He picked her up and laid her on the bed pulling the covers up to her chin. She would wake up in an hour or two. He didn’t give her to much because induced sleep could cause a problem for a shifter found alone unable to wake up.
His burner phone was in his hand, it had the capacity to go online. Should he look her up? The minute he searched for her he would have to destroy the phone. Would it be worth it? Maybe he should let her tell him what he wanted to know as she got to trust him, like what fool thought it would be okay to hurt her.
He put the phone away he wanted to do this right. In the past, he always thought of himself as married to the military. He was going to be military for life until it cheated on him with animals. Now he was free, and Rissa was the first female that was making him think about more than a one night stand.
He laid beside her and closed his eyes.
Chapter Six
The knock on the door had her opening her eyes. She was lying on the bed with Dev who was getting up to answer the door. A quick look under the cover told her she was still wearing the gown as well as her bra and panties. Her nose squinched up.
“What’s that look for?”
“Nothing, did you put me to sleep?”
“I did.”
“You didn’t look, touch, or feel?”
“I took the trackers out nothing else.”
He really was one of the good ones how was she supposed to deal with that? Evil and nasty she had firsthand knowledge of, but honorable was a breed of male she never met before.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I have food, nothing fancy, but these burgers smell amazing, and the fries look good.” He went to the other side of the bed and placed the food on the small table between the two chairs.
Her stomach gurgled catching her by surprise.
“You’ve been starving. You should be hungry, and the food you ate coming here should be long gone.”
She licked her lip as she looked at the food he set out for her.
“I thought my stomach would be so small I wouldn’t want to eat again. The upside of not eating I could become a bikini model.”
“I hope not.”
“What?”
“I hope you don’t become a bikini model unless you’re going to model it with the killer body you have. I swear I didn’t peek, but I could tell even under the dirty jeans and tee you were wearing that you have a very nice body.”
“Isn’t that what men say when they friend zone you?”
“So you want the truth? You’re hot as hell and sexy. I loved when you slept in my arms in the SUV me, and my beast were content. I wanted to pull you into my arms on the bed, but I want your trust more than a quick hug or even a one-time roll in the hay. I’m so hard right now I could pound nails. So, does that sound like friend zone?”
She stood with her mouth slightly open and shook her head.
“The food looks good, let’s eat.” She sat down and stuffed french fries into her mouth.
He was going to keep her off balance. She already felt like she was on sinking sand around him. He was a little too honest, and that’s not how the game is played. He was supposed to tell her a half-truth, then she told him a half-truth that way they could take score to see who won that round. If everything went well between them then eventually they might tell each other something that was totally truthful.
He skipped that step and kicked the door open to truthful-ville, a place she hadn’t lived in for a long time.
“Why were you in that small town?”
“We had a nice plot of land a couple of towns over until a female drove through our property. She was filled with the same trackers that were in you, but she had more. I don’t think they planned to lose you, so you had less. I took the trackers out, but military personnel was already following her, so we fought then we ran. We are going to our permeant base. Once we get there, we will fight with everything we have including our lives to never go back.”
Fighting with her life didn’t scare her the way it would have in the past. She’d been through too much to just lay down and die. She could almost picture wide open meadows with streams and mountains in the background. Places like that didn’t exist anymore.
“What next? What happens to me?”
“That’s up to you. Your trackers are gone we can drop you someplace so you can keep running or you could stay around get to know me better.” She ran her hand through her flame-bright hair making him want to get burned.
“The last time I stayed around I got burned. Then I trusted my job, and I got burned again.”
“Then you met me and all I can say is give me a try.”
“You’re too good.” It came out in a reluctant whisper.
“Explain what you mean.”
“They’re coming after me, and they’re not nice. They will kill anyone who tries to stop them. I can’t see that happen to you.”
“What makes you think I’m ‘good.’”
“I can feel it in you. You’re the male who would love his female, give her the world if he could.”
“You’re right I would. I’m also the male who was sent undercover into a national drug ring, and I walked out alive with blood on my hands. I could cherish you but eliminate my enemies without a blink of my eyes. You need to get to know me. Do you have some place to go or are you running?”
“Running.”
“Stay Rissa.” He went to his duffle bag and took out a tee. “You can take a shower and put this on.”
She took the tee and walked to the bathroom.
You’re a fool. You should be running. Instead, you’re in the shower, the first hot shower you’ve had in months. She closed her eyes and allowed the water to run over her head.
Grabbing the cheap shampoo, she washed her hair and almost sighed when it was clean. She peeked through a half-opened eye to see if they had conditioner. With a grin, she picked it up and finger combed it through her hair.
She stayed in the shower until the water began to chill. There had been so many layers of dirt and grime on her that she couldn’t recognize herself, but there she was. She slipped on his shirt and ignored the abundance of curves she still had before walking into the bedroom.
