Sleepers: Shifters Confidential Romance Collection

by Juniper Hart

  “We need to get you to a proper doctor in Berlin,” Dex told her. “One who can do a proper assessment of you and the baby.”

  She eyed him, wondering again what all that meant.

  “Do you mean a doctor who knows that we’re Sleepers?” she finally asked. It was the only reason she could imagine that he was being so dead set about seeing this particular physician.

  “No,” Dex replied slowly. “She doesn’t know that we’re Sleepers but she can be trusted. Our positions aren’t known by many.”

  “Klaus Bremner knows about me apparently,” Sabine replied curtly.

  “Klaus Bremner was in your class at the compound,” he replied. The entire situation troubled Sabine.

  “What happened to him?”

  “He failed out and was escorted out of the facility just like dozens of others before him.”

  “And he took it badly?”

  “Apparently.”

  Sabine shook her head.

  “But why is he targeting me? Is he going after the entire graduating class? Should we be warning the others about him?”

  “I’ve taken the necessary precautions,” Dex answered quickly. “So far, there are no other reports of him attacking anyone.”

  Sabine groaned loudly.

  “Then he’s specifically targeting me. Tell me about him. Were we close in the school? Did we date or have a relationship?”

  Hurt and annoyance flashed over Dex’s face and Sabine was instantly contrite. She didn’t believe it either but what other reason could he have? If the man wasn’t going after other graduates, there must be a reason he sought her out.

  “Not that I’m aware of,” Dex said curtly. She wished he didn’t look so upset by the idea, but she truly had no recollection.

  “I think it’s more likely that you found something out about him and he was trying to silence you,” Dex offered after a moment of uncomfortable silence. Sabine’s eyebrows raised.

  “Like what?” she demanded.

  “All I know for certain is that you had a storage unit in Bremner. You had something there but any evidence of what you were onto was gone. Klaus grabbed you from there and likely took all trace of what was there.”

  A small shudder passed over Sabine’s body as an image of Klaus’ fangs shot through her mind.

  What was that? Did I imagine it in my panic or was he truly transforming into some beast?

  “What is it? Are you remembering something?” Dex asked eagerly, leaning forward. She shook her head.

  “Nothing worthwhile,” she mumbled, shoving the memory out of her head. Protectively, she slipped her hands over her womb and sank back into the rickety wooden chair.

  “Maybe it will be helpful if we replay some of the conversations you had,” Dex offered but Sabine shook her head.

  “I’ve replayed them over and over in my head. Everything he said was innocuous. He just seemed like a normal guy, trying to get laid.”

  The words popped out of her mouth before she considered them and embarrassment colored her cheeks.

  “Sorry. That was rude.”

  But when she looked up, she saw Dex grinning broadly at her.

  “No,” he corrected. “That was typical Sabine. I knew you were in there somewhere.”

  Her shoulders sagged slightly and she let out a low laugh. She was insurmountably tired.

  “I have an idea,” Dex said, rising from the chair. “Let’s get out of Hude tonight. We’ll stay at a hotel in Berlin, order room service, and head to the doctor in the morning. When we get the green light, we’ll head back and form a plan of attack.”

  “Now?” Sabine asked in disbelief. “It’s four hours to Berlin.”

  “Five if we take the scenic route,” Dex agreed, reaching for her hand. “But it’s safer than being here, waiting for Klaus to return without any backup or game plan.”

  Sabine nodded slowly, knowing that even with Dex there, she didn’t have the energy to fight another battle with Klaus if he was brazen enough to appear.

  “I have to work tomorrow,” she remembered.

  “I have a feeling that if you take a day, no one will fault you for it,” Dex insisted. “Call in tonight.”

  Sabine studied his face for a long moment, weighing her decision. She lowered her eyes in shame as she again shook her head.

  “I really can’t afford it, Dex.”

  He scoffed lightly.

  “Are you kidding?” he chuckled. She raised her eyes and met his gaze angrily.

