Critical Intelligence

by Mandy M. Roth

  It was too much. Hearing Missy begging him to take her and fuck her did it. Moving forward, he aligned the head of his cock with her saturated opening and thrust into her with enough force that she hit her head on the cabinet. The man in him felt bad, the wolf didn’t seem to mind. Unable to fight the predator within any longer, Roi opened his mouth wide and clamped down on Missy’s shoulder as he continued to pump the full length of his shaft into her little body.

  Missy screamed out and tried to push him away. He didn’t release his jaws—couldn’t release them. The wolf needed to taste her blood, her flesh, while the man deposited his seed within her. There could be no question as to whom she belonged to. She would forever be both the wolf’s and the man’s—she’d be Roi’s.

  “Stop, Roi! We can’t undo this!” Missy cupped his face in her hands and pushed on him.

  Roi couldn’t stop, not until the wolf was sated. He didn’t want to stop. She was his and he’d be damned if he let her “fix things” by doing away with their bond. The only thing he could do was give her as much pleasure as possible to lessen the effects of his bite.

  Reaching down, he rolled her erect nipple between his fingers. She moaned out as he continued to fuck her madly, wildly. Her fingers went to his hair as she held tight to him and gasped between thrusts. Tiny animal noises came from them both. Missy wrapped her legs tight around his waist and clung to him as he surged into her. This was raw, carnal, and exactly what the beast within him demanded.

  With each sway of his hips, his legs tightened and his cock burned for more. Missy obliged by coming hard on him. Her pussy quaked and clenched down around his dick like a clamp. It was too much. The taste of her sweet blood flowing down his throat, the smell of her sex, the feel of her hot channel, the amount of power he held over her, and how much he loved her. It was all too much. Roi came fast and furiously into her womb in spurts that caused his legs to shake.

  “More,” she murmured.

  His body responded by not letting his cock settle, even with its massive release. Instead, he continued to come in waves, soaking her, drenching her with his essence, his come, his seed.

  “Mine,” he growled out. “Mine.”

  Doing his best to cage the beast, Roi managed to get his mouth to shift back into human form before looking at Missy. She stared up at him with heavy lids, satisfaction on her face.

  Her gaze met his and her brow creased. Quickly, her eyes widened and she grabbed her neck. “You bit me. You fucking bit me!”

  It was then that Roi saw the blood on her hand, her neck, and torn-open shirt. He didn’t see an open wound, but there was enough blood to indicate he’d not been gentle with her. He’d been every bit as savage as he was capable of being. He’d hurt his wife. He’d hurt Missy. That was not acceptable.

  Oh God, what have I done?

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  A soft rapping at the bathroom door signified that Roi was still standing there. Missy scooted farther into the corner and brought her knees tighter to her chest. The bathroom was the only place she could think to run to after what had happened in the kitchen.

  How in hell did we get to that point?

  One minute her feelings were hurt because Roi had thrown his endless stream of other women in her face, and the next she was getting some of the greatest sex of her life—well, right up until the point Roi had sunk his teeth into her and wouldn’t let go.

  “Melissa?”

  “Go away, Roi.”

  He sighed. “I can’t do that, baby. I’m your—”

  Letting out a soft laugh, Missy toyed with the silver wastepaper basket and smiled at the irony of a werewolf having an affinity for silver. “I know what you are now, Roi. I understand that you are technically my husband. I get how this works better than you think. I understand that this union can’t be broken if you truly are who you think you are. And I also understand that if you’re not my true mate then I can walk away and never look back.”

  “Is that what you want, Melissa?” he asked, no trace of anger in his voice. “I’ll understand. I should have been able to control my beast. I shouldn’t have caused you pain or…”

  “Shh, Roi, don’t. I’m fine. Upset but not hurt.”

  She could sense the relief he was emanating through the bathroom door. “Thank God,” he whispered, so low she barely heard it.

