by Abby Blake
He stayed quiet, unsure what to say. He’d fucked this up once already. Clearly, telling her in words was not one of his strengths. He’d always preferred action over talking anyway.
They eventually turned onto the dirt track that would take them to the safe house, and Ronan was glad to see Alex waiting for them. It would give him a chance to do what he needed to do without having to worry about keeping his guard up in case of attack. For a few moments he fully intended to show Kali exactly what he’d been thinking five months ago.
Chapter Four
Kali smiled at Alex through the windshield and then turned to open her car door. She almost fell out as it opened from the outside and Ronan offered her his hand. Unsure if her apology was accepted or not, Kali almost yelped when he lifted her straight up and fused his mouth to hers. He used her surprise to thrust his tongue past her teeth and reacquaint her with his flavor. Memories of their single night together crowded her brain, and despite everything she tried to tell herself, she relaxed in his arms and let him have his way.
Whatever was on his mind, it seemed clear that he hadn’t objected to taking her to his bed.
He threaded his fingers through her hair, holding her head at the exact angle he wanted, his other hand roaming over her back before finding its way under her shirt to play with her stiff nipples. She gasped into his mouth, her body readying itself for his possession, her panties growing damp as his kiss went on and on and on.
He lifted her onto the hood of his car, crowding her, wedging his hips between her thighs as he ravished her mouth and drove her arousal sky high. He rocked his hard cock against her aching pussy, her need for him overriding all sensible thought. She wanted him here, now. She’d dreamed of having him inside her again so many times that she wanted their clothes gone, to hell with the consequences.
“Perhaps we should take his little party inside,” Alex said with a soft laugh in his voice.
Startled—how could she forget they had an audience?—Kali tried to pull out of Ronan’s arms, but he held on tight, refusing even to let her wriggle.
“Be still,” he ordered as he lifted away and looked into her eyes. She wasn’t sure why, but she did as he asked and then just sat there on the hood of his car staring at him like some sort of pathetic, starry-eyed fan girl. “I wanted you that night,” he said very clearly. He gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him even as she tried to look away. “I wanted you the morning you ran away.” He pressed his cock harder against her crotch, smiling as she gasped from the pleasure. “And as you can see and feel, I very much want you now. Don’t you dare doubt that.”
“O–Okay,” she managed to gasp out. Kali believed him. She wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but with mind-boggling arousal swirling through her she couldn’t quite focus on anything else but the man in front of her.
Fortunately, Alex took care of that.
“Come on, beautiful,” he said as he held out a hand for her to take. Confused, she glanced at Ronan, who stood back and let Alex help her off the car. Alex slung his arm over her shoulders and escorted her into the house, and she was shocked to find that she actually wanted to snuggle closer. Hell, she’d gone from begging Ronan for pity sex to a horny slut in less than five months. Alex was talking in a calm voice, but she had trouble taking in his words. Finally, after what were probably more than a few blank looks, Kali realized he was telling her about the precautions he’d installed inside this house. She took a deep, steadying breath and tried to focus.
The safe house was little more than a cabin in the middle of nowhere, but it did seem designed to act as a type of fortress. The only bedroom was in the center of the cabin and had a trapdoor leading to a type of panic room. She sure hoped they didn’t need it, but it was kind of nice to know it was there.
Yet, despite what should have been time to calm down, she was still nearly vibrating with arousal as Alex led her into the kitchen where Ronan was making coffee.
* * * *
Alex couldn’t quite tamp down the jealousy he felt. Male fire demons outnumbered female fire demons by about three to one, so he was quite used to sharing a woman, but his attraction had never been focused on a human female before. The worst part was that as the odd species out it was quite likely neither of them even realized he had feelings for Kali.
Come to think of it, he couldn’t even explain why he had feelings for Kali. He’d only known the woman a handful of hours. He rubbed the headache forming behind his eyes and tried to get back to business.
“I spoke to your brother,” he blurted out. Annoyed at his own uncharacteristic behavior, he dragged in a breath and forced a measure of calm into his voice. “He’d just been given the details of an attempted assassination. Apparently an officer arrived at the woman’s home to warn her of the serial killer, heard her demanding that someone get the hell out of her house, and went in to offer assistance. The intruder, who looked to be a girl of about seven years of age, laughed and then seemed to disappear.” He glanced at Kali. “I called in a favor from Brody, one of my squadmates, and he’s going to watch over the woman until we can get her formal protection in one of our safe houses. The official police report says the girl ran from the scene, but I filled your brother in on what most likely happened. He wasn’t as surprised as I was expecting.” Alex shook his head and tried to get back on track. “Anyway, all four targets were born January twelfth between four fourteen and four twenty-two in the afternoon.” He turned to Kali and couldn’t resist running his knuckles down her soft cheek. “Unfortunately, beautiful, so were you.” He glanced at Ronan but couldn’t gauge his friend’s reaction to what was essentially him continuing to flirt with a woman who seemed important to the human.
“So they’re going to protect the women who are targets?”
