––––––––

Tess started to worry about the vibration running through her body, increasing now to the point it felt ready to come through her skin. Okay, weird didn’t begin to describe that thought.

Could her energy hurt Cole?

Logic said she was looking at it the wrong way. She’d felt an increase in the intense buzzing every time she’d been around Colin, aka Cole, when he’d touched her.

Cole looked at her, obviously bewildered. “I’m not doing anything to you, Tess. I swear it.”

When she stood, he did too. She moved across the small apartment kitchen toward his side of the table. Her body kept wanting to move closer to him.

Okay, yes, she’d been aroused constantly since touching Colin, but this was jacking up sexual frustration to a whole new level she couldn’t just accept.

“What’s wrong, Tess? What do you need?”

He looked and sounded sincere, but answering that truthfully would get her into true trouble.

She couldn’t very well say she needed him out of those jeans and down on the floor where she could have her way with him. Could she?

Wow, that just went over the edge of crazy and into needing a straightjacket.

She had to get him out of here.

They’d always burned hot and wild as a couple, but this was not happening. Not again.

Her skin felt flush and her insides were molten heat. She couldn’t take another minute and yelled, “Stop whatever you’re doing to make me vibrate!”

His eyes widened.

Then his expression showed guilty as charged.

Cole said nothing else, just stood there looking like sex on a stick, but slowly the tension in her eased.

She still struggled between wanting to touch him again and being angry at how they’d been ripped apart. Oh, and that he was a shifter.

Nothing like a new way to screw with her head and emotions.

Her heart argued, he said he’d been sort of kidnapped.

More like an intervention by strange beings.

Her head chimed in.

Don’t make excuses for him, Tess.

She’d gone through every stage of grief and had spent months depressed that he’d just pulled up stakes and left without a word. As if their relationship had been that easy to walk away from when she’d thought they were on the verge of planning their future together.

“This wasn’t what I wanted either, Tess.”

And now it sounded like he knew what she’d been thinking.

Her body slowly came back under control, even if her lady parts were humming with anticipation. Stupid parts.

The constant rollercoaster of changes and emotions had depleted her bank of patience. She wanted to feel strong now, not fall apart like she had in college after he’d left.

Sucking it up, she said in an offhanded tone, “Hey, no big deal, Cole. I figured you’d found someone new and moved on.”

Instead of sounding strong, her words came out angry and flippant.

Worse, she regretted them the minute they left her mouth.

She’d never thought that for one minute. Even if she had, she hated sounding flippant when the pain, even after all these years, was still raw.

Embarrassed, she turned away to hide the lie her face would reveal.

Cole moved faster than she’d thought possible, hooking her arm and turning her back to him. She slapped her hands on his hard chest to hold her balance. His heart pounded beneath her fingers and heat rolled off his body.

She couldn’t meet his eyes.

“You really thought I could walk away from you that easily?” he asked in a tight voice.

A hurt voice.

She did not buy that he was that good a liar.

He hurt, too.

Her heart caught on a beat. But she could not fold so easily and excuse him for never contacting her.

“What’d you expect me to think, Cole?”

“Damn it, Tess. I get that you didn’t know for all these years and you’re angry. I would be too, in your shoes, but I told you what happened. What you don’t realize is that leaving you was like ripping a hole in my chest. If there was any way I could have come back on my knees to ask for forgiveness in the beginning, I would have, even though being a shifter hadn’t been by choice. I ... I was lost for a long time and I didn’t want to hurt you even more.”

Her head hurt from trying to figure out where her heart had to stand in all of this. “But you never lifted the phone or sent a letter in seven years. Nothing.”

Her hands moved with his deep breaths. She finally looked up, expecting to see anger.

Guilt spread across Cole’s face like a slow moving storm. “I didn’t know how you’d react. I died a thousand deaths the minute I found out what I was and realized that even if I ever saw you again, that you’d hate me. I’m sorry ... I was angry for a long time, drowning in self-pity and battling to accept my future. When I finally got my head out of my ass, I accepted that no one had done this to me. To us. But all the excuses I came up with doesn’t change the fact that you deserved answers before now. I should have manned up and faced you sooner with the truth. You’re right to not forgive me. I’ll never forgive myself.”

