Chosen Mate (Catamount Lion Shifters #2) (10 page)

Jake met Phoebe’s eyes, his bright blue gaze steady. “Callen already put Catamount in his radar. If he’s one of the bad guys, he’s already on to us. From what I read of his emails, he was not one of the contacts Callen met out here.”

Phoebe glanced to Shana who pursed her lips and shrugged. Phoebe had had it drummed into her that shifters had only managed to survive by keeping their secrets safe. Her connections to Catamount shifters ran deep, so she’d held the secret of their existence close and didn’t like the idea of putting them in the path of the government.

Dane nodded to Jake. “He’s right. If this guy’s on the wrong side, he already knows where Callen lived and had plenty of leads to follow. Us showing up won’t change that, but it might give us some ideas.”

Phoebe met Jake’s eyes again, which were steady and determined. She shrugged. “Fine, but you guys better be careful.”

Dane’s gaze bounced between her and Shana. “We’ll be careful, but after what you two pulled, you’re not exactly on high ground.”

Phoebe fought the urge to point out she’d only followed Shana out here to try to make sure she was safe. Much as she wanted to argue the point, she didn’t want to turn the focus on Shana. Shana might be behaving a bit recklessly right now, but she’d been through so much. Phoebe understood Shana was driven by the pain and grief behind Callen’s death and betrayal. Shana huffed and rolled her eyes. “Nothing happened, so there’s no need to lecture us anymore.”

Jake swung to Shana, his eyes sobering. “You’re damn lucky nothing happened. It was bad enough you dragged Phoebe into this with you…”

Shana cut him off. “I didn’t drag Phoebe anywhere! She…”

Jake’s hand slashed through the air. “I know damn well Phoebe makes her own decisions, but I also know you’re the one that came up with this bright idea. I get why you’d want to help with this after what Callen did. But please stop and think. Chloe getting kidnapped was enough. You’re a shifter and Phoebe’s not. If something happened and you needed to shift to fight, run, or hide, you can. Phoebe doesn’t have that option. I’m not pissed, but I will be if you keep trying to downplay everything.” Jake’s words were low and taut.

Phoebe jumped when his hand tightened on her leg. Jake immediately turned to her, his gaze softening. He loosened his palm and stroked it slowly up and down her leg. Phoebe was awash in emotion. Intellectually, she thought she should be annoyed at Jake’s protectiveness, but it thrilled her. In the many years they’d been friends, he’d tended to treat her as if she was invincible. It was beyond nice to have him concerned for her safety. And if he didn’t stop driving her mad with his hand absently wandering up and down her legs, she might embarrass them both. She took a breath and looked around the table.

Shana stared at the armrest of her chair and traced the curved edge with her fingertip. She sighed and looked up. “All right, I didn’t think of it that way.” She glanced to Phoebe and bit her lip. “Thanks for coming with me. I know you did it because you wanted to make sure I’d be okay. Jake’s right though.” Turning her gaze to Jake, Shana lifted her chin. “I still say we can take care of ourselves, but you have a point.”

Dane shook his head and chuckled. “Never thought I’d see the day you admitted Jake might be right. You know if you’re saying he’s right, it means I’m right too, right?”

Shana tossed a balled up napkin at him from the debris of their after dinner snacking. “Bask in your moment because it won’t happen again anytime soon.”

Conversation moved on to planning the next few days. Phoebe lost focus entirely, her attention occupied by Jake’s nearness—the absentminded teases of his palm stroking her leg, his thumb softly coasting across the nub of her desire. The table masked his motions. She all but forgot Dane and Shana were in the room with them. At one point, she closed her eyes, savoring the sensations teeming through her body.

Eventually, Shana retired to her room off the suite, and Dane claimed he’d take the couch. When Dane went out to the car to get something, Jake stood swiftly, lifting her in his arms and striding into the other bedroom, kicking the door shut behind them. In one smooth motion, he knelt on the bed and stretched her out underneath him, his full length coming atop her with her wrists pinned above her head by one of his hands.