  “No, I’m not!”

  Instantly his smile faded and he shook his head.

  “I mean,” he began again, “you can afford it. You forget that you have a life in Bremen, Sabby, one with a bank account and a house. You’re not a struggling waitress from the boonies.”

  Sabine blinked, the words seeping in slowly. Until that moment, it hadn’t occurred to her that she was someone else in Germany.

  “I don’t need to work at the café?” she murmured, unsure of how she felt about that. Despite Hans’ brusque nature and the demands of the restaurant, she had grown to enjoy her life in Hude.

  Maybe that was because it was the only one she’d ever known. She couldn’t keep waitressing much longer anyway with the baby on the way.

  “Oh…” she mumbled, unsure of what else to say. She paused. “Maybe we can go to my house in Bremen instead of Berlin tonight.”

  To her surprise, Dex sat up, his back stiffening to a steel rod.

  “No!” he choked.

  “Why not?”

  Dex had no answer for a moment.

  “Because… because it’s more important that you see a doctor before we do anything else,” he stuttered. Sabine’s eyes narrowed.

  Is he lying to me?

  It certainly felt that way but how could she question him when he was the only one providing her with answers?

  “Okay…” she agreed slowly. “What about on the way home from Berlin?”

  Dex’s eyes brightened.

  “So, is that a yes to Berlin?” he asked. She shrugged and nodded.

  “Why not?” she agreed, reaching for the cordless landline phone to call the café. She would leave a message at that hour and hope that Hans would pick it up in the morning.

  She dialed out and waited for the café’s voicemail to kick in before leaving the message for her boss and disconnecting the call.

  “Done,” she told Dex. “Let me pack a bag.”

  Dex nodded, relief flooding his face, but as she moved around the small space to collect her belongings, she couldn’t stop herself from stealing covert glances in his direction. He twirled an old-school cell phone in his hand, one which kept drawing Sabine’s eyes.

  If we belong to such an organization, shouldn’t he have a better phone than a flip from 1999?

  Almost immediately, the answer surfaced in her head.

  “Burner phones are your best friend when you’re on assignment, recruits. Stay away from those fancy Apples and Androids. They are easily tapped and hacked. Old-school is the only way to travel in these situations, style be damned.”

  With her lids half-closed, Sabine could conjure the image of a black-haired woman, her blazing green eyes rife with wisdom and something else.

  Malice? Anger?

  Whatever it was, Sabine was sure she didn’t like it.

  “Almost ready?” Dex asked when he caught her standing still, staring into nothingness. Sabine cleared her throat and nodded quickly.

  “Yes,” she agreed. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Sabine was impressed at how seamlessly Dex oriented himself.

  “You know this area well,” she commented and he chuckled.

  “I should. I’ve been here hundreds of times.”

  She giggled at the hyperbole.

  “What’s your story, then?” she asked. “You were recruited too?”

  “I was one of the originals brought to the compound, over a decade ago,” he replied. “Before that, I was a Special Operation
s Capability Specialist in the Marines.”

  “Semper fi,” Sabine heard herself say. He chuckled.

  “You always say that when I say ‘Marines’,” he laughed, casting her a loving look through his peripheral vision. Sabine stifled a sigh.

  He knew her better than she knew herself.

  “Do you think we’re making any progress with this fight against the Cabal?”

  “Sometimes yes, sometimes no,” he confessed. “But I’m learning every day that I’m not really getting a clear picture of things.”

  “No?”

  Dex grunted slightly.

  “One of the first rules of combat is that you trust your instincts above all else,” he said slowly, a faraway look overtaking his expression. “I think I forgot that when I came into the compound.”

  The statement was intriguing but Dex didn’t add to it and Sabine didn’t ask.

  She settled back against the leather seats and embraced the feeling of the seat warmer against her lower back.

  This is where I’m supposed to be, she thought, slowly permitting herself to become the woman who had been hiding inside herself. Is this where I want to be?

