Where Darkness Lives (Guardians of Eternity #7.75)(14)

With a low groan she snatched her hand away. In a minute she was going to be knocking aside the table and crawling over him like a sex-starved harpy.

“So why do you want me to host a party?”

He shrugged, the amusement lingering in his eyes. “It’s the most convenient way to gather all your neighbors at one time so I can question them.”

“You think they’ll confess to being a homicidal maniac over apple martinis?”

“It’s easier to read people when they’re in a group,” he explained. “If I do door-to-door interviews they’ll be on guard.”

“No shit,” she muttered, her gaze skimming over the heavy muscles of his chest.

Even dressed he would be the sort of unannounced visitor who would make her neighbors hide under their bed and call the cops.

His smile widened. “This way they’ll feel more comfortable.”

“And more likely to give something away?”

“That’s the hope.”

She had to admit it made sense, she acknowledged, rising to her feet.

As he said, her neighbors were more likely to let down their guard during the course of a party. Especially if she could score a bottle of nectar from Troy. A few drops in her guests’ drinks and their inhibitions would be lowered. Perhaps not to the point of revealing their most intimate secrets, but they would be more inclined to “share.”

“Fine.” She cleared her throat as he straightened, his muscles rippling in the afternoon sunlight that slanted through the glass wall. “I’ll send out the invitations.”

“You aren’t really going to serve apple martinis, are you?” he demanded, moving to stand way too close.

“How am I supposed to explain your presence?” she abruptly demanded.

“I’m your latest lover, of course.”

She snorted at his ready suggestion. “You could be my brother. Or the pool boy.”

His hand lifted to skim along her hairline, following the curve of her ear.

“I’m not nearly pretty enough to be the pool boy, and we don’t want to shock the natives if I happen to do this in front of them.”

A part of her knew a kiss was coming. She also knew she could halt it by taking a simple step backward. Instead she tilted back her head to meet his descending mouth, her lips parting in invitation to the deep, hungry kiss.

He groaned, his hands gripping her hips as their tongues tangled in a silent dance of mutual need.

An enthralling pleasure blasted through her, making her arch against his hardening c**k as her hands ran a restless path over his powerful back.

He was so deliciously warm.

And male.

Starkly, unapologetically male.

The kiss deepened as she rubbed her aching br**sts against his bare chest, her blood on fire with the need to feel him plunging deep inside her body.

As if sensing her desperate desire, his hands skimmed up the curve of her waist, cupping her br**sts to tease her sensitive ni**les with his thumbs.

She growled her approval, arching toward his insistent caresses as her hands slid beneath the satin boxers to cup the hard muscles of his perfect ass.

Laughing softly he nipped at her lower lip before whispering against her mouth.

“This isn’t at all brotherly.”

Busy thanking the gods that she wasn’t related to this intensely sexy Were, Sophia was taken off guard as a brick was tossed through the window over the sink.

They both stiffened in shock, but Luc swiftly recovered and was immediately out of her arms and sprinting toward the French doors leading onto the back patio.

Sophia felt a brief flare of fear at the realization he was unarmed as he charged after the trespasser only to grimace as the backlash of his power sizzled through the air. Even without shifting there were few demons who could match his strength.

And if he went wolf ...

Well, she pitied anyone stupid enough to stand in his path.

Of course, a silver bullet could bring down the mightiest Were, an anxious voice whispered in the back of her mind.

A voice she hastily squashed.

Luc could take care of himself. She refused to even consider the thought of him being hurt.

Clenching her hands, she turned her attention toward the shards of glass littered across her floor.

Dammit to hell.

What was it with people busting her windows lately?

They were not only a pain in the ass to replace, but they left a mess that she was in no mood to clean.

Picking her way over the glittering shards, Sophia reached to pluck the brick from the sink, not at all surprised to find a note scribbled on the back.

“Leave or die.”

Predictable. Tacky. And downright cliché.

Tossing the brick onto the countertop, she moved to retrieve a broom, sweeping up the broken glass and dumping it in the trash.

She’d just finished when Luc returned, his eyes glowing with the fury of his wolf.

“Anything?” she demanded, although she already knew the answer.

“No,” he growled, his frustration thickening the air until it was difficult to breathe. “Whoever threw the brick had already taken off, and there are too many scents to pick out a specific person.” His jaw knotted as he struggled to leash his emotions. “I do know it wasn’t a human.”

“How?”

He moved to pick up the brick, testing its weight as his gaze skimmed the words of warning.