tapping out a beat in his chest
that had nothing to do with the caffeine he was drinking. It was spelling out
hope. Hope that Tessa was thinking about him. “That really can’t be right. She
would require identification in that name. Maybe she isn’t leaving until
tomorrow. You know what?  Don’t worry about it. I don’t need to know where
she’s going anyway. Thanks Jules.”  He hung up and sat down on a bar stool.

Tessa’s
identification would have to have been made long before now. Their very first
encounter at the gas station had been what, three years ago?  Holy fuck! What
if she had been using his name all this time?  Of course, it could be as a joke.
No, he wouldn’t get his hopes up. He would wait until she returned from New
York or wherever the hell she was going and talk to her.

Gregor
grabbed his travel mug, moved through the covered walkway that led to his
garage, and climbed in the Hummer. As he settled in and buckled up, he thought
about Tessa and her bike. Did she have a vehicle she drove in the winter? What
kind of car would his mate drive? He really couldn’t see her in a hybrid like
her cousin drove. No, Tessa was an adrenaline junkie. She probably drove a
sports car.

 As
he drove to work he wondered about his mate. She was going out of town, but for
what?  To see a lover? For a job?  He knew so little about Tessa. At least when
Rafael found Kaya, he knew what she did for a living. Tamian was tight-lipped
when it came to his sister. Maybe he could get the information out of Isabelle.
He would give her today to rest up, but then he was calling her.

Kaya
walked into the precinct to the shouts and applause of her team. She hadn’t
been gone all that long, but she knew her being abducted by a lunatic had gotten
around the precinct. She held her hands up and waited for the chatter to die
down. “Thank you all. It’s good to be back, and I’m ready to get down to
business. Let’s head to the meeting room and get our morning brief out of the
way.”  She continued on to her office where she stowed her purse and set her
laptop on the docking station.

From
behind her, Kaya heard Dane say, “Welcome back.”

She
checked her emotions before she looked her lead detective in the eye. “Dane,
thank you for taking over while I was out. I will let you lead the brief this
morning since I am not completely up to speed.”  He didn’t appear any different.
She must have been studying his features too intently.

“What
is it?  Kaya, why are you staring at me like that?”

She
had to keep cool until after the meeting. Then they would talk. “I guess I just
missed you. Now, let’s go. Don’t want to keep the team waiting.”  She smiled
and squeezed past him out the door.

Jasper
was already sitting in the conference room with the others. They had decided
over breakfast that Kaya would talk to Dane alone. He looked at her now and
gave a slight nod. Kaya stood at the front of the room with Dane standing
beside her. “Good morning.  I want to thank Abbott for taking up the slack
while I was out. I also want to say welcome to our newest detective. Jasper,
welcome to New Atlanta. Since Dane is more familiar with the current caseload,
I’m going to let him have the floor.”

Kaya
stepped out of the way, and Dane took over. “We have another victim in The Redhead
Murders. For lack of a better name, that is what we will be giving the press
when we issue a statement. Greta Powell, age 33, was reported missing this
morning by her roommate. The photo she produced matched the victim found last
night. The roommate has already been to the morgue where she identified the
body as that of Miss Powell. The M.E. confirmed earlier that all three women
died from asphyxiation. He is going to run DNA testing on the victims. They
look so much alike they could pass for sisters; he wants to rule that out as a
possibility. Regardless of whether or not they are related, we want to issue a
press statement to the public so other women out there who fit the profile will
remain diligent.”

Dane
handed out assignments, and the team left to get busy with their day. Jasper
didn’t hang around, and Kaya told Dane, “Let’s go to my office. We need to
talk.”