She clinched her fingers, fisting a wad of his shirt in each hand. Honestly, back at nineteen she would have lost it at learning he was a shifter.

Seven years had changed a lot.

She’d had time to deal with the pain and the loss, and now she could accept that Cole losing his humanity was a loss for everyone.

She’d also had time to become familiar with shifters.

Some were definitely monsters, but she’d met some decent ones she wouldn’t put in that category.

Cole kept talking in a low voice that gave away no emotion, but his eyes failed to shield how much it had hurt for him to think she hated him.

He said, “I’ve never been so sorry to be alive as I was then, but day after day of battling to learn how to control my wolf and training for my future beat me into a kind of submission. When I finally accepted what I couldn’t change, I put my head down to get through it. I can never say I’m sorry enough to make up for what happened.”

He swallowed and drew a breath. She knew he had more to say and waited to hear him out.

“When I was finally at a point that I was allowed to send you a letter, I couldn’t tell you the truth about what I’d been through. I couldn’t tell you who I worked with or what my future involved.” His finger was gently stroking her cheek. “That left me with one option. Sending a letter saying I left you because I wasn’t ready to settle down and didn’t love you. There was no way I’d write those lies even if someone had held a gun to my head. I thought about having my boss report news of my death to give you closure.”

Her heart ached at the agony he had been through. She couldn’t fathom telling her father or the man she loved that she’d become a shifter overnight.

After hearing his heart-wrenching story, she wanted to hold him and make all that pain go away.

Her lip trembled and she broke. “I’m sorry for what happened to both of us.”

Cole was so close he could kiss her, but he was clearly holding back, being careful with her.

Did she want him to kiss her?

Yes.

She waited to feel guilt for wanting to kiss a shifter.

Not feeling it.

Her father would lose his mind if he saw her right now, but this wasn’t her father’s life.

Or was this just her admitting to a curiosity that had started when she was around Colin?

Cole.

Damn, she had to get her head together.

Make a decision.

Kissing him wouldn’t change the world, but it felt like a monumental decision. Touching Cole’s lips, tasting him again, seemed so simple, but where would that leave her after this? How would that change her?

And what about Cole?

He hadn’t said one thing that sounded as if he planned to stick around. Would she take this risk only to be left alone once he vanished again?

He couldn’t even tell her who he worked for.

She drew a deep breath that caused her robe to fall open slightly.

His eyes flicked down, then back up. No apology in that gaze. He’d clearly take whatever she’d give him.

The question was, how much would she give him?

He lifted his hand and stroked her hair, reminding her of how she used to wake up to him leaning over her, brushing her hair off her face.

Her stomach quivered. Her body longed for his touch.

That frustrating energy buzzed in her chest.

He whispered, “I’m so damned sorry for not coming back sooner to say something. I would cut off an arm if it would make your pain vanish. I would never intentionally hurt you.”

She closed her eyes, struggling between backing away and jumping into his arms.

Why did making one decision have to be so blasted hard?

Why couldn’t she ...

“You’re killin’ me,” he muttered and pulled her into his arms. His lips met hers and he kissed her with a fierceness she’d never felt from him. His hungry mouth wiped her mind free of any thought except kissing him back.

She knew if she gave one squeak or push he’d let her go.

The last thing she wanted right now was for him to stop.

His lips moved to her throat as he lifted her up. She arched into him, feeling the thick ridge of his erection. She made a noise, something foreign and needy, so unlike her.

“What do you want, baby? It’s yours.”

She fought to keep her lips closed and lost the battle. “Touch me, please touch me.”

He made a sound that matched the way she was feeling.

His lips were kissing her the way they had long ago. As he whispered to her, his hand pushed inside her robe, which suddenly had a major tie failure and draped all the way open. When his fingers touched her breast, she lost her mind, gripping him to her.

He lifted her to the counter and returned his attention to the other breast, teasing her nipples until she cried out.

He shoved the band of her silk shorts down and stroked his fingers between her legs.

“You’re so damn wet. I love it. Love everything about you.” 

She could barely hear him through the roar in her ears. She clutched his neck, pulling his mouth to hers. He gave her everything she demanded without her ever having to utter a word.

No more talking. She just wanted to feel, to let go of all the burdens weighing her down and feel him everywhere.

Her inner energy hummed now as it spread through her body and into her womb where it coiled with the heat building there.

