a flash of headlights lit up her living room.

what in the hell?

she pushed the bowl of ice cream onto her coffee table, rose quickly, and turned toward her window. through the thin curtains, she could see a vehicle pulling into her driveway.

the purring of the engine reached her ears, followed by the faint crunch of gravel beneath the tires.

her gaze darted back toward her tv stand, locking briefly on the vcr clock. two-thirteen a.m.

who would be coming to visit her at two a.m.?

a car door slammed. footsteps rapped against her sidewalk.

the image of a blood-soaked room flashed before her eyes. the image of death, of a man's final, terrified scream.

her doorbell rang.

emily crept toward the door, moving almost soundlessly over the carpet. she pressed her hands against the wooden door, leaned forward, peered through the peephole, and saw-detective colin gyth. he was standing just on the other side of her door, illuminated by the porch light.

her breath expelled in a nervous rush. okay. she should probably be glad that a cop- instead of a robber or some kind of crazed killer-had come to see her in the middle of the night. but detective gyth...

he just wasn't your average cop.

and the guy made her very, very uneasy.

she opened the bottom lock but kept her security chain in place as she opened the door two inches. enough room for them to talk, but nothing else. "detective gyth?"

he stepped closer. the light dipped across his face, making him look somewhat sinister.

oh yeah, like she needed that visual right then.

"i need to talk to you."

she'd figured that out, considering the guy had driven all the way to her place- and really, just how had he known where i lived? he must've had her checked out, she realized. probably when danny had first told him to contact her.

"dr. drake?" he lifted his hand, touched his palm to the door. "let me in."

she didn't want to. every instinct she had screamed at her. letting gyth inside would be a very serious mistake.

"i don't want to cause a scene"-his dark voice was pitched low-"but if i have to wake your neighbors to get inside, i'll do it."

her chin lifted. "i don't like being threatened, detective." she started to push the door closed. she had only two immediate neighbors. one was out of town-the family had gone on a vacation to disney world. the other, well, there was no way shirley was home yet.

"wait!" his palm shoved against the door, effectively halting her movement. his eyes met hers. "would you please let me come inside?"

umm, now that sounded like it must've hurt. but she still wasn't budging. "what do you want?"

"i told you, i need to talk to you."

yeah, and so did all of her patients, but she wasn't inviting them inside her house in the middle of the night.

"it's about the case."

he had her attention.

"all right." her fingers fumbled with the chain. "you can come in for five minutes. got that? it's late, i want to sleep, and you can just come in for-"

he pushed open the door, stepped inside, his big body forcing hers back. his thumb lifted, rubbed against her bottom lip. then he brought his hand to his mouth and licked the tip of his thumb. "mmmm..."

she stared at him, eyes wide, mouth agape. he hadn't just-

his lips tilted into a smile. "i love chocolate." his gaze dropped down to her lips. "mind if i have another taste?"

emily stepped back, ramming into the wall. her heart was suddenly beating too fast. her palms were damp, and that tight, hot feeling was back in her stomach again. and all he'd done was touch her lips.

oh no, she could not want this man.

getting involved with a shifter would be pure idiocy.

she swiped her hand over her lips, trying to rub away any ice cream that might be left. didn't want to leave any temptation for him.

"hmmm. guess that's a no, huh?" colin sighed, glancing back toward her living room.

"it's a definite no." despite the little voice in her head that wondered, just for a moment, what it would be like if he kissed her.

emily inhaled sharply. it was late, she was getting loopy, and she was most definitely not finding the shifter attractive.

"is it because of what i am?" he asked the question as he turned his back on her and sauntered into her living room.

"what?" she shook her head, hurriedly slammed and locked the front door, and followed on his heels. "i thought you came by to discuss the case."

"umm." not really an answer. he made himself comfortable on her sofa, put his boots on her coffee table. "nice. real comfortable place you've got." his stare swept around the room, noting the bookcases, the light yellow walls, the big-screen tv. "i like it."

well, that was just great.

damn. she should have never let him in.

"you and i have a problem, doc." he turned that bright blue stare back on her as she stood at the edge of the couch, glowering down at him.

emily stared at him silently, waiting.

"you know what i am." his voice roughened slightly as he made this announcement.

she didn't deny it. what would be the point?

his eyes narrowed fractionally as he studied her expression. "that's not good for me. not good at all."

a flicker of nervousness shot through her. she wasn't sensing any sort of physical threat from the cop, but maybe she just wasn't looking deep enough into him.

his hand snagged her wrist.

and her pulse skyrocketed beneath his grip.

"how much do you know?"

emily swallowed, tried to figure out just how much she should reveal.

his hold tightened around her.

he was the one sitting down, the one forced to look up at her, but emily had the feeling she was the one in the vulnerable position.

"i-i know you aren't human." her voice came out softer, huskier than she'd intended.

she hoped colin would leave it at that. hoped he wouldn't probe any deeper.

"ah, baby, i already knew that."

she tried to tug her hand free, but his grip was unbreakable.

"you're the monster doctor, the one all the local ghouls go to see." a faint trace of amusement underscored his words. but his eyes were watchful, intense, showing no echo of humor.

her jaw clenched. "let go of my hand."

he smiled at her, and his fingers fell away from her wrist.

emily immediately sprang across the room, putting several feet between them. nice, protective space. "look, if you aren't here to discuss the case, then i want you to leave." she turned her back on him, heading toward the front door.

"how do you do it?"

his words stopped her.

