by Maia Dylan
Chapter Four
Jacob was a bundle of nerves as the elevator sped them up from the ground floor. The foyer had two elevators against the far wall, and then a third, private elevator just off to the side of the security desk. Reggie sent them to the private elevator, and Jacob and Mason had shared a pointed look. There was only one button in the elevator so he knew that it led directly to her apartment. When the trail to find their mate led them to this building, he and Mason had stood outside for a long time, taking in the beauty of the building itself.
It was twenty stories high, and typical of some of architecture Chicago was famous for. With its clearly gothic in style, decorative patterns, scalloping and lancet windows, it was a truly beautiful building.
From the not so legal information gathering task one of their Black Ridge pridemates had conducted a short while ago, they had found the property was owned by a company called Hyacinthinum. The company itself had real estate interests all over the city, but what set this building apart from all the rest, was the fact that the top two floors, and the rooftop were owned by one person, and they had struggled to find the name. What had Mason convinced they were in the right place was the fact that Hyacinthinum was the Latin word for Violet.
The elevator dinged as they reached their destination, and the doors opened to reveal the open plan penthouse apartment. Where at first glance it looked like the entire floor was open plan, Jacob could see that one end of the building did in fact have a wall. Along that wall was a huge galley style kitchen with a large granite kitchen island that looked like it could be featured on the cover of a magazine. There was a large dining table at one side, where diners could look out over the city all the way to the water, and a comfortable looking seating area with huge fireplace and flat screen TV that looked cozy and inviting.
Jacob would have liked to continue looking around, but his gaze suddenly landed on the woman standing on the other side of the room, just behind a curved, cast iron staircase that obviously led to the roof. Violet was staring at them between the stairs, her gaze curious and pensive.
“Hey, baby,” Jacob called out, and stepped further into the room. “Thanks for letting us come up and talk with you.”
Mason stepped in with him, but neither of them crossed too far into her space, not until she invited them to. “We thought you might refuse to see us, and then we’d have to camp out on your building’s doorstep and that might drop the value of your property if we did that for too long.”
Violet gave them a small smile then stepped out from behind the staircase. Jacob’s breath caught in his throat at how soft and beautiful she looked in what she was wearing. She had on a pair of loose black pants that sat low on her hips and a black tank top that finished just above the waistline of her pants and left an alluring strip of white skin bare at her midriff when she moved. She wore a loose, see-through white top that finished just below her breasts, and swung loosely down her arms to her elbows. Her hair was pulled up on her head in a twist thing that left tendrils falling softly on either side of her face.
“Well, I don’t know about that. If people knew you could turn into huge house trained cats, I think they might see that as beneficial,” she said dryly as she padded in their direction, her arms crossed loosely at her waist. “This is a surprise. I know I gave you my name last night, but that shouldn’t have gotten you anywhere near me. How did you find me?
Mason huffed a quick laugh. “You left your subway ticket in your pocket.”
Violet closed her eyes and shook her head in a self-depreciating way. “Rookie mistake.”
“But one I am most thankful for,” Jacob insisted. “We were able to track you from your station, and then it was a matter of following our noses. Literally.”
Violet frowned. “So what, you walked around smelling everything until you struck upon my particular flavor of stank?”
“No!” Mason was quick to say. “But yeah, kinda. Your scent is unique to us, and had it been any other shifters looking for you it would have been impossible to find you. But for Jacob and me, with the incentive we had, it was slightly easier. Hard, but not impossible. We searched the neighborhood all night and found the building a couple of hours ago.”
Violet looked at them both for a moment then smiled. “I’m impressed. Come on in and have a seat. Tell me what you’re doing here.”
Jacob moved into the living area, and waited until Violet had taken a seat on one of the large arm chairs, tucking her legs up under her in a feminine way that had his dick swelling. He sat down on the couch near her quickly, in an effort to hide the visual signs of his arousal. Christ! He had to get control of himself.
“There are a couple of reasons, but the first I would have thought that was obvious?” Mason said as he sat on the chair opposite Jacob so that they were on either side of their mate. “We told you who and what you are to us, and that we need to be near you to protect you.”
Her brow shot up. “Really?” she said in a dry tone. “I am pretty sure my actions last night proved to you that I don’t need any one man, or two shifters, or any number of anyone protecting me. I can do that myself.”
Jacob nodded. “Without doubt. But when we met you last night a connection formed that for us means everything. Can you tell us that you felt nothing … because I don’t think you can?” Jacob held his breath as Violet seemed to assess what he was saying. He only breathed again when she didn’t say anything.
“You felt the bond between us, too, didn’t you, little one?” Mason asked quietly.
Their mate crossed her arms and leveled Mason with a look. “Now, why would you think that, kitty cat?”
“Because we’re pretty damn sure you’re more than what you appear,” Mason answered. “Last night, you knew with nothing more than a look that we were shifters. Two of the elders in our pride told us of people who have a psychic ability more heightened than most, and includes the gift of being able to read auras. And we reckon that ability makes it easier for you to sense the bond. Our aura is decidedly feline, for obvious reasons, and your eyes lightened when you walked toward us. You were reading us, weren’t you?”
