Satisfying Extortion [The Extortionists 2] (Siren Publishing LoveEdge)

by Natalie Acres

  “It’s nothing. Blaine’s right. We need to go on inside and put a game plan together.”

  As everyone filtered by him, Kurt pressed his back and head against the glass door. “Fuck me.”

  “Tell me about it,” Blaez grumbled, passing him.

  “Look at it this way, you’re not alone,” Marcus said.

  Marcus and Blaez entered the heart of the police station and Kurt tensed as he watched them crowd Suzette. He’d been around Blaez enough to know when he was coming on to a woman.

  “You don’t waste any time, brother,” Randon teased, slapping his shoulder.

  “Wait.” Kurt grabbed Randon’s arm. “What am I supposed to do here? Huh? I mean, if this entire mating bit is true and the extortionist shows up in towns where we’re bound to find our mates then that means—”

  “It’s already apparent what it means,” Pageant said, looking at Kurt as if she pitied him.

  “Thank you very much, Mrs. Shane. The sidebar comments are always appreciated.”

  “Don’t mention it,” she said, pinching Randon’s waist before leaving them alone.

  “I’ll tell you the same thing you told me once. If she’s your mate, the only way you can protect her is by claiming her.”

  “How do I know?”

  “Trust me, brother. You’ll know. In fact, you already do. It’s just your damned-ass stubborn nature to deny what’s right in front of you.” He took another step, but Kurt stopped him again. “I see that mind working. Might as well go ahead and ask.”

  “What’s going on with Blaez and Marcus?” Kurt didn’t waste any time.

  “Best guess?”

  “I don’t want your worst one here.”

  “She belongs to them, too.”

  “What?” Kurt’s elevated voice resonated in the room and all heads turned.

  Randon waved him outside. As much as it pained Kurt to leave Suzette behind with two sex-crazed individuals, he followed Randon to the parking lot. As soon as they were away from bent ears, Kurt peered around Randon. “Move a few inches to the left.”

  He sidestepped. “Good?”

  “Don’t be a smartass. What do you mean she belongs to them, too? Is that even possible?”

  “Yes,” Randon replied.

  Kurt scratched his pounding head. “Who shares a mate?”

  “There are several shifters with shared mates. It’s not uncommon for trackers to share mates since they’re often gone for several months at a time.”

  “I’m not sharing my mate with Blaez and Marcus.”

  “I can see where that might be a problem.”

  “Problem? Try impossible. The man is a sex machine. He fucks his women for hours at a time. His sex drive is always slammed up in overdrive. I can’t share her with him. I just can’t.”

  “I take it you’re talking about Blaez.”

  “Who else?”

  “Marcus isn’t exactly known for keeping it zipped.” Randon took a deep breath. “Hate me for pointing out the obvious but I’m your friend and it’s what I’m supposed to do. If she’s your mate, Kurt, and—”

  “There’s no ‘if’ to it, man. I’m pretty sure about this.”

  Randon chuckled. “Yeah? Me too. The minute you saw her, your interest showed all over your face.”

  “Continue.” Kurt was agitated and while Randon would probably infuriate him all the more, he still needed his advice.

  “If she belongs to them and she belongs to you, there’s nothing you can do to change that. Fated mates are destined to spend their lives together and the only thing I can tell you is suck it up.”

  “Apparently you’ve never tried to share anything with those two.”

  “I have all I need at home.”

  “Well aren’t you the lucky wolf?”

  “Yes, I am.” Randon howled out his laughter. “And by the looks of things, you’ll soon count yourself as pretty darn fortunate too.”

  Chapter Four

  “Anyone feeling the devil’s breath on the back of their necks yet?” Blaine closed the file on the table and clasped his hands over it.

  “Not yet,” Kurt mumbled, sulking like a spoilt child.

  Marcus should’ve taunted Kurt but given the fact he was fighting a hangover, he opted for Plan B. He turned to Suzette and casually draped his arm over the back of her chair, aware of the others pounding Blaine with questions.

