"Well, if you got stuff to do or somethin'. I don't expect you to wait for me while I take care of this." Why the hell wouldn't he wait for her? She wasn't running off to one of those bullshit charities his sister chaired or going off to Milan to watch polo like his mother used to-although she really only scared those poor horses. No. Dez had a murder case with her name attached to it. He still marveled at the fact she hadn't run screaming from him once she knew the truth. She hadn't gone straight to her C.O., given him the whole story, and had Mace thrown into the local zoo. Instead, she'd let him fuck her until they both could barely stand and then she fucked him back.

"Dez, the only thing I want to do at the moment is you."

She turned away from him. "Oh."

"Do you want to meet me back at...at your house?" He winced. He almost said "our house."

"No. You'll scare my poor dogs to death. I'm not sure they can handle much more."

Smitty and his sister stood in front of them. "Can you believe they asked us to leave?" Sissy demanded.

"All right you two. Get those skates off." Dez stood up, her hand digging into Mace's hair. An unconscious act, and that made Mace love her even more. "We're going to a real cop bar now."

"Like in NYPD Blue?" Sissy actually clapped her hands together.

Dez rolled her eyes at Mace as her hand stroked through his hair. "If that brings you joy, Sissy."

They both cringed when Sissy actually squealed.

Dez grabbed the door of McCormick's Bar; stopped; and looked at Sissy, Smitty, and Mace. "All right, you three. I have to work with these people. No fistfights. No growling. No purring. No threatening of body parts." She looked directly at Mace. "No grabbing of body parts. No embarrassing me. No pissing me off. Are we clear?"

The trio stared at her. With a sigh, she pulled the door open and walked in. Packed with cops from two local precincts, all trying to get in some downtime before going home to their families.

"I'll be back." She tugged the sleeve of Mace's jacket. "And you be nice."

"I'm not sure I like what you're implying."

Dez wound her way through the crowd, greeting friends and acquaintances. She loved this bar. Loved being around other cops.

She spotted Bukowski with Crush and headed straight toward them.

"I'm taking the Pack out clubbin' tomorrow night. Y'all should come. You know, if you can pry Dez's thighs off your face long enough, that is."

Remembering Dez's order of no fistfights, Mace instead pointed to Sissy Mae. "What exactly is your sister up to?"

Smitty turned to see his baby sister happily surrounded by four SWAT team members.

"Sissy Mae Smith!"

Mace watched Smitty storm off to rescue the four men.

"Didn't we almost arrest you a couple of nights ago?" Mace turned to find two women staring at him.

"No." He motioned to Smitty. "You almost arrested him."

"That's who I saw. Patrick Doogan. I busted him about seven years ago. My last year in uniform."

Crush threw back a shot of tequila, his big muscles rippling with the effort. The man resembled a small mountain. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "I had a conversation today with one of my informants. A hooker. She said he bragged to her he took out Petrov."

"Why?" Bukowski asked the question, but Dez knew why. She now understood that Doogan and Mace were the same. At least breed-wise.

"Apparently he wants Missy Llewellyn."

"So he kills her accountant? Why not try online dating instead?"

A man of few words, Crush said nothing.

"What confuses me," Bukowski admitted, staring at his beer, "is how the thumb claw thing works."

Dez planned to make sure Bukowski went to his grave fifty years from now never understanding how the "thumb claw thing" worked. She knew he'd never be able to handle it.

"All this is really interesting, guys, but I'm off the case."

Bukowski and Crush looked at each other. Then Crush stood up and lumbered to the bar.

"Come on, Dez," Bukowski said. "This is me. I thought you were shittin' me earlier. I mean, when have you ever backed off a case? You're like a rabid pit bull."

"Not this time."

"Is this about Llewellyn?"

For once, he didn't sound pissy when he mentioned Mace's name. "Well, it does make things a little awkward. I don't want anyone to say I'm doing anything even remotely sniffing of impropriety. So, I'm off the case."

"Why didn't you tell me that over the phone?"

"Because I thought you might have something else to say to me."

He shrugged. "About today..." He looked back at his beer. "I'm sorry."

Dez kicked him under the table. "I know."

"So we're cool?"

"Yeah. Just stay out of my love life."

"Well, you've never really had one before, so I was a little confused."

Dez smirked. "Schmuck." She stood and said, "You stopping by my house on Christmas?" A standard tradition for the partners. Bukowski's kids loved getting their gifts and playing with her dogs, and it gave Dez a chance to catch up with Bukowski's wife, Mary.

"Yeah. It gives me an excuse to get us away from the in-laws. Besides, Mary has a gift for you."

