“I think so.” Weston wasn’t sure what Paisley was. All he knew was soon enough she’d be claimed by him and nothing else would matter.
“She’s also got Fae in her,” said Bane.
“Yeah, hard to miss that one,” Weston returned, remembering what it had been like to see Paisley explode a man before his very eyes. “Didn’t seem like she was aware of as much though, did it?”
“No. But, Weston, the vampires saw her do it. That boss guy was already wanting her. When he finds out she’s possibly more than a mere succubus, he’s going to get real about trying to take her. And, Weston, it sounds to me like he’s got himself a collection of shiny objects as is.”
Weston had to fight the growl wanting to come from him. He didn’t want to wake Paisley. “No one is taking her.”
“I get it, brother. I do. You know I’ve got your back, but this might be over our heads.” Bane pulled off to the side of the road and turned in the seat to face him. “It might be wise for us to call in some more favors. And we need to find out more about what she said—about having Outcasts held captive.”
“It was enough for me to ask you to come out of hiding,” said Weston. “I can’t endanger anyone else. I already have enough guilt about dragging you into this mess. I’ll get Paisley somewhere safe and then I’ll go back and see what I can find.”
“We’re your brothers, bear-face, it’s what we do,” said Bane with a smirk.
Weston shook his head. “No. I won’t bring them into this. I might have another option.”
“Care to share?” asked Bane. “I’m all ears.”
“Open to working with some PSI-Operatives?”
Bane touched the seat next to him. “Can we trust them?”
“Probably.”
“How reassuring.”
Weston shrugged. “It’s all I got. And Casey trusts them.”
“Then I’ll trust them too. When we get to the house I’ll make some calls and see what I can do on my end,” said Bane. “In the meantime, keep an eye on her and I’ll arrange for transportation out of Seattle.”
“Thanks, brother.” Weston’s body tightened and the stirrings of need rushed through him. His beast still wasn’t sated. It hadn’t had sex and it hadn’t been permitted to roam free. As the itch to change hit him hard, he gasped, sitting upright in the seat, putting his hands up, fearful they’d shift without him meaning to and cut Paisley as she slept.
Bane groaned. “You didn’t sleep with her, did you?”
“No.”
Bane leveled a hard gaze on him. “And why not? She was in a whorehouse.”
Weston wanted to be angry but was too nervous about fully shifting forms to let himself go there. Besides, Bane did sort of have a point. “I wanted to do the honorable thing.”
“Well, the honorable way is going to get you chained in the changing room of the safe house for the night,” muttered Bane, pulling back onto the road and spewing a line of obscenities as he did.
Weston knew he was right. He’d need to be chained for the night to make sure he didn’t hurt Paisley. Come morning he’d do a full shift, do a run and then jack off. He wasn’t in the state of mind to try any of the remedies now. He’d only end up hurting someone, and it wasn’t smart to send him, fully shifted, out at nighttime. Who the hell knew what he’d get up to?
“When we get there, chain me and watch over her, okay?”
Bane nodded. “You’re still an asshole.”
Weston shrugged. “Yep.”
“It’s all I got.”
“Hey, Bane,” said Weston, lifting his hand as claws began to emerge from his fingertips. He tried to calm himself to make them go back in, but it didn’t work. He’d put too long between shifts and sex. Way too long. “Get the chains as soon as we pull in.”
Bane glanced back at him. “Shit. Okay.”
Chapter Nine
“Is she dead?”
Paisley stirred awake to the sound of a rather loud male voice close to her head. She blinked up and did a double take, sure she was dreaming. What else could possibly explain the crazed-looking older man bent over her, staring at her from behind flight goggles while wearing a snorkel breathing tube, currently pushed up onto his nose? Gray hair stuck out all over his head and she had to wonder if the man had ever brushed it, let alone washed it.
She moved away from him slightly, trying to get her bearings. Last check she’d been in an SUV with Weston and Bane, headed somewhere safe. Was this the safe place?
