by A. C. Arthur
Boden nodded, wondering what exactly Bianca knew about the shifter that had shot his son Darel and left him to bleed out in a hotel room.
“We should get dressed,” he told her then, tired of the feel of her warm breath against his skin.
It seemed as if every little thing had been irritating him today. Perhaps this was his form of nervousness. No, he thought with a deep inhale. He did not get nervous. He did not worry and he did not fret. He never had. That’s why he was still standing. Even with all the death orders, Boden was still alive and well and more than ready to kick some Shadow Shifter ass tonight!
Cannon had resurfaced, thanks to one of the rogues he’d sent to kidnap the man’s family. The kidnapping had been disrupted by the Shadows, which on the surface had angered Boden. But the rogue that the Shadows had captured that night had saved the day. Once he’d been thrown into the cells at the Shadow headquarters, he’d recognized a familiar scent. Cannon was in a cell beside him. It had been easy enough for the rogue to strike against one of the female Shadow guards, gaining entrance into Cannon’s cell, where he used his powerful fists and teeth to gnaw through the cinder block walls, setting himself and Cannon free.
Now, Crowe had more than enough hybrids and Boden had tripled the amount of rogues they needed to really shake things up tonight. His heart thumped wildly with anticipation, a grin spreading slowly across his face.
The door to the suite opened with a loud click, closing the moment the female slipped inside and pushed it shut behind her. Bianca was up in an instant, standing in front of Boden, ready to defend. She still wore the white silk robe that touched the floor and was belted tightly at her slim waist. Beneath it she wore nothing, as she had been trained to always be ready and available for him. He hadn’t wanted her at all today.
Now, however, there was a surge of desire spreading throughout his body as he came forward slowly to look over Bianca’s shoulder at their bold intruder. She was a gorgeous cat, one that he instantly recognized as his dick grew hard against his thigh. Her hair was long and straight, draped over her right shoulder, the wide-framed sunglasses she wore doing nothing to hide her true nature from him. If he ripped them from her face he knew exactly what color eyes he would see. She’d grown up, her body curving in all the right places—breasts high and firm, hips curving to what he knew would be a delectable ass. His mouth watered, the bland feeling that had plagued him all day long abating quickly.
“What are you doing here?” Bianca asked, surprise evident in her voice.
So she had not known that her younger sister was also here in D.C. That was interesting.
“I’m doing what I’ve been doing all my life,” Rayna replied tightly. “Trying to save you from making a bigger mistake than you already have.”
Boden tossed his head back and laughed, the sound echoing throughout the room, rumbling through his body to awaken the cat that languished inside.
“Sisters,” he said finally. “Together again.”
“She is no longer my sister,” Bianca raged, taking a step toward Rayna. “I told you that long ago when I left that forest for good.”
“You told us what he wanted you to say, Bianca. Not what you really meant. Mother was never the same after you left,” Rayna said, looking as if she thought that last sentence would somehow touch her long-lost sister.
Boden knew it wouldn’t. He was all Bianca had and she knew it, she accepted it. He would have it no other way. There could be no other allegiance in her life, especially not one to so-called family. If she were going to take Acacia’s place in his life, she needed to pledge herself wholeheartedly to him. And she had. Poor thing.
“You can come with me now,” Rayna implored. “This isn’t going to turn out the way he thinks, I can promise you that. Come with me now, Bianca, before it’s too late.”
“I am where I belong,” Bianca was saying but Boden was already pushing her to the side, moving toward Rayna.
“What do you mean this will not turn out the way I think?” he asked as he closed in on her. “What do you know?”
Her scent was heavy, sexy, infiltrating his nostrils, sending pulses of lust throughout his body. She was aroused, or had been very recently. He wondered if she would still be wet, if he licked between her long legs would he taste her sweet nectar or that of another? The thought was strange and only aroused him more, so that he was reaching for her before he could think otherwise.
“What do you know, sweeting?” he asked, his hands tightening around her arms as he pulled her close to him.
