Fierce Predator, page 17
Trinity shuddered and wondered if he knew it was from desire, not from dread.
“I’m going to take care of you, Trin, and give you what you need.” He steadied her, grasping her upper torso to ensure she wouldn’t fall before bringing his hand up, then down in a slap that cracked through the silence of the room.
Trinity moaned. “I’m sorry, Sir. I’ll try not to do something like that again.”
“I’m glad to hear that, baby, but you’re going to be a lot sorrier before I’m through.”
Trinity knew they both needed this intimacy… for a myriad of reasons. Zak methodically spanked her—slow then gradually harder. At least this time, he was giving her some warm-up. She’d have to remember to thank him for his discipline. She meant to do that without prompting.
Over and over, he smacked her ass, but it was different. They knew a contract had been made. It may not have been written with pen and paper, but it was there, and they both recognized it. He spread his strikes across her skin, peppering them, so every inch was included. Zak smacked her bottom until her body was soft and relaxed against him, and she rubbed her cheek against his leg.
Zak spanked her until she cried—not great wracking sobs but deep heartfelt tears from the depths of her soul.
“They hurt me, Zak,” she whispered.
“I know, baby.” His voice was soft and cajoling. “They’re going to pay. I don’t care who they are. They will regret the day they locked you in a cage.”
Trinity knew it was not an idle threat—it was a vow. Zak would fight for her. He would see no one harmed her without retribution. The harsh swats slowed and lessened, turning to insistent strokes on her heated flesh.
His hand slipped between her legs, which parted easily for him. Desire ran rampant through her system. The spanking had accomplished its two goals—allowing him to express his anger at what admittedly was a reckless thing to do on her part and sparking her arousal and preparing her body for sex with him. His fingers parted her labia, stroking the wet, silky skin at the mouth of her sex before he slid a finger inside and stroked her gently. The unexpected climax that washed over her made him chuckle.
“That’s my good girl.”
“I’m sorry, Sir. Thank you for your discipline.”
“You’re welcome. I want you to know, regardless of how much I might want to fuck you at any given time, providing you with what you need will always be my first concern.”
He stroked her wet heat in a lazy manner, allowing her body to recover from the first orgasm as it prepared for the second. She could feel how ready her pussy was to accommodate the hard cock that throbbed beneath her.
“Zak,” called a male voice, she vaguely remembered from the night of the Admiral’s party. “Zak?”
Zak helped her up off his knee and helped her under the covers, placing a pillow beneath what she was sure was a bright red ass. He grabbed his sweats and pulled them on, having to tuck his fully erect cock inside.
“Zak?”
“Jesus, Flynn,” Zak growled. “This had better be important.”
“Can I come in, or would you rather come up?”
“Seeing as we’re in a public marina, you’d best come down below.” He turned to her. “And you behave, or I’ll welt your ass before I fuck it.”
Trinity smiled. She had no doubt Zak would do just that, but she also liked him not wanting his friends ogling her any longer.
“Does he know sometimes you’re a shark?”
“Yes.” Zak blew out a breath. “He’s one, too, although you’re not supposed to know. Oh hell, Trinity, I don’t give a fuck if they know that you know. You’re my woman, and I’m done keeping secrets from you. By the way, don’t think I didn’t hear what you said last night.”
The cabin door opened to a tall, muscular man—did Zak have any friends who didn’t fit that description? She doubted it. At least the ones who morphed into sharks. Did they have any control over it? Was it painful? Zak leaned down and kissed her, breaking her reverie. As he drew back, he grinned at her, and she laughed. He’d known her mind had spun away and brought her back the best way he knew how.
“What did you tell Zak last night? I’m Flynn Michaels, by the way. We weren’t properly introduced the other night.”
“I’m Trinity.” She grinned. “According to Zak, I’m his woman.”
“Damn, I’m sorry to hear that. I was kind of hoping you’d throw him over for me. From what I saw last night, you have a fine ass and can take a spanking well.”
