McGyver

by Candace Blevins

  “She’s my daughter, and I organized the event. It isn’t seemly for you to buy her a ticket.”

  “And yet, I did.”

  And the old man had a sex slave in his castle turret. Consensual sex slave, but that didn’t change the facts. Not that it was anyone’s business, but McGyver would need to think through the possible consequences of knowing and not telling Iris.

  And the possible consequences of telling her.

  He needed more information before he made any decisions.

  Chapter 26

  Iris was more nervous walking into the downtown historic ballroom than she’d been since she was a young teen.

  There was no reason to be nervous, and yet there was every reason to be nervous. Had her father planned something designed to make Danny look like he didn’t fit in?

  Danny had surprised her with a fantastic suit, and he looked positively yummy, but would he know how to act? Everyone would be all fakey-fake and highbrow, and that was the opposite of her wild-and-woolly werewolf. However, he’d trimmed his scruff close, and done something with his hair so it wasn’t so wild, and he looked like he belonged here.

  He’d asked her if it was okay if he brought a check from the RTMC, or whether she’d prefer the check came from him, personally. Iris was never going to make Danny think she was ashamed of his family, so she’d told him either would be fine, and that she appreciated the gesture from his club.

  So, he’d picked up a certified check from a local bank earlier — ten grand, from the Chattanooga RTMC. This meant that, suit or not, he was there as a representative of the club, and despite the fact he’d registered and paid as Daniel Franklin, she resolved to try to remember to introduce him and refer to him as McGyver.

  She was in love with a biker, and while she’d intended to keep him out of the spotlight, the situation wasn’t working out so she could.

  Her nerves settled before they made it all the way into the room, because the mayor and his wife approached them, happy to see her Danny, who they knew as McGyver.

  A few minutes later, others had come to say hello — wealthy business owners who seemed both surprised and pleased he was with Iris. This grown-up version of Danny wasn’t a fish out of water. He knew people, and they easily welcomed him.

  Iris breathed even easier when she saw that her Danny knew how to work the room and navigate the bullshit, and he did it without being fake.

  She sidestepped questions about her abduction as much as possible, and she let Danny answer questions about their relationship. In most cases, he said something along the lines of, “I live in Chattanooga, and Iris is going to school up there, so we’ve had a chance to spend time together.” He seemed open and engaging when he told people they hadn’t seen each other since high school, and how happy he was to have reconnected with her.

  They were talking to a senator — a friend of a friend of Danny’s, apparently — when Iris’s father asked to steal her away for a dance.

  “Your Danny has some friends in high places.”

  Her father didn’t sound especially happy about that, and he actually turned away so he didn’t have to watch when the mayor’s wife asked Danny to dance.

  Or, maybe he wanted to be sure Iris saw? She wasn’t at all jealous. Danny was hers. No doubt about it.

  “Like he said, he isn’t the boy without resources anymore, Daddy. I keep hoping you’ll see him for the man he’s grown into.”

  “And I’m hoping you’ll eventually see the criminal he’s grown into.”

  “If you set him up and get him arrested, I’m going to have a hard time forgiving you for it. I can forgive you for tearing him away from me because, like he said, we’d have probably broke up once he went away to college. The way it’s worked out, we’ve come back together as the soul mates we are, and we have you to thank for it, but if you try to do it again.” She took a breath and met his gaze. “Daddy, if you hurt him again, you’re going to lose your daughter.”

  “What have I taught you about ultimatums, Princess?”

  “Be damned sure about them before you utter them, and try every other tactic before you resort to them. I know the lessons, Daddy, and I’ve heeded them, and I’m still giving you one.”

  “I’ll do what I feel is necessary, and you’ll decide how to react. I won’t change my tactics based on threats from an over-emotional child.”

  Iris had long ago learned that arguing you aren’t a child makes you look like one, so she merely said, “I can’t control you; I can only control the way I react to your actions. I love you. I love Danny. I hope you don’t make me choose.”

  “Mr. Franklin is attempting to appear as if he’s taking the high road by not making you choose. It’s a valid, laudable strategy. I hope you can see it for what it is.”

  Iris looked around the room and noted most of the women were watching Danny dance with the Senator’s daughter. When had he switched dance partners?

  She couldn’t blame them for staring, though. Even in his suit, he was all broad shoulders and obvious muscles and raw, earthy male. He exuded power, but many of the men in this room did — it seemed to be a basic trait of the rich and powerful.

  Iris had always thought Danny moved with the same kind of liquid fluidity you usually only see in dancers, and now she understood it was the wolf’s influence. You could practically see his animal nature in every movement, though one didn’t understand they were watching an apex predator in action, if they didn’t know.

  She thought the mayor’s wife might have the same wild, untamed grace. Was that how they knew each other? Was she a werewolf, too?

  Iris grew tired of people commenting on her wrists, and the endless questions about her kidnapping. She understood they wanted to hear it firsthand, but she wanted to put it behind her. Most questions were easiest answered by pointing out her ordeal paled in comparison to the people injured and killed in the explosion, and that her bruises would heal. However, in some cases she had to tell more of her story lest she appear rude, but she kept it as short as possible.

