Bastien stepped up. “You’re right, Dimitri. They’re not going to be nearly as easy to overcome. What is your brother-in-law’s take on all of this?”
“He thinks we should send in a covert unit to take out all of their patrols, perimeter cameras and other surveillance. We’ll need a couple of small teams who are sharpshooters and or experienced in covert recon. Do we have anyone here who fits those qualifications?”
Bastien stepped forward. “Special Forces trained, old friend.” He chuckled at Dimitri’s raised brow. “Well, we figured since we can’t serve in our country’s military that we would have our own paramilitary organization.”
“I’m sure there are...certain parts of your government who would welcome your help, as my country did mine. Now that they know about our kind, you might have no choice.”
“We’ll go public before we allow them to do that.”
Several others in the group before them murmured their agreement. The group as a whole nodded. Their chosen representative, a tall muscular blond with blue eyes, stepped up. He looked around behind him and spoke at the urging of his friends.
“I’m Merrick Becker.” He jerked his thumb to indicate the men and women behind him. “They have chosen me to speak for us all and we all agree with Sinclair. Voluntarily helping our government is one thing. We will refuse to allow them to press us into service. Going public would force them to acknowledge our rights as American citizens,” he said, tucking the hem of his t-shirt into his worn blue jeans.
Dimitri raised his brow. “What rights? Your human rights? They may argue that you are not human and, therefore, do not fall under the protection of the constitution.”
Bastien looked down, held his arms out and wiggled his fingers. “They would have a difficult time proving that, especially with the serum they’ve developed.”
He shot a glance toward Carly, held his hand out and waited for her to step into his embrace. “For those of you who haven’t figured it out, my mate was human until they injected her with the serum I’ve spoken of.” He ignored the collective gasp at his pronouncement. “Who’s to say we weren’t all human and they injected us all? Did any of you know that in nineteen ninety-nine the United States patent and trademark office rejected an application to patent a technique for creating a human-animal hybrid?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me! Do you mean to say these criminals have been in operation for all these years?” Merrick asked, his eyes wide. He fisted his hands at his sides and looked as if he were ready to hurt someone.
Carly stiffened in Bastien’s arms. He held her close, rubbing his hand from her shoulder to elbow.
“My guess would be, it’s been more like thirty to forty years. They had to have time to study our DNA and to come up with the technique,” Bastien said as he walked around the group with Carly still tucked beneath his arm.
Bastien wanted to get her away from Merrick and his show of anger. He wasn’t sure how much good it did. There was an aura of violence in the entire group. He knew it wasn’t directed at them, but Carly’s comfort was paramount in his mind. “They might force us to make a stand. I don’t want to go public. I don’t think any of us do. God only knows the kinds of prejudices we’d face, yet it might be the only way to protect our mates and children from this unethical and inhumane testing.”
The others nodded, talking amongst themselves.
“How many of you have been SF-trained?” Dimitri asked.
Five men stepped forward.
“Well, with you, me and Dimitri, that makes seven,” Bastien said thoughtfully. “I don’t like uneven numbers. It makes it hard to pair up.”
“Why are you including me in on this? How do you know if I’ve been special-forces trained?” Dimitri looked surprised.
“Because, old friend, I know that you were a member of your country’s most decorated covert squad. Don’t tell me operatives of your stature aren’t extremely well trained,” Bastien said, shaking his head with a laugh. “And you know we need every man we can get. I still don’t like the uneven number.”
“We aren’t uneven, comrade,” Dimitri flashed a smile, his dark eyes laughing. “Junior makes eight.”
“Good, I didn’t want to assume he was joining us. This isn’t his fight.”
“Of course this is his fight. They are threatening his sister.”
Bastien nodded his agreement. “I suppose you’re right.” Carly shivered, immediately drawing Bastien’s attention. “Why don’t we move this inside where it’s warmer and we can have something to drink?”
