Past My Defenses (Taming the Pack series) (Entangled Ignite)

by Wendy Sparrow

  Jordan was prowling back and forth behind them—dressed in a pair of cargo shorts, thankfully. He kept having those periodic spaz attacks where he’d stretch and fade from man to wolf with a snarl.

  The first one had left Vanessa wide-eyed. Yeah. Freaky. If they had a choice, he wouldn’t have chosen to rely on Jordan, but Vanessa had laid a trail that could help them end this—and Jordan was here.

  “So, I’ll need to leave,” Jordan said.

  “What?” Dane twisted to look at him. “I’m not going against two of them with only the two of us.”

  Jordan rolled his eyes. “Aw, hell. I knew you weren’t listening. I’m not sure she is either. You guys can melt all over each other later, but you need to pay attention.” He snarled—the wolf and man combined—and they both jumped. He pointed at Dane. “That one was on purpose. Now, listen, I’m not sure how much time we have. They can tell we followed you here, Nessa, and I don’t think they’ll approach if they think I’m still here. I need to leave and get far enough away that they’ll think I’ve left you guys to work things out. I might even use Dane’s radio to tell Travis what I’m doing just in case they’re monitoring frequencies. Then I’ll circle back and take the Lycan by surprise.”

  “I’ll take the Lycan,” Dane said. He really wanted to kill the thing that had attacked Vanessa twice.

  “No,” Vanessa and Jordan said together.

  He clenched his teeth, but with his arms around her, and them siding together on this point, he didn’t want to risk losing Vanessa’s trust. It might be a Lycan thing, and he wanted to be with her long enough to figure out where those lines were. “Fine. I’ll take the poacher.” They’d both take down their kind. It might be better that way.

  “I’ll leave from the south and approach from the north in about…three hours, so around dusk.”

  “How do I know you’re coming back—that you’re not just leaving us?” Dane asked.

  Vanessa sighed and dropped her head onto his chest.

  Jordan snarled again. “You get one freebie, skinny. You ever question my honor in front of the pack, and I’ll be forced to kill you. Fair warning.” He stalked out.

  “Just when I think you’re making progress,” she said against his chest. She went stiff and then sighed again. “He wants me to ask you how to use your radio to call Travis. Only he wants you to know he could have figured it out without you if he wasn’t in a hurry.”

  “Tell furry I’m on my way out,” he said as she climbed off his lap.

  “You’re the one with pathetic human hearing,” Jordan called from outside.

  “You guys are so freaking stubborn,” Vanessa muttered—loud enough for both of them to hear.

  …

  She didn’t want to act like she was impressed—it might make Dane and Jordan think they didn’t have to get along any better than this, but honestly, she’d have assumed they’d kill each other before they’d work together. This alone might’ve been worth risking her life.

  “So, you know what you’re going to say?” Dane asked outside.

  Sitting in the chair that Dane had vacated, she swallowed another sip of water. These allergy pills were struggling to cut through her dust mite allergy.

  “Of course I know what I’m going to say,” Jordan said.

  “What?”

  “Something.”

  It was staggering. They were both alpha males and yet you stuck them together, and they were stupid, stubborn idiots. Her best option was to keep them apart as much as possible after this. It wasn’t just Dane.

  “Okay, now, stand over there because we’re dealing with Lycans…and they’ll wonder why you’re hanging around at my shoulder breathing down my neck.”

  “Like they could hear that.” At least he shuffled a few feet away.

  Wow, having her hearing was nice. She yawned a few times to pop her ears. Even if she didn’t survive this, she’d go down fighting more than just her body’s immune system. That’d be less pathetic. And Dane had bandaged her finger so she wouldn’t be spraying blood all over attackers before it was warranted.

  “Travis, it’s me,” Jordan said.

  “Yup,” he said.

  “I found them. They’re fine. I think…well, you know how Nessa is when she’s like this. I think she overreacted.”

  Her mouth dropped open. Oh, they’d be having a conversation about that. She’d never have agreed to that crap. She could hear Dane fighting laughing. They’d all be having a conversation.

