She squirmed. “That you’d also been using…sex.”
“That son of a bitch.”
He turned and headed for the door, but she beat him to it. “No! Dies, you can’t confront him. He can’t know that you know. I broke my word telling you. If he finds out, no one here will trust me. It’ll make me ineffective as the Order’s physician.”
He froze where he stood. There was no way he would ever compromise her integrity. And it wasn’t her fault anyway. It wasn’t even Pax’s really. It was his. “I’m sorry. I should have told you myself right after we were mated. And I wanted to. I just…”
She took his hand and led him to the bed. He sat down next to her, his head in his hands. Hot tears clouded his eyes. “I wanted to tell you so badly. I was just so ashamed. I didn’t think you’d want me if you knew.”
She stroked his shoulder-length hair back. “Oh, Dies, of course I want you.”
“God, I felt like such an asshole. What a user. I couldn’t even get myself to kiss them. And then I’d feel so guilty afterward. ”
“Shh. It’s okay. We’re going to get you through this, my male.”
He nodded, but even then he was so worked up he could hardly sit still. His breath came in quick, shallow pulls and his heart pounded so hard his chest actually hurt.
CHAPTER TEN
Helen was so angered by the unfairness of it. Her mate was expected to fight for the Order, but it was the very thing that was keeping him from getting the help he needed. Their damned secrecy. It dawned on her that all she was wearing was one of Diesel’s huge T-shirts and her panties. She swung her leg around and positioned herself so that she was straddling him.
“Whoa. Hey there, female. What gives?”
“Me to you,” she said.
She took him by the sides of his face, leaned in, and ran her tongue along his bottom lip.
He licked at the spot, closed his eyes, and exhaled. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Do you hear anyone complaining?”
She unzipped his leathers and sprung his erection.
The fact that he needed it started out in the front of her mind, but was somewhere at the very back by the time she was sliding her panties over and pulling up onto her knees. Then she sat down on him. Hard.
His head jerked backward. “Fuck.”
She smiled with satisfaction as she looked into his glowing, yellow eyes before taking his mouth and going in deep. There was that satisfied sound again, like a throaty sigh. She started to move in a circular motion, but it wasn’t long before he picked up her hips and moved her toward him so that she was thrusting. Their mouths found one another again and he kissed her until they could hardly breathe. She pushed him back on the bed and fell forward, her hands on his chest for support. She moved slowly, never breaking eye contact, refusing to give into the faster rhythm they both craved. They were covered in sweat, and still she wouldn’t give in. When he finally came, he hollered so loud she was pretty sure he woke everyone downstairs.
Oh, well.
The next evening, the whole of the Order stood in the drawing room and waited for their leader to begin the meeting. Reyn looked out at their grim faces. He knew they were probably responding to his own, but there was just no way to sugar coat this. At this point, it was like they were fighting three different wars. There were exactly nine New Breeds. It wasn’t like the math was tough. A second grader could do that shit.
“I’m sure you’ve all heard about the strange circumstances surrounding the attack on Ana two nights ago. Well, there was another bizarre incident last night while Pax and Diesel were on duty. They found a dead female shifter civilian, totally drained of k’ul, but with both of her souls still intact. It’s possible a hellion simply drained her of all her k’ul, but I think we all know how rarely that happens, especially if the mutant is supervised by a Toltec shifter. From what I’ve been told, there were no Toltec shifters seen or even sensed during either incident. Right now, all the evidence seems to point to the existence of a rogue faction of hellions.”
He stood quietly for a moment, letting his brothers digest the news and swear a little. Or a lot. Not that he blamed them. He cleared his throat. “Now, the good news is, these rogues all seem to die the old fashioned way. So we won’t be changing any part of our approach for now. But it’s important to be aware that a rogue mutant won’t be taking orders from Toltec. If there is a new faction, we have no idea what their goals may be. They’re most likely more intelligent than Toltec’s hellions tend to be if they were smart enough to desert the ranks and then organize themselves. Keep your eyes open. Anything that may seem of the slightest importance needs to be reported to me or Richard immediately. If there is a leader, the faster we can take it out, the better. As a side note, X will be trained in emergency medical procedures and some surgical assistance. It’ll be important to have a second on deck to help the Doc if Diesel can’t get here or is injured himself. That’s all.”
Richard sat down on the bed and took baby Maya from his exhausted mate.
“Try to get some sleep, Adri. You need it.”
“I will, my male. Ana has started taking her in the afternoons. Maya just loves her.”
He raised a brow. “Are you sleeping then, or hanging out with Ana.”
She smiled. Jesus, she was ravishing. He was going to have to get a sitter for Maya some night soon. Really soon. Like tomorrow.
“A little of both, I guess. You need the rest even more, my male. You’re back fighting now and you’re doing baby duty on your nights off. You need to rest so you’re alert out there. Your girls need you safe.”
“I agree. But I’m sleeping in after my shifts and she’s letting me get about five hours when I have her. That’s plenty. Right, beautiful?”