  “So tell me about the school,” Marcus said, never acknowledging Blaez when he left the table. Like most trackers, Blaez couldn’t be confined for long periods of time.

  “What would you like to know?” Suzette asked, propping an elbow on the table and turning sideways in her seat.

  “Someone said you used to work there before the extortionist started staking out the place.”

  “I still work there,” she said, seemingly pleased to tell him as much. “I was forced away from my home once, Marcus. The extortionist took my family, my husband, my life. I relocated because the memories in Pleasant haunted me. Now, look at what’s happened? This thing is back. He’s returned with a vengeance, terrorizing young children on playgrounds and taking their parents from them. Most educators have left town. There are only six qualified teachers left at the elementary school and even less at the middle and high schools.”

  “You’re quitting.” It wasn’t even up for debate.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “You heard me,” he said, gripping her wrist and staring into her eyes. “I don’t want you to work there.”

  Clearly alarmed, she jerked her arm free. “That’s not your decision.”

  “You’re right,” he said, rebounding. All eyes were on him then, thanks to the scene Suzette caused. He thinned his lips and tried to think of the best way to persuade her. She didn’t need to teach. If she wanted to teach, then she could homeschool her own children.

  Qualified or not, she would not return to her job anytime soon. He’d restrain her if he had to and there were a few ways that came to mind. A smile tugged at his lips. There was more than one way to convince a woman to see things his way.

  “I need to go,” she said, standoffish. She pushed away from the table. “I don’t know what you and your Bold and Free brothers think I am, but I need to be clear on something. I’m not on the market.”

  “I’m not following you.”

  “I’m not available, Marcus.”

  “You’re not.” It wasn’t a question.

  From the moment he’d met her, he’d known she belonged to him. She also belonged to Blaez and apparently Kurt had some sort of connection to her as well. He smiled and patted her hand. “See there? We agree on something.”

  “I’m a mother with school-aged children. They’re my whole world. My life revolves around them. I don’t have time for dating.” Apparently she understood what he was implying.

  Randon and Pageant glanced up from the documents they were reading. Bart slapped a file against his chest and grinned. “I could’ve told you she was frigid.”

  Marcus ignored Bart and tossed aside the folder. He hadn’t asked ex-husbands or boyfriends for permission to bang their broads when he was a single man playing the field. He damn sure wouldn’t ask now.

  Suzette stuck her hand out and said, “It was nice meeting you, Marcus. And while I do appreciate your concern, it really isn’t necessary.”

  As soon as his warm hand wrapped around her much cooler one, a zap of possessiveness charged through his system and nearly knocked the breath out of him. She immediately jerked away from him and rubbed her fingers.

  She’d felt their connection, too. The color drained from her cheeks and she quickly hurried away.

  He caught up to her as she was saying farewell to the others. “I’ll walk you out.”

  “It isn’t necessary.”

  “Are you leaving already?” Pageant offered her a warm smile.

  “Yes. It was good to see you, Pageant. I’m sure we’ll be seeing one another again soon.”

  “
I hope so,” Pageant said, worry crinkling her brow as she glanced around the room.

  Randon nodded once at Marcus and he nodded in return. He felt the curious gazes at his back as he escorted Suzette down the hall toward the exit. Two doors from the main entrance, he noticed an open space, an area suggestive of a break room, given the vending machines.

  Without one word of warning, he clasped his hand around her wrist and dragged her inside and slammed the door.

  “What the—” Her nose twitched. Her eyes narrowed. “What do you think you’re—”

  He held up one finger and then planted his palm against her middle. “Give me a second to explain. At least give me that, Suzette. Then you’ll understand everything better when I’m done.”

  “I need to go,” she said, her wild eyes as dark as hovering clouds in the middle of a storm.

  She didn’t move or try to fight him. He had his green light.

  He felt the softness in her belly and his cock throbbed in his jeans. Suzette wasn’t like the women he typically shared at the club. She had womanly curves, a natural body. Nothing about her suggested she’d enhanced or tucked this part or that. His heartbeat and pulse seemed out of sync. His mouth went dry and his breath fell out in spurts. “All my life, I’ve waited for you.”

