Loving Her (Keeping Her) (8 page)

Shawn watched the wolf
shifter in black fatigues track the room with his sight.  He looked right over
Shawn’s hiding place in the shadows and kept going, but his finger was
twitching on the trigger. 

Good instincts,
Shawn thought,
but not good enough.
 He flowed
like water out of the shadows and hit the strange wolf.  He took him out at the
throat with a chop and then a kick to the side of his knee joint and he was
down.  Shawn finished him with a twist of the neck while he was still trying to
breathe through a broken larynx.  Then he gently lowered him to the floor and
started stripping him of weapons.

What the fuck was taking
Jones so long?

Benton cleared the room and
returned to the hall.  "Jay, check on Jones," he said.  Motioning him
back to the room they had already passed.  "Tell him to haul ass."

"Fucker always has to
mess around on the job," Jay mumbled, going through the door with cover
just in case.  It didn't help.  He had barely raised his gun before he was
falling back into the hall dead.  A knife through his left eye.

"Shit!"  Benton
fell back into the room he had just exited, yelling.  "Fall back, we have
hostiles."  Three guns went off at the same time and bullets plunked into
the door and walls above the clearly dead Jay.  Nothing penetrated. 
What
the hell are these walls made of?

Demon was pissed.  He
hated, hated being away from Clytie when she was in potential danger, and since
the house alarms had gone off, he knew those fuckers were messing with their
home, even if they couldn't get to the real treasure. 

Who better be sitting on
her sweet ass in the vault.

He wretched the head off
the next motherfucker who came at him and moved on.  One got a good claw shot
at his ribs while he was distracted and he roared.  Before he could take care
of it Mac in wolverine form, shot out of the dark and took him down, chomping
down on a leg with a double set of molars.  The shifter yelled in pain and
fell.  The next bite from those powerful jaws crushed an arm.  Demon ended the
annoying screams by twisting his neck until it cracked.

That was the last one in
the area, so the wolverine shot off toward the house.  Demon followed, not
wanting to take the time to strip and change, he just ran, heading for home,
and Clytie. 

About damn time.

When Mac saw the front door
was on its side and dead bodies were littering his porch, he went ice cold.  He
heard the call of an angry jaguar, even over the snarling and snapping of a
pack in full looting mode.  He looked to the roof, and right into Ben's furious
eyes.  Nobody liked having their shit messed with, but add a shapeshifters
established territory and a mate on the premises, even perfectly safe, and you
get a whole new kind of shitstorm reigning down on your ass.

Logan walked out of shadows
still in his human form.  Other than a small bit of blood on his boot, he
looked untouched.  His assault rifle strap across his chest.  However, his eyes
told the same story as Bens.  You do not fuck with a man’s house.  He raised a
chin to Mac and signaled that he would follow.  Mac didn't waste any more time.

Ben jumped down on silent
paws and followed the wolverine into the house with Logan right behind, pulling
his rifle into position with a practiced flip.

The sounds from the house
abruptly changed to screams of pain and the quick snap of repeated rifle fire.

Benton cursed when he heard
the change of sounds down stairs.  He was two men down already and they still
didn't have the girl.  Jones had been right about one thing, the intel was
fucked.  No way was this three wolves and one female; and the security was
first rate.  He never should have taken this job without doing his own recon. 
It was a rookie mistake and greed was a piss poor excuse. 
Fuck this. 

He whistled the signal for
his men to get gone and got silence back
.  Son of a bitch. 
He headed
for the balcony doors.

Cassie was watching Shawn
pick off the wolves upstairs, so she missed the arrival of Ben and Mac.  She
heard Clytie gasp and turned back in time to see Ben as a jaguar, rip off some
guy’s gun hand. 

Well, that was
unexpected. 
Her stomach felt a
little queasy, then she saw the wolverine.  Cute little bear looking thing that
ripped into the back of a shifted wolf, and proceeded to crush his spine.  When
he pulled back, he had something thick and bloody in his jaws to spit out.

Okey-dokey!  Nobody is
getting kissed tonight without a full on teeth brushing. 

The lion that chose that
moment to join the fight had to weigh about 800 pounds.  He did make the jaguar
look downright petite.  The attacking wolves must have thought so too, because
they all froze when he threw back his great maned head and roared, and then
they, collectively, made a run for it.

