The Scent of Seduction (13 page)

"Good afternoon, Alpha. You're looking...relaxed,” Shaun said with a smirk.

"I am, thank you. How are things coming on your end of the investigation?"

"Wow, no pleasantries before we get down to business?"

"I'm sorry. How was your evening, Shaun? Mine? Fabulous. I claimed my mate several times and for the first time in my life feel utterly complete. Now I'd like to get the business at hand completed as quickly as possible, so I can get back to Nicole and spend the day wallowing in sensual bliss. Better?"

"You lucky bastard,” Shaun grumbled. “Fine. Here's what I've been able to discover about the wolf named Adam Broyles. Nothing."

Jaryn stood and leaned over the top of his desk. “What do you mean, nothing?"

"Just that. Adam Broyles doesn't exist. There's no record of anyone—human, wolf or any other paranormal being—by that name in any database."

"Have you tapped into the council's resources?"

"The ASC, the FBI, CIA, NSA, military, Interpol... I even went so far as to contact the COPs."

"What information were you hoping to gain that Cooper wasn't able to provide?"

"Not cops as in police, C-O-P as in Council of Praeternaturals."

Jaryn slumped back into his chair. “Well, shit. I thought we were finally getting somewhere."

His hands rubbed over the morning scruff he hadn't bothered to shave yet. Which of course immediately brought to mind the flush of beard burn he'd left on Nicole pale skin earlier that morning. He smiled as a new idea of how to decorate his mate's skin popped into his head.

"And what may I ask is making you smile about this situation?"

Jaryn blinked a few times and refocused on the wall with Shaun's image. “Sorry. Mind wandered off track for a moment. Okay, so thanks to Nicole we at least have the location and layout of the compound. Aside from other activities, we spent the morning going over as much detail about the individual players that she could provide. I suggest we contact the council with this information and organise a raid. If we're lucky, Adam or whoever he is will be there and I can rip his head off. If not, at least we have the opportunity to liberate those he's holding hostage."

"Sounds like a plan to me. When do you want to link up with the council?"

"There's something that I promised to help Nicole with today—"

Shaun started laughing and Jaryn rolled his eyes. “Not that you pervert. Well, not
only
that,” he said, smiling. “Actually she hasn't contacted any of her family since her escape. I promised to set up a secure link so she could do so."

Shaun sobered and nodded his head. “You let me know when you're ready. The council is on permanent standby with this situation, so we have free rein to contact them at any time."

Jaryn looked up and saw Nicole standing in the doorway of his office. He waved her over and patted his lap. His eyes were trained on her as she moved across the room. Her movements were both graceful and sensual. Each slight roll of her hips had Jaryn's hands itching to hold the curves in his palms once again. Nicole settled her slight weight in his lap and Jaryn couldn't help but bury his nose in the elegant column of her neck. He kissed along the tendon, and placed a small lick over his mating mark. Nicole's head fell back on his shoulder and she ground her bottom against his filling cock.

"Alpha? Do we need to finish our conversation later?"

Jaryn opened his eyes and looked Shaun's image. His Beta sat at his own desk with his arms folded, but there was a definite gleam of longing in his best friend's eyes.

"Sorry.” He caressed Nicole's jeans-clad leg. “Say hello to Shaun, love."

The sweetest blush covered his mate's pale skin as she said hello. Jaryn continued to caress every inch of bare skin he could find while Nicole and Shaun chatted for a moment. He got an elbow to the gut for his efforts from his mate.

"Pay attention, Jaryn,” she scolded.

"Sorry love, I was distracted by your silky skin. Now what is it you need?"

Jaryn looked up at the wall and saw Shaun roll his eyes.

"Never mind, Nicole, I'll pin him down later. He's useless to me right now. Call me when your mind is ready to focus on more than the beautiful woman in your arms, Alpha."

"I fear that may be never, but I'll do my best to raise my head above the fog of mating heat smothering my brain sometime later today."

Jaryn disconnected the signal of the link with a tap to the laser keyboard lighting up the surface of his desk.

