Act of Surrender: An Immortal Ops World Novel (PSI-Ops / Immortal Ops Book 2) (15 page)

“I did this,” she said. “I was so stupid. I thought this would somehow answer my questions. That by following this trail it would lead me to answers about my birth and where I’m from, how I came to be. I didn’t realize it would end like this.”

James let her talk, knowing she needed to get it all out. Needed to talk it through in order to try to wrap her mind around it. None of what had happened could be easy for her to fully grasp. She was young and idealistic. She hadn’t known the true horrors that existed in the world. The monsters hell-bent on destruction. She’d been curious and that was hardly a sin.

“Casey, he’d have put up a fight,” she said softly. “He wouldn’t take an attack lying down. Oh, Hagen, what have I done?”

“When my team gets here, we’ll make sure the hotel is gone to,” he said.

“So that the bodies of my family can be cleaned up before the public finds out, right?” she asked, venom dripping from her words.

“Laney, we don’t know for sure that they are dead. We need all the facts before we go borrowing trouble and getting ahead of ourselves. They could be fine. We don’t know anything yet.”
 

She closed her eyes a moment. “Maybe, but I don’t think so. I want to hope you’re right but I don’t know.”

“I understand,” he said and he did. He knew what carrying the guilt of getting someone you cared for killed could do to a person. And he was right, they didn’t have anything concrete that said her boys were dead. Luck could have somehow found them, but he doubted it. He’d keep that to himself for now. She didn’t need to hear it.

She leaned her head against his chest and was quiet for a spell, caressing his chest. When she spoke, it was low. “Kiss me again.”
 

“What?” he asked, sure he’d heard her wrong.

“Kiss me and make me forget. Even if just for a little bit,” she pleaded.

Unable to deny her, James lifted her more and lowered his head. She came up in his arms, her hands going to the sides of his face as she attacked his mouth with hers. James nearly dropped her as fire shot right to his groin, centering there, hardening his cock at an alarming rate. The alpha side of him demanded he take the lead, that he prove he was in charge, but the other part of him, the one that was scared shitless of what Bertrand had done to him and that he might lose control let her set the pace in which they’d move forward.

Her tongue darted into his mouth and James moaned, his hold on her tightening. He had to be mindful not to hurt her. He wanted this woman. Wanted to feel her body wrapped around his. Wanted to see her face when she came. Wanted to wake up with her still by his side come morning. It had been over a century since he’d felt anything close to raw need, and with a pang of remorse he realized what he’d felt for Elsbeth paled in comparison to what he felt for the woman in his arms—a woman, in truth, he barely knew.

Feels like I’ve known her forever and day.

His wolf pushed up fast and he swayed, fighting to stay upright, keep his beast down and hold Laney.

Claim her.

His gums burned, his teeth threatening to lengthen. He extended his fingers, fearing claws would emerge and in the process cut or harm Laney. That was completely unacceptable. James swallowed hard and nearly dropped Laney, just to put distance between himself and her. She didn’t need to deal with him and his fucked-up alpha-male altered wiring. She had enough crap to deal with.

Her gaze swept up to meet his. She reached up, her lips parting as she touched just beneath his right eye. “Your eyes,” she whispered. “They’re not green anymore.”
 

Oh shit.

James tensed, waiting for her to freak out about his shifted eye color. He hoped she’d remain calm since she’d taken the sight of his shifted arms without too much theatrics.

“They’re… Hagen, they’re red.”
 

Red?
 

In shifted form his eyes were a light amber normally. Red? What the hell had the Corporation done to him? The horror of what he might do, what he might turn into—a single-minded killing machine—hit him with enough force to make him react. He staggered and Laney pushed to get down.
 

He let her, knowing she needed to be far from him.

The damn fool of a woman she grabbed for him, her fingers brushing over his skin, exciting him more. Was she crazy? Did she have a death wish?

“Hagen?”

He shook his head, leaping back from her. Missing her touch but wanting her safe. “No. I could hurt you.”
 

