A to Zane (11 page)

She knew she couldn’t hurt him. The last time they’d been together like this, he’d taught her exactly how much he could take and how much he loved her treating him rough.

Abby pulled back keeping just the tip in her mouth. With a glint in her eye, she slowly shook her head, making sure not to lose her prize.

Zane gave a growl, leaned over, and flipped her skirt up, baring her ass. A smack landed against her butt, the sharp pain causing the dampness between her legs to increase.

“You know what I like, and I know what you like, dirty girl. Now suck my dick hard, or you won’t get the spanking you clearly need.” He punctuated his words with a series of quick taps, none as hard as she wanted.

She went to work, sucking him hard. The more pressure she used, the more he spanked. Never once in the same place. It didn’t take long before Zane was trying to pull her off.

“Baby, I’m going to come.” Abby knocked his hand away and took him deep. The first spurt of his cum hit the back of her throat, and she swallowed.

“Fuck, baby. Yeah…oh…yeah…that’s right, swallow me. Don’t you miss a drop.” He reached under her waist and found her clit.

A sharp tap against the distended bud had her own orgasm hitting hard. She screamed around his length.

“That’s it, baby, that’s it. Scream for me.”

By the time her body quieted, he’d moved her back into her seat and had secured his clothes back into place.

“You didn’t need to do that,” he told her, starting the car.

“No, but I wanted to.” Abby lay back in the seat and closed her eyes, resting for the rest of the car ride home. If nothing else, she just made sure he remembered her when he left. Because she was never forgetting him.

When they got back to her parents’ house, they’d checked in with her folks and headed up to their room. Abby shook her head.
Not our room, my room.
She had to keep reminding herself Zane wasn’t for keeps.

Now they sat on her bed, Abby in her comfy old PJs, and him looking ten levels of sexy in his sweatpants and not much else.

“So security then?” she asked as they munched on a cheesecake her mother had given them.

“Yep, my dad’s a sheriff. It was kind of a natural progression after I left the service.”

“You keep saying the ‘service’, but you don’t ever say what branch. Army, air force, navy?” Abby asked, taking a bite of the dessert.

Zane laughed and drank a glass of milk. They’d spent the evening dining on fine food, and the image of Zane simply drinking milk turned her into a giant pool of want.

“A little of everything,” he finally said, placing the glass on the side table.

“Which means what?”

“I worked as part of a team that went into different countries and helped out where we could. I was trained by all five divisions of our armed forces. So I can’t really call myself one above the others.” Zane gave her a shrug.

“That’s all a bit cloak and dagger. But I won’t push. I’m guessing it’s above my pay grade.” She smiled and took another bite of her cheesecake.

“If I told you I’d have to kill you.”

“Which I’m sure would be really scary if you didn’t have a milk mustache,” Abby said, dropping her plate onto the side table next to the bed. When she turned back, Zane had wiped his face clean and was sticking his tongue out at her. “Well that’s mature.”

“I’m a cat. I like milk, so there.”

“You are such a goof.” She laughed. From giant, scary tiger military man to joking tender, warm-hearted teddy bear. All in all, Zane was going to make some lady very lucky one day. The thought cast a shadow over the evening.

“You know what else I like?” He gave her a look, his gaze tracking down her body, making her old tatty PJs feel like the sexiest silk nightgown.

“What’s that?”

“You. I like you a lot.” Zane moved forward, forcing her to lie back on the bed.

“Need I remind you again? You said I wasn’t well enough.”

“You’re not, but I just want a kiss.” Zane planted his hands next to her shoulders and straddled her legs with his own. Abby waited for the weight of his body to come down on her. Not that she’d complain; she liked the feel of his heat. But it didn’t happen. He kept his body off her, and instead, lowered his head.

The kiss was tender, a quiet exploration of her mouth. Abby raised her hands to run her fingers through his hair. A vibration shuddered through his body and she pulled away.

“What was that?” she asked as he bent and nuzzled her neck.

“That was a purr, baby.”

Abby’s laugh turned into a moan as Zane ran a fang gently over the column of her neck.

“Goddamn, baby. When you’re better, I’m so going to fuck you hard.” He moved to the side and pulled her close into his body. “Now sleep, before I forget I’m one of the good guys.”

