Primal Heat 1 (6 page)

“Right,” she said with a nod. “I’ve got a feeling he’s still playing this close to the vest and today’s little meeting may have shocked him as much as it did us.”

“Why do you say that?”

“He doesn’t strike me as an underhanded dealer. I mean, sure, he’s hunting Rome and Nick, but honestly, he has good reason. He’s a human and they’re not. He knows something is going on and he’s right. Hell, it’s been in the news for months now. I saw some newspaper clippings on the desk in his home office. So I know he’s following each one of those stories carefully, especially the one in Sedona where there were witnesses who actually gave statements of seeing large cats at the resort when it was burning down.”

“Whose side are you on, Cannon?” Eli asked with a rise in his tone.

She looked at him, still feeling the desire drawing them together like being sucked unknowingly into some hypnotic trance. His entire demeanor was guarded, defensive, angry, but he was too stubborn to admit why. The scent she always associated with him was notches higher than the normal fresh, earthy scent of the Shadows. No, Eli, had a scent of his own. It was stronger, headier than anything Nivea had ever encountered, whether here in the States or in her visits to the Gungi. It was power and strength and primal masculinity all combined with a robust musky flavor that never failed to arouse her.

“How dare you ask me that!” was her quick and slightly overreactive response. “I’m on the right side,” she continued. “I’m just stating the facts that I’ve gathered so far. Wilson is searching for the truth. He knows the answer is out there and that’s why he won’t stop.”

“Until I stop him.” Eli scowled back at her, a low grumble from his cat echoing through the clearing.

“We,” she corrected. “We’re in this together, remember?”

The way he cocked his head at her said he’d been trying to forget. But in the next instant his hand was at the back of her head, pulling her hard and fast to him, his lips taking possession instantly.

CHAPTER 5

Dammit! He was doing it again!

Why couldn’t he keep his hands … and mouth … off of her?

Eli knew why and he wanted like hell to ignore it, just as he had been ignoring all the other signs. It wasn’t easy, then again, nothing in his life had ever been easy. Not since he’d turned sixteen and experienced his first shift. From that moment on it had been downhill and only the cat within had ever been able to offer any solace.

But right now it wasn’t solace that the cat was offering, it was a long, ragged purr as Eli’s tongue stroked alongside Nivea’s. She kissed him back with such vigor and intensity, just as she did everything else. Her arms wrapped tightly around him, offering him everything he’d been giving her. As if they were equal opponents in fighting as well as kissing. That thought made his dick hard, his kiss grow hungrier as he used his tongue to lick over her lips, sucking hard on the lower one as she breathed deeply.

Her cat was also at the surface, sending a clear message that it was ready and available and just as needy as his. At that point Eli wanted to pull back. He did not want their cats joining forces, their animalistic urges meeting and combining. He did not want to be connected to Nivea in any way.

Unlike what the other shifters wholeheartedly believed, there was no perfect mate for Eli. He’d realized that long ago. It seemed silly now to hang on to one of the human sayings for dear life, but he absolutely believed in the three strikes and you’re out philosophy. Acacia had been his first, Leanne, his second, and now … no, Nivea was not next. He was not going to put himself in that position, or take her through what his track record had proven was an ordeal. He could not do that to her.

And yet, he could not pull away, could not release this hold that his attraction to her seemed to have on him. For months he’d been trying to avoid her, going to whichever part of Havenway was farthest from her. Then Rome pushed them together, giving the assignment for him to see her through her final training, to see if she was ready for a promotion. Eli understood that and he knew what his job was. But damn, why couldn’t it have been another guard, any other guard? Why Nivea and why now?

“This isn’t going to stop,” she whispered through panting breaths as he bit along the line of her jaw. “We might as well accept it and get on with it.”

Fuck!

Why was she talking?

Eli went back for her mouth, sucking her tongue deep into his mouth, feeling only a small measure of triumph at silencing her, even though her words continued to echo in his head. His hands were moving then, searching for something to silence the words, the logic of what she’d said. He ran his finger up and down her spine, then around to where his thumbs brushed along the slight curve of her breasts. She had her uniform jacket and shirt on, too many damn layers for him to feel the warmth he knew was awaiting him beneath. He was just about to pull away, just about to curse all that was real and complicated about this world they lived in, when his body went still.

