by Marie Harte
“Let me get dressed.”
“Hurry.” He waited while she took a quick shower and dressed in a rumpled shirt and jeans.
“Don’t worry about the room. I rented it for a few days.”
He frowned.
She huffed. “Give me a break, Jesse. I was horny, hurt and not happy that two dickheads ruined my Monday morning.”
“We didn’t run into you until last night.”
She blinked then choked on laughter. “Um, I wasn’t calling you and Logan dickheads. I meant the two Ravagers I ran into near the Voids.”
He tensed. “What?”
“Nothing. It’s not important.”
He grabbed her by the arm and halted her in her place. “It’s not nothing. What the hell are you talking about?” The urge to hunt down and kill anyone who’d threatened Kate shadowed his need to find Logan.
Before she could answer, they both heard a scream from several floors below. Jesse and Kate shared a glance then raced for the door. They cleared the hallway and stairwell in under a minute, then exited on the fourth floor, where Jesse could scent faint traces of blood and Logan.
His senses flared, his hearing, sight and sense of smell on overdrive as he sought his missing mate.
Instead of Logan, he ran into a crowd milling around a dozen Salinas near the open door of a room down the hall. At the edge of the crowd, he and Kate stopped. He kept his hand on her, not willing to chance her running or being pulled from him, not with Logan already absent.
“Do you see anything?” she asked.
He shook his head. Taller than most of the people around him, he could only see the backs of several Salinas. A few paramedics suddenly left the room rolling a gurney. He blanched seeing the bloody sheet covering a body being wheeled away.
“It’s not him. Too small,” he whispered to Kate, almost weak with relief. But their worries weren’t over, because he scented Logan on that sheet, and that couldn’t be good.
One of the Salinas met his stare and nodded to his friends. “You, there. Come here.”
Shit. Jesse couldn’t ignore him. Everyone turned to look at him, suspicion, fear and tension thick in the suddenly quiet atmosphere. He turned to Kate and ordered in a low voice, “Go back to our room and stay there.”
“Hell no. I’m not leaving you.”
Proud she wanted to stand by him, he was torn between wanting to keep her by his side, where he could keep an eye on her, and wanting her far away from this mess. Then the choice was taken out of his hands.
“Jesse and Kate Savage?”
“Yeah?” Jesse put himself between the Salinas and Kate.
“Come with us.”
They didn’t say he was under arrest, but the way they surrounded him and Kate spoke volumes.
“Come on.”
Jesse held Kate’s hand and pulled her protectively into his side while they walked quickly from the crowd for the elevator.
He turned to one of the Salinas and asked, “What the hell’s going on?”
No one answered. They rode the elevator to the first floor in silence. Jesse growled when one of the men stepped too close to Kate. At the sound, the cop took a healthy step back and put his hand on the butt of his weapon. Smart guy.
Still, no one spoke. Not even when they exited the back of the hotel and neared one of several squad cars.
“We’ll take them with us for questioning. Keep the crowd quiet,” one of the older cops told the group.
“What the fuck is going on?” Jesse demanded to know.
A younger cop with attitude answered in a cold voice, “A Ravager tore apart a young woman who had the bad luck to be working the night shift on the hotel’s wait staff. Her throat was ripped out, her guts tossed around the room like a fucking salad and blood thrown everywhere. And what do you know, the only three Ravagers on the premises are you, her and our suspect, Logan Savage.”
“Suspect?” Kate’s voice was strong despite the shock he could feel in her guer.
Their new tie gave him insights into his mate that might prove invaluable to their future after all. He asked the cop, “What does Logan have to do with this?”
The older Salina with them sighed. “We found him in the room, covered in her blood.”
“The hell you did. He was with us last night.” Until he’d left, angry and hurt. But Logan would never hurt an innocent. It just wasn’t in his make-up.
“Which is why you two are coming with us to the station for questioning.” The older cop held open the back door to his vehicle.
Jesse glanced at Kate. They could easily escape with their speed and strength, but Jesse wanted to see what the Salinas were talking about. And he needed to talk to Logan.
