“Mike,” Dash murmured. “Can I talk to Elizabeth alone?”
There went the audience. Elizabeth stilled the tremble of trepidation that shuddered over her body.
Mike rose slowly to his feet, clearing his throat. “I’ll just be in the kitchen, breathing in clear air. It’s getting too damned hot in here to suit me anyway.” He was grinning as he passed them.
As the door closed, Dash turned back to her slowly.
“I’ll fuck you,” he told her softly, without a doubt in his voice that it would happen. “If I train you, I’ll do more than just teach you how to shoot or how to fight, Elizabeth. I won’t be able to stop it.”
She licked her lips nervously. “You would have anyway. We both know that.” It was something she had accepted as she lay in his arms the night before. There was no hiding from it. He could have had her then. Could have taken her there in his bedroom and she wouldn’t have stopped him.
He shook his head warningly. “It’s different, Elizabeth. Protecting you and fighting beside you are two different things. If you’re tough enough to go for blood, then you’re tough enough for everything I am. Every part of me. Are you willing to accept that?”
She frowned then. “What? You fuck different from other men?” She finally snapped. “What more could you do?”
He moved around her. He stalked, actually, watching her closely.
“I bet Dane fucked you missionary. Lights out. A shuffle in the dark, a grunt or two and then it was over.” The disgust for the other man, dead though he was, was clearly apparent.
Elizabeth flushed. It was much too close to the truth.
“So?” She shrugged. “What will you do? Leave the lights on?”
He was behind her, his head leaning close to hers, his lips at her ear.
“Have you ever been mounted?” he asked her roughly, heatedly. “Taken to your knees because the lust was so hot, so powerful, it couldn’t be denied? Your clothes ripped from your body and taken so deeply, so hard, you couldn’t do anything but scream out your orgasm?”
Elizabeth’s eyes widened, her heart suddenly racing in her chest. She shook her head slowly as she tried to speak. “No,” she finally gasped.
He wasn’t touching her, but her breasts were swelling, her nipples hardening almost painfully as her pussy wept its thick juices in need.
His hand moved over the curve of her rear, ignoring her flinch of surprise. “What about here?” He actually growled. The sound rasped down her spine, but rather than fear, it brought an edge of excitement she couldn’t deny.
His hunger pulsed in the air around her. It was deep, consuming, making her womb clench in response.
“What?” She was confused now. Consumed by the image of him mounting her, taking her.
“Have you been fucked up that tight ass, Elizabeth?” he asked as her eyes widened in shocked surprise. “Do you know every time I watch you walk, watch that pretty rear flex, all I can think about is sinking my cock inside it?”
As if it were possible! He was trying to scare her. Trying to make her back down, she was certain. She wasn’t about to.
“Stop.” She jumped away from him, turning back to him furiously. “Why are you trying to scare me off like this? I have the right to do this, Dash.”
The look in his eyes was almost frightening. Dash didn’t have blood on his mind; he had hot, explicit sex filling his head instead.
“You don’t understand.” He shook his head slowly, a feral smile tipping his lips. “You keep forgetting. I’m not just a soldier, baby. I’m a Breed. And trust me when I tell you you’ll never fuck another man like me. You’ll never be taken again in the ways I’ll take you. I can protect you, and in doing so, rein in some of the harder aspects of my lust, for a while. But if I have to train you, teach you to fight beside me, then you’ll take me. Every way. You’ll have all I am, Elizabeth, not just the man you want me to be. Now make your choice. And know that once you make it, there’s no turning back. No whining, no pouting, no false denials. You will accept it.”
Her mouth was dry, but other parts of her body were too damned wet for comfort.
“Will you rape me?” she asked him suspiciously. No man would take her except on her terms. Dane hadn’t and Dash sure as hell wouldn’t.
He tilted his head, cool confidence washing over his expression.
“I won’t have to.”
“No means no,” she told him tightly. “Will you abide by that?”
He nodded instantly. “Of course.” Then he smiled that smile that made her more than nervous. “You can’t say no after the fact, though. Agreed?”
She looked at him sardonically. “Agreed. But that confidence could find you on your ass, buddy.”
“Or up yours,” he murmured. “So we have an agreement?”
