Beauty Loves the Beast

by Robyn Peterman

  “They’re making super soldiers with DNA alterations?” he demanded, standing and letting the sheet fall from his magnificent body.

  “No, they’re making animals.”

  “Repeat,” he said so softly I wasn’t sure I’d heard him.

  “Animals. They’re creating humans who can shift to predatory animals to kill in situations that humans couldn’t survive in.”

  “And you’re one of these animals?” he asked with a laugh.

  Words failed me so I simply nodded. I was an animal—a true freak of nature. It was monstrous. I was a monster—a beast.

  And I might have made Carter Wylde one as well.

  3

  Carter

  Georgia from Georgia was right out of her ever-loving mind. My brain said to get my shit together and get the hell out, but my gut said to stay. Not to mention my dick—or thingie, as it were—was also in favor of staying. But I refused to listen to my dick. It had gotten me into trouble before.

  Now my gut? I always listened to my gut.

  Did Sean really send her to me? And how did she find me? I didn’t for a moment believe she was an animal. Super soldier? That was definitely in the realm of possibilities. The CIA was always up to no good in my opinion. It would also make sense that she would know of Sean if she truly was some kind of enhanced fighting machine. But an animal? No.

  “Honey, you’re gonna have to come up with a more plausible story if you want my help,” I said, finding my jeans and yanking them on. Where was my damn shirt?

  “Look,” Georgia said, sounding desperate. “Forget about making me disappear or helping me. If you would just be so kind as to kill me, we can call it a day. I have money hidden overseas. I’ll give you the account numbers and you’ll never have to worry again. Ever. I can pay you. Cool?”

  “Not cool,” I snapped. “What the hell is wrong with you? You truly think you’re an animal?”

  “Do you think I like having to tell a hot, deadly killer guy that I’m an animal—and not the good kind?” she shouted, twisting her hair in her fingers and rocking back and forth on her feet.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked, shaking my head and swearing I would never drink again.

  “You know,” she yelled, throwing her hands in the air. “Like an animal in bed—the good kind of animal. Not the kind that can smell something of yours that Sean had and then be able to track you by your scent. Not the kind that can be dropped in a jungle and survive. Not the kind that accidentally bites a guy who wants to get in her pants because she can’t control her fangs. Not the kind that’s been strapped to a table and kept in a cage so they can be experimented on. Not the kind they throw into a fucking pen with real wild animals and I come out alive because I managed to kill every single one of them with my claws and fangs. That kind of animal isn’t good. Do you feel me?”

  “You’re insane,” I said, and then paused. Wait. How had she found me? No one had been able to track me. Ever.

  “Tell me something I don’t know,” she said, dropping to the chair and letting her head fall to her hands.

  “Where’s my shirt?” I asked as I found my wallet, car keys, dead burner phone, socks and shoes on the floor at the base of the bed next to my gun and ammunition. I was surprised the weapon was still among my possessions. She either trusted me or was hoping I’d use it on her.

  “I threw it out,” she said without looking up. “There was so much blood on it, it made me hungry.”

  “Okay, that statement is just wrong,” I muttered, searching for my shirt.

  Georgia from Georgia needed to be institutionalized. Sean was going to be hearing from me very soon.

  “Yep,” she agreed, still staring at the floor. “I have some shirts in my duffel bag, but I don’t think they’ll fit you.”

  I sat down on the bed and looked at her. She was a beautiful tragic mess. Georgia from Georgia made me feel things. I didn’t feel things. Ever. And I didn’t like it.

  However, I believed something had happened to her. Whether the government had done it or she was simply unbalanced, I wasn’t sure. However, if she knew Sean, the military was probably involved.

  Maybe she’d been brainwashed and honestly believed she was an animal. I’d seen PTSD do all sorts of things that were horrifyingly unimaginable.

  Goddammit, there was something about her that sucker punched me. Yes, she was ungodly beautiful, but that wasn’t it. Beautiful women were everywhere. This one was…

  “Okay, for argument’s sake, let’s say I believe you.”

