TherianPrey (4 page)

Unable to resist the temptation, he leaned down and found
her clit with the tip of his tongue. She started, her hips jerking,
inadvertently driving his tongue deeper into her folds. Her taste coated his
tongue and her scent filled his head. He wanted more! He wanted to bury his
face between her thighs and feel her come against his lips.
Not yet
. She
wasn’t ready for something that brazen.

He moved his mouth to her belly and slid his finger in and
out. She lasted all of three rotations and then her inner muscles clamped
around his finger and she arched with a powerful orgasm. He slid his thumb up
to her clit and kept the spasms going as long as he could. She started to relax
then tensed again as an aftershock sneaked up on her.

Through it all, he watched her face, captivated by the
beauty of her surrender. She’d fought her need every step of the way, but in
the end, she’d lost herself completely in the pleasure. And every tingle, every
pulse played out across her expressive features, giving him a glimpse of what
it would be like to claim her as his mate.

His mate? What was wrong with him? She wasn’t meant for
someone like him. Kyle never would have let him near her if he’d known she was
in heat. If she was as important as Kyle thought, she would bond with an alpha,
perhaps even a Prime.

Slowly withdrawing his hand from between her thighs, he
pulled her pants back into place before he looked into her eyes. “Any better?”

She nodded, her face flushed, eyes still a little dazed.

“Will you be all right for a while or would you like some
more?” he asked with a playful grin.

“I’m fine.” She wiggled out from under him and zipped up her
pants. Without asking permission, she crawled into the front seat, giving him a
delightful view of her denim-covered ass.

He pushed open the door and sucked in a lungful of cool
mountain air. Hoping she wasn’t watching, he quickly licked her cream from his
fingers, needing the hormone-rich fluid more than she could possibly know. His
erection was still painful, but there was no help for it. He couldn’t trust her
to sit there quietly while he went into the trees and relieved the pressure. As
if that would help anyway. He needed her, not some pointless release!

“How long will this heat thing last?”

With Carissa’s taste lingering on his tongue and her scent
imprinted on his brain, Quinn started the truck and tried to steady his
breathing. His efforts to bank her fire had only intensified the need raging
through him. He wanted her naked and writhing beneath him as he rocked between
her thighs. Instead, she sat beside him, flushed and tense, cautious even after
his steely control. The hunger was guaranteed to return. Hopefully, they’d
reach his cabin before the next wave hit.

Driving up the banked trail and back onto the highway, he
headed deeper into the mountains.

He’d thought this would be a simple “find and retrieve” when
Kyle asked for his help two days before. Kyle was more brother than friend.
They’d known each other their entire lives. So when Kyle’s search went cold in
the Colorado mountains, asking Quinn for assistance had been the obvious
choice.

“Fine.” She harrumphed, crossing her arms over her chest.
“If we’re not going to talk about the alien that took over my body, at least
tell me where we’re going and why you’re so damn sure it’s safer than my
place.”

He fought back a smile. He’d take a feisty female over a
sullen one any day. “I’m not dodging your question. I’m just not sure how to
tell you the specifics without explaining some basics first.”

“While you’re figuring out the basics, give me back my phone
so I can call my sister.”

“Kyle said her calls are going straight to voicemail. She
probably has it turned off.” He dug her phone out of his pocket and handed it
to her. She hesitated, thumbs hovering over the tiny keyboard. The tension in
her features made her dilemma obvious. “If you honestly think the police can
help you, be my guest.”

“They’d think I was crazy…or drunk,” she muttered then
activated the phone. She tried her call twice before she powered down the phone
with a sigh. “Straight to voicemail, just like you said.” She put the phone in
her pocket and looked at him, her expression a combination of hostility and
curiosity. “How do you know Osric?”

God, she was gorgeous. With a distinct widow’s peak framing
her forehead, her face took on an enticing heart shape. Her delicate features
made her feisty personality even more surprising. The dim interior of the truck
couldn’t hide the flash of her eyes, though shadows stole their bright blue
color. “I don’t really know him. I’m here because Kyle asked for my help.”

