Chimaera
Chapter 1
Bo looked at her hand in Lauren's as they slid off the hood of the car together and smiled. Kenzi was heading for the south of Spain with Dagny. Dyson was meeting up with his son Mark. The last couple of days had been emotional and draining, and everyone of Bo's family had felt the urge to be with the ones they loved most. Bo and Lauren had spent hours laying on the hood of the car, watching the sun set, being happy to be alive and to have each other.
'Let's go'
'Home?' 'Wherever that is'
'Good point. Crack shack gone, Kenzi gone,..'
I'm here' Lauren replied looking into Bo's eyes 'Dyson is, well…around'
Bo smiled and pulled her girlfriend to her. She kissed her and softly whimpered as the kiss deepened.
'Well, for what I have planned with you tonight, Doc, I don't need Dyson'
Lauren grinned widely and as Bo's fingertips traveled into Lauren's neck, she sighed and felt the familiar 'Bo shiver' go down her spine.
Dinner and a Star Trek Voyager episode? Lauren teased and giggled
I was thinking more like dessert and, well… I wouldn't mind going where no one else has gone before on Starship Lauren.'
'Oh my god, you are a Trekkie!' Lauren laughed out loud
'The impact you have on me, Dr Lewis!' Bo grinned.
Lauren laughed again and as Bo sparked the Camero's engine to life and set course to Dr Lewis' apartment, she couldn't imagine being any happier.
Lauren's apartment
Red lights were torture for Bo as Lauren looked breathtaking in the car with the evening lights cascading on her skin and mixing in with the warm shade her aura emanated. It was enough to make Bo want to stop the car by the side of the road, and expose every inch of skin with her mouth and tongue. Instead she stepped on the gas.
From the moment Bo shut the door of the apartment behind them, Lauren had her pinned up against it. She had spent months away from Bo's bed, and would not let another night be wasted like that. She slipped her hand under Bo's shirt and gasped feeling the soft skin under her fingertips. Her right hand traveled up Bo's neck and pulled her lips in for a kiss. All Lauren could smell was Bo, the scent of her hair and neck made her weak in the knees and she held onto Bo to steady herself. Lauren knew smell to be the most powerful trigger for emotions and memories, but she had never been able to explain the depth of her feelings for Bo. It was irrational, unexplainable and unscientific.
Bo let a soft sigh escape as she felt Lauren's fingertips graze the outline of her bra. With the edge of her tongue she found Lauren's lips again, and almost growled as Lauren's tongue found her own. Bo's need for Lauren overwhelmed her, and feverishly she yanked off Lauren's clothes sending her tank top whizzing through the living room. Breathing heavily, the couple made their way up the stairs, kissing and pulling, unbuttoning and almost tripping over the trail of clothes they left behind. They tumbled onto the bed and Bo quickly found Lauren's nipple to flick her tongue over. Lauren bucked her hips now moaning into Bo's ears. Bo tightened her grip and slid her hands over Lauren's hips, pulling her closer. She followed Lauren's pace and suckled and flicked Lauren's nipple between ragged breaths.
Lauren gasped, bit her lip and arched her back in pure delight. For months she had been longing for this moment, aching and lusting for Bo's touch. So many nights she'd spent missing Bo, longing for her just to be near. Gorgeous, irresistible, insatiable, smart, funny and passionate Bo now wanted nerdy Lauren and finally having the woman she admired and loved so much touching her again this way felt like electricity running through her every nerve ending. Her brain short-circuited, unable to think, only to feel, and all she could do was surrender to that feeling. Bo was kissing her again and letting her fingertips trail over the inside of Lauren's thighs.
'Please Bo, I want you inside of me' Lauren begged.
Bo leaned in and kissed Lauren's bottom lip softly continuing her languid strokes, she ran her tongue over Lauren's upper lip and slipped her fingers inside of Lauren as their mouths found one another again. Lauren's body almost convulsed unto Bo's fingers and her entire body now only knew one rhythm, one movement,… Bo's.
