Authors: Eve Langlais
coming apart at his hands and cock. He murmured his pleasure, and joined her with a shout of her name and a final thrust that spilled his seed, hot and welcome inside.
Limp, she would have slumped to the shower floor, but somehow, he pulled her upright and into the spray. He washed her with gentle hands, his eyes tender, and in that moment, Renee realized she was in love. In love with the fierce croc who turned into the most caring of men for her alone.
She didn’t announce her revelation fearing she’d scare him off, or that he’d try and refute her emotions. But as she lay cradled in his arms, bodies snuggled skin to skin, she was determined to do everything she could to keep him and show him that she had what it took to be his mate.
Viktor woke in a great mood. It could have had something to do with the fact a vixen lay curled against him. Or that his injuries were mostly healed and barely twinged when he stretched. And the sun was shining. Okay, who was he kidding? It had everything to do with Renee.
Something about her, everything in fact, drew him despite all logic. He could list a number of reasons why they shouldn’t stay together. But his one reason for keeping her,
I love her,
eradicated all the excuses not to. And perhaps it was presumptuous of him, but he hoped she felt the same way. She certainly seemed to with the way she was at ease only around him. How, despite the fact she’d mostly overcome her fear of the sky, she still insisted on holding onto him.
Driven into work by a FUC agent after a leisurely breakfast – where he put his counter to good use and exercised his tongue – he ignored the chauffeur’s amusement to tug Renee onto his lap. He nuzzled her neck, loving the rattling sound of pleasure she made. He was a changed man, around her at any rate. He’d once made fun of men who lost their dignity for love. Now, he couldn’t imagine life any other way. And he dared anyone to make fun of him. He could use some new targets for
what would happen to ruin what he and Renee had together. Would the mastermind come after Renee? Viktor didn’t have any qualms about taking the bitch down, glasses wearing girl or not. Nobody hurt his vixen.
However, the danger to his newfound happiness didn’t end up coming in the package he expected. Nor was it one he could fight.
Entering the FUC offices, agents shouting out congratulations and teasing remarks about getting his ass saved by a girl, Renee alternated between beaming at the praise and scowling at the jokes.
“Why do they keep laughing? Don’t they understand you were shot?” she grumbled. “You would have saved me otherwise.”
Viktor shrugged, amused at her irritation on his behalf. “It’s what friends do. They joke about things we don’t find funny. Don’t worry. We’ll get our chance to do the same back at some point.” Or he’d get them on the training grounds when he worked the agents extra hard. Hide behind his girlfriend indeed!
The receptionist smiled as she saw them. “Good morning, you two. Good job on kicking those hunters asses, Renee. You just proved once again why women are needed for a better FUC. And Viktor, glad to see you’re recovering.”
“Kloe’s waiting in her office with a surprise.”
“What surprise?”
“You’ll both see.”
With that enigmatic reply, the receptionist ignored them
to answer the phone.
“What could it be?” Renee asked.
“I don’t know, but I say we find out.” But he couldn’t
shake the trepidation attempting to dig its claws in. In the heart of the FUC office, he didn’t fear danger, but a knot in his gut told him to pick Renee up and run.
As soon as he walked into his boss’s office, he silently cursed and wished he’d followed his instincts. Especially when he saw the alligator skin bag.
Viktor paused mid-step and Renee bumped into his back. What caused him to hesitate?
He didn’t say a word as he stepped aside and tugged Renee forward. Before she could ask him what was wrong, a large woman with fire-engine-red hair, enveloped her in a hug surely meant to crush every bone in her body. “Mon bébé! Oh que je t’ai manqué, ma petite.”
Renee panicked. Pushing at the hugging woman, she scrambled away and hid behind Viktor, wrapping her arms around his waist. Her heart raced as her mind tried to tell her why the woman looked familiar. She hid from the truth instead, burying her face in his back.
“Why does she hide?” asked the stranger with a strong
Why would introductions matter? Renee still wouldn’t want a stranger to strangle her.
“Moi? I am Madame Louise Renarde, her mother.”
