by Unknown
“I don’t know how to explain why you carry the mark, it makes no sense. Historically we have to share some part of the same bloodline for you to do so. But, it’s been decades since we’ve had a born mate within the clan. It’s one of the reasons our kind has been so against inner species breeding for so long. When shapeshifter DNA starts mingling with other species anything is possible. It could be nothing or it could be chaos, not something the council is eager to find out.”
“But Lucas just did it. That woman wasn’t a shifter.”
“Yes, he did, and he isn’t here anymore. He’s been shunned pending a long-term study to see what happens to their abilities and any children they may bear. The phenomenon that Kira possessed it without our DNA is what keeps her alive. They might not realize it, but I’m certain the council is watching them with a closer eye than they suspect.”
He held up his hand to halt her response. “Are you sure you want to remind me about how involved you were with my brother and his mate?”
She winced, and a pang of guilt clenched in his stomach. Why, he couldn’t imagine. He wasn’t the one who committed the crimes, and motivation or not, she did cause a lot of trouble for them all.
Neither one of them spoke for several minutes as they stared at each other. His anger held steady as he contemplated what to tell her next. When the silence stretched on he stood and walked to the window. These conflicting desires of either fucking her or choking her would be the death of him.
The faint whisper of skin against leather sounded behind him but he didn’t want to watch her leave the room. He had a hunch he’d be seeing her back soon enough when she opted to walk out of his life. If she gained her freedom.
“Kane!” She screamed his name a split second before the window in front of him shattered into a million pieces that rained down on him as she tackled him to the ground.
“What the fuck?”
“Shooter!” No sooner than she screamed the word at him was the room riddled with automatic gunfire. Holy hell, did they have an entire firing squad out there? His beast roared to life, forcing the shift. He only had seconds.
“In the kitchen underneath the sink is a trap door. Get there and follow it.”
“I’m not leaving you—”
He snarled at her. “Damn it, Lara, the house has been breached, you will do as I say before you get us both killed.”
Her face twisted in anger, but she shut the fuck up and headed towards the door on her hands and knees. The fur and teeth sprang forth as his body shifted, releasing the pain he suffered from forcing it back long enough to get her out of the room. He only waited a few minutes for the gunfire to cease before he leapt from the house through the broken window.
***
Lara scrambled from the room, ignoring the pain in her hands and knees created from the glass shards everywhere. Why the hell did she ever listen to him? Such bullshit. She headed into the kitchen and the cupboards below it. A trap door? What the hell? Now not only were they being shot at she had to look for a secret door. This wasn’t her life, it was a bad spy movie gone wrong.
All she needed was a gun, some shoes, and a few choice herbs and she’d fucking blow up whoever the hell had the nerve to come after her. Hiding was for other people.
She opened the cabinet doors and looked inside, seeing all the normal crap you expect under someone’s sink. Cleaners, towels, pet food...she paused on that one. Why does Kane have pet food, and dog food at that? He’s a damn cat.
More broken glass crashed from the front window and she hurriedly shoved the cabinet contents to the side, feeling along the back wall for a door.
Sure enough, she felt a small depression in the wall and pushed on the exact spot, and a pull lever popped out. She yanked and it opened to a narrow tunnel behind the wall that sloped downward.
Her fear of confined spaces kicked in with a racing heart and pain in her chest. No way was she going in there; she couldn’t see an exit because the tunnel went too far down. Sweat broke out on her hands as she considered her options. She was practically naked with no weapon and no magic. Damn him all to hell for not letting her arm herself with even the simplest of spells.
She thought she heard movement and the sound of crunching glass. She jumped into the cabinet but the only way to fit would be to push herself into the opening. She could do that as long as she didn’t have to go inside and close the door. She got herself into position, legs first, and shut the external cabinet door.
Sweat dripped from her forehead as she waited. The dark, tiny space freaked her out and her mind raced as she edged near panic. Whatever the hell Kane was doing out there, he needed to hurry.
Steps grew closer and she doubted they were friendly. Kane would certainly have called out to her, or at the very least come straight to where she now hid. When a cabinet opened and closed on the opposite side of the kitchen she held her breath. She was trapped, unable to fight in this position. She would have to go deeper into the tunnel, at least far enough to close the hidden door.
She scooted down one inch at a time and pulled the door shut in front of her. Total blackness surrounded her and she screwed her eyes shut in order to try and forget she hung in a tunnel underneath one crazy ass cat’s kitchen. She once again wondered how something like this happened to her.
She sweated profusely as the noise in the kitchen grew so loud it seemed like it banged in her head. Her pulse pounded all over her body and her skin turned slick from anxiety. She lost hold of the door handle and slid a few more inches. Her breath caught in her throat as she continued to battle the fear.
The pull of gravity weighed heavily on her body as her arms shook with the effort of holding herself steady between the walls. She could do this, but if she stayed here much longer she would end up doing something incredibly stupid, like crying out for help. Kane had sent her here for her own safety and, for some unknown reason, she believed in him.
