Dragged past his pool and into his yard, the man finally stopped, and that was when John was suddenly falling . . . into an open grave.
John landed on his two bodyguards. They were alive but out cold.
He looked up and the grave was surrounded by a large group of men. It was dark out, so he couldn’t make out any faces, but the light coming from the house told him it was about eight or nine males.
“You clearly don’t know who I am,” John warned.
“We do not care,” the man said with a heavy Eastern European accent.
“I can give you anything you want.”
“We want one thing. Name. Who paid for package that went to Allison Whitlan?”
John swallowed. “I don’t—”
Dirt began to be shoveled onto him. All but the man with the accent, working together to cover him. To bury him alive.
“Wait! Wait!”
The men stopped.
“Give us name,” the man said. “And we go. Do not give us name, and we stay . . . ’til we are done.”
John hesitated. Going against Whitlan was a very quick way to die. But when it took him longer than thirty seconds to reply, the dirt began to fall again.
“I’ll tell you!” he screamed. “I’ll tell you!”
“Make it quick. I grow bored.”
“Bennett. Lyle Bennett. He paid for the package to be delivered to my company and then to be delivered to Allison Whitlan.”
“That is very good.”
Then the dirt began to rain down on John again. He screamed and begged, and after a few seconds, the dirt stopped.
“Just joke,” the man said as he and the other men laughed. “We make promise, we do not break promise. But be careful who you choose to protect. It could land you in early grave.”
CHAPTER 23
Livy sat on Vic’s kitchen table. He’d put her there himself. But, she noticed, only after he’d put down a giant beach towel first. That was probably because she was naked, and she did appreciate his need to be tidy.
Vic, also naked, sat in a chair. Livy had her legs hanging over the edge of the table, her feet rubbing against his thighs. They both had jars of honey, spooning it out like custard.
They hadn’t had sex. Not yet. Vic had just gotten her naked and gotten out the honey. But there was something about this that was way more intimate than just hitting the door and then hitting the bed.
“I heard you went head-to-head with Dee-Ann today.”
Livy licked her spoon and thought on that. “Oh . . . yeah. That was today.”
“You know, there aren’t a lot of people who forget when they have to deal with Dee-Ann Smith.”
“Well, when I was a kid, my dad brought a pit bull home for protection. He had eyes like hers, so every time I see her, I think, ‘Oh Scruffy. I miss you so.’ Then I start thinking about Scruffy and the good times we used to have until he was hit by that truck, and I eventually completely forget about Dee-Ann and whatever her issue is that particular day.”
Vic laughed and Livy stretched her legs out so she could press them against Vic’s chest.
That was when his laughter faded away and his gaze locked on her.
Vic dipped his spoon into the jar he held. Leaning forward, he poured the honey on her thigh. He popped the spoon back into the jar and placed it on the table behind Livy.
Bracing his arms on either side of her, Vic moved down and licked the inside of her thigh.
Vic’s rough tongue against her skin had Livy groaning. She set her jar of honey down on the table so she could bury her hand in his hair. Vic growled in response, his tongue moving up higher until he licked her pussy.
Livy planted her foot on the table and spread her thighs wider. She moved Vic closer by tugging on his hair. His arms wrapped around her, and he gripped her ass with his big hands, yanking her in tight.
His face was buried between her thighs and his tongue deep inside her. Her toes curled and her body shook with every sweep of that tongue. And Livy’s groans became louder until she was screaming and coming all over the man’s face.
No one had ever gotten her off so fast before, but Vic’s brutal tongue worked for her in ways some typical shifters’ simply couldn’t. And forget the full-human males. They were useless.
Vic finished licking the honey off her thigh before he lifted his head and smiled at her.
“Stop looking so proud of yourself,” she snapped at him through her panting, “and get up here and fuck me.”
Vic loved it when Livy snarled at him like that. He liked that he could make her lose control. She made him crazy all the time . . . why should he suffer alone?
Digging into Livy’s backpack, Vic pulled out the condoms he now kept in there. He rolled one down his cock and was reaching for Livy when she landed in his lap.
Vic gasped at the feel of Livy’s tight ass hitting his hard cock. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
“You took too long,” she teased when she pulled away.
“If I recall your words correctly, ‘Nothing gets in here without a condom.’ ”
“You could have put that thing on in half the time it took you.”
“It took me five seconds!”
She nipped his jaw. “Stop arguing with me and get to work.”
“No.” Vic stood, bringing Livy with him. He walked out of the kitchen, through the dining room, and into the living room. He stretched out on the couch, with Livy on top of him.
“You get to work.” Vic put his hands behind his head. “And make it good, baby.”
“Typical lazy feline . . . and bear,” she muttered as she placed her knees on either side of his hips. “Leaving it to the honey badger to do all the work.”
“That’s because felines and bears are smarter than everybody.”
Livy smirked at him, just before she dropped down hard on his cock, the wet, tight heat of her pussy trapping him as surely as any cage or handcuffs. Actually, in the past, he’d gotten himself out of a cage and several pairs of handcuffs. But he didn’t think he’d ever get out of this. Even worse . . . he didn’t want to. Nothing that felt this good should be something anyone tried to get away from.
