A choke of amusement rose from his throat at her words. “Well, well. Looks like someone’s brave.” He said almost with admiration.
“Get out.” She repeated, ignoring his remark.
Shaking his head, he moved forward. “I have a better idea.” He said. Gently hooking a single finger in the front of her blouse, he used it to pull her into the room before he quietly shut the door. “Why don’t you come in and sit down, then you can explain to me why you’re avoiding me.” He remarked with a hard, knowing look.
Shoving his hand away from her, Gabriella fumed. “I don’t have to explain anything.”
“Actually you do, my pretty mate.” He objected.
“I’m not your mate!” She shouted at him. Walking past him to the bed, she carefully set her burdens down before turning to face him again. “I am not your mate. In some strange way I feel something for you. I like you, Robert. But just because we’ve started something between us doesn’t mean that you have the right to tell me what to do. I’m going to sleep and work here tonight so that I can get some perspective.”
“Perspective?” His brows rose with disbelief. “Let me put things in perspective for you. I love you, Gabriella Vega and so help me if you dare to say it’s just a result of a bunch of chemicals and hormones in the brain I will prove it to you otherwise.”
“After some time you will see that you were mistaken.” She offered.
“I don’t need time.” He growled out, his hand slashing through the air. “Do you think I just woke up today and said to myself, “I’ll just claim her since she’s around”?” When she didn’t respond he added, “I didn’t choose you and if circumstances where different I don’t really know if I would have. You’re the most stubborn, frustrating and beautiful woman I have ever met, but you are what I need.”
Taking a calming breath, Robert took a hold of her hands, pulling her closer despite her resistance. “You complete me, Gabriella. I can’t explain it better than that. I dream about you at night and I hunger for you during the day. I feel like I will lose my mind if I cannot be near you. That is what it means to be a shifter’s mate—one will never be complete without the other. You know I’m right because I suspect you feel it too.”
Feeling unsure, Gabriella shook her head. “I don’t know what I feel, Robert. All I know is that I don’t belong in your world.”
“Perhaps not, but you belong with me.” Releasing her hands, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer as his chin came to rest on the top of her head. “We’re both lost in this right now, my mate. When shifters take a mate the way is clear but with you and me; we’ll just have to find our own way.” His words offered comfort as he held her close. As she melted into his arms, Gabriella was reminded of her conversation with Aria.
“Robert, this mark on my neck that you gave me…”
Pulling back, he frowned down at her. “What about it?”
“There’s more to it, isn’t there?”
Robert’s gut soured as he realized what she was talking about; the transformation. The most important thing about mating a human and he’d been too worried about claiming her to mention it. The one thing that would change her and her life forever and it slipped his mind?
This is your entire fault. Robert thought accusingly to his bear.
Bite me. His bear responded, unafraid.
Feeling unsure, he motioned to the bed. “You may want to sit down.” Doing as he said, Gabriella sat on the edge of the mattress as he shifted his feet uncomfortable.
“Robert, you’re beginning to worry me.” She said after a long pause.
“There is more to the mating mark—the bite.” He supplied when confusion clouded her expression. “The mating mark is a shifter’s way to show that she or he belongs to the other, but with humans it’s different. With humans; biting you is also a way for me to infect you.”
“What…infect?” Panic rising, Gabriella shook her head. “What do you mean infect.”
“In order for us to complete the bond, I have to make you more like me; a shifter.”
Covering her mouth with fear, Gabriella’s gaze dropped to the floor. “Dios mio,”
Taking a seat beside her, Robert pulled her closer. “It will be alright.”
Jerking back, Gabriella’s petrified eyes looked up at him for reassurance. “When will it happen?”
“It’s hard to say. It could be a week or less.”
“What will I be?”
“Chances are you will change into the same as me; a grizzly bear. Don’t be afraid. I will be with you when it happens.” He vowed.
