She rode out the waves, finding a pleasure deeper than she'd known existed.
When she relaxed with a heartfelt sigh, he dug his face into her neck and shuddered with his own release.
His canines brushed her skin.
She stiffened, her heartbeat out of control. If he bit her, they might mate. Then he slowly licked his way up her jugular. She relaxed again. He released her hands and cupped her face, kissing her so gently on the mouth that tears pricked the back of her eyelids. She batted them away.
"Are you okay?" he whispered, leaning back.
She could only nod.
"Good." He turned them and curled around her from behind again. "Go to sleep for a few more hours. We'll talk about it when you wake up." His chuckle brushed her hair. "Or we'll do that again and then talk. Yeah. Good plan."
She smiled sleepily and closed her eyes, cuddling closer into his safety. Just for now.
A quick knock on the door destroyed the peaceful afterglow.
"You are kidding me," Bear snapped. "What?" he bellowed.
The door opened, and Lucas stomped inside, shaking snow off his hands. He was in faded sweats and a ratty T-shirt with his hair a mess, obviously just out of bed. His eyebrows lifted at seeing them in bed and the clothing on the floor. "Just got word from a local contact. The DEA is going to raid us in about twenty minutes."
"Damn it." Bear sat up. "All right. I'll handle it."
Chapter 13
Bear leaned against the wall in the rec room, with Lucas on one side and Nessa on the other. He flipped to the second page of the warrant, heat filling his chest.
"Perhaps you should call your solicitor?" Nessa asked, her gaze on the five DEA agents methodically going through every drawer in the bar and video console.
Solicitor? Bear didn't twitch. "I don't need a lawyer."
DEA agent Brenda Franks strode in from the swirling snow. Wearing high boots, the woman was over six feet tall, with brown hair, very blue eyes, and too-red lipstick. She clapped her black gloves together. "I have men searching your office and the apartments, McDunphy. Give me the truth now and I'll run interference for you with the federal prosecutor."
Bear flashed her a smile complete with canines.
She narrowed her gaze and took a step back.
Ah, humans. They thought they were so tough. "I'll give you all the truth you want, Agent Franks." He knew all about the woman. She'd forced one of his friends to be her informant about the Apollo drug, so he'd researched everything he could about her. She was raised in Wisconsin, was twice divorced with no kids, and had an ambitious streak three miles long. "Ask away."
"Are you distributing Apollo?" Franks asked.
"Of course not," Bear returned easily. "Anything else?"
She leaned in, trying to assert dominance. "I have two dead bodies that were dumped on the other side of town after having overdosed on Apollo the same night you had a raging party here at Grizzly."
Bear stepped in, showing her real dominance. "I don't know anything about dead bodies, agent. The warrant says you have three anonymous tips that we're running Apollo out of here. It doesn't mention overdoses or bodies."
She didn't back down. "Oh, we will tie those bodies to you. The second we do, the very second, I'm taking you in."
Either she had fabricated the anonymous tips in order to get the warrant or else somebody was talking. It had to be the humans. He needed to track down his group and see exactly who knew about the dead bodies in the woods. Hopefully, the human prospects he'd just thrown out on their asses didn't have a clue. "While I'm sure it'd be nice to spend time with you, I'm otherwise engaged." He put an arm around Nessa's shoulders and drew her into his body.
Having her right there felt good.
Franks rolled her eyes. "Speaking of which, who are you?"
The urge to protect rose in Bear so quickly he growled.
Nessa instantly intervened. "Your warrant has nothing to do with me. Who I am is absolutely none of your business." The words were clipped and the Irish brogue . . . gone.
Bear barely kept from looking at her. She sounded like a twenty-something from Maine, with perfect inflection. How had she done that? Why would a number cruncher, even a specialized forensic accountant, need to be able to banish her accent? Just who was this woman?
She carried his scent after their time in bed, but he really didn't know her.
Franks stared. "I can have you arrested for hindering a federal investigation."
"I'm not hindering anything," Nessa returned. "I was just on the property for a booty call with Bear here and don't know anything about the Grizzlies, Apollo, or bodies. Sorry."