Free Inked Destiny by Jory Strong

not going to be responsible for what happens next.” There was a distinct growl in his voice.
    It chased away the doubt. “I need to get the drawings to Detective Ordoñes.”
    “I’ll do it while you draw the rest of it.”
    “You could pass them off to the captain instead of going back to Oakland. He’s on this side of the bay. I could call ahead.”
    “Works for me.” He gave her another upside-down kiss then straightened.
    She tore a sheet from her tablet and wrote down the address of a house she hadn’t entered in years, though once she’d called it home. After taking Cathal’s offered cellphone, she punched in the captain’s number.
    “Chevenier,” he answered.
    “Cathal’s bringing the drawings over now. You can hand them off to Ordoñes.”
    “Bring them yourself. I want you to stay here for a while.”
    Oh yeah, that’d go over well with the captain’s wife. The results of the paternity test Laura had insisted on all those years ago hadn’t diminished the animosity. If anything, it’d increased it, because the captain refused to let it be known that he didn’t have a bastard child after all.
    “I’m good where I am.” The traitorous part of her that still believed reconciliation was possible added, “But I appreciate the offer.”
    “Etaín—”
    “Captain—”
    “He was giving you CPR when I came to,” Cathal said from above her, sidetracking her, stalling out an argument that was sure to come around to her choice of men and the captain’s lack of approval.
    “I guess I owe you thanks, for what you did at the hospital.” She cringed at how that came out but forged ahead. “A lot has happened today. I just want to curl up on the couch and chill. Is it okay if Cathal brings the drawings over? I’m not sure they’ll be useful, Kelvin was outside behind the bar, but I figure Ordoñes still wants them as soon as possible.”
    “I’ll get them to him.”
    “Thanks, Captain.”
    There was a long silence. Her pain. His. It was there, shimmering between them, constricting her throat and turning her fingers white as they tightened on the phone and she fought against speaking again just to call him Dad.
    He broke first. “You need to take a step away from your current situation, Etaín, so you can see it more clearly. Stay with Parker if you don’t want to stay here, or better yet, get out of the city for a while.”
    She nearly laughed but she was afraid it’d sound hysterical rather than amused. Knowing the captain, he’d have her locked up for her own good if she started talking about magic and Elves and the gift she was losing control of.
    “You’ve made your point. I’m hanging up now.”
    She handed the phone to Cathal, following it by gathering up the sketches and rolling them, using a rubber band to keep them that way. She rose to her feet and Cathal did the same behind her, his arms going around her waist, holding her to his body.
    Wonderful lips found her neck, making pleasure shiver through her with soft kisses and small, sucking bites. “Think about me while I’m off being your errand boy?”
    She tilted her head to give him better access. “Errand boy? I’ve got you starring in the role of well-hung cabana boy.”
    Heat coiled in her belly as she remembered the last time she’d been here, and just what he’d done to and for her during a late night session in the hot tub. Her nipples went hard and tight, ache spreading outward from those center points of desire when he pulled her shirt from the waistband of her jeans then pushed beneath it, firm possessive hands stroking her abdomen before moving upward, forcing her bra ahead of them so he could cup naked flesh.
    She needed this. She wanted to lose herself in him, in whatthey’d found together despite the reason for his first seeking her out.
    She moaned and felt his smile against her neck. “I think I can do cabana boy to your sex goddess.”
    “Sex goddess. I like the sound of that. Bring on the