03 - You Only Live Nine Times Read online

  He shrugged. “Mine’s closer.”

  Raf opened the door to his place, and Isis let out a full belly laugh. In good humor, he let her get it out of her system before she gingerly walked into the apartment and started assessing the horror of the pink, floral decorated room.

  “Wow, it’s so you,” she told him, tartly.

  He eyed the rose wallpaper, uncaringly. Yeah, he had that coming. “An ex-girlfriend decorated the place; I’ve been meaning to do something about it.”

  “An ex, huh?” Isis grazed her fingers over the wall and snatched them back, maybe worried that the pinkness was catching. “Did she do this as a final fuck you after you dumped her?”

  “Actually, she dumped me. She got tired of me working long hours. She wanted a nine to five guy to nag to her heart’s content. So she went out and found a bank teller.”

  “Dumping you for a bank teller is one thing, but decorating your apartment like this… that woman is an evil bitch. I’m an authority on them, and I’ve never seen anything quite this bad. So this is where the color pink came to die. Was this the self-help book bitch?”

  “Sure was.” Not for the first time he wondered what the hell had he been thinking of dating her. His mom had set them up, and they dated for about four months. During which time she redecorated his apartment without his permission, got them onto a wedding registry and even followed him when he worked late. The last thing you wanted was your nutty girlfriend turning up accusing you of cheating on her when you were trying to interview a drug dealer. She was crazy. When he tried to break up with her, she would break down into tears, and he would give up. It was a relief when she dumped him.

  After they broke up, she wrote a new book called ‘How to Date an Emotionally Unavailable Man’. He hadn’t read it, but he heard through mutual friends that it was about him. He had considered writing a companion piece called ‘How to Deal with a Clingy Stalker’, but decided against it. It seemed petty, and he really didn’t have the time.

  “You should probably redecorate,” suggested Isis.

  “I reckon I should move. I think the damage is done to this place. Too many ghosts.” Too many memories of passive aggressive fights. At least that wouldn’t happen with Isis – she was all aggressive.

  “Don’t talk to me about ghosts,” muttered Isis.

  “Huh?”

  “Nothing. Are you sure you don’t want to go back to my place? I mean, I know it contains three cats who constantly throw themselves at you – well, four if you include me.” She winked at him, and he felt his manhood quiver. He was never very soft around her, but when she teased him, it made him crazy hard. “But it’s got to be better than this.”

  “It’s across town and I figured we might need to go to the coroner’s office. It’s not far from here.” Plus, he didn’t know why, but the thought of Isis in his home, in his clothes, surrounded by him and his scent made him happy. It was an odd thing for him to get pleasure from, but he did. It wasn’t a feeling he’d ever experienced with a woman before, even with long-term relationships.

  Although, a stab of worry hit him. Previous girlfriends had been pretty precious about clothes, and would not have been thrilled at the idea of being forced to wear one of his t-shirts and a pair of drawstring pants. “It doesn’t bother you, does it? About your clothes?”

  “No, I’m comfortable with my nudity.” Her hands skimmed over her luscious body, hidden only by thin cotton as if to make a point. Or drive him even wilder. “I like my human clothes, but I’m not above tearing them apart to shift in a hurry. I don’t get too attached.”

  Raf frowned. “I guess you’d have to be comfortable to strip off in broad daylight and turn into a tiger.” He hadn’t really thought about it before, but he guessed lots of people saw Isis naked on a regular basis if she did that a lot. Oh no, he didn’t like that thought. Not one bit.

  Isis grunted as she played with one of his doilies. Dear lord, he really needed to redecorate. “What I did today was dumb. I don’t usually do that. Normally I find somewhere a little more private to shift. I shouldn’t have left my stuff on the street like that. I asked a little old biddy to watch it, and she said ‘sure honey’ but then took off when I turned into a tiger. Guess I must have scared her or something.”

  “Some people scare easy.”

  “Not you, you didn’t even flinch when you caught sight of my beastly side.”

  “As beastly side’s go, yours is pretty spectacular.”

