Zielinski leaned in and slid his arms around his waist, enveloping him in muscled heat from shoulders all the way down to his ass. Oh, he liked that. And his cock twitched as if to prove it. Fuck. He could not get aroused right now. He needed to concentrate on catching villains and not embarrassing himself with an ill-timed erection.
Stardust wiggled his hips once, as if that would give him more room on the small motorcycle seat. All it did was shift his ass back and forth between Zielinski’s thick thighs, rubbing it against his groin. Zielinski made a small rough noise at the movement. The sound gently rasped over Stardust’s ear, sending tingles shooting down his spine. That noise, that low, rough noise, sounded as if Zielinski was in a similar half-aroused state as him. Stardust immediately locked his muscles down tight, determined not to move again. They had villains to defeat. Besides, they were partners. Professional partners who absolutely did not get turned on by each other in the middle of a patrol.
With renewed focus, Stardust sped down the streets, looking for hints of white shirts and listening for Caleb to come on the line and tell them where they were moving to next. But there was nothing. It seemed now that he and Zielinski had help, the white shirts had decided to call it quits. The frustration building in his chest was about to erupt in a string of curses when Sonica’s voice sounded in his ear piece.
“Got one!”
He listened as she gave her location. Stardust slowed his speed, carefully checking it was clear in all directions before he flipped a U-turn and sped back the way they’d come.
Several lights and two turns later, they came upon Frost and Sonica waiting on the sidewalk. A white shirt was in front of them, an older woman, her hair in a tidy, steel-gray bun. The bottoms of her sturdy boots were encased in Frost’s ice, preventing her from moving. Stardust jumped off the bike and walked up to the trio, Zielinski close at his side. The others held back while Stardust stood face to face with one of the people causing trouble in his district. He had lots of questions. The most important one,whywere they doing this? He wanted answers, but decided to have someone else ask the questions.
“Sonica, why don’t you handle the interrogation.”
Stardust was itching to have a go at the white shirt himself but he was so pissed off after chasing them all over the Playground, that he worried he wouldn’t be able to focus his powers enough to keep from affecting anyone close to him—including his teammates. Besides, Sonica had interrogation experience so it was probably best to hand this task off to her. He stepped aside, and the redhead moved in to take his place in front of the shivering woman.
“We have some questions for you and I hope you’ll be a good girl and answer. Who is behind the attacks on the Playground?”
The woman said nothing. She stood there, glaring at Sonica.
Sonica tried again. “What’s your ultimate goal with this targeted harassment?”
“I’m not talking,” the woman said from between loudly chattering teeth.
At the refusal, Sonica’s face went hard and she canted her head low.
Stardust took a cautious step forward when Sonica’s demeanor changed so abruptly. Sonica had a... history. As much as he wanted answers, he didn’t want the hero to drift into old behaviors. “Sonica?” he said her name quietly, making sure she was all right. The hero’s answer was swift, accompanied by a roll of her shoulders.
“I’m good.”
Trusting that she would keep her cool, Stardust eased back. He, Zielinski, and Frost watched and waited as Sonica continued to question the woman—what organization she was with, what were their group’s goals, how many people were involved. But the white shirt doggedly refused to answer anything put to her. She kept her mouth shut while her eyes remained bugged open wide, a sign that she too had taken Croton. Stardust was starting to realize this was pointless when sirens sounded, too close to be ignored.
“We’re not going to get anything out of her,” he said. “And we need to go.”
Everyone agreed, and they left in their respective pairs, disappearing into the crowd as swirling police lights came around the corner. The woman would either be taken in, or the ice would melt and she’d escape back to her group of harassers. Her fate was of no concern to Stardust. His focus was on locating and stopping the next attack.
He and Zielinski patrolled several streets on foot but they didn’t see any sign of white shirts appearing in the middle of the crowds of revelry. When they came upon an alleyway, Stardust jerked his head toward it, indicating that Zielinski should follow him into the dark space between the two buildings.
“Let’s wait here for a bit. Maybe they’re watching for us and that’s why they haven’t come out again.”
“Makes sense.”
They took up spots on the walls opposite each other. Car horns blared, the smell of roasting meat came from the building behind him, and the wind picked up a discarded plastic cup, sending it skittering over the uneven bricks between them. Their location wasn’t exactly conducive to romance. But an alley exactly like this one was where they’d kissed a few nights ago, so it was only natural that he thought of it now.
He looked to Zielinski, who was turned to observe the entrance to the alley. His partner seemed as business-like as usual and Stardust assumed his mind was on their patrol. But then he turned away from the alley entrance to face Stardust.
Stardust couldn’t see his eyes, but he knew without a doubt that Zielinski was thinking about their kiss. There was something there in the tense line of his jaw and the way his fingers flexed once before curling into loose fists. Stardust’s stomach lifted lightly in a slight rush of desire. They stared at each other, tension crackling between them while they stayed at the ready, listening for shouts or sounds of a scuffle. But it appeared as if the white shirts were finally done with their attacks on the Playground for the night. Eventually, Stardust straightened and tapped his earpiece for one final check-in to HQ.
“Caleb, we haven’t seen any white shirts for a good twenty minutes. We’re going to call it and head home.”
“Okay. You all did good work tonight. Get some rest.”
The call finished, Stardust returned to leaning against the brick wall behind him. Across the narrow alley, Zielinski mirrored his pose. Stardust ran his gaze from the top of his wind-mussed brown locks, lingering on his full lips before moving down past the tactical vest that hugged his tight torso, to the thick thighs straining against his black pants. Damnit.Whydid that man have to look so fucking good? He looked big and strong and perfectly capable of throwing Stardust down and wrecking him just the way he liked. He watched as Zielinski’s gloved hand rose to push his glasses up into his hair, revealing the intensity to his bright green gaze as he stared.
Stardust slowly pulled of his mask, letting it dangle from one hand. And still Zielinski continued to stare. The heavy glance felt like both an invitation and a challenge. Whatever it was, Stardust accepted it, professionalism be damned. He pushed off the wall, stalking across the short space between them.
Zielinski licked his tongue out, running it over his bottom lip, leaving it wet and shiny. When Stardust reached him, he didn’t speak, he simply wrapped a hand around the back of Zielinski’s neck and pulled his head down to his level. Their lips met and their eyes drifted closed. This kiss wasn’t furious as their first had been but there was still a ton of heat between them. Stardust kept a firm hold on the big man, pushing his body in tight against him as they passionately kissed again and again. Zielinski’s hands settled on his waist. When Stardust gave an encouraging hum into their kiss, his grip tightened, pulling him in even closer.
Heat pooling low in his belly, Stardust shifted his stance to slightly spread his legs. He was seconds away from straddling one of Zielinski’s muscled thighs and taking it for a ride when rapidly approaching footsteps caught his attention. Stardust released his partner, jerking away from him at the same time Frost jogged around the corner.
