At One's Pleasure (15 page)

“Fuckin’
finally she sees.”  He rested his forehead against hers, his eyes closing, his
voice going soft.  “However this may have started with our wolves, it’s the man
that can’t keep from touching you.  It’s the man who needs you in the room to
breathe easy, and it’s the man that looks at you and knows he’s never seen
anything so beautiful; every fucking time he looks at you.”  She wrapped her
arms around his shoulders and buried her face in his neck on a sob.  He picked
her up off her feet, his arms around her waist.

Rebecca felt
the surety of his feeling radiating off him.  She still didn’t understand why
he felt them, but she could no longer doubt that his feelings were as real as
hers.  “I don’t deserve you.”  She mumbled against his neck.

Jacob
laughed, shaking his head.  “And there she is again, talking out her ass.”

Her head
snapped up and she glared at him.  “Stop saying that, I am not.”

“Babe.” 
That was it, the full extent of his argument in that beleaguered tone.

She huffed,
locking one elbow around his neck for support she wiped her wet cheeks with the
back of her other hand.  “You are so annoying.”

“But you
love me anyway.”

Becca froze,
her eyes flying to his serious face.  She swallowed against the lump forming in
her throat.  “Jacob…”

He bounced her
higher, so he could cradle her in his arms.  She had to stop her argument and
scramble for purchase.  “Don’t speak, baby,” he said, all confidence.  “You’ll
just piss me off again.”

“You…”  She
growled.  “You are just so frustrating.”

He turned
and passed her over to Griffin’s waiting arms with a laugh.  Griffin, who had
been standing with Linc listening the entire time she had her talk with Jacob. 
She looked up and he was looking down with her with a decidedly unhappy look in
his eyes. 

Well
Crap.

He studied
her for a long minute then seemed to relax marginally.  “You clear in your head
now.”

She licked
her lips and nodded, her eyes wide.

“You ever
look at me with that look on your face like you did today, I really will pound
some sense into that sweet ass.  Whatever others might see in an Alpha female,
you are not that to me, to any of us, and you better know that.”

She blew out
a breath she wasn’t aware she had been holding.  “Griffin, I just…”  She huffed
again.  “If I say I don’t get what you see in me is it going to piss you off
too?”

“Immeasurably,”
he growled.

She laughed,
rolling her eyes.  She tilted her head and studied his face much as she had Jacob’s. 
She watched her own hand move through his hair and push it back while he closed
his eyes and enjoyed it.  She yanked a bit until his opened again and she
smiled.  “I suppose I’ll just accept that you’re all crazy and thank my lucky
stars then.”

On a growl,
he lunged his head to kiss her, staking his claim all over again, while her
arms wrapped around him holding on for the ride.  She felt his relief and
possession in every second of that kiss.  Rebecca realized only after he raised
his head leaving her completely out of breath and buzzing with electric need
that the weight on her chest was gone.  

Then he
passed her into Linc’s waiting arms.  His eyes were the color of storm clouds. 
Though the emotions they bathed on her were soft and fine and not harsh like
she had expected.

“Linc I…” 

“Shh.”  He
interrupted her before she could explain.  “You don’t have to say anything,
just let me hold you for a few minutes before we have to leave again.”

So, she
wrapped her arms around him and held on, and they stayed that way until he had
to go again.

Griffin,
Linc and Logan, who was hefting a scary impressive rifle, left as soon as they
changed clothes and went over the security procedures.  Since they were limited
in numbers Cleo was staying in the main part of the suite with them, armed with
more knives and guns than Rebecca had ever seen, even in action films.  She
should have clanged when she walked, instead she moved with the same easy
silent grace that defined her.

“How are you
standing up under all that weight?”  Rebecca was having a coffee curled on the
couch, which she desperately needed after her crying jag.  Cleo had just come
back from wherever their secret stash of badass security stuff was kept, and
she was packing serious heat.

Cleo blinked
at her, clearly not understanding the question.  “What do you mean?”