She took in a large, deep breath and on the slow steady exhale she let go and wiggled her body down. Surprisingly, she only fell about ten feet before going through an opening and landing on her butt. The minute her feet hit the larger room, dim lights lit the area. Must be motion sensitive.
She gulped in air and willed her racing heartbeat and labored breathing back to normal. Now she could see this larger tunnel continued and the lighting and space were more than adequate for her to control her fear. Still, she started to sprint down the dirt-floored tunnel in a rush to get to where it was he wanted her to go. She didn’t want to spend anymore time than she had to in an indefensible area.
She considered the location of the kitchen to the proximity of his property and guessed she was running the short distance to the mountain behind his property. The North Carolina mountains were riddled with caves of all shapes and sizes, and he must have tapped into one as a private entrance or exit. He could come and go as he pleased, and anyone watching the house would never be the wiser. Clever. A man after her own heart.
Approximately a hundred yards later she entered another, much larger cave. As the spaces grew her comfort level increased. Thank God, she didn’t need Kane to find her in a full-blown panic attack. Speaking of which, where exactly did he want her to go? She did a three-sixty turn in the room surveying the area and noticed a door. What the hell?
She turned the knob and was shocked to find it unlocked. Here’s hoping I’ve not stepped into the Twilight Zone. More lights flickered on as the door opened, and she stepped inside, letting the heavy door shut behind her. Forget the Twilight Zone, how about the damn rabbit hole?
She stepped into another room of his house. The same colors and furniture surrounded her, except this was just one large room with a bed in one corner and a mini kitchen in the other. A hideout. He had a cushy, well-stocked hideout built into the middle of a mountain. She laughed. She’d suffered through a spray of gunfire and an almost full blown panic attack to find out that like her, her sexy as hell cat was also one paranoid son of a bitch.
Her laughter turned to giggling, the uncontrollable kind that bring tears to your eyes. The irony in all this was that if she had a home somewhere, this is exactly the kind of thing she would do: build herself a panic room. She hadn’t thought of it in quite the elaborate execution.
Kane. Her mate. The words sunk in a little deeper and scared the hell out of her. Maybe in a perfect world, but this was far from ideal. He knew firsthand that she was not a nice person and he had to know that wasn’t likely to change. She sat hard on the edge of the bed and put her head in her hands. What if he didn’t return? What would she do then?
Chapter Ten
Kane ran a few hundred yards in the opposite direction of the house before he circled back. He scented the intruders and didn’t recognize any of them. Blood red rage filled his sight as he moved back towards the broken window, planning to attack the idiots from behind.
He couldn’t fathom who thought they could attack him and his mate and live to tell about it. He’d figure that out later, right now he needed to secure the house and make sure Lara got to safety. If anything, and he meant anything, happened to his mate the valley here would flow red.
He spotted one of the men laid out on the ground by a clump of bushes and moved in that direction, not making a sound. When he was within thirty feet of the bastard he pounced on his back. In a burst of speed and rage he grabbed onto the back of the man’s neck with his teeth, twisted, and bit down with all the force of his anger, severing the spinal cord and killing the sniper within seconds. Quick and forceful was the weapon of the cougar.
He looked down at the automatic rifle in the intruder’s hand and worried all the more for Lara. If she hadn’t found the door she’d be trapped inside with another gunman and he’d yet to ascertain their exact numbers. As a cougar he was much stronger than any human male, but add guns to the equation and the animal became vulnerable once again.
A low snarl formed in his chest as he shifted back and yanked the weapon from the dead guy. He hated guns and the weak humans who used them, although sometimes even for his kind they were a necessary evil. With his sharpened vision he scanned the area for additional intruders, but his heightened sense of hearing located them. At least two, if he heard the footsteps crunching against glass correctly. Strangers searched his house while he traversed the trees and shrubs surrounding it. He moved effortlessly among the brush he knew like the back of his hand.
He scanned the room beyond the broken window and found nothing. The sound of their movements came from deeper inside. Probably the kitchen. He jumped through the opening and tucked himself behind the desk, waiting for gunfire or any other attack.
A few seconds that felt like hours ticked by and Kane opted to move in closer. By now Lara should be in the caves and hopefully even found his hidey-hole, where she’d be safe...unless she left the trap door open. No, he shook his head, his woman was far too smart and ornery to do something stupid like that even under pressure.
He debated shifting back to cougar so it would be easier to move around undetected, but with enemies carrying guns, the best approach would be to fight gunfire with gunfire. It would smoke them out of his house.
Kane rushed forward through the door and against the wall of the hallway. The noises made by the assholes in the kitchen sounded louder as they slammed through door after cabinet door searching. What the hell were they looking for? They couldn’t know about the tunnel, so why would they think he or Lara would be in the kitchen?
He puzzled over the situation as he crept closer to the pass through that led to his kitchen. Something about this wasn’t right. If they wanted to kill him or Lara, wouldn’t they be ransacking the entire house for them? The logic of their movements escaped him as he peered around the corner of the wall.
