Guardians of the Portals (39 page)

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C
aitlin approached cautiously. She flicked the gun at the two men in silhouette against the flames.

"Drop the gun." Neither man spoke. She read the tension in her lover's shoulders and moved close to the couch, keeping the gun trained on the man standing behind her kriger. "Drop it now or I take out both of you."

"Oh, I doubt you'll do that, Caty."

"Dad?" Caitlin stared slack-jawed as Wolf swiveled his head to look at the man behind him, then at the Amazon melting before his eyes.

Jake stepped back and raised his weapon, holding it palm out. With exaggerated care, he laid it on the floor and sent it skittering under a small desk chair. Caitlin waved toward the reading lamp by the recliner. He moved, slow and deliberate, toward the lamp and clicked it on. Pale yellow light flooded the room. Jake moved back into position behind Wolf. He patted a pocket on his shirt and waited for her nod. After extracting the key, he released the giant's wrists and backed away quickly, arms raised.

Still unable to fully accept her father being in the cabin, she watched warily as he angled to the side of the couch nearest the kitchen. When he'd put sufficient distance between them he paused and stared with interest as she moved with hesitant steps toward Wolf sitting coiled like a viper, ready to strike.

She smiled as Wolf's eyes widened in recognition of the shift, followed by a slow uptick to his mouth as her shorts slid down her thighs. The Amazon template dissolved, leaving her reed thin frame covered only with a threadbare corduroy shirt hanging mid-thigh.

Jake murmured, "That's my girl," as she stepped out of the shorts bunched at her ankles and kicked them away. She circled the couch to stand clear of all obstructions, the gun still trained at a spot in-between her split targets. She prayed neither man doubted her ability to take them both down in a nanosecond.

"It's me, girl. If you feel the need to shoot something, do him. Don't matter one way or t'other to me."

Caitlin grimaced, reluctant to put the weapon away. Hundreds of questions swirled in her head. The gun seemed a small comfort while she worked through the possibilities.

"Are you alone?"

"Yes."

"How did you find us?"

"Darlin', please put the gun down. I could use something to eat and a cup of coffee if you've got anything. Been driving all night in some of the worst weather I've ever seen. You know I ain't so good on slick roads."

Caitlin's eyes glazed over. Such a simple reveal. It was all she needed. She set the weapon on the recliner's cushion and walked over to Wolf who sat staring with hungry eyes, his lust and longing barreling along the tether, out of control. She brushed her lips across his brow in a tender gesture, unprepared for the violent lunge that staggered her back a step. He wrapped her in his arms, plundering her mouth, desperate to taste, to own. Her warrior murmured something in a strange language as the link screamed urgency with a powerful electrical surge.

"Ahem, I think the term is 'get a room'. I'll go find something in the kitchen while you two work it out."

Caitlin pushed away from Wolf and cried out, "Oh, Dad!" She rushed into her father's arms and collapsed in tears as her lover and her father glared at each other across the room.

****

J
ake released the footrest knob and settled into the seat. He reached over and took a sip of coffee. He couldn't quite read their expressions—a mixture of grief and distaste. He decided he needn't know particulars at that point. Caty and he would talk privately, if her guard dog ever left her side. The young man hadn't taken his eyes off her for a minute. There was something between them, out of the normal, intense and explosive. He might be her father, but he knew better than to come between them.

He continued with his story. "So when I, we, were told about you being dead, I decided to go after Kieran myself. Gunnarr's no fool. He knows what I want. He also knows he can string me along, use me up, and then maybe hand my boy over after it's too late." Jake debated saying anything about Trey. He'd heard rumors about what went down when they'd been lost in that hell-hole. He had no idea what Caty's feeling might be on the subject so he figured it best to err on the side of caution and not mention names until he had her alone. "So I got me a bit of help, friend of Kier's who didn't like the situation either."

He took another sip, buying time. "I'm not so young anymore so Gunnarr set me up in the control room, running point with his techs. We sent a team through a Portal, doing a cargo drop. The op went south, big time. We lost men. Good men. Found out some stuff I'd rather not know. Knutr'd set himself up with the Russian mob running guns and more." He looked at Wolf closely. "I expect you know something about that."

Wolf nodded. "Mafiya. We heard it was tactical nukes. Unconfirmed. Probably not the first time."

