Chapter 3 – Midnight Visit
John and Joss left Janelle's and drove to the diner in the center of town for an early dinner. John looked around as they entered, "I don't remember it being this shabby before."
Joss smiled, "It's been over twenty years, babe."
John gave her a crooked grin, "I remember it being pretty shabby, but this is ridiculous."
Joss looked and felt around with her Wolf senses. "I don't feel any other Wolves in here. I take it this is not a Wolf hangout?"
"No, we should be pretty incognito here."
They ate dinner and decided to walk around the downtown business district. They strolled the streets hand in hand, just enjoying each other's company, doing something they normally didn't get to do together in New York. They browsed a couple of shops that were still open, looking for a gift for Taylor. It felt good to do a few normal things despite the fact that their trip here was not a pleasure trip. For all they knew, this might be their last chance to relax this week.
Joss purchased a University of Washington shirt for Taylor and they started walking back to the car. John opened the door for Joss and as she started to get into the car he gave her a very gentle kiss. She smiled back at him with her eyes shining. His intense blue eyes met her soft brown ones and the look he gave left no doubt in her mind what he was going to do to her as soon as they got to their room.
As John drove, Joss's hand moved to his leg and she began stroking his upper thigh. John shifted slightly in the seat and growled, "Joss!" in a deadly tone of voice as her touch began to arouse him, which is of course, what she had intended to do.
She smiled a flirty smile. "What's the matter, Alpha?" she teased. "Can't handle it?"
John growled again, a growl that came from deep in his chest. "The question is can you handle me when we get back to the room?" John gave her a particularly predatory grin.
Joss met his Wolf with her own. "Let that Big Bad Wolf out to play, Alpha. This bitch is ready," she challenged him while her hand moved up to stroke him through his pants. John groaned as her clever fingers worked their magic through the fabric and his hands tightened on the steering wheel so hard that his fingerprints were probably permanently embossed there.
"I'm going to make you pay for that," the Alpha Wolf snarled softly and deadly, showing his teeth while he struggled to focus.
His mate was not intimidated in the least. "Please do," she purred in a soft tone of voice that made it clear not only could she take what he was about to dish out, she was looking forward to it.
John thought he was lucky he didn't explode before they got back to the hotel.
He parked and then dragged her through the lobby, breathing heavily with lust and want. He had her arm in a vise-like grip but she wasn't resisting him at all. Her breath was coming in deep, short gasps and she stared at him, her pupils dilated with desire. John couldn't even look back at her; he was afraid if he saw how badly she wanted him, he would take her right there on one of the couches in the lobby.
Once they made it to the door of their room at the end of a quiet hallway on the first floor, John had to use his Army sniper training to calm his breathing and shaking hands enough that he could slide the key card into the narrow slot to get the door open. Joss didn't help by kissing and nipping at the hollow at the base of his throat through his open collar while he was trying to accomplish the task.
As soon as they heard the click of the door unlocking, they fell into the room and John pinned her against the wall just inside the door while he ravaged her mouth with his. She kissed him back just as fiercely, raking her nails through the hair on the back of his head, holding him in place against her.
John finally won control by sliding his hands down her sides until he could grip her ass as he ground her pelvis against this rock hard erection. She broke the kiss, her head falling back against the wall with a moan.
Their clothes practically fell into a pile at their feet.
John reached down and pulled Joss's left leg up and hooked it around his hips so his cock could find her entrance. He poised himself there while he looked down into her eyes. They paused for a few seconds, just staring into the depths into each other's souls. Then Joss whispered, "Take me, Alpha."
He took her right there against the wall. With one hard thrust, he buried himself deeply in her. "Ohhhhhh," she cried. Her eyes closed and her full lips parted slightly and she completely surrendered herself to him.
John thrust deeply and hard into her, while watching her face. He loved watching her while they made love; her face was so expressive. He loved seeing the little furrow that appeared between her eyebrows as she built to climax. He loved knowing that he was the one who could make his normally in-control and in-charge detective completely surrender the tight reins she normally kept on herself. "Johnnnnnn," she sighed and he kissed that little furrow.
He was so absorbed in making love to his mate, he barely noticed when she possessively sank her teeth into his shoulder right where it met his neck. "Joss, oh god," he groaned. "You feel so good."
He thrust harder and deeper into her with animalistic grunts while she moaned and begged him not to stop. He felt her walls tightening around his cock and knew she was close. "Cum for me Joss," He said softly. "My mate, you're so hot, so wet."
