by Lora Leigh
God was smiling on Liza.
“We’ll follow you home.” Steven nodded and the four men rose as well.
Beside her, she swore Stygian chuckled.
She was certain of it as his head lowered. “Very, very good,” he murmured at her ear. “You surprised me.”
It sounded as though he was rarely surprised.
“Good night, Mr. Black,” she said.
“Good night, Ms. Johnson.” Nodding, he stepped back and seconds later disappeared into the press of bodies as he made his way to the exit.
“This isn’t good,” Klah stated softly.
Liza glanced at the dark Navajo, seeing the nearly black eyes and the anger burning within.
Klah was their logistics and planning guru. There were times when his instincts were so strong that the other members of the team swore he was psychic.
“But perhaps not bad.” She shrugged. “He can’t know anything either way. He’s just—” She trailed off, shaking her head.
“Just horny?” Chelsea suggested teasingly. “Honey, that Breed is damned interested and damned certain you’re just as hot for him.”
“She’s not,” Klah snapped as he and the other men surrounded them as they began moving for the exit themselves.
“Reever, take first watch on the girls’ house,” Cullen ordered, ignoring Klah’s exclamation. “Steven, you have second, and Klah will take third. I have duty the next three days, but I can pull members of the other teams in the area to cover them until this situation is resolved.”
“That could be why someone seems to be stalking us,” Liza suggested as they left the club. “Someone could be using the Breeds’ presence here to draw out as many members as possible and get information on the network rather than anything else.”
“That’s always possible,” Cullen agreed. “But I’d rather ensure your, Claire’s and Chelsea’s safety.”
“Don’t pull from the network,” Liza suggested. “We have enough friends who are members of the military or law enforcement who could fill in. I’d rather not risk the identities of the teams involved in relocation. We’re the only team not involved in that phase.”
And team members rarely had the identities of other team members. It was a safeguard, a precaution in case one was caught. Or in case a member became greedy and decided to sell information to the Genetics Council.
It had happened only once in all the decades of the Navajo Underground Network. But if it had happened once, it could happen again.
“We’ll see what we can do,” Cullen answered without giving an indication of whether he agreed or not.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her opinion, she told herself. She, Claire and Chelsea were junior members of the group, and in ways, still in training.
As they reached the car, Liza gave in to curiosity and glanced around the parking lot. She couldn’t see Stygian, but she was certain he was there. He wasn’t a man—a Breed—who would give up easily.
“All these hot and handsome Breeds are going to make me start wishing one would go nuts on me now.” Chelsea was laughing despite the declaration as she pulled her small sedan out onto the highway and headed back to Window Rock.
The night closed around them, and as Liza opened the passenger-side window, she couldn’t help but wish the wind was whipping around her as she rode behind Stygian on that motorcycle he had claimed to be riding.
And no doubt he had. He was big enough, strong enough, bold enough to risk life and limb on a hot desert night and a highway that could hold any number of surprises.
“Thank God it’s Friday.” Claire sighed wearily. “This hasn’t been a week I’d want to repeat.”
The planning and implementation of several assignments designed to draw in at least one of the shadows watching them had been an exercise in futility.
Until the morning Liza had taken her run, they had been certain they wouldn’t have to deal with the Bureau of Breed Affairs’s enforcers. Liza, along with the others, had been certain that capturing one of the forces tracking her would be a piece of cake.
Only they had watched that prized cake squashed into nothingness as Liza became immersed in a sensual battle with one of the most powerful Breeds. And he didn’t appear to be the sort to give up easily.
Or to do anything easily.
He would take her as he lived, she thought. Confidently, powerfully. He would hold her with those strong, broad hands, kiss her into senseless submission with lips that mesmerized her, and invade not just her body, but her heart as well.
“Did you hear me, Liza?” Chelsea complained as Liza fought to bring herself back from that place where Stygian’s arms enfolded her and his kiss heated her.
After all, she had been pretty cold lately, she thought wearily.
“No, I’m sorry, Chelsea, I was thinking of something else,” she answered her friend as she pushed back the images of her and Stygian together.
“Or someone else,” Chelsea smirked from the seat beside her. “That Breed, no doubt.”
“He’s arrogant,” Liza accused.
“He’s fucking hot.” Chelsea laughed.
“He’s too dominant,” Liza tried again.
“Yeah well, he could tie me to the bed and spank my ass any day he wants,” Chelsea proclaimed. “Damn, Liza, I know you’re not going to turn down that chance to have the most incredible sexual adventure of a lifetime. You know, Wolf Breeds’ cocks are supposed to be twice as thick as any human man’s. And you know what we’ve heard they do.”