His cat went on alert and he whispered over her lips, “Don’t move.”

She blinked as if confused, but remained still. Eli did not blink, he kept his cat’s eyes open and focused on what, he didn’t quite know. And then he did, he could see it as clear as day.

Agent Wilson alive and well, driving a dark sedan down the highway, surpassing the speed limit.

Eli did blink then, trying to figure out what he was seeing and why. He heard another sound and in the next instant, was up. Jumping away from her, Eli had his gun drawn and pointed into what was now darkness, not a car driving down the highway. His heart hammered in his chest as he struggled to grasp what the hell was going on. He was lost in the goddamned forest and wanting Nivea like he’d never wanted another female before. And he was seeing crap he knew wasn’t there. He wanted to yell with the rage of helplessness, a feeling he despised more than fear, but admitted to feeling more of in the last few weeks.

It was as he was taking a deep breath, trying to convince himself that he was overreacting that Eli looked into the darkness once more, his finger tapping the trigger of his gun lightly, readily. That’s when the tall, broad form appeared.

“Mom isn’t going to appreciate it if you shoot me,” Ezra, Eli’s older twin, said glibly, taking the couple extra steps until they were face-to-face.

Eli lowered his arm with a scowl on his face. He’d heard the noise, the barest swipe of an arm against a tree trunk and he’d scented an intruder, the soft scent of warm chocolate. But he hadn’t known it was his brother, hadn’t picked up their blood connection, nor that of the other guards that came from the trees at that moment.

“She might be happy to finally get rid of you,” Eli quipped, clicking the safety back on his gun and slipping it down the back band of his pants. He’d already turned away from Ezra, not wanting his brother to see his querying look.

“I doubt that since I’m her favorite,” Ezra continued, moving past Eli to offer his hand to Nivea, who had shockingly remained seated on the tree stump.

Of course she refused the help, coming to her feet on her own and using her hands to dust the leaves and debris from her clothes. Eli watched her hands moving over taught thighs, the curve of her ass, then down her legs again. Cursing, he looked away from her as well.

“You ride with me and tell me everything that happened,” Nick Delgado, one of the Eastern Zone Lead Enforcers, said once he’d made his way over to where Eli was standing. “Let Nivea go in the other car with Zach and Tobias.”

“Where’s X and Caprise? Why aren’t their guards with them?” Eli questioned immediately. Ever since the first threats against Rome and Nick surfaced, each high-ranking Shadow had been assigned a personal guard. Zach was X’s and Tobias was X’s mate, Caprise’s, guard. If those two were here, then who was guarding the other Lead Enforcer and his mate?

“They’re at Havenway for the night so they’re covered,” Nick answered testily. “Now, follow me to the truck.”

Nick Delgado was not one to be questioned. He was the most volatile of the Eastern Zone Shadows, with a reputation for a temper that preceded him in and out of the courtroom. Considering it had only been about two weeks since his daughter, Shya, had been kidnapped and returned, the fact that he was in human form and not a cat looking for everyone at Comastaz Labs to kill, was a high point. Eli was irritated and carrying a certain attitude himself, but he wasn’t foolish enough to tempt the raging bull, so he followed Nick. But not before looking over to where Nivea was being led away by Zach.

“She’s cool,” Ezra said, clapping a hand on Eli’s shoulder. “They’ll get her side of the story and we’re all gonna meet up with Rome when we get back to Havenway.”

Falling in line beside his brother’s sure gait, Eli continued to frown, his gaze averted. “What’s with the divide-and-conquer routine?” he asked, being careful to keep his voice low since Nick was just a couple of feet ahead. Knowing the Lead Enforcer, he could probably still hear every word they were saying, but Eli wasn’t going to be overly concerned about that. He had a right to know what was going on, and what the higher-ups were thinking about tonight’s development.

“X got a tip from one of his FBI buddies that someone within the department has gone rogue and launched their own investigation into the law firm,” Ezra told him as they made their way through the trees.

