Unleashing the Storm (16 page)

No,
he had other things he was worried about. Like if Kira had made her choice yet.
He hadn’t been able to get a read off her all day, his brain effectively turning
to mush when he was in her presence and turning off when he was inside her. At
that point, he was powerless to do anything but let everything else wash away
but the feel of flesh on flesh.

Had
he
made
his
choice was the bigger question, and one he refused to answer.
Instead, he hoisted himself off the mattress and threw his belongings into the
bag he’d brought with him to the refuge yesterday. After studying his gun for a
second, he loaded it, unlocked the safety and tucked it into the bag’s front pocket.
The bag hung at hip level, the pocket perfect for easy access without calling
too much attention if his hand rested there. Now he just needed to find her.

Their
last mating, as she liked to call it, was a little over four hours ago, and
he’d been surprised that she hadn’t come into the house to get him by now. He’d
told her where he’d be and normally she was on him before he had a chance to go
looking. And while nothing tripped his internal alarm, his gut still tightened
and his gait took on speed. He used the cover of dark and a backwoods path that
only the workers used, to arrive within seconds at the more secluded part of
the refuge, the place where Kira told him she always ended her days.

The
wolves lifted their heads and began a mournful howl as he sped past them, his
radar honed for Kira. He was almost at the end of the line of the large
habitats when he saw her, inside the cage with the tigers. With the biggest of
the big cats lying on top of her, mouth open and teeth bared.

For a
second, he froze in place, afraid that a move on his part could startle the
black and white beast whose jaws were too close to Kira’s neck for his comfort.
His hand moved slowly to the gun in his bag, and the only thing stopping him
from taking the tiger out immediately was the fact that Kira would probably
never forgive him.

Since
when did he give a shit what anyone thought about him?

Forgiveness
was the last thing he’d ever needed. And this would be a perfect opportunity to
do his job with a captive audience.

What
the fuck was happening to him? He’d thought maybe the lack of protein had
screwed with his head, and while he did feel stronger after eating the burgers
earlier, his mind was still not fully his. It hadn’t been since he’d caught
wind of Kira.

His
hand steadied on the grip of the gun when both the tiger and Kira turned their
heads toward him. He nodded, waited for her to give him some kind of signal,
something, any way to help her, when suddenly she hooked a strong leg around
the tiger’s back. He tensed, the tiger snarled and let itself flip onto its
back and Kira just rubbed a hand over its stomach as it lay, belly up and
purring like some kind of fucking house cat.

She
smiled over at him and he got a sudden, intense hit of just how unbelievably
special this woman was.

All
he could do was shake his head at her and turn away so she wouldn’t see the
relief on his face. He took his hand away from the butt of the gun, let the bag
drop to the ground. He let his legs sink to the soft earth and he lay on his
back like the tiger, stared up at the stars and let Kira finish whatever it was
she was doing.

Within
minutes, he heard the soft clink of a cage closing, a low, collective growl
from the big cats that reverberated through to his soul, and saw Kira standing
over him.

“What
the fuck was that all about?” he asked. She smiled down at him, her skin damp
from exertion, her eyes liquid amber under heavy lids. Her full lips remained
slightly parted, the tip of her tongue peeking through her teeth. For the first
time in all of this, he wanted to sweep her mouth with his, and he tore his
gaze away. The tank top she wore emphasized her full breasts, nipples already
hard with excitement, and she still wore the shorts he’d been pulling off of
her all day. In the barn. By the old well. In the kitchen. And in the small
bathroom reserved for the tourists. They’d nearly taken the sink off the wall
with that one.

“Are
you jealous? Do you want to wrestle with me, big boy?” Her voice was throaty,
sounded slightly out of breath as she placed her feet on either side of his
hips and lowered herself onto him, too reminiscent of last night for comfort.

“I’m
not a boy, Kira. I thought I’d proven that to you by now,” he said quietly, his
body tensing against hers as she brought her hands to run along his shoulders,
up his neck and then through his hair. He smelled her, the need, the want
thoroughly imbibed by his nervous system until it cut away his vision for
anything else but her.

He
reached behind his neck to grab her wrists and push them away, down to her
sides. She growled, deep in her throat, brought her hands back up and tried to
lie on him, but he used his speed to grab and pin her to the ground, much in
the same way he’d seen the male tiger do.

She
arched against him, her ass rubbing demandingly against his crotch, and he
pressed her, not so gently, into the dirt. Jesus Christ, his heart was still
racing, even though she was safely out of the cage and in his arms and for a
second he buried his face in her hair, smelling the scent that was uniquely
hers.

As
much as he wanted to know what choice she’d made, he wanted this moment more.

“What
took you so long?” she was asking, palms down and still pushing against the
ground and against him at the same time. He finally let her, eased himself back
until she was up on all fours. His hand drifted around to her waist, slid along
her flat abs to unbutton her shorts and yank them down. She lifted her knees
slightly off the ground so he could drag the fabric past them, and left the
shorts to tangle around her ankles, keeping her legs locked in place as his
fingers began to stroke her. He kept his other hand steady and heavy on her
lower back, grounding her, while she lifted her head and groaned, pushed back
against his steady rhythm.

This
was the first time he’d teased her all day—he’d learned his lesson effectively
last night, but now…now he wanted to play, didn’t want a quick end.

“Are
you okay, Kira?” he asked.

“Yes.
Oh, yes,” she murmured. He pulled her shorts off her ankles and spread her legs
wider. He bent his head to taste her again, letting his tongue dip into her
sweet wetness, licking, sucking her clit, using her hips to push her against
him in order to get deeper inside of her as her orgasms started to roll through
her. She came against his lips, his teeth, over and over until he realized he
could die happily, just like this.

