Phillip: Lanning's Leap - Paranormal Erotic Romance (7 page)

“So they ordered five pizzas four days before they left, then ten the next day. Sounds like…I don’t know. Can three teenagers eat that much pizza, you think?” Rider assured Murph that they could, no problem. “So we can assume that they got the food for themselves. The credit card company is giving me a hard time about getting the last known usage of their cards. But the company that he works for is sending what they have on his company card now. They don’t think we’ll find anything on it but a few company meals. I guess Mr. Rainer is a straight up kind of guy.”

Andrew said he’d make a few calls on the credit cards and banks. As he moved to the back of the plane to have some quiet, Phillip continued trying to figure out the rest of the calls. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary until he tried calling the last one to verify.

“Seventy-six and Weston.” The line went dead almost as soon as it was connected to the person. Phillip started to call the number back, thinking he’d gotten the wrong number, when it rang again. Before he could say anything, he could hear voices in the background and hushed everyone around him to listen. The plane got silent just as someone spoke again.

“I asked you where it was. Now you’ll either tell me this time or I will break your other leg.” A small whimpering sound made him think that the person was in pain. The sound of something hard hitting what Phillip knew was a hand made the person cry out. “Now, we’re going to do this again. Where is the money? All of it. I swear to Christ, I’ve had enough of you and your bullshit.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” There was a scream this time and the phone was dropped. Phillip wondered if that was the end of what they were listening to when someone spoke in a low urgent whisper.

“Please hurry. Seventy-six and Weston.” Then the line went dead.

No one moved. Phillip stared at the phone for a long time before Murph took it from him. He had no idea what she was going to do until she put it on the floor and crushed it. Misha asked her what the hell she was doing.

“It’s a trap.” Rider asked her how she knew. “Okay, several things. But first of all, how did they know where they were being held? Usually, that’s not something the kidnappers tell their victims. Then, and this is the kicker, why assume that the person on the other end of the line is going to know what the fuck you’re talking about when you just give an address? If a regular Joe Blow answered that call, they’d just think it’s a prank, then hang up. On both calls. She didn’t say come and get me, I’ve been kidnapped and they’re killing my dad. Nope, just the street address.”

“Okay, but what else? And why did you kill the phone?” Phillip knew and told Misha. “Okay, so they can track us with it. I understand that. So you’re thinking this has to do with us and not just the family.”

“I do. And the other things are not lining up either. Like the car…why shoot it up? That just screams foul play at you. Why not leave it in a parking lot with the doors and windows locked? Now you’ve just told the world you have the family.”

Phillip liked where this was going. Not that it was a trap but that they were working it out before anyone got hurt. When Andrew came from the other room, he looked confused.

“The cards have been maxed out. I asked my buddy at the office about it, and he said that it’s normal for the card’s balance to be low, but about six weeks before, they’d maxed it out. Nearly eleven grand on the one card alone. He said he’d bet that all of them were like that…the man and woman have two each with the company. I called the other two companies they have cards with. It’s the same, they’re all maxed completely out. Nearly a hundred thousand in purchases.” Phillip asked him some of the places the purchases were made. “Yeah, that’s weird too. A suit was ordered but returned. Then there was the couch and love seat set that was bought and paid for, then returned.”

“Thirty days.” Everyone looked at Phillip. “After thirty days the credit card company will give you the option of getting cash or taking a credit on your card. I’ve done that before. My bill came due before I decided to return the dresser and they asked me that. Since I’d paid off my card, I didn’t want a hanging balance. I think they were padding their cash with buying things, waiting the right amount of time, then taking the cash in return.”

“Why?” That was, as far as Phillip knew, the ten million dollar question. Misha continued when no one answered him. “Okay. So they have about a hundred grand, give or take however much they already had. Or for that matter how long they’ve been doing this. Something spooked them into running. Or they have a plan to get us there. I’m more inclined to think it was just them running, but I have no idea.”