Turning away, Gabriella stared blankly at the floor. Inside his mind, Robert was in full blown panic. What should he do? Should he apologize? Should he kiss her and tell her that everything will be alright? Before he could dwell further, Gabriella turned toward him with a look of excitement.
“Can we record it?”
“W-Wha?” He stuttered.
“You know film it—record it so I can watch how my human body will transform into that of an ursus arctos.”
Raising an inquiring brow at her, he leaned back. “Are you serious?”
“Of course,” She nodded with wonderment. “I should also use an EEG to monitor my brain waves.” She murmured excitedly to herself. “Do you think Dr. Pavel has one of those?”
Not knowing how to react to how surprisingly well his mate was taking the news, Robert simply stared at her. “I-I don’t know. How is it that you are taking this so well?”
Turning to grab her laptop and the discarded disc, Gabriella rose to her feet to walk to the dresser. “How else should I take it? There’s no sense in screaming or fighting it. If it’s going to happen, I might as well make the most of it.”
Setting her things on top of the dresser, Gabriella turned around to find Robert smiling at her. “What are you smiling at?” She asked warily.
“I’m just trying to imagine you as a grizzly bear.”
Smiling at him, she rolled her eyes. “And what picture did you get in your mind.”
“The prissiest bear that ever lived,”
Scoffing at his prediction, Gabriella walked over to him and smacked him on the shoulder. “Take that back!” she ordered. “I am not prissy!”
“I can lie if you want, but I’d rather not start our lives together off that way.” He snickered.
“You won’t be laughing when I get my own set of fangs and I chase you down and bite you.” She threatened while making her hand resemble a jaw biting him in the face.
“I look forward to it.” He whispered roughly as he jerked her down onto the bed. Rolling her onto her back, he pinned her arms above her head. “Now, I’m going to find some places on you that I want to bite.” He teased feathering kisses down her jaw.
Smiling, Gabriella gave herself over to the feeling of Robert’s lips and teeth. All the while wondering why she had wanted to fight his claim on her at all.
17
Waking the next morning for Gabriella felt like she was awaking from a dream that she didn’t want to leave. Snuggling firmly into her pillow, she smiled as she felt Robert’s arm curl around her from behind. Fighting against the temptation to stay in bed with her mate, Gabriella shoved back the blankets with her feet as she attempted to remove Robert’s arm from around her waist.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Robert asked, his voice muffled with his face pressed into his pillow.
“I have to get up and try to get some work done.”
“It’s Sunday.” He groaned “You should know that it’s a sin to get up early on this day and do anything.”
Laughing she shook her head at him. “That’s not true. Don’t you have things to do around the compound today anyway?”
Rolling over onto his back with a tired groan, he stretched. Gabriella blushed as her eyes fell on the hard muscle that danced beneath his skin. The covers had been discarded at the end of the bed, leaving nothing to cover him. Her gaze traveled down the har
d planes of his body and ending on his erection, leaving her itching to reach out and touch him.
Rolling towards her, Robert rose above her to cage her against the mattress. Sliding his hands beneath the soft fabric of one of her blouses, he bend to press a series of open mouthed kisses against her flat navel and upward.
“You could always claim to be sick and I could stay and take care of you.”He offered, with a double meaning.
“I have to access that file and it won’t happen if I lay in bed with you all day.”
“But just think of what could happen…” He said with a teasing smile.
Sliding one hand down over her hip, he gripped her buttocks while his other hand continued beneath her blouse to cup one of her breast. Her eyes closed as hot sparks of desire shot through her clit at the feel of his lips against the skin of her midriff.
Sliding up her body, he claimed her lips in a slow, teasing kiss. Nipping at her bottom lip, he pulled back with a grin that warned her that he was up to no good. “Tell you what. I’ll go get some breakfast for us and you just lay there looking as you do till I get back.”
Rising up on her elbows, she shook her head. Her long dark hair fell forward with the movement to lie over one shoulder. “I have to get this done, Robert. You go get breakfast and leave me alone so I can get some work done.”