Rebecca
shook her head.  “You’re wearing about 100 pounds of badass, how are you not
falling over or clanking when you walk?”  Rebecca tilted her head, her eyes
narrowed to try to see all of it.  “Is that a machine gun on your back?”

“Don’t be
ridiculous.”  Cleo rolled her eyes.  “It’s a Mac-10 machine pistol.”  When
Rebecca just looked blank she went on.  “It’s a semi-automatic.”

“And there’s
a difference?”

Cleo gave
her an exasperated look.  “A machine gun is capable of fully automatic fire. 
As long as you squeeze the trigger it will spray bullets, a semi-automatic has
an automatic reload but you have to pull the trigger separately for each
round.”

“I stand
corrected.”  Becca sipped her coffee, studying the young woman.  “You do know
you can be a little scary.”

“Yeah,
well.  You should meet my dad.”

Once Griffin
and Linc had kissed her good-bye and gone over, one more time, what to do in
any possible situation they left.  Logan followed close behind after doing the
manly commando chin lift toward Cleo.  She did a passable job of returning the
gesture seeing how she was missing the traditional chromosome for it.  Then she
checked the doors and windows for the third time and sat down with Becca and
Jacob to wait it out.  Though, after just a few minutes she was up and pacing.

Since Jacob
had joined her on the couch she was curled into his side, wedged quite
comfortably beneath his shoulder, while they sipped their freshened coffee and
watched Cleo pace.

“You know,”
Jacob said.  “I have met a few Lion shifter females in my time and you are
nothing like them.”

Cleo stopped
and turned to look at him.  “What do you mean?”

“Just that
they tend to be distant and well...”  He stopped and looked uncomfortable. 
Cleo raised a brow and smiled with a lot of teeth.

“Is the word
you’re looking for ‘useless’?”

He
shrugged.  “Pretty much.  I always thought it was a breed thing.  “You know,
the lazy lion?”

Cleo started
fingering her knife. 
Not a good sign. 
“Female lions are the hunters in
the wild.  It isn’t nature that makes them sit on their asses all day and be
good for nothing but a decoration, or breeding.”

Clearly,
this was a sore subject.  Becca jumped in before Jacob could innocently say
anything else that would make the pretty beast shining from Cleo’s eyes angry. 
“Well you are definitely proof of that.  I’ve never met anyone who I admire
more.”

Cleo
blinked, opened her mouth, unsure.  “That’s…what?”

“You’re
smart, independent, handle angry wolves with scary flare and I’m told you can
fly just about anything with wings.”  Becca smiled at the younger woman who was
standing there looking so confused.  “And you’re fun to be around.  I actually
think I want to be you when I grow up.”

“What she
said,” Jacob added smiling again.  “Except for that last part.  I like my
dick.”

Rebecca
laughed, looking from Cleo to Jacob.  “Idiot.”

Cleo dropped
into the chair across from them looking at the two of them with roses blooming
in her cheeks.  “Do you really think that or are you just trying to calm down
the crazed lion with the Mach-10 machine pistol.”

Rebecca
looked at her, exaggerating the fluttering of her lashes.  “Can’t it be both?”

Cleo started
shaking her head, and looked away trying to conceal the smile that was taking
over her face.  Then she laughed.  “You know I have spent most of my life
around men.  I can count on one hand the women I have met who I genuinely
admired.  One of them died, the other two I met just recently and now you.” 
She turned and smiled fully at Rebecca.  “It means something to have a woman
you admire say what you just said… So thanks.”

Rebecca
pulled in a breath, wondering if she was going to start crying again.  She
swallowed and licked dry lips.  “Cleo Gibbs, I can say with all sincerity:
Right back at you.”

While they
were smiling at each other and basking in the power of womanhood, a rock
crashed through the window and lodged into the far wall.  Becca was on the
floor a second later with Jacob crouching over her.  Cleo hit the lights and
they were suddenly shrouded in darkness. 

“Cleo?” 
Jacob’s voice was a hard rasp above her.