The ones that the cats and
wolverine missed, Eli and Logan picked off with their rifles.  Cassie had
closed her eyes to the carnage at that point, so they snapped open when Clytie
spoke.

"Where's Demon?" 
Cleo started flipping screens rapidly looking.

Benton made it down the
side of the building before the lion roared.  He froze, feeling his knees go to
rubber. 
A Lion?  What the fuck.  They did not mix with wolves.  Period. 
The only one he'd ever heard of doing so was... 
"Shit.”  He couldn't
even finish the thought.

"Yeah.  That about sums
it up for you.”  The voice was rough and deep and when he turned, he came face
to chest with a seven foot scarred wolf shifter. 

"Didn't know it was
the Lionsgate pack.  Wouldn’t have taken the job if I had."

"That means fuck all
to me." 

Benton went for his gun. 
Demon made sure he never made it.

"There.  He's ripping
the arms off one of the commandos."  Ian said pointing to the monitor of
the back garden.  "See, he's fine."

Clytie looked Demon over,
while he finished...mutilating some poor soldier.  Then she breathed out in
relief, he was OK.  Everyone was OK.

"So, were any of them
Alpha Bidel?"  Cleo asked, studying the scenes of carnage.  "Cause if
he isn't here..."

She didn't have to finish
the thought.  It wasn't over yet.

***

It was a short while later
that the vault phone rang, making Cassie and Clytie both jump and then laugh
with relief.  Cleo answered before Ian could get to it. 

"Yes."  She
listened for a minute and then said, "Will do," before hanging up.

They all looked at her
expectantly.  She shrugged.  "Dad says to stay put while the clean-up
comes through.  It'll be a few hours, but they would rather not have you
walking through the carnage.  They'll come down when it’s done."

"He certainly is all
about the orders," Cassie mused.

Cleo and Ian both snorted
and spoke at the same time. 

"Try living with
him."

"You ain't
wrong."

Cassie let that go and
looked at Clytie who shrugged.  "Maybe some food?"

"Couldn't hurt." 
She turned to Cleo and Ian.  "Do you get excessively hungry when you shift
and fight like that?"

"Oh yeah," Ian
said.  "And horny."

Clytie, who had started to
get up, whipped her eyes up to Ian.  "You mean hornier than usual?" 
Her voice cracked just a little in panic.

Ian laughed.  "Oh
yeah."  His smile turned carnal.  "Like ten times worse."  Then
he headed out with Cleo to check the others.

"Bhuhh."  Clytie
stuttered out gibberish, her face looking panicked.  Cassie burst out laughing.

Clytie glared at her. 
"I don't know what you're laughing about you have two of them."

Cassie stopped laughing,
then blinked a few times, then blinked again. 

Hmm.  To panic or
celebrate?  Tough one.

Then she picked up a
magazine sitting on the table and fanned her face.  "I think I'm having my
first hot flash."

"Yes," Clytie
said dryly.  "I'm sure your going into pre-menopause and it has nothing to
do with thinking about two beautiful studs hot for you and super horny." 
When she only fanned harder, Clytie took the magazine and hit her with it,
laughing.  "Pervert."  Then she headed for the kitchen.

"Don't judge me,"
Cassie called after her, making her laugh again.

It was close to three a.m.
when the men finally opened the vault.  The only one awake when they walked in
was Cleo in the control room.  She came out and started to talk but they
shushed her.  Both women were fast asleep on the couch, Cassie with her feet
over the arm and Clytie curled up on the other side like a tiny cat.  The
dinner they had prepared sat ignored on the kitchen island and had long since
gone cold.

All the men had found grub
and showered while waiting for the cleaners to finish and they ignored it.  Mac
reached Cassandra first and lifted her high in his arms where she snuggled in,
never waking.

Demon uncurled Clytie
enough to pick her up as well.  Then he looked at Cleo.  "Roxanne?" he
whispered.

Cleo gestured to the rooms
and mouthed, "Sleeping.  I'll stay."

  He raised his chin in
acknowledgment and followed Ben and Mac with his precious burden out the vault
door.

