Gifted with Hydrangea (16 page)

Enzo didn’t push in all the way at first. He stopped
after his head and a little bit of his shaft made it past Heath’s sphincter
muscle, to let him adjust. The burn caused a warm, satisfying heat to spread
through his balls. Heath hissed and tried to push out as Enzo pushed forward
and pulled back in a rhythm, looking down at him intensely the entire time,
until Heath felt Enzo’s heavy balls flatten against his ass. He had never
before had even close to as big a man as Enzo, so the full feeling, like he
would split apart, was a new sensation.
Yep,
definitely going to walk funny forever more.

Enzo leaned down and kissed him passionately. Heath
felt the bed dip where he balanced his weight, while the other hand skimmed
over his arm, under the pillow, and used his fingers to open Heath’s hand. Then
Enzo linked their fingers together.

Enzo’s tongue plundered Heath’s mouth, and he was lost
in the taste and sensations, until an electric bolt shot through his entire
body as Enzo hit his happy spot. Heath’s shout was swallowed by Enzo’s fervent
kiss. He was suddenly aware of the hard, hot body above him slowly moving up
and down, as he began to plunder in and out of his tight hole. With every push
in and out, he felt Enzo’s cockhead rub over his happy spot. With every pass,
another electric bolt shot through his body, and every shout and groan were
swallowed up by Enzo’s enthusiastic mouth. Heath was so overwhelmed with
euphoria, his orgasm seemed to have slammed into him out of nowhere. His balls
pulled up tight, his muscles locked, and he felt the jets of semen splash onto
his chest, and stomach. Enzo pulled slightly away, giving Heath the chance to
take in a huge breath of air and moan loud with his release.

“
Fuck, baby, you look so fucking sexy when you come,”
Enzo grunted out. “I’m
gonna
love making you come
again and again, every day, for the rest of our lives.”

Enzo’s hips continued to snap forward, in and out, in
and out. The sounds of skin slapping together chorused with their grunts and
groans. Enzo kept his eyes focused down upon him, and Heath couldn’t look
away from the intense stare. It thrilled him, making
his stomach flip. Even though he’d had a release, with all of the stimuli, he
felt another release building up. Enzo’s sweat rolled over his body. His hand
that Enzo had gripped was numb, his ass felt on fire, but all he could feel was
the pure pleasure that bolted through his entire being
every time Enzo’s heavy member rubbed over his happy
spot. He reveled in this powerful man’s desire for him.

He saw Enzo lick his lips before leaning down to bury
his nose in his neck.
This is it
,
Heath thought to himself. He briefly wondered what it was going to feel like,
and felt the weight of their future press upon him, as he tilted his head to
allow Enzo better access. Enzo’s breath tickled his neck as he puffed out, and
suddenly a sharp pain pierced his neck. Before he could respond, it morphed,
with a powerful blast, into a pleasure like nothing he had every felt before.
Dots exploded like fireworks behind his eyelids as his body locked up with
another orgasm. His ears rang as he felt more heat splattering his stomach, and
he barely heard a loud, throaty groan as the body above him jerked and tensed.
He felt heat blasting in his rectum, and then darkness consumed him.

Chapter Thirteen

It was officially twenty-four hours since the raid.
Ryker sat on a chair, looking through a clear plastic window, into the high
risk exposure tent next to them. Everyone had been put into one of several
separate isolation tents. Each had a risk level. Ryker’s was the only tent with
the lowest risk level. One tent was filled with survivors they discovered
already had the virus, so therefore they were the highest risk. And all the
others were at medi
um
risk.

Ryker’s eyes were glued to one of the shifters in
Alphy’s
tent. She had been in an experimental surgery when
they raided the lab, and she hadn’t yet awoken, which was a big concern to
everyone. Beside her, keeping acutely vigilant, was one of the rescuers from
Alphy’s
old sleuth, who claimed she was his mate. He didn’t
know what all was wrong with her, but got the impression she wouldn’t have
survived the surgery if it had been completed before they arrived. That was
enough to scare her newly found mate into a super, over-protective bear … figuratively
speaking, since the man really was a bear, but not currently in his fur.

Beside Ryker sat his team, none the least of whom was
his beloved. Enzo watched via Skype on the tablet
Neto
held. Rye could hear him talking, but wasn’t paying attention to what he was
currently saying. Movement drew his eyes away from the couple. Ryker’s brother,
Seamus, walked into the tent, fully geared in a white
HazMat
suit.
Alphy
stood, turned, and greeted him before
sitting back down. Seamus stood beside
Alphy
as they
began their meeting.