Jake spat, "Well, confirm it. We blew that shit after getting Kieran." He put aside the fact they'd left a man behind, something he'd never done in the service. But they'd had little choice given the circumstances. With a mental shrug, he went on, "Portal's gone. It was a close call."

Caitlin sat quietly, her face blank. Jake had a feeling she knew who her brother's new friend might be, and she was doing her best to process that information. He shifted in his seat and reached for the cooling mug of coffee, buying time while he assessed her reaction. It wouldn't sit well that the man she now considered an enemy had insinuated himself into her family. As her father, he'd always had her trust, even when he was ass deep in alligators himself. How far would that trust extend with so many demands on her heart?

Finally Caitlin broke the awkward silence with a single word, "Trey."

Wolf spun to look at her curiously. Jake merely winced and tilted his head against the seat back.

With a hitch in her voice she pleaded, "Tell me."

"Yeah, it was Trey." Concentrating on Caitlin, he leaned forward and hastened to explain, "He thinks you're dead. Like I said, we all did." There was a flash of understanding in her eyes and her body tensed, waiting.

Jake chugged the last of the coffee. He was fairly sure the man on his left would not take kindly to what he had to say next. "He's been insane since he got back. He and Kieran. They started doing the hard stuff, together." Jake gathered his thoughts. "It would've happened anyway. Trey kept a lid on it, controlled it as best he could. Went on missions with him and protected him. But Kieran went off the deep end after the last fuck up. Trey found him, called me and we got him committed."

Caitlin choked out, "So is he getting clean?" To Wolf she demanded, "Did you know about this?"

Jake waved to the big man to answer first.

"Not much. A little. Eirik kept it close to the vest. I didn't know your brother was involved. I swear."

Jake asked, "About Eirik. Where is he? He's the reason I'm here. Or were my sources wrong?"

Wolf said, "He's dead."

"Dead? How?"

"You aren't the only ones dealing with the Mafiya. They executed Eirik and nearly killed Caitlin."

Jake looked over at his daughter. She nodded
yes
, her eyes brimming with tears.

"So that accounts for the body in the walkway and the guy behind the woodshed. Your work, boy?"

Wolf ignored his question. "We need to get out of here. The two teams would have checked in by now. With the roads cleared, we can expect company very soon. We should have gone earlier but..."

"There's no rush. Or were you two so busy you didn't listen to the weather forecast?" Caitlin blushed while the big man scowled at him. "Another storm system moving in. We'll be here a spell. It's an ice storm this time. Ain't nobody going nowhere for a while."

Caitlin got up and went to the door and peered past the edge of the sheer curtain. Flicking on the porch light, she glanced right and left, then spoke to the men, "Looks like freezing rain. Everything's glazed."

"Maybe you want some help, son?"

"Yeah, thanks."

Caitlin asked, "What are you two talking about?"

Jake answered, his voice brooking no argument, "Go upstairs and rest, Caty girl." He lifted an eyebrow at his daughter's grimace and flicked a glance at her lover. Wolf rose and walked out through the kitchen. The back door slammed shut.

"Dad?"

"Not now. There'll be time later. Go on to bed. It's for the best."

He watched his daughter trudge up the stairs, much as she had done as a child, full of reluctance to leave the man she loved most. He knew this time it wasn't him she regretted leaving. He'd have to come to terms with her being grown up, with a woman's needs and passions. He'd always be her dad but she belonged to another now. The question was, which one? He feared for her heart and her soul, both destined to be split down the middle. The man called Liuthr, the Wolf, laid claim to her for now. But once he knew she lived, the Falcon would be on the hunt.

And God help anyone who got in his way.

****

W
olf closed the door and turned the lock on the knob. He quickly shed his clothes, dropping them in a pile on the desk chair. Faint light filtered through the small window that overlooked the peak above the enclosed walkway between the house and the garage. He and Jake had worked up a sweat trying to dig through frozen ground. They'd done their best, using rocks and deadwood to cover the bodies.

He'd wanted to give Eirik a proper traditional send-off but lighting a funeral pyre would have advertised their position to anyone keeping watch on the mountainside. While the ice storm wouldn't deter snowmobiles, they'd still need transport closer to the site, and the roads were likely impassable in the near term. They had time. Not much, but perhaps enough.

