Rhyannon Byrd - Primal Instinct 04 (13 page)

Moving to his full height, Josef let his mouth curl
into a hard, dangerous smile that stopped the approaching Casus in his tracks.
“I see you’ve failed again,” he drawled. “Tell me, Miles. Is this becoming a
habit of yours? Because it certainly seems that way from where I’m standing.”

“You know the Watchmen are lethal fighters,” Miles
grunted, the moonlight glinting off the pale skin that covered the shaved head
of his human host, while a crimson patch of blood spread out over the shoulder
he’d obviously injured during the fight. “And they had a Marker with them.”

Josef arched his brows, his voice a slow, cultured
drawl as he spread his arms wide and said, “Look around you, Miles. Do you see
any burning piles of ashes? No one’s been sent to hell. Their possession of the
Marker was irrelevant tonight.”

Miles’s beefy hands flexed at his sides. “The bastards
used guns on us, instead of fighting hand-to-hand.”

“Then the answer seems simple.” Josef fought the urge
to shred the idiot’s face with the razor-sharp claws prickling at the tips of
his fingers. “Get a fucking gun.”

“What’s the point,” the Casus argued with his
characteristic stubbornness, “when bullets don’t even kill most of the shifter
breeds?”

Josef took a step forward, going nose-to-nose with the
bald behemoth. “I’m going to offer you a little advice, Miles. And if you’re
smart, you’ll take it. Calder expects you to succeed when you’re given a task,
and that means adapting your strategy so that you can defeat the enemy. I would
have thought that became rather obvious after you got your ass kicked in
Washington last month. They weren’t worried tonight about sending our brothers
to hell. They just wanted to get the human and the child out alive. It stands
to reason, then, that a few well-placed bullets, which would certainly slow
them down, might have been a good idea. Who gives a damn if it doesn’t kill
them, so long as it enables us to get our hands on the target!”

“The Watchmen have bought them some time,” Miles
muttered, sounding like a belligerent child, “but that’s all. I won’t fail the
next time.”

“You’d sure as hell better hope you don’t. And seeing
as how you allowed your Casus unit to get sent back to the pit, you’ll be
taking Westmore’s men with you now.”

The Casus’s face turned blotchy with rage, and Josef
didn’t even try to hold back his mocking smile. “I can see the idea doesn’t sit
well with you,” he drawled, “and to be honest, Miles, I really don’t give a
shit.”

“I refuse to work with the Kraven,” the Casus snarled.
“Aside from Westmore, I don’t trust them.”

A lock of hair fell across his brow as Josef shook his
head. “You can refuse all you like, but it isn’t going to matter.”

While he gave himself a moment to enjoy the way Miles
ground his jaw, no doubt choking on his bitterness, a sound off to their right
caught Josef’s attention. Turning his head, he found two of the Casus from his
own unit coming toward him, a struggling teenage girl trapped between them. They’d
gagged her with a strip of cloth, her muffled cries for help too silent to draw
anyone’s attention from the neighboring houses, though they sent a shiver of
anticipation down Josef’s spine.

“And what do you have here?” he asked, his blood
already heating as he ran his gaze over the girl’s scantily clad body, a short
nightgown and hoodie the only clothes covering what was clearly a lean,
athletic build.

“We caught her creeping away from the house next
door,” the Casus on her right replied, his long fingers digging into the
wriggling girl’s biceps. “Said she was sneaking out to meet her boyfriend, but
we haven’t found any sign of him.”

Josef clucked his tongue. “Naughty girl,” he murmured,
moving toward her. She trembled, tears pouring down her face, the heavy scent
of her terror thickening his body with hunger. Others from his unit came their
way, drawn no doubt by the girl’s fear-thick scent. Addressing two of his men,
Josef said, “Search the woods for the boyfriend. If you find him, I want him
brought in alive.”

“What are you going to do with her?” Miles demanded at
his back.

Looking over his shoulder, Josef arched one brow. “Is
that really any of your business?”

Miles’s voice shook with rage. “You can’t kill her.
It’s forbidden to take a human until Calder says otherwise. We’re only allowed
to feed from animals, Josef.”

