“Get off me Bennett,” she said between clenched teeth.
Oh, but he could smell her desire, see the pinkened cheeks, feel her quickened breaths, all for the naked male on top of her.
“Sure thing, sweetheart.”
Yanking her wrists, he pulled her up with him, and slung her over his shoulder, her fine ass right next to his face.
“Wha—Put me down! Bennett!” She struggled, beating at his back, kicking out her legs. “I can walk just fine.”
Instinct spurred him to nip her butt, earning him a shriek of disbelief and outrage, and that, along with another spike in her desire made him grin.
“Yeah, and you can run, too. But we need to talk.” Stomping through the woods, he carried his furious cargo while Apollo trailed behind.
“Where are we going?” She was compliant now, twisting only to try and look around.
“The commander said to bring you in.” Her scent was driving him crazy. His engorged shaft was making walking painful, but at least it diverted blood away from his knife wound so only one part of his body throbbed.
He was covered in blood, so maybe he’d shower before their talk. He planned to talk long and hard with this female.
“I’m not your prisoner!”
“Nope. You’re under our protection.”
“I don’t want it.” If he thought she was furious before… “I’ve done just fine without the Guardians.”
“Exactly. Why wouldn’t you want the Guardians’ help?” It was their duty to protect shifters.
She remained silent and another thought occurred to him.
“Tell me, little shifter. Do you sense I’m your mate?”
She tensed and he had his answer, his anger rose to match her fear.
“And you didn’t think you could trust me?” She’d known all this time. It was real, he had another destined mate and she wasn’t human. He could be saved.
“I trust no one but my family.”
He tromped through the trees, desire burning through him, his destination near. Her family? Other than her crazy brother in the padded room?
His cabin came into view, and he walked straight inside and kicked the door shut behind him.
Her sharp inhale indicated she knew this was his home. “That’s right, darlin’,” his drawl bled through the words, “you’re mine.”
Oh, no. No, no, no, no. This was some real bull-pucky she was in. Hanging upside down, seeing nothing but Bennett’s toned, taught butt and strong muscular legs, while smelling his blood when she’d been so close to dealing with her weakness…it was overwhelming. The Agents showed up before her task with her cows was completed, and now she was even more deficient than before.
He slid her down his body, slowly, savoring every bare inch of her. Aw, heck, she was in trouble. Setting her on her feet facing him, she swayed slightly. Mistaking her unsteadiness for the revulsion at his bloodied state, he tipped his head down, closer to hers.
“I can shower first,” he spoke quietly, his voice dropping a few husky octaves. “But you’d have to join me.”
The blood had a sour taint to it but she didn’t care. The hard, naked male before her had saved her more than once, she was tired, had been ridden by want for this shifter for days, and now he knew part of her secret. Thankfully, not the most critical part.
Reaching up to grab his head and pull him down to her, he matched her eagerness, lifting her up to him. Their lips smashed together; her tongue seeking to taste, his to dominate.
She wrapped her legs around his waist as they were still standing in his entryway. Grabbing her butt, having smelled her need, and knowing how ready she was, he lifted her and placed her hot, wet entrance at the tip of his shaft. Where he might have hesitated, not wanting to hurt her with his large size, she tightened her legs to draw herself down along his length more quickly.
Growling rattled his chest, he acquiesced and slammed up into her. They both broke their kiss and cried out. Finally, she felt full and it felt right.
Catching deep blue eyes that burned with fiery passion, she rocked her hips while he gripped her butt, setting the pace. His eyes burned into hers as he drove them both quickly to an explosive end.
Her walls quaked around him, and she threw her head back to cry out his name when he dropped his head to where her neck met her shoulder, and his searing tongue licked her.
She feared he intended to mark her. The thought alone was almost too much. Her cry turned into a wail as the intensity of the pleasure ripped through her and he followed, pumping his release within her.
Chest heaving, still tightly wrapped around Bennett in all ways, one thought burned through her haze. How dare he!
