What I didn’t add was that dissociated strays were the ones enforcers were most often required to dispose of. They were the ones we couldn’t control. The ones who couldn’t control themselves.
But things could be different for Robyn. For all strays, if our resolution passed. They’d have the support system they needed to regain control over their bodies and their lives.
“I thought she was getting better. Starting to acclimate.” Abby picked at my comforter. “I didn’t know she was still killing, at first.”
“Wait, still killing? You knew about the first one?”
“Yeah, but you guys don’t. She’s actually killed four hunters, not three, but the first one was in self-defense. He followed us into the woods the first time I took her for a run. He was hunting us, but we didn’t know about the large-scale operation at the time. We just knew someone was shooting at us. Robin was in cat form, and she didn’t hesitate. She just…took him out.” Abby shrugged. “It was a totally justified kill. And I thought that was the end of it.”
“But she kept killing?” I prompted.
“I thought she was going for solitary runs, and I thought I should let her, because that looked like progress. Adjustment. I didn’t realize she was killing until she called me from Hargrove’s house last week. She shifted back to human form after she killed Joe Matthews—though I didn’t know his name—and she was totally freaking out. I went there to bring her home. To calm her down. But I swear that’s all I did. I didn’t even go into the basement that night. If I’d realized who her victims were, and that they were stalking us, I would have called you, Jace. I swear.” She shrugged miserably, and her curls bobbed with the motion. “Then you came to get me and told me about the murders, and I realized she might be the stray you were looking for.”
“So, you went along in her jacket to sabotage my investigation.”
She nodded. “I’m so sorry. I knew you’d find both her scent and mine at Hargrove’s house, and I didn’t know what else to do. Then we figured out who Hargrove was, and I realized why Robyn’s instinct had pointed her at those men in particular. Her human half was scared of them, but didn’t know what to do about it. Her cat half knew what to do, but not why she shouldn’t. I was hoping that since she’d only killed our enemies, everyone would be more concerned with the human hunters than with the stray who was doing our job for us.”
“It’s not that simple, Abby.” Nothing was ever that simple.
“So it seems.” She exhaled slowly. “How much does Robyn know?”
I shrugged. “We had to tell her something.” The previous night clearly hadn’t been the time to explain to Robyn that she was now a member of my Pride and thus subject to a long list of rules and responsibilities. But she’d woken up before Abby and had wandered downstairs on her own, where she’d found a kitchen full of shifters—a scent she’d recognized. “She knows this is my house, and that we’re all shifters. She knows that the guys work for me, but not in what capacity. We wanted you to be there to explain the bulk of it to her.”
“Okay.” Abby nodded. “I’ve been having this discussion with her in my head for weeks.” Yet she made no move to get out of bed. “Jace, how much trouble am I in, exactly?”
“Well, the easy answer is ‘A lot.’ But really, that depends.” She’d covered up an infection, disobeyed a direct order, sabotaged an investigation, and murdered a witness in custody—a list of offenses that made her infamously shrewish cousin look meek and agreeable by comparison. But the most serious of all the potential charges was… “Abby, did you infect Robyn?”
Her eyes widened. “No! How could you even…?” She frowned. “Is that what people think?”
“What else are they supposed to think? She’s your roommate, and you hid her from us.”
“I hid Robyn to protect her, not to protect myself. She was infected at the hunters’ cabin in October. They had a stray in a cage, in the basement. He was dead by the time I got there, but he swiped at her through his cage before he died. It was just a scratch, but by that night, she had a fever.” Abby shrugged. “If you’d been there any longer, you’d have known about this all along.”
I blinked, stunned. How could I have missed it? Robyn had been bleeding from several minor wounds, but I’d assumed they were all from being dragged through the woods or being roughed up by her abductors.