Joss stiffened and her eyes closed as her head fell back and her mouth opened in a groan of pure pleasure. Her body clamped down him with a vise-like grip as she cried out her orgasm. Her head dropped to his shoulder as he stilled his rhythm; he didn't want to cum yet. He wasn't done with her, he wanted more. He always wanted more when it came to her.
After a minute, she coyly looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back and gently nuzzled her ear. He carried her to bed and fell on top of her as she giggled happily. "I'm not done with you yet," John purred into her ear while he nibbled on the lobe.
"Bring it," she ran her nails down his back, "I can take it."
"Oh, I know you will." He slid out of her and she whimpered. He slid down her body and began worshiping her breasts. Joss gasped as he teased her nipples and her eyes rolled back into her head. She ran her hands through his hair as he pleasured her.
John smiled against her breast. He could feel her pleasure through their mating bond and nearly burst with his need for her.
He reached down and began rubbing her already tender clit lightly with his fingers. "Oh god… oh John….Oh please, " his mate gasped.
"Oh please what, my love?" John asked, gently kissing his way back up her body.
Joss was unable to answer; she was panting too hard. John continued touching her and kissing her and within a few minutes she was building to climax again. Just as she went over the edge, John returned her bite, biting her at the junction of the shoulder and the neck and then soothing it with his tongue. He always wanted to keep the scar that marked her as his fresh. John was not a jealous or possessive Wolf, but he wanted the world to know she was his mate.
He entered her again, once more marveling at how well they fit together. He'd bedded many women over his forty plus years, but none of them felt like this, felt so right. She was perfect for him, and he for her. He began thrusting deep into her softness, keeping a steady, even pace, trying to drag the lovemaking out as long as he could.
John arched his back trying to penetrate her deeper and deeper and she locked her legs around him holding him deeply inside her body. Steadily and lovingly they built to orgasm together. They came in sync, moaning the other's name.
John collapsed on top of her, struggling for breath while he came down off his high. Her legs slid off his back like they were made of Jello and she lay quietly under him. John realized that she probably couldn't catch her breath with his weight on top off her. He rolled off of her and she snuggled up to his side with a contented sigh. John held her against his body and pressed a kiss on top of her head, "I love you."
"I love you too." She sounded tired, but happy, as they settled down for the night
John was at that stage where he was just starting to slip into a deep restful sleep when Joss suddenly sat up with a look on her face that told him she had detected the presence of another Wolf. John was instantly on the alert, visitors this time of night were never good news even at the best of times, and they were basically in hostile territory behind enemy lines right now.
"Is someone out there?" he asked quietly.
She nodded tensely, "Just one. He's right outside the door. Whose turn is it?"
"Yours, I'm too big to fit through that dinky bathroom window."
Joss growled with displeasure, threw on her robe quickly, grabbed her gun, and vanished into the bathroom. John got out of bed, yanked on some pajama pants, walked over the door, and counted to ten. He opened the door to find Sheriff Everett Ellison standing there with his gun held at face level.
"Hello John. Long time no see. I thought you were dead," Everett smirked at him.
John smirked right back, "You didn't have to go to all this trouble, Ev. You could have just knocked."
Everett kept the gun steady, "I like having the advantage, especially when I'm talking with someone I think is a murderer."
John smirked at his ex-friend, "So do I, Ev. Right now my mate, who is ex-Army and a current New York City Police Homicide detective, is standing behind you with her service weapon pointed at your head."
"Hello Everett, I've heard so much about you!" Joss gushed from behind their visitor with mock enthusiasm while she held her gun only a few feet from his head.
John watched as the expression on Everett's face went from surprise, to anger, and then to resignation. John held out his hand and Everett placed his gun in it and put his hands up. John took the gun, removed the clip and broke it down while Joss marched Everett into the room and shut the door behind her.
"So, Ev, old buddy, what brings you here in the middle of the night, armed and dangerous?" John asked while he leaned casually against the dresser.
"Just checking out the rumor that a murderer is back in town, like a good sheriff should," Everett snarled.
"If you were a good sheriff, you would know that John was exonerated within days of his parent's death," Joss snapped.
"What would you know about it?" Everett shot back.
Joss picked up her badge from the dresser and showed it to him, "NYPD Homicide. I probably investigate more murders in a week than you do all year."
"Oh, so you came here to tell me my business?" Everett snarled, leveling a hard glare in her direction.