  “He’s there with you? Dane?” Travis asked.

  “He’s with Nessa. I’m using his radio before I head back, since I won’t be carrying much. I’m going to leave them here to work things out.”

  “Oh, I thought I could hear him. Where were they?”

  There was a pause, and she could almost hear Jordan thinking. Finally, he asked, “Have you found the semi?”

  “Yup. Well, we found the truck’s trailer abandoned.”

  “We?”

  “Us. Well, Cam found it, but I reported it. Sheriff is beginning to wonder if he needs any other employees besides me. My performance will drop way off when this is over.”

  “The semi?” Jordan prompted.

  “The entire inside was wiped and bleached—there were a few partial prints they missed, but not enough to match without a suspect. I think we’ll still find traces of blood because it was this moving surgery, though some of the tools were removed too. I’m guessing they abandoned the trailer when they found out we were looking for it. The FBI was planning on bringing in helicopters—they arrived a couple hours ago. They’re stumbling through the woods with dogs, and the dogs are going nuts from all the…uhh…other scents—running in circles. It’s pretty funny.”

  Travis had such a weird sense of humor.

  “They’re wanting to talk with Vanessa and Dane, though. They think they’ve skipped town. Sheriff Terry and I told them Vanessa had freaked out and starting screaming and shouting so Dane had taken her somewhere quiet so she didn’t go all mental. The sheriff bought them until tomorrow, mostly because he did this impersonation of Vanessa…it was hilarious. I wish I’d gotten my phone up to video it in time.”

  Travis was a bastard.

  “Okay, well, I should see you in a couple hours,” Jordan said, not even bothering to hide the amusement in his voice. Nice. Jerk.

  “You are all so dead,” she muttered when Jordan clicked off.

  “Have fun with Nessa,” Jordan said.

  “Ugh…next time warn me before you drop your shorts.” Dane stomped in a moment later. “Did you really once go after him?”

  She raised her eyebrows and crossed her legs. There were some conversations that never needed to happen.

  “Because…”

  “So, you asked some other girl to marry you?”

  He snapped his mouth closed. Right. He dropped into the seat beside her. “We have a couple hours, I suppose. Hours to kill.” He winced.

  “I know, right? There are a ton of things I won’t be saying anymore.” She cleared her throat. “As much as I’d like to prove that it’s not just me being in heat that makes me want you…it’d be too cliché to be killed because we were too busy having sex to notice they’d arrived.”

  “So, no sex…and therefore no arguing.”

  Definitely no arguing. They both went off like roman candles at the slightest disagreement. Last night, their argument over their future countertops had ended in such heavy necking that it was only the scent of Travis patrolling by that had made her push back and go stick her head in the freezer…and that was over countertops, and they’d been fully clothed. Now she was only wearing a shirt. Definitely no arguing.

  “No arguing,” she agreed. Arguing only led one place. Which was a place she wanted to go, but not with their lives on the line. Not with the chance they’d be interrupted to be murdered. Even though this might be their last chance because they were going to die either way. “Unless you think we won’t survive this…and then�
�”

  “No.” He frowned at her. “Don’t even say that. Don’t even think that.”

  She sighed. Well, sure, she’d try not to. “It probably would be good for me to pay attention now that the allergy pills are working, and I can hear and smell again.” Also, she really didn’t want to think she might be missing out on their one and only chance to mate. “But if we just sit here, trying not to argue, and then me trying not to think about never having the chance to…argue at length with you…I’m going to go crazy.”

  “I have a deck of cards out in my Jeep.” He stood and cast her a look. “No strip poker.”

  “Shame. That’s how we played it in Reno.”

  He grinned at her. “Honey, you haven’t played me, and you’re only wearing a shirt—you can’t afford to lose.”

  “Baby, I could be wearing nothing at all, and I’d still win.”

  “Well, of course you would,” he tossed over his shoulder. “How would I be able to concentrate with you there all naked?” He was back a moment later with a backpack, his gun with extra ammunition, and a deck of cards. He lifted the backpack. “How are you with a gun? Jordan says there’s one in here.”

