His hand lifted to touch his nose. “Ugly?”
“And now you bitch at me?” she continued, in full fury. “I should-”
Her words were cut off as a loud chirp sliced through the air.
“Don’t move,” Tucker commanded, pulling a phone from his pocket and pressing it to his ear as he stepped out of the cabin.
Nicole glanced toward the kitchen window, trying to judge if she could sneak out without him seeing. Unfortunately, she’d barely managed to take more than a couple of steps to the center of the room before Tucker was stepping back into the cabin and locking the door behind him.
Still holding the phone in his hand, he moved to stand directly in front of her.
Nicole’s mouth went dry.
In the moonlight, he was stunning. Now, he was…
Spectacular.
The white-gold hair that looked as soft as satin. The sculpted features. The midnight dark eyes.
A dangerous thrill inched down her spine.
Thankfully unaware of her sizzling arousal, the bear folded his arms across his chest and glared down at her pale face.
“Start talking.”
She met him glare for glare. “Am I your prisoner?”
“Yes.”
Well, hell.
“When my Alpha discovers what you’ve done…” Her words trailed away as he held out the phone.
“You want to call and tell him?” His smile was one of pure challenge. “Go ahead.”
For a crazed minute, she actually considered calling Holden and telling him exactly where she was and how the Unseen had treated her, then she came to her senses. Her Alpha would probably tell Tucker to lock her up and throw away the key.
She shrugged a shoulder. “Why are you doing this?”
He tossed the phone on a nearby chair, his eyes smoldering with an emotion she couldn’t read.
Anger? Frustration?
“I’m asking the questions,” he snarled.
She jerked at his tone, her hands clenching at her sides. “You know what?” She pointed a finger in his face. “Fuck you.”
“Okay.” Without warning, he reached out to grab her shoulders and yanked her against his hard body. “We can do that.”
Her mouth parted in shock, but before she could protest, he was leaning down to seal her lips in a kiss that jolted her to the tips of her toes.
****
On some level, Tucker knew he was acting badly. He hadn’t intended to virtually kidnap the woman. Or haul her into his arms so he could at last taste the sharp sweetness of her lips.
But he couldn’t stop himself. When he’d come through the trees to see her crouched within sight of the searching guards, something had exploded inside of him.
She’d scared the hell out of him, and he’d simply reacted.
Okay, maybe he’d done more than react. He’d gone a little ape-shit crazy.
But now that he actually had her warm, fragile body pressed against him, and her lips were parting in silent invitation, he was no longer thinking about the terrifying risk she’d taken. Or the reason he’d brought her to his private lair.
All he could do was drown in the tidal wave of intoxicating pleasure that was crashing through him.
From the second he’d caught sight of this female, he’d been consumed with a relentless hunger. As if some need he hadn’t known he possessed was suddenly sparked to life. And now that he’d actually tasted her…
Nothing was ever going to be the same again.
With a restless movement, he unzipped his hoodie and tossed it aside. He wanted to feel her against his skin. Hell, he wanted to rub against her until she was saturated in his male musk.
Perhaps even more alarming, his bear wanted to maul her. In the best possible way.
Wrapping his arms around her slender waist, he pressed her against his body, a shudder shaking through him as their combined heat threatened to combust into a raging inferno.
Perhaps as staggered as he was by the sheer force of their attraction, Nicole tilted back her head, her pale blue eyes dazed with desire.
“What are you doing?”
“We can talk, or I can get naked,” he growled. “Your choice.”
Her hands lifted to press against his chest. “Are you threatening me with sex?”
“We both know it’s not a threat.” Lowering his head, he pressed an open-mouthed kiss to the base of her throat. Her pulse thundered beneath his lips, and he allowed his fangs to lengthen to press against her tender flesh. Instantly, the air was scented with the tantalizing musk of her wolf. “I can smell your arousal,” he murmured, his voice thick with passion.
She shivered, her tongue reaching out to touch her lips that were swollen from his kisses.
“This is crazy.”
His hands rubbed up and down her back, savoring the satiny softness of her skin. At the same time, he nibbled a path of kisses along the top of her shoulder. His bear rumbled in approval, deciding this female was the one he’d been waiting to discover.
Christ.
“How can you taste so sweet when you’re such a pain in the ass?” He spoke his confusion out loud.
A low whine was wrenched from her throat as she arched her neck, silently pleading for more.
Tucker didn’t hesitate. If she wanted more, then by God, he was going to give her more.
Cupping her ass in his big hands, he hoisted her against the potent length of his arousal, his mouth moving over the upper curve of her breast before sucking her nipple between his lips.
Her claws dug into the flesh of his chest, her eyes squeezing shut in blatant pleasure.
Tucker gave a low rumble of satisfaction, his body clenching with the mounting need to toss this woman over his shoulder and head into his bedroom. Or maybe I’ll take her here first, his addled brain decided, easily visualizing her across the kitchen table while he stood between her legs.
Before he could put his thoughts into action, however, Nicole was abruptly jerking away, panic darkening her eyes.
“Wait,” she rasped, a flush staining her cheeks. “I’ll tell you.”
