His head lowered until his lips were caressing her ear. “If the scent of summer heat was addictive, I’d be worshipping at your pussy for life.”
She jerked away from him, breaking from his hold with an ease that assured her he had simply let her go.
Staring up at him, Liza told herself she was certainly insulted at the crude language, though she couldn’t make such an asinine statement pass her lips.
“I refuse to become a summer fuck for you,” she informed him, wondering exactly how much trouble that particular falsehood would get her into if she ever had to face her sins. “So you may as well leave now and stop harassing me. I assure you, I’m not enjoying it.”
He chuckled at the so-obvious lie. And she knew he could sense it as easily as he could sense the building arousal coursing through her body.
“You’re as beautiful lying as you are telling the truth,” he told her, amused. “But, in this case, I could definitely satisfy the truth if you were of a mind to face it.”
Liza tugged at the hem of her blouse before crossing her arms beneath her breasts and attempting to glare at him.
“This is not a complication that I need in my life,” she finally told him as she tried to inject some semblance of determination into her tone. “You are not a complication I need in my life.”
“Thankfully, life enjoys throwing us a few curveballs then,” he stated, a hint of laughter urging her to meet his gaze once again. “Because I think I’m definitely enjoying the complication I know you’re going to be. Come on, Liza, give me a try. You might enjoy me. It’s just a ride on the back of my motorcycle. Nothing more.”
At least he hadn’t come right out and asked her to ride him.
She didn’t dare allow herself to consider that. She was too weak in the face of his flirting, in the certainty that he would rock her little world.
There was nothing more certain to undermine her determination than allowing herself to admit any weakness at all to him. He was a Breed, and she was certain all that Breed-driven testosterone and dominance would be sure to test her will.
From what she’d seen between her friend Isabelle and her new lover, Malachi, Breeds enjoyed nothing better than pushing the women they called their “mates” into fits of anger or arousal.
As though it were some prerogative they had invented themselves.
“I don’t need this particular curveball either,” she assured him as she moved to leave the kitchen.
Instead, she found her arm gripped by his big hand as she was swung around and once again pressed against the cabinet.
Held there, captured between his hard body and the wood cabinet behind her, there was really no true escape.
No escape from him, or from the arousal burning through her vagina and clenching her womb.
“This curveball is going to be unavoidable,” he assured her as she stared up at him, feeling the blood rushing to her nipples, her clitoris, and then surging in excitement back to her overworked heart.
“Few things are unavoidable, Stygian,” she assured him, thought it was all she could do to keep her tone even and confident.
The even part, she was a little weak on. Come to think of it, she might have been a little lax in the confidence department as well. She was getting really good at the resigned part, though.
Resigned to the fact that the need was growing.
Resigned to the fact that there was no avoiding it.
Hell, resigned to the fact that soon, very soon, she would be begging him to fuck her.
Watching, her heart racing, her breathing uneven, Liza parted her lips as his head lowered, his lips almost touching hers, so close she swore she could feel the warmth of them caressing her softer curves.
“I don’t want your kiss until I’m certain the sheer anticipation of it will make me crazy.”
“Breeds are already crazy,” she promised him, her voice weak enough now that she was mentally cursing herself for it. “So don’t try to blame that one on me. And you can just keep anticipating, because I’m rather inclined to keep my kisses to myself.”
Yet she was tilting her head to the side to give him greater access to the lobe of her ear as she felt his lips brush against it.
“You don’t know what you’re tempting.” The rough, primal sound of his voice had her heart skipping a beat before racing double time.
“Let me go and it won’t be a problem,” she promised him, even though she knew from the bottom of her soul that the last thing she wanted was for him to release her.
The last thing she should do was remain there in his arms—not when she wanted his touch like she had wanted nothing in her life.
And that thought, so shocking, so terrifying, had her forcing her hands to push at him rather than simply absorbing the heat through his shirt, into her flesh.
“Letting you go isn’t so easy, Liza.” His lips moved lower, brushing against her neck, intensifying that arc of sizzling sensation from her neck straight to her nipples, then to her clit.
Liza forced herself to drag in a deep breath, only to find her senses infused with the scent of midnight and forests. And there wasn’t a single damned forest anywhere close. Which meant it was the scent of the Breed holding her that was tempting her with the lush, sensual scent.
“Make it easy.” Forcing the words to her lips was harder than she had ever imagined it would be. “Let me go, Stygian, because this isn’t what I want.”
