Tipping his head down, Kori remained there. Hands braced on the shower wall, he let the water stream over his skin. Lera. She was so close he could almost reach out and touch her. His cock stiffened, and Kori groaned. It had been a long time since he’d had the touch of a woman, and he shook with need. Not need for any woman, for only one would do. And she lay in the next room.
His fingers curved into claws and dug into the wall. The power of the wolf rode dangerously close to the surface. He ground his jaw and took a few deep breaths until he was back in control. Kori made short work of the remainder of his shower and was soon standing before the large mirror with a large towel wrapped around his waist. He stared at his reflection, taking in the faded scars on his body as well as the tattoo over his heart.
Removing the towel, Kori dressed himself in a pair of black lounge pants and strode from the bathroom, shutting off the light on his way. Sure steps took him to the bed but there he hesitated.
Will she attack me?
It didn’t matter. Kori pulled back the covers and slid in. No attack. No anything aside from her consistent, even breathing. It told him how much she trusted him, and he was humbled by it. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and willed sleep to arrive.
He woke feeling two things, content and hard-as-nails. Lera lay against him, pressed to his side. Her head rested on his shoulder, her arm on his chest, and one leg straddled his waist, brushing against his erection.
If this is a dream, I don’t ever want to wake.
She stirred, and Kori damn near held his breath. He grew harder when Lera burrowed tighter against him, making small mewls in the back of her throat. Kori had a hand of his own holding her securely in place.
Where she belongs. In my arms.
“Lera,” he whispered, removing the arm he had on her body.
The mewls stopped, and she stiffened. Kori waited for her to move.
“It’s early, Kori. Murdock won’t be up until closer to noon.” She rolled away from him. “I’m still tired so go run if you want to.”
His missed her heat immediately. Making contact with his wolf, Kori found his beast in agreement with him. Her touch was more important. With a sigh, Kori reached out and rotated her body back so it rested once more against his. As it should.
“Let’s sleep, anáil de mo anam.”
Even though he felt harder than a diamond, Kori had a small smile on his face when Lera easily relaxed into him.
“You smell so good.” Her murmur reached him.
His cock pulsed, and he fought back a groan. So do you, Lera. So do you. Kori buried his nose in her hair, closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep.
When he woke, he noticed one thing and one thing only.
Lera was gone.
Chapter Six
Lera sat out in the late morning air of the park and sighed deeply. Chin resting on drawn up knees, Lera had her arms locked around her shins. She needed to embrace the calm wall she was known for. Murdock was not going to make this easy on her.
What the hell is wrong with me? Nothing made sense. She had been shocked to wake the first time in Kori’s arms, but the fact he’d pulled her back to him made those deep feelings emerge again. The second time she woke, she moved from where she lay all pressed up, intimately, against his hard half-dressed body.
Lera shivered despite the warm air around her. Kori had a body she could stare at for hours and never grow bored. Faded scars were visible but it had been the tattoo over his heart that had taken her breath away. A wolf’s head in the center of a trinity Celtic knot with a phrase she didn’t know around it. All of it rested on a line of ivy. It was beautiful.
Why am I thinking of him? Kori is just a means to an end. Once Rissa is safe, we’ll go our separate ways. The real question was why that saddened her.
“He confuses me,” she admitted aloud, one hand clenching briefly.
‘Lera!’
She flinched from the force of anger in which her name was spoken in her mind. ‘I am merely in the park, Kori.’
‘Don’t move.’
Lera glanced at her watch but remained quiet. She was becoming entirely too attached to Cormac MacLochlainne. Her belly clenched at the memory of being pressed against him in bed. His warm skin covering all those hard muscles, she hadn’t wanted to get up. Quite the opposite, in fact. She wanted to touch and explore him. See if his skin tasted as good as it smelled. His impressive body had scars on it. Kind of like hers, but where she was repulsed by hers, she longed to touch, lick, and discover what Kori’s felt like beneath her fingertips.
