“You’re right. It’s not my life, but if I found someone to mate with, I don’t think I would run from that person.”

She bit back the snappish reply on the tip of her tongue, at his self righteous tone. He couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t want a mate, just because he did. He hid it well, but she knew him better than most, and she knew his life was a lonely one. Deep down, Gabe yearned for the solace a mate would provide, the warmth of her touch, the reassurance that his existence was now meaningful. She understood Gabe’s longing, because at times, she felt it, too, and just like him, she did her best to keep her yearnings buried deep.

He accused her of running from her mate, but she wanted to remind him that she wasn’t running from her intended mate. Hell, if such a mate existed, she wouldn’t run at all, but he didn’t exist, and she refused to be tied to a mate and have his pups when she wasn’t in love with him.

But even if that wasn’t an issue, there was simply no room in her life for a family with her job as a detective for the Las Vegas Supernatural Crime Unit. Her duties kept her so swamped with crazy hours and a mountain of cases that a heart mate and a pup were the last things she needed right now, which was why she’d turned to Gabriel.

Her handsome partner and his equally gorgeous best friend were a temptation she wasn’t sure she should entice herself with, but they were her only option. When she went into heat, every lycan in the nearby vicinity would pick up her scent, and the first one to get to her would win the prize. She was far too independent and in control of her life to leave her future to chance.

“Look Gabe, I know there are some details that I still need to work out, but I wouldn’t have come to you if I hadn’t thought this through-” Okay, that wasn’t entirely true. She’d spent the thirty-minute drive into work mulling it over, but really there wasn’t too much to consider. She could either mate with another lycan and kiss her life, as she knew it, good-bye or take her chances with Gabriel and Roarke. When it came to the men in her life, there were no others she trusted more, which was why they were her first, last and only option.

“You and Roarke are really my only option.”

“Your only option for what?”

Collette spun around in her chair as Detective Roarke Dimitru strolled into Gabe’s office with all the confidence and swagger of the city’s second oldest vampire.

She furled her lips into a small smile as her gaze raked over the ruggedly handsome man with his stubbled jaw and chestnut brown locks that curled lazily around his broad shoulders. His green eyes danced with flirtatious laughter. In a word, Roarke was the consummate playboy, and he knew it.

“Collette wants us to fuck her.”

She shot Gabriel a hard look as her lips thinned into a tight frown. He didn’t have to put it that way exactly, no matter that was exactly how she’d posed it to him.

“Hell yeah. I’m all in.”

“Of course, you are,” Gabriel said dryly to the man who’d been his best friend for over two centuries.

She ignored Gabriel as she flashed Roarke a warm smile.

“Thanks, Roarke. I knew I could count on you.”

“Oh please, Collette. The only reason why you can count on Roarke is because he thinks with the head in his pants-”

“Hey! I resent that.” Everyone might have actually believed that had Roarke not been standing there, wearing a smug grin, as if he was proud of his scandalous reputation. She shook her head as a smile spread across her face. Knowing Roarke, he probably was.

“Well it’s true, and you know it. Besides, while you’re all gung ho, did you even think to ask Collette for all the details, especially the one about how she could wind up pregnant after we’re all done?”

She glared at Gabriel, pissed that he’d brought something up that really wasn’t an issue. Sometimes, he could really be a self righteous pain in the ass.

“Whoa! You’re hot Collette, and I’m sure any offspring of ours would be drop dead gorgeous, but I don’t do vamp kittens or were pups,” Roarke protested, as he held up his hands like an invisible shield. She rolled her eyes at his antics. No doubt Roarke thought having offspring was akin to death. It probably was given his active lifestyle.

Shooting to her feet, she moved to intercede before Gabriel could ruin her entire plan.

“Relax Roarke. You know lycans and vamps can only reproduce when the pairing involves true heart mates.” She slid her gaze over both men. “And I think it’s safe to say, none of us in here are heart mates, but,” she added when both men opened their mouths, ready to unleash a barrage of questions and protests. “If it eases your mind, I can come up with a spell to deal with that. Just give me until the end of the day, and I’m sure I can conjure up something.”

Roarke visibly relaxed, but Gabriel was a different story. One didn’t become a master of an entire city, because he was rash or impulsive. No, Gabriel was extremely thorough and meticulous. Those qualities were what made him such a good detective. She appreciated them when they worked together, but at the moment she cursed him and his damn steady judgment, especially when he still looked at her with that sceptical expression of his.

“I still don’t know-”

“Why don’t we give Collette a chance to come up with a spell before we just shut her down? She’s one of her kind’s most powerful witches. I’m sure she can come up with some-”

“Why are you so eager to jump into bed with her? You weren’t even here to hear her whole convoluted and half-baked story, and yet you’re ready to go.” Gabe said with a dark glower.

She glared at him. He was exaggerating. Her plan hadn’t been that half-baked.

Roarke shrugged his large shoulders, his lips curling into a lopsided grin. “I didn’t need to be here, I already know what’s going on. How old are you, Collette? Seventy? Eighty?” He didn’t wait for her to answer as he bulldozed ahead. “She’s obviously about to go through her tenth cycle, and it’s mating season-”

“I should have known you would know,” Gabe grumbled as he shook his head.

Roarke’s grin grew wider. “Who doesn’t? Besides, I’ve helped out a couple of lycan hotties a time or two before. You wouldn’t be so uptight about this stuff if you relaxed a little and got laid. You spend-”

“Thanks, Roarke. Was there something you needed?”

“Not really. I just heard my name when I was passing by, so I decided to drop on in.”

She chuckled when he winked at her. She had no doubt he’d been eavesdropping and decided to pop in to help her make her case.

“I need to get to work,” she said as she moved towards the door. “But will you at least consider my proposition?”

“Honey, you know I’m all in-”

“I’ll consider it,” Gabe finished, shooting Roarke a pointed glare.

“Well, that’s all I ask,” she said softly, her eyes fixed solely on Gabe before she turned on her heels and slipped out.

“What the hell is wrong with you, man?” Gabe said, shoving a hand through his midnight black mane that brushed against his shoulders.

“I should ask you the same thing. Miss Hot Fineness wants to make you her sex slave for eight hours, at least, and you’re all prepared to say no. Have you ever slept with a lycan chick during mating season? Man, I can tell you the sex is hot. I don’t know what’s wrong with you, or why you’re being so uptight about this?”

He shot his best friend a hard look as he leaned back in his chair, letting out a long ragged breath in the process.

Roarke was only a century younger than him, but in this case, that century made all the difference. His friend was a top notch detective, and was the best at what he did, but when he ended his shift, he was free to go on the hunt for pussy or blood or both.