Strategic Vulnerability

by Mandy M. Roth

  Kim took a deep breath. “The redhead who was here.”

  “What redhead?” he asked.

  “The half-naked lady,” she bit out, seeming annoyed. “Let me guess, all you noticed were her breasts.”

  “Actually, all I noticed was her scent. It was repulsive. Didn’t catch her hair color or her breasts. Sorry.”

  Kim grinned, staying close to the bars. “I did it.”

  “Did what?”

  “Made her choke.”

  He narrowed his gaze on her.

  “Remember the one guard demanding to know about the Fae?”

  Wilson nodded. “I also remember you being confused as to what that even was.”

  “No,” she responded. “You recall me pretending to be confused.”

  “Are you telling you’re part Fae?” he asked.

  “My father is a full-blood and I’m unsure about my mother, but I think she was something magikal too. He doesn’t speak of her. Ever.”

  Allowing the information to sink in, Wilson was quiet. Finally, he locked gazes with her. “Krauss is already aware you carry the blood of the Fae in you. Keep the fact you’re aware of it to yourself. If he senses you might be a security threat in any manner, he’ll take precautions, and my guess is, separate us by more than just a cell. He won’t want to risk us collaborating and escaping.” He also knew something else. Something Kim didn’t. She was pregnant and he’d be damned if he let her risk herself or the baby. “Promise me now that you won’t use any magik. That you’ll let me handle this.”

  “But, Wil, I can help us get out of here. My powers are getting stronger again. They gave me something that messed with them, but they’re coming back.”

  “No,” he said sternly. “I won’t risk you, Kim. Swear to me now.”

  Reluctantly, she nodded. He had a feeling she wasn’t planning to obey him.

  He pushed his fingers through the bars, taking a section of her hair in his hand. He stroked it gently, inhaling her fresh scent, branding his mind with it, washing away the horrid scent of the other woman.

  His cock twitched to life, wanting to be in Kim.

  He closed his eyes, remaining in place, knowing this was the greatest form of torture Krauss had come up with yet. Keeping him from Kim.

  Time edged by and he could sense the drain on Kim. “Hon, go rest.”

  “I’m not leaving you,” she said sternly.

  “Everything on you is stiff and starting to hurt,” he replied, hoping she didn’t question how he could sense something such as that. While she had confided in him about being Fae, he wasn’t entirely sure she was ready to hear exactly what he was.

  Kim released his hand and put her hand through the bars, touching his bare chest, searing his flesh with her fingers. “Actually, I was thinking you’re the one with the stiffness problems right now.”

  She ran her hand downward, trailing a line to his navel and then to the top of his pants. Kim met his gaze, as if wanting permission to go onward.

  He caught her wrist gently. “Rest, hon. I’ll be fine. The drugs will wear off by morning.”

  “Wil, let me help you. Please. Don’t make me watch them try to have some other random woman take my place.” She stared intensely at him. “Please.”

  Releasing her wrist, he gave a slight nod.

  A grin tugged at her lips as she pulled open the fly of his pants. He jerked as her hand found his rock-hard cock there. It sprang out and into the palm of her hand and Kim gasped, trying to close her fingers around it.

  “You’re huge,” she whispered, making male pride swell in him.

  She stroked the full length of him, her breath catching again. His cock went through the bars, jutting out and into her cell. At least seven of his ten inches were now on her side. To his amazement, Kim slinked down, putting her head directly in front of his aching cock.

  “Kim,” he ground out. “You don’t have to, ahh…”

  She popped the head of his cock into her lush mouth, cutting off his protest. He wanted to instantly explode. Somehow, he held back. She took as much of his shaft as she could with consideration to the bars between them. It didn’t matter. It felt divine.

  She sucked, her mouth warm and wet. He gripped the bars, groaning as she began swirling her tongue around his shaft as well. He thumped his head against the bars as she bit lightly at the head of his cock. Teasing him.

  “Fuck,” he sputtered.

  Kim stared up at him, a wanton expression on her face. She sucked harder, sliding up and down his cock, adding in her hand to reach the base. The sensation drove him over the edge. Wilson cried out, his balls pulled upward, his cock twitching a warning.