  Missy snorted. “If you bring me a shirt to cover up with, I’ll let you pull up a spot on the bathroom floor next to me. I can’t promise to be nice to you.”

  She wasn’t concerned about Roi’s bite. She healed that quickly. No, she had bigger issues to cover with him. Things that should have been discussed long before he took her as his wife at all. How she’d not only let things get to this point, but encouraged them was beyond her.

  “It’s a deal.”

  Missy stood slowly and made her way to the bathroom door. Unlocking it, she opened it slowly for Roi. He was before her in a flash. Her brow furrowed as she took in the scent of something wonderful. “Mmm, what smells good?”

  Roi didn’t move to touch her but she got the sense he wanted to. He held up a black button-up cotton shirt. A slow, lazy grin came over him. “I was sort of worried and needed to channel the energy. I’d have normally gone for a run but I didn’t want to leave you so I…”

  Sliding her arms into his shirt, she couldn’t help but laugh as it dwarfed her. “You’re huge.”

  A manly chuckle came from him. “Thanks.”

  Missy buttoned the shirt slowly as she stared up at Roi. He was so gorgeous. Men weren’t supposed to look that good, be that perfect, or make her feel so much. Reaching up, she stroked his stubble-covered jawline and tipped her head to the side. “Roi…”

  “Missy, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I mean, I do know but I’m, umm, I understand why I couldn’t fight it.” He placed his hands on her hips and tipped his head down.

  “Geoffroi, I understand why. I have to admit that it would have been nice if I’d known ahead of time. I could have talked you out of it.”

  Sighing, he nodded. “I’m married to a woman who doesn’t want me. Yeah, those Fates are having a fucking field day with me right now. At the rate I’m going you’ll tell me you’re pregnant and then ban me from being around you or our child.”

  It was Missy’s turn to sigh. “Geoffroi, honey, that’s part of what I would have used to talk you out of wanting to tie yourself to me.”

  Taking her hand in his, Roi stared down at her with large blue eyes. Instantly, Missy melted. “Doll, there is nothing you can tell me that would have talked me out of fully mating with you.”

  “Roi.” Missy bit her lip and tried to hold back tears. “I can’t give you children.”

  “We’ll adopt when we’re ready.”

  Missy stared up at him with wide eyes. “That’s fine with you?”

  “Of course it’s fine by me.” He took her hand from his cheek and kissed it gently. “Melissa, I can’t tell you the number of children we’ve seen abandoned or mistreated by the things we hunt down. We made sure that they went somewhere they’d be safe and cared for. I have no problem with opening our home to them. They’re like us—they aren’t human and can’t be allowed to grow up with humans.”

  “I know the lengths you go to in order to see children are safe, Roi. Trust me, I know.”

  “How do you know, Missy? Can you tell me now?” He pulled her close to him and stared down at her. “We’re together from now until eternity. I’d like to know my wife better.”

  “Did you cook?” she asked, hoping beyond hope to get off the topic for a minute.

  “Yes, you said you were hungry. Would you like to talk about it while we eat?”

  Why? You won’t believe a damn word I say.

  “Try me, sweetie. You may be surprised what I’m willing to buy into when it comes to you.”

  Missy cast him a hard look. “Please stop reading me. I’m not comfortable with that. Most men who try to do that to me have
one thing on their mind.”

  Roi snickered and rocked her back and forth. “I understand why they think of that while they’re around you, but I should warn you that if they dare try to act out one of their fantasies, I will kill them.”

  “Roi.” Missy stepped into him more, wanting to be close to him. “The men don’t have that on their mind. Well, not in the way that would leave me a willing participant. They have far worse planned when they’re trying to read me.”

  He stiffened. “Melissa, I’ve been as understanding as I can be up to this point, but if what I think you are hinting at is true, then you need to come clean with me now. You can tell me the truth. If you’re working for the other side, I won’t lie and tell you that I’ll take the news of it well, but I can tell you that we will get through it. You’ll stop and I’ll see to it that PSI leaves you alone.”

