He tugged against the metal, determined to ease her pain. His finger sank into the semi-liquefied collar and he screamed. Fury surged, the burst of emotion releasing enough energy to finish the job. The collar liquefied, the molten serpent devouring his flesh as it streamed around his neck and across his chest. He absorbed the pain, using the emotion to fuel his transformation.
Energy rolled over him, sweeping away his human form and freeing his cat. He threw back his head and snarled. The savage sound echoed off the austere walls. Emily writhed on her stomach, the burns on her ass and knees blistering and peeling. Oh Gods, he hadn’t even realized he’d scorched her knees. He bounded toward her and she raised her arm, an instinctive attempt to ward him off.
I will not hurt you. A little late for that. Please, let me ease your pain. She didn’t react to his telepathic urging, so he did the only thing he could do. He carefully placed his paw on the middle of her back and pinned her to the bed. She cried out and tried to push him away, but he ignored her instinctual resistance.
Hating himself for having lost control, he touched his tongue to the worst of the burns. She shuddered and moaned, a very different sort of moan than he’d elicited from her before.
The door burst open with a resounding crash, but he didn’t shift his focus. He coated her skin with his saliva, otherwise touching her as little as possible.
“Halt!”
“Can it even understand you?”
A blast exploded above his head. Cruz ignored the guards. Two voices, both male. Beyond that they were irrelevant. He’d harmed his mate. He’d failed… His mate? Even the shocking realization wasn’t enough to penetrate his instincts. His mate was in pain and he must heal her. He’d failed to protect her, to keep her safe, and he must make it right.
“Milo wants the morph alive, so what do you suggest?”
“Why is he… licking her?”
“Not much into mission briefings? That’s how morphs heal their wounds.”
“But Dr. Hillard isn’t a morph.”
“That didn’t seem to matter when his cock was in her mouth.”
Cruz stopped licking. He knew where this was heading, and there was no way he’d let it happen.
“If she’s willing to screw a morph, maybe she’s not as --”
Morphing smoothly into his human form, he turned on the two guards with a snarl. Cruz kicked the smaller one in the gut and sent him sprawling, his gun skidding across the floor. The second guard was ready when Cruz turned to face him. Cruz wrested the pulse rifle from his left hand, but grunted as his right fist slammed into his ribs. He tossed the rifle out of reach.
Dropping into an aggressive crouch, the guard issued the silent challenge. Cruz fed energy into his hand, waiting until his palm glowed before he held it up and said, “That collar screwed with my control. Do you really want to start this right now? I can guarantee I won’t lick your ass if I do more than singe you.”
Guard One made it back to his feet. “Our orders are to protect Dr. Hillard.”
That was the second time he’d called her Hillard. She’d introduced herself as Dr. Hill. Tucking the fact away to analyze later, he focused on the more rational guard.
“We realize you didn’t mean to burn her, but does she need medical treatment?”
“She needs what I was giving her.”
“We need to hear that from her,” Guard One countered.
“Brent, I’m fine.”
Cruz whipped his head around and found Emily sitting awkwardly on the edge of the bed, his discarded shirt pressed against her chest. He stepped back to her side and studied her features. “I wasn’t finished. You must be in a lot of pain.”
“You can finish once they’re gone.” She moved him aside and addressed the guards. “Return to the farm and tell Milo I’ll be back in an hour or so.”
“Got an itch that needs scratching?” The aggressive one smirked.
Cruz took a step toward him, but Emily caught his arm. “Please. This really hurts.”
“An hour, no more. Milo won’t be happy that we left you.” Brent grabbed the other guard by the sleeve and pulled him from the fallout shelter, closing the door behind them.
Pain and confusion twisted through Emily, yet longing simmered beneath the stronger emotions. She’d been floating down from the most extraordinary orgasm of her life, ready for the next step in her sexual odyssey, when fire blazed across her skin.
Moments before the accident, his fingers had been deep inside her. She shuddered, not wanting to think about the agony of such a momentary lapse, but unable to keep the thought at bay.
“Lie back down. Let me finish healing you.” He reached for her and she shied away. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“I know, but --”
“It will never happen again.”
The hurt in his eyes made her feel like the villain rather than the one with a scalded butt. “How can you say that with absolute certainty?”
“The collar was like a blockage. My power built up behind it until it was forced to punch through. When I’m allowed to regulate the flow, I am able to control it.”
“So this is my fault?” Ignoring her stinging posterior, she pushed to her feet.
“I didn’t say that.”
“Yes, you did. You burned me because you were collared, and I put the collar on you, so --” He silenced her with his mouth. His arm banded her waist, pulling her firmly against his chest while carefully avoiding her tender areas.
“You don’t need to be afraid of me.” He whispered the words against her lips. “Despite what your bottom is telling you, I will never intentionally harm you.”
“Why were you wearing gloves when I first saw you? Did you burn yourself before you arrived?”
“Yes.” The terse response made it obvious no more information was forthcoming.
“But your body heals incredibly fast.”
He held up his hands, displaying his regenerated skin. “Anything else?”
She caught her lip between her teeth then sighed. “What are we doing here? I’ve never been this ineffective before.”