“On the contrary,” Josef replied with a low, husky
laugh. “She’s seen our faces, which means she can’t be allowed to live. Calder
would insist she be taken down.”

Miles’s ice-blue eyes burned with hatred. “You can’t
feed from her.”

“Wrong, Miles. I can do whatever the hell I want.”
Turning his attention back to the girl, Josef reached out and stroked his hand
down the pale, shimmering length of her golden hair. “She must be dealt with
immediately.”

Miles moved to Josef’s right, aggression pumping off
his muscular body like a sweltering wave of heat, his meaty hands fisted with
frustration. “You’re walking a dangerous line, Josef.”

Cocking his head a fraction to the side, Josef held
the Casus’s scornful stare, silently warning him to back off. When Miles failed
to relent, Josef transformed his right hand in a lightning-quick movement, his
long claws wrapping around Miles’s throat before the Casus could so much as
blink. Miles froze, his eyes wide with fear, his clammy skin only a fraction
away from being sliced open beneath Josef’s lethal grip.

Leaning close, Josef whispered against the other man’s
cheek. “Do you really want to lecture me, Miles?”

The Casus held perfectly still, not even daring to
breathe, and Josef gave a low, arrogant rumble of laughter. “That’s what I
thought,” he drawled, releasing his hold. Miles swallowed convulsively, sucking
in a shuddering breath, his expression an entertaining blend of outrage, relief
and lingering fear. Josef smirked at how easy it’d been to cow the soldier,
then turned his attention back to the girl, whose terrified gaze had latched
itself on to his clawed right hand.

“Now, where were we, sweetheart?” Wearing a lopsided
grin, he stepped forward, then hooked his claws at the neckline of her gown,
shredding the cloth down the center. She screamed behind the gag, flailing and
kicking, but he could see in her glazed eyes that she knew it was too late.
Nothing was going to save her now. Not her boyfriend or her sleeping parents or
Miles’s pathetic protests. And despite what Miles believed, there would be no
repercussions for her death. After all, Josef had Calder’s permission to take
as many of her kind as he needed.

His whole purpose in being there was to take down
Gregory, and it was no secret that DeKreznick had been taking human meals. In
order to match him in strength, Josef had been given permission to take proper
feedings, so long as he was careful to keep control of his hunger, without
allowing it to override his reason, as it had done to Gregory’s brother.

Without taking his eyes off the girl’s twisting body,
he spoke to his men. “Secure her on the ground, arms and legs spread as wide as
they’ll go.”

While the Casus followed his orders, Josef removed his
clothing, then leaned his head back, soaking in the light mist of rain against
his naked flesh as he allowed the full change to overtake him, transforming his
body into the ultimate instrument of pain. Thunder bellowed in the distance,
echoing the frantic pounding of the girl’s heart as Josef positioned his
massive, leathery gray body between her thighs. Taking a handful of earth that
held the human Harcourt sister’s delicious scent, he rubbed it over the girl’s
trembling body, grinding the dirt into her pale breasts. As he pulled in a deep
breath, Josef smiled down into her fear-twisted face. “That’s better. Now you
smell good enough to eat.”

So good, in fact, that for a moment he actually
considered keeping her around for seconds. Like leftovers, he could taste her
again before making the kill. Tie her up on a bed and have his way with her for
as long as he liked.

It was an interesting thought, but then he shook his
head, changing his mind. If he was going to put that kind of effort into it,
why not wait until he finally got his hands on Olivia Harcourt? Her scent was
compelling enough to keep it interesting long after she’d gone numb from fear.

Covering the girl’s body with his heavy form, Josef
growled with triumph as he took his first bite at her shoulder, burying his
fangs hard and deep. God, there was nothing like it, the power that came with
the kill. He didn’t even mind that they weren’t alone. The greedy eyes of those
watching only made it sweeter. Made him feel like a god. One whose due was this
succulent little piece of flesh beneath him.

Josef only wished he had more time to enjoy her.

Though his ears were roaring with the ecstasy of the
kill, a sharp sound caught his attention, and as he turned his wolf-shaped head
to the right, he found Miles backing away, the Casus’s forearm held over the
lower part of his face, as if to block out the intoxicating scent and taste of
the girl’s blood in the air. Staring into the man’s horrified eyes, Josef gave
him a slow, bloodied smile.