A good thing Renee held on to Viktor because her knees went weak at the announcement. Peeking around his side, she looked at the woman who made the declaration. Almost as tall as Renee, with brighter brassy locks, familiar golden orbs and a smell… Renee inhaled a scent which seemed hauntingly familiar. Could this woman truly be her mother?
Kloe confirmed it. “Sorry to spring the surprise on you, but she arrived just this morning from Quebec, Canada. As per Viktor’s request, we sent out a notice to all the FUC offices seeing if we could match up Renee with any of the missing children reports.”
“Renee? Who is Renee?” asked the woman. “My bébé’s name is Monique. Monique Renarde of the Montreal Red Fox
My mother. Monique.
The startling revelations spun in her mind and Renee didn’t know what to do, or say. She didn’t find help from her croc. Viktor stood still as a statue, not speaking. She hugged him, but he didn’t offer the expected reassurance.
“I thank the FUC agents for rescuing her,
finally.
” The hard emphasis eloquently stated what Louise Renarde thought of the timeframe. “But now, if you’ll excuse us, my daughter and I have much to catch up on. I will book us a flight home as soon as possible.”
Renee’s eyes widened as her mother guessed – correctly – at their relationship.
“I care a great deal for Ren–Monique,” Viktor stated, although the way he said it, in a flat monotone, sounded anything but.
“Cared so much you didn’t pay attention and they almost caught her? I hear she is the one who rescued you both from some villains. It seems to me perhaps she is not the one who needs protecting. Non?”
Renee didn’t like the implication and stepped forth from behind Viktor, ready to defend him.
“Viktor did his best, but we were ambushed.”
“His best almost saw you lost again.”
Taking a deep breath, she didn’t hide from the woman who spoke so sharply, but Renee stood her ground, protecting her croc. “It was an unfortunate incident that, thankfully, turned out well. I don’t want you talking bad about him. He’s been nothing but good to me.”
To Renee’s horror –
or should I be calling myself Monique now?
– her mother burst into tears. “Oh, mon dieu. I waited so long to find you, only to have you take the side of this - this lizard. How your ancestors must be turning in their graves.” Her mother wailed and Renee/Monique could only gape in horror. What should she do? Somehow her first impulse to run didn’t seem appropriate.
“I think I should leave,” Viktor said softly.
Panicked, Renee – because the name Monique just didn’t feel right – turned to grip his shirt. “No. Don’t go. Please. I need you.”
Eyes and expression blank, he brushed a strand of hair back from her face. “Your mother has missed you. She’s your family. Go. Spend some time with her. I won’t be far if you need
flung her arms around him and forced one upon his lips. Stiff at first, his mouth softened under her frantic embrace. He broke it off and leaned his forehead against hers, whispering, “Everything will be alright.”
Viktor wanted to hit something. Wanted to grab Renee and run. Wanted to…have the impossible.
Faced with the fact Renee belonged to a family, had roots and a life, which though forgotten, waited for her to return, made him realize how foolish his dream was.
I should have known better than to think a cold blooded croc could keep his sweet fox.
It wasn’t just age that separated them, but genesis. She belonged with her family and others of her kind. While some species could interbreed, cold and hot couldn’t. He could never give Renee what she deserved – children, a family of her own.
While she might protest his decision now, he did it for her own good, and in time, she’d accept it. No matter how it crushed his finally beating heart.
The biggest question was, how to leave the scene gracefully? Did he do the honorable thing and tell her upfront things were over? Or should he disappear into the swamp until she left and forgot about him?
His mind said he should choose honesty. The ache in his heart, though, won. He couldn’t tell her to go. Couldn’t tell her to leave him and not look back. He wanted Renee. Wanted her forever, even if he wasn’t the best thing for her. Even if she deserved better. He loved her too much to set her free.
So, for the first time in his life, he chose the cowardly route. He faded into the background as Kloe handled the reunion. Shadowed them when the trio went to lunch. He didn’t do it just because of his promise to Renee to stay nearby. He worried the mastermind would resurface. Yes, his vixen’s beast was big and dangerous, but as he’d learned, she couldn’t call upon it at will.