Tucker moved forward, wrapping her in his arms again. “I changed my mind,” he informed her, his hand moving to tug away the scrunchie thing that was holding her hair in a ponytail. Instantly, her locks fell to her shoulders in a mass of rich, tawny curls. Beautiful. Lowering his head, he buried his face in the glorious mass. “I don’t want to talk.”
He could feel her heart give a leap of excitement. “Tucker.”
“Nicole.”
For a timeless moment, they remained locked in the intimate embrace, both absorbing the new, unnervingly powerful bonds forming between them. Then, he could sense another wave of panic shaking through Nicole.
“I’m looking for the man who killed my son,” she abruptly announced.
“Shit.” Tucker froze. Her words were like a bucket of icy water, instantly destroying his desire.
Releasing his hold on her, Tucker silently moved through the cabin, entering his bedroom to collect a sweatshirt before returning to gently pull it over Nicole’s head. Even when she’d threaded her arms into the sleeves, it fell below her knees. But it would do.
Then, steering her toward the sofa, he pressed her onto the cushions and headed into the kitchen to grab a chilled bottle of wine and two glasses.
By the time he’d filled the glasses and settled on the sofa next to Nicole, he’d managed to regain control of his shaken nerves.
“Tell me what happened,” he urged, pressing one of the glasses into Nicole’s hand.
Absently she took a sip, her fingers unsteady and her expression brittle.
“Seven years ago, my son, Bowe, was playing near the fence of our compound.” Her voice was a deliberate monotone. As if the words were so big and painful she had to strip them of all emotion. “We’d had an early snowstorm, and I was helping to clear a path to our greenhouses.”
A dark sense of dread clenched his stomach. “How old was
he?”
“Almost five.” She hunched her shoulders, looking ridiculously young in the oversized sweatshirt with her hair tumbled around her tiny face. Not nearly old enough to have buried a child. “I was distracted and didn’t pay attention when Bowe took off his collar. He was always scratching at it and complaining that it bothered him, but he’d never been able to undo the latch.”
His gaze lowered to the collar that circled her neck. He’d done his best to ignore the visible sign that she was treated as an animal by the SAU. Just the sight of it tightened something in his chest that made his bear want to go on a rampage.
“You couldn’t have known,” he said softly.
She flinched, a tear rolling down her cheek. “I should have paid more attention.”
He didn’t bother to say she shouldn’t beat herself up. She was clearly still working through her guilt.
Instead, he grimaced. “You don’t have to say any more, Nicole.”
“No.” She took a large gulp of her wine. “I want to finish so you’ll stop interfering,” she said in fierce tones.
He studied her tense profile, wise enough not to share the fact that her confession had made him even more determined to stop her from doing anything crazy.
“Go ahead,” he murmured.
“When I turned around, he was already tossing the collar on the ground. A second later, there was the sound of a gun firing and…” Her words faltered, her entire body trembling with pain.
His breath hissed between his teeth. God. What this woman had endured.
It was unbearable.
“Nicole, please don’t.”
“And he was falling to the ground,” she grimly continued.
Grabbing her glass, he set it aside along with his own before gently tugging her into his arms.
“I’m sorry, Nicole.”
Her head fell against his chest as if she couldn’t hold it up any longer.
“There was so much blood.” She trembled, her hands clenching and unclenching in an effort to contain the horror. “It just kept spreading across the snow, no matter what I did to try and stop it.”
He pressed her closer, hoping to use the heat of his body to ease her knotted muscles.
“The shooter was a part of the SAU?” he demanded.
“Yes.” She nodded, and Tucker caught the scent of her wolf’s fury. It wasn’t the sharp tang of a recent injury, but a seasoned, festering wound that no doubt shadowed her entire life. “There were three guards on gate duty. Each of them blamed the other, so no one actually explained why they’d murdered a helpless child.”
His jaw clenched. He knew the SAU were ruthless bastards who would do anything to maintain their control over the shifters, but to murder a baby…someone had to pay.
“The government didn’t do anything?”
“They claimed that Bowe had taken off his collar, so technically, the guards had every right to shoot him.”
“Bastards,” he snarled.
Lifting her head, she arched back to meet his smoldering gaze. “That’s why you have to let me go.”
He ignored her plea, and instead asked the question that still nagged at him.
“What do you want at the headquarters?”
She bit back a curse. “I managed to track down two of the guards.”
His blood ran cold. Shit. Had she been sneaking out of her compound every night to play vigilante for the past seven years?
“Should I ask what happened to them?” he asked.
Her eyes went wolf, revealing the lethal predator beneath her air of fragile femininity.
“No.”
Tucker battled back the male instinct that was telling him to cuff this female to his bed for her own protection.
“And the third?” he pressed.
Her lips flattened. “Both of the other guards claimed he was the one who pulled the trigger, but he disappeared after the shooting.”
She didn’t have to spell it out; he knew that she’d tortured the guards for answers before killing them.
“You believe them?”
“Yes.”
Tucker wasn’t so sure. Torture was always an unreliable way to get information. Still, now wasn’t the time to debate the issue.
“And you assume that he’s hiding at the headquarters?”
