by Milly Taiden
Titles by Milly Taiden
Elemental Mating
Mating Needs
Dangerous Mating
Fearless Mating
Fearless Mating
Milly Taiden
INTERMIX
NEW YORK
INTERMIX
Published by Berkley
An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014
Copyright © 2018 by Milly Taiden
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INTERMIX and the “IM” design are trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
ISBN: 9780399585821
First Edition: April 2018
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Contents
Titles by Milly Taiden
Title Page
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-one
Epilogue
About the Author
Chapter One
Josh Tumbel, director for the Alpha League of Federal Agents, had finally found his mate. She sat in front of his desk, talking about something. Her luscious lips were moving and her bedroom eyes were fixed on him. And god, how he wished he had her in his bedroom. Naked and begging him to take her. It didn’t seem likely at the moment, though. Not with the frown on her face.
She introduced herself as Sergeant, or was it Lieutenant? Maybe Major? Candace Obermier. He’d call her Candy. He wondered how many licks it would take to get to her creamy center.
Her beautiful eyes narrowed and her scrumptious mouth puckered. Ah, fuck. She’d stopped talking. Hopefully, she hadn’t said anything important.
Her brow raised. “Director Tumbel, did you hear a word I said.”
“Of course,” he lied. “Every word.”
“And you have no comment?” she asked with a sniff.
Fuck. He’d never expected to make an ass of himself in front of his mate. That had been a long-standing fear of his. He’d find the one, then chase her off with his caveman mentality. His mama had taught him well. He knew all the mistakes shifter men made and how to avoid them. But would he? Obviously not.
“I’m sorry, Major—” he started.
“Sergeant Major,” she corrected, her gorgeous lips pressing into a tight line.
Well, shit. He just called her a rank four levels lower. She was not happy with him. The military took their rank and file so seriously.
“Sergeant Major, I apologize. I was a bit preoccupied . . .” fantasizing about licking you all over, “and missed your last remark.”
“I said,” she repeated with a soft growl, “I am shutting down your department.”
That certainly got his attention. How could she possibly shut them down? They were specifically commissioned by the National Intelligence Board to do dangerous assignments that would kill any normal human. Was it possible she didn’t know they were “special”? Looks were deceiving. Should he tell her? No. That was above his pay grade.
Calmly, patiently, he knitted his fingers together and laid his hands on his desk. “Sergeant Major Obermier,” he breathed out, “my group has been in operation for many, many years. Longer than most other organizations in DC—”
“I am aware of that, Director Tumbel—”
“Please, call me Josh.” He flashed her his white smile with perfect teeth. He’d spent his entire teenage years wearing braces and stupid retainers, so the damn things had better be nothing less than flawless.
By her frown, he could tell that apparently, looking impeccable didn’t mean shit to her. Which was good in its own way. He didn’t want a mate stuck on superficial, material qualities. But then again, how was he to woo her if she didn’t like things easily bought? If he’d have to rely on his own self and personality, he was screwed.
“Director Tumbel,” she continued, her voice containing a bite of impatience, “let me explain something to you. This new president and his administration are all about cleaning up the quagmire DC has become. That means cutting some serious budget. Not just a couple million by changing office supply companies but hundreds of millions. It is my job to figure out where the slack is and tighten it up.”
Slack? His group was thought of as slack? Had she any clue who they were? “Sergeant Major Obermier, do you know what we do here in ALFA?” he asked.
She opened a file on her lap. “I do.” She paused then continued. “You destroyed a one-of-a-kind viral specimen that now is extinct to the world.”
He opened his mouth to explain, but she raised a finger, cutting him off.
“You nearly incited a mafia war in one of the largest tourist destinations in the world that could have killed hundreds if not thousands of innocent civilians,” she said. He could explain that one, too, if her scathing look didn’t say keep your mouth shut. “And last, but not least, one of your agents was captured after almost a year undercover,” she finished. He couldn’t say much to that, except the investigation did end up closing down the biggest human trafficking ring in Europe.
“Oh, wait,” she added, “one more thing. You called in an unqualified agent to assist in an international cover-up.”
What the fuck? That was going too far. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Then again, maybe he did.
