Jacob's Faith (9 page)

He moved quickly between her thighs, pressing his thick erection against the heated, jeans covered cunt that tempted him past sanity. He stared into her shocked face, seeing the excitement that flared in her eyes, the flush of angry arousal on her cheeks.

“Be very careful, Faith,” he whispered warningly as he arched her swollen breasts into his chest, relishing the feel of her hardened nipples. “I remember well how hot and wet your cunt gets, and how tight your ass wraps around my cock. It’s your choice, which takes you when the time comes, the man or the beast. Push the beast much further, and you may well learn the conclusion of the act forced upon you in that damned Lab six years ago. Do not, Faith, push my needs for you in this manner.”

She stared up at him, her lips parted, her breathing rough and hard. Then she licked her lips. A slow, wet swipe of her tongue, the act deliberate, challenging.

There was nothing left to say. Jacob’s lips slammed down on hers as a groan was ripped from his throat. His tongue forged into her mouth, the heated depths soothing the sudden ache of it as her lips closed on him. He slanted his lips over hers, the hand holding hers behind her back arched her closer as the other curved ruthlessly around her breast, his fingers gripping the hard little nipple poking against the cloth of her shirt.

She moaned, a sound rich with longing and arousal as she met his kiss with a force of her own. Her thighs tightened on his, driving his cock tighter against the wedge of her thighs as her hips arched into him. She was a live flame in his arms, burning him, searing his body as he fought to take his fill of her lips.

And he would have. He would have taken his fill of her body, her lusts, if he had been but given a chance. As his hand went to burrow beneath her shirt, the low drone of the house alarm began to beep imperatively.

* * * * *

Jacob was on his feet, jerking Faith up behind him a second later as he rushed to the walnut wood cabinet in the corner of the room.

“Visitors,” he bit out at her surprised look.

He jerked two revolvers, and matching comm. links from the chest and pushed them to her.

She didn’t speak, but the brief glance he shot her assured him that she was following his lead efficiently. The revolver was in a readied position at her shoulder, the comm. link attached securely to her head.

“Expecting someone?” she asked him, barely a breath of a sound as they moved into the foyer, edging along the wall to the slender, tinted double windows that looked out to the front gate.

Jacob grunted sarcastically as he flipped his own unit to a private channel. He didn’t want Faith aware of the fact that the whole compound was being watched. He wanted her comfortable, relaxed, and protected.

He didn’t have to speak. When he switched over, he knew the others would be aware of it, and ready to report.

“Can’t see shit, boss.” Stygian’s voice was disgusted, angry. “I got the alarm the minute it came through, but there’s nothing out here.”

Not possible. The alarms extended fully around the hacienda’s boundaries, and were set to go off only in certain instances.

“No animals, no nothing. We found the tripped unit, and it’s definitely been tripped, but I’ll be damned if there’s anything around here,” the other Enforcer continued. “If it’s Coyote Breeds, then they’re getting smarter, or the alarm units are malfunctioning.”

The Coyote Breeds were smart enough as it was, Jacob thought furiously, they didn’t need to get smarter.

“Figure it out,” Jacob told him softly, his voice hard as he continued through the house, secure that Faith was covering his back. “Now!”

“We’re on it.” The link was broken when Jacob switched back to the private channel with Faith.

“What’s going on, Jacob?” Her voice was suspicious as they went through the lower level of the house.

“I don’t know yet,” he grunted. “Just stay behind me, and stay ready. I don’t know what tripped the alarm but I want to be sure nothing got in the house. We’ll check every room.”

* * * * *

The house was clear. There were no breached windows, no sign of trespassers. Faith moved carefully behind Jacob, her back to his, her eyes covering every inch of the rooms they moved through. They finally ended back up in the living room, where Jacob hit the switch that closed dark shades over each window and left the interior gloomy, intimate.

“So.” She turned to him, wanting answers now. “Exactly what mission are you on right now, Jacob, and who the hell were you talking to when you switched over on the comm. link?”

Chapter Seven

Jacob sighed roughly.

