Colton: Rogue Beginnings (A Rogue Enforcers Novel)

by Grace Brennan

  She flew apart, her hips undulating, her vision going black as her breathing stalled. She was drowning in pleasure, and she couldn’t draw a breath as it continued washing over her. Her body continued to fly apart, and she could feel herself rippling around Colton, and it just intensified her pleasure and drew it out more.

  She was vaguely aware of his hips stuttering, and then he slammed inside her one more time. He held himself still as he emptied himself inside her, and the warmth coating her insides sent her flying up again.

  He buried his face in her neck, his body shuddering, as they both came back down. Sucking in air now that she could breath again, she rubbed her hands over his damp back, letting her trembling legs fall to the side.

  Her muscles felt weak, and her bones had turned to limp noodles inside her. She didn’t think she could move if she tried.

  They stayed like they were for what seemed like forever, and she felt her eyes getting heavy. It had been a long time since she’d done anything that physical, and the pleasure she’d drown in had completely depleted her energy.

  Colton finally eased back, kissed her gently, and then rolled to the bed next to her. She immediately felt cold, like a piece of her soul had gone missing, and she cuddled up next to him. He wrapped his arm around her, kissing her hair, and she instantly felt warm again.

  Her soul felt settled, and her heart was overflowing. This amazing man was holding her tightly, after he’d just given her the most amazing pleasure of her life, and she could barely comprehend how strong her feelings were for him already.

  He was sweet, kind, fiercely protective, an amazing lover… everything she never thought she’d find.

  And she thought she just might already be in love with him.

  Colton was exhausted but his mind was racing, not allowing him to fall asleep just yet. Being with Katia… he never could have imagined he’d feel everything so intensely. He’d heard it was that way between mates, but he still hadn’t been expecting that.

  She was already fast asleep, but he couldn’t resist pressing a kiss to her hair. She sighed, snuggling in closer, and a smile curled his lips up.

  He was right earlier. He wasn’t falling for her—he was already there.

  There was still so much up in the air, but he had faith it would all work out. It had to. There was no other option. He’d get Justin back, end the men responsible for hurting him and hunting Katia, and then he could be free to settle down with her.

  He loved his small ranch in Montana, but he’d willingly give it up for her. Her life was here, her family, her school. He couldn’t ask her to give that up to come to his tiny hometown across the country, but he could damn sure come here to be with her.

  He wasn’t sure what he’d do with his life once he was here, though. Ranching was all he knew. But he’d figure it out. As long as he had his mate, he’d be okay.

  A noise at the door hit his sensitive shifter ears and he stiffened as he turned to look at the door. Easing Katia off his chest, he stood up and silently made his way over, looking out of the peephole. He didn’t see anyone there, but that didn’t mean there hadn’t been.

  Even if one of the bastards could hack, that didn’t mean they’d be able to find her room, since it wasn’t registered in her name. But that didn’t necessarily mean anything—they’d set the last hotel on fire, after all.

  Looked like he wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight after all, because he had to be on alert. If anything happened to her…

  Shuddering, he turned to walk back to the bed. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what losing her would be like, and he didn’t want to. It made him sick to his stomach. She was his—his mate, his life, his everything. He couldn’t lose her.

  Yeah, it was fast, but that was how it happened for shifters, so it didn’t come as much of a surprise to him. She might be a different story. She was human, and they weren’t raised with the knowledge that when they met their mate, their entire world shifted and changed, putting their mate at the very center.

  That there wasn’t anyone else in the world as perfect for them. That no one else could mean as much to them.

  He walked over to her side of the bed to switch off the lamp. He wasn’t planning on sleeping, but she was, and he could see just as well in the dark as he could in the light, thanks to his shifter sight. Reaching over to switch it off, he bumped into her sketchbook, and it fell to the floor with a soft thud.

  Cursing silently, he froze, his gaze shooting to Katia to make sure it didn’t wake her. She didn’t move, staying relaxed on the bed, her breathing even. Blowing out a breath, he bent to pick up the book, stilling when he saw the page it had fallen open on.

  Picking it up, he straightened, studying the drawing. She’d sketched him standing with his arms crossed, a tornado in the background, and on the right was an image of a dragon. It was actually very close to how his dragon really looked, and he felt his eyebrows raise in surprise. The whole drawing was amazing. She’d captured him and his animal very well. It could have been a picture instead of a sketch, it was so accurate.

  Curiosity flowed through him and he flipped to the page before, finding an image of his hands, and then another sketch of himself. It was at the hotel they stayed at before, and he was asleep, one arm behind his head and the covers pooling at his waist.

  She had so much talent, it was mind blowing.

  He looked through the rest of the book, finding images of Sergei and his friends, various people he didn’t know, landscapes—she had a little bit of everything in there, and with every picture, he thought they couldn’t get better, but they did.

  Awe filled him when he was finished, and he closed the book, putting back on the table. Before turning off the light, he looked at her, drinking her in. After the room was doused in darkness, he made his way back around the bed, wondering if there was any way he could help her achieve the dream she truly wanted.

  If there was a way to find it, he would.