  Her lips curled upwards, and even her cheeks pinked a little in pleasure. “Thank you, but be careful, you’ll give her a big head.”

  “Well deserved, I imagine.”

  Isis licked her lips and her breasts, unfettered from a bra, heaved under his t-shirt, the nipples pebbling slightly and pushing against the fabric. The air in the room suddenly seemed hot, stifling, unbearable. He wasn’t even wearing a shirt and yet he felt like he was on fire.

  Her eyes, swimming in yellow, traversed his naked torso, flaring with passion over his muscles. She took a step towards him, moving quickly, softly, like a predator. “Can you feel it too?” she breathed, her voice little more than a husky drawl. “The heat.”

  He nodded, his mouth feeling thick and useless as she pressed herself against him, rubbing her body against his in an almost animalistic way. Moving of their own accord, his hands slipped around her waist, cupping the firm, peachy globes of her buttocks.

  “I feel like I’m about to explode,” she groaned and licked her tongue over his face, just as her tiger had.

  If it had been any woman other than Isis, he might have found that weird. Come on – it was licking! But it just seemed natural, and hell, it turned him on. Then there wasn’t much this wild woman, this tigress, could do to him that wouldn’t set him off.

  “We can’t have that,” mumbled Raf, struggling to find his voice, aware that his painfully hard manhood pressed against her, almost perfectly aligned with the apex of her thighs. The very naked apex of her thighs.

  “No, sexually frustrated tigers are not pretty sights,” she agreed, playfully. She slipped her hands around him and stroked them up and down his back, her nails digging into his flesh, lightly. “Do you have a shower?”

  “Umm hmmm.”

  “Then I better have a cold one.” She slithered out of his grasp and Raf couldn’t help the gasp of frustration that escaped his lips.

  He could only watch in disbelief as she sauntered through his apartment, her ass, barely covered by the shirt, bobbing up and down. His body was on freaking fire, and his dick felt hard enough to pound nails and she was seriously going to leave him this way with just a giggle and a pout? Raf closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, only opening them when something soft hit his head.

  He pulled the t-shirt – his t-shirt – that had been thrown at him away and let it drop to the floor. His mouth hung open as Isis stood grinning at him, hands on hips and completely naked. His eyes went into overtime trying to take in every single detail of her. Yes, he’d already seen her partially naked, but the whole picture, wow, that was something else. She was a masterpiece. Her perky breasts and dark pink nipples were perfect and demanded to be touched and suckled. He ached to feel her creamy legs, so long, so supple, so toned, wrapped around him. He…

  “Hey!” she called impatiently. “Are you going to stand there all day ogling, or are you going to join me in the shower? I didn’t say I didn’t want company.”

  She turned on her heel and flounced away, confident that he would follow. No fear there. He couldn’t get out of his pants fast enough, and actually fell over twice trying to reach the bathroom. Her snickers did nothing to quell the raging lust inside him.

  At the back of his mind, he was kind of aware that they were on the clock, that they had a job to do, a case to solve… But he couldn’t help himself. He’d never been overtaken by such a stark, hot need. Maybe it was Isis; there was something about her. Something that drew him to her above any other woman, something that tore at hi
s inhibitions and made him want to forget everything and just pleasure her. And damn, he would make sure she was pleasured.

  The moment he stepped into the bathroom two strong hands pulled him under the cool spray. He grunted at the coolness of the water but soon moaned at the warm, lithe body pressing against him. She pushed him back onto the cool tiles of the shower wall and plundered his mouth in a dizzyingly, erotic kiss. Her tongue swept over his, fighting for control. Pulling back from his lips with a satisfied grin, Raf twisted them, so she leaned against the wall and kissed her again.

  “You sure you want this?” he panted as his lips brushed over hers. “We barely know each other.” He held his breath, fearing the answer. What if she said stop? Could he stop at this point? His mind, while considerate of her, could only retain so much control. His body wanted this woman and wanted her now.

  “You think too much,” she hissed and bit his neck.

