“You’re amazing,” she whispered.
He chuffed and her light laugh warmed his heart. They sat for a long while as she continued her study of him. Because of her trust in him in both forms, human and wolf, he knew she would trust him to explore her powers with her. Plus, the more time he spent with her, he grew more curious as to her powers. With great reluctance, he stood.
She laughed when he shook out his fur, but when he flicked his head to indicate that she should turn around so he could shift back, the reluctance in her eyes gave his wolf more pleasure than her hands on him. Almost. She turned and within seconds, he was back to human. She kept her eyes closed as he dressed, and he found himself missing her curiosity.
“Now let’s find out what you can do,” he said.
She nodded with more confidence than before. The next words out of her mouth surprised him.
“Thank you for showing me your wolf. Will I be able to see you shift again?”
He pulled her into his arms and brushed a light kiss on her mouth. “I’ll show you anytime you want, but right now, I’m curious about you.”
Although he expected a mention or two about telekinesis on the search he conducted, he found page after page of powers that were loosely connected to what he’d witnessed, most of them speculation. When she sat next to him and leaned against his shoulder, he draped his arm around her and pulled her closer as they read about powers she could possibly possess. She rolled her eyes at the more farfetched ideas. Tired of researching, he pulled her up and pressed a quick kiss to her mouth, excited to get started.
“Okay, so we know you can move objects, bind a shifter, and have serious defensive techniques, but let’s go down the list and see what you can and can’t do. Sound good?”
She nodded.
For the next several hours, she practiced moving objects about the room, altering their course in midair, and setting them down without jarring them.
He knew that she would be able to perform much more, but he wanted her to be able to use her powers without thinking about it. If they became second nature, she would have the advantage over the man who chased her.
He remembered that exhaustion had affected the use of her powers, but as they practiced, he took note that her actions didn’t deplete any of her energy. Another sign of how dynamic she was.
“Okay, let’s test defensive powers. Chuck this lamp at my head and see if you can stop it before it hits me.”
Her startled laugh echoed through the empty room while her head whipped back and forth. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I trust you,” he said.
“What if I can’t stop it from hitting you?”
He shrugged and she refused again.
“Come on, Ara. I kidnapped you and brought you to my house and now you’re my prisoner.” He tried a dark laugh but her eyes sparkled at his joke.
“No.”
“Fine, then I will find your weakness and exploit it.” He surged toward her, giving her no time to think, only to react.
He found himself frozen in midair, but instead of trying to fight her hold on him, he relaxed his tight muscles and glared at her in a way she saw through in an instant. A low growl, the same one he used to put her at ease, passed through his throat before he could stop it.
“You don’t scare me.” She beamed at him.
To prove her words, she pulled him closer and glanced up at his mouth. Fire erupted at her look and he lifted his arms to reach for her, only to realize that she had bound him. A hint of a smile played on her lips while she kept her eyes on his.
“Can I kiss you?” she asked.
Choked with need for her, he nodded and waited for her to make the first move. He sensed that she moved him closer but all thoughts ceased the moment her lips met his. She rose on her toes to get closer to him, and when she tilted her head to deepen the kiss, he sensed that she released her hold on him.
His hands gripped her hips as he lifted her closer to his mouth. Her answering moan unraveled the restraint he had placed on himself. His tongue met hers and the sweetness he craved drove him to want to find the pleasure that she promised. Without knowing his intentions, he walked forward until her back pressed against the wall and proceeded to ravage her mouth.
Her grip on his shoulder tightened and she took him by surprise when she wrapped her legs around his waist and moaned into his mouth.
Fuck. He wanted this woman. The rational side of his brain told him to take it slow, but his wolf and his body craved everything about Ara. He wanted to claim her, but he wouldn’t take her choices away from her. Too many had already done so and he refused to be another.
With that dose of reality, he ripped his mouth away and pressed his forehead to hers. A hard shiver passed through her and he squeezed her tighter, understanding the desire that flared even though he ended the kiss. He listened to her breathing even out and her heart slow before he gave her a quick kiss and settled her on her feet.
“I’m becoming addicted to you,” he admitted.
He watched as her eyes widened, but she took him by surprise when she reached for his hand and squeezed. “I’m glad that you found me.”
The pounding in his heart reached his ears at her admission. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, her words affecting him more than he realized. When he opened them and met her soft gaze, the corners of his mouth tilted and something he couldn’t define settled inside him.
The room had darkened during the long hours they researched and practiced, and when he glanced at the clock on the wall, he cringed. “You must be starving.”
Without waiting for an answer, he reached for her hand and walked toward the kitchen. They worked side by side, chopping vegetables for a simple pasta dish, but with each movement, he would brush against her until the tension between them almost blazed out of control. The one time he allowed weakness to triumph was when they sat down at the table. He pulled her into his lap, kissing her breathless before he tucked her against his chest.
“I would like to introduce you to my team,” he said.
“Why?”
