The B*E*A*S*T* Within

by Rebecca Goings

Noah concentrated on the road in front of him without saying a word. Lanie truly had no clue.

  "He'll be all right,” he said finally. “I'm sure of it."

  Seven

  Tam stepped out of the pristine black Hummer and adjusted his tie. No longer in his shifted state, he ran his human fingers through his coal-black hair and sighed. Noah had come to this gas station, he could smell him. The stench of the traitor made bile rise up in the back of Tam's throat. She'd been here too, although her scent was fainter. Perhaps she hadn't stepped out of the car they had stolen not long before.

  But now Tam knew her name—Lanie. Lanie Erickson. It hadn't taken the agency long to pull up files on her, and he wasn't disappointed. The woman was beautiful, and he wanted nothing more than to claim her as his own, in part to steal her from the traitor, but also because lust was riding him hard.

  Women were not allowed in the B*E*A*S*T* compound, probably for this very reason. The experiments themselves would want to fight each other over who would be her mate, but Tam had decided about this woman. Lanie was his. And he would take her.

  It wouldn't be that hard to convince the scientists that Lanie would make the perfect first female specimen. Tam was loyal; he worked hard, so he deserved her. Just the thought alone had his trousers pulling tight over his groin as he extended his hand to the older man standing next to the gas pump.

  "Good morning, Mr.—"

  "Peterson. Charles Peterson."

  Grasping his hand, Tam feigned a smile. He knew it must look more like a sneer, but still his Asian features relaxed and softened somewhat, revealing the handsome man he was. His dark brown eyes gazed at the man.

  "Thank you for calling the authorities, Mr. Peterson. My name is Agent Tam. Can you tell me what happened here?"

  "Well, I'd picked up two drifters and stopped here for gas not too long after. When I came out of the store, my car was gone. They stole it."

  "Can you tell me a bit about the people you picked up?"

  "Man and woman, both probably in their late twenties, early thirties. He was holding the woman in his arms. Said they'd gotten into an accident and their car went off the road."

  "So you simply thought they needed a ride to town?"

  "Yes."

  Pursing his lips, Tam resisted the urge to shift and tear this man's throat out. The pull to do it was so strong that he had to turn away. Ever since he'd been altered into his new existence, he craved the taste of blood. Human blood. His belly lurched.

  "Did they tell you their names?"

  "No, they were pretty much silent. The woman sat on his lap the whole time, which I thought was strange, but I believe she was cold. They wrapped up in the blanket I keep in the trunk."

  Tam growled at the thought of the traitor touching what was his. “What kind of car do you drive?” he asked the man.

  "It's a 2002 four-door tan Acura with Colorado plates—109RLG. Don't you want to write this stuff down, Agent Tam?"

  Whirling back toward the older man, Tam lifted the side of his mouth and couldn't stop his fangs from growing. The emptiness in his belly consumed him. He needed to feed. Now.

  Charles Peterson took a step back with a look of horror. His screams echoed all around them as Tam shifted into a black panther before his eyes.

  Like lightning, Tam tackled the man, sinking his sharp teeth deep into his throat and savoring the pulse of warm blood in his mouth as he ripped the soft flesh to ribbons. It had been much too long since he'd had a warm meal.

  Tam ate his fill.

  * * * *

  "How much gas do we have?” Lanie asked as she laid her head back on the seat.

  "About half a tank,” Noah replied. “We left that gas station before the tank was full."

  After a moment of silence, Lanie asked, “What are we going to do for money?"

  "We'll have to steal some, I guess."

  She gasped. “We've already stolen this car; we don't need to steal anything else! I have some money if we could just get to a bank—"

  "Lanie, if the authorities are looking for us, that's probably not a very good idea. They have cameras in banks. Not to mention that any transactions by you are traceable, and it's a safe bet that the agency has already flagged all your accounts."

  "Good Lord, Noah. Then what are we going to do? We can't keep running and stealing!"

  "I don't know. I wasn't planning on..."

