Authors: Rebecca Zanetti
Provoked (16 page)
Dragging his fingers free, he smiled as her body jerked in response. Thank god she liked to play the same way he did.
One by one, he licked his fingers clean.
Her eyes darkened. Then she reached out and took him in both hands.
Fire ripped up his spine. He wasn’t going to last long. Moving forward, he climbed up her body to press a kiss against her moist neck.
Grabbing both her hands, he held them immobile at the side of her head. “Ready for round three?”
Her knees widened while her legs encircled him, ankles crossing at his butt. “More than ready.”
His heart pounded hard.
A determined shove forward, and he embedded in her, balls deep. Heat swallowed him. She was so tight his eyes almost rolled back in his head. “You’re perfect.”
She blinked in surprise.
Odd. The woman wasn’t used to compliments. Even with his body raging for relief, his mind wondered at the fact. The woman was perfect. How could she not know it? “I’ve lived for more than three centuries, and you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Her eyes widened, and a shy smile played with her lips. “You confuse me.”
“I do my best.” He couldn’t help the answering smile. “Keep your hands where I’ve put them.”
Releasing her palms, he grabbed the back of her thigh with his unmarked hand and withdrew, plunging back in. The exquisite friction almost put him over the edge. He pressed the palm with the marking against the sheets. The animal within him, the one he never let loose, howled in protest. The hunger to mate clawed with rough nails through his entire being.
Ignoring the animal, Kane plunged out and back in. Holding her thigh, holding her open, he began to pound with a ferocity he’d never succumbed to. Faster, harder . . . the only thing in existence was that pinnacle he needed to reach. With Amber. Only Amber.
Her thighs tightened and she gasped.
He shifted his angle to slide over her clit, and she exploded around him.
The waves crashing through her gripped his shaft so hard he saw stars. Increasing his speed, he raced for the end and broke, coming with a low growl.
The need to mark her—to mate her—shot fire through his arm. Coming down, taking a deep breath, he glanced at his hand. The mark pounded in angry pain.
The branding was darker than ever.
F
or once in Kane’s life, the lab failed to provide him with a sense of purpose. What was the fucking purpose? He’d spent years trying to cure Virus-27 with limited success. Mates were still vulnerable. Witches were afraid. And now, the one species he’d been able to save was in danger from faulty vials.
or once in Kane’s life, the lab failed to provide him with a sense of purpose. What was the fucking purpose? He’d spent years trying to cure Virus-27 with limited success. Mates were still vulnerable. Witches were afraid. And now, the one species he’d been able to save was in danger from faulty vials.
The brand on his palm burned with jagged demand and had for several days. The marking burned when he trained Amber, when he touched her, when he sensed her. Hell, it burned even when he was just thinking about her.
“Fuck.” He threw a beaker across the lab, closing his eyes as glass smashed near the open window.
Walter the monkey screeched from his high-end cage. Then he frowned, much too serious for a monkey.
“Sorry.” Kane had escaped from the earth to his largest lab so he could open the windows and smell the ocean. Aboveground he always seemed to get more accomplished.
Not today.
Today completely sucked.
Not only had he left the earth, he’d left a sleeping beauty in his bed once again. She’d moved right into his quarters because he’d pretty much insisted on it. An innocent, softhearted beauty he had planned to use against demons.
He felt Dage’s anger and worry before hearing the king arrive. Shit. Now Kane couldn’t even control his empathic abilities? No. Absolutely not. Shoving his face into calm lines, Kane turned to face his brother.
Dage took a deep breath. “The demons have Hilde.”
A roaring filled Kane’s ears. He swallowed hard. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Dage frowned, pacing to the window to stare at the ocean. “Satellite pictures are hours old, but there was some fight between the demons and Kurjans at the wolf compound in Utah.”
Kane scrubbed both hands down his face. “What the hell?”
“I don’t know. Best guess? Whoever is messing with the inoculations tipped the Kurjans off about Hilde. How the demons got involved, I have no clue. But there was a bloody fight and the Kurjans lost.” Dage leaned against the wall, facing Kane. “Talen is in the armory suiting up—we need to go.”
“We have someplace to go?” Now that was finally some good news.
“Yes. We traced their movements to the Mexico border—it looks like a temporary stronghold. They won’t keep Hilde there for long.”
“Let’s go, then.” The idea of storming any demon stronghold had adrenaline ripping through Kane’s veins. “I wish Conn were still here.” Conn had taken off for Ireland already.
“Yes. He’s halfway across the ocean by now.”
The question lurking in the king’s silver eyes had Kane’s chin lifting. “Amber is not going.”
“Your call.” Dage headed for the door.
