“Yes. Fallon and Lars are the most unique of the hybrids I’ve seen. They’re the equivalent of a mated couple as well as teammates. From what I understand, they volunteered for the testing that turned them into hybrids. And there have been other volunteers… with lesser results. Some just get a little stronger. Some get a little faster. Some get a little smarter. The results are never controllable. When they last, it’s because the person becomes more animal than human.”
Brandi snorted. “Terrific. Like how many others are there? An army’s worth?”
Gareth laid his cheek against the top of her head. He shook his head gently and his cheek brushed her hair in the process.
“Not an army’s worth… just a team’s worth. None like me… or you. But they know werewolves and other transmutants exist. They monitor—and when necessary—they capture. The sheer number of werewolves was a shock to them, but they have known about the pack’s existence for over a hundred years.”
Brandi was quiet while she considered the ramifications of what Gareth was sharing. “Why is Lane so pissed he put a tail on me? Shitty Sheldon said my old handler fought to keep me. Santiago said Lane agreed to the transfer. What’s the truth? Does Lane suspect something experimental happened to me and was hoping I’d spill it to him?”
Gareth pulled back and met her irritated gaze. He nodded. “The answer is D—all of those is true. I’m guessing the man is also worried because he really does care about you. But not as much as I do.”
Hearing his declaration snapped the control she had on her temper. “Liar,” she said coldly.
“I’m not…” he began, but didn’t get to finish. Her insole landing against his ankle had him swearing at her. The heel of her hand coming up hard under his chin registered just before his body was catapulted backwards with the force of a martial arts move he hadn’t seen coming. Her foot pressing on his crotch seconds later validated he was being attacked by a seriously angry she-wolf.
Brandi glared down at Gareth as she bent forward to stare down at him. “I don’t know why I keep hesitating. I ought to finish this right here, right now… and on fucking camera. Because of you and Travis Black Wolf, I have no choice but to trade myself for Ariel and Heidi. You knew this would be the case when you brought me in, you manipulating bastard. Now tell me the damn truth. What’s in this shit show for you?”
“Nothing but your miserable, hard-hearted life,” Gareth ground out, snatching her foot from his lap and upending her. Brandi stumbled backwards, but didn’t go completely down. Surprising both of them, he sprang at her without thinking and took her solidly to the floor. He pressed and held her in place. She was strong—and mean—but he could be more of both when motivated. No one gave him more reasons than the woman struggling under him.
He growled loudly before speaking. “Kick my nuts again and I will spank you on camera to get even. We’ll give those watching more of a sex show than they’re expecting. And yes—I can and will do it if you don’t behave.”
Gareth watched her face turn red at his words. He felt more anger rolling off Brandi than off any enemy he’d ever fought. He lowered his voice and tried to soften his tone as best he could. He had to calm down before they ended up tearing at each other’s throats in wolf form.
“This is not how it’s supposed to be between us. Please stop fighting me. I swear I’m just trying to help. Remember when I tried to talk you out of pursuing answers about Feldspar? Well sweetheart, this is the price of being curious. Now stop struggling and try to be reasonable for five minutes.”
She seemed calm for a moment, but then thrashed beneath him trying to get loose again. Her movements were a sensual torture, even after her earlier abuse of his man parts. He glared down into her face and pressed the hard reality of their situation against her answering heat.
“Feel this?” he hissed quietly. “This is why I chose to help you when you first showed up in Wasilla. Liking you—caring about you—that’s why I’m helping you now. Soon enough, you’ll be able to make your own damn decisions about Sheldon’s offer, but whatever you do, don’t tell your old handler what you’ve become. Normal people who find out about the real purpose of our department are made to disappear quickly and permanently.”
Brandi stilled at his words, anger settling into firm determination to make at least part of Gareth’s statements come true. Tomorrow she would decide for herself.
As she glared up at him and wondered what to do next, she realized the forgotten jazz music still played in the background. Unfortunately, it’s soothing tones didn’t lessen the tension of their fierce debate.
She moved again trying to dislodge him, but all she succeeded in doing was raising heat in herself and awareness of her arousal in Gareth. Apparently, the man had more strength than she’d known about and he was obviously intent on proving to her she was no match for him.
Several minutes of struggle passed, but all he did was hold her in place. A traitorous part of her wanted him grinding against her, but Gareth had always waited patiently for a willingness sign before sexually advancing. His integrity in that one area only made her more resentful of all the bad stuff she was learning about him. She’d never liked a man as much as she liked the one on top of her. Why did the best sex of her life have to have been with the worst man who had ever screwed her over?
Her glare intensified as she thought about it. “I hate this situation and I hate wanting you.”
Gareth nodded at her declaration, glaring back. Inside, he couldn’t help wishing they were back in Wasilla, but he figured saying it aloud would only make Brandi madder. So he opted for bluntness—the one thing his resistant lover seemed to appreciate under any circumstances.