“So, are all shark shifters spankos, and are you all Tiger Sharks?” Trinity loved the way Flynn’s cocky demeanor suddenly failed as the color drained from his face.
“I’m the only Tiger Shark,” Zak replied. “There are five of us. Mason, kind of our commander, is a Great White, Nash is a Bull Shark, Logan is a Shortfin Mako, and Flynn is an Oceanic Whitetip.”
“In other words, the five deadliest shark species.”
Zak nodded.
“She knows?” Flynn's attention shifted to Zak.
“My woman and I don’t keep secrets, do we, Trin?”
“No, Sir, we don’t. When he was exposing his erect claspers to me, I told him I think he’s a demented fuck—you don’t get to discipline me for that—and I was pretty sure I was falling for him.”
“I thought I’d cleared that up for you,” Zak growled.
“Oh, you did, Sir. There’s no doubt in my mind you are a demented fuck and that I am madly in love with you.”
Zak caught her eyes. “By the way, I’m in love with you, too.” Time protracted as the declaration resounded between them until, eventually, he turned back to Flynn. “What’s so fucking important?”
“Schumacher. Nash thinks there’s more to the attack… Wait, can I talk about this in front of her?”
“Forgive him, baby. He’s never been in love and sure as hell has never had an amazing woman in love with him. Pay attention, Flynn. No secrets.”
“Sir? Who’s Schumacher?” Trinity asked.
“Now, there’s a deeply demented motherfucker,” Flynn responded.
“He’s kind of the overseer of the program.” Zak sat down on the edge of the bed. “I guess the best thing to call him is our handler. All of us are SEALs in addition to being shifters.”
“Have you totally forgotten the term top secret?” Flynn asked.
“No, I haven’t. Did you miss the part about my woman and no secrets?” Zak challenged.
“There’s going to be hell to pay,” Flynn grumbled.
“Like I was saying, we’re all military, like our fathers and all the rest before us. Schumacher is scum and isn’t military. He’s with one of the intelligence groups. Personally, I think he’s Agency. Between Mason and me, he took a beating, but neither of us has heard a word about it since.”
Seeing the tension in his body, Trinity maneuvered herself close to his back and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her stiff nipples against him. It made her stupidly happy when he brought his hand up to cover hers where it rested on his abs, and his body relaxed.
“Go on, Flynn,” Zak said.
Flynn shook his head. “You and Mason are both lucky bastards. Nash thinks there was more to the attack than just something random.”
“That makes sense. Trin told me she saw several guys offloading something onto a smuggler’s boat. The yacht owner, Barry Driscoll, and some other guy were keeping watch.”
“Fuck, that’s not good.” Flynn pulled out his phone and turned it around to show Trinity a picture. “Is this the other guy?”
She let out a small gasp. “I think so. It was really dark, and they kept to the shadows, but the upper body looked right. If I saw his full length, I could be surer.”
“Shit!” Zak’s concern radiated around the room.
“Double shit,” Flynn agreed. “We’re going to need to get together and go over what we know. Logan came across some chatter, and he thinks Schumacher may have set up that hijacking to show off our skills. If we take Top Secret out again, I think we run the risk someone will notice.”
“You mean Schumacher?” Trinity asked, and Flynn nodded. “No problem. I have a very secluded beach house in Coronado. It only has two bedrooms and one and a half baths, but it’s a very open floorplan other than the bedrooms. It has a private dock, so you could swim or come in by boat if you don’t want anyone to know you’re meeting.”
“Just like that, you offer your house to us as a place to meet?” Zak was astounded.
“Sure. Why not? I think it makes sense, don’t you?”
“Yeah. I’d just as soon keep Trinity off Schumacher’s radar. The guy’s a dick, and Mason probably should have killed him.”
Trinity tapped his shoulder. “Question… why?”
“He’s dangerous and tried to hurt Mason’s woman. Well, he did hurt her, but not as badly as he wanted.”
