I hadn’t stopped thinking about him, either.
“I thought it would be weird to see you all wolfed out, but it’s not,” he murmured, his gaze locked on me. “You’re beautiful.”
Though it was wrong, I couldn’t stop myself. I took a step closer to him.
And even worse, I didn’t move back when he crossed the distance.
He fell to his knees beside me and took me into his arms without any trace of fear. His scent—like bourbon and the rich soil of the forest, reminding me sharply of when Jeremy and I used to sneak booze into the woods and drink together until sunrise—wrapped around me, a second caress. And his warmth and the simple masculine strength in his muscular arms, decidedly human and perfect, was pure bliss. It was safety and comfort. It was everything I thought it would be.
And it was mine to accept.
Another whine escaped me, and my heart broke in my chest. I couldn’t let myself have this.
“What’s wrong?” Harris pulled back, his dark eyes serious as they searched mine. His face was intent and so filled withgoodness and devotion that if he’d told me he would do anything for me—anything at all—I probably would have believed him. “Reed, please. Just tell me and I’ll—”
Something about the earnestness in his voice, in his expression, was even more dangerous than an otherworldly monster slithering out of the bleeds. For the first time in a long time—maybe ever—when Harris looked at me, I felt seen.
Not trusting myself one bit to do the right thing where he was concerned, I woke up from the dream.
Abruptly, I was alone in my bed, the wooden cabin too silent and empty around me. No longer in the alley, with Harris holding me tightly. No longer a wolf, just a man.
Alone.
And that was the way things had to be.
CHAPTER TWO || HARRIS
“Harris, into my office now!” Lieutenant Davis barked at me the moment I slung my coat over the chair at my desk. Given that he was standing next to his office door on the far end of the bullpen—the one-room mess of desks belonging to the detectives in our precinct—everyone else in the room turned to look at me with raised eyebrows and smirks.
“Lovely,” I muttered under my breath. “That’s just what I need.”
Stifling a yawn, I scooped up my coffee and shuffled across the room.
“Hiya, Lieutenant.” I greeted him by tipping my coffee cup in his direction. “Having a good morning?”
He glowered back at me. “Get inside.”
Well, shit. Not exactly a promising start.
Detective Jimenez snickered gleefully as I passed.
He was probably thrilled to see me get taken down a peg. Last year, I had cleared my cases with record speed, becoming the highest-performing detective in the precinct. Granted, most of my suspects turned up dead, supposedly of natural causes. Between that and the fact I always seemed to show up at exactly the right time and place to find them immediately after they’d expired, Jimenez had started calling me “death wish.”
It had caught on, unfortunately.
He didn’t know how right he was. There was nothing natural about any of it. Cole, a vampire with an appetite for serial killers, had been behind all of the strange deaths. He had decided we were partners and hypnotized me into keeping his secrets.
So yeah, “death wish” was pretty fucking apt. Just once removed—and they weren’tmywishes.
I slipped into Davis’s office, and he closed the door behind us. He didn’t waste any time. “I’m concerned about your performance.”
I snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure you are.”
Davis crossed the room, coming to stand behind his immaculate desk. His pale face was turning red, a faint sheen of sweat already glistening on his brow—always a bad sign that he was working himself up to a full head of steam. “You had a stellar track record, Harris. For an entire year. You were my best detective.”
“Right.”
“And lately you haven’t been clearing any cases.” He paused. “Are you drinking again?”
