by Jenny Penn
“You want me to sit still? Then next time why don’t you sit on me.”
“Don’t tempt me, honey. And don’t think that all this ranting is going to get you out of your punishment. You disobeyed a direct order and put yourself into danger.”
Lacie blinked and burst into tears. With her anger drained by her tirade, she had nothing left to buffer the fear and depression that had filled her at the idea of them being pain, dying somewhere alone.
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Davis muttered, jerking her into his arms. “This had better not be more theatrics. If it is, it’s not working.”
Lacie ignored his harsh warning. Burrowing into the comforting warmth of his, she clung to him, needing to feel the beat of his heart beneath her cheek and the lift of his chest as he took every easy breath. It wasn’t enough. A part of her craved a deeper, more intimate hold, one that would affirm that Chance and Davis were alive and as strong as ever.
“You’re still getting a spanking.”
“You left me.” Unaware that Davis had even spoken, Lacie’s cries blossomed into inconsolable sobs as that thought sank into her heart. Her nails dug into his back as her grip tightened in a mindless attempt to assure he didn’t repeat that sin.
“No, I didn’t,” Davis grumbled, his words barely registering as he smothered them against the top of her head, clinging to her just as tightly as she did him. “We were guarding the entrance. Protecting you, just like we were supposed to.”
“Now that’s a load of crap. You were waiting to catch her disobeying you.”
“Shut up, Tarmak.”
“Now look what you did to the girl. You got her all upset.”
At any other time Lacie would have jumped on that seconding of her position, but right then she didn’t care about the argument or even who came to her defense.
“She wouldn’t be upset if she was safe in the shelter like she was supposed to be.”
“Yes she would, but you wouldn’t be able to comfort her, like you’re supposed to.”
Davis growled at that reprimand. The sound vibrating across her cheek, chasing the sniffles that started to roll out of her as Lacie’s tears slowly dried up. As he spoke, his words echoed deep, rich, and full of annoyance under her ear.
“Don’t be lecturing me, Tarmak. I know how to take care of my mate.”
“That remains to be proven.” Lacie rolled her head in the direction of the long-haired lycan giving Davis so much grief. His proud features and midnight tresses gave away his Native American decent as did the sense that his calm façade only shrouded a fierce spirit.
“That woman’s been chased through the fields like a rabbit in a dog race, been in a car accident, shot at, trapped in a burning building and left unconscious by her mates. You are a case study in how not to do things.”
“Let it be.” Chance appeared to block Davis when he released Lacie with a sudden motion that had him surging toward the other lycan. “The kings have arrived.
“You guys head on over to where they’re holding the rest of the interlopers.” Chance shot those orders at the crowd of men before turning to frown at her. “Davis and I will take care of Lacie.”
Despite the wobble in her chin, Lacie lifted her jaw in a small show of defiance. “You’re not going to abandon me again, are you?”
“No.” Chance stepped up close enough for her to see the grim determination in his gaze. “But we are going to have a talk about your disobedience.”
Then he’d punish her. That message came through loud and clear even without the benefit of being stated. A few hours ago Lacie might have thrilled at the heated intent in his look, but she was too exhausted to even feel pleasure right then.
“Good. Then you can apologize for making me worry.”
“And you can beg us to forgive you for putting your life in a danger,” Chance shot back instantly.
Before Lacie could take exception to his tone of voice, she found her rebuttal smothered by the warmth of his chest as Chance reached out to grasp her wrist and yank her into his embrace.
“It’s going to take a lot of sweet talking for you to get me over my mad. God, baby.” Chance’s arms tightened painfully as his voice dipped, becoming a harsh, ragged whisper. “You scared the crap out of me.”
“I didn’t mean to,” Lacie muttered, her arms wrapping around his waist to pull him even closer. “I was scared you were out there hurt, dying, needing me. How could I not come?”
