Free As Midnight Loves the Moon by Beth D. Carter Page A

take care of his…body. How was he able to touch
the Blessed Blade?”
    “He was wearing gloves. I know
there’s a spell sorcerers can use to protect us from light-blessed items, but
the bigger issue here is that he was turned and then starved,” Wayde said. “He
went feral because of it. This was a vendetta against Sebastian.”
    “Shade cops have a lot of vendettas
against them,” Alex replied. “Again, something I’m going to let the Council
handle. In fact, I’m going to ask for a leave of absence. They’ll probably
reassign us all and I don’t want to leave Shade Rock. There’s too much here for
me.”
    “Like what?”
    “Like you. Like Daphne,” Alex
whispered. He groaned and faced Wayde. “I was so focused on you because of what
you made me feel that I convinced myself you had to be the rogue, instead of
looking at the clues around me. That doesn’t make me a very effective cop.”
    “Alex,” Wayde said softly. “You are
an effective cop. You protected me and you saved countless humans.”
    He was close enough now to see the
details of Alex’s beautiful face. They stared at each other, eye-to-eye, since
they were almost the same height. Alex might have half an inch on him. He saw the
cop’s gaze drop to his lips and linger. His mouth suddenly felt dry so Wayde swiped
his tongue over his lips and heard Alex groan deep in his chest.
    “Stop it,” he ordered and then
pushed Wayde back. “Don’t stand so close to me when things need to get done. We
almost died a second ago!”
    “I know. You’re right. I’m sorry.”
    Alex took a deep breath. “I need to
call the Council. Wait for me?”
    “Of course.”
    The Council meant Simon. Wayde
grimaced. Great. Things hadn’t gone too well at their
breakup, so the reunion should be quite interesting. He watched as Alex walked
a little ways away to place his call, which reminded Wayde to check in with
Daphne. He dug out his own cell phone and called his condo. She answered before
the first ring was finished.
    “Wayde?” she asked, a bit breathless.
    “Yes, sweetheart. It’s over.”
    “You…took care of the murderer? And
you’re okay?”
    “Yes. Actually, Alex found me and
we fought him together.”
    “Thank goodness! I’ve been so
worried.”
    “We’re worried about you.”
    “Alex is with you now?”
    “He’s taking care of the paperwork,
I suppose you could say,” he told her. “I’ll be home before dawn.”
    “I know,” she said softly. “I’ll
see you soon.”
    “Okay.”
    Wayde hung up and pocketed his
phone. He turned to look at Alex and drew his breath in sharply. The man really
was extraordinary to gaze upon. He was rugged and raw, and Wayde wondered how
he’d gotten so lucky to have found him. Once this little matter was cleared up,
he and Alex would take Daphne to Los
Angeles to see what their options were about helping
her get better. Last resort, he’d change her, but he would have to be very
explicit about what it meant to be a vampire.
    “They’re on their way,” Alex
announced. “They should be here any minute.”
    “Then I only have a moment to say
this,” Wayde said. “Do you remember the other night at the bar?”
    Alex nodded, his whiskey eyes
glowing in the moonlight.
    “I was in that bar, Alex, to seduce
you. It’d been a while since I’d quenched my sexual thirst and I was attracted
to you.” He saw Alex’s eyes darken with desire and all Wayde wanted to do was
pull him in closer, to lose himself in Alex’s body. To fuck
him over and over, until they were too spent to even walk straight.
    “I kissed you,” he continued. “I
tasted you, and before I knew it, my mating pheromones began to leak out of me.
Ever since you and Daphne came into my life I’ve been…consumed. I wanted to
catch the rogue because I needed you to believe in me.”
    Alex put a finger across his lip. “I
do, Wayde. I’m sorry I didn’t listen. Forgive me?”
    “Of course,” he mumbled around