Frowning, Robert pretended to contemplate the thought. After a short pause, he shook his head. “Nope, I like my plan.”
“Robert…”
Groaning with disappointment, he conceded. “Fine.” Rolling off of her he allowed her to climb from the bed. “But you owe me later.”
Looking back over her shoulder at him as she walked to the dresser to retrieve her laptop, she grinned back at him. “I’ll think about it.”
Shaking his head at her, Robert reluctantly climbed from the bed and bent to retrieve his pants. Pulling them on he watched as Gabriella went through the motions of turning on her computer and doing something on it. Stepping back once she was done, she began to get dressed as well.
“How bout later you and me get out of this house for a while? There’s a place just a short hike from here that I know you will like.”
“Like for what?” She asked pulling on a pair of simple jeans that Aria had lent her. Before he could answer her, her computer emitted a low beep as an error message popped up. Rushing back to her computer, Gabriella groaned with disappointment. Whatever was in this file had to be important if Malca had taken steps to keep it impregnable.
“What’s wrong?” Robert asked as he came up behind her to peer over her shoulder.
“Nothing I do will let me access these files. These files could help you guys find Malca and help us discover what her end game is. The whole reason I risked my life to steal this stuff was to bring her down and I can’t even do that!” She exclaimed woefully.
Pulling her against him, Robert pressed a gentle kiss to her mating mark. “You will. Just take a step back and get some perspective. You’ll get it eventually.” Laying a final kiss on her neck, he pulled away from her to turn her to face him. “I’m going to go down and get us something to eat and then we’ll go from there.”
Nodding, she moved back toward the bed with her laptop as the bedroom door closed with a click. Not willing to give up yet, she continued to use the programs that Raoul had installed to her computer to open the remaining Genesis file. But every time the same error message popped up as if taunting her. Slamming her laptop closed, she set it aside.
Looking down at her laptop, disheartened, Robert’s words began to pick at the back of her mind. He was right—not that she’d tell him, his ego was big enough. She wouldn’t solve the problem by going at it over and over; she needed to get some perspective.
Turning to look at the top of the dresser, her eyes fell on the red envelope. She may as well take a look at it while she waited for Robert to get back. Collecting it from the dresser she moved back to her laptop on the bed. Sitting with her legs crossed and her laptop open on the bed, she inserted the disc with mild interest. It would just be her luck if it turned out to be a disc full of supply lists and such.
As her computer read the disc, something happened then that she couldn’t explain. A small back window appeared as a length of computer code began writing itself. Without her touching it her cursor moved across the screen to the Genesis file. With one click the file opened and the black window disappeared.
Gasping with shock she stared wide eyed at the computer. She didn’t know what was on that disc that Aria gave her, but somehow it was the key to decrypting Malca’s last file. Smiling with glee she began reading through the sub files of the Genesis folder. The more she read, the more it felt like her heart would cave in. This couldn’t be possible. Covering her mouth she shook her head with horror. She knew that Malca was a monster but she never knew that Malca would go this far.
“Gabriella?” Turning to see Robert as he walked in carrying a tray of food a single tear escaped down her cheek. Concerned, Robert placed the tray on the dresser before rushing to her side. “What’s wrong? You broke through?” He asked looking at the multiple documents open on her computer screen. Brushing her fall tears away, she drew in a big gulp of air as she hiccupped.
“I did.” She acknowledged.
“That’s good. Right?” He asked with a worried look.
Pointing at the screen she pulled up the documents that she’d been reading through. With burning eyes, she watched as Robert’s eyes widened with horror. Taking the laptop from her, he began pacing across the bedroom as he looked at the different documents. Spinning back towards her, he came to stand next to her.
“What am I looking at here?” He asked in a haunted voice. It was clear that he’d seen the photos that she had as well. There was no doubt that Robert saw the severity of what the file held. Reaching out, Gabriella took her laptop from his hands before snapping it closed.