Hidden, and out of touch, he would watch over her, until he knew she was safe. No matter how long it took. And then, he’d retire to the swamp. Become an ornery croc for real, like his uncle Boris, remembering and regretting the times of warmth, the times he held her in his arms.
Damn his sappy thoughts. Where was an enemy when he needed to maim something?
After Viktor left her to the mercy of her mother, who alternated between ranting at the injustice of Renee’s captivity in a mixture of French and English, and the sobs of how much she missed her, Renee vacillated between fascination in discovering the past she’d forgotten, and unease. She’d not liked the way she and her croc parted. Something about his kiss and words screamed he wasn’t coming back. But surely he wouldn’t leave her, not after what they shared?
Hours later, fed, her mind full of stories and details about the life she used to have, Renee was ready to go home. Home to her croc. A part of her understood the woman she’d spent the day with was her mother, something she’d always wanted. But, she couldn’t remember her. Couldn’t remember any of the people she spoke of, or the stories she related. Didn’t feel the instant bond and sense of coming home like she had when she met Viktor. She needed to see him.
“When is Viktor coming to get me?” Renee asked as her mother bustled around the small kitchen within the rented hotel suite. Human owned, Kloe wasn’t pleased with the choice, stating they wouldn’t have the ability to protect them as well. Louise Renarde, though, did as she chose.
Renee’s heart stalled, but she didn’t think it had anything to do with the drugs she used to take. “What do you mean he’s not coming back?”
Placing the Chinese take-out they’d purchased before coming upstairs onto plates, her mother paused. “I don’t want that man coming near you. That dirty lizard has taken enough advantage.”
“Don’t talk about him like that. He loves me. And I love him.”
“He has told you that?”
“No, but –”
Mother’s lip curled. “Pfft! You can do much better than an animal that lives in muddy water. When we return to Quebec, I will introduce you to some proper men. Like Francois, the son of some friends of mine. He is from a very distinguished family of silver foxes.”
Leave? “But I don’t want to go to Quebec. I want to stay
“Stay here for what? There is nothing here for you.” “Viktor’s here.”
“Is he?” her mother replied slyly.
True, Renee had not seen him since the morning, but
“My poor bébé. I fear you are mistaken. He is done with you. There is no reason to stay. He has done what most men do –conquered your pants and moved on to his next conquest.”
“He wouldn’t do that. He cares for me,” Renee said, refusing to give in to her headstrong mother. As if she’d believe a stranger when her own instincts screamed that the man she’d gotten to know wouldn’t use her that way. He’d fought his attraction to her and lost because he felt something, something more than just a carnal need.
“Cares for you? I doubt that. I heard the story of your courtship, or lack of. He tried to have you assigned to someone else.”
“Because he was being honorable. I made him keep me.” “And did you make him seduce you too?”
Her red cheeks answered that question.
“Mon dieu. Non. Ce n’est pas acceptable. You will
forget this man and come home where you belong.”
“No, I’m not.” When her mother would have spoken
again, Renee held up a hand. “No. You need to listen to me.
While I am delighted I found you and I’ve always wanted a
mother, I don’t remember you. Or the life we had before the lab.
I want to learn about my roots. Get to know you, but I’m not
going to give up the one thing, the one person who makes life
finally worth living. I want to get to know you and have you in
my life, but you have to understand, I need him. I love him.” “Too late. The arrangements have been made. You will
come back with me, home where you belong. You will forget
this crocodile. As if that would work. Don’t you know, our kind
can’t mate with theirs?”
Renee pressed her lips together. “If you were hoping for
grandchildren, then you’re out of luck. I’ve imbibed so many
drug cocktails and had my ovaries harvested so many times,
there isn’t a darned egg left. Or none that would prove viable.”
A sad fact she’d had years to come to terms with. Beside, having
spent so much time incarcerated, she wanted time to live, to
love, to discover. She’d leave children to those less damaged
both in body and spirit. Her, she wanted adventure, and her