The men would take turns in
the control room and on watch all night just in case.  Tomorrow they could deal
with everything else.  Tonight, they would hold their women while they slept,
and celebrate finally having something that made all the rest of the shit worth
it.

When Cassie woke up in the
early hours of the morning it was to an already screaming clit that was at
present being worked with lips and tongue.  She didn't see Mac but she was
pretty sure it was Ben under the sheets and between her thighs.

She grabbed him through the
sheets and hung on, grinding herself against his face.  "That better be
someone authorized," she gasped out while the pleasure built.  "Or
Ben and Mac are going to be pissed."  He stopped to laugh and she flipped
back the sheet.  "This is no time to stop!"

"Someone authorized?" 
Ben smirked up at her.

"Bennn," she
whined, wiggling her hips.

He chuckled but pulled her
down the bed closer.  "Such a demanding pussy," he teased.

"Funny, I could say
the same about you."  Then she squeaked when he bit her a little too close
to sensitive areas.  "Ouch," she laughed.  “Bad Kitty.”  Which had
him growling. 

Then she forgot all about
laughing because he was spearing her on his tongue.  A very talented and
dexterous tongue that eventually had her gasping out his name when she
climaxed.  Twice.

Then he climbed up her
body, grabbed her chin, and shook her face awake.  She smacked his hand away
laughing drowsily.  "Stop that."

"That's not what you
said ten minutes ago."

"Ten minutes ago, I
wasn't incredibly satisfied and falling asleep."  She said on a yawn. 
"Now I am."

"Not quite finished
here Cassie."  He said moving his hips so he could press his rock hard
cock against her.

"It's your
fault."  She said her eyes closing.  "You tuckered me out."

"OK," he said,
his voice deepening.  "No problem.  You just close your eyes and...  think
of England."  Then he adjusted himself and slid in. 

Cassie woke up fast, first
sputtering and then gasping when he worked her back to a frenzied orgasm,
before pounding her into the bed and finding his own.

A few minutes later, they
were cuddling, with Ben at her back, snuggled close.  She started to laugh. 
"Just close your eyes and think of England?  I'm totally using that as my
secret vault pass code."   

He chuckled.  "Go to
sleep Cassie.  You might not have a chance when Mac returns from watch."

Cassie settled down.  He
made an excellent point and she needed to get some sleep.

She got about an hour more
before Ben left the bed for his watch and Mac joined her.  "What?" 
She asked her eyes trying to stay shut.

"It's okay Cassandra,
just sleep for now."  Mac said gently, snuggling her up against his
chest.  She nuzzled.  "Kay,” then went back to sleep.  Mac was content
just to hold her while he watched the sun come up through the French doors.

Cassie woke up a while
later and didn’t want to move.  There was light coming through the panes of
glass that seemed to shimmer.  She was snuggled up against Mac and she was
warm, safe, and no one had been hurt, well except the bad guys but she wasn’t
going to count them.  It took her a few minutes but she realized Mac was
already awake.

“You didn’t sleep?” she
asked, looking up into his face, his hand came around and his thumb brushed up
and down her soft cheek.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Just wanted to hold you
for awhile.  I like it, Cassie, having you here.  I like it a lot.”

“Good.”  She smiled. 
“Because you’re stuck with me.”

“Bidel’s still out there,” he
said, his face blanking of expression.  “You could still be in danger here.”

“I was never in danger
here, Mac.”  She leaned back a little giving him a quizzical look.  “I just
realized I have no idea what your full name is.”

He smiled, just a little. 
“Noah MacAllister.”  He rubbed his nose against hers.  “And no animal or ark
jokes, please.  I’ve heard them all.”

“Really?” she said, her
eyes lighting.  “I’m totally going to call you Noah when we fight.  Something like
‘Noah MacAllister.  You can’t tell me what to do.  I’m not one of your sheep!’ 
Sheep, get it?”

“Cassandra,” he warned.

“Noah,” she warned back. 
Then he leaned down and kissed her.

It started soft, with just
lips on lips, he learned her texture as if they’d never kissed before, and then
when she opened under his tongue, he pressed in and devoured her inch by inch,
until she was restless and edgy just from his mouth.  His hands delved into the
sheets to find all her soft places and she groaned when his rough hands stirred
nerve ending she had no idea existed.