“If I stay you’re going to have to do some things for me.” He was still sitting in the chair. He leaned back with his eyes closed but she knew he was listening to everything in the hotel room.
“I need clothes, not want, but need. A toothbrush, deodorant, panties, and bras. I want a chance to feel like a female again not an animal on the run.”
“Anything else?”
“Shoes?”
“We’ll shop in the morning.”
“Really?” She wasn’t use to anyone buying her something. In her life, she learned to depend on herself. If she wanted it, she worked for it.
“What do you want in return?”
“Do I have to want something?”
“Yes.”
“Can you cook?”
“I can.” She wrinkled her nose and narrowed her eyes.
“I want a home cooked meal when we get to someplace with a kitchen. Is that a fair trade?”
“I think I’m getting the better deal, but I agree to it.”
“Then let’s get some sleep I think you used all the hot water.”
She winced feeling guilty. All she was thinking about was herself.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be if I hadn’t taken a shower in months I might still be in there. Move over.” She scooted over on the bed while he turned the light off. Her life was making another change, she hoped this one was the right change.
He got into the bed but stayed far enough away from her that she couldn’t feel his body heat. That was kind of surprising since the bed was a double. She scooted over a little towards the center and then waited holding her breath to see what he would do. He moved over a little at least he was no longer clinging to the side of the bed.
She moved maybe an inch tryin
g to get some of his warmth. He rolled over and pulled her into his arms.
“Relax.” Her body was as stiff as a board. “I just want to hold you if that’s okay.”
She placed her head on his chest and nodded. Tomorrow she would call herself all types of fools. Tonight, she wanted to be held in strong, warm arms that she trusted. She sat on the voices in her head that reminded her that with trust came pain and closed her eyes to sleep.
It was the tiniest sound on the floor that made her wake up. Her animal was growling inside of her. The room was black, but she swore she saw a shadow coming towards the bed. Her hands spread out looking for Dev but he wasn’t there.
He left her? Maybe he sold her out to the enemy for his own freedom. Her body tightened prepared to fight for her life. There was a loud sound before the shadow went down. She jumped out the bed to turn on the light. Dev had the stranger on the ground with a large deadly knife at his throat.
“Rissa open the door check the hallway. Go to the other room and do the knock I taught you and come back.”
She nodded and went to the door making sure she didn’t see anyone before knocking on the other door. Lore opened it one look at her wide eyes told him everything. Lore and Ben placed her between them as they went to find Dev.
“I’m going to do reconnaissance to make sure he’s by himself.” Ben went outside disappearing into the night.
“Go to the bathroom and get dressed.”
She grabbed her clothes.
“Don’t do this Rissa. They promised you to me. I’ll treat you nice you know I will.”
She ran into the bathroom a spark of fear in her eyes.
Lore kicked the man in the gut.
“What are you talking about? No one can promise a female to you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. The military picked a handful of women that seemed more docile and decided to mate them with us. Hoping they would have shifter children that would be more malleable to work with.”
“The military has shit for brains. No one with an animal in his or her insides is docile.”
“He’s here by himself.” Ben entered the room looking at the man on the floor. “What are we going to do with him?”
Lore looked at Dev. “Do you want him dead?”
Hell yeah, he wanted him dead. Just because he carried an animal inside of him didn’t mean he was an animal. He would act better than that, for now.
“Make it hard for him to get back to his base. When you get there tell whoever is pulling your strings that Rissa won’t be coming back.”
Lore and Ben picked him up and dragged him out of the room.
“You can come out now.”
“They were going to treat me like I was nothing. Did they just think I would sleep with whoever they told me to?”
“They don’t care.” He opened his arms, and she walked in allowing her body to tremble.
“They’re going to keep coming after me until I give them what they want.”
“Is it what you want?”
“No, I want to go with you. I thought you left me when I woke up.”
He placed his hand under her chin and raised her head, so her eyes met his.
“Why would you think that?”
She shrugged. “Everyone leaves me.”
“I won’t, and if something happens, like you getting lost or abducted, I will come for you.”
She sat on the side of the bed with him holding her while they waited for the others to come back.
Chapter Seven
There was a knock at the door making her sad. Just sitting here in the comfort of his arms with his body heat surrounding her was giving her a feeling of contentment that she hadn’t known in a long time.
“That’s our cue.” He stood up and pulled her with him.
She put his duffle bag over her shoulder and picked up another bag while he took the table and some equipment he had lying out.
He opened the door looking both ways before he led her out the room and down the stairs. The SUV was waiting outside the hatch open for them. Ben was in the driver’s seat while Lore was on the other side. She climbed into the back with Dev. He pulled the cover out of the hatch and placed it around her because she was shivering.
“I…they are going to keep coming.” She wanted to stay with Dev, but the others needed a vote. They needed to know that their lives were in danger because of her.
