Aedan: Harrison Ambush – Erotic Tiger Shapeshifter Romance (9 page)

He came hard, his body emptying all that he was into her and then filling to take her again. Her body held onto his, her hands touched him everywhere she could reach. And when she came once again, he filled her and he bit her, tearing into her flesh to mark her as his mate. Her mouth over the wound she’d created bonded them in a way that no one would ever be able to break. Aedan threw back his head and roared when she dropped from him.

Rolling to his back when he felt too drained to hold his weight off her, he smiled. Aedan pulled her over him, her warm body spread over his like a comforting blanket. He knew that they couldn’t stay here. The door wasn’t locked, and he was reasonably sure that anyone within a mile had heard them. Smiling broader, he rolled her to the floor so that he could get up, and looked down at his mate.

Blood was seeping from two of the wounds his cat had not gotten to. Licking them now, he thought about bringing his cat out to help, but knew that they’d still be on this floor if he did that. His cat would want her again, and Aedan was pretty sure she’d had enough for the moment. Reaching for his clothing that he’d discarded before shifting, he pulled on his pants then lifted her to the bed. Covering her with the sheet, he wasn’t sure what to do now. His cat snarled at him to take her, but he didn’t think that would be a good idea for all the reasons he’d thought of earlier.

There wasn’t any way that she could stay here, not with Adkins hanging around and all the innocent people that could be hurt. Storm had pointed out when they got here that the van across the street and the two black cars down from the hospital weren’t normal. He hadn’t any idea how she knew that, but trusted that she did. So when she’d made a few calls, he asked her what they were to do now.

“Get her healed and home. If you don’t, then we’re all sitting targets here. And not just the family, but all the people who work here too. Your house, I’m assuming that’s where you’re taking her, is the safest place for her. You have that fence, the manned gate now, and your house is built like a fortress. Not to say they won’t be able to get to you, but with the patrol around your land I’m pretty sure that by the end of any kind of siege they try on you, there will be less of them than when they started out.” He had nodded and told her thanks. “I’m going to say this again, Aedan; you fuck this up and I swear to you, you’ll never see me coming for your ass.”

He believed her. And when Nikki woke up, reaching for what he assumed was her gun, he didn’t touch her until she looked at him. Aedan watched her face, looking for some clue as to what she was thinking, but saw nothing. He decided this was another person he’d never play cards with. She was very good at hiding her thoughts from everyone.

“We had sex. A lot of it.” He grinned at her and nodded. “Don’t be sappy on me, Aedan. I’m not in the mood.”

“What are you in the mood for? More? That would be my pleasure, in case you’re wondering.” She shook her head but he pulled the sheet away. “I could help you. I would love nothing more than to take you this—”

“Aedan? Nikki? I’m sorry, but we have to move now.” Aedan looked at Nikki when Riordan pounded on the door to the room and spoke again. “Adkins has left the area; we’re going to move you out now while he’s gone.”

She got out of the bed and stood there. It wasn’t until he put his hands on her arms that she looked at him. He could see the confusion there as well as fear, and wanted to tell her it was going to be all right. But he didn’t know, and he didn’t want to lie to her.

“I don’t have anything to wear but bloodied clothing.” He handed her his shirt and went to the door while she dressed.

“I need clothing for us both.” Riordan said nothing but did look at Nikki. Aedan wasn’t sure what was going through his head right then, and was pretty sure that he didn’t want to know. For the moment anyway. “She’s my mate, and if you say one word about this, I might have Storm hurt you.”

“I’ll get your bag. But so you know, I’m happy for you both.” His dad came down the hall with the duffel from his truck just then and he took it. And the hug that his dad gave him. Just before he entered the room again, Riordan stopped him again and handed him a gun and two extra clips to fit in it. “Tell her it’s hot.”

Hot. One in the chamber and a full clip in the weapon. When he turned around to hand her the bag, letting her take what she wanted, she was staring at her body. He went to her and held her. She looked a little freaked out.

