Wicked Werewolf Passion (4 page)

“Damn it, Shi, Carmen has to be wearing a tracking device, because you have about three minutes before him and his personal bodyguards are going to be there. Get the fuck out of there before you don’t walk out of there alive. I’m on my way.” He hung up. 

Shi eyed the bathroom door and everything inside him turned to ice with the implications of Carmen’s betrayal. He didn’t want to believe it but why shouldn’t he? Everyone he’d ever been supposed to trust, with the exception of Nico and Kole, had betrayed him. Shi wasn’t willing to bet his life that this time was different. He was dressed in sixty-seconds and heading for the door, and he was pretty sure his heart had been carved out and left on the mattress behind him. He’d just become a fugitive and Carmen, be it willingly or unwillingly, was the kiss of death for him, at least for now, until he could figure out how to save them both. If she wants you to be saved at all, a voice in his head reminded him.  He had to face the truth. He’d been setup. Maybe passion was all that had ever been real to them. And passion alone was empty. And so was he. 

 Present Day....

Chapter Three

Shi was hunting a woman, one of the many contracted jobs he and his team of misfit mercenaries had taken in the past five years, and nothing, including the fancy shopping mall and abundance of people nearby, were going to stop him from claiming his prey.  Leaning against a wall, he watched her slip behind a dressing room curtain, and he waited. Waited until he knew she’d be undressed, unprepared for a surprise. Seconds ticked by, and he tried to ignore the thrum of anticipation pulsing through his veins. Tried to tell himself the heat had everything to do with the rush of his ‘for hire’ contract, and nothing to do with the soft scent of female and wolf, insinuating into his nostrils. She wasn’t going to get to him. This was business, and nothing more. He was the best wolf for this job, not the best wolf for her.  He’d taken the job for that reason, because he was the one who could get results the fastest and everyone involved knew that, him included.   

Irritated at the hum of his body, Shi shoved off of the wall and headed towards his prey–refusing to see her as anything but that considering the circumstances he had no control over.  She couldn't be more or his assignment would be compromised. His pace was deceptively lazy, his awareness of everything around him acute, as he made a b-line for his target. There was no hesitation in him when he shoved back the dressing room’s curtain and stepped inside the room.  

Instantly, the ripe scent of hot woman jolted him almost as much as the sight of his ‘prey’ wearing nothing but a skin toned bra and matching panties that made her appear almost naked, her pale ivory skin and sexy curves bared for his hot stare. His blood heated at the sight of her wild mass of red hair falling over creamy white shoulders that matched the streaks in his own long, inky black hair he wore tied at his nape. 

Hungrily, his gaze raked over her sensuous body before his green eyes met her pale blue ones in the mirror, the impact nothing less than jarring.  Shi was hot and hard and ready in a way he’d only been one other time in his life, when this very woman had almost gotten him killed. For several seconds neither of them moved, neither of them spoke. They sized each other up, the past they shared expanding between them, the heat of arousal along with it.

“Shi?” she asked, her luminous blue eyes wide with recognition, with happiness, and for just a moment, she was the young girl he’d guarded, protected, and even taught to protect herself.  The woman who he’d taken to bed, and wanted to make his life, but not anymore. Now, he didn’t care how heated she made his blood. He wasn’t going to trust her. Not again. Not ever. He didn’t care that he’d never proved she’d betrayed him. He cared that there were suspicions within the ranks of the Guard about her now. 

Carmen’s brows dipped and he saw the moment in her eyes that she smelled his mood, and realized that this wasn’t a friendly visit. Trepidation slid across her lovely features, as well it should, considering her father had been part of the decision to destroy him, and he didn’t deny his bitterness over that fact. He was bitter, she was on edge, yet unexplainably their eyes held in that mirror, tension crackling between them, and his nostrils flared with the deepening scent of woman and wolf, the scent of their instant lust neither of them could control.  Everything inside Shi went red hot and for a moment his gaze went black. The way a wolf responded when he’d found his biological mate. He clamped down on the sensation, refusing to let it, or her, control him, but immediately the sensation was back, blasting through his body with demand, everything male in him screaming ‘mine’. Fuck me. Fuck, fuck. Fuck.

