by Meg Ripley
Flint took his hand off the door to hold her in place, but it was too late. Audra launched herself off his shoulder. She had no balance with her feet being in the air, and she fell back into the side of the Jeep. Her head made a loud crack against the metal of the vehicle just before she crashed into the backseat.
“Shit! Are you all right?” Flint’s heart squeezed every drop of blood into his veins as he dove into the back seat with her to check her over. “That sounded hard.”
“What the fuck do you care if I’m all right?” she returned. Audra reached for the back of her head, but her bindings wouldn't allow her to touch the injury to check it out. “Wouldn’t it be more convenient for you if I died?”
“Don’t say that,” he muttered. Flint rolled her over, pulling a tactical flashlight from his pocket to look at the wound. “It’s a bit swollen, but you should be all right. Just make sure you stay awake.”
“Sure. Yeah. Wouldn’t want to miss any of this.”
With a heavy sigh, Flint shut the door behind him and climbed up into the driver’s seat. This woman was going to be a challenge in more ways than one.
8
The back of Audra’s head was still pounding when Flint’s Jeep came to a halt. She saw nothing in the beam of the headlights at first, and her heart thundered in her chest. She’d had to go and disobey both her brother and her parents and head into the woods by herself. She was just so sure that even if other shifters were being attacked, it could never happen to her. That sort of confidence had reigned supreme throughout most of her life, but it seemed that only in the last couple of years was she suffering for it.
It only made things more complicated that this bastard had taken her captive and yet she was still attracted to him. The fact that he’d bound her and thrown her in his Jeep was enough to make her furious—and it certainly had—but her inner wolf couldn’t resist watching the profile of his jaw as he drove or noticing just how steady his hands were on the wheel.
“Where are we?” she asked, half-convinced that Flint had just brought her to a more convenient place to dispose of her body. After all, if he killed her on pack territory, the others would find her in no time.
“Just a little campsite I set up for us. I’m sure you were looking forward to a vacation.” He got out of the driver’s seat and opened the back door, reaching in to grab her.
She pulled away from him. “Us? You were planning to kidnap me? You really are a sick bastard.” Audra immediately thought of Randy, grateful that he was safe with his grandparents.
Flint gave her an exhausted look. “No, it was just a joke. Lighten up a little.”
“Oh, that’s right. I guess it was just this rope that made me think you might be serious. Ha ha.” Audra’s mind was working overtime, but she wasn’t sure how she was going to get out of this. She could fight when she needed to, and she’d been a few scraps in her heyday, but Flint had already shown her that he was more than capable of keeping her under control. She’d have to wait for just the right moment. Even though she didn’t like it, that would also mean she’d have to cooperate. For now.
Flint reached for her again, but she elbowed him away. “I’ll do it myself, thank you.” She knew she looked more awkward than anything as she squirmed to the edge of the seat and slithered down to the ground, but at least she was moving on her own and not being carried around like a rag doll.
He kept a hand on her bindings as she walked next to him, his fingers occasionally brushing the inside of her wrist, sending pulses of energy racing up her arm. The campsite was down a narrow trail that led to a clearing, where a tent had already been set up. A ring of stone had been arranged just in front of it, and a cooking tripod rested nearby. He’d been prepared all right, but he hesitated as they stepped into the clearing.
Audra might’ve been away from pack life for a while, but her instinct was still to stiffen and pay attention when it seemed that another wolf sensed danger. “What is it?” she asked quietly, thinking perhaps he was noticing signs of someone else having been there recently. Flint was her enemy, and she knew that, but that didn’t mean the members of the other packs weren’t still her enemies as well.
“Just trying to decide what I’m going to do with you while I finish setting up camp,” he replied calmly. “Somehow, I don’t think I can trust you to not run away.”
“You’re so observant.”
“I’m very capable of keeping you here until you decide to listen to me, you know.” His eyes burned steadily into hers, making her insides lurch toward him.
