He chuckled low in his throat then grabbed the edges of the sweater, hauling it over my head and roughly tossing it to the floor. Then his mouth was on my breasts, alternatively kissing and nipping, making me shudder, making me burn. I threw back my head, enjoying the sensations shaking my body, wanting it to last and yet wanting more of him. All of him.

I slid my hands down his sides, then gripped the waist of his jeans and boxers and thrust them down. He kicked free of them, his mouth moving from my breasts to my lips, his hunger even more fierce as his hands fumbled with the button of my jeans then pulled down the zipper. My jeans and panties quickly joined his on the floor. He pressed his body hard against mine, until it felt like the heat and hardness of him was covering me as securely as a blanket.

Then he opened his eyes, and for one brief moment our gazes locked. And deep beneath the hunger in his golden eyes, deep beneath the heat that made them glow like fire, there was both anger and determination. And a need just as intense.

Heaven only knows what he saw in my eyes.

He grabbed my arms and thrust them above my head, holding them secure in one large hand while he lifted my butt with the other. Then he rammed himself into me, and it felt so good I slammed my head back against the wall and howled.

This was no gentle mating. His movements were hard, rough, his body pummeling mine, hitting the right spot again and again, until I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, could only feel. And oh god, it felt good. I came, hard, a scream of pleasure tearing itself from my throat and sounding suspiciously like his name.

He came just as hard, his body jerking as his seed shot into me, his face twisting as if in agony.

Then it was over, and the pleasure began to fade, until there was nothing left but sweat, the battle for breath, and the horrid realization that no matter what excuses I'd given myself, I'd come here for this.

I might blame the wolf, but the wolf, like the vampire, wasn't the sum of me.

And if there were two parts of me at war, then it wasn't the wolf and the vampire, but rather heart and soul.

Right now, locked in this man's embrace, I wasn't sure which part of me would win.

Or which part I wanted to win.

And that was a scary thought.

"Well," he said, amusement briefly touching the corners of his eyes as he tucked a stray strand of sweaty hair back behind my right ear. "That certainly gave the neighbors something to talk about."

I glanced across the darkened street, and saw that we did indeed have watchers. Normally I wouldn't mind, but for some weird reason, this time I did.

Maybe part of me was ashamed of my actions.

I pressed my hands between us and pushed him away. He resisted for a moment, then smiled and stepped back.

"Why are you here?" He turned around as he spoke, stepped over our clothes and walked naked down the hall.

My gaze drifted to his butt, then I shook my head, grabbed my clothes and followed. "Do you still have your bugs in at Dante's?"

All the doors were open, but aside from a bed in one of the rooms, the house was practically empty. There wasn't any form of security equipment that I could see.

"Yes, but it's not set up here. Why?" He pushed open a door and walked in. I followed, my gaze sweeping the small basic kitchen before coming back to Kye, drifting down the muscular V of his back before coming to rest on his well toned butt. I clenched my fists against the sudden need to touch him.

"Because a suspect I was following went into Dante's, and I'd prefer not to go in after him."

He paused in the middle of making coffee and looked over his shoulder. "Why are you reluctant to go into Dante's? You're many things, Riley, but a coward isn't one of them."

I crossed my arms and leaned a hip against the counter. "I don't like Starke."

He raised an eyebrow. "I would have thought not liking someone was something of a career hazard for guardians."

"And I make it a habit of avoiding the ones I dislike if there are other options available."

He returned to his coffee making. "So that little dance out in the foyer was a way of softening me up?"

"No, that was out-of-control need. I'll do my best not to let it happen again."

He laughed - a sound so cold and harsh that a chill ran down my spine. "We are destined to be one, whether we like it or not."

And he didn't like it. Not one little bit. At least we had that in common. "If you're so intent on fighting this, why keep insisting that I come to you?"

He looked over his shoulder, his locking on mine. There was something very chilling in those warm amber depths. "Because to control it, I have to face it. So here I am - and here I will stay - until I have a leash on this. On us."

Oh god, oh god... I didn't have the strength to keep on fighting this. I couldn't. Not when I hungered so. "The bonds that bind us only grow stronger the more we are together. It would be better if you simply left - "

His hand crashed down on the counter top, the force so great he cracked the stone. "I will not retreat from this. I will control it."

All I could do was stare at him. This man really was crazy.

After a moment, he turned around and offered me a coffee cup. The explosion of anger might have gone, but the embers of it still burned in his eyes.

I clasped the cup and took a sip. The rich scent of hazelnut teased my nostrils, and that only succeeded in increasing the turmoil.

"I have several jobs at the moment, so it gives me time to concentrate on this." His gaze came to mine again and the sensible part of me trembled. Not in fear of the man, but in fear of what I saw there. This wolf might want to control both the situation and me, but he had no intention of actually letting go. "And while I am here, I will have what is mine."

"I will never be yours, Kye."

"If I reach for you now, you would be mine for the taking. We both know it, Riley."

He was right. As much as I might want to deny it, as might as I might fight it, he had my body and he had my soul. But he did not have my heart. That I would protect against his assault with my life itself.

I sipped my coffee and said nothing. After several minutes, he smiled. It was a twisted, bitter thing. "What time did your suspect enter Dante's?"

I glanced at my watch. "Twenty three minutes ago."

His gaze narrowed a little. "Was he a dark haired man with a hunched demeanor who walked like a predator?"

"Yes." I hesitated. "I thought you said your surveillance equipment wasn't here."

"It isn't. That doesn't mean I can't access it from here. Phones can do amazing things these days."

I guess they could. "What made you notice him?"

"The mere fact he didn't look like the usual type of customer Dante pulled in."

