In-Between Work and Play (The Jocelyn Frost Series Book 1) (11 page)

Once we were
downstairs, the Enforcer sat down, making himself comfortable on an old leather
couch against the wall.  I inched away from him like a second grader avoiding
“cooties.”  At least, I felt my brain starting to sober up just a little bit. 
Could that have been due to the events that took place over the last half
hour? 

He slid across
the couch, cornering me so that our knees were touching.  This was worse than a
freaking middle school party!  If I hadn’t needed to give him a statement, I
would have gotten up immediately to put some distance between us.

His brows
knitted together. “I normally don’t have to explain myself to anyone.”  He
shook his head. “My colleagues generally enjoy watching me work from the
opposite side of the interrogation room’s magic-absorbing glass.”

“Go on.” I
crossed my arms in front of my chest.

“I understand
you grew up on Earth and things are done differently there.  Especially, when
referring to what is
allowed
to
be done and what is
encouraged
.” 
He glanced over at me.  I wished he would get to the point.  When I didn’t say
anything, he continued.  “As a department, the Enforcers are primarily made up
of races that possess various psychic abilities: mediums, precognitives,
psychometrists, telepaths and empaths.  I’m a telepath and a healer.”

I nodded. “I got
that from this morning’s interrogation.”

He winced
slightly. “What you don’t know is that I used my telepathy on you several
times.”

“Several?” My
heart pounded in my chest as my anxiety made my muscles tense.  His nod
confirmed something I already suspected. “Did you mentally probe me while we
were kissing?  That was your sex magic?”

“That’s
correct.”

I pinched the
bridge of my nose. “Your colleagues generally like to watch you work…”  I
glared at him. “Do you normally make out with all the women you mentally probe
for information?”

He nodded. “I
don’t expect you to understand.  I’m not actually conscious or present in the
physical sense during the experience, in the same way most people become when
they enjoy another’s body.”

Images from
cheesy pornos I found on my roommate’s boyfriend’s laptop during college popped
into my mind.  I needed to know what exactly happened.  Before I could find a
tactful way to ask, the question popped out of my mouth. “Did you rape me?”

The color
drained from his face. “No.  I know what you are, and would never do that to
you or anyone else without prior consent.  Besides, my sex magic abilities
don’t work on someone who isn’t attracted to me.  Most of the time, I’m not
even the one to… Never mind.  I don’t expect you to understand.  The morals and
ethics of sex in Erda are not the same as on Earth.”

Part of me felt
relieved at hearing the truth in his voice. “But you have fucked women during
interrogations, haven’t you?” Was I being blunt?  Yes.  Would I normally have
asked that sort of question?  No.  At least, that was one benefit of liquid
courage.

“More times than
I can count.” His face was totally blank.  “Again, I don’t expect you to
understand.  When people are probed, they rarely drop all of their defenses. 
However, during sex, they become an open book.  The memories I glean are
recorded by one of the department’s witches, and the magic behind our orgasms
is funneled into the Nexus.”

I don’t know
what shocked me more: learning that the Enforcers were okay with using sex to
gain information or how they justified it.  “Wow… that would, umm, be so
illegal on Earth.”

“I know.   I
took a course on American law enforcement etiquette while studying at the
Enforcer Academy.”  He shrugged. “I’ve never been to Earth.  I was raised in my
mother’s hall, Sessrumnir, in the kingdom of New Asgard.”  He searched my face
for recognition. 

“You’re a son of
Freya?”  I pinched the bridge of my nose again.  Freya was the Norse goddess of
sexuality, love, fertility, beauty, sorcery, war, and death. “That explains a
lot.”

He nodded in
agreement. 

“So, why tell me
all about this?  I would never have had the nerve to ask you on my own.”  I
felt like rubbing my breasts. “And could you, umm, tone down the pheromone
output you’re throwing at me?”

A grin spread
across his lips. “No can do.  I have no control over that.”  He took my hand
into his. “The reason why I’m telling you this is because there is more to this
case than we both know.”

“Meaning?”  I
wanted to pull my hand away from him, but my body refused to obey my brain. 

“I’m working on
a theory.  But what I need you to do is take stock of the people you know and
those who work around you.  Keep your guard up and let me know if anyone or
anything suspicious stands out.”