“You said it would take care of the wounds. I saw that. They’re all healed up. I’m freaking out just a little here. My bruising is gone too.” He told her because she’d bitten him. “Will…I don’t know, will they come back later? After I leave here?”

“You can’t leave. I mean you can, but if you do, you’ll be taking me with you. I belong to you now, and where you go, I will too. I can’t live without you.” She said nothing but pulled away. “Nikki, when we get to my house, we’ll talk, okay?”

“Yes. All right. But I’m not blaming you for this. I mean, I nearly raped you.” He told her she could anytime she wanted. When she turned and looked at him, his heart broke for her. Aedan waited for her to speak then, afraid of what she might say to him that he wasn’t ready to hear. But as soon as she spoke, Aedan knew that they’d be just fine. “I don’t want you to be hurt, Aedan. I don’t think I could live with myself if anything happened to you and your family.”

Pulling her into his arms again, he held her tight. “I don’t want you hurt either. And you won’t be so long as we work together on this. And you have to see that we need to help you. Christ, I think that Mom would mow him down now if she thought it wouldn’t come back and hurt one of us if she did. He’s not going to hurt you again so long as I can help it.”

They, neither one, said anything more about mating or Adkins. But when they were dressed and headed to the sublevels of the parking garage, he had a feeling that she was going to try and run. To keep them safe. He had to convince her that she wasn’t going anywhere.

~~~

Otis wasn’t really thrilled with what was going on at the hospital. Yes, there were a lot of armed people around, and they were making no effort to hide the fact. But he’d bet anything that they’d been brought in from the streets, told to stand still, and given a gun, which he’d bet wasn’t even loaded. But Joe had told him to wait after pulling the van that they were in around the corner so as not to draw any unwanted attention. So that was what he was doing while Joe went inside to have a good look around and try to get some much needed information. But he was getting antsy and needed to get this done. None of this was making him feel all warm and fuzzy.

When Joe came back to the van, Otis waited while he pulled out his phone and then handed it to him.

“So? This is a very nice picture of the hospital. But in the event you didn’t notice, I don’t care. Where is Nikki?” Joe took the phone back, made some adjustments, and handed it back to him. He nearly told him that he didn’t see it when he did. “Are those military?”

“Yes. There were two at this door until a couple of minutes ago, armed like there is some sort of shit going down that we don’t know about, and probably don’t want to know either. And the guys out here? More military. They’re all over the place in there. Even behind the desk where the computers are.” Otis thumbed through some of the other pictures. “I was going to go in there and ask about Nikki being here when this guy stared at me like he not only knew that I worked for you, but what I had for breakfast too. There is some serious shit going on in there. And I hope to Christ that it has nothing to do with us.”

So did Otis. But he wasn’t sure what else it could have been. He was positive that Nikki knew he was here. They had made eye contact when their cars collided. And so long as he didn’t do anything stupid until he was ready, there wasn’t any reason for them to arrest him. So far as the regular cops were concerned, he was just a man from another state having a visit. Okay, he did have a dozen or so men with him. And they were more than likely armed with things that would be considered against the law. But that would not get him in trouble so long as he was careful.

“I’m having someone run some plates for me too. A family, a huge fucking one too—I mean, the size of these men looked like they lifted body builders as a joke—is in there with them. The military as well as the staff. No one says boo to them when they walk around. I saw one of the limos pull up when I was leaving, and watched as one of the men was hugged by an older woman when he got inside. I should know something soon.” Almost as soon as he finished speaking, his phone went off. “Harrison. Christ, no wonder. You’ve seen the name all over the fucking place when we were driving in today, remember? They’re considered one of the richest families in the country, and more than likely have ties with the president. The oldest…I have no idea how to pronounce his name. Riordan? Anyway, he’s got his fingers in about everything there is. He’s married to a woman that is all military herself. Storm Browning Harrison. Another one of them is a doctor, and there is the one I just mentioned that’s in politics. I’m thinking that we have just walked in on something that has nothing to do with Nikki, and this place is crawling with these guys over something else. Maybe one of them got a hangnail or they’re having major surgery to get the stick out of their asses.”

