Harlequin's Deception (The Naked Truth Series Book 1) Read online

  For a honky-tonk, they sure had amazing steaks. He’d ordered them two porterhouse steaks, rare. Cash polished off his and half of hers.

  He also finished half of her stuffed baked potato, his stuffed baked potato, a dinner salad, and half a dozen rolls. Werewolves could really pack away the food, and you would never see an ounce of fat on them. At least not Cash.

  Harley wished she had that kind of metabolism. The waitress came back and he ordered dessert. Two for him and one for her. After they polished off the meal and three pitchers of beer, it was time to go.

  He left the tired waitress a very hefty tip.

  “Want to spend the night?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” He pressed a kiss against the pulse of her neck before opening the truck door. He picked her up, sliding her against his body as he sat her in the truck seat.

  The heat between them flared instantly. His hands lingered on her waist before he closed the door and went around to start the truck.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  After they pulled out onto the highway, Cash undid her seat belt and motioned for her to slide closer to him. Normally she wouldn’t ride in a vehicle without the seatbelt, but hormones sometimes over road common sense.

  Cash slid his hand up along her thigh, kneading the flesh beneath her jeans. His hand felt hot against the fabric. His hand slid farther up rubbing her crotch, massaging the area.

  Was it her, or was it getting hot in here? She spread her legs more, allowing him easier access. Their clothes may have been on, but he knew how to turn her on with or without them.

  He slid his hand up to her waistband, undoing the button and sliding down her zipper. He played with the flesh just above her waistband before sliding beneath her panties.

  One long finger found her clitoris. He rubbed it in a circular motion. Swirling it gently around until she gasped. Using his thumb and forefinger he rolled her clitoris around before squeezing it.

  Her breath came in gasps when he slid his hand down further finding her wetness. She looked over at him. His eyes never left the road while he stroked in and out of her.

  She squirmed in the seat trying hard not to bump into his leg. He continued to stroke her, fast and then slow and gentle. Alternating paces while still paying attention to her clitoris. Finally, he began to stroke her g-spot as the truck ate up the miles towards Cash’s house.

  His voice was low and guttural. “Cum for me Harley.”

  Harley let the tension out of her body and closed her eyes. Concentrating only on the sensations he was giving her. He now curled two fingers inside of her, continuing to hit her g-spot.

  She threw her head back letting out a moan. She was close to cumming. So, close.

  “Cum for me Harley.” The voice was more commanding now. It was deeper partly from him being turned on and partly from his beast. He had fought earlier and now he was turned on. Sex, violence, and blood often called one’s animal instincts.

  Finally, she felt her muscles tense. She knew an orgasm was coming and it was going to be a big one. She let out a loud moan as the orgasm hit her body. Her muscles convulsed around his fingers.

  Cash continued to work her until she nearly collapsed against his hand. Pulling his hand out of her pants he licked and sucked off every drop of her juice.

  “You always taste so damn good.”

  “You always make me feel so damn good.”

  “Darling, I am just beginning. We have so much to explore.”

  Harley was surprised to find that they were close to his house. Five minutes later they were pulling into to his drive.

  He hopped out of the truck coming around to her side. After opening her door, he grabbed her legs, taking off her boots, socks, and jeans.

  He lived far enough out, they could have danced around the place naked and no one would have seen them. Harley looked him in the eyes as he continued to undress her.

  He took off her jacket, undid her blouse and slipped it over her shoulders. He kissed and bit along her bare skin, leaving marks as he went.

  Quickly undoing her bra, he pulled her breasts free and enclosed one pink nipple in his mouth. His tongue lashed across her hardening nipple leaving a path of heat.

  He bit harder on her nipple than normal and it elicited a scream of pleasure. He was the only person that confused her pleasure-pain center.

  His nails lightly scraped her back, his hands grabbing her waist and pulling her to the edge of the seat.

  Harley nearly ripped the buttons off his shirt getting them undone. She wanted, no needed to feel his bare skin under her hands. She slid her arms around to his back, digging her nails into his skin, as he bit along her breasts and down her stomach.

  Gazing into his eyes she could see they had begun to change to gold. Soon they would be glowing. She had seen his eyes before when he had been close to changing.

  Cash didn’t bother to take off any of his clothes. He undid his belt, and jeans, sliding them down low on his hips. He scooted her closer and slid into her. It was like silk on steel.

  He was so hard, she felt full when he was inside of her. She thought he might even be bigger than he normally was, if that was even possible.

  “Fuck me, Harley. Fuck me hard.”

  She moved her hips to meet his. She could hear him slapping up against her as he slid in and out of her wetness. Her nails digging deeper into his back with every thrust.

  She felt his skin give way at points beneath her nails and knew he was bleeding. He would heal.

  He thrust faster and faster. Harley’s moans turned almost guttural, into near growls. He drew her upright standing with her.

  She wrapped her legs around him and he slid even deeper inside of her. She almost felt like she was being impaled. It was a good kind of impalement. Her breath came in pants as he continued thrusting in and out of her.