“I hate wanting you too. It’s a complication I wasn’t looking for, but that’s not how things are between us, Brandilenna Jenkins. This is how the hell it is.”
“No… ” Brandi started to protest, but for once Gareth paid no attention at all.
His lips closing over hers robbed her of breath. His tongue invading her mouth robbed her of speech. She should have been fighting him off, but she could barely think. Where had Gareth been storing all the aggression he was suddenly unleashing? Usually it took prodding and goading to get the man to have a reaction.
His hands slipped under her hips and lifted. This let him arc between her legs in a perfect upward stroke. The tiny simple movement almost caused her to shatter. The man knew her body intimately and knew exactly how to give her what she wanted.
“Bastard,” she declared when her mouth was free.
“Probably,” Gareth agreed.
His tongue diving into her mouth again caused more internal conflict. The amount of genuine passion in his kiss made her ache. She couldn’t tell anymore what was real with Gareth. How much had he fooled her in bed as well as out? When he wrenched his mouth from hers at last, his frustrated groan found an exact echo inside her. She wanted him. She had tried her damndest not to, but she did.
“What’s going on here, Gareth?”
For another minute or two he didn’t answer her, just buried his face in her neck. If he hadn’t been restraining her, Brandi knew she would have wrapped her arms around him to get as close as she could. Her desire to hug him galled her. She was supposed to be pissed. What the hell was wrong with her?
“What do you think is going on here, Brandi? I missed you the moment you left me. I want things to be the way they were between us during your burning time. I want you to need me that fiercely again,” he whispered roughly. “The truth is I almost didn’t let you leave. In fact, I wish like hell now I hadn’t.”
Brandi snorted as his lips kissed a path up her neck to her mouth. “You say that like you could have stopped me from leaving.”
Groaning when his exploration back down her neck led his lips to the sensitive skin across her collar bone, Brandi felt her body surrender. Instead of pushing Gareth away, she wrestled her hands free and used them to hold his head while he found her mouth and kissed her just
the way she liked most.
“My methods wouldn’t have been fair to you, but I could have found a way,” he whispered.
Brandi felt his hands tremble as they skimmed her hips, then they gripped hard enough for bruises. The heat between her legs became an inferno worse than any she had experienced during her burning time. His desperation for her was contagious and feeding her own desire. Tonight the cause was not hormones run amok. The cause was the man resting between her thighs, waiting for her to cave into her own need for him. She resented her desire for Gareth, but not having him was out of the question.
“Are we doing this or not?” Gareth demanded, grinding himself against her until they both groaned loudly.
“Yes—I guess we are. But I still think you’re a manipulating bastard,” Brandi warned.
“I’ve been called a lot worse,” Gareth conceded, dipping his mouth to her neck again.
Clothes, weapons, and everything else were discarded in haste and pushed out of the way without grace or caring. Once skin was revealed, neither of them asked the other any more questions. There were more important things to do.
Brandi tried to find a rationalization for her indulgence. Having more sex with Gareth was no way to settle things between them. But the moment the man positioned himself to enter her, his name was wrenched from her throat in profound relief.
“Ah Gareth…”
“I know. I feel the same way. Being together is like coming home.”
Hearing his admission had her shaking her head. “Don’t make this more than it is.”
“Too late for that warning. It’s already everything,” Gareth declared in a rough whisper.
“No…” Brandi began, but the rest of her denial was lost in Gareth sinking completely inside her in one sharp, possessive stroke.
His fierce thrusting sent her shooting instantly over pleasure’s edge and the bliss continued without stopping long enough to allow her a reprieve. Unavoidably more compliant after her first release, Gareth pulled her now unresisting legs up around his waist and ordered her to tighten them. He skillfully angled her hips to take the rest of what he was offering.
It was more physical aggression than Gareth ever shown her before. Brandi’s complete enjoyment was as thrilling as it was shameful.
She knew liking this less restrained version of him didn’t say much for her character. A second orgasm ripping through her unchecked silenced the remaining guilt.
The tsunami of pleasure his triumphant growling brought her finally broke through the emotional barricade she’d spent a lifetime building. Tears of relief and a bone deep satisfaction streamed down her face as Gareth practically howled above her, celebrating their bond.
How could she feel so emotionally and physically connected to a man who had so willingly betrayed her? It was like she didn’t know herself when she was with him like this.
Gareth’s grip on her as he calmed remained tighter than any handcuff, chain, or strap ever used to restrain her. It made her think his words might have been true about simple desire for her being the real reason he’d helped her in Wasilla.
But if that was the truth between them, it definitely meant Gareth had betrayed their genuine connection when he’d informed his old department about her existence.
