Play of Passion

by Nalini Singh

Page 37

 

  “Indy?” A word so hoarse, she knew it had been a struggle for him to get it out.

  Sucking in a breath, she squeezed her inner muscles, saw his eyes roll back in his head, and still his hands stayed her hips, keeping her from moving. “I’m okay,” she said, knowing his protective streak had risen to the fore with her cry. “You’re just a little more . . . significant in this position. ”

  A tug of his lips, a playful arrogance that made her want to tease and delight him in equal measures. Stroking away his hands, she clasped them with her own, and then she rode her wolf. The slick glide of flesh against flesh, the rich musk of their combined scents, the blazing fire of the heat in her belly, it all added to the exotic, erotic dance. But the most powerful sensation of all was seeing Drew’s eyes flicker from blue to copper and back again as both wolf and man surrendered to the inferno between them.

  As he took her with him.

  CHAPTER 31

  Henry picked up a transmitter similar to the ones he’d had his men place in SnowDancer territory. A pity they had been discovered; they would’ve offered him a small tactical advantage in the future—but it was nothing close to game over. Blinded by the weakness of their animal natures, the wolves hadn’t yet found the other pieces of technology.

  By the time they did, it would be too late.

  CHAPTER 32

  Midmorning the next day, Andrew walked into Hawke’s office just as his alpha finished a conversation with Judd via comm screen. Nodding to his brother-in-law before the screen blanked, he glanced at Hawke. “Where’s Judd?”

  “Somewhere in South America. ”

  The answer wouldn’t have made sense to most people, given that Judd had been in the den until only a couple of hours ago. Only a limited few knew the man was a very powerful telekinetic. Not a true teleporter, but well able to teleport long distances.

  “Still nothing to confirm why the transmitters were there?” he asked, grabbing a seat.

  “Four possibilities. ” Hawke raised a finger, his anger banked but no less lethal for it. “To act as locator beacons for teleportation or airborne vehicles”—a second finger—“a test to see how quickly we’d detect that type of intrusion”—a third finger—“or as markers on where to place explosives. ”

  Andrew blew out a breath. “Trying to cause a massive rock slide?”

  Hawke gave a nod, tapping the scrawled diagram in front of him. “You blow this section, you not only cut off a chunk of our land, any invading army has far less distance to cover to get to the heart of den territory. ”

  “You said four possibilities. What’s the fourth?”

  “We found these so fast, you’d think we were meant to find them. ”

  “Decoys. ” Andrew frowned. “But to what purpose?”

  “That’s part of what Judd’s hoping to run down. He’s hearing whispers that say this might be linked to Pure Psy. I’ve also sent the techs back up to scan for anything else that shouldn’t be there. ” Shoving his hands through his hair, Hawke clenched his jaw. “Whatever the truth, instinct tells me things are going to come to a violent head sooner rather than later. ”

  “If Judd does connect the transmitters categorically to Pure Psy,” Andrew said, slotting in the other pieces in his mind, “and we add the e-mails to the mix, then I’m certain the packs haven’t been targeted in isolation, but as part of a campaign against the city as a whole. ”

  The wolf looked out of Hawke’s eyes when he turned to Andrew. “You found something else. ”

  “Teijan called me this morning. His people have noticed a steady stream of Psy slipping into the city and setting up house. Some of them don’t appear to have jobs. ”

  Hawke’s jaw tightened. “Trouble?”

  “Not according to what I got from Max after I spoke to Teijan. Seems like word’s gotten out that Nikita has accepted a flawed Psy in her administration. ” Max’s wife, Sophia, was still in the Net. And she was no longer Silent.

  Hawke thought about the cold-eyed woman who’d disowned her own daughter and knew there had to be something in the stance for Nikita. Either that, or the Councilor was simply waiting for a chance to turn on the poor souls who looked to her for hope. “Are they making waves?”

  “Max has an eye on them and says most are only trying to find sanctuary. ”

  “But it’s going to shift the balance of the city. ” And Hawke’s first priority was the safety of his pack. “I’ll talk to Lucas, make sure our own people have the situation under surveillance. ”

  Drew played a pen over his fingers. “The fact that San Francisco is becoming ground zero for Psy who are breaking Silence . . . well, it explains the dead Psy in the city and on the edges of the state, doesn’t it?”