She nodded and they entered the vehicle.
Two Salinas jumped in the front seat and they hurried away.
But Jesse noticed the direction they took didn’t head anywhere near the station. He knocked on the flame-retardant partition between the backseat and the front. “Where the hell are we going?”
Officer Attitude sat in the front passenger seat. He turned and answered. “Mr. Chen wants a word.”
Jesse didn’t understand. “Mr. Chen? Are you talking about Tommy Chen?”
The only Chen he knew of ran Cross Step’s underground—a criminal network made up of Voiders and those unlucky enough to cross Chen’s path. The rumors that Chen had his fingers deep in the Salinas’ pockets were apparently true.
“What the hell does Chen have to do with this?”
Kate gripped his hand tight, looking as confused as he felt.
“Just sit back and shut up. We’ll be there soon enough. And before you even think about making a run for it, we’re taking you to your buddy. You want to see Logan Savage, sit tight.”
Jesse swallowed what he wanted to say and sat back with Kate.
“Jesse, what is going on?”
He kissed her forehead. “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”
He hugged her tight, not surprised when they eventually turned into an abandoned section of town. They called it the Tombs. Emptied warehouses, ravaged graveyards and derelict lots were interspersed with the slums of the poor and neglected.
“Nice.” Kate wrinkled her nose. “Chen has quite the empire.”
“You’ll keep your pretty mouth shut if you want to make it out of here alive,” one of the Salinas warned. “Mr. Chen is pretty particular about manners.”
Kate snorted. “By all means, let’s not offend Mr. Chen.” She squirmed, and Jesse caught the delicious scent of sexual need. Shit. That’s all they didn’t need. Kate’s heat returning full force.
“Try to keep a lid on it, baby,” he whispered. “This is going to be hard enough to handle without…that.”
“Like I have any control over this.” She sighed. “I’ll do my best.”
He could see the outline of her nipples under her thin shirt, and he wanted nothing more than to suck her through the material. Hell, he had to keep his own hormones in check.
Jesse glanced away from Kate at the area around them. They drove through what looked like mostly empty buildings, except he kept seeing flashes of movement and color all around him. Ravagers were attuned to the hunt, and he felt his blood stirring to track down those who would hide from him.
“Easy.” Kate stroked his forearm, soothing the tight muscle, surprising him that he hadn’t felt himself clench his fists, readying for attack.
“I just want to find Logan and get the hell out of here. We have unfinished business.”
“Trust me, I know,” she said in a thick voice.
“Right.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
The car came to a halt just inside a large industrial building. But this one showed more movement in it. They exited the car and Jesse took a swift, hard look around.
Broken windows and doors dotted a landscape of steel scaffolding and mostly empty space. A storage warehouse with a central office, as well as a few extra rooms up
the steps to his left. Two flights above the office had sections of steel flooring around the perimeter of the warehouse, leaving the middle wide open. Broken-down cranes and pulleys lingered above them, bound by steel wires and bolted to an X-brace just under the roof.
The Salinas nodded to the open metal stairway leading to a half-dozen armed guards on the second floor.
Jesse counted two Ravagers, what looked like three or four humans, and a Valk. The pointed ears, sharp nails and almost fey-beauty gave him away. Jesse made a note to watch him closely. Valks did most of their damage with their powerful voices. Jesse had no intention of letting some pointy-eared asshole shatter his eardrums.
None of Chen’s muscle talked. They didn’t need to. Their muscles, weapons and ready stances spoke for them. Unfortunately, Kate shifted beside him, and the Ravagers locked onto her like a piece of meat.
“Hell.”
He tucked her next to him and they walked together to the second landing. Behind them, the Salinas left in their car.
Before Jesse could warn the interested Ravagers back, Kate took charge.
“You two don’t back off, I’ll geld you before you can even think of getting it up.”
The males looked to him and he shrugged. “She’s in heat. I wouldn’t push it.”
