Infinite Surrender: 2 (Blood Feud)

by Gayle Donnelly

  Infinite Surrender

  Gayle Donnelly & Robyn MacKenzie

  Book two in the Blood Feud series.

  Shape-shifting Coteri warrior Talon is mad with jealousy at the thought of Chloe, the woman he loves, being with other men. After a sizzling encounter, Talon is stunned to realize she’s only his—has only ever been his. But his family line is tainted and he knows he isn’t good enough for the torturously tempting redhead.

  Spurned by the best friend she betrayed and rejected by the man she wants so badly it hurts, Chloe leaves her home with the Coteri to investigate a series of brutal murders that could have sinister implications for them all.

  When he learns there’s a traitor in their ranks and Chloe could be in danger, Talon will move heaven and earth to make sure she’s safe—and to make her his, body and soul.

  Infinite Surrender

  Gayle Donnelly & Robyn MacKenzie

  Dedication

  To our wonderful families for their love and limitless support. To Desiree Holt and that fateful bus ride—this wouldn’t have happened without you! To Dakota Cassidy for your friendship, trust, and of course…Rockquanet! To Kimberly Rocha and the fabulous BOC girls. Thank you for all your support and friendship.

  Not of my blood but always of my soul. Forever Sisters. Forever Friends.

  Chapter One

  Thump…thump…thump. The heavy bass of the music pounded from the surround-sound speakers of the training room. The sound filled the expansive room from the shining mahogany floors, covered with thick black training mats, to the twenty foot high, open-rafter ceiling. Seven enormous wrought-iron chandeliers hung from the exposed ceiling beams, bathing the cavernous space in brightness. The pounding music matched Chloe’s mood and she felt the beat vibrate through the soles of her shoes up through her chest as she continued to hit the heavy bag with spinning kicks, punches and elbows. This was her haven, her place to find her center.

  She always worked out alone. Today was no different. Pushing her body to near exhaustion always helped to clear her mind. And today, more than ever, Chloe needed to find that clarity. She landed a flying kick to the bag, followed by a left cross then a hard right elbow, all in sync to the heady downbeat of her favorite Disturbed song.

  After more than an hour, though, Chloe’s emotions remained disjointed. How had everything turned to shit? She couldn’t wrap her brain around any of it enough to find the answers and fix it. And that just plain pissed her off. She grunted as she landed another combination on the bag that would have taken down a two-hundred-pound man…well, a human man, at least. Nothing had ended up how she’d envisioned it when she’d originally agreed to take on her special assignment at the request of her king all those years ago.

  Chloe was proud of her Coteri heritage—based in the Black Forest of Germany, the Coteri were a race of shifters who had remained hidden from humans for centuries. Using their affinity with animals and nature had allowed them to furtively stand as guardians over their human counterparts. Chloe had been chosen as one of those guardians years ago. A Coteri female, no less. Little had she known at the time that this single request from her king would be the catalyst that set her life on a path no one could have predicted—especially not Chloe herself.

  She remembered the bloom of pride she’d felt as the seriousness of Roderick’s request had taken hold. She would not fail him. She would make her brother proud. And in the back of her relatively young mind, Chloe had hoped that at the end of this important assignment she would finally gain the notice of Talon.

  Talon was a Coteri warrior, her brother’s closest confidant and the star attraction in all her fantasies for more years than she could remember. She had dreamed about him nonstop, her “infamous dreams”, where he was the star. Surely after being entrusted with the safety of the king’s only daughter, Talon would finally see her as a capable woman as opposed to just Mathias’ “little” sister. Chloe landed another hard kick to the bag and snorted at her own idiocy where Talon was concerned, then forced her thoughts back to Mina.

