Aedan: Harrison Ambush – Erotic Tiger Shapeshifter Romance (11 page)

“I would though. It’s better financial sense to finance some things. A house is one of them. I’d buy low, sell high if that was in the plans. But right now, I love this house and where it is in proximity to my family.” He touched his hands to her arms and held her until she looked at him. “However, if you don’t care for this house, or think that it’s not anything you can grow old in with me, we can certainly find something else.”

“Why would you do that when you obviously love this house?” He told her because he loved her more. “No, that’s not possible. You just like the sex. I do as well, but there is no reason for you to say those sorts of things to me.”

“I’m not going to ever lie to you. Not that I could, but I’d not even if there wasn’t this sort of DNA thing that prevents it.” He watched her face as she digested that. “You’re not giving me a chance at all, are you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just thinking about what you said. You have to love me because you’ve been made that way. You think to impress me by telling me that we can sell this beautiful house if I don’t like it, and on top of that, you want me to be something and someone I’m not so you can run for office.” He felt his own temper rise up. He pushed her onto the bed and started to take off his shirt. “So now we’re going to have sex because you’re pissed off.”

“No, I’m going on a run. And while I’m out, trying my best to think of why you’re so angry, I’m going to have my brother find a realtor and put this house on the market. As for you changing for me? I never once asked you to do that, nor did I, if you recall, ever say to you that you had to.”

He let his cat take him when he was naked. But before he could go out the side door that had been opened when they came here tonight, she stepped in front of him and stopped him.

“I don’t know what I’m doing.” Aedan said nothing. “I mean, I have no idea what the fuck I’m supposed to do with a nice man who has money to burn and cares enough about me to sell his home to make me happy. No one has ever done that for me…or for anyone I know before. And instead of hitting me, like I think I thought you would so I’d have an excuse to be even more pissed at you, you walk away.”

Aedan sat down and waited for the rest of it. Because as surely as he was sitting there, he knew there was more. Instead of talking though, she moved out onto the deck that was his favorite part of this room. When he joined her as his cat, he leaned against her leg and was glad when she put her fingers in his fur.

“I’m a basket case of worry right now. I know that you and your family will do whatever it takes to keep my grandda and I safe, but who will take care of you?” She sat down so that they were eye level now. “I’m scared out of my mind. More so than when I was told to drop to my knees on that street, knowing that I was as good as dead.”

Aedan pulled his cat back and lifted her onto his lap. She didn’t struggle to get away, but leaned on his chest while he held her. He thought of all the things he could say to her, and decided that he’d just be honest with her.

“When I found out you were my mate, all I could think about was how this was going to take time from the plan that I had. I’ve always been someone who likes to plan. Business and my personal life. Going on a date was no different.” He laughed a little. “I’d pick the woman up, who would never be ready on time, take her to the restaurant where I had made reservations, and order for us both. The women I dated before you, they would expect that. For me to take control and to make sure that they were pampered and well cared for. Sex with them was no different. It was cold, I know that now. They enjoyed themselves, I made sure of that, but it wasn’t fulfilling to me. Because, as you might have guessed, I was planning the next move. Mostly to break it off before they got in the way.”

“And do you do that when you have sex with me?” He told her that he made love with her, and no, he didn’t. “Then what is it you think about? What you need from the grocery store? How to get me to stop telling you what to do?”

“No. I think of nothing but making you scream out your pleasure. The need to know how you taste on different parts of your body is first and forefront in my head.” He turned her on his lap and leaned back against the wall behind him as she straddled him. “I wonder how you’d feel about being tied to my bed while I took my time with you. What you would do if I asked you to run naked in the woods beyond here and let my cat eat you again.”

“I love the feel of his tongue in my pussy. You were right about that; he does have a very long tongue.” Aedan licked her throat and then pulled her blouse up and over her head. Taking her bra up over her breast, he suckled at it until she began to ride him in quick strokes. “I could come this way, with my clothing on and you only sucking at my breast.”

“I’d love to run you down as my cat. Take you against the closest tree while you scream out that you’re coming for me.” He grabbed her hips, and her pants came off in shreds. “Ride me, Nikki. Come on my cock so that I can taste you while you enjoy this.”

He helped her slide over him, and when she was seated, her pussy wrapped around him so tightly that it bordered on painful, he kissed her. Showed her with his mouth how much he truly did love her.

Her ride was erotic and slow. As much as he wanted to hurry her, feel her tighten around him more in pleasure, Aedan watched her face. She was beautiful when she was close, her face tight with need, her mouth open only a little so that she would pant for him. And her breasts pinked up. Her nipples that were a dusty rose would pucker as well, seemingly begging to be bitten. When he took one into his mouth and suckled on just the tip, Nikki held him to her, riding his cock faster.

