He crouched, ready to attack. He saw another man, one he knew and recognized as pack, family. The man was talking to him, hands raised and eyes averted. He was no threat. Behind him was a woman and he sniffed the air. Was she a danger to his mate? The man stood protectively in front of her, still talking quietly. He couldn’t comprehend the words but the man’s movements were those of one protecting another. It was enough that he knew the fight was over, for now at least.
He carefully made his way to his mate. She was all that mattered. Her face was tear-stained, eyes riveted on him, and he could smell her fear, but somehow he knew she wasn’t afraid of him. She knew he would never hurt her.
He approached her carefully, inhaling her scent, assuring himself she was okay, alive and with him again.
The voice he heard soothed him like no other. It was HER voice, his mate. He looked into her eyes, trying to concentrate on her words, desperately wanting to understand and reply. The wolf knew he had to retreat in favor of the man. With great effort, the wolf pulled back and returned control to the man. His vision wavered, and he felt his body begin to change.
“Ryden, look at me. Come back, Peaches. Please...it’s okay. I’m alright.”
“Carlee?” His voice was rough as if he hadn’t spoken in days or had strained his vocal cords. He remembered what he’d done, what the wolf had done. He watched as though from a distance, unable to stop him, but not really wanting to. He’d protected their mate.
Ryden looked at her, saw her naked body sitting on the table and struggled to keep the wolf back down. He quickly pulled her into his arms. JT approached slowly, carrying a blanket, but was careful not to touch her or Ryden. “Here, use this to cover her up. We’ve got to move.”
Carlee took the blanket from JT and covered herself while Ryden still held her close. He couldn’t let go even long enough to help her, nor did he care about his own nakedness. He nuzzled her neck, inhaling her scent, taking it deep into his lungs. She was safe.
“Carlee, I love you.”
The words weren’t said at the right time, but he could no more stop them from coming out than he could have stopped the wolf taking over to keep her safe from harm. Her eyes were wide as she looked up at her lover. Her hand caressed down his cheek and she opened her mouth to speak.
“No, don’t say anything. Later, Buttercup.” And before she could protest, Ryden turned to JT.
“Bring the doctor. We may need her.”
JT gave him an odd look but didn’t argue as he tossed Ryden a pair of scrubs he had found in the cabinets. He then grabbed Lou’s arm while she protested and tried to get out of his grip.
“Let me go! I’m not a doctor and I won’t be going anywhere with you freaks!” JT got right in her face and growled. He didn’t say a word. It worked like a charm, too. Lou shut her mouth, eyes wide, and stopped struggling. It was time to get the hell out of here.
“JT, my sidearm please?” He handed Ryden the gun, and shifted Carlee onto his back, so he was free to shoot if need be. “Babe, hang on as tight as you can. We’re going to be moving fast.”
Carlee wrapped her arms around Ryden’s neck as they walked from the room, trying to shake off what she had just witnessed. She wanted to tell him she was fine and could walk but she wasn’t sure that was exactly true, not to mention the look in his eyes kept her mouth shut even with the sodium amytal coursing through her veins.
She had somehow known deep inside that Ryden wouldn’t hurt her but the intense anger rolling off of him sent shivers through her body. She had wanted to force her eyes closed when he dealt with G but, for some reason she couldn’t. Blame it on the scientific part of her brain, the part that loved the mystery and always kept her ass in trouble. She’d forced her eyes open to watch the beast within him start to come forward and had witnessed the strain on Ryden’s face as he seemed to fight for control.
Now, she kept her gaze on him, only him. Not the carnage that lay around his feet or the blood that was on his chest. She didn’t have to see it, she could smell it.
“If you think for one second I am going to let go, you’re full of shit. That is, of course, unless you go turning into Cujo. Do that, and I am bailing and dialing the nearest vet.” She buried her face in his neck as she felt the muscles of shoulders move. She knew he was raising the gun, knew he was going to fire but still jumped at the blast. There were only a few more shots but these were from behind them along with a few more growls.
