Three Southern Beaches: A Summer Beach Read Box Set (28 page)

He nodded. His eyes were a silver blue and I knew mine matched. My body trembled and I was surprised to note his hands were shaky. I was scared, but had never felt so sure of anything in my life.

“One. Two. Three.”

He was right and then some. I shrieked at the invasion and came so hard I sobbed. His body shook and he held me tight as we performed the ritual that bound us together for eternity. I was unsure of how much time had passed. It could have been hours or minutes. The closeness I now felt trumped what I had felt before and it awed me. Running my hands over his face and tangling my fingers in his thick hair I pulled his mouth to mine and I was complete. It was done. We lived through it…
barely
, and we now belonged to each other.

“Hank, what about my job and stuff? We kind of forgot to discuss the logistics.” Not that I really cared, but we should have some kind of plan.

“We’ll deal with that later. We have a mission here and the rest will work itself out,” he said as he lifted me and took me to our bed.

“I’m exhausted,” I muttered as I tried to keep my eyes open.

“Go to sleep,” he whispered in my ear. He wrapped his huge hard body around my smaller softer one and I smiled sleepily.

“Don’t leave me,” I pleaded as I slipped into sleep.

“I will never leave you, Essie. Never.”

Chapter 10

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Junior shouted joyfully from the door of our bedroom. “It’s about time.”

I shrieked and yanked the sheet up over my naked body. It was one thing to be naked for a shift with the pack. It was another thing altogether to be naked after a sex-a-thon in front of my mate’s brother.

“Out,” Hank bellowed. “And erase the image of Essie from your brain or I’ll beat it out of you.”

“No prob, baby bro-bro, but you need to get your mated asses out here. We have a situation.” He grinned, winked and left the room.

“How does he know we’re mated?” I asked as I grabbed my sundress and yanked it on.

“Scent. It’d be pretty hard to miss.” Hank smiled like a cat who’d eaten a canary and I punched him in the shoulder. “Ouch,” he grunted.

“That didn’t hurt.” I rolled my eyes and attempted to hold back my smile. “You are just full of yourself.”

“I am a very happy man.” He grabbed me and planted a big one on my willing lips. My head spun and I seriously considered making Junior wait while I exercised my new conjugal rights with my mate, but I knew he’d just barge back in.

“Come on, happy man, Junior’s got some intel.”

Hand in hand we went out to face the real world again.

The den was a wreck and Junior was taking it in with glee. My panties and bra were on the lamp and Hank’s boxer briefs were hanging off the ceiling fan…
How did that happen
? I quickly ran around the room and gathered all the incriminating evidence as Junior chuckled and Hank strutted around like a peacock.

“Okay,” I huffed in my professional voice and tried to pretend I hadn’t just shoved my panties in my purse. “What’s going on?”

“First of all, I want to say welcome to the family. I love you. Definitely not in the way Hank does, but like a sister. I am relieved to know that someone who could shoot my balls off while blindfolded is part of my family.”

“Um…thank you, I think,” I said as I shook my head and grinned.

Hank tossed me a bottle of water and we all sat down at the kitchen table.

“Spill it,” Hank told Junior. “Oh, and we have some prints to run on Puck Flame.”

“It’s the self tanner,” Junior said.

“I’m sorry, what?” I asked.

“The self tanner. I went to the agency to make sure Tina #1 wasn’t dead, which unfortunately she wasn’t, and I bought some of the stinky self tanner.” He stared at us like we should understand what he meant.

“What are you talking about?” Hank demanded.

“Oh right, I get ahead of myself,” Junior muttered. “The self tanner eliminates scent. It’s why we couldn’t track the girls who were abducted. It’s a compound with a combination of chemicals I don’t know.”

“That’s impossible,” Hank said.

“I thought so too, but I can’t identify them.”

“Junior, there is no way you are unable to identify a compound,” Hank argued. Junior shrugged and stared at the table.

“Color me confused, but why in the heck would you think Junior could discern a chemical compound? No offense, Junior,” I said.

“None taken,” he muttered.

“Do you wanna tell her?” Hank asked his brother.

“Nope.”

“Then I will,” he threatened.

“You promised,” Junior whined.

“Junior, Essie is my mate and soon to be my wife. She…”

“Wait. When did you ask me to marry you?” I demanded. “Did I miss something? Did you put a ring on my finger?”

“No.” Hank smacked his forehead and blew out an exasperated breath. “It’s common sense that we’ll get married. We live amongst humans and they’ll expect it before I knock you up.”