“SO YOU THINK WE SHOULD slip through this area, cut the barbed wire fence and shoot out the nearest camera in the southeast corner?” Bastien asked Dimitri as he trailed his finger along the map Luke had asked Merrick to bring with him.
Dimitri nodded. “It seems like the best way in, but why don’t we wait for Junior and ask his opinion?”
“I’m not sure we’re going to have that kind of time. It’s going to be light by the time he gets here and he’s going to need to sleep.”
“You know those guys don’t sleep much. They’re trained to do without it.”
“Maybe,” Bastien said, “that doesn’t mean that I don’t want him at his best.” He looked around the room at the others, then back at Dimitri. “I want everyone at their best. Do you have an ETA for Junior?”
Dimitri checked his watch. “An hour to the ferry, two and a half hours to cross the lake and another hour and a half to get here... he should be here any minute.”
“It’s that late already?” Bastien asked, checking his watch. He looked over at Carly, resting on the couch. She had taken her shoes off and had her feet tucked under her as she leaned against the side arm, her head pillowed on her clasped hands.
He sighed. “We’ll have to talk about this later, Dimitri. I have my mate to look after.” He turned to his cousin and kicked his foot.
“What?” Luke asked, sitting up quickly. He looked around through bleary eyes.
“Do you have a room we can use?”
Luke made a face. “Not if you’re going to—”
“To sleep, you dick.” Bastien pointed to Carly. “My mate needs her rest. She hasn’t gotten much since we got her out of that hellhole.”
“Oh, uh, sure,” he said, wiping the sleep from his eyes. “Top of the stairs turn left, second door on the right. It’s the guest room. The sheets should be clean, if not a bit musty.”
“Thanks.”
Bastien strode over to the couch and lifted Carly in his arms. It never ceased to amaze him how small she was compared to him, and how easy she was to carry. He smelled the faint scent of her body wash and shampoo mixed with the underlying scent that made her who she was, his mate.
Those words flowed through him, warming him like heated honey. He glanced down at her slightly parted lips. His body hardened, wanting her even as she slept. He tamped down the desire to sink his cock deep inside her. She needed her sleep and he needed his rest for the altercation to come. Besides, after the show Luke just gave him, the last thing he was going to do was mate with her while they stayed in the asshole’s house.
He laid Carly on the bed, covering her with the comforter folded at the foot, then climbed in next to her, trying to ignore the lure of her scent. Later they had much planning to do and he needed his rest.
“DO YOU THINK WE CAN pull this off?” Luke asked Dimitri after Bastien took Carly upstairs.
“Of course, we can. I’m surprised you felt the need to ask. Don’t you trust your cousin’s judgment?”
Luke reddened. “It’s not that. I’m just—”
“Worried about your mate?”
Luke nodded. “Well, yes. Wouldn’t you be?”
“Of course I would. If I knew there were others with more experience than I have, I would wait for them to come up with a plan to rescue her. I would not go flying off half-cocked, like you are thinking of doing. You could ruin our only chance to take them by surprise.”
“I
t shows?”
“Only to the experienced eye,” Dimitri said with a smile. He reached out and awkwardly patted Luke’s arm. “I was trained to watch for the signs of one who might run. Remember who my old employer was.”
“Oh, yeah, right.”
The doorbell rang.
“I hope that’s your brother-in-law. I’m getting tired of sitting around waiting for him,” Luke said as he strode to the door.
He gaped at the man standing in the doorway. If this was Dimitri’s Special-ops trained brother-in-law, their odds just got a little bit better. Six-foot-six and two hundred and ninety pounds of attitude stood on his front porch holding a P-90 like it was an extension of his arm. “I hope you’re Junior.”
Dimitri made a face and said a few choice words in Russian.
The man’s cold eyes took in Luke’s appearance, then dismissed him as if he were beneath his notice.
“What have I told you, jerk-off?” the man growled in Dimitri’s direction. “If another person calls me junior, I’m going to rip your head off and piss down your fuckin’ neck.”