With her hands pressed against his chest and her gaze on his face, Livy began to rock her hips.
Unable to keep his hands off her, Vic pulled them out from behind his head and gripped Livy’s thighs.
“Tighter,” she gasped out.
“What?”
“You can hold me tighter.” She licked her lips. “I don’t break, Vic. I can’t break.”
Vic did tighten his grip and when he did, Livy’s pussy jerked in response. Something that his cock loved more than . . . anything. Ever.
Livy fucked him harder then. Harder. Faster. Until they were both sweating and straining against each other. Vic couldn’t even think straight. He had no idea what he was doing or where the hell he was, which was when he lost complete and utter control.
They both heard the snap but Livy felt it, too, her body jerking forward before abruptly stopping.
Horrified, Vic watched as she turned her head and looked behind her.
That’s when she asked, “You slapped my ass with your tail?”
“It . . . it was an accident,” he said, panicking.
“Your tail?” She gawked down at him. “You have a tail when you’re human?”
“When I want to. Or when I lack some self-control. But it’s not like I have to tuck it into my jeans every morning or anything.” Vic shrugged helplessly. “It’s basically a hybrid side effect.”
“It doesn’t look so dangerously thick when you’re in your animal form.”
Vic closed his eyes. He’d lost her, hadn’t he? Fangs and claws coming and going while human were typical among shifters. It was what they knew. What they were used to and comfortably accepted.
But a tail when human? No female wanted to put up with anything that weird. Especially a tail that sort of had a mind of its own.
> “Okay.” Vic opened his eyes to see Livy raising a finger. “One rule, Barinov: that thing goes in my ass . . . and I tear your balls right off. We understand each other?”
Shocked, Vic could only nod.
“Good.” She grinned and added, “And can I just say . . . how cool is it that you have a prehensile tail? My tail is just this thing that does nothing but knock off flies and let other animals know when I’m about to go off. And it’s only there when I’m badger. But you . . .” She stopped, blinked. “Awww, it’s petting my back.”
“It is?”
“Don’t you know?”
“Well . . .”
“You do have control over that thing, don’t you?”
“Absolutely.” At least he could, with some effort. Because Vic would like to keep his balls intact. That was important to him.
“So,” he asked, “you’re really not freaked out by my tail?”
“Why would I be freaked out about something that’s part of you? It’s not like you were accidentally hit by gamma rays and you suddenly grew one. That would be weird. But we were born like this. My mother dropped me two days after I was born. My aunts said I bounced. I didn’t even cry. I did, however, punch my mother in the face when she picked me up.”
“At two days old?”
“I’m a honey badger. The woman is lucky I didn’t take her eye out.” She patted his chest. “See? We all have our . . . uniqueness. Yours happens to be an exceptionally cool tail. Who’d have a problem with that?”
Vic suddenly sat up, his arms wrapping tight around Livy’s waist. He kissed her, and the intensity of it nearly had her coming right then. She didn’t know what was going on, but she didn’t really care. Not at the moment.
Holding her tight, Vic turned them so that Livy was underneath him. He braced his arms on either side of her, his big, long body looming over her. “Bring your legs up,” he ordered. “High on my waist.”
When she did, he growled and powered into her, his cock buried deep inside her pussy. Livy’s back arched. Nothing she could remember had ever felt this good.
He fucked her hard, and Livy loved it. She wasn’t intimidated by his true strength. Instead, the harder he fucked her, the more she begged him not to stop. And Livy had never begged anyone for anything. Until now. Until this moment when she came so hard, she screamed against his chest and buried her claws into his hips.
Vic roared, his body rigid beneath her claws. Then he dropped on top of her, his energy completely gone.
It took him a bit, but Vic seemed to suddenly remember she was there.
“Livy? Oh my God! Livy!” He rolled away from her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m perfect,” she said on a sigh. “You’re perfect. We’re both perfect.”
“But could you breathe?”
“Badger,” she softly reminded him.
“Does that explain everything about you?”
“Pretty much.”
After removing the condom and tossing it in the garbage can by the couch, Vic stretched out and pulled Livy onto his chest. He stroked her hair and kissed her forehead.
“Vic?”
“Mhmmm?”
“I’m starving.”
“Oh, thank God. I’m so hungry.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“It seemed tacky to come, roll off you, and go get something to eat. I hate tacky.”
“I actually appreciate that. But right now I’m hungry.”
“I’ve got a couple pounds of pasta and some jars of marinara sauce.”
“Perfect!” Livy rolled off Vic and sprang to her feet. “Now get up. I need to feed. I’ll get the—”
Livy stopped and turned to the man now standing next to her. “Did your tail just slap my ass again?”
“I think it likes when you get a little pushy.”
“It likes when I get pushy?”
“Or we like. You know, whatever.”
Livy shook her head, but took Vic’s hand. “Just remember my rule.”
“God, Livy, how can I ever forget it?”
