Fever Claim (The Sigma Menace)

by Marie Johnston

  “So you can rut like the dogs you are,” sneered Agent D.

  Jace tensed and loosened his fist, ready to spring at the Agent who clearly hated shifters and anyone associated with them. Cassie squeezed Jace’s hand even harder, refusing to let him go, urging him not to react. Her heart raced faster than she thought possible. Mated? This isn’t right. It doesn’t feel right.

  “Rise my little lovebirds,” X delighted. “Boo, I’m sure you can make out the honeymoon suite up ahead. That is your new vacation destination for the next couple of days. All you two need to do is bask in the glow of new matehood and we’ll provide the rest.”

  Now that Madame G was gone, her presence no longer leaching any light from her personal space, Cassie could make out people and shapes slightly better. The moon was still up, having lost much luster to the approaching dawn. Agent X still had her weapons trained on the kneeling pair, increasing Cassie’s feeling of diffidence around these beings. Jace had heightened strength and power, but any hint that he was about to unleash his beast and Cassie would pay the price. Yet she couldn’t defend herself against the female shifter, who not only had the advantage of being armed, but may be just as strong and capable as Jace when in wolf form. Then, there was the man X referred to in bra size, ratcheting his ire and hatred of all things lupine, who seemed to revel in their demise. And if X wasn’t lying, there were more Agents in the surrounding woods to keep these tenebrous proceedings on track.

  “Yo, Double D,” X called, tucking one of her sidearms back into its holster. “Hold on tight to that box. We wouldn’t want that thing to plunge into one their hearts. We can’t have mating take backs.”

  “Fuck you, X,” Agent D returned back to her. “Do your job and I’ll do mine.” Followed by a “four-legged bitch” under his breath.

  “I heard you,” X sang and burst out laughing, no doubt peaking Agent D’s anger with her.

  Great, getting kidnapped by two letters that hated each other. No wonder they were on the opposite ends of the alphabet.

  Cassie looked around her, probing the darkness for the honeymoon suite. Jace adroitly rose to his feet, anger and unease emanating from him as he bent to help Cassie to hers. She struggled to her feet with the assistance of her mate, clinging to him for any small measure of comfort. They each only had one hand free, the rest of their limbs shackled together, but Jace wrapped that arm protectively around her waiting for instruction.

  “Move.” Agent D shoved Jace’s shoulder with enough force that Cassie would have been sprawled on her face. Jace barely budged, a low growl rumbling through his chest.

  Agent D was about to snarl again, looking for another reason to hit either of them, but X cut him off. “Double D,” X chided, “it’s not very amorous for the happy couple to get accosted before their consummation.”

  Like her and Jace could get lost in a lover’s embrace after that foul ceremony? What was X thinking? Cassie stepped forward, forgetting her connected ankles, suddenly afraid she’d break her free wrist when she hit the ground.

  Jace snatched her up before she made contact and swung her up to cradle her, tolerably able to use his bound arm to hold her, but it didn’t seem impede his ability. She clung to him as much as she was able, while he lurched forward in his slow stuttering step toward the small building she could now make out in the early dawn glow.

  “It’ll be all right, Cassie,” Jace quietly reassured her. “I’ll take care of you until we get out of here.”

  X let out a sharp bark of laughter. “You bet you’ll take care of her. We gave her a little candy while she was out. It should be hitting soon. Then she’ll need to be taken care of good and hard.”

  Jace’s growl rumbled into her body. “What does that mean?” Cassie whispered.

  “It means,” X replied, as Cassie’s whisper was more than enough for the woman’s keen hearing, “that Madame G had us roofie you. It’s her own special concoction she uses when she feels one of the intimate parties may not be as participatory as she’d like. She wants what she wants when she wants it, and she wants a mated couple fucking like rabbits ‘til they produce young.”

  Cassie’s insides ran cold. There was so much about what X said that disturbed her. First, she was drugged on top of being drugged. Next, she was being locked up with her date and expected to perform. And how would they know? Take their word for it? Yep, we went at it like teenagers on prom night when their parents are out of town. Nope. These people would watch. It was disturbing, but not as disturbing as what that evil mistress would want with a baby.