He stiffened against her.
Oh God, if he didn’t listen to her soon, she was going to be begging him to kiss her, to touch her, to fuck her right there against the kitchen cabinet where her friends could walk in at any moment.
“Liza, there’s a strange cycle in the driveway. Do you think it’s—Oh—” Chelsea’s voice dwindled to nothing as Liza jumped in guilt and tried, once again unsuccessfully, to push Stygian’s broad form away from her.
Her head turned, catching her friend’s shocked expression as she stood frozen in the patio doorway. It was as though she was unable to tear her gaze from the sight of Liza held so close to Stygian’s much larger body.
“Close your mouth, Chelsea,” Liza ordered irritably as she pushed at Stygian again. “He’ll let me go or I’m going to see how much damage I can do when I start driving my knee into certain parts of his body.” She shot him a decidedly threatening look with a tight smile as she tensed her knee in preparation.
His lashes lowered again, that wicked “fuck you” look spearing straight to her core and clenching her womb in an exquisite need that nearly stole her breath.
She was going to leave with him. Liza knew she was.
She was simply too weak, and she wanted to be close to him, wanted to tempt her own destruction too desperately.
Emotional suicide.
That was what it was, emotional suicide, and she was helpless against the voice whispering inside herself to just go for it. To take it. To tempt fate. To tempt destruction.
To tempt a Breed.
“I’m going out for the morning, Chel,” she told her friend as her gaze locked with Stygian’s once again. “I’ll have my phone on me if you need me.”
If Cullen called and plans changed or if Ashley, Emma, Chimera and Shiloh decided to arrive earlier than normal.
But would either of those things really matter?
Because it was the job of the Navajo Breed Underground Network to find her first, and to offer her asylum.
That was her job, and if this Breed had information about how to find the two women and the Bengal Breed they were searching for, then perhaps it would help her to find them first.
“You’re going with him?” Wide-eyed and a little too amused to suit her, Chelsea asked the question with artful innocence. “On the back of a motorcycle?”
Yeah, Liza could clearly understand her friend’s confusion. Liza had always refused to ride in even a convertible because of the accident she’d been in as a teenager.
She’d almost been a wild child, she and Cl
aire both. The first time they had slipped out and taken Joe Martinez’s car for a joy ride had been their last, though. Being a wild child was stopped short when Claire lost control of the car and went careening over a desert cliff, nearly killing both of them.
A motorcycle had always been out of the question.
Until Stygian.
“I’ll change clothes.” Giving him one last look, Liza turned and left the room, wondering rather desperately if she had somehow lost her mind.
Stygian watched her go, a smile wanting to tug at his lips as Chelsea eyed him warily.
He could sense the questions she wanted to ask, and he sensed her hesitation.
“Liza doesn’t ride motorcycles.” Propping her hand on her hip, she frowned up at him.
“It appears she’s in an adventurous mood today then.” He could sense that about her, her need to reach out and do more, to live dangerously.
There was a courage inside her that she didn’t allow the world to see. The only ones who saw it were the team she worked with in the Navajo Underground.
He knew of the Underground. Jonas knew of the Underground.
The organization had, and on occasion still did, rescue Breeds from high-level Genetics Council labs and advanced security experimental facilities for more than a century now.
That was about the extent of the information they had. Despite the Breeds the Bureau had in place to investigate the organization and identify its members, so far the only suspected member was Liza. And only because it had been painfully obvious that she was doing more than taking a nice little run when John Malcolm had moved in on her.
“She’s not in an adventurous mood,” Chelsea shrugged as she leaned against the door frame. “You’re bewitching her, just like Malachi Morgan did with my sister. Breeds should be shot for stealing a woman’s will and common sense as you do.”
That was pretty much why the Alphas refused to verify the tabloid rumors of mating heat.
That was exactly how it would be seen—as a form of rape or mesmerism.
“And does your sister believe she’s been bewitched?” Arching his brow, he kept his tone tinged with amusement.
“Her sister believes in happily-ever-after and the man she’s in love with.” It was Liza who answered his question as she stepped from her bedroom.
She was dressed in jeans that cupped and loved her delectable ass while giving her a leggy, exotic look. The white cotton top was sleeveless, tiny straps holding it in place, and he was betting the bra she wore beneath was strapless.
She was wearing one, as much as he hated the thought of it. He could see just the faintest outline of it beneath the material of her blouse.