His finger slid inside her and he kissed her harder. His tongue swept across her lips and into her mouth, mimicking his finger play that pushed her closer to oblivion.

She arched back as far as she could, shaking with the need to let go.

His head moved down and he sucked her breast.

Stars danced in her vision. So close. “Don’t stop.”

He didn’t answer, but neither did he pause. His fingers knew her better than she knew herself. He stroked her to a feverish point, then brushed his thumb over the sensitive nub ... pushing her until she fractured.

Energy like she’d never experienced burst through her and spun her orgasm beyond belief. She rode his hand and gripped his shoulders, hanging on for her life.

When the sizzle slowed back to a hum, Cole pulled her to him. He kissed her gently and continued stroking her slowly until the last shock waves stopped.

Holy mother of orgasms. She could hardly talk. “That ... that was not like ... ”

His lips swallowed her next words and she didn’t care, but what had that been? They’d had an incredible sex life before, but this had been ... a new level.

And she’d been the only one to enjoy it.

Selfish guilt landed on her shoulders. “You, uhm, didn’t ...”

“Don’t,” he whispered.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t feel bad, please.”

Was he reading her mind? Before she could ask, he said, “I loved sharing that with you. Loved holding you again and touching you. That was a gift I never expected to have again. Don’t take that away by saying you regret it.”

She heard something she’d never heard in his voice.

Vulnerability. She could so easily take this opening and hurt him back, but she’d rather gouge out her eyes than hurt him when he’d shown her how he had suffered, too.

Squeezing him in a bear hug, which was not easy now that he’d grown up as big as one, she said, “I don’t regret it, though I will admit I’m not sure how I’ll feel later once I have time to process this.”

He chuckled and it made her smile.

She asked, “What’s so funny?”

“You. I always enjoyed the way you turned something around and around in your mind until you wore the corners off and forced it into a hole. Then you’d know exactly what to do.”

She dropped her head onto his shoulder.

For the first time in seven years, she smiled at a memory from that time.

Sure, this would all feel different the minute she pulled back and had to face everything he’d shared with her, but right here, right now, she was at peace.

When was the last time a man had held her as if that was just as important as having sex with her? No name came to mind and there’d been so few that it was a sad commentary on the men she’d dated.  

“This isn’t going to be easy, is it?” she asked.

He gave a deep sigh. “No.”

She appreciated his honesty. Pushing up to face him, she brushed her palm down one side of his face.

He closed his eyes and leaned into her hand.

She’d spent years shoring up her defenses and now the man she’d never forgotten had shown up. On top of everything else, he was a shifter.

Damn. Just damn.

There was no way forward for the two of them that didn’t end up with them standing on opposing sides of a line in the sand. She was a key player in SCIS and he was a rogue shifter.

He’d admitted as much. Maybe not rogue, technically, but not part of a pack.

If only he’d tell her the name of his organization so she could stand on his side.

Her mind was churning with the need to get back on level footing, which wouldn’t happen if she didn’t put some space between them.

She cleared her throat and said, “I need to go to the bathroom.”

When she moved to jump down, he caught her around the waist, lifting her off the counter as if she weighed no more than the magazine sitting on the corner.

He slowly lowered her to the floor and her body voted for round two with him.

She wasn’t considering it.

Really.

She was just a little unstable and slow to move.

Getting a second load of that strange energy in the middle of another orgasm might just stop her heart. As if worry about dying from too many orgasms had ever been a concern?

Oh, hell. She was going to fold.

Cole straightened her robe, tying the sash. He dropped a kiss on her forehead. “You wanted to go to the bathroom. We still need to talk.”

Her mind had been mush, but the tone of his voice woke up her professional side, which she dragged back on deck.

Sidestepping, she said, “Right. Go ahead and get some more coffee. I’ll be back.”

Then she did an award-winning job of not running from the room, but when she closed the bathroom door she leaned on the vanity. Lifting her gaze, she stared at her tousled hair, which was now completely dry.

Had she really just let Cole give her an orgasm?

“I am so screwed.”  She wanted Cole to stay, but couldn’t ask him. She could not get involved with a shifter, not even him. Realizing that made her sick.

She would lose him all over again.

After a quick cleanup, she brushed her hair back over her shoulders then put on jeans and a T-shirt.