Kane ignored the relief shooting through his veins. “Is Talen trying to bring Terrent up via phone?”
“Terrent isn’t at the wolf compound.” Dage headed into the hallway. “The Council went after a hoard of werewolves outside of Seattle yesterday morning.” As the head of the Bane’s Council, the group responsible for killing all werewolves, Terrent was always on the move. “The Kurjans probably knew he’d taken off before they attacked.”
Kane hustled behind his brother through headquarters to a room hidden behind a blank wall. Sliding the door open, he took the cement stairs down to a tunnel that led to the underground labyrinth.
Dage shot into the darkness. “Are you sure you don’t want Amber to come with us? We should test her skills.”
“No. I’ll mate her and get her skills.” The words emerged from Kane’s mouth before his brain caught their meaning. With a short nod, he acknowledged mating was the only way to both protect Amber and find Jase.
Dage stopped in the dark tunnel. “That’s quite a decision.” He didn’t turn around.
“Yes, it is. And it’s my decision.” Kane’s steps slowed.
The king shook his head and resumed jogging. The
clomp
of his boots echoed through the rocks. “Are you going to lie to yourself that you feel nothing? That branding Amber is all about duty?”
clomp
of his boots echoed through the rocks. “Are you going to lie to yourself that you feel nothing? That branding Amber is all about duty?”
“No. I like her—a lot. She’ll make a good mate.” And a good mother to their children someday. The thought of Amber swollen with his son made Kane’s heart skip a beat. Pleasure filled him. “I’d like your support in this.”
“You always have my support.” Dage shoved open a door to reveal an armory sporting every type of weapon imaginable. “Even when you’re being an obtuse dumbass.” He stalked inside and stopped cold.
Kane barely kept from running into his back. “What?” He stepped to the side.
Amber and Emma stood near Talen wearing identical “don’t fuck with me” expressions on their faces.
Emma glared at Dage. “You’re the king—you don’t need to go fight demons. That’s why you have soldiers.”
Kane ignored the argument. It was an old one, and Dage always put himself in danger if he asked soldiers to fight. As the royal family, they were the first to go if necessary. He eyed Amber. “I’ll bring back your grandmother.”
Amber paled, her gaze wandering along the myriad of swords lining the west wall. “I’m going with you.”
“No.” Out of the air, Kane snatched the bulletproof vest Talen threw, quickly securing the Kevlar over his head. “You don’t have enough training.”
“And yet, I’m the best you’ve got.” She reached for a smaller vest hanging on a hook. “Either tell me how to wear this thing, or I’ll go without a vest.”
Talen shuffled his feet. “We could use her help.” He glanced at Dage for support.
Dage shook his head, gaze moving to Kane. “She’s your woman—this is your call.”
Emma’s instant sputtering at the archaic language failed to drown out Amber’s outraged hiss. Amber yanked the vest over her head, her eyes spitting anger. “I’m no one’s woman, jackass.”
Emma nodded in agreement, a high flush staining her cheeks. “Yeah. What she said.”
“I’d like a moment alone with Amber.” Kane reached for the nearest gun to tuck in his waist.
Dage grabbed Emma’s arm and tugged her from the room. The queen protested, digging in her heels, but the king wasn’t going to be deterred this time.
Talen smiled, a shit-eating grin on his face.
Yeah, this was funny. Kane barely kept from slugging him as he went by. For so long, Kane had been the one laughing on the sidelines as his brothers’ mates ran them in circles. Not for one second was Amber going to alter his life, and the sooner she figured that out, the easier she’d find her life as his mate.
He nearly swallowed his tongue when she grabbed a gun and pointed the weapon at him. Keeping her eyes pinned, he stalked forward until the barrel rested against his chest.
She gulped in air, her hand shaking. “I, ah, was trying to make a point.”
His chest warmed. The woman had the sweetest heart. “Which was?”
“That I’m, ah, not afraid of guns anymore.”
The pallor of her skin proclaimed that statement a lie. Kane gently removed the gun from her grasp. “Guns aren’t scary. Having to use a gun, well now, that’s frightening.”
She nodded. “I know. To save my grandma, I’d use a gun.”
Her voice wavered just enough to fill him with doubt. “You don’t need to use a gun, Amber. Stay here and I’ll bring her home to you. I promise.” How the hell he’d keep that promise, he didn’t know. But damn it, he would.
She sighed, pressing her hands against his vest and meeting his gaze. “I’m here for a reason. For now, I’m the only person you know who can shield against the demon mind games and maybe even mess with them enough that they leave you alone. I have to try, and I know you understand what I’m saying.”
He did. She loved her granny as much as he loved his brothers. Nothing on earth would keep him from going after Jase if Kane had an inkling of where he was being kept.