“Who is Kyle? You keep saying his name as if I should know
who he is.”

“He’s part of the larger picture. It’s best if we don’t get
caught up in the details.”

“Fine. Then what does Osric want with Ava?”

“How much do you know about your father?”

She pulled the seat belt away from her chest and glanced out
the window. He had the irrational urge to stroke her velvety cheek. He knew how
soft her skin was and wanted to explore her warmth and texture as she wiggled
and arched beneath him.

“He terrorized my mother and filled my childhood with fear.”
Her hoarse admission sent a jolt of compassion through his lust and focused his
attention on their conversation. “The only way to escape his abuse was to
convince him we were dead.”

And the bastard she’d just described had Ava. He hoped the
realization would help her understand the seriousness of the situation. “How
did you accomplish the disappearance? The age of electronic transactions and
video surveillance has made disappearing a lot more complicated than it used to
be.”

“We had help.”

“Who helped you?”

Her eyes narrowed and her lips thinned. “It doesn’t matter.”

She offered no more information and he didn’t pry. If he
determined that past events directly related to the present circumstance, he’d
revisit the subject later.

“You promised to explain what this is all about,” she
prompted.

She’d already seen the wolves shift. It was going to take
more than another transformation to make her understand. “Your mother was born
into a close-knit society, one with strict rules and expectations.”

“You make her sound Amish.”

“There are similarities, but the structure in our world was
developed by necessity, not a fervent belief in religious traditions.”

“‘Our world’? Are you part of this ‘close-knit society’?” A
note of mockery crept into her tone and he narrowed his gaze. Her
rebelliousness challenged his animal nature. If she kept it up, they’d never
make it to the cabin. He’d find another place to park and drag her into the
backseat so they could finish what they’d started!

That wasn’t fair. She wasn’t an experienced Therian female
issuing a sexual challenge. She was afraid and confused. And she knew nothing
about their world. He raked his hair with his hand, determined not to give in
to his frustration. “Kyle was supposed to do this. I’m a tracker, not a
diplomat.”

“Then why didn’t you go after Ava?”

“You’d really rather be with the wolves right now?” Silence
expanded as he fought for a simple way to explain all she needed to know.

“How do I know you’re any better? You could be in this
together for all I know.” Uncertainty trembled through her tone, but her gaze
remained challenging.

“In a way, I suppose we are. We’re all after the same thing.
But the wolves will take it by force while my clan would rather give you a
choice.”

“Your
clan
? What does that mean?”

He took a deep breath and repositioned his hands on the
wheel. “We’re all part of the Therian nation. I’m felinethropic. The two in
your house were lycanthropic.”

“They were werewolves?”

“Werewolves are different. They transform into a creature
half human, half wolf. And they’re bound by the cycles of the moon. A Therian
can shift at will from human into animal. We’re one or the other, not a mutated
combination of both.”

“You told Kyle you could still smell Osric. That doesn’t
sound fully human to me.”

There was so much to tell her, but he had to stay focused on
the major issues. “There are exceptions. In our human form, we can often access
animal abilities, increased speed, feline agility, ultra-sharp hearing, that
sort of thing. And some Therians can manage partial shifts. A wolf will
manifest claws or—”

“
Feline
thropic. You transform into some sort of cat?”

He paused, trying to assess her reaction. Her expression was
blank, her voice tense. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking. “My mother
manifested as a black jaguar and my father as a cougar. I can shift into
either, but I’m strongest in jaguar form. Your father is a tiger and your
mother… Well, now that’s complicated.”

One corner of her mouth twitched and she quickly looked out
the side window. “Isn’t everything.” She wasn’t buying a word of it. How had
she gone from shocked acceptance to amused denial in under a heartbeat?

“They were both members of the Rocky Mountain Feline
Network.”

“That sounds like a motorcycle gang or an RV club.” She
returned her gaze to his face. “I’ve thought of another possibility. You’re an
illusionist, like one of those guys in Las Vegas. Good job, Quinn, your act is
damn convincing.”

“You’re not taking this seriously.”