The buzz had settled into a hum of happiness.

She and this funky energy needed a new plan if it expected a mind-blowing orgasm to calm it down.

But her body felt human again.

Now to challenge her hormones not to do an about face the minute she walked out there. If she lost the challenge, she and Cole would be on the floor finishing what he’d started.

Not happening. She had to get her head screwed back on right.

He wanted to talk.

What do you talk about after the best orgasm you’ve ever had? And the ones she’d had with him in college had topped the charts back then.

Back to a game plan.  After what they’d just done, it felt wrong to talk about SCIS and Cole’s role in the Black River pack case, but talking shop had always been her safe zone.

What if he hadn’t meant talking about that, but wanted to discuss them? He’d be insulted if she treated what they just did so lightly, right?

She’d find out soon enough, but she was not acting as if she wouldn’t have taken him to her bed. Still would.

Argh. If she faced him in court, she’d lose the minute he looked at her.

But he hadn’t said he wanted to continue what he’d started just now. Did that mean he had reservations?

Why?

Time to find out.

Plus, she still needed to know what he knew about the Black River pack. Finally, her brain began functioning again.

In the kitchen, her mug had been refilled with steaming coffee. She lifted it and pushed her chair around, putting more distance between them since she didn’t want to sit right now.

His expression said he knew what she was doing, but he didn’t argue.

Wrapping an arm around her waist, she propped her elbow on it and sipped her coffee. “You wanted to talk, so I’m guessing we’re back to what we were discussing before, uh ... ”

Crap. Her mouth was determined to walk her back into non-professional territory.

Cole came to her rescue, saying, “We were talking about the Black River pack problem.”

Always a gentleman, Cole was helping her out. She said, “Right, but I have other questions first. If what you say is true about you and your people being an enforcement arm for shifters, why doesn’t SCIS know about you?”

“A person very high in human government knows our leader, but they both keep it secret. They decided it was the best way to help each other and protect national security. That may change at some point in the near future, but I can’t share more until I’m given authority.”

“You were explaining how you were different than other shifters. Why weren’t you born into a shifter colony of some sort?”

He ran a hand over his forehead and started explaining. “I belong to a line of an ancient group of shifters that has been in existence since the sixth century. Shifters such as the ones you know about were around then, but so far from human villages they rarely crossed paths with humans. When they did, werewolf stories developed, which are more myth than truth. But you know what they say about every myth being rooted in some truth. If I’m ever allowed to tell you the full history of my group, I will, but let’s just say we carry power originally bestowed from a druidess long ago.”

This just got stranger by the moment, but strange had become her norm once she focused on studying shifters. “Are there any other differences?”

Cole drank his coffee slowly, never moving his gaze from her. He seemed to consider what he was going to say, then put the mug down. “As I mentioned before, most shifters need a clan of some sort to survive and function. That’s because of the power hierarchy in packs and the necessity of being under the protection of an alpha.”

“I know that.”

“I have to keep reminding myself that you know some of this since you’re with SCIS.”

She scoffed. “That’s not why I know about shifters. Most humans read a little and assume a lot. I changed directions after law school and got my masters in the very new study of shifters. She cocked her head at him when he couldn’t hide his surprise. “You’re wondering why?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Shifters had been out for a year when you ... left. Two more years later, I finished my law degree.”

“That doesn’t surprise me after you started college when you turned sixteen. You were always going to steamroll your way to wherever you were going.”

She never liked bragging about jumping classes from the time she was in sixth grade. Cole hadn’t seemed to mind that she was two years ahead of him at the same age in college.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” he said.

She wanted him to understand that she knew how their world treated shifters and where she stood. “As part of a class exercise for one of my law professors, we each had to choose a role to be played in one of three mock trials involving shifters. I waited too long and got stuck with being the defense attorney for a cougar shifter charged with first-degree murder of a human. It was just bizarre enough to push me out of the ... mental lull I’d been in.” 

He didn’t react beyond a muscle jumping in his neck, a tiny physical tell at the peek into the way her life had been wrecked after he left.

She wasn’t trying to make him feel bad, just explain what caused her to dive into a field that practically gave her father a stroke.

