by Flesa Black
He rammed into her, a hard joining that forced a gasp from her and a moan from him. Her walls were inflamed, slick with excitement, scorching with arousal. She held him tightly, the pulsing of her blood pounding against his thick shaft. He gritted his teeth against the need to ravage her, grabbing at his spiraling control when her bottom suddenly lifted and fell.
“You want more, is that it? You want it like this?”
He thrust into her, pulled away, shoved back inside. The noises coming from her throat were hot and heavy, shredding his discipline. He plunged harder, faster, riding her with a wildness he’d never experienced before.
He gripped her hips with hard fingers, shoving in full, solid strokes. She was so slippery his motions were almost frictionless, making the rippling of her inner walls an even more powerful sensation.
Her voice was rising, going higher, sending a raw quake through his body. He gazed down at her, his vision blurred with passion. He saw her hands above her, secured to his bedposts, and felt his testicles tighten. He watched her glazed eyes flash and he saw the pure excitement, the silent, staggering message of need and acceptance. He slammed harder, quickening the pace, and watched her fingers curl against the cuffs. She tilted her head back as her mouth fell open, her entire body quivering underneath him.
“Harm!”
She tightened around him with sudden, devastating effect, squeezing in rhythmic waves. He let go as she orgasmed, growling through his tight throat as his world shrank to one small, glaring point. Then he was exploding, the small point expanding, the edges ragged, until it shattered and seared through his blood.
He wasn’t sure how long he held her, absorbing her aftershocks as his body cooled. He quietly undid the handcuffs, rubbing the red marks on her wrists with gentle fingers.
“How do you know what I want without even asking me?”
He smiled at her question, not sure how to reply. If he were honest, he would admit to her that he didn’t know. That he simply knew without any prompting. It was a scary idea, and one he didn’t want to analyze at the moment.
“I read your body,” he told her instead. “And you have a wonderful body to read.”
She laughed, the sound muted as she leaned up to give him a tender kiss. “I suppose you read brail.”
“I suppose so.” He gave her a broad smile before he pulled her into a tight hug.
“I hate to ruin the mood—”
“I know, I know. We have other pressing matters we need to deal with.”
When she spoke again, there was hesitation in her voice. “Harm, this is…. After everything…”
He placed a finger across her lips and shook his head. “We’ll have time after we see Millicent.” He looked out the window and saw that the sun had moved farther across the sky. “If I could I’d stay here in bed with you all night.”
“But you can’t,” she concluded in a quiet voice. She let out a long sigh as she sat up. “I suppose we need to find our clothes. Where exactly did my underwear end up?”
He felt his lips tip into a crooked smile as he watched her crawl across his legs to stare down at the floor. “Somewhere down there. You know, I never finished telling you—”
“Uh-uh.” She turned to give him a mischievous grin. “Someone just told me we were running out of time. And that someone was right.”
Shaking his head, Harm pushed at her bottom, dislodging his legs from underneath her. Once he’d introduced her to Millicent and had her in a secure place, he was going to give her hell. But for now, he was too placid from their encounter to push an argument.
Reaching out, he smacked her bare bottom. “I’ll go get my extra set of bootlaces for you.”
She sent him a quizzical look and he smiled back.
“I wasn’t patient enough to untie your boots, so I cut the strings.”
He left the room chuckling, her gasp echoing behind him.
Chapter Five
Harm kept his eyes on her as he slid the door to the warehouse open. She looked completely satiated, and much too pleased with herself. Her eyes were bright, sparkling with fulfillment. He couldn’t deny the deep fissure of pure male satisfaction that warmed his ego. His mind paused at the surprising feeling. He’d never had such a strong reaction to a woman before. It was hard to believe that he’d met her less than twenty-four hours before. Harder still to imagine what would have happened, what he would be feeling, if he hadn’t been patrolling that particular area yesterday. Or what would have happened if Diana had continued to work on her own.
