Read Online Impulse: Southern Arcana, Book 5 by Moira Rogers - Free Book Online
Authors: Moira Rogers
Ads: Link
protectiveness that warmed her.
She could drown in him. It would be so easy. So very, very good.
“Thank you,” she whispered, and her lips tingled. Her whole body felt wild with the urge to climb over the table. Or under it. Curl up against him, stroke and touch and kiss. Rub against him until their scents were unmistakably entwined.
She just wanted him.
“You’re welcome.” He stretched his hand across the tabletop, open and waiting.
So dangerous. She held her breath as she settled her hand on top of his, her fingers looking pale and small against his callused palm.
“What time do you attend mass? Eight? Eleven?”
“Nine.” Oh, she was breathless. “Though I have to work late, so maybe eleven’s smarter.”
“Eleven,” he agreed. “Then we’ll get lunch and go see your mom.”
“Okay.” Temptation beckoned, and she gave in, rubbing the pad of her thumb along the side of his index finger. Her skin was too tight, leaving every nerve exposed.
His fingers clenched for a split second before sliding free of hers. “Okay.”
The loss hit her in the gut, too hard and too intense for something so trivial, and the truth settled around her like a judgment.
She was entirely, completely screwed. And she hadn’t even taken her pants off yet.
Chapter Five
Anna had called the concealed-carry paperwork a bitch. Sera was starting to think she’d been too generous. “So I still need to go get fingerprinted, get a passport photo and dig up the paperwork from my divorce?”
Jackson finished signing her training form with a flourish. “You can go to McNeely’s station house for the printing. He’ll take care of you.”
Sera reached across the receptionist’s desk for a Post-it note and scribbled down that instruction. The desk was neater than she’d ever seen it, with most of the knickknacks stacked to one side. Holt and Jacobson Investigations was down one partner and one assistant with Kat and Alec out of town, which made the office seem lonely.
It made Jackson look a little worn around the edges too, though Sera supposed fatherhood could be partly to blame for that. “Any luck finding someone to replace Kat?”
The corner of his mouth ticked up. “I hired a part-timer, but I think we both know there’s no replacing Kat.”
“No, I suppose not.” Sera added passport photo and call about divorce paperwork to her list of tasks. “She texted me this morning. They’re on their way back up to Wyoming soon. I think Kat’s planning to stay there until Nicole has her baby, even if it could still be a few months.”
“Not surprised. Kat’s crazy about that kid already.”
“She really is.” Whatever reservations Kat had about having kids of her own clearly didn’t extend to playing enthusiastic aunt to her cousin’s offspring. Derek and Nicole’s baby was going to have a baker’s dozen of doting aunts and uncles, assuming any of them could get past Derek in overprotective daddy mode.
A baby. Sometimes Sera wanted one so much it hurt, and she couldn’t even pretend it was all the coyote, though the coyote was the reason she couldn’t think about it. Each generation seemed destined to suffer more than the last, and she would not do that to a child.
Though if the father wasn’t a coyote…
She trampled the thought before it could finish forming and swiftly changed the subject. “Speaking of adorable kids and the people who are crazy about them, how’s Cody doing?”
A sudden smile chased the exhaustion from his features. “Eight going on eighteen. I don’t know how Mackenzie’s going to handle the next ten years without going nuts.”
Mackenzie knew all about being valued only for her ability to save her species from extinction. Faced with the choice between the cougar she didn’t love and the human she did, she’d chosen love. And then she’d chosen to adopt a young wolf who needed a family.
Josh would probably call her a freak, too. Sera could think of worse company to be in.
She could drown in him. It would be so easy. So very, very good.
“Thank you,” she whispered, and her lips tingled. Her whole body felt wild with the urge to climb over the table. Or under it. Curl up against him, stroke and touch and kiss. Rub against him until their scents were unmistakably entwined.
She just wanted him.
“You’re welcome.” He stretched his hand across the tabletop, open and waiting.
So dangerous. She held her breath as she settled her hand on top of his, her fingers looking pale and small against his callused palm.
“What time do you attend mass? Eight? Eleven?”
“Nine.” Oh, she was breathless. “Though I have to work late, so maybe eleven’s smarter.”
“Eleven,” he agreed. “Then we’ll get lunch and go see your mom.”
“Okay.” Temptation beckoned, and she gave in, rubbing the pad of her thumb along the side of his index finger. Her skin was too tight, leaving every nerve exposed.
His fingers clenched for a split second before sliding free of hers. “Okay.”
The loss hit her in the gut, too hard and too intense for something so trivial, and the truth settled around her like a judgment.
She was entirely, completely screwed. And she hadn’t even taken her pants off yet.
Chapter Five
Anna had called the concealed-carry paperwork a bitch. Sera was starting to think she’d been too generous. “So I still need to go get fingerprinted, get a passport photo and dig up the paperwork from my divorce?”
Jackson finished signing her training form with a flourish. “You can go to McNeely’s station house for the printing. He’ll take care of you.”
Sera reached across the receptionist’s desk for a Post-it note and scribbled down that instruction. The desk was neater than she’d ever seen it, with most of the knickknacks stacked to one side. Holt and Jacobson Investigations was down one partner and one assistant with Kat and Alec out of town, which made the office seem lonely.
It made Jackson look a little worn around the edges too, though Sera supposed fatherhood could be partly to blame for that. “Any luck finding someone to replace Kat?”
The corner of his mouth ticked up. “I hired a part-timer, but I think we both know there’s no replacing Kat.”
“No, I suppose not.” Sera added passport photo and call about divorce paperwork to her list of tasks. “She texted me this morning. They’re on their way back up to Wyoming soon. I think Kat’s planning to stay there until Nicole has her baby, even if it could still be a few months.”
“Not surprised. Kat’s crazy about that kid already.”
“She really is.” Whatever reservations Kat had about having kids of her own clearly didn’t extend to playing enthusiastic aunt to her cousin’s offspring. Derek and Nicole’s baby was going to have a baker’s dozen of doting aunts and uncles, assuming any of them could get past Derek in overprotective daddy mode.
A baby. Sometimes Sera wanted one so much it hurt, and she couldn’t even pretend it was all the coyote, though the coyote was the reason she couldn’t think about it. Each generation seemed destined to suffer more than the last, and she would not do that to a child.
Though if the father wasn’t a coyote…
She trampled the thought before it could finish forming and swiftly changed the subject. “Speaking of adorable kids and the people who are crazy about them, how’s Cody doing?”
A sudden smile chased the exhaustion from his features. “Eight going on eighteen. I don’t know how Mackenzie’s going to handle the next ten years without going nuts.”
Mackenzie knew all about being valued only for her ability to save her species from extinction. Faced with the choice between the cougar she didn’t love and the human she did, she’d chosen love. And then she’d chosen to adopt a young wolf who needed a family.
Josh would probably call her a freak, too. Sera could think of worse company to be in.
Similar Books