“Because you know the only thing worse to me than dying is leaving you behind unprotected.” Chance held her back far enough so he could pin her with the seriousness of his gaze. “I need to know you’re safe. Please, Lacie, if I die for you, don’t make it in vain.”
“What a horrible thing to say.” Lacie jerked free of his hold. “You’re not going to die for me, Chance. I’m not going to allow it.”
“What are you going to do to stop me?”
Davis snorted at Chance’s question, breaking into a smirk. “Don’t even think about it, honey. You can’t punish us.”
The cocky assurance in his tone drew her dark gaze in his direction. She’d have loved to shoot him down with a scathing comeback, but didn’t have one. Davis might be arrogant, but he was also right.
She couldn’t punish him, but she could Chance. Turning back in his direction, Lacie lifted her chin and took her best shot. “For every scratch you get, I’m going to put one on your truck.”
“What?” Chance’s smile fell as he perked up in alarm.
“Break an arm and I’ll break an axle.” Lacie managed to keep her features schooled as Chance gaped at her. “A bruise, a dent. Spill blood, loose—”
“Enough! Woman, you better not touch my truck.”
“Then you better not get yourself hurt.” Lacie would hold firm on that point.
“She’s questioning our abilities.” Chance’s dark tone matched the feral gleam he pinned her with. “That’s disrespectful and requires punishment.”
Lacie rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you’re well on your way to figuring out how my just breathing requires punishment, Chance, but not now. Now, I’m tired, hungry, sore and dirty, which all makes me cranky. So you’d better be nice. Got that?”
“What I got is you are trying to order me around,” Chance retorted.
“That requires punishment,” Davis helpfully pointed out.
“Make a list,” Lacie shot back.
“Already on it, babe.”
“Fine.” Lacie turned to strut back toward the tunnel, all but dismissing her mates. “We’ll get to it later. Right now, I’m going to take a bath.”
“You are a bossy little thing.” Chance caught her in less than five steps. Settling two hands on her waist, he brought her to a sudden stop a second before he scooped her up into his arms. “You’re going to have to be punished for that.”
Lacie rolled her eyes at that warning. “And even if I didn’t give you two a reason to spank me, we both know you’d just make one up.”
“True enough.” Davis didn’t bother to lie but waited by the door to follow them in and lock the exit behind them. “But if we didn’t punish you without a reason, we’d just be encouraging you to give us one.”
It took Lacie a moment to realize it wasn’t her. His logic really made no sense. “What—”
“Don’t bother with the act, baby. We can smell your cunt creaming. It’s been wet since the first moment I threatened you. It’s already begging for its medicine.”
“Oh?” Chance and Davis might not be completely wrong, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t argue the point anyway.
“And you two don’t think my being horny has anything to do with all the excitement of being attacked and thinking you were both dead and finding out you weren’t? You don’t think maybe I’m just needy in general right now?”
“I think you smell like ash, blood, and dirt. You need a bath and a good nap. Then when you wake up tied to the bed on fire with lust, we’ll discuss the truth about how mu
ch you enjoy being dominated.”
Chapter 12
Lacie didn’t argue with Chance, more than happy to hear him agree she could have a bath and nap first. Not that she trusted him entirely. Given the size of the erections her mates were sporting, Lacie didn’t see the three of them fitting into a shower and Chance and Davis not putting those boners to good use.
Except, apparently, they weren’t planning on getting into the shower. Fifteen minutes later when Davis shoved the door to the shelter open, Chance carried her straight through the room and out a door Lacie hadn’t noticed earlier.
She hadn’t really looked around when she’d woken up and hadn’t taken note of much. She didn’t get much of a chance to then either. She did have time, though, to become amazed at all the other shelters they moved through. There was a gym, dining hall, game room, apparently everything anybody could need to keep them happy underground.
Davis and Chance explained how the pack had built a whole underground city. Lycans were always prepared for any eventuality. Lacie could read well enough into Chance’s tone to hear the deeper meaning in those words as they finally came to a stop.