“You almost claimed me!” She was outraged. She worked so hard to remain hidden and blend into the human world, and this male nearly shattered it all with a little love nip. No matter that it was an amazing thought that sent lightning bolts of ecstasy through her live-wire body.
“Course I did. You’re mine.” That slight southern drawl of his, the one he hid most of the time, went right through to her core, sending more moisture in preparation of another bout with her mate. “Tell, you what,” he drawled through half-lidded eyes, “you can mark me first.”
She was about to open her mouth to argue when he thrust inside of her. It. Felt. So. Good. Soon enough, her mouth was busy again with his as he moved them into another room and sat on a bed, his bed. She assumed he’d lay her down and was ashamed at her anticipation of feeling his weight cover her. Instead, he remained sitting on the edge of his bed, lifting her up and down along his shaft until she took over, riding him smoothly, enjoying each stroke and the miniscule control it gave her over the commanding male.
Since he didn’t need his hands to set the pace anymore, Bennett put them to good use massaging her breasts with one while finding her center with the other, making her gasp. Holding onto his shoulders, she quickened her pace, the quick circles of his fingers igniting an impending explosion. Her face dropped down into the crook of his neck as she worked his length, the pleasure short-circuiting her good sense, allowing her sense of survival to take over and grab what her body so very much needed.
He presumed she was going to mark him, but she needed so much more. A dark recess in her brain screamed at her to stop, but Bennett changed his rhythm, pushing her over the edge. As she came around him, and he climaxed within her, she opened her mouth wide, allowing her fangs to drop with exhilaration and strike his vein.
Strength surged within her as his blood pumped into her mouth. Swallowing greedy mouthfuls, she was unprepared for the power contained in a shifter’s blood, much less a shifter as virile as a Guardian.
Healing whipped through her blood after being deprived for so many days of sunny manual labor. Combined with the electric surge of Bennett’s power, Spencer couldn’t help but let the blackness claim her.
Chapter 8
Frozen underneath the gorgeous, supple, apparently unconscious body of his mate, Bennett’s mind started functioning again. Then almost quit, refusing to acknowledge his mate’s secret. Couldn’t be.
No fucking way.
It was the ultimate paranormal urban legend.
Yeah, just like finding two mates in one lifetime was shifter myth.
Fuck me.
Bennett carefully lifted his little shifter—scratch that—hybrid off his lap. He tried not to groan and become hard again when he slid out of her, at the same time her fangs disengaged from his neck, sending a jolt of awareness that those little fangs were lethal in bed. And shifters thought the mating bite enhanced pleasure. It had nothing on the vampire’s bite. When her bite sunk through his skin, he’d been blinded by the explosion of pure ecstasy.
No wonder they could seduce their food supply so easily.
Bennett’s eyes narrowed as he covered Spencer’s still form with a blanket. How did she feed?
He took his time searching her face, admiring the dark blonde eyelashes that were swept down onto her chee
ks, a sign she was resting peacefully, even snoring gently. Hell, that was cute. He was in so much trouble.
Going to the front door and opening it, he eyeballed the dark, furry shape sitting on his porch.
How does she feed?
Images of grilling and prepping vegetables for dinner filled Bennett’s head.
Blood, Apollo.
Apollo whined and craned his neck to peek into the cabin, checking on his companion. Catching the scent of intimacy, Apollo finally caved, and Bennett clearly saw Bessie and Tulip in his mind. Relief swamped him and what a hypocrite. He was what Dani had called Mercury when she first met him, a manwhore. Yet, he was worried that Spencer was out trolling for guys to bite during sex to supply blood.
Cows? What a clever little hybrid. “I saved them as calves. They’re like family,” my ass. Bennett snorted remembering when he asked why she would have two cows that weren’t even good for milking.
Bennett wandered back inside and meandered all over his bedroom, dragging his hands through his hair several times, trying to figure out how to proceed. Finally, he cast out a message to the commander and Mercury. They should be done with dead Agent burning detail by now.