Her breasts rubbed against his chest as he lifted her off her feet and his cat purred, he could not help but acknowledge the pleasure soaring through his body. Even while he became suspicious of this little vixen.
“I know that the Shadows are going to beat you,” she said to him. “No,” she continued, shaking her head. “They’re going to kill you. Roman won’t take your head off because he’s got too much class for that, but Nick? He’ll kill you for sure. He’ll tear your throat out and watch you bleed to death, just as Darel did.”
Boden roared then, slamming her back into the wall. Her head jerked violently and the sunglasses slipped from her face. Still, she didn’t look away. She stared right at him, taunting him. “When you’re dead and gone my sister will have her life back. We’ll walk away from your sadistic and evil ways and never look back. Our lives will finally be our own.”
“You,” Boden told her in a slow manner, his tongue licking along his bottom lip as he spoke. “Won’t be walking anywhere.”
“No!” Bianca screamed from behind. “Just ignore her, Boden. Let her go and we can continue what we’ve planned. I’m not leaving you. I’ll never leave you. Not for her. Not for anyone.”
“Shut up and take that goddamned robe off!” he yelled to Bianca without turning to look at her.
Boden kept his gaze on the pretty little vixen that thought she could come in here and threaten him, then simply walk out the door with her sister. Another poor, foolish girl.
“Take it off now!” he yelled again, because he knew Bianca hadn’t done what he’d said. For the first time in years, she’d hesitated and Boden knew it was because she had an idea of what was coming.
Moving a hand to Rayna’s neck he held her still, his power evident in the widening of her eyes. With his free hand he ripped the front of the dress she wore until it was hanging off her shoulders. Her breasts jiggled with the movement and he lunged quickly, taking one heavy orb into his mouth and sucking until she screamed. He moved to the next one, this time running his sharp teeth over the soft skin, loving the second it broke and the tangy taste of blood on his tongue.
“Boden, please,” Bianca insisted. She was pulling on his shoulder now. “Not her. You don’t have to do this to her. I’m here. Look, baby, I’m right here.”
She grabbed at his face, something she would have never usually done, turning him and offering her bare breast to him instead. He roared his displeasure. “Lie down and wait!” he told Bianca. “And don’t make me tell you twice!”
A tear streaked down Bianca’s cheek as she backed away to the couch and lay down. She draped one leg over the back of the couch, left the other hanging down on the floor, and spread herself wide so he could see and smell, so he would know that she was waiting and willing.
But he wanted something and someone else first.
Turning his attention back to Rayna, he let her down to her feet, loving the sound of her gasping for breath as she crumpled to the floor. He unzipped his pants then, releasing his engorged sex.
“Stay right there,” he told Rayna. “Open your mouth and taste what your sister fell in love with long ago.”
Rayna shook her head. “Never!” she said with a mouth full of disgust.
“I will never touch you in any way, you filthy bastard!”
Those were not the words Boden wanted to hear. He grabbed her by her hair, tilting her head back until her mouth opened wide with a scream. He then positioned
himself over her, putting the tip of his dick in her mouth. When she bit down hard he resisted the urge to yell out and yanked her head back so hard he pulled out a handful of hair. She screamed, releasing her hold on his now throbbing cock.
“Simple bitch!” he called to her as he dragged her across the floor toward the couch.
Bianca cried silently. Boden ignored the tears and the rapid beating of her heart he could hear over every other sound in the room.
“You need to teach your little sister some manners,” he told Bianca.
She shook her head. “She doesn’t know any better, Boden. Just let her go. She’s not worth it,” Bianca pleaded.
“I am worth it!” Rayna yelled. “And so are you! We can walk out of here, Bianca. Get up and help me, we can take him!” she yelled, her cat’s claws breaking free as she reached around to swipe at Boden.
He was faster and he tossed her away like a dirty rag, watching as she rolled across the floor. When her cat pressed harder for freedom and she lunged at Boden again, he caught her with one hand, gripping her neck as his own claws and teeth were bared.