When the plane landed about forty minutes later, they were no closer to figuring it out than they had been before. But one thing they did know was they weren’t going to go to the address without back up. As soon as they were at the home base, Phillip could see that Thomas had been busy. There were about fifty men there ready to help them out, all of them from the castle. At the last minute, however, Charlie contacted him.

“Don’t take the king or Nic in. I know that telling Linyah not to go is like telling her to go ahead full force. She’s sort of stubborn like that, but if this had to do with Sonya, this is the perfect way for her to get to some of them.” He was so stunned by the idea that he didn’t speak for several seconds. “Or that could just be a crappy thought. I’m sorry I bothered—”

“No, it’s brilliant. I think you might be right.” He moved to Misha and handed him the phone after telling Charlie to tell him what she thought. As soon as he was handed back the phone, Misha started telling them what was going to happen and why. Phillip put the phone to his ear again. “You more than likely just saved us a great deal of heartache. Thank you, love.”

“I was only thinking about what Toby said. He wanted to bring them down, and I thought that this might be a way to do it.” Phillip told her what they’d figured out about the credit cards and the returns. “I’ve run into that before. Not me doing it…let me think. The guy was arrested on credit card fraud. I guess he’d gotten a credit card in this other couple’s name and had done that to them. He had…I think he timed it so that they’d never see the bill. You know, get the stuff bought then return it before they got the first bill. By then he’d turned in the stuff and gotten the cash. Not all places will do that, but he had enough, I guess, that he went away for a long time.”

Phillip related the information to his brothers via their link. They’d not gone into the building as yet, but they were moving in that direction. Misha stopped them just as the door was opened and looked at him. He’d seen that look before…he was nervous.

“I need two people to go in and have a look around. Me and…who?” Everyone lifted their hands and he smiled. “I need someone to go in with me that can be shadowed. Anyone with that ability can go.”

“How about Phillip and I can take the bottom floor? Then each of us can pair up with both Thomas and Linyah to go with them. That leaves three to cover the other exits in the event something goes wrong.” Nic looked at Phillip as he continued. “You want to partner with me?”

Phillip nodded, knowing that Nic knew something or he would never have decided how they were to go in. He had a feeling that Misha knew it as well when he nodded at him and told him to be extra careful. Nic should, by all rights, have stayed behind with his father, but if he said he was going in, then he’d be going in with or without their help. As they jetted into the room, the first thing that hit him was the smell.

Dead.
Phillip nodded at Nic and let Misha know what they’d run into. Misha said they could smell it as well. As they moved into the building, deeper into the confines of the walls, Phillip had a thought and reached for Nic just as he was going to open a door
. You see something?

No. But if that door is rigged, don’t you think we’d be better off bypassing it for safer ways in?
Nic looked at the door, then put his bare hand on it.
Is there something there?

Two men. Waiting.
Phillip nodded but stood waiting
. Go through the door to the left of them, about five feet. Then I will go in the other direction. We should be able to take them out before they can us.

It worked. Both of the men were dead before they even realized that Nic and he were there. As they made their way into the building, Phillip felt pretty good about this. They had no idea what was going to happen and were cautious about everything. For all they knew, this, too, could be a trap and they were going to be hurt. But they were ready should anything come up. Or at least he hoped so.

They saw the other men just as they rounded the last bend in the hall. There were about a dozen of them and they were dressed as Nic was, in full body armor, as well as armed. Nic told him to wait and while he did, he reached for Misha to tell him what they’d found. Misha said there was nothing on the upper floors and that they’d join them. In less time than it took for him to talk to his brother, ten of the guard that had come with them were lined up around the room, all of them darkened so that they couldn’t be seen.

Just before the order was given for them to take the men, they shifted on their feet and Phillip could see the family. All five of them were sitting on the floor gagged and tied up, and behind each of them was a single man with a gun to their head. They were ready for anything as well, it seemed.

Now what to do? If the guard attacked, the people would be dead. If they took them out all at once, there was slightly less of a chance of the people being killed. Either way, blood would be shed.

