By the Horns

by Rachael Slate

  She turned to Kassian. “Let’s go. We have what we came for.” This had to be enough proof for the Matchmaker to kick Price’s ass out of the League, right? A warehouse full of vials that should be in India by now. Pretty condemning.

  “You sure about that? The Matchmaker doesn’t take kindly to incomplete missions.”

  At his words, she spun on her heel. “I’d hardly call this incomplete. You got caught with your hand in the cookie jar, jackass.”

  He huffed. “Yeah? Prove it.”

  She frowned at his unwarranted exhibition of confidence and stepped to the crates, snagging a crowbar off the floor beside the stack. Nudging it inside the top crate’s lid, she cracked it open.

  “What is it?” Kassian peered over her shoulder. “Fuck me.”

  “It’s empty.” She glanced around, eying the other crates. Where the hell were the vials?

  Her gaze rested on Price, on his smug smirk. “They’re empty too.”

  She scowled at the way he’d read her mind. “Explain.”

  He shrugged. “Wish I could. They arrive like this. Started about five weeks ago. I can’t ship them out because there’s nothing to ship.” His tone darkened, his mouth curving down. “Apparently, the Matchmaker isn’t accepting my word for it. She sent you to spy on me. Don’t deny it.”

  “I wasn’t about to.” Nat planted her hands on her hips. She hadn’t anticipated him pulling the innocent act. Why he would even try to baffled her. Why hadn’t he snuffed out Kassian and her with his fox spirit army? Why save them and feed them this story?

  Unless it was true.

  ***

  Kassian tensed as he surveyed Nat and Price, who continued to face off. He couldn’t pinpoint if the charge in the air was sexual or something else. Totally fucked with his head. As a man, he struggled against the urge to toss Nat over his shoulder and grunt, cave-man style, “Mine.”

  Those impulses competed with his vows, and he couldn’t deny the benefits of leaving Nat to Price. The man’s appreciative stares were clear. He desired Nat. Did she reciprocate?

  “Damn, woman.” Price chuckled as he readjusted himself, taking a minute too long. “You can still make my dic—”

  “So could a blowup doll.” Nat rolled her eyes.

  Kassian’s nostrils flared and his skin bristled. Oh, hell no. “If you hope to retain the ability, you’d better fucking take that back.” He jerked Nat beside him, sliding his arm around her in a possessive grip. “Nat’s mine now.”

  She gasped as he slanted his mouth over hers, but she caught up to the game, twining her fingers around his neck and through his hair.

  Hell, but his cock did respond. Her silken tongue tangling with his never failed to light him on fire. He shifted his hips away from her, but she took matters—namely him—into her hands. She slid her fingers down his front and cupped his erection through his pants. “I’ll take care of you later, baby,” she purred into his mouth and he about damn near came.

  She glided in front of him to confront Price, who gaped at them.

  “I’d heard you went celibate.”

  “He was.” Confident smugness coated Nat’s tone. “I changed his mind.” Shit, the lines between reality and this act had blurred so much, Kassian wasn’t sure which was which. And damn, but he contemplated heading straight back to their apartment and taking her up on the offer.

  Enjoy now, regret later.

  “Who’s stealing the vaccine? Why?” Nat glared at Price.

  Kassian blinked, refocusing on the open crate. An oddity about the box poked at the back of his brain. He knelt and examined the lid. “Shit.” His hand wavered as he stroked the piece of evidence.

  “What?” both Nat and Price inquired, striding to either side of him.

  “I found your answers.” His body tensed in denial. He refused to believe it could, in any reality, be true, yet Ox confirmed the trace of the other spirit.

  Price whistled as he knelt beside Kassian. “A claw mark.” A single, thin line had been sliced into the wood along the rim. It definitely wasn’t an accidental scrape. The cut had been made by an animal. Or rather, a spirit animal.

  “What could’ve clawed this crate with such precision?” Nat knelt to examine the scratch.

  “Not what.” Kassian’s throat threatened to close. He met Price’s knowing stare.

  Price nodded back. “Who.”

  “Okay, who?”

  Kassian tilted his face to her. “Monkey.”

