“He wants real proof. He wants to catch one of us and expose us to the world,” she guessed.
Patrick nodded. “That’s what it looks like.”
“This is not good. Does Nico know where he is? I’m sure he’s still close.”
She had felt watched, hunted, before going to the eagles. Now she understood why. The feeling had returned when they came into town, but she’d ignored it. Written it off as paranoia.
“Not yet. But we’ll find him, baby.” Something dark and determined and lethal moved through his eyes.
“What are you going to do to him when you find him? You can’t kill him, Patrick. He’s human.”
“We can’t let him loose, either,” he responded.
She knew she wouldn’t be able to persuade him. He’d already made up his mind. But dear gods, what if something went wrong? What if this King guy killed Patrick instead of the reverse? Her pulse raced.
“You’ll be careful?” she asked, throat tight with the fear she tried to repress. She couldn’t lose him now.
“Worried about me, foxy?”
His smile was slow, sensual and seductive, and despite her concerns—despite the serious conversation—she responded. He lifted her hand and pressed it over his heart. It beat in a fast, staccato rhythm like her own. Her fingers flexed, her nails lengthening and curling in a partial shift. He groaned and moved to rip his shirt over his head. He tossed it behind him and pulled her hand back to his chest.
“Now let me feel your claws,” he whispered as his lips lowered to hers.
His mouth brushed hers, then over her closed eyelids as he stroked his fingers over her face. Gentle. Tender. Loving. Every defense she had against him threatened to crumble into dust. It scared the hell out of her.
He held her chin until she opened her eyes. “No fear, baby. Not with me. Not in this.”
How could there not be? He touched her and she forgot every reason why she should protect her heart, mate bond or not. But she nodded acquiescence despite her misgivings. And he kissed her. Finally. She felt like she’d been waiting forever. Her lips parted and his tongue stroked in. It was a sweet languorous kiss. A tease, a temptation.
“More,” she gasped when he lifted his head.
She wanted so much more. The craving was an ache now. She straddled him, moaned when she rubbed over his cock. She stoked her hands up his chest. Let him feel her claws as she leaned down and kissed him. She didn’t ease into it—didn’t want to go slow. She heard fabric ripping. Her shirt and bra fell to the floor. Then his hands were on her. Firm and strong. He palmed her breasts. She gasped, breaking the kiss and throwing her head back when he squeezed her nipples. He took full advantage and sucked one of the hard points into his mouth.
She dug her fingers into his shoulder, desperately held back the urge to mark him as he had her. Not yet. She couldn’t do that until she was positive he’d never regret mating her. She felt a hint of teeth and looked down to meet his gaze. Hot and intense. A fury of need she shared. She groaned when he released her, but he was only moving to the neglected breast. He sucked her between his teeth, this time hard and possessive. She ground her pussy against his cock. Even with both of them covered, she found just the right friction against her clit. The orgasm hit her so suddenly she screamed. While the aftershocks rippled through her, Patrick dumped her on the couch next to him. Ripped off her jeans, then his.
Patrick covered her. His mate. She stared up at him. Shocked. Dazed. And thank Hermes, still hungry for him because there was no way he could stop now. He moved a hand between them, found her pussy hot and wet. Satisfied she was ready, he pushed into her. Slow, inch by inch, wanting to drag out the exquisite pleasure of taking her. She had other ideas, however. She bit the corner of her lip, gave a slight shake of her head and shoved him away. He was so surprised at the rejection he sat up. He was even more surprised when she straddled him.
“This time I’m in charge,” she said, voice husky.
He stared up at her and this time he was the one who was dazed. His little fox was taking him. If it was a dream he hoped it never ended. He set his hands on her thighs, slid them to her pelvis to brush softly over the lips of her pussy and spread her. She sucked in a breath and her eyes widened when he gave her a slow smile.
“Is that right, baby? Now that you have me in your control what are you going to do?”
