by Eliza Gayle
"Don't move," he said. First, he bent and pulled at her pants until he had them re-fastened around her hips. Then he grabbed both of her hands and massaged them back to normal. She tried so hard not to think about how good his touch felt. The ache deep in her soul to get closer to him had to be a figment of her poorly constructed imagination. It had to be.
"We don't know how much time we have before anyone else shows up. Can you walk?"
She nodded. It was then she finally noticed the blood on his shirt and the streaks across the thighs of his jeans where he'd obviously wiped his hands clean. He'd killed to get to her. He'd had to dirty his hands like hers. That last thought bothered her more than it was supposed to. No one should ever have to do what she did. It left you cold and hard. And alone. Always alone.
"Good. Let's go. We took out the two wolves we found, but this place is pretty big and impossible to tell if there are others close by. Either way, I guarantee we'll have company soon."
Something snapped inside her and she finally found her voice. "What about the human? There were three people holding me. Two wolves and a female human. Doctor, I'd guess. They kept me in that room the entire time with one guard and then the other two came in later to examine me. They wanted my—" Niki slapped her hand over her mouth just in time. Dean didn't know about the baby yet and this wasn't the way she wanted him to find out.
His eyes narrowed and he studied her closely for a few seconds, then he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the hallway where she spotted Bhric standing only a few feet away.
"Haven't seen the human yet, so we better get out of here before she shows up with reinforcements. Let's go. Apparently, you and I have a lot to talk about and I don't aim to do it here."
She glanced at Dean and noticed again the harsh arrogance that attracted her to him. As she'd known from the beginning, he had alpha running through his blood. But to her benefit or detriment, it was the only kind of man she could tolerate. They were everything and more in bed, and when she went for sex it wasn't for some soft, sweet guy who wanted to whisper sweet nothings in her ear. She wanted it quick and dirty like only his kind were capable of. Problem with that is once you left the bed, you were usually stuck dealing with an alpha hole of epic proportions. And in Dean's case, he had one thing going against him that she simply couldn't tolerate.
Another ridiculous tear burned at the back of her eye.
He'd claimed her as his mate.
5
They'd driven for hours in complete silence after she'd burst into tears under his onslaught of non-stop questions. She'd revealed her thoughts on the Pickwick pack. Bhric had growled and cussed through her entire story and then went stone cold when Niki broke down. There was no telling how long the eerie quiet would have lasted if he hadn't tried to take Niki to his place. Her vehement objections had seriously pissed him off, but under the circumstances he relented and agreed to let her return to Dark Moon as long as she understood he'd be accompanying her.
The minute they'd arrived in her room, she disappeared into the bathroom and left him to sit and wait for her. He glanced at the clock on the nightstand again and growled at the numbers. Forty-nine minutes and counting. While he stared at it, another minute flipped over. He'd had enough. He went to the bathroom door and pounded on it. "You've been in there for almost an hour, babe. Time to stop avoiding me."
"I'm not avoiding you." The infernal door still separating him from his mate muffled her response.
"Either you come out here or I'm coming in there. Enough is enough already."
The door cracked open and she eyed him warily. "You should know if you start yelling at me again, I won't be held responsible when I kick you in the balls."
He tried not to smile but couldn't. He'd take feistiness over tears any day. "I wasn't yelling at you, per se. I was simply pissed off and my voice had elevated in my exuberance."
She looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "Nice try, big guy. But I'm not kidding." She opened the door wide and walked out, her body now covered in form fitting leggings and a loose T-shirt that skimmed breasts larger than he remembered. He doubted the outfit had been meant to entice him, but his eyes might have rolled to the back of his head for a second as all the blood in his body pooled in his groin. Three months. Three long excruciating months he'd waited to lay eyes on her again and now that he had he wanted her—badly.
So much for being a gentleman.
She tried to brush past him and he grabbed her hip and stopped her. In an instant his body lit on fire and he had to grit his teeth to keep himself under control. There were slight changes in her body from before making her a little curvier and a little softer. The urge to throw her down on the bed and worship her rode him hard. Everything about her had burned into his brain and gotten under his skin, and one night had done nothing to assuage the heat still exploding inside him. Now this. He skimmed his hand across her stomach and wondered at the miracle of a child. Something he'd never expected in his lifetime. Pregnancy suited her.
"I've been waiting a long time to see you again," he said.
Her mouth opened and closed as if she had planned to say something and changed her mind.
"Are you feeling okay? Did they hurt you?"
"I thought you promised we could wait until tomorrow to discuss the kidnapping? I need to take a breath before we deal with that mess."
Her eyes sparked with her irritation and he found himself mesmerized by the ice blue gaze focused on him. The beast inside him was on edge. If he couldn't fight then that left only one other thing.
"You're right. Talking is overrated." He leaned forward and brushed his fingers across her cheek and tucked her hair behind her ear. Fascinated, he watched the gamut of emotions cross over her face at every touch. "I'd rather do this."
Dean brushed his lips across her jaw while alternating between kisses and tiny nips of her skin.
"This isn't a good idea," she whispered. But her tone told him she didn't believe a word she said.
