“It won’t hurt to have it confirmed,” Cooper said. “Melanie and I will be with Bethany and the babies.”
Cooper picked Melanie up and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he took her to find their son. Jason’s mate, Bethany, must have been looking after him while she sat with…
Jason pushed between Wes and Asher to peel back the blankets. They all growled as Jason touched their mate. The instinctual reaction was ignored by Jason. But he did pause in his actions until they were all silent again.
Troy nearly lost the fight to stay human as his mate’s chest was revealed. It was one massive black bruise with a wide white bandage covering her breasts. Jesus. How was she even still alive?
Jason palpated a spot on the left side of her abdomen, and scowled at what he found.
“What?” Barrett asked. “Is that a good or a bad expression on your face?”
Jason looked puzzled at the question and continued his examination without immediately answering. “I will warm her up a little more, and then check again for any further bleeding.”
“Did she have any identification?” Troy asked, desperate to know her name. To know anything, and everything about her.
“Just a few dollars in her coat pocket, a knife, and a broken cell phone,” Jason said. He changed some setting on the machine connected to the IV and left the room without another word.
“Did he say a broken cell phone?” Troy asked. He had an idea.
“He did,” Wes said, a small smile on his lips.
Troy went to the coat on the bench and quickly located the phone in one of the pockets. Wes handed him his open cell phone and Troy took out the SIM card from the smashed phone and put it in Wes’s phone.
“What’s so exciting about a broken phone?” Barrett asked.
Troy and Wes both ignored him and Troy moved back to their mate’s bedside as he rebooted the phone and did what he did best. He used his brain to open up the computer world of their mate. If she was a typical woman in her early twenties, then she would have nearly all of her life open for anyone with access to the Internet to rifle through.
* * * *
Wes paced a few steps away from their mate’s side and then paced back to softly stroke an undamaged section of her arm with his fingertips. He’d been repeating this movement for the last ten minutes, and the thrill he felt rush through him each time he touched his mate still shocked him.
His fingers tingled and his cock twitched. She was his, and his body knew through to its core. He wanted to hold her, and kill whoever hurt her, and not necessarily in that order. Fate had gifted him and his brothers with a mate of extraordinary beauty. But he was smart enough to know perhaps all mates thought the same way about their fate-chosen partners.
He looked at her unmoving face and felt his homicidal rage threaten his sanity again. He looked over at Troy and asked him again if he’d hacked into her accounts. Troy ignored him, and Wes again paced back to his mate.
“I’ve got it,” Troy said softly.
Wes hadn’t doubted he could do it. They could both have done it easily. He’d just let Troy do it because he’d thought of it first. It was only fair. Plus Troy was brilliant and probably had it done in a quarter of the time it would have taken him.
“Will you tell us now what the fuck you’ve been doing?” Barrett asked. He shook his head and rolled his eyes at Asher in exasperation.
“And please,” Asher said, “dumb it down for us mere mortals.”
“Oh, sorry,” Wes said. “I thought you understood.”
“I used her SIM card to enter her account settings and then hack into all her online accounts, including social media.”
“So what’s her name?” Wes almost bounced on the spot like a five-year-old. He was wound so tightly.
“You can find out her name from a broken cell phone?” Asher asked, his mouth remaining open in surprise.
Wes rolled his eyes at Troy and shook his head. “We can find out her shoe size if she’s ever shopped online for shoes. Now shut up and let Troy talk.”
“She is twenty-three years old and her name is Jade Liang.”
“Twenty-three,” Asher repeated.
“Jade is a beautiful name,” Barrett said, picking up her hand to lay a gentle kiss on some of the bruised flesh. “Thank you, Troy. That’s amazing.”
“Idiots.” Wes wanted to slam their heads together. “Just keep going, Troy. Ignore them.”
“She has an arts history degree from New York University and has been traveling around the country for the last two years working in various diners and restaurants to fund her painting.”
“How the hell…” Barrett started, but Wes silenced him with a glare so Troy could continue.