  Where the hell had that come from? He’d meant to talk about the dangers the extortionists represented. He hadn’t meant to open up his heart and bleed all over the place.

  “What?” She attempted to break his grip. She gave him a halfhearted push and glared at him as if he were her enemy, maybe even a significant threat. “You don’t know me.”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  She grabbed his biceps and tried to physically move him aside, but he didn’t budge. In fact, he was a little turned on by her effort.

  He held her against the door, one hand flat against her stomach and the other wrapped around her wrist. She gritted her teeth and her full lips sealed in obvious frustration.

  Good Lord, had he ever seen a more beautiful woman?

  A soft curl rested against the fullness of her breast and he locked his finger around it and whispered, “You’re his type.” And that fact drove him mad. “That’s why I can’t let you go back to work. He’ll come for you.”

  “What do you mean, I’m his type?” Her despondent act drove him. She seemingly didn’t feel anything significant for him.

  Marcus knew better. He didn’t know why or how, but he truly believed the mate lust became a two-way street after the weres touched their mates. A simple touch. That’s all it took.

  “It’s true. You’re what he wants.”

  “Are you crazy?”

  Marcus had never been the romantic type and he wasn’t one for small talk either. In fact, he couldn’t remember enjoying easy conversation with anyone except another guy. He just didn’t have a way with women, unless he was fucking them.

  His cock thrummed in his boxers. His cockhead pressed against the small buttons up the front of his shorts. His erection pressed against the zipper, now tight against his shaft.

  Good Lord, he’d never known such profound and disturbing lust. His skin tingled. His eyes moistened. He was certain if he didn’t take her, claim her as his mate, he might suffocate.

  The thought of her hands on him, touching and caressing him—fondling him even—made his heart swell with a new emotion he’d never felt before. Could he possibly love this woman? Had he already fallen for her? He’d heard other wolf shifters describe their mate lust and some of them had admitted to loving their women from the moment they set eyes on their chosen one.

  He took a deep breath and lowered his head. “Don’t say a word until I’m done.”

  “What are you doing?” Her voice pitched an octave higher.

  He cupped her cheek and whispered across her lips. “I’m fucking you. Once we get the mating out of the way, maybe then I can take you out on a ‘date’ as you suggested, but for now, I’m doing what needs to be done to ensure your safety.

  “I’m claiming you as my mate.”

  * * * *

  “Sit down, Bart,” Kurt grated out, not at all happy..Marcus had made a first move.

  “I’m checking on my wife.”

  “Oh for God’s sake,” Blaine said. “You’ve been hollering about your wife since these boys rode into town, but how long has it been since you’ve even talked to Suzette?”

  Bart appeared dumbstruck. “I talk to her whenever I call about the kids.”

  “And from what I hear, they haven’t talked to their father in a while,” Blaine said.

  “I’ll follow Suzette home and see them tonight.”

  “The only reason you’d follow Suzette home is to ensure I’m not in her bed,” Kurt said, wondering how Randon and Pageant put up with this idiot.

  “Mr. Dandridge, I’m not the least bit worried about you being in my woman’s bed.”

  “Your woman?” Blaez’s voice was loud enough to shatter glass.

  “She’s the mother of my children,” Bart said, his voice soft. After a distant moment, he added, “And I’ll follow her home and check on the kids tonight. I need to be with my family.”

  “That’s my point. You’re a little late for that,” Blaine said.

  Bart snarled. “I can see my kids anytime I want.”

  “Not right now you can’t,” Randon said, standing next to Blaine. “Suzette sent them out of here yesterday.”

  “Bullshit! Why would she do that when she knew I was on my way?”

  Kurt wanted to celebrate right then and there. He’d been trying to figure out the logistics of mating with Suzette with a houseful of kids under foot. He hadn’t quite come up with an ideal plan. Now, he wouldn’t need one.

  “They’re staying with your ex mother-in-law,” Blaine informed him.