“And Isabelle won’t say either way if her Coyote does that Coyote Breed thing when he comes,” Claire piped in. “Do you think their cocks really swell larger when they ejaculate, locking them inside a woman?”
“The fact that Isabelle refuses to say is a pretty good indication.” Chelsea sighed as though in anticipation. “No wonder they have such female groupies. I think I want to join the club.”
“Chelsea, you ignore the Breeds who do offer,” Claire pointed out as Liza felt her mouth go dry at the thought of being so exquisitely stretched and pleasured at the height of release.
“So do you,” Chelsea pointed out. “It’s not as though I’m the only one.”
“Then why are we telling Liza to take her Breed up on it?” Claire asked, clearly becoming more amused by the moment.
“Well, just because it beats me having to deal with those bossy creatures.” Chelsea laughed.
Grimacing, Liza watched the darkened scenery as they made their way to the outskirts of Window Rock, following Cullen’s Super Cab pickup as he rode with Reever. Klah and Steven rode behind them in Klah’s Land Rover.
Pulling into the driveway of the house, Liza restrained her sigh of relief before she and her housemates slid from the car. After Isabelle moved out to be with Malachi, their cousin Claire had decided to move in with them.
Of course, the men had to come in and check the house from one end to the other.
Liza wondered if they would do that for each other? She rather doubted it.
Actually, she knew they wouldn’t. Hell, someone had broken into Klah’s house the week the Breeds arrived and he hadn’t even called anyone until after he’d checked everything out himself.
But there was no telling them that she, Claire and Chelsea could take care of themselves. They refused to hear it.
Did they actually believe she would lie?
When the search was completed and their good-byes were said, the four men finally left.
As the door closed behind them, Liza locked it with a snap then turned, crossed her arms beneath her breasts once again and faced her still-silent friends.
“Well?” she demanded when they said nothing.
Claire moved into the living room and turned on the television. She increased the volume enough that once they moved into the kitchen, nothing they said could be heard over the din of the television.
“I didn’t say anything about this in the car, but don’t you remember what Isabelle said about
mating while she was in the hospital?” Claire warned her somberly. “Did you let him kiss you while you two were on the dance floor?”
Liza’s gaze widened at the memory of what Isabelle had claimed a Breed’s kisses could do to a woman. “It had to be the drugs they had her on. Remember, she had a reaction to them?”
Isabelle had been half out of her mind from the pain after her near abduction by Holden Mayhew. Surely her warning that a Breed’s kiss was addictive and to watch out for mating had to be some far-fetched dementia caused by the drugs and amplified by her affection for her own Breed.
“Liza, she wasn’t joking,” Claire assured her, her gaze searching as she moved nearer.
Chelsea moved in just as close, listening in rapt attention.
“You can’t be sure of that, Claire.” Liza shook her head decisively. “There’s no proof.”
Claire swallowed tightly and spoke before Chelsea could. “Not proof, exactly. But remember when those Breed doctors arrived and took over her care?”
Liza nodded, as did Chelsea.
“I heard them talking when I slipped outside for some air. One of the doctors told the other that they didn’t like her reaction to the drugs while she was in mating heat and that the mating hormone was reacting strangely.”
Liza stared back at the other woman in disbelief.
“And you’re just now telling us this?” Chelsea hissed in disbelief. “Claire, how could you keep this from us? It’s been nearly a month. We could have kissed dozens of Breeds by now.”
Liza swung her head to the other girl, staring at her in surprise. “Dozens?” She blinked back at Chelsea uncertainly. “Sorry, girlfriend, I’m not exactly a teenager any longer. I don’t think I kissed that many boys even when I was a teenager. Hell, I haven’t kissed that many in my entire life.”
“I was being facetious.” Chelsea sighed. “You know what I meant.”
Claire bit her lip indecisively before drawing in a deep breath. “I thought I had to have misunderstood something, and I knew Malachi would never hurt her.” She lifted her hands in indecision. “But tonight, I knew I had to tell both of you when I saw how Liza was reacting to Mr. Black.” Her eyes widened a bit, the hazel depths filled with concern. “I’m still not certain I didn’t misunderstand something. I mean really, we were all in shock. And terrified. I could have misunderstood the entire conversation.”
Liza blew out a hard breath. “Wow,” she said in disbelief. “Those tabloid stories are true then.”