Did Gareth really think she couldn’t see through the great sex to the reality of their situation? Any way she turned their relationship toward the light, all the shadows revealed the same darkness hiding in them.
Brandi sniffled, but control over her emotions was gone. Nothing was going to stop the tears. Nothing was going to make her not want Gareth, no matter what he’d done. It was as humiliating as it was real.
Gentle kisses over her eyes and down her face were approving of her total lack of resistance. Nearly cried out now, her senses were finally starting to return to normal. His assumption of her continued compliance made her madder than ever. It also made her incredibly sad.
She sniffled once more as she felt Gareth’s kiss on her cheek. How could such a tender man have brought her more pain than she’d ever imagined possible? How could she lie here and let him use her heart to get his way?
Brandi’s hand swept out looking for something solid to ground her. Her hand landed on her discarded gun. It gave her some of her dignity back to remember who and what she was sans werewolf. Maybe she was stupid about the man in her arms, but that didn’t mean she had to be completely helpless against fighting her desire for him.
She pulled her loaded gun to her and released the safety with her thumb before lifting the barrel to Gareth’s head. He instantly pulled away when he felt cool metal against his temple.
Brandi stared at him. Regret washed over her… but not for the right things. All she regretted is that she had let him break her heart.
“What the hell are you doing?” Gareth demanded.
“Hell is a good word for it. Thanks for the great sex, Gareth. Now get off me. I don’t like sleeping with men who stab me in the back.”
Brandi met his glare as he pushed off her to stare down in shock. Gareth’s disbelief was real, but so was her disappointment in what he’d done to her. The pang of guilt she felt for pointing a loaded gun at his head was quickly dismissed with remembering how often she had warned him not to mess with her emotions.
When Gareth finally and carefully moved away, she rolled to her feet, her nudity not bothering her. She didn’t even care she was still being recorded. The sexual mistake of trusting the wrong man ran like a loop in her life.
Keeping her gaze on his stunned face and the gun pointed at his forehead, she backed toward the bedroom door.
“Don’t be like this, Brandi. Stay and talk to me,” Gareth begged.
“No. You’re lying to yourself more than you are to me. If you really cared the way you say you do, why did you send me in to face Sheldon Crane so unprepared today? You could have warned me… but you didn’t. So I think we’re done talking… and done with everything else too.”
“Stop it. All this is being recorded,” Gareth hissed.
“I am well aware of the fact,” Brandi exclaimed.
She wanted the recording to clearly show her disdain. She wanted Lane to have to call and verify things with Shitty Sheldon. She also wanted Lane to see her nude and know she’d been with Gareth.
Two birds—one stone.
Both men had played her for a fool. She was now playing them back. Her stupid feelings for Gareth might always be a personal liability, but at the moment, they were a professional asset in ending another relationship she had no use for.
Turning swiftly, Brandi stomped into the bedroom. Once inside, she closed and locked the door, and then moved a dresser across it, grateful the conversion had made her stronger. A paltry barricade of cheap furniture might not stop a full blown, angry werewolf from getting through, but it would slow Gareth down enough for her to aim her gun at him for real. Her bullets weren’t made of silver, but she’d put six in him without thinking if he tried to use her feelings for him against her again.
To her thinking, tonight was nothing more than a good-bye to the sexual part of their relationship. She couldn’t afford to think of what happened any other way.
Old habits were a comfort to her, especially now that she was all cried out. She slid the loaded gun under her pillow and let her body slip toward the void the moment she eased between the sheets.
Experience had taught her long ago to rest while she could. Tomorrow she would need all her wits.
***
After Brandi barricaded herself in the bedroom, Gareth lay back down on the floor and rubbed the center of his chest. He couldn’t believe Brandi had actually held a loaded gun to his head… and with a sincere intent to use it. He had seen the truth in her glare.
“Son of a bitch… I can’t stand this frigging anxiety. It would have been better if she’d just cold-cocked me and gotten it over with.”
He rubbed his chest again… and then started to laugh. After all, his ego hurting wa
s his own damn fault for having no restraint where she was concerned. Maybe he should make a mental note not to make her cry during sex, as if he could stop the emotional growth happening between them.
“I guess it’s a good thing she carries a gun and not a knife. I might have ended up missing man parts come morning.”
Cursing the violent female he and his wolf both craved, Gareth rolled his head and looked around him, assessing the damage to his person as well as to the layout of the room. He could smell her through the bedroom door, so he knew for certain she hadn’t gone away.
Rising to a sitting position, he glanced at the fallout from their brief interlude. Brandi had left her clothes and taken her gun with her. Her priorities amused him, but elicited grudging respect as well. What could he do about a woman so determined to see the worst side of his every action?
He rose and found a small bathroom to use. Coming back to the sofa, he dressed and stretched out on top of the comfortable leather.
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