Panting, Robert slowly pulled back, forcing himself to keep his movements gentle. As he moved with slow, teasing thrust, Gabriella found herself arching to meet him with an urgency she didn’t know she possessed. As her climax began to build, she felt Robert move harder against her. His pulsing shaft dragged against her sensitive nerves with every stroke, leaving her begging for more.
Crying out as her world exploded behind her eyes, Gabriella clutched tighter to Robert as he plunged harder and faster into her silky depths. As his completion drew near, he felt his bear rise up.
Do it, my friend. Robert’s beast encouraged as he felt his teeth lengthen.
Pulling Gabriella closer as she continued to ride the waves of her lingering desire, Robert strove toward his release. Panting against the feel of her warm channel gripping his pulsing member so hard, Robert followed his mate to bliss. Burying his face against the soft skin of her neck, he closed his mouth over the unmarked skin and allowing his teeth to sink deep. At his claiming bite he felt Gabriella gasp out beneath him as she was thrown into a second orgasm.
Withdrawing his teeth from her skin, he tenderly ran his tongue against the bite. Staring down at the mark that bound her to him, Robert felt a wave of pride sweep through him. Beneath him, Gabriella’s eyes slid closed with sigh with content. As her hands held him close to her, Robert felt a fire blossom in his chest causing him to gasp with pain. Looking down, his eyes widened as a soft white light as thin as mist emerged from the center of his chest.
Remaining still, he watched as the soft light swirled outward, forming into the shape of a ribbon. He’d heard of the binding thread occurring for true mates; but he never dreamed to see his own. Amazed at what he was seeing he watched as the thread of his soul extended toward his mate. He felt his heart burn with joy as the soft ribbon disappeared beneath Gabriella’s blouse and into chest, tying their very souls together. For a moment the mist shimmered and glowed brightly as it tethered them together until the light faded away into nothing.
Gabriella’s soft breathing was the only sound he heard as he stared down at her in wonder. He was wrong. For so long he’d been wrong. He did have a true mate and now she was his. She would remain his even if he had to fight off a whole army of Malca’s soldiers, nothing would take his mate from him.
* ~ * ~ *
Late that night, Raoul sat frowning at the computer screens above him. For hours now he’d been shifting though the few files on Gabriella’s computer that he’d been able to decrypt. Standing next to him was Aria, whose impatience was being to fuel his own.
“These don’t say anything about where Malca is hiding.” She said, exasperated. Throwing her hands up in the air she began to pace across the room to Gabriella’s desk. “Wasn’t there anything else?”
Fingers flying over the keys of his keyboard, Raoul nodded. “There was one file that my software is still unable to hack into. I’m hoping these files will shed some light on how to access the other.” Spinning around in his computer chair, Raoul directed his scowling eyes at Aria. “What about the lab where Gabriella worked?”
Shaking her head, Aria hissed out under her breath with frustration. “I’m not going after Malca unless I know for a fact what she is up to and where she is.”
“Find for the gold watch and the serpent will lead you to the door.” A soft voice uttered cryptically from across the room.
Turning toward the voice, Aria eyes fell on the window seat on the left side of the room. Dressed in a bright yellow t-shirt and black jeans, sat Athena. Pointing toward the ceiling with her legs propped up against the window frame, Athena began repeating the same words over again.
Shaking her head at the odd and meaningless words, Aria moved back to stand beside Raoul. “She’s been repeating those words anytime I ask her to tell us where Malca is.”
“Perhaps it’s a code,” Raoul murmured with clear disinterest.
“I don’t think we’re that lucky.” Aria stated bitterly. “I just don’t get it. She claims that she knows where Malca is—but she still won’t say anything other than a few strange phrases.”
Glancing toward the strange girl in the corner of his office, Raoul rocked his feet against the floor causing his chair to dip back. “It’s because she a M.P.” He reluctantly explained.