Lacie studied the small room as Chance lowered her down to her feet, his hand dropping to curl around the edge of her T-shirt. It didn’t take a lot of thought to figure out what Davis and he were planning to do next. From the steaming pool in the middle of the room to the massage table in the corner to the racks of towels and shelves cluttered with soaps and lotions, Lacie figured this to be some kind of spa.
But she wasn’t ready to be soothed just yet.
“Are you trying to tell me we’re going to be stuck down here for a while?” Lacie had to wait until Chance finished pulling her shirt clear of her face before finishing her complaint. The minute her head popped free, though, she pinned him with a pointed look.
“Because if you are, just say it.”
“It’ll only be two weeks.”
“Without sunshine?” That fast her mood soured. “Without fresh air?”
“Without dying,” Chance retorted, his attention focused on working the buttons on her jeans free.
“I see, so you’re saying in two weeks things will magically be better?” Because Lacie didn’t buy that, nor did she want to be distracted. Swatting away the fingers tugging on her waistband, Lacie stepped free of Chance’s grip. “We’ll all be safe because what? Time ran out? The demon and zombies just give up and go home?”
“In two weeks you’ll be stronger.” Davis blocked her from behind, his arms looping around to give her a quick hug. “You’ll be safer.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ll be one of us.”
Davis dumped that revelation on her, and like a lead suit it weighed heavily on her shoulders. Lacie didn’t even try to brush the hands that began pulling on her buttons, too absorbed in the reality that in two weeks she’d transform and become a wolf like them. It might have always sounded exciting before, but right then it dawned on her how very frightening morphing into an animal might actually be.
“Two weeks?”
“Until the full moon.” Chance’s head dipped, following the downward whoosh of her jeans over her legs. A warm hand curled around her ankle, lifting it up as he pulled her pants free. “After, your reflexes will sharpen. Your sense of smell will improve. Your ability to heal will quicken.”
“Not only will you be harder to kill, but you’ll be able to defend yourself to a certain extent. Demons prefer easy prey.” Davis paused, his chin tipping over her shoulder. “Why are you wearing three pairs of socks?”
“Because I couldn’t find any shoes.” He might have meant to distract her, but all Davis’s question did was reminder of her near miss not a half hour ago. “And what about zombies? How do you defend against them?”
“Snap their neck.” Chance rose back onto her feet and offered her a half smile. “They’re not hard to kill. Not much of a threat except for their numbers, which shouldn’t be great in this world.”
“Not much of a threat? That woman nearly choked me to death…and you were waiting for me.” Lacie felt a fresh wave of outrage wash over her as she recalled what the other lycan had said to Davis. “You set me up. What? Did you leave her there to teach me a lesson? To scare me into doing everything you command? Because I got—”
Davis’s hand cut Lacie’s tirade short, though his explanation didn’t appease her in the slightest. “We didn’t know she was there.”
Lifting her chin, she tilted her mouth away from his palm. “Your kind can smell stink on shit over a mile away, but you can’t smell a rotting corpse in front of you?”
“First off, she wasn’t rotting,” Chance corrected her. “And second her smell was bound to one of the carvings on her.”
“How did you know there were carvings on her?” Lacie’s eyes narrowed on Chance with that revealing bit of information. “I thought you didn’t know she was there.”
“She was a zombie.” Chance shrugged. “They’re living hosts who are sacrificed in a ritualistic manner using blood magic in the form of flesh carvings, allowing their spiritual essence to be drained slowly enough that the vessel can be infused with the will of a new master.”
Lacie stared at him in horror, wondering how he could explain such a thing without being repulsed at his own words. “That’s disgusting.”
“It’s a reality.” Chance frowned down at her with a strange kind of sadness darkening his gaze. “Evil always exists, but Davis is right. It likes to feed on easy prey. Right now that’s you.”