  "What?"

  "Well, to tell you the truth, I wasn't planning on having company. If I was by myself, I could have stayed in the forest, lived off the land."

  "So all of this is my fault?” Lanie looked at him in disbelief.

  "No, of course not!” he snapped. “But now you're with me, and plans need to be changed. We have to think about what we're going to do."

  "We're not going to get very far on a half tank of gas.” Lanie folded her arms in irritation.

  Noah sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. The sun inched higher in the sky as he drove, leaving the town of Granite Ridge far behind them.

  "So we're headed south?” Lanie asked a few minutes later.

  "We're headed wherever this road leads us. I have no idea where we're going."

  "Could I maybe call my mom? Have her get some money for us?"

  "I told you we cannot involve your family. They're being watched as well. The agency will not harm them unless it's obvious that we've made contact. I cannot take that risk. I've already ruined your..."

  "My what? My life?"

  Noah didn't answer but gave her a sidelong glance. She had to rub her arms to rid herself of the goose bumps that rose from that look.

  "You ... you said this agency tortured animals. What kind of animals do they have there?"

  "All kinds."

  "Like what—besides the obvious tiger and panther? Did they raid a zoo?"

  Noah cracked a smile. “I have no idea where they obtained their specimens, but there are all sorts of animals they experiment on. Hawks, bears, cougars, wolves ... hell, I've even seen a few sharks there."

  "Sharks?"

  Nodding, he swallowed hard at the memory. “Yeah."

  "Whatever happened to doing tests on lab rats? Sounds like these guys are only into predators."

  "They are."

  "Well, what do they do with the men? You said there were other men there too. What do the experiments between the animals and the men have to do with each other?"

  "I didn't ask,” he said, making her sigh loudly.

  A few minutes of silence passed as Lanie continued to stare out the window. She had a feeling that Noah wasn't quite telling her the entire story. However, she wasn't sure she wanted to hear it either. The fact that they were doing their experiments on predators told her that they weren't simply testing cosmetics. This agency, whoever they were, was doing something big—something they'd kill to keep secret. Just remembering that they'd sent a panther to track them in the woods made her shiver once again. Closing her eyes, she tried hard to keep the tears at bay this time.

  "We're going to have to change your looks."

  Noah's deep voice filled the car and made her nipples pucker under her sweater in response. Damn, she had no hope of getting her libido under control around him.

  "What do you mean?” she asked, breathless.

  "We'll have to get you some hair color, maybe a cut as well."

  "You want to cut my hair?” Lanie said, fingering her long, golden locks.

  "You stand out too much with that pretty hair, baby. We're gonna have to change it."

  Lanie's breath caught in her throat, and she didn't know if it was due to him suggesting that she color her hair or because he'd just called her baby. She cracked her window open just a bit to allow the cool mountain air into the cabin of the car.

  He looked at her and winked. “I've always had a thing for redheads."

  She couldn't help but chuckle. It released some of her tension as she looked back at him.

  "What about you? Don't you need a cha
nge?"

  "Yeah, I do,” he said, scrubbing his own sandy blond mane. “How do you feel about brunettes?"

  "Well, it's a shame to cover this up,” she said, reaching out to touch his hair. “It looks so good on you."

  Noah's gaze pierced hers, and she could hardly breathe. Pulling away her hand as if she'd touched a flame, she cleared her throat and pretended to adjust her coat.

  "Yes, well,” she said, “there's nothing wrong with tall, dark, and handsome."

  She couldn't look at him again. What had come over her? Why had she touched him? Lanie couldn't stop shaking. She hid her hands by once again crossing her arms in front of her.

  "I'm thinking of growing a beard as well,” he said, probably to make conversation.

  "Just keep it short,” Lanie said, looking at the dashboard as if it were the most important thing in the world.

  "Oh? Why is that?” he asked.

  "Because there's nothing worse than a scruffy beard on a..."

  "On a what?” he prodded.

  Lanie blushed but continued. “On a good-looking man."