“Oh My God!” I screamed. “You just lost some major panty privileges. You need to ask me to marry you on your freakin’ knees and I want a big ring that’s not cubic zirconia. It needs to be romantic and it needs to be a surprise. Do you understand me?”

“Um…yes,” he said meekly. “I understand.”

“She’s gonna be one hell of an alpha partner.” Junior laughed and stood to leave.

“Sit,” Hank snapped. “You think I’d forget what we were talking about because I got my balls handed to me?”

“I was hoping so,” he mumbled.

“You tell her or I will.”

Junior sat silently and gave his brother the stink eye.

“Somebody tell me,” I insisted as I stood up. “Also, Mr. Wolfboy, we are not having kids any time soon.”

“Got it.” He grinned and slapped my ass.

Why the hell his Neanderthal behavior was a turn on was a mystery to me.

“My brother holds a masters in biochemical engineering, speaks four languages fluently and has a doctorate in engineering.”

I was stunned to silence. My voice literally wouldn’t work.

“This is exactly why I don’t want anyone knowing this,” Junior ground out angrily. “My stud factor drops dramatically when chicks find out I’m a nerd.”

“You’re brilliant?” I asked, still in shock.

“He’s off the charts for MENSA,” Hank added as Junior shot him a death glare.

“Are you freakin’ kidding me?” I yelled. “Junior, that is the hottest thing I’ve ever heard. Someone who looks like you with brains? Oh my god, the chicks will be begging you to mate with them. In fact, I hope you’re using condoms because once this gets out the entire pack of single gals plus all the Weres in the surrounding states are going to try to trap your butt into marriage.”

“Really?” he asked doubtfully.

Hank was looking a little put out at my excitement over his brother and I giggled. “Don’t worry, baby,” I cooed. “You have all the attributes I need.”

“You think this will help me get more babes?” Junior mulled this new information over.

For as brilliant as he apparently was, he was still a lazy, skirt-chasing good ‘ole boy.

“Yes, you will get more babes,” Hank added dryly. “Enough about that — get back to why you can’t figure the chemical compound out.”

“It flummoxed me. I recognize some of it, but it seems to have been mutated genetically. It’s quite brilliant and whoever is making it is loaded.”

“Do you think the Council is behind this?” I asked.

“Doubtful,” Hank answered. “Why would they be kidnapping their own? And what would they be doing with them?”

“One way to find out,” I muttered and pulled the offending bottle from my purse.

“I was wondering if you had any panties in your purse?” Junior asked as he laughed heartily at his own joke.

“That’s funny,” I shot back. “I was wondering if I could use your nuts for target practice.”

He shut up fast.

“I don’t like this, Essie,” Hank said tersely. “Not one bit.”

“Don’t, Hank,” I warned. “I love you, but that doesn’t change what I do or who I am.”

He sat silently and fumed.

“Oh, two of those agency humans called and want a meeting with Hank at ten tomorrow,” Junior told us. “They want to meet in the sheriff’s office.”

“That’s when I’m supposed to be at the agency. Which ones want the meeting?” I asked.

“Peter Pyre and Paul Tinder.” All three of us snickered at the ridiculous names.

“They’re supposed to be off on assignment with some models. The timing is awfully convenient,” I muttered.

“The timing is planned,” Hank cut me off. “They’ll keep me busy while they try to take you.”

“Getting the alpha’s mate would be a coup,” Junior added.

“No one but you knows we’re mated,” I reasoned. “And why would it make any difference if they had the alpha’s mate? We don’t even know what they’re doing with the girls.”

“I can tell you this. If they’re smart enough to create that tanning compound that erases scent they aren’t just killing our girls. I would bet they’re alive and being experimented on.” Junior ran his hands through his hair and sighed unhappily.

My stomach roiled. Junior had a good point, but who was doing this? The three idiot humans?

Hank was pissed. He pulled a knife and a small transmitter out of a kitchen drawer. “Essie, this will hurt, but you’ll heal quickly. You can’t wear a wire or you’ll get busted so I’m going to put a device in your arm that will let us track you.”

“Where did you get that? We don’t have those at WTF.” It was tiny. I thought we had state of the art everything at WTF, but I was clearly mistaken.

Junior raised his hand bashfully. “I invented it. My litter of kittens kept running off and I was sick and tired of searching for them so I made it.”

I stopped short of commenting on the fact that Junior owned a litter of kittens. I was far too grateful that they would be able to track my movement.

I extended my arm and shut my eyes. “Cut away.”

