by Kyrii Rayne
He stripped away the rag of her panties and tossed it aside, then slid his hand under the torn fabric of her skirt to part her thighs and run his fingers over her mound. She gasped and pushed against him reflexively, and he chuckled against her breast, then sucked one nipple roughly into his mouth.
He spent long minutes teasing her, with his fingers and his lips, as he crouched over her with his sweatpants down around his knees. Now and again she would feel his warm, sleek erection slide against her leg as he worked on her. But more and more all she could feel was the building heat between her thighs as he rubbed and kneaded her sensitive flesh. And with the growing pleasure came a growing hunger.
“Jake...I need you....” she finally managed to gasp out.
He gripped the fabric of her skirt and yanked the entire front panel aside in a brutal gesture, tearing the wool from its waistband and baring her from the navel down. Her belly fluttered in the sudden chill, and she whimpered and kneaded his shoulders. “Please,” she whispered as she squirmed under his hand. “Please....”
His eyelids lowered, an arch little smile curving his lips as he climbed back off the bed and stood at its edge, bending over to take hold of her thighs. He pulled her buttocks to the very edge of the bed, stopping to knead and pet them gently from beneath before parting her legs and bending half over her again.
She felt the head of his sex push into her slowly, stretching her open and making her gasp a little. He took his time, hissing between his teeth as he restrained himself. His fingers dug firmly into the tops of her thighs as he pulled her onto him. Finally, he entered fully, and started thrusting, rolling his hips shallowly as his hand slid between them to finger her again.
She squirmed under him, her hands sliding up and down his arms as he sank into her and drew out again as slow and easy as if they had all the time in the world. Both of them shuddered and moaned at his slowness, frustrated, sweat beading on skin too warm for the chilly air. Both arched and bucked against each other, her eyelids at half-mast and his wide and hazy with pleasure. Tiny, soft cries filled the air as they struggled to keep their voices down.
She arched under him suddenly, her whole body gone taut, and buried her face in the muscle of his shoulder to muffle her long, gasping moans. The pleasure seemed out of sync, rocketing through her heartbeats after she lost control of her voice.
She jolted and shuddered under him, legs wrapped hard around him and hips moving convulsively until she finally collapsed.
He let himself go then, moving faster and faster against her until the mattress rocked under them with little creaks. Flesh slapped against flesh, and his harsh pants grew to low, choked groans as he arched over her. The cords in his neck stood out; his face darkened in the storm light and his eyes squeezed shut. “Oh—”
His mouth opened in a silent scream as he spent himself inside of her. He stayed rigid for long moments, shuddering... and then had to catch himself on his hands to keep from collapsing over her. For several seconds he simply bent there, panting; then he whispered, “I love you, baby.”
“I love you.” She gasped for air, her body limp and lazy, but the chill of the room finally starting to seep into her skin now that their efforts were done. She let out a little whimper and crawled up the bed, sliding under the comforter and then reaching for him.
He settled in under the comforter beside her, and they curled together, skin still a little damp and eyelids heavy. Whatever happened later that night, they had their moments of joy today. As had Darrin... finally.
Chapter 10 -
Best Laid Plans
They rode to the edge of the estate in Carly's van, Darrin quiet and thoughtful in the passenger seat and Carly humming. The snowstorm had let up a little, but driving on the winding mountain road that led to the gated property, with the wind buffeting the tall vehicle the whole way, had been an adventure.
Jake felt more relaxed than he had been in days as he sat next to Anna with an arm draped around her. He could see the mark from his lips on her neck, and smiled a little slyly as he nuzzled her hair. He didn't know what had possessed her to jump his bones not even an hour before they were set to lay siege to the mansion, but she had. Now, all he could do was hope she'd want to de-stress afterward the same way.
First, though, they had a small army of paramilitary guys to plow through, followed up by a fight to the death with the renegade Bears. Unless Darrin really had come up with something spectacular to help them avoid some of that.
Jake had thought putting his consistently brilliant-under-pressure buddy on the spot would result in some spectacular hat trick of an eleventh-hour plan. And maybe it still would. Darrin certainly seemed calmer now, and more focused. But he still hadn't briefed them on what they would do once they got inside.
Finally, as the tall iron fence loomed ahead, Jake coughed into his fist. Mark and Esme looked up from field-prepping rifles, and Darrin craned his head back from the shotgun seat. Anna squeezed his hand, and Jake looked around at all of them.
“Okay. So what is the plan once we get there?”
Darrin was quiet a moment, then finally said in a low voice,
“We park at the back fence and go over. Carly and Anna stay here with some weapons for self-defense. Carly will hack the security system and disable any cars with GPS or an Internet connection. Turns out that the doors have automatic locks, so we can use that. She'll use the security system cameras to track any problems we could run into before we do.
“Esme and Mark will cover the main courtyard with sniper rifles. They'll cause a diversion to draw the security team outside and then Carly will lock them out. If the guards don't have the sense to drop their weapons and surrender you can pick the remainder off outside. Meanwhile, Jake, you and I will go confront the Bears.”