“I know what I’d like to be doing.” He smiled, obviously trying to lighten her mood.
Wiggling away from him, she shook her head. “I don’t touch the morphs we liberate. It’s not fair to them, and it’s too hard on me. I become attached too easily.”
His gaze narrowed and his expression hardened. “Well then, you better take yourself off this case, because I have every intention of being inside you before we leave this room.”
Lust rolled through her in a staggering wave. Only he would say such an outrageous thing, only he wouldn’t allow her evasion. Her heart fluttered and her nipples tingled, anxious for the return of his lips.
“Lie down and let me tend you, or I’ll tie you to the bed.”
She turned to the bed and spread out on her stomach, but her imagination took it one step further. She pictured herself spread-eagled before him, bound hand and foot. He knelt beside the bed and traced the indentation of her spine.
“Would you like me to restrain you?” He kept right on going, teasing the crease between her bottom cheeks. “Does the thought of being helpless excite you?”
She pressed her lips together afraid the truth would come tumbling out.
“I expect you to answer when I ask you a question. Is that understood?” His fingers moved away as he waited for her reply.
“Yes, Sir.”
He chuckled. “I asked three questions, love. You’ll have to do better than that.” He carefully moved her thighs apart. Cool air wafted across her folds, but his fingers didn’t caress her.
“Yes, I want you to restrain me, and yes, the thought of being helpless turns me on.”
Without explaining what he was doing, he moved away from the bed. She couldn’t see what he was up to without sitting up, and her skin still pulled painfully each time she changed position, so she waited. He returned with the mesh belt from his pants. Using t
he tension clasp attached to one end of the belt, he effortlessly secured her wrists to the bottom rail of the headboard.
“Something tells me you’ve done this before,” she whispered.
He settled on his knees between her legs. “I didn’t give you permission to speak.”
She rested her forehead on her folded arms as he bent to her ass and tended her wounds. She’d expected him to shift back into a panther. This was far more arousing. His warm, wet tongue passed over her sensitive skin again and again. This was medicinal. He was healing a wound he’d created. There was nothing more significant than that.
Her core came alive with heat and aching need. Gods, she needed him there, filling her, stretching her, claiming what was his. Was she his? Why had her mind chosen that phrasing?
He licked his way down the back of one leg, gently caressing the other. The burns on the back side of her knees weren’t nearly as deep, more like a bad sunburn. Even so, he bathed her skin with equal attention.
Her legs were spread, her sex dripping. All he had to do was push inside. Why didn’t he take her?
“Please.” The word sneaked out on a sigh.
“Please what, love?”
“Do it. Put it inside me.”
He arched over her, rubbing against her. “Put what inside you? I want to make sure I know what you want.”
“Please, Cruz. I want your cock inside me.”
“That’s better.” He gently held her hips while he drove inward.
She held her breath and closed her eyes. Her passage opened around him, embracing him as he pushed deeper and deeper. He drew her to her knees and gave her a little more. Then his arm wrapped around and he found her clit and she gasped, shivering as sensations burst beneath his fingertips.
“Come for me. I don’t think I can move unless you come.”
He feathered kisses across her shoulders as his fingers worked their magic. Her core had never been stretched this tight before. Could she really… He gently pressed on her clit and liquid pleasure flowed all through her abdomen.
“Oh yeah. That’s what we needed.” He slowly pulled back. The sliding sensation had never been so acute. His inward stroke was sharper, a true thrust that rocked her body forward onto her elbows. She adjusted her position, providing resistance, without interrupting his rhythm. His fingers continued their skillful dance over and around her clit, while he filled her with steady strokes.
Surreal, yet painfully keen, each sensation seemed sharper, each pleasure brighter. She responded with her eagerness, unable to touch him or see him.
Then he pushed into her mind. Terrified at first, she fought against the unexpected invasion.
I will never harm you, Emily. This is a natural part of mating for us.
A surge of pleasure carried her beyond rational thought. She floated on bliss, as his being passed through her and flowed into her. She opened for him, surrendered. He pushed deeper, with his body and his mind.
Come for me. Come with me.
He thrust deep and wrapped his arms around her waist, shuddering violently as he released his seed. Wave after wave of sizzling pleasure bathed her in tranquil joy. He was fierce and commanding, savage and dangerous, so how had he given her heaven?
We found heaven together, my love. And don’t let the pleasure fool you. I am dangerous.
Have you always been able to hear my thoughts?
No. It’s part of the bond. And even now, the link must be intentionally activated before we can communicate. I can’t read your mind without the link.
Can I learn to open the link?
You figured out how to use the link without instruction. You obviously have talent.
With obvious reluctance, Cruz separated their bodies and released her hands. “You said the fallout shelter is shielded. What about the ship?”
“Why do you ask?” She held her breath, willing him to offer the confession that would open the door to trust.
“I’m chipped. I don’t think it’s active at the moment, but DOMA or one of their clients could turn it on at any time and locate me.”
She took his face between her hands and kissed his sexy mouth. “Welcome to freedom, Cruz. I fried the bug before you woke up. DOMA has no power over you.”