“I got one
wolf coming this way but I don’t recognize the scent.”

Jacob raised
his head enough to sniff.  When Rebecca would have moved he held her in place. 
“Stay down Becca.”  He directed the rest to Cleo, his voice was methodical, but
Becca could feel the rage he suppressed.  “I got the same.  One wolf I do not
know.  A mutt in pack territory is suicidally stupid, and one alone makes zero
sense.”

  “No it
doesn’t.  I’m calling for back-up, stay down.”  But before she could pull out
her phone and get a call out there was a boom on the porch that sent all the
glass from the French doors flying at them.  “He’s lobbing grenades.  We can’t
defend here.”  Cleo yelled, taking cover.

“Fuck
this.”  Jacob growled and Rebecca could feel the change like little bites of
power along her skin.  Then Jacob was up.  “Get Rebecca out,” he called to
Cleo, even as she cursed and ducked the next boom that rocked the walls and set
shrapnel flying.

“Jacob!” 
Rebecca tried to grab for him but he was gone too fast.  She watched as he
flashed to wolf while taking a flying leap
through
the closed French
doors.

“Come on,”
Cleo said, suddenly there and grabbing her arm to drag her up.  “Your boys
buying us time, we need to get somewhere defensible.”  She handed Becca the
phone.  “Logan is speed dial two.  Send the text 911 to that number while I
defend.  They’ll know to come back rapidly.”  As soon as there was no longer a
phone in Cleo’s hand a gun appeared in it.  Becca blinked at the speed she had
pulled that out of wherever.  Glass crunched under their feet while they
moved.  Cold was coming through the shattered doors.  Becca shook herself,
gripping the phone hard. 
Call first, get distracted by inconsequential
details later.
  She made the call.

“What about
Jacob?”  She asked it even as she was following the other woman out of the
room. 

“The mutt is
leading him away and I don’t like the feel of this.  At all.  We get you to
safety.  When Logan gets back with the others we can go after Jacob.”

They took
the stairs slowly, Cleo scenting around every corner until they arrived in the
lobby.  The silent lobby.

“Where is
everyone?”  Rebecca whispered it, but before Cleo could answer there was a
shwoop sound and then Cleo slumped over.  Rebecca was grabbing for her before
she hit the floor.  “Cleo!” 

Another
shwoop and Rebecca felt a sting in her right shoulder and then everything faded
to black.

***

As soon as
Jacob realized he was being led away he dropped pursuit with a curse, turning
back for Rebecca.  As wolf, he ate up the snow-covered miles and cursed his own
foolishness.  If Rebecca was hurt while he was chasing a fucking decoy he would
never forgive himself.

He had
launched himself over yet another ice-coated boulder when he was hit by a whir
of black from the side.  They rolled through the snow and he felt teeth sink
deep, ripping into his hide.  He roared, scrambling until he could dislodge the
attacker.  He turned and lunged, danced back when the other wolf jumped to his
feet and came back with a vengeance. 

No time,
Jacob
thought. 
Becca has no time for this shit.

When the
other wolf lunged again, Jacob put everything he had on a leap that took him
over the other wolf, he turned and bit down on his back flank tasting blood as
it gushed and the mutt yelped his pain.  He danced out of reach when he would
have retaliated, but Jacob didn’t waste time and was back ripping into the
first vulnerable spot he could find.  Then he was gone, leaving the mutt behind
to bleed out, or not.  He didn’t give a fuck.  At that moment all that was
important was reaching Becca.

When he made
it back to the resort he was still too late, both Rebecca and Cleo were gone. 
He followed their scent from the lobby where they had fallen to the street
outside and then lost it when the smells of exhaust and metal took over.  He
threw back his head and howled his rage to the night, and in the distance, he
received an answer. 

***

When Griffin
and Linc arrived at the rendezvous point they were not exactly surprised to
smell other wolves.  The amount of other wolves and the fact that none of them
smelled familiar was where the surprise came in, and then they were being
rushed from all sides.  The attackers didn’t even wait until they made the
meeting sight, they just came out of the trees in one wide formation bent on
carnage. 