He caressed my
cheek with his other hand. “My people are almost done upstairs.  I need to
glean what you saw today.”

I looked him
straight in those gunmetal-grey eyes of his. “Do you really need to kiss me?”

He shook his
head.  “No, but I need you to clear your thoughts in order for this to work.”

I closed my eyes
and took several deep breaths. Fireworks of bright, white lights filled my
brain while the muscles south of my belly button tightened.  Holy Helheim, he
made me have an orgasm.  Damn him and his sex magic!  I opened my eyes to find
him standing several feet away from me.  “Was that really necessary?”

“My apologies.”
His cheeks flushed.  “I warned you there could be side effects.”

“Some warning,”
I muttered.  

 “We need to get
upstairs.  Your boyfriend is starting to give Sasha a hard time.”

I ran my fingers
through my hair. “Okay.”  I stood. “You know, he’s not my boyfriend.”

The Enforcer
gave me a look that suggested I was crazy.  “I’m the son of a love goddess.  If
you didn’t have a thing for the nerd, then your hormones would never have
allowed you to see Valhalla.”

I gasped before
punching him in the arm. “Holy Helheim, you’re a pig!”

“A boar is more
like it.” He laughed at my attempt to harm him. “And for the record, assaulting
an Enforcer warrants a
thorough
interrogation.”

“You wouldn’t
dare!”  My fists shook. 

“Take it down a
notch, firefly.  I’m only kidding.”  He gave me a thoughtful look.

I slid my ring
between my thumb and finger.  “Before we go up, I have three more questions for
you.”

“Make it quick.”

“Okay, you
mentioned side effects by being around people while you took my statement. 
What does that mean?”

“Oh,” he
uncomfortably laughed, “you might become addicted to my body.”

“Ah, that’s good
to know.  And second, do you know any contraceptive spells?”  I held my breath.

“Spells? No.  I
can will my semen to find an egg, or will it not to.” His head tilted while he
was lost in thought. 

I felt so
disappointed.  “Maybe your mother can help me?”

“Sorry, she’s
normally off looking for that douchebag husband of hers, Oor.  The rest of the
time she’s about to give birth, or throwing an orgy for her dearly departed,
dead Marines.”  He shrugged. “Although my twin sister may be able to help.”

“Really?”  I
gave him a quick hug.  “That would be great!  When can I meet her?”

“Not so fast.
Caress owns a brothel in Erda that’s open twenty-four/seven.  If you want to
talk to her, you’ll have to meet her there.”

Shit…

“Any more questions?”

“Tell me your
name.” 

He chuckled.
“Marek Winters.”

Declan

“How much longer
do you think they’re going to take?” I practically grunted.  I couldn’t help
it.  My inner baboon was trying to take over.  Another man was with my female
and if he questioned her the same way Officer Chase questioned me, they should
have already been done.

Her tail flickered
back and forth. “Mr. Rivers, please calm down.  Detective Winters is really
good at his job.  He’s probably trying to find some connection…”

“The same way
that you are really good at your job?”  I narrowed my eyes.  The vixen started
questioning me by insisting that I look into her eyes while I spoke.  The next
thing I knew, she had her legs wrapped around my waist with her nails digging
into my shoulders. 

Her eyes
narrowed. “If you don’t like our methods, then file a complaint.  The BCW Board
of Directors’ administrative assistant will do you the honor of shredding it
before their next meeting.”

I continued to
pace. If I didn’t distract my brain soon, I would have gone insane, so I
decided to think about some facts.  Huldras were divided into three different
races: foxes, cows, and tree barks. Strange, but true.  The foxes and cows
mostly looked like human females, except they had the tails of the animal they
were associated with.  The tree bark huldras’ backs were fairly hollow with
skin that was as pretty dense.  Their personalities varied, but generally, the
foxes were sly, wise, and crafty.  Some were known for being empaths or
telepaths, like the one standing in front of me.

It took several
minutes, but I finally came to my senses. 

A ding brought
my attention toward the elevator door.  Finally, Jocelyn stepped into the
hall.  My heart rate began to slow down until I saw the smug look on the
Enforcer’s face.  My inner baboon roared, urging me to rearrange his teeth.