Gulping, she shoved those thoughts far away. It was more than difficult. Kori seemed destined to take up her thoughts. Lera tightened her hold on her legs and worried her lower lip. Unease filled her, but then most things did when they tied into Murdock Denton. Rescuing Rissa wouldn’t be as easy as Murdock tried to get Lera to believe. Things never went smoothly.
“There will be people waiting to try and get Rissa back,” she muttered. “Maybe even going after Kim.” Shit! How could I have forgotten about him?
Fear spiked through her as she shot to her feet and headed toward her bike at a run.
‘Kori!’
‘What, Lera?’
‘Meet me at Kim’s. I know they’ll go after him, too.’ It was Murdock’s way, doing what he could to maintain the upper hand.
She threw a leg over the sleek machine and started the powerful motor. Across the open link, she could feel Kori’s anger grow, and in that second, Lera had never been so grateful to have him on her side. Gunning the engine, Lera tore out of the lot, racing well above the speed limit to reach her friend in time.
‘Be careful, Lera,’ Kori said gently but with compulsion.
Compulsion which she ignored. Lera wove in and out of traffic like it stood still. A sigh left her when she screeched to a stop before Kim’s building. Kori’s Humvee was already there. Dashing up the walkway, she released a curse when she hit the locked door. Pressing a button, Lera waited for it to be answered.
“Mrs. Piper, it’s Lera. I’m here to check on Kim but he’s not answering. Can you let me in?”
“Of course, dear. I think it’s wonderful how you take care of him.”
The click informed her the door had been opened. Lera pushed through while Mrs. Piper continued chattering away. She moved swiftly to Kim’s door and paused, noticing it was cracked open. Inside, she could hear sounds of a scuffle.
Lera burst in, low, weapon ready, and scanned the room. Kim lay on the floor, unmoving, and across the way of his small apartment stood Kori. At his feet were two guns but the man who’d had them now dangled from where Kori had him against the wall. The room smelled of urine, and Lera hurried to Kim’s side.
“Kim?” she asked, shaking him lightly.
There was no response. She checked his neck for a pulse and expelled a sigh of relief when she found it. Faint but there. Anger welled up within her. How dare this man! How dare he! Her hand lingered on Kim’s face before she rose and headed to where Kori still had the man up against the wall. He too wore all black but was nowhere near as impressive as Kori.
“Why?” she spat out.
The dangling man didn’t speak.
“Don’t make her ask again,” Kori said on a snarl.
“Following orders,” he gasped. “Are you Lera?”
“What’s it to you?” Kori demanded in a tone so deep, Lera almost didn’t recognize it.
“I just hear you were the one he wanted this stuff done for. Wondered is all.”
“Get him out of here. I don’t want him around when Kim wakes,” she ordered.
‘Somewhere specific you want him?’ Kori’s tone was soothing to her nerves.
‘Dead works for me.’
‘So bloodthirsty, mo chara.’
She growled low and could feel his pride at it within her. ‘I would kill for my friends, Kori. Do with him what you will.’ Staring at the man still watching her, she said, “I see you again, and
you’re a dead man. And you know I’m not lying.” ‘Make sure he can’t get to Murdock for at least twenty-four hours.’
Kori stared at her before nodding once. Lera never saw them leave, her attention immediately upon Kim’s prone body. Feeling his neck, she was content when the alignment felt okay. Glancing to the couch, she frowned. I don’t know if I can lift him. Pushing to her feet, Lera worried her lower lip.
“I’ll put him in his bed, mo ghrá.” Kori’s voice wound around her.
Startled, she almost jumped. Spinning on her heels, Lera sucked a sharp breath as she stared at Kori. He watched her with more of that unending intensity.
“Thank you,” she said.
Facing away from him, Lera took in the mess before her. She noticed the movement and knew Kim was on his way to his bed. Lera shrugged out of her leather jacket, draped it on the window seat cushion and stripped off her gloves. In seconds, she’d dug out some cleaning supplies and had begun to erase the stench of urine from the room.