Cupping her ass, he brought her to his body with each downward stroke. He knew that she was enjoying this, the hitch in her breath telling him that she was close to coming. And when he bit down on her nipple hard enough to draw blood, she threw back her head and screamed. Aedan watched her face as she came three more times.

“Come with me.” He wasn’t ready to end this and told her so. “Please, you’ll bring me again, harder when you come in me. It’s like your cum is a flame that fires off a rocket inside of me. Please, Aedan, set me off.”

He rolled her to the floor and her legs wrapped around him. Fucking her now, pounding her as hard as he could, he could feel her holding him within her, her hands dug deeply into his muscles. And when she tilted her head, offering up her throat to him, Aedan didn’t hesitate but leaned into her and snapped his powerful jaws into her skin, and he emptied himself into her. He tasted the difference immediately…this was a deep bite. Too deep.

He hurt her. When she screamed a second time, he lifted his head and blood sprayed him in the face. She was going to die if he didn’t do something, and he leaned to her wound and started to seal it when she told him to finish her. It took his addled mind a second to realize what she meant.

“Now, change me. I’m close.” He told her that he couldn’t do that. Not without her trust. “You bit me hard enough to kill me and I’m asking for more. I don’t think I could trust you any more than that.”

Aedan knew she was right and his cat took him. When he licked the wound at her throat closed, he could hear her slowing heartrate. Moving to her belly, he tore into the part of her just above her naval, and cringed when she cried out again. Tearing into her skin, biting through her bowel, Aedan prayed he didn’t kill her when he moved to her leg.

This time she made not a single sound when he bit her. She was unconscious by now, her body shutting down in an effort to try and save itself. When his cat was satisfied that he’d done what he could, Aedan took his body back and laid beside her while he waited for something, anything to tell him that he’d not just killed the only woman that he’d ever love.

“When this is done, we’re getting married. And you’re going to say yes. I can’t stand the fact that you’re not my wife and now you might be dying on me.” He kissed her gently on the mouth and licked the wound that she’d made there with her teeth. “You knew what you were doing, didn’t you? Did Storm put you up to this? If so, you can bet we’re going to have a little talk when you’re better. Please get better, Nikki. I need you.”

When she shivered a little, he got up and placed her on the bed and covered her so that she’d not catch a chill, then sat down to watch her. Aedan was ready to call his brother, Ennis, in when she opened her eyes and looked at him.

“I feel her.” That’s all she said to him before she closed her eyes and smiled. Aedan could hear it then. Her heartbeat was getting stronger and her skin was no longer that deathly pale color. Christ, he’d just turned his mate into a tiger without asking anyone if he should or not.

Chapter 9

Otis looked at the man in front of him. He’d been beaten to shit, and up until twenty minutes ago, he had still maintained that he’d had nothing to do with the wire on his chest when they’d sat down to dinner last evening. Joe stood behind Robert, nursing his knuckles for either the next round or to use the gun that was laying on the small table in front of him. Robert had been a hard nut to crack.

“So you’re no longer telling me that this wire just appeared taped to your chest, and that perhaps you might have gotten it from the shirt you had on? That instead, you got it to entrap me into telling you shit that you could use against me? Is that about right?” Robert’s head lolled to the side, but he nodded then shook his head when Otis asked him again. “You’re either pretty stupid or you think I am if you want me to believe that you thought of this on your own. You fucking moron, you were sent here by the Feds. What did they promise you? That your family home would be out from under the staggering debt that your daddy dearest put you in?”

“No Feds, I promise.” He was beginning to believe that too. But someone had wired him up. And for the sole purpose of getting shit on him. “Dad. He said that we’d use it to get out of the pre-nup. But I had my own plans. That paper you had me sign? It wasn’t going to mean shit to me when I was done.”

Now they were getting to the heart of things. With a short nod to Joe, he waited until he was gone to speak to Robert again. Joe would make sure that Robert senior would pay for this shit. He wondered if Robert had ever loved his daughter or if he had had these plans for her after they were wed all along. It mattered little now…Robert was as good as dead.

“My daughter. She have anything to do with this? Did she know what you were about?” He shook his head and said Sandy. “My wife, Savannah? You call her Sandy?”

“Fucking her.” Otis let that roll around in his head for a moment. His wife was fucking around on him? With his future son-in-law? For fuck sake, this was bad. “Didn’t like that she was held by the same paperwork. We became lovers before I met your daughter.”

“So the two of you figured you’d fuck me and my daughter and come out on the other side of the pre-nups by what, killing the two of us off? Is that right?” Robert said that was their plan, but not his dad’s. “He didn’t know about the other, that you were screwing my wife and had your own little way of dealing with me?”