Her pulse quickened when his eyes met hers, burning into her. She was spun tight inside from his careless teasing for the last hour or so. He whispered her name, his voice rough and raw, before he claimed her lips. His kiss was fierce. She was instantly engulfed in the heat of the moment—hot, needy, liquid want poured through her. Her tongue tangled with his. She was desperate to get closer. He shifted over her, arching his hips into hers, the hot, hard evidence of his arousal pressing against her own. She gasped into his mouth. He pulled back, his blue gaze boring into her.

“Don’t scare me like that again.”

Though his words could have been perceived as an order, they felt like an endearment. She shook her head. “I won’t. I…”

“No need to explain. I know exactly why you went with Shana. That’s the kind of friend you are. But I can’t take it if something happens to you.” His voice broke, and he took a gulp of air. Suddenly, he pushed off of her. He moved with ruthless efficiency. In a flash, her clothes were tugged off and his tossed aside. The room was cool, her skin pebbling. The heat of his body surrounded her. This time when he stretched over her, she gasped at the feel of his heated skin against hers. He stroked a hand roughly through her hair. Holding still for a moment, he met her eyes, his gaze hot and electric. Cupping her cheek, he brought his lips to hers again, his thumb coasting over her pulse as he stroked down her neck, traced the line of her collarbone and dipped to curl around her breast.

The low charge that hummed within her whenever he was near exploded, molten heat erupting in her center and spiraling outward. She felt his touch everywhere at once. His lips teasing her ear and blazing a trail down her neck. His fingers rolling her nipples between them, softly tugging and nipping. Kisses dusted all over her body, his hands soft and hard at once, the roughened skin driving her mad. The tip of his cock at her entrance, making her ache for him to be inside of her.

She couldn’t get close enough, her hands skating over his hard, muscled body, scoring his back with her nails. When he reached for the condom he’d tossed on the nightstand, she grabbed his arm. “There’s no need. I’m on the pill.”

Jake froze, his head turning slowly to her. “Phoebe…”

She suddenly felt self-conscious. She simply wanted to be as close to him as she could, no barriers. And there really was no need. Despite her discomfort, she’d started this, so she had to see it through. “Jake, there’s no point to it. I’m on the pill, and I can barely remember the last time I had sex before you. I’m clean. I know you are too. If you insist…”

His lips curled in heated smile before he claimed her mouth again. Though she couldn’t have fathomed it, he proceeded to notch the heat between them higher and higher. His touch became rougher, less measured. She writhed and flexed underneath him, desperate to feel him inside of her. His lips grazed down her neck again. He tugged her hands up, pinning them above her head. When she arched into him, his lips closed around a nipple, his teeth nipping, the soft bite drawing a cry from her.

“Jake…please…”

He murmured a reply against her breast and lifted his head. She lost herself in his dark blue gaze as he slowly shifted his hips, the tip of his cock teasing her entrance, drenched with want. Her breath came in ragged gasps as he teased her beyond sanity. When she spoke his name again, he surged inside, to the hilt, in one swift move. The pressure built higher and higher inside of her. He stroked into and out of her completely each time, stretching and filling her over and over again. Tremors spiraled outward from her center until she shattered, her climax wrenching through her. He swallowed her cries in his mouth, gasping into hers as he surged into her one last time, shuddering against her. His mouth stilled and pulled away. He rested his forehead against hers. Their ragged breathing filled the room and slowed in unison. They were still until Jake slowly released his grip on her wrists and stroked his hand down her side, tracing her curves.

“You’re getting cold,” he murmured before slowly pulling out of her and rolling to the side to tug the covers out from under them. In seconds, she was curled in his arms under the comforter, his warmth filtering through her.

Chapter 10

Jake glanced around as he and Dane walked up to Hayden Thorne’s office. The office building sat against the foothills of the mountains encircling Bozeman. A fresh dusting of snow had fallen during the night. A soft mist hung in the cold air as the sun crested above the mountains, glittering the landscape where it struck sparks on the snow. He kicked his boots against the threshold to knock the clinging snow off as they stepped inside. Dane followed suit. The office was quiet and the reception desk empty. Dane tapped the bell that sat on the desk.

A moment passed and then one of the office doors opened, a man leaning his head through the door. “Good morning, can I help you?”

Jake nodded. “We’re looking for Hayden Thorne.”

