Desiree Holt - Caught in the Middle

“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.

The same wasn’t true for him. When his shift was over, he had to return to his home and hear the complaints of the five vampire clan elders, who were constantly involved in power struggles-and that was on a slow day. Most nights, he was outside, hovering beneath the silver moon, tuning into the pulse of the night, listening for sounds in the darkness for any indication that something was amiss in his city.

No, Roarke didn’t understand why his life wasn’t just an endless orgy, because he didn’t have the weight of an entire city on his shoulders. It wasn’t just the vampire clans either. Humans, lycans, witches, and dark fey all came to his door to voice their concerns if a rogue vampire was on the loose, or if one of his kind messed up and harmed another species.

His life had not been carefree for almost fifty years, since he’d assumed control of Sin City from a rogue vamp.

At the time, he’d been fresh and eager to control his own city, to wield such power over several clans. As the youngest of five siblings, he’d been the last to inherit such an honoured responsibility, but now he understood why two of his brothers had turned their cities over to other elder vampires after finding their mates. It was an all consuming job, which left little time for anything else, and in his case, that also included meaningless sex and frivolous dating.

“I don’t think I’m being uptight about any of this. I’m just considering what could happen if we don’t think about this before we enter into an eight-hour fuck fest, as you seem to be so eager to do. Besides, I would think with your carefree life, the thought of getting any woman pregnant would scare the shit out of you.”

A lazy grin spread across Roarke’s face as he lowered his large frame into the same chair Collette had just deserted. “You forget, I’ve done this before, and there are no kittens and puppies walking around here. Actually, the last lycan I slept with was in her mating season, and it was no big deal. I shared her with another vamp, and it was all good.”

His brows lifted. He was sure it was all good. “And how did you keep her from getting pregnant then?” He wasn’t even sure he wanted to know, because then he’d have no excuse to turn down Collette. He was counting on her not being able to come up with a spell , because if she did, they were both going to be in some deep trouble.

“I don’t know.” Roarke shrugged. “I think she used some kind of temporary infertility spell on both of us. Whatever it was, it obviously worked. But it really doesn’t matter because Collette’s right. As long as we’re not heart mates then there’s no real chance of us getting her knocked up. Still, if it bothers you, I can ask my friend. It’s been a few decades, but I’m sure, if I call her up, she could remember.”

He frowned. “I’m sure Collette will figure it out if this spell is so common .” “Which is lucky for you, eh?”