My nose
twitched.  The fresh scent of dawn radiated off both of them.  I can’t remember
ever wanting to hit someone as much as I wanted to hit that… that boar.

The hairy giant
exited Jocelyn’s office carrying a pink duffel bag.  “You done, boss?”

The boar nodded.
“Yeah, we’re done.”  The vein in the side of my neck started to pop when I saw
him placing his hand on Jocelyn’s shoulder. “Do you have any idea where you are
going to stay tonight?”

“Not with you.”
My hands balled into fists.

He raised a brow
while smirking at me. “Thanks, Jocelyn.”

She looked
between the two of us before hooking her arm with mine. “Thanks for
volunteering, Dex.”

The huldra
rolled her eyes while muttering something about men.  Her tail swished one more
time before entering Jocelyn’s office.

“Take this,
monkey-boy.” The ved threw the bag at me. 

My reflexes were
fast enough to catch it, but Jocelyn’s were just as fast.  While I tried to
adjust the strap, she commandeered the bag. “Monkey-boy?”

“Your dad looks
like a monkey in pictures.  So, you are monkey-boy, yeah?”  The ved turned
toward his boss. “We are almost done here.  The brownies are on their way.”

“Good.” The boar
nodded.  He gave Joce’s shoulder a squeeze. “You try to get some rest.”

“Thanks,” she
muttered.  “Good night, Marek.” She turned to Keegan. “Thank you, again.”

“Just doing my
job.” His beady eyes were so black; I doubted she realized he was staring at
her chest.

“I know,” she
said.

“Let’s go,
Joce.” I kissed the top of her head, staking my claim.

Jocelyn

“A brothel?  Seriously,
Joce?”

The duffel bag
slid off my shoulder and landed next to the front door in Dex’s foyer. “What? 
We’re adults.  We can handle it.  Right?”

Dex gave me a
wounded look.  I wanted to tell him that the slut, Officer Sasha Chase, left a
stain on the front of his pants and several holes on the back of his shirt, but
I didn’t have the stomach to. 

“Have you ever
been to Erda?”  Dex asked quietly.  What was with the change in the tone of his
voice?  First, he sounded annoyed and now, he sounded like a little boy.

 “No, but it’s
not like I’m going there for more than an hour or two.  I just need to find
Caress Winters, ask her to share some contraceptive magic, or to recommend one
of her half-sisters who might be interested in starting a new business.  I’m
sure there has to be someone somewhere who would love to exploit demigod
half-breeds.”

He sadly shook
his head. “I grew up in Erda.  It’s no place for a lone Earth-born, no matter
how short you think the trip will last.”

I wanted to yank
out my hair.  Fuck it to Helheim.  I couldn’t understand his reaction.  Maybe
it would just be best to part ways.  “I thought we were partners in this.”  I
pulled out my ring, trying to center my thoughts. “I understand if you want to
back out.  You’ve helped me in more ways than I could ever repay you.”  I bent
down, picking up the duffel bag.  Tears threatened to fall from my eyes.  I
wanted Dex to go too, but only if he weren’t so angry with me.  Besides,
despite his warning, I knew that I was likely to find myself working at a BCW
satellite office in Erda in a week or two anyway.  “Goodbye, Dex…”

The door
slamming behind me echoed down the street.  I left before I lost my nerve. 

A slight squeak
protested behind me.  “Jocelyn, wait.  Come back inside,” Dex called from the
door. 

I kept on
walking.  I didn’t want to argue, and didn’t want him to feel obligated to help
me anymore.  He did his job; now it was time for me to do mine.

“Where are you
going to go?  JOCELYN!”

Nope,
not going to do it.  Just keep walking.
 
I just had to keep putting one foot in front of the other.  I couldn’t even see
where I was going at this point.  There were too many tears leaking out of my
eyes.

I was suddenly
spun around and lifted off my feet so fast, I had no time to react.

“Why are you
being so fucking stubborn?”

My face was only
inches from Dex’s ass.  “Put me down!  I’m not a freaking sack of potatoes.”

“In case you
forgot, someone threatened your life tonight.  This morning, one of your
clients was found dead in your condo, and last night, you disintegrated four
vamps when one bit you.  And if you think for a minute I’m going to let you
take a trip to a cathouse by yourself, you are sadly mistaken.”  The door
slammed behind us.