  "Ah, you think I'm good-looking?"

  "I must admit you're easy on the eyes, Mr. Carpenter. But don't go getting any ideas."

  That sentence hung in the air as they drove.

  After what seemed an eternity, Noah said, “Why don't you lean your seat back and try to get some rest? I know you're tired."

  She was exhausted. Rest sounded so wonderful. Taking him up on his suggestion, she adjusted the seat and closed her eyes with a contented sigh. She could have sworn she heard Noah respond with a groan. She didn't dare open her eyes to find out.

  Eight

  Damn.

  Noah gripped the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles went white. Being on the run with Lanie was going to be harder than he'd first thought. Here it was barely a full day since he'd saved her from her accident, and already he could feel his manhood swelling beneath his torn jeans.

  She'd leaned back in the seat like he'd suggested, and now her breasts strained against the light-blue sweater under her jacket. It was all he could do to keep his eyes on the road. She wasn't sleeping, and he knew she was wary of him. Wary and aroused herself.

  Lanie had admitted that she found him a handsome man, and her light touch on his hair had almost made him pull over the car. Just as she'd lamented hiding his hair with color, he hated to do the same to her. Her blonde hair was glorious, almost like spun gold, and Noah's hands gripped the wheel tighter at the thought of running his fingers through it.

  It was hard fighting his animal instincts, the ones that demanded he simply take her as his mate. But he knew that couldn't be done. Licking his lips, he realized he was trembling. If she could smell him as he smelled her, she'd know exactly how aroused he was.

  Noah couldn't even remember the last time he'd been with a woman. How long had it been? In an effort to take his mind off Lanie next to him, he bit his lip and attempted to remember something—anything—about his life before. Concentrating on a woman, he searched his memories for something familiar, something that would tell him about himself. Flickers teased his brain as he tried to remember. Had he ever been in love? Did he have many girlfriends? A wife?

  In a flash, he smelled roses and saw a glimpse of long black hair. But as soon as it came, it left him.

  "Shit,” he whispered under his breath.

  "Are you all right, Noah?” Lanie asked.

  Glancing down at her, he saw her eyes were merely cracked open. She was so damn sexy at the moment that he had to look away.

  "Yeah, I'm fine. Just fine,” he said, hearing for himself the tension in his voice. “I'm just trying to remember ... anything about myself."

  "No luck?"

  "I think I remember a woman's black hair, but that's about all."

  "Well, that's great. Maybe you're starting to get your memory back."

  "Maybe,” he said, “but every time I try, I hit a brick wall. And whenever I feel something with a tug of familiarity, it's gone before I can hold on to it. Like earlier at the restaurant, I had the same feeling with the Arizona plates."

  "Maybe you used to live there, or maybe you have family there."

  "It's possible, I guess."

  "Since we're already heading south, we could make our way to Arizona, and maybe some more memories will come to you."

  Noah scratched his head. “That's not a bad idea."

  "No, it's not,” Lanie said with a grin. “We might be on the run, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to find out who you are."

  "As long as we do it discreetly, Lanie.” He gave her another sidelong glance. “We don't want to get caught."

  He watched as she shuddered and pulled the edges of her jacket together. “No, we definitely don't want that."

  "How are you feeling?” he asked after a few moments of silence.

  "Like there is a herd of wild horses pounding on my skull. You?"

  "Good, actually.” He wasn't about to tell her about his raging hard-on. “I'm wondering how we're going to get money to buy food."

  "Don't think I'm going to go all Bonnie-and-Clyde with you, because I'm not.” She gave him a defensive glare.

  "Don't worry about that. I'm not thinking about knocking over any banks. Too high profile."

  "Thank God for small favors."

  Glancing at her, he saw a small smile curving her lips. He chuckled himself. “Looks like we're going to hit another town in about twenty-five miles or so. We'll find a grocery store and see if we can get some hair color and maybe some more money."

  Lanie stayed silent.

  "We'll have to ditch this car soon."