He couldn't think of a better idea he'd had in his whole life. He clutched her closer and lowered closer to her mouth.
"No." She jumped out of his grasp. "If we do this it's just going to make everything harder."
"How in the world will it do that?"
"We're both on edge after what happened. You think I don't get the need to fight or fuck? That's all this is. We really need to talk before we let this go any further and I'm too confused to think straight let alone have a serious conversation." She dropped into the nearby chair and hung her head into her hands.
Dean hated the sag in her shoulders and the look of defeat on her face. She tried to hide it from him. But she was out of her mind if she thought all she meant to him right now was a woman to fuck. Of course his brain had gone there. The only memory he had of her had been one over the top incredible night that rocked his world.
He lowered his voice and knelt down in front of her so that his face was even with hers. "Yes, today was horrific and we're both feeling the after affects. But like it or not, we need each other now more than ever, babe."
"You don't even know me. How can you need someone you don't know?"
"I know what I need to for now. You're brave, you're feisty, you spend a lot of time alone. You're torn between what you want and what you think you should do, and you make my dick really, really hard. The rest will come later--in time."
She looked at him and scoffed. A soft sound that left her mouth slightly parted and gave him the opening he'd been waiting for. He swooped in and claimed her mouth with a soul-searing kiss that consumed them both and obliterated all the reasons they couldn't do this. His tongue traced the edges of her lips before he plunged inside to tangle for control. She hesitated for several seconds and then gave in, wrapping her arms around his neck.
That was it for him, and he hoped her too. The dam between them burst and they both fought to get closer. Her hands grabbed his hair and he slid his hands underneath the edge of her shirt. The sens
ation of his hands on her bare flesh made his head spin and his heart beat harder. How could a kiss be this potent?
Next thing he knew, he'd lifted her from the chair and into his arms. Her legs automatically wrapped around his waist as he carried her to the bed. As much as she'd denied this continued heat between them, he should have waited and given her time. Yet he moved forward without hesitation. If this wasn't the right thing, he'd gladly deal with the consequences later. After he fucked her. Hard.
Except, all he saw were the tears in her eyes on their way home. She'd been trying to come down from a crazy ordeal and he'd come on too strong too fast. Just like he was about to do again.
They could have sex and it would blow his fucking mind. Hopefully hers too. But that wasn't going to get them anywhere new. They both already knew how explosive they were in the bedroom. He pulled from their kiss and pressed his face into her neck. He took a deep breath and held it, letting her scent soak into his brain as he worked to rein himself in.
It wasn't easy with her wrapped around him, her sweet pussy pressed to his denim-clad cock. Dean groaned. Shit. He had to stop, right? For weeks she'd made sure he couldn't find her and this damned kidnapping hadn't left her jumping with joy to be with him. If they had sex now, it would be backtracking to where they started. He wanted more than that and more importantly he wanted her to want more than that.
Now if he could just stop thinking about how good she felt.
"I think we should take a step back," he said.
Her breath hitched. "Are you serious?" She unwrapped her legs from his waist and wiggled out of his hold. "You were ready to fuck me where I stood and now you want to stop?"
A deep growl rumbled from his chest. "Make no mistake. I want inside you as soon as possible and it will happen. But first we're gonna talk about the baby."
Niki visibly blanched while taking two steps away from him. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down on the bed with him. Like it or not, she wasn't getting away from him this time.
"How did you know?" she asked.
"You're staying in my brother's place. We may not get along very well, but some things are more sacred than a disagreement."
Niki blew out a hard breath. "Figures. I take shelter in the one place I really shouldn't. I swear my luck has been for shit lately."
He reached forward and placed his palm across her stomach. "I'd say your luck has been spot on. We've been given an incredible gift."
"Gift? Oh my God. Are you high?" She tried to wiggle away from him on the bed and he pulled her closer instead. "This baby is going to get me killed if I'm not more careful."
Dean scoffed. "Babe, you've got nothing to worry about in that department. Bhric and I can handle the Pickwick pack. In less than twenty-four hours they're going to wish they were dead." The anger he'd valiantly tried to hold back broke loose inside him. The need for sex faded as the thirst for blood took the forefront position in his mind.
"Oh please. Don't waste your time on those idiots. They don't have the brains or the organization to come after me without some outside help."
Dean jerked to meet her gaze. "What the hell does that mean? I thought you said it was the Pickwick's that took you. You were pretty confident earlier in the car."
Niki dropped the rest of her body down onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. "This wasn't ever supposed to happen. We thought we were sterile. At least that's what we were told. Zero chance of reproduction, were the exact words."
His skin prickled at the forlorn tone of her voice. She sounded defeated. Or maybe just tired. "We? Told? I'm not sure what you're talking about, but you've got to give me more information than that, darlin."
"The 'we' is my family and we were told by our mother that we were all sterile. That it was a genetic defect."
"And what does that have to do with the Pickwick assholes other than they probably thought they could keep you locked up long enough for you to give birth? I'm not completely sure, but they wouldn't be the first pack to do something desperate to replenish their numbers."
She shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. We agreed."
