Prey (6 page)

“
To hell with that.” Nae
took off running toward the back of the house. That criminal had to
have some sort of weapon in his home.

All she heard was her two ‘would be
caretakers’ arguing as she bounded around the corner.

“
Well, don’t look at me. I
didn’t expect her to run.” La’s irritated tone floated around to
Nae as she ran up the steps to the sliding glass doors.

Silence.

“
You catch her. If she has
a scrape anywhere on that body, El will gut us, and personally, I
like having my intestines.” La continued speaking.

Nae’s fingers slipped on the white
coated indentation in the handle, and her nails scraped the metal.
She should’ve taken the bastard in last night, instead of letting
her hormones override her common sense. The glass slid on its
track, and she slipped through the slim opening. She slammed the
patio door and pressed her finger against the switch, which locked
it. She spun on her heel and hurried to the kitchen.

A knock on the glass had her glancing
up into the annoyed face of La. She yelled to make herself heard.
“Seriously. We won’t hurt you. We can’t, our boss would like
literally kill us, and frankly, you just ain’t worth dying
for.”

“
Uh-huh like I’m going to
take the word of a bunch of bikers, who I’m sure are running some
sort of criminal enterprise.” Nae shouted back.

La wiped a hand down the side of her
face. “How long have you been a bounty hunter again?”

“
How about this; tell El,
if he wants me to come out of this house, then he needs to be the
one to come in and get me!”

“
Now you’re just trying to
get us all in trouble. El will be pissed, and someone will have to
pay for his anger. Can’t you act like a nice little human, and just
come along quietly?”

“
We can sit here all day,
La. If El wants me, he’ll have to come and get me.” Nae sat down on
a stool at the breakfast counter.

La placed her fists on her hips.
“Urggg. Fine, but you can’t say I didn’t warn you. El will not be
happy!”

Nae circled her index finger in front
of her. “Whoopty-fucking-do. Tell your boss to get his ass over
here.” She resisted the urge to smile. Getting her hands on her
bounty might just work out after all.

Chapter Five

El pulled into his driveway and took
in the scene before him. Trace’s jeep was parked behind his truck
in the car port. La sat on the front deck stairs with her face in
her hands, and there was no sign of Trace. El tapped down his
annoyance, he’d been on a conference call with his government
contacts when La’s distress call came in. He climbed of the bike
and stalked toward the front of the house. His boot crushed the
leaves underfoot as he moved , and La glanced up to meet his
gaze.

“
Before you say anything.
I tried, but she’s not budging, and I could break in, but I didn’t
want you to kill me for scaring her.” La made the statement in one
breathe.

He stomped up the stairs and rubbed
his palm over her hair as he passed her. “Forget about it La. I
need you to go find Reese now. I’ll take care of Nae. Where is
Trace?”

La lifted her face to look at El.
“Hell if I know. He doesn’t tell me a damn thing.”

“
Maybe he would, if you
listened. When you find Reese, follow him for a bit before you
bring him to me. I want to know what he’s doing when he thinks no
one is watching.”

“
Okay. What about Trace?
The jeep?”

“
Leave ‘em. Trace will
turn up.”

“
Yes sir.” La stood and
gave a mock salute. She ambled toward the tree line, stripping off
clothes as she strode. Minutes later, a large Bald Eagle burst
through the branches and into the skyline extending its eight foot
wing span to glide on the currents.

When Aristotle found La, she was a
baby bird hiding in the hollow at the base of a tree. They had just
emigrated from Africa, and Ari was just a cub himself. As Gunter
discussed business plans with him, the only building standing was
the bar, and it was in ruins from years of neglect. All around
them, pride members were working. They were living in tents and
trying to rebuild a forgotten and abandoned town in the middle of
nowhere. He’d only been clan chief for about a year, and he was
still a young lion himself. Ari came running up to him, begging to
keep his new pet. Since he’d made it a point to keep all the orphan
cubs together, keeping a baby bird seemed like a great distraction
for them, and later on, it made a great way to teach them hunting
skills. Then, she shifted.

El snorted.

That was unexpected. But he wouldn’t
change a thing. He watched those kids grow up into fantastic
beings, and even though he threatened them with dire consequences
on an almost daily basis, they were his family. And, if necessary,
he would kill to protect them.

He pushed the key in the lock and
turned it. The door easily swung open. El eased into the great room
and glanced around. He lifted his face and sniffed the air.
Tendrils of her candied ginger smell wrapped around him. His cock
hardened as he took deep breaths. After adjusting his shaft, he
moved through the room and into the dining area. Nae sat with her
back to him. The knife block, which usually sat next to the stove,
was now on the counter, close to her. He moved around to her side
and caught a glint of steel when she tightened her grip on the
handle.

Without turning her head, she spoke.
“Why is there a full grown tiger at your back door?”

El looked up and followed her line of
sight. Trace, in his tiger form, lay against the patio door, his
face smashed on the glass with his tongue lolling out the side of
his mouth. El stepped farther into the room. Trace rose, yawned,
and trotted away.

Nae continued to study the
exit. “One more step big man and I
will
cut you.”

“
Woman, haven’t you
figured out your threats don’t scare me?” El moved around the
island.

“
They should. So what, are
you ready to come back to Reno?”

“
I believe we had this
discussion, and I’m sure I made myself clear. Nevada is not going
to happen, but I will certainly enjoy your efforts to persuade
me.”

“
Sorry babe but that was a
one off.” She swiveled around on the stool. “You didn’t answer my
question. I’m waiting for you to explain the tiger.”

“
Suiker
, if anyone else talked to me the way you do I would have
ripped out their heart.”

“
Forgive me if I’m not
shaking in my shoes.” She stood, marched up to El, and pressed the
point of the chef’s knife into his belly.

