A week later, Collette was still reeling from her embarrassing ordeal with her boss. He’d known what they were up to, but the Captain had let them all off the hook with just a warning, as long as they promised nothing like that would ever happen again.

She had not hesitated to assure him she would continue to be the model of professionalism he knew her to be. She’d been with the unit for almost five years and had never had so much as a citation levelled against her. She and Gabe were the epitome of professionalism, and they would both be up for promotion within a year’s time. Roarke, on the other hand…well, he was another story entirely. Apparently, that hadn’t been his first episode in the break room, which really hadn’t been a surprise to her. She had a very good feeling that it wouldn’t be his last either.

She shook her head at that thought, a smile spreading across her face. Roarke was certainly not the epitome of professionalism, but, to his credit, every job he did, he certainly did well and to the highest of standards.

The chime of the doorbell shook her from her reverie, and she crossed the foyer to open her front door.

A small smile touched her lips as a slow heat churned in her belly at the handsome sight that greeted her. Dressed in a black silk shirt and black trousers, Gabe was a striking vision with his dark good looks. While Roarke stood behind him, looking rough and tumbled in a white dress shirt and worn jeans, wearing his most unique accessory-his classic dimpled grin.

“As always, you are stunning, my dear,” Roarke said, pushing past Gabe to sweep her into his arms, and plant a hard, swift kiss against her lips, before releasing her to march down the hallway.

“Something smells good,” he called from over his shoulder, just as he disappeared into her kitchen.

“Yes, well just help yourself,” she yelled after him, but knew it was already too late when she heard dishes clinking against each other.

At the sound of Gabe’s heavy sigh, she turned to face him, and an apologetic scowl marred his handsome features. “Sorry about that. We planned to hunt, but would have been late if we stopped.”

Being lycan, she consumed both raw and prepared foods, depending upon her cravings, and she knew vampires did the same. They could exist on human food for quite a while, but their strength and longevity of life could only be sustained with blood. Supranaturalblood being the richest source.

“You can drink from me if there should be a need.”

A small smile lifted his lips as he stepped inside. “There shouldn’t be. Roarke is obviously not suffering from weakness, and I fed last night, so I am fine.”

For now, she wanted to say, thinking of how draining the full moon phase would be for all of them.

“Roarke and I are strong enough-”

She gasped as her eyes widened, surprised that he would read her thoughts so openly.

“I didn’t mean to,” he said softly, as he stroked his hand down her cheek.

“You just did it again.” With just the slightest touch of his fingers against her skin, her body ignited, making her voice weak, and causing the slight reprimand to sound more like an empty statement, given how badly she trembled. It was always like this as she neared the full moon. Within an hour, she would become a slave to her lusts, completely blinded by her desires.

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to be rude, but you had your shields down for once, and I just found myself curious. Again, my apologies.”

“For once?” She said, her brows lifting in question.

“Excuse me?”

“You said I had my shields down for once. Makes me wonder how many times you’ve tried to probe my mind.”

A sheepish grin tugged at the corners of his lips, and for the first time ever he didn’t look like he carried the weight of the world on his broad shoulders.

“I’ll be honest. I’ve probed a few times before.”

Her eyes widened. Now, that was interesting. “Why? Why would you try to read my thoughts?”

He shrugged. “General curiosity, mainly. But, in some instances, I wanted to gauge your reactions to certain things, or hear your thoughts about other people.”

“Well, why not ask me then?”

Something flashed in the depths of his eyes. Suddenly their benign conversation seemed to transform into something more when he slipped his arm around her waist and dragged her flush against his body.

“Would you have told me the truth, Collette? Would you have been honest about your thoughts, your feelings about something or someone?”

“Of course.”

“If that’s the case, then why are your shields once again back in place? What is it that you’re hiding, Collette? What is it that you don’t want me to know?”

Nothing. She screamed inside her head, but she knew this time he couldn’t hear her. She opened her mouth to tell him that just because she kept her shields up didn’t mean she had something to hide. Besides, it wasn’t like he was an open book either. Come to think of it, Gabe always had his mind closed to her. Yet before she could get a word out she found herself battling against the onslaught of his powerful sensuality when he dipped his head to cover her mouth with his.

Heat radiated from his body, nearly scorching her with its intensity, and she melted into him, giving herself over to the arousal he awakened within her. She wound her arms behind his neck at the same he slid his hands down the side of her body to slip them under her shirt. His fingers moved almost absently, as he caressed her skin in a lazy manner, sometimes creeping up to nearly graze the swells of her breasts, before inching down to the curve of her hips.

He teased her with his hands, the rough pads of his fingers causing tiny goose bumps to break out along her bare skin as she shivered with need.

The Call was starting to heat her blood, slowly making her a thrall to the spell the waxing full moon wove over her body, but it wasn’t just the moon. Gabe was a master in all things, and he wielded his own power over her, taunting her with his skilful mouth and hands to surrender completely to him-if she dared.

“You’ve started without me again. If you’re not careful, I might get jealous.”

Unlike the week before in the break room, Gabe did not break their kiss. Actually, quite the opposite. His hands tightened around her hips, trapping her to him, and his mouth lingered on hers until the harsh sound of Roarke, noisily clearing his throat, forced them to finally separate.

“I thought we were supposed to be having dinner,” Roarke said with a slight chuckle.

Right. She’d prepared a meal, but it had been completely forgotten from the moment Gabe touched her.

The look on his face told her he felt pretty much the same. Whatever meal was in her kitchen followed a distant second to the delights they’d just savoured.

“Are you guys hungry?” she asked as she spun around and walked in the direction of her kitchen, but stopped when she nearly collided with the hard, solid wall of Roarke’s chest.

He licked his lips as he grinned down at her, his hand reaching out to grasp her hips, an instinctive gesture to keep her from crashing into him.

“I’m not hungry anymore-at least not for food,” he whispered, his lips furling into a wicked grin as a naughty gleam lit up his face.

“I never was hungry-at least not for food,” Gabe said from over her shoulder, his husky words sliding over her like smooth velvet.

Come to think of it, she wasn’t hungry either, but even if she were, it would have been secondary to satisfying the needs of the two men who stood before her.

She parted her lips and ran her tongue along the seam, dragging Roarke’s gaze to her now glistening mouth. He smiled that classic, cocky smile of his and tugged her closer. Gabe closed the distance between her body and his as he sidled up behind her to press himself against her.