“No. He figured with a little of the right information, he could go to the Feds, like you said, and get you out of my life and be paid a little extra while he was at it.” Robert laughed. “I’m guessing that even though I’m telling you the truth, you’re not going to just let me go, are you?”

“Hardly. Did my wife know about the wire? Or was that just you and good old Dad’s little plan?” He said she knew it all. It was the reason he’d been told to come here. “I see. And what did she plan to have happen to you when I found out? Because the two of you together, you don’t have enough brains to have pulled this shit off.”

“You think? Well, I did get you to spend all that money on a wedding that wasn’t going to last longer than it took for me to take her on our honeymoon. Tragic things happen when you’re in a different country. Didn’t you know that?” He was baiting him, Otis knew it. But he wasn’t finished with him just yet. “You might want to check on some of the vendors
Sandy
was using too. You might find that they’ve never heard of a wedding between the Trevinos and Adkinses. She is one smart cookie, your little wifey. We were going to be rich as fuck, living and laughing about how we’d taken down the great Otis Adkins.”

He’d been had. Not just a few times, but a great deal it appeared. Otis had a thought that perhaps that was where the information from his lost shipments had been going to, but didn’t ask. He wasn’t sure he could have taken much more right now. But he had to deal with this shit before anything else.

“You do know that you and my wife, you’re not going to ever be found, don’t you?” Robert only grinned. “And I would imagine that right about now, your entire family is sitting on their knees waiting for the bullet that will end their association with this world.” Robert looked at him, his face now full of fear. “What? You really didn’t think this was going to end with your father and you, did you? I’m a man that prides myself on not leaving witnesses. And as surely as you’re telling me this, you can bet your momma knew too. You should have just been happy to marry my daughter and reaped the benefits from that. Not think you could take a man like me.”

“My sister didn’t have anything to do with this. I’ll make you a deal, tell you where the money is. Just don’t kill her. She’s doesn’t know shit.” Otis smiled. “You can’t kill her, you fucking bastard, she’s just a kid. I’ve given you everything you need to take the rest of us down. Leave her alone.”

“She might have lived a little longer had she not been related to you.” Robert started screaming then, and his first attempt at begging came when bartering did him no good. Otis had to get out of here, had to think. Going to the table where the gun was laying, he picked it up and put it to the back of Robert’s head. “Tell your father I said to go fuck himself.”

Firing once was all it took to end the man’s life. But Otis shot him four more times just because he could. When Joe came back a few minutes later, saying that the rest was taken care of, Otis told him to call his wife here. There was going to be a reckoning today, and everyone was going to know that he was pissed off.

“Also, I’m tired of fucking around with Nikki. Get me someone here that will bring her to heel. I don’t care who it is or how badly you have to knock them around, so long as they’re alive when she gets here.”

Going back to his hotel, he made a list of all the places he could remember that Savannah had taken him to. Most of them had stupid names, easy to look up once he thought about what they’d be supplying to him and this wedding. By the time he’d arrived in his room, Otis had a pretty good start on the list. The first business he called was the fucking bakery that had screwed up the flowers.

“Trevino? No, I don’t think we’re doing that wedding. Let me check.” When he was put on hold, Otis looked at the list of other businesses. Yes, he was pretty sure that he had— “Here it is. Yes, we did have a seating for that name, but no one showed to do the taste testing. It is very important to our company to make sure that there are no surprises at the wedding, when it is too—”

Otis hung up. It was enough, he realized then, just to have been fucked over once. Joe would have her here within a few hours, and then he’d take care of her as well. This fucking shit was going to be the last time he ever had to deal with things other than business. He might even bring his daughter in. He was sure that once she found out about her mother and ex-fiancé’s betrayal, she’d be on board with about anything. Keeping it in the family.

When he heard from his wife, he told her that he really missed his girls. Then he made arrangements to have her go on a little spree just for her. By the time they had it all set up, Otis was exhausted. Savannah was on her way out, and she had a list of things that needed a deposit on them as well when she got here.

“This wedding is going to be epic, Otis. You wait and see. And our little girl is going to be happily married to a better man than we could have ever hoped for. I do hope that he is working out with you. You taking him on this trip, it might be the best thing for the two of you.” He told her that he’d spent the evening and well into the morning with him. “Well that’s perfect. Don’t you think? The boy just loves Dorothea, and I’m happy they’ll be married to spend the rest of their lives together.”

“You have no idea how much I’ve enjoyed having him here either. We’ve done so much together.” She gushed about how happy she was, and finally he had to get off the phone with her or scream at her that he’d enjoyed killing her lover. “I have to go, love. Joe is here and he has some updates on things for me.”

