“You don’t need my permission.”

  “Not to leave, no, but I want to use you as bait.”

  She looked at the feline beside her. “Seriously?” The moment Tinder held her gaze, she knew the woman spoke the absolute truth. “What do you need me to do?’

  Within ten minutes, she was out in the freezing weather, wishing she could just shift and be warmer that way. Her cat was pleased to be out of the weather and was perfectly okay to allow Kelly to take the beating.

  Tinder had posed an excellent plan.

  I may actually get to like her if we’re ever not trying to kill each other.

  She did what Tinder had told her to do, making it look like she was out searching for someone. While technically she was, she just didn’t know who. Ten more minutes and she was about frozen when the blinding sleet mixture darkened into a form. That form became a man and she was faced with enhanced shifter number six.

  “Who are you?”

  His demand was low and rasped, not in a sexual way but more like he didn’t use his voice a lot.

  She knew this wasn’t one she could defeat in battle, from being in his presence for mere seconds that knowledge covered her like her coat.

  “One of the six.”

  He watched her with brilliant blue eyes before turning toward the cave and striding off, blending instantly with his surroundings. As soon as she couldn’t see him anymore, she followed. Tinder met her at the entrance of the cave and mouthed, “He’s fucking hot.”

  She wasn’t about to deny that, but it was her brother and so she just cocked an eyebrow.

  Together they walked toward the back.

  As she’d expected the tension had gone right back up. Snyder and Tinder had a clash of looks but they didn’t argue, she figured they were speaking within their heads to each other. She felt Andrew before she saw him, he was at her side, his hand curving into her forearm.

  “What?” Her word remained sharp, even if she never looked away from the four men, she now knew to be her brothers.

  “Might I have a word?”

  “Right now?”

  “Now.” Everyone looked at them with his growled statement. It was the sound of a male leopard, angry and dangerous. Even Jayme picked up on it.

  She angled her head in his direction, eyebrow slowly rising. Kelly might not know what she and he were going through, sure, she had an idea but nothing concrete. Regardless of that, she wasn’t about to cower from a male shifter because he wanted to establish dominance.

  “Whatever you’re going through, can wait. We have other things to deal with.” Her words were low, she wasn’t trying to shame him, but she wanted to focus on something other than him and her as well as her unreasonable jealousy toward the friend he called in.

  “I don’t fucking think so.” He stalked off, pulling her behind him until they rounded a corner in this huge mass of caverns. Slamming her back into the rock, he pounced with a pussy tingling kiss.

  Nothing else mattered right then, just him. And her. Kelly hooked a leg around his lean waist and drew him tight so the hard length of his cock pressed into her core. Exactly where she wanted him.

  It wasn’t to be. He broke the kiss and in the low lighting she could easily see the leopard in his gaze.

  “Tell me before you do that again.”

  “I don’t need anyone’s permission to do what I was bred to do.” She shoved him back, canines descending.

  He righted himself immediately and got back in her personal space. “I didn’t say you did. Stop expecting me to try and control you. I said to tell me before you do. Fuck, Kelly, I get it, you’re this unstoppable force of nature. This wack fuck took the impressive genes of a shifter,” he brushed up against her again, this time, his touch gentle but not less powerful, “a leopard shifter and genetically altered her to one of the baddest creatures on the face of the earth.”

  His hands skimmed along her waistband, fingers dipping ever so slightly beneath it. “You were made, you’re not a freak, you’re fucking perfect. You, you, were the one female who survived with five males. He fears you enough to put a bomb in you and yet I can’t help who I am. I may not be even close to you in that level, but I’m still a male leopard shifter who is hardwired to protect his mate.”

  She gasped. Partly because of his words, mostly because he just pushed two fingers up deep in her pussy, lifting her up on her toes.

  Chapter Six

  After fucking Kelly until she drew blood, they went and joined the rest of the group. He had no doubt they could not only smell what happened but had heard her as well. None of them said anything. Not for a moment at least.

  It was Jayme who spoke up.

  “What is it you need from me, Andrew?” She gestured to Jeremy, Alden, and Harrison who still surrounded her. “As nice as it is to be in the center of such handsome men, I could do to get back home. And I’m not sure how that’s going to happen as I jumped out of a plane to get here.”

  He smiled at the uptick of panic in her voice. “You’ve done it before, Jayme. And knowing you, it’s something you’ll do again.”

  “I’ve always known where I was going other than coordinates on a map. Look, I get it, there is some next level hush hush secrecy going on here but why am I here?”

  He looked over the four males. Cian, the newest arrival had a scowl on his face as he stared in the direction of Jayme and the other males.

  “We need you to remove devices from them.”

  She laid her hand on Alden and stepped forward, so she could see him better. Then she released the lion beside her. “Devices? Like implants?”

  Snyder stepped up. “Exactly like that. Kelly and I had in and my mate’s friend removed them. He couldn’t come, we need you to do it.”

  “And your friend, her friend, whatever, was a surgeon?”

  “No. And neither are any of us.” Andrew waited to see if they could contradict him. None did. He hadn’t been expecting them to as he lumped them all as the warriors they so looked to be.