Moving ahead, she explained, “I guess I needed to think about anything but the normal world while I was trying to finish college. I prepared and presented a case for the shifter. My so-called client, a student in my class, found the whole thing amusing and told me he wouldn’t hold losing against me. The person playing the DA presented a totally bullshit case with crappy evidence. At worst, a human would get off with involuntary manslaughter for an accident that happened during inclement weather. Watching the unfair judgment bothered me, but I also struggled with a shifter’s place in society. I managed a hung jury and turned everyone in the room against me, even my pseudo client, but that’s not what pushed me over the edge.”

“Your mother?”

“Yes. How ... ”

He gave her an apologetic look. “Another confession. When I was about to board the truck, I asked if you had lost someone close, because I was trying to leave without you knowing it was me.”

When she’d thought he was Colin, Cole had been protecting her even then and had told her he forgave her for what would happen. “You knew about my mother?”

“I was overseas at the time it happened, and didn’t keep up with a lot of news from back home, but I saw that because your dad is so high profile in the world of shifters.”

Understatement.

Taking a sip of her coffee, she said, “Yes, losing my mother had a huge influence on my thinking and career direction. Then there was another incident the first year I had my law degree and was taking on any pro bono case I could fit in that was shifter-related. I figured I’d gain experience while I pushed through my master’s degree. I’d submitted my application to SCIS with the idea that starting there would put me one step closer to becoming a district attorney. I had this idea I could help humans prove cases against shifters.”

Cole flinched at her admitted one-sided thinking, but said nothing while she continued.

“I’d seen first-hand how prejudice would eventually end up working against those who failed to present a believable case. A woman I’d met the last year of law school had become a close friend. She was attacked and killed on a hiking trip. I had a personal interest from day one and decided to study that case as it unfolded. Maybe even offer some help if it was needed. First, I reviewed the body. The attack had been ... gruesome. Less than twenty-four hours after the killing, the police captured a shifter and accused him of the crime.”

Sighing, Cole said, “It had to be a very lucky shifter, or a foolish, trusting one, or more likely, it was the wrong shifter.”

Curious, she asked, “Why would you say he was lucky?”

“Under our law, a shifter can’t harm a human unless that human is attempting a lethal attack. If that shifter had been in a pack, he wouldn’t have lived long enough to be captured by the police. If he wasn’t with a pack, he would have been rogue and any alpha would take a hunting party out to deal with him.”

“That’s murder,” she argued.

“No, it’s the rule of our world. A shifter who can’t manage his or her animal can’t live in the human world.” Cole put his mug down. “Additionally, any shifter worth his or her salt could not be captured by normal human law enforcement, which means the captured shifter trusted someone to allow them to take him in. What happened?”

She’d been processing what he told her, and realized there were so many things the jackals had withheld about shifters. Clearly, they weren’t a good source.

Convincing Brantley of that would be a battle.

She said, “When I saw the video of the accused shifter’s interrogation, it hit me hard. I just did not believe he committed the crime. He’d never met the woman and, at the time of the crime, he’d been with his pack on a retreat in another state.”

Now Cole looked angry. “He had an alibi and they still accused him?”

“Yes. I think law enforcement was feeling pressure everywhere because of constant rioting and killings. They wanted to show a strong front for the humans and let the shifters know they would not tolerate any shifter crimes. Things were crazy at the time.”  Like her dad introducing all kinds of over-the-top laws that thankfully didn’t get passed. “Everyone was up in arms and wanted the death penalty.”

“What about you?”

“I wanted someone to pay for that crime but not an innocent person, regardless of their being human or shifter. If they stopped at the first convenient shifter, that meant a killer remained loose.”

“You’re right,” Cole said and she heard admiration in his voice.

Where had he been when everyone else had treated her like a pariah for taking the shifter’s side?

She put her mug down softly and cupped her hands together. “The shifter, a twenty-two-year-old male, sat quietly in court as they railroaded him. The minute the trial ended, I was on the phone talking to his defense lawyer about getting an appeal. His court-appointed attorney said no and hung up on me when I tried to argue. At that point, I decided to take his case and—”

Cole pushed the chair barrier out of the way and covered her cold hands with his big one. His touch immediately stirred that energy in her, but in a way that warmed her soul.

He asked, “Why?”

She stopped fidgeting and said, “I wanted the real killer found.”

“And?”

