Taming the Fire (17 page)

She didn't answer. Just stared blindly into the night and thanked God that car engines tended to lull the beast.

The growl that came from her then was from her, not the wolf. “I won't let them catch me. And I won't let them have you either. I'll die before they—or anyone—take either one of us,” she swore fiercely.

Trance's response was barely audible, but she totally agreed when he muttered, “This really fucking sucks.”

R
IK HADN'T WANTED
any music on while driving the nearly five hours to the southern safe house. Instead, she'd urged him to drive not only faster, but rougher.

She still tugged at that damned collar too. And if Itor was after them, he would have to push up the timetable for the ACRO pickup that Dev promised. It wouldn't leave him much time to convince her to let him chain her again.

“We're here, Rik,” he told her gently. She relaxed slightly, even as she turned to check their tail again.

The house was gated—he punched in the security code and then pulled up the winding drive to park in the attached, steel-reinforced garage.

“Your friend has good taste,” she remarked, her fingers still tugging at the collar.

“Come on, you need to eat something.”

“I'm not hungry.” Her voice was irritable. Understandable, of course—her back was up. But making irritable women relax had been his specialty, and he would have to revive that piece of him that enjoyed watching a woman break down in the most enjoyable of ways.

He'd build her back up. And then…

And then he'd have to turn her over to ACRO. And she'd hate him forever. It wasn't like he hadn't gotten used to that as an MP. No matter how much the prisoners might've respected him, they still hated him for the one thing he had that they didn't—freedom.

It would be the same for Rik.

She was ahead of him, headed for the doorway that led from the garage to the house. He slapped a palm against the door, blocking her entrance. This time, he wouldn't be the one baring his throat in submission. “You'll eat.”

She smiled a little. “That's the Dom coming out in you.”

“Trust me, you haven't seen anything yet where that's concerned.”

“This isn't your show, Trance. Just because you found the house—”

He stopped her with a finger on her lips. She looked as if she wanted to rip his finger off, but she didn't. “Why don't you let me help you, the way you helped me?”

She did pull his finger away then. “It doesn't work that way.”

“It'll work, Rik,” he told her as he pressed her to the wall, bringing his mouth down on hers in the kiss he'd wanted to give her since she'd unlocked him earlier, his tongue playing along the roof of her mouth. A tender, seductive kiss. When he pulled back, he growled against her ear. “It'll work when you're all tied up for me. I promise you, you'll love it.”

She had nothing to say to that, and she'd stopped touching the collar. A good sign.

“Let's go.” He brushed past her into the house, not looking back.

She was following, though—he heard the click of her booted heels on the marbled flooring.

ACRO didn't skimp on safe houses—this one was no exception. Meticulously designed so that a casual visitor—and some even not so casual—wouldn't notice the touches that said this was a haven for agents with special abilities. The glass on all the windows was bullet-and bomb-proof, the basement hosted a variety of camera controls—the best in security that ACRO had to offer. There were also several escape routes from the house, extra cars with unremarkable plates and secured phone lines.

And there was food too. His stomach growled as he slipped off his leather jacket and headed for the kitchen. He grabbed eggs and bread—breakfast would be the easiest and quickest food to fix.

“I'd like to use the loo.”

He turned at the sound of her voice—it was softer, almost asking permission, and yes, she'd responded to him, whether she'd wanted to or not. “Go ahead. Breakfast will be ready shortly.”

He turned away from her, not wanting to hear another protest, and this time, she gave none. He set the alarm perimeters quickly so no one could get either in or out without his knowing about it and then he phoned Devlin.

“Trance, you're at the safe house,” Dev said instead of hello. And yes, Dev would know that, since any activity got transmitted directly to him.

“Yeah, but we've got company. She's been freaked the entire ride, tugging at the collar.”

Silence, and then, “Itor uses a remote to track her. Someone could be tracking you that way, but we don't know the range. So if someone's tailing you, they could be close.”

Shit. He'd been afraid of that. “We'll move up the time line—send the jet now, have it waiting.”

“Annika's already on her way. Trance, do you think it's Ryan following you?”

“It makes the most sense.” Ryan had been undercover at Itor when he'd dropped off the map. ACRO had listed him as MIA, and who knew what those bastards at Itor did to him. “He was definitely hunting someone at that club—he wasn't there for fun.”

“Then he could be using the remote to see through her eyes. Get her chained and controlled, Trance. Work some magic. It's going to be close.”

“Got it.” He clicked the phone off and slid it into his pocket as he finished preparing the food.

A few minutes later, Rik appeared. She sat at the table and ate the eggs he put in front of her, quietly, but as if she hadn't realized how hungry she really was.

He refueled as well, watching her carefully. Finally, when she took a long sip of juice, he pushed his plate away and sat back in his seat. “Better?”

She nodded, licked the juice off her bottom lip as she placed the glass on the mahogany table. “Yes. Thanks.”

“Not a problem. Maybe later you can cook for me.”

“I don't cook, Trance.” She took a piece of toast and he watched her strong, elegant hands as she spread butter and jam on the bread. “I have no desire to do so.”

“Desires can change. Where did you say you grew up?”

“I didn't. Germany.”

“Whereabouts?”

“Why? Have you been there?”

He had—numerous times with the military and a few times with ACRO as well. “No. I keep meaning to travel more but—”

She reached a hand out to him, covering his forearm. “It'll get better, Trance. Now that you know what you are, you can control it.”

His gut twisted from the guilt as he placed his other hand over hers, locking her cool palm between his large ones. “I'll make it better for you too, Rik.”