Alex nodded. “That’s the plan. They’re making a list now and hoping to pinpoint the potential targets. So far they’ve identified four, maybe five, more women.” He smiled at her sigh of relief. “Statistically speaking, that’s a rather high percentage, but apparently it’s not unusual for a lot of human babies to be born the night of a full moon.” Alex took a deep breath and reached out to touch Kali again before he could tell himself not to. “Your brother was quite accepting of the quick rundown I gave him on paranormal species and pixie assassins. I suspect he’s seen enough in the past day or two to convince him there is more to the world than he knows.” He winked at Kali and then turned his attention back to Ronan. “I spoke to my squad’s acting CO, Thomas. He discussed it with our new administrative supervisor, and they’ve decided to follow standard protocols and involve the Ruling Body. That means our little secret is out.” He reached over and grabbed Kali’s hand. “It also means we’ll have backup. Despite being on six months’ leave, PUP Squad Alpha is being called back onto active duty. I explained Kali’s situation to Thomas, and he’s assigned me to her protection indefinitely.”
Ronan looked relieved, but then he frowned as another problem apparently caught his attention. “You said earlier that pixies can follow your slip path.” Alex nodded. “Do we have a way to lose them if they send more than one?”
Alex grinned. Ronan was always thinking, always planning. It was why his business was so well known in the paranormal community.
“I spoke to Jason—he’s a warlock with my PUP squad,” he said for Kali’s benefit. Ronan had worked with most of the members of PUP Squad Alpha one time or another over the past decade. “Jason will transport us if it becomes necessary. Pixies can’t follow a warlock’s bounce tunnel, so all we have to do is get to him via slip travel and we’ll lose any pixie pursuers easily enough.”
“How will you find Jason?” Kali asked, looking intrigued rather than frightened.
“Sorry, beautiful, I should have explained that. Jason is the only member of PUP Squad Alpha to remain on leave. He’s dealing with a family issue, so all we have to do is slip travel to his home.”
Now Kali looked concerned, and if Alex had to guess he’d sa
y it was because she didn’t want to intrude on the warlock’s private life.
“Don’t worry,” Ronan said to her, apparently sensing the same thing as Alex. “We’ll only go to him as a last resort.”
“Okay,” she said looking relieved.
Ronan wrapped his arm around Kali’s shoulder, holding her close as he waited for Alex to give him a report on the rest.
“Thomas is also talking to the Ruling Body right now, but at the moment their orders are to protect the potential targets in tandem with human law enforcement without revealing who we are. I’m not sure how effective my squadmates will be working alongside random police officers, so it might be an idea to call in your team.”
“Your team?” Kali asked Ronan with a quirked eyebrow.
Ronan didn’t look like he was going to answer, so Alex answered for him. “Ronan is the head of Deeks Security. They offer discreet, secure protection for some of the highest-profile people in the world—human and paranormal.”
“Oh,” Kali said, looking surprised. “My brother didn’t tell me any of that. I thought you were just an old army buddy.”
Ronan smiled then. “I am an old army buddy of Dave’s. I started the company around the same time he joined the police force.” He grinned as if remembering back to those days. “I actually offered him a job, but he chose to get married instead. Apparently he’d had enough of traveling the world.”
“But he didn’t know about paranormals until today?”
“Nope. Obviously if he’d come to work for me, I would have filled him in, but Dave seemed to want to put the whole army experience behind him. I was actually a little surprised that he joined the police force, but he seems to like it.”
“When he’s not tracking down pixie assassins,” Kali said with a frown as she stepped away from Ronan’s embrace. She still looked a little disturbed by her introduction to the world of paranormal species, but she was handling it better than most humans he’d known. Alex wanted to pull her into his arms—his attraction to this woman confusing and damn near overwhelming—but moved away instead. He glanced at the clock even though he knew perfectly well what time it was.
“The sun will go down in a couple of hours. I’ve got the wards in place and the perimeter alarm set, so we should get ample warning of any visitors. I think I’ll go catch some sleep while I have the chance.”
“Sure,” Ronan said in a neutral tone. “I’ll sort out something for dinner.”
“Sweet,” Alex said with a quick nod and tried to leave the room without looking like he was escaping. Judging by the next question Kali asked, he hadn’t been successful.
* * * *
“Is he okay?” Kali whispered to Ronan as Alex seemed to flee the room.
“He can hear you,” Ronan said in a normal voice, “and no, he’s probably not okay.”
“Why?” He could hear the concern in her voice and fell for her just a little bit harder. Everything he’d noticed about her that first night was simply being confirmed in every word, every smile, every touch.
“Fire demons are different to humans.” She quirked an eyebrow and waited for a better explanation. “What I mean is fire demons share their mates with at least two other males, usually three or four.”
“I don’t understand why that would upset him. I’m not a prude or anything. I’m not going to judge a species for their mating habits.” She was so adorable when she was confused, but since he was usually the one to put his foot in his mouth when it came to women, he probably wasn’t the best person to explain. Ironically, despite the jealousy he’d felt earlier, he wasn’t upset that Alex liked Kali. She was an amazing person. What wasn’t there to like?