Her brows raised again. “A field-inexperienced FBI agent was sent overseas for an undercover operation. How many wrongs is that, Tumbel? First off, everyone knows only CIA deals with inte
rnational issues. Secondly, sending an untrained female—”
Getting more than a little pissed with his mate, he interjected, “Agent Tomlin was a highly skilled agent—”
“In doing crossword puzzles.” Obermier’s voice rose, followed by her body. She leaned over his desk. “She was a decoder, for god’s sake. She plays with words all day.”
He rose from his desk, bending over to meet her across the desktop. “And she’s damn good at it. We would be at war with Russia, right now, if not for her.” He smelled her sweet breath just inches from him. She must have had a piece of candy in her mouth. Fuck, he couldn’t wait to have a piece of Candy in his mouth. His pants were shrinking in the crotch area. Trust the animal in him to see the bickering between them as foreplay.
He could launch over the desk this instant and take her on the floor if she’d only give him a sign. Fucking hell, there it was. The ambrosial scent of her arousal. His knees weakened. Thank goodness he was leaning on the desk or he would’ve collapsed to the floor. He inhaled deeply, taking in all he could.
His rebel-roused emotions settled along with the angry thumping of his heart. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. He had started to wonder if his wolf was wrong about her being their mate. No doubts now.
She glanced at the watch on her delicate arm. How had he never realized that wrists could be so sexy? “I’m sorry to have bothered you so late at night, Director Tumbel,” she said.
“I’m going to the ALFA dedication in thirty minutes.” This is ironic, he thought. “A dedication ceremony honoring my group and all they’ve contributed to America’s safety in the past years. Isn’t that strange?” he asked. “Dedicating a plaque to an organization you want to shut down.”
One side of her lips curled up. “The ceremony was commissioned by the previous president, not the current one.” She straightened up and crossed her arms. “Will all your men be in attendance tonight?” she asked.
“Yes.” Finally, he’d have everyone together again. Each of the guys had recently found his mate and had been on paid leave. Now they were all about to take permanent vacations if this woman had her way.
“Good,” Obermier collected her briefcase. “Tell them tonight at the reception not to come in Monday morning. We’ll have their personal effects in a box outside the door by noon.” She hurried to the office door. “Goodnight, Director Tumbel.”
And she was gone from his life, just like that. How the hell had he lost control of the situation so quickly?
Chapter Two
Candy parked her car on the third floor of the garage to the National Intelligence Building where she worked. Shit, she had needed to get out of Tumbel’s office fast. Never in her life had her body reacted to a man the way it had to his. And he was fully dressed and not even clean shaven. But those eyes. That face. Lord have mercy.
He was fucking gorgeous. Drop-dead-with-a-side-of-beard-and-bedroom-eyes-that-made-her-knees-weak gorgeous. Her body shuddered. She needed to get a hold of herself. He was just a dumb male. Stupid, pain-in-the-ass, piece of shit like all of them. Bitter much? She snorted to herself. She definitely had a reason to feel that way with all she’d been through in her life.
Looking up as she exited the garage, she saw the helicopter sitting on the rooftop pad of the National Intelligence Building. That meant the NIA director was already there for the ceremony even though it didn’t start for an hour. Maybe he was working late, too. That would be a first. Damn, she needed to shake off this negativity. She wasn’t usually like this.
It was this damn assignment she’d been given. She was responsible for researching and digging into the workings of each department to find their mistakes, cover ups, and secrets. Then anyone deemed less than perfect, she had to inform they were out of a job. Even if the organization was well run like this ALFA group she just visited. A few issues could shut them down.
In the alleyway between the parking garage and building, she saw the catering truck for the ceremony being inspected by two of her four men in outside security. Even though this event was quite low on the terrorist-attack priority list, she insisted everything be checked before strangers were let in.
This habit was a throwback to her time in the field. She’d spent years in Afghanistan and other sandy countries fighting to keep this country’s freedom so those who wanted to complain, protest, and burn the flag could have their opportunity. Land of the free and home of the brave. Got that damn right.
She never regretted her choice of joining the military at eighteen. Running away and enlisting probably saved her life. Candy just wished her mother had had a choice. In a handful of years, she would be able to retire with full benefits after twenty years of putting up with sexual harassment, bullying, and men’s shit in general. She felt like she was going on sixty instead of thirty-eight.
