Chapter 4

This was supposed to be a piece of cake and maybe it would be if I could find the damn mark. My "locator beacon" has been binging like a damn sonar for weeks and still I haven't gotten a bead on this Burns character. What the hell?

It can't be my case of girl wood for Rock that has me failing. I mean, yeah, I want to jump him in the worst way but I can't believe it's preventing me from finding this Burns character. Something's hinky here.

Jazz let her eyes readjust to the darkness after turning off the office light then cracked open the door and eased out, relocking it and pulling it to before turning to leave. That's when the hair on the back of her neck stood up. She wasn't alone.

She sensed more than saw the attack, feeling a disturbance in the air. Without thinking, she went on the defensive. She deflected the first blow, but winced at the rake of what felt like claws across her back.

A low growl told her that whatever had attacked her, it wasn't human. She wasn't afraid to go one on one with a man, but whatever it was that was in here with her, it wasn't a man. She froze and searched the darkness, eyes darting one way and then another.

When the gleam of green eyes caught her attention she couldn't stifle the gasp that emerged. The enormous black cat inched closer. Holy shit. It was a not just a cat, but a panther, sleek and muscular and intently focused on her.

Jazz inched back from it. This was one of those times when it was wise to pull a Hank Snow and hit the road. She continued to inch backwards until she was far enough way she thought she had a chance. At that point she pivoted and ran. As fast as she could during the direction of the door.

There was no sound behind her but her inner radar alerted her to another attack. She whirled around to face the cat. Only it wasn't a car attacking her. It was a man. She waited until the last possible moment then stepped out of the path of her attacker. Her counter-attack was deflected, followed by a rapid two-punch combination. One blow passed over the top of her head, alerting her that her attacker assumed her to be taller. The second found a mark in her diaphragm, hard enough to have air exploding from her lungs.

Whoever this was he was all too human and he was meant business. Did that mean she had more than one enemy to battle? She dismissed the thought and went after him, landing one kick on the side of his face, and hearing a soft grunt when it did. She feinted and dodged to one side and kicked again.

This time, her ankle was grabbed and before she could prepare, her attacker twisted, forcing her to either go with the twist, or suffer a dislocated knee. She chose the former and propelled her body into a spin.

The momentum broke her attacker's hold and had her landing several feet away. She backed away as the large dark shadow advanced. A shaft of light from between the slits in the vertical blinds covering the front windows of the gym slanted across her attacker's face.

Jazz gasped. "Rock?"

He stopped dead in his tracks. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"We have to get out of here. There's a panther in here. It was after—oh my god, why are you naked?"

"I said what are you doing here?"

"Didn't you hear me? There's a—"

"Answer the question."

Jazz was dumbfounded. How could he not be concerned? She was itching to get the hell out of there and now more so than ever. How was she going to talk her way out of this?

"I—I, uh, forgot something."

"How did you get in?" He advanced on her and she stepped back. "Well?" He took another step toward her when she didn't answer.

Jazz had no answer. At least none that he would like. So she gave up on trying to come up with a convincing lie and resorted to another tactic. Retreat.

"Sorry. Gotta go." She turned and ran.

Rock quickly raced after her. He'd been surprised to find her and now regretted shifting. As it stood, he was chasing after her bare ass naked. Nonetheless as she darted across the training mat, heading for the rear exit, he dove at her, wrapping one arm around her midsection and taking her down with him.

They hit the mat and rolled in different directions. Jazz was on her feet at almost the same instant he jumped up. "I want answers." He worked to position himself between her and the rear exit.

"So do I! Why are you naked?"

"I said I want answers."

"Back off, Rock. Nothing was taken, nothing destroyed. Just let it go."

"Can't do that. There has to be a reason you broke in here. You're not leaving until you tell me why."

"You think you can stop me, big fella?" she taunted in what she hoped was a scornful voice. She had to get an advantage. He was bigger and stronger. Maybe even faster. All she had was mental. If she could get him off balance, then maybe she'd have a chance.

Rock laughed at her taunt. "Baby, there's no question about it."

"Feeling cocky are we?" She gave a pointed look in the direction of his crotch and then returned her gaze to his, waiting for him to make a move.

"In more ways than one."

She cursed the thrill that sizzled through her veins at the undisguised hunger in his voice because it cost her precious seconds. She had time to throw up an arm block, deflecting his punch so that it zinged by her right ear.

Rock pressed forward. It took all she had to block or avoid his feet and fists. She saw no openings for attack. All she could do was try to outlast him, hope that he would tire from the attack and leave himself open.

Tense minutes passed, only the sound of their harsh breathing and rapid-fire movements creating a disturbance in the air and breaking the dark silence. Jazz was having trouble focusing. Energy was rolling off Rock so strong, so vitally male, that her desire was working against her.