“Okay.” My mind raced, reassembling the puzzle with the new pieces. If I’d paid a little more attention, I could have prevented the whole thing. Robyn wouldn’t have killed in a maladjusted dissociative state. Abby wouldn’t have committed crimes to protect her. “Assuming Robyn will testify to that, that’s one charge they’ll have to dismiss. And if we can verify her feline dissociative state, they’ll probably dismiss all the charges against Robyn, in light of her temporary…insanity.” And because she was the first verified female stray, and Abby was right; they would want to study her. “Which is why I think you should encourage her to let Dr. Carver do his thing. So he can testify on her behalf, if necessary.”
“Okay.” Abby nodded. “What about the rest of it?”
“Your hearing will be in two weeks, at the ranch. They’ve already excluded me from the proceedings.”
“Because of us?”
I nodded. Ed Taylor had been particularly unhappy to hear about my involvement with his son’s ex-fiancée. That—coupled with the fact that on my watch, one tabby been infected, one had gotten pregnant, and two had been kidnapped—had painted my leadership in a less-than-flattering light. “And because I failed to report you missing when you didn’t get on your plane. But your dad and Faythe will be there, and they’ll do everything they can for you. So, you need to cooperate and make it easy for them.”
“Okay.”
“Your parents will be here in a couple of hours. You’re all three scheduled for a late flight tonight, back to South Carolina, and Robyn can go with you or—”
“No!” Abby stood so fast, I hardly saw her move. “I’m staying here. With you.” She pulled her nightshirt off and dropped it on her way to the suitcase lying open in front of my dresser, and suddenly, her parents were the furthest things from my mind.
“They’ll just have to cancel my ticket, because I belong here. With you.” She bent in front of her suitcase, then stood with a pair of jeans, and I realized I hated her suitcase and the fact that I only ever saw her when she had a reason to use it. I wanted to see her clothes not just on my floor but in my dresser. In my laundry hamper. Hanging from my shower rod. But that had only ever been a remote possibility, and it was even more remote now.
“Abby, you don’t work for me anymore. I’ve already transferred your Pride membership back to your father.” I’d done that over the phone the day before, when I’d called to tell him I was sending her back. “He’s your Alpha now.”
“What?” She dropped the pants, and I realized she was wearing nothing but a pair of purple lace panties. I had to swallow a groan. “No! I never agreed to that.”
“You were expelled. That doesn’t require your approval.”
“So, tell him you changed your mind and you want me back.”
Oh, I wanted her, all right. But… “You know he won’t give you back to me.” Under my leadership and authority, she’d committed at least three crimes, any one of which could get her executed if she were a tomcat. The penalty for a tabby wouldn’t be so severe—we couldn’t afford to lose any women—but it would be permanent and likely painful.
The very thought kindled rage deep in my gut and made claws want to burst from my fingertips.
The Alphas who hadn’t wanted Faythe among their ranks—mostly my late stepfather’s allies—would want to set an example with Abby to make sure future tabbies didn’t think they could just run amok in the new world order. The fact that I couldn’t serve on the board that decided her fate thoroughly pissed me off.
“So, there’s no way out of this?” Her focus volleyed between my eyes, searching for some overlooked possibility.
Some miracle that would keep us together.
“No, and there probably shouldn’t be. Your dad’s in the strongest position to help with your defense, and the best thing I can do for you right now is let him.”
“So, then, this is it?” She came closer, and I struggled to maintain eye contact with her so close to naked, and close to my bed, and close to leaving.
“For a while, anyway.” I had no idea what would happen after her trial. Whether or not her father would let her leave the territory. Whether he’d let me visit. And frankly, I wouldn’t blame him if he refused.
I’d failed her on every level.
“How long until they get here?” Abby closed the distance between us and went up on her toes to kiss me.
“A couple of hours?” I guessed, as her hand slid beneath my shirt and her mouth trailed down my neck, her tongue darting out to taste my skin in hot little increments.
“I know exactly how I want to spend it,” she murmured against my skin, and I groaned beneath her touch.
Abby pulled my shirt up, and I lifted my arms to let her remove it. My tee hit the floor near hers. Her kisses continued down my neck while I slid my hands over her shoulders and down her arms. She felt amazing. Warm, and smooth, and soft. She smelled like strawberries and tasted like…Abby.