  The moment he settled back onto the bed, she rolled back into him, snuggling close. Heart nearly bursting with warmth and affection, he wrapped her in his arms, contentment and happiness filling his soul.

  This amazing woman was his, and he wouldn’t let a moment go by when he didn’t show or tell her just what she meant to him.

  Chapter Eight

  “Did you always want to work on the ranch?”

  Katia asked the question, her eyes roving around the lobby of the hotel. No one else was in there except herself, Colton, and Sergei, who was sitting across the lobby, pretending to read a newspaper. She’d thought Colton would do something similar, but he refused to be far from her, and he was sitting on the floor behind the desk, out of immediate eyesight.

  She’d been equal parts exasperated and mushy when he refused to leave her side, but she was glad he had. She enjoyed talking to him and learning more about him. After the night before, she felt incredibly close to him, and every little tidbit she learned just made her feel more so.

  “Sort of.”

  Arching an eyebrow, she slanted a look down at him before returning to watch the lobby. No one had come in for at least forty-five minutes, but she couldn’t stop watching. But it wasn’t like being hyper vigilant would hurt. It was probably the smart thing to do.

  “What does sort of mean?”

  “Well, I always grew up expecting to be a rancher. But Justin… he wanted to be an Enforcer. It was all he ever talked about, and over time, it became my dream, as well. We tried out and I was accepted but he wasn’t—and it crushed him. He talked me into going to training without him, but it didn’t feel right without him. And I found it hard to trust people who would turn him down. So, I dropped out and went back to Montana, and did what I originally thought I’d do with my life. Ranching.”

  She shook her head, her eyebrows raising as she looked at him again. “You gave up your dream for your cousin?”

  “It was always his dream, and he wanted it more than I ever did. It eventually became m
y dream as well, but it was his first. Finishing training and officially becoming an Enforcer just felt all wrong to me, since he wasn’t there. And Justin is the best. For them to turn him down because his gift isn’t up to their standards… I just couldn’t trust them after that. It was a serious lapse in judgment.”

  Somehow, she thought he had wanted it just as much as his cousin. She didn’t think he was lying to her about that, but rather lying to himself. He might not have been able to go through with it because Justin wasn’t able to, but not doing it hurt him. She could see it lurking in his hazel eyes.

  “What exactly is an Enforcer?”

  “They’re shifter law, basically. They hunt down the evil ones of our kind, the ones who are hurting others, terrorizing humans, or even sometimes the ones who are being too free with the secret. Depending on what the rule breakers have done, they’re either sent to shifter prison or put down. The last sounds harsh, but sometimes it’s necessary.

  “Because of who they hunt, the Enforcers only take the best of the best. You have to be damned near perfect—in top form mentally and physically, able to fight in animal and human form, and you have to have an exceptional gift. Something that can aid in hunting and capturing the bad guys. Justin had it all but the gift. They didn’t think his was useful, so they didn’t accept him.”

  She nodded slowly, thinking over what he said. Yeah, putting someone down sounded harsh, especially from a human’s perspective, but she could understand it. If there was, say, a dragon who was completely evil, she could understand killing him rather than letting him burn the world down.

  She could even understand why they’d want shifters with amazing gifts. They couldn’t expect a shifter whose gift was something like speed reading to take on one whose gift was like Colton’s. There was no way that could work. But she also thought other qualities could compensate for that. Or putting together a team of Enforcers whose weaknesses were covered by another’s strengths.

  “So why not do it anyway?” she asked, glancing down.

  He looked up at her with an eyebrow cocked. “What, be an Enforcer?”

  “Yeah. You and Justin. Go after the bad guys and take them down. Give Justin the training you received before you dropped out, and just do it.”

  His smile turned rueful. “That would actually be going against shifter laws. If random shifters started trying to do Enforcer missions, it could go south quickly. And then we could end up being the ones hunted by them. We’d be the rogues.”

  She considered that for a moment and then shrugged. “You’d train Justin, though. And you already said he had it all except the gift. I think yours is good enough to compensate for his. And I really can’t see you standing by if someone’s in trouble or being hunted by an evil shifter and doing nothing while something bad happened. You’d rush to save them, whether it was against the laws or not. You’d be great at it, and I don’t know Justin, but from what you said, he would be too. You could be Rogue Enforcers.”

  He smiled and she could tell he was trying to pretend that it wasn’t a good idea, but she could also see that he was thinking about what she said. She hoped he did, because she thought it was a good idea. Colton was built for a job like that. He had strong protective instincts and his sense of honor was strong, as well. And he already said he was accepted into training and completed most of it, which meant that he had everything else going for him, too.

  “Rogue Enforcers. That’s a nice play on words there. I’d be a rogue hunting other rogues.”

  Smiling, she shrugged, scanning the lobby before looking back at him. “But you’d still be the good guy. Promise you’ll at least consider it. You’d be amazing at it.”

  “It wouldn’t bother you, being with a law breaker?”

  Warmth washed over her. She hadn’t thought the night before had been a one-night stand, but his words confirmed that it wasn’t. He was talking like they had an indefinite future, and that meant more to her than she could ever express.

