The Recruit: Book Two (4 page)

“Will hates the vampires and with good
reason, of course.  It’s why he left the pack to join the humans.  At that time
we were mostly apathetic about the vampires and he knew if he wanted any type
of revenge, his best bet would be to join forces with the humans.”

“But how did he join your pack?  I don’t
understand.”  Hannah said softly.

“Forgive me, my dear.  I’m getting ahead of
myself.”  Douglas stood and poured both of them another cup of tea.

“Once our pack leader Daven, learned of the
slaughter of Will’s pack he took Will into ours.  He and his wife were
childless and they raised Will in their home.  As Will grew older and stronger,
Daven made the assumption that Will, as his adopted son, would take over the
pack.  You can imagine his disappointment when Will left the pack to join the
humans.”

Douglas paused.  Disappointment wasn’t
exactly the right word.  Daven had been furious with Will, had nearly killed
him over his decision to leave the pack, and had refused to acknowledge his
existence from that moment forward.

“Why did you leave the pack, Douglas?”  Hannah
asked softly.  Her cup of tea sat forgotten in front of her.

“I may be an old man but it does not mean I
do not crave adventure and excitement.”  He grinned at her.

“When the program approached our pack, they
did not expect that such an old man would take them up on their offer.  But my
age offers many advantages.  I have always had a thirst for knowledge.  Always
been different from my fellow Lycans in that I preferred to read books and quiz
my elders instead of hunting and squabbling with my Lycan brethren.”

“And Constance?  Why did she join?”

“I do not know.  Constance had her own
reasons for joining but she did not share them with me.”

Hannah hesitated.  “Her and Will seem
close.”

He nodded.  “They are – or were.  Constance
has always been taken with Will, even at a young age.  She was always following
him around.  It’s part of the reason why she’s so good at killing vampires. 
Both her and Will began killing vampires at a very young age – him for revenge
reasons and her to please him.  It was assumed by the entire pack, including
Constance herself, that Will would take her as his mate.  She was devastated
when he left and refused to take her with him.”

Hannah stared down at the countertop.  Her
heart was thudding heavily in her chest and she was humiliated to discover that
hot tears were pricking at her eyelids.  She knew that Constance and Will were
close.  She had seen it for herself.  The realization that he had nearly
married her, that he had most likely taken the gorgeous Lycan to his bed, was
making her entire body fill with nausea.

“Hannah?”  Douglas’ hand, warm and solid,
closed over her own.  “I’ve upset you.”

She shook her head, blinking back the tears.
 “No, Douglas.  You haven’t.”

She forced herself to smile at him.  “But I
should probably go.  It’s getting late and I’ve kept you far too long.”

She stood and squeezed his hand.  “Thank
you, Douglas.  I’ve enjoyed visiting with you.”

He refused to let go of her hand.  “I have
too.  Will you visit me again, Hannah?”

She smiled.  “I’d like that.  Good night,
Douglas.”

“Good night, Hannah.”

Hannah took a deep breath and dove into the
pool.  She swam four lengths, her arms moving powerfully through the still
water as she focused on nothing but the movement of her limbs and the rhythm of
her breathing. 

She touched the far wall of the deep end
and stopped, dipping her head into the water to push her hair back from her
face and hanging on to the side of the wall. 

She pinched the bridge of her nose.  “Why
are you lurking in the shadows?”

Will stepped out from the wall and into the
light.  “I’m not lurking.”

“Yes, you are.”  She turned and swam away.

When she surfaced at the other end, Will
was waiting for her.  “I need to speak with you.”

“I’m swimming.”

“I can see that.  Will you climb out for a
minute?”

She shook her head.  “Nope.  But you’re
welcome to jump in.”

“I don’t swim.”

She shrugged.  “Then I guess you’ll have to
wait.”

“I don’t have time to wait.  I’m meeting
with the babies in twenty minutes.”  He said through gritted teeth.

“Sucks to be you.”  She smiled and dove
back under the surface of the water.

Will slammed his fist into his thigh,
watching as Hannah, her lean body gliding through the water, swam away from
him.  He was filled with a mixture of exasperation and desire.  She was wearing
a dark blue bikini, and he was already growing hard just at the sight of her
long, pale legs scissoring through the water.

With an irritated grunt, he stripped down
to his boxer briefs and lowered himself into the pool.  His heart sped up with trepidation
and he clung to the side of the pool wall, his fingers white, and waited for
her to swim back to him.