Lauren's warm, sticky essence coating the succubus's fingers, made Bo's eyes flare from brown to blue to brown again and she thrust her fingers even deeper into Lauren wanting to feel every part of her. She kissed the blonde again and then slowly, but purposefully made her way down to Lauren's bellybutton in kisses. With her expert fingers keeping their slow seductive rhythm in and out of Lauren, Bo's head was now between Lauren's legs. Lauren was gorgeous, she felt exquisite and her scent made Bo shiver.
'My god, Lauren. I've wanted you for so long now' and with that Bo removed her fingers and dipped her tongue inside of Lauren for the most wonderful of desserts.
Hours later
Lauren was wide awake. She was exhausted, but she couldn't sleep. Spooned against her was the gorgeous brunette she had fallen for so many years ago. The sight of her still commanded the same stirrings: the quickened heartbeat when she was near, the involuntary and inappropriate staring she would fall into and the utter disbelief that this beauty was here, inside her bed.
But none of these things kept Lauren from sleep. An unsettling feel of loss came over her as she watched Bo's quiet breathing. Lauren was so happy now, she didn't want this moment to end, she wanted to stay there forever, hold Bo and be held by Bo, always. Her irrational fear that they were living on borrowed time, brought tears to her eyes. She leaned in and softly kissed Bo's cheek before she finally drifted off to sleep.
For a long time after their lovemaking, Bo could still feel Lauren's arms around her. They had felt protective, warm, loving,… all the wonderful things she had come to associate with the doctor, but something was wrong. With her back to the blonde, she couldn't feel or hear her breathing and Bo's mind whirled back to all those times she woke up next to a dead lover. An all overpowering panic took hold of her. She turned in her lover's arms and felt the rigidity of those arms as she did. When she laid eyes on Lauren's face it was contorted in an horrendous expression..
LAUREN!LAUREN! NO!
Lauren was awake with a jolt, the panic in Bo's voice cutting like a knife. She turned to a face in turmoil crying out.
LAUREN! DON'T TOUCH HER! LAUREN!
Bo? BO? BO!
BO, wake up! Bo, baby, please wake up!
Lauren was now cradling a sobbing Bo in her arms, rocking her back and forth, her heart beating a 1000 beats per minute as Bo's torment continued.
'It's okay, baby, just wake up. It's just a bad dream' shhhhh' 'I'm right here'
Bo's eyes opened, a blurry Lauren coming into focus, but the shock had been too great to fully register that Lauren was ok. Only seconds ago she… and it had all felt so palpably real. Bo pushed herself up into a desperate hug.
'I love you so much, Lauren' 'Please don't leave me' she blurted through her tears and panic
Bo repeated her words 4 times before her sobbing quieted down and she fell back asleep. Lauren held her for the rest of the night. Restless, she would wake up every 20 minutes or so checking to see if Bo was okay.
The next morning
Lauren stood at the kitchen counter clutching the cup of coffee she hoped would steady her nerves. She was on her third. The last couple of weeks had been brutal, last night should have been all about happiness and being glad to be alive, but the lovers' first night together again had turned out very differently. It had started out blissfully happy, but Bo's shrieks of sheer panic had Lauren thinking that the worst was yet to come. The look on Lauren's face evidently reflected how she felt…
'Don't look so worried, Doc' Bo said as she strode confidently as ever towards her. Grabbing her jacket from the sofa, Bo looked amazing all dressed in black leather again.
'I'm a doctor, Bo. I've perfected this look over the years' Lauren deepened her sad inquisitive look to the point of ridiculous and made Bo laugh out loud.
'You are cute!'
'Are we going to talk about this?'
'Don't worry babe, I've been stressed, the last couple of weeks…' Bo sighed .. 'A lot has happened,..' Anyway, it was just a nightmare, I'm sorry I scared you, but there is nothing to worry about.
Lauren nodded and seemingly accepted Bo's explanation with a small smile
'And what about that other elephant in the room?' 'That power you had when you confronted your father…'
Bo flinched at the word 'father' and inhaled sharply.
'I know, I know,… Well, actually,… I don't know' I'm not sure what that was, or where that came from' 'We'll talk about that too, but later?' 'I've got to run, Dyson just texted and he wants to see me at the Dal, says it's urgent'
'Okay, tell him I said 'Hi' Lauren pecked Bo's lips and watched her walk out the door.
