didn’t, he wanted to give a fist pump, but that would definitely ruin the mood they had going on.
Their mouths moved with more urgency, and Cohen couldn’t take it anymore. Standing
with Annis pressed against him, he pulled the string of his pajama bottoms, letting them pool the
floor, his sex springing out between them. Annis gasped, then looked up at him, a sly look on her
face.
She pressed herself against him and tilted her head up for another kiss, his cock
sandwiched between them. It felt so good to be in contact with another being, to share intimacy.
He’d been alone for ten months now, and sharing this experience with Annis almost brought him
to his knees with gratitude.
He stepped back and brought them back down to the couch. His body roared with desire,
the passion he felt for Annis consuming him. Sitting up so that she straddled his sex, she looked
at him. Her eyes glowed their gorgeous golden color, the pink-rose dot in the center of them
getting larger. She took him in her hand and slid down so that he was buried within her. For
someone who was a little uncertain when they had started this, she was moving things right
along.
Closing her eyes she began rocking, her hands down by her sides. The beads on the end
of her hair swayed in time with her breasts, and Cohen couldn’t stop staring at the incredible
sexy image in front of him. As far as he was concerned, he was the luckiest male on Earth right
at that second.
He lifted his hands to her breasts and teased the nipples with his forefinger and thumb.
“Love me, Cohen,” she said in her normal voice as she rocked, picking up speed.
“Yes,” he said, his voice husky.
She opened her eyes and looked down at him. The pink dot in the middle had grown so
that it covered three quarters of her eyes.
“Let it go,” she said in the higher voice.
A moment later, again in her regular voice, Annis said, “Love me.”
It became a chant of “love me, let it go” as she rocked, and the red-rose color in her eyes
got brighter and brighter, eventually consuming the gold.
Oh, God. He was about to orgasm, but what the hell was going on with her eyes?
“Mia?” he whispered. No, this wasn’t happening. He was making love to Annis.
“Let. It. Go.” Annis said in the high voice, her eyes now fully Mia’s SR44 color.
“Mia, I—”
The orgasm tackled him from behind.
Cohen woke, covered in sweat, his body bucking in the throngs of a full-fledged orgasm.
He cried out, and when his body quieted, he stared at the ceiling.
What did the dream mean?
Obviously, he wanted Annis. That part was clear. But Mia? Mia was now haunting his
dreams, telling him to “let it go.”
Let go of what? His lust for Annis?
That had to be it. She was telling him to honor his oath to her.
He got out of bed and went to the bathroom. After a quick shower, he crawled back
between the sheets and curled on his side.
“I’m sorry, Mia,” he whispered into the dark. “I’m so sorry.”
Chapter 23
Cohen paced the floor in the kitchen, sipping a tall glass of Captain Morgan, still feeling
unhinged from his dream the night before. He had on his monkey suit, as did Jovan and Noah,
and all three were waiting for the females to make an appearance.
Tonight they would be going to the statewide police gala held smack in the city center of
Phoenix so that Noah could broaden his contact base in Arizona.
It all seemed a little ridiculous to Cohen. They had gotten along just fine with one contact
for a number of years, and he didn’t see a reason to cultivate anymore. But whatever; he wasn’t
in charge.
He took a long drink of the good old Captain and pulled at the black bowtie.
“How can you drink that crap?” Noah asked.
Cohen looked at his glass; the rum was definitely not crap. “What do you mean? This shit
is primo.”
“Not really,” Noah said, sipping his Lagavulin whiskey.
Cohen considered the stuff in Noah’s glass pretty nasty. “I guess it’s a case of each to his
own.”
Noah shrugged. “Whatever you say, man. I say that’s some gross stuff. You think—”
“What the hell takes females so long to get ready?” Jovan asked, interrupting the
mundane conversation and also pulling at his collar. “I feel like I’m about to choke out.”
Noah grinned. “Now you fuckers know why I get so cranky before I have to go one of
these formal good-time get-togethers. Here’s some advice a somewhat wise male gave to me:
suck it up, quit pulling at your knot, and make sure your fly is zipped. As for the females, who
knows. I don’t understand half of what goes through Abby’s head.”
“I’m with you on that one, Noah,” Jovan said. “Liberty can be a mystery to me as well. I
mean, just the other night—”
Jovan was interrupted by the elevator ding announcing the arrival of the females. All
three males turned.
Abby stepped out first in a long, white, full-length strapless evening gown, her hair up
with tendrils whispering against her cheeks and neck. Liberty was right behind her in a tight,
pink, leather dress that hung to her knees, her hair perfectly framing her face in tight ringlets, the
diamonds in her ears and the small stud in her nose gleaming in the light.
It was then Cohen realized that he and Annis were going to be dates. Wasn’t he just
brilliant.