Whenever Adriana saw Richard with Maya she wanted to melt. God, he was such an amazing father. She always knew he would be. They had decided against having a family, mostly because of the dangers of their work. Apparently, baby Maya had other plans, thank the Goddess.
“How was the meeting tonight?”
“Well, I can tell you even Pax and Diesel were mellow.”
She cringed. “Wow. That’s really saying something.”
“Yeah, pretty much. Hopefully, the Goddess will show soon and give us some guidance, if not more recruits.”
“This must be so hard on Reyn. How’s he holding up?”
“Not great. Actually, I think he’s more worried about her. He thinks she’s in danger, crossing through the Otherworld to get here.”
“Not from the Gods that destroyed her?”
“Yep. Are you smiling at me, Ana Maya?” he cooed at the offspring.
“I never even thought about it. I mean, she is dead, more or less. She’s pretty much spirit now, right?”
“Don’t look at me. I didn’t even realize she could corporealize until SE and Ana’s induction ceremony. Reyn never even mentioned it.”
She shook her head. “She’s leading another race’s war from beyond the Otherworld and she’s in danger because of it? Jesus, what next?”
He playfully covered baby Maya’s ears. “Hey, watch that stuff around our offspring, female.”
She giggled. “Wiseass.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Victrixa leaned back against her head scientist’s desk. “As you know, Roman, there’s a reason why you and I have these little chats in private. I appreciate your discretion, especially when it comes to my ungrateful wretch of a daughter.”
“You and I have always shared a very important outlook on the world, Victrixa. I have always understood that.”
“I appreciate your loyalty.”
He gave a nod. “And you will always have it.”
“I assume you are as concerned about the missing shifter soldiers as I am.”
“Maybe more so. From a scientific perspective, this whole nightmare may signal a warning as to the uniformity of the results of the serum.”
“How so?”
He stroked his
chin. “Well, for instance, if there were shifters coming through the mutation process differently than the others, perhaps with more intelligence…”
She paced to the window and back. “Then they would possibly be able to see beyond their need for k’ul.”
He nodded. “And thus, their need for their shifters to lead them to it, find them places to den, etc.”
“Damn it. How sure can you be?”
“I think we need a slightly longer observation period after injection. We’ll keep the new hellions separated from the general population for a week. That should give us the proof we’re looking for. Perhaps even sooner.”
“If your theory is correct, is it fixable?”
“I assume your greatest concern is that we’ll have to scrap the project and start over?”
Just hearing it out loud made her want to throttle the scientist, but she exhaled and kept her cool. “Exactly.”
“I seriously doubt that would be necessary. Even if the situation could not be rectified through science, I’m sure we could weed out the problematic hellions and they would then be yours to do with as you saw fit. They could certainly be destroyed, but you may also find they could be useful in some capacity.”
As they said good-bye and Victrixa closed the door to his office, a smile spread across her face. This was why it was so vitally important to keep her temper under wraps when it came to Roman. He was far too useful to her to get rid of him. There were always raised eyebrows when other shifters in Toltec’s upper ranks realized he was human—not exactly who one would expect to see as the highest ranking scientist in an organization of shifters who generally viewed humans as vermin. But as soon as she had learned about the finer points of Sean Delaney’s research, she knew it would be beneficial to have his partner in her corner.
At first she had wondered if he’d need to be kidnapped, bribed, or possibly forced to help Toltec gain access to Delaney’s work. Ultimately, they’d never needed to do any of those things. What Roman wanted was actually very simple—he wanted to be a shifter. And in order to reach his goal, he would need to pervert Delaney’s research to his own ends. He could hardly do all that at the college where the two of them taught. So Victrixa had brought him on board with the promise that he could have access to their facilities in order to work on his own goal, while he helped Toltec with theirs. She had no idea whether or not he could actually achieve it. If he did, she’d worry about it then. She could hardly have humans running around, turning themselves into shifters. For now, her deal with Roman was strictly between the two of them. And it would stay that way, if he knew what was good for him.
“Almost ready, Doc?”
“Yeah, just let me grab my coat. I swear, since I moved in here, I can’t find a thing. Oh, did you remember to ask X about training?”
“Yeah, it’s all set. The closet will get a lot bigger once I knock the wall down between this room and the one next door. Come on, Doc. You don’t need a coat.”
His mate poked her head out of the closet. “It’s Massachusetts. It’s midnight. It’s January.”
“Not where we’re going.”
She came flying out of the closet. “Tell me!”
He laughed and wrapped his arms around her. “Nope. Hang on tight, female.”
Within seconds, Diesel was holding his arm up to shield his face from the mid-morning sun.
“Oh, my God. It’s incredible. Where are we, Dies?”
“Hopefully, in Tibet, if I shot it right. We’re in the Pahar, the foothills.” He pointed. “Check out the Northeast.”
“The Himalayas!” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.
“Happy mating, Doc. Up for some exercise?”
“Hell, yes!”
He grinned at her and phased to Tiger. He waited for her to follow suit, but instead she walked to him and took his face in her hands. She ran her fingers through the fur on his head and scratched behind his ears. He closed his eyes, basking in all the attention. He opened his mouth and let his tongue hang out.
