“How many rogues do you think actually exist?”
“As many as there are criminals.”
This time it was James who looked confused.
“The majority of the populace is law-abiding citizens. A percentage of them are not. Some places have more, some less. It would be the same with rogue shifters.” He took another swig of beer and headed back into the living room. “Some of them are like the local college kids, looking for a good, illicit time.
Some of them are stone-cold killers who need to be taken down.”
“Daniel was taken down by a killer.”
Gabe stopped. He set the beer carefully on the coffee table. He felt on edge, just like he did when he saw a really bad case cross his desk.
Fuck.
In the background the video game’s music began playing again. “How?”
James picked up the remote and sat on the sofa, starting the game back up. “Want to find out?”
Yes. Damn it, yes, he did. “What about Sarah?”
James smiled. “She’s your mate, Gabe. She’ll still be here when we’re done.”
Gabe relaxed. It meant holding off on claiming his woman, but the urge to, well,
hunt
was on him. “Could this guy be a threat to Halle?”
James shook his head. “He’s been killing up by Yonkers.”
“New
York?
” He’d have to go to New York?
“That will be part of your territory.”
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Hell. New York City alone probably needed a Hunter. “How many Hunters are in this region?”
“Including you? Three. And your territory includes Pennsylvania, New York state and New Jersey.”
Well hell. Add one for Atlantic City. “So I get everything that’s not New York City and Atlantic City?”
James pointed at him and crowed. “Ha! Gotcha.”
Gabe realized how he’d phrased that and groaned. “Fuck.” He picked up his beer and finished it. “Let me at least claim my mate.”
James raised one eyebrow. “Do you really want to do that to her? Claim her and leave her for six months?” He shook his head. “Better you leave her unclaimed, for now. The mate dreams will be hell, but trust me, boy. You’ll want time when you claim her.” His grin turned heated. “Don’t you want to be able to love on her until you’re done, rather than bite her and run?”
Gabe thought of all the things he wanted to do to Sarah. The way he’d tie her to the bed, wrists bound to the headboard, eyes blindfolded. The spankings he wanted to administer to those lily-white ass cheeks, watching them turn red under his hand. He longed to feel her mouth on him, to taste her essence until he was glutted.
“I’ll need to ask for a leave of absence.”
“Claim family reasons.” James pulled out a piece of paper. “Your maternal grandfather is ill and you need to care for him.”
Gabe looked at the forged papers. His maternal grandfather had died before he’d been born. “You’re kidding me, right?” He couldn’t turn in forged papers. It was against the law. He handed them back to James.
James took them. “Sure. Go ahead and explain to your bosses that you’re hunting a killer Wolf. Tell them that you’ll be gone for roughly six months, barring holidays because we’re not complete bastards, training to take up the duties of a Senate Hunter. They’ll be fine with it, right?”
Gabe groaned. He just knew he was going to get fired. “Give me the damn papers.”
The ringing of the phone woke her early that day. “Hello?”
“Sarah?”
She sat up, suddenly wide awake. “Gabe? Hi!” Sarah pushed her hair behind her ear, nervous as all hell.
The sound of the sexy sheriff’s voice was enough to have her hands shaking. She’d been waiting for his call, or expecting him to show up on her doorstep for over a week now.
The first time she’d seen the dark-haired, blue-eyed sheriff she’d rocked back on her heels, stunned.
Her mate had looked equally shocked. He’d started towards her at that Pride meeting, but then Max had called for their attention and Gabe hadn’t been available for more than a quick phone call since. The last
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time she’d seen him had been across Belle’s hospital bed. He’d looked so grim she hadn’t had the heart to say anything to him. He’d nodded approvingly at her before exiting the room, leaving behind a lingering warmth that had sustained her through some rough times this week.
Now that the situation with Rudy Parker was finally resolved, it was time for him to claim her.
“I need to talk to you.”
His voice was serious. “Um. Okay.” She bit her lip, thinking rapidly. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her she’d only had a cup of soup for dinner the night before. “Frank’s Diner?”
He sighed. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
“Oh.” She bit back her disappointment. At least he was speaking to her.
“I’m at the airport.”
What?
“Is everything all right?”
“Everything’s…different.”
That didn’t sound good. His voice sounded weary and strained, not surprising considering what had happened a few days ago. “Different how?”
“I’m going away for a little while.” She could hear the noises of an airport in the background and assumed it was Philadelphia International.
“Oh.”
“Sarah. You know you’re mine, right?”
Yes!
“I know.” She’d known the moment she’d seen him. Everything in her had yearned towards him, but she’d understood why he’d held off on claiming her. He’d needed all of his focus to be on Sheri, not Sarah. She’d been proud of him for it.
“I can’t claim you yet. It’s complicated. I won’t be able to claim you for a while.”
Her heart sank. She’d been looking forward to having someone of her own, someone who might understand some of the strange things that had been happening to her lately. “Why not?”
“I’ve been tapped to replace a Hunter for our region.”
Pride swelled within her, along with fear. Being a Hunter was no easy job. “Oh wow. Gabe!
That’s…scary. Incredible, but really scary.”
He laughed. “Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. Seems a rogue took one down in our area and the Senate’s decided I’m the one to replace him.”
“Is the Pride in danger?”
“No, baby. Halle is safe. He’s operating out of New York state.” The warmth in his voice went far in
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melting the chill that had enveloped her.
“You’ll do fine, Gabe.” She blinked. That hadn’t been what she’d wanted to say at all.
But it was the
right
thing to say from the relief in his tone. “I’m glad you understand, baby. This means a great deal to me, more than I thought it would when I got approached. It means when something like Parker happens again I can act without any fear of reprisals from Packs, Prides or Dens.”