  “I can’t hold it,” he said.

  Kim remained in place, her suction on him awe-inspiring.

  He exploded, spurting liquid warmth into her mouth and down her throat. She remained in place, sucking him, swallowing everything he was offering her. The sight of her there, licking his cock free of come, was overwhelming.

  Reaching through the bars, he tried and failed to touch her face. She was just out of reach. He closed his fingers in midair. “Kim.”

  Pulling off his cock, she kissed the tip and looked up at him. “Does it hurt less now?”

  “Oh gods yes!” He tried to touch her again. This time she moved closer, allowing him to. He caressed her cheek. “Thank you, hon.”

  “Trust me when I say any time,” she replied, surprising him.

  Chapter Eleven

  Kim pushed her tray of food far from her, refusing to meet Krauss’s gaze. The scientist nearest him sighed. “Sir, it’s been three days since she’s taken any type of food or water. I don’t need to tell you the stress this is putting on her system.”

  Krauss grumbled something under his breath before lifting his hand. “If she eats, return her to the rat’s cell.”

  Wilson, as always, hovered near the bars. “Put her in with me now and I’ll make sure she eats.”

  “And have you attack my guards in the process?” Krauss questioned.

  Wilson walked to the back of his cell and put his hands on the wall before going to his knees and then his stomach. He laced his fingers behind his head and spread his legs wide, a sure signal of total surrender.

  The door to her cell opened and the guards entered, ushering her out and to Wilson’s cell. They practically shoved her in. She stumbled and would have fallen had Wilson not reacted with a speed that shocked her. He was suddenly there, cradling her, pulling her close.

  Instantly, her upset stomach felt better and she felt safe.

  “I’ve got you, hon,” he whispered, kissing her temple.

  She clung to him.

  “Get her to eat and to rest, Mr. Rousseau,” Krauss said sternly before exiting the hall, taking the guards and scientists with him.

  Wilson spun her around and bear-hugged her, lifting her up and off her feet. He covered her face in kisses, making her smile. He walked toward the cot, still holding her off the ground as if she weighed nothing.

  “Wil?”

  “Shh,” he said. “I need to hold you. I need to know you’re here and safe with me. Don’t ask me to stop or put you down. I couldn’t even if I wanted to, and for the record—I don’t want to stop.”

  Relief washed over her. They’d not spoken about her sucking his cock to help alleviate the effects of the drugs he’d been given several days back. She’d never made a habit of doing something so daring with a man she barely knew. In fact, she had only been with two men in her life. The first had been when she was eighteen, and she considered the experience experimental more than anything. It had been too fast to count as much else. The second man she’d given her heart to. Things hadn’t worked out as planned with him, and for the longest time she’d assumed he’d been the one for her. She wasn’t sure if circumstances were playing havoc with her reasoning and feelings, but since meeting Wilson, she no longer felt she’d let the one for her get away. If anything, she felt like the perfect man for her w
as now bear-hugging her to the point it was getting hard to draw in air with ease.

  “W-Wil.” She tapped his shoulder. “Too tight.”

  He eased his grip slightly before lying with her on the cot, his back facing the cell door.

  Chapter Twelve

  The sounds of doors opening and closing and footsteps in the hallway alerted her that the guards were doing another check on them. They were like clockwork, every thirty minutes. Wilson generally went on edge whenever they passed, as if he was fully expecting them to do something stupid and shoot him again. With the way they stared at him with hate-filled eyes, she was surprised they hadn’t pulled the trigger.

  The footsteps stopped just outside the cell, and Kim looked up to see two men in lab coats standing in the mix of guards. One held a clipboard while the other held a file. Kim drew her power up, making all looking in at them believe she was sound asleep.

  “How far along is this one?” the man with the clipboard and gray hair asked.

  The man with the file scan read it and then stared at the other man. “She’s about three weeks.”

  “Oh, really.” The gray-haired man looked impressed. “So this is the female who was instantly receptive?”

  She remained still, listening to them as they talked about her.