“He’s going to need to place it where you have some body fat,” Junior said. “I’d suggest her ass.”

Hank growled and I sputtered. “You think my ass is fat?”

“No.” Junior turned bright red. “You have a lovely ass,” he quickly said as Hank’s growl grew louder. “Women have more fat in their asses and boobs. He could also place it in your boob, but you have really nice ones and…I’m gonna stop now before I die a violent death.”

“Good thinking,” Hank snapped as he turned me around and stabbed me in the butt.

“Owwww,” I grunted. “A little warning?”

“It’s better this way. Anticipation sucks.” He inserted the device and put a butterfly bandage over it. “It will heal in an hour. Shouldn’t even leave a mark.”

I was a bit grumpy from being stabbed in the butt so I sucked back my water to keep from calling my mate nasty names. I was happy they would be able to find me no matter where I was, but the implementation was lacking.

“So here’s the deal. I’ll meet with the humans. Essie will go as planned to the agency, and Junior, you will tail her if they leave with her. Essie, you will be armed. I would assume that wherever they take you will lead us to the missing girls. Use the tanner, but let Dwayne sniff you tonight so he can pick up your trail if needed. Everyone clear?”

We nodded. It was as solid of a plan as we could have at the moment.

“How do you know about Dwayne’s smelling talent?” I asked.

“Trust me, I know more about Dwayne than I ever wanted to.” Hank grinned ruefully.

“Oh my god,” I squealed. “Does he have secrets I don’t know about?”

“He’s a three hundred year old Vampyre. He has secrets none of us know about.”

“Speaking of,” I said. “We need to go tell Granny and Dwayne the good news.”

Hank smiled and grabbed my hand. “Lead on, my mate. Lead on.”

Chapter 11

“Honey, I’m so happy for you.” Granny trapped me in a hug that made me gasp for air.

“Thanks,” I choked out as I extricated myself.

“I know you’re my alpha,” she warned Hank with a twinkle in her eye, “but I will tear you a new butt if you hurt my girl.”

“Duly noted.” Hank laughed.

“Will there be a wedding?” Dwayne asked as he bounced with excitement. Hank blanched and quickly stepped away from me.

“Apparently, but he hasn’t asked me properly yet. However, in the event that he gets his act together and does it right, I would like Granny to give me away and I want Dwayne to be my maid or um, man of honor.”

“Yesssssssssss,” Dwayne squealed and hugged me harder than Granny did. “Can I wear a dress?”

“Well…um, sure.” I was certain I would live to regret that answer.

“Oh my goodness gracious,” he muttered distractedly. “We have so much to do—dresses, invites, showers…Wait. What is that funky smell?”

“Self tanner,” I told him. “What do you smell?”

He circled me and sniffed the air. “Well, if that’s not the damndest thing. It’s muted your Were smell—almost eliminates it.”

“But you can still smell me?” He was amazing.

“Yep, but you’re stinky.”

“I can’t smell her Were at all,” Granny said. “What the hell is in that? Did Junior take a look at it?”

“You know about Junior’s brains?” I asked, shocked.

“Baby girl, Granny knows all,” she said. “Did he examine it?”

I nodded. “He can’t tell what’s in it.”

She was surprised, but I was more so. What else about this town didn’t I know? Shifter strip clubs, drag clubs, Junior was smarter than Einstein…

“I put a tracker in Essie. She’ll go to the agency as planned, but I want you two at the station on standby in case this gets as ugly as I think it will,” Hank explained. “Dwayne, can you shoot a gun?”

Dwayne rolled his eyes. “Hanky-poo, Dwayne doesn’t need a gun. I have crap in my repertoire that will make you lose sleep for the rest of your life.”

We all digested that nugget silently for a moment and then moved on. If Dwayne wanted us to know exactly what he was capable of he would have volunteered it. Part of me hoped I would never have to find out, but the other half was dying to know.

“Speaking of secrets, what did you tell Hank about me?”

“You mean
Jeff
. What did I tell
Jeff
about you? If I had known it was Hank I wouldn’t have told him anything. You’re my BFF and I would shred someone’s skin from their body and shove their bones down their dead ass throat for you.”

“That’s really sweet,” I muttered, trying not to picture that. “What was it that you told
Jeff
?”

Dwayne huffed a huge and dramatic sigh. Hank had the decency to look a bit ashamed and I waited…

“As you know, Essie, we had lots and lots of super fun slumber parties,” Dwayne began and I nodded. “Well, you tend to talk and cry in your sleep.”

