Rebel Heat (6 page)

“My father was ruthless, harsh and sometimes violent. He was a product of the world below, but he didn’t deserve to die.” Almost of their own volition, his hands returned to her soft skin. He ran his hands down her arms, soothing himself with her texture and warmth. “He was loyal to the Customs, loyal to his tribe. And Varrik murdered him.”

“May I ask another question?”

He shook his head, shocked that she’d bothered asking. “Will you drop the subject if I answer?”

“Yes.” She glanced at him then away, but their gazes connected long enough for him to see the pity smoldering in hers. He tensed. He would never accept her surrender if it was born of pity. “How could Varrik not know the location of the Shadow Maze?”

Nazerel sighed. He didn’t want to talk about the past. The present held plenty of challenges and the past could not be changed. But he understood her confusion, so he explained, “We locked on to a beacon when we teleported in. Only the elders knew the exact location of the maze.”

“Then Varrik told High Queen Charlotte how to find the maze. That’s how they managed to liberate it after all those years.” She stared past him, her tone speculative.

“Except not everyone wanted to be ‘liberated’,” he stressed. “Varrik had no right to make that decision for all of us. Not all of us were discontent. Many would have chosen to stay if they had been given a choice.” She fell silent as he continued to stroke her arms, his thumbs occasionally brushing the outer curve of her breasts. She didn’t need to speak. He knew all the arguments. Their lifestyle was barbaric and abusive to women. Progress demanded that they adapt. “What? No more questions?”

“How many Shadow Assassins were there?” she blurted.

He laughed. “I suppose I asked for that.” But he’d lost interest in the conversation so he resumed their sensual game. “Around four thousand. I’m not sure of the exact count.”

“Was finding mates your only job or did you have other responsibilities?”

“What happened to dropping the subject?” He really didn’t want to talk at all. If she pushed too hard, he’d stop indulging her.

“I agreed to stop asking about Varrik. This is completely different.”

Technically, she was correct and this topic wasn’t nearly as painful. “Hunting mates was one task among many.” He traced her collar bone and the hollow beneath. Her skin was even softer here than on her arms.

She grew restless beneath his touch and still she didn’t try to stop him. “What were some of the other tasks? Take me through your typical day.”

Intrigued by her willingness to allow his exploration, he drew her bra strap down her arm. The top edge of her bra rolled downward, exposing another inch of her creamy flesh. “We are mercenaries. We did what any other soldier does. We trained, we gathered intel, we prepared for missions and fought wars.”

“But the Great Conflict was over before you were born. What wars are you talking about?”

Most Ontarians believed the Shadow Assassins wandered around in their maze frustrated and idle because the Great Conflict had ended. It was a ridiculous notion, one that had obviously been passed on to Morgan. “The House of Joon was not our only employer. In fact, they were not our primary employer. The Shadow Maze was our base of operations, but we frequently left Ontariese.” He pulled down her other bra strap and she quickly righted the first. That was more like it. He preferred Morgan when she was feisty. “If you won’t offer me your mouth, I’ll find something else to kiss.”

Her gaze flew to his, anxious and smoldering with heat she was trying to hide. “When did you meet Sevrin? Did she approach you or was it the other way around?”

“Offer me your mouth or you forfeit your bra. You have two seconds to choose.”

Anger sparked to life within her expressive eyes. “You’re a bully. You know that, don’t you?”

“I’ve been called worse.” Two seconds elapsed and she wasn’t kissing him, so he reached for the fasteners at the back of her bra.

She twisted away from his hand then rolled to her knees. After a rebellious pause, she swung her leg over his and straddled his thighs. “My mouth is all I’m offering.” She whispered the words as she leaned in and pressed her lips to his.

Her scent reached him first, warm, clean, lightly floral, and incredibly arousing. He buried his fingers in her hair, knowing it was the only way to keep his hands from wandering at will. Her soft lips parted for the first brush of his tongue and Nazerel was lost. He kissed her deeply, wildly as hunger unfurled inside him. He wanted her beneath him, arching into each thrust as he filled her completely. She was
human—
and his
enemy. Why was she unleashing these urges in him?

He moved his head to a better angle and kissed her again. At first she submitted to the onslaught, allowing him to take what he desired. But little by little she awakened in his arms. Her lips moved and then her tongue dueled with his.

Desire, hot and demanding, tore through him. His cock hardened with enough pressure to make him groan and he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her tight against his body.

“Enough.” She broke away suddenly now flushed and panting. “I think I more than paid for my sandwich.”

She tried to crawl off his lap, but he grasped her hips, not yet ready to let her go. “I thought you wanted to hear about Sevrin.” Passion clogged his throat, making his voice sound thick.

“Your ears stop working if I sit next to you?” For the first time since he met her, he saw fear in her eyes. Why had their kisses frightened her when all of his threats and intimidation had not? He lifted his hands and let her shift to his side. She didn’t stop there. She scurried to the top of the bed and slipped her legs in between the two sleeping bags as she leaned back against the tent pole.

I won’t hurt you
. The words formed within his mind, but he bit them back before they escaped. Fear was useful. She would surrender sooner if she were afraid of him, so why did he find the reaction so unsettling?

“Sevrin,” she prompted. “Did she approach you?”

“We corresponded through an agent in the beginning and then directly after Sevrin had deemed me worthy of trust. We actually met for the first time on Earth.”

“That didn’t really answer the question.” Her gaze darted to him and then away. He’d never seen her so rattled. “Who started the correspondence?”

Her reaction to their kiss was far more interesting than the conversation. Nazerel crawled toward her, his hands on either side of her legs. “Why are you so upset?”

“I’m not upset,” she snapped, her voice higher than usual.

“Your skin is still flushed and you won’t look at me. You’re either feeling guilty or you’re terrified and neither reaction makes sense.”