“Lera.”
She paused and slowly got to her feet, gathering the cleaning supplies with her. Meeting his gaze, Lera sighed and went to the kitchen to clean up.
“Ignoring me isn’t going to help.”
‘Worth a shot.’
‘Dinna bet on that, lass.’ Kori’s voice lilted through her mind in a thick Irish brogue which made her toes curl.
“Stay outta my head, Kori,” she muttered without looking at him.
“Why did you leave this morning?”
“I needed to gather myself. It’s been a while since I’ve been touched, and Murdock will be doing that.”
“The hell he will!” Kori’s voice sliced through the air. “Look at me,” he commanded.
Lera turned slowly and met Kori’s furious gaze. “What?”
“You aren’t going.”
She sighed and turned back around. “Do you have that money on you I won at the bar the other night, Kori?”
“Who gives a fuck about the money? We’re not done with this discussion.”
“Don’t cuss at me. I want you to leave it on Kim’s desk in his bedroom.”
“Look at me.”
Squaring her shoulders, she did just that. Kori was right up in her face, and she took a deep breath, her senses immediately swamped with the outdoorsy and wild masculine scent that defined him.
“The money, Kori. Go put it there. I have to get back to the hotel and change.” She knew Kori would have checked her friend over, and since he never said Kim was still in danger, she was content to leave him alone.
She moved past Kori and headed for the door, fully expecting him to stop her. He didn’t.
Back at her hotel room, when she got out of the shower, Kori was right there in the bedroom. Door closed behind him while he leaned against it, arms crossed and an expression on his face which would have scared the devil himself.
Her fingers tightened in the robe but she merely arched a brow and looked at him. “What, Kori?”
“I’m ending this, Lera. I will go to him and get your friend. But if you think I’m going to let that man put his hands on you…” His jaw clenched and the raw anger of his wolf flashed in his gaze.
As if she weren’t wet from her shower and dressed in a robe, Lera walked toward him. The flames in his eyes grew hotter, and a few times, her steps faltered. When she stood before him, Lera held his gaze.
“It has to be this way, Kori. Murdock is…he’s… I’m not sure what he is but he’s undeniably crazy. He won’t hurt me, not right away; there’d be no sport in that. I don’t care about me. I care about Rissa. She needs to be safe. You can’t go blasting in there; innocents may be hurt. So with or without you, I’m going to trade myself for her.”
Fury raged in his gray eyes. “So you’ll give up your virginity for Rissa’s life?”
“In a heartbeat. Not that the status of whether or not I’m a virgin is any of your business.”
“You’ll let this man touch you, undress you, and more for her?”
Bile rushed up, and Lera swallowed it back. Clenching a fist, she took a deep breath. “I told you, Kori. I would kill for my friends. I would also die for them. I’m not as harmless as you keep trying to convince me I am.”
“Why the hell do you think I would go along with this?” His words were razor sharp.
“I don’t know, Kori. All I know is I’m in your debt, and if it is within my ability to repay you, let me know and I’ll do it.”
A pained expression crossed his face. “I don’t like this, Lera. Not at all. You want me to let you go with a man who you’ve admitted has deranged sexual appetites. You want me to take your friend somewhere safe.” He gripped her arms, his fingers branding her through the sleeves of the robe. “And leave you alone at his mercy?”
“Kori. Everyone who looks at me makes the assumption I’m a scared little girl. I know what Murdock is capable of. I also know he’ll wait before he starts anything. The thing is, he doesn’t know what I’m capable of. I have the advantage. You said it yourself, I may not be a shifter, but my daddy raised me. You know Daddy was an Enforcer. And my uncles had some say in what I’ve learned as well.” She could see the indecision in his eyes. “Please, Kori,” she begged.
“I will be collecting on that debt, Valera Grace. On that you can be certain.”
“Anything, Kori.”
His gaze raked up and down her body, setting it aflame. “Get dressed. We have plans to make and not a lot of time to make them in.”