Apparently, Carmen agreed with his silent musings because she tried to do just that — fuck him, or rather attack him. She lunged for her purse and had a knife in her hand in an instant. In the process of her reach for the weapon, her stellar, nearly naked backside thrust into the air. Shi leaned over her, pressing it to his thickening groin, molten fire shooting through his veins. His body framed hers, his hand shackling her wrist, and with a quick pressure point squeeze, the blade tumbled to the ground.

He pulled her back against him, their eyes once again locking in the mirror. “I taught you to use that blade. Did you really think you could best me with it?”

Her eyes found his in the mirror again, searching, probing – and damn it to hell, filled with the hurt of betrayal.  “I can’t believe I’m even having to try,” she whispered. 

Shi ground his teeth, refusing to let the way her bottom lip trembled, the way her eyes spilled over with anguish, get to him.  “Five years changes a lot of things, sweetheart.”

“Spare me the insulting endearments, Shi,” she spat at him. “You lost that right five years ago. I don’t deserve them anymore than I do your intrusion.”

“Carmen, sweetie. You need anything?”

It was a store attendant, who was also Carmen’s friend Deanna. Shi didn’t waste any time reacting, knowing Deanna, as a wolf, could smell him. His hand slipped to Carmen’s neck, his stare hardened on hers in the mirror, warning her, telling her silently to answer and make it good.

“I’m good,” Carmen said, sounding remarkably, impressively composed, when he could feel her pulse racing in her delectable throat beneath his palm. But then, she was in the ‘loss prevention’ department for the seven casinos The Society owned, and seamlessly used to hide their existence from the human population. “I’m going to dig around the racks again in a second.”

“Do you want me to look at anything you tried on?” Deanna asked.

“Oh please no,” Carmen replied, proving just how good she was at her job of keeping secrets. “I hate it all. Don’t even think about coming in.” 

The other girl’s laughter rolled through the too-thin door. “I understand, honey. Be back in a second.” There was silence for several seconds and he could almost hear her nostrils flaring, her confusion over what she smelled that defied the logic that it came from behind the curtain. But then her footsteps faded.

Shi turned Carmen to face him, his hands on her shoulders, his body and senses too aware of her, his gaze raking over her ample cleavage and lifting. 

“Keep your eyes where they belong, asshole,” she warned softly, vehemently. 

“I see you’re no little angel anymore.”

“And you’re no Royal Guardsman, but if you think being a mercenary, or whatever they call someone with no rules or morals, will keep my knee from your groin, think again. We both know you aren’t here to ogle me in my bra and panties, Shi. What do you want?”

No bullshit, just the way he liked things, the way he’d always liked
her
. “Get dressed. You’re coming with me.”

She crossed her arms in front of her chest, thrusting the delectable cleavage from the tops of her silk bra. “No.”

“You’re friend Deanna has at least two of my wolves tracking her every move right this moment. It’s in her best interest you come with me.”

“There’s undercover Society wolves all throughout this property. If I don’t want to leave, I won’t leave.”

“Do you really think I’m stupid enough not to arrange a distraction to keep them busy while I paid you a visit? They’ve been given problems to deal with.” Pulled off their duty by Kole, his close friend, and the new leader of the Royal Guard who’d taken over when Nico Moore had mated with a witch, and joined some magical task force. Shi might not be Royal Guard anymore, still technically an outlaw thanks to Alexander, but Nico and Kole sure enjoyed using him for the jobs that weren’t politically correct. 

Her blue eyes blazed red fire. “So this is what you’ve really become? A traitor to your own kind?”

A traitor. Those words rippled through him, shredding him on the inside in a way they wouldn't if spoken by anyone but Carmen. Before he could think about the consequences of his actions, about how on edge being near this woman had him, anger curled inside Shi, and he crowded her, backing her against the mirror and pressed his fist to the glass. Her scent teased his nostrils, the heat of her body radiated into his, and he wanted nothing more than to rip away her panties and bury himself inside her. She wanted it too, she wanted him, despite her distrust, and that only angered him more. He’d been down this path, destined to mate with a woman who would have destroyed him if given a chance and it had sucked like nothing else in this lifetime ever had.  