She shook her head, wanting this slow building anger and resentment to go away. This was how it was lately. She was losing the last shreds of patience necessary to deal with her line of work. Who pissed in her Cheerios this morning? Speaking of food, that was one good thing about the event tonight. There would be munchies and drinks. No alcoholic beverages, her order, but punch and tea were acceptable. She was not babysitting a bunch of drunks on the job this evening. Her job was to make sure security was staffed and ready to go.
This was her building. She knew it inside and out. Every door, every hall, every hidden passage. Built in the 1950s along with many other structures in DC after World War II, the building design was simple and a pain in the ass to update with technology. Made mostly of concrete, each floor had to be drilled through to run new wires and pipes. Replacing the old sprinkler system a few years ago nearly brought down the lobby ceiling. That was fun. They had to reinforce the wide expanse with I beams and supports.
But despite that, the building was solid as a rock. The windows were fitted with electromagnetic shields so inside communications couldn’t be intercepted outside, and the halls were somewhat of a zigzag maze to cut off any radio transmissions within. She’d miss this place when they moved into their new offices currently under construction.
She was proud of her contribution to the new NIA building. Because of her efforts in security, the new facility would have its own power plant, phone/Wi-Fi system, and police force to handle situations with classified information. She laughed when she found out the place wouldn’t have an address, but did have its own zip code. How silly was that? It wasn’t like they were hiding where they were. Shit, Google had the building on their maps. When it came to the government, who knew what all they would do.
After entering the front doors, she used her badge to bypass the metal detectors, also a retrofit, but before her time. As she walked toward the back of the lobby, Candy had to weave around tables and chairs set up for the show. New plants had been brought in to attempt to warm the harsh concrete walls. Nice try, but they’d need a jungle for that to happen.
She passed the elevators on both sides of the aisle, then the stairwell that led from the roof to the tunnels connecting all of DC underground. Hurrying down a narrow, mostly hidden hallway at the far end of the building, Candy made her way to the security door and punched in the code to access the inside.
As the door opened, her men came to attention and saluted. She returned the salute. “At ease.” Her eyes skimmed over the multitude of small monitor screens, each showing a different shot of the interior and exterior. “Did I miss anything good while I was out?”
Her group of guys were great to work with. They had a camaraderie rarely found in military circles. That was only because she allowed that to happen. Candy could chew someone a new asshole, if needed, but she would give her life to protect her men.
“No, Sergeant Major. Just folks decorating and the regulars coming and going. The caterers pulled up not too long ago,” said Dotson, seated in front of the monitors.
“I saw our guys checking out the t
ruck. Good job on making sure that happened, Dotson,” she said.
“Thank you, ma’am.”
She ran a tight, clean ship, even though the “ship” was practically the size of a broom closet. Another “make do with.” When upgrading the security system, the old office had become too small to house everything required. So it was moved to the side of the elevators and stairs where a janitor’s closet had been expanded to include the small office space behind it. The room had an exterior door and secret stairwell to the tunnels that the other didn’t, so that was a perk.
“Nice and boring,” she said. “Just how I like it.” She lightly slapped her hand against Dotson’s shoulder. “Carry on, Dotson. I’ll be in my office until this damn thing starts. Call if something doesn’t go as planned.”
He smiled, stood, and saluted. “Yes, ma’am.”
She saluted and walked out the thick metal door. With a sigh, she pushed on the door to the stairwell and climbed to the next floor. She could take the elevator, but what was the point? By the time she waited for it, she’d already be on the second floor and down the hall to the last office, hers.
She plopped into the chair behind her desk and pivoted to look out the back window. They were blessed with a park behind the building so she could watch owners walking their pets, and parents with their kids, playing. A cute little family happened to be on the grass. A small pain tinged her heart. She told herself, again, that she wasn’t family or mom material. Her temper was well known. She was best on her own. Alone. It didn’t matter that others had told her once she had a baby she’d fall in love. Not like she had anyone to have babies with anyway. Besides, her busy lifestyle only allowed for her to be single. Busy? Whatever.
The family in the park looked so happy, talking and laughing. And they had a wiener dog. How adorable. Now she was a puddle. She’d always wanted a dog, but her father had killed the stray she’d brought home as a child, and after that, she didn’t have the heart.
Watching a dog being kicked and beaten to death had destroyed something inside her. She couldn’t stand by and see that again. Even now that she lived alone, she couldn’t think of getting a dog and watching the animal age and have to be put to sleep.