Letting out a long breath, she admitted, “I wanted the system to be built on honesty and truth. No one knew what the future would bring with shifters living openly among the human population. If we continued to convict those who did not commit a crime, we’d eventually end up in a civil war. Shifter governing groups, alphas and others, would never work with human authorities.”

He gave her a solemn nod. “Thank you for being who you are, because this world would explode without the voice of reason from you and any others who agree with you.”

His compliment soothed so many wounds she’d suffered over the years as she’d fought this battle, too often alone.

She had to finish so he’d know the truth. “It didn’t end well. They put the shifter in a subterranean—”

“A hole. Just call it what it is.” Cole pulled his hand back and wrapped it around his own mug.

Her body ached at the loss of physical connection.

Her energy slowed as if ... it was sad.

Now she was assigning emotions to an invisible energy?

In the silence that fell between them she felt horrible for allowing Brantley to send Colin—Cole—to a hole. She couldn’t deny the truth in that label.

It was a death pit.

The place Cole had been headed to when he said he forgave her. That kept gnawing at her conscience.

He’d known who she was at that moment.

Now she didn’t feel as if she deserved his forgiveness and moved ahead to get the words out that stuck in her throat. “The shifter couldn’t change to his animal.”

“That happens with some when they’re put into an area that small, or if they’re chained. The animal is confused and panics. The human goes mad and dies.”

“He did,” she admitted, fighting back tears. “They found him dead the next morning. They speculated he’d had a heart attack.”

“That’s not what happened.” Cole cupped his mug, looking into the dark liquid.

“Tell me,” she urged.

“No.”

“Why not?”

Sighing, he put the cup down. “It won’t change that shifter’s death.”

Her litigator side roared to life. “But I’d have evidence to show why those holding cells don’t work for shifters.”

“You had it,” Cole snapped. “The body lying in the bottom of that hole should have been the strongest statement about shoving a being into that place without understanding their physiology.”

The cold truth of his words smacked her in the face. Did he hold her responsible for shifters who died in the holes because she was with SCIS?

Should he?

“You were asking about how I’m different from the shifters you encounter,” Cole said, clearly trying to change the subject, and probably for her benefit.

She grabbed at the new direction like a lifeline. “Yes.”

“Most alphas of a pack, pride or whatever can draw power from their pack when they need more, but I told you I’m not part of a pack. Even with all that additional power supply they have, the average alpha is not a match for me or anyone in my unit.”

“What kind of unit?”

“We have a highly skilled group who can work either together or independently.”

“So you have no weakness?” she quipped, trying to lighten the air in the room.

He hesitated, admitting only, “Everyone has a weakness.”

“But you won’t share yours, will you?”

“No decent warrior would expose a weakness.”

She considered all that he’d said. “What are you trying to say, Cole? What’s the real reason you’re here now? You could have just stayed gone and I’d have never known what happened to Colin.”

“Now that I’ve been in your SCIS facility, I have a better idea how you operate. I don’t want you or any of your people harmed, but you should know that you shouldn’t trust those jackal shifters. They’re paid mercenaries. They’ll kill their first born for the right price.”

Her jaw dropped open. “You don’t know that. You’re generalizing.”

“I do know. You haven’t seen them in their natural habitat. They’re bloodthirsty and hold no allegiance.”

She rolled her eyes.

His eyes narrowed. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with, Tess. I’m not discounting your knowledge but don’t discount my experience.”

Well, damn. He had her there.

When she said nothing, he continued, “My team is going to help find and stop the Black River pack, but this has turned personal. We’re pretty sure they have one of our men. I’m going to find him, but I need you to stay out of my way.”

Did he think he could dictate the way SCIS ran an investigation? Cole showed up out of the blue, broke into her home and thought she’d fold at the first sight of him?

Okay, yes, she did technically fold when he gifted her with one hell of an orgasm. She’d have to sort that out mentally later.

For now, she arched an eyebrow and challenged, “I thought you were a bunch of super shifters. How’d the Black River pack catch one of yours?”

“Our man’s not well.”

She didn’t think shifters got sick, which would mean Cole’s group should be even more bulletproof when it came to illness. That meant there was more to Cole’s friend being unwell, but prying that information out of him would be harder than getting Cole to admit his weakness.

