Things That Go Bump in the Night IV (16 page)

Trey.

He hit the ‘talk’ button then slipped from the bedroom into the miniscule living room so he wouldn’t wake Char.

“What’s up?”

“Just what the hell did you do this evening?” Trey snarled.

“Hmm, let’s see. Had dinner, met up with Marcus, fended off a rabid werewolf who wanted my head on a platter… Maybe that’s what you wanted to know?” Rik stalked toward the wide windows as Trey swore in his ear.

“Yeah, well, it kind of pisses me off when someone demands I grovel at his feet then comes at me with his claws out,” Rik hissed.

“Lyn is out for blood.”

“No shit.”

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J.C. Wilder

There was a moment of silence before Trey spoke. “Marcus told me there was a woman involved.”

Rik glanced at the darkened bedroom doorway. “Yes.”

“Can’t you keep your dick under control for a few hours?”

“Screw you, Trey. You don’t know anything about this.”

“Just what the hell were you thinking, or were you thinking at all—”

“Fuck you,” Rik snapped. “I’ve never let you down before and you’d better keep that in mind.”

“Who is she? Some brainless bimbo from the bar?”

“Back the fuck off, Trey. I don’t work for you anymore, remember?” Rik tilted his head back and forth, trying to loosen up his tense muscles. This conversation was definitely pissing him off. It was all he could do to keep from hanging up. “It’s none of your business who she is and she has nothing to do with this.”

“So you’d like to think,” the other man said. “Lyn wants her bad and, thanks to you, he views this woman as a way to get back at you.”

Rik cursed under his breath.

“She’s in it up to her neck, whether you like it or not.”

He stared out the window into the darkness. The pitch-black paint of his BMW

gleamed under the streetlights. The dark was where he and thousands of other Shadow Dwellers were more at home than in the light of day. The darkness was where the deepest secrets lived and breathed; it had sheltered him for more years than he cared to remember. He felt the inexorable pull of his old Hunter lifestyle.

Honor.

Duty.

Act on the will of the Council and protect life at all costs.

He leaned his forehead against the cool glass. No matter how long he stayed away from the Hunters, their covenant still resonated within him as strong as the day he signed their sacred Covenant.

“I’ll take care of her,” Rik said.

The other man sighed. “I know you will. Marcus is already looking for Lyn and he’s called in Santo and Dirk. Right now they’re trying to head off all-out warfare between the cats and the dogs. For now, just keep the woman safe and busy for the next day or so and we’ll see what comes up.”

Feeling powerless and pissed at the same time, Rik muttered his thanks.

“Yeah, you owe me,” Trey said.

The phone went dead.

He propped his arm on the wall and continued staring into the darkness. He never should have approached Char. Before he left the Hunters, he’d never have made such a stupid mistake. Putting a human at risk went against everything he’d fought for and 94

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believed in. Meeting her and getting her tangled up in this mess was one of the most colossal mistakes of his life.

The phone rang again and he glanced at the panel, frowning when he didn’t recognize the number. He hit the Talk button then held the phone up to his ear. He didn’t speak.

“You were set up.” The voice held the distinctive twang of the bayou. It was Lyn’s brother, Bo.

“How’s that?”

“Lyn set you up. He told Serena to seduce you so he could use her infidelity as a reason to pick a fight with you.”

Rik snorted. “Did he honestly believe I’d fight him over a one-night stand?”

“Lyn knows you’re honorable, for a were-cat at least. He knew you’d defend your actions and that if he tried to grind you into the dust, you’d fight back no matter what the Council had ordered. Your temper is as legendary as is your sense of humanity. Lyn wants to start a war and you just played right into his hands tonight.”

Rik closed his eyes and allowed his head to drop forward. He’d been played like a patsy, and by a werewolf at that.

Damn.

He forced his head up. “So what are we going to do about this mess?”

“We?” The other man chuckled. “There is no ‘we’ here. You’re on your own, pussycat.”

“Then why did you call? Why are you telling me this if you aren’t going to help me fix this mess your brother created?”