“And Miles,” he called out, the raspy words garbled by
the distorted shape of his mouth.

“Yeah?”

“Third time’s a charm. Screw up again and I’ll be
sending you back to Meridian myself. In pieces.”

The Casus responded with a curt nod, then turned and
quickly disappeared into the darkness, leaving Josef to his feast.

Saturday morning

THE INSTANT OLIVIA OPENED her eyes, the bright streams
of sunshine creeping around the edges of the blinds told her that she’d
overslept. She was still rubbing her eyes, trying to get her brain working,
when Aiden came out of the steam-filled bathroom wearing nothing but his
signature smart-ass grin…and a snowy-white towel tied around his sleek waist.
She knew she should look away, but it just wasn’t going to happen. Not in this
lifetime. The guy was nothing short of perfection. Pure animalistic beauty, deadly
and dangerous and drop-dead gorgeous. She couldn’t stop watching the way his
muscles moved beneath all that dark golden skin as he walked across the room,
everything cut and tight…and big. She wasn’t some shrinking violet, but it was
impossible not to feel small and delicate and dainty when he was near. His body
was massive…huge, the towel leaving far too much firm, mouthwatering flesh for
her to ogle.

And you’re going to just keep on ogling the poor guy
until you make an ass of yourself, aren’t you?

She mentally nodded in response to the silent
question, knowing it was true. But what hot-blooded woman wouldn’t ogle such a
prime specimen of rugged, masculine beauty? He truly did remind her of an
ancient Celtic warrior. His body wasn’t the kind you found in a gym. No, it was
a body that had been honed into a lethal weapon, its purpose to destroy its
enemies. His shoulders were broad, his muscles ropy and thick, and yet he
didn’t look overblown. Instead, Aiden Shrader had the sleek, toned look of a
deadly predator. One she could easily imagine crouching in the silent darkness
of the night with gaping jaws, eyes glowing as it stalked its prey.

Knowing she was going to do something embarrassing if
she allowed herself to keep staring, Olivia managed a deep breath and finally
forced herself to look away. She figured she would last about a second before
her gaze shot right back to him, gorging on the visual feast, but a startled
cry broke from her lips the instant she spotted the empty side of the bed.
“Where’s Jamie?” she demanded, lurching up into a sitting position, her wild
gaze flying around the room in a terrified search for her niece.

“Calm down, Liv. She’s fine.” Her gaze whipped back in
Aiden’s direction as he picked up a comb off the dresser and began working it
through the wet skeins of his hair, his powerful biceps bulging as he raised
his arms. “You were out for the count when she woke up, so I helped her pick
out some clothes. She dressed herself in the bathroom, brushed her teeth, then
claimed she was starving, so Kellan and Noah took her to the restaurant for
some pancakes and sausage.” With a grin kicking up the corner of his mouth, he
laughed as he said, “She’s already got those two wrapped around her little
finger.”

“Oh.” She blinked, trying to decide how she felt about
that. “Will she be okay with them?” He gave her a look that had her wincing,
and she shook her head, trying to get her thoughts in order. “I’m sorry,” she
murmured, rubbing two fingers against her pounding forehead. “I don’t mean to
insult anyone, especially after what the three of you did for us last night.
It’s just that I don’t…well, I don’t know them.”

“Nothing’s going to happen to Jamie on our watch, Liv.
Kellan and Noah are two of the best guys I’ve ever known. They’re taking good
care of her.”

Olivia nodded, surprised to find that she actually
believed him. The pressure in her chest began to ease a little, allowing her
heart to beat a bit more normally, her lungs no longer choked with fear. Of
course, the instant she was no longer upset about Jamie, her hormones reminded
her that she was alone with a half-naked man. One who just so happened to be
the hottest thing she’d ever set eyes on. And as one minute flowed into the
next, Olivia suddenly found herself thinking that if the towel around Shrader’s
waist was just a little smaller, she’d be able to get a glimpse of…well, of all
of him. And from what she’d seen last night, she knew there’d be nothing
“little” about it.