The one Ryden called JT had a very angry Lou in tow. She was spewing cuss words Carlee was going to have to check out in the dictionary if she made it through this.
Carlee had never met JT, but whoever he was, it was clear that Ryden trusted him to get them out of this hotel hell, so for now, she would trust him, too.
Ryden pressed a shoulder against the exit door, only to find it locked. He growled low and deep as he stepped back, and with just a few kicks, the door burst open, the metal twisting and falling from its hinges. As they passed through, JT came to take the lead.
“Get in and keep your damn heads down,” JT said. His car was parked not far from the entrance to the building. He opened the back door of the very average-looking sedan and Ryden slid inside with Carlee still attached to him like he was her lifeline. She tried to scramble to do as JT said, but Ryden kept a hand on her, pressing her down to the floor between his legs as he watched out the window. She could see his golden eyes scanning the building.
Lou’s voice came loud and clear. “Bite me, Colonel Klink. I am not getting in that car! I have my own wheels right over in the parking lot. Later, see ya, nice ta know ya, sayonara, dude.”
Another growl came, this time from outside the car. Lou suddenly appeared as the driver’s door opened, JT following behind her, his large frame pushing her into the passenger seat as he slid behind the wheel. Carlee poked her head up over the seat as he started the engine. JT grabbed Lou as she went for the door handle. She had the door open and was ready to bail when he grabbed the nape of her neck, and pulled her back into the car.
His voice was calm and very matter of fact. “Try that again and you’ll ride in the trunk. It won’t matter to me at all. In fact, I would prefer it. It would be quieter.”
Lou spit right back, guessing he was military of some sort. “Go for it, GI Jackass. Riding in the trunk would be better than sitting next to you and that thing in the back seat.” She slid down a bit in her seat as JT reached across and secured the seatbelt, pulling it extra tight across her hips.
JT’s tires squealed as he hit the gas and Carlee tried to keep from falling backwards. She felt bad that Lou was getting involved in her mess.
“Lou, they won’t hurt you. As soon as we get to safety they’ll let you go. I’ll make sure of it.”
Lou gave Carlee a look in reply that made her hope that JT was wearing a metal cup. Lou spoke through clinched teeth. “You can bet your friend’s freaky ass DNA I won’t be with you long.”
Ryden pulled Carlee back to him as they left the lot, wrapping the blanket around her. He spoke first to JT. “Get us some place safe. I need to deal with Carlee. The doc can go when I say she can.” Carlee felt his eyes on her. His voice was soft but the anger still evident. “Your ass is in so much trouble.”
Carlee swallowed hard and started to speak but changed her mind. His proclamation of love had come as quite a shock and definitely an odd moment. She had to focus. Did he mean it?
Shit, do I love him?
He leaned down and buried his nose in her hair, inhaling slowly. Carlee thought she heard a muffled word. “Mine.” She relaxed against Ryden as JT announced they weren’t being followed.
Chewing her lip, Carlee said, “I hear California is safe.”
JT scoffed. “Maybe from whatever trouble you’ve gotten yourself into. There is no running from what has you now.” He looked between the two of them in the rear view mirror and then back to the road as he sped through traffic.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The ri
de in the car was long and filled with tension that was almost palpable. At least it was until Lou leaned in and turned on the radio. Tuning to a station, the sound of Usher, You Got It Bad, filled the car. That lasted about a minute until JT reached up and changed the station. Kenny Chesney was singing Anything but Mine. As JT reached for the dial again, he stopped at Ryden’s low comment.
“Let it play, man.” He hummed the tune softly, and Carlee wondered if he could sing. She kind of remembered drunken lyrics from years ago, but those didn’t count. Everyone’s a rock star after a few drinks.
The car turned off the freeway, down to a dirt road into what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. Lou spoke what Carlee was thinking, “If there isn’t Starbucks within walking distance, you seriously should consider taking me back now. Me without my ‘Bucks will be like you without your balls.”