She licked her lips. Uncertainty crossed her face for just a moment before she gripped his cock and guided him to her entrance. She worked the head in, then slid slowly over the length of his dick. He thought he’d die of pleasure.
“How ’bout I do this?” she asked breathily, rising so he almost slipped free of her sweet pussy.
“How ’bout more?” he growled, stroking his thumb over her clit.
He was rewarded by a low, delicate snarl. She grabbed his hands and he let her move them.
“I’m in charge, remember? You agreed.”
“Did I?”
Perhaps when he hadn’t protested, he’d given tacit permission. Normally he’d never give up control to anyone, much less a woman in his bed. But he was intrigued by this new facet of her personality. Seductive. Aggressive.
“You didn’t say no,” she said with a sultry smile that was almost shy.
Damn, she was killing him. For now he’d agree to this little experiment. He nodded.
Her smile was brilliant and confident. Then she got down to the business of torturing him. Soft hands stroked his chest and she lowered herself over his aching cock. Again and again. So slowly he had to grit his teeth against the urge to take over and pound into her. But when she came again, her hot little cunt tightening and squeezing his erection, he gave up all pretense of letting her have control. He grabbed her hips and thrust deep. Fast and hard in a steady intense rhythm.
The feel of her, the pleasure rushing through his veins…it was nirvana. He claimed her lips and tried to pour the intensity of his emotions into the kiss. He felt his orgasm build and rush through his body like wildfire. As he came, jets of come filling her, his arms banded around her. He swore he felt her to his soul. He also felt her continued resistance to the bond. It didn’t matter. He’d never let her go.
Chapter Eleven
Patrick left Sara Beth at her parents’ house after securing her promise not to leave until he came for her. She’d given it too easily, was quiet and subdued. It worried him. If she tried to run from him, he’d chase, of course, but he shuddered to think of the danger fleeing would put her in. Hopefully, she’d do the sensible thing and stay put. He couldn’t worry about that now. He needed answers to eliminate the threats against her. He hadn’t quite decided what to do about the reporter yet, but the hunter had to die.
Nico was waiting for him in the rear corner booth of the closest Waffle House. Patrick slid in across from the consort, twitching at placing his back to the room. Nico grinned and spread his arms across the back of his seat.
“Sucks, doesn’t it? Should have got here before me,” he goaded.
Patrick scowled but the waitress arrived before he could come up with a snappy response. She smiled, but when neither man responded to her flirting, took their orders and disappeared quickly.
“What have you found out?”
“Whoever the email is from is pretty careful. There’s no name on the account, nothing I can track. The emails were sent on open Wi-Fi, mostly here in town. Could be anyone,” Nico said, but he didn’t sound too frustrated. “I have the birds watching the places he’s used so far. He’ll send another email and I’ll be waiting. We’ll catch him then.”
Patrick wanted to know who’d betrayed his mate. Now. But he was more worried about the hunter.
“And Victor King?”
Nico’s smile was feral. “We hunt him.”
“Leads?” he asked.
Nico waited to answer until the waitress, who’d brought their food, left.
“We’ve been checking out the hotels in the area. Couple clerks at two diff
erent places think they may have seen him.”
“You should have started with that,” he snapped.
Nico glared back and shoved a fork in his eggs. “Eat first, Patrick. I just got this info when I got here or I would have checked it out already.”
Patrick picked up the patty melt and took a big bite. He knew Nico in this mood. The former security chief was pulling rank and as Ajax’s mate, most eagles would let him. Normally so would Patrick, but this was his mate they were talking about.
“You need your head on straight for this, Patrick,” Nico said, keen understanding in his eyes. “She’s too important to you and that goes both ways.”
His words cut Patrick. He’d never risk his mate, but fury and fear might make him act rashly. Worse, she was his world but he didn’t think she felt the same way. Not yet.
“What?” Nico asked. Patrick realized something of his anxiety must have shown on his face.