What a marvelous man he was. His eyes glittered like a wild beast, the color darkened to that of steel. Muscles bunched and lengthened with his strikes, air sizzling with his speed.

It woke something inside her that had lain dormant for too long. Moisture stained the crotch of her black tights, and her nipples burned against the tight constraint of her top. God she wanted him. She wanted him to be strong enough to best her.

But she wanted it to be a true fight. She wanted him to be man enough to take everything she had to dish out and more. With no other thoughts in her mind, she exploded into attack mode.

Rock sensed the change in her a split second before she launched her offensive. He smelled her, the sweet musk of her sex enveloped him like a spell, making him burn for her. It ignited a new hunger. He wanted to beat her. Not hurt her, but physically dominate her. He wanted to conquer her then take all he wanted of her.

Some primitive part of his mind realized it was what she wanted. Jazz was not a woman who would give herself to a man. She would take from a man, dominating him and taking what she needed unless he was strong enough to turn the tables on her. She was accustomed to being the conqueror but inside was the call of a female begging to be subjugated.

And he was determined to be that man. He deflected her opening salvo, countering with judo moves, forcing the fight to be waged up close. He grabbed her arm, twisting and turning so that he ended up behind her, her arm bent up behind her back, hips arching backward to relieve the pressure.

For a split second he thought he had her. As her ass ground back against him and her free hand came up to grab a fistful of hair, he realized his folly. Showing superior skill and leverage, she flipped him over her shoulder.

Rock hit and rolled, scissoring his legs to catch her ankle and send her flying. He was on her the moment she hit the floor. They rolled over and over, each trying to gain the advantage, make the pin.

The contact of their bodies was electric. He thickened to full erection, pressing against her belly, making his desire evident. Her eyes widened and he pressed the advantage, rolling her over onto her back and pinning her hands to the floor as he straddled her body.

"Get off me," she warned in a husky voice.

"Or what?"

"Or prove to me you can fuck as well as you fight."

Rock's face tightened and his eyes blazed. For a moment Jazz thought she'd been too brash. Then he stretched out on the length of her, bringing her imprisoned hands up above her head and claiming her in a kiss of savage passion.

It was what she'd longed for. She returned the kiss with need as demanding as what was given, their tongues battling for dominance, bodies straining into one another.

He pulled back from the kiss and sat up, keeping her pinned between his knees. She saw the fire that burned in his eyes and welcomed it, wanted to be burned by it. He grabbed the low neckline of her tank-top in both hands and with one pull ripped it down the center. Her breasts spilled free, drawing his eyes. His hands moved to her breasts, gathering them up, lifting and pushing them together, his thumbs roughly tracking over her nipples.

She gasped at the riot of sensation that radiated from her nipples and swam swiftly down the length of her body, finding home between her legs. She started to reach for him, to pull him back to her hungry lips, wanting more of his taste.

"No." His voice was a low growl. "Put your hands back. On the mat, over your head."

Her first thought was to argue. She was never submissive. She'd played the role of dominant as long as she could remember.

"Now," he added in a voice that had a shiver running down her spine. It was a tone she knew well. The tone of command.

"Do it, Jazz." His voice was a sexy rasp. "Do it and I'll give you what you need."

"What makes you think you know what I need, Rock?"

Cool air whispered against her breasts as his hot hands released them. A fraction of a second later she gasped as he pinched her nipples, rolling them between index fingers and thumbs.

"What've you got to lose, Jazz?" He, lowered his head to one breast to flick his tongue over a taut nipple. "And just so you're aware, I get tested regularly and am clean. Got the paperwork to prove it. But if you'd prefer to use protection..."

"Hmmm." She arched up into the sensation. "No need. I'm clean. Certificate in my bag if you want it."

"Baby, reading is the last thing on my mind right now. I trust you."

With that Rock sucked her nipple into his mouth, the heat and wetness searing her and making her want to dig her fingers into his flesh. She couldn't take it. Couldn't lie passive.

She tore her hands free, grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled him more firmly against her breast but Rock pushed away.

"This isn't going to be much of a party if you keep all those clothes on," he said with a smile and rose to let her slide her legs from beneath him.

She did not move from her place on the floor. She simply rolled her hips off the floor, bringing her feet up over her head to strip off her soft-soled shoes and toss them aside.

With her legs still in the air, she reached behind her hips and peeled the spandex down, baring her ass, then legs as she worked the material up to her feet and then tossed it aside.

His gaze on her was like something tangible. Slowly she spread her legs and lowered them, bending her knees as she placed her feet on either side of him. His face wore a wolfish look, dark eyes pinned on her sex.

She let her hand trail down from her knees to the junction of her thighs, cupping her wet sex and barring his view.

Rock smiled and started for her but she didn't give him time to reach her before she was on her knees in front of him, one hand clasped firmly around the base of his shaft and the other winding around behind him to grab his tight ass and pull him toward her eager mouth.