"Looks like someone needs to tell you your business," Joss sniffed in disdain.
John decided it was time to intervene before Joss ripped the sheriff to shreds. It was pretty obvious Everett was in over his head and didn't realize it. "Did you have a specific purpose for coming here other than to try and impress me with your gun?" John asked bringing Everett's attention to him.
"I want to know why you came back after all this time? Why now?" Everett asked, still hostile.
John leveled his full Alpha stare at Everett. Joss half expected Everett to burst into flames John was staring at him so hard. "Because I heard about the Hunters. Because twenty two years ago I let myself be run out of town by a lie, and someone has had free reign to kill in this town because of it. I came back because I can't let anyone else die for my mistake."
Everett laughed, "What other murders are you talking about?" He was trying to sound dismissive, but Joss felt his surprise and nervousness. Everett, it seemed, had reached the same conclusion about all those "accidents" just as Janelle had. Joss realized that Everett was not as stupid as he was pretending to be and she was suddenly on the alert. He knew something and Joss was going to find out what it was.
"You know exactly what John is talking about, don't you?" she said. "You already figured that the mortality rate is too high for a small pack like yours. You know that John didn't kill his parents, so why don't you stop screwing around and let us help you?"
Everett looked at Joss in shock, while John shot his mate a sly wink. Everett licked his lips nervously and fidgeted like a teenager in the principal's office. Joss had completely taken the wind out of his sails.
John and Joss waited patiently while Everett struggled with himself and finally he spoke.
"You're in law enforcement so I'm going to lay it on the line here because I think you'll understand the position I'm in. You're right, I don't think all those accidents were accidents and I don't think John killed his parents." Everett turned to look at Reese, "I realized a couple of years after you left town that you couldn't and wouldn't do such a thing, John. I'm sorry for my part in the whole mess, but I didn't have the stones to go against my dad back then."
Reese nodded and simply said, "Thank you." But Joss could feel her mate's relief. She could have kissed Everett for the gift he had just given John.
Everett shuffled his feet. "So when I got hired as a deputy, I got to thinking that if John hadn't killed them, who had? I started snooping, but the trail had gone cold, and I was too inexperienced. I was stuck. Then Deke died. Then Jackson Holt after him."
John looked at his friend, "You realized you had a serial killer on your hands."
Everett sighed; it was obvious that he had been carrying this burden for a very long time. He sat down heavily in a chair and rubbed his temples. "Yeah, but I couldn't prove they were murdered, whoever did it made it look like accidents. The sheriff at the time closed the cases; what was one more dead Wolf?
"Once I became sheriff a few years ago, I still couldn't stop it. Me and my best deputy investigated the Wolf deaths, but we could never find any evidence."
"So every few years you watched another member of your pack die and you couldn't do anything to stop it? That must have been hard," Joss said quietly. She thought of her pack at home and she understood what a burden Everett had been carrying for all these years. All her anger at him for how he'd treated John all those years ago melted away and all she could feel for him was sympathy. He was a fellow Wolf and law officer who had seen too many friends die.
She glanced over at her mate and felt his empathy directed at Everett too. Whatever Everett had done to him all those years ago was quickly forgiven. John, too, had seen many friends die and he shared his old friend's pain.
Everett rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. He seemed to have aged several years in the last few minutes. "The worst part is, I'm pretty sure it's another Wolf doing the killing. Every Pack Night I look around and wonder who the killer is and who's going to die next.
"I came here to try to get you to leave town. There is no doubt in my mind that you became a target as soon as you got here, and I don't want any more deaths. I don't have the resources to protect you."
Joss looked directly at Everett, "Let us help you. We do this every day; we have access to resources that you don't. You don't have to do this alone anymore."
"You'll be in danger the whole time you are here; I can't allow that," Everett said.
John clamped a hand on his friend's shoulder. "We're used to it. We knew we would be targets when we decided to come."
Joss chimed in, "Besides, you're in danger too, Everett. If you get too close to the killer they will come after you. So at least we will all have each other's backs."
Everett looked up at them sadly, "I don't suppose I could talk you out of this?"
Reese shook his head, "I have to end this."
Ellison looked into Reese's eyes and saw the grim determination there. He nodded sadly, "Alright, I know I can't talk you out of this. But whatever you find, you bring to me, got it? This is my turf and I don't like cowboys."
John smirked, "Of course, Everett. Whatever you say." Joss rolled her eyes, but kept quiet.