The frenetic activity and continued exchange of intel, mostly one-way, had done little to tamp down the burning sensation in his gut. The tether threatened to rip his insides apart. With her father's arrival, the need to lay claim to his mate moved beyond obsessive. He knew Jake had nothing to do with it. It was Trey—the mere mention of his name had set the pathways screeching in a cacophony of unbridled lust. He could do nothing to help her, Jake or her brother in this condition, with his attention fractured and emotions bubbling and boiling beyond his control.

The duvet lay goose-down thick and inviting. Caitlin had pulled it up to her ears as the room was chilly despite the heat rising to the upper floor through vents spaced along the inner wall. The sleet and freezing rain had changed over to light snow as temperatures dropped in the pre-dawn hours.

He watched the slight rise and fall of her shoulders, reluctant to wake her, but the chilly floor sent shivers up and down his spine. Slipping under the quilt, he gloried in the heat pouring off her body, trapped under the covers and cradling him in blessed warmth. It was all he needed to kick start his arousal.

"Caitlin, sweetheart. Wake up." He loomed over her shoulder, taking care not to touch her yet as his hands and feet felt like blocks of ice. He had no wish to share that with her.

He smiled as she fluttered awake, blinking rapidly in the dim light.

"Wolf? Is everything all right? My dad?"

"He's fine, baby. Roll over. I want to hold you but my hands are like ice cubes."

"I don't mind." She turned over and curled into his shoulder. He reached behind her thin body and tucked the quilt along her backside as she pressed her length against him. He almost lost his mind when her knee brushed his cock. He was close, so close.

––––––––

C
aitlin wished she had more body mass to share with her gentle giant. She could feel the chill seeping out of his pores. Ducking her head under the quilt, she blew warm puffs on his chest, following the line of his pecs, and rubbing his hip and thigh, each touch electrically charged. The link ran lava hot. She marveled at his control, guessing that it cost him dearly as his ragged breathing and rigid shoulders gave him away.

She rubbed her inner thigh along his belly as she reached to taste his mouth, only to find the sharp tang and iron-sweet taste of blood where he'd bitten his lower lip in silent desperation. The tether wailed and spiraled in a mad dance in her groin.

With a moan, he gripped her shoulders, pressing her onto her back and spreading her thighs in one motion, probing with his fingers, making sure she was ready for him. On a sigh, he plunged into her wet heat and breathed, "I love you."

Locking her legs in a vice grip about his hips, her body soared to his rhythms, synchronized with each powerful thrust. Nerves and sensitive tissue and energies danced with orgasmic spasms until he keened his release and drove her over the edge. The tether gelled into a single pliable entity. She'd been branded, the bond unbreakable, eternal. Again.

She was not sure how she felt about that because, entwined in that bond, something alien and disturbing disputed her warrior's supremacy over her body and her spirit. There would be qualifications and quid pro quos, and disaster lurked very near to her heart. It was all a matter of time. One of the warriors would throw the gauntlet, the arena to be named, the stakes—death. If she intervened and was asked to choose, she could not. Nor would she ever refuse either, yet how could she live with both asserting equal jurisdiction? All would follow her, lemmings hurtling over the cliff.

Wolf pulled her close, wrapping her in a loving embrace, secure in his claim, the beast tamed for the moment. He nestled against her neck, his silent tears of joy an acid drip onto her soul.

He'd said the magic words and believed them true and right and he would fight to the death for her. Such was her kriger, her warrior, and he offered his heart freely to the woman they all knew as Caitlin. Loving him cost her nothing. For the others lurking in the shadows of her being... well, she could not speak to their minds or sentiments. Not yet. As always, time would tell.

Easing into her once more, Wolf lovingly explored with lips and tongue all those places she'd longed for him,
for them
, to touch, creating liquid fire that danced off her fingertips and nipples, igniting her lust and desires. He deepened and extended the kiss until she floated, disembodied under the sensual assault, where every thrust became a wing beat, every breath an affirmation. She wallowed in the uncertainty of her emotions. Her brain staggered in a blind stupor as pain and pleasure jostled for center stage, with doubt and faith sparring equally for bragging rights. She'd been there before, with Trey. Prognostication was not her gift, but one thing she knew for certain.