The man in question arched a brow and stepped out of his office. Jake knew without a doubt he was a shifter. He was tall and lanky, his body giving off a sense of coiled energy, an underlying thread of leashed power. He had golden brown hair and caramel eyes, a feline cast to his features. He glanced between Jake and Dane before stepping forward to offer his hand. “Well, that would be me.” He paused and nodded to the empty reception desk. “Our receptionist is out sick today, so I hope you didn’t wait too long.”

After quickly introducing themselves, Dane commented, “If now’s not a good time, we can come back later.”

Hayden shook his head. “Now’s as good a time as any. Come on in.” He gestured for them to sit at a table in his office and closed the door before joining them. “What can I do for you?”

Jake’s gut reinforced his perception from the many emails he read from Hayden to Callen that Hayden was not a bad guy, so he decided to get right to the point. “Does the name Callen Peyton sound familiar?”

Hayden’s gaze sharpened. He nodded slowly. “Sure does. How is it that you know Callen?”

“Callen’s dead,” Dane said flatly.

Jake cut in. “I found your name in some emails between you and Callen. We have reason to believe he got involved with some shady characters out here before he died. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure if we’re crazy to talk to you, seeing as you work for the Feds, but Callen opened up a can of worms before he died. We need to find out more about what he was doing out here and what you might know.”

Hayden leaned back in his chair, flipping a pen between his fingers. “And how is it you think I can help?”

Jake leaned forward, anger flashing through him. They didn’t have time for vague communication. He knew damn well Hayden had some idea of what was going on. “Callen was in regular communication with you about mountain lion shifters out here. Since he died, we’ve had two shifters show up from out of nowhere and a kidnapping. We don’t have time to drag this out. Either you help us out, or we’ll keep investigating on our own. If you think for a second I would hesitate to make your involvement public, think again.”

Hayden held Jake’s gaze, appearing unruffled by Jake’s comment. A weighted silence hung in the room before Hayden set the pen down and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “I suppose we’re all going to have to take a leap of faith here. I’ve heard both of your names and followed the local news in Maine about the kidnapping. Based on your roles in that situation and my gut, I’m going to assume we can trust each other.”

Jake held his silence, but relief washed through him. He’d had his doubts about coming here to meet with Hayden. Catamount shifters definitely didn’t need a spotlight from the Federal Fish & Wildlife shining on them. But Callen had already put them in its glare in his communications with Hayden. Jake had hoped against hope they might catch a break. Hayden’s cooperation was a start.

Hayden continued. “Callen started emailing me over a year ago. I knew right off he was scenting out if there were mountain lion shifters out here. I didn’t realize until later on that he’d linked up with a bad crowd of shifters. I’ve been investigating some of the shifters Callen fell in with over the last few years. I’m guessing you’re after the same thing I am—to find out who’s involved and who holds the power.”

Dane caught Jake’s gaze and nodded. “You guessed right,” he said, addressing his comment to Jake before turning to Hayden. “We knew something wasn’t right when Callen died. We knew he was trying to confirm if there were shifters out here, but it made absolutely no sense that he was traveling back East in lion form. Jake works in computers and coding, along with online forensic investigations. As soon as he started sifting through Callen’s email accounts, he discovered Callen had been trying to set a price on using Catamount shifters for drug smuggling.”

Jake picked up the thread here. “I came across his emails with you, but none of the smuggling details were mentioned. Later on, if I had to guess, you seemed to be trying to warn him away from some of the guys he connected with.”

Hayden nodded firmly. “Once I put the pieces together, I tried to head him off. But you know how that goes. I didn’t want to give too much away, and it became clear he was going to do what he wanted. I backed off after that, only staying in touch to track when he came out here.” Hayden paused, a muscle in his jaw ticking. “So, am I to understand you all didn’t know anything about what he was doing until after he died?”

Dane ran a hand through his hair and shook his head with a sigh. “Not a damn thing. He was my brother-in-law. My sister, his wife, had no clue. She’s devastated in more ways than one since she found out what he was doing. After Chloe was kidnapped, the lid blew off. Callen’s brother, Randall, was one of the kidnappers. By the way, Chloe’s my fiancée. They told her they needed her for leverage with me. We haven’t gotten much else from them, but they’ll be sitting tight in jail for now. Any ideas on that?”