Succubus Lost (Files from the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency, #2) by Tiffany Allee Page A

swallowed. I did my best not to reach out and run my fingers down his hard chest while he pulled the material over his head.
    As he straightened his T-shirt, I licked my lips and met his intense gaze. I knew that the heat I felt was plain to see on my face, but his expression didn’t harden, it smoldered.
    His nostrils flared, like he was an animal who’d caught my scent, and I blinked in surprise.
    I took an involuntary step back and dropped my eyes.
    “Sorry,” I mumbled. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was apologizing for, but it seemed like the right thing to say. It was the only thing I could think of, anyway.
    “I, um...” He cleared his throat. “Just needed to get in a quick shower. You were longer than I expected.
    I took a deep breath, air through my nose, slowly out my mouth. “I tried a locator spell with Natalie. She’s the Covenant witch the department uses.”
    “And?”
    Business. Focus on business. Focus on working the case.
    Focus on finding Elaine. “No dice. She’s either blocked by magic, out of Natalie’s range, or…” The thought that Elaine might be dead stomped out the last bit of my lust.
    “What’s this information you couldn’t give me over the phone?”
    Finding bravery in my resolve, I looked back to his face. His expression had hardened to its normal cold calculation. None of the fire remained, and I suddenly wondered if I’d imagined it. No. I was a lot of things, but sexually unobservant was not one of them. As a succubus I had an inhuman grip on my sexuality, and that of those around me. It was my natural gift, my natural weapon.
    My natural curse.
    I didn’t think about it much, anymore. But standing in front of him, I wondered if my aura of sexuality affected him. Well, it almost certainly did on some level—the aura wasn’t something I could turn off—but he might be able to ignore it, for the most part. After all, it didn’t make me that much more noticeable than your average attractive woman, just a smidgeon more—just enough to make me a bit more distracting than most.
    “I owe you an apology.”
    My eyes widened, and red crept up his neck.
    “I made a bad assumption, about you flirting with the security man. That wasn’t fair of me. I know that you have to use what you’ve got to get information from people in this business.” He shook his head and a bit of damp hair clung to his forehead, and I made a fist to avoid reaching out to brush it away. “It makes sense, your approach. I just…reacted.”

    I nodded, unable to speak for a moment, and a strange feeling spread through my chest. “Do you have something against succubi, Costa? Or do you just react that strongly to all the people you work with?”
    He flinched. “That’s none of your business.”
    “I think it is. If we’re going to work together on this, I need to know that I can trust you to have my back.” His face reddened. “You can trust me, but I’m not going to get into my fucking personal business with you.” Oh yes. Valerio Costa had some personal issues with my species and me. I frowned at him but didn’t push. The likelihood of him confiding in me now was somewhere between zero and none.
    “Look, I’m sorry for how I reacted earlier.” He cleared his throat and gestured toward the desk. “Maybe you should sit down.”
    “Come on, whatever you tell me can’t be any more shocking than that apology.” I gave him a small smile, but he didn’t return it. Instead, he ran his fingers through his hair and looked down. I shoved my chin farther up. “I’m fine. Just spit it out, please.”
    “It’s Wendy.” He reached forward and grasped my shoulder, and for a brief moment I wanted to lean into that grip, into his body. Let someone comfort me for once.
    But I couldn’t do that. For one, he’d almost definitely push me away. For another, it was too dangerous. Comfort too easily led to other things. So I tried to focus on what he was saying, clinging to Wendy’s name like a