“He’s an asshole,” Flynn asserted. “Mason should have killed him. I would have. My guess is if he tried that with Trinity, you’d kill him.”
“Only if she left enough of him to kill.” Zak laughed. “More likely, I’d just be disposing of the body. Trinity is not the kind of girl who waits around to be saved. She sees a bastard, who tried to freak her out by locking her in a cage, fall overboard and goes in after him.”
“Seriously?” Flynn asked, and Trinity nodded. “I hope he blistered your ass for that. That was dangerous.”
“So, the answer is yes.” Trinity beamed. “All of you shark shifters are spankos.”
Chapter 26
Zak
Zak escorted Flynn from Top Secret, returning to find Trinity still waiting in the bed. His friend and the revelation he’d brought had dampened the sexual flame burgeoning between him and Trinity, but the sight of her semi-naked form stirred his arousal. Coming to sit with her, he pulled her close, relishing her feminine scent.
“Sorry about the interruption. How’s your backside?”
“Sore, Sir.” Trinity shifted, her lips slowly curling. “But I’ll survive.” Her eyes flitted to his, her expression animated. “Do you think the others will like the idea of the beach house?”
“About that.” Zak turned to give her his full attention. “Are you sure you want this—all five of us, and likely, Mason will bring his woman.”
“I’m more than sure. I want to be useful. If we’re going to share a life, I want to share all of it. I don’t want any of you feeling as though you are completely alone.”
“Tiger Sharks are notoriously territorial. I don’t share well with others.”
“Good to hear, but only part of you is shark. The other part is a man who knows the burden of the secret you all keep and would want to offer his comrades a safe harbor.”
Breathing in her tempting fragrance, he smiled. He must have been born under a lucky star the day he first set eyes on Trinity in the Rusty Pelican. She’d made him wait, fleeing his advances and keeping him on his toes, but Zak realized he’d never been happier. This feeling—this desire to be with her, protect, and consume her—must be what Mason had tried to convey to him after he’d met Shiloh. Holding Trinity in his arms, Zak understood entirely.
“Well, thank you.” He whispered the words into her crown. “I’m certain the others will be grateful for your offer.”
A warm, contented quiet filled the air, the only sound their satiated, regular breathing.
“We should get moving.” He hated to be the one to splinter the mood, but Flynn was right. They needed to reconvene and figure out what was going on, but this time, he was taking Trin with him. “One thing before we go, though.”
She stirred, her chin rising to meet his gaze.
“I have something else to share.” His words to Flynn echoed in his head. No secrets.
“Oh?” She paused, not wanting to break his train of thought.
“About our shifter abilities.”
He pulled in a breath, anxiety gripping his belly. Not that he didn’t trust Trinity—far from it—but there was still something foreign about talking about it all to someone other than Mason, Nash, and the others. After so many years of restraint and stealth, disclosing all the truth was more difficult than he’d imagined.
“What about it, Zak?” Her hand rose to his face, trailing a line over the stubble on his jaw. “You know you can tell me anything.”
“I know.” Capturing her hand, his thumb stroked her palm as he went on. “We’re not just blessed with this mutation for fun. There’s a duty we have to perform.”
“What kind of duty?”
“A vessel we must protect.” Tugging her hand to his lips, Zak planted a kiss on her fingertips. “A submarine from the second world war.”
“Wow.” Trinity’s gray eyes widened. “It’s sunken?”
“Most definitely.”
“Then why protect it?” She squirmed, and fleetingly, he wondered if it was the discomfort of her spanking or enthusiasm for his news. “Why not let the sea claim her?”
“Because no one can ever find her.” He didn’t want to get into a complicated discussion about the Kracken, but he needed her to know the truth, to understand the pull it had over him and all the shark shifters. “It’s important, Trin.”
“Okay.” Her expression relaxed. “If it’s important to you, it’s important to me, as well.”
