Surrounded by Secrets (10 page)

He moaned, pulled out slowly, and then pushed into her a little harder. She moaned, and he did it again, increasing his pace with each thrust. He was mindless with need, a need so powerful he didn’t know how to describe it. It was an ache so deep that he knew no one else would ever to be able to fill it.

Only his Lilly. Forever.

He fucked her harder, and she met his thrusts with her own while mumbling unintelligible words. He felt his heart exploding and slammed his mouth down onto hers before any words spilled out that he wasn’t ready to express.

She wailed into his mouth as her pussy contracted violently around him, pushing him over the edge. He kept pumping into her until he was spent, sweaty, exhausted. And he still continued to kiss her, too greedy to let go of her mouth.

Too scared he’d tell her how much he was in love with her if he did.

* * * *

Lillian was in love with him. She wasn’t sure when it had happened, but somewhere along the way, it had. Last night had started as an evening to get her groove on, then downshifted into one of serious family business where she went from temptress to supporter. But in the end, she’d succeeded in getting Jack in bed. But it had been more. So much more. They hadn’t just had sex.

They’d made love. The kind of joining she’d only dreamed about but never thought she’d ever get to experience in her life.

After the first time, they’d done it twice more. Jack had left no part of her body unexplored. He’d been tender, caring, passionate. He’d been so attentive to her that it was as if she were some goddess he worshipped. He’d made her feel beautiful. He’d made her feel loved.

After several hours of emotionally raw sex, they’d woken up to another round of burning need that had to be satisfied. She was physically and spiritually exhausted, but she also knew she wasn’t ready to let him go just because her night with him was over. They hadn’t really discussed living arrangements, but the need to see where things were going between them drove her to go home this morning and pack a bag.

A small bag. Just a few changes of clothing, her toothbrush, some necessities. She wasn’t going to just move in. She was still getting to know him. Besides, the thought of making that leap right now was just a little terrifying, even though she knew how she felt about him. But she could do this with baby steps, plan for a few nights at a time, maybe work her way up to a week. Yeah, that sounded much easier for her to accept.

She was on her four-wheeler heading to her house when she came up to the gate and stopped.

Locked again. She sighed as she got off her ride and walked to it. She was going to have to talk to Jack about this damn gate. It was silly to stop every time and unlock it. When she pulled on the padlock to position the key she’d commandeered, it slipped opened. Odd, so it hadn’t been locked, just hanging. She pulled the padlock off, lifted the bar, and pushed the gate open. After she got on her wheeler and drove through, she pushed the gate to and locked it.

She drove the rest of the way to her father’s house thinking about Jack and the strange path her life had taken. Strange, but right. Deep down it felt as if he was what was always meant for her. Lillian had never believed in fate like this, but believing and experiencing were two different things.

I’m in love with a man who turns into a cat and was born to a queen of the cat people.
She giggled. She couldn’t make this shit up.

She rounded the last bend to her father’s house and frowned as she neared it. The light in the kitchen was on, and she knew she’d turned out all the lights. Her father was anal about wasting electricity.
Dad.
She drove around to where her father usually parked and saw his truck was there. So he was finally home. She killed the engine to her wheeler and went in through the back door.

Lillian froze.

Her father was sitting at the kitchen table wearing hunter’s fatigues and face paint. His eyes were red, as if he hadn’t slept in five days, and there was a rank odor coming from him that hinted he probably hadn’t showered in as many either.

“Dad?” she muttered, stepping closer on shaky legs. What the hell was he doing? “When did you get back from Grandma’s?”

He huffed as he lifted a coffee cup and took a sip. “Didn’t go see her.”

The hair on the back of her neck stood. Why was he just staring at her? “Why not? What’s going on?”

“You just had to go and ruin my plan.” He slammed his cup down, and she jumped, too shocked to understand anything.

“I-I don’t know what you mean.”

He snarled at her, the disdain in his expression filling her with foreboding. “I wanted you to work for them, not fuck one of them.”