Misha showing up gave them a working plan. They were going to stand just behind the family with the shadows of the room around them. Five of them for the five people. When the order was given, each of them would snatch up the person in front of them and disappear, leaving the guard that had more than likely taken them without hostages, and clearing the way for the guard from the castle. It was going to be tricky, but Misha said they could do it.

As soon as they moved to be where they needed to be, Phillip took a breath and let it out slowly. This was it, game time, and he needed to concentrate. But all he could think about was that they were missing something. Before he could figure that out, Misha said
now
, and he reached for the oldest teenager. Before he could think, he took him to the back of the building just as shots were fired inside.

Chapter 7

Charlie was at the airport when the jet touched down. She wanted to just hold Phillip. He’d told her several times that he was just fine but she needed to touch him, to see him to make sure he was really all right. As the stairs were taken to the door, she made her way to the plane with Maribel on her right. Hannah was on her left, and she was pretty sure that they looked like some sort of firing squad or something the way they were walking toward their men.

Misha was off first. The shirt he had on was still bloody, but she knew that he was all right as well. Hannah had told her several times that they were immortal, and as there were no blades there, they’d managed to keep their heads about them. Charlie was sure it was supposed to be a joke, but for the life of her, right now she didn’t get it.

Rider was next, with Nildale, who had been shot. Phillip had told her how the man was more upset over his favorite shirt being ruined than being shot. One of the men that had been running from the building had taken aim and fired at Nildale before he could think to duck for cover. Sina was there at the bottom of the stairs even before he was finished coming down them. They both disappeared immediately.

Phillip was next, and Charlie felt her heart pound a little harder in her chest when she saw the blood on his shirt. As soon as he pulled her into his arms, she felt as if the entire world could go to hell. When he let her go, they were standing in a room that she’d never seen before.

“Our bedroom.” She looked around again. “I wanted to surprise you, but now all I can think about is fucking you. Hard and fast.”

There was a big bed in the room, made up, with pillows fluffed high on it. She moved to it, stripping off her clothing as she went. Dropping her blouse and bra on the floor, she toed off her shoes even as Phillip cupped her bare breasts from behind.

“Bend over for me.” Doing as he wanted, her clothing was suddenly gone. Not torn from her as he usually did, but simply gone. She felt his naked cock at her pussy and moved back against him. “Christ, I have to do this. I’m so sorry.”

Bending her at the waist so that her hands were on the bed, her ass in the air, Phillip slammed into her. It felt filling and a little painful, but oh so wonderful. Even as he pounded her, his hands at her hips gripping her hard enough that she knew she’d have marks, he never stopped. And when he leaned over her, his body pressing down on hers, his finger slid into her pussy and he gave her clit a hard twist, and she screamed out her release as he bit down hard on her shoulder.

Again.
His voice, his command, echoed in her mind. It was as if he’d pushed a button on her body. She came hard, screaming out his name over and over again even as he tossed her on the bed, flipping her over as he did so. And when he turned into his cat, all she could think to do was run, but stopped when he commanded her to.

If you run now, he’s going to run you down and hurt you. He’s too needy, like I was, to have you play with him now. Give him what he wants and I promise you, you’ll come harder than you ever have when I take you.

Nodding, she watched the huge leopard as he moved closer to her. His massive head was between her legs, his nose buried into her pussy so deeply that when he licked her, she felt it enter her. It was like being fucked and it felt amazing. As he licked her, his thick rough tongue setting off tremors all over her body, she cried out when he put his paws on her thighs and held her open for him.

He brought her five times in quick hard punches. Each time he made her come, licking her quick, his huge teeth gently nipping at her flesh, she knew that when he was finished, had his fill, Charlie was going to be nothing but a puddle of sated sex.

When Phillip stood up as himself, Charlie sat up on her elbows and looked at him. He was gorgeous, his body hard and muscled. The fur on his chest and arms was the same color as his groin, light with dark places that she knew was a part of his cat, and which gave him an untamed look, sexy and wild. As he fisted his cock, precum dripping in a long stream from his tip, she sat up more and reached for him. Phillip moaned loudly when she wrapped her hand around him.