Nicole smiled and leant back to kiss him. Her lips parted and Jaryn slowly fed his tongue between the lush flesh. He adjusted their bodies so he could deepen the kiss and sank his hand into the cool curtain of Nicole's fiery hair. She tasted of the strawberries they'd had for brunch and the uniqueness that was his mate—the addicting essence that fuelled his senses and made his heart thump to the beat of an earthy drum. When he felt a vibration low in Nicole's chest, Jaryn separated from his mate and stared in wonder.

"Did you just growl?"

Nicole's eyes fluttered open in confusion. “What?"

He must be imaging things. “Nothing, love. As pleasurable as this is, let's make that call I promised you last night. Then we can get lost in each other for hours on end."

Nicole sneaked a quick kiss from Jaryn's lips. “No, then you and Shaun are going to contact the council and put a plan in motion to rescue Adam's hostages."

"How did you..."

"While you were busy nibbling on my neck. Shaun filled me in on your plans. Please be careful, Jaryn. Adam has that place so wired any trip of his alarms will send it into instant lock-down. You wouldn't be able to get in if you had rocket launchers. I couldn't stand it if something happened to you."

"I won't say ‘don't worry’ because that's useless. But I will say have faith, my little mate. This isn't my first rodeo, which is why the council nominated me for this task force."

Nicole got up off Jaryn's lap and sat on his desk facing him. “What do you mean?"

"I know we haven't got to sharing everything about our lives yet, but in our reckless youth, Cooper and I spent a decade in the military. We were part of a Spec Ops team that was made up of individuals with...shall we say, extra abilities. It's where we eventually met Shaun."

"You're telling me that you were some type of clandestine military operative who was part of a team of shifters?"

"Shifters, vamps, individuals with paranormal talents,” he chuckled. “There was even this fairy named Collin who played the best practical jokes. Nobody was safe from his shenanigans."

"Wow. Didn't see that one coming. Did you say vamps? As in vampire? And a fairy?"

Jaryn nodded. “You didn't think shifters were the only paranormal group in the world, did you?"

Nicole tilted her head and frowned. “I never really thought about it. If Adam has someone like Kenneth imprisoned, maybe he also has some of the other kinds as well? I'm sorry, I didn't even think of that when we were going over the details. It makes sense, though. So how come we haven't heard anything in the public about those groups?"

"Don't worry, love. I did think of it, even if you didn't. Besides, you told me that Broyles pretty much kept you locked up in your suite. It's not as if you could organise social mixers. When it looked like our secret was about to be exposed, the Council of Praeternaturals, which is essentially a worldwide council that represents all paranormal groups, decided to minimise the blowout. Shifters volunteered to be the scapegoat. So we announced our presence to the world to deflect exposure from the other groups. So far it's worked, but we all know it's only a matter of time before more and more information is discovered. We've managed to keep most of our secrets safe for around fifty thousand plus years. Not a bad track record, if you ask me, but time is always moving forward and we have to move with it."

"Shifters have been around for fifty thousand years?"

Jaryn shrugged. “That's what some of our historians say. But there's really no way for us to know for sure. Beings such as my fairy friend, Collin, are technically immortal so they really don't have a born-on date."

Nicole's face went slack and Jaryn knew that he'd overwhelmed her. He picked up her limp hands and raised them to his lips. Nicole blinked then smiled when he began to nibble on her dainty fingers.

"Don't worry, love. I promise if I ever invite a vampire or fairy into our home I'll warn you,” he said, smiling.

Nicole gently shoved Jaryn away, jumped off the desk then straddled his legs. She combed through the hair on the back of his head and pulled his face to within an inch of her. Her soft breasts pressed against his chest, and he wished they were naked so he could feel her plush vaginal lips surround his cock as they rocked together in his office chair. He sat still, letting Nicole call the shots in their play. His mate rubbed their noses together then ghosted her lips across his cheekbones. Her nails scraped his scalp, making his skin tingle all over as her hips ground against him in a hypnotic rhythm. Jaryn was caught under her spell—his mind a torrent of need, his heart bursting with love for the enchantress in his arms.

Nicole leant forwards and placed her lips against Jaryn's ear. “If you ever invite a vampire or fairy or any other supernatural being into our home, I expect more than a ‘oh by the way'. You got that,
mate
?"

Jaryn's arms came around Nicole's back and pulled her into his embrace. “Yes, love. Anything for you."

