The Man Within

by Lora Leigh

  move, she could only feel, and what she was feeling threatened to destroy her.

  The carpet beneath her rasped her knees, the tender flesh of her breasts, but the minute sensations only blended with the others. Lightning arced from her pussy through her womb, sizzling beneath her skin as it streaked through her body, throwing her higher, driving her closer to destruction.

  He pushed her headlong in her flight to ecstasy, his cock powering into her, filling her, stroking the already blistering heat higher, hotter.

  “No!” She tried to scream as she felt her womb tighten, ripple, convulse. It would kill her. Whatever the sensation, the power building furiously inside her—it would kill her.

  Then there was no breath left to scream, to cry. Her eyes widened, her vision blurred. The muscles of her cunt clamped onto his cock as she felt the sudden change occurring in it. It was as though a small thumb had distended beneath the flared hood of his erection, swelling, lodging against a bundle of nerves inside her, caressing, vibrating, until she exploded.

  “God! Roni! Baby…” Deep, hard, the blasts of heated semen shot into the ultra-tight channel, triggering another tremor, another explosion that left her gasping, fighting for breath as she collapsed to the carpet.

  What was it? She shuddered again as Taber followed her down, groaning harshly as the small caress of the added stimulation kept shuddering through her body. As though… No. The thought was pushed away, denied. There were no physical characteristics of the animal he was. The scientists had assured the public of it. Other than the longer canines, they were human. Weren’t they?

  Then she couldn’t think anymore. The next explosion that tore through her was nearly brutal in its intensity. She could only cry out, could only let it have her while Taber collapsed over her. His breathing was harsh, his body as damp as her own now.

  “Roni.” His voice sounded tormented, pained, as he fought to catch his breath.

  “What did you do, Taber?” she whispered, the blurring at the edge of her vision becoming darker.

  “What did you do…”

  Chapter Nine

  “She’ll be fine.” Dr. Martin patted Roni’s slack hand as he gently settled it on the bed beside her unconscious body. He had finally finished his examination. On the table beside the bed were the vials of various samples he needed. “Remember, she’s only the second known mate, and her body’s been under the strain of it for over a year. Physically, it could be much different for her than it was for Merinus. I’ll run my tests and we’ll see how she does when she awakens.” Taber stared down at Roni from the other side of the bed, his conscience searing him with remorse.

  What had he done to her? For the first time since his childhood, the animalistic side had controlled him, rather than the human. When it had mattered most, he had forgotten he was a man.

  “Is she sleeping or unconscious?” Taber almost winced at the sound of his voice and the pain seeping into it.

  Doc shot him a worried glance. “She’s just sleeping, Taber. The day has been quite eventful for her. Let her body rest and her mind cope. Sometimes it’s all that saves a soul.” The haunted shadows that lingered in the scientist’s eyes gave testament to that fact. “Have her in the lab first thing in the morning.

  We’ll run a few more tests, make certain they are coinciding with the readings we had from Merinus, and then we’ll just wait and see.”

  Wait and see if she conceives. Taber’s fists clenched with an almost murderous fury. From the moment he had seen the attack on her on that damned television his only thought had been taking her. Marking her. Assuring himself that no other could ever touch her again. He pushed his fingers wearily through his hair as he stared down at her.

  She was pale. Dark circles lingered under her eyes, showing the scattering of freckles across her nose in stark relief. She looked so innocent… Hell, she had been innocent. A fucking virgin, and he had taken her like an animal.

  He turned to the window at his side, drawing back the dark curtains, staring out at the grounds of the estate. He had taken her from her home, brought her to a damned armed camp and molested her before even taking the time to explain the changes taking place in her body after his kiss.

  He had known when he kissed her what he was doing. Had known what would happen, but he had been helpless to stop. He had protected her since she was a child, until the moment she had truly needed his strength. Then he had failed her. He had allowed the animal to take control and now Roni would pay the price.

  “Taber, I’ll need samples from you as well,” Doc said softly from the end of the bed. “As soon as possible, if you don’t mind.”

  Taber pulled back from the window, allowing the drapes to fall back in place.

  “When she awakens,” he said softly. “I’ll come down then.”

  “Now, Taber. There may not be time when she awakens.” Merinus stepped forward then, her voice firm. “You go with Doc. I’ll sit here with Roni. Besides, she might need a more calming influence than you are at the moment when she awakens.”