Audra scowled at him in an attempt to restrain her sensual impulses, prepared to tell him just where he could get off and how she would find a way to escape, even if he bound her in chains. But no, she remembered that she was supposed to be cooperating. There was no better way to lure him into a false sense of security, which would make him a little less vigilant. “Whatever. I’m tired. I’ll sit right here by the fire pit.” She tried to lower herself to the ground but was stopped by his grip on her bindings.
Flint considered her for a moment and then let her sit. It seemed like a good first step to her, but then he grabbed the cooking tripod. “Hold still.” He jammed one of the steel rods through her bindings as he pushed the apparatus down into the dirt, effectively keeping her in place.
“Going to make it hard to cook, isn’t it?” she sassed. “And I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry.” Audra had ignored the slow beginnings of hunger in her stomach up until now. After all, getting kidnapped was a bit more important than having a snack. But she truly was hungry now, and she might as well at least get some food out of the situation.
“Actually, that won’t be difficult to take care of at all.” Flint crouched by the fire pit and used a stick to brush aside the ash and coals accumulated there. Audra hadn’t noticed in the dark, but a Dutch oven had been buried in the middle. He dusted the lid and sides off thoroughly before stepping into the tent and coming back with two bowls and spoons. He set them on the ground next to the pot and lifted the lid.
The stew inside smelled amazing, and her stomach grumbled. “I thought you said you weren’t prepared for a guest.”
“Not in the way you’re thinking, but I’m always prepared.”
“The perfect little Boy Scout, I see.” She watched as the thick soup filled the bowls, making her mouth water. She wouldn’t tell him how impressed she was that he had all this ready to go. Flint was clearly good at surviving even in the middle of nowhere, and that only made him hotter.
Flint let out a bark of a laugh. “Not exactly.”
“So, how do you expect me to feed myself?” Audra challenged. Maybe this would be just the opportunity she’d need to get away. She could fill her belly and then take off for the woods as soon as he turned his back. She doubted he could keep up with her in her wolf form. She’d always beaten Nate and the others her age back when they were kids and used to race through the woods.
“I don’t.” He lifted a spoonful to her mouth, smiling a little when she gave him an irate look. “Hey, you can eat or not. It’s up to you.”
Begrudgingly, she accepted the bite from the spoon. The thick gravy trickled down her throat as her teeth sank into tender, flavorful meat. She’d gotten a chunk of potato as well, and she tried not to focus too hard on its buttery taste. “Oh, that’s good,” she couldn’t help saying as she swallowed.
This earned her another grin from Flint, who’d set down her spoon to take a bite for himself. “I’m glad you think so. Of course, it’s the only thing I have right now, so you’d have to eat it anyway.”
“Way to take a compliment.”
“I try.” He fed her another spoonful. “Look, it was never in my plans to abduct you or anyone else. I know you’re pissed at me, and that’s fine. I can live with that. But I need you to understand that I’m really only here for the safety of your pack. I’m here to help, and I need you to pitch in if we’re going to make that happen.”
Audra accepted severa
l more bites before she responded, knowing she had to be careful around this man. He was charming, and she hated that she could see that about him. He might look like a ruffian, but those bright eyes and that little half-smile made her want to trust him. And then, of course, there was the way he seemed so concerned about her well-being even as he had her tied up. She reminded herself that he was probably the sort of man who’d spent years perfecting his lies and how to make other people fall for them. “How do I even know you’re actually part of the SOS Force?”
“I guess you don’t. But I told you the truth.” He didn’t even seem offended that she should challenge him that way, and he just continued to eat.
“And what, exactly, do you want me to do?” Audra noticed with a little bit of disappointment that her bowl was empty and Flint had returned the Dutch oven to its place in the fire pit. She wasn’t hungry anymore, but that stew had been damn good.