It was a statement and not a question, but their mate nodded anyway. “You can’t blame a girl for checking to see the type of person she thought she was about to throw down with.”
“You do that with everyone you fight?”
She threw Jacob a scowl at his question. “Of course I do! I would never risk fighting with, hurting, or killing anyone that didn’t deserve it. When a person is intrinsically evil, and their actions in life are fundamentally malevolent, it leaves a mark on them. It may not affect their personality, and hell, they may be the kind of sadistic asshole who enjoys it, but it leaves a stain on their aura.” Jacob watched as their mate’s expression turned glacial. “It darkens, and becomes toxic, and when you reach out to them, to sense if that toxicity is a result of their actions or their environment, you get flashes of what they’ve done, or what’s been done to them, and it affects you.”
Violet’s voice was a mere whisper now, and Jacob couldn’t stay where he was. He shoved off the couch at the same time Mason left his chair and both of them were instantly crouched before their mate, each of them clasping one of her little hands in theirs. Jacob’s heart jumped at the jolt of recognition that shot through him at the touch, but the joy of that was eclipsed by his concern at how cold her hand was.
“You see through their eyes, and the joy or excitement or, God forbid, the arousal they feel in the moment they hurt or kill someone,” Violet’s breath caught for a moment, and she inhaled sharply through her nose, “becomes yours for that moment you are in contact.”
Mason growled low in his chest. “Then don’t do it. I can see that it is taking a toll on you, little one.”
Violet pulled her hands free and glared at Mason. “And what, Mason? Just leave them to it, and let them keep hurting innocent people, and selling them into the sex trade? You have to know that’s what they are doing,
right? No, I can’t do that. And as for it hurting me, how could it not be? I can’t see my own aura. I can only see the auras of those around me. But, with all the hideous things I have seen, the pain and suffering I have inflicted, I have to ask what that is doing to my aura?”
Jacob leaned up and pressed a quick kiss to Violet’s cheek, shocking her slightly if her quick gasp was anything to go by. “Your aura is perfect, blemish free and beautiful.” Jacob pretended to think about that for a moment. “Well, maybe not completely blemish free, you are cheeky and sarcastic as hell, and I’m sure that’s left a slight smudge or two on your aura.” Violent smiled like he meant her to, and she wrinkled her nose in the cutest damn way. “We know what Santiago and his bastards do, and there is not a day that goes by where we aren’t thinking of some way to put a stop to it all. But none of that shit can touch you, because no matter what you see in the evil you fight, or the fact that you take those fuckers out of this world kicking and screaming, none of it can outweigh the good that you do, and the innocents you save. There is nothing in this world that could convince me otherwise.”
Violet’s smile broadened, and he saw that it finally reached her eyes. His heart swelled at how beautiful she was. She bit her bottom lip before she leaned in to press a kiss to his cheek. Now, Jacob was a smart leopard, and he never let an opportunity pass him by, so as soon as she was about to press her lips to his cheek, he turn his head quickly and caught her lips with his.
She pulled back with a gasp, and lifted a hand to press them to her lips as she stared at him, her eyes filled with wonder and a decent amount of lust that had his own arousal spiraling out of control. Exercising more control than he knew he had, he held still, waiting to see what she did next, hoping that she didn’t haul back and slug him, and praying at the same time that she leaned in one more time for a better, longer, and more satisfying kiss.
Just as he was about to pull back and give her room, convinced that he had taken things too far, too soon, she leaned in and placed her lips on his again. There was no hesitation or instant withdrawal this time. She opened her mouth, and he moaned as her tongue slid along the seam of his lips. Then he swooped in and took control, his tongue sliding in over hers, and he claimed her mouth with his own.
****
Violet was stunned by her own courage for a split second, not knowing what possessed her to lean in for another kiss, or where she found the courage to run her tongue over the seam of his lips, but she did. Then when he groaned against her and took control of the kiss, she could do nothing more than to wrap her arms up around his shoulders and hang on. Jacob took her mouth completely, staking his claim in such a sensual way that Violet felt her entire body soften, and heat began to pool between her legs.
Jacob pressed a bite to her bottom lip, and Violet moaned when he swiped his tongue against it as if to remove the sting. How was he to know it was the sting that had her pressing her legs together? She heard a growling noise coming from behind her over the pounding of her own heart. Jacob pulled back slightly and placed a few soft kisses to her swollen lips. When the growling seemed to swell within the room, Jacob grinned.
“Baby, I think my brother is feeling a little left out,” Jacob said in a voice that sounded suspiciously smug in that moment.
Violet turned to face Mason, still wrapped in Jacob’s arms, and she had no recollection of when he’d done that. Mason was leaning over the arm of the chair, his eyes on her. She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, and Mason’s gaze dropped immediately to track its movements. Her heart rate and breathing had been slowly returning to normal now that Jacob had stopped kissing her, but the sight of Mason’s desire for her was enough to throw her right back to where she started, her heart pounding a rapid beat within her chest, and drawing in air faster than she normally would.
“Come to me, little one.” Mason’s voice was a growl, but Violet heard the plea in his tone. She smiled loving that his gray eyes shifted to an amber color right in front of her and she knew that was his leopard.