My brain
couldn’t process what he just said, especially while my head was bouncing back
and forth against his back.  “Dex… Please… Enough with the caveman act.  Put me
down!” Another door slammed open.  Before I knew it, I was being tossed onto
the same bed I woke up in earlier today.

There was a wild
look in his eyes that I didn’t notice earlier.  Holy Helheim, I prayed he
didn’t start beating his chest like a baboon. He paced back and forth in front
of the bed for several minutes before turning back toward me.  I have to admit
I was a little scared of him. 

He stopped to
run his fingers through his hair.  It looked like he wanted to say something,
and he began to at least three times before kneeling down in front of me.  Taking
my hand into his, he said, “Jocelyn, I’m… I’m sorry, but you weren’t going to
stop.  Deep down in my gut, I felt that if I let you leave, I’d never see you
again.”

I chewed on my
lip.  It was true. I would have avoided him as much as possible.  “What do you
want me to say?”

“What do I want
you to say?  I want… I want you to promise to stay here tonight.  I want you to
stop thinking that you are in this alone.  And I want you to promise me that
you won’t go running off to Erda all by yourself.”

I swallowed
hard.  The only thing I could sense from Dex was an undeniable desire to
protect me.  Why?  I had no idea, but it was definitely there.  “Fine.”

“You promise?”

I felt like
rolling my eyes. “Yes, I promise.”

He nodded,
“Good.”  Before I could say or do anything else, he wrapped his arms around
me.  Blissful tingles rushed from our lips straight down to my girly parts. I
couldn’t even remember where I was, let alone, that I was not supposed to kiss
him. 

I gasped as Dex
pulled his lips away from mine.  No worries, his lips gently suckled several
places on my throat until he found the spot that made me feel like I died and
went to Valhalla. He broke contact with my skin for a split second while my
blouse and bra were discarded.  My nipples hardened against his palm.  Who knew
that getting a breast massage could feel so fucking good?

I grasped his
bicep before running my nails up his back and into his hair.

“You smell so
good.”  He nuzzled several kisses down my throat.  I felt his palm sliding down
between my legs.  My hips rolled against his caress.  My brain feebly warned me
to tell him to stop, but my body told it to fuck off.  The friction between his
palm and my sopping wet panties was so intense that nothing except getting him
inside of me mattered at that moment.

“GRRR!!!”

Dex slipped a
finger under the lacy fabric, pressing against my swollen nub.

“GRRR!!!”

“GRRR!!!”

A sharp pain
nipped at my ankle.  It was enough to jar me out of my sex-starved haze.  “What
the Helheim?”

“GRRR!!!”  White
and black wings fluttered in front of me before tail feathers plopped
themselves on my chest.

Dex fell back
onto his ass.  “LONE STARR!  VESPA!”  He looked around.  An ibis flew onto the
bed between us. 

“GRRR!”  The
ibis on my chest squawked back.

Dex ran his fingers
through his hair. He practically shouted at the birds. “I know what I told
you!  Nothing happened, now get out!”  A second bird sat down on my hips.  I
rolled my head to get a better look at Dex.  His happy camper had already
pushed the button of his pants open.  It magnetically seemed to be angled in
the direction of my hips.

A third and
fourth bird flew onto the bed.  “I don’t think they are going to leave.”

“You’re right,
they’re not.”  He gave me a lopsided grin. “You wanted birth control.”

I threw a pillow
at him.

“Hey!”  He shook
his head. “You have no idea how much I want you.”

I pointed to his
erection pushing forward in his pants. “I have no idea what you’re talking
about.”

He ran his hand
through his hair. “I guess I should go take care of this.” I don’t know what
caused the butterflies in my stomach: the look he gave me or his obviously
sizable erection. “Don’t look so scared.”

“Scared?  Me,
nah.”  Despite two birds sitting on top of me, I felt all my girly parts crying
out in protest.  They seemed to be more than willing to try to accommodate him.

“Don’t worry
Joce, it will fit.  I don’t have any doubts.”  He turned to walk into the
bathroom.  Under his breath, he said, “You’ll never want an obnoxious Enforcer
after I…”

“What was that
about an Enforcer?” I sat up.  The ibis on my chest flew onto a pillow.

