“Yeah, I’m really scary.” She rolled her eyes at the thought, her expression betraying her belief that nothing could be further from the truth.
“You could be some kind of assassin. One of those seductresses the Genetics Council sends out to lure innocent male Breeds back to the labs,” he pointed out.
She tipped her head to the side and watched his shadow in interest now.
“No.” She shook her head. “Not a seductress.”
He had her complete attention. It was focused entirely on him and the subtle scent of feminine attraction mixed with something deeper, something stronger that he knew he should recognize but couldn’t.
“Hmm, assassin then?” He let her see a grin, a teasing curve of his lips as he shifted just enough to allow the moonlight to reveal it while keeping the rest of his face hidden. “Are you here to kill me? I’m just a helpless Breed slipping away for a few hours before I have to save the world again.”
That was what Rule Breaker had muttered that morning as he strode through the predawn light to join the team heading into the desert for patroclass="underline" Out to save the fucking world again. Give me a break.
“I’m definitely no assassin,” she promised him, that shy little smile teasing him again. “I’m just a secretary that enjoys the night. A chance meeting in the dark, never to be repeated.”
“Never?” The thought of that had forced the animal to step back another pace and allow one more inch of sanity to curl about its neck in restraint. “Don’t tell me that, you may break my heart.”
“I’m no heartbreaker either,” she sighed, stepping back. “I better go.”
“Promise you’ll come back.” Go? She was leaving him alone? Again?
The animal strained against the bonds that were far too weak to hold it if it became insistent.
She paused. “I shouldn’t come back.”
But she wanted to. He could feel it. Taste it on the air around them.
“I’ll be here tomorrow,” he promised. “Just for a few minutes. I promise. Just to talk a minute. I won’t keep you long.”
He should be pouncing on her. He should be tasting her terror and her blood as she stared into his eyes and realized she was about to pay for her crimes. Pay for the hell she’d sent him to.
She looked out at the darkened landscape for long moments before giving a resigned little sigh.
“What the hell,” she finally breathed out wearily. “It beats the nightmares.”
She turned and moved away from him, a slight shadow amid the darkness, blending with it for a moment before stepping into the moonlight once again and returning to the safety of the house and the protection of the Breeds she’d slipped away from.
It beat the nightmares.
She had no idea, he realized. Just as the other hadn’t known the past that endangered her, neither did this one.
The only thing left of the person she had been was that slight scent of shy, hungry need. Not a sexual need, at least, not then, all those years ago. But a need for warmth, for caring.
Everything else had changed, and he suddenly wanted to know why.
Why was the girl she had been so overshadowed that even her scent had been altered in ways?
And what was that fucking taste—
It hit him then.
Just enough rational thought had filtered through the fury and insanity to drag the animal back long enough for him to make sense of a lifetime of hell.
Her blood had saved his life, but it had turned him into an enraged animal.
When the soldiers had caught him again, that added quality in his blood had spurred them into experiments so horrendous it had broken what little sanity he’d still possessed.
It had been the blood that had transfused him.
The scent of what the Breeds called mating heat, the taste of it in his mouth, the small glands swelling beneath his tongue each time he came near her.
This was why finding her had driven him that last short step into insanity.
She was his mate and he had finally found her.
That didn’t mean she didn’t have to pay for running from him.
It didn’t mean Judd wouldn’t pay for helping her.
It didn’t mean he was sane by any stretch of the imagination.
But with her, he might have a shot at finding his sanity.
At least enough of it to claim what was his.
He’s stitched up, Graeme,” the medic announced as he left the cell, the guards with him securing the locks as Graeme reached out and secured the electronic safeguards as well.
“Thanks, Doc.” Graeme cleared his throat as he pushed back the memories. “I’ll try to keep him nice and quiet while his scratches heal.”
The medic laughed as he and the guards left the cells and left Graeme to his thoughts.
His fantasies.
NINE
Two weeks later
Devil Black, shame is thy middle name,” Kate laughed in merriment as she stalked into the bedroom, closing the door loudly behind her before locking it securely and facing the Breed that had stolen her heart with merciless intent. Mating heat may have begun it, but his heart had completed it.
“Council didn’t give us middle names, darlin’,” he reminded her as he lounged back on their bed, the hard, corded strength of his naked body displayed to her hungry gaze. “They concentrated their talents on a few more important aspects instead.”
Broad, lean, his hand lowered, long fingers circling the engorged width of his cock.
Ah yes, she had to admit, some enterprising scientist had definitely shown a bit of imagination in programming the DNA of certain aspects of the Wolf Breed’s male form.
Tall, lean and powerful, savagely hewn features emphasized by the unusual amber-striated black eyes and thick lashes.
She couldn’t look at him and not want him.
He was the embodiment of her teenage fantasy, and now he was the lover who never failed to send her flying into ecstasy.
Toeing her sandals slowly from her feet, her fingers flipped the button holding her skirt at her hips. Chiffon and silk slid down her thighs, over her legs to pool carelessly at her feet as she stepped over it.
As a growl rumbled in his chest, Kate moved slowly closer, wearing only white silk bikini panties and the snug black cami covering her breasts.
Braless, she could feel the sensitive, hard tips of her nipples rasping against the fabric, creating a heated ache impossible to ignore for long.
Between her thighs her clit swelled and pulsed in demand, the slick essence of feminine need coating the bare folds of her pussy and dampening her panties as she drew closer to him.
The amber flared in his gaze brighter, hotter as her hand lifted, fingers stroking against the flesh bared between the elastic band of her panties and the hem of the top where it ended just below her navel.