With a dramatic huff, she rolled her eyes and approached him quickly. She slapped his arm lightly. “Knock it off. You just told me you wouldn’t hurt me. Remember?”

He did remember and he’d been a damn fool to believe he was safe to be near. “That was before I realized I’m not in control of myself right now, Laney.”
 

“Are you going to eat me?” she asked, turning one foot as she put a hand to her hip, standing in a cocky pose, eyeing him up and down. “You just made out with me. Was that how you tenderize your meat?”

“No. Well, shit. I don’t think so,” he said, looking at his hands which were still in human form. He held them out, staring at them, fearing at any minute they’d shift and he’d have no control over his wolf. That it might hurt Laney.

No!

His wolf thrust up at him, angry he’d even think such a thing. It wouldn’t hurt her. Others, yes, but not her. Not the woman before him.

Laney groaned and reached for him, her hands going to his face. “Dude, seriously? You just saved my life. You put yourself over me to protect me from bullets and then carried me as I cried. If you were going to kill me, wouldn’t you have just let the bad guys do it? I’d figure
the Man
would be all about bullet-saving.”

“You accepted candy from strangers as a child, didn’t you?” he asked, staring at her, realizing she must be crazy to trust him. He had frigging red eyes. He didn’t even trust himself at the moment.

“Oh yes, buckets upon buckets of it,” she replied with a sarcastic expression. “Are you done being stupid? You’re not going to eat me.”
 

His gaze eased down her, to the top of her short mini skirt. He wanted to slink it up and reveal her womanhood. Hell yeah, he’d eat her, just not in the way she was asking about.

Before he knew it, his hands were acting independent of his brain—roaming down her body, feeling her curves before settling on her hips. He yanked her to him and she gasped, looking up at him, her lips parting.

James kissed her and he didn’t bother with being gentle either. He went strong and hard at her mouth, loving the taste of her. The little vixen pressed against him, pushing, almost scaling him—showing her eagerness and willingness to accept him.

His cock was more than pleased to have her on board with what it had been wanting to do for a week.

The more she rubbed on him, the more he realized he had about as much control over his orgasm in regards to Laney as he’d had when he was in his teens, and the very idea of a woman’s body could make him spill his seed. The revelation wasn’t one of his finer moments. He only hoped he didn’t embarrass himself with her.

He sensed his wolf pushing at him, wanting him to take their interaction past the point of acceptable. James didn’t trust it or himself and he froze. He eased away from her slightly, remembering her words about if he would or would not eat her.

His gaze traveled back to her groin area. His mouth watered at the idea of being able to ease his tongue over her slit and taste her cream. Inhaling, he took in a deep breath, drawing in the scent of the very cream he wanted to sample.

She snapped her fingers. “Eyes up, Wolf Doc.”
 

He looked up at her face and had to take a second to gather his wits. His brain was currently operating from between his thighs. Not in his head.

She gave him a knowing look. “Just because I’m a virgin doesn’t mean I don’t know what you were just thinking. I didn’t even need that fancy mind-reading gig you’ve got going for you. Deduced that one all on my own.”
 

He closed his eyes, ashamed at his behavior. He was acting like a randy rake. Hell, Striker behaved better. “I’m sorry.”
 

“We can do that later,” she said, a slight smile appearing on her face. That smile was so damn suggestive that James found it hard to see past it. “For now, I need to know what you know. What is really going on, and I need to know if my boys are all right.”

Stunned, James stood there, his mouth agape. “Did you just tell me I could do what I think you said I could do later?”
 

She touched her lower lip and nodded. “Yep. I did.”
 

He stiffened. “Let just anyone do that to you, do you?”
 

He couldn’t stop the jealousy that rose inside him.

“Don’t be a douche,” she snapped, bringing him back to his senses. “Of course not. Virgin, remember? Besides, you’re not just anyone, are you, Hagen?”

He grimaced, embarrassed by the way he was acting. It was as if he’d suddenly taken dating tips from Striker or even Duke, prior to Duke’s mating.
 
Duke had been a complete ladies’ man—never denied it, and the endless line of women he bedded knew the score. It was sex and that was all there was to it. Until Mercy. From everything James had heard, Mercy made him work for it.
 

