The Man Within (9 page)

The story of their lives, Taber grimaced. The past three months had felt like years. The progress they made by revealing themselves to a sympathetic society was marked by each hurdle the Council placed before them. Even more alarming was the rise of several groups spouting a “pure blood” agenda. Breeds weren’t human, they had stated. Their animal DNA canceled them from any human rights to which they would have otherwise been entitled. The bastards were fanatical monsters and growing in number daily.

“We have the perimeter fences wired for sound and ready to record,” Taber told him as they took the stairs to the second floor quickly. “The animals were released last week and they’re working out wonderfully. Just make certain to keep Merinus in the protected areas until we know how well Cabal’s connection with them is working.”

Cabal was an enigma, and often a worry. He was the only Breed so far to show a natural connection with the predatory felines that the Breed’s DNA was a part of. There was a Bengal tiger, a lion and two cougars now guarding the woods. All female. All under the control of Cabal St. Laurens.

“So far, they’re as tame as kittens,” Callan grunted as they entered the office. “But I’m keeping an eye on things. Kane and Gray are moving into the house tonight to provide added protection for Merinus and we have most of our people back within the perimeters until we figure out what the hell is going on.”

“Why would they need a mate before conception?” Taber frowned as he picked up several of the reports they had and began reading. “There has to be something they’re looking for.”

“I’m going to assume, as does Doc, that it has something to do with the hormones that mark them genetically,” Callan reported. “It produces the pheromone that instinctively warns off all other men, including those who aren’t Breeds. Combine that with the aphrodisiac qualities and it’s damned hard telling what those bastards have up their sleeves.”

“Anything from the Wolf Breeds?” Taber asked, frowning down at the papers.

The solitary, wary group of Wolf Breeds had made contact less than two months before. It had been assumed they had died in the lab explosions during the attempted rescue, though Taber had suspected otherwise. The Felines had laid the groundwork for contact immediately upon learning of them, and had made certain everything would be in place to help them should they need it.

“Their liaison, Faith, is in place to begin meetings. They’re wary, though, even more so than we were at first. They’re working with the ambassador the President assigned to the Breeds, so I’m confident that will work out well. In the meantime, we have the fucking Council to deal with. So, no, we’re not having fun yet.”

Taber cursed silently. The Council had gotten smart fast. They changed their codes and passwords often enough to drive Kane crazy trying to work them out. Soldiers were being shifted around constantly. Some were no more than distractions, while others regularly threw whatever wrench they could into the diplomatic efforts between the Breeds and the government protecting them.

“We can’t stay on high alert forever,” Taber sighed, shaking his head. “The men will get too complacent when nothing happens.”

“Yet, we can’t give them a chance to strike, either,” Callan sighed. “Kane should be here tonight. We’ll figure out our best course of action and go on from there. But from the looks of these reports, Roni is our main concern. Now how much of a danger will she be personally?” Callan’s voice hardened as he asked this question.

Taber laid the papers back on the desk and turned to face his leader. He knew what Callan was asking. Given her father’s history of illegal and less than savory business dealings, it only made sense to question the daughter’s loyalty as well. At least, in most cases. But if there was one thing Taber knew about Roni, it was the fact that she was nothing like her father.

“No more than Merinus would be.” There was no question of Roni’s loyalty, just her love. “You’ve known her as long as I have, Callan. She’s never betrayed a friend or a trust. But she’s scared, and most likely out for my blood by the time she wakes up. I can’t think she would be a danger to anyone but me.”

Callan nodded. “Pretty much what I thought myself. But we have to be certain. Whatever you think you did to her, fix it. Trust me, an irate mate is more than you want to deal with.”

The expression on his face was so self-mocking Taber couldn’t help but laugh. He knew exactly how Callan suffered when he managed to get on the wrong side of his feisty little wife. She had a mouth that could castrate a man at twenty paces, and if that wasn’t effective, then he slept in one of the spare bedrooms until she got over her ire.

“I’ll have to tell her about her house,” he sighed.