She stopped a few feet away and treaded
water.  “Can you swim at all, Will?”

“I can doggie paddle.”  He said shortly.

She laughed.  “Now that’s funny.”

He glared at her, deeply envious of her
confidence in the water.  “It’s not funny.”

“You’re just too close to the situation.  It’s
why you can’t see the humour in it.”  She laughed again.  “Are all Lycan’s
afraid of the water or just you?”

“I am not afraid of the water.”  He
responded grimly.  “I just have a healthy respect for it.  Look, I got in the
water – can we get out now and talk.”

“Nope.  I’m not finished my swim yet.”  She
took a deep breath and let herself sink to the bottom.  He stared into the
water as she touched the bottom of the pool.  She looked up at him and waved
before shooting back to the surface.

She grinned at him.  The water from the
pool was streaming down her face, collecting in her long eyelashes and leaving small
drops on her full mouth.  She licked the water away and he got an immediate
erection, despite his fear. 

“Show off.”  He muttered.

“Tell you what.”  She said.  “You swim one
length of the pool and I’ll get out of the pool and talk with you about
whatever you want.”

He hesitated and she raised her eyebrow at
him.  “Oh, I’m sorry.  I didn’t know you were such a chicken.”

She flipped him a saucy grin and then
turned and swam away.

“Goddammit!”  He swore loudly and then,
steeling himself, let go of the wall and began to swim in short jerky movements
across the pool.  He could hear his breath whistling harshly in his lungs and
faintly, the splashing of Hannah ahead of him.  He focused on keeping his head
above the water and not how far away from the wall he was, as his arms and legs
moving awkwardly through the water.

“This is not funny, Hannah.”  He growled. 
There was no response and he looked up.  She was nowhere to be seen and he
immediately panicked and began to sink.  Sputtering, arms waving and feet
kicking, he tried desperately to keep his head above the surface of the water. 

“Hannah!”  He shouted just as his head
dipped below the water and he swallowed a large amount of salt water.  He broke
the surface, coughing and choking and certain that Hannah was going to let him
drown.  He deserved it for what he had done to her.  As he started to sink for
a second time, a strong arm was suddenly wrapped around his chest and Hannah
hooked her hand into his armpit and dragged him to the surface.

“Stop moving!”  She shouted.  He made
himself relax and she pulled him easily to the side of the pool.  He continued
to cough and choke, it felt like he had an entire lake of salt water in his
lungs, and he clung weakly to the side of the pool as she pounded him on the
back.

“You’re fine.”  She soothed.  “Take some
deep breaths.”

He coughed again and tried to breathe
normally.  She went to pull herself out of the pool and he panicked immediately
and grabbed her around the waist, yanking her wet body against his.

“Don’t leave me!”

“Okay, okay – relax.”  She patted his
shoulder as he took a deep, shuddering breath.

Hannah patted Will’s shoulder again, trying
to ignore the feel of his body against hers.  She hadn’t been this close to him
in weeks, and just the feel of his hard thighs brushing against hers was making
her lower belly throb and ache with need. 

He would have mated with Constance last
night during the full moon.
 She reminded herself
grimly, hoping it would help cool her desire.

“Are you purposely trying to kill me?”  He
asked suddenly.

She rolled her eyes.  “Oh, please.  You’re
perfectly fine.”

“Perfectly fine?  I nearly drowned.”  His
hand tightened around her hip and she didn’t think he realized that he had
pulled her close enough that her breasts were brushing against his chest.

“Maybe you should learn to swim.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t force me to nearly
kill myself just so you’ll talk with me.”

She sighed.  “What do you want to talk
about, Will?”

“There’s a hunt tomorrow night.”

“I know.  Reid told me this morning.”

He tensed against her.  “Did he?  We had
agreed that I would tell you.”

“What does it matter?”

“It matters because  - “ he began in a
loud, angry voice. 

He stopped and forced himself to take a calming
breath.  “Hannah, if you’re not ready to hunt, you just have to say it.  No one
is going to force you into doing anything you don’t want to do.”

She frowned.  “I’m more than ready, Will. 
I’m tired of sitting around doing nothing.”

“Are you sure?”  He gave her a searching
look.

“I’m positive.  Besides, Reid and Mannie
will both be there.  If I get into trouble, I’m sure one of them will rescue
me.”  She smiled a little.