  Surprisingly, what had started as an assignment to prove herself to her king and those she loved turned into Chloe regarding Mina as a true sister. From the moment they met at the college bookstore, there had been an instant connection between the two women. At times Chloe felt closer to Mina than to her own brother. But the more time the women had spent together and the closer they’d become, the more difficult it had been for Chloe not to be completely honest with her friend. Chloe had struggled with the deception but held her resolve, knowing it was Roderick’s right to tell Mina the truth of her heritage. She’d believed once the truth was out and everything was explained, Mina would understand why Chloe hadn’t been able to be completely honest with her. She believed her lie by omission would be forgiven as opposed to being seen as an infinite betrayal by her best friend.

  Yeah, right. Minor miscalculation on that front. My bad, Chloe thought sarcastically, as she brought her right knee hard to the bag and followed with a left uppercut. Days earlier her best friend, after basically making her and Mathias feel akin to something lower than slugs under a rock, had made it clear that forgiveness wasn’t an option…at least not where Chloe was concerned. She hadn’t even given Chloe a chance to explain. Mina had made her feelings on the betrayal perfectly clear. In her mind, Chloe had kept the truth from her. The truth of a father she didn’t know existed and a whole different life that would have taken Mina out of the depressive stupor she had been in since losing her mother. Chloe understood her friend’s anger. Trust meant everything to Mina and Chloe had betrayed that trust. But with Mina’s dismissal, Chloe had been stripped of the chance to find some semblance of peace and belonging back in her childhood home and amongst her own people.

  “You are nothing to me now,” Mina had said to her. “I’m done with you.” With those softly spoken words, Chloe had felt her heart break on the spot. The fact those words weren’t shouted in anger had made the resulting blow to her heart that much more direct.

  So here she was, sweating her ass off in the training room, kicking the hell out of a heavy bag, making no headway at finding her proverbial center, all while trying to figure out what to do next. But Mina’s rejection was only part of the problem. Shit, shit, shit!

  “Little girl, my ass.” Chloe growled as she landed a hard right cross followed by a spinning back fist. She couldn’t stop the flood of memories as the unexpected confrontation with Talon after Mina’s rescue from Luca echoed with blinding clarity in her head. She cringed at the memory, anger driving her punches and kicks to the heavy bag as her mind replayed the devastating accusations he’d made.

  “Go away little girl.” Talon’s full lips lifted in a smirk as he seared her with a gaze that bordered on disgust. “They are not to be disturbed.”

  “I just want to see for myself that Mina is all right, Talon.” Chloe stepped forward and placed her hand on his forearm. “Please.”

  Talon stared down at her. His nostrils flared and his lips pursed into a hard line. She saw the muscles of his jaw flex and confusion swamped her. What was his problem? He was acting like he despised her.

  Chloe took a step back, crossing her arms over her chest and lifted her chin. “Do you have a problem with me, Talon? I’m not sure where all this attitude is coming from but if you’ve got something to say, just spit it out so I can go see my friend.”

  Talon took a step toward her, towering above her so she had to look up to meet his gaze. He was so close now she could feel the heat from his skin but they weren’t touching. What she wouldn’t give to just fall into his broad chest, wrap her arms around him and never let go.

&nb
sp; A low growl rumbled through Talon. “Mina’s spoken to me about you quite a bit over the past several days, little girl. She thought it would be a good idea to set us up, seeing as how you like big men.”

  Chloe’s eyes widened in shock and she sucked in a quick breath, taking a step back only to be trapped between Talon and the wall.

  Talon moved in to close the gap between them. “Don’t look so surprised, Chloe. I know you weren’t naive enough to honestly think you could betray our laws and no one would find out. And whoring yourself to humans, no less? Oh yeah, Mina had a lot to say about your taste in men.”

  Talon spoke through gritted teeth. His muscles were taut, his fists clenched, as he obviously tried to keep control of the anger churning through him. Chloe felt her stomach roll. Oh god, this can’t be happening. Chloe knew Mina would have never referred to her as a whore. Knowing her friend’s sense of humor, she’d probably made some joke about Talon’s size and then tried to play it off by implying that the two of them should meet. No, calling her a whore was Talon’s interpretation and it cut her like a knife. She looked up into his sea-blue eyes, eyes she could get lost in…only now all she saw in them was burning anger. Anger directed toward her. And in that moment, she knew all her dreams about this man had been destroyed. Chloe slowly shook her head, mostly at her own stupidity. She stepped away from Talon, not saying a word, and walked down the corridor, heading toward her quarters. She stopped abruptly at the sound of a feral growl and something hard hitting the wall. She didn’t turn around. She knew what Talon had done and she knew she was the cause of it.