Throwing on a pair of shorts and grabbing a handled woven basket Kaitlyn had bought him because it was, “sixty-percent off, and it was, like, two bucks!” he then headed out to wait on the porch. Setting the basket down, he gave Apollo some instructions. The dog grabbed the basket and loped off.
So he was worried about the kittens. He wasn’t a complete bastard.
“No way.” Mercury, in complete disbelief, approached the steps.
Bennett clenched his jaw, seriously dreading this conversation.
Commander Fitzsimmons propped a boot up on the first step. “So you weren’t cursed with another human mate?”
“Definitely not human,” Bennett said grimly.
Mercury trotted up the steps. “Kaitlyn smelled human because she hadn’t shifted, probably since puberty, and we thought her parentage involved an ancient.”
Bennett nodded thoughtfully. When they found out Kaitlyn was shifter living a completely human life, he thought she reminded him of an ancient he had encountered decades ago. Now they were wondering if it wasn’t from lack of shifting. Or both.
The commander’s brow furrowed. “Has Spencer not shifted for years?”
Bennett shrugged, the movement catching Mercury’s attention. The massive male next to him went still.
“Duuuuude, are those fangs marks?” Mercury leaned even closer, making Bennett want to hide them and forget about telling those closest to him his mate’s deepest secret. The commander stood straighter, his face deadly serious.
Biting the bullet, he went for it. “She’s a hybrid.”
Mercury stated the obvious. “Shiiiit.”
Why wasn’t she waking up?
It was morning and Bennett dozed on and off in the uncomfortable chair in his bedroom, unwilling to crawl into bed with another mate, unwilling to go there emotionally. Kinda like why he never planned on having sex in the missionary position again.
The commander decided to table further speculation on the hybrid until Spencer actually provided answers, and they could determine if she was lying or not. In the meantime, they’d warn the others living in and around the lodge to be on heightened alert.
Finally, Bennett’s attention was brought to the rustling of covers and Spencer stretching her arms above her head. The image of breasts almost popping out the top of the blanket and her noises of contentment immediately sent heat to his groin. Bad time, buddy.
Spencer sat up, holding the blanket to her chest, and glanced around like she’d never seen the place. Well, guess she didn’t get the full tour last night. When she looked questioningly at Bennett, color slowly leeched from her face as she read his solemn expression.
“I have some clothes you can put on before we go talk to my team.” A tick worked in his jaw when fear claimed her features. “We can help you.”
“It’s not just me I’m trying to protect,” she whispered, tears springing up in her eyes.
Aw, hell. He hated tears in a woman. They made him feel like a monster.
“Get dressed,” he said abruptly.
Tears ran down her face and her hands shook as she grabbed the shirt and shorts he laid on the end table for her. “Uh, the bathroom?”
“You can get dressed out here. I don’t want to chase you again.” Liar. He’d love to chase her. Her wolf was beautiful, and those little fangs…
Spencer sighed and maneuvered her legs into the shorts and covered herself with the shirt without baring another inch of skin, much to his disappointment.
His clothes were extremely large on her, and he couldn’t do anything about her bare feet, so he stormed out of his cabin heading toward the lodge, expecting her to follow.
When they passed Apollo, with the kittens nestled into the dog’s warm fur, Bennett ordered him to remain by the cabin. Spencer followed quietly, wiping her tears, attempting to regain her composure. He waited for her to use her tears to change his mind about forcing her to talk to his team, but she didn’t. He should be surprised, but his mate had never acted like he expected. And he always expected the worst from a female.
Bennett strode into the lodge, making his way toward the interrogation room.
A shadow moved out of the hallway. The white-haired, baby blue-eyed Parrish peered beyond Bennett to Spencer. Bennett drew to a halt, waiting to see what the youth intended. Parrish rarely ventured out of the basement away from his gaming systems, and all the Guardians were worried about how he would do with Master Bellamy’s impending intervention.