“No I don’t.”

“How would you know? You’re asleep,” Granny added her two cents. “And he’s right. You kept me awake for two years straight during high school.”

“Fine. I talk. I cry. What the hell did I say?”

“You called out for Hank every time I stayed over. It broke my heart even though I don’t technically have one. I would just hold you and rock you till you stopped and fell back into a deep sleep.”

I didn’t have a smartass come back. I wasn’t embarrassed or uncomfortable. I was just quiet. The feeling of Hank’s hands on my back felt safe and right. When Dwayne added his bald head to my shoulder and Granny took my hand in hers, my world sat squarely on its axis and I knew that whatever journey I had chosen had led me back to where I was supposed to be.

Tomorrow would be a new day filled with uncertainty and very possibly danger, but right now all was right with my world.

“Come on, baby. Let’s go home,” Hank said.

“Will you guys be okay?” I asked my granny and BFF.

“Oh, hell yeah. We’re gonna play Twister and then try on wigs and girdles,” Granny informed us. Hank seemed confused so I pushed him out the door before he asked questions he didn’t want the answers to.

“That visual was disturbing,” he said as we climbed on the motorcycle.

“Yep,” I agreed. “Do you think we can go home and you can put some new visuals in my head?” I grabbed his perfect butt and squeezed.

He chuckled and pulled me forward for a toe-curling kiss. “I do believe that can be arranged.”

***

The morning dawned bright and sunny. The familiar sweet smell of the ocean breeze was comforting, but even that and the memory of a night full of aerobic sex with Hank couldn’t erase the sense of impending doom that had settled in the pit of my stomach. There were too many unanswered questions. The humans were the wild card.

A block away from the agency, I hunkered down in my little car and wracked my brain for clues we had missed. The humans, if they had developed the self-tanning lotion, were brilliant and rich. I was convinced they knew about Shifters, which was highly unusual. They were the key…abducting Weres…erasing scents…possibly experimenting…Wait. Erasing scents. That was it. Could it be that simple?

I quickly texted Dwayne and told him to go buy some self tanner and then meet me at my car in ten minutes. I gave him no other directions. If I needed to send him back in I would, but I had a feeling I wouldn’t have to. It was 9:35. I was due at the agency in twenty-five minutes. There was plenty of time for some quick recon. If I was right, this was huge. However, if I was right, Hank would forbid me to go in.

Waiting in my car, I heard familiar nasal laughter. My gut clenched and my claws itched to come out and play. Slowly I eased the car window down and ducked low in my seat.

“I hope they take her today,” Tina #1 growled. “After they’re done with her and the rest of them, they’ll kill them.”

“Agreed. There’s simply not enough oxygen for losers like Essie McGee in this world.” Tina #2 laughed.

“Wait. Are you serious?” Tina #3 demanded.

“About what?” Tina #2 asked.

“The oxygen thingie.”

“I will pretend you didn’t say that, moron.”

“You don’t have to be a bitch,” Tina #3 hissed. “I could kill you so easily.”

“Like to see you try. Anyway, once she’s dead I’ll get Hank for keeps,” Tina #2 purred.

“Why do you get him?” Tina #1 whined.

“Because I called him first. You two idiots can share the fire boys when this is over.”

“I just hope it’s over soon. None of us have gotten laid in a year,” Tina #2 muttered with disgust.

“Keep your voice down. No one needs to know our business,” Tina #3 shot back menacingly. “Once the fire boys complete the experiment they promised they would be all ours. In fact, Hank can screw himself. I like my guys hot.”

As their laughter died away, I sat bolt upright in my seat. Junior was correct, the humans were experimenting on the Weres. That was sick and what in the hell was the experiment? How did the Weres let the humans take them? We could overpower a human with our eyes closed…Were the humans working for another species of Were and kidnapping wolves?

My need to walk into the agency and tear the limbs off of the humans and the Tinas was overwhelming, but that would be a grave mistake. I needed them to take me to where the girls were hidden. If I killed the messenger, I’d lose the prize.

“Dragons,” Dwayne whispered into my cracked window.

“Oh my god,” I shrieked. “You scared me to death.”

He grinned and slipped into the back seat. “You look alive to me.”

“Why are you in the back?” I asked.

“I’ve seen this in the movies,” he explained. “No one will actually know we’re having a conversation. They’ll think you’re my driver and pass right on by.”

Deciding not to touch that theory, I waited for him to continue.

“They’re not human. They’re Dragons.”

