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СКАЧАТЬ with an expression of reverence. Anyone with eyes could see he loved her. He loved her enough to give her anything for her birthday, and this was always what she asked for.

      When Xander recovered from his climax, he freed his softening cock from Emily’s ass, left the bed and silently got dressed.

      He watched as Rock caressed Emily’s smooth skin, inducing whimpering moans from her moist, swollen lips. The dim lighting caused her nude body to become a study in contrast, light and shadow, curves and planes.

      Rock wasn’t done with his girlfriend, but Xander’s role in the night’s sexual performance was in the first act only. Emily wanted to be overwhelmed by pleasure, to swim in it, to drown in it. Rock indulged her as much as he could and Xander was glad to help, but the rest of the night was for the two of them alone.

      Xander turned and left with only the snick of the door closing behind him to announce his departure. He smiled as he wove through the people in the hallway. From Emily’s multicolored curls and nipple piercings, to Rock’s tattoos and bad-ass attitude, they were as delinquent as a cop and his girlfriend could get without being arrested themselves. Xander chuckled and shook his head. It had been a good night.

      He liked the threesomes with Rock and Emily. It was the most satisfaction he’d gotten out of sex in a long time. Too bad it was only once a year. The wild, anonymous sex Xander sought out in Circle City during the last five years got him off, but as time passed, he gained less and less satisfaction from it. Lately, sex was like surgery–sterile, and done only when necessary. He sometimes yearned for love and intimacy like Rock and Emily enjoyed with each other.

      He cut himself short. That was a dangerous train of thought.

      Xander stepped off the elevator on the ground floor of Rock’s building.

      Normally, before his roommate Diana had gotten married and moved out of Circle City with her husband, he would have gone back to his apartment. She would have teased him about being such a slut and then he would fall asleep spooning her like every other night since the day she moved in.

      Some men would have been happy to have a respite from the responsibility of their female, but he wasn’t one of them. Without Diana to take care of, the apartment felt empty. It wasn’t home anymore.

      Lost in thought, he exited into the humid summer night and walked the path that meandered from building to building.

      He was well aware he hadn’t adjusted well to Diana’s absence. It was ironic that he’d never realized how much he needed her until she wasn’t there anymore. The responsibility of caring for her and protecting her created stability in a life that was self-destructive and wild when they’d first met. He realized now that her presence established a home for them both. No matter where they’d been or what they’d done since they crawled out of bed together that morning, there was someone to go home to–assigned family, but still family.

      It wasn’t sexual with Diana. Never sexual. But it was intimate. Her unconditional acceptance of his authority, and her warm body got him through many nights of rebellion and insecure feelings about his place in the world.

      The soft ping of the elevator roused him from his rumination. The door opened and he found himself looking down the hall of his floor in building seventeen. Small crowds gathered here and there outside open doorways.

      He walked through the first gathering and into the apartment beyond.

      “Can I crash here?” he asked Caroline when he found her cross-legged on the bed, watching TV with a group of others.

      “Xander, you know you don’t have to ask,” she said, moving over and making room for him.

      “I’m working tomorrow. I have to set the alarm,” he warned.

      “No prob.”

      He climbed in the bed, finding enough room among the large tangle of people to get comfortable and fall asleep.

      * * * *

      “You wanted to see me, Cap?” Xander stepped into his supervisor’s office.

      “A fallow has been transported over from the Sapphire Designation Center. Jordan’s covering her right now,” Captain Rush said, without looking away from his compad. He touched his screen a couple more times then looked at Xander. “Looks like you’re on. We need to have a strategy session. I notified the rest of the task force team. Take an hour for dinner. We’ll meet at eight in the briefing room.”

      Xander stepped through the side door of police headquarters and lifted his face toward the thunderclouds and sprinkling rain. He breathed deeply. Anticipation and contentment swirled in his chest. He was ready to get back to normal, having a female assigned to him, someone to care for again. The practice of single Amber males caring for their assigned female suited him, fulfilled an inexplicable need in his personality. It made him a better man.

      An hour later, Xander, Rock and Brady, the electronics specialist, as well as Wes, the homicide detective from the last fallow cases, were all gathered around the large briefing room table in Amber Zone Police Headquarters. The atmosphere was relaxed. Everyone knew one another. The officers assigned to the Circle City area were like family to each other. All of them, except the captain, were single and lived in Circle City as well.

      Captain Rush’s sharp eyes lasered in on the team members as he walked in the door. Rush reminded Xander of a predatory bird. His bald head and pointy beak nose added to the effect.

      “Let me give you the overview of what we have so far,” he said, getting right down to business. “The last three fallows assigned to Circle City from other zones have wound up dead within weeks of their placement here. The first, Stacey Adams…” He tapped his stylus on his handheld to bring up a projection on the board. “Was originally taken at face value as, what we thought at the time, was an obvious suicide by some kind of poisoning.

      “A month and a half later, another fallow came in from the Sapphire Zone, Tanisha Washington.” He projected another photo. “Three weeks after her placement in building nineteen, she was found dead in her apartment by her roommate. Her wrists were slashed. At first glance, this looked like a suicide as well. But after investigation, the evidence didn’t support suicide. It looked more like a murder set up to pass as a suicide.

      “The last victim, also a fallow from Sapphire…” Another picture projected. “…August Zayzinski was found drowned in the Circle City public swimming pool. Again, questionable injuries not consistent with drowning.

      “The deaths were reported on the news feeds as suicides, and accident in the last case. We don’t want this guy tipped off that we’re on to him. We know his MO, which leads us to his obvious next victim. The captain switched the picture on the whiteboard. “Jaci Harmon. We’ve been keeping the female spot in Xander’s apartment open waiting for the next fallow. She was transferred there this afternoon.”

      Xander studied the picture of his new roommate. She was pretty. A small feeling of trepidation washed over him. God he hoped she wasn’t bratty like some of the other women transferred in from one of the more privileged zones.

      “Jordan is covering the apartment now. As of her last check in, Miss Harmon hasn’t left the apartment or let anybody in. According to Jordan, she hasn’t so much as even turned on a light.

      “Xander, along with Rock and Jordan will be responsible for surveillance. You СКАЧАТЬ