With her home destroyed, Taber knew she had nothing else now to hold onto her childhood or her past. It would all be gone, destroyed in a cruel, merciless act against a woman innocent of the crimes the Council laid at the Breeds’ feet. But she was a mate. Any way they could hurt her, would hurt them.

“You take care of Roni, I’ll take care of the rest of it.” Callan pushed his fingers wearily through his hair. “We’ll need to make plans to begin building cabins within the estate, though. If we don’t, this house could end up filling fast with the pitter patter of little feet.”

He didn’t sound upset over it, merely worried.

“The children will be in more danger than we were, Callan,” Taber told him softly. “Doc needs to figure out how to control this before it’s out of hand.”

“Merinus went out of heat when she conceived.” Callan shook his head. “She hasn’t suffered from it since, though my DNA still marks her.” He sounded haunted. “She still carries it.”

They weren’t entirely certain how that happened, but Merinus still carried traces of Callan’s unique DNA in her blood. It hadn’t changed her body, hadn’t reshaped her genetics in any way. Rather, it had marked her blood, her saliva, even her perspiration, with traces of the same hormonal variances that Callan carried.

He should have stayed away from Roni, Taber thought tiredly as he glimpsed the shadows in Callan’s eyes. They worried constantly that somehow, some way, the Council would manage to get their hands on Merinus and her unborn child. During high alert times Callan rarely slept and would re-check their security on the hour—damned near every hour.

“I can’t let her go,” Taber whispered. He only wished he could.

“I know.” Callan wiped his hands over his faced wearily. “I know exactly how you feel.”

Chapter Eleven

Roni came awake, bathed in perspiration, her flesh feeling irritated and achy. Her breasts were swollen, her nipples throbbing. Between her thighs her pussy clenched, wept, as she remembered the hard driving thrusts of Taber’s cock inside the narrow channel.

It hadn’t been the romantic interlude she had always fantasized about. There had been no candlelight, no Taber on his knees begging for forgiveness, instead, there had been blistering heat, intensity, and some unnamed desperation clawing between both of them that refused to be ignored. The orgasm that ended it had blown all her preconceived notions of what an orgasm could be, right out the window. Now, if she could just get him to do it again.

She would have to find him first, though. She looked around the room. Night must have finally fallen. The room was dimmer than before, lit only by the soft glow of the lamp beside the bed. The heavy dark wood of the furniture gave the room a protective feeling. Sturdy, uncluttered, and yet uniquely Taber’s.

On the far side of the room a large picture of him standing in front of the garage he had owned in Sandy Hook hung prominently. Several trophies he had won in shooting contests were displayed on the dresser beneath it. Taber hadn’t been an excessively public person, but he had been well known. Well known and well trusted.

She tried to get her bearings, to fight the insidious arousal building in her. He had said she was in heat. That she would be unable to deny him. Unable to deny his touch. This went beyond denial; this was a beast clawing at her womb, screaming out in demand for the explosive orgasm he had given her before.

She moaned weakly as she turned to her side, wondering at the tight cramps in her lower abdomen. With each spasm her vagina pulsed and throbbed in accompaniment. With each twisting contraction her anger grew. Taber had done this to her. Where before her arousal and need for him had been only a hypersensitive irritation, it had now become an agony.

“God, it could only happen to me,” she whispered into the silent room as she stared at the wall across from her.

“Not exactly.” A sympathetic female voice spoke behind her, causing Roni to jerk over in the bed, clutching the comforter to her bare breasts as her eyes widened.

She remembered meeting Merinus the day before, though only vaguely. Her mind was consumed with the memory of the heat, the driving need that had tormented her. And Taber. Fierce, savage, determined to claim her despite the fact that he had been the one to walk away months before.

The other woman watched her with deep brown eyes filled with compassion. She was slender, about Roni’s height, with long, light brown hair and compassionate eyes. Her expression was calm, sympathetic, and brought a lump to Roni’s throat. She had never truly had friends, at least not once they met her father, and this woman’s gentle manner made her realize all she had given up over the years.