That was the moment I realized that no matter what her father said, I would not be able to let her go.
EIGHTEEN
Abby
Jace tilted my face up, then leaned down to kiss me, and desire exploded deep inside me. My breasts ached in anticipation of his touch. I’d never wanted anyone or anything the way I wanted him, and I couldn’t seem to touch enough of him.
And I could see from the bulge straining against his zipper that the feeling was mutual.
“Come here,” Jace whispered against my neck. He tugged me toward the armchair in one corner of the room, where he sank onto the edge of the cushion and pulled me close so that I was framed between his thighs. I could feel the heat from his skin through his jeans, but that wasn’t enough. My body demanded more.
He reached behind my head to tug the rubber band from my hair, and curls fell across my back and over my shoulders. “You are so beautiful.”
No, he was beautiful. I skimmed his chest lightly with my fingers. I was still getting used to the fact that I could touch him whenever I wanted, and that privilege was about to be ripped away from me.
Surely, separating me from Jace was crueler than any other punishment the council could come up with.
Jace leaned forward and anticipation made my heart race. My eyes closed as he lifted my left breast. He dropped a kiss on my nipple, and when I groaned, his tongue darted out for a taste.
“Mmmm…” I said as his mouth closed over my nipple, sucking gently. I leaned closer, wordlessly asking for more, and he took more into his mouth, teasing the tip with his tongue. The bulge in his pants swelled against my leg, and my body answered with an aching throb of its own, low, hot, and insistent.
Jace’s tongue trailed toward my right breast, leaving my left damp and neglected in the cold room. I groaned when he took my right nipple into his mouth, and his hand slid around my waist to my back, then lower, squeezing me through a thin layer of lace.
“Jace.” I said, and he sat up to look at me, his pupils dilated from arousal. I held his gaze while I slid my fingers beneath the sides of my panties, intending to step out of them. “I want more.”
“Abby, wait.” Yet the gruff timbre of his voice said that waiting was the last thing he wanted. “Are you sure? I don’t want to rush this just because you think we won’t get another chance.”
Though I was right about that. I could see the truth in his eyes. If the council locked me up, or if my dad refused my transfer request…
But that wasn’t what this was about. “I’m not rushing it. I want you, Jace.”
The heat in his eyes burned through me. Touching him was like holding fire in my hand. “Then let me do it.”
My heart slammed against my sternum as he slid off the chair to kneel in front of me, angling us so that the wall was at my back. He lifted my hands onto his shoulders and looked up at me, and something about seeing him from that angle—his face inches from my stomach, his hands wrapped around the backs of my thighs—made me ache in sensitive places. His hands slid slowly up my legs, skimming my skin so lightly I wanted to lean into his touch. I let my head fall back against the wall, my eyes closed, content just to feel him.
His fingers hooked the sheer lace stretched across my hips, then tugged it slowly down. So slowly I started to complain—until he kissed the point of my left hip. His mouth was warm, and soft, and…several inches from where I truly wanted it.
A needy sound rose from my throat. Jace bit my hip gently, just the graze of his teeth against flesh, as he slid that scrap of material down my thighs, skimming my overheated skin with his fingers. He let go, and the lace fell, but his hands continued their slow exploration until he lifted first my right foot, then my left, to push the fallen garment away.
His hands crept back up and slid over my backside. Then he lifted my right leg and I caught my breath when he hooked my knee over his shoulder. He forged a trail of kisses up my thigh, and my pulse raced faster with every drop of fire left in the wake of his lips.
Anticipation pooled inside me, hot and aching. At the first smooth stroke of his tongue where I’d never been tasted before, my eyes fell closed and every muscle in my body tensed beneath the delicious, wet pressure.
Jace groaned, and the sound rumbled through my most sensitive places. His next lick was longer, the next deeper, and by the time his fingers slid inside me, an exquisite spiral of friction and pressure was already building, teasing me toward a peak I’d only ascended once before.
