Separation Zone

by Mandy M. Roth

  Easing her hands over his powerful arms, Tori returned his kiss with equal passion. He lifted her, eating at her mouth, devouring her. When he set her down and drew back, she whimpered, going for him.

  A self-assured smile tugged at his mouth. “It’s all right, darlin’,” he said, tinges of the South showing through. “We’ll finish what we started soon enough. Now I need to make some calls and handle this situation.”

  She gulped and stared around at the aftermath of fallen men. “Do this kind of thing often?” She’d meant the question to be something of a joke, to ease some of the anxiety she felt at the moment.

  “More than you’d think,” he admitted, caressing her cheek again. “I’d never hurt you.”

  “I know.” She glanced around. “The little girl?”

  “Is fine.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I heard them talking about her and Oran. Oran found her.”

  “They wanted to hurt him too for knowing about me,” she said.

  Jon nodded. “I heard. But they won’t hurt anyone now, sugar.”

  “Others like them might,” she said, understanding who the men were. Men like them had hunted her father at one point too. They’d never stop.

  The tears returned and this time they came faster than before.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jon drove, his adrenaline still pumping. He sped down the road, leaving Nape Field in his rearview mirror as Tori slept curled up in the backseat of his SUV. It had taken him nearly half an hour to get her to stop crying and to convince her to the leave wooded area. She’d been insistent that they needed to go to the sheriff’s office to make sure the child and Oran were fine.

  That wasn’t happening. Jon knew the sheriff and the kid were fine. He’d not been out very long from the darts and had decided to let the enemy think they had the upper hand in order to gather more information about them.

  Finally, worn down and exhausted from the ordeal and lack of sleep, Tori had collapsed in his arms. Jon took no chances, loading her in his SUV and getting as far from Nape Field as he could. He doubted it would be too long before another retrieval team would be sent in to see what happened to the missing first team. He didn’t want Tori around when that happened.

  He’d considered driving to the airport and flying her back to Virginia with him to I-Ops headquarters but he didn’t want to chance the airport. He’d drive to Virginia and to safety. He’d take back roads and make sure he got her somewhere safe.

  A half-laugh tore free from him.

  Safe, with him?

  Never.

  “Now, now, Jonny,” said Mrs. Manzo, appearing next to him in the passenger seat of the SUV. He nearly lost control of the vehicle.

  She smiled. “She’ll be fine. She’s just shaken up. That’s all. Find an out-of-the-way motel and let her get cleaned up and get some rest.”

  He exhaled slowly. “She’ll always be hunted. We all will.”

  Her grandmother shrugged. “Not much can change that, but you’ll protect her, and you’ll teach her to protect herself and your little ones.”

  “Little ones?” he asked, almost laughing at the idea. “Ma’am, we’re not to that point just yet.”

  Mrs. Manzo’s eyes twinkled, like she knew a secret he didn’t. “You will be soon enough.”

  He stared ahead at the road. “Is Vinnie dead?”

  Mrs. Manzo was quiet for a long while. “Yes and no. The Vinnie we all once knew is.”

  Jon’s jaw tightened and he nodded, understanding what the old woman was telling him. “I’ll find him. I’ll reunite him with his daughter.”

  “No,” she said. “Jon, he’s not to a point he can be around her, or anyone else for that matter. He might never be to that point again. But don’t you go searching for him, or the others.”

  “Others?” he asked.

  She cleared her throat. “Boy, I know darn well you have it in your head you can go off and hunt for your lost brothers.”

  Shit. She knew him well.

  “That young woman in your backseat needs you. She needs you to clean up your life. Stop the drinking. Stop the smoking. Stop the putting yourself in every dangerous situation you can find. She needs you to do right by her. Claim her and do what nature intended. Your brothers will find their way to you when the time is right. For now, they need to be lost.”

  “Lance was taken, not lost,” said Jon.

