Free Ciaran (Bourbon & Blood) by Seraphina Donavan Page A

quivered as the pleasure built. She cried out as she peaked, her muscles clenching rhythmically as he pressed deeper into her. His body tensed against her, a shudder wracked him, and then he followed her over that knife’s edge of pleasure.
    In the aftermath, neither of them spoke. For the moment, they were cocooned in their own little world, in the pleasure that had been given and taken in one another. His arms closed around her, holding her to him, and she snuggled against the hard wall of his chest, content for the moment to simply savor the closeness and let their convoluted history simmer in the background. She’d take what she could, and when he walked away from her again, as she was certain he would, she’d be strong enough to watch him do it with her head held high. At the very least, she’d be strong enough to fake it.

6
    M att stared at the screen of his laptop with bleary eyes. He’d been awake for more than twenty-four hours, and at least twenty of those hours had been pure hell.
    “Burning the midnight oil, Crawford?”
    Matt looked up to see Jenkins walking toward his desk. He was relatively new to the force, transferred in from Western Kentucky. He was also one of the prime suspects in leaking the information about Loralei’s whereabouts. “This mess with my sister is making me crazy…If I don’t get it figured out soon, I’m gonna lose it.”
    Jenkins nodded as he refilled his coffee cup. “Heard about the boyfriend’s place getting shot up. That’s a real clusterfuck. Any leads?”
    “Our drug dealer in custody has suddenly decided that there really is honor among thieves…he’s clammed up as tight as Fort Knox. I have a string of Russian first names and a couple of bars where they might be holed up, but no luck pinning them down anywhere, so far.”
    Jenkins nodded again. “Too bad you can’t just beat it out of him.”
    Matt chuckled in response. “Yeah. It’s not the Wild West anymore.”
    “Your sister safe for now?” Jenkins asked.
    The opportunity had literally fallen into his lap, which made Matt even more suspicious. “Yeah. She and Ciaran are laying low at my apartment for now…but that’s just between us.”
    “Not a problem, man. I’ll keep it quiet. I’m heading out to get some sleep. You should too. You look like hell.”
    “As soon as these reports are done…Hell, I might crash here. Better than being a third wheel in my own damn house,” Matt joked.
    Jenkins chuckled. “I hear that,” he agreed as he walked away.
    When the man was out of sight, Matt closed his computer and grabbed his keys and jacket. Heading out the back door, he climbed behind the wheel of Kaitlyn’s little sports car. She was a pain in the ass, but she had amazing taste in automobiles. It was the flashiest undercover vehicle he’d ever been in, that was for damn sure.
    The drive to his apartment didn’t take long. While Lexington traffic was a beast in the daytime, at night the city went dead quiet. Rather than let himself in, he settled down to watch and wait. Grant, on a recon basis only, was watching Loralei’s house, staked out in his mother’s Volvo. Alvarez, the other cop who had yet to be vetted, had been told that Loralei and Ciaran had returned to her house not long before his conversation with Jenkins.
    Taking his cell from his pocket, Matt tapped the speed dial number for Grant. “Anything?” he asked immediately.
    “A skunk,” Grant replied. “Two possums. A couple of drunken frat boys and a homeless guy who pissed on someone’s shiny new Beemer.”
    Matt grinned. “Please tell me it was the door handle. That shit makes my day.”
    “It was,” Grant said, and there was a note of glee in his voice. “Call me crazy. I haven’t seen fuck-all here, Matt. Are you sure Alvarez is dirty?”
    “No. But I’m not certain he isn’t, and I can’t take any chances with Loralei…she’s all I’ve got. Well, except for you and your wife, who I think might actually have