Her tongue flicked at the tip of his erection, drawing a sharp intake of breath from him that made her look up. "Come here," he growled, winding one hand in her hair to pull her to her feet.

His lips descended on hers in a kiss that seared through her body, making even the bottom of her feet burn. His body was hot against hers, hard, long, and lean. She exulted in the fact that she had to look up to meet his eyes when the kiss ended. At five foot ten, she was not a short woman. Rock towered over her by good eight or nine inches, so tall and massive that it made her feel small in comparison.

As his lips moved to her neck, working across her shoulder in licks and bites, his hand moved between her legs, stroking and probing. She did not think to stifle the lusty moan his touch inspired. As if enflamed by the sound, he claimed her lips in a rough kiss and rammed his fingers inside her. She moaned into his mouth, moving against his questing fingers.

"I'm going to have you, Jazz," he spoke against her lips, nipping at her chin and working his way down. "Every way I can think of. And I'll not stop until I've had my fill and you're too sore to take any more."

"Promises, promises," she whispered lustily.

Rock raised his head to look into her eyes, his hand still tangled in her hair pulling her head back sharply. She gasped slightly, arching back to relieve the pressure. His mouth closed on her breast, feasting.

She groaned as he gave a light bite to one nipple but it was not a cry of pain or sign of displeasure. Rather, it was a sound of hunger.

Still latched onto her breast, he forced her back onto the floor, continuing the sublime torture as she reached for his erection, circling it with both hands. "Now," she urged, pressing her pelvis up against him.

He raised his head from her aching breast and smiled. "Not by a long shot." He grabbed her legs behind the knees and spread her legs wide, raising her hips off the floor.

Her body jerked as his tongue lapped at her wet folds, sucking her labia into his mouth then working his tongue up her length to suck on her clit. "Oh god," she moaned as his tongue worked down to plunge inside her.

He lowered her to the floor, pressing her knees back and wide. "Hold your knees," he ordered and as soon as she complied, leaned down to spread her wide, exposing her clit.

His tongue flicked over it, circling and teasing before capturing it in his mouth, sucking on it with that talented tongue tracing over the head. Jazz's fingers dug into her own flesh as she spread her legs wider, wanting more, feeling the approach of a wave.

He pressed two fingers into her, stroking deep as he continued to suck on her clit. It was more than she could withstand. With a shudder she exploded. Before the wave had crested, he pulled her forward, pressing the head of his erection at the entrance of her sex.

The wave intensified, leaving her mindless to everything but the sensations. She moaned as he penetrated, stretching her wide. He pushed slowly, deeper and deeper inside, until the length of him was embedded inside her.

Jazz had never felt so full, alternately clenching on the hardness that impaled her, and all the while riding an orgasm that had her quivering and whimpering.

He stroked slow inside her, surfing on the energy of her climax, stretching it out so that each time it started to subside, his pace would increase, driving harder and deeper. She felt like a drawn bow, taut and vibrating like a plucked string, unable to control the onslaught of sensation that had her writhing against him in ecstatic abandon.

"More," she moaned when his movements slowed. "Give me all of it. Take me hard, Rock. Now."

"Play with your clit."

"I can't come twice that way."

"Yes, you can. You will. Do it, Jazz. Show me."

Her hands moved between her legs. His eyes were glued to her hands, watching as she ran one finger over the hardening bud, stroking first with one finger, then two.

He measured his pace in time with her, at first slow then increasing as her body began to tense with impending release. At the first vibration, he drove deep inside her, pounding deep and hard. Jazz screamed in pleasure and pushed up, forcing him back so that she straddled him.

With ever faster strokes she rode him, her nipples brushing his chest as her fingers dug into the top of his shoulders.

He groaned as her sex started to contract rapidly, milking him in strong pulls. As she crested, he let go, riding the wave of orgasm together, until at last they were sated. Jazz let her head fall onto his shoulder, feeling the rapid beat of his heart. His arms circled her, pulling her closer, skin slicked with sweat meeting and mingling.

For a long time he held her then drew back and looked into her eyes.

"What?" She asked.

"Just curious. Do I fuck as well as I fight?"

Jazz laughed in delight. "Honey, there's no doubt about it. You get a gold medal."

"I'd rather have more of you."

She raised one eyebrow. "You think you're ready for round two, big guy?"

"That depends."

"On?"

"On what you were doing here tonight."

Jazz couldn't look him in the eyes and lie. Not after what had just happened. She might profess outwardly that it was only sex. A good fuck. Inside, she knew different. She'd sensed something deeper in their joining. A connection. She didn't know what it meant, only that she'd felt it.

Only she wasn't ready to reveal that to him. "Me first. Why were you naked? And I know I saw a panther so what happened to him?"

"That's not important. What are you doing here? In the dark, snooping around."