“Can I drink from you?” He moaned again and she watched his face as his eyes darkened with need. “Your cat enjoyed my pussy. I’ve never been so relaxed before. Will it be like that if my cat licks your cock?”

She let the cat take her. While he’d been gone, Hannah had been helping her call to the big animal, showing her how to keep her calm and to bring her out to play, as she’d called it, when she wanted and not only when she was stressed. Phillip sat on the bed when she moved to the floor, her cat careful of the rugs beneath her feet.

“Lick me. Gently. Since you’re not very— Holy Christ, yes.”

Her mouth moved over his cock but she didn’t bite him, though she was worried about nipping him. Instead, she tasted him, licked his balls and cock until he curled his hand into her fur and pulled her away. When she moved back, Charlie let her cat taste her mate again before she let her human come back to him. Charlie took Phillip into her mouth this time and sucked hard while cupping his balls. He came down her throat almost immediately.

As she crawled up on the bed beside him, he startled her when he pulled her over him and his cock. Reaching between them, she touched her fingers to the crown of him, circling the dark skin while she rode his body. Lifting herself up on her knees, she lowered herself over him while he held his cock. And when she was seated, he held her still until she looked into his face.

“I love you.” She nodded, but he shook his head. “No. You don’t understand. I really do love you. With all that I am. Not just because we’re mated, though that is enough, but I love you. Am I making myself clear?”

“Yes. You love me more than anything. Just as I do you.” Grinning, she looked around the room. “But really, where are we? Did you check to see if anyone was home before moving us to the closest bedroom?” She rode him slowly, and all he could do was moan, so it took him several seconds to answer her.

“It’s ours. I made an offer on it a few weeks ago. Before I met you. I mean, I knew about you but hadn’t met you yet. The decorators came in last week and set things up for us. Not all of the house, but this room and the kitchen.” She rolled her hips again and asked him if he had the entire house ready for them. “It will still need some things. She said that the living room and dining room are ready for furniture, but the bathrooms will need to be…why are we talking about the house when you’re riding my cock?”

Her body swayed then. Every part of her wanted to hurry through making him come, feeling his body release in her this way. But she took her time, rolling back and forth as she cupped her breasts and pulled on her nipples. When he sat up, her clit touched his groin, and she had to hold onto him while he held her to him and he suckled her breasts.

“Come for me, Charlie. Come on my cock so that I can take you again.” Her movements became less smooth and more erratic. As she rode him faster, her body crying out for release, he rolled her to her back and settled between her thighs, pushing himself into her. “Come.”

She did, her body bowing up off the bed nearly in half. Even as he leaned down then, taking just the tip of her breast into his mouth, Charlie curled her legs around his legs and moved with him, helping him bring her again and then again as he feasted on her breast. Then when he came, his cock buried so deep inside of her that she felt it at her throat, they came together, releasing hard and loudly. Then he leaned to her throat and bit her hard enough that she saw not just stars but rainbows and sparklers, even birds flying around her head. When he dropped on her, Charlie could only just lay there, her eyes closed and her body spent as her heart began to slow back to a normal beat.

“Christ, you’ve killed me.” Charlie giggled and rolled with him when he moved to his back. “Anytime you want to ride me, you go right ahead. I don’t think I’ve ever come that hard in all my life.”

She sat up after about an hour, the lure of the house calling to her. When she pulled her shirt from the floor, Phillip sat up and leaned his head on his hand. She was dressed before he asked her where she was going.

“I want to see our house. Come on and see it with me. Or you can lay there…is there lots of room on the property? Because when this stupid thing with the book is done, I want to go back into business. I love that job.”

He nodded and stood up. She couldn’t find her shoes and she asked him where he’d tossed them.

“I didn’t tear them off you. Just think of getting dressed and you will be.” She cocked a brow at him, and he laughed at her. “Seriously. Watch.”

She grabbed for the chair and held it while clothing seemed to just fade onto his skin. Boxer briefs were first, then socks and pants. As his shirt began to make its way over his body, she looked down at her own body and thought of her shoes and socks. Then she thought of the pretty boots she’d seen while with Hannah the other day, and the pretty blouse. Those two things appeared on her even as she thought of silk and sexy.