"how do you tell who's human and who isn't?"

she heard the soft rustle of the sofa cushions as he rose.

"that's a pretty interesting talent you've got there. and i'm just dying to know exactly how you do it."

emily cast a longing glance toward the front door. "i'm afraid you're just going to have to live with your curiosity, detective."

because she sure as hell wasn't going to reveal her innermost secrets to a stranger. yep, letting the guy inside had been a definite mistake.

"hmmm." his breath blew against the nape of her neck. emily jumped, startled to find him so close to her. the guy hadn't made a sound when he'd crossed the room.

"i'd like to see your hair down," he muttered, and his fingers brushed against the bun she'd yet to unwind.

she jerked away from him. "and i'd like to see you leave. guess which one of us is about to get her wish?"

his hard lips curved into a smile, a smile with a hint of real warmth. "tough lady, aren't you?"

she'd had to be.

his smile slowly faded. "but trust me, i'm a hell of a lot tougher than you could ever dream of being." and in a flash, he had her pinned against the wall. his strong, hard body pressed against her, his muscular thighs pushed between hers, shoving up her skirt, and his right hand locked around her wrists as he forced them against the wall over her head.

her breath left her body in a startled gasp.

"now let's try this again," he growled. "just how much do you know about me?"

his anger hit her then. hot, fierce. oh yes, the detective was enraged. he was also...

afraid.

if the other cops find out what i am, they'll kick me off the force. make me leave. no one will trust me. they'll all think i'm some kind of fucking animal, just like the guys back in grisam did.

mike tried to kill me. because he knew. he knew, just like she knows.

she knows...

his thoughts hit her, hard, pummeling right through her mind.

she thinks i'm an animal...a monster, a-

"i-i don't!" the words were torn from her. his thoughts were flying into her mind so quickly now. too quickly. she tried to raise her shields, tried to block the onslaught of sudden images-

colin, covered in blood, holding his shoulder, staring up at a pale man with a face full of freckles. "why? why?"

colin, staring up at a burning house, his fists clenched, his face twisted in hate.

colin, changing, shifting-

"aaah! " she slammed her shields up. she didn't need to see any more. didn't want to see what he'd become.

"emily?"

she'd squeezed her eyes shut.

"i'm not going to hurt you."

yes, she believed him. a hard rage was riding him, but colin was still in control. she lifted her lashes, peeking up at him. "you don't have to worry," emily told him, completely sincere, "i'm not going to tell anyone about you." she'd been keeping secrets for people-patients, friends, strangers she met on the street-for years now.

he grunted. "and i'm just supposed to believe you?"

"yes, you are." this close, she could see the flecks of gold in his eyes. and they were nice eyes. not nearly as cold or hard as she'd originally thought.

"sorry, doc, but i don't trust you for a minute."

fair enough. she hadn't trusted him either, until she'd gone tiptoeing through his thoughts.

course, if he found out about her little journey, he'd probably just be even more pissed off.

"do you know what i am?"

emily nodded. no point in denying it now. "you're a shifter."

his fingers tightened around her wrists, not quite, but almost hurting her. "how the fuck do you know that?"

"ah...can you ease up there a bit, gyth?"

his brows beetled.

"the hands," she elaborated. "little too tight."

he eased his hold. "how do you know?"

"i always know." that was true. "i can tell with a look." sometimes she could tell just by hearing a voice or catching a scent on the wind. when it came to the other, she was definitely wired for them. "your kind-you carry a glow with you. like a bright shadow that follows you everywhere." the shadow of the beast.

he winced. "can others see this damn glow?"

not as far as she knew. "i've never known anyone else who can see the things i can." and she'd looked. searched desperately for years. especially back at the beginning, back when she'd thought she was crazy.

"shit."

yes, that pretty well summed up the situation. emily wiggled her fingers. "mind letting me go now?"

his nostrils flared and his gaze dropped to her lips. "yeah, doc, as a matter of fact, i do."

the woman smelled like sin. like a delicious combination of roses, rich chocolate, and seductive female flesh, and he really, really wanted to taste her.

his canine teeth were starting to lengthen, an unfortunate side effect of his shifter blood. when he got angry or aroused, the beast tended to wake up.

and the good doctor had succeeded in both royally pissing him off and turning him on.

she wasn't wearing her glasses now. her eyes looked soft, sexy.

his head lowered toward her.

"wh-what are you doing?" she stiffened against him.

the lady had a ph.d. he figured she had a pretty good idea of what he was about to do. slowly, deliberately, he brought his lips to hers.

her mouth parted on a startled breath.

perfect.

his lips brushed hers, his tongue thrust inside the wet warmth of her mouth.

oh, damn, but she tasted good. his tongue slipped past the edge of her teeth, rubbed against hers. stroked. teased.

a faint moan rumbled in her throat and she kissed him back.

her breasts brushed against his chest. the nipples were tight, pebbled. he wanted to touch them, but he didn't think the doc was ready for that.

he sucked her tongue slowly, drawing out the kiss, wanting to make every second count. his cock was rock hard for her, pressing tight against the tempting cradle of her sex.

what he wouldn't give to have her naked beneath him right then.

colin forced himself to break the kiss, forced his head to lift. her lips were red, wet from his mouth.

she glared up at him, and her breath sounded ragged to his ears. "are you satisfied now?"

not by a long shot. but he had a good idea of just how the doc could satisfy him.

her bedroom had to be down the darkened hallway. he could take her in there, strip her, and-