“Then there you go,” he commented to the answer she gave to the question he had asked Chelsea. “All’s well, because I know for a fact Malachi is dedicated to Isabelle.”
“And isn’t that so unusual as to be unbelievable.” Chelsea snorted. “Breeds are the ultimate bad boys, and we all know the ultimate bad boys really can’t be tamed.”
Arching his brow, Stygian turned back to Liza. “Are you ready?”
“Where exactly are you taking her?” Chelsea demanded then. “That way, I know where to send the search party to find her dead body when she doesn’t return home.”
Scratching at the side of his jaw, he momentarily debated assuring her that Liza was in zero danger. Chelsea though, was in definite danger of being gagged.
“Come on, Chelsea,” Liza chastised her gently. “I don’t think Mr. Black’s going to allow anything to happen to me.” Smiling back at him, he almost winced at the look in her eyes. “After all, his boss is far too interested in all that lovely information he refuses to accept that I don’t have.”
Yep, he knew it was coming, he just wasn’t certain which form the smart-ass remark would be in.
Now he knew.
“Exactly.” Shooting Liza, then Chelsea, a tight smile, he agreed with her mockingly. “If it wasn’t for that, I’d have nothing but murderous intentions.”
His intentions might not be pure, but the last thing she had to worry about was coming to harm in his bed.
“I’d like to know where we’re going, though,” Liza informed him as she shoved a few bills and her ID in the back pocket of her jeans.
He could have sworn they were snug enough that even a breath of air wouldn’t have fit.
“I thought we’d take a ride out by the lake,” he told her. “I go out there every few days to feed the ducks.” That, and to investigate the area several miles to the west where Liza and Claire had gone over a barren cliff and nearly died in the resulting accident.
Even twelve years later, Stygian had found evidence of the accident, but he’d also found evidence that something more had gone on during that time.
A sweat lodge had been set up not far from the wreck in the canyon below, though great effort had gone into ensuring all evidence of it was wiped away.
Certain things couldn’t be wiped away, though.
The large rocks used in the fire pit had been scattered about the canyon, but even more than a decade later the scars and discoloration of certain herbs used in ritual sweats held to the rock.
Those particular herbs and medicinal roots were such an odd combination, their scent so powerful, even after such time had passed, it had sent a chill racing down Stygian’s spine. Confused by it, he’d had Braden bring his empath Megan to the canyon, to help sort it out. The moment she’d picked up the first stone she’d dropped it as though it still held the heat of the fire and refused to advance any farther into the canyon.
“Fine then, you know where we’ll be,” Liza stated as she turned back to Chelsea.
“Yeah, thankfully, the lake isn’t really that hard to drag. When old man Dunkirk fell out of his boat and drowned himself last summer, they even found that bag of bones secured to the bottom. Remember that?” she asked Liza.
And Liza did remember it. The discovery of that bag of bones had literally preceded the nightmares and odd flashes of someone else’s memories.
A year’s worth of tortured dreams, of waking, screaming, certain she was dying in the flames of the crash, only to have the dream twist, to morph into something far more sinister. It hadn’t been a crash she was burning within. She had been burning from the inside out, restrained to a metal table, screaming for mercy—
“If you’re ready, we can leave then,” he offered, those blue-black eyes seeming to see straight into her soul as he met her gaze.
The urge to wipe her palms along the sides of her jeans was nearly overwhelming.
“Be careful, for God’s sake,” Chelsea called out as Liza stepped from the house. “The last thing I need to do, Liza, is watch you die again.”
Liza flinched, the reaction nearly strong enough to steal her breath at the memory.
The overwhelming darkness, the sound of voices, singing—or was it chanting?—and then the feeling of her soul being ripped from the security of her body.
“Liza.” Stygian was there, one hand gripping her arm, the other going around her waist as she felt her knees threatening to buckle.
Concern filled his voice as she realized she was gripping the door frame desperately, dragging in hard breaths, her chest tightening in something akin to panic.
“I’m fine.” Giving her head a hard shake, she forced herself to ignore the fact that he was the only reason she was still on her feet, despite her hold on the heavy wood encasing the door.
Releasing it, she took each step with deliberate caution, forcing herself to move to the cycle.
“Are you sure?” Dark, dangerous, his expression appeared more savage than ever before, the planes and angles tightened into sharp relief.