  Taber wanted to deny it, but he knew she was right. Roni didn’t need to face him when she first awoke.

  Hell, he was terrified of facing her. Of seeing the hatred and disgust she must surely feel for him now.

  How would he ever convince her how much she filled his heart when he had taken her as little more than an animal?

  As he left the room he was aware of Callan following him, sensed the strange discord in his leader, and sighed wearily.

  “Shoot me,” he muttered as they entered the lab on the basement floor of the mansion several minutes later.

  “What would be the point?” Callan asked, a thread of amusement coloring his deep voice. “I shoot you and there goes Roni’s mate. She may not thank me for that later.” Taber removed his shirt as the doctor indicated he should. He knew what was coming. Blood samples, saliva, semen and perspiration samples. The list went on and on and the very thought of them had his body tightening in distaste.

  “She might kill me herself when she sees me again,” he grunted, his anger building by the second. “I took her like an animal, Callan. I fucking drugged her, then raped her. Like an animal.”

  “Stop, Taber.” Callan shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest as his golden-brown eyes narrowed. “It wasn’t rape. I could smell her heat when you brought her into the house. And we both know the hormone doesn’t react unless you’re with your mate.”

  “She said ‘no’.” He shook his head, unable to stare his leader in the eye any longer. “She said ‘no’, Callan, and I ignored her.”

  Taber extended his arm for the doctor and his wicked needles as he avoided Callan’s gaze. Son of a bitch, this wasn’t how he had foreseen his first time with Roni. He had wanted—hell no, he had needed

  —to touch her gently, to ease her into the mating.

  “My studies indicate that the ferocity of the mating is mutual, Taber.” Doc Martin slid the needle into his arm with no more than a small prick. “Wait and see how she feels when she wakes up. The heat of lust often makes little sense when reality returns. Even if you aren’t a Breed.”

  “She can’t go back, Taber. You know that,” Callan told him softly. “Besides, we have other problems.

  From the minute that story hit the airwaves, movement began among the Council members and their known soldiers. Her home was set ablaze within the hour and there are indications that orders have gone out to take her, no matter what, before conception. She’s in more danger than Merinus ever was.” The Council. Rather than negotiating with Washington and trying to play fair, they should have slipped into the homes of the bastards running that little show and sliced their throats. They didn’t deserve the mercy that had been afforded them.

  In the past three months, since the discovery and rescue of nearly a hundred other Feline Breeds that Kane had located, the Council had waged a silent, deadly war against them. They hadn’t been neutralized as the government had promised they would
be. They weren’t powerless as Kane had hoped would happen.

  In the past month alone, four of their liaisons to the government and military had been murdered. The last, a young female, had been returned to them in pieces, literally. And now Roni would be in even more danger. They needed her to understand the mating process that had been leaked to the media. Needed her to figure out the best way to control, or to destroy, the creations that had escaped them. Taber was determined that anyone who tried to take her would die.

  Taber’s lip lifted in a snarl. “Let them try, Callan. I won’t play nice this time.” Through the years they had tried to be merciful. They ran rather than killed, and they killed only when no other answer was available. They had gained more amusement, more satisfaction, in seeing the soldiers running back to base in disgrace rather than in pieces. But if one dared to touch Roni, then he swore there would be too many damned pieces for anyone to attempt to collect.

  “None of us will play nice in such an event,” Callan assured him. “But this worries me. The Council has lain low until now, with the report of the second known mate to the Felines, and suddenly they’re moving.

  It leaves me wondering what they’ve been planning while they were so silent.” Taber grunted. They had been waiting for the other shoe to drop for three months now, knowing that eventually the day would come when they had to face the monsters of their past without the public support they had garnered. But moving now made no sense.

  “What do they want?” Taber shook his head. “No one has even tried to threaten Merinus since we came forward. Why now?”

  “Because Kane has every damned C.I.A. agent in the world swearing vengeance if his baby sister is touched, and he has the clout to back it.” Callan grunted. “The Tyler family name is protecting her, for now. I don’t know if it would hold the same weight for Roni, or even if this is the reason why the Council hasn’t moved yet. It’s too soon to tell. At the moment all we have are questions and supposition. I need more information to be certain of anything.”

  “Could be the hormones the female produces during heat,” the doctor spoke up as he stuck a swab between Taber’s lips and poked it under his tongue.

  Taber frowned down at the impatient doctor as a low growl vibrated from his chest.