  “But she engineered the vaccine. Why would Mei dump the shipments?”

  He shoved his hands into his hair while he processed the shock coursing through his body. Everything in Price’s frown declared the man wasn’t aware of Mei’s involvement. Damn, Horse was innocent, so Kassian had no reason to beat him to a pulp.

  This mystery had just blown the fuck up. In their faces.

  Wait until he told Sheng. Kassian cringed. Mei was like a baby sister to him, Sheng, and Fang. The other men would take Mei’s involvement hard.

  He traced his fingertip along the precise claw mark. Mei was clever. The vaccine was her baby. He’d never witnessed her prouder than the day she had perfected it. The kid hoped to save the world and she had. It didn’t make sense for Mei to sabotage her dream. His head pounded, his heart twisted, and his gut churned into an ugly knot.

  “Why would she leave this mark?”

  He whipped his gaze to Nat. She tapped her finger on the scratch. “Mei’s a genius. Why leave evidence of her guilt?”

  “Damn. You’re right.” Hope sparked inside his chest.

  “Your girl planned to get caught.”

  As he gazed into Nat’s eyes for reaffirmation, everything inside him eased. Until his gut knotted again. If Mei hoped to get caught, what kind of trouble had she gotten into? She’d agreed to assume the role of mole, but what if she’d fallen in too deep?

  What if I can’t pull her out?

  “Hey.” Nat placed a hand on his shoulder. “She’ll be okay. She’s smart enough to leave clues. Clues only we would be able to decipher. We have a lead and we’ll follow it.”

  He swallowed hard against the lump of apprehension in his throat. Mei’s rescue rested on his shoulders. Fear surged inside him, weighting the burden across his shoulders.

  What if he couldn’t save her?

  ***

  “We need a boat.” Nat pegged Price with a stare. Kassian had been hard hit. Mei must be important to him.

  That viper of jealousy slithered, tightening its grasp inside her chest. Hell. She tried to shake it off, but the serpent coiled around her gut anyway. To distract herself, she focused on the next steps. They had to hire a vessel and trace the clues to the location of the theft. Which meant following the shipment from its origins—Penang.

  Catching a boat would be the most inconspicuous method of travel. No one would realize they’d left Hong Kong.

  Except Price. She nibbled her bottom lip.

  “Don’t worry, Natalie.” He cast a glare at Kassian as he addressed her by name. “I’ll have one ready for us soon.”

  “I don’t recall inviting you.”

  “Well, I’m coming. I’m not going to miss the chance to clear my name. Besides, if I don’t, I’ll be next on the Matchmaker’s hit list.”

  Damn, he was right. The Matchmaker’s methods were swift and efficient. She never hesitated to cut off dead weight.

  “Fine, but I’m not going to stare at your hairy ass the whole trip. You’d better have your own sleeping quarters.”

  “You never complained before.” He chuckled and, instead of retorting, slapped his hand on Kassian’s shoulder. “Have fun with this one.”

  Kassian grimaced. “He has a hairy ass?”

  She smiled. “The hairiest.”

  “I heard that!” Price strode away, then paused, shucked his pants, and waved his sexy, hairless ass at them.

  “Hmm. Nat, it appears you’ve been misinformed.” Kassian rose beside her.

  She lifted and dro
pped one shoulder. “Horse, donkey. Ass.”

  He barked a laugh. Caught off guard by his lightened mood, she regarded him. His lips thinned from an amused grin to something more intense.

  “I have to get Mei back.” Vulnerability flashed in his green-brown eyes.

  Hello, Viper.

  “Of course.” She bit her tongue, hard, but the question wiggled out anyway. “Do you love her?”

  His brows pinched together as though he was taken aback. “Of course, I love her.” A second later, he chuckled as if identifying her true meaning. “It’s not like that.” His voice softened. “Mei’s my little sister, well, like you used to be.”

  She blinked. What the hell did he mean? One didn’t go around dry-humping one’s little sister.

  “Shit. I didn’t mean it like that. Mei’s like a real sister. Closer than blood.”

  Nat tensed. “Glad I was so easy to replace.” Those twinges of jealousy coiled tighter. She stepped away.

