John swallowed. “I don’t—”
Dirt began to be shoveled onto him. All but the man with the accent, working together to cover him. To bury him alive.
“Wait! Wait!”
The men stopped.
“Give us name,” the man said. “And we go. Do not give us name, and we stay . . . ’til we are done.”
John hesitated. Going against Whitlan was a very quick way to die. But when it took him longer than thirty seconds to reply, the dirt began to fall again.
“I’ll tell you!” he screamed. “I’ll tell you!”
“Make it quick. I grow bored.”
“Bennett. Lyle Bennett. He paid for the package to be delivered to my company and then to be delivered to Allison Whitlan.”
“That is very good.”
Then the dirt began to rain down on John again. He screamed and begged, and after a few seconds, the dirt stopped.
“Just joke,” the man said as he and the other men laughed. “We make promise, we do not break promise. But be careful who you choose to protect. It could land you in early grave.”
CHAPTER 23
Livy sat on Vic’s kitchen table. He’d put her there himself. But, she noticed, only after he’d put down a giant beach towel first. That was probably because she was naked, and she did appreciate his need to be tidy.
Vic, also naked, sat in a chair. Livy had her legs hanging over the edge of the table, her feet rubbing against his thighs. They both had jars of honey, spooning it out like custard.
They hadn’t had sex. Not yet. Vic had just gotten her naked and gotten out the honey. But there was something about this that was way more intimate than just hitting the door and then hitting the bed.
“I heard you went head-to-head with Dee-Ann today.”
Livy licked her spoon and thought on that. “Oh . . . yeah. That was today.”
“You know, there aren’t a lot of people who forget when they have to deal with Dee-Ann Smith.”
“Well, when I was a kid, my dad brought a pit bull home for protection. He had eyes like hers, so every time I see her, I think, ‘Oh Scruffy. I miss you so.’ Then I start thinking about Scruffy and the good times we used to have until he was hit by that truck, and I eventually completely forget about Dee-Ann and whatever her issue is that particular day.”
Vic laughed and Livy stretched her legs out so she could press them against Vic’s chest.
That was when his laughter faded away and his gaze locked on her.
Vic dipped his spoon into the jar he held. Leaning forward, he poured the honey on her thigh. He popped the spoon back into the jar and placed it on the table behind Livy.
Bracing his arms on either side of her, Vic moved down and licked the inside of her thigh.
Vic’s rough tongue against her skin had Livy groaning. She set her jar of honey down on the table so she could bury her hand in his hair. Vic growled in response, his tongue moving up higher until he licked her pussy.
Livy planted her foot on the table and spread her thighs wider. She moved Vic closer by tugging on his hair. His arms wrapped around her, and he gripped her ass with his big hands, yanking her in tight.
His face was buried between her thighs and his tongue deep inside her. Her toes curled and her body shook with every sweep of that tongue. And Livy’s groans became louder until she was screaming and coming all over the man’s face.
No one had ever gotten her off so fast before, but Vic’s brutal tongue worked for her in ways some typical shifters’ simply couldn’t. And forget the full-human males. They were useless.
Vic finished licking the honey off her thigh before he lifted his head and smiled at her.
“Stop looking so proud of yourself,” she snapped at him through her panting, “and get up here and fuck me.”
Vic loved it when Livy snarled at him like that. He liked that he could make her lose control. She made him crazy all the time . . . why should he suffer alone?
Digging into Livy’s backpack, Vic pulled out the condoms he now kept in there. He rolled one down his cock and was reaching for Livy when she landed in his lap.
Vic gasped at the feel of Livy’s tight ass hitting his hard cock. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
“You took too long,” she teased when she pulled away.
“If I recall your words correctly, ‘Nothing gets in here without a condom.’ ”
“You could have put that thing on in half the time it took you.”
“It took me five seconds!”
She nipped his jaw. “Stop arguing with me and get to work.”
“No.” Vic stood, bringing Livy with him. He walked out of the kitchen, through the dining room, and into the living room. He stretched out on the couch, with Livy on top of him.
“You get to work.” Vic put his hands behind his head. “And make it good, baby.”
“Typical lazy feline . . . and bear,” she muttered as she placed her knees on either side of his hips. “Leaving it to the honey badger to do all the work.”
“That’s because felines and bears are smarter than everybody.”
Livy smirked at him, just before she dropped down hard on his cock, the wet, tight heat of her pussy trapping him as surely as any cage or handcuffs. Actually, in the past, he’d gotten himself out of a cage and several pairs of handcuffs. But he didn’t think he’d ever get out of this. Even worse . . . he didn’t want to. Nothing that felt this good should be something anyone tried to get away from.
With her hands pressed against his chest and her gaze on his face, Livy began to rock her hips.
Unable to keep his hands off her, Vic pulled them out from behind his head and gripped Livy’s thighs.
“Tighter,” she gasped out.
“What?”
“You can hold me tighter.” She licked her lips. “I don’t break, Vic. I can’t break.”
Vic did tighten his grip and when he did, Livy’s pussy jerked in response. Something that his cock loved more than . . . anything. Ever.
Livy fucked him harder then. Harder. Faster. Until they were both sweating and straining against each other. Vic couldn’t even think straight. He had no idea what he was doing or where the hell he was, which was when he lost complete and utter control.
They both heard the snap but Livy felt it, too, her body jerking forward before abruptly stopping.
Horrified, Vic watched as she turned her head and looked behind her.
That’s when she asked, “You slapped my ass with your tail?”
“It . . . it was an accident,” he said, panicking.
“Your tail?” She gawked down at him. “You have a tail when you’re human?”
“When I want to. Or when I lack some self-control. But it’s not like I have to tuck it into my jeans every morning or anything.” Vic shrugged helplessly. “It’s basically a hybrid side effect.”
“It doesn’t look so dangerously thick when you’re in your animal form.”
Vic closed his eyes. He’d lost her, hadn’t he? Fangs and claws coming and going while human were typical among shifters. It was what they knew. What they were used to and comfortably accepted.
But a tail when human? No female wanted to put up with anything that weird. Especially a tail that sort of had a mind of its own.
“Okay.” Vic opened his eyes to see Livy raising a finger. “One rule, Barinov: that thing goes in my ass . . . and I tear your balls right off. We understand each other?”
Shocked, Vic could only nod.
“Good.” She grinned and added, “And can I just say . . . how cool is it that you have a prehensile tail? My tail is just this thing that does nothing but knock off flies and let other animals know when I’m about to go off. And it’s only there when I’m badger. But you . . .” She stopped, blinked. “Awww, it’s petting my back.”