  “Yes. Krauss was so excited her eggs instantly accepted the candidate-in-question’s sperm that he thought he’d been foolish in saving the samples for just her. He attempted to inseminate the rest of the supernatural females here, but none of their eggs were amenable.”

  As their conversation played out in her head, it became very clear what had happened and why she was so valuable to Krauss’s project—she was already carrying the next generation of his super-soldiers.

  The gray-haired man sighed. “As exciting as this is, I would have liked to see conception take place after a natural mating.”

  The other man nodded. “I’m guessing Krauss wants the same thing. I have a message from him telling me to abort the child she now carries—without her knowledge, of course—and to call in the observation team. We’ll be moving these two to a viewing room and I think he’s expecting fireworks.”

  The gray-haired man glanced at his clipboard. “Has Wilson realized his roommate is expecting?”

  “We’ve told no one outside of the immediate staff, and the meds we’ve been pumping him full of should block his ability to sense it.” He tipped his head. “Though Krauss called me in because he’s convinced the rat does know. Says it’s what stopped him from giving in to the carnal need to mate aggressively. Something about an inborn knowledge the guy has to protect her and the child she now carries.”

  A gasp followed. “Are they true mates?”

  “I can’t even begin to calculate the odds of that.” The man shrugged. “I doubt either of them will admit to the signs of being true mates. Besides, how do you test if they can read one another’s thoughts or sense when the other is in need? The list goes on from there, none of which we can determine in a lab. The only proof we have will be aborted in about four hours. Shame really, the little bastard would have no doubt been a fascinating hodgepodge. A medical marvel.”

  They walked off, leaving Kim to soak in all she’d just overheard. She glanced down the length of her body and stopped when she came to Wilson’s hand, resting protectively over her lower abdomen.

  Oh gods, he knows and it’s why he’s been so kind to me. He pities me and—

  Wilson kissed her neck, proving he was awake. “Mmm, not pity, Kim. Something, but not pity—trust me.”

  She tensed, unable to remember if she’d spoken out loud or not. Her thoughts went to the promise one of the men had made about aborting the child she’d only just learned she carried. She gasped and twisted to face Wilson. “They’re going to kill the baby.”

  Interesting hodgepodge.

  She jerked out of Wilson’s hold and fell to the floor. Kim ignored the sting of hitting the concrete and scrambled to her feet. “Hodgepodge? What did he mean?” She touched her stomach tentatively. “It’s a baby, right?”

  Wilson rose to his feet, looking as if he’d been pulled by strings. He advanced on her, yanking her against his chiseled chest. “Never doubt what you carry. It is most certainly a baby. A baby with special gifts, special abilities, special—”

  She gasped. “Wil, I— won’t let them hurt—”

  He held her tight. “We won’t let them hurt the baby.”

  Heat washed up her neck and straight to her face. “Oh gods, Wil, I’m pregnant.” She swallowed hard. “This shouldn’t be. I take precautions.” She blinked. “To the point I’m scary about it. How can they do this to…ohmygod, I don’t even know who the father is.” She shook her head and buried her face in his chest. “I haven’t had sex in months, so it’s whoever they—”

  “Shhh.” He kissed her temple. “We’ll get through this. I promise you.”

  “We’ll?” She let out a soft laugh. “Just because they did this to me doesn’t mean you’re responsible.”

  He tipped her head back, forcing her to meet his gaze. Kim opened her mouth to argue the point more, and Wilson captured her lips with his own. She surrendered to his kiss, needing the comfort he provided. When he was finished, her toes were curling and she was purring lightly, nipping at his jawline.

  He led her back to the cot and eased her down on it. For a minute, Kim thought for sure Wilson was going to spread her out and make love to her. When he drew back, she reached for him.

  “Get some rest, lil’ momma.” He waved his hand and Kim could have sworn she felt Fae power around her, comforting her, easing her into a deep sleep.

  She wasn’t sure how long she’d been asleep when she felt the heat from Wilson’s body leave. Opening her eyes, she took a minute to adjust to the darkness and found Wilson near the cell door.

  He put his hand against the locked portion. “Apertus.”