CHAPTER 24
Ira stopped by her brother’s house around seven-thirty in the morning. She was surprised to find his SUV parked in the driveway. He’d purchased the house located a few blocks from her home several years ago, but he was rarely in it. Like their parents, Vic traveled a lot. Mostly to Eastern European countries where he had lots of connections and knew the languages and dialects so well.
Ira used to worry so much about her brother. When he’d graduated from high school, he’d left Chicago to attend Stony-brook University and be near Ira. It made sense since their parents were always on the move, and they’d grown up watching out for each other. Vic did well in school, but Ira could tell he wasn’t really happy. Then, in the middle of his junior year, he joined the marines, which was scary enough. But several years in, he was suddenly recruited by the CIA, doing most of his work in the Eastern European countries he knew so well. It turned out to be the right job for him, but Ira had not liked the idea of her brother being some kind of spy. Vic didn’t blend, and he wasn’t a natural deceiver. But he was smart and an excellent judge of character. In the end, the job had worked out pretty well for him, but she was glad when he’d gotten out. Even though freelance tracking work was a dangerous game, as well, she worried less about her brother since the only orders he really took were his own.
All he needed now was to get himself a business partner. Someone to watch his back, and she didn’t understand why her brother didn’t see Shen Li as that person. But that was okay. Vic could be stubborn, like their dad, but Ira took after their mother and would just keep hammering at her brother until he did what she thought was in his best interest.
It perhaps wasn’t the best way for a family to function, but it had worked for the Barinovs for many years now.
Since Vic didn’t spend much time at home, and wasn’t much of a collector of anything but large quantities of honey, Ira kept many of her home business supplies in his garage and just paid her brother a monthly rent for the storage. Of course, typical Vic, he didn’t bother to put any of her checks into the bank, so she eventually started transferring money over automatically every month. She loved her brother for saying that paying him wasn’t necessary, but Ira never wanted him to feel taken for granted. It was better to keep her “home decorating for the discerning bear” business separate from family.
But before going into the garage, Ira decided to check the house since Vic hadn’t been around.
She opened his gate and was just walking through when she heard, “Yoo-hoo! Irina!”
Ira turned and saw that She-tiger walking toward her. She had a tray of honey buns this time and looked so effortlessly perfect that Ira just wanted to bash her damn nose in.
“Hello!”
“Hi, Brittany.”
The She-tiger lifted the tray a bit. “I brought honey buns as a little olive branch. I hated how we ended things last time I was here.”
“You mean your judgmental overreaction to my brother’s alternative lifestyle?”
“When I thought about it, I realized he was just teasing me.”
Ira stared at the feline. “You sure about that?”
Bright gold eyes briefly narrowed, but the tigress managed to force a smile anyway. “I think he’ll like these. They’re honey.”
“I can take them.”
“No, no.” Brittany brushed past Ira and walked toward the house. “I’d like to give them to him myself.”
“He’s probably asleep.”
“Doubtful!”
Ira thought about picking the bitch up by the back of the head and throwing her out onto the street, but no. She wouldn’t do that. Her brother was thirty-three. It was time for him to learn how to handle pushy broads like this. Preferably without his sister’s protection.
Ira walked to the front door and unlocked it. Just as she stepped inside, the She-tiger pushed past her, heading right toward the kitchen. Sighin
g, Ira began to follow, but she abruptly stopped, sniffed the air. And she knew what she smelled in this living room . . . honey and sex.
Biting her lip to keep from giggling like a ten-year-old about to rat out her brother, Ira walked briskly through the house until she reached the kitchen. Brittany stood in the doorway, gazing into the room. She frowned in confusion.
Ira, nearly a foot taller than the feline, only had to look over her head to see that the kitchen was a mess. Open jars of honey were everywhere, in the sink was a strainer with some dried-out pasta, and a saucepan half-filled with sauce.
“I’ve never seen the kitchen look like this.”
Neither had Ira, but sex was the great distractor. It distracted people from work, family, friends, and, of course, housecleaning.
Brittany gasped softly. “Irina,” she whispered.
Ira stepped into the kitchen, but other than the mess she didn’t see anything . . . until she looked down. That was when she saw Vic’s big foot sticking out from under the kitchen table.
Biting her lip harder now, Ira crouched down and saw her brother, in all his naked glory, wrapped snake-like around a naked Livy Kowalski.
Now, Ira’s first reaction to seeing this was, “My brother and a honey badger?” She couldn’t help herself. Honey badgers had one of the worst reputations in the world of shifters and the world of full-blood animals. But then when she really thought about it, the whole thing actually made sense. Ira and Vic were hybrids, which meant they had unique issues. Issues that not every breed or species could handle. But from what Ira knew about Livy, the woman could handle anything but bad art and that crazy cousin of hers.
Still . . . Vic was Ira’s brother. And as a sibling, she couldn’t just walk out and let the lovebirds get up to face the day in their own time. That was what non-siblings did.
“Victor Barinov!” Ira yelled, imitating their mother’s accent perfectly. “What you do with this girl? Nasty boy!”
Vic sat up instantly, yelling, “Mama, I’m up, I’m up!” seconds before his head rammed into the hard wood of the kitchen table.
Bite Me Page 22