  It was impossible to reconcile that once upon a time, she had run into the face of danger, leaving everyone behind who had loved her. She wondered if she really wanted to be the old Sabine Mayer or if she liked this new version better.

  Maybe I can be a bit of both, she reasoned but even then she knew it wouldn’t be possible. She had to make a choice. Her only hope was that she made the right one.

  Sabine’s breath was stolen from the moment they stepped foot inside the Regent. She barely knew where to feast her eyes, from the grand piano to the dazzling chandeliers, glinting off the marble floors.

  Another rush of memory shot through her, a ballroom, a glass of wine in her hand, and three others whispering in hushed voices about what was going to happen next.

  “Will this do?” Dex asked teasingly in her ear. Her reverie was shattered and she turned to look at him in awe.

  “This place must cost a fortune!” she cried more loudly than she intended but Dex didn’t seem to notice the odd stares of the expensively dressed people nearby.

  “We get a special discount,” he assured her, linking his arm through hers and guiding her toward the reception desk. The young lady behind the desk smiled beguilingly at Dex.

  “Well, well, well,” she cooed in German, batting her eyelashes in a way that incensed Sabine. “Look who we have here!”

  She purposefully ignored Sabine, leaning coyly over the marble countertop to reach for Dex’s fingers.

  “Where have you been, Sam? I’ve missed you.”

  Sabine wisely pursed her lips together, realizing that the clerk must have known Dex as one of his alter egos.

  See? No need to be jealous. He’s just working.

  The understanding did nothing to alleviate her mounting annoyance as Dex played into the woman’s hands.

  “Life as an accountant is busy,” Dex replied, flashing her one of his most charming smiles. Sabine had to look away. “I have a suite booked for tonight under my name.”

  The clerk’s smile faded slightly and she backed up to look at the computer. Only then did she give Sabine a covert, cold look before shifting her eyes back toward the device.

  “Ja, you do,” she agreed, printing up the receipt. “Suite 305.”

  “I like that suite,” Dex replied and she laughed with too much force, the noise grinding on Sabine’s nerves. She turned herself away, separating her body from Dex and the flirty desk manager.

  The lobby was a place of ethereal beauty. Sabine felt as though she’d stepped into a nineteenth century castle with the gleaming gold accents and thick velvet curtains.

  She suddenly wondered if she was being too hasty, giving up her job. Dex claimed that Sleepers weren’t always activated. What if she never was and could live comfortably with her baby in Germany like she wanted? It was granting her some level of security.

  And if you are activated? Then what will you do? Go on a mission with an infant in your arms?

  She reminded herself that if she remained a Sleeper, she would also have to say goodbye to Dex.

  I’ll be raising the baby alone while the man I love is far away from me.

  She shook her head at the thought, wondering why she was even entertaining it. There was no way Anatoli was going to permit her to go back to work without all her memories intact. Her life as a Sleeper was over before it had even really begun.

  “…know better, Sam,” she heard the clerk whisper in a low tone. “She’s not one of us.”

  “Alex, that’s enough,” Dex growled back, his voice equally low.

  “It’s not enough,” Alex complained. “That’s the problem with the world today, you know? Too much interbreeding. We need to stick with our own kind.”

  Sabine didn’t turn, her blood beginning to boil at the words.

  What kind is that exactly? she wanted to shout but she didn’t dare, her ears honed to hear the rest of the conversation.

  “Alex…”

  “Nein, you can’t shut me up,” Alex insisted. “Not when you bring a witch here and shove it in our faces.”

  Sabine’s mouth parted but before she could address the mouthy clerk, Dex spoke.

  “She might be a witch, but she is who I chose,” he replied softly. “Now give me my keys.”

  Alex grumbled something that Sabine couldn’t hear because her pulse was roaring in her ears.

  I’m a witch now?

  “Ready to head upstairs and have a jacuzzi bath?” Dex asked. A mask fell over Sabine’s hurt expression and she nodded, smiling warmly.