“You’re not making any sense, Dad.” What did he mean he wanted her to work for them? He hated the Woods family. And how did he know she’d been sleeping with Jack?

He rose slowly and placed his palm flat on the table to help balance himself. She looked down and saw dried blood around ripped camouflaged pants. He was hurt, but whatever had injured him, he wasn’t letting it stop him completely. He had a look of fierce determination in his eyes. And frankly, it was scaring the hell out of her.

“Does the name Rodrick Lyons ring a bell?”

Hmm . . . she wasn’t sure about the Rodrick part, but the name Lyons had her heart pounding. That was Jack’s mother’s maiden name. That word had been said a lot last night. Not that she knew where her dad was going with this. She shook her head quickly, but couldn’t voice her response to him.

“I knew those people over there were off,” he said, righteous indignation heavy in his voice.

“Always in our business. Stole my company when the recession hit. Should’ve known they were just a bunch of mutants.”

Oh God. He knew. He knew their secret. She just stood there, watching him, not sure what to say.

Part of her wanted to defend the family who’d been nothing but nice to her, but another part of her knew if she tried that her father might go ballistic.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about, Dad,” she said slowly, trying to make him focus. If she knew what was going on, then she would be better prepared deal with him.

“Stupid girl. You were never that smart.” He sighed. “A representative of Mr. Lyons contacted me. Asked me to investigate my neighbors. Told me some crazy story about them turning into large cats and that I’d have to cover my scent and scout at night to see them. He gave me ten grand to start and offered me fifty if I got proof. I tried to get the evidence on my own, but didn’t have any luck, so I set you up to work for them. I figured if I got you access to their property, I’d get what I needed.”

“So that’s why you didn’t get mad when I told you I was going to work there.”

He laughed sarcastically. “Hell, Lillian, I told you
you
should go show them dickheads how to do the job right.”

Shit. “So you used me.”

He shrugged. “I just nudged you in the right direction.” Then he frowned. “I didn’t mean for you to go fuck one of them. Did he bite you? That man said they can turn people into lions if they bite them. Are you one of those freaks now, too?”

Lillian swallowed and tried to carefully construct her response. She needed to find a way to get out of here and warn Jack what was going on, but she wouldn’t be able to do that if her father knew the truth. The man was crazy.

“No, he didn’t bite me. Are you going to tell me how you know I slept with him?”

His father’s fist slammed onto the table. “I saw him kissing you outside one of those cabins last night while doing surveillance and watched you walk inside with him. Have you no shame?” he roared.

At least he hadn’t watched her run around as a mountain lion and fuck Jack in the woods. That would’ve been a little harder to lie about. “Dad, whoever that Mr. Lyons person is, they have to be lying to you. There’s no such thing as people who turn into animals.”

“That’s what I thought, too. But I’ve seen those cats running around at night. Just haven’t been able to see them turning into the creatures.” Her dad started pacing.

“Because they don’t exist. Dad, this is—” A low moan came from the other room, cutting her off.

“What the hell was that?”

He stopped and smiled. “Something better than pictures. I caught me one of them. Put up a nasty little fight, too.”

Shit, shit, shit. Which one had he managed to overtake? No wonder he was injured, and the sound from the other room sounded like a painful one.
God, please don’t let it be Jack.
She needed to find out who was in the living room and figure a way out of here before her dad did something really crazy, like skin whoever was in there and sell the hide.

“You can’t be serious. You can’t just kidnap someone,” she screeched.

He laughed maniacally, and whatever blood was in her face drained in an instant. Her father’s cheese had totally slipped off his cracker.

“Oh, I didn’t.
You
did. Why do you think the gate has been unlocked so many times? I snuck into the house on your first day and got a key made to the gate between our properties. I decided I needed a fall guy, and you’re it, sweetheart. I’ve tampered with the gate, and if that wasn’t enough, I left a ransom note to clear up any suspicions. Signed by you.”

“What is wrong with you?” she yelled and ran for the living room. Lillian didn’t have time to devise a great escape plan. She’d just have to garner some willpower to help her with the man her father had been able to drag back here.

