Tooth and Claw Read online

Paxton dropped her head to Seth’s shoulder. How long had they been in here? Five minutes? Ten? Would Gutiérrez come looking for them? Shit. He would find them half naked and her with a vamp’s cock riding snuggly in her nicely satiated pussy.

  She so should have done this sooner. Why oh why had she listened to her brain and done her best to stay away from Seth? Her next thought? Why on Earth had she done this?

  Seth snorted in her ear.

  “Okay, dammit, if what we’ve done just enabled you to talk in my head or…or, read my mind, or whatever, you better just stop right now.”

  “It’s not necessarily sex that makes me able to talk in your head. I just can with certain people. Those open to it. Others are closed up tight. Sex can help open those doorways, though. Frees the mind somehow.”

  His tongue lapped at her earlobe. She mewled. Mewled! Like a freakin’ cat getting her head scratched.

  “Meow…”

  “Oh, for God’s sake.” She reared back and smacked her new lover upside the head. Her new lover! A freaking vampire lover. Oh, she had sunk low.

  This made him laugh harder. “I am sorry, Princess. You are an open book right now, broadcasting everything. This is so new to you, it will be impossible for me to keep out for a short time. It gets easier.”

  Something nagged at her, and she thought about what he said for several heartbeats.

  “So if sex is one way to open the doors…how is it that you and Cap can talk? Please God, don’t tell me you’re bi or something, cuz if you’re doing the captain—”

  He put a hand over her mouth, effectively shutting her up.

  “I am not doing your boss, nor am I bi. I told you. Some people are naturally receptive. Quinn happens to be one of them. It’s not something he tells anyone, we just sort of happened across it one day and we use it to our advantage. That’s all.” He grinned and lifted her, which allowed his penis to slip free from her body.

  She bit her lip and swore not to protest at the movement, at the sadness of not being filled by him anymore. She was not sad, dang it.

  Seth set her on her feet and steadied her with his hands on her shoulders. The cool air of the cage against her skin made her shiver as she looked for her clothes.

  “We have to get out of here. Jesus, I am so gonna get talked about,” she muttered, thinking about her partner and all the other detectives razzing her. As if that were worse than giving herself to a vampire. Hello, notch on the bedpost.

  “No one will know,” he said in all seriousness.

  “Oh yeah?” Her panties were still stuck in the waist of her pants and she pulled both garments on while Seth zipped his luscious—yes, she admitted to herself, the man was hung nicely—cock back away. She almost said goodbye to the damn thing and watched it longingly as it disappeared behind the denim.

  “Yes.”

  “Are you going to wipe their memories or something?” She reached for the edges of her bra to reconnect them only to have her hands swiped away. Seth did the job, lingering a tad and brushing his thumbs over her still very-sensitive nipples.

  “You are beautiful,” he murmured.

  Paxton swallowed at the heat she saw in his eyes and suddenly hated her job. All she wanted to do was take Seth home and make love to him all night long.

  Oh God, she didn’t. She didn’t want that.

  Did she?

  He smiled again.

  “All right, you bastard, you have to stop that.”

  “I am sorry.” He wrapped his hand around her nape and nuzzled the side of her neck with his nose. She swore he inhaled her.

  “Mmm…” he hummed against her throat.

  “Oh Jesus. You must have taken too much blood because there is no way I should be enjoying this.”

  “Are you weak?”

  “N-no. Not yet.” She angled her head for him. “Are you going to bite me again? Cuz then I’m thinking I might like to get a little weak.”

  “I won’t let you faint, Princess.”

  She stepped back out of his reach, yanking the silk shirt together to cover her breasts. Wasn’t she just a fountain of contradictions? One minute she hated the man, the next she was ready to graciously offer herself as a snack. Fucking vampire mojo making her do things she didn’t want.

  “Why do you keep calling me that?” she grumbled, doing her best to get back on level ground.

  Seth sighed, which only served to fill her with dread. She wasn’t going to like what he had to say, she knew it.