She eyed the small man more as he smiled widely at her.
“Oh, you are alive,” he said, standing back, giving her a full view of him. He had on oversized swim trunks that hung past his knees, a t-shirt with an odd slogan on it that read “Have Stake Will Use,” and the best part was he was in orange arm floats like one would see on a small child in a pool. They were stretched over his rather hairy, chubby arms. There was no way they would do anything in the way of holding him up in water.
“Gus, you were right,” said the small man. “You said she was alive. I thought she was dead and would start stinking up the place. Corpses are the worst. I mean, the smell of them doesn’t just wash out of things. It lingers. Like the smell of fish after a few days of sitting in the sun.”
“Excuse me, but who are you and where am I?” she asked, noticing another man in the room for the first time. This one was markedly taller than the other, but very, very skinny. He didn’t meet her gaze.
He had on a tiny swimsuit that she quickly realized were not men’s bottoms but rather women’s. They barely covered him. If he turned around she was fairly sure she’d get a peek at his exposed butt cheeks. Something that made her lip curl. He didn’t have on a shirt like the other. But he did have flippers on his feet and full snorkel gear on his head.
“Who are you?” asked the small, hairy man.
“I asked you first,” she pressed, looking them over, wondering if maybe they were escaped mental patients.
“You did ask first,” said the hairy man. “I’m Bill. That’s Gus. We’re your protectors. I’m sort of famous around this group. See, I’m known as Wild Bill, the great mechanical elephant tamer. Gus here doesn’t really speak much out loud.” He tapped his head. “I hear him in here. He’s a genius. He knows things other people don’t. He knew you’d need our help. That we all had to come to Seattle for you. He was right. So, yeah, we’re here to help save you.”
“I feel better already,” she said, trying not to laugh at the sight of the two of them. “Is Weston here?”
Bill nodded. “He’s busy right now, but he’ll be back around in the morning. We’re not to bother him right now. Bane said he’ll probably eat us for sure if we do.”
“Eat you?” she asked, sitting up slowly. There was a change of clothes set out for her on the end of the bed. A pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt along with a thong. Interesting choice to pair with sweatpants.
“Bane asked us to look in on you while he ran to get some food,” Bill said, smiling wide. “We ate all that he had here.”
Gus nodded behind him, looking toward the wall.
“Gus says it was yummy,” Bill added.
Gus hadn’t said a word.
Paisley didn’t comment, but rather watched the men, feeling her mood lighten around them greatly. Whoever they were, they were amusing and seemed harmless enough.
“I gave you our names, what is yours? Bane calls you that woman. Bet that isn’t really your name, is it? Though, I once knew a woman who was named Boy. That was weird. Met her while I was in Vietnam. She was nice. Pretty. Banged her a few times. She wanted marriage. I had to explain I’m a playboy and have to keep myself available for the ladies. She understood.”
Paisley had to fight to hide her laughter. “Yes, you’re very suave. I can see how the women would want to snag you for their own.”
He adjusted the t-shirt, pride on his face. “I know, right? I’m not hung like these shifter guys, though. I saw your man’s dick. It was huge. I
think they got a better deal out of their government testing. I might go in and ask for the scientist to make mine bigger too. Have you seen theirs? Horses, I tell you. Horses.”
Gus turned in a circle.
“Gus says mine is fine. He’s just being nice,” said Bill, glancing at Gus. “You wanna see, that woman?”
It took her a moment to follow. When she realized he was offering to show her his package, she yelped, putting a hand up. “No. I’m good. We’ll take Gus’s, um, word for it.”
Gus still hadn’t said a peep. She wasn’t sure he even could talk.
Bill’s smile faded. “No one lets me free Willy.”
“Probably for the best,” said Paisley. “I wouldn’t want to be too taken with you to go on with my day, and it sounds to me like you don’t need yet another woman trying to get you to marry her.”