It was inconceivable. Yet no matter how much she wished she could brush away Claire’s information, she knew she couldn’t.
Isabelle’s reaction to Malachi Morgan had been much too intense to be considered normal, and Liza as well as Chelsea and Claire had known it.
But that was Claire. She kept to herself, and she kept others’ secrets very well. Her friends had always worried about that deep well of reserve she possessed and the quiet nature that often allowed others to run roughshod over her unless her friends put a stop to it.
“Damn, if those tabloid stories are true,” Chelsea hissed, “then it makes them like, fuck machines hyped on natural steroids.” She swallowed tightly, her expression almost glazed with wonder. “It would be like—”
“That’s enough, Chel.” Liza held her hand up quickly. “Enough with the adjectives, okay?”
The “fuck machine on steroids” was enough to make Liza’s body hum with amplified interest. She didn’t even need to hear anything more to assure her that allowing Stygian Black in her bed would definitely ruin her for any other man or Breed. For life. Period.
“But it’s only when they do that mating thing,” Claire reminded them. “That’s what the tabloids said, and from what those two doctors were saying, that’s true. Wolves only have one mate for life in the wild, right? It makes sense that Wolf Breeds would follow that course. Lions as well—”
“But Tigers, Coyotes and all those other wonderful species do not,” Chelsea assured her.
“Then it’s a quirk of nature or their creation.” Chelsea shrugged. “Whatever it is, it’s something they’re obviously desperate to hide, otherwise the Breed scientists would have leaked it to the world themselves long ago.”
“Maybe.” Liza sighed.
She was going to overheat for sure. Liza could feel her body burning like an inferno at the thought of having a man, hell, a Breed, who belonged to her and her alone.
“Talk about having a license to be an asshole.” Chelsea gave a low whistle as she stared back at Liza. “Hell, normal men are a pain in the ass. But one who knew you couldn’t ever allow another man to touch you? A relationship where there’s no threat of divorce? An addiction to their kiss that you can’t get rid of, no matter how pissed you are, how bloated you feel or how bad your head really doesn’t hurt?”
Whoa, talk about a splash of cold water.
“I don’t think so,” Liza informed them both. “Not in this lifetime.”
“How much is true and how much is made up?” Chelsea questioned in disbelief. “How much can you believe? Surely it can’t be so bad or Isabelle would have shot Malachi by now. She’s no wimpy little miss when it comes to defending herself.”
“Fifty-fifty maybe?” Claire suggested.
“No way,” Chelsea retorted, shaking her head as she unclipped the rich black strands of her hair from tortoiseshell clips. “I’m going to say at least seventy-five percent has to be pure fiction. That leaves twenty-five percent in their favor. The fuck machines with a kiss that’s like an aphrodisiac. I draw a line at addictive. Sorry, girls.” She shrugged carelessly. “It’s not going to happen for any man in this lifetime. It would be far too easy for them to simply rule us. God wouldn’t allow it. He does have a sense of humor, you know.”
Liza nodded slowly.
Chelsea had to be right.
There were always checks and balances.
No way would nature give Breed males such a one-up on either the Breed or human females they encountered.
“So do we mention any of this to Ashley and the others when they get here tomorrow?” Chelsea asked.
“God, no! They’re Breeds!” Liza stared back at her friend, wondering if she had somehow lost her mind. “I love them like crazy, Chelsea, but we don’t mention this to anyone. We keep it to ourselves.”
The four Breed females Ashley Truing, Emma Truing, Chimera Broussard and Shiloh Gage had been training the girls to be a part of the Navajo-based Breed Underground Network for the past six months.
The underground network was a group of Navajos that aided the Breeds who required complete anonymity and a secure refuge from the Genetics Council. The network aided them in hiding once they managed to escape their labs, sheltered them, provided medical aid and ensured they found a place to bury who and what they had once been.
“We could find a way to question them, perhaps,” Claire suggested. “See if they’ll just give us a little hint. All based on the tabloid stories, of course.”
Liza shook her head fiercely. “We can’t chance they would lie to us, or worse yet, have more loyalty to their own than they do to friendship. We keep this to ourselves and see what happens.”
“Does that mean you get to be the first guinea pig?” Chelsea wagged her brows suggestively. “You’ll give deets, right? Surely you wouldn’t torture us like Isabelle does? She doesn’t tell us anything.”
“Yeah, I look all furry and stupid.” Liza snorted. “It means we watch our asses and forget about kissing one of them. At least for the time being,” she amended. She couldn’t deny herself at least the possibility of being able to kiss Stygian.