She laughed and shook her head. “Did you really expect me
to? I can’t explain how you turned those two into wolves, but the rest of this
is just stupid. I’m almost twenty-five. Why haven’t I sensed my ‘animal nature’
before now?”

“Therian females are born latent.” Why was he bothering? She
wasn’t going to believe him until he gave her visible proof of his claims.
Still, he wanted to offer her as much information as possible before the
burning flared again. “It’s nature’s way of giving our race some sort of
control over our future.”

A bit of her amusement ebbed. “I don’t understand.”

“Therian females can be ‘defined’ as any of the
subcategories regardless of her parents.” He glanced at her then fixed his gaze
on the road. “If one of the wolves had defined you—”

“I’d turn into a wolf rather than a cat?”

“Yes.” He sighed. She seemed to be listening, even if she wasn’t
accepting what she heard.

For a long time she said nothing. He thought she might have
dismissed the story outright, and then she said, “Even if all this is true,
which I seriously doubt. How does it explain Ava’s abduction?”

“We’re almost there.” He turned off the highway onto an
unmarked dirt road. “Let me prove to you that I’m not full of shit then we’ll
get into all the details.”

“Are you going to turn into a panther for me?”

“Panther is a generic term for any black cat. I’m either a
black jaguar or a yellow cougar. I’ll let you pick, but I’m wasting my breath
until you believe the fundamental truth of our existence.”

She smiled, though wariness crept into her gaze. “This
should be fun.”

His cabin was set back from the dirt road, a gravel drive
leading to a detached garage. The steep A-frame design of both buildings kept
snow from piling up on the roof as well as providing rustic charm. He activated
the door opener and pulled into the crowded garage. With a trail bike, street
bike and a wide selection of sports equipment, there was barely enough room
left for his truck.

She shoved her door open as soon as he killed the engine.
“My shoes are still behind the seat.”

After retrieving her shoes, he led her out the side door and
motioned her toward the cabin. She paused to look around then reluctantly
obeyed. Even with a three-quarter moon, all she could see was the silhouette of
the buildings and a shadowy impression of the surrounding trees.

A sharp, unfamiliar cry drew her attention skyward.
Something massive passed over the moon then swooped toward them in a perilous
dive. She ducked and covered her head with her arms, her shrill scream
radiating into the darkness.

Quinn reached for the gun tucked into the back of his pants,
but a booted foot kicked him squarely in the chest, knocking him backward. The
winged creature turned on Carissa, spinning her to face him as he wrapped his
arms around her struggling body. The intruder turned his head and offered Quinn
a mock nod before launching himself into the sky.

Quinn watched in helpless disbelief as the woman he was
supposed to protect disappeared beyond the treetops. “Unbelievable!” He dragged
his phone out of his pocket and called Kyle. “He hired a freaking raptor! Did
you know about this?”

“A raptor? Where are you? Do you still have Carissa?”

“I’m at my cabin. We stepped out of the garage and the
fucking bird attacked us.”

“Are you sure it was—”

“Six foot six with a twelve-foot wingspan. Yeah, I’m sure it
was a Therian raptor.”

“Is Carissa all right?”

He hated to admit his failure, but this was no time to guard
his ego. “The raptor flew off with her.”

“Seriously?”

“No. I thought the story would amuse you.”

“Shit. Just shit!” The phone picked up a distinct crash, and
Quinn wondered what Kyle had thrown. “I knew nothing about a raptor. There
aren’t that many of them left. I’ll see what I can find out.”

Quinn blew out a ragged breath, needing an outlet for his
own frustration. “They headed southeast, but even I can’t track a raptor.”

“Just hang out for a few. Let me see what I can learn.”

He didn’t doubt Kyle’s connections. He just hated being
idle, even temporarily. “You have fifteen minutes then I’m out of here. Have
you caught up with Osric yet?”

“I’m not having much better luck than you are.” Kyle’s laugh
was harsh and humorless. “Ava gave his men the slip. Now it’s a race to see who
can find her first, my team or the wolf trackers.”