“We know.”
“They are going to come whether you are with us or not. If I were you, I wouldn’t believe everything you heard today. Maybe some sick fuck in the government promised you to him, but I’m more inclined to believe that they want you back to draw Dev in.” Lore turned around to look at Dev.
“Why? I can understand them wanting Tane back but why me?”
“You underestimate what you do for the crew.”
“Maybe.”
Rissa slid over as far as her seatbelt would go and watched the dark surroundings pass her by.
“Where are we going?”
“To get a car. Get some sleep you might need it later.”
She laid her head on Dev’s arm and drifted off.
“What else did you get out of him?”
“The facility Rissa was kept in lost about fifteen females including Rissa. They offered them to any man who could catch them, incentive and the fools believed them. Rissa was tagged more than the others, they may have been thinking about setting her loose, but she broke out first.”
“That doesn’t make any sense Lore. How does a group of females break out? We almost died when we did it unless they had help.”
“Do you think Tane was behind it?” Ben asked not taking his eyes off the road.
“No, he wouldn’t have lost them.”
Dev nodded at Lore’s comment. “I’m going to get some sleep wake me when we get there.”
Ben drove for several hours passing up every exit until he finally found the one he was looking for. A small whistle rent the air bringing Dev wide awake. He touched Rissa’s arm to wake her up.
“Are we here?”
“Almost, we just need to find the dealership.”
She looked out the window they were in a nice bustling town. There were houses and trees and even a child or two playing outside.
“What day is it?”
“It’s Saturday, 10 am.”
“Thanks.” She pressed her face against the window and thought of simpler times in her life. There were times she almost wished she was a kid again, but the thought of going through what came after childhood was enough to stop her every time.
They left the center of town for the downtown area. There was an open mall that made her eyes big as she looked at the clothes they had displayed on the sidewalks. They kept driving until they came to car lots. The lots were big, and the cars screamed come take me for a test drive. They drove until they came to a pitiful lot that looked like it should be condemned. That’s where Ben pulled into.
Lore got out and walked around the lot looking for anything out of place. They climbed out when he gave them a nod.
The door opened on the shack of a building that must be the office. An older gentleman shuffled over to them with chewing tobacco in his mouth. He spit on the ground then wiped his hand on his pants before offering it.
Lore took one for the team and shook his hand.
“Hi, I’m Fred. How can I help you?” He was taking his time looking over their SUV. “That’s a beauty you got there.”
“Thanks, we’re looking to trade her in, get something different maybe a newer model. You got anything like that?”
“Sure do, I just got this shipment in, wait until you see this.”
Lore took off behind him with Ben on his heels. Dev and Rissa followed at a slower pace.
“I have ten of these beauties.”
His beauties were Hummers.
“Do you mind if we take some time to look at them. We’ll tell you what we think when we make a decision.” Dev gave him
a wide smile.
“Sure, I’ll just be in my office.” He shuffled off never looking back.
“They’re ugly.” All the males turned to look at her. “They stand out on the road.”
“Do you know what they can do?”
She shook her head at Lore and stood closer to Dev.
“Alright, that’s one nay vote. Before the rest of us chime in, Ben, check the Hummer.”
He pulled out several pieces of equipment and went over the first one. “It’s lighting up like a Christmas tree.” He went to the next and then the next. Five Hummers later.
“They are all filled with tracking devices as well as audio equipment.”
“Can we look at that Jeep?”
“Show them which one, love.”
She shivered at his voice in her ear a smile crossing her face even as she told herself not to get to attached.
They followed her down to the Jeep. “I’ve never been a Jeep person.”
“Me either don’t know why.”
Ben started going over the Jeep looking for trackers and audio.
“I have to give it to Rissa the Jeep is clean.”
Lore popped the hood to look under it. “The engine looks to be in good shape.
“Looks like we’re getting a jeep.”
She grinned at them. “It’s black and won’t stand out.”
“Where’s Dev.”
“He went to go talk to Fred.”
Lore looked at Ben, they took off with Rissa behind them.
When they opened the door, Dev had Fred pushed against his chair his knife against his throat.
“I don’t think you understand me, so I’m going to try one more time. You put my female and my friends in jeopardy when you showed us those Hummers. I want to know who came here asking you to sell us out. How did they know we would come here and who you were about to call when I came in?”
Fred’s eyes went to the side pleading for help.
Lore walked up to him and bent over. “If he doesn’t kill you I will. Your best bet is to start talking.”
“These government types came around a few days ago. Not just to my place but to every dealership they were looking for three men who were driving a big SUV they’d be looking to get rid of. I was supposed to show you the hummers they brought in. Then I was to call them when you got here and again when you left with the information on which Hummer you took. That’s all I know I swear, and they didn’t mention no girl.”
Dev's Mate (Shifters on the run Book 2) Page 4