Abby smiled as the protective arm held her tight. She hadn’t ever felt as safe in her life. She had to argue with herself, to remind her stupid heart this was temporary. No matter what, Zane would leave.

Abby needed to remember that because when she finally persuaded him to go, it was going to kill her.

I have a location. Be ready to move.

The text had been waiting for her when she’d gotten back from the restaurant. Karina found Eric, and they were going to find out exactly what the man wanted.

On the bedside table the clock glowed red—3:29 a.m. Karina would be coming soon. She said she had a plan to sneak Abby out of the house before her family and Zane found out. Abby knew the little fox was crafty, but with the large arm currently wrapped around her waist, Abby doubted even Karina’s skills.

At 3:32 a.m. exactly, Karina in fox form snuck through a slight opening left by the bedroom door. The animal carried a small black bag in its mouth. Abby didn’t move as she watched it move around to Zane’s side of the bed. In a blink of an eye, a naked human Karina stood there. In her hand she carried a needle.

“Rina!” Abby whispered.

“Shh, trust me.”

The syringe entered Zane’s neck, and Abby hoped to hell her friend knew what she was doing.

“Okay, he’ll be out for a little bit. You can move now.” Karina came around the bed and started throwing clothes at Abby. “I swear this is the only time I’m ever going to be glad you own so much black.”

Abby slipped out from under Zane’s arm. With every inch she expected him to wake or pull her back. She cleared the bed and looked down at him. His breathing was normal, and there was color in his cheeks, but he looked different. This wasn’t sleep. This was what unconsciousness looked like.

“He’ll be fine. I tripled the dose Clara and I gave Wall. So he should be out for a few hours. Now move.”

Wall had slept for a little over thirty minutes the time Karina had drugged him so she could run off with Clara to solve a problem, namely Alonso—a crazed wolf looking for revenge. Triple the dose would give them about an hour, if they were lucky. Zane’s tiger was several hundred pounds heavier than Wall’s wolf, and there was no telling what effect it would have.

Abby gave Zane one last look, grabbed her clothes, and headed to the bathroom.

Zane was a problem she could solve later. Right now Eric was top of her list.

Zane held his head in his hands and groaned. He felt as if someone was tapping out a Morse code message on his brain with a sledgehammer.

“Here, drink this.” Emily put a large glass of water in front of him. “The more you drink, the quicker whatever that rubbish is gets flushed out of your system. When I get my hands on that girl, both those girls, there will be hell to pay.”

Zane couldn’t agree more. The second he got his hands on Abby, that female was going to get a spanking she wouldn’t enjoy.

Heath walked through the door pulling on his T-shirt. “Karina’s good. We tracked them for a little while, and then they just vanished.”

“Damn fox,” Emily muttered.

“Everyone we would usually call works for Abby. They are either not picking up the phones because they’ve all been drugged, or they’re with her. At least we know they are not alone. We just don’t know where yet.” Heath dropped into the seat opposite Zane. “How’s the head?”

Zane looked at him from under lowered brows.

“If I asked you to remove my head, would you do it?”

Heath smiled. “I’ll take that as a ‘not feeling well’.”

That was an understatement. Drugged by a fox no less. He was definitely losing his edge.

“I can find her. Or at least I know people who can,” Zane said.

“If Abby doesn’t want to be found, it won’t be easy,” Heath warned.

“Trust me, I have my ways. Can I borrow your phone, Miss Emily? I left mine upstairs, and I can’t face moving right now.”

“Of course, darling boy.” Emily handed over the cordless house phone. Zane smiled his thanks and dialed.

On the third ring it was answered.

“Dad, it’s me.”

“Zane, the oldest product of my loins, what can I do for you?”

Heath had clearly heard Zeb’s usual greeting from the smirk on the wolf's face.

“I need some information, Dad.”

“What kind of information?”

“Information on a woman.”

“Now son, I’ve told you we don’t use the business for that sort of thing.”

Zane would have rolled his eyes if he didn’t think his brain would explode.

“Dad, it’s a friend of mine.”

“Oh yeah.”

