Primal Cravings by Susan Sizemore

proactive.
    Would masturbation do any good? She doubted it, and where was there to—? The gas station bathroom?
    “Ooh, euwwh!” She shuddered in disgust at the very notion. Too gross. What she needed was to wash these emotions clean out of her system….
    Wash.
    Clean.
    The memory of a spell nudged its way through the fire consuming her.
    “Water,” she said. “Running water. You put out a fire with water.”
    She noticed the sign over the gas station door with relief. She walked to the building, moving slow as an old woman, feeling Piper’s impatient glare on her back the whole way. But, she was too aware of Piper anyway.
    “You don’t look so good,” the man behind the counter said the instant the door closed behind her.
    “Flu,” she rasped.
    “Don’t cough on anything,” he told her.
    Dee nodded, and squinted into the dimness of the store rather than turn her attention on anything masculine. It was packed full of narrow rows of shelves. She could make out candy and grocery items, with pop, beer, and other drinks in tall coolers in the back. For all she could tell there might be a weapons cache and hardware supplies stuffed into the crowded space. Never mind. She walked carefully toward the counter, stopping a few feet short when the man put his hand up.
    Just as well to keep her distance. She fought the temptation to grab any man and have her way with him as it was.
    “I’d like to rent a room,” she told him.
    He eyed her critically. “Maybe you should go to an ER.”
    “Need to rest,” she managed to say in an almost normal voice. She needed a bed all right, but not for resting. “And a shower.” More than anything else she needed water running over her skin, cold and strong and bracing.
    The man brought out a form for her to fill out.
    Dee stifled a groan. The last thing she was up to was any kind of paperwork. She glanced out the store’s wide glass window to where Piper waited by the SUV, arms crossed, expression deeply annoyed.
    “My friend can take care of the details. Please just let me have the key.”
    He hesitated, then looked her over worriedly. “Get some rest,” he said and put a key on the glass-topped counter. “Room two.”
    She grabbed the key.
    Piper came toward her as she exited the store. She waved him toward the door. “We’re staying. I’ll be in room two.” He looked puzzled, but didn’t ask any questions. She took another step, then turned as she remembered something important. “Sage,” she said. “I need sage for the spell. See if there’s any in the grocery area.”

Chapter Sixteen
    Jake took his time about approaching the motel room after he parked the SUV in the space in front of the door. He paced outdoors for a time, furious with McCoy’s forcing this travel delay, as well as using the exercise to work off some of his own overheated energy.
    He carried with him not only a plastic container of herbs from the convenience store shelf but also their go bags from the back of the SUV. It was Dark Angel policy to carry small backpacks containing personal items along on assignments. You never knew when a change of underwear or a shave might actually prove important for an op.
    He knocked. No answer. Jake discovered McCoy hadn’t locked the door of room two behind her when he checked the knob. It was a security protocol breach, but also saved him from breaking the lock when she didn’t respond to his knock.
    McCoy wasn’t in the small bedroom, but he felt her burning presence in the bathroom. He heard water running, imagined it sizzling and steaming over her bare skin. He doubted she was taking a shower for the sake of cleanliness. Water was probably part of the spell she’d mentioned when they’d passed each other in front of the store. And it was probably as cold as ice.
    He put his hand on the door handle just as a loud groan issued from the bathroom. The door was off its hinges and he was in the small room a moment later.
    She was on her knees in the