Silence. All he could hear was the faint hum of static on the line.

The other man sighed. “You probably won’t believe this but there are many of our Clan who do not want warfare. While we choose not to join the Council, we also don’t wish to disturb what is already in place for those who decide to abide by their laws. We simply want to be left alone to live in peace.”

Rik snorted. “And you’re going to try and convince me that your brother is one of them?”

“No. Lyn wants what is best for him and his goals. Mikhail has offered him a seat on the new Council, the one the vampire will command once he brings down the current administration.”

Rik swore under his breath. If this were true, then there was no telling what Lyn would do to bring him down.

“My brother wishes to join with Mikhail and destroy the current Council. He’s doing his part in aiding the vampire by starting a war and dividing the Shadow Dwellers from their leaders.”

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Rik whistled under his breath. “That’s a pretty serious charge. If this is true, the Council will brand him a traitor and send the Hunters after him.”

“I realize this.” Bo’s voice was heavy. “But I speak the truth, pussycat. Right is right and this isn’t. Lyn is bitter and misguided but there is little I can do to sway him from his current path. Watch your back, as he’s determined to put a knife into it.”

The phone went dead.

96

Shadow Hunter

Rik stood in the doorway of the bedroom, watching Char as she slept. She looked like a tumbled angel with her rumpled hair spread out across the pillows. Moonlight filtered in through the blinds to outline her amazing curves.

Humans were such fragile creatures. Their lifespan was brief, and in a blink of an eye, they were gone. It wasn’t that way with a were-cat. Blessed with nine long lives and the ability to heal at an accelerated rate, they could live for many centuries without even using up one of those lives.

Their immortality was both a blessing and a curse.

It had been so long since he’d been human, truly mortally human, that he’d forgotten their constant need to be touched, held. The human need for love and companionship were what drove a human. It was those very same needs that had been eradicated from him long ago with his Hunter training.

After Rik had left Trey’s employ, he’d done little to change his lifestyle. If he wasn’t on the prowl for a sexual partner, he spent most of his time alone, either reading or indulging in his newfound passion for computers and electronics. For him, women were the easy part. The sexual prowess of male were-cats was legendary among the preternaturals and while the humans didn’t comprehend what he was, the human females sensed—on at least some level—his sexual mastery.

He’d done as little as possible to bed them and had enjoyed their company in spades. He loved women, their soft curves, the secrets in their eyes, and if they had a good sense of humor, that was even better. But he’d never allowed himself to want them—to really want them—on anything more than the primitive level of sexual need.

Human females were delicate creatures and they commanded a great deal of attention. Most were high-strung, much more so than a female were-cat, and he’d found none that were worth risking a broken heart over.

But Char was unlike any mortal female he’d ever met. The moment he’d seen her he’d sensed a sort of quiet peace about her, a serenity that came from being confident in herself and her abilities. She didn’t appear to be looking for a man to make her whole, she already was.

Her quiet self-assurance and that sense of peace was a powerful draw for him and he found he wanted more from Char than he’d ever desired from another woman. He needed to possess all of her, the entire package, her laughter, her sexuality, her tears, every last delicious inch of her.

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J.C. Wilder

He rubbed the center of his forehead where a slight ache threatened. The thought terrified him to his very bones. How had a woman, a human at that, gotten beneath his defenses so quickly and so effortlessly?

She put her life on the line for mine in that alley and she didn’t back down. Instead she rose
to meet the challenge and defeat it.

She’d been frightened; he’d smelled her fear, had seen it written on her face, but she hadn’t hesitated to step in. She’d handled herself well in the face of danger, she danced like a dream, looked hot in a corset and she didn’t take herself too seriously. In his opinion, Char was a rarity among human women.

And if you dare to love her, you will lose her in the end.

That thought saddened him. All humans eventually faced their own mortality; while were-cats could become sick, they couldn’t be killed very easily. The claw marks Lyn had inflicted upon him would be completely gone within two days and by then he should be long gone from Char’s life.