“We need their help finding the connection between the man who kidnapped you and Dr. Ames, and if we do that, we can find him and take him out before he has a chance to hurt you. Xander will find a connection—he’s great with computers. Plus, everyone wants to meet you, especially Liv.”
“I’m not great with people.”
“I told them not to overwhelm you, but you can trust them. You can trust me. I would never allow anyone to hurt you, ever.”
As he tucked her head under his chin, she grew quiet as she thought about his request. They were important to him, his only family, but if they made Ara uncomfortable, he wouldn’t stand for that.
“Okay,” she whispered.
At first, he didn’t think she spoke, but when she lifted her head and glanced at him, he realized she agreed. The next words she spoke strengthened his belief that he’d done the right thing when he searched for her all those long weeks.
“And I do trust you Reaper.”
Chapter Four
Ara
Nervous energy washed through her when Reaper pointed out the house on the top of the mountain. She closed her eyes in order to calm her rapid pulse, but other thoughts crowded in. The kisses they shared over the last few days snuck in through her panic, and although more welcome than the thought of meeting complete strangers, it did nothing to slow her heartbeat.
Their kisses had been the first real intimate contact she’d had and instead of feeling trepidation each time he touched her, her thoughts scattered and she craved more. She liked that he reached for her hand or pulled her into a hug because he wanted to. Some part of her rationalized that he didn’t want to spook her so he chose gestures that put her at ease, before he moved on to more intimate ones. From the moment she had woken up in his bed and recognized him, no part of her resisted his touch.
As the time they spent together grew, she observed th
at she was always aware of him and on the rare moments they were separated, she found herself missing him.
As if sensing her emotions, he reached for her hand and laced their fingers together. Her muscles relaxed and the tension in her body drained away. Throughout her life, she had never trusted anyone with her safety. Until now.
Reaper had asked her about her childhood; she couldn’t quite bring herself to tell him the entire story. People couldn’t help but judge others by their past, and she grew afraid that Reaper might change his mind about helping her if he knew the entire truth. She would tell him at the right time, but until then, she would show him that he could trust her in return.
After she had accepted that they would need help in finding any connection between her kidnapper and Dr. Ames, she couldn’t help but wonder at the danger she presented to Reaper and his friends.
She had no clue why the man chased her.
He had gotten nothing from her the entire time she had been under his control. The one thing her mind looped back to was that he craved her death. She had slipped past him after giving him nothing but trouble, and he would want to punish her for that. Although this man had a vendetta against her, the last thing she wanted was others being hurt because of her.
“I still think this is a bad idea.”
His hand squeezed hers in reassurance before he spoke. “They are government assassins who, on top of being deadly because of their nature, are additionally trained in weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and defensive techniques. Their senses are unparalleled, and if that isn’t enough, Kai has state-of-the-art sensors, cameras, reinforced doors and windows, and enough weapons to arm a small country.”
The more she thought about his profession, the more she worried for not only him, but those she had yet to meet. Although he meant the words to be comforting, they were anything but. To distract herself from the thoughts swirling in her head, she asked him to tell her about his friends.
“Kai and Liv are mates, as you know. Liv is a brilliant immunologist. Her work centered on finding a cure for cancer, but after she turned, she started researching the differences between human DNA and immortal DNA. Hunter helps her in the lab when she’s not working with Seth. Seth is the kid from next door. He has known Kai since he was twelve, but it wasn’t until the kid grew close to Liv that he really opened up. He helps Liv while she teaches him everything she knows. He’s the little brother she never had.
“Let’s see, there is Xander. He’s the computer whiz and the quiet one. He’s very good at observation, so don’t freak if he asks you questions or studies you—that’s just his way. Gunnar and Jade are our recon and tracking specialists. Gunnar is quiet but he’ll probably gravitate toward you because he’s curious. Axel and Kane are the combat and weapons trainers. Kane recently lost his mate at the hands of Dr. Ames and is still recovering. You’ll catch a flash of sadness from time to time, but he’s been trained to be an assassin and it’s given him a purpose. Axel is a gigantic blond lion-shifter who thinks he’s God’s gift to women. Ghost is our boss and he coordinates the contracts, communications, and determines who gets sent out on assignments. There are others who drop in from time to time, like Thomas and Isaac, who are vampires, so they prefer to be alone.”
Before she could place all the names with their specialties, Reaper parked the SUV. He must’ve sensed her trepidation because without a word, he dashed around the car and opened her door. When their eyes met, she spotted a flash of need and she couldn’t help the shiver that passed through her. She found that she couldn’t pull her gaze away from him, mesmerized by the flames in his eyes, but his growl reminded her why they had left the sanctuary of his home.
She glanced down at the hand he offered and reached for him. Her breathing slowed back to normal at his consistent thoughtfulness. He sensed that she was overwhelmed and steadied her with his contact. By the time he tugged her toward the front door, she blew out a relieved breath and relaxed. She trusted him.