  “Stop that.” Doc frowned back fiercely. “Remember who circumcised you. It could be castration next.”

  “You’d have to get the chance first,” Taber snapped, ignoring the doctor’s chuckle as he walked away with the saliva sample. “Is he getting grouchier or what?” Callan shook his head as he flashed Taber a laughing glance.

  “Get my jollies where I can, young ‘un,” Doc griped as he messed with the various vials and solutions on another table. “Now, go pee pee in the cup for the good doctor and get me some little soldiers while you’re at it, and then you can run along and play again.” Taber grimaced as he flashed the doctor a killing glance.

  “You’re getting damned strange in your old age, Doc,” he growled as he took the two small plastic containers from the doctor and stomped back to the bathroom at the end of the lab. “Hope you at least left my fucking magazines back here. A man needs more than your cackles to get the soldiers to move, ya know.”

  Chapter Ten

  He didn’t need the magazines and wasn’t bothered by the cackles. Taber’s libido was raging and all it took was the remembered feel of Roni, her sweet heat and the rippling contractions of her tight pussy, to bring his little soldiers spilling into the container as the doctor requested.

  He returned to the lab a short time after leaving it, placing the capped containers on the table before turning back to Callan.

  “What else do I have to look forward to?” he grunted. “First I rape my mate, now I’m in Frankenstein’s lab jacking off. Are we having fun yet?”

  Callan chuckled, though Doc Martin only grunted with the absent-minded attention of a man thoroughly engrossed in whatever the microscope was telling him.

  “Come on. I have the reports in the office upstairs. From the looks of things it appears as if we have several orders going out, though we haven’t busted that code completely yet. Our informants are nervous as hell, and money has started shifting around in select accounts again. Kane has his sources working overtime, as well as the brothers, but it could be days before we know what the hell is going on.” The story of their lives, Taber grimaced. The past three months had felt like years. The progress they made by revealing themselves to a sympathetic society was marked by each hurdle the Council placed before them. Even more alarming was the rise of several groups spouting a “pure blood” agenda. Breeds weren’t human, they had stated. Their animal DNA canceled them from any human rights to which they would have otherwise been entitled. The bastards were fanatical monsters and growing in number daily.

  “We have the perimeter fences wired for sound and ready to record,” Taber told him as they took the stairs to the second floor quickly. “The animals were released last week and they’re working out wonderfully. Just make certain to keep Merinus in the protected areas until we know how well Cabal’s connection with them is working.”

  Cabal was an enigma, and often a worry. He was the only Breed so far to show a natural connection with the predatory felines that the Breed’s DNA was a part of. There was a Bengal tiger, a lion and two cougars now guarding the woods. All female. All under the control of Cabal St. Laurens.

  “So far, they’re as tame as kittens,” Callan grunted as they entered the office. “But I’m keeping an eye on things. Kane and Gray are moving into the house tonight to provide added protection for Merinus and we have most of our people back within the perimeters until we figure out what the hell is going on.”

  “Why would they need a mate before conception?” Taber frowned as he picked up several of the reports they had and began reading. “There has to be something they’re looking for.”

  “I’m going to assume, as does Doc, that it has something to do with the hormones that mark them genetically,” Callan reported. “It produces the pheromone that instinctively warns off all other men, including those who aren’t Breeds. Combine that with the aphrodisiac qualities and it’s damned hard telling what those bastards have up their sleeves.”

  “Anything from the Wolf Breeds?” Taber asked, frowning down at the papers.

  The solitary, wary group of Wolf Breeds had made contact less than two months before. It had been assumed they had died in the lab explosions during the attempted rescue, though Taber had suspected otherwise. The Felines had laid the groundwork for contact immediately upon learning of them, and had made certain everything would be in place to help them should they need it.

  “Their liaison, Faith, is in place to begin meetings. They’re wary, though, even more so than we were at first. They’re working with the ambassador the President assigned to the Breeds, so I’m confident that will work out well. In the meantime, we have the fucking Council to deal with. So, no, we’re not having fun yet.”

  Taber cursed silently. The Council had gotten smart fast. They changed their codes and passwords often enough to drive Kane crazy trying to work them out. Soldiers were being shifted around constantly.

  Some were no more than distractions, while others regularly threw whatever wrench they could into the diplomatic efforts between the Breeds and the government protecting them.

  “We can’t stay on high alert forever,” Taber sighed, shaking his head. “The men will get too complacent when nothing happens.”