As if to prove him wrong, she glared into his eyes. “Did they teach you how to do this?”

“How to do what?”

“How to systematically unravel a woman? Was seduction 101 part of your training?”

A slow, predatory smile spread across his lips. “Is it working?”

“I’m serious. Did someone teach you how to deal with your captives? There’s a structure to what you’re doing.”

He sat back on his heels and debated what to tell her. She seemed honestly curious now, if a bit defensive. “I’m an alpha hunter, sweetheart. I was the teacher, not the student.”

Her eyes widened as understanding burned away her fear. She pressed her lips into a tight, disapproving line then gradually regained her composure. “You taught the other hunters, but someone had to teach you. No one is born knowing the psychology of mind control.”

“Mind control.” He laughed. “Kissing me made you want sex, so I must be brainwashing you. That’s a bit drastic, don’t you think?”

“Do you deny that there’s a psychology to what you’re doing?”

Before he answered he moved off her and folded his legs in front of him. The position uncomfortable now thanks to the erection he still sported. “You’re a field operative, likely working for or with the FBI. Were you taught how to read body language and facial expressions?”

“Of course.”

“The techniques are similar. All I’ve done is watched you and adjusted my approach according to your reactions. When your skin flushes and your respiration speeds, I know it’s time to push harder. When you grow still and defensive, it’s better to back off and wait until you calm down.”

“Can we talk about something else? This subject is annoying.”

“You’re the one who wants to talk.” He reached for her hand, but she snatched it away. “I’d much rather continue our exploration.”

Rather than rising to the bait, she scooted over, putting even more space between them. “Sevrin first contacted you?”

“Yes.”

“And why did you ally with her? What did she offer you?”

He waved away the question. “She’s a lying whore who broke every promise she made us. The details are irrelevant.”

“Lor and his team followed Sevrin back to her lab when she left the Team South house this morning. By now everyone is either dead or in custody. They’ll have learned the location of the Team East house as well. It’s over, Nazerel. You realize that, don’t you?”

“That’s only true if every aspect of your plan went off without complication. Neither of us knows how much of that agenda was accomplished.” He sounded calm, almost indifferent, but his pulse leapt and his throat burned with anger and frustration. He’d finally decided to break all ties with Sevrin and move on. His men deserved a better life than they’d found on Earth. But his plans had yet to solidify. Was it possible that the entire situation had unraveled while the collar made him powerless to stop it?

“Is there cell reception up here? With one phone call I can find out what happened this morning.”

“No reception.” That was true, but he had a Rodyte comlink. It looked very much like a cell phone, but the device was far more sophisticated than human technology. He just wasn’t ready to admit the fact to her. “You had an eight-hour nap, but I’m exhausted. Do you need to pee before I secure you for the night?” Her cheeks darkened as she nodded. Why were females so squeamish about bodily functions? Everyone had to pee from time to time. It was an unavoidable fact of life. “Reconnect your cuffs. I’ll go get your boots.” He tugged on his boots and left the tent.

He could see her silhouette though the wall of the tent, so he paused and pulled his comlink out of his pocket. Thank the gods he hadn’t given this frequency to Flynn or the Mystic Militia would be able to track him. Sevrin could probably track the signal, but she had no idea that he had the device. Not willing to risk an off-world call, he input Darrian Eastman’s code. All the Team East alpha had to do was respond to the call and he’d disprove Morgan’s claim. The signal connected but no one responded.
Shit
. Nazerel reentered the code, but again no one activated the other end of the call.

So the Team East house had been raided or they’d abandoned it when they learned of the raid on Team South. That didn’t mean everyone was in custody. The Mystic Militia had yet to conduct a raid without losing at least one person. Shadow Assassins had protocols in place for when anyone became separated from their team, so he connected to the designated voice mail box. There were no messages. Unbelievable. There were other possible explanations, but this was discouraging to say the least.

He paused long enough to take care of his own bodily functions before he unlocked the SUV and grabbed her boots off the backseat. Morgan was wily. He didn’t dare take his attention off her for even a moment.

“Did you forget where you hid them?” She was standing near the door now and she’d refastened her wrist cuffs as instructed. So she could follow orders when it struck her fancy.

“Something like that,” he grumbled and dropped her boots in front of her.

“Your mood sure got dark all of a sudden. Are you sure there’s no cell service up here?”

He arched his brow at that. “Were you spying on me?”

“You were standing ten feet from the tent. It didn’t take much spying.”

“There really isn’t any cell coverage. The device I was using was Rodyte and it’s more like a two-way radio. It won’t do you any good.” That was bullshit, but he wasn’t ready to indulge her further.

“No one answered on the other end?”

“No.” She didn’t need to know more. “Come on.”

“Can I have my pants too? The underbrush will scratch up my legs.”

He was obviously being too easy on her. He shouldn’t allow her to argue at all. Rather than answer her question, he bent and threw her over his shoulder.

“Nazerel!” she half-shrieked so he smacked her upturned ass.

He ducked through the opening and carried her into the woods. She was right. The underbrush was thick and coarse. It would have been hell on her legs. But she hadn’t known that for sure. She was just being argumentative. He found a relatively clear spot and set her down. “Get on with it.” He even turned his back, though he could still see her in his peripheral vision.

“You expect me to squat down and pee while you’re standing right there?” She sounded horrified.

“Yes.” His tone brook no refusal.

He stared off into the darkness unable to make sense of the implications swarming his mind. He needed to get off this godforsaken planet, but he couldn’t leave until he knew the fate of his men. If they were all in custody as Morgan said, then it was only a matter of time before they were returned to the City of Tears. Their service to the Ontarian military had been mandatory and it had been sentenced instead of prison time, which meant his men were likely headed to prison.