“She’s sold a few paintings, and has gotten a pretty good price for them. They’re really good. She should have come to us. We would have put on a show for her at one of the local galleries here, raised her profile and gotten her name out there.”
“Troy. Focus,” Wes said.
“The last place she was working was a diner in Duckwater, Nevada. That tracks with her latest paintings, too. They’re all nightscapes of the desert. They’re gorgeous. So is she by the way. You should see her eyes.”
Wes had had enough. He snatched the phone from Troy and scrolled through her MySpace account until he found the perfect picture of their mate. He quickly sent it to all of their phones before showing it to Barrett and Asher. It can’t simply be because they’re her mates that she looked so drop dead gorgeous.
“Well, fuck me,” Barrett said.
“No thanks,” Jason said. “But I appreciate the offer.”
Wes shot his gaze to Jason. He’d never heard that the doctor had a sense of humor. One look at his serious expression showed he didn’t.
“We have found out her name and last known address,” Wes said. “We need Hunter to start investigating who has done this to her.”
“Did she wake up,” Jason asked. He gently lifted one of Jade’s eyelids and shone a light in it.
“No,” Barrett said. “My genius brothers went to work on her broken cell phone.”
“I’ll call Hunter. Axel is here. Can I ask him to come in and confirm your suspicions about the wolf? I’ll need you to roll her over. I think that’s where the scent will be strongest.”
“Of course,” Asher said.
Wes was about to ask why they needed to roll her over. But Troy stopped him. “Don’t ask. We need to be in control to roll her. I don’t want Axel touching her. Do you?”
Wes shook his head. It had been bad enough to have the doctor touch her. No way was Axel Wilder, or any man other than the four of them, ever touching her again.
“I’m so sorry,” Axel said as he stood in the doorway and gazed at their mate’s injured face. “It’s a terrible thing to have happened to anyone.”
Barrett snarled at Axel as he took one step into the room. He stepped back and waited for Barrett to calm.
“If the four of you move to her right-hand side and roll her gently, then I think Axel will be able to detect any scent other than hers,” Jason said.
They all moved to the right side of the bed, but it really only needed Barrett to roll her over. She was so small and slight. Wes glanced down at her back and stopped breathing. Four deep lacerations ran down Jade’s back from her shoulder blades to the curve of her buttocks.
The wounds were crusted and oozing serous fluid. They were less than a day old if Wes had to guess. They were also too large for any animal other than a shifter to have made. Healing puncture wounds from four elongated canines surrounded the lacerations. He’d held her still with his jaws as he’d deliberately hurt her with his claws.
“I’ve got it,” Axel said. “Wolf is right, Barrett. I’ll recognize him if I scent him again. He better never come to Eminence. Who does that? Bastard.”
Wes bent and kissed a patch of undamaged skin on Jade’s hip. He moaned, long and low, as Jade’s taste exploded over his tongue. She wa
s sweetness and sex all rolled into one. She was his. His cock was instantly hard again and his rage at the wolf who had hurt her mixed with his desire and finally snapped his control.
As his cat took him he howled in fury. The sound of a high-pitched scream silenced him instantly.
“Oh shit,” Asher muttered.
“Wes, no,” Troy said. But it was too late.
Jade was still on her side, Barrett’s massive frame supporting her easily. The photos of her stunning green eyes didn’t show their true beauty. They were the palest green, just a shade or two from white. They were wide and shining with fear. Fear of him.
“Troy. What can I do?”
Chapter 4
Jade stared in horror at the cougar. She had seen a man standing there. A man had bent to place his lips against her skin in the softest of kisses. A kiss that had made her skin heat like it had been burned. But it was a pleasurable heat that had traveled to all her erogenous zones in an instant and set her alight with desire.
Then the man had disappeared in a shower of light, only to be replaced by a snarling, spitting, giant, cougar. She screamed to wake herself from her nightmare. Beau. She stopped screaming and pulled on her bindings in an attempt to free herself before Beau returned to hurt her again.
