Shifted Temptations (15 page)

The lock was no deterrent for me. I pulled out a small lock picking k
it out of my back pocket and quickly had the door opened. A dark stairway led down into the basement. I kept the light off, not wanting to draw attention. From my surveillance, I knew there were small windows where light could be seen from outside.

Silently, I moved
down each step until I reached the bottom floor. The basement was dark, with only a hint of moonlight streaming through the small windows near the ceiling. Looking around the large open space, I began to think it was empty, until I walked farther in. All four concrete walls were obscured by cardboard. Boxes upon boxes were stacked floor to ceiling.

I pulled one large box down and set it on the floor. My hand tingled as the transformation shifted through my fingers. Using one sharp claw, I sliced through the packaging tape easily. Once the flaps were open, I shifted my hand ba
ck to human and looked inside.

It was e
xactly what I was looking for. Blocks of cocaine filled the container to the top and I could guarantee the rest of the packages were the same.

I exhaled
in a long frustrated sigh. I’d had a small hope that intelligence was wrong and I would find nothing. I would have to tell Alex everything. Not only was Wilde Mountain turning into a drug ring, but the leader was none other than his own father.

My commander would be pissed, but I didn’t ca
re. Alex deserved to know. If he wanted to be a part of the mission to take Alex Sr. down, then I wasn’t going to stop him and I didn’t think Teij would either.

After placing the box in between a few others
, so as not to draw attention that someone was snooping, I took my boots off then placed my socks inside them. I swiftly peeled off my jeans, tee shirt and underwear, folding them neatly beside my boots.

The process was not
painless, but it wasn’t agony either. My bones and muscles realigned as I fell to the floor on my hands and knees. My skin stretched and prickled as fur grew. I held my breath as my nose flattened. I found the feeling of air flowing through the fast changing passageway unnerving. My jaw ached as sharp fangs ripped through my gums. Only seconds passed before a golden jaguar stood in the middle of the basement instead of a human.

I stretched
to get some of the kinks out from the shift and shook the tingles off my skin before calling my partner. All soldiers of the
Alpha Division
had a mental connection once we shifted into animal form.

My partner was waiting for confirmation.

“Leo?”

“Jordan, what
you got?”

Leo’s voice was like an echo inside my head. It was always like that, as if the sound had to be pushed through layers to get inside. I supposed that was how it happened and I really didn’t care. I was just glad the connection couldn’t be used to read thoughts.

“Mission Shadow Seek completed and confirmed.”

“Good job. Did everything go smoothly?”

“No. Suspect killed. Looked like a hired hit. I’m getting out of here as we speak.”

“Damn! Fill me in later, Jordan. Just get
the hell out of there.”

“S
ee you in ten.”

I quickly shifted back to human and
got dressed. Climbing the stairs quickly, I exited the basement, locking the door behind me. When I reached the living room, I couldn’t help but stop and look once more at Layla. Her form lay still and silent.

For some reason I
was expecting her to get up, her wounds to be healing. It had to be the sex making me think that way. One minute we were intimate, the next she was dead. My brain was having a hard time wrapping itself around that.

I remembered her saying she had something to tell me. Was she going to confess to working with Alexander? Would she have let me help her? I cursed myself. I would have been able to talk to her if I hadn’t had my head full of Sam.

I shook my head. I had to get out of there. Nothing could be done for Layla, but catch her murderer and that was a done deal. I gave Layla one last regretful look and got the hell out.

~ 15 ~

Sam

It had been a couple of weeks and I had not seen Jordan again since that one time when Alex was carrying me to the bathroom. I had heard him occasionally talking with Alex. Their voices were always too low for me to make out what they were saying, but I definitely felt some tension there.

Sometimes I would swear I saw some
one standing in the doorway, yet every time I looked up, there was no one. I briefly wondered if it was Jordan and thought maybe he would come in and talk to me soon. When he never did, I realized the person I was seeing was probably Alex checking in on me.

He, on the other hand had not
kept his distance, even after that disastrous kiss. My cheeks burned remembering how wantonly my body reacted to his touch. I had tried my best to put up a cool front, but it was getting more and more difficult.

Alex wore me down day by day, sitting with me when I was restless, talking, watching movies, reading to each other. We ate almost every meal together. He even started asking about the baby. Small inquiries, like, ‘How’s baby girl today?’ and ‘Is little Ava trying to kick her way out?’

Bath times were the same. He talked to me as if it was no big deal that I was sitting naked in a tub. My body continued to react to every touch he granted me with, but thankfully, he always kept his distance.

We had not
had any more serious conversations since I told him why I lied about terminating the pregnancy. That would not last, I knew. He seemed to be determined, but what exactly he wanted was a mystery. He was either just trying to make a bad situation better by being friendly or he wanted to be part of the baby’s life.

I panicked a little when I thought of being around Alex for the baby’s sake. I would have to see him, often, watch him interact with our baby girl. He would be an ama
zing, loving father. I knew, because he was a good man, a caring man, who would never love me as he would love this child growing in my womb.

I roughly wiped a stray tear off my cheek, chastising myself for such selfish thoughts. It would be a wonderful thing if Alex wanted to know
his little girl and I would do nothing to stop him. No matter how I felt about him or Jordan, I would keep a brave face for my child.

“Knock, knock,” came a familiar voice from the open door
way.