“I have to show these to Aria and Doyle.” She rushed as she attempted to move around Robert. Gripping her by the upper arms, he jerked her to a stop in front of him.
“Talk to me, Gabriella. Did you know about this? Were you a part of this?” he asked. Eyeing her with something akin to horror, he dropped his hands from her.
The worst of the photos in there showed evidence of Malca’s horrendous experiments; only worse than ever before. Creating her enhanced soldiers was one thing, but what Malca was toying with now was worse. She didn’t have time to explain what Robert had seen. She had to get the information to Aria so they could go after Malca and stop her.
“I never knew about this Robert. Only Malca’s higher up researchers did. We’ve got to get this information to Aria now.” She urged adamantly.
Rushing around him with her laptop clutched to her chest she took off down to the main level where she knew she’d find Aria and Doyle. They finally had what they needed to bring Malca down. She only prayed that they weren’t too late.
* ~ * ~ *
Kicking the door of the security office open, Doyle charged through the door as Raoul jerked around in his chair in surprise. Beside Raoul stood Doyle’s sister Kari; whose smiling face dropped at her brother’s savage entrance.
Glaring at Raoul, Doyle felt his bear rise up with the need to vent his anger. Jerking his hard gaze toward Kari, his words emerged with a low growl. “Get out.”
Confused by his strange behavior, Kari stepped forward, her hand lifting in front of her in question. “Doyle what's going on?”
“I said get out!” He roared. Returning a glare of her own, Kari held her shoulders back as she stormed out of the office and past Aria; who leaned against the doorway with her arm crossed. Her expression mirrored Doyle’s in every way.
Standing to his feet, Raoul shot both Doyle and Aria a bewildered look. “If you're here to pick a fight cause I was talking to your sister you can save your breath. I’m not in the mood for your territorial crap.”
“Shut it, Raoul. I'm not the one here to do the talking.�
�� Folding his arms over his wide chest Doyle turned his body to the side as Aria shoved away from the door frame. With a blank expression written on her face, her shoulders were held tight as she stepped further into the room.
“Aria what's going—” Before he knew what hit him, Aria struck out like a snake. Kicking her leg out and her boot nailed Raoul square in the chest, driving him backwards and until he fell back into his chair. “What the hell!” He yelled with surprise.
Planting her boot on his chest; effectively pinning him in his slouched position, Aria glared down at him in a way that had fear settling in his chest. “You lied to me, Raoul.” She stated in a soft, cold voice.
Fearful, Raoul’s eyes darted behind Aria’s frame to see Gabriella and Robert entering the office with concerned expressions. “I don’t know what you’re talking—”
“Can it!” Aria bit out. Anger blazed within her blue eyes, creating a soft glow around the dark iris. Her boot pressed harder; with reprimand into his chest before the heavy weight was lifted away. "You knew who I was before Malca sent you after me and you knew about project Genesis. You lied to me, Raoul and I don’t like being lied to." Glaring down at him, her hand reached behind her to pull out a small handgun from the waistband of her black jeans.
"You have one chance." She whispered to Raoul with an even tone.
Seeing the gun in her hand, Doyle took a hesitant step forward. His arms hung at his sides as he cautiously eyed his mate. “Where'd you get the gun, Aria?” he asked, worried. He’d taken care to hide all of Aria’s weapons and keep her from the pack’s armory for a reason. Aria plus guns would equal one bad situation.
Ignoring her mate's words Aria kept her focus on Raoul's scowling face as she cocked the gun. Behind her, Aria could hear as Gabriella and Robert moved to the side of her and Raoul to stand by her desk.
After Gabriella had shown her the files she’d managed to decrypt; her anger had exploded like a volcano. All this time and all the information on what Malca’s major move had been sitting in front of them. How foolish she felt to put her trust in Raoul. He’d played them and she wasn’t pulling her punches any longer.
Big, Bold & Bearing (Grizzly Affairs Book 2) Page 20