“Stop, sweet Jade. You’re safe now.” The deep rumble of the male voice was accompanied by a warm hand stroking down her arm. Her arm tingled with pleasure as the gentle touch calmed her.
She opened her eyes and saw the cougar sitting on a tiled floor. It was blinking slowly at her, its head downcast as it looked up at her. It seemed to be staring apologetically at her.
“I’m dead and I’ve gone to hell.” The cougar shook his head and a shower of lights rained over the thick golden fur until a naked man stood in its place. The same man who had kissed her, but now he was naked.
Jade moaned as she was moved to lie on her back. The ceiling was white, the walls adorned with monitors and shelves holding unfamiliar equipment.
“I’m in a hospital?” She sighed as she realized she was free. Then she frowned in confusion, the last twelve hours rushing back to her. “Mac cut me loose, but wouldn’t help me. The bus. Cold. I was so cold.”
“Jade. My name is Asher Pollock. You’re in a clinic. You’re safe now. We won’t let anyone hurt you.”
“He’ll come. He’ll find me,” Jade cried out as she put her hands down to push herself upright. Her wrists and right arm throbbed with pain. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe through the agony. “I have to keep moving,” she panted. “Please. You need to let me go.”
“Never.” Her eyes snapped open and landed on the face of a handsome stranger. He had a square face with cropped blond hair and deep blue eyes. His mouth was pressed together in a hard line, but his lips still looked pink and full.
“Do I know you?” She seemed to recognize him. No, she’d never seen his handsome face before. “I feel like I know you.”
“That’s because I’m yours.” Simple words spoken with no trace of flirtation or humor. She felt his words wrap around her heart and knew that if he ever left her, her heart would simply stop beating.
She was tired. Too tired to wonder how strange this all was.
“Okay.” She smiled at the nameless man who said he was hers and let her fatigue bring her the peace of sleep.
* * * *
“Well. That went well,” Asher said. He turned to glare at Wes, watching as his younger brother pulled on a pair of sweats Jason had brought in for him.
“It actually went better than when Michael shifted in front of Bethany,” Jason said. He adjusted the IV and walked out without supplying any further information.
“Thanks, Jason,” Barrett said. “A little advice would be helpful. His mating obviously worked out fine. They have a cub and everything now.”
“I’ll be on my way,” Axel said. “Hunter wants to talk to her when she wakes up. We need to find the fucker who did this to her. If it’s a wolf shifter, Finn can find his pack and inform his Alpha. He needs to be stopped.”
“I’m sorry,” Wes said. He perched his butt on the narrow exam bed and caressed Jade’s legs through the blanket. “I just lost it when I saw what that wolf had done to her. Do you think she knows about shifters?”
“She does now,” Asher said. He adjusted his camouflage shirt and dirt rained down onto the exam room floor. They’d come straight in off a sniper training session and they all still had varying amounts of camouflage face paint smeared on their faces.
“Maybe she’ll think she was dreaming,” Troy said hopefully. “Or just not remember it at all.”
“Why would we want that?” Barrett asked. “We need to tell her about shifters anyway. This way she already knows.”
“Yes,” Asher said. Seeing the giant flaw in Barrett’s argument. “But she may think all shifters are barbarians who tie up women and beat them to within an inch of their lives.”
Barrett nodded solemnly. “Well, she likes me. I could feel it.”
“Oh well, that will fix everything,” Asher said. “We can all relax now that she likes Barrett.”
“Asshole,” Barrett mumbled, but Asher saw the smile on his face. He should let Barrett have his time in the sun.
Women didn’t usually warm to the big stuntman. They fucked him easy enough. He was tall, broad chested with muscles on his muscles. But they just wanted him for a quick tumble in the hay. Literally, most of the time, as hay was used a lot on the movie sets. None seemed to stay long enough to glimpse the gentle side of the big man. He was a true romantic with an English literature degree. Asher was glad their Jade seemed to have seen into Barrett’s soul already.
