And I just threw up a little in my mouth. I thought this guy was a cretin before. Now? He’s slime. What kind of woman would even be destined for this creep? Someone with no heart, most likely.
“Well, it’s always been my true ambition to be locked in a loveless marriage, popping out brats like there’s no tomorrow and being chained up barefoot in the kitchen.”
Ah shit, my sarcastic mouth ran away with itself. His expression becomes thunderous.
“I’m going to find a way to deal with that mouth of yours,” he tells me. “I don’t require a mate who can talk. Maybe I’ll have your throat cut open. Steal your voice. Chain you to a bed until I have all the offspring I need before I kill you in your sleep.”
Okay, this guy knows how to make a girl’s skin crawl. That’s for sure.
“Has it occurred to you that I’m not your mate?”
He laughs. “Don’t try to walk away now, Misty. You just got here.”
“Think about it, Trip. You’re not attracted to me. I’m not attracted to you. It doesn’t sound like we’re mates.”
“You have a fixed idea on what a mate is. Very romantic, but it’s not practical in the least, sweetheart. Mates are determined by bloodline. Keeping it as pure as possible is the ultimate goal. You’re the only female hybrid our father produced. I checked the other potentials and found them wanting. Peyton was far more attractive as a potential mate, but she was purely human. It was a disappointment. I would have enjoyed ruining her perfect body in other ways. The other girls were less perfect, but they ticked a lot of boxes for me. You?” He looks me over. “You hold a limited appeal. I’ll enjoy our first coupling. After that, you’ll need to lose weight, and dress more enticingly.”
I realize this creepo just insulted me like a dozen times and that every word out of his mouth has been disgusting, but my brain catches on the worst part and amplifies it until I want to puke my guts out. “You’re my half-brother.”
“Yes, and I’m one of many. Every one of the others will wish to mate with you. I might let some of them. Once I’m done with you.”
“How many?”
He smiles, his eyes sparkling. “Our father came to this town every summer for ten years to spread his seed. He knocked up dozens of human women each and every time. There are more than fifty men in this town who will want to use you. Should I let them? Chain you to a bed like you asked and throw the door open wide?”
If he’s trying to freak me out, it’s working. I keep my gaze steady. “I don’t know. I bet none of them are half as charming as you are.”
He laughs. I try not to let my blood run cold at the image he just presented me with. They can’t all be like him. I mean, they could, I guess, but I doubt it. I’m nothing like he is.
He takes his gun from his holster and I freeze up in the seat, my bindings too tight to allow me to move. He looks straight at me, his smile dropping.
“I fully expect the men who believe they’re your mates to come running to save you,” he tells me, his gaze cold. “That’s why we’re sitting here right now, sweetheart. We’re waiting for them to come barging in, ready to save you. They’re going to watch us consummate our mating, to bear witness to our joining. I’m going to kill them after I claim you as my own. I won’t have my mate ripped out from under me.”
Oh, he’s fucking bat-shit crazy, and he can command gators. I swallow, hoping my mates stay away from here, that they don’t know who has me. Tyler can’t trace me by my phone. I didn’t bring it. The thought is a relief in that it protects them from this insanity but it leaves me cold inside to know that I’m going to have to work out how to get the hell out of here on my own.
Sixty-Five
Sam
He has a cabin in the woods by the lake. Why am I not surprised? He probably drove home right after he ditched Misty out there that night. Well he isn’t going anywhere today.
I park up when the house comes into sight, before the sound of my car is close enough to detect, and I pick my way through the woods carefully, watching out for potential traps as I creep toward the cabin. Sneaking up on this guy is the only way to do this. He’s dangerous and he has a gun.
I can’t risk him hurting Misty. I can’t just barge in and kick the hell out of him. I have to be careful.
So I take my time and clamp down on the anger rushing through me. It won’t do Misty any good if I rush in there and freak the asshole who kidnapped her out. He’s been unpredictable enough as it is. I don’t know what he wants from her. I don’t know why he’s doing this. I just know I have to get Misty the hell away from him before it’s too late.
I stalk around to the back of the cabin, as quietly as possible. For a second I kick myself for not bringing my dad’s hunting rifle. I didn’t think of it. I push the thought away. Guns never solve anything. They just make problems worse.
I peer in the kitchen windows, determining the room to be empty. I try the door and find it unlocked. So far, so good. The floor boards seem a little creaky as I slip inside, but it’s not loud enough to alert a human, not unless he’s listening out for every tiny sound.
I creep toward the door and listen. There are lots of little noises in the other room. A clock ticking, a hand tapping, breathing. I don’t know what it looks like in there. I could be walking into an ambush.
Considering my options, I look around. I need to get him to come to me, but I need a weapon if I’m going to do that. So I find a knife on the counter, a sharp butcher’s blade. I heft it in my hand, feeling the weight of it and knowing how satisfying it would feel to embed it into his body.
I pick up a second weapon, a heavy metal pot. I use it to make a racket, throwing it to knock over a kitchen chair before slipping into place behind the door with the knife.
The sound of scuffling in the other room makes me smile. He stops on the other side of the side of the door though, and starts to laugh.