"That's cool. I have something for the kids."

"You have actual gifts this year?"

"I always have gifts for your kids. It's my sisters' kids I always forget about."

The partners smiled at each other.

"I'm outta here, B."

"All right. I'll let you know if it gets interesting."

"Good. And I'll tell Mace you said happy holiday."

"Yeah. You do that."

She winced at Bukowski's sneer. No love loss between those two.

Dez pushed her way back through the crowd. She found Smitty about to start a fistfight with half the SWAT team, Sissy flirting with a couple of guys from the vice squad, and Mace chatting with two of her fellow female officers, which she didn't like one goddamn bit.

She shook her head. No wonder she loved her dogs. Because people never listened.

Dez grabbed Sissy with one hand, took Smitty by the collar of his jacket with the other, and yanked both of them toward the exit. As she passed, she kicked Mace in the ankle.

"Move."

By the time she got the siblings out the door, Mace stood next to her.

"Were my rules not clear?"

Smitty and Sissy pointed at each other.

"She started it."

"He started it."

With a sigh, she turned to Mace. "And what the hell were you doing?"

Mace smiled. "Being nice."

Dez growled as Smitty grabbed his sister's arm.

"We're leavin'. Talk to y'all tomorrow." He dragged her off to a taxi and literally threw the woman in.

Dez crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Patrick Doogan."

"What about him?"

"Is he after your sister?"

"You could say that."

"Mace, he's a problem. The man has a sheet longer than your dick."

"Wow, that's huge."

Dez sighed. "Would you focus."

"What did I say to you? This stuff works itself out."

"I don't know about that. When I was with Sissy, I saw him. He was talking to Anne Marie Brutale. I don't know how all the politics work with you people, but that don't seem too good to me."

Mace shook his head, "Yeah. That's not good."

"So what do we do?"

"We don't do anything. I will call my sister." He pulled out his cell phone. "Now, just stand there and, ya know, look cute."

She growled in exasperation as Crush walked out of the bar. He nodded toward Mace, raising an eyebrow at Dez. "You and a lion? All right, MacDermot." Then he walked off.

She turned to Mace. "Crush?"

Mace nodded. "Bear."

She watched Mace walk toward her SUV, telling his sister to shut up and listen.

"There are bears?"

Chapter Nine.

D ez walked into her house, Mace behind her. He hadn't said much of anything on the ride back to Brooklyn. She asked questions about a bunch of different things, including the Doogans, but she got no more than one-or two-word answers back.

Once inside, Dez heard her front door close. She turned to ask Mace if he wanted a drink or something when Mace's big hands grabbed her leather jacket and yanked her to him. His mouth on hers, her jacket pulled off her shoulders and snatched from her back.

"I thought we'd never get here," he growled against her neck.

"City traffic. Blows, doesn't it?"

He walked her back until her ankles hit the stairs, then he pushed her down. Dez watched as he pulled off her sneakers, her jeans. No smooth or controlled moves from Mace this time. She could actually feel his desperation and she loved it. He wanted her and he wasn't going to be happy until he had her.

Her panties were the last to go, then Mace dropped to his knees, burying his head between her legs. His dry, rough tongue gliding along the wet folds of her pussy. Dez's eyes crossed as her entire body arched. She didn't know anything could feel so good.

His big hands slid under her ass, lifting her up so he had better access to her. He continued to lick, until he sucked her clit into his mouth.

Dez reached up and grabbed the staircase handrails, pulling her body off the floor. "Fuck! Fuck!" She really couldn't think of anything more eloquent to say. She was lost. Deserted in this place that Mace took her. The place where he kept taking her. Again. And again. And again.

Mace never meant to be so rough with her. He never meant to grab her and fuck her on her own damn staircase. But dammit, he couldn't help himself. The whole trip in from the city had been absolute hell. He kept smelling her, kept hearing that damn voice as she asked him questions. He couldn't even remember what she asked him. Not with that voice of hers rasping over every word. The way her left hand sat on the steering wheel and her right kept brushing her hair off her face.

Eventually all he could manage was monosyllabic answers to all her questions, and he had no idea if what he told her was even remotely true. He'd never wanted anything or anyone as badly as he wanted her. He had no idea finally fucking Dez would make him want her more. He thought it would be the exact opposite. He'd been so damn wrong.

"Fuck! Fuck!" He really did love hearing her come. She became that tough Bronx girl he knew so well. Not that well-educated detective who knew how to hide herself behind her badge. When she came, her whole body and soul became his. Add in that voice and he was in absolute heaven.