She skidded to a halt when she saw a pair of green eyes glazed over, staring at her, and who they belonged to. The body was bloody and limp. She’d have fallen to her knees and sobbed if her legs worked. “No,” she breathed.
Please, God, no.

“Yes, Lillian. This is much better, don’t you think? Mr. Lyons wanted proof that these people could shift into animals, and not only did I manage to trap me one, but just image how much money he’ll give me now that I got me one who is carrying one of the spawns.”

“Mikaela.”

Chapter Nine

Something was wrong. Lilly hadn’t returned after her midday disappearing act, and the last time she’d done this, she’d run from him. Back home. Jack had tried radioing her, but she wouldn’t answer. She was either ignoring him or she was out of range, which meant she had left. Both options just pissed him off. Why would she just run away from him after what they’d shared last night?

There was something wrong, all right—Jack was a fool.

He’d thought after the night they’d shared that Lilly would actually open up to him a little more, maybe try to consider sharing a life with him. He didn’t expect her to marry him tomorrow and just live happily ever after, but he sure as hell hadn’t expected her to just cut and run either. He wanted to storm after her, drag her back here, and tie her to his bed until she accepted him as her mate. But he wouldn’t keep running after her. At some point, she’d have to come to him. He knew that the possibility of that happening was very slim, and his heart ached at the thought of his mate not being around, but he had his pride.

A roar pierced his ears, and he stiffened. “Josh,” he mumbled. At the same time, static flared on his radio.

“Jack, come in,” Rob said.

He lifted the handheld device up to his mouth. “Yeah?”

“We need you in the office. Now, man. Hurry.”

He didn’t sign off. He hopped on his wheeler and sped to the main house. He threw it in park and bolted up the stairs and into the house. The scents of his family were the strongest in the office area, so he quickly made his way there. When he pushed open the door, the smell of blood assaulted him and his nose wrinkled as he scanned the room. Josh was breathing hard, a look that could be described only as a combination of overwhelming grief and uncontrollable rage marring his expression.

“What’s going on?”

Josh’s head snapped in Jack’s direction, and he took a threatening step toward him. Rob and Toby grabbed him and held him back.

“What the fuck?”

“Where. Is. My. Wife?” Josh growled, vehemence dripping from his words.

Jack’s hands went up in placation. “I don’t know, bro. What’s wrong?”

“Come here,” Thomas said. He and Jeffery were standing next to the desk in the room.

Jack went, but didn’t understand why everyone was staring at him as though he’d eaten baby kittens for lunch.

“Where is Lillian?” Thomas asked.

Jack stopped, his stomach dropping. “I don’t know. She didn’t return after her midmorning break.”

“Look at this, but don’t touch it. We called a forensics team.”

Jack felt the blood rushing through his veins when he stepped closer. His head was swimming for the second time within twenty-four hours, but instead of like last night, when he got some closure to long-unanswered questions, this feeling made him sick. Until he started to read a note that was covered in blood. Then he wanted to vomit.

Crazy cat people,

My job here is done, and the pregnant one is coming with me. My buyer will surely pay top dollar for her.

Lillian

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No way. No. Fucking. Way. “No!”

“You need to tell us everything you’ve talked about, Jackson.”

The world was tilting. He grabbed his head and roared as he hunched over. She wouldn’t do this to him. To his family.

Would she?

She didn’t want to be with him. She’d insulted him at every opportunity.

“We found a padlock by the letter, too,” Jeffery said. “It’s the same style as the one used at the gate closest to their property.”

“Did you give her a key to that gate, Jackson?” Thomas asked sternly.

Hell no, he hadn’t. But he’d known she’d taken one because that was the way she’d come and go.

He shook his head.

Josh wailed. “I need to find Mikaela right now!” He forcefully shrugged their brothers off him and leveled a stare at Jack. “You’re going to help me.”

“We have to wait for the forensics. I’m sure the Lyons are sending a task force with top-notch investigators,” Thomas said and then looked away. “And doctors.”