  When she finished buttoning the shirt, he took one of her hands in both of his and kissed each fingertip. “I promised we’d talk about it. But here”—he glanced around the dim cage—“is not the place for it. Besides, we’re late and Luke will be waiting for us. I’m sure you know how impatient he can be.” He grinned once more and Paxton was astonished to see his wicked incisors shrink into regular teeth.

  “Fine. Later.” She whipped around, not wanting him to see how he affected her. Not that he couldn’t pick her brain and discover all of her dirty little secrets if he wanted to, apparently. “You still need a vest.”

  She shivered at the strange snarl at the back of her neck.

  “For you, I will wear one.”

  “Christ, you idiot.” She slapped his chest. “You’re going to get me demoted from detective to beat cop if you don’t wear the damn thing. Granted, we’re going into a woman’s house to see the damage done to her underwear drawer, not staking out Al Capone. Do I think you’ll get shot by anything other than a possible errant mothball? No, but too fucking bad cause it’s policy. P-O-L-I-C-Y. Take the fucking thing and shut up or I’ll shoot you myself.” She was steaming. Her face had to be an angry red, based on the heat she felt there. His defiance was pissing her off.

  She’d called him an idiot. And he guessed he was being one in human terms. As a vampire, bullets couldn’t hurt him, silver or not. He healed very quickly. Even a shot through the heart wouldn’t do much harm, and he hated wearing the somewhat-inhibitive vest. It was especially ridiculous considering the nature of the case. He rather doubted the man, or woman, who’d been swiping unders was likely to pull a gun should they happen upon him or her. Their bandit seemed to be more the grab-and-go kind of snatcher. He hit when no one was home and was gone within minutes.

  Now, should they stab a stake through Seth’s sternum, there might be a problem. If someone were around to help pull it out before too much damage was done, he’d live through it. He’d had it happen once about a hundred years ago even, and he was still around to talk about it.

  Not that he did.

  Seth watched Paxton stalk away, a vest in hand that she’d held up to his chest for sizing, and shook his head. Not many women had questioned him in all his years. He wasn’t used to being told what to do. He guessed he’d need to learn how to cope because Paxton, he was sure, would question him a lot. It was her nature to be inquisitive. It was one of the reasons she made such a good detective.

  When Paxton opened the door, he heard Gutiérrez grunt across the hall. The sound snapped him from his thoughts, and suddenly there was a palpable release of tension from the room. Sexual tension. He hadn’t come close to sating himself with her and hoped they could dispense with their fact-finding mission as quickly as possible.

  “Get what you came for, Tenor?” Gutiérrez sneered.

  Paxton didn’t stop walking, but Seth noticed the way her shoulders stiffened. Her chin rose before she answered the cocky bastard Seth automatically wanted to put his fist through.

  “Yes. Thank you.”

  “I think you got a button missing there, uh, Detective.”

  Paxton’s gaze shot downward, Seth growled and pushed past her.

  “Don’t be an ass—” Paxton hissed.

  “I’ll handle this.” He shoved Paxton behind him and faced the simpering officer. “We came to get a vest and left. Nothing else.”

  Gutiérrez cleared his throat, then looked at his paperwork. “Find one?” he asked as if nothing were out of
the ordinary, like he couldn’t tell a vampire and a detective had just stepped out of the cage flushed from sex.

  Paxton’s jaw dropped. Seth nudged her forward with a hand at her back. “I believe you need to sign something, Detective.”

  “What? Oh, right.” She scrawled her name and got the hell out of there as though someone were chasing her with a gun.

  “How did you do that?” she snapped when they were safe in the stairwell.

  He took the vest from her and winked. “Vampire power,” he whispered, like he wanted to keep it secret. The expression on her face was priceless and made him laugh.

  “You mean you weren’t kidding about wiping their memories clean?”

  “When it suits me.”

  She stopped dead on the steps. “Have you done that to me?”

  “No. I didn’t get in your head until oh”—he glanced at his watch—“ten minutes ago.”