Shi ground his teeth, refusing the connection he felt to Carmen, what the heat between them said they both felt. There was magic that could create false sensations and it had to be at play.  He would not be defeated by magic or another woman, not even Carmen. “Call me what you want,” he murmured, his lips near her ear, the bitter memory of her father’s many unjust accusations when he’d left the Guard grounding him in reality, holding his lust and desire for Carmen in check, “but you’re still leaving with me.” 

“They won’t let you get away with this,” she whispered.  “I’m the daughter of an elder council member.”

He leaned back, fixing her in a hard stare. “I, of all wolves, am fully aware of who, and what, you are.” His microphone buzzed in his ear, a second before the voice of his Second, Morgan Miller said, “Rebels entering the mall.”

Fuck! How did the Rebels know the security would be cleared? Because they had to know to dare come here. There was only one answer. There was a Society insider helping them, someone his client trusted. “I’m headed out of the store through the garage. Make sure I have a ride.” 

“Copy that.” 

“Get dressed,” Shi ordered, tuning out the headset and focusing on Carmen. 

“Not until you explain what’s going on,” she half-growled. “You don’t intimidate-”

“Don’t I?” Shi demanded, leaning forward, framing her body with his, lowering his mouth to her ear. “There are Rebels here and they came for the same thing I did. You. And if you think for a second I won’t carry you out of here over my shoulder and in your underwear, think again.” He leaned back to fix her in a stare, his gaze burning into hers, his voice a husky wolfish tone. “I have reasons to keep you alive. They don’t.”

Her eyes went wide a moment but she didn’t immediately move. She studied him, assessed him, and then abruptly whirled around and grabbed the navy blue dress she’d been wearing, and tugged it over her head. It shimmied down her curves and hugged her body the way he’d done only minutes before, the way he wanted to do now. 

***

Once dressed, Carmen turned to face the towering six-feet four inches of wolf with a lift of her chin, still reeling from the sudden appearance of a wolf who’d become a legend whispered about among The Society, a lethal killer who took jobs for pay, and did what no other would do. And she didn’t doubt he was capable of killing. In fact, she’d seen him do it, to defend his race, and to protect her and her father.  

“What’s the plan?” Carmen asked. 

Shi’s eyes narrowed on her, and she sensed his surprise at her compliance, when only moments before she’d refused to leave, and even tried to attack him, but he didn’t comment, which told her how real the Rebel threat truly was. Instead, he drew her hand in his, lacing his fingers with hers, the touch scorching her inside out. “We get the hell out of here,” he replied, and an instant later he was shoving back the curtain.

Carmen willingly followed Shi into the store. She’d doubted him for just a moment in the dressing room, feared his intent, but that was before she’d searched his stare, and truly seen him, and the wolf who’d once been her bodyguard, and the man she’d once been in love with. No. She was still in love with him. That hadn’t changed. He was still her Shi, no matter what he claimed otherwise. And he wouldn’t hurt her, but the Rebels were another story. They were vicious monsters and as the daughter to one of The Society leaders, she was always a target, and it seemed her safety zone, the walls of The society, were not longer protection enough. 

But Shi was here with her, and as twisted as their past had become, as damned as his and her father’s relationship had ended, he was still familiar and strong, and yes, her hero. She knew it was a dangerous way to think considering all that had happened between him and The Society, but she couldn’t help herself. It hurt to know he’d walked away from her, to know that had to mean they were never mates, but still, she trusted him on some level that reached beyond logic.

Nervously, she scanned for trouble, spotting Deanna absorbed in conversation with a big, blond wolf, she assumed to be one of Shi’s mercenaries since he seemed unaffected by the sight. By the way this other wolf angled Deanna towards a corner, she sensed he was shielding her with his body. Protecting her. Carmen knew then that her instincts were right. She had no idea why Shi was here but it wasn’t to harm her.