  “Do you?” she asked, looking up and pinning me with those lavender eyes.

  “Possibly.”

  She nodded and a small smile pulled at her lips but came nowhere near reaching her unusual eyes.

  The desire to hear her laugh again almost overwhelmed me, but I pushed it right out of my head. Compartmentalizing was a strength of mine—had kept me alive years longer than I should have survived. “What kind of animal are you?”

  “Panther,” she replied hollowly.

  “What happens?” I asked.

  “I take on the physical traits. My senses are enhanced and I become a dangerous predator. My skin becomes fur and my bones reform. However, when I’m not being shot up with poison, only my hands, teeth and eyes shift.”

  Holding back my laugh took effort, but she looked so sincere and sad, I swallowed it. New for me to be so careful with someone else’s feelings.

  “What brings on this change?” I asked, staring at my hands so she wouldn’t see my doubt.

  If she really believed this load of shit, my disbelief would make her run. For whatever fucked-up reason, I didn’t want her to run. Maybe I needed a goddamned hobby. Getting tangled up with stunning insanity wasn’t going to do much for my own mental health. And God knew I probably needed some help with that. I was still trying to figure out how to live in polite society and it wasn’t working out too well.

  “Well,” Georgia said slowly, squinting her eyes in confusion. “I thought it was the violence. I mean, in the past it was always violence that brought it on. Kind of a fight-or-flight response, except I don’t fly away. I can’t. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t.”

  “So your reaction to me was violent?” I asked.

  “Umm, no,” she said with a small laugh. “It was not violent. Well, it was violent, but not in a harmful way… although I might have harmed you. Shit. I can’t do anything right.”

  “So arousal brought it on?” I questioned her.

  Her blush was as alluring as the rest of her, but I wasn’t going there.

  “Apparently,” she whispered, closing her eyes and running her hands through her hair. “Only my claws and teeth—maybe my eyes. I didn’t look in a mirror.”

  What was I going to do with the crazy woman who thought she was a member of the cat family? She was definitely in trouble, but I was still unsure if it was mental or physical.

  Sean. I needed to talk to Sean.

  “Do you have a burner phone? Mine’s dead.”

  Nodding, she stood and grabbed a duffel bag that was sitting next to the door. Georgia dumped the contents on the bed—laptop computer, jump drives, jeans, two shirts, change of underwear, a few toiletries, four protein bars, two knives, three guns, a sniper rifle and about ten burner phones.

  Fuck. She was definitely military.

  “I’m about to call Sean. Anything else you want to tell me before I do that?” I asked, picking up one of the phones and checking it.

  “Umm… tell him hi.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Is that bad?” she asked, confused, and then froze.

  She sniffed the air…

  Then she began to frantically shove her belongings back into her bag. Her terror was real and her eyes grew wild. She handed me one of her guns and a knife while breathing in short gasps of air.

  “Georgia,” I said in a calm and commanding tone, making her pause for a brief second. “What are you doing?”

 
“They’re here,” she whispered as she carefully made her way to the window and peeked out the corner. “They’ve come for me—five of them.”

  “Five of who?” I asked, arming myself, getting low to the floor and moving to the window.

  “The men in black—faceless evil bastards who always wear black. They want to take me back to the cages. I won’t go,” she choked out, loading her guns and strapping her knife to her belt. “You have to promise to kill me if they get me. Promise me,” she demanded harshly.

  “How about this? We eliminate the men in black, borrow whatever vehicle they arrived in. Then I take you to a real safe house and you tell me the rest of the story,” I suggested, scanning the area in front of the not-so-safe house we were hiding in and counting five men in black. She’d gotten that right.

  I almost laughed at the cliché, but the bastards were packing and clearly had a mission and a target. Right now, no one was getting Georgia except me. I had no intention of keeping her, but my instincts had kicked in. I was going to make sure the crazy cat woman stayed safe.