Jake thought about it. That would leave him doing the bulk of the fighting unless Darrin was planning to stay in human form and use a gun. But from the grim way he had strapped on a new bulletproof vest before they left, that might be a given. After all, Darrin kept thinking that his shift form was too weak to fight in. Even if it was completely untrue, psychology would keep him from fighting as hard as he could in his shift form, and he'd still be outclassed in a brawl by the older Bears.
Looks like I'm gonna end up giving blood today. At least it's in a good cause. He hated being wrecked in a fight, but at least he would heal afterward.
“Gonna be messy, just the two of us in there.”
“Yeah. I'll bring my shotgun.”
Darrin sounded grim... but also determined. Jake took some comfort in that as they came to a stop and Carly put the brake on.
He held Anna tight as he said goodbye, and whispered in her ear, “I'll be back soon.”
“You'd better,” she whispered back, and hung onto him a few moments longer before letting go and climbing back into the van.
The four of them got over the fence with various degrees of ease. Mark went over with a practiced roll and landed on his feet. Darrin used a grapnel and clambered over with a little effort. Esme flew over.
Jake ended up hauling his enormous self over the top after padding the spikes with his thick down jacket. He landed with a grunt and a curse, and Darrin covered his mouth with his hand.
Mark wasn't as kind.
“Looks like too many burgers to me, man,” he said blandly as Jake retrieved his slightly torn jacket and pulled it back on.
“Keep it up, jackass. We all know my big ass is the tank in this fight.”
Mark snorted.
“Yeah, well, get better with a gun, you won't have to deal with that fang and claw so much.”
“Until it's time to and I'm out of practice.”
He trailed after them as they made their way through the woods.
They split up as soon as the heavy timber mansion came into view through the trees. Esme and Mark shouldered their rifles and headed for the roof; Jake crouched next to Darrin as he pulled out his phone and called Carly.
“We're
in position, sweetheart.” The endearment surprised Jake and he turned to look at his friend, but Darrin was looking down, his expression distracted as he listened. “Yeah, give them five minutes and they'll be on the roof with the rifles.” Another pause. “Yeah. Good, good. Okay. We'll head around to the pool house entrance along the side while you and the others draw out as many guards as possible onto the front patio. I figure a faked fire will do it nicely. Yes. Mark packed some when I suggested it. Okay. Talk to you soon.” He hung up and looked at Jake. “We head around to the north side where the pool is. She'll unlock the door for us there while Mark and Esme draw out the guards.”
“Got it.”
He rose into a crouched walk as they picked their way around the hillside, using the trees as cover.
Jake felt a little like James Bond as they went— minus the cool clothes and being able to do his job while consistently drunk, anyway. But this sneaking around while laying ambushes involving smoke grenades and sniper rifles, with a hacker acting as their guardian angel and his best buddy packing heat next to him... it didn't suck. He would never have been able to admit that to Anna, but the adrenaline junkie in him really did kind of like this. Provided that they all survived, of course.
The pool was tarped over heavily for the winter, the snow on it crusted into layers of ice from constant refreezing. No footprints in the snow over here, and the walk had not been shoveled. They crunched gingerly along, Jake keeping to human form for now. A cluster of bushes by the pool house provided cover; they waited there for Mark's diversion to take shape.
A low thud and a plume of smoke rising near the front of the house put all the security lights on at once; Jake heard running feet inside. Glass broke; another low thud, and more smoke. The smell of something burning reached Jake's nostrils, and a fire alarm started shrilling. Booted feet clattered out onto the patio; Jake heard shouting. Then a body hit the ground over there, and a rifle report rolled through the blowing smoke.
Darrin was on his phone again. “Now.”
Door locks clunked all over the complex. Most of them were closing, trapping a crowd of men outside as they yelled and pounded on the steel security panels. Two more rifle shots. Two more down.
Then the men were firing their own guns into the smoke, wildly, and from the yells, sometimes hitting each other. Dull thud of another smoke grenade— and then, the lock on the door across from them clicked open, and Darrin stood up to run inside. Jake ran after him. They hit the door hard and burst inside, into a breakfast area off the kitchen. “Okay. Time to whip it out,” Darrin unlimbered the shotgun across his back, and Jake nodded and focused on shifting. The room seemed to shrink around him a little as he swelled into his shift form, limbs lengthening, muscles swelling and fur sliding over him in place of his clothes. He snorted, senses sharpening slightly and unhappy with the stench from the smoke grenades. Then he turned to pad after Darrin as his buddy started his room-to room search for the three renegades.
The lights flickered as they went, the chaos outside only growing as Mark and Esme kept the security team pinned down. Jake kept his ears open, trying to sense movement in the depths of the house, but the ruckus outside made it very hard to focus on anything subtler. So search they did, methodically, each new room a new chance for an ambush. Jake tensed at each opening door, waiting for someone to start firing, or for a wall of claws and fur to head their direction. But room after room turned out empty— some so recently abandoned that they found half eaten meals, taps turned on, a television showing the latest football game. Smoke drifted thinly through the rooms, seeping in from a broken window near the front patio.