  “Why me? Because I know about shifters and you didn’t think it would shock the fuck out of me?” She flattened her lips and looked at him with an eyebrow raised before she turned a very slow, pointed circle. “Have to say, if that was your intention, it didn’t work. We could have done this in a place that was warm, with running water and I could have proper equipment.”

  “If you can’t do it, say so and we can find someone who can,” Cian rumbled.

  “Watch yourself there boyo. I never said I couldn’t, just wondering why I am required to do this here. What is it you’re not telling me?” She moved from glaring at Cian to scowling at Andrew.

  “The devices are explosive and hey have to be removed very quickly—”

  “Or we all die,” she finished up. He nodded. “Great. Sounds like fun. So, we’re doing this here then? Because if so, I’m going to need that fire built up more and a spot set up that we can keep as clean as possible.” She pushed her second hood back. “Get to it, boys. Time’s a wasting.”

  He watched her talk to Kelly, probably a better idea than heading to Snyder, and asked about the location. Once she confirmed it had been in the same spot on Snyder, she went to drag her bags over. Cian beat her there and lifted them with ease.

  Snyder and Kelly stood guard while Jayme operated on each of the men. He remained there to help her if she needed anything. Harrison was up first and there wasn’t any disguising her sharp intake of breath when he whipped off his shirt and sat on the rock near the fire and waited for her to start.

  “You’re sure this is going to work?”

  Tinder, who was close shrugged. “I’m only able to tell you what we saw on the ones with Snyder and Kelly. But they were the same model and identical. Given these four have the marks on them as well, I would guess it’s going to be the same.

  “I guess I won’t know until I get cutting.”

  “Slice away, beautiful. I’m ready to get this out of me.”

  Andrew moved to his computer when she put the scalpel to the cougar’s skin. Tension ratcheted up as she worked quickly doing her best not to cause any permanent damage. When Jayme finished, Tinder brought the device over to him and he studied it.

  “Exactly the same as the others,” he confirmed. “I’ve hacked the signal and I’m showing each of you, not here, because again, we don’t want to tip our hand.” His fingers flew over the keys as he tried to stay ahead of the four hackers trying to locate the men’s location better.

  “Next,” Jayme said wiping the sweat off her brow.

  It wasn’t until she’d finished two others that she cried off to stretch her back that he took a breath. It was only one now that he had to spoof.

  “Your turn.” Jayme paused by Cian, the large silent lion. He glared down at her.

  “Look buddy, you want to keep it in you, fine. Just tell me now but if this is because you’re scared of allowing me to touch you, trust me, it’s nothing personal.”

  Had Andrew not been staring at them he would have missed the flash of lion across Cian’s features.

  Cian stared down at her once more and took his seat after removing his shirt as the others had done. Jayme exhaled sharply and shook her head. Then she got to work.

  Silence again descended over them as she worked. Jayme had just finished when a shout from the front filtered back.

  “We’ve got company and they’re not here for Christmas dinner.” Kelly’s shout spurred everyone into action. Men poured in, guns firing, as he saved his one important computer and dove for the ground, he watched Cian cover Jayme as he took them both down.

  Animalistic roars left them as the attack didn’t last that long. The men recovered quickly and between the six genetically enhanced warriors and Tinder, soon it was just an ever increasing pile of dead bodies.

  After the eerie silence had been there for a short time, he looked for Kelly, grateful she was fine, and said, “I think it’s fair to say they will be expecting all of you are aware of one another. Whatever we do next, it won’t be a surprise.”

  “Who led them here?” Jeremy growled, his eyes still far more puma than man.

  “I think that was me. I think my cell phone is still on.” Jayme stepped from around Cian, one hand up.

  Kelly moved toward him. “We have other things to worry about. We have to move.”

  The moment the words were free of her mouth, she jerked forward falling to the cold hard floor, a large bloom of blood spreading over her shirt. A roar left him, and he raced to catch her before she fell.

  Utterly boneless, he scooped her up and held her while his hands were covered in her tacky blood.

  “Move lion, you want to protect me, do it by your sister while I fight for her life.” Jayme’s words were sharp and cold. Just like the ones she barked at him, shoving him out of the way.

  He barely recalled Snyder stopping him from snapping the neck of the one who had fired the shot, making some blathering mention of how they needed to question him. Andrew turned back to the scene before him and watched as Jayme fought for Kelly.

  αβ

  Kelly stirred. Slowly, as her brain began to piece together snippets of information to provide her the best and most complete bunch of intel it could, she took several deep breaths. Her senses were there and didn’t pick up on any danger.

  The one thing she knew was she no longer occupied a cold cave. It wasn’t hard ground beneath her but a soft mattress. Where she was, that was a mystery and one she needed solved.

  “You’re safe.”

  Two words that she took at value. She trusted the man behind her. With her life and her love.

  “Andrew?”

  “Fuck Kelly, you scared the shit out of me. Let me give you a rundown real fast.”

  “We’re in an old mansion that we located, still up north in Siberia. But we have power, food, and heat. Everyone is fine, you were the one we almost lost.” His fingers flexed on her hip, but he didn’t move any closer to her nor bring her back to him. “You’ve been out for nearly two weeks.”