“No, I am not kissing you in your second form, you big show off.”
He gave her a slight growl of impatience, and she phased into Gazelle. She walked in front of him a couple of times knowing full well how stunning she was, and he realized he could see similarities to her movements in her first form. Then she took off. Big time. Fuck.
He bolted after her and waited for her to slow down for him. He wasn’t going to be able to outrace her. His Tiger form was built for strength, not speed. He also wanted her to stick close by. This was the wilderness. There would be predators here. She stopped and he circled her a couple of times. She started off again, but this time at a much slower pace. They chased and played through the hills until the noonday sun was high overhead.
They finally stopped at a watering hole for a drink and he phased back and sat down in the grass. When she finished drinking, he put out his hand and she gave it a lick before returning to her first form. She lay down on her back with her head in his lap.
“Hey, female. How’s Nepal treating you?”
“It’s amazing. Thank you, my male.”
He dropped a kiss on her forehead. “You’re welcome. Your second form is amazing and also, oddly hot.”
“Um, don’t tigers generally eat gazelles?”
“Oh. Maybe I’m mistaking my appetite for my sex drive again.”
Helen stroked his whiskers and grinned. “Shocker.”
He smiled and she lay there admiring his dimples.
“Up for a swim, Doc?”
She looked over at the watering hole. “Oh, are you sure? It’s kind of cool.”
Her mate stood up and stripped off his shirt. “Aw, c’mon. It must be at least sixty-five out.”
“Like I said.”
He stood in front of her and stripped until that body of his was completely naked. “You can get undressed or get your clothes wet.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“See now, I’m pretty sure I would.”
She stood up, watching her mate jump in as she started to undress.
He popped his head up out of the water. “See? It’s not so bad.”
She walked to the edge and put a toe in. It was freezing. As in frigid.
“Come on.”
Typical male.
She started to walk in and stopped at her mid-thigh. Holy. Shit.
He walked to her and picked her up. At first she thought he was going to throw her in. But he walked back into the water and let her slowly get used to it. Then he gently let her slide in. She leaned back to get her hair wet, then stood on her tiptoes and put her arms around his neck. He leaned down and kissed her.
And it almost happened.
She almost told him she loved him. And she did. More than she’d ever thought a person could love another. She wanted to say it, but it just wouldn’t come out.
She looked into those green eyes of his. “Mm. Do that again.”
He kissed her again and she suddenly forgot how cold the water was. She let his strong arms hold her halfway out of the water, the warm sun hitting her neck and shoulders. Their tongues entwined and she shivered all the way from head to toe.
“Are you cold?”
“A little.”
“Come on. Let’s get you dressed.”
Diesel dried her off with his T-shirt and they reluctantly got dressed. He still couldn’t believe she’d gone in the water. His mate was totally badass. He smiled to himself. Yeah, she was. He waited while she walked toward the water to get her sneakers.
That’s when he saw it.
A Bengal tiger had apparently discovered the same watering hole they had. Son of a bitch. It must have caught her scent while she was in her second form. He smelled the air. It was a male and it was alone. At least it wasn’t a female with cubs. He measured the distance between the cat and his mate. He knew he could make a jump of twenty-five feet. There was no way to know how strong this Bengal was. He couldn’t risk gleam
ing to her and then gleaming them out. It might not be fast enough.
“Doc, stay perfectly still and don’t turn around.”
“What is it?” she whispered.
“You’re okay. Just do exactly what I tell you. On a count of three, I want you to make for that narrow space between those rocks to your right, as fast as you can. Understand?”
“Yes,” she breathed.
The only way he was going to win this thing was if he let his instincts take over. Which wasn’t going to be difficult. The Bengal had nothing to protect. He did.
No fear.
“One, two, three.”
As his mate took off for the rocks, Diesel phased and put himself between her and the other male. The tiger leapt forward and Diesel pushed himself off his back legs, meeting the other cat mid-air and knocking him off balance for an instant. He’d given Doc the time she’d needed.
Helen crouched between the jagged rocks, watching the two animals go at each other. They moved so fast, she could barely keep track of who was who. They wrestled one another to the ground, Diesel ending up on the bottom. Their roars were deafening. She could hardly swallow as she watched him try to change his position. When he suddenly let the other cat move over him entirely, she stopped breathing altogether. The other Bengal gave a sudden roar and leapt off of him, limping into the brush. Diesel stayed down. She was afraid he was hurt and she wanted to run to him, but she had no idea where the other tiger was.
All at once, Diesel phased back, stood up, and brushed off.
She started to stand, but he put up his hand. He gleamed to her and a moment later they were standing together in their room at the compound.
She looked up into his face. He had three gashes down his neck and shoulder. “Oh, my God. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay. I think I twisted the hell out of my ankle though.”
She went straight into doctor mode. “Sit.”
Her mate sat on the edge of the bed while she slid off his boot and checked to make sure the bone was sound.
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