Bill rubbed his jawline and then nodded to her. “You’re smart and pretty. Best I not show you mine. Yogi would be upset if I stole you from him. So, wanna swim? We’re going in.”
“Yogi?” she asked.
“Weston.”
She couldn’t stop a small laugh from escaping. “I’d like to shower and change my clothes.”
Bill motioned to her with a careless wave. “Nah, just jump in the pool in your clothes. It will get you good and cleaned up. We brought you a swim ring. We didn’t know if you could swim. That, and I wasn’t sure if you were dead or not. I’m pretty sure dead people float, but I brought the ring just in case you sank.”
Placing her hand over her mouth, she tried to keep from laughing but failed, and masked it as a cough. “Thank you.”
Gus tipped his head, looking almost at her.
Bill grunted. “He’s right. We don’t know your name yet.”
“Paisley,” she said with a gentle smile. The need to be kind to them was great.
Bill quirked a brow. “Got a sister named Plaid?”
She snorted. “No.”
“That’s a damn shame,” said Bill, thumbing backwards. “We got a buddy who is Scottish and he’d probably really like a woman named Plaid. He’s always wearing that skirt thing and it’s plaid.”
Gus tipped his head to one side and Bill snorted then spoke. “I know it’s called a kilt; you don’t have to shout.”
“Should I find out I have a sister named Plaid, I’ll be sure to keep him in mind for her,” said Paisley, her heart warming to the men. There was an innocence about them that made her want to protect them.
“Thanks,” said Bill, touching Gus’s arm lightly. “We can tell Striker that we may have found him a woman should a secret twin pop up.” Bill shook his head. “No, I don’t know the odds of that.”
He paused, seeming to hear Gus when no words were spoken at all. That, or he was just making things up as he went.
“Oh, those are not great odds,” said Bill. He looked to her. “Ready to swim?”
“Can I shower instead, and then maybe come out and join you both and watch you swim?” she asked, her voice soft.
Bill appeared upset but nodded all the same. “Okay, bathroom is that way. Oh, don’t go to the basement. Bane will get mad and Weston might eat you. He’s such a grumpy bear that Bane had to chain him up down there.”
Gasping, Paisley stood. “Weston is chained in the basement?”
Gus made inaudible noises through the snorkel tube and spun around faster and faster, waving his arms about. She wasn’t sure if he needed medical attention or if he was just upset.
Bill grabbed his hand and then patted, calming the other man instantly. “She knows we didn’t chain him to be mean. She’s smart. Didn’t you hear her figure out how she’d be so attracted to me that if I freed Willy, she’d be clingy? That is one smart woman there, even with being named after a pattern found mostly on coaches and men’s ties.”
Paisley gave in to laughter and both men looked at her. She laughed so hard she hiccupped.
Bill grinned. “See? All better. She’s not mad at us. She knows Weston is a bear-shifter and I’m guessing she knows he’s dangerous to be around. That is why he made Bane chain him. He didn’t want to hurt her.”
Gus headed for the door and Bill hurried after him. “But we ate all the goldfish crackers. Bane said there aren’t any more.” He grunted. “Were-gorillas are total liars. Let’s go raid his hidden stash.”
They stalled in their progress near the door. Bill turned to her. “They don’t think I know where they hid my drugs. I have some good shit. Need anything?”
She blinked. “Uh, I’m good. Thank you.”
“Nothing beats a joint and junk food, Paisley. Nothing at all.”
With that, they left the room, leaving her standing there, totally at a loss for words as to what she’d just been part of. Once she was sure they were gone, she tiptoed from the room in search of the basement.
Chapter Ten
Testosterone charged the air the deeper she descended into the basement of the expansive home. In the movies, the safe houses people went to always seemed sparse and barely useable. This one was huge and decorated with high-end furnishings. A mansion, especially compared to where she grew up.
She’d finally managed to find the door to the basement, all the while wondering if she’d run into Bane. From the way Bill had gone on about Bane, he wouldn’t have permitted Paisley to seek out Weston, and that simply wasn’t an option.