  Kassian gripped her arm and spun her back around. “I have never replaced you. Dammit, Nat. I tried everything to forget you. To close the gap in my heart you tore when you deserted me.” The words grated between his clenched teeth. The shock of how he’d bared his heart traveled through her.

  “Even after all these years, I’ve finally realized.” His voice dropped and his Australian accent permeated his whispered words. “I’ll never be rid of you. You’ll always be under my skin.” He tightened and relaxed his hold on her arm as though he couldn’t decide whether or not to release her.

  She met his darkened gaze. “You should have. I’d hoped you’d forgotten me.”

  Pain reflected in his eyes as if she’d cut him. A second later, his mouth landed on hers.

  She gasped, but his tongue swept in and muffled the sound. His hands lowered to grip her ass and press her against his thickening cock.

  “Fuck. Kiss me back.” He captured her hips and ground her along his big body.

  Her core responded, panties dampening as she opened her mouth to his kiss and met his exploration with her own.

  His body was hard and sensual. Familiar and new. He’d changed. She had too. They might still meet halfway.

  The passion she experienced with him was unlike any in her life. No one, not even Price, had ever filled her with this mix of hunger and raw need, or the tender ache accompanying the warmth in her chest. For the first time, she craved more from a man than a few minutes in his bed. She yearned to know him, understand him. Perhaps, even, for him to know her.

  No fake name. No false identity. No disguise.

  Just Nat.

  With Kassian, there was no hiding her past or, at least, no hiding what he knew of her past.

  In time, could she trust him with the rest? Her whole scheme, accepting the Snake, fulfilling her vows, was her endgame.

  But what if… What if she didn’t have to go it alone?

  She dug her nails into his back, her legs wrapping around his waist. Did he sense how wet she’d become? How badly she desired him to take her right here, right now?

  His fingers teased the hem of her shirt, sliding beneath to graze her bare flesh. He cupped her breast in one hand, squeezing, while he gripped her chin with the other. His mouth left hers and his teeth grazed down her throat.

  Her heart pounded in her ears. Kassian’s heavy pants mixed in until another sound drowned them out.

  Thudding footsteps. Heavy, like a man’s. She twisted her head to the side and caught sight of Price sauntering into the main room. He whistled at her and Kassian.

  Kassian didn’t stop. His hips ground against hers, and he continued to plunder down her chest. Suddenly, his motives became clear.

  He was putting on a show for Price.

  With Nat as the main attraction.

  Nat slid off Kassian like she’d been transformed into a marionette—wooden and limp.

  The damned stoic mask he loathed was plastered across her face. Price shifted his focus back to his clipboard and continued on to the far side of the warehouse. Nat stared after Horse, her arms crossing, nails digging into the flesh of her arms.

  Damn, she was mad. From the kiss? Wasn’t that their whole cover? Hell, she ought to be glad he could handle it. Handle her.

  “You going to explain this?” He waved in the general direction of her pissed off stance.

  “You’re a hell of an actor.”

  He frowned at her odd choice of words. “Isn’t that the point? To put on a show?”

  She blanched. “Yes, well.” A puff of air escaped her lips. “Let’s arrange passage, shall we?”

  He extended his hand toward the room. “After you.” What was up her finely shaped ass? She’d told him to play the part but, as soon as he did, she fumed like she’d love to disembowel him.

  They collected their duffle from the hotel and, by the time they returned to the warehouse, Price had already arranged the boat. Kassian stepped onto the dock, casting a dubious glare at the vessel, then toward Horse and his two groupies.

  “Oh no. They are not coming.” Nat glowered at the fox spirits.

  “Sorry. They go where I go.” Price shrugged and turned to Kassian. “She’s a real beauty, eh?” He swept his hand toward the boat and grinned wide.

  “Is she even seaworthy?” Kassian wrinkled his nose. The ship spanned around ninety meters in length, the hull had been painted a rusted shade of red, and the white paint above the surface had long ago faded from brilliance.

  “Hey, you said inconspicuous. The Mingzhu—bright pearl—is that for sure. She may have been built a few decades ago, but that means she’s tried and true.” Price slapped Kassian on the back, linked arms with his two fox spirits, and headed toward the gangplank.