“I know that’s you, Sam. If you think you can stop me, you’re sorely mistaken.”
I don’t move. There’s nothing I can do right now. If I make some noise, he’ll know I’m here. He’ll do something. I think about it before I throw the knife, not moving. The bang of gunshot punching through the wood of the door makes me grimace. He just tried to kill me. Without entering the room. He’s being careful.
I have to be too. I don’t move. The door begins to creak open. I wait for him to get part way through before I throw all my weight into closing it, slamming him between the door and the frame hard.
He screams and his gun falls to the ground. I pick it up while he’s flailing and point it straight at him.
“Where’s Misty?”
He glowers at me, holding his arm. “You’re going to regret that. Sam Jones, I command you to…”
I smack him across the temple with the butt of the gun and he crashes to the ground, blood bursting from his wound. “Command that, asshole.”
He’s limp, but he’s not dead. I’m trying to decide how to maim him further when I hear Misty call out, “Sam! Sam, are you okay?”
I dart into the other room, which seems to be a living room. She’s tied to a chair and blows out a breath when she sees me, before panic fills her expression.
“Sam, he’s the one who’s been killing people. He’s a hybrid like me. He can command gators. Is he dead?”
I shake my head, rushing over and untying her. “He’s out of it. We need to call the deputy and get someone out here to arrest him.”
“Make sure he can’t get up,” she tells me, wincing a little as she helps me to untie her faster. “We need to restrain him. He’s dangerous.”
I take the rope and tie him to a chair in the kitchen. Misty finds dishrags and ties them around his mouth. She shrugs at me. “He can command gators, Sam. We need to make sure a human deputy comes out here.”
I nod and use my phone to call the deputy, explaining the situation and telling him he needs to get someone out here straight away. He says he will, but that it’s going to take a minu
te since he needs to call in someone human who isn’t working as ‘backup’, given the situation.
I turn back to Misty, pulling her into my arms.
“Are you hurt?” I gaze at her intently, trying to see wounds that she might be hiding, the kind that might cause her pain that isn’t physical.
She shakes her head, smiling. “I didn’t know how I was going to get out of this, Sam. I knew you’d come for me if you figured out what happened, but I was afraid he’d be able to use that against us.”
“He can command gators. He’s a hybrid.” Sam sounds thoughtful.
“What is it?” I ask, the words rushing out just as it clicks in my brain. “I’m a hybrid. I can command gators too.”
He smiles. “I don’t know, Flash. Maybe you should test that out.”
He’s teasing me, which is typical, but I have to wonder. “Sit down,” I tell him, making it an order.
He scuffles backward and falls back into the sofa. “Holy hell,” he mutters gazing me over. “I think you’re more powerful than he is.”
“You said the deputy was going to take a while, right?” A sexy plan forms in my head, and I’m only four hundred percent sure it’s the desire to take a mate that’s driving it.
“Right,” he confirms, nodding.
I sit down in his lap, my back to him, feeling his hard shaft pressing against me and biting down on my lip at the throbbing my pussy seems to start doing the second I lean back. “Touch me, Sam.”
I don’t need to tell him twice, and he doesn’t need to be ordered to do it. I sigh as I lean back against him, forgetting everything as he pulls up my skirt and slips a hand inside my panties.
Sixty-Six
Justin
Fifteen minutes to Misty’s segment and I’m considering launching my phone out of the window. Fuck the show. It’s not what she really wants to do with her life anyway. I don’t care about anything but Misty right now.
“I could film Misty’s segment for her,” Marina offers, apparently realizing the reason my phone is going crazy. I guess she watches the show. “I know she isn’t totally into it, but she’s not a flaker. It must be driving her insane that she’s supposed to be on TV like right now.”
She’s right. For all that Misty hates this gig, for every day she’s been running close to the wire, she never misses a show. Not if she’s sick. Not if she’s angry at the producers. Not ever.
“How long is it going to take to get there?” I wonder if she’ll want to report on what just happened, live from the scene. I’d like to hope she would. That she hasn’t been harmed and is just pissed at being kidnapped by that creep.
“It’s going to take at least twenty to get there,” Ty tells us. “I can drive the rest of the way and you two can get out somewhere to film it if it’ll help.”
“It’s live TV, right? She can’t just not be there?” Marina’s eyes are on me.
I sigh. “I can’t think about that right now. Not while she’s in danger.”
I can’t lie, I’m torn. I don’t care if I get fired, but I know Misty would hate how unprofessional it would make her look. Her career has always been the most important thing to her. I groan as I pull into the side of the road. I trust Ty to protect her. I can do this to help her instead of bending to the selfish desire to go with him.
“I just need a sec to grab my gear,” I tell Ty, quick to exit.
He slides into the driver’s seat. “I’ll call you when I’m with her. Just take your kit and let Marina film Misty’s segment.”
I get out before I can think twice about it. Grab the bare minimum that we need out the back as Marina hops out. She ambles over as I close the doors. Ty takes off and I feel a little agitated as I set things up. We’re on a sidewalk next to a field and I start to sneeze almost immediately.