JT actually chuckled and even that sounded—annoyed. “I have coffee at my place that doesn’t cost six bucks a cup, works just as well and tastes better, too.” He turned to look at Lou as she started to rebut that statement. “Don’t push, female. You’re along for the ride, not the commentary.”
Down the dirt road and through a thin clump of trees, a cabin finally came into view. It wasn’t something you would expect to find in the middle of nowhere. The logs and stone blended in perfectly with the surroundings, two-stories, and most likely had at least four bedrooms. The trees around it grew tall, almost hiding it from view. JT pressed a button and the large garage door lifted slowly, almost silently. He pulled inside, and it wasn’t until it closed again that he shut off the car, opened the door and stepped out. Lou followed, standing behind him as he pressed his hand to a display on the wall. They all heard the sound of the locks engaging. JT could almost hear Lou roll her eyes.
“GI Jackass meets James Paranoid Bond?”
When the door opened, JT stepped inside and Lou followed. As Carlee tried to get out of the car, Ryden insisted on carrying her inside. He didn’t stop as they passed by JT in the kitchen. His voice was commanding as he spoke.
“I’ll take my old room. Keep the woman with you until I decide if she is needed.”
JT started making coffee as Lou plopped herself into a chair, not bothering to hide the sarcasm in her voice. “Well, isn’t this going to be fun? Do you have hearing loss? Have you two taken one too many hits upside the head? I am not a doctor.”
JT voice was smug as he replied, “Then I guess you better hope we don’t need one.”
Carlee was looking over Ryden’s shoulder as he walked through the house. She was wondering if Lou and JT would both be alive when they came back. Ryden wasted no time getting to the bedroom, kicking the door closed behind him and laying her down on the bed. He removed the blanket and his hands gently moved over every part of her body, looking at every scratch, every bruise. She winched a little as his finger trailed along her incision line where they had taken the skin. That had Ryden growling and his eyes flashed that golden color.
His body seemed to tremble with anger and his teeth clenched as he spoke. “Just seeing the marks on your body makes me wish I could kill them again. No one, Buttercup, no one will touch you again. No one fucks with what’s mine.”
“Peach, look at me. I’ll be fine.” She saw his jaw tighten and jumped in while she knew she still had a chance. “Ryden, I had to go. Why did you come for me? Of course, it’s not that I’m complaining that you did but, why? I told you to stay away.”
His eyes narrowed. It was one of those angry, oh-shit-you’re-in-deep-trouble kind of looks, and she found herself averting her gaze but kept babbling on. “This isn’t your fight. They were never supposed to find out about you.”
As much as she found herself wanting to just climb into his arms, there was more at stake here than just her own wants. She didn’t even want to think about Kyle and her parents.
“Peaches, I can get more answers from Lou, but I know some of the answers already. Your saving me put a price on your head. The MedVision people are doing some crazy shit. They’re looking at you like you’re the freaking fountain of youth. They found strange enzymes in the healed wound on my belly and took…”
Her words were cut off at the mention of the wound as she heard the growl rumble in his chest.
“Okay, so let’s skip that part. Ryden, they know about you. They injected me with sodium amytal and I sang like a choir girl on Sunday about how my wolf lover healed me. I tried not to, I swear, but I couldn’t stop myself from telling them. The worst part was, the crazy doctor believed me! Said she had read about stuff like that in books and, well, with the samples they took as proof, she planned on using them and mixing it with some eggs and trying to clone it. She figured since you were able to heal the wound that I would be able to help them. If it wasn’t for G thinking I wasn’t mother material and injecting me with birth control, well, that and you finding me, they were basically going to use me as a baby wolf-making petri dish. Do you get it? Do you get what they will do if they find you? Did you ever see the movie Alien, or ET, or wait…Men in Black? That is what we are dealing with here. I won’t let you do that.”