  “You talked to me earlier tonight,” she accused. “Which is disturbing. You know that, right?”

  “I spoke to you telepathically. I didn’t read your thoughts.”

  Because she was standing one step above him, they were about the same height. He leaned in and rubbed his lips across hers before gently fixing her misbuttoned clothing.

  “And there was nothing disturbing about what we just did. I, for one, can’t wait until we can do it again, properly.”

  She cocked an eyebrow. “Is there a way to have sex properly?”

  “Yes.” He kissed along her jaw and up to her ear. “When I can have you spread out, naked, open for my touch, my mouth, my cock. There won’t be an inch of you I won’t have covered by the time I’m done with you, Princess.”

  Paxton shivered. “Do I get to reciprocate? No, wait, don’t answer that.”

  “Most certainly.”

  “I said don’t answer. We shouldn’t have done what we did. Ooh, can we go now?”

  “Just one more thing.” He grasped her face in his hands and held her still for a long kiss, something he couldn’t resist. “Now we can go,” he said, separating himself from her. Turning her around, he patted her butt. “Get moving, Princess, we’ve got an investigation to get to.”

  Luke met them at his and Paxton’s desks where Paxton retrieved her own vest. Seth deduced immediately that his best friend knew what they’d done in the cage. His words confirmed it.

  “’Bout time you got that out of the way.”

  Paxton punched her partner on the shoulder for the second time that night.

  “Ouch,” Luke complained, rubbing at the spot. “It’s only the truth. You two have been dancing around each other for too long. I’m tired of mediating.”

  “I hardly think you’ve done anything close to mediating, you horse’s ass.” She rummaged through the notes on her desk with her free hand.

  Seth ignored him completely and instead turned to Paxton. “I told you it would be all right up here.” He nodded toward the few officers still working this late at night. Not one of them looked their direction or laughed or whispered to each other the way she’d envisioned.

  Paxton rolled her eyes. “Because you messed with everyone’s thoughts.”

  “No I didn’t. Only Gutiérrez’s. He needed a good sweeping anyway. I should have done more than make him think we’d only been in there a couple of minutes. Like break his nose for the things he was thinking about you. Boy’s got a mind like an open book.”

  “Fucker.” Luke’s jaw ticked. “I’d have paid money to see you put your fist through his nose. I thought that asshole had his eye on you, Pax. Damn, I wish I could do that mind-wiping thing. There’s quite a few people I would have done it to a long time ago.” He turned back to Paxton. “You ready?” Luke led them out the door to one of the department’s unmarked SUVs, still grumbling about the asshole Gutiérrez. “Have everything you need, Toothy? Kitty litter, kibbles?”

  Seth smacked the back of Luke’s head. “Shut up.”

  “What’s he talking about?” Paxton asked.

  “Nothing.” Damn Luke and his big mouth. Not that Paxton wouldn’t know soon enough what Luke kept jabbering on about, but still. He needed to be the one to tell her about his other persona. Seth could only imagine how well she’d take the new information.

  He’d expected Paxton would get in the front with her partner, but she surprised him by stashing her vest in the passenger seat then following Seth into the back and shutting the door. Her scent would drive him crazy no matter where she sat. So would his cock. Damn thing hadn’t gone down yet and was ready, willing and able to take her again. In fact, the backseat looked plenty big enough.

  “Kitty’s gonna come out and play tonight.” Luke shoved the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. The man sounded like Santa Claus was about to bring him the present he’d been waiting all year for. Seth was half surprised Luke hadn’t clapped his hands in excitement.

  “Still lost.” Paxton rolled her eyes and turned to face Seth.

  Seth sighed, not wanting to have this conversation at the moment. But he had a feeling she wouldn’t let it go. Best he divulge the information right now and get it out of the way.

  He contemplated the best way to tell her about his jaguar third.

  “Might as well spit it out,” Luke offered. “If you already mated with her, it’s not like she won’t find out.”

  “You’re not helping,” Seth snapped. He turned to Paxton who sat waiting, not quite patiently. She’d sucked one cheek in and one eyebrow rose to meet her bangs.