  Knowing that Roi would never understand or believe her, Missy shook her head. “Why are you willing to go to bat for me? Just because we’ve mated doesn’t mean you really know me, Roi.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  “Because I love you,” Roi said, understanding his brother’s urge to move heaven and hell for his mate, Peren. Roi would do the same thing for Missy. He’d give up his position on the team if required and spend his life keeping her hidden. He’d do whatever it took to be with her.

  “What?” Missy clutched tight to him. For a moment, he feared she’d pass out.

  Roi swallowed every bit of pride he had and laid his heart on the line, hoping she wouldn’t shatter it. “I’ll do whatever needs to be done, Melissa, because I love you. I’ve loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you. You’re my one true mate, my soul mate, if you need a better term, although that sounds a bit girlie to me.”

  She wrapped her tiny arms around his waist and hugged him tight. Missy shook slightly. His chest grew wet where her face was and he knew she was crying. It ripped at his gut to know that telling her he loved her had caused this kind of response. He’d blown things with her from the first second he’d laid eyes on her.

  “Roi,” she said, sniffling. “I spent my life looking for you, and when I finally find you, I can’t keep you. And trust me, I want to keep you.”

  “What?” He couldn’t hide his shock from hearing her say that she wanted to keep him in her life.

  Missy let out a soft laugh. “With an ego the size of yours, you can’t be surprised to hear me say that. You probably hear that at least twice a week.”

  “No, baby. I don’t. And even if I did, you are the only woman I want to keep me. I love you, and if you dare think about trying to cut me loose, there will be hell to pay.”

  You’ll be the one cutting me loose soon enough. Men can’t handle what I do. Not even an I-Op will understand my lifestyle. Hell, you don’t even want to fully believe me. You see what I created for everyone to see—an independent young woman who thinks life is a party. It’s the furthest fucking thing from a party that I can imagine.

  Not wanting to let on that he was listening to her thoughts again, Roi just hugged her tight and thought about what she’d tried to make him believe. She’d claimed to be with PSI. Was she telling the truth? “Missy, you told me that you have no idea what you are. How is it you can work for PSI and not know?”

  Yeah, like he’ll believe they keep my medical records from me. Especially after I told him my primary job is intelligence work. They send me off to obtain information about the other side but keep vital information from me, “for my own good.” I can’t win with this. I’m going to lose him with the truth because he’ll continue to assume I’m lying and I’ll lose him with a lie.

  “Roi, I, umm…”

  He picked her up quickly and looked her in the eyes. “Baby doll, let’s eat and we’ll talk about it in the morning. I want a tiny slice of normalcy right now and I think you want it too.”

  “Roi, I need to use my phone or yours. I need to check in and you’re blocking my link with Eadan.”

  “How is it you have a mental link with him?”

  Great, how do I explain this to him and not have him hate me? I doubt he’ll believe that all my life everyone told me he wasn’t real, that it was all in my head, that no team of paramilitary men that could shift into animals existed.

  “Eadan and I are close—very close. We always have been. He’s three years older than me and…”

  Roi’s brow furrowed. “He’s thirty. You’re what? Twenty?”

  “No, I’m pushing twenty-seven, Roi. They tell me that I stopped aging a couple of years ago. I don’t really pay much attention.”

  “How long have you been sleeping with Eadan?”

  Drawing in a deep breath, Missy avoided looking at Roi. She didn’t want to face him at the moment. “He’s been in my life a long time, Roi.”

  “That didn’t really answer my question. You said that when you found your mate, you had a lot of explaining to do. So explain it to me.”

  “Eadan is the first friend I ever had. My father and Eadan’s father have been friends since they were just boys. The minute I was adopted, Eadan became a constant in my life. At first, three and a half years was a big difference, but by the time I was four he was used to me following him around everywhere he went. He spent his time showing me the right way to climb a tree, hit a ball—hell, anything I did that should have been reserved for boys.”