He leaned down slowly and she found herself moving back. Part of her wanted to take what she knew he offered—safety, strength. She tried to name the emotions she saw in his eyes. There was hunger, but there was something more. Love? How the hell was that possible? She had once dreamed that he loved her, despite all of her imperfections, that he would want her just as she was. She thought that could have been Ryden until he suddenly broke off the relationship.
She found herself wishing it was true. She felt her heart pulling. She realized that she had never stopped loving him. That had been the problem over the last three years, the reason she insisted on the distance between her and G. There was a standard Ryden had set that no man would ever be able to live up to.
“Ryden, you don’t love me. You’re Peaches, bright eyed, bushy tailed. I know, literally on the bushy tail part now, but remember? You’re not that guy. You’re Mr. Travel-The-World-And-Save-The-Universe. You don’t even know me. I’m a freak, a geek. I’m nosy, I talk a lot, and I’m just not that lovable, if you wanna be honest. I know now that you broke it off because of what happened, but if you look at it objectively, I would have eventually driven you crazy and you would have done it anyway.
Ryden stood there and let her get it all out. When she got like this, it was best to let her speak her mind. But when she tried to tell him that he didn’t love her? Well, that didn’t sit well with the man or the wolf. They had both heard enough.
She lay under him, trying to scoot back, but he was having none of that. He grasped both her hands and pulled them over her head, angling his body so that he was positioned right between her thighs. The blanket fell away, and there was only her bare skin. She was so damn soft to his hands, her skin still pale and beautiful. Every inch was his, and he planned on never letting her forget that again.
His gaze moved over her, watching as she bit down on her lip. His hips rocked against her, pressing his hardened length against her core. Small moans rose from her mouth, and the scent of her arousal permeated the room. But it wasn’t enough to take away the scent of that place, the smell of those people, or the man he had killed. He smelled them on her and he could still smell the blood on himself.
Without a word, he stood up, leaving her on the bed. She watched, taking in every movement, and when the scrubs slipped over his hips, his throbbing cock released from the confines, she licked her lips in anticipation. He knew what she wanted, what her body needed, even if her head was telling her otherwise. He had every intention of taking his time and showing her exactly what she needed, what her life would be from this point forward. And as much as he and the wolf wanted to crawl back on the bed and fuck her brains out, he managed to keep control.
“Shower first.” He held out his hand. She looked at it and then him before she took it hesitantly. He wasn’t having that. Leaning down and scooping her up into his arms, he carri
ed her to the bathroom. It didn’t take the water long to get hot and they were both under the spray. She picked up the soap to wash, but he took it from her. “I’ll do this.”
She stood there under the water as he lathered up the soap and washed her from the neck down, using only his hands. He took care not to hurt her new wound. The small site would heal on its own just fine, but he couldn’t stand the thought of what had been done to her. It needed to be gone. Leaning down he let his tongue lap gently across the site. He held back the groan at the taste of her on his tongue. As badly as he wanted to care for her, to heal her, it was nothing compared to the demand of the wolf to claim her. The man struggled, he had to get the blood and scents from the battle at the lab off of them.
When that much was done, he instructed her to wet her hair and he picked up the shampoo bottle.
“Ryden, I can do this myself.”
“Please, just let me do this, baby. I need to take care of you.” She looked at him and then nodded. He could sense his wolf was looking through his eyes.
With her hair wet, she turned and let him lather her long dark tresses, combing his fingers through the strands and massaging her scalp with his fingertips. She moaned and then laughed a bit. “A girl could get used to this, Peach.”
“I’ve only done this for one woman.” She turned and looked at him. He could see the jealousy in her eyes. “That one woman is standing right here in front of me.”
The jealous look disappeared and was replaced with a look of longing. He was hoping she would realize by his actions that he did, in fact, love her deeply. There would be time for those words again later, for him to argue his point, but for now his actions were doing all the talking.
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