Wolf Shield Investigations: Boxset

by Dee Bridgnorth

  He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. The more he spoke, the more he wanted to share. “You know? It’s funny. Once we left the lab and had to find a way home, I told myself it was better that she was gone. She wouldn’t have to see me the way I was, what had become of me. If we’d gotten married like we were supposed to, she would’ve been stuck with a freak.”

  “Oh, Logan.” Jenna ran a hand under her eye like she was catching a tear.

  “I say all this to say I’ve never cared about anybody since then. I cut myself off from that part of my life, and not just for Beth. Because I am who I am. Because I have work to do, people to protect. And then you happened, and now I don’t know what to think. You’ve turned my world upside down. The way I see myself, the way I look at what those people did to us in the lab. All of it. You’ve shaken me to my core.”

  “I’m… sorry?” she winced.

  “Don’t be. You have no reason to be. I needed to be shaken up. I needed…”

  This was it. Now or never. He could say what had been brewing in his heart for days, or he could be a coward and sidestep it, pretend it wasn’t there. And he could watch her face fall in disappointment, no matter how she tried to hide it.

  “I needed you,” he admitted. “You woke me up to everything I was missing. Now, I don’t know what to do about it.” There it was. He’d never left himself so vulnerable, flayed open, waiting for her to decide whether he was worthy or not.

  She didn’t answer in words. Her answer came in the way she slid over to him, in the way she got up on her knees and took his face in her hands. She held him that way for a moment, studying him, her eyes moving over his face.

  And she smiled, and that was when he knew he’d made the right decision.

  He wrapped his arms around her, keenly aware that she wore nothing but a robe. Only thick terrycloth stood between his hands and her skin, its fragrance pulling him in, making his thoughts cloudy until only one thought—one impulse—mattered.

  “I won’t push you,” he rasped even as his body urged him to take what he wanted, what she so obviously wanted to give. She was ready, the scent of her arousal playing on his senses, but physical arousal and readiness weren’t the same.

  “I know,” she whispered between soft, tender kisses. “I know you won’t. Which is why it’s your lap I’m about to straddle and nobody else’s.” She did too, swinging one leg over his and settling down. “I can’t say I’m ready for everything, but I do want you. So much.”

  He ran hungry hands over her bare legs, making her gasp. Every caress was like a lightning bolt for both of them, their bodies waking up after being alone for so long. Yes, this was what he’d been missing, this connection. The feel of another warm body against his, a body with a deeply brilliant, witty, warm soul inside.

  A soul that reached out through her eyes as they lingered on his. “Touch me,” she breathed, moaning when his hands roamed higher over the delicate skin of her thighs, the curves of her cheeks. Her arms slid around his shoulders, tightening, her fingers curling into claws that dug into his muscles.

  “My God,” he groaned against the exposed flesh of her chest, the swells of her breasts revealed by the falling open of her robe just enough to tantalize him, enough to give him space to kiss and lick her skin. He slid his tongue under one breast, her body practically jumping away from his at the force of her reaction.

  “Shhh…” He planted a kiss in the center of her chest before moving up to her throat, taking his time. Indulging in her scent, her taste, the thumping of her pulse under his tongue. “Relax.”

  “I can’t!” she whispered, clutching him close. Her hips rocked back and forth, her breathing faster all the time. “Logan…!”

  He held her ass, kneading the firm flesh, aching to the point of explosion, but this was about her, not him. She needed to trust him with this most intimate moment, to know he wouldn’t let her down or take advantage. He worked his fingers around, between, parting swollen folds and dipping into hot, sweet nectar.

  “Oh, my God!” she cried out, convulsing, shuddering as a sudden climax swept over her. She collapsed against him, whimpering, and he smiled. Even with his balls aching something fierce and his wolf howling in dismay at being denied, he was the king of the world.

  He stroked her back, listening as her breathing slowed, became regular. No longer the desperate panting of a woman in need of release.