“You’re too much trouble,” he told her. “But I would have enjoyed fucking you.”
Rayna reared back slightly and spit in Boden’s face, two seconds before he opened his mouth wide and bit into the side of her head.
“No!” Bianca yelled loud and long, a sickening cry that made Boden rage.
With his claws he cut into Rayna’s limp body, blood spewing in all directions before he let her fall in a heap at his feet. When he turned to Bianca, who was still yelling and screaming on the couch, all he could see was red, all he could feel was the incessant anger of once again being betrayed. Bianca was crying but she was going to shift. She was going to turn into her tiger and come at him with death in her heart because of some meddling cat. After all he’d given her, all he’d done to get them where they were today, this bitch was going to try and kill him because of what he’d done to her sister.
Boden was faster. He was stronger, smarter, and in seconds, his jaguar was in full control, the big cat jumping onto the couch where the hysterical feline lay, unable to shift in time to try and defend herself. Her death was quick and a lot less bloody because he was too angry to care anymore, too sick of the Lormenian females that believed they could play him for a fool.
Jumping down from the chair, his teeth covered in blood, the jaguar roared loud and long. With his flanks heaving, Boden shifted, staying on his hands and knees until he could catch his breath. When he was breathing normally again, he shook his head and came to his feet. Moving around the blood and bodies, he went to the table where his cell phone sat.
“I need a cleanup in the penthouse suite,” he said simply before dropping the phone and heading to take a shower.
He had to get dressed. Tonight was a very important night. It was finally time to take his revenge.
* * *
General Oscar Pierson, Major Randall Guthrie, and Captain Lawrence Crowe were dressed in full military regalia. Medals shined, creases stiff, hats positioned perfectly, and frowns affixed appropriately.
“The four prototypes are ready to go. I’ll do a short introduction then let them close the deal. The bidding war will start and by midnight we’ll all be very wealthy men,” Crowe said after emptying his glass of scotch.
Pierson and Guthrie had arrived five minutes ago, worry and anxiety making them even harder than usual to get along with.
“And you’ve worked out all the kinks to these prototypes?” Guthrie asked. “We don’t have to worry about a repeat of the previous catastrophes in Arizona or D.C.?”
Crowe resisted the urge to snap back at the pompous bastard. These two had a lot of nerve. Neither had done a damned thing but puff out their chests and talk a lot of BS throughout the entire Genesis Project. Hell, the part of this project that was supposed to be in their control had basically fallen to chance since the ATD conference had been scheduled over a year ago and the same foreign attendees with their deeply lined pockets would have been here without their involvement. But it was too late for regrets, too late to tell both of them to go to hell, no matter how much he wanted to.
Instead, Crowe stood his ground, shoulders squared, gaze leveled on Guthrie, the ugly motherfucker, with his cratered face, leathery skin, and hideous scar that ran down the left side of his face, curving beneath his neck. “I’ve done my part to make this deal a success. You just make sure your people are ready to put their money on the table once I’m done.”
Guthrie frowned and Pierson nodded toward him, pulling the cigar he sucked on from his lips. “If anything happens tonight to mess up this deal, I’m gonna personally cut off your balls and feed them to you, Crowe. You arrogant piece of crap!”
Crowe managed a smirk. “Nice doing business with you too, Pierson.”
They left the room together, walking as if they were on the battlefield with slow precision, garnering stares from guests and staff as they stepped off the elevator and headed toward the ballroom where tonight’s festivities would take place. Once inside the large room filled with tables topped with black linens and crystal and china dishes surrounding huge and pointless flower arrangements, the threesome separated. Each went to their own tables in the front of the room. Crowe looked down at his table and noted there were assigned seats. Names he didn’t recognize, but figured were the high rollers in tonight’s little auction, were seated around him. He slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, turning his back to the tables where Guthrie and Pierson were sitting and spoke quietly.