Annis hesitantly stepped out of the elevator, and his breath caught. There she stood in a
long-sleeved gold gown that caressed her figure. The collar dipped just below her collarbone,
and there was a slit up the dress that landed mid-thigh. With every step she took, he was privy to
a gorgeous, chocolate, muscular leg, and a high-heeled gold shoe.
Yeah, she looked amazing with that hard body moving beneath the gold, but what caught
his eye was her hair.
Gone were the braids and beads, and instead there were soft, feminine, flowing waves of
black silk. Feeling as though someone had kicked him in the gut, he took a step back, his SR44
male raging with desire. The word goddess was the only thing that came to his mind. She simply
stunned him into silence.
As she met his gaze, her irises were black, and her eyes were outlined with a soft golden
color. Obviously, she had the contacts in to mute the glow of her SR44 being. Abby or Liberty,
or most likely both, and talked her into the restrained makeup. He never thought she could be
more beautiful, yet here she stood, a living, breathing goddess.
He looked around the room at Noah and Abby and Jovan and Liberty, all who were
studiously ignoring him and Annis, and wondered if this had all been planned and why he had
been stupid enough to overlook it.
While the other two couples talked quietly, Annis and Cohen stared at each other
awkwardly.
Cohen finally came out of his reverie. “Hey,” he said. Casanova, he was not.
“Hello, Cohen.”
Her gaze flittered from him to the ground. “You look amazing,” he said, taking a step
toward her.
She gave a small smile. “Coming from you, I’m not sure if that is sarcasm or truth. But
you look nice as well.”
Jesus, he’d been such an asshole to he
r. “It’s truth, Annis. I don’t think I’ve ever seen
such a stunning—”
He couldn’t finish his sentence as Mia shimmered to life beside Annis, and he took a step
back, remembering his dream. He had to let his lust for Annis go.
He watched as Annis’s face fell, then turned into a mask of strength.
“Please, Cohen. Just stop. Let’s just get through this night.”
Cohen noted the glimmer of tears in Annis’s eyes. Grabbing her arm, he said, “Come
here. Let’s go talk a minute in private.”
Annis yanked her arm away. “Stop it. Whatever you’re trying to do, just stop. I don’t
wish to talk to you.”
“Look, I get it that I’ve been—”
“We’re ready to blow,” Jovan said, his eyes narrowing on Cohen as he hugged Liberty to
his side.
“Excellent,” Annis said, turning as she swiped at her eyes. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 24
Annis sat at a table with Abby, Noah, Jovan, and Liberty. Cohen had excused himself a
few minutes ago.
They had just finished dinner consisting of chicken breasts, a vegetable melody, and a
salad. They were waiting to be served dessert, and Annis realized that she was totally spoiled by
Hudson’s cooking. She had picked at the food and decided the whole meal was lacking. In fact,
she felt like cardboard with a little salt and pepper would be more satisfying.
A blond, balding man about thirty-five years of age approached the table and clasped
Noah on the back. “Hey, Noah, good to see you.”
Noah turned, smiled, then stood up and shook the man’s hand. Annis marveled at how
much Noah towered over him. “Nice to see you too, Jim. How’re things going?”
“Good, good.”
“Let me introduce you to some of my team and our . . . spouses.”
Annis hid a smile, as she knew Noah had almost said “mates.”
After the introductions were made and the small talk was over, Jim leaned in to Noah and
spoke in tones so low, Annis had to strain to hear what was being said.
“We started combing through the file you gave me, and the Intel is good, Noah. Really
good. We’re starting to coordinate with the other states involved in this child trafficking ring,
and we’re going to bring the bastards down.”
Noah nodded. “Glad to hear it, Jim. But I’ve got to ask, what file?”
Jim laughed and cupped Noah on the shoulder again. “Right. Don’t worry, you’re secret
is safe with me.” Jim gave a quick glance around the room and waved at someone. Turning back
to Noah, he said, “Now come with me. I want you to meet a couple of detectives from Tucson.”
Noah stood, took Abby’s hand, and they followed Jim through the crowd.
“Let’s dance, Jovan,” Liberty said.
“I don’t dance,” Jovan said, taking a long drink of his whiskey.
“Jovan, please.”
The tone in Liberty’s voice wasn’t pleading, but held a hint of demand instead.
Jovan studied her for a moment, then a sly grin played across his face. “All right, but
you’ll have to make it up to me. It’s going to cost you.”
“And how shall I do that, Jovan?”
Jovan leaned in and whispered something to Liberty. She blushed and giggled, and
slapped him in the arm. “Jovan!” she said.
“If you don’t like that, I can come up with something else,” Jovan said with a grin. Annis
could see the love for Liberty shining in his eyes.
“You’re awful!”
Liberty giggled as Jovan stood up and led her over to the dance floor. Annis was happy
her friend was so content with her life.