  Seether began booming through the sound system as Chloe completed a combination with a spinning back kick. She blew her bangs off her forehead and landed another hard knee, then a right cross. What a fool she’d been, dreaming about a man who’d obviously never felt anything for her, not even friendship. She’d known Talon her entire life. Yet it was obvious he believed every accusation he’d thrown at her. And although that realization sliced her heart, she refused to explain herself. He didn’t deserve an explanation. Chloe slapped the bag with one more high kick, followed by a right jab and a left hook. She was tapped out, both physically and mentally.

  Chloe sat on the thick black mat and removed her training gloves. She spread her legs out wide to either side and slowly stretched forward until her stomach pressed flat on the mat, her forehead resting on her crossed forearms. The music continued to pound through the speakers and she was soaked through from her workout. If she wanted to be able to walk tomorrow, she knew she had to stretch her overworked muscles. But all she really wanted to do was take a long soak in a very hot bath.

  She purposefully slowed her breathing. She hadn’t found her center through her workout and that was a first. Chloe remained in her stretch with her eyes closed, still reaching for the elusive clarity that would make everything right.

  Mid-beat, the music stopped. There wasn’t a sound. Chloe slowly raised her head and her heart leapt into her throat. Every muscle tensed and the pulse in her neck pounded double-time. Great. She didn’t need this. Not now.

  Talon, leaning one shoulder against the doorway had his gaze locked on her. His piercing blue eyes held a fire that made Chloe want to clench her thighs together, although she refused to give him the satisfaction at the moment. His thick, shoulder- length mane of black hair was pulled back with a leather tie. Deeply tanned, heavily muscled arms crossed over his massive chest. Black jeans molded to every tight curve of his hips and powerful thighs. Black boots and a black Affliction T-shirt completed the picture of male, testosterone-filled perfection.

  Chloe cursed her body’s inward reaction toward a man who had made it abundantly clear that the mere thought of her disgusted him. She lowered her lids and dropped her forehead back onto the mat. She took a calming breath and counted to ten. Slowly she sat up, crossed her feet at the ankles and stood. She grabbed her towel and wiped her face and neck, took a long drink from her water bottle, and started walking toward the door.

  It’s all in the delivery, she schooled herself. Without making full eye contact and in a voice that exuded more calm than she actually felt, Chloe said, “I’m done with my workout. The room’s all yours.”

  She glided toward the door, never directly meeting his gaze. As she was about to move past him, Talon clasped her upper arm and pulled her back into the room, moving them to the center of one of the training mats. His grip was strong—not enough to hurt, but Chloe knew it would be a struggle to break free. Talon still hadn’t said a word. He hadn’t loosened his hold on her arm. He just continued to look into her eyes, as though burning a hole straight to her soul. His gaze lowered as his eyes dropped to her chest in her black sports bra, her bare midriff, her hips encased in black lycra training shorts, down her legs and slowly back up to her eyes again. Chloe felt as though he had physically touched her. Her skin heated where his eyes had roamed. She felt like she could melt into a puddle at his feet and the wetness between her thighs had nothing to do with the two-hour workout she’d just finished. Damn him!

  “What do you want, Talon?” Her voice sounded quiet and weary, even to her own ears.

  “We didn’t finish our conversation the other day,” he stated in a low growl.

