Warrior: The Elect, Book 3 (11 page)

Jamie didn’t help as they loaded the five bodies into another SUV that rolled up. Adrenaline was still crashing through her. If she helped she wouldn’t be able to hide the tremor in her hands, and she didn’t want it interpreted as fear or weakness. Removing the bodies was completed quickly, and she didn’t protest when Carter ordered her into the SUV. They were gone seconds before the squad cars pulled up to the restaurant.

“You’re okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she murmured, ignoring the bruises on her wrists. “I can take care of myself, Carter.”

His hands convulsed on the steering wheel. “That’s obvious.”

“And you don’t like it.” She wasn’t sure what she was feeling. Pain was too tame a word. It was more like evisceration. She’d accepted him. Fully, completely. Would he ever do the same for her? Would his Elect genetics allow him to?

“You’re projecting your thoughts, baby. I know what scares you. I like that you can defend yourself. That you can protect yourself,” he said carefully. “But the idea of you being in danger, of losing you, terrifies me.”

“I won’t stand back and watch you put yourself in danger while I’m safe behind walls. I won’t sit back while Kaden is threatened,” she said softly.

Her heart was breaking. If he couldn’t accept she was just as much a warrior as he was, what was the point?

He gave a slight shake of his head, a subtle twist of his lips, and held one hand out to her. When she took it, he lifted her knuckles and nibbled. That quickly, the adrenaline still surging in her system changed from wanting a fight to wanting sex.

“I didn’t say I expect you to stand back, baby. I said it terrifies me. I’ll show exactly how much later,” he added in a low tone that was pure sex and promise.

She couldn’t think about that now. She turned her mind to the meeting with Stine and the events that followed. It didn’t make sense. Stine had been expecting them and he shouldn’t have.
 

Carter didn’t speak again until they were almost home. She felt his lust pulsing at hers, knew he was struggling to control it as much as she was.

“What the hell happened?” he muttered while punching the code in at the gate, and though the mike was open, she knew he was asking her. She knew he wasn’t talking about what had happened with Stine’s guards but how they got there so quick, and she wasn’t sure yet. She shook her head.

“Gimme a minute,” she said, soft, considering.

Brax, Mason, Martin and Toler were waiting when they entered. She looked at the two newcomers.

“You worked his security during the day. Where else did he go?”

Toler shrugged. “The hospital. Restaurants.”

Martin looked less convinced, though.

“What is it?” Jamie asked.

Before he answered, Martin glanced at his lieutenant, who nodded to speak. There was no way to ignore how much that bothered Brax and Carter. “There were a few times Stine went somewhere with his private detail and there was no itinerary left behind.”

“What do you think?” Brax asked Jamie. She was surprised when he asked her, but she thought she’d earned her place here.

“I’m not sure what to think yet,” she said. “Stine seems to think we plan to take over. Breed humans…out of existence, I guess. Do you have models that show that?”

Brax shook his head. “Zach has many models. Some show us outpacing humans in a hundred years and some in a hundred thousand years. We certainly don’t have a plan to do it on purpose.”

“But for some reason, they think you do. They have someone. Someone not at Stirling who likely has been tortured into making up whatever he has to to survive,” she said. It was speculation, but she was sure it was true. “Did Mason get the trackers in place?”

“Yes,” Brax replied, finally sounding satisfied. “We’ll find them, we’ll take them out—and if they are holding one of ours? We’ll get them free. Personally I think that’s all the wild imaginings of a crazy old man.”

Maybe. Or maybe not. She shrugged. “Either way, it’s time to get aggressive and start thinking about exposure.”

Brax nodded sharply. “And we will. I expect you in on those meetings.”

“Sure.”

“And you’ll be working with Mason. I want you to see if you can find holes in our compound security,” Brax continued.

“No problem.”

He smiled. “You have a couple hours. The rest of the family is in Merilee’s suite having dinner. You should join them.”

“Thanks,” Carter said. He took her hand and tugged her out, up the stairs, but he didn’t turn for his mother’s suite.

As soon as their door shut behind them, he had her pressed up against him. “What do you really think?” he asked her.

“It’s hard to think with you warm and plastered to me?” she asked, teasing.

He chuckled. “Seriously.”

The question might be, but his hands were working on her clothes.

“I think there’s a bunch of well-funded, well-educated SOBs that have a total misread on a situation. And that doesn’t matter, because it makes us all a target. We can’t hide.”

“You might be right,” he murmured, but his response was lost.

He had her shirt and bra gone, and then his tongue was flicking over her nipple. She found the strength to shove him away. He gave her half a foot.

“This isn’t over, Carter.”

“No,” he agreed, shaking his head.

“I won’t back out.”

“I know, sweetheart.” His hand lay flat over her stomach. “Not for Kaden or our daughter.”

She was stunned. Daughter? She couldn’t be pregnant now—with so much still in question. But life didn’t work that way, did it? Life went on.

“Protector. Guardian. Warrior,” Carter whispered against her skin. “What will our daughter be?”

Jamie knew it didn’t matter. The child would be what she was and would be loved unconditionally.

And that was more than enough.

About the Author

Loribelle is a former Army MP who traded in her combat boots for motherhood, flip-flops and all the Diet Coke she can drink. (She almost misses the combat boots.) She’s the author of more than twenty books, none of which her children are allowed to read. Ever. Visit her website,
www.loribellehunt.com
, or
www.facebook.com/loribelle.hunt
for information on new releases.