“The mission isn’t the problem, the possibility of Coyote Breeds are.” He raked his fingers through his hair as he faced her. “There’s a Lab around here somewhere, we just haven’t found it yet. Evidently, the Breeds they’re holding are pretty damned important too, because anyone who could have had information has been killed before I could get to them.”

A quick, thoughtful frown creased her face. “How many Enforcers do you have with you?”

“The Elite force is working with me, as well as Danson,” he told her, speaking of the team of eleven other Breeds known for their intelligence and savagery. “We’ve been working on this for a year now, with only the time to aid Wolfe taken off of it. But I think it gave them the time they needed to hide more effectively.”

She pulled the comm. link off her head, but tucked the revolver into the back of her jeans. It should have looked out of place, awkward on her, but the gesture bespoke a quiet confidence, a strength he had never thought she had. He had always felt that Faith needed to be protected, that she was unable to protect herself. Seeing differently shook him a bit, he had to admit. She shouldn’t have to defend herself. Shouldn’t have to live a life that required it.

“They’ll target you eventually. Have you set yourself up as a target?” she asked him. He had known she would figure out quickly, and as expected, she didn’t like it.

“Security is in place, Faith,” he assured her. “We’re targets no matter where we are. At least this way there is a measure of control.”

She knew this as well as he did. Her arms crossed over her chest, her hands rubbing at them as though to warm herself.

“This place is a security nightmare, Jacob,” she told him coolly as she paced to the closed shades of the largest window. “Whose is it?” She rubbed her arms again.

Jacob narrowed his eyes, wondering if perhaps her skin was irritated. The price he paid for that damned lotion she used, it shouldn’t itch, chafe, or develop a rash. The stuff was outrageous.

“A friend’s.” He shrugged, giving her the same answer as before. “He uses the place only rarely, and he’s one of the Pack supporters.”

Actually, Caleb’s father had been a higher Genetics Council member. After his death, and Caleb’s subsequent fury at learning of his parents’ depravities, he had become one of the Breed’s staunchest allies.

“How much trouble are you expecting?”

Jacob grunted. “Not much. Evidently they’re pretty secure in their ability to hide. We haven’t seen any signs of Coyote Breeds, and the perimeter breach could have been anything, including faulty equipment. But it’s the best we have for now.”

She nodded slowly, thoughtfully. Knowing that he was on a mission would not have surprised her. As an Enforcer, it was his life. It would become her life as well, and that scared the hell out of him.

Finally, she sighed deeply, rubbing at her arms again.

“What’s wrong, Faith?” Jacob leaned forward in his chair, frowning at the way her arms seemed to be bothering her. “Did you hurt yourself earlier?”

“When?” She looked around at him, confused for a moment before her lips quirked into a small grin. “When I dumped you on your ass? Naw. That didn’t hurt me.” She tucked a strand of short hair behind her ear nervously before going back to the late evening view outside.

She rubbed at her arms again.

“Faith, what’s wrong with your arms?” He stood up from his chair, stalking over to her, intent to find out what was wrong.

“Nothing is wrong with me.” She turned on him, frowning as he came near her.

It hit him then. Hard. Sweet, hot and so damned tempting he could barely stand it. Her lust was a palatable thing; he could almost taste it on the air around her.

He lifted her arm, his fingers running over the soft skin. Damn, that lotion was worth every penny he had paid over the years. Her skin was soft as satin, with a healthy, glowing sheen. It was warm, the feel of it unlike anything he had ever known.

“You keep rubbing them.” He cleared his throat, unable to release her.

She pulled away from him, rubbed her hand over it again before allowing her arm to fall to her side.

“Restless, I guess. I need to get home,” she announced, almost desperate now. “There are things I need to do there. I really don’t have a week to spend here, Jacob.”

“Things that can be taken care of until your return,” he assured her, watching her breathing escalate until she moved carefully away from him. “No one will invade your home, Faith. I promise you that.”

She pushed her fingers through the short strands of her hair. Jacob admitted he liked her hair shorter. Liked the way it framed her face, the layered strands framing her elfin features perfectly. It did nothing to detract from her appearance of delicacy, though.