Thanks to his past as a Hunter, he’d be forced to look over his shoulder for the rest of his life. He’d killed hundreds of rogue preternaturals, all with the full consent of the Council. But there were those like the wolves who didn’t acknowledge the Council and they had a tendency to get a little testy when one of their own was killed, even if they were as rabid as a junkyard dog.

If what Bo had said was right and Lyn was out to start a war, he would have to be stopped at all costs. If that meant killing the wolf, then so be it. Rik knew if he were the one to do the deed, his life would forever be at risk for retaliation. The wolves wouldn’t allow the killing of their own to go unpunished, especially if it was carried out by a were-cat. No one close to him could ever hope to be safe.

Char stirred and rolled over, making a soft, sexy purr as she did so. His gut clenched. He could never ask her to join him with the threat of Lyn and possible retribution hanging over his head. He’d sworn to Trey he would protect her, and once the wolf was apprehended and he was sure she was safe, he’d leave, no matter how much pain it caused him.

Let it be soon. The longer I stay with her, the more firm a grip she’ll have on my heart.

“Rik?” Char’s sleepy, sexy voice sounded.

He approached the bed and set his cell phone on the table. He’d turned it off, as he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear any more news after the last call.

“Yeah, babe?”

“What are you doing?”

He stretched out beside her and gathered her in his arms. He buried his nose in her fragrant hair and inhaled deeply.

“I was watching you.” He cuddled close to kiss the curve of her shoulder. “You look beautiful in the moonlight.”

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She gave a sleepy chuckle. “You need glasses. I’m chubby.” She sighed. “I can never seem to lose the twenty pounds I put on in college.”

“All women say that, even the ones with the stick figures.” He suckled her earlobe and was rewarded with a shiver. “Meat is for men while sticks are for dogs.” He licked the tender skin beneath her ear.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tilted her head to allow better access. “I like that,” she purred.

“I borrowed that line from a friend.” He skimmed his hands up her back, enjoying the pressure of her ripe breasts against his chest. “I’ll pass your pleasure along.”

“Uh-huh.” She scraped her nails over his nipples and his breath hissed between his teeth. “You’re hard for me. I can feel you against my stomach.”

He palmed her breast and teased her nipple with his thumb. “I just look at you and I want you again.”

She smiled. “What a lovely thing to say.”

“That’s me, a regular poet.”

He bent his head and nipped at her breast before taking her nipple into his mouth.

She moaned and clutched his head as he teased and tasted her, rolling her pert nipple against the roof of his mouth then releasing it to torment the other.

She moved onto her back and he kissed his way down her body, nipping at her belly button and kissing the lush curve of her lower stomach.

The soft curls covering her fragrant mound were damp with desire and he inhaled her scent. Arousal shot through his system and the need to mate with her increased.

The night was dwindling and the moon hung heavy in the sky. It was far past time for the cat to play.

“Open for me.” His voice was hoarse. “I want to see you.”

She slid her hands between her thighs, and parted her labia. He growled deep in his throat at the sight of her rosy, dampened flesh. He buried his face between her legs and seduced her with his tongue.

She moaned and her thighs tensed at the first swipe of his tongue over her clit. He closed his eyes and lost himself in the essence of this amazing woman. She clutched at his head as he worshipped her needy flesh with his tongue.

He lavished attention upon the hardened nub, dragging his tongue over her again and again until she was sobbing and thrusting against his mouth. It had been so long since he’d wanted to pleasure a woman as he did this one. While he’d always made sure his sexual partners reached release, he wanted more from Char. More touching, tasting, fucking, sucking—all of it.

He covered her with his mouth and stroked his roughened tongue over her clit.

Holding the position he PPurrRReeddD…

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J.C. Wilder

Char came with a wild scream. Her back arched and her hips left the bed in a wild move that threatened to unseat him. Gripping her hips, he followed the movement and continued his sensual assault until she begged him to stop.

Desire burned hot and heavy in his bloodstream and he felt he would explode if he didn’t take her now. He rose to his knees.