Planting a hand on her hip, Aria scowled down at him. “Please translate for those of us not you.”
"A Mind Parasite," At Aria's confused look, he explained further. "M.P.’s were one of Malca's more secretive projects. They were created to be some type of spies. Their minds are like a telepathic sponge. They can literally drain a person’s brain for information without a person knowing. M.P.'s don't even have to be touching the person they're leeching information out of. Just imagine what information she’s already absorbed by just being around you."
“Or you.” Aria said with a knowing look. “So then; what does that mean for our information on Malca? Could she even have what we need?"
"Without a doubt,” He agreed. “But it’s not that simple."
“What do you mean?”
"Think of her thoughts, memories and any knowledge she possesses as pebbles at the bottom of the ocean and the ocean as her mind. Whenever she leeches off of someone, their dreams, memories, and thoughts consume her mind and mix with her own.”
"So the information she has on Malca?"
"Could not even be hers. It’s possible that during the order to clean house, she absorbed the information from one of Malca’s soldiers. That could also explain why she was the only one left alive; it’s possible she found out that Malca had ordered all the subjects to be killed before it happened. It would have been easy for her to hide in the air ducks until after everyone was dead.”
“How come you didn’t tell us this when we found her?”
“Because he’s afraid of me,” Athena stated still gazing up at the ceiling in thought. “He’s afraid of what I know about him.”
Rolling his eyes, Raoul shook his head at the odd redhead. “I didn’t say anything, because at the time I wasn’t sure.”
“Wow.” Folding her arms across her chest, Aria stared at Athena as her green eyes shifted out the window. “A gift like hers must be incredible."
“Not the word I’d use. The one drawback from a gift like that is there is no shutting the voices off afterwards. Imagine having thousands of voices from people she's leeched from replaying in her mind over and over. Once she absorbs it, the voices never go away. Most M.P’s I saw in the labs went insane after a matter of days.”
“So she's not acting—her tree really doesn’t go to the top?”
“Quite possibly,”
“Is there any way for her to access the information that she claims she has?”
“Depends on how far gone she is. It could take time.”
“We don’t have time! Every moment we waste gives Malca more time to carry out her plan and without knowing what her next move is, we have no chance of bringing her down.”
“We have more of a chance than Malca does. Your husband or whatever he is to you; changes into a vicious grizzly bear at will. You can control the minds of any person that you touch and not to mention all the other shifters you have on your side. We’ll find Malca and when we do this time, we’ll kill her.”
“When did you become so hopeful?”
Laughing, he shook his head as he turned back to his computer screen. “Call it my new leaf.”
Leaning her hip against the edge of Raoul’s desk, Aria smirked down at him as the events of earlier that day came rushing back. “I heard from a little bird that you got your ass beat by Robert today for trying to steal his mate.”
Jerking his face toward her, Raoul’s eyed her questioningly. “Who told you that?”
“Tweet, Tweet.” Athena mumbled softly.
Raoul glared across the room at Athena, accusingly. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Raoul shook his head. “I didn’t do a thing. All that happened was that I took her to the make shift
firing range in the back of the property. She was going to drive herself insane doing nothing but staring at the computer screen all day.”
“But why did Robert attack you then?”
“I may have somewhat touched Gabriella while teaching her to hold the gun properly.” He murmured absently.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Aria scoffed. “And here I thought Robert was the silent type.”
“He is—until he is trying to break your bones.”
Across the room, Athena rose gracefully to her feet as she made her way to the door. Catching Aria’s attention, Aria’s eyes suspiciously followed her seemingly innocent movements. She didn’t like the idea of Athena wondering through the compound unsupervised. According to Raoul; the small redhead had already slipped past the perimeter guards and disabled the security system twice. Doyle was more concerned about the fact that she was a fox shifter in addition to what Malca had done to her. According to Doyle; fox shifters were known for being tricksters and unpredictable. Perhaps that was why the other shifters were so uneasy around her?