She settled back down on the bed. No point in getting up early on a Saturday if there was no one she had to see and nowhere to go. “How did Adrian and Max react to this? Are they all right with it?”
“Once they got away from their mates for a few seconds they were okay with it. Max actually drove me to the airport.”
She stifled the hurt that he hadn’t asked her to drive him. “I could have taken you.”
Silence.
Not good.
“I couldn’t let you do that, Sarah.”
“Why not?”
“If I had been in a car with you for two hours I would never have gotten on that plane.”
The rough rasp of his voice played over her senses. It was nice to know that he wanted her just as much as…she… “Where are you?”
“Right now? Somewhere near Chicago.”
“Somewhere near Chicago. Not actually in Chicago.”
Liar.
She just knew he was in Chicago, not that it mattered.
He gave another rough sigh. “Sarah. Please. Tell me you understand why I’m doing this.”
She rubbed her hand over her eyes wearily. “I
do
understand what you’re doing, but I don’t like that you wouldn’t even see me before you left.”
“I told you why. I didn’t think it was fair to either one of us to be marked before I left. I have to have my mind in the game, not on my mate.”
That hurt. She understood, really she did, but it still hurt. “All right.”
More silence. “That’s it?”
“What do you want me to say, Gabe? I understand. I don’t agree, but I understand. What’s going to happen the first time you go on a hunt though? Are you going to regret leaving me behind then, too?”
“I’m hoping the first time I have to go on a hunt the first flush of mating will be over and we’ll be long since settled.”
She thought about that for a moment. There wasn’t anything more she could say about it. What was done was done. “When will you be back?”
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She was beginning to hate those little silences. It meant she wasn’t going to like his answer. “Six months, roughly.”
She was right. She didn’t like the answer. “Damn.”
“I’m sorry, baby. I did what I thought was best.”
She suppressed a growl. If he’d spoken to her before leaving she could have corrected that little assumption, but it was too late now. “Call me.”
“I will. I promise.”
January
“Shhh. Not a sound. Do you understand me?”
She nodded, her eyes lowered submissively as she knelt before him.
“Good girl.” Gabe reached out and ran his hands over Sarah’s soft, short hair lightly enough to
cause a shudder to run through her. He smiled and tilted her chin up, loving the wary heat in her
deep brown eyes. “You’re going to do everything I tell you to do. Aren’t you?”
One brow rose in mild challenge before a sassy smile crossed her full, pouty lips. He growled and
tapped one finger to his thigh, pleased when she once again lowered her eyes. Her smile changed,
becoming mysterious and feminine. It intrigued him. Everything about her intrigued him.
“Put your hands behind your back.”
She complied slowly. Her lashes fluttered and her breath quickened. They’d done this before. She
knew what it was he wanted. He slipped his cock out of his uniform pants, stroking it slowly. A
groan nearly escaped his lips when she licked her own, moistening them and making them gleam
in the candlelight. He painted her lips with the tip of his cock, the drop of pre-come glistening
there like gloss. “Open up.”
She opened her mouth, her tongue darting out to lick just the tip of his cock. He put his hand on
the back of her head, holding her steady as he fed her his dick. He began fucking her mouth,
losing some of his tight control and groaning at the wet heat. “That’s it, baby.” She choked a bit
and he backed off a little, proud of her for holding steady despite it.
He was close, so close, but he didn’t want to come in her mouth. Not tonight. Tonight he wanted
that sweet, hot pussy wrapped around him, pulling his orgasm out of him.
He withdrew from her mouth, stroking her hair as she pouted up at him. “Stand up.” She
complied, lowering her eyes once more, her hands still behind her back. “Lie down on the bed.”
She looked up at him, startled. He lifted his chin, pointing to the big, dark bed right behind her.
He didn’t understand how she could have missed it. It dominated the room they were in.
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She crawled onto the bed on all fours, giving him an amazing view of that incredible ass of hers.
He halted her, hands on her hips, and nipped one of her white globes, loving the shiver that ran
through her. He slapped her lightly on the ass, smiling wickedly as a pink mark rose up. “Middle
of the bed, on your back.”
She moved the way he directed, settling down with a final shimmy that caused her breasts to
dance.
“Spread your arms and legs.” She bit her lip but complied, slowly showing him the liquid heat
between her thighs.
He reached down and tied each one of her limbs, careful to make sure none of the bindings were
too tight on her slender frame. When he was done, he looked at her, knowing exactly what the
feral look on his face would do to her.
He watched as she swallowed nervously. She tugged at the restraints, testing them.
He began a slow exploration of her body, stroking her soft flesh until goose bumps rose on her
skin. He licked at her pert nipples, watching her squirm under him. When he sucked her clit into
his mouth she bucked against him. She was lucky he hadn’t told her to hold still, or that would
have earned her a spanking.
He could hear her gasping for breath and he knew she was close to coming. He slid up her body,
thrusting inside her so hard she whimpered.
He grinned. “That’s two.”
Her golden eyes went wide. It was the hottest fucking thing he’d ever seen, watching her dark
eyes turn tawny. She always managed to hold off the change until he was fucking her, letting him
watch it happen while he was deep inside her body. He was proud at the measure of control it
took to keep the Puma at bay for that long, while at the same time he was desperate to break it.
“Keep your eyes open.” Her lids drooped in a sensuous daze but didn’t close as he pounded into
her. She kept her gaze locked on his, her arms and legs struggling futilely against the bonds he
had her in. He reached down, stroking her clit with his thumb, snarling in triumph as she
screeched. He leaned over her, whispering in her ear. “That’s three.” Her body bowed up,
quivering at the force of her orgasm.
She nipped his earlobe as her body settled back onto the mattress and he came, the pleasure so
intense it robbed him of breath. He collapsed on top of her, his cheek resting against hers, his
whiskers abrading her sleek skin.