  “I know about it,” said Mrs. Manzo. “Not much I don’t know about.”

  “Tell me where he is,” said Jon.

  “Doesn’t work that way and you well know it,” she scolded. “You planning to do right by my granddaughter?”

  Jon glanced at Tori’s sleeping form in the rearview mirror. Hell yeah, he was planning to do right by her. He nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “That’s all I needed to hear. Now, Jonny, you’ll need to be there for her for a while now that I’ll be gone, okay?”

  “Gone?” he asked.

  She laughed softly. “I’ve hung around here far too long. Vinnie’s father is waiting for me.”

  Jon sighed. “I understand, but Tori will miss you.”

  “She’ll have you, and before you know it, the two of you will be having a baby just like so many of your brothers are.”

  Jon said nothing to the comment, instead he just drove. He didn’t dare to hope or dream of such a life. He’d lost so much that the idea of wanting a life with Tori and then not getting it would kill him.

  Mrs. Manzo touched his leg lightly. “Jon, she already has love for you and she only just met you. Nature set it up that way. You won’t lose her. Just hold on tight and love her with both hands.”

  “That I can do, ma’am,” he said.

  “I know,” she returned, and vanished.

  Though she’d not come out and said it, Jon had a feeling Mrs. Manzo wouldn’t be back. That she’d not show herself again. Tori’s heart would break.

  He wanted to hold her and make everything right in her world again. He kept driving before finally pulling off at a motel that looked like it wasn’t a dive. He barely put the SUV in park when Tori stirred awake in the backseat. She sat up slowly.

  “Jon?”

  “I’m right here, sugar. You’re safe.”

  She glanced around. “Where are we?”

  “We’re about halfway to Virginia,” he said, expecting her to argue.

  She nodded and then tipped her head back, looking exhausted still. “Okay.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “I said we’re fine,” Jon said into his cell phone as Tori exited the bathroom of the motel room, a towel wrapped around her and her hair hanging wet down her back.

  She’d heard him arguing with someone when she’d cut off the water, but had wanted to give him some privacy. Finally, the humidity in the bathroom drove her from it.

  “Lukian, your wife is in labor now, and Roi’s just delivered twin girls. Get back into that delivery room and let me handle this.” He shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. “No, don’t send Eadan and Wilson. Tori and I are fine. I eliminated the immediate threat to her and we’re secured for tonight. I’ve had some food delivered to the front desk and we’re staying in for the rest of the night. We should be there tomorrow. For now, we’re good.”

  Tori stayed at the doorway to the bathroom, unsure if she should be overhearing this or not.

  Jon glanced up at her. “Lukian, my woman is standing here in barely anything and my dick is hard enough to hammer nails. Go back in with your wife and be there for her as she’s giving birth to your son.” He laughed. “I don’t care that she threatened to rip your nuts off. Go back in, ya big baby. Lycan King of the America’s, my ass. Wolves are pussies.” He snorted. “Ya, I said it, sir. Gotta go claim my woman and start some baby-making of my own. Yes, sir, I will.”

  He cast his cell phone aside and stared at Tori.

  She lifted a brow. “Claim and baby-make?”

  He nodded, standing slowly,
pulling his shirt off and tossing it in the direction of his cell phone. The man was ripped and she was sure she was going to question his plans, but for the life of her she couldn’t focus past the sight of his abs.

  “Wow,” she managed. “Just wow.”

  Jon undid the button on his jeans, his gaze never leaving her. “Come here.”

  She obeyed like a whipped little puppy. He could have told her to stand on her head and bark and she would have at that moment. She wanted to touch his chiseled chest and run her hands down the front of him. She’d caressed Oran before and kissed him as well, but they’d never done all the things she wanted to do with a man.

  All the things she found herself wanting to do with Jon.

  She licked her lower lip and took a step in his direction. Her motioned with his finger for her to keep coming. She did, each step she took exciting her more. The expression on his face said he was going to give her what he’d promised.