“Athena?” As if surprised by the sound of her voice, Athena paused in front of the closed door to turn around. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going for a run.” Without another word, the petite fox shifter left the office nearly running into Gabriella as she entered.
16
Jumping back as Athena stepped from the office, Gabriella stepped to the side as the strange redhead moved past her without so much a glance. Carefully opening the door, her head lifted with surprise to see that the office was still occupied at that time of night. Both Raoul and Aria turned to look at her causing Gabriella to blush with the memory of the last time she’d seen them.
“What are you doing here so late?” Raoul asked as he stood from his chair, rubbing at the back of his neck with a groan.
“Why are you?” Gabriella countered, her gaze shifting from between the two of them and the computer screen above them. From first glance she could see that Raoul had succeeded in decrypting most of Malca’s files. Smiling she stepped forward, she studied the screens. “You did it!” She exclaimed with awe.
“Not completely. There is still one file that still won’t open no matter what I do. There may be a chance that it is corrupted.”
Crestfallen, Gabriella frowned. Brushing a length of hair behind her left ear, she nodded solemnly. “I came for my laptop.”
“I doubt Robert will let you get any work done right now.” Aria commented. Her eyes lingered on the red bite mark that was clearly visible above Gabriella’s blouse collar.
Blushing at Aria’s words, Gabriella attempted to adjust her collar to hide the love bite that Robert had given her earlier that day. Though she suspected that it held more meaning than just a simple rough hickey, Gabriella attempted to ignore the knowing look from Aria and Raoul.
“I thought I would try to mess around with the files once more incase I can’t sleep.”
“Or if Robert won’t let you.” Raoul commented with a wolfish grin.
“Shut up, Raoul.” Aria said with a shake of her head. “I’m glad that Robert finally got over his stubbornness by the way. He’s been driving Doyle and me crazy with the way he’s been stalking you around the compound.”
“You knew all along that I’m his mate or whatever he calls it?” Gabriella asked with surprise.
Aria nodded. “Keep in mind I am also mated to a crazy bear, plus it was the only thing that made sense with the way he was acting around you.”
Groaning with disgust, Raoul held up his hands. “That’s my cue to leave. See you in the morning, Yogi Wives.” Raoul tossed over his shoulder as he left.
Turning back to Aria as the door closed behind Raoul, Gabriella shook her head. “I don’t understand why Robert would think I’m his mate. I know that I feel attracted to him, but that’s simple chemistry.”
“These shifters have some strange ways; I’ll agree, but I can guarantee you that if Robert says you’re his mate; it’s true. I didn’t believe Doyle when he started his he-man, “you’re mine” attitude either. But that bite on your neck declares that you are his. Robert wouldn’t take a chance with your life by doing that unless he was absolutely sure.”
Face paling, Gabriella’s mouth dropped open. “W-What do you mean?” Instantly her hand clamped over the mark in question. “I thought it was just a love bite! I didn’t agree to anything permanent with him.”
Shrugging her shoulders, Aria smirked at her. “Welcome to the family.”
Outraged, Gabriella clamped her mouth closed. Striding toward her laptop she roughly jerked it off the table. If Robert though he could just roll around with her in bed and take her choice from her, she would show him. Spinning around to face amused Aria, Gabriella pushed her shoulders back, determined.
“Can you have Raoul work on what you promised me?”
Amusement washed from Aria’s face and was quickly replaced by confusion. “What do you mean?”
“You promised me a new identity and the means to start over somewhere else once you got what you needed.”
With a warily look, Aria nodded. “I remember. I’m just confused here. I thought Robert had claimed you.”
“He may have, but since he did so without my agreement, I see it as null and void.”
“I don’t think it works like that Gabriella.” Aria warned.