She crossed her arms. “Let me get this straight. You expect me to just ignore the bombing and that our transport was torched, plus two staff members killed? I can’t walk into my office and brush all that off. This is my responsibility.”

He stepped forward, a load of irritated male towering over her. “I’ll make sure SCIS gets in on the final takedown, if possible. That’s the best I can offer. I’m asking you to back off the Black River investigation until you receive word from your intelligence agency on something you can act upon.”

Was he truly serious? “I have people I answer to and citizens who will be screaming over the food bank bombing, plus Colin escaping, so let me make something clear to you. I will continue investigating this bombing and the Jugo Loco distribution flowing through the southeast. You haven’t shown me any credentials. You tell me you’re part of some ancient group and your people are the key to shifter law enforcement. I’m not seeing it. What would you do if someone came to you with all that and told you to stand down, because they were a bigger deal than you and your people?”

“I hear what you’re saying, Tess, and I can’t show you paperwork to prove things that humans refuse to accept any other way, but I’ve been doing this for the best part of the last seven years. You’ll just have to trust me.”

He sounded tired, but she hadn’t been sleeping so well herself. If he wanted her trust, he had to bring more to the table.

She scoffed, “Really? Trust you? Do you expect me to be so willing to accept anything you say that easily again?”

Cole leaned against the counter with those guns crossed, looked up at the ceiling, then lowered his head to her. “That was probably not the best argument on my part, but I am telling you the truth.”

“Not all the truth. Not enough to allow me the ability to make an educated decision.”

“Tess, be reasonable.”

After all she’d been through, that was the wrong argument to use on her. “Oh, now I’m not reasonable? You know what? I’m done. I’m glad you’re alive and that I no longer have to wonder what happened to you, but I need to think through all this. It’s time for you to go. But know this. If you interfere with any SCIS investigation or harm our trackers, expect to pay a price.”

Cole sighed so hard it came out a growl.

He picked up his cup and put it in the sink.

That was different. She used to find his coffee cups all over the house when he was working and in school.

That memory pushed through her frustration.

What was she going to do about Cole?

The confusion she’d waded through back in college after he left was nothing compared to right now. Her heart and mind argued between locking him in with her so he’d stay and telling him there was no way they could be together.

When she thought about how close she’d come to losing him yesterday, her heart started winning the battle.

But she could not make a snap decision tonight.

She followed him to the door, paying too much attention to his profile and perfect butt.

Memories of hooking her hands on his naked hips and sliding her fingers down over those taut muscles of his backside sprang into her mind. She’d wrap one arm around his waist and use the other hand to caress his dick.

Her mouth turned dry as the desert.

Lost in memory lane, she failed to stop when he turned quickly, grabbing her shoulders.

She stared up, caught red-handed in a moment of lust.

“Where’s your mind at, Tess-alla?”

Damn him. He used to say that and stretch her name out when he caught her ogling him naked.

That was his way of saying she could have him for the asking.

Her bruised heart still ached when he said things like that. She replied, “I was thinking you could use some time in the gym.”

“You are such a sweet liar.” He leaned down and kissed her again, taking it slower this time as he swept his lips over hers.

What did she do? Part her lips and let him in.

The energy zinging around calmed into a frazzled hum, as though even it was unsure where this was going.

She’d blame her capitulation on that.

One kiss and she lost what common sense she had when it came to this man. Was it his fault she felt pulled to him like steel to a magnet?

She should be backing away, not digging her nails into his shoulders. Hadn’t she just ordered him to leave?

Her body caved without a sound of protest.

She held on as her world turned into a tornado of want. One touch blinded her mind to all reason.

Cole’s mouth kept going, relentless and hungry. With each time he paused to kiss her gently, he pulled her soul closer to his. She could feel her resolve cracking and flaking away.

What if he disappeared again?

She’d felt rejected and not worthy of love the last time.

But he hadn’t abandoned her without a thought.

That one kernel of hope kept wiggling its way into her heart.

Damn him. She’d missed him, missed everything about the two of them, for so long. Oh, she’d tried to banish his memory by dating other people from time to time, but she never felt this intensity with anyone else.

If anything, what she felt now was stronger.

She hugged him hard and forced a groan from his lips. Someone should lock her away. She had to be mental to want to throw caution to the wind and tell him how much she cared for him. The words were dangling close to her lips.

