by A. C. Arthur
“It’s late. We’ll all get some rest. I’ll meet with Nick, X, and the guard leaders around three this afternoon. Nivea is to continue her detail on Agent Wilson. And Caprise,” Rome said finally.
She looked over at him, her long raven-black hair hanging past her shoulders. She looked just like Nick, he thought. “We want to officially welcome you to the family. I’d also like to suggest—and I know at least two people in this room who might protest, but I’m in charge so I can make a declaration if I want—I suggest you be trained as a guard. Your instincts are great, you’re agile and obviously able to handle yourself in stressful situations. I’ll expect the training to begin as soon as you’re up to it.”
As Rome grabbed Kalina’s hand and they started to walk away from the table he saw Nick’s frown and X’s totally pissed-off look. He grinned to himself as he imagined Caprise telling both of them to go to hell when they tried to stop her. As for Caprise, the smile on her face was genuine, her eyes already alight with excitement. In that moment Rome thought he’d done good, no matter the wrath of his best friends that would undoubtedly come later.
* * *
She was beautiful, that was a given. X had already accepted that fact and the one that made him just a little breathless each time he looked at Caprise. Tonight, or rather this morning, she looked different. For starters, she had more color. Her creamy complexion had a healthy glow that made him poke his chest out a little farther—he assumed it was because she was now mated. Her eyes seemed brighter, her bitchy attitude taking longer to appear. The sway to her hips, the curve of her breasts—everything seemed softer, more alluring. And his body reacted accordingly.
They’d left the dining hall, walking slowly back to Caprise’s room. He would stay with her for a while, then head back into town for a change of clothes and be back for the meeting with Rome. His body was tired from the adrenaline rush, then the letdown of not really being able to do much by way of fighting. He’d wished like hell he could have taken down Sabar or at least been in the room when the bastard took his last breath. But he wasn’t going to dwell on it. A hot shower, a soft bed, and a willing mate were all he needed to get past this bout of edginess.
“I’m not sleepy,” she said to him when they’d stopped in front of her door.
Her hands clasped and unclasped in front of her and she shifted from one foot to the other. X didn’t answer right away but looked at her eyes. Melted honey. He almost smiled because he knew just what she needed.
“Let’s go” was all he said before grabbing her hand and pulling her behind him.
The hallways of Havenway were a dusky gray color, the floor white tile. The doors were reinforced steel with control pads beside them. When they came to the door at the east entrance, the one closest to Caprise’s room, X punched in a code that would bypass the alarm and let them out without sending a signal to the mainframe in the control room. Havenway’s security was designed to indicate who was coming in and going out at all times. Each action was recorded on the computer and documented by the guard on duty. But this time, X didn’t want anyone to know that he and Caprise were not in her bedroom.
Instead they stepped out into the damp evening air. A light trickle of rain sprinkled their skin as the door closed behind them.
“We need to get to the gate in three minutes,” he told her, heading toward the back of the structure.
“Where are we going?” she asked, following behind him.
“You’ll see” was his only reply before he broke into a run.
He stopped when they were at the edge of the grounds, guarded by motion-sensor gates. One hundred feet from Havenway’s entrance was the starting point for the gate. It circled the building and stood seven and a half feet tall. Above were electrically charged wires.
He’d bypassed the alarm system, but that only bought him three minutes total. If they touched that gate after that time, they were going to get an electrical jolt between seventy-five and two hundred kilovolts. Then the first-response guard teams would be in their face within the next thirty seconds, guns drawn.
But they made good time, Caprise’s long legs moving almost as quickly as his. He adjusted the latch and opened the gate, standing to the side so she could move past him. Upon their return he would have to use the front entrance and call the control room to be let in.
“Now I know who to come to when I want to escape,” she said, not at all winded by the run.
“You’re not a prisoner here, you know. And you don’t have to stay here if you don’t want to,” he told her, leading the way through a small brush of bushes, taking them deeper into the park where the larger trees and foliage would cover them.
“Are you inviting me to move in with you?” she said, looking up at him with a sugary smile.
“I’m just letting you know you have options,” X said, wondering if that smile meant she wanted to move in with him.
He’d never thought of a female in his apartment on a permanent basis.
“It probably makes sense that I’m here during the day for the guard training.” She kept right on talking as if she hadn’t heard the hesitation in his voice. “But then you’re here almost every day, I could easily commute like real people do.”
“I don’t like you becoming a guard. And I don’t know if I’ll be out here every day. Just because I don’t have a job doesn’t mean I’m devoting all my time to the shifters now.” Even though he’d be foolish to think they didn’t need him. He was sure Rome would appreciate the help since he and Nick still had a very prominent law firm to run.
“I don’t like you brooding over a job that didn’t deserve you if they let you go at the first whiff of trouble. So I guess we’re even” was her retort.
They’d entered the thicker trees, moonlight struggling to stream through the rich fall foliage to provide very little light. But they could see regardless. Caprise had been walking right beside him. X stopped, touching a hand to her arm. “They did not let me go. They suspended me.”
She shrugged. “Well, you’re the one who said you didn’t have a job.”