“Papa…” Zane reverted to the endearment he used for his father when he’d been a small boy. “I need to find her.”

“And you can’t find her with all the contacts you have?”

“Not this time.”

Silence met his statement. Zane waited; he could picture his father right now. No doubt sitting at Zane’s mother’s kitchen table. He’d have run one hand through his hair, still thick like Zane’s own, but now the black was peppered with white.

“Okay, give me details.”

Zane filled Zeb in on what he knew, as little as that was. His dad needed everything he could give him.

“I see. I’m not finding this girl just so you can kill her, son.”

“I don’t want her dead, Dad. I want her safe, and then when I’ve made sure she’s okay then I’ll kill her.”

Zeb laughed. “Yeah, been there, son. I can send the twins to you. They ran out of here like their tails were on fire a couple weeks ago. I might as well put them to use. In the meantime, I’ll see what I can find. If she’s as good as you say, it might take a bit of work.”

“Do what you have to.”

“I always do, son. I always do.”

The call ended, Zane put the phone down on the table and wondered if the pain in his head was now caused by the drugs or the fact his little brother and sister would be on their way within the hour.

“You have twin siblings?” Heath asked.

“Yep.”

“Boys or girls?” Heath flicked a look at Emily. Zane’s brain might be trying to fight its way out of his head, but he got the silent message. If they were girls, would they be crazy like Elizabeth and Emily, or would they be only slightly saner like Wayne and John?

Zane snorted; if only Heath knew how easy he had it being the big brother to twin boys. “One of each,” Zane told him.

Heath flinched. Yeah, that was a whole new level of crazy.

“Drink more water, Zane.” Emily placed another pint glass in front of him and waited for him to finish his original glass and empty the new one. “There you go.”

She smiled as he handed back the glasses, a look so much like Abby, his tiger whined.

He’d love to say when he woke up this morning, Abby was lying in his arms, her body pressed tight against his. Instead he woke up to Heath shaking him.

The alpha heard from his little sister what Abby and Karina planned, but he’d been too late. Zane had been out cold, and the girls were in the wind.

Zane wasn’t a happy man. Once he got his hands on Abby, he was marking her as his, and she’d never get to run again.

Holy shit.

Marking her? That wasn’t going to happen. Tigers never mated. They liked the freedom to roam. No, clearly the drugs in his system were messing with his head more than he thought. What he needed was a shower, some clean clothes, and Abby lying over his lap, ass up ready to be spanked, and he’d be one happy little kitty.

“When you’re feeling better, come on over to the pack house. Wall has some people he can call. Maybe they’ll be able to help too.”

Zane nodded, instantly regretting the move.

“I’m sorry, Miss Emily, but I really need to shift.” His tiger was clawing to get out, and Zane didn’t have the strength or inclination to fight the animal.

“You go outside and do what you want, Zane. I hope you feel better.” Emily left the kitchen, rubbing the top of his head as she passed.

Heath opened the back door. “When you’re ready come over, and we’ll have clothes and some food waiting for you.”

“Thanks.” Zane shook off his clothes and headed out. His tiger paws hit the earth, and he took off. He needed to run, to clear the painful fog from his brain.

Zane traveled all over Hillside, through woods, past a large lake, and over the hills the town was named for.

When he finally made his way back to Heath’s pack house, his head was clear and his temper was high.

He shifted and pulled on board shorts he found on a chair. Zane didn’t knock as he walked in the house. There was a scent in the air as familiar as his own.

Zane tracked Ziggy to the living room. “Little brother.” As usual, the kid had managed to surround himself with females.

“Hey, Zane, so Dad called and said you’d lost your woman.”

Zane sighed. Ziggy same as always.

“Where’s the kid?”

“I’m here.” Ziva waved from the far side of the room.

“So you managed to get here in an hour. It’s not like you were heading here or anything.” Zane folded his arms over his chest and looked down his nose at them both.

“Hey, we were traveling and just happened to be in the area. Miss Emily told us you’d be here, so we jumped in the car and came right over. These wolves are real friendly,” Ziggy said with a wink as he dropped his arm around Clara. Wall appeared just then, lifting Ziggy’s arm off his mate and dropping it back into Ziggy’s lap.