  She stared at me as if I were nuts. I was, but I was also completely serious.

  “There’s five of them and two of us,” she stated flatly.

  “Your point?” I asked, making sure I was locked and loaded.

  “No point,” she replied, still staring at me. “Just facts.”

  “You’re a trained killing machine, right?” I asked, with a smile pulling at my lips.

  She paused and ran her hands through her wild hair as she pursed her sinful lips in thought. “Well, I’m a killing machine, but I wouldn’t add the trained part to the description.”

  Shit. I could take out five men in black, but I couldn’t cover Georgia from Georgia at the same time. I really hadn’t planned on dying today, but it was as good a day as any to go if my time was up. I’d simply remove the threat and leave Georgia alive. However, my guess was that the bastards were carrying tranquilizer guns, if Georgia was worth as much to the government as she said she was.

  “But you can hit targets?” I pressed, forming a plan as I spoke.

  She nodded and giggled. “I can.”

  “Fine,” I said with a grin and a shake of my head. She was every kind of insane to giggle at a time like this. “Can you hit three in the space of fifteen seconds?”

  She nodded again, dropped to her knees and silently pushed the window open.

  “I’m gonna two-hand the two sons of bitches on the right at the same time,” I told her as I got to my knees and placed a loaded gun in each hand. “You pop off the three on the left on Mi.”

  “Mi?” she questioned in confusion.

  “Do, re, mi,” I replied.

  A smile lit her face, and I drew in a sharp breath. Sean knew exactly what he was doing when he sent her to me. I was as crazy as she was. Georgia from Georgia made me feel alive again, and I was going to make sure she stayed in one piece.

  “You ready?” I questioned quietly, as I scanned the area once again.

  They were awfully sure of themselves, only sending five men. However, I was certain there were more in the area.

  “Born ready,” she whispered as she sighted her weapon and waited for the go ahead. “The hills are alive.”

  “Not for long,” I replied with a chuckle. “Men in black don’t deserve the sound of music. The only sound they’re gonna hear in these hills is the explosion of gunfire.”

  “That’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me,” she said, gazing at me in wonder.

  Time seemed to stop for a brief moment as her gaze met mine. Unsure of what was happening, I nodded and glanced away. I was a hardened husk of a man. My soul had been destroyed years ago and I had nothing left to give. I barely had a hold on my own sanity, yet this unbalanced puzzle of a woman had me feeling real emotion.

  However, it wasn’t a real good time to get in touch with my feelings. Maybe I’d have time for that later—after we disposed of the men in black. Feelings were something I didn’t do. Not even for a beautiful mess of a woman who could quote the movie that had saved my life.

  “If that’s the most romantic thing you’ve heard, you need to get out more,” I replied gruffly, dismissing her and my ridiculous inner turmoil.

  Focus. What was needed here was razor-sharp focus. The rest could wait—probably forever.

  Breathing in slowly through my nose and expelling it through my lips, I gave her one last glance. She was ready. Gone was the giggling woman and in her place was something I recognized—a calculated killer.

  “Do. Re… mi.”

  And the party started. They fell in time with the rest of the musical line… fa, so, la, ti, do.

  She was as good as she said she was, and so was I. They went down quick and clean—never even got a shot off. Clearly, the CIA employed idiots. I felt nothing but relief that they were no longer an issue. However, Georgia was clearly shaken.

  “Time to go, Georgia from Georgia,” I said as I grabbed her pack and her arm.

  “You sure you don’t just want to kill me and take off?” she asked in complete seriousness. “I think I’m going to be a lot of trouble—a real problem.”

  “Like Maria?” I couldn’t help myself. She was the first person in my life who recognized my Sound of Music references.

  Her laugh was what I was going for. I won.

  “Maria was a nun—not a beast,” she reminded me, still smiling. “Your life would be simpler if we offed me. Just saying.”