Sighing heavily, Gabriella clutched her laptop to her chest like a shield. She knew there was something between Robert and her stronger than a simple attraction. But she wasn’t like Robert; she couldn’t simply fall for someone like this. The only logical thing to do was to finish what she’d promise. After some time Robert would see that he was mistaken.
“I will do what I can to get this last file open, but I need you to keep your word.”
“I will.” Aria nodded with grim disappointment. “I’ll have Raoul work on it in the morning.”
Satisfied with her answer, Gabriella turned to leave. As she moved past Raoul’s long desk, a square envelope buried under papers caught her attention. Stopping, she moved closer to inspect it.
“What is this?” she asked as her hands plucked up the item in question. Though the envelope she could feel a thin computer disc.
Moving up beside her, Aria leaned closer to see what Gabriella held. “That’s something else we can’t figure out. We found that in my old cell at one of Malca’s destroyed labs, but Raoul can’t figure it out. Go ahead and take it. See if you can make anything of it.”
Nodding, Gabriella took the disc with her as she left. Left alone in the office, Aria rested her hands on her hips as she sighed wearily. Robert may have claimed Gabriella as his mate, but in the process he’d made things worse. Aria knew what followed once a human was claimed and bitten by their shifter mate and it would appear that Robert had neglected to share that information with Gabriella.
Brother like brother…
As per Doyle’s words from earlier that day, no one was allowed to interfere between a mated pair. But the overwhelming need to inform Gabriella of what her mating mark meant ate at her. She’d nearly lost Doyle because she was too stubborn to understand his commitment to her. She could only hope that Gabriella would realize how real their bond was before she lost her chance at happiness.
If Aria was to leave her mate, Doyle would drag her back and claim her over and over until she never thought of leaving him again—not that she would. She loved Doyle with everything she possessed. But deep down, she knew that Robert wasn’t like his brother. Doyle had told her once that Robert had given himself over to the idea that he would never have a mate. She dreaded to wonder what would happen if Gabriella pushed him away.
* ~ * ~ *
Stubbornly Gabriella headed toward her assigned room, instead of returning to Robert’s room like he’d told her to. As her door came in sight, Gabriella felt her heart lighten with relief as her stomach tightened with fear. What did she have to be scared of? The worst Robert could do was nag
to her about not doing as she was told. Her nose curled and her eyes rolled as she could practically hear the lecture now.
Coming to a stop in front of her door, she cast a glance down the length of the dark hall. No one. At this time of night everyone was in bed, leaving the large house to echo with stillness. Though she saw no one, she couldn’t fight the feeling that she wasn’t alone. Dismissing it as nothing, she moved to hold her laptop and the mystery disc with one arm while she reached out to turn the doorknob.
Pushing the door open, she flicked the light on before stepping inside. As light flooded the room she saw that she wasn’t alone. Crying out with fright, her hand jumped to her chest as she saw the displeased face of Robert. Standing a foot from the door with his arms crossed over his bare chest, he watched her with a stony expression.
For a moment she just stood there watching him. The last time she’d seen him had been hours ago. After making love, he’d held her tenderly against his chest as they rested. Upon waking, she saw him getting dress with a look of irritation written on his face.
Apparently there was a problem on the property that Doyle had needed him to attend to before the evening meal. Giving her a gentle and lingering kiss, Robert had promised to see her later. At the time she found that she couldn’t fight the smile of knowing what later that evening would bring.
But as she was in the shower cleaning away the evidence of their shared passion, the mind numbing fog cleared and her uncertainty returned. What was she doing? Not understanding what had happened between them, she skipped supper and went for a walk instead. Once it was too dark to remain outside she decided to collect her laptop and run to her room. Now she could see that her seemingly logical plan had just went up in smokes.
Edging backward out of the room, she watched as Robert’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Don’t even think of running. You’ve done enough of that I think.” He bit out.
“Get out of my room.” She said firmly, but had no idea where she’d found the courage to say it.
Big, Bold & Bearing (Grizzly Affairs Book 2) Page 19