Dex froze. He
looked over his shoulder at me.  His eyes took on a dark green tone. 

“Oh no!  You
can’t be jealous of Marek.  Dex, the Enforcers use kissing and sex to get
information from people.  I would never be with someone who did that for a
living.  Besides, I noticed the skank that,” I used air quotes, “took your
statement.” I dropped the air quotes. “And she left her mark clearly all over
your crotch.  So, don’t you dare judge me!”

I don’t know
what I expected.  Maybe I wanted him to yell at me.  I felt like I deserved
it.  Here I was, lusting after him from the moment I met him while accepting
what Marek told me without hesitation.

Instead, Dex
laughed.  He laughed so hard, he had to brace himself in the door frame. 
“You’re right.  They do that, don’t they?”  He took a step back toward the bed,
which resulted in several grunts from the ibises.  “Sasha may have gotten wet
for me, but damn, Joce, you smelled like you just fucked that guy.”

My cheeks must
have matched the color of my skirt.  “Is that why you were giving me a hard
time about going to Erda?  Even though it’s none of your business, yes, I had
an orgasm.  That’s it.  He said it happened because I’m hot for you.  It was a
side effect, or something.  You know what I mean, right?  It happened while he
was looking through my memories for information.”  I snapped my lips shut.  It
sounded bad.  And quite frankly, every time I thought about Marek, I felt like
a dirty slut.

Dex was quiet
for a minute as he thought about what I just said.  “I get it.”  He gave me
another glance, and his eyes shifted down toward my girly bits. “You have no
idea what that red skirt has done to my brain.”

“My skirt?” 
Looking down, I saw that it was rolled up past my hips. 

“When a female
baboon is ready to mate, her ass turns red.  My inner baboon wanted to claim
you all night.  And just to warn you, it is
very
territorial.”  With that, he closed the door behind him. I was left alone with
a small flock of ibis and throbbing lady bits. 

After a few
minutes, I decided not to be cruel to Dex.  I slid off the bed in order to grab
my duffel bag.  Surely, my ugly, granny, floral nightgown would be enough to
turn him off.  It wasn’t enough to turn me off, but at least, it may have
helped him keep his distance for the rest of the night. 

I dumped my
clothes, including my drenched panties, into a laundry bag.  A cold shower
sounded good, but that’s what Dex was taking so I decided to see if I could
find some ice instead.  It was worth a try, right? 

A couple of the
birds followed me through the dark hallway toward the stairs that led down to
the foyer.  My eyes started to cross while swerving down the hall.  Holy
Helheim, I was tired.  Halfway down the stairs, I almost turned around to go
lie down. 

No, I needed to
do this.  Knowing that Dex was naked in the shower didn’t help me cool down. 

After looking
for the kitchen by opening a couple of doors, I finally found it.  It had a
sleek, modern look to it.  Cherry cabinets lined the walls and a beige granite
countertop covered the lower cabinets and an island.  The appliances were
stainless steel.  I opened several cabinets until I found one with glasses and
made my way to the refrigerator. 

There was an
automatic ice-maker, so I filled the glass with that.  After looking quickly
around and finding myself alone, I pulled one of the ice cubes from the glass. 
If this didn’t cool my girly parts down, nothing could. 

I sat down on a
backless stool before cautiously easing the piece of ice between my legs.

“I volunteer to
take the ice’s place!” An unfamiliar tenor nearly gave me a heart attack.

“Who the fuck
are you?”  My face burned as the lights flicked on. 

“I should be the
one asking you that, Granny.” He smirked as his icy blue eyes traveled down my
nightgown, stopping at the hand that was just out of sight. 

I dropped the
ice back into the glass before crossing my arms in front of my chest. “I asked
you first.”

He ran his
fingers through his short dirty blond hair. “Fine, lass. Don’t get your
knickers in a twist.”  He grinned. “That is, if you’re wearing any.” 

I pressed my
knees together while pulling down the nightgown as far as it would go.

“My name’s Finley
Fields and I live here.”  His Gaelic lilt was fairly subtle.  He opened the
fridge to retrieve a beer.  “Now you know who I am.” 

I vaguely
recalled Dex mentioning he had housemates.  “Sorry, Dex is letting me stay
over.  I hope that’s okay with you.”