Alone at the table, Annis looked around the room. It was decorated in reds and blues, and
she watched as policemen in uniforms and tuxedos mingled with women in lovely dresses. She
even noticed a few of the women were in uniform, and she felt a bond with them. They wore the
uniform of a warrior, which was what she should be wearing, not this silly dress and shoes she
could barely walk in.
The band played soft jazz, and everyone seemed to be having a good time.
“Chardonnay, right?”
Annis turned to see Cohen behind her holding two glasses. He gave her a slight smile.
“Yes.”
“Can I sit with you?”
She really just wanted him to drop her wine and go away, but she didn’t say anything.
“I’ll take your silence as a yes,” he said, sitting in the chair next to her.
“You should have taken it as a no,” she said.
Cohen shrugged. “I’m an optimist.”
Annis snorted. “You could have fooled me.”
They sat sipping their drinks, watching the people around them.
“You do look really pretty tonight, Annis.”
She turned to study his face. He seemed to be telling the truth. The fact of the matter was
that she felt terribly uncomfortable in this dress, and the shoes hurt her feet. She would much
rather be in a pair of jeans and some sneakers, but apparently that wasn’t appropriate attire for
this function.
It had been Abby’s idea to take out the braids and let her hair fall freely. She brought her
hand up to her hair and fingered the soft waves. Although it had taken hours, she had to admit,
she did like it.
“Thank you, Cohen.” As she looked at him, she noticed that he was looking over her
shoulder, and his face turned sad. In fact, he was studying whatever was behind her so hard,
Annis turned to see what he was looking at. There wasn’t anything there.
“What are you looking at Cohen?”
“Almost every time I look at you I see Mia.”
“Mia?”
“My dead mate. Rayner says I’m going batshit crazy.”
Annis sat stunned, and she wondered if Rayner could see Mia using his gift of seeing
those caught between life and death.
“Can Rayner see her?”
Cohen shook his head. “That’s why he says I’m losing it.”
Perhaps he really was losing his mind.
“Did you love Mia?”
“Of course.”
For some reason, this answer cut her deeply, and she shut her eyes for a brief second to
quell her response. Of course, there would be no other answer. Cohen had been mated for a
reason, but she had to know the answer to her next question, so she continued. “Well, why do
you get angry at me when you see her?”
Cohen opened his mouth to speak, but then shut it. He stared at the table for a few
minutes, and Annis waited patiently for an answer.
“Would you like to go take a walk with me?” he asked in a quiet voice, not meeting her
gaze. “I promise not to be a . . . fucktard. I promise to mind my manners.”
“And do you promise that you will tell me what is going on between us? With us and
Mia? It would be very nice for me to finally understand.”
There was a long pause as he looked around the room, then his gaze came back to hers.
“Yes.”
“Very well, then. Let’s walk. Although I can’t promise how far I can go with these silly
shoes on.” If she had her way, she’d take them off and toss them into the garbage.
“Okay, then. We won’t go very far. I just . . . I just need to get some air, and if I’m going
to spill everything, I need to do it in a somew
hat private place.”
Annis looked around. The closest person was a good ten feet away from them, and she re-
evaluated what he said. They were in privacy.
As if he could read her thoughts, he stood and held out his hand. “Sometimes the best
place to find privacy is a busy sidewalk. Everyone has somewhere to go and something to do.
They don’t pay attention to what’s going on around them.”
Chapter 25
Annis stepped out into the cool night air, glad she had brought a jacket. She looked up at
the buildings of downtown Phoenix and found it hard to imagine the city during the day with the
hustle and bustle of the employees who occupied the large glass structures. She also wished she
could see the stars, but the lights from the city made it impossible.
“Do you want to walk for a while?”
Annis nodded her head, wishing once again she could remove her shoes.
They passed restaurants and coffee shops full of people enjoying themselves. The
laughter and the din of conversation sometimes wafted out to the street, and Annis watched it all
with envy. She was with her kind, yet she felt alone. However, this wasn’t a time for a pity party;
she was about to get the answers to the questions that had been plaguing her.
Annis stopped and turned to Cohen. “So, what’s going on?”
He took a deep breath and pulled at his tie. “I can’t stand this thing,” he muttered as he
untied it. “I feel like I’m on the wrong end of a noose.”
A group of people came toward them, laughing and talking loudly. Annis and Cohen
stood still as the group went around them.
“Looks like the concert just got out,” Cohen said, as another wave of humans came
toward them.
“I’m not sure where to start,” Cohen said. “There’s just so much . . . junk riding around in
me.”
Annis crossed her arms over her chest. Her heart pounded at the thought that she was
finally going to get the truth. “Well, why don’t you start at the beginning?”
“Well, Mia died.”
“Yes.”
Cohen looked at the ground and moved his shiny, black shoe around in a circle. She
studied him. He really did look amazing in his tuxedo with his hair combed back and his face
shaved clean; it was such a contradiction to his usual sweatpants or jeans and disheveled look.