  Hearing him use the Latin word for “open” while he was obviously trying to get the cell door to give caught Kim by surprise. She hadn’t sensed the gift of magik in him. From the looks of it, he didn’t actually possess it, just the knowledge of how it should work. That or he was new to it all. Either way, it was touching seeing him try. Lifting her hand, Kim let her power rise. She coated the lock with it.

  Wilson shook his head and tried once more, repeating himself. This time, the door opened. She stayed in place, watching as he seemed very impressed with himself for having gotten it open. She suppressed a giggle and watched as Wilson slipped into the hall. His entire demeanor changed. No longer did he appear to be the safe, good-humored man she’d lain next to. No. Now, he looked lethal. He disappeared for what felt like forever before creeping back into the cell. He closed the door but didn’t latch it. He held two manila folders in his hand.

  Kim sat up, no longer caring if he knew she wasn’t asleep. “Are those our charts?”

  Nodding, he handed Kim’s to her and sat.

  She opened the chart slowly, half expecting something to leap out and eat her. The past twenty-four hours had been unbelievable. Having a creature charge out at her from an envelope wouldn’t surprise her in the least. Skimming over the first portion of the file, Kim came to a dead stop when she spotted information about the sperm donor. Her eyes widened. There was no way she was reading it right. “This can’t be right.”

  “Why?” Wilson asked, leaning over to peek at the chart.

  She pointed at the portion with sperm donor traits listed. “It says he has human, rat DNA, traces of Fae, wolf and panther DNA as well.” She shook her head. “This is a joke. This isn’t possible. Humans can’t be—”

  Wilson snatched the chart from her hands and stared at it with wide eyes. “This can’t be right.”

  “Thank you.” Kim breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m starting to believe in a lot of freaky stuff. A wererat isn’t one of them.”

  He set her file down and began ripping through his own. “No fucking way!”

  “Sh
hh.” Taking hold of Wilson’s forearm, Kim did her best to calm him down before all the guards came running. “What is it?”

  His gaze locked on her before it slid slowly down the length of her body. “This can’t be.”

  “You said that already.”

  “I would have known. I mean, I knew you were with child, but I should have known the rest.” Wilson let his folder fall to the floor. Files scattered everywhere.

  Seeing it was pointless to keep trying to reason with him, Kim went to retrieve the files only to have Wilson beat her to it. “No. Umm, are you tired? You should rest.”

  She pointed at the cell door. “No. We should get the hell out of here while we can.”

  “I can’t risk dragging you around a jungle, Kim. We’ll have to go with plan B.”

  Kim gave him a pointed stare. “We don’t have a plan B. They’ll be here soon to abort the baby. I won’t let them. I’m leaving now. You need to come with me.”

  Wilson shoved the folders under the cot portion of the gurney and rushed toward the cell door. He pushed it shut, ran back and practically tackled her. He pulled Kim close and buried her head in his chest. “Someone’s coming.”

  “Oh.” Following his lead, Kim pretended to be asleep in his arms. Since her back faced the cell door, she couldn’t see who was there but she did hear footsteps. It sounded like more than one set.

  “Interesting.” The sound of Krauss’s hushed voice made her skin crawl. The man had betrayed her in the worst way. “I suspected they may be compatible based on his initial reaction when we introduced her to the facility, but never in my wildest dreams did I suspect they might be mates.”

  Mates?

  “This is the first night since he’s been here that he’s slept soundly,” a voice she recognized as one of the men in lab coats said. “Look at the protective manner in which he holds her. Do you think he senses the truth?”

  Krauss chuckled. “No. Parker told me Wilson makes a habit of not thinking. His body is still under the effects of the drugs we gave him. They won’t be completely out of his system for a full twenty-one days. So we have a couple of weeks yet. Until then, he’ll not be able to notice his scent on her. By that time, he will have worn out his use. I have blood, hair, and tissue samples from him, and you collected enough semen to allow us to freeze a decent amount of sperm. We’ll wait until he breeds with her in a controlled setting, re-creating the desired results, of course, then we’ll be done with him.” He cleared his throat. “Besides, I am rather excited to do an autopsy on him. He is a fascinating creature.”