Merinus, despite the luxurious surroundings of the estate and what Roni remembered of this house, didn’t appear to adopt a “lady of the manor” attitude, though. She was dressed in faded jeans, a loose cream-colored cotton shirt and sneakers. She seemed the type more at home camping in the great outdoors than supervising a mansion.

“Where’s Taber?” She looked around the room to be certain he wasn’t there.

“He’s with Callan at the moment. He’s head of security here at the estate, and some of the new measures they were putting in place required his attention.” Merinus stood up from the chair she had been sitting in and padded over to the bed.

“I have some clothes that should fit you laid out in the bathroom if you would like to wash up and get dressed. I’d suggest a bath for now. It seems to ease the worst of the mating effects for a short time.”

Roni felt heat rise in her face as the other woman mentioned the insane desire that had held her in its grip earlier. She could handle wanting the man until she ached, but this was ridiculous.

“For a short while?” she asked her fiercely, frowning. “No.” She shook her head at that one. “Something has to stop this. Now.” She couldn’t accept anything else.

She could feel the heat rising in her body once again. Her skin felt irritated, sensitive, her breasts swollen, her clit throbbing in demand. She couldn’t handle this. It had been bad before, but this was worse than she could have imagined.

She wondered if Taber was even suffering from it. More than likely not. And if any man deserved to, it was he.

Merinus sighed. “The effects are temporary, Roni, but not without a certain price. Take your bath while I call down and have your dinner brought up. We’ll talk when you’re done.”

She turned to leave the room, leaving Roni with too many damned questions and no answers.

“Wait.” Roni wrapped the comforter around her as she slid from the high bed. Dammit, did Taber think everyone was as damned tall as he was? “Tell me how to stop this now.”

The look on Merinus’ face when she turned back was somber.

“You can’t stop it now. It has to run its course. Now go bathe. The time you can stand to wait for Taber is limited. I know you have questions, and some of them I can answer. But not until you’re more comfortable.”

Roni drew in a rough breath, staring at the other woman’s implacable expression. She looked more than determined, and Roni had a feeling she was used to getting her own way.

“This bites,” she snapped, turning away from Merinus. “If I wanted to bathe first I would have asked.” But she stomped to the bathroom anyway, determined to get it over with and get her questions answered as soon as possible.

Merinus had been right, though. The bath did seem to ease the building heat that had already begun tormenting her. Of course, Roni opted for a cold bath, shivering in the coolest water she could stand on her skin and gradually adding more until it became tolerable.

The bathroom was a dream. Italian marble floors, a porcelain sink set in a cherry cabinet. In the center of the room was a large sunken tub big enough for three grown people. A shower was set in a far corner.

Against the wall opposite the door was a sky-blue print Queen Anne chair, and beside it, an antique cherry table. Cabinets were set within the walls, and decorative nooks held a variety of expensive knick-knacks. It was opulent and comfortable at the same time. And unlike anything Roni had ever experienced.

When she felt as though she could stand to walk without being fucked first, she got out of the large tub, dried her hair and hurriedly dressed in the long gown and robe the other woman had provided. There were no panties, but she didn’t want to tempt her luck at this point by allowing anything to touch her overly sensitive cunt.

Dinner came next. It was waiting on her in the sitting room, on the small glass table positioned beside the sliding balcony doors. It was a light meal and Merinus stood guard over her every second, making certain she finished it before covering the tray and then sitting back in the chair and watching her silently.

“Okay, answers,” Roni reminded her. “What did he do to me and how do I get rid of it?”

The answers better come fast too, she thought, because the small contractions in her womb were about to drive her crazy.

“Conception.” Roni froze at the other woman’s words. “It’s the only thing that stills the heat. But you won’t be free of Taber, even then. Nature is a little smarter than we’ve given her credit for here. You and Taber will never be able to separate. You’ll always be a part of him, through the child you conceive as well as the hormone that will never completely leave your body. You’re his mate. Forever.”

Roni stared at the other woman for a long, silent minute. If Merinus didn’t look so serious, Roni would have laughed in her face. Unfortunately, this just didn’t feel like a good time to find amusement in a situation rapidly bordering nightmare quality.