  She moved away from her father when the song ended, but wanted to let Danny to make his way back to her, so she worked the room alone for a while, which was fine. It also gave her the confidence to take to the stage by herself.

  Usually, her father thanked everyone for coming, but she felt as if she should speak on this night. He’d be upset she’d done it without checking in with him, but she wasn’t in the mood to placate him.

  “I’d like to thank you all for coming. While I was kidnapped, I didn’t know what had happened on campus. I knew there’d been a bang and a fire, but we were shepherded out of another exit in the opposite direction. I was terrified while I was held captive, but I was alive to be terrified. When I was rescued, and found out…” She stopped, took a breath, and started again. “I’d like to publicly thank my father for organizing this event and for offering to match donations. People keep telling me I didn’t kill anyone, and that the four people arrested killed them, but I’m having a hard time with everything, emotionally. As I should. I’m thankful for the medical staff in Chattanooga who’ve kept everyone else alive. The first couple of days, I awakened terrified the death toll had gone up while I slept. It hasn’t, and for that, I’m grateful.”

  He father stepped onto the stage, and she wasn’t sure how to read him. A little annoyed, but she thought she saw a little pride, too. Probably time to wrap things up. “I’m going to yield the microphone to my father now. I know he wants to personally thank those of you who’ve written the largest checks. Nothing can undo the damage that was done, but I’m glad we’re able to help the families in this small way, so they don’t have to worry about funeral expenses and medical bills, at least.”

  Iris walked off the stage and into Danny’s arms. He hugged her a brief second, and then settled her beside him, so they only held hands. He did seem to understand how things worked at these events. Still, his touch seemed to scream a blatant possession, even though they only held
hands. Instead of pulling away, she scooted a few inches closer.

  Her father said all the right things, and then was replaced by someone who auctioned off some items donated by local businesses. When that was over, the cover band took the stage again, and Iris walked Danny out to a courtyard. It was chilly and they wouldn’t stay outside long, but she needed to get away from the people long enough to breathe.

  “You’ve been to these things before?”

  “I’ve been places where it was important I be dressed well.” He shrugged. “Not a charity gala, no. It’s possible Brain and Harmony gave me some pointers so I didn’t fall on my face tonight, but it hasn’t been so bad.”

  “It’s like you know exactly how to handle small talk. You go slightly alpha male with some, but you’re laid back with others.”

  “Oh, that’s more my inner nature. He rises to the challenge when necessary, otherwise, I can be relaxed.”

  His inner nature would be his wolf. Okay, that made sense.

  He rubbed her arms. “You’re cold. We should go back inside.”

  “Just a few more minutes.”

  He took his jacket off, settled it on her shoulders, and pulled her into his delicious heat.

  “We can leave early. I know the gala is a little bit about you, but everyone knows you’ve been through an ordeal.”

  He was right, of course. Normally, it would be considered rude to leave early, but she only needed to say she was still recovering from her abduction, and it’d be fine.

  “Yeah. Okay. I’ll let Daddy know when we go back inside, and then I’ll need another ten or fifteen minutes to give some personal goodbyes.”

  “We followed your father’s car here. Will his security detail be happy with us taking off on our own, before he leaves?”

  Iris sighed. “I’ll check in with them.”

  McGyver pulled out of the parking lot onto the long, meandering road, and glanced at the onboard map to see how to get to the interstate. The security detail insisted on following them instead of leading, and Iris had her eyes closed already, so he didn’t want to depend on her to get them back to her house. Her scent told him she was exhausted. She hadn’t been ready to be in a room full of people yet.

  However, a block away, two cars pulled in front of them, a car squeezed behind him and in front of the security detail, and another swung in behind the black BMW.

  The car behind him slowed, and a mile later, two more cars pulled from a wide road to come between them and the security car.

  His phone rang and he figured it was her security people, but he didn’t have a free hand to deal with them. He’d rented a Cadillac Escalade, which wasn’t going to handle anywhere near what he’d need to deal defensively with assholes on the road.

  But it had plenty of power, and the road straightened out enough to give him passing room, so he barreled past the cars that’d pulled in front of him and then kept going at a high rate of speed. He hadn’t liked being sandwiched between them.

  Iris opened her eyes and sat up.

  “Sorry, Blue. We have company. Use my phone to call Brain on speakerphone, please.”

  When Brain came on, he said, “I need you to patch me through to the Birmingham control room.”

  Brain did so without arguing, and McGyver introduced himself and told them where they were. “We need refuge. We’re coming in hot. One car is friendly — a black BMW with Iris’s security detail. We’ll need to let them onto the lot long enough to let them see we can keep her safe, and then I’ll send them on their way.”

  “Copy that. We’re sending enough people to the entrance to make a showing.”

  He had Iris use her phone to call the security detail, explained what was happening and that they should not show any weapons under any circumstances, and then went back to talking to the control room, to make sure he was headed in the right direction. He’d been to the compound before, but not from this direction.