  Himself.

  Her eyes widened as he undid the jeans the rest of the way and then shucked them off as if they were never there. His boxer briefs were snug and showed off how pleased he was with their current situation.

  Wow.

  “Come,” he repeated.

  She moved faster, her breath catching with excitement. When she was in front of Jon he touched the top of her towel and then tugged, freeing it from her. It fell to the floor and she stood before him wearing nothing more than what she’d been born in.

  He flashed a wicked smile and she nearly melted. Her southern boy looked like sin standing before her, and she wanted him to live up to her hopes in that department.

  “Can I touch you?” she asked, unsure why. Maybe because he was leaking testosterone all over the place.

  “Not yet,” he said, surprising her.

  He skimmed a hand over her upper chest and then lower, over her left breast. The backs of his fingers grazed her nipple and her pussy spasmed as if it knew its turn was coming.

  Jon sniffed the air and licked his lips. “I can smell how wet you are.”

  She didn’t blush—that much. She couldn’t help herself. He excited her. Everything about him turned her on. As she’d showered, she’d thought about seeing him kill for her. That only made her want the man more.

  He’d do anything to protect her.

  He’d proven that already.

  And he didn’t care about what she could do.

  He didn’t think she was a freak.

  Unabashed, Tori took hold of her breasts and boldly cupped them, as if daring him to do the same. Jon flashed another bad boy smile and then bent, his tongue moving out and over her nipple. She tipped her head back, loving the feel as he toyed more with her nipple. He ran a hand over her other breast, playing with it as well before trailing kisses over her stomach slowly, his hands following suit.

  Tori stared down at him as he went to his knees in front of her. For a fraction of a second, she saw doubt enter his eyes, and she half-wondered if he regretted what he was doing.

  I’m not good enough for her.

  She stilled as she heard his voice in her head, just as had happened at the farmhouse.

  Tori ran her fingers through his short hair. “That isn’t true and you know it.”

  Confusion knit his brow for a moment, and then it passed as he kissed at her bellybutton. He put a hand between her legs and continued to look up at her, those amber eyes holding her fixed in their gaze.

  He parted her legs more and moved to slip a finger into her. She knew when he met with resistance, his eyes widened. “Tori?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oran?”

  She shook her head. “We came close, a lot, but we didn’t. We couldn’t,” she said softly, her hand going to his scruffy cheek. “I couldn’t turn off my gift around him.”

  Jon’s nostrils flared and she thought he’d get mad. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to the mound of her pussy and thrust his finger in deeper. There was a bit of pain that was fleeting and then he added another finger, her body fighting against him all the way.

  Once her pussy relaxed enough to accommodate his fingers, he moved them slowly in and out of her, drawing moans of pleasure from her. Tori’s legs shook and she feared she’d fall, but Jon kept hold of her with one arm, his other hand busy fucking her. When his tongue flicked over her clit, she crumbled, and Jon caught her, easing her to the floor. He didn’t stop his sensual assault. But rather, he buried his face between her thighs, his tongue and fingers seeming to be everywhere at once.

  She gasped, grabbing at the rug, something, anything, as she cried out, hitting her zenith. Her body pulsed with the aftereffects and Jon kept going, kept licking her cunt, making her cry out again and again until Tori thought she’d actually weep from pleasure overload.

  Then and only then did he stop and stand. He bent, picking her up and moving her limp frame to the bed. She was so sated, so bursting with happiness that she couldn’t imagine it could get any better. When he stepped back and removed his boxer briefs, her breath caught at the sight of his long, thick dick.

  He was hard and ready for her.

  She knew she wasn’t ready for him.

  How could she ever really be?

  The way he seemed to ooze alpha told her he was more man than she could handle. But that didn’t stop her from reaching for him, from wanting him in her. He slinked up and over her on the bed. Jon did a partial push-up over her, his muscles in his upper body flexing more. She wasn’t going to make it to the actual sex part. She was going to come undone before they even got to it, she was sure of it. If he kept teasing her, she was going to push him over and have her way with him.