Alphy’s
calm voice carried through the barriers. “I don’t know if you were able to
tell, Enzo, but did you see the marks on some of the survivors?”

“
Like they’ve been in a fight?” Enzo asked.

“
Some of the dead bodies indicated that as well,”
Seamus’s muffled voice informed them.

“
Yes, well Ryker has been keeping busy, and he found
something out,”
Alphy
said.

Ryker smiled and waved happily to Enzo. “Hi, Enzo. So,
most of the information on the computers was already wiped out, probably as a
precaution in case we were able to link them from the lab in Philly.”

“
They were right,” Enzo growled.

“
Yes, well, they either didn’t think these files were
as important, or they just hadn’t gotten down to them yet, but after Sea told
me about the marks, it helped me get a better idea what to look for, and I was
able to find information proving they were fighting some of the shifters.”

Enzo closed his eyes and swore. Similar sounds
filtered through the connection from the others who stood out of the view of
the camera.

Ryker looked down at his screen and continued. “They
were making big money on them, too. The good news is that the information on
the fights links several alphas, including Smith, to the labs. And as for the
corrupt councilmen, they seemed to have also made bets on the fights, so it
gives us enough proof to point out who on the council supported all of this,
including the head councilman. I am still deciphering all of the information,
but I already sent a copy of what I have to the council, who has already
ordered an inquisition, starting with
Neto’s
testimony.”

“
Yes. He’ll be gone a few days after the
HazMat
team clears him,”
Alphy
informed Enzo.

“
Do you know when that will be?” Enzo asked.

“
I’m keeping them for another twenty-four hours. Then
after that…” Seamus shrugged.

Neto
finished for him. “After
that, I will be picking Isa up first, and staying through her testimony, as
well. So it could take a week or two, or a month. It depends on how long they
take composing questions to ask us.”

“
How are they going to make judgments? Something like
this would require the head councilman, but if he’s also being charged, what
are they going to do?” Enzo asked.

Alphy
leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “Tyler told me they are
making a committee comprised of several out-of-country councilmen. He said all
of them are disturbed that several on one council were in on it. It is
something they are more than eager to investigate. Some have even started
investigating their own councilmen as a precaution to be certain it was
isolated to the US only.”

“
Is Tyler going to be one of the judges on for the
council?” Ryker recognized
Kace’s
voice through the
link.

Alphy
answered, “No, because the Canadian Councilman Ghost
is going to also be an official witness, it creates a
conflict of interest. Also, the other countries where shifters were abducted,
like the Philippines, where
Maysa
was abducted from,
are also disqualified.”

“
Speaking of which,” Seamus said, “one of the infected
survivors is her brother.”

“
Shit, I’m sorry to hear that, Sea,”
Alphy
said soberly.

“
Me, too,” Ryker added. “Is there a cure?”

“
Not as yet,” Seamus replied thoughtfully. “However,
we’ve been insisting the captured scientists help.”

Enzo snorted in disbelief. “I can’t imagine you are
getting much help out of them.”

“
On the contrary, they are most helpful,” he said with
a triumphant smile.

Alphy
shot him a look of disbelief. “How’d you manage that?”

Ryker recognized the look that crossed over Seamus’s
face. It was the one that he hated most. It usually meant Seamus had killed, or
was about to kill, someone.

“
I simply told them if they don’t assist us positively,
I was going to send them in to the tents with the infected shifters without
protective gear. They, of course, didn’t believe me until I actually threw one
in. I’ve learned quite a lot by watching the virus work its way through his
body. It really does move through a human’s body quite rapidly. I believe he
will expire soon.” Seamus’s voice sounded very matter-of-fact.

Ryker fought hard to hold in his laugh. Seamus smiled
smugly.
Alphy
had his head in his hands. Everyone had
a shocked looked on their faces, and Enzo had his hand over his mouth, while
his shoulders shook, most likely with mirth. In the background, he heard someone
chuckling.

Ryker held his thumbs up to his brother. “Awesome job,
big brother.”

Seamus gave a slight tilt of his head. “Thank you. I
have not had troubles with the others since.”

“
Damn, Sea,” Enzo finally said, shaking his head, “and
I thought what you did to that hunter was bad. I’m glad you’re on our side.”

“
I hope you get an antidote before
Maysa’s
brother dies,” Ryker told Seamus, seriously.

“
I do, too. She hasn’t been eating or sleeping well.
She’s torn between staying beside her brother to comfort him, and working on a
cure. The best we have been able to do is figure out a way to slow it down.
That has bought us a little bit of time, but I’m worried it isn’t enough.”