She might be weak, but Lacie wasn’t dumb. She didn’t need their help to add up the obvious facts. “TJ Carver contacted me, tested my blood, and then on the day I was supposed to meet him, five zombies attacked. He’s the demon.”
“Probably more like a disciple,” Davis corrected.
“Whatever you want to call him, he’s the reason all of this is happening. Isn’t he?”
“It doesn’t matter what he is.” Chance stepped in close to settle his hands on her shoulders and draw her gaze straight up to his. “What matters is he’s not going to get anywhere close to you.”
“But he’ll still be out there?” That was enough to leave Lacie chilled through the bone.
“He won’t be for much longer.” Chance smiled, a cold twist of his lips that sent a shiver racing down Lacie’s spine. “Trust me. He’s in lycan country with nowhere to hide. The pack will catch him.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
Before she could question his pledge, Chance made her forget the question with a simple brush of his lips over hers. Pressing her mouth to open, his tongue slid in. All sweetness and teasing, quickly he made her forget about everything else but kissing him back. Even when they suddenly plunged into the steaming, water, sinking fast beneath the surface, Lacie didn’t worry. Clinging to Chance, she trusted him to handle everything.
With one powerful kick, he propelled them back to the top. Their heads popped out with a splash, their lips still clinging to each other as Chance ravished her mouth. Keeping her pinned to his chest, he held her captive as his kiss turned from a succulent tasting to a ravenous devouring, overwhelming her with his savage determination.
The air felt cool against her skin as her blood thickened and heated beneath. Already warn out from the excitement of the day, Lacie melted into his embrace. Leaning into his strength, she clung to him as she slid her arms down and around his strong, broad shoulders.
Chance growled, his arms tightening around her as one hand slid up her back to hold her head steady. His thick, work-roughened fingers curled around her neck, massaging the delicate stretch of skin and thrilling her with his strength.
Chance could so easily hurt her, but here in his arms, she didn’t fear him. Not even when he’d snapped the zombie’s neck had she worried he’d turn on her with such violence. Neither Chance nor Davis would ever harm her. Lacie knew that with absolute certainty.
When his other hand dipped
around the curve of her ass, Lacie parted her thighs, silently inviting him to thread his fingers through her pussy. Slowly, he fed her one finger before adding another, breaking off the kiss so he could watch her reaction. It felt wonderful, but that didn’t disguise the exhaustion echoing in her moan.
“Tired, baby?”
“A little.” Lacie bit down on her lip as his fingers slid free. She’d answered truthfully but was still saddened at his retreat. It didn’t matter what she’d endured today, there would never come a moment when she didn’t want him. “It’s all right.”
A whisper of a snort kicked his lips up a second before his head dipped. Barely touching, his lips hovered over her own as his tongue swept across the seam of her mouth. With a sigh she parted her lips, letting him dip inside for a quick taste that built slowly into a longer, deeper savoring.
Needing more than his gentle teasing, Lacie tightened her grip on his neck. Locking her lips on his, she forced his tongue back as she took control of the kiss. In seconds she was drunk on his intoxicating flavor, needing more to fuel the rapidly blossoming warmth filling her body.
Shockingly, it was Chance who slowly disengaged the kiss. Smiling down at her with pure tenderness, he rubbed a thumb across her swollen and slightly bruised lips.
“Oh, baby,” he sighed. “You don’t know how hard it is not to give you what you want, but you’re all tired and sore, and I’d be a bastard to take advantage.”
“Be a bastard,” Lacie whispered, about to say she’d love him anyway when Davis interrupted.
“Don’t.”
A distant plop followed by a soft spray of water had Lacie looking toward where he broke through the surface of the pool, sending a ring of ripples rolling in her direction. He had his cocky grin back and a bar of soap in his hands.
“That bastard has had more than enough cunt for one day. He needs to learn to share.”
“I think Lacie needs a different type of loving right now.” Chance conceded despite the dirty look he shot Davis. The grumpiness in his expression disappeared under a warm rush of a smile as he turned back to her.