“Why don’t you go get some rest? I’ll call you for dinner.”
“I…um…there’s only one bed.”
“That’s okay. I’m sure Alex won’t mind.”
“What about you? Will you mind?”
“Not at all,” he said with a grin. But when her smile disappeared, he realized she’d taken that the wrong way. Hell, maybe he’d spent too much time around paranormals. Most humans would find the idea of two men with one woman rather strange. “Kali,” he said, trying to choose his words carefully. “Alex is as attracted to you as I am. If you want to explore that, it’s fine. I’m happy for you.”
“B–But I thought you liked me.” Tears filled her eyes, and he gathered her into his arms quickly.
“I do like you,” he assured her, running his fingers through her thick curls, mentally kicking himself. “Alex, get out here. I’m fucking this up.”
* * * *
Kali wanted to cry. Granted, it had been a very strange day, but Ronan’s rejection really stung. When they’d been kissing on the hood of the car, she’d found a peace that had eluded her for months. How stupid was that? They’d been making out like a couple of horny teenagers, and she’d felt happy. Shit, she’d promised him she wouldn’t throw herself at him again, yet here she was. Talk about pathetic, but he’d seemed so sincere in his words at the time. Had something gone wrong between them since then?
“I always said you were a jackass when it came to women,” Alex said to Ronan as he pulled Kali from his arms and settled her on a stool near the bench. “What my verbally challenged friend is trying to say is that he’s loved you since he met you.”
Kali shook her head. That seemed an erroneous assumption. Technically she and Ronan had known each other for less than twenty-four hours. The sex had been amazing, incredible even, and she’d been more attracted to him than any man she’d ever known—she glanced at Alex and amended that to almost any man she’d ever known—but using the word “love” seemed a huge exaggeration.
“No buts, beautiful. I’ve never seen him react to a woman the way he reacts to you.” He leaned in and added in a conspiratorial whisper, “He probably doesn’t remember telling me about you, but he was pretty torn up when you ran the way you did.”
“So why did he suggest I go sleep with you?”
“I’m pretty sure he meant sleep beside me…for now at least.” She could feel heated embarrassment creeping over her face—she hadn’t meant to make assumptions—but then he confused her even more by adding, “I’m sure between the two of us we can make you happy.”
“So that thing about sharing a mate, that’s what you two want to do?”
“It’s probably too early to be making any decisions like that,” Alex said after a quick glance at Ronan. “All we ask is that you keep an open mind. Just know that if you want both of us, it isn’t a problem. And well, if you decide to go all human on us and choose only one, well we can deal with that, too.”
Kali could almost see the pain behind that statement. She felt certain that Alex had been hurt that way before. She knew it in her heart. She had no way of explaining, even to herself, the sureness of what she was sensing, but she felt very confident that what she “knew” was right. But blurting it out seemed inappropriate at this moment. She wanted to lighten the mood, say something or do something that would give them all a chance to breathe, but the words wouldn’t come.
She smiled when Ronan stepped closer, pressed his lips to hers for a moment, and then placed her hand over his erection. “Go get some rest. Whatever happens between you two, just know that I still want you just as much as I did five months ago.”
She nodded, biting her bottom lip to keep her tears from spilling. Ronan may seem a gruff soldier, but he truly cared for people, and despite the fact that they were different species, he thought of Alex as a brother. How she knew that, again, she had no idea, but the feeling that she was correct stayed with her even as she fell asleep cuddled in Alex’s arms.
Chapter Five
“What’s for breakfast?”
Ronan glanced over at Alex and tried not to growl. Four days without an attack should have made him happy, but boredom was setting in for all of them. There were only so many card games three adults could play before they were climbing up the walls—figuratively speaking o
f course.
“Eggs,” Ronan answered, not caring to elaborate. He’d discovered after an inedible dinner and two burned breakfasts that both of his roommates were lousy cooks. If he wanted to enjoy eating, he had to do the cooking himself.
He cracked several eggs into a bowl and was adding salt and pepper as Kali wandered into the kitchen. She looked adorable in his rumpled shirt, and he already had half a hard-on just looking at her. His cock drew to full salute when she wrapped her arms around Alex’s waist and accepted his passionate good-morning kiss. A moment later, she moved into Ronan’s arms and he did the same, practically inhaling her with his need to stamp her with his possession. She’d slept between both men each night, but so far nothing more than some rather zealous kissing had gone on between them.
Ronan tried desperately to think of something else—at least until he had breakfast cooked.
“Did Dave have any news?” Kali asked.
“Not today,” he answered with a slow shake of his head.
He ran into the nearest town each morning to call Dave from the payphone, but so far the only news he’d had was that they’d been able to track down only one of the five other women born around the same time as Kali. The woman—the same one who’d been attacked and had survived by sheer lucky timing—was currently being protected by one of Ronan’s employees, Nathan, working with one of Alex’s squadmates, a shifter called Brody. As a precaution they’d all abandoned technology, and so his only contact with any of them was through Dave.
