Bad Vampire by Lauren Dawes (read aloud books txt) 📕

and not released, until finally there was a near audible pop. Somehow, I found the strength to tear my eyes away. I could still feel the pressure, the sexual desire dominating the space, but I didn’t feel the need to scratch out the other woman’s eyes with the stirring sticks at my elbow.

I looked at her again. She was stroking the base of her throat and the top of her breasts hidden beneath a lavender blouse. She was still under the influence of whatever the fuck was going down in this coffee shop. The guys didn’t seem to be having the same reaction though.

The guy at the front of the line finally paid, then turned and looked at me right in the eyes. The necklace flared hotter again, and I flinched at the sudden surge of accompanying heat. It didn’t burn, it was just uncomfortably warm against my palm, like a heat pack left against the skin for a little too long.

“Can I help you?” he asked smoothly.

He smelled of dark chocolate and whisky, and I found myself involuntarily licking my lips. Shaking my head, I focused on other facts, like everything about him was perfect, from the expensive haircut to his angular jaw and straight nose. Geez, even his teeth were perfect.

“Nope,” I replied, smiling smugly when he looked a little put out that I wasn’t floundering all over him like the other woman was.

Ha! Fooled him.

“Cat?” Jen called breathlessly, and I collected my order with a smile.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Jen.”

The other woman’s eyes fixed on the guy, and she nodded absently at me.

Okay, weird.

I left the coffee shop, feeling like I had a target painted on my back. It wasn’t a target though—it was a set of cool gray eyes. Once I set foot outside, the heaviness in my pelvis began to ease. Clearly, I hadn’t been affected as greatly as the other woman, but the relief was so great, I could’ve cried. I could only imagine how the other woman would feel once she stepped outside.

The guy had clearly been a supe, but what flavor? He looked human, but I didn’t get that just stalked feel off of him, so not a shifter. Not a vamp either, because you know, it was eight in the morning. A fae, maybe? If he was, and he wasn’t even trying to influence me just then, I didn’t want to know what it felt like when he was actually concentrating on it.

I gunned my truck over to the station, bypassing my old department with a one-finger salute. Granted, where I was going now wasn’t much better, but at least I didn’t have to sit in a room full of people who hated me.

Seriously, it was like being back in high school.

Except now, all of these people were armed.

Wandering down the hallway, I sipped my coffee and kept my head down as I passed random people in the hall. Eventually, I reached the door with PIG written in big block letters on the front.

I took a moment to take a deep breath and let it out, then opened up the door.

I fought the urge to walk right back out of there because… awkward. Everyone was staring at me. Everyone. And it wasn’t the stares of your regular, run of the mill humans. It was the stare of predators. Keeping my chin up, I met each of their eyes, glancing away just at the right time. I didn’t want to get into a fight with anyone…

At least not on the first day.

“Who are you?” a woman asked. She wasn’t dressed in uniform, but rather, she was wearing a leather outfit that took BDSM wear to a whole new level. I wondered if that was standard issue for PIG.

“Officer Cat McKenzie,” I replied, leaning up against a nearby desk. But when there was a low, dangerous growl from the owner of said desk, I straightened and stepped away. “Don’t tell me that’s what I have to wear to work.”

BDSM actually hissed at me like a snake, her slitted eyes gleaming with promise. I’d found that since the supernatural cat had been let out of the bag, a lot of them stopped playing human altogether. They didn’t even bother to hide what they were now.

“Why are you here, Cat McKenzie?” someone else asked. I searched the room for who had spoken, finding a human looking woman with dark hair and green eyes sitting at one of the dozen desks scattered around the room.

“Human liaison. Captain Wolfe sent me.”

Someone snorted, then grumbled, “Like we’d need a fucking human to help us do our jobs.”

“Be that as it may,” I announced in my strongest voice, “I’m here.” Although, who I was supposed to be working with, or in what capacity, I had no idea. “I was told to report to Detective Taylor,” I added when nobody seemed to be offering up any other information or indicating who was running this shit show.

I tensed when I heard footsteps behind me, and I stepped to the side, watching the same guy from the coffee shop walk into the room. He had a cardboard tray filled with coffee cups in one hand, while in the other, he had a bag that smelled like it was full of pastries.

The guy glanced around, then looked at me. “Who’s she?”

“Human liaison,” someone answered. “Wolfe sent her.”

“I’m Officer Cat McKenzie. Who are you?” I asked, finally finding my voice.

“Detective Taylor. Sawyer Taylor… and your new partner.”

I tried not to let my eyes bulge out of my head on that one. “Partner?”

Sawyer offloaded his coffee tray and passed the paper bag to the guy who had growled when I leaned on his desk. “Partner. You know, those people who have your back and you have theirs? Oh! That’s right,” he said, slapping his palm against his thigh. I suddenly got a flash of him spanking my ass red, but shook the thought away just as quickly. “You’re the one who watched her partner get