“If he isn’t there, then at least there will be the files that they keep on their employees. I can get his name, and maybe an address.” She jutted her chin at a stubborn angle. “That’s all I want.”
He frowned. It wasn’t a bad plan, but it all depended on her being able to shuffle through hundreds—maybe even thousands—of files to find one employee.
“How will you recognize that it’s him?”
“I’ll never forget his face,” she growled. “Now. Are you going to let me finish what I came here to do?”
He held her gaze, well aware that he was about to cause his she-wolf even more pain.
“No.”
Chapter 3
Sinclair paced the cramped hotel room, trying to ignore the disgusting green carpet that hadn’t seen a vacuum for months, and the double bed that was covered by a mustard yellow blanket.
He always chose a random spot to meet with Mira, changing the location each time to make sure no one could predict where they would be. Unfortunately, that meant he hadn’t had a chance to make sure the place wasn’t a dump.
It shouldn’t matter. This wasn’t a date. And he sure the hell wasn’t trying to impress the woman.
After all, Tucker had been right when he accused Sinclair of using the young woman’s vulnerable emotions to manipulate her into helping them. Sinclair had spent years trying to find a way to collect proof that the humans had used shifter blood to create the vaccine that helped to contain the Verona Virus. Then, six months ago, his contact in the CDC had given him the name Mira Reese.
Deliberately, he’d sought her out, pretending to be a human so he could not only judge for himself whether or not she had the skills they needed, but if she could be convinced to help them. For weeks, he’d flirted and seduced Mira until she’d been ripe for the plucking.
But as he glanced around the cramped room, he discovered an unexpected pang of regret that he hadn’t chosen someplace nicer. He didn’t like the thought of Mira being exposed to the sleazy vibe that clung to the hotel like a film of slime.
And even worse, was his nagging concern that she was ten minutes late.
Mira was never late.
Ever.
Scowling at his strange mood, Sinclair forced himself to remain standing in the center of the room when the door was at last pushed open and Mira stepped inside. What he wanted to do was charge forward and…
And what?
Grab her by the shoulders and shake her for not calling to tell him that she was going to be late? Or wrap her in his arms so he could reassure himself that she wasn’t hurt?
Neither was acceptable.
Instead, he folded his arms across his chest and watched as she placed her large purse on the bed so she could shrug out of her coat.
“Sorry I’m late,” she muttered, pushing back the dark, corkscrew curls that were already escaping the tight braid that fell down her back. She had a pale, heart-shaped face and hazel eyes that were unremarkable at first glance, but Sinclair had slowly developed a fascination for the rapid-fire emotions that flickered over her features. He was closed off and aloof. Mira was open and dangerously vulnerable. “I circled around a few times to make sure I wasn’t being followed.”
The concern he’d been trying to dismiss exploded into full-fledged alarm.
“Why would you think you were being followed?” With three long steps, he was at the window, peering around the edge of the curtain at the dark parking lot. The hotel was miles away from the nearest town, which meant it was easy to track any approaching cars. “Did you see someone?”
“No.” She tried to smile even as her arms wrapped around her waist in an unconsciously protective motion. “
I’m just feeling jumpy.”
This time, Sinclair couldn’t resist his instinctive need to move to the young woman and gently smooth his hands over her shoulders and down her rigid arms.
“Mira.” His brows snapped together as he felt her tiny shivers. Christ. She was terrified. “Take a breath.”
“Sorry.”
He pressed a finger to her lips, halting her ridiculous apology.
“Relax and tell me what has you so upset,” he commanded.
She hesitated, almost as if she were thinking about denying her obvious unease. Then no doubt seeing the grim determination etched on his face, she heaved a small sigh.
“It isn’t one thing, but a bunch of little stuff,” she grudgingly admitted.
“Like what?”
She shrugged. “Monday, I thought I’d lost my phone, but when I searched for it, I found it in the seat of my car. I assumed it must have fallen out of my purse, but I always keep it in a side pocket that zips.”
Sinclair had to consciously prevent himself from tightening his grip on her shoulders. He rarely touched human females, so he constantly feared that he might bruise Mira’s pale skin.
“What else?” he prompted.
She wrinkled her nose. “Wednesday at work, I noticed that someone had tried to access my private information.”
Sinclair bit back a curse. It was one thing for Mira to misplace her phone. It was another to have someone snooping on her computer.
Suddenly, he wished to hell he’d never asked Mira to help.
It’d been one thing to charm a sweet, innocent female into using her talent with computers, combined with her access to the CDC’s private files to search for the original research on the vaccination. The information that would prove the shifters were the saviors of the human race instead of the monsters responsible for the virus. What was more important than freeing his people from the brutality of the SAU?
But now that he actually knew Mira, even liked her, he was acutely aware of the danger he’d placed her in.
“How do you know?” he demanded.
“We all have sensitive projects that we’re supposed to keep protected with passwords,” she said. “I’ve added extra layers of security to my computer. I can tell if anyone has used my computer when I’m away from my desk. I also keep track each time my name and password is used to log onto the CDC. If someone pretends to be me, it leaves a digital trail.”