Just like Laney is making you work for it.
He cleared his throat, reminding himself that Mercy and Duke were mates. He and Laney were just…

What were they?
 

Friends?

Yes.

More than that?

Maybe.

But how much more?

He licked his lips. “No. I’m not just anyone.”

“You’re the man I’ve spent the last week forgoing sleep just to talk to. I told you a lot of things about myself. More than I told most.”

“Laney, I was supposed to gather information on you,” he said. He waited for her anger to come. He felt like the lowest of the lows. He’d used her to do his job. “You were supposed to be just a mission to me.”

She sighed. “Hagen, I worked that out on my own when I saw the fur on your arms.”

“Oh.”
 

“Are you sure you’re a doctor, because right now, I’m not believing it,” she returned with a grin. “Seem a little slow on the response time and all.”

James shrugged. “Most go-rounds I’m a healer of some sort. Once, I was a hot dog vendor.”

“Most go-rounds? A hot dog vendor?” Her brows raised. “That is a story you are going to tell me more about, bucko. When we get through this, I want to hear all about that.”
 

She wanted to see him again? Even after all he’d lied about? After being shot at? After he practically wolfed out in front of her?
 

“Are you crazy?” he asked.

“Certifiable,” she answered. “How about you?”
 

“Pretty sure I have issues, yes.”
 

She walked right up to him and touched his shoulder. He leaned, expecting to be slapped by her. She was well within her rights to haul off and let him have it. Instead, she kissed the tip of his nose. “Show me someone who doesn’t.”

He held her as he turned, hearing footsteps in the distance. He brought a finger to his lips, indicating the need for silence. She stood still and he turned his body, putting it before hers, shielding her as the footfalls grew louder. They were accompanied by something else. Wheels and rattling.

James prepared to attack whoever was coming around the corner. He put his hands out to his sides, ready to let the wolf up if need be. He’d do anything to protect her, even if it meant throwing caution to the wind and hoping for the best with a beast he wasn’t sure he could control.

He waited with baited breath, wondering if it would be Bertrand who emerged. The sick fuck had eluded his team in France, managing to escape after juicing himself with his own concoctions for months—making himself some sort of supernatural blend. A hodgepodge with super-human strength and an already sadistic nature. James was different from many shifters in that he already had small amounts of Fae in him naturally. After what they’d pumped into him after they captured him, he had who knew what else swimming around in him.

James took a fighting stance, crouching despite the pain to his leg. The need to pace was great. He felt like a caged animal. He stood in place only because he didn’t want Laney exposed to whatever evil was coming around the end of the building.

Get ready.

His heart hammered in his chest and his muscles tightened, expecting a battle.

An older man, wearing an old trench coat with patchwork spots dotting the elbows, came around the corner pushing a grocery cart. The cart was filled to the brim with trinkets, all reflecting the low lighting from the security lights at the end of the building. The man smelled human and as if he’d not had a bath in a while. Laney pushed on James’s arms, forcing them down, as if she understood now that they were weapons in themselves.

“Emit!” she exclaimed, rushing around James to the homeless man. She stopped just shy of him. “What are you doing wandering around this time of night? You don’t like the dark very much. Were the shelters full again?”
 

“Ms. Laney,” he said, a smile finding his face. He was missing a few teeth, but the joy in his expression at the sight of Laney couldn’t be denied. “Ms. Laney is okay. Casey was worried.” The man twisted in a circle and pointed with one gloved hand at no one in particular. When he spoke, he threw his voice to be deeper. “No. Emit, it’s not safe here tonight, Emit. You have to go to a shelter for the night. You can’t be here. Bad things are afoot. Leave now, Emit. Go.”
 

Laney gasped and touched the man’s arm. “You went to the hotel tonight?”

Emit stopped spinning and nodded. “Casey said no. He made Emit leave. Said the bad was coming. Said Emit wasn’t safe there.”

Laney choked up. “Did you see Gus and Bill?”
 

“Gus has books. Bill has planes.”