“Bad memories.” Yet she still couldn’t seem to drag in enough oxygen. “Sorry.”
“What was she talking about?” The growl in his voice should have been more frightening than sensual.
Yet, sensual was exactly the reaction it caused.
??
?She meant I died for a few minutes,” she admitted. “Claire and I were in a wreck when we were fifteen. The EMTs lost me several times before we reached the hospital.”
“Chelsea was in the wreck with you, too?” he asked as he led her to the Harley.
“No, she wasn’t with us,” she said, swallowing tightly. “She was with her father when he received word that we were in the bottom of the canyon. She arrived with him, from what I understand.”
Chelsea never seemed to remember much of it except the three times she swore she had felt a part of Liza fighting to die.
She allowed Stygian to hold on to her as he swung a powerful leg over the cycle’s seat before bracing herself on the foot rest and swinging on behind him.
She had never been on a motorcycle—had she?
“Helmet.” Lifting one of the two helmets from the handlebars, he handed it to her.
Fitting it over her head, she then sat silently as he secured the strap before strapping his own in place.
“We’re linked through com sets in the helmets.” His voice came through the padded helmet, roughened, a male rasp of concern and dangerous interest.
“Just ignore the screams of terror.” She tried to laugh off her racing heart as she placed her hands tentatively at his hard waist.
“Here.” Gripping her wrists, he pulled her forward.
Her breasts pressed against his back in less than a second, the heat of his body sinking through her clothes straight to her nipples and sensitizing them instantly.
“Hold on tight, sweetheart,” he growled through the link. “Losing you off the back of this bike wouldn’t be the highlight of my day.”
“It’s not exactly penciled into my bucket list either,” she assured him ruefully as the terror from minutes before began to ease away.
“We’re in agreement then.”
As his words trailed off, the beast of a machine turned over and began throbbing with leashed power between her thighs.
The heavy vibration was shockingly sensual.
With her arms wrapped tight around Stygian’s waist, her knees pressing against his thighs, Liza found herself growing more aroused by the second.
God, what he did to her.
Mating heat.
The gossip rags had listed the signs of it over and over again, and the overwhelming need, almost impossible to control, headed the list.
But number one was the kiss.
They all agreed, the kiss came first—somewhere.
To the lips, the neck—her heart beat heavier at the thought—the nipples or the clitoris.
The thought of his lips touching her in any of those areas was enough to cause her thighs to clench in an involuntary reaction.
A reaction she couldn’t control, and one she was beginning to fear was more her hunger, and even less some animalistic phenomenon impossible to control.
But she didn’t have to admit that to Stygian.
CHAPTER 6
Window Lake shimmered iridescent blue and green beneath the cloudless sky, its calming waters lapping gently at the bank beneath the pristine cottonwood and pinon trees that shaded the picnic shelter Stygian had pulled the Harley up to.
He quickly dismounted before placing his hand at the small of her back and urging her up the slight incline. The six-table shelter had been built to catch the soft breeze that rippled out over the lake.
The water was fed by a vast, previously unknown lake far beneath the ground. It had been tapped into when the oil company had received permission to drill in the area.
The oil had camouflaged the lake below, but once the drill had burrowed past the oil it was seeking and broke through the thin layer of bedrock separating them, all hell had broken loose and Window Lake had been born.
Stepping up to the tabletop, Liza sat down slowly, elbows braced on her knees, facing the water. Stygian sat likewise on the table in front of her, facing her, watching her intently.
“Now, why was it so imperative that I take this ride with you?” Tilting her head, she watched him curiously. “You’ve been determined to get me alone since the meeting with Jonas.”
“I can’t simply want to spend time with a beautiful woman?” he asked, his expression thoughtful now. “You’re intelligent, beautiful, interesting. What other reason could I have?”
“Information?” She was certain it was far more than simple male interest. Breeds never did anything for such a paltry reason.
“According to you, you have no information.”
No man should be able to pull off such mockery and confidence with such a simple statement.
Pursing her lips and staring back at him ruefully, she admitted she was biting off far more than she could chew with this man.
“So we’re just here to get to know each other better?” Crossing one leg over the other, she propped her elbow on her knee and rested her chin in the palm of her hand as she contemplated him.
“Is that so wrong?” Amusement filled the black and navy gaze.
“It depends on why you’re so interested.” And why she was so interested, when the thought of a lover had never been high on her list of priorities?
Men tended to believe their women had to be protected, controlled.