For a
second, he wondered what it would be like, what
she
would be like, when
she wasn’t in a heat cycle, and pushed that thought out of his head. He
wouldn’t be around for that.

She
wouldn’t want you anyway.

He
nibbled her thigh, reluctant to part with what he was doing to give her what
she needed. But her breath had started to come fast, and her head hung low and
he knew this was a test of trust.

He
knelt behind her, brushed his erection between her soft folds. She shivered,
let out a laugh laced with relief. No matter how many times he’d taken her
today, his dick sprang to life from the dead whenever he was in range of her
pheromones.

He
took her with one long stroke and her pussy contracted around his cock
greedily. He bent forward so he was on all fours too, his body covering hers as
they rocked together, hard and fast, their groans mingling with the howls that
surrounded them in the dark.

His
orgasm took him by surprise—he’d been concentrating on her so much, he hadn’t
realized how close to the edge she’d brought him. He lifted his head toward the
sky, let out something akin to a howl as the blood coursed through his veins,
and he felt more alive than he had in a long time.

He
rested his forehead against the bare skin on her upper back, where her top had
risen up, while he tried to put his mind in working order. After a minute, he
released her hips, rested on his knees. She straightened and stretched while he
watched the scattering of muscles on her slim back flex.

She
was so much stronger than she looked.

She
turned and he handed over her shorts, stood to pull his own jeans up. He
checked his watch: 2330. Too close to midnight for comfort.

“You’re
leaving?” she asked, her eyes on his bag. He nodded, lifted it and put it on
his shoulder. He let his hand rest casually against the outside flap and waited
a beat.

His
throat went dry when she didn’t say anything else, just zipped and buttoned her
shorts and tucked in the tank top. Then she looked back at the cage that held
the big cats. They were resting, a big pile of fur together by the large rocks
in the far corner.

“I
can’t,” she started, and his palm tensed against the cool gunmetal.

He’d
slipped his hand inside the pocket, his subconscious taking over because it
knew his conscious mind was too full of thoughts, of sex, of Kira, of
everything, to do the job it needed to do. The part of him that was trained not
to give a shit about anything but the job would take her down without a
moment’s hesitation.

Doing
it quickly wasn’t going to make it hurt any less. “So you’re staying?” he
asked, and fuck, why was he still stalling for time?

“I
can’t leave the animals unprotected,” she said, her eyes begging him to
understand. “I want to go with you. I’m just not sure. I believe you when you
say that I’m in danger, but who’s going to protect them?”

He
drew in a deep breath, letting the oxygen flood his lungs, but he didn’t move
his hand off the gun. “If I call in backup now, your choice to join my agency
goes out the window,” he said. “And I can’t afford to keep you here that long.”

“Do
you think they’ll be safe?”

“I
think you’re the main target, so I don’t think they’d waste their time here.
But I can’t promise that.”
Can’t promise you shit.

He
reminded himself that he’d already made her promises, and let his trigger
finger curl, as he had so many times before, around the pistol’s hard, worn
trigger guard.

One
shot, straight through the heart, would kill her instantly. Where that would leave
her animals was none of his concern. Where that would leave him should be none
of his either.

“I
haven’t agreed to join your agency,” she said.

“I
know.”

“And
you’re not going to force me to join?”

“Have
I forced you to do anything you didn’t want to since I’ve been here?” he asked,
flashed back to her holding him by the throat against the grass. His free hand
moved to his neck, which still bore light bruises, and he wondered if he’d
saved her life last night for no good reason.

He
could let her run on her own, give her time to escape, hold off Itor. But that
would be like giving the fox to the hounds. She wouldn’t have a chance, didn’t
know how to hide herself properly. And every spring, she’d be open to anyone’s
suggestion.

“No,
you haven’t forced me to do anything I didn’t want to.” Her voice was soft,
thoughtful. God, he wished she wasn’t watching him like that.

According
to Dev, she was far too dangerous to leave alive. Her potential as a biological
weapon of mass destruction was too real a threat. That’s what he needed to
concentrate on…his job.

“I
need to know your choice,” he said, his voice oddly soft.

She
opened her mouth, and he knew her answer was still no. Before she could utter a
word, he heard a low, menacing chorus of growls coming from the tiger pen
behind her. She turned to them and then back to him and his hand stayed steady
on the metal, his heart rate slowed.

“What’s
happening?” she asked, her voice a whisper, and he didn’t know if she was
asking him or the animals. He surveyed the area, didn’t sense any danger.

When
he looked toward the tigers, he noted they were staring directly at him.
Shit.

“The
animals say I’m in danger,” Kira said. “That there’s someone here who wants to
kill me. Tommy, who’s here?”

Ender
took full advantage of the situation, trying not to let his voice show his
relief that there might be another option. Still, he refused to pull his hand
off the trigger. “It could be people from Derek’s team. I’ve told you that
they’re coming.”

She
bit her bottom lip and moved toward him. The animals’ growling got louder.
“When I get settled someplace new, will I be able to get some of my animals?
Babs and Spazzy and…”

“Yeah.
I’ll make sure of it,” he said. “What does this mean, Kira?”

“Keep
me safe, Tommy,” she said. He let out a long breath, and only then did he take
his hand out of his bag. He flexed it by his thigh.

Technically,
his job wasn’t done—she hadn’t agreed to join the agency, but he could get her
to that point. A few more hours wouldn’t matter.

“We’ve
got to go. Now,” he said. He heard howls in the distance, as if the other
animals were getting in on the act.