The memory of the small storage unit stoked the flame of anger that had been carefully banked. But what truly shook him was the underlying coating of terror. Terror for her. Terror for the situation she’d deliberately created.
“Bloody hell, Diana, don’t you know what could have happened to you while you were working in that…that…hazard zone you call a lab?”
She gave a little sigh, as if she had been waiting for a lecture and had no patience for it. Slowly, she studied the small warehouse, refusing to look at him. “But nothing did.”
He bit back a growl and pulled her against him, his arm snaking underneath her backpack. “You were working with chemicals and flames in a poorly ventilated rental shed.”
“I believe you pointed that out before.” Her gaze lighted on him for a moment before flitting away. “But I found the cure.”
“You could have been killed.”
“But I wasn’t. Harm, you have to—”
“Mornin’ Harman.”
His head whipped around at the sound of the new voice. Jack was sauntering from around the stand of lockers, toweling his dark hair dry. He watched as the other man eyed Diana and he deliberately tightened his hold on her.
“A tad early for you, isn’t it, Harm?”
Jack sent him a megawatt smile, the one that usually had women tripping over themselves. It had been amusing before, but today it was downright irritating.
Harm tried not to sneer when he replied. “Taking showers at work now? Did you forget to pay your bill and have your water service turned off?”
Jack chuckled and shook his head. “Got in late, fell asleep on the bench. Millicent kicked me awake and told me to go shower—said I was ripe.”
“Is she in her office?”
Jack’s gaze slid over Diana again, but once his eyes were back on him, Harm glared a warning. “Yeah, she’s closeted with some posh bloke, been in there for a bit. Not sure who it is. I only managed to see his back for a split second before he slammed the door closed. I was about to go for some—”
“Takeaway,” Harm concluded. “Why don’t you pick up some extra?”
The other man’s eyebrows shot up and he gave a careless shrug. “Sod off, Jack, but be sure to bring me a fry-up when you crawl back,” Jack said in a jovial imitation of Harm’s voice.
He tossed his towel in the general direction of the lockers and dug the keys from his pocket. Without another word, Jack meandered out the front door, closing it quietly behind him.
Diana moved away and Harm barely checked the impulse to drag her back. “I guess I have to wait a little longer to meet your Millicent Wright.”
“Hopefully not too—”
The door across the way opened, the small glass pane rattling with momentum. Harm could only stare at the gray-haired man in the long dark coat who exited. He hadn’t seen another vehicle outside, and he certainly hadn’t seen any bodyguards. Wherever the car and men had been hidden, it had been done well.
“What was Prime Minister Clarke doing here?” Diana whispered.
“Probably brassing Millicent off,” he whispered back. “Come on.”
He took her hand and led her across the room, giving a perfunctory knock before stepping into the office. Millicent looked up, her dark skin flushed, her black eyes sparking. For all of that, she was still coolly presented in her skirt suit and coiled hair.
“Harman, I didn’t think you’d be in until later.”
He c
ould hear the fire in her voice and was sorry for it. “We needed to talk to you.”
She scanned Diana with annoyed eyes but her delicate features remained impassive. “First I have to deal with that…eejit coming in here with his brilliant suggestions about how this unit should be run. Now you break the standards and bring in a civilian. I know you don’t always play by the rules, but I didn’t think you’d gone gormless.”
“She’s not a civilian. Millicent Wright, meet Diana Allen, Doctor Gerry Allen’s daughter.”
That had her attention. She stared at Diana again, this time with raging curiosity in her eyes.
“I thought you were a boy.”
Diana gave a wry chuckle. “I get that a lot.”
Millicent’s gaze swung back to him, her lips pursed in consternation. “Where did you find her? How long has she been in London? Is she willing to cooperate?”
“Could you not talk about me like I wasn’t in the room?”
Millicent was quiet for a moment before she inclined her head. “Where have you been?”
“I’ve traveled, but a few years ago decided to settle in London. I figured I’d be harder to find in plain sight. And before you ask, no, I’m not a walking experiment. My father wouldn’t have done that.”