“She hasn’t accepted it yet.”
He couldn’t believe he’d shared that, and wished he hadn’t when Nico grinned.
“She may be little, but foxes are predators. You didn’t really think she would give in without a fight, did you?”
“Ajax did,” he grumbled.
Nico laughed. “No she didn’t.”
Curious, Patrick tilted his head and studied Nico, surprised at his amusement. Of course, even if Ajax had fought him on their mating, that was a long time ago.
“I didn’t know that.”
Nico gave him a sharp look edged with humor. “You don’t know it now.”
“How did you do it?” he asked, too curious not to. Ajax wasn’t just his queen. She was his friend. And Nico’s answer might help Patrick figure out what to do.
“You’re actually asking me for advice?” Nico asked, laughing.
Patrick growled.
“Trust takes time,” Nico said softly. “Especially for a strong independent woman used to walking alone.”
But Sara Beth wasn’t used to walking alone. He shook his head. “That isn’t her objection. She thinks…”
Hell, was he really going to talk about this with Nico? Sure, they’d become friends. Hell, he’d mentioned his concerns to Ajax. He was amazed she hadn’t passed on the conversation to her mate. Apparently she hadn’t. Patrick would take the other man’s counsel on any number of other things, but his personal relationships had never come into it. Fuck it. What could it hurt?
“She thinks I’ll regret it. She thinks I’ll be bored with her.”
Nico stared at him like he was crazy. There was a good chance he was.
“You’re going to have to explain that one.”
He snorted. “Would if I could. She seems to be under the impression all wereeagles are incurable travelling adrenaline junkies,” he said dryly. He loved the thrill of flight, but he’d out grown courting danger for the hell of it a long time ago.
Nico’s jaw dropped. “Doesn’t know you very well,” he said.
Patrick wasn’t sure if the consort’s disapproval was directed at him or Sara Beth, but he sure as fuck didn’t like it.
“She needs time.”
Nico blinked. Nodded. “Trust.”
“Yeah.”
Patrick accepted the check when the waitress held it out. “Let’s find the bastard that’s after my mate.”
They paid and were on their way to the first motel, where the clerk confirmed Victor had stayed there, but checked out days ago. The room had been cleaned and rented since, so they decided searching it was probably a waste of time and moved to the second hotel.
“Yeah, I remember this guy. Creepy.” The young woman, a werefox—Patrick would guess—shivered. “He checked out yesterday.”
She handed over a room key before they even asked. He cocked an eyebrow, surprised at the easy cooperation. “Michael said we should expect you,” she said.
Of course. The werewolf alpha was paving the way to protect one of his own. Patrick still didn’t trust him.
“Thanks,” he said, taking the card from her.
The room was the last on the corner and only took a minute to walk to. Inside, Patrick could see nothing had been touched. Michael’s wolves had been visiting hotels with King’s picture so the staff had known not to touch the room. However, except for the unmade bed and thrown away fast food bags, there wasn’t much to find. It was depressingly drab and run down, the kind of place that had arrangements to rent by the hour for the proper kickback. Nico searched the dressers and Patrick looked under the bed, then between the mattress and box spring. When they were done Patrick had the urge to wash his hands in bleach and he knew he wasn’t done yet. That was when he turned to the small trash cans. Nico followed his gaze and heaved a put upon sigh.
“I hate searching people’s garbage,” Nico grumbled.
Patrick just upended both pails on the bed.
“Easier,” he said, shrugging when Nico looked at him.
He found a pen on the bedside table and used it to sift things around. Food wrappers and bags, nothing of interest until he noticed one had addresses written on it. He picked it up by the corner.
“What’s this?”
Nico entered them into his phone. “Local public library and public records.”
“What’s he looking for?”
He already knew where she lived.
“We better find out,” Nico said.
They went to the library first, where an old school friend of Sara Beth and Ajax’s manned the front desk. She smirked when Patrick approached, leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Hello, Anne,” he said.
