On the Prowl (Bad Things #2)(13)

“I don’t see anyone in there,” Rose whispered. Her fingers pressed to his side, and even that little touch turned him on. Did she get that? Did the woman have any f*cking clue what she did to him? Probably not. Or if she did know, she didn’t give a shit.

When they’d been riding on that motorcycle, and her soft body had surrounded him, he’d wanted nothing more than to pull over, take her off that bike, and take her. It had been far, far too long since he’d had his Rose. And even back then…back in the day when she’d still looked at him like he was some kind of hero, he’d had to use care with her. Such gentle care. A shifter wasn’t supposed to take a human as a lover. Another rule he’d broken.

He’d never been good with rules.

Shifters were too rough, too wild, for human lovers. When their passions were roused, their beasts had a tendency to come out—and that meant claws. Fangs. Torn sheets. Primitive pleasure. But he’d always held tightly to his control with her. He’d held back, not wanting to so much as bruise her skin.

Because she’d been human.

Because she’d mattered.

She isn’t human now. She can handle your beast. That meant the sex between them would be f*cking insane.

Not that it was going to happen.

And that makes me all the more ready to kick some ass tonight.

“You have better hearing than I do,” she continued, her voice barely a breath of sound. “Is someone on the boat? Someone I can’t see?”

He did have better hearing—no other paranormal had a stronger sense of hearing than a shifter. All of his senses were enhanced—hearing, smell, vision, taste. He felt more. Which could be a strength or a serious weakness. “Someone is on the boat.” He just didn’t know if that someone was his intended prey or not.

Time to find out. He leveled a hard stare at Rose. “You stay behind me, every step of the way, got it?” Because maybe this was a trap. Maybe that jackass Simon had just wanted to lure him out to the Pandora with Rose. Maybe the guy had thought Julian would leave Rose behind on the dock while he searched the boat. Then some goons would rush to the scene and grab her.

Not happening. Wherever I go, she goes. That was the deal for the foreseeable future.

Rose sighed. “I get it. You want to lead, you want to take bullets—”

His body tensed as he remembered another time. Another place. Bullets that had torn into her. Hell, yes, he’d take bullets to stop her from ever suffering like that again.

“—then by all means, lead the way.”

He would. And he’d go with his claws out. He rolled back his shoulders and called up his beast. His fingers changed, lengthened, as the claws sprouted from his fingertips.

“That’s…always a little scary to me,” she mumbled. “When you do that.”

Because his claws were sharper than most knives. He gave her a grim smile. “I’ve always been a little scary to you.” His head cocked. “But you want me anyway.”

Her lips parted. He could still feel those lips on his neck. He’d gone rock hard when she put her mouth on him. The woman was seriously lucky she hadn’t been in a second accident that night.

Her mouth obsessed him. Bow-shaped, red, those full lips…How many times had he fantasized about her mouth on him?

“I don’t want you,” she denied hotly. “Okay, wait, all I want is for you to get us on the boat so we can stop the bad guy. That’s it. That’s all.”

He smiled at her. “Liar.”

But they’d deal with that part, later. Right now, he needed to move fast. He probably should have killed Simon, but he’d felt…well, he’d felt her eyes on him and Rose asked to let the human live. So he had.

Though he fully intended to hunt down the human at the next available opportunity. Simon deserved more pain. The guy had drugged Rose. He’d targeted her. Julian wouldn’t be forgetting the guy anytime soon. And I have his scent. That means I can track the SOB any place I want.

They crept toward the boat. The scent of the salty ocean teased his nose. He could hear voices in the distance. Laughter. Folks were still partying at the clubs nearby. People were always partying in the Keys. They thought they were escaping from their troubles. Heading to paradise.

They had no idea that the monsters had beaten them down to the sandy shores.

He jumped onto the boat and landed easily. After all, he was cat-like for a reason. He held Rose’s arm when she jumped. Not that she needed steadying. Vamps had good balance, too. He just liked holding her.

Always had.

Another weakness.

He eased down the steps that led below deck to the cabin. He could hear a faint rustle down there. A rustle and…mumbling.

“Fire…fire…Wait for Simon…Fire…Simon says…Simon says fire…Do what Simon says…”

What the f*ck?

Julian kicked open the door that stood between him and his prey.

A man whirled toward him. No, not a man. More like a boy. Rail thin, with shaggy, black hair that hung into his green eyes. His hands curled at his sides as he blinked at Julian.

“N-not Simon…Simon says…”

Julian lifted up his claws. “I don’t give a shit what Simon says. Tell me where the Collector is or you’ll be in a whole new world of pain, kid.” He hadn’t heard anyone else on the boat. This kid—this sweating, mumbling kid who weirdly wore an overcoat in the freaking heat of the Keys—was his best lead.