  His voice was deep and sounded strained, almost angry. Chloe bristled at his tone. She felt her cheeks burn in anger but hoped he would attribute her flush to her recent workout. Her pride didn’t want him to know the effect he had on her. She shook her head at his utter arrogance. Didn’t finish our conversation? Like I need to relive the devastating words he practically hissed at me? Like I need to have it thrown in my face, just one more time, how pathetic all my dreams and fantasies about this man are, because he believes I’m stupid trash and a whore? Oh yeah, sign me up for that again, please, because one time just wasn’t enough…not!

  Chloe took a steadying breath, praying she could keep in control. “I know this may come as a shock to you, Talon, but I’m not really the stupid little girl you continue to think of me as. You made sure you didn’t use too many big words when you told me just what you thought of me.”

  She threw her shoulders back in defiance and lifted her chin. “Thanks for that grammatical consideration, by the way, because I was able to understand everything you said with crystal clarity.” Chloe counted off her fingers. “Let’s see—stupid, whore, traitor. Yeah, I think that about covers it.” She met his steely gaze head on. “Stunning to you though it may be, I understood you the first time, so there’s really no need to go over it again just for me. Thanks for the offer, though.”

  Chloe’s sarcasm was dripping and her anger rising. To her relief, though, she was able to keep the tone of her voice light. Her eyes never left Talon’s, and she forced a smile when all she really wanted to do was scream with rage. She was actually quite proud of herself and she went for her parting remark, needing to get as far away from him as possible before her façade cracked.

  “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to go shower and finish packing, so have a good workout. You can even use my CD if you’d like. It’s still in the system. Just leave it here when you’re done and I’ll come back to pick it up in the morning before I leave. I’d say keep it but it’s my favorite to train with. It’s got a wicked bass beat and helps get the blood pumping. Later.”

  Chloe could have sworn she saw a fiery glint in Talon’s eyes at her last remark but it disappeared as quickly as it had come. She turned to leave, only to have Talon snake his arm around her waist and pull her body flush against his.

  Chloe felt the heat of his skin even through the clothing that separated them. His musky scent engulfed her senses and she mentally slapped herself for her body’s reaction to his nearness. She turned in his embrace and faced him. He slowly licked his full lips and her knees felt as though they might give out. At that moment she wanted nothing more than to dive into those lips and savor his taste, dig her fingers into his thick, wavy hair, wrap her legs around his middle and give in to ever
y erotic dream she had ever had about this man. Then her new reality set in, overriding her decadent, ridiculous fantasies. She remembered his words from the other day, remembered the look in his eyes when he’d said them. She exhaled slowly and brought her gaze to his.

  “What, Talon? What more do you think you need to say to me? Just let me go and I’ll be out of everyone’s hair first thing tomorrow morning.” Damn it, she’d let her voice crack right there at the end. She had to get away from him before she lost all her composure. She would not let this man see her break!

  Talon’s eyes widened in surprise. “What do you mean, you have to pack? Where do you think you’re going?” he asked in a low, clipped tone, still holding her close.

  Chloe had trouble steadying her breath. He was too close, his touch on her skin too much. The masculine scent of him surrounded her. Much more and she wouldn’t be able to control her trembling. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her weakness.

  She stiffened, spine going taut, and lifted her chin. “It’s not really any of your business, Talon, but if you must know, I’ve been given another assignment. It’s for the best. I don’t belong here anymore and my leaving will make things easier on everyone.”

  His brows lifted and the blue in his eyes flared. “What do you mean, leaving? What assignment?” He raised his voice and tightened his hold on her arms. “You’re not a warrior, and babysitting Mina these past years doesn’t qualify you for field assignments, little girl. Does Mathias know about this?”

  Ouch. That barb had hurt. Not that she needed yet another reminder of how Talon felt about her or her abilities. Her role in this latest assignment was definitely a step above babysitting and it was important. No, she wasn’t a true warrior and as a Coteri female she would never be considered such, but damn it, she could handle herself Mathias had made sure of that when he’d secretly trained her to fight and defend herself all those years ago. After the death of their parents, she and Mathias had been all each other had. And her brother had been relentless in making sure his baby sister knew how to defend herself from danger in the event he wasn’t around to protect her.