  “I think I’d like to talk about the whole mating thing later. Right now I’m interested in the kitty part.”

  Seth cleared his throat. “Jaguar, actually.”

  She twirled her hand in the air. “And…”

  “I am one of a few rare vampires who can shape-shift.”

  “So forgive me for being clueless here, but what exactly does that mean? You mean like a werewolf?”

  “For lack of a better visual, yes. I can become a jaguar.”

  “Huh.” She sank back in the seat and seemed to absorb that bit of information. A minute later, when he thought perhaps she was taking it better than he expected, she jerked forward and shrieked, “You can turn into a jaguar?”

  “Let me start at the beginning,” he said, begging her to hear him out. “You already know that thirty years ago a large coven of vampires were discovered in New York. The spiral-down effect had all of us coming out of the woodwork to show ourselves.”

  “Right,” she agreed, encouraging him to keep going.

  “Well, there are some of us, very few of us, who can shape-shift. Many hundreds of years ago, a vampire mated with a jaguar shifter, creating a dual being.”

  “How few?”

  “About ten. Not here in the States, but Europe. I think there’s a couple in Australia.”

  “And no one knows about this?” She had a look on her face like she didn’t quite believe him.

  “Some do. Luke, Captain Quinn, Leid’s, and various other vamps here and there. Most vampires believe us to be some kind of legend. A story passed down through the generations. Others feel we’re some kind of royalty.”

  “That’s why he calls you a prince.”

  “Yes.”

  “What else? I suppose you’re going to tell me now there’s a whole race of shape-shifters out there too.”

  He nodded. “There is.” Of course shape-shifting was the stuff of legend too. God help the public when that secret came out. “A hell of lot more than there are vampires. Creating shifter offspring is ten times easier than vampire conception. While shifters mate for life the same as vamps do, they have the added advantage of being able to pair with either human or shifter. And their human mates can bear shifter children, male and female. Only vampire males carry the so-called blood-sucking gene. If we are lucky enough to find the one human woman meant for us, we still run the risk of our line being discontinued. The woman might not bear him any children, or she might conceive a girl. A human girl
. To be cherished, yes. Perhaps to be applauded for not having to live the life of a blood-sucker, but she would still be human. Without a son, a vamp’s lineage is discontinued. Even though a vamp might live a few hundred years, and his mate a much longer than normal life, the end of his life would be just that. The end. So far there has been a boy child in each of my previous generations. And, for whatever reason, even though the jaguar gene can be passed on to a female, it seems to have skipped all the females in my family tree.”

  “I see.”

  Did she? Based on the speculative look on her face, Seth sort of doubted it.

  Chapter Four

  “All right, dammit, what other superpowers do you have?” she asked after she’d calmed down enough to speak without shouting. He had dropped a bomb in her lap after all.

  The night kept getting weirder and weirder. First she’d had sex with the one species she’d said she never would, now she’d found out this same man could become a freaking jaguar.

  She had to be dreaming.

  “I can make things move with my mind.”

  “Oh for God’s sake,” she yelled, despite doing her best not to, and hurting her own ears in the confines of the car.

  He smiled and placated her with his palms out. “I’m kidding. I’m kidding. There’s nothing else.”

  “Only if you consider that mind-bending thing nothing else,” Luke said from the front seat.

  “I do not.” Who the hell had she been kidding? I don’t think I can do one-night stands either? One time with Seth was going to have to be enough no matter how much her body wanted a repeat. Never in a million years could she live in his world, nor did she want to. They were on complete opposite sides of the spectrum. She a human with no abilities whatsoever, he a freakin’ royal bloodsucking fiend who could become a jaguar and get people to forget who they were.

  “Seems there’s a lot we need to talk about later,” she grumbled.

  “Seems so.” He put his arm around her shoulders and damn him if the position didn’t feel absolutely perfect.

  She didn’t want to feel perfect with him. Not when any relationship between them was obviously doomed from the get-go.