She attempted to pull her hand away, but he didn't let her. She was strong in human form, but no match for him. “You want me to make it better for you. Just the way you feel full and satisfied now, you're going to let me satiate you in the bedroom. Any way I want. Splayed out for me in chains on the bed, unable to move while my tongue finds all the places that drive you crazy.”

“I won't let that happen,” she breathed.

“You already have. You've let me lick you. I swear I can still taste you—sweet. Addictive.” He smiled. “I can already hear you moaning. Letting go. Submitting to me.”

“Jesus. Jesus,” she whispered, and this time he allowed her to take her hand away. Then she stared at it, rubbed one palm with the other before she spoke. “I need to shower.”

“Yes, I'd like you clean. Wet.”

She jolted in her seat as he continued, “Hurry, Rik. I don't like to be kept waiting.”

She stared at him for a second, obviously torn, before she rose and fled toward the guest bedroom.

J
UST BEFORE
D
EV
left the office for home that evening, Marlena had assured him that security had no knowledge of the new recruit's trip to Devlin's house last night. The men and women who'd worked night detail had been thoroughly questioned.

“Apparently, they'd been waiting for him to arrive—he was being allowed to bring himself to the ACRO gates, his Convincers following behind his cab in their car. Jack said he saw the recruit get out of the cab, and just like that, he was gone,” Marlena explained.

Jack, one of his best Convincers, had been roaming around the ACRO grounds looking for the guy when Devlin called security to come and pick him up.

“So he's some kind of fucking Houdini, then,” Dev muttered.

“Would you like Jack reprimanded for leaving the new recruit alone?” Marlena asked, knowing full well Dev would do no such thing. He knew, better than any of them, that sometimes a man—or woman—had to walk through those gates on their own terms. He understood the pride that came with that decision, and even though many of the ACRO operatives were far too unstable to be trusted to do so on their own, the ones who were always came back to thank Dev for that later.

“That's all for tonight,” he told her instead of answering her question. There was a brief pause, as if she was waiting—hoping—for him to invite her over. But when he didn't say anything, she simply said, “Good night, Devlin,” and hung up.

He felt slightly spacey, almost dizzy, and realized he hadn't eaten anything today after his morning workout. It had been an intense one—he'd trained with Annika and afterward had been too busy to do anything but glance at the plates Marlena kept bringing him. And so he headed to the kitchen.

He stared into the refrigerator and then closed it. He was hungry, yes, but it wasn't for food; it was the persistent, sexual ache that had begun when he met the new operative the night before.

Kira would help the kid, and Annika would do the rest once she got back from England. He was sure of it.

But when the doorbell rang at exactly midnight, he groaned and cursed and then stood on the other side of the door praying he was wrong about who he'd find when he opened it.

No such luck. The nameless new recruit waited there, his arms crossed. And he didn't look happy.

“What the hell are you doing back here?” Dev demanded. Security would hear about this—loud and clear. Heads would fucking roll.

The young man sighed loudly, not bothering to hide his temper. “I'm so fucking sick of this shit. You called for me. I was sleeping—that same guy woke me the fuck up and told me you needed to see me to discuss some crap about the animals I worked with today.”

Dev clenched his teeth and ground his words out. “I don't discuss things with new recruits. You'll need to be trained before you've got a shot at going out on a mission for ACRO, never mind talking with me.” He sounded like the ultimate asshole, but it was true. The only operatives he talked missions with were those he'd known the longest and the higher-ups. For the others, he depended on their sups.

“Look, I don't need to be here. At ACRO. I've got places I can go.”

Dev smiled at the cocky stance. “Like where—jail?”

“Ah, fuck you. What, you know everything? You've read my file?”

“I don't have to read your file—I can read you, clear as day. I'm psychic.”

The young man smirked. “So tell me what I'm thinking right now.”

Dev hesitated and then, “I'll need to touch you in order to do that. Just hold out your hand, palm up.”

It was the young man's turn to hesitate, but he did what Dev asked. Dev put his own palm on the warmer one and closed his eyes.

He didn't need the closed-eye bullshit, but he always found it a nice touch. Plus, he didn't want the guy to be able to read his expression. Lately, Dev hadn't had much of a poker face.

I want you to fuck me. Hard
.

Now, that made Dev's eyes open fast—his mouth dropped too as he stared into the younger man's eyes and wondered if this was all a game to him. “You shouldn't ask for things you don't want delivery on,” Dev said finally.

“That's a generic answer if I ever heard one.”

“You want me to fuck you. Hard.”

The man's eyes blazed, cheeks flushed at being caught. He yanked his hand away but Dev grabbed his wrist. “Isn't that what you were thinking?”

“No,” the man said hoarsely, but he was lying just the way Dev had lied to himself last night.

There was no point in denying it anymore. “What's your name? Never mind, don't tell me—that's not important.”

With that, Dev curled his hand around the back of the younger man's neck and pulled him in, brought his lips down on the incredibly full ones, hard and fast. Because there was no other choice for Dev now.

The young man's chest heaved, and he held his hands away from Dev's body as if he wasn't going to let it happen. But Dev's kiss was insistent, and finally, finally, the man moaned into his mouth and grabbed Dev's shoulders. Responded with his own tongue, let it play against Dev's in a fiercely sensual kiss that lasted until neither of them could breathe.

Until Dev could barely hold himself up. He pulled away from the kiss, went to pull away from the embrace, but the other man's strength held him there.

Excedo. No doubt about it. Even the ones who didn't have superstrength were still much stronger than average. But the way the man held him, Dev knew the new recruit hadn't a clue just how much strength he had.

The young man panted out, “It's Gabe—Gabriel. My name. You asked before—shit…”