  Cash’s muscles began to tighten low in his body. She knew he was about to cum. He thrust into her one last time, holding himself deep inside her as the orgasm racked his body.

  He threw back his head and howled. She clung to him. Arms and legs wrapped around his body. He held her there for several minutes before sliding out of her.

  Cash shifted Harley’s body so he could pull up his pants before cradling her in his arms. He carried her to the front of the house, adjusting her so he could open the door.

  She felt like a princess being carried across the threshold. He kicked the door closed behind them and carried her into the living room laying her down on the couch.

  He stood only long enough to strip off all his clothes. “Sit up for me Harley.”

  She sat up and he scooted her butt to the edge of the couch, spreading her legs wide. He was on his knees looking at her. “Every part of you is beautiful.”

  With the look on his face as he said that, Harley could almost believe she was beautiful. Almost.

  Cash buried his face in Harley’s juicy pussy. He started with her clitoris. It was like he was French kissing her clitoris. It was driving her mad.

  He moved down a little lapping her outer lips. He licked and sucked like he was a starving man. He seemed to savor every drop of her nectar.

  Harley’s legs seemed to move of their own accord wrapping around his shoulders. Her pelvis lifting off the couch to ensure he could delve deeper with his talented tongue.

  He sucked her outer lips into his mouth, nibbling gently until she bucked and gasped. He glanced up at her a wolfish grin on his face.

  Cash was enjoying this as much as she was. He moved back up to her clitoris swirling his tongue in circles. He flicked his tongue across the very tip causing Harley to buck and moan. Sucking on her clit hard brought her to an earth-shattering orgasm.

  Her legs felt wobbly. She also felt a little lightheaded. Cash inserted two fingers deep inside of her in the middle of her orgasm.

  “Oh, Fuck!!!!!!!” The scream like moan tore from her lips. She swore she heard Cash chuckle as another orgasmic wave hit her body.
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  As he continued, Harley’s body hit a rhythm, it hadn’t hit in a while, and the orgasms started coming back to back.

  She lost count of the orgasms. Cash eventually stopped, easing her back on the couch, and laying down beside her.

  He pulled her into his arms tucking her head under his chin. Harley couldn’t think of any place else she would rather be.

  The entire day was such a whirlwind. They had gone on their first public date. He asked her to start dating. She had even met a few of his friends at the festival.

  It had been years since Harley felt this good. The only problem was, it scared the hell out her. She wanted to say yes, yet part of her was paralyzed with fear.

  Cash must have sensed her thoughts were troubled. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

  “Just thinking. It’s dangerous sometimes.”

  She tried to joke it off. He let it slide.

  “Let’s have a nice hot bath and get some sleep.”

  He carried Harley up the stairs and into his bathroom. He had a tub that was large enough for them with some room left. It took about five minutes for it to fill.

  Cash added some essential oils and bubbles. She loved bubbles. Getting two Turkish bath sheets from the linen closet, he laid them next to the bath.

  He picked Harley up stepping into the tub with her. The water was hot. Almost too hot, yet it felt wonderful. Harley lay her back against his chest. Cash started washing her. He spent several minutes tenderly washing every inch of her body.

  She was slightly sore from the sex. The hot water eased the soreness. Cash took extra care in washing between her legs and her outer lips.

  The talk between them was casual. Harley found herself relaxing. She was getting sleepy. Her eyelids fluttered shut a few times.

  Cash stood up lifting her out of the tub and drying her off. He carried her to bed and tucked her in before going back and draining the tub.

  The last thing Harley remembered was Cash drawing her back against his body. She snuggled in his warmth. He always smelled so good. It was a combination of the essential oils in the bath, and beyond that was the smell of the woods.

  He smelled like nature. Fresh, clean and a little musty like a wolf. Harley murmured “Yes,” as she fell asleep.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Cash’s phone went off waking her up. He answered and handed it to her. “It’s for you.”

  “Hello.”

  “Harley this is Lieutenant Meyers. We have another murder. Can you come to the scene?

  “Sure. Where is it? How many? Is it the same type of murder?”

  “In Broken Arrow. It’s another family. Six people altogether.”

  Cash handed Harley a notepad and pen. She quickly wrote down the address. “I will be there as soon as I can. It will be about an hour and a half.”

  “The evidence isn’t going anywhere. See you when you get here.”

  Harley didn’t have to ask where he had gotten the number. She was certain the Mrs. Reyes would have given it to him. She had no idea where her cell phone had gotten off to.

  “Let me drive you back home. Maybe you should keep some clothes here.”

  “That’s an excellent idea.”

  Cash went out to the truck and retrieved her phone, clothes, and purse. Five minutes later they were headed to her house. Harley quickly changed and grabbed her gear. She ran down to the lab long enough to stuff several potions in her bag.

  She and Emery had made several new potions geared toward vampires. Cash had given her a quick kiss when he dropped her off. She said she would text him when she was done.