  Groaning, he grasped her leg and hooked it around his waist. Without hesitating, he aligned their sexes and pushed inside her with a firm thrust. He almost drooled at the warmth and tightness of her sheath and was amazed and more than a little proud to feel her rippling around him in orgasm already. Breathy moans escaped her lips as she wrapped her arms around him. He gritted his teeth as her inner muscles clamped around, almost drawing out his own release.

  After a few moments, her body sagged a little, still impaled on his rock-hard shaft. She rested her head against the wall, eyes closed. “Fuck, I needed that.”

  Raf, still hard and throbbing inside her, worried for a moment. “Do you want me to stop?”

  Isis growled and opened her eyes to annoyed slits. “One orgasm and you think we’re done? Ha!” She pushed him away from her, and he almost whined as his cock slipped from her body. She turned, showing him her back and leaning against the shower wall looked over her shoulder. “We’re not even close to done.” She wiggled her rear saucily and licked her lips.

  He didn’t need another invitation. Gripping her hips he brushed the head of his member along her lips and she barked at him to hurry. With one fluid motion, he drove himself deep into her embracing walls. She mewled as he pulled out to the tip and plunged inside her as hard as he could.

  He watched entranced as his manhood dipped in and out of her body, pulling out covered in her nectar and then disappearing again into her glorious, clenching sex. Had he died and gone to heaven? No, heaven couldn’t possibly be this sinful. He caressed her soft flesh, his fingers massaging her creamy cheeks as she bucked against him, urging him, hurrying him to completion. He covered her body with his and nipped at her shoulder.

  “Yes, bite me, bite my shoulder,” she panted.

  He only hesitated for a second before clamping his teeth into her flesh. Not hard, he didn’t break the skin; he wouldn’t dare mar the perfectness of her body but it was enough to tip her over the edge. She shrieked in pleasurable alarm, and her body violently shuddered.

  Raf was at boiling point, and with a bellow of pleasure he exploded, pulsing inside her as she shivered around him. He released her from his bite and rested his forehead on her shoulder. Almost delirious from the shattering orgasm, he could have sworn she murmured the word ‘mate’.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Isis wound her wet hair into a braid. After their shower adventure, which did, eventually lead to them actually washing, she had donned a pair of Raf’s sweats and a t-shirt. She really could have insisted on going home at that point, but she preferred to have his scent, his clothes against her skin. She smelled just like him. Her tiger reveled in the nearness. It was the next best thing to the intimacy they had just shared.

  She eyed Raf through her lashes. Any thoughts she might have had about Raf not being able to keep up with her had been smashed to smithereens. Raf had proved himself to be exceptional - repeatedly. Her perception of human males had been obliterated. He wasn’t weak or slow or lacking in stamina like her arrogant preconceptions had believed. Nor was he rough or boorish like so many other shifters she had wasted her time bedding. His caramel body, so taut, so toned made her mouth water. And as for his sex… oh, it was a thing of beauty. He wasn’t uncomfortably big nor disappointingly small - their bodies fit together perfectly. Hell, he was barely inside her for more than a couple of seconds before she came. Just a crooked smile set her off.

  He was the best lover she ever had. Or will ever have. Mine, purred a very smug Ms. Kitty. Isis didn’t even bother to sneer at the word. How could she? She was currently in Satisfaction Land, and it would be a while before she left. Raf was so deliciously perfect.

  But damn him if he didn’t have her all gooey and giggly like a love-struck teen. It was revolting. She’d managed to avoid this kind of man-worship her whole life – even when she was a teen. It annoyed the hell out of her while simultaneously elating her in a way that had her all tingly and glowing.

  Was this how people with mates felt all the time? While she doubted she could get an asshole like Cutter to admit to feeling glowing, she had to concur that he took on a pretty goofy, dazed grin whenever his mate was near. Was that how she looked whenever Raf was near? Like she’d been run over by a truck and somehow enjoyed the experience?

  Raf was pleased with the turn of events but a little embarrassed. She didn’t know why. Sure she was getting all uncharacteristically girly, but that was over her silly feelings, not over what they had done together.

  “Don’t be embarrassed,” she soothed. “Sex is a very natural thing.”