“Kiss my ass,” Dimitri said with a grin. “You know damn well if you try to hurt me your sister will have your ass in a sling.”
“Bite me, asshole.”
“That can be arranged,” Dimitri said with a grin.
“Whoa, hey now!” Luke said, stepping between the two men. “I thought you two were related. Aren’t you supposed to get along or something?”
Junior flicked his piercing amber-eyed gaze over Dimitri. “Well, he started it.” He raised his hand when Dimitri would have spoken. “Don’t go and open your mouth and say something that’s going to make me have to kick your ass. My sister loves you. I don’t know why, but she does. So let’s just call a truce, hey?”
Dimitri bared his teeth. “Sure thing...Junior.”
“Dammit!” He took a step closer to Dimitri. “My name is not now, nor has it ever been, Junior. My name is James Randolf MacDonald the second. You can call me James, Jim, Randy, even Lieutenant MacDonald. But I swear to everything holy, Dimitri, if you call me Junior again, I’ll beat the shit out of you.”
Luke offered his hand. “Welcome to my home, Lieutenant MacDonald. You’re welcome to use the kitchen, the bathroom, even one of the bedrooms upstairs for just one favor.”
“Yeah, what’s that?”
“That if you feel the need to beat the shit out of your brother-in-law here, that you please do it outside and not in my house.”
His gaze flicked over Luke again before he smiled. “Call me Randy, my dad is Jim,” he said, holding his hand out.
Luke suppressed a smile while he shook Randy’s hand. He wasn’t going to comment on the fact that this large, deadly man was apparently a junior. He liked his legs just the way they were, thank you very much and he wasn’t about to tempt fate and get them broken.
Chapter Thirty-two
Carly woke up, stretched and looked around at the robin’s-egg blue walls of the bedroom. A chair sat in front of the window and there was a door on each of the three walls she could see. Large, hand-carved furniture decorated the room and she almost gasped in awe at the seven-foot-tall armoire in the corner.
How did I get in here? The last thing she remembered was sitting on the couch at Luke’s house, listening to Bastien and the others making plans to get into the compound without getting caught on camera. Rolling over, she looked at Bastien.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
She felt her face heat and blinked slowly. Would she ever get used to his compliments? After so many years of nothing but snide remarks, it was hard to get used to someone complimenting her all of the time.
“Good morning,” Carly said, looking over at the clock on the nightstand behind him. It was two-thirty. “Or should we be saying good afternoon?” She started to get up.
Bastien laid his hand over her stomach, effectively impeding her attempt at escape. “There’s no hurry. We can’t make a move on the facility until after dark and the plans are already set. Dimitri’s brother-in-law arrived after we came to bed and he approved of our plans. So we have all afternoon to do what we want.”
She hoped what he wanted didn’t include sex. She needed a shower and she definitely was not going to have sex in someone else’s bed again. Sighing, she stretched, settled back down and looked around, her eyes drawn to the huge armoire and the matching bureau with a large, beveled mirror hanging over it.
“Did you carry me up here?”
He nodded. “Guilty.”
She frowned. “You should have woken me up. What if you’d hurt yourself?” That was the least of her worries and she knew it.
He chuckled. “You’re so small, that would never happen.”
“Small? I know you can’t be talking about me.” She raised a brow.
“You’re small compared to me.” Bastien shrugged, pushed the hair back from her face and stroked the pad of his thumb down her cheek. “Your hair is so soft and silky. Like your skin.”
His dark-chocolate eyes traveled from hers to where he was touching her cheek, then moved to her lips.
Carly felt his look like a touch. Her lips tingled with the anticipation of his kiss.
“Your lips are so full and inviting. Every time I look at them I want nothing more than to press my lips against yours.” He leaned forward and brushed his mouth against hers. Heat pooled in Carly’s middle as he laved her bottom lip, sucking it between his teeth. He nibbled lightly.
