The busy sound of phones ringing and papers shuffling filled the precinct as a lulling background noise that every officer and detective had grown accustomed to. Despite the drug addict that had to be dragged through the office to his awaited cell in handcuffs and eventually shown the effects of a stun gun, today seemed lazily uneventful.

Dane sat at his desk in the center of the sluggish haze, tapping a pen to his lower lip with his feet resting next to his sleek desktop computer as he absentmindedly relived the night before. Once Vixen oh-so-hotly came in his lap from his mere touch, she gasped with wide eyes and ran backstage leaving him to the awed but ever-jealous crowd of lustful men. He left the club immediately but not without once again receiving the most murderous glares from that mob guy, Gedeon? Once he made it outside to the fresh air Cinder City provided –which wasn’t so much fresh just fresher than the smoke of the club- he dazedly walked the streets, hiding his erection until he found his loft and passed out on his couch from exhaustion. And I’m not even drunk, he’d thought to himself. Whoever that woman was –Vixen, her voice purred in his head- she’d really been the most amazing woman he’d ever met or will ever meet. Thoughts of her smooth legs under his strong hands still ran through his mind as his partner, Will, approached his desk and slapped down a massive file onto his desk. “Looks like our guy, Javier, hired a not-so-loyal bodyguard. The guy was found dead in his suite in a pool of his own blood, or at least what was left of it,” said Will, eyeing the half-vacant look in Dane’s eyes. He was like that sometimes, always watching closely trying to pin down answers without asking. Even now he was getting that barely noticeable squint given away by the crow’s feet surrounding his deep gray eyes. Dane mentally shook off the sound of the siren’s cries of pleasure and took the file in his hands, flipping it open to see its contents.

“What makes you think it was a bodyguard?” asked Dane.

“I don’t,” replied Will, still suspicious, “But coroners can’t seem to find any evidence otherwise. There’s no sign of a break-in, not even any shots fired-“

“Then how-“

“They were all cut down with a blade of some kind, most likely a sword,” Will cut him off. Dane couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

“Now I’m interested,” he rose from his chair and donned his jacket. Will followed as they made their way out the precinct to their car, a black Chevy Impala that Dane absolutely obsessed over. He sauntered over to the driver’s side door but was stopped by Will who twirled the keys around his forefinger with a grin, the crinkles around his eyes showing themselves once more. Dane gave a sigh and patted the hood. “One day, ol’ girl,” he said with a smile as he dropped into the passenger seat. “The old man has to give out sooner or later. Then you will be aaaall mine,” he caressed the leather dashboard. Will rolled his eyes and the engine roared to life.

His essence was easy to pick out from the hectic noise that flooded the city from her vantage point on top of the tallest skyscraper. Vixen came here often the listen out for her targets using her sensitive hearing and ability to feel the energies, or auras, of others. Now, she could sense him nearby and followed the pull to an apartment building, catching up just in time to see him drive a black motorcycle into an underground parking garage. She calmly jumped from the five story ledge of the building across the street, reaching out in time to get a firm grasp on the neck of a street light and drop down silently without notice. After a few minutes of waiting, she was able to trace his energy to the eighth floor. She sensed no one else with him. Good.

Vixen had spent the entire day at home waiting for any news from the organization about the police department’s progress on last night’s mission. They hadn’t discovered any information leading back to her or the organization as usual and could only conclude that the murderer used a sword to do the damage and had taken a few pints of blood but they did not find any other puncture wounds indicating a needle. As they tried to uncover where the blood had gone to, Vixen soaked in a luxuriously expensive bathtub surrounded by candles and the lulling sounds of Matthew Bellany’s voice slurring out the lyrics of “Feeling Good” from the stereo as she sipped the surprisingly clean blood of Javier from a gold-rimmed champagne glass. So the drug lord stayed away from the merchandise, she mused.