“Because,” he said, knowing she was going to love his next words, “I’m not too keen about working for people who don’t believe in me. I mean, there was no real evidence that pointed to me in those murders. They should have believed me.”
“Did you try to talk to anyone else from the Bureau?”
“Nobody else wanted to talk to me.”
She shrugged again. “Whatever, it’s their loss.”
He couldn’t help but chuckle at how flippantly she’d said that. Like a career at the FBI wasn’t worth crap anyway.
“Right,” he said with a nod. “Take off your clothes.”
She had been looking in the other direction, but her head snapped around at his words. “Excuse me?”
He pulled at the T-shirt he’d put on when he arrived at Havenway, then tossed it at the base of a tree. “You heard me, take off your clothes.”
X kept his eyes on her as he gripped the band of his sweatpants and pushed them over his strong thighs. The boots he wore—ones that were in the trunk of the SUV they’d taken to Slakeman’s place—were kicked off. Another Assembly mandate was that all guard vehicles carried extra clothes for the shifters just in case.
She stared at him another moment before kicking off her tennis shoes. The rest of her clothes quickly followed and X marveled at how gorgeous she was even in night vision.
His shift was quick and seamless as his human muscles cracked and molded to the form of a jaguar. Paws fell with grace against the dirt-padded floor of the park. Even though parts of Great Falls National Park were open to tourists, the spot where Havenway was located and the surrounding area where the shifters liked to run was hundreds of miles away from public areas. There was no fear of being seen here; the shifters could stretch and exercise in the way they were meant to.
Caprise didn’t hesitate to follow suit and when she did her cat took off. X hadn’t been surprised. Adrenaline was still rush
ing through her body even after the cool-down of the ride home and the meeting with Rome. He’d seen it in her eyes, in the way she couldn’t keep still. There was still energy she needed to dispel.
He kept up with her easily as she explored the area. She would burst free in an all-out run that had both their legs stretching to cover as much territory as possible. Then she’d slow and move her body along a tree. Only once had she come up on hind legs and scored the tree’s bark with her claws. X only watched, pacing slowly, remembering this spot because she would come here often now. When she broke into a run again he followed, determined to simply let her tire herself out.
Before long he heard the rushing of water, knew they were nearing the section of the park where the Potomac River poured into a seventy-seven-foot drop on its journey to the Chesapeake Bay. She would stop at the water, he knew instinctively.
Caprise shifted before X right at the water’s edge. It was gorgeous here, the raging water possessively dominating this entire area. It fell in roaring waves over edges, pooling into the river that would swirl and continue out to the open sea. It was majestic, she thought as she stood there naked, looking around at the wonder that was nature.
She could see the same wonder by looking in the mirror. Shifters were an anomaly, a creation by a higher, all-knowing being. They had evolved over time until they were now all spread out over the globe, probably all looking for a home, wanting desperately to belong somewhere. And yet, they already belonged. They were a part of the grand plan, she realized, a part of the humans and animals that all roamed this earth in their own type of harmony. The Shadow Shifters only needed to find their harmony, to carve out the spot in this big old world that belonged to them. And when they did, she thought, taking a step toward the water and dipping only a toe in at a time, she would stand with them. It was time she stood somewhere, with someone.
Speaking of someone, she turned, knowing he was there, behind her, as he had been for the entire time she’d been running. She’d felt his presence, like a coat on a cold winter’s day, had scented him as the other half of her, the piece to the puzzle she’d been searching for so long. If anyone had ever told her she’d fall in love with Xavier Santos-Markland and want nothing more than to be in his arms every night she probably would have punched some sense into them. But here she was in a state she’d never thought she’d return to, running through this park in her jaguar form and absolutely loving the feel of the cool air against her fur, standing near this cool water touching her human skin, and finding herself enjoying it all.
All her life she’d rebuked her heritage, hated the very thing that made her who she was. Until now. At this precise moment she fully grasped the Topètenia and all that the tribe stood for. Because here, in this beast that was also a man, was all she’d been searching for. Strength, power, protection, desire, and finally compatibility. As X had told her once before, they were two of the same kind. Even as humans they were alike, having both been irrevocably scarred by people they trusted. And they’d both survived, they’d fought like hell for the life they wanted to lead until finally bumping into each other and realizing that their lives could only be led happily if they were joined. Yes, she’d admitted it, if only to herself: She wanted the joining ceremony and all the official crap that came along with it. Because there was no way she was letting this man walk out of her life, not now.
He was still in cat form, his green eyes grasping hers and holding. The intensity between them never seemed to waver, no matter where they were or in what form. She went to her knees and opened her arms to him. Her heart did an amazing flip-flop the moment the big cat began making its way to her. When he was close enough, she stretched her arms around him, laying her head against his. His tongue licked at her cheek, down to her neck, and she sighed. She was so in love with this shifter, a feeling she’d never thought to feel again.
“I love you,” she whispered, her fingers buried deep in his fur.