  "I thought you said we'd be buying some time with these new plates,” she said, sitting up in the seat.

  "We did, but not for long. I'm sure the cops have a description of this car by now, and they might even anticipate a plate swap. As soon as the owners of that car back at McDonald's realize that those aren't their plates, the police will know we have theirs, and soon they'll be all over us."

  "I don't like stealing cars,” she said in a small voice.

  "Neither do I, baby, but we've got to stay ahead of the bad guys."

  He just hoped to God that they could.

  * * * *

  Lanie rubbed her palms on her jeans to get rid of the moisture. He'd called her baby again. She couldn't keep her traitorous body from responding to it. She was shaking with desire and had to cross her arms to hide her puckering nipples.

  She didn't know what it was about him, but Noah was unbelievably sexy. Perhaps it was her fear that made her so desperate, driving her to crave intimacy with the one person who knew what she was going through. Maybe she merely wanted comfort, and being in his arms had definitely comforted her.

  But lusting after a man she barely knew was foreign to her. Usually she was very leery of men, wondering about their intentions and not wanting to get too close too fast, because a lasting relationship didn't always spring from spontaneous sex. But, damn, she wanted some spontaneity with Noah. He had a wild side to him, untamed and ruthless. She knew it was there, even though he took pains to hide it from her. Perhaps it was merely a reaction to his torture that made him that way.

  Thinking about someone torturing this Adonis in the car with her made her anger rise to the fore. Noah was such a nice, considerate man that even the thought of him enduring such pain made her stomach churn. He never spoke of the specific things they'd done to him, but she was sure she didn't want to know.

  Maybe her desire sprang from wanting to comfort him. The man was on the run, after all. Lanie knew he shivered at the thought of getting caught by the agency, of having to endure the pain all over again. She couldn't let that happen.

  Then a thought occurred to her, and she gasped. Noah looked at her in concern.

  "You okay?"

  "Are you sure this agency wants to recapture you, Noah?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "Well, you said yourself
that they train animals to desire the taste of human blood. If they sent a panther to hunt you down, they might just want to kill you instead."

  "They're not going to kill me,” he whispered.

  "How do you know?"

  "Because ... I'm worth a lot of money to them. They're not going to throw that away. They have ways of making a person forget their life before—they did it to me once already. It's obvious it didn't quite take the first time since I can still see glimpses of memories, but if I'm ever caught, they'll do it again."

  "They'd mind-wipe you so you won't remember anything?"

  "Nothing except for what they want me to remember."

  "You would forget me.” Lanie whispered the words, not even realizing she'd said them aloud.

  Without warning, Lanie felt Noah's strong hand on hers. The contact of his skin sent sharp jolts of electricity to every corner of her body. She looked into his icy-blue eyes as she laced her fingers through his. His eyes darkened, making her skin tingle.

  "Then let's make sure that never happens,” he told her.

  She could do no more than nod. If she opened her mouth, she'd lean over and kiss him senseless.

  Nine

  They entered the town of Hillsdale, exiting the highway in search of a grocery store. Once they found the market, Noah pulled into the parking lot and found a stall not too far from the entrance.

  "Okay, Lanie, take whatever money we have left and go buy some hair color for both of us. We don't need more heat on us by stealing them.” Rummaging through the center console, he pulled out an old rubber band. “Here, put your hair back with this and take off your jacket."

  Lanie did has she was told while her heart thundered in her throat.

  "I don't know if I can do this,” she whispered, glancing at the door of the market as if she were going to enter the gates of Hell.

  "Sure you can,” he said with a grin. “Haven't you ever bought something from the store before?"

  "Yeah, but—"

  "Don't worry, Lanie,” he said, his voice lowering an octave. “I wouldn't send you in if I didn't think things were safe here. Besides, you'll be in and out before anyone realizes who you are. And with your hair back, maybe they won't remember you quite as you're described in the news. I'd do this for you, but I'm afraid that my build and my hair would stick out in people's memories, not to mention my ratty clothing."