  She surprised him by whispering, “I’m sorry,” her face pressed against his neck.

  “You have nothing to be sorry for.” He kissed her earlobe. “Do you know how many times I’ve thought about making you do that? A lot. Let’s just leave it at that.”

  “Are you sure?” She lifted her head slightly, her hair falling in front of her face like she still wanted to hide.

  He brushed the silken strands aside until he could see her. “There’s nothing as satisfying as making a woman do that. I’m lucky that woman happened to be you.”

  “You didn’t need to do much,” she mumbled, her cheeks flushing.

  “Ouch.”

  “I didn’t mean it that way!” But he was laughing, pulling her in for a hug.

  “I know, I know. It’s been a long time. I’m honored it was me.” And he was. And if he had his way, she would honor him again and again.

  But later, once the specter of a killer was no longer hanging over their lives. “Come on,” he decided. “Let’s get dressed and go out. We’ll see if anybody tails us.”

  A half-hour later, they were outside. Jenna decided to walk toward the historic district, and he was more than glad to follow. It was nice, being together like two regular people—even if he was keenly aware at all times of the people around them.

  And there were people. Plenty of them. It was a beautiful Sunday, and it seemed half the city had decided to head into town to do a little sightseeing. They meandered up one street and down the other, peeking into historic homes where tours were being held, admiring horse-drawn carriages in which tour guides described the people who’d once stood on that very ground.

  His mind was only half on what was around them. Always, he was aware of what lurked behind them. So was Jenna. He’d relayed the waitress’s description of the man who’d asked after them so she could be on the lookout. To her credit, she was discreet.

  Until her hand tightened around his. “Six o’clock,” she murmured before bending to examine a plaque affixed to one historic home.

  Logan looked around, taking his time like he only wanted to survey what was around them. Sure enough, a red-haired man in sunglasses stood not fifty feet away, leaning against a tree with a street map in one hand. Just another tourist.

  The tension all throughout his supposedly relaxed body told a different story.

  “Come on,” Logan whispered, tugging Jenna’s hand. “I know what to do. Come with me.” He flashed a wicked smile, pulling her halfway down the street before ducking into a narrow, darkened alley between two buildings.

  “What are you doing?” she gasped when he pressed her back to the wall.

  “Trust me.” He leaned in, sliding a thigh between her legs. “He’ll think we’re sitting ducks.”

  “I hope you’re right about this,” she breathed in his ear when he bent down to kiss her neck.

  “I hope I don’t forget why we’re in this alley,” he countered, thrusting his hips forward. She laughed softly, though there was an edge to it. She was starting to panic.

  “I’ve got this,” he promised, watching the entrance to the alley out of the corner of his eye. “He won’t be able to resist.”

  When a figure filled the archway, Logan pretended to be too wrapped up in Jenna to notice. “My waistband. Under my shirt,” he whispered to her, and her nimble fingers soon closed over the butt of his pistol. She slid it out, keeping it concealed.

  “Hey, buddy,” the man murmured, closing in on them. “Ya know, you shouldn’t—”

  Logan sprang into action, taking the man by the throat and
slamming him into the wall while Jenna held the pistol on him. Sunglasses fell to the ground, revealing wide, fear-filled eyes.

  “Shouldn’t what?” Logan asked, smiling. “Shouldn’t follow people? Shouldn’t accost them in darkened alleys?”

  “What is this?” the man asked, looking from Logan to the gun. “What are you doing?”

  “What were you doing, asking about us back in Delaware?” he countered, his humorless smile widening when the man’s face went slack. “Oh, you didn’t know I knew about that? That I was waiting for you?”

  He held his hand out, signaling for Jenna to hand him the gun. When she did, he brought the butt across the man’s skull, knocking him out.

  “What are you doing?” she whispered, horrified.