Look for these titles by Loribelle Hunt

Now Available:

Forbidden Passions

Passions Recalled

Renegade Passions

The Elect

Protector

Guardian

Print Anthologies

Forbidden Passions

A second chance born in fire…

Guardian

© 2012 Loribelle Hunt

The Elect, Book 2

Mallory Littman is the only human born child in an Elect family, but she’s far from normal. She can call fire, control it, mold it. As an arson investigator, she has a life separate from the Elect. No reason to live in their compound, or to try to mend the rift with her estranged husband.

Until a case involving an Elect mate forces her to return to the home she fled three years ago. Her nursing background makes her the best choice to infiltrate The Stirling Institute. It’d be an easier job if her ex didn’t insist on shadowing her every move—to keep her “safe”.

It’s not her body she’s worried about. It’s her heart.

Zach Littman made one major screw-up in his life. He let Mallory go. As long as she stayed away, he was willing to leave her be. But now she’s back in his territory, and he has every intention of making up for his past mistakes.

If she lives long enough…

Warning: Take one sexy, alpha scientist, add in an estranged wife, and he gets
very
creative winning her back. Contains make-up sex hot enough to singe, a little light bondage, a dangerous undercover mission, and a heroine who doesn’t quite breathe fire.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Guardian:

Arson investigator Mallory Littman pulled up to the call box at the imposing gates and took a deep, fortifying breath. The high walls concealed a very exclusive, very private community. Apartments, houses—heck, even a small town complete with schools. All of that was a few miles from her current location, though, and not her destination. She was going to one of the few houses that sat alone, where Braxton Lee, president of Lee Enterprises and leader of the Elect, lived and worked. It was amazing the place was such a well-kept secret. Mallory wondered—not for the first time—how long that would last.

The people who called themselves the Elect looked human, but they weren’t. Maybe they’d evolved alongside humans or maybe they were something new. That’s what their scientists believed, but Mallory wasn’t so sure. They were definitely different. Most were telepaths, but that wasn’t what set them apart. Plenty of humans were too. They were, however, stronger, faster and smarter. And insanely protective and possessive. They created a mental bond with their mates and rarely split up. And she was both one and not one of them. Usually their offspring were Elect. But not always. She should know. Her father and brothers were Elect, but despite having some unusual talents of her own, Mallory’s DNA was as human as her mother’s.

With a shake of her head, she leaned on the buzzer. She didn’t have time to ponder the intricacies of interspecies mating. She had a case to finalize, even though the official report would be a farce, and she needed Esme’s signature. But more importantly, Brax, Esme’s mate, was waiting on the information Mallory had gathered on the Stirling Institute, the mysterious group that was suddenly much too curious about the Elect. But hell, she wasn’t looking forward to going inside the compound. She knew who else was behind those damned gates. She used to live in there with him.
 

She’d thought at first that Zach would stop blaming her. That he would come around. She didn’t lose their child on purpose, after all. But she’d rarely seen him since that night. The first year they’d had very little contact. An email, the occasional phone call. She figured they’d both been too emotionally shattered. Later they’d tried face-to-face meetings. Dinners that started out well, but ended with both of them pissed off and bitter. He didn’t like the life she’d chosen, refused to bend even a little. Refused to see that she was a strong, independent adult. She didn’t need a man to take care of her. She could handle that herself, thank you very much. He thought she was weak. She’d made herself strong. He thought she needed a protector. She’d made herself a guardian.
 

And still, he stayed away.
 

She was surprised at how much that still hurt, but she sighed and bucked up and pushed the call button. He didn’t want her, so he probably wouldn’t even be around. But if that were true, why wouldn’t he sign the freaking divorce papers? She’d sent them twice in the last six months. Both times they were returned in shreds. And she was honest enough to admit a part of her was relieved. They couldn’t go on as they had. She ignored the tiny hope that there might be a way to repair their relationship.

The call box hissed. “Mallory Littman,” she said into it. “I have an appointment with Brax.”
 

They knew who she was. She wasn’t giving them more explanation than that. The voice on the other end surprised her, though. It was warm, welcoming and teasing, a familiar voice she was grateful to hear. She’d grown up in this compound, gotten married in it. Maybe she shouldn’t have stayed away so long.

“Returning to the fold, Mallory? Come on up,” Gabe said.
 

Her moment of pleasure was gone with a snap. She pushed down a surge of acrimony as she drove through the gates. Returning to the fold? Not likely. She wasn’t one of them. Her father and brothers were Elect, but she wasn’t. If it were up to her she wouldn’t have to deal with any of them at all. So why hadn’t she left Tampa? Why did she stay within range of temptation? She tamped down that thought. She’d learned the hard way how to hide her emotions from the Elect. It was the only way to survive in their midst.
 

A guard was waiting for her on the circular drive in front of Brax’s house and she left the keys in the ignition when she stepped out. He’d park it close by while she dealt with those inside. She didn’t plan on being here long. This case was going nowhere and she knew it. It was aggravating, but when Braxton Lee decided to bury something, it stayed buried. And she didn’t really disagree with his actions. She didn’t want to expose her family any more than he wanted to expose the rest of the species.

She didn’t wait for anyone to let her in, and it was like a time warp.
Rocky Horror, here we come.
Not one damned thing had changed about the gracious, spacious entryway. God, she’d loved this house. Loved living in it with Zach. Damn. It was time to leave Tampa. Time to leave Florida, and she knew it. He wasn’t coming around and she could get a job anywhere. She just needed that damned divorce. Why wouldn’t he give her that? He didn’t want anything to do with her so what would it hurt?