  “Yet, we can’t give them a chance to strike, either,” Callan sighed. “Kane should be here tonight. We’ll figure out our best course of action and go on from there. But from the looks of these reports, Roni is our main concern. Now how much of a danger will she be personally?” Callan’s voice hardened as he asked this question.

  Taber laid the papers back on the desk and turned to face his leader. He knew what Callan was asking.

  Given her father’s history of illegal and less than savory business de
alings, it only made sense to question the daughter’s loyalty as well. At least, in most cases. But if there was one thing Taber knew about Roni, it was the fact that she was nothing like her father.

  “No more than Merinus would be.” There was no question of Roni’s loyalty, just her love. “You’ve known her as long as I have, Callan. She’s never betrayed a friend or a trust. But she’s scared, and most likely out for my blood by the time she wakes up. I can’t think she would be a danger to anyone but me.” Callan nodded. “Pretty much what I thought myself. But we have to be certain. Whatever you think you did to her, fix it. Trust me, an irate mate is more than you want to deal with.” The expression on his face was so self-mocking Taber couldn’t help but laugh. He knew exactly how Callan suffered when he managed to get on the wrong side of his feisty little wife. She had a mouth that could castrate a man at twenty paces, and if that wasn’t effective, then he slept in one of the spare bedrooms until she got over her ire.

  “I’ll have to tell her about her house,” he sighed.

  With her home destroyed, Taber knew she had nothing else now to hold onto her childhood or her past.

  It would all be gone, destroyed in a cruel, merciless act against a woman innocent of the crimes the Council laid at the Breeds’ feet. But she was a mate. Any way they could hurt her, would hurt them.

  “You take care of Roni, I’ll take care of the rest of it.” Callan pushed his fingers wearily through his hair.

  “We’ll need to make plans to begin building cabins within the estate, though. If we don’t, this house could end up filling fast with the pitter patter of little feet.” He didn’t sound upset over it, merely worried.

  “The children will be in more danger than we were, Callan,” Taber told him softly. “Doc needs to figure out how to control this before it’s out of hand.”

  “Merinus went out of heat when she conceived.” Callan shook his head. “She hasn’t suffered from it since, though my DNA still marks her.” He sounded haunted. “She still carries it.” They weren’t entirely certain how that happened, but Merinus still carried traces of Callan’s unique DNA in her blood. It hadn’t changed her body, hadn’t reshaped her genetics in any way. Rather, it had marked her blood, her saliva, even her perspiration, with traces of the same hormonal variances that Callan carried.

  He should have stayed away from Roni, Taber thought tiredly as he glimpsed the shadows in Callan’s eyes. They worried constantly that somehow, some way, the Council would manage to get their hands on Merinus and her unborn child. During high alert times Callan rarely slept and would re-check their security on the hour—damned near every hour.

  “I can’t let her go,” Taber whispered. He only wished he could.

  “I know.” Callan wiped his hands over his faced wearily. “I know exactly how you feel.” Chapter Eleven

  Roni came awake, bathed in perspiration, her flesh feeling irritated and achy. Her breasts were swollen, her nipples throbbing. Between her thighs her pussy clenched, wept, as she remembered the hard driving thrusts of Taber’s cock inside the narrow channel.

  It hadn’t been the romantic interlude she had always fantasized about. There had been no candlelight, no Taber on his knees begging for forgiveness, instead, there had been blistering heat, intensity, and some unnamed desperation clawing between both of them that refused to be ignored. The orgasm that ended it had blown all her preconceived notions of what an orgasm could be, right out the window. Now, if she could just get him to do it again.

  She would have to find him first, though. She looked around the room. Night must have finally fallen. The room was dimmer than before, lit only by the soft glow of the lamp beside the bed. The heavy dark wood of the furniture gave the room a protective feeling. Sturdy, uncluttered, and yet uniquely Taber’s.

  On the far side of the room a large picture of him standing in front of the garage he had owned in Sandy Hook hung prominently. Several trophies he had won in shooting contests were displayed on the dresser beneath it. Taber hadn’t been an excessively public person, but he had been well known. Well known and well trusted.

  She tried to get her bearings, to fight the insidious arousal building in her. He had said she was in heat.

  That she would be unable to deny him. Unable to deny his touch. This went beyond denial; this was a beast clawing at her womb, screaming out in demand for the explosive orgasm he had given her before.

  She moaned weakly as she turned to her side, wondering at the tight cramps in her lower abdomen.