  Reaching down, he took hold of his shaft and then used to it to slap at the mound of her pussy. Tori wiggled under him, wanting him to enter her, hungry for more.

  Grinning the like cat that ate the canary, he dipped his head, his lips finding hers once more. His kiss was hot and branding, and tasted of her pussy, leaving her no room for doubt about his feelings for her. The man wanted her.

  Bad.

  She wanted him worse.

  “Please,” she said, tearing her mouth from his.

  He put his hands to each side of her head and she watched the muscles in his neck working as if he were straining. Glancing to her side she noticed his hands. They weren’t normal anymore. They looked like they were partially shifted.

  Jon started to pull away from her, but she grabbed his face, shaking her head, her lips returning to his. She kissed him with so much passion she thought she’d burst. When he relaxed somewhat, she reached between them and took hold of him, lining the head of his cock up to her soaked entrance.

  She pushed at him with her body, wanting his cock in her, and in her hard. He inched in with painful slowness, pulling at the limits of her body, but bringing pleasure to her all the same. Tori bit at his lower lip, harder than she should have, drawing blood.

  Jon rammed deep into her, rooting himself, and drawing a scream of delight from her. She grabbed for his face, her mouth covering his, his blood coating her tongue. She thought nothing of it when she swallowed, the coppery fluid easing down her throat as his cock drove into her, pistoning again and again, stealing her breath, making her body build with excitement.

  Each time he pressed in deep, his lower body rubbing against hers as he fucked her, he tweaked her clit, sending pleasure reeling through her. She tossed her head back, her breasts bouncing, her hips gyrating. She felt wanton and free. Like this was how she was meant to be with him.

  Wild and wanting.

  Jon cupped her face gently and she realized his hands were still partially shifted. His amber eyes seemed to glow as they had in her bedroom the night prior. She couldn’t look away from them as he stared at her.

  “I’m going to make you mine,” he said, his voice gruff.

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  Jon lowered his head, his mouth going to her just above her breast. He thrust into her deep at the exact moment
her orgasm hit and she cried out in pleasure, his teeth sinking into her flesh but bringing no pain. She felt him coming too and clung to him, never wanting to be separated from him or the feeling of paradise he’d created.

  “Mine!” he roared, buried deep in her, their bodies joined.

  “Yes, yours,” she found herself blurting out. “And you’re mine.”

  There was a tugging from within and for a split second she was sure someone was stitching them together with invisible thread—binding their souls. The feeling was so overwhelming that Tori couldn’t stop the tears that came.

  Jon jerked. “I hurt you.”

  “No! Oh no. I’m happy. They’re happy tears.”

  He kissed her gently, his body still in hers. “While I’m on a roll here,” he said, this drawl thickening. “I love you.”

  Love me? You barely know me, she thought.

  He snorted.

  Sugar, you were made for me. And I’m the man the Fates picked for you. I’m guessing you’re sort of fond of me too.

  She thought about what he’d said and what he’d done during sex—bite her. Her hand went to above her breast and she expected to find blood. There was nothing. Just smooth skin.

  Jon kissed the spot and her pussy fluttered around his shaft. “My saliva healed it already.”

  “Like my hand when I cut it?”

  He nodded and then waggled his brows before laughing and barrel-rolling with her. When it was said and done, she was on top of him, his cock still deep in her and her breasts jiggling in his face. Jon caught one with his teeth gently and bit playfully, making her pussy react more.

  He took hold of her hips and moved them, silently encouraging her to move more. She did. She began to grind on him, increasing her pace, his cock rock hard again and threatening to burst free from her. He felt so big this way. Too big.

  She gritted her teeth and then slowed somewhat, no longer going all the way down onto his cock. “Jon, you’re too big this way.”