At least at a later date.
The other two nodded.
“Malachi is supposed to be in meetings with Wyatt and the other Alphas in the next few days. We’ll be able to talk to Isabelle without Malachi around then,” Chelsea decided.
“Maybe.” Liza nibbled on her fingernail nervously. “We’ll have to see.”
To whi
ch Chelsea straightened her shoulders and stared back at them with a look that was totally her: pure determined stubbornness. “Oh, trust me, he will. I promise you.” She smiled wickedly. “I’ll simply shed a few tears for my big sister. Bet me she won’t run him off to find out what baby sister’s problem is.”
“Wicked.” Liza breathed out in anticipation.
“Dangerous,” Claire warned, despite her awe at Chelsea’s daring.
But they were in agreement.
For the moment, it was wait and see.
And definitely, keep each other in the loop. What one learned, they had to tell the other two.
It would be the only way to be certain.
Stepping beneath the water, she closed her eyes and, just as during that meeting with Jonas Wyatt, she was assaulted with the images from the pictures the director had shown her.
She saw their eyes, felt their pain, their fear. It would be hard not to. Those photos had been graphic in their detailed imagery of the children’s suffering.
Stepping back from the spray, she opened her eyes quickly, unwilling to see more.
Her parents had always told her she felt things too deeply, that she let things bother her too much. That vulnerability had caused her to get hurt more than once.
She’d never fallen in love though.
She was a virgin, and she had no idea what it felt like to want a man so totally and so completely that she was willing to give up her independence as well as her sense of self for him.
She wasn’t certain she could do it either. She’d spent far too many years holding herself aloof. She wasn’t certain if she could let go now and give herself to any man. And unfortunately, she wasn’t certain if she could give him her body without giving him her heart.
Even for a Breed who stared at her with black-blue eyes and an expression that assured her he held all the secrets of pleasure, and he was more than willing to share.
He was more than willing to show her all the sensual, dominant secrets she dreamed of, and all the fiery pleasure she ached for.
For a price.
Always for a price.
Nothing came for free, her mother had warned her.
There was always a price.
A price for laughing, for loving.
A price for living.
Now she wondered, exactly what was Stygian Black’s price?
CHAPTER 5
Liza hadn’t imagined the situation with Stygian could worsen. Surely she would have had a few days to settle her nerves.
Instead, the next morning he was on her doorstep, dressed in snug jeans and a dark T-shirt, that wicked black Harley parked in her driveway.
She guessed he hadn’t been lying the night before about having one. Not that she had really believed he was.
“Why are you here?” Gripping the door with desperate fingers, she stared back at him with a frown.
A grin curved his lips. “I hoped I could convince you to come out with me this morning.” He glanced at the white shorts that barely covered her thighs before his gaze drifted to the light peach cotton camisole top she wore. “Come on, Liza. Slide some jeans on and live dangerously for a few minutes. You know you want to.”
Oh, she wanted to, more than he could know.
“Not today.” Shaking her head, she backed up and prepared to close the door.
The slight smile on his lips shot a surge of sensation straight to her womb. It clenched with a heavy punch of need and sent that weakening spill of moisture between her thighs once again.
“I’m not dealing with you this morning.”
Releasing the door, she stalked back into the kitchen, searching desperately for a way to fight her reaction to him.
Turning to face him as she reached the sink, Liza’s lips parted breathlessly to find him so close her nose was nearly buried in the cotton of his shirt.
Lifting her eyes, she watched as his arms extended around her, his hands bracing on the cabinet behind her as he blocked her in.
Yeah, there was that dominance that both turned her on and warned her she was walking into the path of more danger than she could have ever imagined.
Her eyes jerked upward, becoming locked with his as his arms remained braced at each side of her, his gaze intent as he watched her closely.
“The scent of your arousal is about to get us both in a hell of a lot of trouble.”
Her eyes widened, because he was close enough that she could feel his erection pressing against her stomach. As her gaze dropped, she watched the blood pound in the vein at the side of his neck as a trickle of perspiration eased along the strong column.
She had to lick her lips.
God, she wanted to taste him.
She wanted to bite his neck. Just sink her teeth into that tough hide and hold on tight as he rode her—
A shudder tore up her spine as aching need surged through her core. Her juices spilled, coating the suddenly sensitive folds and heating her clit further.
“Do you know what I can smell, Liza?” The sound of his voice was definitely a growl.
She shook her head slowly.