The males wisely stepped back, letting the Valk lead the procession toward the office. Jesse nudged Kate in front of him while they walked, conscious of the Ravagers and humans at his back.
The Valk stopped before a steel door with a tiny window at eye level. “In there.”
Jesse peered through the window at a large man sitting behind a desk, his feet propped on it, his hands behind his head as he rocked back in his chair. On his forearms distinctive black tattoos shimmered with glints of color when the light hit them just so.
Had to be Tommy Chen.
Then another man paced in front of him.
“Logan.” Jesse yanked open the door and dragged Kate with him. “Where the hell have you been? What happened to you?”
“Finally.” Logan sighed with relief. “I was getting worried.”
Kate launched herself at Logan and kissed him before Logan could say any more. The door closed behind them and Jesse kept his back against it, prepared for anything while Logan lost his mind in Kate’s embrace. Not that he could blame him, but Logan had picked the mother of all times for sex.
To make matters worse, Kate’s heat tugged at his own, their guers uncomfortably connected. If he didn’t work hard at it, Jesse could sense everything she did. Disconcerting, not to mention a bit awkward walking around with a hard-on all the time. Kate had sex on the brain in a big way, and he had trouble remembering his own name when she turned her smile on him.
Chen dropped his feet to the floor. “Wow. Potent pheromones.”
Logan broke the kiss, panting, and draped his arm around Kate, hugging her tight. “I told you. No way I left my mates to maul some poor girl.”
Chen argued, “Yet you were wandering the hotel at three a.m. Alone.”
“I pissed him off,” Kate said, defensive. Her eyes shot sparks at Chen. “He’s mine.”
“Kate.” Jesse shook his head. They had enough to worry about without aggravating a murderous crime boss. “Would someone please explain what the fuck is going on?”
Chen sighed. “As much as I’d love to stay and watch, I really do have work to do. Logan, tell Vicki this squares my debt. And congratulations on the claiming. Finally,” he added with a sly wink and stood. “You’ve got four hours, as requested. Make the most of it.”
Then the most dangerous Voider in Cross Step bowed to Kate, nodded to Jesse and Logan, and left the room. The door snicked closed behind them.
Logan wouldn’t let go of Kate, and she liked it. Jesse could feel her enthusiasm for her mate. Then she turned her attention to him and smiled.
His cock rose in seconds. Damn, the woman was lethal, and she knew it.
Logan sighed. “Man, I needed that. Now before you two start on me about what’s been going on, let’s go into the other room and I’ll explain.”
They walked through a side door into a surprisingly clean bedroom. A large bed in simple white sheets sat in the middle of a cement floor. A few chairs occupied the corner around a scarred wooden table. A television had been mounted to one wall, and a soft light lit the space with warmth. There were no windows, only the door through which they’d come and another that led to a small lavatory.
“Chen’s home away from home,” Logan quipped. He dragged Kate with him to the bed and sat.
“Okay, we’re here. Now talk.” Jesse leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting.
“In a nutshell, I left you two after Kate pissed me off.”
“Sorry,” she said in a quiet voice.
“You should be.” Logan’s lips quirked, and Jesse knew he’d since forgiven her. “I moped for a bit, scared a few humans and wandered down a few floors distracted by my new mate. Then I caught the overpowering stench of blood and followed the trail. Got myself whacked upside the head by none other than Will Lawless.”
“Lawless?” Jesse didn’t know how his world had gone to hell so quickly. From trying to secure their mate to dealing with not one but two powerful adversaries in the span of a few hours. First Will Lawless, outcast and rogue Ravager, then Tommy Chen, leader of Cross Step’s underground.
Logan nodded. “Chen and I had a nice long chat while I’ve been waiting for you two. What do you think the odds are that Will Lawless is booked in Kate’s hotel, just a few floors underneath hers, for the same duration Kate reserved? He used a false name too.”
Jesse and Logan shared a glance then turned to Kate.
“Hey, I didn’t invite him, don’t look at me.”