  It took her a little over 90 minutes to find the Broken Arrow address. This was another farm. Out in the middle of nowhere. The police didn’t have a problem showing her into the house, once she showed her credentials.

  Meyers was standing close to the entry way of the two-story brick house.

  “Shall we inspect the scene?”

  She braced herself and followed him. Meyers led her down a short hallway and into what looked like a dining room. Only this scene was out of some horror movie.

  All six of the family members had been sitting around the table when they were slaughtered. It was really the only word for it. Blood covered nearly every inch of the room in some form.

  Great pools of blood spilled under each chair. Spatters covered the walls and even the ceiling. Harley couldn’t tell the bodies apart readily. They had been so mutilated it would take some time for her to identify the differences.

  None of the bodies looked like they had been small children. She was thankful for that. Harley used the same potion as before to identify the type of assailant.

  The potion once again pointed to vampires. It would take the lab much longer to sort this scene out. There weren’t enough pieces readily available to identify bite or claw marks.

  “Did you have a chance to interrogate Perovsky?”

  Meyers shook his head. “We seem to be having trouble finding a judge in Texas that wants to sign a warrant for him.”

  “What is he, some kind of old time gangster?”

  “I don’t know. I have never really met with this kind of resistance before. Not to just bring a man in for questioning.

  “The judges are saying we need more proof. If they are going to bring in a high-profile member of the community, they need a reason.”

  “High-profile member of the community? Is he that well known?”

  “Apparently he donates large sums of money to local charities. He also donates heavily to the police and fire stations in Dallas.”

  “They don’t want to lose their pocket book unless we have concrete proof against this guy. Damn.

  “I can tell that these are the same vampires. Even if it takes a few days for the results to come back. The problem is identifying all or any of them. If we can tie one of them to Perovsky, we can tie the rest of them too him. I think we need to determine a motive. Perhaps work the case backward. We already have cause of death. Time of death won’t take long to figure out. The suspects are firm. Now, we just need to know why. The why should tie us to the suspects.”

  “In this case, we know it’s a group of vampires. We have every reason to believe they belong to Perovsky and not to Luc.

  “Though until we know the motive, I don’t think we should rule out any of the broods in the area.

  “We could be going in blind if we focus only on Perovsky.”

  Meyers shook his head. “You talk more like a cop every day. Are you certain you don’t want to apply for the force?”

  “Yeah. I will pass on training. Plus, I am just a little too curvy to pass the physical.”

  “Curves or no, you would make one hell of a cop.”

  “I’m not arguing. I just like being a witch.”

  “You are an amazing witch. I agree with your line of thinking. We need to search for a motive. We also need to talk to more vampires.

  “I am going to start pulling files. Any vampire with a criminal record will be called in. We can shake them down and possibly get some information.”

  “It’s worth a try. Just about anything is worth a try at this point. We need a real break on this case. I kind of feel like I am beating my head against a wall.

  “The murders seem so random. The college students in the woods on a vampire’s property. A farmhouse in rural Texas and now another rural murder, another family.”

  “Why don’t you come back to the station? You can use the police computers. There is a small private office near mine you can use.”

  “Thanks. Good plan.”

  There was not much left for Harley to do to the crime scene. She was mostly called in for her magical expertise. The family had been killed by paranormal entities, but not by paranormal type abilities.

  They were killed by physical means. There had to be some connection between the killings. Harley just wasn’t sure where to begin looking.

  The best thing would be to start with the first victims. If she
went over her vision again mentally, perhaps she could find a clue.

  She also planned on revisiting the area again. She would call and leave a message for Luc letting him know she would be searching his property again tomorrow. Harley hadn’t had the time to go over everything with a fine-tooth comb.

  She knew she had to be missing something. There was some small detail that had been missed. One that would crack the case wide open. Of that much she was sure.

  Harley decided to stop by a deli and stock up. She also let Mrs. Reyes know she would be home late tonight. After she sent that text she sent one to Cash letting him know she would be at the police station for hours.

  She settled into the small office. The first thing she pulled up was a list of the college students from the first murder scene.

  Writing down a list of all the names of the victims. She’d just received the newest ones. She had a wild idea and put all their names into ancestry dot com.

  Harley spent the next three hours’ cross-referencing the victims’ families and their backgrounds. Though none of them were related they had one thing in common. They each had a relative that attended the same European college back in the 1800s.

  This case just became more curious. She was reasonably sure vampires did not show up on the normal genealogical searches.

  She had a hunch that one of the vampires living in the area had gone to the same school. There was a lot of information on the internet, but she doubted that there was a college yearbook online that dated back that far.

  Harley would have to find another way to research. She didn’t want to bring attention to the information she’d found until she had some more concrete proof.

  She took two more hours to make detailed notes on everything she had found. She would also consult with Emery when she made it home if he was still awake.

  If he was sleeping she could always talk to him tomorrow. As it was she needed to get home. Her eyes were bleary from staring too long at the computer.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  The phone woke Harley up. That was two mornings in a row. She hoped, as she fumbled for the phone, that there had been no other murders.