I wiped my face quickly and gave Alex a bright smile. It must not have been convincing. Alex strode to the bed where I lay, his
eyebrows lowered in concern.

“Sam, are you alright?”

“Oh, yeah,” I waved my hand in the air as if it was no big deal. “Hormones, you know. Nothing to worry about,” I mumbled.

He nodded thoughtfully. “I read about that. Is there anything I can do?”

I gave him a small smile, even as tears threatened to fall once more. He was so kind to look after me and his generosity was making it much more difficult to keep my head clear. I could easily fall into his arms and beg him to love me.

I looked away ashamed at what my hormones were doing to me. My body felt on fire, ready for his touch at a moment’s notice, yet my emotions were everywhere. I couldn’t decide between attacking him and demanding him to fuck me
, or cry my eyes out.

He came closer, leaning down and rested his palm against my cheek, his thumb wiping away a fresh tear. I looked up a
t his handsome face and could not fight any longer. His lips were so close and I could smell his warm breath against my cheek.

I
closed my eyes and crushed my mouth against his in a demanding kiss. At first he froze, making no motion to kiss me back, but as my tongue slid across his bottom lip, his mouth opened. The kiss was fierce, a taking of mouths.

He brought his other hand up to hold my fa
ce in both palms, but I grabbed one wrist and brought it down to my aching breast. I moaned as he squeezed gently, his thumb brushing against my hard nipple. My back arched into his touch and then he was gone.

I whimpered my displeasure and opened my eyes to see him stepping back. I was practically panting with want as I blinked at him in confusion. Then the fog began to clear and I realized how right he was for stopping the kiss.

If we had continued, I would have hated myself afterward. Then I thought that maybe we could still have sex. We did the no strings thing before, why not do it again, one more time? My body was craving his touch too much to think clearly.

T
hen I remembered why I broke things off to begin with. My love for him was unrequited. Could I handle more heartache? My mind was spinning with too many decisions. He was right to step away.

“You’re right,” I voiced my thoughts. “We shouldn’t do that
.”

“No, we sh
ouldn’t. Not right now anyway.”

Alex wasn’t even breathing hard and
it made me realize what a fool I had been. I had thought from our previous kiss that he might still want me, but it was obvious the attraction was not near as strong as I thought it was.

“I know what you’re thinking and you’re wrong. I do want you, but not like this.” He ran both hands through
his hair as he stared at me intently. “I’ve read about pregnancy remember? Your hormones are out of control right now and you don’t know what you want.”

I knew
his words were dead on and I hated him for it. My anger rose in a flash and I blew up.

“You think you know everything!
Reading a fucking book does not make you an expert on pregnancy! You want to see hormones? I’ll show you hormones!”

I grab
bed my book off the nightstand and threw it with all my strength right at his egotistical head. Alex stood there in shock and did not duck as I thought he would. The book smacked him square in the face, falling to the floor with a thump. My mouth dropped open and I wanted to apologize immediately, but his angry expression only fired me up more.

“Get out!” I yelled.

“I guess I was right. Your hormones are screwed up.”

A growl ripped from my throat at his mocking smile. I gasped at the frightening sound.
Never had I growled before. It sounded feral, animalistic. Maybe Alex was more right than I knew. Pregnancy was making me crazy.

Alex’s smile only got bigger. “I have to run to the store. I
shouldn’t be long. Maybe you will have calmed down by the time I get back.”

My glare followed him as he left the room. I heard the door to the apartment close as he left and I slumped against
the headboard. I was such a bitch. Alex was only doing the right thing and I tore him to pieces. I just couldn’t help it. I was so horny and my emotions were up and down. Sometimes it felt like every minute, I was feeling something different.

I needed to relax. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. That felt good, so I did it again. Then the baby kicked. Her little foot made direct contact with my bladder, again. Groaning, I sat up and reached for my crutches.

It was difficult and slow going, but I made it down the hall and into the bathroom without any problems. I was able to take care of business; however pulling up my pants was a lot harder than pulling them down.

I leaned agai
nst the wall for support, balancing on one leg and reached for the waistband of my sweats. I had just got them pulled up when my foot slipped out from under me. I slid quickly, my socked foot making it impossible to find traction on the smooth tile floor. I cried out as my butt hit the hard surface.

T
he door suddenly flew open. Jordan stormed through looking wildly around until he saw me sprawled out beneath him.

“Are you alright? What
in the hell were you doing? Where’s Alex?”

His questions came at me fast and I just shook my head, still surprised to see him after all this time. His eyebrows
rose, waiting for my answers.

“Uh
, I’m okay, I think and Alex went to the store.”

“And what were you doing?”

“I had to go to the bathroom.”

He blew out a frustrated breath, bringing my attention to his pouty lips. I missed those and wanted so badly t
o feel them against mine again.

My gaze moved over face. He looked just as I remembered. His straight nose and high cheekbones gave him a regal look. His blonde hair was still cut short and with those piercing blue eyes he could easily have been mistaken for a British prince.

My gaze began their descent down his throat to his wide shoulders, covered in a tight black t-shirt. When he cleared his throat, my eyes popped back up to meet his. I could have sworn he would have been laughing at my blatant ogling, but instead his brow was furrowed. He looked confused.

“Why couldn’t you just wai
t for Alex? I’m sure he would not have been long.”

I rolled my eyes. Obviously
, Jordan didn’t know much about pregnant woman.