The pull she’d felt to the man was still there, more so than ever, and she had to check on him. She had to be sure he was well. He’d protected her and had even killed for her. The least she could do was assure he was okay and as comfortable as he could possibly be.
As the pads of her feet connected with the cool concrete floor of the basement, she heard the rattling of chains. The sound intensified the deeper she went into the basement. Doors lined the long hallway. She peeked in one darkened room and gasped when she realized it was a padded cell. When she stepped out and looked up and down the long corridor, she got the distinct impression the basement was more like a self-contained prison than what anyone else would use the area for.
Weston had made Bane chain him down here?
But why?
She’d seen the man at least partially shift forms already, and she’d not run away screaming from him. Why hide from her now?
“Weston?” she asked softly, unsure if he would be the only person she’d find chained in the area.
A low growl greeted her whisper and she followed the sound to the very end of the hallway. The door on the left side was closed and she stood on her tiptoes to try to see through the small window access located high up on it. Her stomach tightened at the sight of Weston in the dimly lit room, his wrists and ankles bound as he laid there naked on the cold, hard floor.
Gasping, she pushed the pin in the door handle up and released the door, swinging it open wide. Weston’s head shot up and he looked at her from extremely dark eyes—not his blue ones.
Her breath caught at the feral expression on his face.
Where was the man who had saved her?
“G-Go!” he shouted through clenched teeth.
Shaking her head, Paisley held her ground, her hand on the doorframe. “Why are you down here?”
He turned his face from her and huddled against the back corner. It was evident he didn’t want her seeing him this way and that tore at her gut. The man had saved her life, risking his own in the process. Seeing him struggle for control hurt her deep within. Unable to stop herself, she covered the distance between them, coming just shy of touching him.
“Weston, please look at me,” she pleaded.
He stiffened and then growled loudly. “Go!”
“No.”
That did it. He turned and faced her, tipping his head in a move more animal-like than human. He ran his tongue over his teeth and she noticed then they were longer than normal. Another sign he was losing control. She reached out, half-expecting him to push her hand away with his current behavior. He didn’t. He allowed her to touch
his scruffy jaw.
“I want to help you,” she said, going to her knees, ignoring just how naked the man was. This wasn’t a time for her to think upon anything but his well-being. The side of herself that hungered for sex was there, pushing to be free, but she held tight to it, even going so far as to hold her breath a second, as if that might help to keep it at bay.
It didn’t.
She had to break her touch with Weston, fearful she’d push him too far. He caught her wrist gently in his large hand, and his chains rattled more. He inhaled deeply, drawing her closer to his huddled form. Her hunger rose as she caught the manly smell of him.
“Berries and cream,” he said, his voice still deeper than normal.
Confused, she merely stared at him, letting him hold her closer as her gaze slowly eased over his form. The man was amazing to behold. It was hard to think about anything other than licking his skin when he was close to her. Paisley gave in and did just that. She licked his upper chest and he jerked her hard against his body, exposing his erection to her.
It was long, thick and hard, bobbing there between them, so close for the taking. She used her free hand to take hold of his shaft as best she could, her fingers not fitting all the way around his girth.
Weston roared, the sound loud and partially deafening, but she didn’t scream or even feel fear. She felt excitement race through her. She understood the cry, knew that it meant primal need, and she was willing to give him whatever he needed.
Including her virginity.
Her mind spun with all the times she’d gone out of her way to avoid handing it over to just any man. But Weston wasn’t any man. He was the man she’d been holding onto it for.
My mate.
She stroked him more and he shook his head. “Paisley, no. Go. I could hurt you. Fuck. I will hurt you.”
She pushed on his shoulder hard enough to catch him off balance and he nearly toppled over. Wasting no time, she scrambled onto his lap, her lips going directly to his. His hands found her hips and he eased up her skirt, his tongue racing around hers as they each moaned. She ground her hips on him, his cock trapped against her low stomach, there, so close for the taking.
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