She moaned, opening for him, unable to resist the need to have his tongue plundering the depths of her mouth. She reveled in the rough velvety texture as he plunged it in and out. Then he disappointed her. He broke the kiss slowly, raining tiny kisses over her eyes, nose and mouth.
“You’re so beautiful, baby. I’m so lucky to have found you.”
Carly grimaced, pushing her hair back. “I don’t feel beautiful, right now. I haven’t showered in days and I feel horrible. I should be able to smell myself. Why can’t I smell myself? Have I gotten used to it?”
Bastien chuckled. Standing, he pulled her from the bed and led her into the bathroom.
Her eyes widened at the large shower. “You could fit more than two people in that thing!” It looked big enough for a football team. Their bags were set on the counter along with a plethora of toiletries next to them.
“Someone has been busy,” she said, trying to take in everything he had done for her.
“You were exhausted,” he said with a shrug, “and I knew you’d want a shower when you woke up.”
Carly frowned. “You were exhausted, too, Bastien.” She raised a hand to his cheek, brushing the thick stubble on his jaw. “Yet, you let me sleep while you did all of this by yourself.”
“That’s what a male of our species does for his mate. He cares for his female, anticipating her every want and need.” He pressed a soft kiss on her lips before reaching for the top button of her blouse.
Carly chewed her lip and frowned. “I don’t want you for some weird sex slave or whatever you’re trying to be, Bastien. Where I come from, a relationship is a partnership. The two people share the responsibilities.”
Bastien chuckled and began to unbutton her shirt. “Weird sex slave, huh?” he asked, grinning. “I think I like the sound of that.” He bent to kiss every inch of skin he exposed as he opened the front of her blouse.
Carly groaned and pushed him away. “Stop that! I know I stink.”
He just grinned at her. The goon!
“You do not stink.”
What, was he nuts? “Of course, I do. I haven’t showered in days. We’ve been on horseback.” She took a deep breath and her eyes narrowed. “Why don’t you smell? You haven’t showered either, have you?”
He put his hands behind his back and grinned. “I suppose you could call it a perk.”
“A perk? What the hell are you talking about? Not having a shower for days is a perk?” She rolled her eyes. “What planet are you from?”
He laughed and leaned against the counter, stretching his legs out in front of him. “It’s a...power that all weres have. Our bodies regenerate at a very fast rate. It somehow makes it so that we are constantly clean. We don’t have to shower unless we want to. We heal more quickly than a human does, too. We heal especially quickly in our animal form.”
Carly stood back and looked at herself in the mirror. He was right. She looked like she just had a shower this morning. “I never have to shower again?”
“Never.”
She made a face. “Well that just sucks! I like taking showers. I love the feel of the hot water running over me, rinsing the dirt and stress of the day down the drain.”
“I never said you had to stop showering, Carly,” he said with a chuckle. “Only that you didn’t have to shower if you chose not to.”
“Oh,” Carly said, backing away as he advanced slowly. She held her hand out in front of her, as if to ward him off. “I don’t think I’m comfortable enough with you for us to shower together. Besides...” She shot a glance toward the large shower stall. “You know what will happen if we get naked together. And if all weres have hearing as ridiculously good as mine has become, I don’t want to be making any embarrassing noises with that crowd hanging about.”
Bastien sighed. “You’re right, of course. If I climbed into that shower with you, nothing could stop me from pushing you against that wall and burying my cock so deep inside you we may never get it out.”
Carly whimpered and her knees grew weak. “You knew what that image was going to do to me. It just isn’t fair, you brute.”
Bastien flashed a grin. “What your scent does to me isn’t fair, baby.” Stepping closer, he leaned down and buried his face in her neck. “You always smell so sweet, like berries, musky like you can’t wait to have me inside you and sexy as hell.”
“You drive me wild, too, Bastien, but I can’t,” she cast her gaze wildly about the room. “We can’t.”
Embracing Carly Page 16