“Patrick. I always knew you had a thing for her.”
“Call her and tell her that, will you?” he joked. Hell, it might help him win her over. “This is Nico Leonidas. Ajax’s mate.”
She nodded. “We met at the wedding. So what can I do for you gentlemen?”
Patrick slid the photo of King over. “Seen this guy?”
“Michael and Will’s people have been asking about him,” she said soberly. Obviously she’d heard about the attack. “This is the guy, huh?”
“Yeah. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you he’s dangerous.”
“I haven’t seen him. One of the girls thought he looked familiar but wasn’t sure.”
“Any idea what he was looking for?”
Confusion crossed her face. “That’s the weird thing. Stacey said he went into the local history section but the only thing on the tables to be reshelved were high school yearbooks.”
“Our years?”
She nodded. “Why would he look for those? He already knows who she is.”
And he was looking for her friends. Looking for people who might hide her.
“Son of a bitch,” he muttered, knew Nico had reached the same conclusion when he pulled out his phone. Patrick did the same. While Nico checked on Ajax, Patrick called Michael and filled him in. The werewolf alpha agreed to find out what King had accessed at the property records office. Thank gods the county refused to upgrade their systems and everything was still on paper. If the hunter had done a computer search, they probably would have found out too late.
“Email me the list,” he ordered Michael, not caring in the least he was talking to an alpha and disconnected the call the same time Nico disconnected his. “Ajax and the girls?”
“They’re fine. We’ll all head to the Guard’s enclave when we get back. Go get your mate.”
They’d driven separately. Nico turned in the opposite direction, hurrying back to his mate and children. Patrick pulled out his phone again and called Will, just in case Michael hadn’t, to tell him to warn Sara Beth’s friends and family. King couldn’t be sure they were shifters, but he’d use them as bait if he had to. Patrick punched the accelerator, desperate to get her. To protect her.
The scene he walked in was the last thing he expected.
Sara Beth checked her phone for the time, then looked out the living room window
, watching for Patrick’s familiar truck. He’d dropped her off as the sun was rising, but that was a couple of hours ago. How long did it take to meet Nico anyway? A growl of frustration left her lips and she quickly clamped down on the emotion. She’d wanted a little distance between them, hadn’t she? It wasn’t fair to complain when she got it.
She went to join her mother in the kitchen. She offered to help with breakfast but got waved off.
“Sit, darlin’. It’s almost done.”
The house was quiet. Empty. She couldn’t believe her father would leave her mother unprotected. “Where is everyone?”
“Your father had an appointment at the lumberyard. The boys went for a run.”
Sara Beth walked to the big window overlooking the backyard. They were probably in fox form, which would heighten their senses, and no doubt they were close. She’d never admit it, but that made her feel better. She turned back around to see her mom pull biscuits from the oven and scoop them onto a large platter.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“What part? Creepy reporter or creepier hunter?” She rubbed her hands up her arms and over sudden goose bumps.
“How ’bout the mate?” she asked lightly.
Sara Beth met her mother’s warm loving gaze. “There’s not much to say.”
“Liar,” she responded with a grin. “Make a plate.”
She helped herself to eggs and bacon and joined her mother at the table. She only got a few bites before her mother tried again.
“He marked you, but you haven’t done the same. Why not?”
Suddenly not hungry, she shoved the plate away. “You’re not gonna let this go, are you, Mom?”
Sara Beth could stonewall her father, but never Janelle. Her mother was more pit-bull than fox. Now she smiled, shook her head and pushed Sara Beth’s plate back in front of her. “Eat while you talk.”
She sighed. Yep. Definitely pit-bull blood in there somewhere.
“I’m just taking my time, Mom. Making sure,” Sara Beth said, hoping to give her enough explanation she’d lay off, but instead she got a long hard look for her effort.
Secret Passions: Forbidden Passions, Book 5 Page 7