"Too bad. You have to explain this to me. I'm not dense, babe. But right now you ain't making a whole lotta sense."
Niki clamped her lips shut as her eyes lit with humor. She was obviously trying not to laugh at him. "Okay, Mr. Redneck. How much do you think you know about white cougars?"
"Is that some sort of trick question? I've never heard of a more secretive breed mix. There's nothing but rumors and innuendo." He rubbed a circle around her abdomen. He wondered whether the child was a girl or a boy. "You're supposed to be extremely dangerous." He bent forward and pressed his lips just above her belly button. "And anti-social." His tongue peeked out and circled the small indentation. "And you taste really good. Like wild honey on a hot summer day."
"Honey, huh?"
"Mmm. Hmm. The perfect treat as far as I'm concerned." He traced the seam of her pants and dipped his finger just under the elastic. "I bet you'll make beautiful babies."
Like a light switch had been tripped, she froze. "I'm not supposed to make babies. That's not what we were bred for."
He lifted his head and stared at her. "Bred?"
Oh boy. Talk about trouble. She should shut up right about now. "That's right. Bred. As in mixed in a lab and DNA tampered with. And so far they've screwed up every one of us."
He pulled away from her and sat up and the familiar sense of withdrawal whipped through her. She'd never told a soul as much as she'd just told him and if she were caught doing it... No, she couldn't think about that now.
For some reason fate had tied her to this man and was determined to keep him in her life. The least she could do was give him a few basic reasons on why this wasn't a good thing.
"Screwed up how? What about your parents? Who were you raised by?" She had his attention now.
"My mother. She lives a few hours from here." She wasn't going to mention their family home wasn't exactly a home. It resembled a boot camp training facility more than it did a home. "No idea who might be my father but I suspect my DNA comes from a variety of sources. Why else would we have senses so much sharper than others? And a variety of abilities that no one's ever heard of. This is why a baby is such a bad idea. The lab we were created in was shut down a long time ago, but if word has gotten out about my condition, someone somewhere is going to be interested."
Niki turned away from the confusion on Dean's face. He was putting the puzzle pieces together and, like her, he'd soon discover none of the answers included a happily ever after for the two of them. Her life was in danger. The baby's life was in even greater danger. That would always be the case.
"How did the Pickwick pack find about the baby? I can't tell at all. There's no tell-tale scent, no visible signs. Nothing indicates a pregnancy."
"That's the kicker. I was one of the experiments bred for physical superiority and one of the things that makes me so lethal is the ability to not only scent things other shifters can't, but to mask them as well. As soon as I realized I was pregnant, I left home and started moving around place to place. There are several like me who should be able to tell. I think I got away before they did, but I can't be one hundred percent certain.
"You told no one?"
"I admitted the truth to Bhric as a condition to stay here. But that's it. I should have been safe."
Niki took a breath. "Except for that strange cat girl with the scars on her face. There's something really off about her. She showed up here one day and somehow she sensed it. Freaked me the fuck out. One minute she's here and then hours later I'm taken."
"You think Kitty is behind the kidnapping? From what Bhric said, she's the one who warned him what happened to you. I don't think we'd have found you otherwise. Rumor is Kitty got seriously screwed by her past. Women from her own clan gave her those scars."
She shrugged. "If not her and not Bhric, that only leaves
my family."
Dean frowned. He did not look happy.
"I told you it was a mess, and complicated. That's why I wanted to wait until morning." She yawned. She didn't want to admit it but this pregnancy thing had really affected her energy levels. Where she'd functioned perfectly on five hours of sleep previously, she now needed a heck of a lot more. Not to mention the bed in this room was incredibly comfortable.
She may never admit it to Dean, but having him next to her made her feel safer than she'd been in a while. The constant worry and avoidance she'd experienced these last few weeks had drained her. Next to him, she could almost forget someone had kidnapped her less than forty-eight hours ago.
"Tired, babe?"
She nodded.
"Roll to your other side and let me take care of you. We can talk more in the morning."
Too tired to argue, she did as he asked and rolled away from him. The minute she got comfortable his hands touched her with long, light strokes up and down her back. She hummed with pleasure at the exquisite sensations flowing over her.
"I don't know too much about pregnant were's other than what I remember from my mother," he said. "She was a midwife and on the rare occasion a female got pregnant, she'd tell my brother and me a little about her work. I remember her saying how hard were pregnancies are. Her patients suffered a lot from fatigue."
"It's not that bad." Her tired brain tried to stay tuned into the conversation but his hands roaming across her skin distracted her. Reminded her of the pleasure she'd experienced from him all those weeks ago. A sweet ache bloomed between her thighs. Maybe he wasn't good for her in the long run, but he was damned perfect in the right now. But her eyelids were so heavy. Whatever was meant to happen between them would have to wait just a little while. Until she woke up...
6
Niki paced the length of her room over and over, back and forth. Too much was happening around her that she didn't understand. That cat chick showing up out of nowhere blew her mind. She had no right interfering in her private business. How did she know about the pregnancy anyway? Did the owner of Dark Moon, Bhric tell someone? He didn't strike her as someone who would go back on his word. Not that people didn't break their word all the time.