A call from another man in a
HazMat
suit, who was leaning over one of the other guys, came from behind Seamus.

“
Excuse me,” Seamus said, as he stood up and walked
back to the suited up doctor.

The group started talking amongst themselves, so Ryker
tuned them out and focused on the information he was digging up, on his screen.
He was startled nearly out of his skin when strong arms wrapped around him and
pulled him back, and alarms began blaring all around them. He didn’t look at
who had grabbed him because he knew it was his belov
ed
, but what he did see, through the plastic barrier window,
made his blood feel like ice running through his veins.

Several of the men were trying to hold down two others
as several more people in bio suits rushed in to help. He heard shouts and
gruff screams. Another man in the room began to shift.
Alphy
tackled the shifting male, throwing them both over a bed.

“
What’s happening? Someone tell me what the hell is
going on!” he heard Enzo shouting through the tablet.

Ryker held on tight to his beloved’s arm. It was an
anchor in a storm of chaos. His laptop lost and forgotten, Ryker couldn’t take
his eyes off the scene. He couldn’t think, except the sole thought of how
grateful he was he was secure in his beloved’s arms.

****

Rudo
sat quietly and listened
to the others around him talk, but his mind wasn’t focused on it. It calmed him
to hear the tapping and clicking noises his mate made as Ryker did his magic on
his laptop. He would forever be amazed by how smart his little mate was. He was
proud of Rye, and could hardly believe his good fortune that fate had chosen
him to be his mate.

He looked over to where Seamus had gone. His body
slightly tensed as he saw the shifter they were working on start to get a
little combative with Seamus and another man in a
HazMat
suit. A hand, partially shifted, shot up and clawed Seamus through his suit. He
heard Seamus shout to the other doctor to sound the alarm. The sound hurt
Rudo’s
ears, but he ignored it as he grabbed his mate
around the waist, and began pulling as far away from the other tent as
possible. The others in his tent followed, all huddling against the far end,
away from the chaos. He now had both arms wrapped around Ryker as he heard
Neto
finally answer Enzo, whose shouts weren’t helping
their nerves any.

The minutes felt like hours as they watched
helplessly. He felt his mate shaking in his arms, but it wasn’t fear he sensed,
as much as it was sorrow.

“
Shh
, everything will be all right, little mate.”
He rubbed one hand up and down Ryker’s arm. He didn’t
want to lessen his grip with the other hand, so he just used his thumb to rub
Ryker’s side. And even though he wasn’t using vocal words, he dipped his head,
lightly grazing the shell of Ryker’s ear with his lips.

“
My brother’s suit was compromised. I can see blood
from here. He’s bleeding. If that shifter was infected, then now my brother is,
too.”

Rudo
continued to watch
silently as everything began to get back under control.
Alphy
had a little bit of blood on him, as well as the other guy he had tackled, who
now lay limply over the nearby up-turned bed. The alarms were finally shut off,
which had
Rudo
breathing out a sigh of relief.

Slowly, everything was put back into place. All of the
suits and
Alphy
congregated together, discussing
something. Finally, Seamus and
Alphy
walked over to
the window. Everyone approached to hear what they had to say, but they didn’t
sit down or make themselves comfortable.

Seamus removed the top of his suit. The tips of his
strawberry blond hair stuck to his sweaty skin in places. The look on his face
was somber, and
Rudo
tried to mentally prepare for
the undoubtedly bad news.

“
Three of these men are infected,” Seamus began. “When
a host becomes infected, there is an incubation time where the virus doesn’t
cause any symptoms until it matures, and becomes active. When the virus becomes
active, the first part of the disease causes the patient to be crazed, and if
they are a shifter, their animal takes over. The human scientists neglected to
tell me the shifter’s animal takes over violently.”

Alphy
growled low, and his look, though it wasn’t directed at any of them, made
Rudo
feel intimidated.

“
They said they forgot, because they always gave the
shifters a shifting inhibitor to prevent that from occurring.”
Alphy
nearly spat the words out.

“
What happens now?” Enzo asked.

“
Now,” Seamus continued, “
Alphy
and I are going to start the serum that we have created so far. Maybe if we get
it early enough, it will stop it from progressing.” But the look of doubt on
Seamus’s face indicated that the chances of that were highly unlikely.

Rudo
hadn’t let go of his mate,
and it was a good thing because Ryker’s legs buckled, and he felt his mate’s
sobs rack through his slim body.
Rudo
turned him and
held him close to his heart.

****

Alphy
paced their confined space, growling. He felt his bear grow restless, wanting
to shift. To his right … or left, depending which direction he was pacing,
Seamus sat, calmly.
Calmly!