“Okay.”
When Lera reached down to pick up her bag, a soft click reached her ears. Without looking, she knew Kori had left the room. She fell to her knees and shook. It took her a few moments to pull herself together. Lera pulled her shirt down over the top of her leather pants when the door opened again.
Kori watched her, eyes cold and hard. “I called in a friend to help.”
“Who?”
“One who will change places with me and take Rissa after I get her from Murdock. Then, I will follow you.”
She licked her lips and picked up her weapon. “He’s good?”
“So sure it’s a male?”
Blinding jealousy swamped her vision for a moment. Lera forced herself to relax and shrug. “Sorry. Is she good?”
“Verra,” he purred, prowling toward her.
Swallowing back her envy at the thought of this unknown woman touching her Kori, Lera licked her lips and held his gaze. “You trust her?” Why the hell am I thinking of him as mine?
“With my life. I trained her.”
“Great.” Lera moved to step around him but Kori blocked her way. With a sharp breath, she tried the other way. His large body was there. “Do you mind?” she bit off.
“Are you jealous, mo anam?”
Yes! “Of what, Kori? You’re a man, I would assume you’d have women. It doesn’t matter to me. Get out of my way so I can finish getting ready.”
He didn’t. If anything. he stepped closer. Lera found it hard to breathe. Her heart pounded out of control, and her belly clenched with a longing she’d only ever felt in this man’s presence.
“I will kill that man if he lays a hand on you, mo ghrá,” he uttered, deadly and dangerous. “I will rip out his throat.”
It sounded like nothing but the truth coming from him. “You can’t say a word when we meet him, Kori. Don’t threaten him.”
“So worried about your friend, and not yourself. Why?”
Her feeling of inadequacy threatened to spill over. Clamping it down under lock and key, Lera held his stormy gaze. “Because she…she…she’s my best friend. And it’s my fault she was taken.”
She moved to the side only to find herself jerked up against his marbled physique. Eyes wide with shock, Lera looked up at him. His gaze was purely wild as he stared at her. Raw hunger, anger, and protectiveness swirled in them.
“Honest answer, Valera. Will you be in danger within the first two hours?”
The look on his face told h
er not to tarry with her answer. “No. Or rather, I highly doubt it. He’ll take us to his place, I’m sure. A few hours out of town.”
“I do not like you using yourself as bait, Lera.”
I’m not a fan of it myself. “I know but I’m the only bait he wants.”
She shuddered when his hand sank into her hair and pulled her head back. Lips parted, Lera stared up at him. Closer and closer, his mouth drew to hers and it was harder for her to breathe. There was a pulse pounding between her legs, and she wanted to rub against something. No, not something, Kori. Lera could feel his breath on her sensitive lips, and it felt like her entire body was suspended, waiting for the moment he would allow their lips to touch.
“I’m here, Cormac,” a female announced from out in the main part of the suite.
Lera stumbled with the speed which Kori released her, his entire visage softening. Without even a look at her or a word, he slipped out of the room. She could hear their voices blending together, his masculine and amazing, hers feminine and lilting.
A lance of pain pierced her chest, and she hated the hurt and jealousy she experienced. She had no say over him, no claim. One day, his mate would come and she would have to deal with it anyway. Why hope on something that wasn’t in her future? Still, it would be nice to have him think of her in… She shook her head, refusing to go there. It wouldn’t solve anything. Figures. Lera took a deep breath and refortified her walls. She sat on the bed and pulled on her boots. With a quick maneuver, she dropped to her knees beside the bed and lowered her head.
Please let me be in time to have saved Rissa from things he may do. Pushing to her feet, Lera grabbed her jacket and slid it on, feeling the last bit of her armor chinking into place as she zipped it up. Staring at her reflection, Lera hesitated before leaving, a few steps put her beside Kori’s bag, returning something to it. It didn’t take long until she had her leather bag over one shoulder and stepped out into the main room of the suite.
A Love For Lera (Haikon) Page 8