From upstairs, she could hear him give a long sigh and the sound of water running. Unable to help herself, Vixen jumped up to the balcony of his apartment in a single bound, landing soundlessly on a forest green sofa that smelled heavily of rainwater and coal that she hadn’t seen from below. She could smell his scent in the thick fabric and was pleased that she couldn’t catch the scent of another’s. Either he lived here alone or his roommates –or girlfriend- really didn’t like this couch very much. At that moment, she saw his tall figure emerge from a door at the end of the hall facing the glass doors she stood behind. She froze, but he didn’t seem to notice her. As he approached closer to the glass doors, she could see he wore nothing but a white towel wrapped low on his hips. “Oh…” she sighed breathily. He was….. glorious! The broad shoulders she could remember clearly and his strength was undeniable but gods how magnificent his large muscles splayed tightly around his arms and his chest. Wrapped around his left arm was a fiery phoenix, its wings spreading themselves around his muscular bicep and its tail running down his forearm, stopping just at his inner wrist. Her gaze dipped lower down his daresay lickable abs and a trail of dark hair below his navel that disappeared below his towel. Vixen unconsciously ran her tongue over her upper lip and squeezed her thighs shut to lock in the moisture that collected there.

She bolted upright with shame at what she was doing. She was a peeping tom and enjoying it too! Anger flushed through her thoroughly as she blushed deeply. What was this man doing to her?! Before last night’s encounter she had never experienced any kind of sexual pleasure. Truly none. And now this man could make her knees weak with the lift of an eyebrow or a half-grin! Could make her moan like a succubae with a single touch! Could make her orgasm with a single thrust of his hips! Even now she shuddered with the memory, causing more slickness between her legs. She had to leave this place.

Just as she braced herself to jump across the street to the top of the opposite building, she saw him returning from the next room with a mug in hand as he sipped on it thoughtfully. With his back turned from her she could see beads of water dripping down his wonderfully tanned skin as if he left the shower to grab his mug as an afterthought. The longing to catch the drops with her tongue in slow kisses seized her mind and she licked her lips once more. At last, he disappeared into the back room again and she could finally escape.

After bounding across a few buildings and avoiding major streets, Vixen finally made it back to her spacious, upper class loft. She stole quickly to the refrigerator, snatching one of the many thermoses stored there and drank deeply with abandon, even allowing some to spill down the sides of her mouth down her neck and onto her breasts. She shivered at the contact and her nipples stood erect, begging for the touch of a certain dark haired male…

The thermos emptied and she tossed it into the sink, already grabbing another and heading to her room to strip off her clothes and hop in the shower. Once inside, she took another gulp before setting the thermos just outside the shower door still within reach. The hot water thrummed against her skin as it washed away the crimson that streaked her mouth, neck, and chest. With eyes closed, Vixen imagined what it would be like to share a shower with Dane. Would he run the back of his fingers up the side of her thigh, along her wide hips and lean torso, and finally cup one of her generous breasts in one hand as he fondled her sex? A long moan escaped her lips as she repeated the action on herself, imagining his big, calloused hands instead of her small, soft palms. She leaned her head back, letting the hot water run through her short black hair and down her curvy bodice, arching her back with it. She wished she could at least say that it had been so long since she had done this last but she truly had never done it at all. Pleasure was something unknown to her in the past because she simply didn’t know how to feel. But he can show me, she thought with a sigh.

Her efforts to show herself pleasure just couldn’t be matched by his expertise and she decided to leave her fantasies behind her. She turned off the shower and dried herself quickly, leaving the towel behind and grabbing her swords and pistol, storing the firearm beneath her pillow and the blades in their sheaths beside her on the large bed. It was just like an assassin to sleep with her weapons and not a man. But she was an assassin, so she tried not to let that loneliness bother her too much.

Vixen had always enjoyed sleeping naked, always relished in the feel of the silk slipping dreamily against her skin. It had soothed her of her constant nightmares even though waking up from those nightmares naked always put a little emphasis on the fear of her past catching up with her yet again. Still, she slipped beneath the sheets and tried not to think about Dane’s seeking fingers roaming her body instead of the silk. Of course she failed.