The Dal Riata
As Bo stepped into the Dal Riata, she felt a wave of sadness wash over her. She had become so used to seeing her grandfather's smile greeting her and the realization that she would never see him again almost made Bo believe that last night had indeed been about stress and the losses of the last couple of weeks. Instead, she saw Dyson's face pop up from behind the counter, and she managed a smile. It was good to see him. Knowing Dyson was there, taking care of the place, made the loss of Trick almost bearable. She crossed the room in confident strides and gave Dyson a tight hug. The wolf squeezed her in return.
'It's so good to see you, here…'
'Well, he did leave it to me, I wasn't about to close it down'
Bo broke the hug, shrugging off the memory of Trick
'You wanted to see me, sounded urgent?'
'Yes' 'We have a case'
' A what now?'
Dyson didn't respond, but simply pulled out a police badge on a lanyard and handed it to her.
'Congratulations, partner'
Bo looked at the badge with her name on it and then back to Dyson. It looked real.
'Wha…how did you?'
Dyson grinned like a 13-year-old.
The 14-year-old in Bo grinned back and hung the badge around her neck.
'Alright, I'm game. Where are we going?'
'Harbor'
The harbor
Bo stepped out of Dyson's car overlooking the harbor. Hundreds of boats swayed softly in the breeze, and Bo inhaled deeply. She loved the smell of water, the sound of seagulls and the way the air felt cooler on her skin here. For a moment, and in between the time it took for the car door to actually close after Dyson had slammed it shut behind him, it seemed as if time was slowing down. Behind the cries of the seagulls, she could hear the wings of the birds flapping against the wind, she even thought she could hear their hearts beating, but the sounds of police officers talking over their walkie talkies, and people running back and forth brought her back to reality. She could make out the yellow/black tape marking the crime scene and followed Dyson in.
She wasn't prepared for what she saw next. On a bench overlooking the river, she could see the outline of a person slumped over, but as they rounded the bench, she realized that the outline of a man was the only thing that made this shell even remotely recognizable as such.
The only thing Bo could see was dried skin that had turned a deep shade of brown, because what stared back at her had no face to recognize. Where the eyes, mouth and nose should be, Bo could only make out holes. There was no jawline, in fact, as Bo looked at the thing in front of her, she realized that this person didn't seem to have a bone in his body.
'Omg' Bo exclaimed. 'What happened to him?' It's like he's been sucked dry of….everything…
'I've never seen this before' Dyson said ' I can't even smell if he was Fae or human' 'He smells like nothing I've smelled before. The closest scent I can think of is rotted leaves, but even that…'
'I'd better call Lauren' Dyson nodded and turned to one of the young police officers on the scene and gestured him over.
'Brad, what do we know about the vic?'
The young police officer looked at his notepad.
'his name is Jake Sullivan, age 39, lives on NE street. He's an architect, pretty good one too. Married, two kids age 9 and 7 'The guys did a background check on him and…'
Brad's voice trailed off as Bo heard the dial tone
Evony's house
Lauren looked mighty pleased with herself as she walked out off of Evony's mansion. She'd gone to the house with a plan and the outcome had been better than she could have ever imagined. Today hadn't started out well, but it was starting to look up, and she couldn't wait to tell Bo her news.
Lauren's cellphone sang Bo's tune. 'Think of the devil'
'Suck -ubus 911' 'How can I be of assistance today?' Lauren asked in her most husky voice
Bo flustered at Lauren's cheeky answer. It didn't take much for Bo to think about sex, especially not sex with Lauren, but actually blushing over those memories was new to her, it just wasn't the succubus way!
'Eh'
'Can you come?' she said awkwardly 'I mean, come over?'
'Dyson and I need your expertise' she recovered
'Sure, hotness' 'Wait, actually, 'I can't…'
'Huh?'
'I just quit, I'm unaligned now!
'You did what now?'
'Yup, did that today! Seemed like a very good idea like two minutes ago, but…that actually means I have no lab at my disposal,…Well, actually, technically I still have the lab until the end of the week… '
'Great, we need you at the harbor, I'll text you the address'
I'll be there in 20 minutes'
Bo hung up and frowned. What was wrong with her today? What a strange sensation blushing was, she couldn't remember the last time that had happened. Had it ever happened before?