“You go. But remember, I’m going to need you to give me some cash when I leave. These vendors nowadays, always wanting cash. Do you suppose they don’t report all their earnings to the IRS and pocket this?” He told her someone was certainly pocketing it. “What?”

“Never mind. I’m just exhausted. Once you get here, I’ll be able to relax again. We’ll have an evening of it, you and I.” She told him she’d need a new dress for that. “You go right ahead and buy whatever you need. Just come here so we can celebrate.”

He looked at Joe, who had been seated at the table with him, when he got off the phone. Joe said nothing, didn’t need to. When Otis got up and poured them both a drink, he asked him about the Trevinos.

“They’ll be found in the morning, I would guess. It looked like they were headed out of town. Don’t know if there was some kind of code from Robert on when they should leave, but I think something triggered it.” Otis said it was more than likely the wire going down. “Could be. What do you want to do about Savannah? I’m assuming that you want her to run into some trouble on the way here, and that’s why you sent her on this shopping spree alone. It’s no problem for me either way. I’m going to enjoy this regardless.”

“While she’s out and about. I thought I wanted to talk to her, see her face when I told her that her lover was gone, but I need to complete this shit with Nikki. It’s costing me.” Joe said he’d take care of it. “Just make sure that she knows what we know, all right? I don’t want her thinking, even in the afterlife, that she might have pulled the wool over my eyes.”

“I’ll take care of it. Also, I’m going to pick someone up for you tonight. I have an eye on just the right person.” He nodded. “Where do you want me to take them?”

“Whoever it is might as well know that we mean business. Take them where poor Robert is laying.” He nodded and stood up. “When this is done, we’re going to leave the country for a while. Have things ready.”

“I will. Taking Dorothea too?” He said that he was. “Good. I’ll make arrangements for that as soon as I deal with Savannah. I have to tell you, Otis, I didn’t see that one coming. I’m sorry about that.”

“I didn’t either. None of it. But better now than after the wedding. Christ, I’ve never been so taken in all my life. And by my own wife.” Joe only nodded. “But now I can take care of Nikki and not have to worry about anything else. And once she is gone and forgotten, we can concentrate on what matters, making some money.”

~~~

“I’ve been thinking about some of the things you brought up at the debate the other night. And if you’d be so kind as to have a meeting with me, without the press, I’d like to go over them. I mean, the reason that I’ve not dealt with them as yet.” Aedan looked at the speech he’d been working on for the women’s tea tomorrow afternoon when the phone had rung. His mom had asked him to do it, and he couldn’t turn her down. “Say we meet for lunch today. At my place.”

“I have a lot going on right now, Dewey. How about you and I meet for dinner? My wife and I were going to be trying that new restaurant in town, and you and your lovely wife can join us.” There was no way he was meeting this man in a private setting. He might be new to the political game, but he wasn’t stupid. “My dad and mom said it’s really good, and I’m trying to help out a new local business.”

“Sure, sure. I guess that would be all right. You give me the address and I can have it checked out for me. Can’t be too careful when you’re the governor of a fine state like Ohio, now can you? But dinner might be cutting it too close for my men.” A paper slid in front of him and he looked up at Nikki, who had been helping him with his speech. The note simply said
bugs/cameras
. He frowned. But before he could ask her what she meant, Dewey started talking again. “I had no idea you were married. I thought.... Well, I think everyone thought that you were off the market for that sort of thing. Don’t you have a bevy of women all over the state?”

The laughter was forced. And while he was trying to think what to say to him, another note appeared.
He wants to bug the place and put in cameras so that he can have dirt on you
. He looked at Nikki and she shrugged. Really?

“I’m sorry, but if you can’t make tonight’s plans, I won’t be able to see you until after the second rounds of debates, I’m afraid, what with Thanksgiving next week then Christmas right around the corner. Well, you know how demanding family can be. Not that I’d change a thing about them. So what do you think?” Nikki nodded at him and leaned back in her chair. “It might be January before I can get with you if not.”

In the end Dewey said he’d be there, but to make it seven instead of six. When he agreed then hung up, he asked Nikki why she thought that. She got up to pace while she spoke.

“I’m going nuts here, just so you know. Anyway, why is he doing this? Because you have no skeletons in your closet but for the fact that you’re a cat. You don’t need to take bribes because, let’s face it, you have all the money. The only way he’s going to be able to make you look bad is to make you lose control of your animal where people can see you. Barring that, where he can record it happening. Or he takes recordings of you speaking, then manipulates it into something that you’d never in a million years say but he’s got it on tape.” He asked her why she was bored. “Because I’m used to working my ass off all the time, and when not working, I had shit I was looking into to work on. This place is perfect, not that I’d have any idea how to make a house beautiful, and if one more person asks me how it feels to be a cat, I might show them how monstrous they can be.”