  “I sure am,” she replied, swallowing the lump in her throat.

  16

  They entered the suite and dropped their bags. Dex looked around the familiar room with bittersweet memories, but he barely had time to acknowledge them as Sabine grabbed him, crushing her lips to his.

  The movement took him by surprise and he fell back slightly but she didn’t release her hold on his dark mane, her kiss growing more urgent.

  His strong arms encircled her waist and together, they danced out of the sitting room toward the master bedroom, Dex falling onto his back as Sabine straddled him.

  There was a look in her eyes he had never seen before, a fire shooting out to lock into his gaze.

  “Are you—”

  She pressed her mouth to his hand, dropping her head forward to allow her silken tresses to cover his face, lips falling onto his throat.

  “Shh,” she mumbled, sinking her teeth gently into the flesh of his shoulder as she moved along the fabric of his long-sleeved shirt.

  In seconds, she wriggled his torso free, hand splaying over the rippled muscles of his body to explore the curves. Her nails dug into his abs, causing him to writhe beneath her. As quickly as his shirt had come off, his pants, too, found their way into a far corner of the room as she slid her curvy form against his flesh, her own skin as hot as his.

  Again, their eyes met and Dex was slightly perplexed but in his arousal, he didn’t question the shift in her disposition. He moved to switch positions, but she captured his wrists in her palms, slamming him against the bed.

  “Like this,” she told him. A burst of heat shot through his body as he arched upward to center her against him. He did know this Sabine, this passionate, powerful being who loved her control, and with only a mild struggle, he let her have it.

  Sabine lowered herself onto his waiting manhood and Dex gasped at the feel of her against him.

  I’ll never get tired of this, he swore, bucking up to fill her entirely. She, too, sighed at the sensation, releasing one hand to balance herself against the firmness of his chest as they fell into a carefully choregraphed dance of passion.

  Sabine’s cries grew louder, more frenzied as their rhythm increased, each one of them lost in the sensations overtaking their bodies, until Sabine spasmed against him, falling forward to cru
sh her full breasts against his face.

  Unable to hold back any longer, Dex permitted himself to join her level of ecstasy, his own climax following in short order.

  They clung to each other, their breaths ragged and racing until Sabine abruptly fell off him.

  “Well,” Dex quipped, “it looks like you approve of my hotel idea.”

  “Yeah,” Sabine replied with a slight edge to her voice. “But what do you care? It’s only the approval of a witch, right?”

  The headiness that had enveloped him dissipated in a shot and Dex bolted up to stare at her.

  She remembers!

  “You…” he gasped.

  “Yeah, I heard you and your girlfriend talking shit about me downstairs,” Sabine interjected, also sitting up to glare at him. “Thanks for coming to my defense.”

  “Oh…” Dex sank back, deflated.

  “Oh?” she echoed. “Someone calls the mother of your child a witch and you agree? Is this what you’re going to teach our kid?”

  The feistiness was certainly back, even if Sabine’s memory wasn’t. She was slowly returning to him.

  “Wow,” Sabine snapped, slipping off the bed to dress. “I really thought better of you, Dex.”

  How could he explain this without actually explaining it?

  He couldn’t. There was only one way to do it. She needed to know the entire truth about herself, about the shifters. He had intended to tell her after the doctor’s appointment anyway, assuming that the shifter physician gave the go-ahead, but Dex knew he didn’t have a choice now.

  “You are a witch, Sabine,” Dex sighed dully. He watched as she spun to glower at him.

  “I don’t know what I’ve done in the past,” she barked defensively. “But considering I can’t defend myself against what I don’t remember, this is kind of low.”

  Slowly, he sat up again, shaking his disheveled mop of hair.

  “No, Sabby. I’m not insulting you. I’m telling you that you are a witch, a sorceress.”

  For a long moment, she only stared at him, the disbelief and anger not fading from her expression.

  “What the hell does that even mean?” she finally growled. “I’m a Wiccan?”