'Weird' she turned to Dyson. 'Lauren said she'll be here in 20' 'I also just blushed and Lauren is unemployed'
Dyson raised a brow 'You blushed?'
'I know, …right?' 'I need a double expresso.
Still the harbor
One double expresso and one tall vanilla latte later, Bo and Dyson saw Lauren pull up in a black Mercedes CLA Coupe. The car was beautiful, but the blonde stepping out of the car was stunning.
Bo wiggled her eyebrows checking out her girlfriend mouthing ' You look gorgeous' as Lauren said hello to Dyson.
'Doc, you sure you want to quit the Dark side?' 'They sure do have swanky rides' Dyson commented
'Actually, that's one of Evony's cars, she's letting me borrow it for the week, until I get my own'
'Not so unemployed then' Bo mumbled to Dyson
'So,..' Lauren asked looking from Bo to Dyson 'What's going on?'
10 minutes later
'This is amazing! ' Lauren said excited. Crouching at eyelevel with the parchment being, she took a scalpel and vial out of her bag. With expert hands, she made just the tiniest of incisions, collecting very small pieces of dried skin and put them in a plastic bag.
'I've never seen anything like this before' 'Neat!' Lauren was giddy as a school girl, making Bo grin inwardly. She loved it when Lauren geeked out. There was just something about seeing Lauren excited that made Bo happy.
Well, I've got my samples, and the body will be transferred to my lab' 'I'll see what I can find out' 'I'll let you know'
See you tonight? Bo asked.
'Course, where else are you going to sleep?'
Bo grinned widely.
'Bye Dyson'
The wolf caught Bo's goofy grin and clenched his jaw.
'Bye Lauren'
Bo turned towards Dyson
'The victim's family?'
'Next stop, indeed'
The Sullivan residence
Jake Sullivan lived in a residential area, the house he and his family occupied was a large brick house, modern but made homely by a beautifully planted, colorful garden. It was the type of garden Bo pictured a warm nested family playing soccer or tag in. Knowing that they would have to tell this family that one of them wouldn't be coming back, broke her heart.
Opening the door was Jenna Sullivan, an attractive woman. Her green eyes had a kind glow to them, from behind her two sets of very similar eyes also gazed on the shifter and the succubus.
'Yes?' 'How can I help you?'
Ma'am, we're with the Quebec police force. Dyson held up his badge
'This is in regards to your husband. May we come in please?'
'Of course' 'Is everything okay?'
'I am afraid, I have some bad news, Ma'am' 'Perhaps you would like to call someone to take care of the kids?' Dyson's tone was collected, but warm and thoughtful, and Bo loved him for it.
Jenna's face turned pale
'Rohan, Nathan' she said turning to the inquisitive eyes behind her
'Go pack your stuff' 'You're staying with aunt Ally tonight'
Both boys nodded and disappeared bounding up the stairs.
'My sister lives down the street' 'I'll call her to come pick up the kids'
'Please come in'
Bo and Dyson followed Jenna Sullivan into a beautiful, huge house. Light filtered into the hall from the upstairs glass dome, reflecting off the walls and bathing the house in sunlight. The living room opened up to the garden behind it with wall to wall and floor to ceiling windows. The house couldn't have been more than a couple of years old, yet the inside was decorated with period furniture. It was a perfect blend of old and new. Bo couldn't help but like this woman.
Dyson and Bo sat down on the couch as Jenna Sullivan called her sister. When she came back, she took a seat opposite them and inhaled.
'He's dead, isn't he?'
The look on Jenna's face was calm, she had said her words almost as if she had expected this news.
'I am afraid so, Ma'am'
Jenna bit her lip and nodded her head.
'He…'
'Oh my god, Jake..' Jenna's composure crumbled and she sobbed repeating her husband's name.
Bo moved to the edge of the seat and instinctively reached for Jenna's hand.
I am so sorry for your loss' the succubus said as her skin glowed orange and she used her energy to calm the woman down.
Jenna Sullivan looked down at Bo's hand on hers with some degree of fascination
'You're a succubus aren't you?'