  “I’m knocking him unconscious, sweetheart.” He held the man’s limp body against the wall, crouching to pick up his sunglasses. “Put these on him. We’ll grab a cab back to the hotel. He just partied a little too hard, too early in the day. No big deal.”

  And once they had him in the room, with no one to help him? That was when the real fun would begin.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

  Jenna looked at the man currently tied in place sitting on one of the hard-backed chairs positioned around the kitchen table. Good thing they’d gotten such a big room or else there wouldn’t have been anywhere to keep the guy.

  She then locked eyes with Logan, nodding. “I’m absolutely okay with it.”

  “Because there’s a chance I’m going to have to get rough with him. I don’t want you to be shocked or feel any type of way about it.”

  “I understand,” she whispered. “Remember, I’ve been through things, too. While you question him, I’ll get to work on trying to hack his phone.”

  “Okay.” But he didn’t move. He still stood in front of her, so close. His hand found hers, their fingers linking. “I couldn’t do this without you. Hope you know that.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about it. I know.” She winked, glad to see his eyes brighten a little when she did. She certainly didn’t feel half as cheerful as she tried to sound, but she would keep faking just as long as it meant giving him a break in what seemed to be nonstop tension.

  “I hope you know that when this is over, I intend to take a long time getting to know you better. All of you.” There was definite meaning in his voice and in the way he grinned down at her.

  Her heart had wings. “I’ll take you up on that. Don’t think I’ll let you forget, either.”

  “I would expect nothing less.” Then, like magic, his face hardened. His eyes lost their light, going from bright to empty. Dangerous. Woe to the person who got on his bad side when he looked like that.

  She couldn’t focus on him or on what he was about to do to get information out of their captive. The man sat there with his hands bound behind his back, legs tied to the legs of the chair. He was gagged since they couldn’t take a chance of him crying out.

  Clearly, Logan still wasn’t about to take any chances. He pulled his pistol from inside his waistband, taking the safety off. It was a very deliberate motion like he wanted to make sure his captive didn’t miss a thing.

  And while the man clearly tried to make it look like he didn’t care, there was fear behind his eyes. It was so obvious. Did he have any idea who he was in the suite with?

  Rather than trying to figure him out, she turned her attention to his phone. There had to be a way to get into it, for Val to see who was sending these messages. Granted, there wasn’t much to be done until a new message came in. She was about to take a chance of reaching out to whoever this nameless contact was. But that would look shifty. It might raise suspicion.

  She stepped into the bathroom for a little bit of privacy and called Val from the burner phone. “We have something here, and I need you and Hawk to help me with it. I don’t trust the Wi-Fi here; it’s a public connection.”

  “Sure, what’s up?”

  With one eye on the situation elsewhere in the suite, Jenna gave Val a brief rundown. “We’re fine, no problems there, but we have this guy and his phone. Somebody’s been sending him messages with instructions on where to go next, what to do. We need to find out where those messages were coming from. The number’s always blocked, but that’s no surprise. Can you get into it the way you hacked into Logan’s phone to see where my texts were coming from outside the café?”

  “What do you think?” Val asked, and she wasn’t kidding. There was a hard edge to her voice now, an edge that Jenna recognized. She’d felt that same determination before too, faith in her skills. There was nothing that could stand in her way.

  Nothing but a spotty Wi-Fi connection. She was so unprepared for this, but there hadn’t been any time before leaving the house—her priority had been to get out of there, to make sure her father got out safely. Otherwise, she hadn’t thought to bring her mobile Wi-Fi with her.

  She gave Val the number to the phone. “Okay. I’ll send you a message when I’m in.”

  “Thanks. You’re the best.”

  “Coming from you, that’s quite a compliment.” Val paused then, before adding, “Be careful, okay? Don’t let him take any stupid chances. You know what I mean.”

  “Oh, you mean like taking this assassin hostage? Bringing him up to our room and tying him to a chair?”