“Allergies?” Marina asks, shooting me a sympathetic smile.
“I’ll be fine in five. What are you going to do?”
She raises an eyebrow at me.
“For the segment.”
“Oh, right. I’ll just introduce myself and talk about how I used to play in this field with Misty when we were kids.”
“You played here?” I ask, kind of glad to have my mind taken off things.
She nods, taking the mic from me when I pass it over. “I mean not all the time. But it’s kind of halfway between where we both live so we’d meet here sometimes in the summer. Run around in the field and go get ice-cream from a little shop that used to be down that way.”
I set up the camera and wince as I put on my headset. Tom turns the air blue with his threats. It’s nothing compared to what I’ll do to that sheriff if he’s hurt Misty. That’s the thought that keeps me steady while Marina cheerfully introduces herself and starts to talk animatedly about how much fun she always had out here with her best friend in the world.
We cut and Tom demands a call back from Misty before I sever the connection and power everything down. Now all I can do it wait. Ty should be there by now. I check my phone and fight the urge to call him. It might not be safe.
“Sam and Ty won’t let anything happen to her,” Marina tells me quietly.
I know that, but it doesn’t make me feel any better. Nothing’s going to until I’m holding her in my arms. Until I can see with my own eyes that she’s safe.
Sixty-Seven
Tyler
When I get to the cabin, Misty is in a compromising position on Sam’s lap. He has a hand between her parted legs and another on her left breast, fingers working deftly as he kisses her. The relief that fills me when I see she’s okay is followed by an intense desire to claim her as my mate.
Sam breaks the kiss when I move and the floor boards creak. He doesn’t stop touching her. Misty’s flushed face and tensed body tell me she’s getting close to climax. Her gaze meets mine and she gasps. “Sam, stop.”
“No,” he murmurs. “It’s only Tyler.”
I move closer, getting to my knees in front of them, sitting between her parted legs. When I breathe in I get the sweet, intoxicating scent of her desire and it stalls any logical thought from crossing my mind. I push the skirt of her dress up to see Sam has his hand inside her lacy panties, and she’s already incredibly wet from his efforts.
“Move,” I command Sam, pulling a Swiss army knife from my pocket and cutting her panties away.
Sam removes his hand from Misty’s pussy, placing it on her hip. I feel her gaze on me, and look up. Her eyes are glowing brighter than they were before. She needs this. She needs to be mated, she needs her mates to claim her. All of them.
I give in to the desire to taste her, my tongue parting her slick lips before flicking over the sensitive mound Sam’s fingers were stroking moments before. She lets out a breathy moan and her hand strokes through my hair as she moves her hips to pull me in closer.
“Holy shit,” Sam whispers, as Misty goes rigid suddenly.
She moans loudly, rocking her hips as I lick her into ecstasy.
I’m rock hard and more than ready to lay my claim right now, but there are probably more pressing issues we need to address before we fall into bed together.
I move back when Misty lets go of my hair.
“Your eyes are glowing,” Sam tells her, awe in his tone.
She licks at her lips as I back up, getting to my feet. She pushes her skirt down and starts to get up. Sam doesn’t seem to want to let her go. He pulls her back down, wrapping his arms around her possessively.
“Sam,” she says, with a sigh. “The cops are on their way.”
“I heard you the first time,” he says, letting go.
I help her up and she gazes at me intently. “What just happened?”
“I think all of us just realized you’re meant for more than one mate,” Sam says, getting up and hugging her from behind.
“I am?” she asks, her gaze no longer meeting mine, or his.
Oh, she already considered it. She just didn’t think we would.
I smile. “It’s why yo
ur eyes haven’t changed back.”
“She needs to be with us both,” Sam murmurs.
“Actually, she needs to be with all three of us,” I correct him.
“Three?” he asks, realization dawning on him suddenly. “Justin.”
I nod, waiting for his reaction. Misty seems tense as she glances his way. There’s a flush to her cheeks that wasn’t there before. She wants all of us, but she’s afraid we won’t want to share.
“I love you all,” she blurts, biting on her bottom lip.
“And we love you,” I tell her. “It makes perfect sense.”
“Fuck,” Sam says. “This is why things never worked out before.”
He’s taking this so damn well. I can barely believe it. We stand in silence for a few minutes, and I wonder why we aren’t being interrupted yet. Something’s off here.
“Are the cops supposed to be coming?”
“I called them, but it was going to take a while since they need human back-up,” Sam confirms. “We have Trip tied up in the kitchen. I knocked him out.”
“The kitchen?” That room I walked through to get here. It was empty. Starting to understand what’s off about this now. “Where?”
I move quickly and the resounding, emphatic “Fuck!” that issues when Sam pushes past me into the kitchen confirms it. The guy who kidnapped Misty is on the loose. We have a problem.
Sixty-Eight
Misty
The door bursts open while Sam and Tyler are arguing over who should go chasing after the psycho cop who’s been killing people. The sheriff’s deputy enters, Leo Parker, the gator, and we all look at each other when he asks where Trip is.
“He was right here,” I blurt, lamely.
Flashing Her Gators Page 19