  With each spasm her vagina pulsed and throbbed in accompaniment. With each twisting contraction her anger grew. Taber had done this to her. Where before her arousal and need for him had been only a hypersensitive irritation, it had now become an agony.

  “God, it could only happen to me,” she whispered into the silent room as she stared at the wall across from her.

  “Not exactly.” A sympathetic female voice spoke behind her, causing Roni to jerk over in the bed, clutching the comforter to her bare breasts as her eyes widened.

  She remembered meeting Merinus the day before, though only vaguely. Her mind was consumed with the memory of the heat, the driving need that had tormented her. And Taber. Fierce, savage, determined to claim her despite the fact that he had been the one to walk away months before.

  The other woman watched her with deep brown eyes filled with compassion. She was slender, about Roni’s height, with long, light brown hair and compassionate eyes. Her expression was calm, sympathetic, and brought a lump to Roni’s throat. She had never truly had friends, at least not once they met her father, and this woman’s gentle manner made her realize all she had given up over the years.

  Merinus, despite the luxurious surroundings of the estate and what Roni remembered of this house, didn’t appear to adopt a “lady of the manor” attitude, though. She was dressed in faded jeans, a loose cream-colored cotton shirt and sneakers. She seemed the type more at home camping in the great outdoors than supervising a mansion.

  “Where’s Taber?” She looked around the room to be certain he wasn’t there.

  “He’s with Callan at the moment. He’s head of security here at the estate, and some of the new measures they were putting in place required his attention.” Merinus stood up from the chair she had been sitting in and padded over to the bed.

  “I have some clothes that should fit you laid out in the bathroom if you would like to wash up and get dressed. I’d suggest a bath for now. It seems to ease the worst of the mating effects for a short time.” Roni felt heat rise in her face as the other woman mentioned the insane desire that had held her in its grip earlier. She could handle wanting the man until she ached, but this was ridiculous.

  “For a short while?” she asked her fiercely, frowning. “No.” She shook her head at that one. “Something has to stop this. Now.” She couldn’t accept anything else.

  She could feel the heat rising in her body once again. Her skin felt irritated, sensitive, her breasts swollen, her clit throbbing in demand. She couldn’t handle this. It had been bad before, but this was worse than she could have imagined.

  She wondered if Taber was even suffering from it. More than likely not. And if any man deserved to, it was he.

  Merinus sighed. “The effects are temporary, Roni, but not without a certain price. Take your bath while I call down and have your dinner brought up. We’ll talk when you’re done.” She turned to leave the room, leaving Roni with too many damned questions and no answers.

  “Wait.” Roni wrapped the comforter around her as she slid from the high bed. Dammit, did Taber think everyone was as damned tall as he was? “Tell me how to stop this now.” The look on Merinus’ face when she turned back was somber.

  “You can’t stop it now. It has to run its course. Now go bathe. The time you can stand to wait for Taber is limited. I know you have questions, and some of them I can answer. But not until you’re more comfortable.”

  Roni drew in a rough breath, staring at the other w
oman’s implacable expression. She looked more than determined, and Roni had a feeling she was used to getting her own way.

  “This bites,” she snapped, turning away from Merinus. “If I wanted to bathe first I would have asked.” But she stomped to the bathroom anyway, determined to get it over with and get her questions answered as soon as possible.

  Merinus had been right, though. The bath did seem to ease the building heat that had already begun tormenting her. Of course, Roni opted for a cold bath, shivering in the coolest water she could stand on her skin and gradually adding more until it became tolerable.

  The bathroom was a dream. Italian marble floors, a porcelain sink set in a cherry cabinet. In the center of the room was a large sunken tub big enough for three grown people. A shower was set in a far corner.

  Against the wall opposite the door was a sky-blue print Queen Anne chair, and beside it, an antique cherry table. Cabinets were set within the walls, and decorative nooks held a variety of expensive knick-knacks. It was opulent and comfortable at the same time. And unlike anything Roni had ever experienced.

  When she felt as though she could stand to walk without being fucked first, she got out of the large tub, dried her hair and hurriedly dressed in the long gown and robe the other woman had provided. There were no panties, but she didn’t want to tempt her luck at this point by allowing anything to touch her overly sensitive cunt.

  Dinner came next. It was waiting on her in the sitting room, on the small glass table positioned beside the sliding balcony doors. It was a light meal and Merinus stood guard over her every second, making certai