Flint moved the bowls aside and scooted across the ground so that he sat directly in front of her. His eyes were intense as they peered into hers, and she felt her inner wolf give a yip of intrigue. “Audra, your entire pack is at stake. Nate has to be stopped before he causes any more trouble. He’s already caused injuries and deaths. We can’t let this go any further. From the conversation I overheard, he’s at least got Richard in his pocket. I wouldn’t doubt if there are more on his side. It’s natural for them to flock toward someone who’s seen as successful, both socially and financially. Your first step is to figure out exactly who is in on this.”
“Are you actually asking me to spy on my own pack?” Just the thought of it nearly took her breath away. These were the people she’d relied on her entire life.
“In a sense, yes. And then I’m asking you to convince your brother to back down. Get him to step back from his position as Alpha.” Flint looked so sincere and determined that for a moment, Audra forgot he was a spy and that she had no proof that he was actually trying to help her.
But just for a moment. “Hell, no. He deserves that position, and the rest of the pack wouldn’t follow him like they do if the situation was any different. You’re insane, Flint.”
“If you think so, then that’s fine. But this whole thing would be a lot easier if you’d help me out.” He shifted just a little bit closer, and she could feel the heat of his skin radiating toward her.
Audra’s wolf stirred inside her again, curious and demanding, and she quickly tamped it down.
“I’m worried for you, Audra, and for your son. Randy is a really sweet kid. He deserves to have a place where he can be safe, not some pack that’s constantly starting disputes with the surrounding groups.”
She couldn’t deny that, and a small smile played on her lips as she thought of her son. Audra knew Flint was just mentioning it because he could use her offspring to get to her, but she also remembered the way Flint’s eyes had softened when Randy had asked him about his knife. “He said he played with you earlier today.”
“He did,” Flint affirmed, smiling as well. “He’s got quite an imagination. He nearly kept me from what I was supposed to do.”
Audra shook her head. She couldn’t let him manipulate her like this. “Randy doesn’t have anything to do with Nate and these horrendous accusations. I’m not betraying my pack, and I’m not helping you. And I’m not staying here any longer.” She lunged against her bindings and the tripod that held her in place. The metal cooking stand squeaked in protest as she tried to yank it out of the ground.
“Don’t do this,” Flint growled. “You’re only going to make it harder on both of us.”
She stopped pulling in order to stare at him. If she’d carried on with her original plan, she’d have told him she’d work with him. All thoughts of cooperation had gone right out the window. “Oh, really? And what would you rather I do? Just scream for help?” She threw her head back and bellowed into the forest. “Help! Help!”
He was on top of her in a second, his knees braced on the ground and his hands on her shoulders. His weight pushed her back against the cooking stand, the metal pole hard against her back. “Stop that,” Flint snarled.
Audra stopped yelling long enough to give him a death look. A surge of energy from deep within her core shot like lightning into all her limbs, tingling in her palms and on the bottoms of her feet. “Make me,” she challenged, taking another deep breath.
He pressed his lips against hers, making the air she’d drawn in to scream with come out as a sigh of surprise. His kiss was hard at first, demanding and angry, but it softened as he continued. His stubble brushed against her skin and left a wake of sparks. Audra realized she was kissing him back, and when he pulled away after a few seconds, she wished he hadn’t.
“Why did you do that?” she gasped. But she desperately wanted him to do it again. His lips had felt so good against hers. Audra didn’t like the idea of a man telling her what to do or taking control over her, but this was different.
Flint’s eyes were wary as they watched for her reaction. “Because you wouldn’t stop screaming,” he replied, running a hand through his hair and down through the stubble on his jawline. “And because I wanted to. I’ve wanted to for a lot longer than I’d care to admit.”
Her entire body was on fire, and the small distance that now remained between them was too much to bear. Audra pulled at her bindings not because she wanted to escape but because she wanted to reach out, grab Flint, and pull his body to hers. She’d wanted to as well, but hearing those words coming from his lips was almost too much. “Untie me.”
He shook his head. “You know I can’t do that.”
“Untie me,” she repeated patiently, “or else I’ll scream.”