She pulled gently out of Jacob’s arms, and reached up to cup Mason’s face in the palms of her hands. She tilted her head as she approached him, and just to draw the moment out she hesitated a mere hair’s breadth from making contact. Her gaze locked with his, and she felt the intensity of that look in every cell of her body.
If anyone were to ask her who moved forward first, Violet couldn’t say. Perhaps they moved in unison, but in an instant their mouths were pressed together and she was being claimed once more. Or at least that was how it felt to her. Mason seemed to surge up so that he could lean down over her, lifting his own hands to her neck and tilting her head with his thumbs to the angle he wanted. She slid her hands from his face to grip his hips, and simply held on for the ride.
Where Jacob’s kiss was a building domination, one that started gentle until out of nowhere he consumed her, Mason was more direct. His claim was instant and complete, and the way he tilted her head gently to the angles he wanted was so damn hot, her body released a flood of hot liquid, and from the growls of approval that filled the room around her she knew they could scent her arousal on the air. In shock and more than a little embarrassed, Violet pulled away with a cry, putting the back of her hand against her mouth.
“Little one?” Mason asked. He hadn’t moved, and from the look of guilt on his face, Violet knew he thought she’d scared her.
“I’m okay,” she whispered, “just a little surprised at myself.”
Jacob reached out and gently drew her hand away from her mouth. “Why, baby?”
Violet took a deep breath and decided to be honest rather than resort to her usual sarcastic defense. “I’m not usually this easy. I am not the type of girl to simply throw herself at a man, let alone two. I have no idea what came over me. You must think I’m a slut.”
Mason reached out to gently turn her face toward him. “Where the hell is that coming from? Violet, the mating bond that snapped into place for us the moment we caught your scent, is not just one way. In that moment, we connected to you on a level that no other human being in the world ever could. The connection probably affects you more because of your heightened abilities.”
Violet frowned as she thought about that for a moment. “So these feelings, it’s like a chemical reaction thing?”
Jacob chuckled as he lifted her hand to his mouth and placed a nibbling kiss against her knuckles that had her drawing in a quick breath. “That would be the easiest answer for you, now wouldn’t it, baby? But no, it’s not just a chemical thing, although I think I speak for all of us when I say that we have off the fucking charts chemistry. No, the connection just identifies the other half of our soul. That’s you. The speed at which the attraction has built between us, and the need we have for each other, that’s very, very real.”
Mason reached out and placed a hand on her knee, and Violet could feel the heat of his hand through the fabric of her pants. “What had you pulling away from me before?” Violet hesitated for a moment. “If it was because I was coming on too strong then just tell me.”
Violet was shaking her head before he had even finished speaking. “No, I was enjoying everything, but I pulled back because it must have been extremely obvious to you both just how much I was enjoying it.” The brothers shared another confused look, then turned back to her, and she rolled her eyes. “Good lord! You have to learn how to read between the damn lines. I embarrass too damn easily for the two of you to be completely oblivious to what I am saying. Christ, get a damn clue. How the hell is this supposed to work as anything like a relationship if you cannot understand what I am saying to you?” Violet slumped back in her chair with a pout, her arms crossed over her chest.
Mason grinned at her. “You are so fucking cute when you pout. Little one, Jacob and I promise to work on learning to speak Violet, I promise, but in the meantime take pity on us and spell this one out for us.”
Violet narrowed her eyes and had to fight to keep the smile from her face. “Fine, b
ut next time you just have to work it out. I pulled away because I felt myself … there was a moment when … I was getting turned on by it all and … grrrr!” Why the hell can I not find the damn words?
Jacob’s smile was genuine, and understanding glittered in his eyes. “We get it now, baby. You pulled away from Mason because you were aroused, and your pussy released all that sweet, sweet honey and you knew we could smell your arousal as it perfumed the air.”
Violet’s jaw dropped. “Why the hell can you say it and it sounds almost poetic, but when I try the only thing I can think to say is ‘I creamed myself’?”
“I can honestly say, I preferred the way you said it,” Mason said dryly.
The brothers laughed with her, and Violet realized she was completely relaxed in their presence. That never happened. Not once in the time since they had left the elevator had she run through an escape plan, or worked out what she needed to do to block an attack from either of them. She had simply sat here and listened when they talked, talked when she needed to, and let’s not forget the fact that she had kissed both of them with everything in her. It was going to take her a while to process that.
“God, I wish I knew what you were thinking right now.”
She looked up at Jacob’s question and the curious look on his face made her smile softly, but she shook her head. “Nope, some things are for me and me alone. But I do have a question for you.” She turned to look at Mason. “You said there were two reasons you wanted to see me. What’s the second?”
Mason nodded, and pulled a plastic bag out of his pocket and handed it to her.
Looking down, she turned it over in her hand. “It’s a forty-five millimeter round, and it could be from an M16 but is more likely to have been fired from a Beretta ARX160.” She knew these rounds well, and the weapon that it came from was popular for Santiago’s men. “There’s blood on the round?” She looked up questioningly, and she inhaled at the sorrow she saw in their eyes.