She was agreeing to allow her daughter to be taken from her. To place her under the protection of strangers. To trust men and women she didn’t know. But, she also knew the hell those men and women had lived. They had been hunted, betrayed. They would care for Cassie, protect her with their lives, just as they had each other. But her baby would be without her. For a while.
She drew in a deep breath and swallowed tightly. “Agreed.”
Oh Lord. If his eyes could have gotten hotter, they just did. The golden-brown was nearly amber now, glittering with lust. His nostrils flared, his expression becoming heavy with sensuality.
“Do you know I can smell your arousal?” he asked her softly. “I know when your sweet heat is flowing for me, Elizabeth. When your pretty pussy is coated with that slick dew, preparing for me. Like it is now. It turns you on to think about fighting me, doesn’t it? Makes you wet and hot to imagine pitting your mind against my strength. Just like it makes me hard. So hard walking could become a problem.”
Her face flamed with mortification, because she was wet now and only growing wetter by the second. She should be thinking about Cassie. Thinking about the separation, but all she could think about was Dash and the hunger building between them both.
Her gaze flickered to his jeans, then quickly back to his face. That zipper was going to burst soon.
And he was right. It did turn her on. He intended to take her, to make her submit. She could see it in his expression, hear it in his voice. She had never submitted to anyone. She didn’t intend to start with Dash.
Elizabeth licked her lips, relieving the painful dryness, then swallowing tightly as he followed the movement.
“Go to Cassie,” he finally growled. “Get away from me before I take you now. Kane and his brothers, as well as several of the main Feline Pride, will be here tonight. Get ready, Elizabeth, because when they leave, you’ll see what it means to be my woman.”
She backed up slowly. She wasn’t running, she assured herself, she was exercising extreme caution instead. He wasn’t joking. He was ready to take her, here and now, and she didn’t know if she could honestly deny him right now.
Chapter Fifteen
The Feline Breeds were just as intense and gorgeous in real life as they had been on the television screen. They arrived after midnight in a large stealth helicopter, landing in the back pasture of Mike Toler’s ranch.
Kane Tyler and three of his brothers were there. Callan Lyons, Taber Williams, Tanner, Dawn and Sherra had accompanied them. Each was armed and looked just as dangerous as they had been trained to be. Elizabeth sat in the living room with Cassie, holding her against her chest, rocking her. Despite her dream of actually meeting the Felines, Cassie hadn’t taken the news of her separation from her mother very well.
She had cried for hours. It broke Elizabeth’s heart listening to her daughter sob and wail, begging her not to send her away. Elizabeth had cried with her. Emotionally, they were both wrecks by the time the large force entered the house.
Elizabeth could only stare at them in shock. They were as big and muscular as Dash, but their eyes were harder, their expressions carved in stone, until they caught sight of Cassie.
Elizabeth watched, amazed, as the two women turned away, their eyes shining with moisture. The three male Felines’ gazes darkened painfully.
“Callan?” Kane asked softly, as though for confirmation.
Callan stepped closer, his eyes so golden-brown they were amber, his long, tawny brown hair flowing around the harsh features of his face. As he stepped to the couch, Elizabeth was aware of Dash moving behind her protectively, possessively. The other Breed noticed the movement as well, if the amused quirk of his lips was any indication.
“Cassidy.” He sat on his haunches, staring at the little girl gently. “What a lovely little girl you are. I hear you might need our help for a bit of time.”
His voice was deep, sandpapery, but exquisitely gentle as he watched the little girl.
“I wanna stay with my momma,” Cassie hiccupped tearfully as Elizabeth fought the need to demand that her daughter be given exactly what she wanted.
Pain flashed in Callan’s eyes. They were amazingly expressive as they watched Cassie, showing his sympathy, his need to comfort her.
“You know Grange is a very bad man, Cassie,” Callan said softly. “I’ve been checking into him. You know he’ll hurt you and your momma if he can get hold of you.” He held his hand up as Elizabeth began to protest. “I won’t lie to you, Cassie. I won’t tell you any of this is going to be easy, for you or your momma. Facts are facts. Dash and your momma can’t deal with Grange if you aren’t hidden first. If they try, something could happen, and Grange could end up hurting you all.”
Cassie trembled. “But the fairy can’t help momma if I’m gone,” she protested tearfully.
Callan never looked away from the little girl. “But Dash can, Cassie. He and your momma can move faster and trick Grange easier if they know you’re hidden and protected. And you’ll both be hidden and protected at my home. I promise you this.”