Harm touched her arm, silently interrupting her. He knew she didn’t want to be rushed, but he had a gut feeling that they were running out of time. There was nothing for it but to get down to brass tacks and admit the whole truth, for all their sakes.
“Diana’s continued what the doctor started. She has the cure.”
Millicent’s dark eyes went wide as she stared at him with speculation. “You’re joking. Scientists have been working for years—”
“But they haven’t had Dr. Allen’s notes or his compounds. Diana has. She was also raised in his lab.”
Millicent stood unmoving as she put two and two together. “Why haven’t you come forwards before now?”
“My father didn’t want his work destroyed, and frankly I didn’t want to be buried under the jail because I knew too much.”
“Then there are the Shifters,” Harm reminded them both. “They’d kill anyone who could change them.”
“Do you have the antidote with you?”
Diana gave a slow nod before sliding the backpack from her shoulder with care. “I’m not giving it to you.”
“What?” Millicent leaned across the oak desk, her face set in steely lines. “After what your father devoted his life to, after what we’ve all had to live through, you’re refusing to help?”
Diana pulled the black pack closer to her chest. “I didn’t say that. I might have to trust you with my identity, but that doesn’t mean I’m trusting anyone but me with this serum.”
“But how do we even know that it will work?”
“Because I know it will.”
“And how do you know that, Ms. Allen?”
Diana lifted her eyebrow and narrowed her gaze. “Let’s just say that the red vials in the back of my refrigerator aren’t ketchup.”
Harm felt the hackles on his neck rise as he turned to her. “Bloody hell woman, don’t you ever think about your safety?”
“I didn’t exactly tackle any wolves to stick them. But being the delivery person for a research lab does have its…perks.”
He gave a disgusted sigh and shook his head. Diana must have made her father daft when she was a child.
“We need that compound,” Millicent said, her tone stiff and implacable.
“You have it, right here in my hands. It’s perfect. It won’t affect Partials or untainted humans. It shouldn’t kill the Shifters, either, just destroy the mutation.” Diana’s body straightened and he could feel the waves of determination pouring from her. “We need each other, Ms. Wright. I have the cure but need a way to seed it over the city. You have the means to do that, but need the cure.”
Harm waited, knowing how caustic his supervisor could be when she was angry. But instead of the smooth set down he’d expected he was surprised when Millicent’s mouth trembled and lifted.
“I like you, Ms. Allen. I probably shouldn’t, but I do.” She let out a long breath and sank down in her abused leather chair. “You have an excellent point. Now, how do you plan to make this happen?”
“I assumed you’d want this done just as quickly and efficiently as I do. I’m ready to go up right now.”
Harm’s brow knitted as he took a small step towards Diana. “This is dangerous, you have to know that. I can go up and seed—”
She gave him a soft smile and touched his scarred cheek with her fingertips. “I have to do it, Harm. My dad started this, and it’s up to me to finish it.”
“Ms. Allen, I agree with you,” Millicent put in. “Let’s make a deal, shall we? You give me a sample of the serum for my people to test today, and if it’s everything you say it is, then we can replicate—”
“There’s more than enough of the antidote with me,” Diana interrupted. “It’s potent. You’d only need a few drops mixed with water for it to be effective. With the amount I have in this backpack, you can cure the whole of England. I’ve also included the notes and the actual written formula for distribution to other countries. A few quick faxes and other governments can have this replicated in a day.”
Millicent’s face was flush with excitement. The anticipation was rolling off of her in bright, almost tangible currents. “All of England?”
“Even the remote hamlets, though the bulk of the Shifters have moved to the cities.”
“The cure is that easy to recreate?”
Diana’s mouth turned up in a self-deprecating smile. “It’s very easy, which is why no one has figured it out before now. Simplicity wasn’t something any scientist anticipated when it came to the Shifters.”