It shouldn’t have surprised her that he had a key to the door, but when they walked through the entrance and a loud beeping rang from the panel on the wall beside the door, she tensed at the sound. After he entered an extensive code, she leaned against him and took in her surroundings.
The living area had space to fit an average-sized house, with couches, rocking chairs, tables, and other furniture scattered throughout the space. Although the house looked enormous and intimidating from the outside, the inside was bright, cheerful, and welcoming. Her eyes were drawn to the beautiful stone fireplace with flames dancing inside, and the overall effect was warm and inviting.
“Where is everyone?” she asked.
Reaper bent down and brushed a kiss on her lips. “They didn’t want to scare you off by gathering around when we arrived, but they are around.”
“Can you sense them?”
“Yep. I can hear their footsteps and tell who they are by their footfalls, and I can also scent them.”
He led her across the room and when he opened the sturdy wooden door, she noticed that they were at the top of a stairwell. Without room for both of them to travel at the same time, he led the way. But not before he reached back and laced their fingers together.
When they reached the halfway point on the descent, she heard music coming from somewhere below. She tried to place the song, but gave up when Reaper stopped at the bottom of the stairs and she sensed more than heard his chuckle.
Curious, she peered around his wide shoulders and knew that her eyes widened the moment she noticed a tiny woman, with a mass of curly brown hair, flash from one side of the room to another. Her speed was breathtaking and Ara blinked as a reaction to the movement. When she reopened her eyes, the woman had moved from where Ara last placed her. Her eyes searched and found her, and Ara could see her head bouncing up and down to what could only be described as heavy metal thrashing.
Transfixed on the woman in front of her, Ara failed to hear someone come down the stairs behind her until a hand clamped down on her shoulder. Ara whipped around and pressed her back against the wall of the stairwell, an instinct that she’d honed all those years she spent on her own. She closed her eyes as a loud bang reverberated through the basement.
She took a deep breath, getting her emotions under control, before she opened her eyes and found the source of her panic smiling at her from across the room. Like other shifters, the man was colossal, and she groaned when she realized her mistake.
“Shit,” she blurted. “Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. That was fucking cool.”
Reaper laughed and although she knew she overreacted, it took her several seconds to fix her mistake. She lowered the shifter gently on to the floor and released him from her hold. Before she could focus, he stood in front of her.
Surprised, she jerked back.
Before her head slammed against the wall, the stranger’s arms wrapped around her and lifted her off the ground, laughing as he squeezed her to him tightly. She forced her body to relax, knowing he was a friend of Reaper’s, but tensed when a frightening and guttural growl ripped through the air.
The shifter who held her froze. With careful movements, he lowered her to her feet and stepped back with his hands outstretched, showing he meant no harm. The man kept his eyes on Reaper while he backed toward the glass structure. When he spoke, it was in a low and calming tone. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Reaper reached out and wrapped a hand around her upper arm before he pulled her close. He tucked her to his side and draped his arm around her shoulders, while still glaring at the other shifter.
She smoothed her hand against his chest, hoping to calm the fierceness of his stance. She had no idea whether she succeeded.
“Gunnar didn’t mean anything by the hug, Reaper,” a soft voice interceded.
Reaper turned with Ara still firmly in his arms to face the woman who she’d been concerned about, despite Reaper’s reassurances. Ara sucked in a sharp breath as her eyes scanned t
he woman, moving to her arms, hands, and then back up to her face.
“You’re really okay,” Ara breathed.
The woman laughed. “I am. I’m Liv. It’s nice to meet you.”
“I’m Ara.”
Liv pulled her from Reaper’s arms and she went willingly into a hug that made her feel safe and relaxed. The smell of lemongrass and green apple surrounded her, and she couldn’t help the smile that grew on her face. She wasn’t used to such affection. She’d already had more hugs in that short space of time than in her entire life. Liv pulled back and smiled at her.
“Kai,” Liv indicated the vampire who walked from the lab to pull her close, “turned me because my injuries were too severe.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t stop him in time,” Ara said.
“It wasn’t your fault. None of this is your fault. Besides, I’m fine now.” Liv paused while she glanced at Ara, taking in her gaunt appearance. “I’m glad that Reaper found you. You had us worried.”
Warmth and an unknown sensation wrapped around her. She blinked to prevent the tears from falling, and she cleared her throat to give herself a little time to get her emotions in order.
“Hasn’t Reaper fed you?”
Ara blushed but answered. “I’m grateful to him for everything he’s done.”
Something flashed in Reaper’s eyes but before she could say more, Gunnar moved in front of her. Her face flushed red because his movements had startled her, again, and she jumped before she could control it.
“How did you do that?” Gunnar asked.
Her brows drew down in thought for a long moment. Her eyes widened as she realized his meaning, and she choked back a groan as she remembered how hard she had slammed him against the wall. “I’m so sorry if I hurt you. It’s a knee-jerk reaction for me.”
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