When Phillip growled low, her body caught fire and she looked at him. Every part of this man made her heart race and her body feel heated. When the rest of his clothing was over him, sadly, she turned to the door to leave. If there was ever a time when she needed a minute, this was it.

Charlie made her way to the stairs when she heard him laughing. She was nearly to the stairs when she heard a noise below them. Phillip came out of the room just as something crashed in one of the room’s downstairs.

“Stay here.” She nodded and backed from the stairs when he told her to. When Thomas appeared in the room beside his brother, Charlie put her hand over her mouth and tried to stifle a scream. If he was bringing in the troops, she was terrified all the more by it.

As the two of them made their way down the stairs, Charlie reached for Murph. Two days ago she had found out who the woman was related to, and knew somehow that the two of them were nothing alike. Charlie had never met Mr. Murphy, but she’d learned firsthand what he was capable of. And now that he was dead, she was no less afraid of what he could do to her, even from the grave.

I’m coming with Misha and Carter. We were coming back from the office and heard from Thomas. Just stay out of sight.
She said that she would.
Even if you hear one of us, don’t go down until someone comes for you, understand?

Yes. I understand. But Phillip is down there with Thomas, and I know that Thomas can’t get hurt, but Phillip is all that I have.
She asked her what she meant.
Phillip isn’t like you guys, right?

Oh honey, we’re all alike. Including you.
Charlie started to ask her what she meant, but Murph spoke again.
We’re outside. Just stay put.

She heard the sound again, like something hard had hit the floor. Then she heard laughter. Charlie wasn’t fooled by it. Someone down there could have been thrilled to death that they’d caught Phillip, her Phillip. But when someone else laughed, this time she knew it was Misha. And whatever was going on had her curious now. Moving slowly down the steps, she stopped when she saw Murph. The look on her face made Charlie smile.

“You had an intruder all right. Come on down and meet the rest of the family.”

Charlie had no idea who she was talking about, but went down the rest of the stairs. The big man sitting on the floor nearly had her running again, but then he turned and looked at her. It was the wink that had her thinking it was safe to proceed. Good lord, was every man in Phillip’s family able to lift cars without breaking a sweat?

“This is James Luna. He’s the pack alpha and a good friend to the family. Apparently, he had no idea we were here until he…heard us.” Charlie flushed hotly and then looked at Phillip when he laughed. “He was trying to get out before we noticed he was here, and he knocked over the vase on the stand over there. He was leaving us a housewarming gift.”

Charlie looked at the broken vase, then back at the man. She noticed that while he was shirtless, he had a blanket wrapped around his waist. It occurred to her that he was naked. Blushing more, she turned to look at the large gift bag on the table. She walked over to it and pulled out the large soft blanket.

“Oh, this is beautiful.” It was too. The colors were very earthy in that there were colors one would find in the woods…dark browns and reds, as well as golds and greens. When she took it to her cheek to see if it was as soft as it looked, she smiled at Phillip.

“My wife, Sandra, made it. She’s been looming for years now. Mostly things like placemats and small rugs, but she wanted to make a blanket and this is what she got. I think she’s got it in her head to make several more now. We’ll be the warmest pack in all of the world when she’s done.” When she looked back at James, he was standing up, but the blanket that someone had given him was wrapped around him fully now. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to bring my wife and son over soon to meet you. Phillip gave us permission to run here, and I want you to meet them before we scare you.”

“Scare me?” He nodded, and she looked at Phillip before something occurred to her. Looking at James again, she smiled. “James is…Luna. That’s moon. Pack. Wolves. You’re wolf. You’re the leader of the wolves around here, right?”

“Yes.” He bowed low before standing again. “Thank you, my lady. You have made my entire day by not telling me that I wasn’t worthy of your home. I’ll return sometime. In the meantime, if you see wolf out and about, it’s more than likely us. We’ve decided to aid the household in watching for the criminal types. I’m to understand that there are some…not so desirable people about.”