“What’s really interesting is that Chen found the bodies of two Ravagers with their throats slit a few hours ago.” Logan stared hard at Kate, who shifted uneasily next to him. “And guess what, Jesse? Those same two assaulted Kate yesterday morning.”
“Assaulted her?” Jesse’s temper surged at the thought of anyone harming his female. “Kate? Start talking.” When she looked like she might balk, he added, “Now,” and snapped his guer tight.
Chapter Five
Kate swallowed, nervous. “Look, none of this is my fault.” The rage on Jesse’s face was bad enough, but the simmering anger she could see on Logan’s normally even-tempered features added to her guilt and worry. “I started to tell you earlier, Jesse. I was drinking my coffee yesterday morning, in a public place.” Where she should have been safe. Logan and Jesse seemed to relax a fraction, though she could still feel Jesse’s protective anger through their connection. “Two Lawless Ravagers approached me. They smelled me. Ah, my…I mean, they wanted to…”
“They scented your heat, knew you’d claimed two losers you couldn’t stand, and thought they’d scratch your itch,” Logan said sarcastically. So much for being forgiven.
“Well, yeah. I mean, no, you’re not losers. Oh hell, you know what I’m trying to say. I quickly told them to kiss off. They didn’t like that, we fought, and I kicked their asses.”
Jesse’s eyes gleamed. “Good girl.”
“You shouldn’t have had to kick anyone‘s ass. If you’d claimed us like you should have, we’d still be at home at the compound fucking like rabbits.” Logan shifted on the bed, and she saw the outline of his erection clearly though his pants.
Jesse raised a brow at him. “She took care of me earlier, while you were off in the hotel pining for her. Lost in all your negativity.”
Logan scowled. But as he concentrated on Jesse, he lost his annoyance. Wonder replaced the look on his face, and his hopeful expression tugged at her heartstrings. The Ravager really did love her. She could feel it pulsing in his guer, reaching out to her once more. Unlike Jesse, Logan opened himself fully to her. The warmth and welcome in his soul called her home.
“We’ll get to that soon, Kate. First, finish your explanation,” Jesse
said gently.
“So it’s true, you can feel what she feels,” Logan murmured. “Amazing.”
He gripped Kate’s hand in his own, then placed it over the bulge between his legs. Kate’s desire flared, the flames of need licking at her and growing. She cleared her throat. “That’s all there is to it. The Salinas didn’t know what had actually happened. I pretended to be hurt so I could get away without more questions. They took me off in an ambulance, but one of the EMTs was a Vulcani, and he let me out in midtown. That’s the only reason I was in that hotel. It was close and I needed a break. I was hot.” For you two.
Logan’s breathing increased and he ran a finger down her neck to her collarbone. He traced the bone, then dragged his finger down her chest and ended at her nipple. “I’m hot too.”
“Logan,” Jesse warned, but Kate wanted this. Right here, right now. She had to claim Logan as hers.
“Look, I convinced Chen to give us a few uninterrupted hours. Let’s not waste it, Jesse.”
“Right.” Jesse’s deep voice made her shiver.
Logan sighed when she tightened her hand over him. “Chen’s not a bad guy once you get to know him.”
“Are you shitting me?” Jesse’s shock was blotted out by the sheer wave of lust Kate felt when Logan cupped her breast.
“You marked him,” Logan said to her. “Tied the stubborn bastard to you. Now it’s my turn.” He pinched her nipple. “Payback’s a bitch, Kate.”
“I hope so.”
He laughed and lay back on the bed, pulling her on top of him.
“Damn, Kate. I need you. All of you.” Logan lifted her shirt over her head and tossed it aside. Her bra soon followed. “I need to touch you. Oh fuck, I love your breasts. Those tight, plump nipples. Yeah,” he breathed before he pulled her over him and took her nipple in his mouth.
The sensation raced through her body and dampened her panties.
Jesse tugged her shoes and socks from her body. He pulled her jeans and underwear off slowly, feathering kisses over the small of her back and down her legs, then back up to her ass.