SEDUCTIVE SUPERNATURALS: 12 Tales of Shapeshifters, Vampires & Sexy Spirits (184 page)

“Hi, I’m Anne.”

Anne had a porn star’s body, but she covered it with a cardigan with little pearl buttons, denim capris, and white leather sandals. She looked perfect, but plastic, like she probably kept her local plastic surgeon’s office on speed dial. “I’m so sorry about Gizmo,” she said.

The man added, “He used to play over here before your house was built, and then when he saw your dogs, he went straight for his old hole. I’ll have to fix that.” He extended his hand through the black wrought-iron fencing. “I’m Henry, by the way. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Jesse took his hand in a firm grip. “Good to meet you, Henry. I’m Jessop and this is my wife, Laura.”

When the man paused to take in Evelyn’s bikini-clad body, Jesse bristled. In Blue Unit, when they’d been suiting up for a mission, Lauren had paraded around in nothing but a sports bra and panties because she just didn’t give a shit, but Jesse had a feeling Evelyn would blush bright red at being ogled in a swimsuit that probably covered less than her cotton underwear. Jesse’s hands closed into fists at the man’s thinly veiled perusal, but he tried to keep his smile in place.

Anne leaned against her husband and tucked her hand under his arm. The familiar gesture seemed to snap Henry out of it. “Where are you all from?” he asked.

“We moved here from Silicon Valley,” Jesse answered. “We were ready for a change of scenery, and when we saw this place, we knew we were home.”

“Silicon Valley, huh?” Anne asked. “Do you work in the technology field?”

They had gone over their cover so many times that there wasn’t much these nosy neighbors could ask him that he didn’t have an answer for. “I’m mostly retired, actually. I help run my business from home when need be, so I can be home more with my wife.”

Anne’s demeanor brightened even more, as though she approved of neighbors wealthy enough to be able to live in a home like theirs and not have to work. “Well, aren’t you lucky, Laura, to have a man who wants to spend so much time with you.”

Lauren smiled tightly. She looked like crap. “Super lucky. Thanks.”

Henry put his arm around his wife’s waist. They looked like they belonged on an advertisement for teeth whitening with their big smiles and perfect teeth. “I think Gizmo did us a favor,” he said, “because Anne and I were just talking about inviting you over to dinner tonight at six. We’re having a block party of sorts. You could come and meet the gang.”

“Thank you,” Jesse replied. “What do you think, honey?”

“Sounds perfect,” Lauren answered, but as she said it, she almost stumbled, as though her knees were weak.

Anne’s eyebrows rose, and even the dogs stopped sniffing noses through the fence to see what happened. “Oh my gosh. Are you okay?” Anne asked.

Jesse glanced at his partner and didn’t have to fake his concern. Lauren wasn’t looking too good. “Why don’t you go lay down, honey. I’ll be right behind you.”

“Yeah, maybe that’s a good idea. It was nice to meet you both.” Lauren turned for the house without waiting for a response, and as she walked, she didn’t look too steady on her feet.

Jesse smiled at his new neighbors. “Thanks for the invite. I’ll let you know.”

“Is she going to be okay?” Anne asked.

Jesse’s lips pressed into a tight line and he nodded solemnly. “Laura passed away last year. We’ve hired a body for her to inhabit, but as you can see, they’re having some compatibility issues.”

“Dear God,” Henry said.

“Henry!” Anne chided.

Henry’s ears grew red on the tips and his neck flushed. “I’m sorry… That was insensitive of me. I…I just haven’t met many people…in your situation. I’m sorry for your loss.”

Jesse laughed, low and tired. “Don’t worry about it, Henry. I know it’s not the norm to live next to a man and his dead wife. But I love Laura, and we’re going to make this work. It’s just…”

Anne almost stopped breathing, waiting for what he would say next. “Yes?”

“No…it’s nothing. I just appreciate you guys rolling out the welcome mat. It hasn’t been easy for us this past year. We needed a new start, and we’re hoping this is it.”

These idiots were eating up his tragic story. He had no doubt the whole neighborhood would know about his dead wife and her contracted body before the sun set. And that was exactly what he was hoping for.

“Well…” Anne replied, “your wife’s surrogate body is stunning. I really hope it works out.”