  Missy didn’t really want to have this talk but she didn’t have a choice. “Eadan was the first person, other than my father, who knew how very different I was. We spent so much time together that it was easy for him to pick up on it. Plus, he was different so it made it okay for me.”

  “I can understand why the two of you became friends. I’m not questioning that, Missy.” Roi just stood there staring at her. “I want to know how long you’ve been with Eadan.”

  “Since I was seventeen,” she whispered. “He was my first.”

  Roi drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She wanted to say something, anything that would make it better on him, but she couldn’t. “Are you willing to remove him from your life?”

  Stunned, Missy was silent at first as she tried to make sense of Roi’s absurd request. “No. And you have no right to ask me to do that. You’ve been with how many women, Roi?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you.”

  “I get it. I have no room to talk.”

  Roi picked her up quickly and she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. Putting her arms around his neck, she hugged him tight, needing to know it was going to be okay between them even though she knew it couldn’t last.

  “It can last, baby.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  I hope you’re right.

  Doing his best to keep his emotions level, Roi had to bite back the smile that wanted to cover his face as he heard Missy’s desire to have something with him too. It was clear that Melissa had as many issues with commitment as he’d had. No part of him wanted to scare her away, but no part of him was willing to let her go either.

  “If I could hang on to you forever, Geoffroi, I would.” Missy tugged on the back of his neck and pressed her lips to him, making his entire body tighten as heat flared through him.

  Roi nodded and carried her to the closet at the other end of the house. He kept her held tight to him as he reached up and took her now clean clothes and pink cell phone down from the top shelf. “Here you go,” he said, as he went to put her down.

  Missy didn’t let go of him. Opening her phone, she punched in a sequence of numbers and held the phone up. With his enhanced hearing, Roi could make out what her voice mail was saying easily.

  The second Roi heard Melanie’s voice, he smiled. “Missy, I am positive you know how to use a phone. If you took off on one of your ‘I’m out of town because my dad needed me to pick something up again’ trips, I’m going to kick your tiny ass when you get back. If you’re screwing Roi’s brains out, then I’ll forgive you because he’s h
ot. But give me a call. Eadan has been bouncing off the walls. If he asks me one more time if I’ve talked to you, I’m going to cut his hair off when he’s not looking. I think he’s moving on to bother Peren, so I’m off the hook at least for the moment. Bye, sweets.”

  Missy’s cheeks flushed and she rolled her eyes playfully. “Gotta love her bluntness.”

  “Hmm, she reminds me of someone else I know,” he said, staring into her eyes and praying that she only wanted to be with him. Not Eadan.

  “I do.”

  Roi smiled as Missy answered his thoughts again. It faded fast when he heard Eadan’s voice on her voice mail. “Melissa, I’ve talked with Peren. She swears that Dickhead is on the level. I promise not to send out the Marines yet. And I do mean yet. I need you in for a briefing first thing in the morning. I actually need to be briefed first, so I can’t talk long. My gut tells me that they want you to go back in. If they do, I’m begging you to tell them no. You’ve got the boss wrapped around your little finger. Pass on this, Missy-bean.”

  “Missy-bean? That only makes me hate him more,” Roi said softly.

  “Roi, he’ll always be in my life. Always. If you can’t deal with that, you need to tell me now. I’ll caution you that if you make me choose, you won’t like the outcome.”

  His breath caught. She claimed to want him more than Eadan only to flat out tell him that he would never win over the man.

  “Don’t make it a contest and you won’t have a problem. Asking me to cut Eadan out of my life is the equivalent of asking you to cut the I-Ops out of yours. I would never ask you to do that for me.”

  “But I would do that for you, baby.” He didn’t even need to think about it.

  “And the minute something happened to one of them you’d be beside yourself with grief and guilt.”

  He hated to admit it but she was right. He would blame himself for not being there for the rest of the team. “I’ll do my best to accept him, Missy, but in truth, I’m a little more concerned about you and your job.”