“What?” I hissed.

“I said they’re not hum…”

“I heard you. Are you sure?” My skin felt tight on my body and I prayed he was mistaken. This was far worse than I ever could have imagined. I thought maybe they were wolves from a rival pack and they’d used the self tanner to disguise their scent and possibly blackmail our pack into paying ransom…

“This is not very good, Essie.” Dwayne fretted in the back seat.

He was right. My brain was on overload. They were rich, smart, dangerous and seriously hard to kill. They had clearly duped the Council and now they were using science to do god knows what with my pack.

“Listen to me,” I snapped, formulating a plan as it fell from my lips. “I am going in and I’m going to let them take me to the other girls. You are going to the sheriff’s office and when his meeting with the assholes is over you will tell Hank what you told me. Detain the Dragons if you can. I’ll be safer with only one Dragon and three soon to be dead, traitorous she-wolves. Let him know the Tinas are involved and the Dragons are experimenting on our wolves. Tell him if he tries to stop me from going to the girls he’ll be signing their death warrant. He has to trust me and let me do my job. Do you understand me?” I sucked in a huge breath as I’d not taken in a lick of air during my diatribe.

“Can I ask you something weird?” Dwayne inquired.

“Does it pertain?”

“Yes.”

“Fine, but hurry. I’m due in the agency in ten.”

“Don’t speak till I finish,” Dwayne said in a weary voice I’d never heard. “I am going to bite you. I will drink a very small amount of your blood so I can track you definitively. I don’t trust my sense of smell enough where your life is concerned. You will then bite me and drink. You will find it disgusting, disturbing and possibly somewhat erotic, which is gross because you’re straight and I’m gay, but you will do it. My blood will give you vampire strength. It’s temporary, so don’t freak. Let’s do it.”

“Was that a joke?” I stammered.

“What, the straight and gay part?” He was confused. “Or the temporary part?”

“All of it,” I yelled.

“None of it’s a joke, Essie. We don’t have a lot of time here, so I’d suggest you slap your fangs onto my neck and suck.”

“This is the craziest thing I’ve ever thought about doing,” I muttered as Dwayne crawled over the seat and settled himself next to me.

“No crazier than going after Dragons,” he countered.

I rolled my eyes and reluctantly let my fangs descend. “What super powers will this give me? Will I be able to fly?”

Dwayne grinned and shrugged. “You’d have to pretty much drain me to get that skill.”

“Shut the hell up! You can fly? You never told me that.” Color me very impressed.

“You never asked. Give me your wrist and you take my neck.”

“Will this hurt you?” I asked as I leaned in.

“Don’t know. Never let a wolf near my neck.” He grinned and gave me a quick hug. “I love you, Essie. Before you came into my life, I had considered ending myself. Three hundred years is a long time to be alone. You’ve given me hope, a career as a drag queen and a dysfunctional family. I am supremely grateful. Bite me.”

I did.

It was odd and kind of icky. Not erotic for me at all and from the way Dwayne was laughing, I figured it wasn’t a turn-on for him either. He bit my wrist as I swallowed down his blood that tasted bizarrely like mac and cheese. After taking a quick nip of my O positive he closed the wound with his tongue.

I withdrew my fangs and closed my eyes as a rush of heat blasted through me, ending at my toes and fingertips. My vision sharpened and my sense of smell was insane. Holy hell, the self tanner smelled like butt.

“You have to go,” Dwayne said as he gently pushed me out of the car. “Remember you are not superhuman. You’re just stronger with heightened senses for a day or two or three…”

“You have no clue how long this will last, do you?” I asked dryly.

“Um…no, but I don’t regret it for a moment. You needed it and I gave it. Ohhh, and that wasn’t at all sexy. It tickled and felt squishy.”

“Thanks,” I muttered as I grabbed my overnight bag and checked my gun.

“Are your panties up your ass?” Dwayne asked, concerned.

“No. Why?”

“Well, it looked like you were adjusting your hoohoo and I figured…”

“Dwayne,” I hissed. “I was not adjusting my
hoohoo
. I was checking my gun which I wear on the inside of my thigh, but thank you for your concern.”

“Welcome.”

“Dwayne, do you know how to kill a Dragon?” He was three hundred. Maybe he knew something I didn’t.

“The usual. Take the heart out or decapitate it, but that’s a bit difficult with all those sharp scales.”

“Right.” So much for another way to off a Dragon.

“I plan to mind meld those jack-offs at the Sherriff’s office,” he informed me smugly.