  “I know, I just, I don’t want you to think I took advantage of you.”

  He started at the roar of laughter emanating from Isis. He sat waiting patiently as she chortled with delirious mirth, almost falling off her seat. “Trust me, I don’t think that,” she snickered in between hiccups. “You take advantage of me? Puh-lease.”

  “I mean because of your heat and all,” he muttered, a flush settling over his cheeks.

  Oh, how cute! Ms. Kitty preened. Wasn’t their human adorable?

  “Oh, sweetie, you’re so funny. Trust me, no man could ever take advantage of me. I was a little guilty about me taking advantage of you.”

  His eyebrows almost raced off his face. Uh-oh, she may have hurt his manly pride. But, no, thankfully not. Instead, he laughed. “Well, if that’s you taking advantage, feel free to do so anytime.”

  “Don’t tempt me.” Her voice smoldered at the thought of pinning him down right now and taking what she wanted. But she figured she ought to be a little considerate. Even male shifters needed recuperation time. She’d cut him some slack. Her tiger swished her tail. For now.

  “Yeah,” he sighed, “we have a job to do, I guess we could consider that our lunch hour.”

  “You’re so responsible,” she rebuked, playfully.

  “Hardly,” he snorted. “Responsible cops don’t give their partners oral sex in cars or nip home to have shower sex in the middle of the day.”

  “We come from two very different worlds. Oh, check it out, an e-mail from Jessie. Hmmm, she did a little digging on Forever Young and apparently a lot of their investors heard about the body debacle and have pulled out. Also, they’re having trouble finding people willing to donate their bodies to them. Things are not looking good.”

  “Couldn’t they just find another medical supply company? Surely they’re not the only company that wants cadavers.”

  “I wondered about that and Jessie made inquiries. There are a few others who source dead bodies, but they’re not keen to get involved with Forever Young. They don’t want the stigma of Crowe Medical Supplies to reach their companies. Forever Young is screwed.”

  “So maybe it’s not such a huge leap for them to steal bodies. Well, it’s not normal, but if they’re desperate they might. Hell, I once arrested a woman who murdered her best friend for borrowing her favorite pair of shoes. It doesn’t take much to push people into committing crimes.”

  Isis bit her lip thoughtfully. “I’d say let’s check out Howler’s financia
ls, but I doubt he’s dumb enough to pay anyone from his own private account. He’s probably got a hidden account for that. But just in case it is any of the employees, Jessie sent me their profiles, and oh, goody there’s over one hundred and fifty.” That last part was definitely sarcastic. Too much to hope for a mom and pop operation.

  “Maybe we’ll have more luck with the camera footage from the bank.”

  “When did you get that?”

  Raf gave her a warm smile, dimples popping, that sent a thrill straight from her heart down to her sex. “Remember after you caught that bag-snatcher, you were running around chasing that butterfly before you changed back into human.”

  “Oh yeah.” Isis clutched her fists. “I wanted to eat that thing so much.” Stupid, wily butterfly.

  “Disturbing, yet weirdly hot,” he admitted as a desire flashed in his eyes. Her tiger perked up in interest and Isis had to beat her down again. Not yet – later.

  “Anyway,” he continued, “it was then. I went into the bank and at first the manager didn’t want to give me anything, so I told him to look out the window at the butterfly chasing tiger and told him you’d be asking him next, and suddenly he promised to e-mail me the digital files. For some reason he seemed kind of scared of you, can’t imagine why.”

  “No, me neither,” she lied, blatantly. “Okay, so you start looking at the footage and I’ll trail through the employees’ records.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  Yep, a boring, very unsexy plan.

  *

  “Here, I think I got something,” chirped Raf, almost excitedly. “Look.”

  Isis perched herself on Raf’s lap. Yeah, she could have pulled up her chair, could have stood behind him, but she liked the feel of him, hot and stirring beneath her bottom. She wiggled and was met by the frustrated groans of the human beneath her. Annoyed at her, maybe, but he still slipped an arm around her waist, comfortably resting there as he used his free hand to play the video.