  Jace reached the small wooden shack. It wasn’t as rundown as Cassie originally imagined. Did they build it so far out here where they could escape, but get nowhere fast? Where no one could bear witness to the maniacal ceremony that had just been performed? X opened the door and stood back waiting for Jace to carry her over the threshold. This was so not what she expected for her wedding night. Jace was so who she did not expect for her wedding night. But as he carried her into the shack, his strong arms holding her tightly to him, giving her a modicum of security, he felt more right than Grant ever did. He felt more right, but not the sick, oily feeling that settled in her chest when they were mated.

  Jace remained silent as he slid her down his body, ensuring she could stand without tipping over but not letting her go. X said an unknown word that sounded like a command and their bindings dropped to the ground then slid back toward the doorway to X’s booted feet. Suddenly free, Cassie tensed, wondering if Jace would choose now to act. X must’ve been waiting for that, too. She remained still, an eyebrow raised in question toward him while he gave her a contemptuous stare-down in return. Agent D remained behind X, leering in on them, reminding Cassie what they were expected to do.

  When it was clear that Jace would not be causing immediate trouble, X looked down to Cassie, her tone serious. “The candy we gave you has a bit of a delay, then you’ll start getting really uncomfortable. You’ll feel like you need to get off like you need to breathe.”

  Cassie gave X an impertinent look. So she would die of embarrassment and humiliation throwing herself at Jace while these monsters monitored the situation and ate popcorn. All she needed to do was trust Jace with the sanctity of her body, which she’d done several times since the night he brought her home. She wasn’t worried about getting pregnant. Had Madame G never heard of the Depo shot? It would be months before she was fertile. She just needed to worry about how she and Jace would get out alive before Sigma realized producing a child wasn’t happening this weekend, and either keep them longer or dispose of them.

  Reading the lack of concern on Cassie’s face, X continued. “The hormonal stimulant Madame G included will spur ovulation and augment your mating pheromones. Your scent will drive Boo out of his mind.”

  Blood drained out of Cassie’s face and she felt light-headed. Jace swore under his breath. Agent D continued to leer at them, while Cassie interpreted sympathy in X’s somber expression. As serious as she had been while relaying the devastating information, there was a hint, just a hint that only another female would pick up on, of compassion—a kindred spirit. Like X knew exactly what Cassie would go through; how her body would turn traitorous; how she would be at the mercy of the nearest male; and how the humiliation would settle in as unknown spectators would bear witness to it all. X said Madame G could be very persuasive and Cassie had only seen a dusting of her depravity in the last couple of hours. How long had X been under her supremacy?

  “Just remember, Boo,” X looked back up to Jace to deliver another warning, “even if you do manage to resist your urges and keep Cassie from jumping on your dick, she’s still a shifter’s mate. Madame G might just see if she will produce young for other shifters. It’s been rumored to happen. She’ll keep you to study and keep Cassie for blood feeding.”

  “That bitch can fucking try,” Jace growled emphatically. “I will kill anyone who touches Cassie.”

  “You’d be… busy. We have a couple of female vam
ps, and they do love a good shifter meal. You know what their bite is like, right? Instant Viagra. The ol’ fuck-and-suck and then they’d kill you. What is with vampires versus werewolves, anyway? Any-hoodles, I’ll tell the men outside to give y’all a little privacy and not watch too much. Only go in orifices, not out any; the doors and windows have sensors that’ll alert the snipers.”

  As X turned to leave, she glanced at Cassie, regret flickered across her face so quickly Cassie could’ve sworn it was an illusion, then back to Jace. She spoke so quietly, Cassie almost didn’t catch it. “Take care of her, Jace.”

