The Witch's Initiation. Elle James

what had just happened, determined to get a background check on Zoe Adams. If anyone was crazy enough to make off with a coed, Zoe would be top of her list.

      Back at the campus, Cal parked his motorcycle outside the Gamma Omega dorm. Despite his determination to remain focused on the case, he couldn’t help the way his pulse raced at the thought of seeing Deme again. He called himself all kinds of fool for letting her influence him in any way.

      She was like an accident. A hit-and-run ready for a repeat performance where he was concerned. Only this time he’d be ready. He wouldn’t let her leave him scratching his head, wondering what the heck he’d said or done wrong.

      He took the steps in the stairwell two at a time to the second floor, where Brigid said Deme’s room was. He’d told her he’d be there at six o’clock to fill her in on what he’d learned that day and vice versa.

      Question was, would she be there? Now that she knew she’d be working this case with him, would she bother to show up?

      Since the missing person was her sister, Cal figured she would. Deme struck him as someone dedicated to her family, even if she wasn’t dedicated to her lover.

      Outside the door marked R.A., he raised his fist to knock.

      “Don’t bother, I’m here.” Deme’s voice caught him off guard, sending a wave of heat through his body. When he turned, he couldn’t stop the way his groin tightened at the way she looked.

      Her red hair fell in loose waves around her shoulders, and the V of her button-down cotton blouse exposed the rounded swells of her breasts. Breasts he’d tasted, massaged and caressed long into the nights they’d shared.

      Damn, this assignment was going to be a lot harder than he’d anticipated. Tamping down his libido, he stepped to the side as she pulled a ring of keys from her pocket and opened the door.

      She walked in without looking back, holding the door just long enough for him to step through.

      Once inside, she shut the door and walked several steps away, putting as much distance between them as the tiny room allowed. She leaned against the windowsill overlooking a garden and asked, “What have you found out?”

      In the hallway, she’d been a turn-on. Inside the tight confines of the R.A.’s small room, her nearness sparked a lot more flames than even Cal could predict. He tugged the zipper of his leather jacket down, opening it to let in cooler air. Anything to lessen the heat rising inside. “There have been more incidents than just your sister’s disappearance.”

      Deme’s eyebrows rose. Her gaze captured his. “What kind of incidents?”

      “Two cases of attempted rape, two cases of attempted suicide and one other missing person besides your sister.” He glanced around the room. “Could you turn the thermostat down? It’s hellacious hot in here.” He stripped his jacket from his shoulders and slung it over a chair.

      Her gaze shifted from his eyes downward over his shoulders and chest, the heat in the room rising the lower she went. “I haven’t touched the thermostat. It was on seventy when I left the room a while ago.” She crossed to the device on the wall beside him and studied the box. “Still seventy. Must be you.” Her eyes slid sideways.

      “No, I think it’s you.” Cal didn’t know what came over him. All he knew was that he had to have his hands on her. He grabbed Deme and pulled her into his arms, crushing her against his chest.

      “What do you think you’re doing?” Her hands rested flat against his chest, barely applying any pressure as though she was torn between dragging him close or pushing him away. “We don’t have to pretend in here. There’s no one watching.”

      “Who’s pretending?” His hands slipped lower, circling her hips, slamming her against the hard ridge of his erection. “Can’t you feel it?”

      She nodded, her eyes glazed, her tongue sweeping across her lips. Her hands slipped up his back, beneath his shirt, her fingernails digging into his skin.

      The sharp pricks of pain only flamed his desire, flushing his senses with a need so powerful he couldn’t hold back.

      His fingers found the hem of her shirt. Instead of working the buttons loose or slipping it up over her head, he ripped it up the front, buttons flying everywhere.

      “That’ll cost you.” Deme pulled his shirt up over his head and flung it to the corner. She bent to take one of his hard, brown nipples between her teeth and nipped, hard.

      Cal jerked back and slapped her bottom. “Two can play rough.”

      In a flurry of motion, they stripped each other bare, hands roaming over naked skin. Cal lifted her, wrapping her legs around his waist, walking her backward until her naked back pressed against the window choked on the outside in ivy. “Miss me much?” he murmured as he trailed kisses and nips along her jawline and down the length of her throat. He tongued the pulse beating frantically at the base of her neck.

      “No.” Her fingernails dug into his back, piercing skin, drawing blood. “I can’t miss you. We have no future together.” Her head leaned back against the glass, her breasts pressing against him.

      “Who said I want a future with you now?” He shoved her up high enough to take a nipple into his mouth, biting down hard enough to elicit a gasp. Wicked satisfaction spread through him with the flame of desire. He wanted to cause her pain. Wanted to see her suffer as she’d made him suffer with her disappearance. “Is that why you left? You couldn’t picture a future with me?”

      “I had good reasons to leave.” She sucked in a deep breath, her head lifting, her green-eyed gaze capturing his as her hands slid up to cup his face. “For the life of me I can’t remember one of them now.” She kissed him, her tongue thrusting into his mouth, taking his in a desperate tangle.

      He lowered her over his cock, penetrating her in a hard, punishing thrust. Anger and desire merged to become a living, breathing entity within him, taking over his actions, destroying his self-control. He couldn’t stop himself from taking her, even if she’d said no.

      His thrusts increased, until the glass in the window rattled.

      Deme’s legs clamped hard around his waist, her body arching against his, taking him in as deeply as he could go until she cried out loud. Her body tensed around him as he slammed into her once more.

      Just as he climaxed, he had enough sense to lift her off him at the last minute before he shot his seed into her womb.

      Anger and desire still burned in his veins, but he didn’t have the strength to act on them. He let Deme slide down him until her feet touched the floor. His arms remained around her waist, his palms cupping her buttocks. Guilt flowed through him as he realized he couldn’t have stopped himself. If Deme had said no, he’d have raped her anyway. “What the hell just happened?”

       Chapter 6

      Deme stood with her back to the window, the thoughts in her head spinning like so much debris in an F5 tornado. The air in the room was thick, hard to breathe. “I don’t know. Just don’t let it happen again.” She pushed away from Cal and gathered her clothes.

      Cal shoved a hand through his hair, standing it on end. “You weren’t fighting me.”

      “Fine. I won’t let it happen again,” she reassured him, her lips firmly pressed into a line, even as her body tingled with awareness of his nakedness standing within reach. Inside, her blood raced through every organ, vein and the furthest reaches of her body, burning a path downward to her core. She ached with need and she still wanted him. Damn him! She turned away, gathering her clothing. “This isn’t about you and me.”

      “I know. It’s about finding your sister.”

      Deme faced him, pressing her jeans to her chest. “That’s right. This is about finding Aurai. It can only be about finding Aurai.”

      “Message heard. It’s