Chapter Five
Easing her arm out from under Allen’s heavy body, Karah inched her way off the bed. They’d been screwing all afternoon. Surely a man his age would sleep for hours now that he’d succumbed. He muttered under his breath and rolled to his stomach, taking a pillow with him, but his breathing remained even and his eyes stayed closed.
She snatched her robe off the foot of the bed and slipped it on as she padded barefoot from the bedroom. The past five months with this human had brought into sharp focus why she preferred playing with morphs! Allen treated her like a bothersome child. He loved bending her over his lap and spanking her soundly, before he made her take him in her mouth. It had been a shocking change of pace, but she was tired of being treated like a whore.
Her cats knew their place -- on their knees with their tongues on her clit! She grinned. They understood her power and went out of their way to… Her thoughts came screeching to a halt. By enacting the rash plan they’d been discussing all afternoon, she’d be depriving herself of the only creatures who had ever truly satisfied her. Damn it!
She meandered through her dark apartment, determined to formulate a strategy that would allow her to take advantage of this opportunity. DOMA was off course, had been for at least a decade. She hadn’t been a strong enough leader to fill her father’s shoes, and her father had paled in the shadow of his father, the almighty Fremont Hillard, founder and driving force behind DOMA.
Admitting she’d made a mistake was the first step toward correcting it. That’s what everyone told her. Well, Allen was a galactic mistake. She had to get rid of him as soon as possible. There were others who needed to be exposed, but Allen would be a damn good start.
DOMA was meant to protect the morphs, to act as liaison and advisor. She had to refocus the organization, to restructure and return to its original purpose. She would expose their enemies and allow the morphs to devour them. Morph justice was swift and brutal.
Much like their passion.
A shiver slid down her spine as her thoughts returned to the beginning. No one licked like a morph. No one was as possessive and eager to please. And those cocks! No wonder Allen couldn’t satisfy her. His puny excuse for a shaft felt like a finger after… Cruz. Her passage clenched and her nipples tingled as she thought about her favorite toy. Cruz was the perfect combination of ferocity and finesse.
How dare Allen expect her to sacrifice such perfection? It was a sacrilege!
Morphs were wily and suspicious. She could work with that. One carefully worded warning and DOMA would be back on track.
She went to her office and secured an outgoing connection. Technology was forbidden within the walls of the morph colonies, so she’d implanted a tiny receiver behind her pets’ eyes before she allowed them to be released into the wild. Whenever she wanted them, she “pinged” them. A tiny red light would blink in their peripheral vision until they retrieved her message.
She hated to bother Cruz while he was on a mission, especially when she was the one who had generated the contract. But Allen had her rattled. If there was any possibility the prototype was a hoax, then Cruz could be in trouble. She needed to warn him about Allen’s plans without blowing his cover. This was going to be tricky. But Cruz was smart. He’d know what to do.
* * * * *
“You expect us to believe you shared Karah Balentine’s bed for six years and yet you know nothing about the inner workings of DOMA?”
Milo was clearly frustrated by the outcome of this “liberation,” but Cruz had no deep, dark secret that would soothe Milo’s pride. Besides every time he brought up Karah, Emily sank deeper into her chair. They’d only made love once, but that one time had been more significant than all of his other sexual encounters combined
. “If I make up something, can I go take a shower?”
The skimmer had been met by armed guards as Emily set down between a rustic farmhouse and a large barn. They’d been ushered through the barn so fast Cruz had barely registered the pungent smell of hay. A dizzying ride down in an open elevator brought them to a pristine corridor that was a bizarre contrast to the earthy scene above.
Milo waited in a conference room just off the main hallway. He’d been pleasant, at first, offering beverages and welcoming Cruz to the farm. But that had been hours ago and everyone’s patience was wearing thin.
“Tell me about your assignments and we’ll call it a night,” Milo offered.
Cruz glared at the human. There was no way he was going to detail his missions in front of Emily. She didn’t need to know how often he’d killed or how ruthlessly he’d pursued his targets. “My handlers took me out when someone deserved to die and locked me away the rest of the time. It wasn’t brain surgery.”
“Who were your handlers, and who was their superior?”
“I called them Jack, Jackass, and Jackoff. Is that helpful? Why would they tell me their names? I was as significant to them as any of their other weapons.”
“How many assassins does DOMA employ? Where were you trained? How were you recruited?”
With an exasperated curse, Cruz shoved his chair back from the table and stood. Milo had no intention of letting this go. He was going to gnaw on the bone until his teeth broke off. “It’s all ancient history. How can it possibly help you now?”
“I’m building a case against them. Any documentation is helpful. Facts, locations, contacts. That sort of thing.”
“I’m hungry, gritty, and --” A tiny red light blinked in the corner of his eye. “Shit.”
“What’s the matter?” Emily scooted forward and took his hand.
He looked from her worried face to Milo and back. If he ignored it long enough, would Karah deactivate the strobe? The humans couldn’t see it, but it was going to make him irritable as hell. Like they’d notice a difference. “Nothing.” He’d tell her later when Milo wasn’t around. Emily had earned his trust. Milo was an asshole!
Uninhibited Fire (Alpha Colony Book 4) Page 6