"So you can supply me with a photo of him from your system?"

"I can do more than that. I'll pull up his information." He paused, considering me. "But if you want it, there is a cost."

I snorted softly. "Like I was expecting you to give me something out of the goodness of your heart."

His grin was fierce. "I have no heart. You'd do well to remember that."

"Oh, trust me, I do." I shoved the coffee on the counter top and crossed my arms. "What's your price? Another fuck?"

God, the mere thought had me trembling in anticipation.

Fate needed to be shot.

"Yes and no." His voice was flat, and yet there was an odd hint of amusement teasing his mouth. It made me want to kiss him again, and I hated that. Hated myself for wanting it. "I want you to stay with me."

"What?" I stared at him for a moment. "Why?"

He shrugged. "Maybe because it's the last thing you actually want. Or maybe because I want your vampire to understand just what it's like to know that his mate is in the arms and the bed of another."

He was a bastard. A bastard.

Although that wasn't exactly a new revelation.

"I'm not spending the night with you."

"Then you don't get your information and you risk more people dying."

"Maybe I'll just call the Directorate and confiscate your entire system."

"And maybe I'll just call the man following your brother's mate and give him the go ahead for a little target practice."

Anger and fear surged in equal amounts and I lashed out. Though I moved with vampire speed, he moved almost as fast, and the blow barely even brushed his chin. Even so, there was enough strength behind it to send him sprawling backwards.

I stepped forward, wanting to finish it, wanting to punish him for everything he was putting me through, but somehow I got the urge under control and stopped several inches away, my fist clenched and body shaking with fury.

"You ever threaten him like that again - "

He rose and the force of his anger hit me like a ton of bricks. It was all I could do not to step back, to remember this man was just a wolf and didn't hold half the threat of some of the other foes I'd faced.

But as I met him glare for glare, he seemed far, far worse.

"I am your soul mate," he said flatly. Coldly. "I will do whatever it takes to possess and control what is mine. And if it means destroying everything you hold dear, then that is precisely what I will do."

"But you don't want me. You don't want this." My voice rose, until I was almost shouting at him. "So what is the fucking point?"

He smiled again. Once again, it was a cold and harsh thing to behold. "The point, as I have already said, is the fight. It's winning out over base emotion. It's being in control."

I stared at him for several seconds, thinking nothing, feeling nothing, my mind seemingly frozen and his words echoing around in the emptiness of my thoughts.

I was never going to win this fight, because the mere act of fighting was what he wanted, what he enjoyed. No matter what I did, I was going to lose.

If he wanted control, then I'd give it to him.

Or at least, give him the illusion of it.

I stepped back, turned around, and picked up my coffee. "Fine," I said. "You win. I'll spend the night with you."

Surprise flickered through his eyes. "Really? You're giving up, just like that? Somehow, I'm not quite believing that, Riley."

"I don't care what you believe." I rubbed my eyes and suddenly felt a hundred years older. "You want me, you can have me. It's as simple as that."

He raised an eyebrow, the disbelief still very evident, then he held out a hand. "Fine. Come with me now."

I hesitated, then placed my fingers in his. His grip was warm, fierce, and - God help me - a tremor of anticipation ran down my spine. He smiled, obviously sensing the hunger I just couldn't control, then led me from the kitchen, back down the hall and into his bedroom.

Where we made love, again and again, until our bodies were spent and our wolves sated and all I wanted to do was cry.

But I managed to place the tracer at the base of his neck, just near the hairline as I'd been told, so at least the night was not a total waste.

When we finally slept, it wasn't wrapped in each others arms, but apart - a physical sign of a distance that would never be bridged, no matter how much fate and our souls might wish it.

When I woke, I was alone.

I lay in the bed with the sheets twisted around my body, listening to the silence, drawing in the air.

Kye wasn't here.

Hadn't been here for several hours, if the fading aroma of him was anything to go by.

Part of me wanted to hope that by giving in, I'd won the war, but I knew that would be a false hope. Kye hadn't believed I'd meant what I'd said, so he'd be back. And probably when I least expected it.

I untangled the sheets from my legs and sat up. Despite the long hours of intense and often rough sex, I felt refreshed. Maybe because when I finally had slept, I hadn't dreamed.

I glanced around the room, noting for the first time it had little in the way of comfort. Beside the bed and a small, somewhat moth eaten armoire, there was little else in the room. No personal knickknacks, no paintings or mirrors, no clothes lying about. I frowned and walked across to the armoire. It was empty.

A walk through the rest of the house gave the same result. Kye hadn't just left the bed, he'd left the premises - lock, stock and decent coffee.

I cursed myself for being an idiot and trusting that he'd actually keep his half of the bargain, and stalked into the bathroom to catch a shower. There was no way I was leaving this house reeking of him.

And there, resting on the top of a clean towel that was sitting next to the basin, were several sheets of paper. A quick glance at them revealed not only a printout of my suspect, but what information Kye had found on him.

I wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or amused.

I had my shower and got dressed, then grabbed the papers and headed for the front door.

Only to run straight into my brother's chest.

Chapter Ten

"Ow," I said, rubbing my nose as I stepped back. "What the hell are you doing here, Rhoan?"

"I was about to ask you the same fucking question." He'd shoved his hands on his hips and was glaring at me fiercely.

I frowned and wondered what the hell was going on. "I'm getting information about the case. Why?"

"Because you car was found abandoned over near Vinny's, your com-link is turned off, and you weren't answering your phone." He thrust his fingers through his hair, and for the first time I noticed the tension in him. "We thought the worst."

I raised my eyebrows. "Why would you think that? You've always known when I'm in serious trouble in the past."