  “Lousy. I’d always planned to run instead of staying and fighting.”

  Shaking his head, he locked the door behind him. “I can’t believe I let you shower alone this morning.”

  What? It sounded like she could’ve conned him into showering with her. Dammit. Well, if she’d known that was on the table… She shook off the image of him all wet and slick and hot. “I’m staying and fighting now.”

  “You can use a gun, right?”

  “I know which end the bullet comes out of.” She drummed her fingers on the table. Technically, she knew a bit more than that, but the idea of shooting someone made her ill. The buildup of a fight felt right. Bullets ended things. Maybe it was the wolf inside her, but guns felt like something the enemy owned. Few Lycans wanted it to end with a gunshot. A fight—a fair fight. “I hear that’s the most important thing to know about guns. You just have to know which end not to be in front of. The shooty end.”

  Dane looked appalled. Thoroughly appalled. He went and got her knife and set it on the table next to her as he rummaged through the backpack. She reached across and grabbed the cards. When he looked over after getting out the gun, she was doing a fast Vegas shuffle that made him raise his eyebrows.

  “What were you doing in Reno?”

  She was going to wipe the floor with him. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

  “Yes. We play for Reno stories.”

  “And if I win?”

  “You’ll win a minute of me putting up with Jordan’s crap without killing him.”

  …

  Several dozen hands of poker later, he grabbed the deck from her before she could shuffle it. “I think we have to stop. Clearly, we’re fairly even, and if I hear another Reno story I’m going to take you on the table—on the floor—on that counter, and we’re going to argue ourselves to distraction.”

  Who knew you could get into so much trouble in Reno? And she’d only been there a few weeks.

  “I’m surprised you’re as good as I am.” She frowned. “I mean, I was a dealer in that game for reasons beyond the costume fitting so well.”

  “Did you really keep the boa?” He held up a hand. “Wait, don’t tell me. With the water shut off in this place, I can’t even hose myself down with cold water.” He’d never be able to hear the words “Reno,” “boa,” and “on the felt” in mixed company again. They all tasted like sweetly dirty euphemisms on his tongue now.

  “At least we’ve killed some time.” She groaned and hit her head on the table softly. “Does every stupid little saying contain gruesome words? I swear they all do. We’re a sick society.”

  “We could make a house of cards.” Then the memory of his hands shaking against the steering wheel earlier surfaced. “Maybe not. My hands are a little shaky. From adrenaline.”

  “Do you really think we’ll make it through this?” Her voice sounded so small and fragile when she said it that he’d pushed out of his chair and dragged her into his arms before she’d even finished the words.

  “Yes, I’m sure of it.”

  He’d meant to comfort her. That’s all. He was just rubbing her back. Then, her arms stole around his neck, and she pressed her nose against his chest…and inhaled. And moaned.

  “Aw, screw it,” he said and he bent just as she rose on her tiptoes, their mouths meeting in the middle. They would have toppled a house of cards a moment later when he lifted her and set her on the table. She kissed like the most devilish angel, her nails digging into the back of his head as her tongue tasted and her teeth nipped. He kissed a line along her jaw as she yanked his shirt from his pants. Even in this dusty cabin, she tasted like a breath of fresh air—like honeysuckle on a summer day.

  “Are you still with me?” he whispered in her ear.

  She ran her fingers across his stomach, around his sides, and up to scratch lightly down his back. “Mmm.”

  “Not so convincing.” He bit softly below her ear.

  “Marshmallows, anise, annato seeds, ragweed, sesame seeds…”

  “What are you doing?” he asked, smiling against her skin.

  “Listing out my allergies so I can keep my hormones from taking over.”

  He shouldn’t keep going. They were meant to be paying attention to their environment. Plus, now “ragweed” had joined the list of words that couldn’t be said in mixed company. They should stop. He pulled back enough to drag his shirt off.

  “You stopped on sesame seeds,” he said.