Will, his nostrils flaring, stared angrily
at her.  “You seem to be spending a lot of time with Reid lately.”

She shrugged.  “No more than any other
recruit.  Actually less than the other recruits.  You would not believe how
many of the women have a crush on him already.”

“Stay away from him.”  Will suddenly said.  “I
don’t trust him.”

“Why not?”

He didn’t answer, just stared sullenly at
her, and she laughed.

“Are you jealous that all the girls have a
crush on the new instructor?  Poor baby.  So used to being the hottest guy in
the school and now the girls are flocking to the new guy.”

He was crushing her against him now, his
eyes dark and stormy, but she ignored his warning growl and continued to tease
him.  “I can see why he’s so popular.  He’s funny and handsome and smart.  He
loves to read and he plays the guitar.  Strong
and
sensitive.  Thick
blonde hair and those eyes… a girl could get lost in them.”

She stared dreamily over Will’s shoulder.  “I
swear half the women in the program are doing everything they can to speed up
their training just so they can graduate and get the chance to sleep with him.”

She smiled at him, her eyes dark with an
emotion he couldn’t read.  “Have you heard the latest, Will?  I’ll probably be
graduating soon.  Reid seemed unnaturally excited about that.  I’m sure it’s
just because he likes to see people do well, and not because he wants to – “

He suddenly turned and pushed her back
against the pool wall.  One hand gripped the back of her neck like a vice, and
he pinned her lower body against the wall with his own.  His fear of the water
seemed to be completely forgotten, and she caught her breath as his eyes turned
yellow and he stared hungrily at her mouth.  She had pushed him too far and she
felt a thin trickle of fear mixed with desire thread through her.

“You’re mine.”  He growled thickly.  “You
will stay away from him or I’ll - ”

She tried to shake her head but he was
still holding the back of her neck and she couldn’t move it.  “Or you’ll what,
Will?  Hmm?  I’m not yours.  We were just having a good time, remember?  And
now it’s over.  You have no right to tell me who I can and cannot be friends
with.”

She paused.  “Or who I invite into my bed.”

His face was so red she thought his head
might explode.  He stared at her, panting harshly and growling deep in his
chest.

She pushed at his broad, wet shoulders.  “Let
me go, Will.”

Instead of letting her go he dipped his
head and kissed her hard on the mouth.  He shoved his tongue between her lips,
exploring her mouth with barely-restrained hunger.  He pushed his fingers under
the wet material of her bikini top and cupped one bare breast, groaning when
the nipple hardened immediately beneath his palm.  He ground his lower body
against hers, needing her to feel how much he wanted her, and how much he had
missed her. 

For a brief, heart-stopping moment she
responded, pressing her wet body against his, her thighs clinging tightly to
his hips and her fingers digging into his broad back as she kissed him back. 
Abruptly she wrenched her mouth free and, with a soft noise of frustration and
anger, grabbed his shoulders and pushed him under the water.  He swallowed a mouthful
of water and came back up, coughing and choking, his fingers sliding against
the slick wall of the pool.

She was already pulling herself out of the
pool and he stared hungrily at her pale body in the dark blue bikini as she
stood shivering in the cool air.

“Hannah, I – “

“Shut up!”  She hissed at him.  “What is
wrong with you?  Are you deliberately trying to get me kicked out of the
program?”

“No!  I’m sorry I – “

She looked nervously around the pool room.  “I
don’t know why you’re so determined to get me kicked out or why it doesn’t
bother you that it would be a death sentence, but could you do me a favour and just
stay the hell away from me?”  She stalked angrily to the benches against the
wall, grabbed her towel, and stormed into the locker room.

Will hoisted himself out of the pool and
gathered his clothes.  He felt sick to his stomach and he had to restrain
himself from punching the wall.  Hannah believed he was deliberately trying to
get her kicked out of the program when it was the last thing he wanted.  He
loved her and wanted desperately to keep her safe. 

The thought of Reid touching her, the
thought of her in his bed with her long legs wrapped around his waist and
moaning his name was driving him mad.  When she had goaded him in the pool, it
had pushed him over the edge and he had been driven with a desire to not only
claim her as his, but to show her how much he loved her. 

“You’re such an asshole.”  He muttered to
himself as he left the pool room.  She was right.  She didn’t belong to him and
he had no right to tell her who she could be with.  Even if it killed him to
watch her fall in love with another, he needed to move on and accept that they
would never be together again.  He had made his choice.