  “He’s right.” Nat scoffed as though admitting as much irked her. “We’d blend in better than on one of your family’s million-dollar yachts, rich boy.”

  His lips quirked at her playful jab. Just like old times. “You never complained before, when I took you out for a long, hard ride.” He bent, leaning in toward her.

  Her lips parted and she moistened them. “No one’s watching us. You can cut the act.” She brushed away his arm and marched toward the boat.

  He stared after her. Damn. Was she right? The lines blurred. He’d hungered to kiss her, right then and there, without any excuse for doing so. Kassian shook out his hands, clenched and unclenched his fists. He required clarity. He needed to meditate.

  “All aboard!” Price called from the middle of the ship’s bare upper deck.

  Kassian waved the man off, shouldered the duffle, and ascended the plank onto the deck.

  “Come, I’ll show you to your five-star accommodations.” Price led them down a set of questionably stable stairs that groaned beneath Kassian’s weight and through a narrow, whitewashed corridor. Hell, worse than an asylum. The amber fluorescent lighting hurt his eyes. Ox paced inside him, uneasy about being confined in such a deep, dank prison.

  They followed Price through a stairwell and up into an area marked “C Deck.” Halfway down the tight corridor, he paused to haul open a steel door. “This is where you’ll bunk. I’m right across the hall.” With a nod, he ushered his fox spirits toward his quarters.

  Kassian braced, inspecting the cabin he and Nat would share. “Fucking bunk beds?” He pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling and exhaling to calm Ox, who thrashed inside him.

  Nat scrunched her nose at the undersized bunks. “I didn’t realize. I’m sorry, Kassian.”

  Great, guess he wouldn’t be sleeping on this cozy voyage.

  “Top bunk’s mine.”

  He glowered at her cheery tone. “The hell it is.”

  “Trust me, you’re gonna love having me on top.” She winked. “Well, at least we don’t have to share a bed.” As Nat stepped past him, she paused and patted his chest. “Suck it up, big boy. That, at least, should make you happy.”

  Ox stomped and Kassian’s frustration surged. “Fuck it all, Nat. No, it doesn’t.” He spu
n her around, grasped both her wrists, and pinned her against the steel wall. His brain had long ago abandoned the conversation and, by the hardening of his cock, he had no use for words, anyway. He planted his face right next to hers, breathing heavily and enjoying the fact she was as well. Nudging his leg between hers, he pressed his thigh against her core. She panted, hard.

  “Is this a game to you?” Damn, he had to know. Because he wasn’t cut out for this, for these secret lives, these masked emotions. He circled his thumb over her Lotus tat on her inner left wrist. Did this symbol define her, or was his Natalie still in there, somewhere?

  “No, this is my job.” Her gaze snapped to his and her teeth tugged on her lower lip. His focus dropped to her soft lips, and hell, he had to sample them.

  ***

  Kassian leaned closer, his breath mingling with hers. “This is your job, but it’s not you. Tell me, where is the girl I used to know? Who are you, Nat?”

  Her throat tightened as the heat between them sparked. “I am whatever the job needs me to be. Assassin, thief, seductress. I am them all.”

  “Huh.” His intensity burned into her as he purred, “Which one are you with me?”

  Instead of claiming her lips like his body language suggested he would, he backed off to recline against the bunk beds. Every muscle in her body protested. She shoved her thighs together, and flattened her palms along the wall behind her. How stupid she’d been to ever conclude this was just another mission. That being partnered with Kassian would be easy.

  That she could be professional where he was concerned.

  This lust-hazed reaction was anything but. Nat’s pulse thundered in her ears. Her sex clenched, an ache spreading through her core. Worse, her heart had joined in on the futile—and forbidden—plunge.

  This was the Matchmaker’s test. She might have paired Nat with Rat. Even sent her off by herself. In giving Nat the Snake, she’d placed her in a world full of temptation.

  A world full of Kassian.

  If she fell for him, her punishment wouldn’t be a slap on the wrist. Nor could she request to revoke her membership. She would never be discharged. No one got kicked out of the League. There was only one way to quit.