“I just want you to know everything.” Zak was on the precipice of an unspoken tipping point. A place where he had to tell Trinity all of it—everything about himself—a place he could never come back from. “If you’re hosting the guys, you’ll notice us taking unusually long swimming sessions, especially at night.” He laughed dryly. “At least now, you’ll understand why.”
“Thank you for telling me.” She inched closer until her bare skin grazed him. “I agree. I don’t want any secrets between us. Do we have time to…” Hesitating, her hand brushed over his chest, her small digits catching in his dark hair. “Play before we have to go?”
Zak chuckled, liking where her thoughts were going. His ardor had been dampened by Flynn’s interruption, but passion constantly simmered where Trinity was concerned. No one had ever made him hornier.
“Quickly,” he insisted, already tugging his joggers past his hips, his cock straining for her hot flesh, but even as he kicked the clothing away, he knew that was bullshit. There would be nothing fast about this, nothing brief about the sensual rapture he would bestow on his lover.
“On all fours.” He gave the command unthinkingly, wanting to assess her ass before he impaled her, but watching her scramble into position cemented everything in his head.
Trinity Dare was the best damn thing that had ever happened to him. Running his palm over her heated orbs only confirmed what a lucky son of a bitch he was. Flynn was right. Zak was blessed to have found a partner like her. A woman who could not only handle his dark side but counter it. A woman smart enough to engage him—in and out of the bedroom. A woman who could handle his truth. He’d be damned if he would ever let her go.
“I want you.” Climbing onto the bed, he cocooned her heated body, his cock screaming to plunder her slick sex.
She glanced over her shoulder, searing him with the intensity of her gray eyes.
“Damn it, Zak, I’m waiting. I need you. Please, Sir.”
His balls ached at the promise of all she was offering.
“There’ll come a time, baby, when I’ll want you completely open to me.” Growling the words, he planted a trail of hot kisses on her shoulder.
“What do you mean, and can we save that discussion for later? Please, Zak, I just want to fuck.”
“I want to make babies with you, Trin… lots of babies.”
“Zak?” she questioned as he grabbed her hips and pulled her onto his hard cock.
His lips twitched at her choice of vocabulary. At any other moment, he would have admonished her, but how could he possibly chastise her now? Every fiber of him craved her being, yearned to be united with her wonderful body again. Sliding inside her, he was met with a sense of utter repletion.
“Trinity.” He hadn’t even meant to call out, but the sensation was so good, too demanding to ignore. “Christ, you’re amazing. I love you.”
“Me too, Zak.” Pushing back against his cock, her sex took everything he had to offer. “Again, please.”
Who was he to argue with her frantic plea? Withdrawing slightly, he paused, ignoring the screams of his desperate throbbing cock before he plunged back inside her quivering sex.
“Fuck.” Zak’s head fell forward against her shoulder. “I missed you, Trin.”
It hadn’t even been that long since they’d last relished the intimacy, but the connection between them was pivotal as if feeding this visceral dynamic had become the singular most important thing in his life—more significant than his need to shift, more essential than the draw of the Kracken. Zak had never known anything like it.
Easing from her pussy, he slammed deep inside again. He would give her what she craved. He would give her what she needed. Hell, he would give her everything he had. He’d take his fill, revel in her wonder until he couldn’t hold on any longer, and somewhere high in the stratosphere, they would carve their names into the heavens.
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed meeting Zak and Trinity. The next book in the Masters of the Deep series is SAVAGE PREDATOR.
Determined, Desolate, Dangerous.
Flynn Michaels lived for the sea and for solitude. Only his call to the Kracken eclipsed his yearning for the pull of the tide. His fellow SEALs are his family, His duty his joy.
Until she crashed into his life. And everything changed.
Savage Predator is a paranormal romance with steamy heat in and out of the bedroom for mature readers.
CLICK HERE TO READ SAVAGE PREDATOR NOW
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Savage Predator
Masters of the Deep, Book 3