“Why don’t you all go and wash up,” Asher said. “We all look pretty frightening with our war paint on. Except for Barrett, of course.” He punched Barrett’s shoulder and pulled a chair next to Jade’s bedside as his brothers each kissed her hand before leaving the room.
“Well, Jade. That just leaves the two of us. We may as well use this time to get to know each other a little better.”
He took Jade’s hand and licked along the marks marring her delicate wrist. The taste of her blood sent fire coursing through his veins. She was addicting and he found he craved more of her instantly. He closed his eyes to pull his cat back under his control. The throbbing in his cock was a distraction that made the task that much more difficult.
“Well, that was a welcome surprise, little one. You taste more delicious than you smell.” Asher did what he knew best. He talked. He’d made a good living with his eloquence and he fell back into the safety of that habit as he struggled to understand how anyone would hurt his beautiful mate.
He talked nonstop as he scrolled through her MySpace account. After nearly half an hour of reading about her friends, her car, and even her apartment, he scrolled through the folder containing all the images of her paintings.
“You’re a talented artist, Jade. Your paintings capture not just the landscape you were painting, but how much you enjoyed being there. Even how you felt on that particular day.”
“You can’t tell that from a painting,” she whispered.
Asher froze. He’d started this conversation and he feared if he changed the topic to “By the way you’re mated to four shifters” she’d scream herself into unconsciousness again.
“Take this one,” he said, turning the phone around to show her a painting of a night sky over the desert. It was dated only two weeks ago.
“You feel free and happy. You love the way the night turns so cold in the desert and how each night it cleanses away the heat to start fresh the next day. Like wiping the slate clean.”
Her small gasp had him closing his eyes to stop his cat showing in his burning amber eyes. He’d bet that she’d gasp like that as he wrapped his mouth around her nipple for the first time. He filed that sound away to compare later when he fulfilled that particular fantasy.
“I do. I did feel like that,” Jade said softly. “Do another.�
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“This one here” —he turned the phone again to show her the ocean scene —“was a happy day that later turned sad. You’d enjoyed the sun and probably the warm water. But when night came the joy left and you felt alone and desolate. You needed company. I would be there for you next time if you’d ever like to return to this spot.”
“You would?”
“I’d actually like to see how you’d paint the exact same scene when I was there with you. After the crowds had all left I’d hold you in my arms, and we’d look at the stars together. We’d listen to the waves as we kissed each other senseless. Then you could paint the scene again.”
“That sounds nice. But I don’t usually hug and kiss men whose names I don’t even know.”
He went to speak, but she pressed a finger over his lips. “Do one more. I remember your name now. Asher.”
“I have only looked at a dozen or so of your paintings, but I keep going back to this one. It’s my favorite. In fact I think no matter how many of your paintings I see, and I want to see them all, this one will remain my favorite.”
He turned the phone to face her and her eyes widened slightly in surprise.
“This particular scene of a forest at night, tells me so much. You were tired by the time you started the panting. You’d probably hiked all day to find the exact spot for the night’s work. You were thirsty and hungry. Perhaps you’d dropped your food or forgotten to pack it.”
“I’d walked for half the day before I found I’d left all the food and my canteen in my car. I was too stubborn to go back and miss the clear night ahead.”
“Well. When you came upon this clearing it was already dusk. You drank from the stream in the picture, maybe even bathed in it to wash off the sweat from the day’s hike.” Her small gasp made him smile.
“So, you skinny-dipped. How daring, Jade.”
Her laughter danced over his senses and opened a door in his heart that he had always kept closed. He’d wanted to keep a part of himself for his mate alone. It had prevented him from feeling so many things and now he was swamped by emotions. Jade was the key that opened his heart. All the feelings of love, warmth, and caring poured from his soul and wrapped around her. He would die without her now. Even without them formally mating she now held his life in her hands.
Jade [Eminence Shifters 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 3