  The use of Jace’s actual name by X, sent a cold shiver of fear through Cassie. The use of nicknames gave X an aura of being aloof, maybe a little mischievous, causing people to underestimate her and let their feelings about what she called them influence their perception of the Agent. She might look like a rocker girl with her crazy black hair done up today in a messy faux hawk, but she worked for Madame G. And if Cassie wasn’t mistaken, she was a high-ranking Agent, the leader of tonight’s operation. X stalked Cassie, engaged her in friendly conversation, knew her routines and when she was out with Jace, and carried out the drugging and kidnapping of two full-sized adults in the middle of West Creek. Not to mention, the formidable female looked like she was built for strength and power. X was not to be underestimated.

  The door closed and deadbolts thunked into place.

  “Was she telling the truth? Was that mating?” Cassie hissed quietly.

  “That wasn’t mating,” Jace said with derision. “That was an abomination of our ceremony.” Then his voice softened, “But yes, we are mated. Can’t you feel it?” He looked searchingly at her, waiting for her reaction.

  “It doesn’t feel right.”

  Jace looked away. She didn’t mean to hurt him, but couldn’t he feel the wrongness of it all?

  She took advantage of the free use of her limbs and wandered around the small shack. It was a small, square room with one window that had bars. The walls were bare and there was no furniture aside from a mattress with a ratty gray blanket and bucket meant to be used as a chamber pot. They were supposed to have sex in this stark, stale room… on a doleful strip of cotton that probably saw plenty bodily fluids in its day with Sigma. This could be the Four Seasons, it wasn’t happening.

  Warmth flooded Cassie’s groin, flashing quickly up her body, until her face was flushed crimson and breathing quickened to panting.

  She gasped, “Oh, shit!”

  Chapter Eleven

  Jace felt the heat radiating from Cassie as she paced frantically, hitting each wall, doing an about face, and aiming for another wall, like a caged… wolf.

  “What are we going to do?” Cassie said, for what must have been the fiftieth time. He’d tried soothing her, but any movement toward her sent her careening to another wall like a pinball. Anything he said up to that point hadn’t gotten through to her. Her emotions were running too high, her hormones in flux, and the information bombs X dropped on them before she left pegged Cassie’s calm meter.

  Hands held up at his sides to show he didn’t intend to make any physical contact, he said, “Cassie you need to stop and listen to me.” She needed to hear how he wouldn’t take advantage of her, that they could wait it out until there was a moment to act, to get free. But the men outside, no doubt listening, probably live-streaming them, didn’t need to hear that.

  “What would they want with a baby? I’m not ready to have a baby. How do they think we can have sex like this? What if we don’t have sex? What is blood feeding? Am I going to become a vampire’s whore? I can’t bel—”

  “Stop!” Jace commanded in his bouncer voice. It came in handy at the bar, like his power of persuasion carried through his vocal cords instead of his eyes. But it shouldn’t. So, technically, he wasn’t using it on his mate—even if it was to calm her the fuck down.

  Cassie stopped in her tracks, her chest heaving like she’d been out for a run. The material of her shirt was dirty with faint blood stains from her hand, or his hand, which wouldn’t stop seeping. Whatever the metal was that made the oozing wound wasn’t silver, but the wound refused to mend.

  She remained still, finally looking directly at him. She looked just as gorgeous now as she did when he picked her up last night. Her rumpled, gauzy shirt hinting at the curves that lay underneath, the capris complementing her world-class runner’s legs, her sandals—amazingly still on by those leather straps he’d love to snap with his fangs, displaying polished toes he’d imagined himself nibbling on.

  Shiiiit. Her scent was overwhelming the small structure. X was right, he normally was half-mast around Cassie, but this was… intense. He was hard and throbbing, and it hurt so good. She must be in equal discomfort—hot and needy, wanting only release after release. What would it feel like to slide into her slick furnace as she wrapped her legs around him, clutching his ass, pulling him in deeper—

  “You’re eyes are glowing,” her voice shook.

  What a shitbag he was. They weren’t shut in here even five minutes and he was imagining his pleasure over her pain.

  Cassie moved to pace again, but he cut her off. “I want to talk, Cassie, but you need to trust me to be close to you. We can both resist.”