Otis had no idea why, but he doubted that he’d be that fucking lucky. “What floor is she supposed to be on? Where the military is?”

He said he’d not gotten the chance to ask. There were just too many around. Otis watched the men that stood around outside the building from his position. He could see it now. They might have been dressed in suits, but now he could see that they were men at the ready. And if he made a false move, he’d be dead and they’d never bat an eye doing it.

“What could be a single reason this place is overrun by Feds?” Joe said nothing. He wasn’t required to answer; Otis was just spit balling out things. “Could it be because of Nikki? If so, why now? Why not when she was undercover working for me and gathering whatever shit that she could? Because I have no doubt that had she been under their care, they would have been all over our asses when we used her as target practice. And that’s another thing, why aren’t the police or the Feds all over our asses on that? Did she forget who was there with her? Is she withholding information to get me herself? Not likely. I know she’s this all or nothing sort of bitch, but she’d not do this on her own if she could get help. Especially after the way we did her the last time.”

“You think she has anything to do with this family? The Harrisons, I mean?” He wasn’t sure of the connection, but he thought that might be it. “I’m not even sure how to go about finding out without— Mother fuck balls.”

He looked in the direction that Joe was. There was Neal. Her grandda was walking with a man that he had no doubt was a Harrison if Joe’s description was even close to fact. The guy had to be at least six foot five inches. And he was big too…brawny, his mother would have called him. He figured that if nothing else settled the question of whether Nikki was with the Harrisons or not, this certainly did.

“Do you have an address for any of these fuckers?” Joe said that he didn’t but he’d be getting one. “We need to have a little talk with them as soon as possible. See if we can get to Nikki and her grandfather and home with the goods, so to speak, before anyone is the wiser.”

“What about the military?” He said he didn’t know just yet, but they might not be connected to them. He watched as they walked by the men standing by the front door and weren’t acknowledged in any way. “I think, and this is a big speculation on my part, that this is two different things. The Harrison family and Nikki and whatever these guys are doing here. Let’s head to the hotel and see what we can figure out.”

“You remember that Robert is there, don’t you? He wants to talk to you about joining you in your ventures.” Otis nodded. “And I did some checking like you asked. Yes, he is running into some financial difficulties. Seems that his good old dad has a gambling problem, and marrying your daughter just might be the ticket they’re looking for to get the house back in order.”

He read over the paperwork that Joe had dug up on the Trevino family. The dad didn’t just have a problem, but he had a bunch of them. Hookers, gambling, and drugs. The trifecta of fucked up shit. By the time they were pulling up in front of the hotel, he had a better handle on why this kid was taking on his daughter, when for so long, she couldn’t even hold a boyfriend for more than a month. Robert was looking for a bank.

“I’m thinking we should make some arrangements to have Dorothea come out here in a couple of days. Tell her that it’s a shopping trip or some shit. Savannah too. Might as well show them both what they picked out as the perfect husband in Robert.” Joe asked if the pre-nup would hold up. “Yes, but I don’t think it will keep him from turning me in if there will be a profit in it. Could be that’s why he’s trying to get himself working with you to get some good information on me. Holy Christ, that’s just what he’s thinking. He’s going to fucking get some info on me and turn me in. Why else could he be showing this much interest in my business after all this time?”

“I hate to say this, and even though I don’t care for the man, I think you’re right. And instead of going through all this, I could just kill him. Have it done with and say that he must have skipped town. There won’t be a body for them to locate.” Otis was tempted, but he told Joe to wait until he talked to Robert himself. “I can do that, but what about the women? You wanna wait, then, to tell them to come out after you and him have a little sit down?”