Spencer hovered behind Bennett, unsure of the peculiar, young male shifter.
Parrish’s hands moved in a flurry, Bennett tried to keep up.
“What do you mean she’s not the one they’re looking for?” Bennett spoke, forgetting to simultaneously sign back, not that the kid needed it since his hearing was just fine. Spencer tensed behind him, and he feared she really would try to run.
Parrish waved his hand back and forth, indicating Bennett had it wrong. Pausing for a second, he signed more slowly, considering his words more carefully and making sure Bennett fully understood.
“She’s the one they are looking for, but the wrong one. They are after the wrong one.” Bennett let that sink in, Spencer held her breath behind him. Her confusion rolled off her in waves. He knew the feeling.
“Sigma’s after a hybrid and they think it’s her, but it’s not?”
Parrish nodded emphatically.
“Then who?” Bennett couldn’t believe it. More hybrid women?
Purity, was all Parrish signed before literally running off. That boy needed a good interrogation himself. He needed to start spilling what he knew and how, and quit being treated like a fragile head case.
“What was that last part he signed?” Spencer asked.
Falling back on being an asshole, Bennett said, “He said you weren’t pure.”
Anger permeated the air. “Well, not after last night.” Her prim declaration carried a hint of derision, managing to completely insult him.
An involuntary chuckle escaped him. “Come on, they’re waiting.”
An interrogation room? Oh no he didn’t.
“What is this, Bennett?” She stopped with her hands on her hips, not entering the room. Two large men waited in the room, and she scented two more individuals, a human female and another shifter, close by.
“This is Commander Fitzsimmons.” He gestured to the tall, ruddy-haired male already sitting at the table, and then to the hulk leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, examining her speculatively, “This is my partner, Mercury. We need to talk with you.”
“Then why does the room say ‘interrogation’ next to it if we’re just going to talk? And who’s in the next room?” She was demanding some of her own answers if these Guardians expected her to roll over on her whole family.
Sadly, s
he might need to do just that. Sigma would keep amping up their attacks. She was good, but there was little chance she could have escaped four Agents, and not without serious injury and probably getting Apollo killed.
“It’s the best place to conduct an interview, private and secure. Our security expert is in the next room to record and gather data.”
Panic welled up. A recording had too much potential to fall into the wrong hands, no matter how many security measures were taken. “Oh, no. No recording, or I’m not talking.”
“Spencer, we’re only here to help you.” The gentle, placating tone in his voice irritated her.
“Don’t you dare think you can sweet talk me with your massive charm, Mr. Young. I’ve been running almost half my life, and I’m not still alive because I’m gullible or stupid. Give me your word I will not be recorded or I’m not talking.” Hands still on her hips, she even started tapping her foot, refusing to quit glaring into Bennett’s navy blues even after she heard the one called Mercury snort and try to cover it up with a cough.
The commander narrowed his eyes on her and mulled over her words. “It’s all right Bennett.”
“Fine, Spencer. You have my word, now go on and have a seat.”
“Age before beauty,” she said sweetly, gesturing for him to move out of her way.
“Holy shit, Benji,” Mercury exclaimed. “She’s nothing like Abigail.”
Benji? Now, that wasn’t a name she thought fit him, but it worked with the rugged Bennett with the facial scruff and worn work clothes.
“Abigail?” Spencer cocked her eyebrow at the glowering male, giving Mercury a WTF look.
Ripping his eyes away from his partner, Bennett pinned her with a challenging look. “My wife.”
“Ah.” So that was her name. “Where you mated or just married?”
The commander cleared his throat. “Bennett can fill you in on his personal history after you tell us about yourself.”
Gosh, that male was dour. He was ruggedly handsome with his short reddish-blond hair and serious hazel eyes, but one could tell immediately he wasn’t a jovial being, full of mirth. It was like the weight of the world rested on his broad shoulders, and he was ready to kick butt and take names.
The Sigma Menace Collection Page 41