Nicole gave Jaryn a peck on his forehead then leapt off his lap. “Good. Now how do we set up this secure link you promised me?"

Jaryn growled and captured Nicole's hips as she bent over his desk to access a new window in his communication programme. He pulled her back into his lap and proceeded to tickle her as he nibbled up and down her neck. Nicole's laughter echoed in his office. Her little body squirmed in his arms, and Jaryn couldn't think of a single moment in his life when he'd been happier.

When Nicole started to gasp for air from laughing so hard, Jaryn settled her by rubbing her belly beneath the soft T-shirt she wore. He held her secure in his arms and simply enjoyed a quiet moment with his mate.

"You ready, love?"

Nicole nodded eagerly and her smile made Jaryn's heart turn over in his chest. “Who should we call first?"

"Can we have a three-way?"

Jaryn raised one eyebrow and chuckled when a cute little blush stole across Nicole's cheeks. “Sure. Let me tap into the secure uplink.” Jaryn pulled up the programme he'd been trained on during his days in the military. He was still allowed access since he occasionally did consulting work for them. He inputted the contact information for Nicole's parents and her brother. Nicole's leg bounced in the chair next to him and she nibbled on her thumb nail. Jaryn hit the last key stroke and took his mate's hand in his. In a matter of seconds, the wall came alive with a split image of a middle-aged couple of and a young man with dark brownish-red hair.

Nicole leapt off the seat and ran to touch the wall where the projection showed.

"Hello? Can I help you?"

Jaryn smiled at the happiness on Nicole's face. “Mr and Mrs Holland? Cameron Holland?"

"Yes,” both images answered.

"I have someone who'd like to talk to you.” Jaryn waved Nicole back over to the desk and pointed to the camera lens imbedded in the E-sphere.

Nicole slowly walked over and sat in the chair. She reached for Jaryn's hand and squeezed tight. “Mom? Dad? Cam? I've missed you so much,” she said with tears in her eyes.

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Jaryn looked up as Shaun entered his office and sat in the chair across from his desk.

"You ready for this?” Shaun asked.

"I think we're as ready as we'll ever be. We've gone over these plans so many times, I see them in my sleep."

"I'd think your dreams would be filled with far more pleasurable things than operation details."

"You know sex isn't all I think about. I have pack details to keep up with, various business projects...speaking of which, I need to get out to the site and check the foundation on the McGuire project. Then, lest I forget, the various family obligations. Charlie has this huge science fair thing to work on, and my mom and dad asked if I would come fix their Eco Cleaner. Don't get me wrong, I love my mate. Since she came into my life, I couldn't be happier, but life is a lot more complicated than one roll in the sheets after another."

Shaun leant forwards and braced his elbows on his knees. “Look, Jaryn—I know we all place a lot of responsibility on you. But you have to admit that you willingly shoulder a lot of that burden alone. I am your business partner, as well as your Beta. Use me, that's what I'm here for."

"Are you saying you'd like to go out and wine and dine the clients?"

"Hell no. We both know if you gave me that particular task, we'd lose more business than we gain, but you could let me take over the books. I know you hate doing that. Let me handle this business with the pack's chalet. You can interview for a manager, and I'll deal with getting the actual structure up and running. You already drew up the plans, and it's not as if I can't track you down if I have a question. As soon as this ASC investigation is taken care of, I recommend you and Nicole take a vacation, or spend some quiet time with your family away from the pack lands. Charlie is going to go away to college before you know it—stop worrying about being a third parental unit and simply be his big brother. Take Nicole home to see her parents, whatever."

Jaryn sat quietly and watched his best friend for a moment. Shaun was right on some levels. Jaryn knew that he didn't delegate as much as he could, but he was Alpha. All the little things he took care of both as a business owner and pack leader were his responsibility. That's why he'd set up the pack offices in the same building as his business. He didn't want to leave the office just to go home and work some more. Then again, the separation didn't do him much good if he continued to put in such long hours that when he did finally get home, he barely had enough energy to shower and kiss Nicole goodnight. There'd been a few times already that he'd wanted to make love to his mate when he got home, but his body simply didn't have enough gas. Nicole had taken to tucking Jaryn in bed, and he'd quickly fall asleep to the soft caress of her hand brushing back his hair and her sweet lips whispering her love in his ear.