Amber stepped closer. “Sometimes I can get a sense of what’s ticking in a brain—I’ve been practicing secretly since you told me about my gifts. Maybe I can get a sense of where Jase is.”
Clever little female. “You’re not ready.”
She shrugged. “That doesn’t matter—I’m all you’ve got. Deal with it.”
Throwing his words back in his face wasn’t nice. He frowned. “I don’t think I can.”
“I can shield.” Her eyes implored him to trust her. “Please give me a chance.”
His brain bellowed in refusal even while he spoke, “Okay. But the second you’re in distress, we’re leaving, whether we have Hilde or not.” He blinked twice. What the hell? He’d just agreed to take her into a demon foothold.
She shot out of the room, leaving him frozen in place. While her argument made a logical sense, one he’d responded to naturally, doubt clouded his brain. What kind of a mate was he going to be if he allowed her to seek danger?
“I took Cara raiding a Kurjan hospital where we saved several allies,” Talen said quietly from the doorway.
Kane whirled around. He’d forgotten Talen had taken his mate on that raid so long ago. “We used her empathic abilities.”
“Yes.” Talen’s eyes swirled a dangerous green through the gold. He shuffled his feet, his frown deep enough to flash his dimples. “We needed to do so at the time—I don’t think I’m strong enough to put her in danger again.”
Kane stared at his big brother. Talen was the strongest man he’d ever met. “You would. If you had to.” Or maybe not. From the second Cara had given birth to their son fourteen years ago, the man had protected her even more so.
“No.” Talen gave a rueful smile. He grabbed several knives from the wall to tuck along his boots and vest. Three more guns found safe purchase where he could grab them quickly. “But for now, in this time and place, there’s a reason you’re falling in love with Amber Freebird.” Quick strides and he was out the door.
Quiet reigned for the smallest of moments. “I’m not falling in love,” Kane said to the empty room.
The words echoed off the weapon-filled walls.
Mocking him.
Taking a deep breath, Amber tried to still the trembling in her knees. She sat between Kane and Talen in the backseat of a Black Hawk helicopter gliding silently through the night. Heat cascaded off the vampires, keeping her snug and warm. They all wore ear communicators. Talen’s legs twitched, and he drummed his fingers on his legs to some tune only he heard.
Kane sat perfectly still. No movement, no agitation, just pure calmness. Pure, cold, calm.
Amber tugged the vest tighter around her waist, her mind spinning. Her heart beat rapidly against her ribs. Was Grandma Hilde all right? What if she wasn’t? Hilde had said she lacked power. How much? Could she shield a little from the mind attacks?
Two similar helicopters followed silently behind them, also filled with dangerous soldiers.
She shivered.
Dage turned the beast into the setting sun, nodding his head toward the massive vampire in the copilot seat. “Oscar, tell the rest of the crew about the last time you dealt with demons.”
Amber had met Oscar right before takeoff. The ancient soldier had more experience fighting demon mind games than anybody else in the Realm. His metallic aqua eyes were bright with intelligence, and laugh lines cut into the sides of his mouth. She’d liked him immediately.
Oscar pressed his ear to engage the comm line. “Demons don’t incapacitate us completely, but you’ll be at about fifty percent of your usual fighting skill. It takes that much energy to combat the brain attack of an experienced demon soldier. Of course, with younger soldiers, vampires might retain about seventy percent of concentration and skill.”
Dage nodded. “We’re getting close. I’ll drop quickly and we’ll go. Kane, what’s our best move?”
“We go in fast and hard.” Kane’s voice remained so calm he could’ve been talking about his favorite beer. “We need their minds occupied as much as possible . . . go either for the instant kill or the most painful injury.” He kept his gaze straight ahead. “Amber and I will try to sense her grandmother. Amber, you concentrate on shielding and not on injuring. The injuries will come from weapons drawing blood.”
She nodded, even knowing he couldn’t see her. Or maybe with his vampire sight, his peripheral vision was good enough.
Dage banked a hard right. “Did the satellite shots give us an idea of numbers?”
“No.” Talen’s drumming increased in speed. “But the area is rather small—probably something thrown together as they prepare to move Hilde.”
How small? Amber turned to view Kane. How was he so calm?
Finally, he glanced at her with those odd violet eyes. No emotion showed in their depths. “Do you want a gun?”
Slowly, she nodded. He reached in his back pocket and handed her a small weapon. “If you point a weapon, you use it. No hesitating, no thinking, no feeling. When the gun is in your hand, you’re all soldier. Nothing else exists.”
Cold metal weighed heavy in her palm. Death had a sensation. Before the night was over, she might turn against everything she believed in to save the one person she’d always counted on. “I understand.”
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