The gunfire outside was chattering away constantly now. Jake was just glad that it was happening outside— though now and again a bullet would pierce a nearby wall, or they would see where one had holed a door or a window.
They searched the entire first floor, just avoiding the foyer, which had too many windows in common with the battleground. Then upstairs, where the mansion's six bedrooms proved just as empty. Frustrated, Darrin called Carly again.
“Sweetheart, I hate to ask but we're running into a problem. I think that our three targets are holed up somewhere inside; Esme said they were all here. But I'm not finding them anywhere. Does this place have a panic room?”
Jake heard the faint reply in a break between gunshots.
“Yes, yes it does. Basement, in the corner. I can crack the electronic lock but it will take a few minutes. Meanwhile I can make sure they're in there.”
“Good. Work on that and call me back, we're getting no luck up here.”
They stumbled on a few stray security men on the way back down the stairs. Darrin and one of them started firing on each other right away; the shotgun blast took the man in the arm while Darrin stayed unscathed. Jake charged down the stairs at the other one, bellowing angrily.
He felt a bullet bite his shoulder, but his flesh spat it out in a few seconds and he didn't even break stride. One blow and the man bounced off the wall, wheezing and semiconscious with a fractured sternum.
Darrin racked another round into his shotgun, and they moved on toward the basement stairs.
Darrin's phone rang again as they were halfway down. He let Jake take point and put the phone back to his ear. “Yeah.”
“Problem. I have a lock on two of them inside the panic room, but the other one is completely AWOL. His car is still here and I've disabled it, but I can't find him anywhere on the security cameras. You're looking for a white male, sixties, fit, in gray slacks and a dark blue sweater. Name is James Clayborn. The other two, well, they're not going anywhere. In fact, I could basically trap them in there and make things really uncomfortable for them, if you want.”
“Shit. OK, sweetheart, keep an eye out until he pops up. For now, just contain those two and make sure they can't call out.”
He hung up and looked at Jake, who let out a low, hollow growl from his chest. He bent his nose to the basement floor, catching scents as best he could, but the stink of smoke everywhere left him unable to pick up subtleties.
I'm not getting any proper scent trails, not in this mess. His Mindspeech was tinged with frustration.
“I'll try.”
Darrin's nose was sharper than average even in human form. He holstered his shotgun and bent down into a dark blur; then a smallish black bear stood in his place. He shook himself once, then bent his nose to the concrete.
Two headed into their bird cage in the corner.
He snuffled back and forth across the floor.
Carly's locked them in. We can deal with them once we find the other guy.
He finally seemed to catch a third scent trail. They split up down here. But one of them ran for it. I don't know why. But if Carly's right he's still on the grounds somewhere.
Jake started to get an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach, as if they were overlooking something important.
So where does the third scent trail lead?
Darrin snuffled toward the exit, then headed up the basement steps and nosed the door open. It took him a minute to find the trail again... and then he followed it straight to a broken-out window. He put his paws on the sill and saw the glass exploded outward, and a bear's pawprints in the snow outside.
Damn it, he's on the grounds somewhere.
Do you think he's going for our snipers?
I'd better warn them.
Darrin changed back quickly and hit another of his speed dial numbers.
“Esme! We have one guy loose, in bear form, on the grounds. He may be making a break for it or he may be coming after us. You're the easiest position for him to calculate. You guys had better be on your guard.”
Esme's reply was lost to Jake as gunshots erupted to their left. One of the remaining guards had circled around the side. Jake blocked the bullets with his side, keeping them from hitting Darrin, and then bulled forward and knocked the man hard against a tree. His head connected with the wood and he slid down the trunk bone
lessly, eyelids fluttering.
When he turned back, Darrin was making another call while taking cover against the corner of the house. He had his shotgun out and in his off hand.
“Come on, pick up.” He gasped with relief and lifted his chin. “Carly?”
A scream came through his phone speakers and they both tensed. “He's after the girls!” Darrin snapped, shoving his phone back into his pocket. Then he was a bear again, and the two of them raced desperately through the trees to where they had left the van.
Chapter 11 -
Monster at the Door
It all happened very fast. One moment Anna was watching out the front windows with her pistol on her lap while Carly worked her magic on a laptop connected to the setup in back. The snow and pines blew in the wind, and now and again patches of moonlight appeared through the clouds to give her a clearer look of what was outside. But in all that swaying shadow, she couldn't keep a lookout very well. Fortunately, they were well away from the mansion, and chances were that the renegade Bears wouldn't even think to look for them while dealing with snipers, Darrin with a shotgun, and Jake in angry grizzly form.
She hadn't been too worried— up until something hit the side of the van with the force of a small truck.
Carly swore in surprise and Anna grabbed the back of the driver's seat to keep from falling over. The van bounced on its wheels, shocks and springs creaking. For one desperately hopeful moment, she thought it was a one-off - a fallen branch, something like that. But then she heard the low, rattling growl outside, and she knew.
Carly's phone rang and she grabbed it. She started yelling for help— and something hit the van again, lifting it off its wheels on one side with the impact and then dropping them again with a crash. The phone flew out of her hands and went skittering across the van floor.