Laying Down the Lawman
The Soul Collectors, 2
Sheriff Jason McCall has been entrusted by his community to protect and serve. When dead bodies start littering the morgue, his investigations lead him to a world of creatures he never believed in. Questioning his own sanity, he closes in on the killers, never expecting to be attracted to one of the things that go bump in the night.
Elia comes to the area when he senses a spike in evil energy, knowing the Hell Demon Horde is behind the rash of deaths. When he’s nearly arrested by the local sheriff, he’s tempted to let the sexy lawman put him in cuffs and have his wicked way with him.
Bodies collide as they find solace in each other. Jason’s weary of joining their fight, bound by the oath he gave his neighbors. So, Elia pulls out all the stops to lay down his lawman.
Be Warned: m/m sex.
Excerpt:
“Hands up where I can see them.”
Elia looked the human over, seeing the uniform of a lawman in the dim light, the moon casting a glint over the tin star on the man’s chest. Law or not, there was a chance this man was working with Molock, so he needed to tread carefully. He lifted his hands up and signaled his surrender, which was anything but. At first chance, he would subdue the male and continue his perusal.
“Come out into the light so I can see you better. Keep the hands up.”
Elia stepped forward and into the full moon’s illumination, shifting back into his human form before doing so. Apparently he’d not been quick enough.
“Dammit, you’re one of them, aren’t you?”
Elia couldn’t help but bristle at the term them, or the way the man spit it out. “One of what, officer?”
“Don’t play me. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it’s a duck.”
Elia couldn’t help but chuckle. “Quack, quack.”
The gun trained on him never wavered. Elia stopped laughing as he saw Chastity get out of the car from the corner of his eye.
“Chastity? What are you doing up here?” The man never removed his eyes from Elia. Smart man.
“Aww, Sheriff McCall, whatchu got your gun out for? This gentleman has been nothing but nice to me.”
“Well, this gentleman seems to have put himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“How’s that, sheriff? Is there a law against stopping in to see if a friend is home?”
“A friend?” The sheriff lowered his voice an octave, as if he didn’t want Chastity to hear what he had to say.
“I know what you freaks are doing up here. There’ll be no more killings in my county. Is that why you brought her up here, to drain her blood and pitch her body into the river like the others?”
Drain her blood? Elia’s mind spun as he tried to insert that knowledge into what he already knew.
Was Molock working with vamps?
Mother-fucker. He looked the sheriff over one more time, wondering if he should keep playing dumb or if he needed to lay some of his cards out on the table to offer to share a little information. The officer could potentially help give him more of the intel he would need to take down the demon, to see what they were up to and how wide the net spread.
“Sheriff, you’ve got it all wrong. You really do. I’m on your side in this. I saw all the strange disappearances in Jackson and came here to help. I’m a demon hunter.” Elia took a tentative step forward, knowing if he could get close enough, he could tell the sheriff to release him and to forget everything that had just happened. If he could just get a good look into the man’s eyes.
“Stay the fuck back.”
Elia took another tentative step closer. “Molock has left a trail of dead bodies in his wake before. I can help you.”
The gun never moved or shook. Elia felt an instant of respect for the man behind the weapon. “I said, stand your ground. Do not move closer or I will shoot you.”
“Now, sheriff, I’m not trying to hurt anyone. I just came out here to see what Molock was up to and to see how to stop him.” Elia was only a few feet away now and could finally get a good look at the sheriff’s face.
He was younger than Elia expected, his skin smooth. The wide brim of his Stetson cast a shadow over half his face, but the wide mouth was expressive, the lips curved and bowed. The peppering of beard growth just made the male all the more attractive. A twinkling light came from where his eyes should be.
Elia captured the stare as best he could, staring at where those twinkles were. “You’ll release me now, and let the woman go. We were never here.”
“What kind of bullshit is that?”
Elia grimaced. Apparently, he’d not gotten a good enough look into the man’s eyes when he’d issued the command. He’d need to get closer, pop the hat off him. He took another carefully measured step.
“I will not hesitate to shoot you. Take one more step and you’re gonna have a hole in you.”
Elia knew he needed to be quick. He’d have to jump the sheriff and pin him to the ground, get the ridiculous cowboy hat off him and capture his stare. Once it was all over, the human would never realize what had even happened. In the blink of an eye, he pounced, but not before the human let off a round from his gun.
Elia was too fast and the bullet didn’t get him in the intended spot, but rather, slipped just past his shoulder, nicking him.
The pain lanced through his arm, but he couldn’t stop until he had gotten the officer to forget him. Tumbling him to the ground, he soon landed on top of the human and wrestled him for the gun. The thing went off in their hands, hitting the Mercedes on the side. Dammit, my car! He heard Chastity scream and begin running, her feet sounding over the pebbled drive.
Elia somehow knocked the hat from the man and saw him for the first time, Elia not needing as much light to see in the moonlit night. A strong brow covered the most intense set of green eyes he’d ever seen. An aquiline nose ended above those firm lips, taut cheeks sloped down to a firm jaw. The man was absolutely stunning.
He tried to ignore the jade green and how incredibly beautiful those eyes were. He also tried to ignore how turned on he was getting, too, the strapping man fighting with incredible strength below him. He tried to ignore how rock hard his cock was already becoming.
Books in THE SOUL COLLECTORS Series:
Losing His Religion
Laying Down the Lawman