  “Maybe I’ll off you tomorrow,” I replied, kicking open the front door as I steered her toward my car that miraculously hadn’t been hit by gunfire. Figuring theirs had a tracking device on it, I was relieved mine was good to go. “But today, I’m finding complicated quite interesting.”

  “You’re insane.”

  “Pot, kettle, black,” I replied as I started the car and sped away from the carnage.

  Her laugh rang in my ears and my gut as I floored it.

  She was definitely going to be a problem. My problem. And I was going to figure out how to solve her.

  4

  Georgia

  Carter Wylde was beautiful and he’d just killed for me. I mean, I’d helped, but he’d defended me even though I knew he didn’t buy my story. My mind raced and my heart beat so loudly in my chest I was certain he could hear it.

  What was I thinking? I was a freakin’ idiot. This wasn’t a date—not even close. Offing bad guys didn’t qualify as romance. Sure, the man was all kinds of nuts. However, I was sure I was more nuts than he was—not to mention I’d just offed three bad guys, which never made me feel good about myself. I was a far better baker than killer.

  In another life we might have been made for each other, but not in this one. I was far too broken and dangerous. He was the personification of beauty and I was a beast.

  “How do you know Sean?” Carter questioned as he pulled into a crowded parking garage and parked the car.

  We’d been traveling for an hour at speeds that made me grip the seat of the car in fear for my life. I was fairly sure I’d punctured the leather. And I had no clue where we were headed. It was random town after random town, but Carter seemed to know where he was going. I knew he didn’t completely trust me or even believe me, but I felt totally safe for the first time in my life. However, I wasn’t sure why we’d stopped in a parking garage.

  “Sean was tight with my uncle—the man who was more of a parent to me than my real ones.”

  “And your uncle is?”

  “Dead,” I replied flatly.

  My uncle Tim had been everything to me. He was my hero and my de facto father. He’d never married or had any children of his own. My freakish abilities had never scared him—Tim made me feel almost normal. He was basically married to his job. His job was the CIA. It was why I’d joined up. Worst decision of my life, but again… hindsight is twenty-twenty.

  “My uncle was CIA and he loved me like a daughter. Died of a heart attack four years ago, and so to
honor his memory, I wanted to become just like him. Pretty stupid,” I muttered as I watched Carter clear out the glove compartment of his car and grab my duffel and his own.

  “You still didn’t answer my question,” he pointed out, pausing a moment and pinning me with his intense blue eyes.

  God, he was so otherworldly beautiful, I almost forgot what the conversation was, but then the ugly reality of my life came roaring back. “My uncle Tim gave me a number for Sean before he died. Told me to use it if my back was ever up against a wall. He said Sean was a good man and would help me. My back was definitely up against a totally fucked-up wall when I contacted him.”

  “Keep going.”

  “Umm, okay, but why are we in a parking garage?” I asked, confused. I didn’t think it was real safe to be out in the open considering what had gone down just an hour ago.

  “We’re upgrading. Can’t be sure they didn’t tag my car,” he replied and shrugged. “More story.”

  “You’re kinda smart,” I told him with a smile.

  “So I’ve been told,” he shot back. “Talk.”

  “Right. So I contacted Sean. He hid me for two weeks while I got some strength back and then sent me on my way to you.”

  Carter’s eyes narrowed as he stared. I knew he was trying to detect bullshit, but there was truly none to be found. I’d left out a few facts—like Sean running tests on my blood and asking me to prove my insane story. I had. He was floored. Seeing a human shift to an animal was not something one saw every day… or ever.

  We’d spent the better part of a week hacking into CIA files and I’d hit pay dirt. Sabrina Wenbo and Don Jarred had kept meticulous records of their fucked-up experimentation on their subjects, as they like to refer to them. Not people—subjects.

  It was also very clear they’d gone rogue and were working for themselves at this point. The systematic and methodical way they were enhancing people and destroying lives was a project outside of what the CIA was doing. Not that the CIA was innocent. Ever.