“
I thought we established
yesterday I have no fear of death. You will learn not to test me
mate.” He moved forward. The sting of the knife was momentary as it
sliced through his skin. Warmth spread through his torso as blood
blossomed in the spot where she’d pierced his skin.

She looked down and jumped
back, pulling the knife from his body. “Have you lost your fucking
mind?” Then, she mumbled almost to herself, “Of course not. How
should I expect a man with a pet tiger to behave?” Her head snapped
up. “Uhh–what the hell did you mean by mate? Oh my freaking God.
You run a cult don’t you? That’s what this is. Some sort of freaky
religious group!” Nae shook her head. “How could I have been so
stupid? Look buddy, the sex was good. I mean really, really good
but … um … not
that
great.”

He cocked a brow.

“
What I mean to say, is it
was awesome, but not so much…” She flailed her hands and the knife
carved the air. “This is coming out wrong. Listen, why don’t you
just come back to Reno. We’ll straighten out this mess you’ve
gotten yourself into, and then you can return to your followers.”
Her head bobbed as she spoke. “And—umm—just so you know, I’m a free
agent. I belong to no one.”

El pressed his lips
together to keep from chuckling. “That’s where you’re wrong
suiker
. You
belong
to me.” He closed
the gap between them.

She slid out of his reach and held the
knife up. “I already cut you once. I really don’t want to hurt
you.”

“
Seems we are at an
impasse.” Tired of talking, he faked forward, and then twisted
around, going in the other direction.

An
eep
escaped through her lips before
she took off, running in the other direction.

His beast snapped at its chains. The
urge to chase down his prey overwhelmed his human side, and his
hair grew longer, becoming the mane of his beast. Razor sharp teeth
filled his mouth, and his paws formed where his fingers had been.
His jeans split at the seam, the buttons on his fly flew off one at
time pinging around the room, and his claws burst through the toes
of his shoes. He tore off his vest, but struggled to get the shirt
over his head, and the collar rolled into a thin band and started
to choke him. The lion in him was winning. He dropped to his knees,
fighting an internal battle to stay in his human form. His vision
switched from full color to the muted version of his beast. He
thrashed his head, opened his mouth, and roared.

The glass insets of the cabinets
shuddered in their moldings. His bones broke and realigned, and
then broke again as he gained control. He banged the floor with his
hands as fingers appeared, only to turn back into the nubby digits
of his paws. Short gold fur erupted along his arms. He rose up on
his haunches and clawed at the tightening cotton around his
neck.

Suddenly, soft palms skimmed over his
skin, and the touch of cold steel stilled him. The sweet smell of
sugar with a touch of spice calmed his beast, and he tightened its
tethers, wrenching the animal back into the recess of his soul. It
became easier to take a breath, and the tattered fabric tumbled
down his chest. Rubbing his neck, he stood and turned to face
Nae.

She held the knife in a loose grip,
her eyes were wide, and her thin brows were drawn together. “What
the hell are you?” Her voice was filled with awe.

He swallowed several times to sooth
the rawness of his throat. He kept his tone a gentle rasp. “Don’t
ever run from me again. The lion in me thinks you want to play, and
I will chase you down.”

“
Um—you’re a guy.” Nae’s
voice rose. “Sweet heavens, what have I gotten myself into?” She
dropped the knife and started to back away.

El prowled forward. “I would never
hurt you–well–only if you want to play–but that’s different. I
mean, you’re the woman destined for me, I wouldn’t … couldn’t … do
anything that would put you in harm’s way.”

“
I’m no creature.” Her
voice continued to escalate.

He sighed. “You don’t have
to be. Believe me, I am more than enough beast for the both of us.
You’re my mate.
You
calm down my animal.
You
excite me. No other woman has ever done that for
me, not even my own kind.

She scrubbed her face with her palms.
“This is too much. I was only supposed to haul your ass back to
Reno. I did not sign up for this.” She circled her hands. “Whatever
this is…”

“
I think you’re in shock,
you’re not behaving normally.” He held out his hand. “Take a ride
with me, and I’ll explain everything.”

“
Exactly how is one
supposed to respond when they find out the man…”

“
Mate…”

“
Whatever–person they
slept with is a lion. That was what you were turning into right? I
mean, is there even a term for your condition?” She covered her
mouth with her hand. “Damn, is this a new form of bestiality? I am
not a freak. Is it communicable? Now that we’ve had sex will I turn
into an animal?”

“
Calm down.”

“
Said no one ever; when
they found out their lover was a beast.”

“
Woman.”

“
I have a na…”

El snaked an arm around her waist and
jerked her up against him. “Believe me, I know. I just spent most
of the afternoon gleaning any and all information from anyone who
would share anything pertaining to you. Personally, I don’t think
that little stunt you pulled in high school should have gotten you
expelled.”

She narrowed her eyes. “How do you
know about that?”

He nuzzled her neck and traced the
shell of her ear with is tongue. “Want to know why you don’t fear
me?”

Nae reared back confusion swirled in
her sinful eyes when she met his gaze. “I have never been scared of
you, not even when you did that spooky shit in the
kitchen.”

He smiled. “Because deep down you know
as well as I do that you’re the other half of my soul.”

“
Dude, you are cracked in
the head.”

“
Babe, whatever I am, all
that I am, is yours.” He gripped her hair and pulled her head
back.

***

Nae swallowed, she could still see the
lion in his eyes. The animal watched her with carnal curiosity. She
knew what he said was true. Had she really wanted to leave? She
would have found a way and been gone long before his people showed
up. She couldn’t even run when he did the changing thing in front
of her. When she saw him struggling, her first instinct was to
help.