  “I need to get up. I cannot be lying around. I’ll get soft.”

  “I think you should stay in bed, Kelly,” he whispered.

  “No.”

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He climbed out and moved around to where she could see him. Scruff abraded his jaw and he looked a hundred times more rugged than he had when she’d first entered his life. It was like someone locked away the safe computer geek and released the leopard.

  She approved.

  With a deep breath, she pushed herself up into a seated position.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

  Her leopard hissed at the loud intrusive voice. Turning to face this new threat, she reined in her cat as Jayme stomped in the room, a tray of something in hand.

  “I didn’t spend hours, get that hours, fighting to keep you alive to have you get up and go mucking about before I clear you. I know your kind heals fast but this was a bit much even for you. So lay your ass back before I give you something to do it for you.”

  Kelly looked to Andrew who shrugged and mouthed, “Told you.”

  Asshole. He looked like he was enjoying her getting chewed out.

  “I need—”

  “To listen to your doctor? Why yes, yes you do. And your doctor is saying lie your ass back down because if you dare undo what I did to save you, I won’t do it again.”

  Nothing about her tone suggested she was kidding. Andrew wasn’t going to be any help and so she slowly lay back, trying to make it as painless as possible.

  “Better.” Jayme gave her some foul liquid then she was gone after another icicle delivering glare and warning to stay in bed.

  “That is in no way the woman you called in. Who is she and what happened to the nice one you called in?”

  Andrew’s lips twitched and for her that was better than any medicine. She didn’t want him to worry about her.

  “She flipped when you fell.” His eyes darkened. “She saved your life. Meatball surgery with not everything we needed on hand. She did it.”

  “I would have been fine. I’ve been shot before.”

  He shook his head and returned to the bed where he sat beside her. “No. This bullet had been laced with something. Not sure yet, we’re running tests that we can with the equipment we have. Whatever it is, breaks down your blood cells. Almost like the warfarin or thallium sulfate, but the properties are different.” He pushed some hair behind her ear. “Like I said, we’re still running things.”

  “Where are we?”

  “I told you, some abandoned place in Siberia. Your brothers are all fine and they have a remarkable way of getting what we need to keep searching and breaking down the information we got.”

  Exhaustion owned her but she was not able to just shut off that part of her brain and conditioning that told her to get up and move. Kelly made another attempt and frowned when he pressed the palm of his hand to her chest.

  “Are you planning on hurting me?” Andrew’s question was low and controlled but she sensed he was near his breaking point.

  “Why?” Her gaze never wavered from his.

  “Because of the hold you have on my wrist.” In the depths of his eyes she watched the leopard flicker with pseudo-lazy focus albeit a dangerous one.

  His words were nearly a shock to her and she released him as if he burned her. “Not my intent.”

  She shook her head, everything was muddled. It was difficult to focus. Almost like whatever had happened to her had done a hard reset on her programming. Right now, every instinct she had was to kill him and move to safety.

  Somewhere within her she knew that wasn’t what she wanted to do but it wasn’t a loud protest. It was being silenced.

  “You need to stay away from me,” she forced the words out.

  “Excuse me?”

  She squeezed her eyes shut and pinched her nose. “I’m not safe. Something isn’t right in my head. I could hurt you.” The nagging to kill came once more. “And, I don’t want to… I don’t think.”

  He pulled away and that cut deeper than any knife could compare to. Through slitted eyes she watched as he strode to the door and closed it, then locked it. As he headed back to the bed, he used one hand and ripped off his light gray shirt, to fall somewhere on the floor, his pants were undone and just barely held up by his lean hips.

  His eyes locked on hers and he growled in her direction. “Hell no. I’m not running. Whatever you’re going through, I’m here for the long haul.” He paused when his knees hit the bed.

  She inched back. “I could kill you.”

  “A risk worth taking.”

  “Not to me.”

  “If you’re truly regressing and have gone through this hard restart then it wouldn’t matter to you at all. It does, so that tells me you’re still in there. I just have to coax you back out.” He crawled up over her legs until he straddled her pelvic area, then he paused and watched her from behind the strands of his hair that had fallen forward.

  “You’re playing with fire.”

  “I’m not playing, Kelly. If this is a battle you need to know that I’m not letting my mate go without a fight. That means, you and me, locked in here until you snag whatever control you have to back.”

  “And if I kill you?”

  He shrugged as he peppered her face with light kisses. “No matter. You walk away from what we have now you may as well have reached in and ripped out my heart. Again, and I will stand by this. Because you are so worried about me, there’s no way you are reprogrammed, so to speak.”

  His lips covered hers once more as he lowered himself to the mattress and rolled her to where she was on top of him, cradled between his strong legs.

  Chapter Seven

  Andrew rubbed his arms as he stood by the large window overlooking the vast expanse of untouched backyard he could see. Snow still fell heavily and made any sort of patrol difficult. At least they could have fires burning to keep them warm otherwise he would have been in leopard shape the entire time for his cat regulated this shit weather far better than he ever could.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6