Chapter Twenty-Six
“Hey.” Lamar nuzzled his cheek over the mess of tangled curls on his shoulder. Aeren was spread over him, chests pressed together, his thighs flanking Lamar’s hips where they’d fallen when he’d collapsed, his release draining him. “You hungry?”
The answering rumbled from Aeren’s tummy made Lamar smile. “I guess so.”
Aeren sighed and snuggled closer, burying his face in the crook of Lamar’s neck. “Don’t wanna move.”
Lamar chuckled and tightened his arms around Aeren in a hug. “Well baby, you’re going to have to because I need the bathroom.”
“Fine,” Aeren groaned, flopping over to land on his back next to Lamar, his nose wrinkled in disgust as the dried mess gluing them together broke free and scattered over the sheets. “That’s gross.”
“Yep,” Lamar agreed, brushing his lips across Aeren’s as he threw his legs over the edge of the bed. “Shower then food? We can put on clean sheets before bed.”
“I suppose,” Aeren sighed, his pout dissolving into giggles when Lamar huffed at him.
“Give me a sec and I’ll start the shower,” Lamar instructed him with a shake of his head.
“Yes, sir.”
Lamar groaned when that was all it took for his dick to start perking up. Dropping one hand to squeeze the base of his overly-interested member, he used the other to waggle a finger at Aeren. “You’re cruising for a spanking!”
The sudden light in Aeren’s eyes kicked Lamar’s erection up another notch, making him groan again. “Christ, having you around constantly would be the death of me.” He grabbed a towel from the hook on the back of the door and headed down the hall, turning just in time to miss the smile dropping off Aeren’s lips at his words. “Shower time starts now, Aeren.”
~*~
“Nice of you to make time for me,” Trask drawled sarcastically as he dropped into the recliner by the vacant fireplace just over an hour after Lamar had woken up. The pizza had arrived just before ten with Trask hot on the delivery boy’s
“Sorry,” Lamar apologized, dropping his head slightly in embarrassment. “I was, ah, distracted.”
“No shit,” Trask snorted, nodding to where Aeren was wrapped in Lamar’s bathrobe. Tucked up against Lamar’s side, he appeared to be ignoring their conversation and instead concentrating on the large slice of pepperoni pizza on his paper plate.
Lamar narrowed his eyes, letting the crack slide. “Anyway, thanks for coming over.” Wiping the grease from his fingers, he reached for the file he had tossed on the table when he’d arrived home and passed a couple of papers to Vic. “Brenda came through with a full DNA work up.”
Wiping his hands, Trask flipped through the proffered papers. “Well, that’s…interesting.” He raised a brow. “You’ve read these?”
Lamar nodded. “There’s some of it that I don’t understand.”
“Logical,” Trask agreed. “You don’t have any training in para DNA profiles, do you?”
“None. What’s catching your eye?”
“Right here,” Trask pointed to a middle peak in the line and hummed noncommittedly. “It’s weird. Almost like these two sequences are overlapping. Do you have the autopsy reports?”
Lamar reached for the folder again and passed a sheaf papersover. Reaching for another piece of pizza, he ate in silence while Trask studied the papers in his hands. After several minutes, he saw Trask’s lips twitch into a snarl that quickly passed. “Find something?”
Trask huffed. “There’s no actual cause of death in these.”
Lamar shook his head in agreement. “No. They’re still stuck at undetermined.”
“That doesn’t make sense.” Trask frowned. “The tox screens show that both bodies had high enough levels of drugs or alcohol to be fatal, but neither died from an overdose.” His eyes suddenly widened. “There’s no fucking cause of death, Coop.”
“I know.” Lamar tossed his pizza crust back into the box and wiped his fingers, his brow creasing slightly when he realized Aeren had curled his body away from him and fallen asleep with his head on the arm of the couch. “Why does it sound like that is helping you?”
“Because there is one type of shifter that can gender swap and doesn’t leave any outward signs when it kills.” When Lamar’s brow shot up, Trask smirked. “I think you’ve got yourself an incubus or succubus, man.”
“What?” Lamar’s jaw dropped as he stared at his partner. “But incubi don’t kill, do they?”
Trask shrugged. “It looks like this one does.”