“Oh…” I breathed, and Jace groaned again. His tongue worked faster, his fingers moving gently, applying pressure inside, and my hands slid into his hair. “Oh…” Pleasure erupted in a hot wash of sensation, and I lost all mastery of language. Jace kept moving, stroking, as I clenched around him, until I exhaled and let my head fall back against the wall again.
Then reason returned, and I remembered what I’d really wanted. “Oh, no, I wanted to…”
Jace smiled up at me, and new flames kindled where his hand was still nested. “We’re not done.” His fingers slid out of me slowly, trailing forward and up, and I shuddered as the touch triggered blissful aftershocks. He stood, and I reached for his waistband.
“We should be in my bed,” he whispered as I tugged on the denim restraining his button.
“Why? You seem more than adept at…upright.” I pushed the button through its hole, and his pulse spiked.
Jace groaned as I pushed his jeans down. “I want to do this right, Abby.”
“You already are. You’re the only thing I need.”
“Say that again.”
I slid his boxers down to follow the denim, freeing the hard length of him. “I need you, Jace.”
He growled and lifted me, his hands digging into my hips. He throbbed against me, hot and ready, and suddenly my eagerness wavered. “Is it… Will it hurt?”
“I don’t think so. You’re ready, physically,” he said, and I could hear how much he wanted me in every word he spoke. “So ready.” But his self-control was a thing of legend. If I told him to wait, he would wait. “If this is what you want.”
I nodded, my pulse racing. “I want you.”
Nothing I’d said had ever been truer.
His pupils dilated, and his heart beat harder. “We’ll go slow. If you want to stop, just tell me.”
I nodded again, and he glanced at the armchair in the corner, just a foot away. “That might be easier, this time.” His grip on my hips tightened as he sank into the chair with me on his lap. “You’re on top. You’re in control.”
“But I don’t…know what to do.”
Jace grinned and pulled me down for a kiss. “We’ll figure that out together,” he whispered wi
thout truly pulling away from my mouth, then he was kissing me again, one hand in my hair, the other on my hip. He arched beneath me, rocking against me, and that simple motion triggered an orgasmic aftershock and pulled a guttural moan from deep in my throat. My body had only ever found pleasure in his touch, and it knew what to expect. What it wanted.
I decided to listen to my body. To forget everything else.
I closed my eyes and rocked against him.
Jace groaned, tense beneath me. Throbbing against me. “I have never in my life wanted anyone like I want you.”
The truth of that echoed deep in his voice. In the cadence of his heartbeat. I could taste it on his skin. I could feel it in my soul. And suddenly, I felt powerful. He wanted something only I could give him. I rocked forward one more time, then leaned down to whisper against his ear. “Show me what to do.”
Jace’s eyes fluttered closed, and his hand tightened on my hip. “You’re already halfway there. Rise up on your knees.”
I did, and his fingers slid into me. Testing. Teasing. My body remembered that part, and when I clenched around him, he groaned and removed his hand. “A little higher,” he said, and when I complied, he guided himself into position beneath me. Against me. “Do you want to feel?” he asked, and when I nodded, too fascinated by the possibility to articulate, he guided my hand to where our bodies met, and my eyes flew open. My gaze met his, and for once, he wasn’t grinning. He was watching me, desire burning behind his eyes. Flushing his skin.
He put both hands on my hips, leaving me to explore the prelude to our union on my own, and I did.
He was hot and hard, yet oddly soft on the surface. I was wet and swollen, and very sensitive. If I lowered myself at all, he would slide inside me. I braced myself against his chest with both hands and held his gaze as I slowly sank…
“Wait!”
I froze, startled, and Jace lifted me by my hips. I groaned when he lowered me onto his thighs instead. Not where I wanted to be. He reached for something on the floor, then held up a square packet I hadn’t even seen him take from his pocket. I watched while he ripped it open and pulled out a condom. “There are only a couple of rules. This is number one.” I watched, fascinated, as he rolled it over his erection. It practically disappeared against his skin except for the ring at the base.