He was breathing hard when he lifted his head and dropped his forehead to hers. In the most forlorn voice she’d ever heard, he said, “I missed you.”

Tears burned the corner of her eyes. “But you’re still going to leave.”  

He chuckled. “You told me to.”

“Oh, I guess I did.”

“It’s not your fault, baby. I have to go for now. I’ve got to deal with whoever grabbed my friend and killed Sonic. I can’t be seen with you or it will put you at risk, but I want ...”

“What?” She held her breath, waiting on him to tell her he wanted her more than anything else.

“I want you safe.”  He held her head to his. “If anything happens to me, I’ll make sure someone gets word to you. I won’t leave you wondering again.”

That’s not what she wanted to hear.

Thinking about Cole in danger dropped hot embers in her stomach. She hated the panic seizing her body. “Come into SCIS and work with us.”

“I can’t, Tess, especially after what happened at the food bank and with your transport truck. They’d all judge you unfairly for not treating me as a criminal, and I have to be free to do my duty.”

Duty meant he’d race toward danger, even against dangerous shifters.

Maybe she shouldn’t wait until she processed all of this. Who knew what would happen tomorrow? “Cole, what about us?”

He straightened and studied her for a moment before shaking off a thought. “It’s complicated. Even if we could get past everything else, I’m still a shifter.”

She couldn’t form a word in response.

This was the moment to say his being a shifter didn’t matter to her. But it did. She hated herself a little for not being able to give him an inch, but she’d been hit with all this tonight and needed time. Allowing her emotions to drive her words would be worse later if she couldn’t stand behind them.

Her father would turn his back on her if she brought a shifter into her life. He was the only family she had left.

But Cole had always been a part of her, even when he was gone.

She’d break her father’s heart if she crossed that line. Tess was all he had left, too, after her mother died.

Everything she’d ever wanted stood right in front of her and she hated her hesitation.

They were doomed lovers.

Cole leaned down and kissed her hair then whispered,  “Please stay away from the Black River pack. There’s more than shifters involved and humans aren’t equipped to fight them. Neither are the jackal shifters in SCIS.”

She wouldn’t agree or argue with him.

Shaking his head at some internal thought, he added, “I would be careful around Brantley, too.”

“Why?”

“That transport trip was never headed to where you thought and those jackals will not lift a finger to operate on their own. They were following someone’s instructions.”

“They could have been paid by the Black River pack,” she suggested, reaching for straws. She had issues with Brantley, but she couldn’t let her feelings for Cole affect how she dealt with Brantley.

“It wasn’t the Black River pack. My people got there first. Then a helicopter with an SCIS logo showed up as we were leaving.”

“What?”  No one had told her that.

“Exactly.”  He cursed. “I know that hardheaded look and how you’ll need to verify it, but don’t push back if someone blows you off. Just hold onto that information until we can get more to you. And please try to stay safe. Don’t accept everything you’re being told at face value. There is a mole in your operation. I don’t have time or the authority to share enough to prove it to you, but I would not lie to you about something so important to your safety.”

Unable to speak, she nodded.

“I replaced your firing pin while you were in the bathroom.” He turned to leave, paused, drew a long breath, then turned back.

He leaned close, cupping her head as he kissed her once more. Then he whispered, “You are my only weakness.”

In the next second, he’d slipped out the door and closed it behind him.

She stood there, unsure what to do for two heartbeats, then grabbed the door to call him back. She looked first toward the elevator thirty feet away, then toward the stairs, which were even further, but the hallway was empty.  

No one could have vanished that quickly.

Correction. No human could have.

Cole expected her to sit back and do nothing? To let him fight this battle alone?

Silly shifter.

She had access to her own extensive network of information.

By tomorrow night, she’d know everything available on Cole Cavanaugh. The next time they met, she wanted to be on equal footing. Now that she knew what had happened to him, she would come to terms with it and ... with how they could move forward.

A new worry gripped her.

Could she redirect Brantley from hunting for Colin?

If she did and Brantley figured it out, she’d end up worse than a shifter convicted of a crime.

The government had no mercy for anyone who interfered with shifter investigations, especially if they were convicted of aiding and abetting a criminal shifter.

The easy penalty was one hundred years in prison.

The other option was death.