Then he shifted. She jerked back with the force of his change. Just in time he reached out human arms, catching her before she could fall back into the rushing water. He held her there for what seemed like endless moments, just staring down at her. Her fingers flexed on his biceps, loving the firm feel of his muscles. He was so perfect in either form, brown skin marred only by the inked artwork that she’d memorized after the first time seeing him naked. She knew where each tat was precisely, knew their meaning, their feel against her tongue.
“I didn’t think I’d be here,” he said, his voice gruff and low against the roar of the water. “I didn’t think I’d ever be mated.”
Caprise shook her head. “I didn’t, either.”
He chuckled. “We’re some pair, huh?”
“I think we’re the perfect pair.”
X nodded then, his lips spreading into a smile. “I think we are, too.”
“You don’t have to say it,” she told him, biting her bottom lip. “It’s okay.”
“I know,” he told her, then pulled her closer, touching his lips to hers, letting his tongue slide inside for a quick tussle with hers. “But I do,” he whispered as his lips slid over the line of her jaw, down to the tender spot just beneath her earlobe.
“You do what?” she heard herself asking in a breathy whisper.
After a pause that had her insides churning, her breasts and center aching, she heard him say softly, “I love you.”
Absolutely perfect is what she thought until he began moving. The next thing Caprise knew they were up to their waist in the chilly river water.
“Are you crazy? It’s cold out here.”
“I was going to wait until we were back in your room, but you couldn’t keep still. And now I can’t wait a moment longer.”
Her arms circled his neck; his arms clasped her waist. “You can’t wait for what?” she asked teasingly.
He grabbed the backs of her thighs, lifting them so that she could now clasp her feet behind his back just like her arms. And without preamble he slipped his heavy erection deep into her waiting center.
“For this,” he said when she’d opened her mouth to gasp at the immediate fullness.
There was nothing like this; not ever in her life had Caprise felt anyone like this man. He was so big and so stern and yet he filled her so precisely, so sweetly, all she could do was sigh. His pumps were fast, just as she liked them, and as the water slapped around them, falling and rushing in its natural rhythm, she and X made their music. Her moans coupled with his repeating of her name, his grunts to the background of her high-pitched screams, their climax came simultaneously like a practiced concerto.
Chapter 30
Dorian downed another glass of straight scotch. He’d returned to his apartment over an hour ago, after one night of pure adrenaline. Eric had delivered more details as Dorian had driven to Woodland. There was an arms deal going down; Senator-elect Ralph Kensington was involved. The address was to Slakeman Enterprises. Dorian hadn’t initially thought any of this had anything to do with the drugs he was tracking or the killings that had taken place in the last nine months, but Eric believed it did.
By the time they’d arrived, MPD were there in deep numbers. Helicopters roamed the dark evening sky, the moon hidden by ominous clouds. There had been no alarms tripped, and all seemed to be well inside the building.
Then it happened.
The explosion that killed three seasoned police officers and injured seven more. The blast had come as a complete surprise, and only by the grace of God did Dorian and Eric not get hurt. Dorian had parked outside the gates because there were so many police cars already pulled into the parking lot. He’d just phoned Eric to let him know he was there. A few seconds later Eric had come up to the car, giving Dorian more details about what seemed to be a false alarm.
It wasn’t a false alarm.
Right now they had no idea who had set the bomb. Preliminary reports indicated it was a bomb and not some sort of accidental explosion—Eric had texted him that information just be
fore he came into the house. But who would bomb Slakeman Enterprises? That probably garnered more than one suspect, especially since Slakeman’s last government contract had been canceled about six months ago. Right now he was a free agent to any country and/or terrorist group that wanted to get their hands on some serious firepower. He could have pissed any of them off. Or he could have pissed off Ralph Kensington, whom Dorian didn’t believe had this kind of power. Then again, Dorian wasn’t past believing anything at this point.
At any rate, he didn’t have any answers about tonight’s occurrences. As for his current fixation with Xavier Santos-Markland, he would have to leave the man alone, at least for now. The MPD had ruled the deaths of Diamond Turner and the other two girls at Athena’s accidental overdoses—even though Diamond’s body had been sliced and diced, the coroner finally ruled that those injuries came after Diamond had already ingested a fatal amount of this new synthetic drug. Dorian was almost positive the labs would come back with that drug they’d taken from Athena’s as the synthetic culprit.
So Xavier Santos-Markland was off the hook. It also seemed that Roman Reynolds and his other cohort were free from scrutiny once more. Dorian threw the drink across the room, watching with muted satisfaction as the glass shattered against the wall. He scrubbed his hands down his face and took a deep breath.
It didn’t fit, none of it did. But maybe it was time he let it go. He wasn’t about to spend the rest of his life obsessing over one case. He had a life to lead, or at least he thought he did. Still single, no girlfriend or even a prospect of a girlfriend, no male friends, no nothing except work. Pathetic, that’s what he was.
He walked over to the window, pushing back the curtains with shaky hands. Maybe he’d had one too many glasses of scotch. As he looked down onto the quiet street where he lived, his vision blurred only slightly. Breathing hard enough so that he fogged the window in front of him, Dorian tried to let the memories of tonight and the previous nights wash from his mind. He was trying so hard not to concentrate on work that he almost missed it.