  Meanwhile, based on what the cars were doing now that they were on the interstate, he let the control room know he believed these were people trying to get pictures of them, and not an organized kidnapping attempt, which had been his initial assumption.

  Iris didn’t know what to expect when they reached the clubhouse, but thirty men holding automatic weapons and defending the entry into the compound hadn’t even been a consideration.

  Needless to say, none of the chase cars tried to force their way into the gates, which closed behind them once both their SUV and the BMW had cleared them.

  “C’mon. Let’s get out and talk to your security detail. You need to convince them to leave. I’ll send a brother to return this car to the rental car place tomorrow morning, and we’ll go to your house in another vehicle — one no one will expect you to be in.”

  It took ten minutes to convince her security detail they should leave, and that the RTMC would see the couple safely back to the mansion the following morning. Iris texted her father that they’d had to detour to the local RTMC’s compound, and that Danny felt it would be safer for them to come home the next morning. Meanwhile, her security detail went to a nearby big-box store to buy her some leggings, a long shirt, a hairbrush, and some ponytail holders. Danny assured her the club would have toothbrushes and toothpaste.

  Birmingham’s Sergeant-at-Arms was a big fugly guy named Sasquatch, but Iris didn’t show any surprise when she met him. If she hadn’t been so tired, it’s possible she’d have been afraid of him, but she just wanted to sit in a dark room, in Danny’s arms. She’d thought she was up to the gala because she could handle running, but standing and being sociable didn’t give off the good endorphins, and her body ached.

  “I talked to Bash in Chattanooga,” Sasquatch told McGyver. “He tells me your Iris is cool.” He looked at Iris. “Welcome to our clubhouse. Same rules apply here. Velvet is our Queen Bee, and she’ll show ya’ll downstairs to your room.”

  Velvet hugged Danny, but merely looked at Iris before leading them downstairs. Danny squeezed Iris’s hand, but didn’t say anything until they were out of the stairwell and walking down a hallway.

  “Please ask someone to let me know when her security gets back with clothes for her to change into. We won’t come up until she’s changed into something more comfortable.” Danny told Velvet. “You should call Harmony and check in with her.”

  “What’s she going to tell me?”

  “You won’t know until you call and ask, my dear.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Okay. Here’s the room. Sheets and bedding are in the closet.” She looked at Iris, her gaze a pointed challenge. “Do you know how to make a bed?”

  Iris was about to say she could call her personal maid to make it for her, but Danny squeezed her hand and said, “We’ll manage, Velvet. Thanks for showing us down.”

  Iris didn’t bother asking what she’d done. Some people hated her just for being born into money. When the door closed, she asked Danny, “Will she call Harmony?”

  “Yes. Whether it’ll make a difference, I don’t know.” He stroked from her chest down to her cleavage, as far as he could get without taking the dress off. “You want to bend over and pull the dress up, or just take it off?’

  Iris stared at him, unsure how to respond. He knew she was tired, didn’t he?

  The room moved around her, and the next thing she knew, he’d lifted her, turned her, and leaned her over the bed. He pulled her dress up and ran a hand over the outside of her panties as if he owned her, and heat flared to life inside her.

  Just like that, she desperately needed him. Her legs straightened of their own volition, pushing her butt into the air, wanting more.

  She’d been so tired, and then terror and adrenaline had made her forget her exhaustion while Danny expertly avoided several collisions with the chase cars and with other vehicles on the interstate and surface roads.

  And then there’d been the line of men with guns when they reached the compound, which had sent even more adrenaline and fear into her syste
m, but then she’d felt drained when she had to walk across the lot to get inside.

  But now it was like her previous terror had set her up to need Danny inside her.

  Her breath already jagged, she pushed up with the intention of sliding her panties down, but he growled and pressed her upper back to hold her down.

  “I was going to pull my panties down!”

  She heard his zipper, and then he yanked her underwear down and pressed into her.

  “Fuck, Danny. Need you.”

  “I know you do, Blueberry. Brace yourself.”

  The second she’d braced, he started moving. Hard. Fast. Ruthless. He was the wolf, a beast, fucking her as if their lives depended on it. Her pulse raced, her veins were on fire, her clit throbbed, and her hand gripped the mattress edge in a desperate attempt to steady herself.

  And yet still she begged, “Harder. Please.”

  Iris screamed, because he went fatter instead of harder, and she was spread too wide, and it hurt, but it was perfect. Now, she screamed Yes!, over and over. Nothing else would come out, because she needed him to know this was just right and he shouldn’t change anything.

  “Ahhh, fuck, your scent sets me off, Blueberry. Always has. You ready to come? Let me feel you come loose. Fuckin’ come for me.”

  His rough command was exactly what she’d needed to tip her over into a screaming, writhing orgasm, and she didn’t know if anyone here was a werewolf. If they were, they were probably all hearing her scream, but she didn’t care. Danny gave her the best orgasms.

  The ones she’d been chasing all those years.

  Danny came on her back, and took his time rubbing it in.

  Iris didn’t move. Wasn’t sure she could. “You don’t have to mark me. They’re all gonna know I’m yours.”