“Laura was a six-foot-tall redhead. Trust me, she hasn’t been happy about the situation. But what can I do? Do you know how much paperwork you have to go through to contract a body for possession? And that’s
after
you find someone willing to go through with it. The waiting list is worse than getting an organ transplant.” Jesse laughed bitterly. “Listen to me rambling. I’m sorry. I’d better go check on my wife.”

“Good idea,” Henry said. “And if she’s feeling up to it, we’d still love to see you both tonight. We aren’t…you know… prejudice. You seem like a really great couple.”

“Thank you,” Jesse said, “and even if Laura needs to rest, I’d still love to stop by for a bit.”

Anne smiled. “Perfect. Then we’ll see you tonight.”

With a nod and a wave, Jesse turned and headed back toward the house. The irony was, their cover story wasn’t too far from the real thing, was it? At this rate, maybe Lauren really would need to start looking for a new body soon.

Immortal Possession: Chapter Thirteen

“Hey, are you in there?” Jesse called.

Evelyn finished splashing water on her face then patted a towel over her skin. “Yeah, I’m in the bathroom, just freshening up. Come in.” She looked at herself in the mirror and smoothed her hair down. She was a total mess.

Jesse pushed the bathroom door open and crossed the marble tiled floor to where Evelyn stood by the sink. “Jeez, you scared me. Are you all right? It looked like you were going to pass out. It worked out okay, though. I told the couple about you needing a body, and we’re still invited over for the party at six.”

She blinked. “It’s me—Evelyn. And I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“Ah, shit. Sorry, Doc. I thought Lauren was still…you know…in you.”

Evelyn reached down between her breasts, pulled out Lauren’s bullet totem, and laid it on the marble counter. “Nope. I tried to contact her to get filled in on what I missed, but she’s not answering.”

“Should I be worried?”

“I don’t think so. It’s been hard for her to stay in my body long, but she’s always been fine after a little rest.”

“Well, still, she said she was burning hot, and she was sweating pretty bad.”

Evelyn cast a dubious glance at her underarms. “Yeah, I noticed.”

“If you can’t contact her, I think we should call Sasha back over tonight before the party and make sure we’re ready.”

“Yeah, I guess we should.”

Jesse tapped the unseen implant in his ear. Evelyn didn’t have one of those yet. Her location and vitals could be monitored from afar, but the information only went one direction.

“This is Commander Hayes,” Jesse said to whoever had answered at ops control. “I need you to find specialist Sasha Wright and put her through to me as soon as possible. Hold any other communication until further notice.”

Evelyn went back to fixing her hair in the mirror. It was stupid to feel dejected because he needed Lauren for tonight’s party and not her. The use of her body was one of the reasons she got the job after all. But it still sucked.

Here she stood, with a PhD in abnormal parapsychology and energy to burn, and she couldn’t even do a simple summoning—even with a totem. What was she good for? Oh, yeah. Being possessed. Because even though she’d spent years trying to fashion herself into a strong and capable woman, at her most basic level…she was weak.

“I’m sorry I’m not able to contact Lauren,” she said. “You really shouldn’t have to call an animist for something like that. But dammit…there’s a reason I applied to be an investigator instead of a supernatural specialist.”

“Why are you upset? I’m not blaming you.”

She grabbed the washcloth she’d used on her face and busied herself wiping the drops of water from her faucet. “I’m upset because I’ve never claimed to have the gifts of a specialist, but when people know how many joules I’m channeling, they can’t help but assume I can do something with them—even Clark. And we saw how that turned out.”

“I don’t see it like you do. When you were trying to call that spirit back to her body…it may not have worked the way you wanted, but that was amazing. That energy is in you for a reason, Doc.”

“It’s undifferentiated energy, Jesse. With my possession threshold, one of these days a high level SSU could use me to do some real damage. I get that.”

“Undifferentiated is just what they call it when they don’t know what it does.”

She threw the rag in the hamper and picked up her hairbrush. “Can we please stop talking about this? Just let Sasha save the day again where my skills disappoint.”

Jesse shook his head and his jaw went rock hard. “Evelyn…look at me.”

She finished running a brush through her hair and pulled it back in a ponytail. “Yes?”

When Jesse stepped closer, her pulse picked up. “You aren’t a disappointment to me. You’re anything but.”