  “That’s good,” Bart said quietly. “I’m okay with that.”

  Blaine snorted. “We all feel a hundred percent better to know you’re okay with that, Bart. We’ve been fretting over how we might break the news to you.”

  Bart and Blaine had worked together for a few years. At one time they were good friends, but it was obvious to Kurt that Blaine had lost respect for his former subordinate. Perhaps he had indeed abused Suzette or maybe Blaine didn’t have any tolerance for a man who suddenly turned his back on his family. Sure, Bart had a lot of problems, but who didn’t have troubles? A real man didn’t walk away from his small children. This prick didn’t even know where his kids were staying until an outsider told him!

  Kurt and Blaez locked in a knowing exchange. Kurt dragged his hand down his face. Shit. Sure enough, Blaez was one of Suzette’s mates. He seemed equally agitated by Bart’s very presence there.

  “Why don’t you call your children?” Pageant suggested.

  “That’s a good idea,” Bart said quietly, stalking by Kurt.

  Blaez immediately wagged his finger in front of him. “Not this way.” He tilted his head at the far end of the room. “Over there.”

  “Just who do you think you are?”

  Blaez crossed those boulder-like arms over his chest. “It’s not who I am that should concern you. It’s what I’m capable of and believe me, you’re no match for me, Bart.”

  Bart held his head high. He apparently thought about challenging Blaez. Reluctantly, he finally backed away without another word.

  Minutes later, Bart stepped inside the former deputy’s office and called his children. Blaine shuffled through some old files and occasionally paused long enough to complain about the limited notes. Pageant and Randon sat at the table like a lovesick couple, holding hands and speaking in low voices.

  “So what’s the plan?” Kurt asked, joining Blaez at the window. “Are we staying holed up here for the next few days? Do we all wait in one spot, just hoping this thing will finally strike?”

  “I don’t like the idea any more than you do but I have a feeling that’s the way it’s going down.”

  Kurt took a deep breath and de
cided to just put it all out there. “You’re her mate.”

  “You are, too.”

  “No shit,” Kurt snapped.

  Blaez smirked at his outburst. “Marcus, too…in case you’re wondering.”

  “I wasn’t.”

  “Right.” Blaez laughed.

  “Damn.” Kurt stared down the hall. “I gathered as much. Does she know?”

  “You haven’t spent a lot of time with Marcus, I take it.”

  “Not in recent years,” Kurt admitted. “Why?”

  “He doesn’t have a natural way with the ladies. If I had to guess, he’s probably in there telling her that they’re mates and they need to hurry up and fuck.”

  “And you’re okay with all that?” Kurt wasn’t all right with it.

  “The way I see things? We can either accept the fact or fight it. If we fight this, we waste valuable time and energy on a battle we can’t win for an outcome we can’t change.”

  “We’re talking about a woman here, not an extortionist.”

  Blaez stared at him with cold blue eyes. “You think this is a lost cause?”

  “Suzette isn’t a lost cause.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “I’ve been up against these things as much as you have.”

  “And?” Blaez pressed.

  “The way I see it, man, there’s no way to stop them. While we were dealing with the Pleasant ordeal, there were several other similar cases all over the South. We were all hunting a killer, praying we’d stop him if we happened to meet him face to face.” Kurt focused on Pageant and Randon for a moment. “Pageant lucked up. She was in confined quarters and was able to throw a dead shifter in front of the extortionist just a fraction of a second before he invaded her body and destroyed her. How many other people will have the same good fortune and abruptly stop the extortionist sent for them?”

  “That’s not what concerns me. What bothers me is how many humans are already walking around with one of these possessed freaks living inside them.”

  “It would probably terrify us if we knew the accurate count.”

  Chapter Five

  Suzette’s lips burned as if they’d been scorched by the sun. As Marcus’s mouth skimmed her own, her hunger grew, her need intensified. Had she ever enjoyed a more desire-driven kiss? Had she ever been more desperate for completion, for an earth-rocking orgasmic climax that left her gasping in pleasure, screaming out for a mix of hard-throttling satisfaction?