  “Nope, not at all. You have my complete support if you ever want to do something like that. There are probably a lot of shifters who mostly qualified but were rejected, for whatever reason. It could be bigger than just you and Justin.”

  He nodded slowly. “I’ll think about it.”

  “You should. Then you could both still have your dream. It might be different than you imagined it to be, but it would be close enough, wouldn’t it?”

  “It would, especially for Justin. He hasn’t been the same since he was rejected. He pretended at first, but it became more and more obvious that he was spiraling.” Pausing, his brow furrowed, the look in his eyes saying he was far away in that moment. “At least until a few months ago. He became excited again, with a renewed interest in life. I was happy for him, but he wouldn’t tell me what was going on, and then he disappeared.”

  “Maybe he was doing a little enforcing of his own.”

  Frown deepening, he looked up at her. “I never considered that, but it makes sense. Why wouldn’t he tell me, though?”

  She shrugged, watching as someone walked past the front door, relaxing when she realized it wasn’t one of the Bad Guys. “Maybe he didn’t think you’d approve, or that you’d try to stop him.”

  He went quiet, his eyes distant as he reached out, putting his big hand on her calf and absentmindedly rubbing his thumb against her bare skin. Breath catching, she squirmed as heat spread over her body.

  He wasn’t even trying to turn her on, but he was anyway, and it was a little mind blowing that he could do it so easily.

  They stayed silent for a while after that, Colton probably thinking about what she said, and Katia still searching for any hint of the creeps. It was him shifting his weight a few times that finally caught her attention, and she glanced down, watching as he did it again.

  “Are you okay? You can get up and walk around if you need to.”

  He huffed a laugh. “I actually need to go to the bathroom, but I don’t want to leave you by yourself. I don’t suppose you’d consider going with me?”

  Shaking her head, she rolled her eyes with a laugh. “Um, no. Just go, Colt. Sergei’s still in here, and some of the guys are out front, so I’m not alone. And there’s been no sign of them since we got here.”

  He gazed at her with his eyes narrowed and then finally gave a reluctant nod. “Okay, but don’t leave your uncle’s sight. I’ll be right back.”

  Her lips curled with amusement as she watched him stand up and walk toward the bathrooms. His protective instincts could be a little overwhelming sometimes, but she couldn’t deny that she loved every second of it.

  Almost as much as she loved him.

  Colton quickly washed his hands, anxious to get his eyes on Katia again. He hated that he’d had to leave at all, but his bladder had been at the limit, and he had no choice.

  He couldn’t stop thinking about what she said, though. About starting a group of Rogue Enforcers. It was probably a bad idea, but damn he wanted to, so badly.

  Mostly for Justin, but he had to admit it was for himself, too. Not finishing training and becoming a true Enforcer had weighed heavily on him, and even though he’d done his best to put it out of his mind, he just hadn’t been able to.

  It could be the perfect solution for him, his cousin, and any other shifter who had the skills, but wasn’t accepted, for whatever reason.

  And the more he thought about it, the more likely it was that Justin had already been doing some rogue work on his own. It made perfect sense, and he couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of it himself.

  But he was going to kick his ass for not telling him and putting him through this.

  If he hadn’t, you might not have met Katia, his dragon pointed out.

  That only makes it sort of okay if he’s okay, he replied as he walked out of the bathroom.

  The first thing he saw when he walked in the lobby was Sergei lying still on the floor. David, his friend, was kneeling beside him as he checked his pulse, and Colton
put on a burst of speed as his blood ran cold.

  Katia wasn’t behind the counter. She was gone, and the phone and some other things that had been on the desk were knocked onto the floor, pointing to a struggle. Fear and fury welled up inside him as he sprinted over to where Sergei was lying on the floor.

  “What happened? Is he alive?” he barked as he skidded to a stop beside them.

  “He has a pulse. I think he’ll be all right. Anton and I were in the parking lot when two men came out with Katia. I rushed in here and he followed them. Here, take my cell. Call him. He’s following behind them right now. Go get our girl back, and kill the fuckers who did this. Cut off their balls first, though. Make the bastards suffer.”

  “Damned right, I will.”

  Taking the cell phone, he rushed to the door, pulling out the keys to his truck as he went. He debated for a moment, and then as soon as he was in his truck, he concentrated for a moment, grim satisfaction filling him as rain poured from the sky, so heavy that it obscured vision.

  It was risky. The rain wouldn’t fall around his truck, so others could see that it was avoiding him. But it would also slow them down while he could follow faster.

  It was a risk he had to take.

  Rage and worry filled him in equal measure, and he forced himself to blank his thoughts so they didn’t overwhelm him. But urgency still rode him hard as he quickly pulled up Anton’s number and dialed, putting it on speaker phone before throwing the truck into gear and backing out.

  “David?”

  “No, this is Colton. He gave me his phone so I could follow you. Where are you?”

  “We’re about ten miles away, heading out into an area I know well. It’s deserted, with no houses or businesses for miles. They were moving fast but this sudden downpour slowed them down.”