“I want my momma,” Cassie whimpered, her arms tightening around Elizabeth’s waist. “I’m staying with my momma.”
“Callan.” The woman that moved behind him was much smaller than the others. Her soft golden-brown hair and eyes were immeasurably gentle. Dawn was a Cougar Breed and Elizabeth could clearly see the influence of the animal’s DNA in her. Her high cheekbones, slanted golden eyes and finely arched brows gave her a very feline appearance.
Cassie seemed to jerk in surprise when the woman approached her. She leaned forward, then back, then stared up at Elizabeth with rounded eyes.
Cassie cupped her fingers over her mouth and whispered up to Elizabeth. “She has a fairy, Momma. Right beside her. Just like mine.”
Elizabeth wasn’t certain what to say at this point. She had thought Cassie’s fairy was no more than an excuse for the knowledge she picked up through her more advanced senses.
“She does?” she whispered back.
Cassie nodded. “But she’s sad.” Then she turned to Dawn. “Why is your fairy sad?”
Dawn blinked then glanced at Elizabeth.
“Cassie has her own fairy,” Elizabeth explained. “She…comforts her.” She didn’t know what else to say.
Dawn finally smiled in understanding. “Perhaps my fairy gets tired of being alone.” She sighed. “There aren’t many fairies left in the world, Cassie.”
Cassie tilted her head, considering. “No. She’s sad because you don’t hear her,” she finally said. “You should listen to your fairy.”
“You’re right.” Dawn nodded. “But I don’t know how. Maybe I need someone to teach me how to listen to her.”
Cassie was silent for long moments. “I don’t wanna leave my momma.” Her voice trembled tearfully.
Callan moved back as Dawn sat down on the couch beside Elizabeth and Cassie and watched the little girl with tender, though wary, eyes.
“I don’t blame you, Cassie,” she finally said sadly. “If I had a momma like yours, I wouldn’t want to leave her, either. But you and your momma will be safer if you are protected. And isn’t that what’s important right now, Cassie? That you and your momma are safe?”
Cassie’s fingers plucked at Elizabeth’s shirtsleeve for long moments. Finally she raised her eyes, the blue depths glittering with tears.
“I’m scared without you, Momma,” she finally whispered.
“I know, baby.” Elizabeth swallowed tightly. “And I’m scared without you, too. But I can’t make Grange leave us alone if he knows where you are. It’s very important that he can’t find you so that Momma can make him go away.” Far away, Elizabeth thought coldly.
Cassie’s head lowered again. “Will you come back?” she finally asked faintly.
“Cassie.” Elizabeth lifted her daughter’s face until she could stare into her eyes. “You couldn’t keep me away. You’re my baby. You know I’ll come back for you. Right?”
Cassie swallowed tightly. “Even though I’m a Breed?” she asked her roughly.
Fury engulfed Elizabeth, though she fought to contain it. “Cassidy, being a Breed doesn’t make you any different to me. If you want the truth, I’m so damned happy Dane isn’t your daddy that I could kiss that doctor that thought he tricked us. Because he gave me the most special baby in the world. Do you understand me?”
Cassie grinned faintly, though her eyes still swam with tears.
“Dash could be my daddy,” she whispered. “Maybe I wouldn’t be so scared away if I knew he was my daddy.”
“Cassie.” Elizabeth wasn’t shocked, but she hadn’t expected Cassie to strike so soon.
“Cassie.” Dash broke in on her protest. “Do you know any other Wolf Breeds, young lady?”
Cassie raised her eyes and shook her head no.
“Then it looks like you’re stuck with me. But I can’t convince your momma until Grange has been punished. To do that, you need to go with Dawn and Callan. We’ll discuss the rest of it later.”
Cassie’s eyes narrowed. Elizabeth had never known her daughter could be such a little schemer.
“You gonna take his chocolate, Dash?” she asked him, suddenly more than interested.
“Oh yeah, all of it,” Dash promised her. “And he doesn’t know the secret to get it back. Remember that.”
Cassie’s grin was wider now. “Can I have his chocolate, Dash?” she asked innocently. “Chocolate should be for good girls.”
“A whole boxful, Cassie. But you have to go with Callan so your momma and me can take care of this. Okay?”
Cassie sighed and glanced up at Elizabeth again.