Of course,
the rogue wolves hadn’t planned on Logan.  Six shots, and Griffin and Linc were
looking around at a ring of dead wolves.  The closest was a good three feet
away where he lay dead, missing significant parts of his head.

Linc raised
a brow at the speed of it.  “I think we can safely say that the Lionsgate
security reputation is not, in fact, exaggerated.”

“Yes,”
Griffin growled low, “But I don’t know these wolves, and we can hardly question
them with perfect bullet holes in their heads, now can we?”

“Not to
mention you didn’t get to do any rending of your own.”

“No, by
fuck, I did not.”

“Look on the
bright side,” Linc said.  He nudged one of the dead wolves with his foot. 
“Maybe there’ll be a second wave of deadly rogues bent on our death before
Logan can reload.”

Griffin
perked up, then looked over at his top enforcer, with narrowed eyes.  “You’ve
been spending too much time with our mate.  You’re starting to sound like her.”

“You mean
the unlimited optimism, or the not so subtle use of sarcasm?”

“Exactly.”

Linc
chuckled, standing patiently for a few more minutes.  “Do you suppose we’ve
played bait long enough?”

“Logan will
give us the all clear when we can move out.”

Just then
the man in question, came barreling out of the trees.  He didn’t bother to
stop, just jumped over the carcasses, and called.  “Change of plans.  Just got
a 911 from Cleo.  They got trouble.”

Neither
Griffin nor Linc felt the need to ask questions, they just headed for the
4-wheel drive and prayed that they would get there before anyone was hurt. 

The drive
back was on two wheels most of the way.  Logan was driving so fast, they made
it back in half the time despite the danger of icy roads.  Still, it was the
longest trip of their lives.  They had just made the final turn when they heard
Jacob’s rage filled howl in the distance. 

Rebecca.
 
Was all Griffin could think.  Then he threw back his head and howled wolf agony
from a human throat.  Both Linc and Logan joined him and it became a promise
that wolves would hear from miles away.  Even the most dangerous among them
would shiver at the message delivered deep in the dark of their primal brain. 
Someone was going to bleed.

***

Not long
after, the phone rang hundreds of miles away.  Lucas Gibbs answered after the
second ring.  Knowing from the caller ID who was calling, and that at two a.m.
it was never good news, his voice was already sand paper gruff when he spoke. 
“Report.”

“Cleo’s been
compromised.  Taken, along with her protectee.  Both, unharmed, last we can
tell.”

“No one
could take Cleo unharmed.”

“We found
tranqs.”

“Fuck.”

“We’re
searching now.  I’ll find her, or she’ll wake up, either way they’ll be in a
world of hurt.”

“Who?”

“Looks like
rogue wolves, mutts, but there are a shit load of them.  Already killed six,
smelled four more where they got Cleo.  Figure hired muscle.”

“I can be
there in a few hours.”

“Bringing
you here would be like setting off a nuclear bomb and calling it fireworks.”

Lucas huffed
in annoyance.  “What does that even mean, you glib bastard?”

“It means,
Cleo can handle herself and I can handle the rest.  You come here and we’re
going to be hip deep in rendered body parts and unnecessary carnage.  We got
this.”

Lucas
gritted his teeth so hard they should have buckled from the pressure.  “That’s
my daughter, Logan.”

“Yeah, and
if you come riding to the rescue before she has a chance to salvage the
situation, she’s going to think you don’t trust her to handle herself.”

Silence,
then.  “I want reports every fucking five minutes.”

“I’ll call
when something changes.”

“I should
have court-martialed your insubordinate ass when I had the chance.”

“You can
always fire me later.”  He hung up. 

Lucas Gibbs
very gently turned off the phone and placed it on the table.  Then he picked up
a lamp and hurled it through the plate glass window that showed a pristine view
of the Napa valley spread beneath a starry sky.