Oh! My! Goddess! That was the most intense flashback ever. I was her, experiencing everything she did. And I must say it felt really good before she died. Never in my life had anything close to that happened to me during sex or anything else.

Her desire and the heated images made me feel a bit needy. Okay, more than a bit. A lot. Damn. I had been left with minor feelings of sexual need before, very minor, but this time I needed some real sexual satisfaction.

Snap out of it, Anwyn, you're here to do a job, not get off. Think about the woman that died. Get it together. That wasn't supposed to arouse you; you were supposed to learn from it. But, damn! Her pleasure settled inside me so intensely. It overrode the fact she had died. I focused on the fact a sick bastard killed her. The vampire had killed again.

I took a deep cleansing breath and centered myself. There, better, a little anyway.

Damn, the poor thing. The killer vamp just dropped her and walked away, but at least she crossed over. So many who die quickly and tragically didn't go into the light, but thank Goddess her grandma came to get her. At least I knew her spirit wouldn't be hanging around. Like some of the others that died but couldn't tell me who killed them. Their spirits just wandered aimlessly, unable to cross over.

I tried to walk, stumbled around, started to fall, and then large hands caught me. Feeling flushed, dizzy, disgusted, and aroused all at the same time I did not need someone touching me right now. Still too open, I didn't need anyone else's thoughts or feelings floating around in my head.

"So what'd ya see?" Malone's hot breath tickled my neck. So close, one arm around me with his hand at my midsection, his other on my arm to keep me steady. My back rested lightly against his large, thick, muscleripped chest. Thankfully, I didn't get a read on anything from him personally. I never did. Somewhere along the way, he must have learned how to block, of course, many cops did it naturally. For that I was thankful. The last thing I wanted to see was what went on in Mike Malone's head.

Even though I wouldn't get any visions from him, I did not want Malone touching me right now. His heat added to my own and sent waves of need rolling through me. Without actually feeling his desires or sensing his thoughts I could feel his maleness. I took another deep breath to steady myself. Didn't work, I just inhaled the manly and notatallunpleasant aroma of Malone. I pulled away and turned to face him.

"Seduction, sex, then he killed her. Just like the others." My voice came out shaky and unsure. I tried not to look Malone in the eyes because I wasn't very good at doing that stonycopface thing and shutting down. It wasn't that hard to avoid his eyes. He stood so much taller than me, looking him in the eyes meant I had to look up, which would make me dizzy. Already off balance, I couldn't risk it getting any worse. So I glanced sideways at him, avoiding all direct eye contact.

"So she came then she went." His sarcastic smile made his eyes twinkle but underneath his expression grew cold. I knew he hated this bastard but the sexual nature of it got a rise out of him, and he aimed it directly at me. It was a way for him to blow off steam. Some of the guys goofed around and joked over dead bodies so they didn't fall apart. Malone liked to mess with me.

I focused on his smirky smile, all big white teeth, and full sensuous lips. Wow, Grandma what big teeth you have. The better to eat you with my dear. Oh yeah, eat me, eat me, eat me.

Stop it Anwyn, magick and murder are messing with your emotions and obviously your mind. "What an elegant way to put it, Malone, but yes, intense orgasm then she died."

"So, ah, you experienced all of it?" he asked with just the slightest hint of a sneer playing at the corner of his mouth.

Holy witch on wheels did I feel it. I wasn't about to tell him that though. "Some, that's how it works, you know." His eyes said clearly he did not believe me completely and wanted to know more.

He bent forward and whispered so only I could hear what he said, "You're looking a bit flushed and your nipples are hard as hell. I'm thinking this one affected you more than any other time. If you want. as soon as we're done here, you and I can go somewhere and I can help you relieve some of that. pentup desire." He almost sounded sincere. And I almost wanted to take him up on that offer.

Almost. My stomach flipflopped at the same time my nether regions urged me to go for it. "No thanks, Malone. I don't need any help, especially not from you."

He actually had the nerve to look insulted and hurt. "Enjoy your batteryoperated friend then."

I felt heat creep up into my already blazing cheeks as he turned and stomped away.

"We're done here, guys." He turned to the guys from the coroner's office. "Bag her, tag her, and get her outta here before we're overrun with drunken gawkers. The crowd is already starting to form and I see media towers up on Saginaw Street."

Malone looked at me again. "I'll need you at the Station tomorrow to give me an official statement of anything useful from your vision. We'll need to record everything."

"Look, Malone, there's nothing new. It's the same as before. The guy is blocked. I can feel him, but I never really see him. The magick hides anything useful. The bastard only lets me see what he wants me to see."

"And feel. He likes it that you felt him tonight. He's probably getting off on it right now. This is a sadistic vamp, Anwyn. I need you to process the info and try to find something, anything new, anything different. Maybe tonight you'll find something useful as you go over those images in your head. And I know you are going to. I was paying attention, Annie girl. You mumbled, moaned, and moved erotically during your vision. Don't worry I don't think anyone else was paying attention, but I was, I always do." His lip stretched into a grin. "I can tell when a woman is aroused, I can tell when you are aroused, and this is going to be with you for a while until you get rid of it. I tried to be nice and offer my help. Instead, you have a long lonely night ahead of you." With that, he turned and disappeared into the dark.

Long night ahead of me all right, I would be focused on the murder all night, trying to find any clue in the vision I had experienced from the victim. Maybe I could push away thoughts of the murderer and concentrate on my current crush, Galen. The guy who barely knew I existed. He made me feel like a giddy schoolgirl every time I got near him. Thinking of him would be much more pleasant than thinking about a murderous vampire that loves to kill women.

Except Galen was a vampire. Okay, maybe I shouldn't think about him because anything related to fangs would send me right back to thinking about the murders.

To my dismay, I settled on the images of Malone flowing through my mind. Just out of sheer curiosity, I thought about him, wondering what kind of lover he would be. Underneath his cocky swagger, he was still a goodlooking guy. Cops liked to toss around all that bravado, but I knew it as just another form of copface, something to hide the real person underneath the badge.

Definitely going to be a long night. I sighed and headed toward my car. As I started the engine I thought, maybe I should stop to get batteries on my way home.