Eli noted they were going in the opposite direction from where he and Nivea had been traveling. No doubt, she’d noticed the same thing and was eager to rub it in his face that he’d been going the wrong way. Bad sense of direction, faulty senses, heightened sex drive. Damn, he thought with a sigh. Just, fucking, damn!

“Another investigation into Rome and Nick? Why? Didn’t they already bark up that tree and get shot down?”

More than a year ago the First Female, Kalina, had been sent to investigate the firm that Rome and Nick ran together. She’d been unsuccessful in proving they were embezzling money, but positive in bringing out her true shifter form and joining with the current Assembly Leader.

“One of them never let go,” Ezra said solemnly.

Eli sighed. “Wilson. We followed him from his office out here tonight. That’s how this all got started.”

They’d just stepped through the trees onto the bank of grass that led up a small incline to where six black Jeeps and one Suburban—all filled with shifters—were parked along the shoulder of the highway.

“That’s why it’s imperative we figure out who was in that cabin with him. Rome wants to know who else Wilson has convinced to help him with this witch hunt.”

“He thinks it’s someone from Comastaz, doesn’t he?” Eli asked when they’d reached the SUV.

“Get in and we’ll talk about it,” Nick directed as he opened the passenger-side door.

Eli gave Ezra a questioning look but his brother only shrugged as he moved around to open the driver’s-side door. Eli climbed into the back, avoiding the urge to look back once more to make sure Cannon was safely tucked in one of those Jeeps behind him. She wasn’t his personal concern. There were other guards here now who’d be there if something should go down. They would protect her. Hell, she would probably end up protecting them, he thought, letting his hands fall to his knees as Ezra pulled out into traffic.

He had just about convinced himself not to think about her any more when once again she was thrust into the forefront of his mind.

“Tell me everything you know about Nivea Cannon and her investigation of Agent Dorian Wilson,” Nick said the moment the SUV was on the road.

*   *   *

Eli’s forehead touched the tiles of his shower as he rested his head, wondering not for the first time in the last few months what the hell was going on in the shifter world.

The conversation with Nick had been tense to say the very least. Most of that was attributed to the instantly defensive stance Eli had taken against Nick’s questioning of Nivea and her motives where Agent Wilson was concerned. No, correct that, the Lead Enforcer was hinting around at the fact that Nivea might not be as loyal to the shifters as she pretended to be.

“She’s one of the best damn guards we have at Havenway, sir,” Eli had responded tightly. “There’s no other guard as dedicated to fighting for us as Nivea is. I’d venture to say sometimes I think she’s too dedicated to her job and perhaps needs more of a personal life.”

Why he’d said the last, Eli had no idea. The words had immediately been regretted as Nick—astute and practiced litigator that he was—pounced instantly.

“My point exactly,” he replied. “All she does is work. Lately that’s consisted of following Agent Wilson. But today, her sister came to visit her. All the way from New York. Did you know about that?”

He hadn’t known.

“Should I have?” he replied instantly, drawing a look from Ezra through the rearview mirror and a glare from Nick as he turned in his seat.

“You were assigned to her for a reason, Eli. And that was to find out everything she knows,” Nick told him. He’d been looking at Eli as if he should have already known what his job was, and that his question, along with his ignorance, was not going over well.

“I thought my assignment was to give her additional training and to see if she was ready for a promotion,” he deadpanned.

“We can’t promote her if she’s working against us, now, can we?”

“What the hell do you mean working against us? Nivea’s been dedicated to the shifters since the first day she came here. If you doubt that why not call Bas and ask him. He’s known her since she was a kid.”

“And that makes him biased,” Nick snapped. “Besides, this intel we just received is about Nivea and the real reason she left New York. Considering how long I’ve known you I’ll let you slide this one time if you don’t know what that reason is. But I’m telling you right now that we need to know everything about her and her family and we need to know it soon. So do your job and get the information.”

“So you think I know why she left and I’m not telling you?” he asked Ezra specifically. “You really think I would do that to you or the tribe? If I knew something about her that affected us all, I would have told you already.”