  “Poor buggers got caught up in the crossfire between two Council factions. ” Picking up a small ball from the corner of his desk, Hawke threw it against the wall, catching it as it rebounded. “You think we’ve been hit by the crossfire, too. ”

  Drew nodded. “Judd’s intel is that Henry Scott is out to get rid of Nikita, and we already know Henry controls Pure Psy. And San Francisco might be a changeling city, but it’s also Nikita’s power base. ”

  “Psychological warfare,” Hawke murmured. “He wants the city in turmoil to undermine Nikita—and . . . ” Hawke caught the ball as it rebounded again, held it. “What better way to do that than by inciting the humans and changelings against each other?”

  “That’s what worries me,” Drew said. “But I think we’d have heard—sensed—if that kind of ugliness was simmering. ”

  Hawke threw the ball, bouncing it so that it rebounded toward Drew. “What’s the date?”

  Catching the ball, Andrew glanced at his watch and gave the ball to Hawke. “Why?”

  “The Cherry Blossom Festival in Japantown. ”

  “It’s on right now. ” He immediately realized what his alpha wanted him to do. “Cats will have a much better chance of getting information from the population down there. ” DarkRiver held the city, and they had held it long enough and well enough that they were a trusted part of its fabric. SnowDancer, by comparison, evoked a wary caution—which was how they wanted it.

  “Work with them,” Hawke said, “but I want you down there as well. ”

  “Don’t trust the cats even now?”

  Hawke shrugged. “It’s not about trust. It’s about Pack. ”

  Andrew understood. Hawke’s job was to protect SnowDancer. No matter the blood bond between SnowDancer and DarkRiver, he would never place the lives of his people in their hands alone.

  Indigo wasn’t exactly pleased to be pulled off her—considerable—duties to come “play girlfriend,” as Drew had put it. “If you needed a decoy,” she muttered as they meandered through the bustling stalls that lined the street, offering goodies of every variety, “why didn’t you pick one of your harem?”

  Tugging her close with the arm he had around her shoulders, he nipped at the tip of her nose. “Because,” he said with a grin when she glared, “you would’ve cut me to pieces with that ice glare of yours”—his hand slid down her back—“after you kicked my bleeding, whimpering ass out of your bed. And I really like your mattress. ”

  She would not laugh. “There’ll be some whimpering going on very soon if you don’t stop petting my ass in public. ”

  He stroked his hand even lower and, cupping her face with his free hand, took her mouth in a laughing kiss that simply melted any temper out of her. God, she thought, she’d have to watch him. He could charm himself out of any situation—and make her a co-conspirator.

  When he broke the kiss, he didn’t pull away, but rubbed his nose affectionately against hers. “Think of it as a date. ”

  At that moment, for the first time in forever, Indigo decided what the hell. It was a beautiful, sunshiny day in San Francisco; she was with a gorgeous, sexy man who couldn’t keep his hands off her; and, given their unde
rhanded tactics to date, the group of Psy behind the current attempts to brew up trouble weren’t about to come in guns blazing anytime soon. “In that case,” she said, sliding her arm around his waist, “you have to buy me an ice cream. ”

  It was only as they began walking again that she realized how much attention they’d drawn despite the crowd. She glimpsed more than one smile directed their way, along with the odd wink. Her wolf sighed, but even it had to admit it was delighted by Drew’s sense of play.

  Just then, as Drew went to grab their ice creams, Indigo found herself being waved over by a tiny Japanese lady seated at a small stall. Intrigued, she went. When the yukata-clad lady urged her forward with a wrinkled little hand, Indigo bent across the trays of sweet mochi on the table until she could hear the woman over the buzz of the festival crowd.

  “That one,” the elderly lady said in a soft but robust voice, “trouble. ”

  Indigo grinned. “Absolutely. ”

  Laughing out loud, the woman picked up a mochi from the table. “Does my heart good to see a man who’s not afraid of a strong woman. ” Putting the treat in Indigo’s hand, she waved away her offer of payment and told her to get back to her “trouble. ”

  Smiling her thanks, Indigo sank her teeth into the sticky rice concoction to discover that the center was liquid chocolate. “Mmm. ” Licking the syrup off her lips, she looked up to see Andrew in front of her, his eyes very much on her mouth.

  “Share,” he said, in a husky voice.

  Deliberately misunderstanding—because it was, she’d realized over the past few weeks, fun to tease him—she put the uneaten half of the mochi in his mouth. When he scowled, she grabbed her ice cream—mango swirl—and took a lick. “What did you get?”

  Drew’s fingers tangled with her own as he swallowed the tidbit in his mouth and said, “Chocolate, rum raisin, and tutti-frutti. ”