  “Don’t tell me anything more. I’m not sure I can handle it. There’s a reason I stay here at headquarters.” She was chuckling softly as they ended the call, but there was nothing funny about the situation.

  Jenna leaned against the doorframe between the bathroom and the living area, watching as Logan circled his prey. “Here’s how this is going to go,” he murmured, his voice like silk. Silk with a razor’s edge. “I’m going to ask you some questions. You are going to answer my questions truthfully, without hesitation. This means, naturally, that I will have to remove the gag from your mouth. This is a gesture of good faith. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

  If the assassin had half a brain in his head, he would’ve nodded quickly. Without hesitation, the way Logan had already described.

  Instead, he was stupid enough to glare at his captor, sheer hatred in his eyes.

  Logan shrugged, coming to a stop in front of the man. “Okay. Your choice.” With that, he drove his fist into the man’s face, hard enough to bruise but not hard enough to break the skin.

  After all, they couldn’t get blood all over the place.

  The man’s head snapped to the side, a groan muffled by the gag. “I’m going to ask you again.” Logan didn’t so much as flex his fingers after delivering that blow. He probably hadn’t even felt it. “Do you understand what I’m trying to say? When I remove that gag, you will not shout. You will not scream. You will not call out for help. Otherwise, I will shoot you. There’s a reason I have you over here where there’s no carpet on the floor.” Sure enough, the kitchen area was tiled. Easy to clean up.

  Fear flickered behind the man’s narrowed eyes. He was trying so hard to seem strong, brave, but he was failing miserably.

  Naturally, Logan would pick up on this. Not only did he probably have experience in interrogation, but his animal sense would’ve picked up the stench of fear rolling off the man. Jenna could smell it even from where she stood—sour, nasty.

  “One more time. Do you understand? Will you play along? Or will I put a bullet in your head?” He touched the muzzle to the man’s forehead, between his eyes. “Because once we get into your phone, we won’t need you anymore. As it is, if your little friend sends you a message, we can respond and pretend to be you. No big deal. But I would like to know as much as I can find out before that happens.”

  The man mumbled something, his words lost. Jenna looked to Logan, brows lifting.

  Logan glanced at her before looking down at the man. “It’s very simple. Nod or shake your head. One or the other. If you’re willing to play along, I’m glad to answer any question you
might have. But I need to know in advance if you’re going to play nice.”

  It was so clear he didn’t want to agree. He wanted to stay strong, to be brave and not give in. But with a gun to his head, what was he supposed to do?

  He nodded, his shoulders falling in defeat.

  “See? That wasn’t so bad. Now, I’ll answer your question once I remove this gag.” Still, Logan kept the gun trained on the man as he pulled a balled-up washcloth from his mouth. He took his time too like he wanted the chance to shove the rag back in case the assassin changed his mind.

  He didn’t. He licked his lips, clearing his throat. “Water?” he rasped.

  Logan glanced at Jenna and nodded. She went to the kitchen, pulling a bottle of water from the fridge and uncapping it. Logan took it from her and poured a little of the water into the man’s mouth—not a lot but enough to moisten it. “Play nice and there’s more where that came from,” he growled, placing the bottle where the man could see it, where it would taunt him.

  He was good at this. She knew it wasn’t right to find his control of the situation arousing, but there was no helping it. Her body responded, tightening her nipples, making wetness pool between her thighs. He was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen.

  What a completely warped situation this was.

  “Now. You had a little water. You had a question, didn’t you? What is it you want to know?”

  “How do I know you aren’t going to just kill me to find out what you want to know?” the man asked.

  “That’s a good question.” Logan pulled up a chair, turning it backward and straddling it. He folded his arms on top of it, the gun still in his hand and still pointed at the stranger. “Tell you the truth, I’m not sure what I’m going to do with you. Once you outlive your usefulness, I mean. Which means it behooves you to be useful. It could be that when this is over, we’ll let you go. You’re only doing a job. I know how that goes.”