Flint moved much more slowly this time as he came back toward her. He expertly reached behind her to undo the ropes, his fingers skimming the sensitive skin on the inside of her wrists as he pulled the last loop away. “I should warn you that this doesn’t mean I’m letting you go. I have a mission to do, and I have a pack to save. Your pack.”
Audra smiled as she listened to him ramble. He was trying to stay strong, but there was something inside him—inside both of them—that was taking over. She knew this wasn’t where she should be, and she certainly shouldn’t be spending any more time with this man than she absolutely had to. And yet she reached up with one hand to gently stroke those short, rough hairs that grew on his chin. “Shut up,” she whispered, “or do I have to make you?”
His mouth captured hers again then, hungry but gentle, demanding and desperate. She kissed him back, relishing the way his skin felt against hers, the way his muscles tensed and then relaxed. A shiver of energy whipped down her spine, and she didn’t know exactly what she was doing as she reached for the hem of his shirt.
Flint grunted as he leaned back just long enough to let the garment come off over his head, continuing the kiss as soon as he had the chance. Audra felt herself slipping off the brace of the cooking tripod and to the ground, wanting to be underneath him more than anything. Flint obliged, wrapping his arms around her to keep her from falling too fast, their legs twisting around each other as he found the edge of her shirt and slipped his hand underneath. Their clothes fell away as if by magic, although she knew their hands had something to do with it. Audra had lost all sense of what she was doing and what she should be doing, and the next thing she knew, this strange wolf was on top of her.
He was gorgeous in the starlight as she leaned back to look at her, each of them catching their breath and trying to control the raging power that howled inside them. “Audra,” he whispered as he leaned down near her ear, punctuating his words with tiny kisses just beneath her lobe. “Is this what you want?”
The fact that he even asked that question was enough to let her know the answer. She wrapped a leg around him, feeling the strong muscles of his thigh underneath hers. “Yes,” she replied, the answer coming from the very depths of her body. “Yes, I do.”
Flint moved to cover her mouth with kisses again, his lips slanted
against hers and then tracing their way down her jawline as he entered her. She contracted at a jab of pain when he filled her. He stopped, tense. “Are you all right?”
She nodded as she tightened her leg around him, and he continued. They moved together as though the very stars guided them, their bodies doing what they needed to give them everything they wanted. In that moment, Audra didn’t think of him as a spy or a stranger or even as Flint. He just was, and they simply were, and she held all of the cosmos within her body, expanding and contracting as her pleasure built. The heat of his skin against hers, the sound of his breath, the shaking-but-firm grip of his hands as he held her, it was everything.
The tension continued to wind inside her until it couldn’t anymore. Audra exploded in every direction and with every color, crying out into the night air and then burying the sound in his shoulder as she bit down. The roar that Flint returned wasn’t one of pain, and then he lay panting on top of her.
Audra lay in the tent alone. She could hear Flint pacing the perimeter of their little clearing in wolf form, but she wasn’t sure if it made her feel any safer. What the hell had she just done? Her body and her wolf had demanded what she’d been denying it, but at what price? Audra wasn’t in any position to be with someone, especially someone as untrustworthy as Flint.
She rolled over on the sleeping bag. It smelled of grass and fresh dirt, but also of Flint, just like everything else in there. She couldn’t get away from him, nor could she completely decide if she wanted to.
Audra forced her eyes shut. There was no way she could make any decisions—or escape, if she chose to—if she didn’t get some rest first. But she could think of nothing except the way Flint’s naked body had looked in the starlight, his muscles limned with deep blue shadows. Even his face had looked different, not as hard and stony. He’d done nothing she hadn’t wanted him to, and Audra knew that if he came in that tent and asked it of her again, she’d do it in a heartbeat. He hadn’t even bound her before sending her off to bed, telling her only that he’d be on guard for the night. Somehow, she’d known that he was guarding her against any outside disturbances, not pacing on patrol to make sure she stayed put.