“I’m in the ballroom. Bring them down whenever you’re ready, but keep them disarmed until I give you the word.”
“All of them?” came the reply from the other end of the phone.
Crowe clenched his teeth. He had no idea what Boden wanted with hundreds of hybrids. But he’d had his people in the new lab working around the clock to make sure they were ready. Crowe had faced a lot in his many tours of duty. He’d aimed his gun at men, women, children, armed and unarmed, he’d watched as houses, churches, and schools were burnt to the ground and destinies changed forever, but he’d never seen anything like Boden. And try as he might, the U.S. Marine Corps hadn’t taught him how not to fear a beast like that one.
“Yeah,” he said tightly. “All of them.”
* * *
At six thirty on Friday evening the Shadow Shifters climbed out of the black SUVs they’d arrived in. Some parked in the garage, some on National Harbor Boulevard, and others on Waterfront Street. They were coming from all directions, taking up residence at the locations that had been outlined to them by their team leaders. X and a team of five guards headed into the resort, moving to the lower level where the IT department and all the control boards for the hotel were located. They were equipped with laptops and com links, focused on taking full control of the hotel’s power supply if need be, and intercepting any outgoing or incoming communications about tonight’s event and the sale of the hybrids.
There were teams assigned to the roof of the resort, guards monitoring every stairwell and every bank of elevators on each floor. They blended in with the guests in the lobby, the resort restaurants, lobby bar, and penthouse club. Outside they stood at each corner, near each exit of the resort, and the parking garage. Rome had ordered full coverage and they were going to provide it.
At six forty-five when all teams had verified their positions via com link, Rome, Nick, Eli, Ezra, Nivea, and Caprise made their way to the Potomac Ballroom. The official conference activities would begin tomorrow, but defense industry guests had already begun to assemble for this ticketed event.
They spread out, each taking corners of the room, walking around, looking at and scenting the guests that filled the room. Most of them were either in full military regalia or fatigues. Even the foreign dignitaries wore their dress military gear so that the room seemed to be filled with pompous, overdressed, aging men who were on the hunt for the next best killing machi
ne. The thought alone made Nivea angry. Sure, she believed in defense. Wasn’t that what she was currently doing, dressed in a business suit and heels when she’d much rather have on her guard’s uniform? But these men were specifically looking for weapons of mass destruction. That wasn’t about defense, it was about killing, period. And she couldn’t stand it.
“I’ll be right over here,” Eli said, using the private station on the e-band they both wore.
She tried not to frown because she knew it was taking a lot out of him to watch her go into battle. Last night he’d shared with her the dreams he’d had recently, as well as his guilt over the females in his life dying because of him. Of course she’d told him he was being silly on all accounts, but deep inside she recognized his fear. She too had carried fear for her sisters in the last few years. No matter how many times her therapist had told her that the abuse was not her fault and whatever Richard chose to do to anyone else was not her responsibility to stop. She’d felt different and so she’d done what she considered necessary to prevent that from happening. As such, she would not disregard Eli’s feelings, nor would she judge him for them.
“I’ll be in this area,” she replied, looking over to make sure they made eye contact.
He nodded and Nivea smiled. Eli was wearing his shades again but they didn’t bother her so much now because she knew what his eyes looked like. She’d stared into them for so long last night, when he came inside of her, when he’d roared in pleasure, and when he’d simply looked at her as if this was the first time he’d ever truly seen her. She knew the changes in color and the moods that brought it on. She cherished that knowledge, loved that he’d shared so much with her, including the fact that he’d fallen in love with her.
That had been the best.
The lights grew dim and Nivea instantly registered that her best memories were over. It was showtime.
“The doors are locked,” she heard through the com link.
It was Ezra speaking and since all the guests were seated she could see all the way across the room to where she and the other shifters had come in. He was standing near the doors. Rome was closer to the podium at the front of the room, but behind him was an exit door. He sighed into the com link repeating Ezra’s words, “Locked.”