  “Carrots, celery, cumin.” Cumin was said on a long moan. She made spices she couldn’t have sound even more forbidden.

  “You forgot coriander.” He groaned as she bit his collarbone.

  “I didn’t forget coriander. I just hadn’t gotten there yet.” It earned him another bite.

  Oh, hell, they should really stop. “You were listing the Cs in alphabetical order.”

  “I was just listing them.” She pressed herself closer to him. “Fennel, kiwi.” She tipped her head back and those nails scraped down his back again. “Coriander.”

  Coriander was on the list of inappropriate words now.

  He captured her mouth again with his. “Mugwort,” she said between wet openmouthed kisses.

  Mugwort had never been said in that tone before. Hopefully at the appropriate time, she’d scream his name and not something like “zucchini,” but he almost didn’t care. There’d be a next time.

  “Mmm…you smell so good.” She wrapped her legs around him.

  “Almonds,” he said. He couldn’t lose her to her hormones now.

  “Hazelnuts,” she agreed. “Mmm. Bananas.”

  He pulled back. “Bananas? Bananas weren’t on my list.”

  She leaned forward and pressed kisses along his jaw. “Yes, they were.”

  “No, they weren’t. I remember thinking, ‘At least she can have my mom’s banana bread if my mom leaves out the walnuts.’”

  “Bananas were on the list.” She bit his lower lip.

  “Ow…uhh, no they weren’t.” He slid his fingers into her blond curls so he could repay the treatment with her lower lip.

  “Mmm. They were. I’d never forget bananas. They make my…uhh…tongue swell.”

  He tipped back farther. “I know they weren’t on the list you wrote out.”

  It was getting darker outside, but he saw her eyes narrow.

  “They weren’t on there.” He knew they weren’t.

  “Are we really going to argue about this?”

  He smiled. “We’re so far past arguing.”

  She grinned, and her hands went to the buttons on the flannel shirt she was wearing when she stopped and cocked her head. Her mouth dropped open, and she shook her head slowly. “It’s like the universe wants us to never finish an argument.”

  “What?”

  She dipped her chin in the di
rection of the road, whispering, “A car just stopped up the road. Probably about two or three miles away.”

  He glanced at his watch. “It’s been about two and a half hours. Hopefully he’s not late to the party.”

  “He said he’d be here.”

  “Yeah, in three hours.” Grabbing his shirt off the floor, he pulled it on as he loaded the revolver Jordan had brought. “If he isn’t out there, I’m taking both of them. I’m not leaving you the furry one.”

  She narrowed her eyes.

  “It’s not that I don’t think you can take them, but I still need to be in control.” He’d brought his own gun, but it was good to feel the revolver at the base of his spine as backup. “Okay, you’re going to stay on two feet after they show up?”

  “No. I’ll switch to four. Probably. I’m faster.”

  “You won’t have your knife.”

  “I’ll have forty-two knives.” She pointed at her mouth.

  “That’s true—and apparently you’re a danger to yourself with a real knife.” He grabbed her chin. “You are going to stay near me, right? You’re not going to go all lone wolf and get yourself killed…because that would kill me. Plus, this way we’ve got each other’s backs.”

  Her eyes were shiny with tears as she nodded.

  He pressed a kiss on her lips. “I love you,” he mouthed.

  “I love you too,” she mouthed back.

  He nodded at the back of the cabin. They’d discussed the probability that if they were in the cabin, the pair would set it on fire. If his house was any indication, they weren’t above smoking their victims out. In fact, he suspected that was what had happened; they thought he’d left Vanessa at home while he was at work. Even without that, both the Lycans didn’t like the idea of being trapped inside the cabin where they couldn’t maneuver or run. If not for the fire, he would have put up a bigger fight to stay in a place without so many possibilities for approach.

  He felt clumsy behind her as she moved through the cabin silently. It was as if she weighed nothing and was made of liquid the way she slid around corners. If the fear of something happening to her hadn’t immediately cold-showered him, the sight of her slipping through the back room’s furniture would have been highly erotic. It still was, but there was no way they could act on it.