The air in the room was still for a moment as his supervisor considered the other woman. “All right, I can have a small amount couriered over to the lab, have it analyzed… You’re sure it will only affect the full Shifters?”
“Yes. I realize your trusting me is hard, especially since you don’t know me. But trust goes both ways, Ms. Wright.”
She slit her eyes, but Millicent nodded her head. “Agreed. We’ll have our scientists test it on the blood they have, and if it works—if it works, you’ll go up tonight, Ms. Allen.”
Harm whipped around to stare at Millicent. “Wait, don’t you have to get special permission, fill out forms?”
She tilted her head as her gaze shrewdly searched his face. “No. By now I thought you’d figured that out.”
“But she’s a civilian.”
“Not anymore, she isn’t. Ms. Allen has just been recruited.”
“Millicent, you can’t do this!”
“I can, and I have. Ms. Allen would you please give Harman and me a moment?”
He turned to give Diana what he hoped was an encouraging look. She finally ducked her head and slipped out of the office, but he was sure she wouldn’t move far from the door.
“Harm, you can’t let your personal feelings interfere with the job. And don’t feed me tosh, I’m not blind. This girl is important to what we’ve been working towards. We need her.”
He knew she was right, but he couldn’t stop the inexplicable need to protect Diana any more than he could explain it. She was his, and he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
“I’ll go up with her.”
Millicent lifted one arched eyebrow. “I suppose you’ll hijack the plane if I say no. All right, you’ll go up with her and Jack. But I want you back down here just as soon as she’s done. I know she says that it won’t hurt Shifters, but there’s no way to know exactly how they’ll react to the agent.”
“I’ll be back as soon as we’re done and Diana is safe.”
She shook her head as she let out a long breath. “I never thought I’d see it. Harman Asher is arse over tit for a woman.”
He didn’t have the energy to argue. “I don’t know how it happened.”
&n
bsp; “You don’t know? Your genes are triggered. On a base level you know your mate. I’m only gobsmacked it’s taken you this long to sniff her out.”
He couldn’t stop his smile as an electric thrill shimmered along his bones. Something inside clicked, lighting corners he’d forgotten were there. It all made sense now, all of his reactions, his driving need to have her, to put his mark on her. His mate…
“You’d better go prepare Ms. Allen for her trip. And Harm, I expect all three of you back safe in this warehouse tonight.”
Chapter Six
Diana stood in the tiled shower cube, her head filled with possibilities. Tonight everything she’d worked for would come to fruition. She should be ecstatic, but something inside of her felt…hollow. Once this was done, what would she do? She was too poor to retire and too young to give up her dreams. But her entire life had been focused on her father’s work. She’d let everything else fall by the wayside without even a whimper of complaint.
Once the serum was released over the city and the rest of the world followed suit, everything would change. Almost anything would be possible. It was a terrifying prospect.
She was sticking her soapy head under the water when she heard the shower curtain being pulled aside. There was no need for her to open her eyes. He had known she needed comfort and had come to give it.
He ran his strong hands over her hair, rinsing the shampoo out with gentle caresses. She took a small, deliberate step back, bringing her bottom flush with his hard member, and heard him suck in a deep breath. He brushed his lips along the column of her throat then across her shoulder, sending tremors of delight along her nerve endings. Her head fell back against his chest, his hard muscles a stark contrast to the soft water. He nuzzled her ear, his tongue softly stroking her lobe.
“You are so beautiful, Diana. I can’t stop touching you.” The deep rasp of his voice was a potent aphrodisiac.
“I don’t want you to stop.”
He groaned, a deep sound that resonated in his chest. He skimmed his palms over her ribs, traveling up her moist skin as she arched back and wrapped her arms around his neck. Splaying his fingers over the tender skin of her breasts, he carefully grasped them in his firm hands. She dug her nails into his hair, urging him to move, desperate for the erotic feelings he created. She was rewarded when he pinched her erect nipples between his knuckles, pulling slowly against her water-slick flesh. Heat speared down her body, gathering in a tight ball at her core.