  “And if we can’t resist—”

  “Cassie. Trust me.”

  Her cocoa eyes searched his, determining the sensibility of his words. She crossed her arms around her middle. “I burn.”

  “I know, Tinkerbell. I’m sorry.” Jace eased toward her, and when she didn’t dart away, he wrapped his arms around her. Fuck, she was on fire. It was the first time he was able to just hold her since he’d met her. What he wouldn’t give for it to be under different circumstances.

  Cassie melted into him, seeking emotional comfort from his embrace. Soon she would be seeking physical comfort, and in a cruel twist of fate after months of waiting for her, weeks of chasing her, when she came begging to him, he was somehow going to have to resist until they escaped.

  “Does it bother you?” she asked. “Being kept in this tiny room?”

  “’Cuz it’s the size of a prison cell?” he chuckled softly. “No, there’s so much more that bothers me about this than another tiny cell.” Jace leaned down to speak directly in her ear. “And besides, unlike prison, this place we may actually be able to escape.”

  Wide, questioning eyes met his as her body moved tighter against his. He didn’t know if she realized it, but she’d started a steady rocking into him. Every fraction of excess pressure hardening his cock more. Maybe they could escape… if he had any blood cells left to power his brain when the time came.

  “Let’s move to the bed, so we can talk easier.” When she stiffened, he added, “So you can lay next to me instead of rubbing up on me.”

  Her flushed face reddened further and she almost jumped the short distance to the bed. She lifted the sorry excuse for a blanket and inspected the sheet before deciding to crawl on. He joined her, both on their sides facing each other.

  “How are we going to escape?” She hissed in a pain-laced voice, her legs were slowly scissoring against each other, trying to find some relief to the mounting pressure begging to be released.

  “I don’t have an exact plan.”

  The crestfallen look she gave him spoke volumes.

  “There are more chances here than we had before,” he tried to reassure her. “The Agents hate each other, the snipers I sensed were only human, they expect me to use my telepathic power, but to my knowledge they don’t know how well I can fight. They’ll expect me to fight four-legged, but I’m better on two and they won’t be ready.”

  “So we wait.”

  He nodded. They lay in silence beside each other, waiting. Her squirming worsened, her hands inching their way down to her crotch, then she’d snap them back up.

  “Tell me something bad. Something that will keep me from crawling on top of you. Talk about Sigma.”

  Keeping his arms folded in on himsel
f, helpless to watch her struggle but knowing his touch would make it worse, he tried to resist drowning himself in the waves of delectable pheromones rolling off her, clouding the room. She was right. Talking about Sigma would put a slight damper on his mood.

  “I don’t know specifics, really. Maybe I would’ve if my family stayed with the pack, but I lived more human than wolf until the last few years. They were the bogeyman when I was little. An afterthought as I was growing up. Then at the club I heard things, watched for things. It’s clear now they’re well-funded, highly organized, increasingly trained, and there’s rumors it might all be by vampires.”

  “Why?” Cassie curled into a loose ball, her hands clenched in between cramped thighs, rocking gently.

  Talking about Sigma wasn’t going to help lessen her urges, but she needed to be educated. He kept on, trying not get distracted at the exhilarating thought of watching his mate get herself off.

  “You can’t conquer the world from sundown to sunup without the aid of another species that can tolerate daylight. The great battle between shifters and vampires revolves around stopping bloodsuckers from trying to take over the world. They want to establish their own brand of feed lots, with shifters comprising the prime herd, and humans the chattel and slave labor.”

  “Why the prime herd?” Cassie managed the question between whimpers. Jace was beginning to doubt waiting it out until someone checked on them. Her desperation was getting to be too much for her and too much suffering for him to watch his mate go through, even if it was to save them both… and a yet unmade baby. No, he wouldn’t fuck for them; they wouldn’t get his mate or any of his future progeny.

  “If a vampire drains a shifter, it can acquire our strengths and our abilities. It could tolerate sun for a short period of time, it could use our mental capabilities temporarily. Then we’d heal, and they’d drain us again.”