Jazz could tell she wasn't going to deter him. "I was looking for information on someone."

"Why?"

"My job."

Rock studied her eyes for several moments. "We're not talking about what you do here, are we? Working here, I mean."

She shook her head.

"Then what? Why are you really here, Jazz?"

There wasn't much point in telling a lie. And she was not going to get truth or help from him if she wasn't honest. "I'm a bounty hunter by trade." She smiled at the surprise that came onto his face. "And part-time bodyguard. I'm here to find someone."

"A criminal?"

"No. A man I've been hired to protect."

"Protect from what?"

"Whatever or whoever might threaten him."

"And you thought you'd find information on him here? Why?"

"Call it a sixth sense. I...I pick up on vibrations. It makes me good at my job. And here's the only place I've picked up the scent, so to speak."

Rock fell silent for a long moment. "Just who is this man you're looking for?"

"A brainiac. Some doctor named Burns."

A grin started to form on his face and he bit his lip. "Burns. R. C. Burns?"

"Yes! You know him?"

"Before I answer that, tell me this. Just what are you supposed to do to this fella?"

"I told you, protect him."

"And I guess that means you'll be sticking to him like glue 24/7."

"Yep."

"Maybe even seducing him so you can get inside his home."

"Maybe."

"Interesting. Let me ask you one more thing. Would you sleep with this man? Fuck him?"

"That's not part of the job. But if there was no other way to keep him close, I'd flirt it up with him."

"Interesting."

"So you know him? Come on, Rock. If you know him, tell me."

"Yeah, I know him. Very well."

"Then you can introduce me to him?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Well, you might be able to bribe me."

She smiled at him. "And just exactly what kind of bribe are we talking about, Rock?"

"How about you, bent over that bench over there with your ass in the air?"

She considered it for a second. "On one condition. The ass is off limits."

"No ass?" he asked with a mock expression of dismay.

"Not with that rod you're packing. I know my limits, big guy, and that far exceeds what I can handle."

"Okay, I'll settle for the rest of you. Repeatedly."

She searched his eyes. "And this is your price for an introduction?"

"That's it."

"Hmmm, well, I might be able to go for that, but I'm gonna need that introduction in advance."

"And what's to say you'll keep your end once I comply?"

"My word, I give you my word."

"And your body."

"Yes."

He stroked up inside her a few times, pulling a moan from her. "Rock, please," she breathed." Do we have a deal?"

"Oh yeah."

"When?" She started to ride him, already feeling a climax approach.

"Why, right now." He flipped her over onto her back, pulling her legs up over his shoulders.

"Now?" She tried to focus even as the whirlwind descended on her.

"Right now," he groaned and rammed deep inside her.

All thoughts of deals and bargains vanished from her mind. All that existed was the sensation of him inside her, taking her over the edge time and again, until she was sore, screaming for an end, but still wanting more.

A vibration in his belly preceded the groan that came from his lips. It was enough to send her tumbling once more into a void of sensation. When it ended, he lay down on top of her, his heavy body pressing her into the mat, his heart beating rapidly against her chest.

He rolled over and pulled her with him, molding her along the length of his side. "You're really something, Jazz. I don't know if a man could ever get enough of you." He raised his head and winked at her. "Lucky for me, I'm going to get to try."

"Not if you welch on the deal." She knew full well that she'd take him willingly any day of the week regardless of the deal.

"I'm a man of my word." He rolled over onto his side, pressing her down on her back. "Miss Boudreax, meet R. C. Burns."

"What?" She swiveled her head looking around then back at him and the grin on his face. "You... You? No. No way. I'm looking for this MIT doctor scientist dweeb. R. C. Burns."

"At your service," he said with a laugh. "Rockwell Connor Burns."

Jazz gaped in him in surprise, watching his smile widen. All at once she remembered what Stanzia had told her. "Hold on. If you're Burns then—then that cat. That was—that was you?"

Rock's smile disappeared. "I don't know—"

"Oh no, don't lie to me, Rock. The person who hired me told me that Burns is a shifter and if you're Burns then..."

His eyes narrowed slightly before he blew out his breath. "Okay, yeah it's true."

Jazz nodded. "Well, so you're a what? Were Cat?"

"No, shifter."

"And the difference?"

"I can take on many forms."

"Okay, well if—"

"Jazz, you wanna talk or fuck, baby?"

She knew he was putting her off, but at the moment it didn't matter. She'd located her target and having to stick to Rock like glue was no hardship at all. "Well, let me just say, you're not exactly the way I envisioned a brainiac."

"Disappointed?"

She pushed him onto his back and climbed on top of him. "Not unless you tell me you're done."

His erection pressed up against her, hard and eager. "Not by a long shot, baby."

Jazz chuckled and rose on her knees to guide him inside her. "You know this job is looking real good."