He’d been right, there were two more of them. Not willing to give them a second more to react, he shot the first one through the temple. The sound of the gun vibrated the whole house as the man fell dead in slow motion to the floor. For a moment his partner stood stunned before aiming his gun at the doorway and letting loose with an entire magazine of ammunition.
Kane fled to the other side of the room, away from the ricocheting bullets and flying bits of drywall as the asshole destroyed all the hard work he’d done on his home. If Lara wasn’t in the picture that alone would be enough to warrant some serious pain to these yahoos.
When the gunfire halted, he listened for the man’s heartbeat and smiled when he heard a racing pulse and labored breathing. The scent of stark fear flooded the house and Kane wondered how close the man was to peeing his pants. Given half the chance, the intruder would likely flee from his house and hunt for cover. Too late for that. He wouldn’t leave his property alive.
He pressed his back against the wall and waited. His extreme patience would pay off here when the man got tired of waiting and came looking for him. Come on, mother fucker, come to Daddy.
His thoughts strayed to Lara again and he prayed she’d listened and done as he asked. Otherwise, when he caught up with her...
There was only one person left breathing in the house, so she had at least gotten out. Now all he had to do was get rid of this asshole and he’d find her and assure himself she was okay.
A gun muzzle poked through the opening and his body drew taut with anticipation. He quietly laid down his own gun; he wouldn’t need it anymore. A few more inches and he’d be set. He counted...one...two...three...his hand snaked out faster than any human’s and grabbed the barrel of the rifle and whipped the man from the kitchen, flinging him hard against the opposite wall. His head crashed into the drywall leaving, another damn dent before he crumpled to the ground unconscious.
This one had to stay alive for at least a little while longer...he needed answers. He hefted the soldier over his shoulder and retrieved some rope from a kitchen drawer. In the dining room Kane dumped him in a chair and tied him securely. With the chair placed in the middle of the room, away from any furniture or objects, if he woke before he returned there’d be no escape options.
Kane ran to his room long enough to grab and don a pair of pants before he headed outside and the other side of the mountain to a hidden trap door that led down to hopefully where Lara waited. He swept through the small hatch type door and jumped the few feet to the bottom of the cave. If anyone did find their way this far they wouldn’t get in without a ladder or a rope, and by then the alarm would alert him with plenty of time to respond.
He jogged down the tunnel to the door of his private quarters. He’d unlocked the doors by remote from his office when he’d sent her here, but hadn’t told her that once she got in she would be locked in without the code. There had been no time to have that discussion. He hoped to God she hadn’t tried to get out.
He punched in the code and reclosed the hidden alarm panel built into the rock wall. If you didn’t know it was there you’d never notice it. He opened the door cautiously, noticing the lights already on.
“Lara?” He no sooner got the door open than she launched herself at him, fists and legs flying.
“You son of a bitch, you locked me in here. I couldn’t get back out and I didn’t know whether you were dead or alive. What if you had needed my help? What if you had died, how the hell would I have gotten out? I could have died in here.”
Her tirade continued and her anger and fear swamped him, but what broke his heart were the tears tracking down her face she probably didn’t even notice.
“Baby, calm down.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down you motherfucking asshole.” One of her fists connected with his cheek, and he decided enough was enough. He wrestled her to the ground, grabbing both wrists in one hand and holding them above her head. Her shirt slid up, showing a luscious strip of bare flesh that distracted him from what he’d intended, which was to merely talk her down.
His semi-hard dick stood up and took notice, and the more she struggled underneath him the harder he got. His mouth moved to the bare skin of her abdomen and presse
d against the soft skin around her belly button, a small kiss to the little indentation.
“I would never let you die in here. I couldn’t leave you like that.” His labored breathing made his words come out rough and growly.
“You don’t have that kind of control, Kane. Anything could have happened out there.” She half-struggled underneath him. Not enough to really get away, but more than enough to have the blood rushing in his ears.
“But it didn’t. I know what I am capable of and have a keen sense for assessing a situation. That wasn’t even a challenge. In fact, whoever sent those men understand very little about cougars or weren’t trying all that hard.” He went back to her stomach and this time swirled his tongue into the indentation. When her body arched upward and a low moan escaped her lips, Kane knew he’d regained the upper hand.
Mine, all mine.
***
Lara had never been so scared and angry in her whole life, and she didn’t know what to think of it. When she’d found herself locked in she’d alternated between stark naked fear and anger that gave her the desire to hunt him down and flay him alive for his treachery. While the space was more than adequate to control her claustrophobia, the uncertainty of her rescue had driven her mad.
Now his large, flat tongue stroked and licked roughly at her skin, and she no longer cared about being mad at him. Her only clear thoughts were of fucking, of him taking her every which way to Sunday until she screamed and screamed in multiple orgasms. What had he done to her? She had cried for him and worried he wouldn’t make it back to her. This was so unlike her.
She flung her head from side to side, desperate for him to touch more of her. The knowledge that she wanted him in spite of everything between them told her volumes more than her brain wanted to admit. When had she become attached? She would have to leave him one way or another when this was over, but it wasn’t going to be easy, she would miss him.