Evelyn swallowed. She didn’t know what to say. Crying would definitely be unprofessional, but she’d wanted so badly to be an important part of the team and prove she was capable. That Jesse was so kind about her shortcomings just made it worse. She looked up at him, freely admitting to herself that she was falling for her partner. She’d known it for a while now…she just didn’t know what to do about it.

Living with Jesse these past weeks had been torture. He was so unbelievably hot, she couldn’t fall asleep at night without replaying her fantasies of him in her head. Fantasies where this really was their house and she didn’t have to share her body with his ex-partner. Where, at night, her body belonged to Jesse alone, and he made her feel things she hadn’t in years. Of course, none of that could really happen, and spending her time imagining it was blurring the lines between personal and professional just a little too much.

“Well, thank you, Jesse. You’re not a disappointment to me, either. As a matter of fact, you’ve been pretty wonderful to work with.” At that, he quirked a brow and smiled. She poised her hands on her hips in response. “What?”

“Nothing. You’re just so damned cute. So proper and reserved. I hope you haven’t forgotten that if we get into the circles we’re trying to infiltrate and Lauren can’t stick around, you’re going to have to loosen up and let the bad girl out to play.”

She snorted. “I’m not sure I have a
bad girl
lurking under the surface.”

He looked into her eyes, his gaze heating. “I know she’s in there. I saw her in the kitchen on the first night we got here.”

She hated this stupid bikini. Jesse could probably see the way his low, sultry words made her nipples go hard as stone. “If you kiss me, I’ll play along. I think we’ve established that.”

“Okay, Evelyn.” He shook his head. “You’ll play along, huh?”

The hands that had been on her hips went palms-up in exasperation. “What’s the matter with you? I’m trying to keep it together here, and I’m telling you that if I need to play the part, I’m ready.”

“Nothing is the matter with me. Let’s just forget it.” He ran a hand over his eyes, then his expression hardened. “No, you know what? Screw that. I’m not some coward who’s going to back away from this conversation. It needs to happen.”

“I know you’re not a coward.” The fact that Jesse was upset was clear, but she had no idea what had set him off. “What conversation do we need to have, exactly?”

His nostrils flared and he growled out a breath, but when his eyes met hers, the intensity almost made her knees give out. “The one where I tell you how much I want to kiss you,” he said. “Where I tell you that you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and I would give my left nut just to hold you in my arms.”

Her eyes widened. Was this really happening? Was he like…declaring himself? “Your left nut?”

“Well…I mean—”

“I think I know what you mean.” If he wanted her even half as much as she wanted him, then maybe dreams really could come true. She swallowed and then forced herself to meet his eyes. “And you don’t need to sacrifice any body parts on my behalf.”

“I don’t?”

She shook her head, staring at him, barely able to draw breath.

His brow wrinkled. “Help me out. I just told you that I care about you, and I can’t tell what you’re thinking. Do you want to hear this, or am I way out of line?”

She smiled, her eyes going a little misty. “I want to hear it.”

He paused, his own eyes reflecting the fragile hope she was feeling. “I know this mission is fucked up beyond belief. I wish you’d been hired for anything but what we’re asking you to do. But I’m a selfish bastard…and I’m glad they stuck you here with me. For the first time, you’ve made me wonder if there’s more to life than my job. And these days with you…I never want them to end.”

She felt pin pricks in her hands and feet. Please, don’t let me pass out, she thought. She definitely wanted to be awake and in her own body for this.

“So…” he said after a minute, “that’s how I’m feeling. I’m pretty sure it’s your turn to talk. I mean, you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to. Either way, I wanted you to know how I—”

“Jesse,” she whispered.

“Yeah?” he asked, his voice going quiet like hers.

“I want you.”

His expression changed from doubt to desire in an instant. He closed the gap between them and took her face in his hands, rubbing the pad of his thumb over her lower lip. “I’ve dreamed of your lips since the first night I tasted them.”

“Just my lips?” Because when she fantasized about his mouth, it was dragging over every square inch of her body.

His face was so close now, she could see every strand of brown and green in his hazel eyes. “Not just your lips.” He breathed the words against her cheek, and then kissed the corner of her mouth. “That’s where I intend to start. But where we finish is up to you.”