“Why are you forcing me to stay here?” she asked him, her earlier irritation threatening to return. “Why didn’t Wolfe order you home? Why not come to me?”

“It’s just a week, Faith,” he reminded her. “We’ve been apart six years. Wasted years, I’m starting to suspect. Give us this time to get to know one another again.”

He watched as she drew a deep breath. She turned her gaze from him, her lips moist and tempting as she ran her tongue over them nervously.

“I need clothes,” she told him firmly as she moved to the large recessed bookshelf on the other side of the room. “Hawke was nice enough to have lost my pack nearly a week ago. What changes of clothes I had were in his pack. You sent him away.”

Clothes were a must, but something easily taken care of, he thought.

“I’ll take care of it,” he promised her. “Anything else you need?”

She sighed again. “Lotion, but there’s not a hope in hell of my brand being here. I could kill Hawke for losing my pack. Should have known better than to trust him.”

Jacob frowned. She seemed melancholy. Was this one of the mood swings Wolfe had talked about? Damn, she was wearing him out.

“I believe I saw several different brands in the cupboard, in the bathrooms.” He shrugged. He knew her brand was there. Caleb’s sister also preferred it. “Check there when you shower tonight and see what’s available. My friend uses the house for meetings and large get-togethers when he’s here, so I’m certain there’s something there for everyone.”

She turned around. Her eyes broke his heart. They were somber, sad.

“Faith?” he moved slowly toward her. “Can’t you tell me what’s wrong?”

A bitter smile shaped her lips as her hand ran over her neck, down her arm. She seemed to want to shiver, but held back the action.

“I waited six years for you,” she told him softly. “Six long years, Jacob. And I guess I’m just now realizing what a fool I’ve been. How many women have you been with while I waited, Mate? How many times have you fucked another woman while I waited for you like a fool?

* * * * *

Jacob wondered if the truth would surprise her. True, he had decided the night she had shown up at the bar that he was tired of waiting. Tired of wishing he was different, that she wasn’t as soft, as delicate as she was, and had decided a night of raunchy sex was the cure. But honestly, in six years, there had been no other women.

When they escaped the Labs, the males had already gotten their fill of the emptiness involved in screwing just for the pleasure of those who watched, or even for the need to “get off” as the case may be.

From early manhood to adulthood, sex had been a daily diet in his life. Not having to worry about it had been a relief. Until he had seen Faith again. Until the sharp, bitter bite of lust had gotten its hold into him.

“Would you believe me if I said there had been no other women?” he asked her softly.

Her eyes widened. “Is that what you’re saying?”

There was a spark of hope in her gaze, a flash of fear.

“Hell, Faith, you remember what the Labs were like,” he growled, running his fingers impatiently through his hair. “It was years before I got the stink of that place out of my head. Sex was a damned training exercise, like fucking pushups. Hell no, there haven’t been other women. There hasn’t been time. I’m too damned busy fighting and finding the hellholes those scientists call Labs. Who has time to fuck?”

He knew it was his own guilt for the plans he had the night before that caused his ire. But dammit, it was her fault too. She had gone from a raging woman bent on breaking bones, to a woman so soft, so fragile, that her dreams whispered through the air around her. Like a damned fairytale princess. How did you fuck a fairy princess? He wanted her hot and sweaty, slick and wet and begging him to fill her. Princesses weren’t supposed to do that. Were they?

“I remember many things about the Labs.” Her lips thinned as she shrugged tightly. “I’m tired. I’m going to bed.”

“Not yet, Faith.” Impatience warred with desire as he moved to stop her. He wasn’t about to let her leave like this.

He caught her as she made to walk from the room, his arm curling around her waist as he turned her, pressing her tense body against the wall beside the doorframe as she stared up at him in startled surprise. Her hands braced against his broad chest, her slender, graceful fingers trembling over the cover of his shirt.

“There are things I remember as well,” he told her, surprised at the rough quality of his voice. “Things that awaken me in the deepest parts of the night, my cock throbbing. Demanding my mate. If I was wrong about your need to grow first, then I can accept this. But I will not allow you to hate me for my need to protect you.”