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  “Fast,” she breathed. “Definitely fast. I don’t want to wait this time. Please, don’t make me wait.”

  He smiled that crooked smile at her and moved closer, aligning his hard cock with her wet opening. She was more than ready for him. She was desperate for him. Never before had she been so quick to go from warm to inferno for a man. Only Steve brought out the wilder side of her sexuality. There was something wild about him that met and matched the siren that rested deep in her soul.

  “Your wish is my command,” he teased as he moved closer still and began to slide into her. She had to change her position a bit to accommodate his large size. He went slow at first, making sure she had enough time to adjust to him. “Okay?” he asked at one point when he was about halfway in. He stopped and waited for her answer.

  She clutched at his shoulders and moaned. “More,” she demanded. She was beyond more than single-syllable responses. She craved him and she needed more. Why was he holding back? Couldn’t he see she was desperate?

  He chuckled and pushed all the way in, resting only a moment before setting up a steady rhythm she soon picked up. She met him thrust for thrust and helped as much as she could from her rather precarious perch up on the counter top. But Steve was solid as a rock. He anchored her. He took care of her. He’d make sure she wouldn’t fall. She knew that much about him already and trusted him to look after her.

  But she wanted more. She wanted to come. Desperately.

  “Harder,” she urged, moving her legs around his narrow waist, her heels bumping against his tight butt. Hot damn, the man was built.

  He obliged, speeding up as well as being a little less delicate in his movements. She knew he was being careful because of their position, but she wanted him to let go. Maybe the next time they could be in a bed and she could coax him into letting his wildman show a little more. She’d just bet he could do a lot with a bed.

  She was panting as her excitement rose. His hands coaxed, stroking over her body, pausing to squeeze her nipples and then move lower. When he rubbed his fingers over her clit in time with his thrusts, all bets were off. She came hard, crying out as she convulsed around him. Only a moment later, she felt him tense and release inside her.

  He hadn’t worn a condom—something she insisted on with other men—but with Steve, it seemed wrong somehow. She didn’t understand why the habit of a lifetime seemed unimportant, even abhorrent, in conjunction with this particular man. He was turning her world upside down and inside out, and she didn’t care. She wanted it. She wanted it all. With him.

  And him alone.

  He clutched her to him as they both rode the wave of sensation. She felt adrift on a sea of bliss, buffeted about by the currents of satisfaction and an almost unquenchable desire. She’d never felt quite like this before.

  She stiffened when his phone rang again, but he didn’t leave her. In fact, he held her gaze as he reached for the phone he’d left on the counter top and answered the call.

  “Hi, Deke.”

  Holy shit. He was talking to her brother. She wanted to squirm away but his body pinned her. His gaze pinned her as well. He stared deep into her eyes as he spoke.

  “Everything’s okay. I picked up surveillance as they left their hotel. They went to a club. Drank too much. Stumbled home. The end.”

  Steve was still inside her, a definite presence as he spoke to her brother. Shockingly, she felt her body warm to the forbidden sensations. She felt like she might come again, but she couldn’t. Not while she was less than a foot away from a very sensitive microphone with her very overprotective and suspicious brother on the other end.

  “Yeah, I’ll keep you posted,” Steve went on after her brother had said something she didn’t really hear. She’d been concentrating too hard on not coming. “Sure. Talk to you tomorrow.”

  Steven pressed END very deliberately on the phone and then tossed it back onto the counter top. Still holding her gaze, he moved his fingers back down to her clit and squeezed.

  That’s all it took to send her over the edge one more time. She tensed and shook as he brought her another climax. He watched her throughout, only moving his hand away after the very last of the aftershocks had ended.

  “You’re even more beautiful when you come,” he whispered. He cupped her cheek and dipped closer for a lingering kiss.

  He was getting hard again within her but he pulled out. She tried to quell her disappointment. The lab setting had been fun, but she wanted to try him in a bed, and the sooner they got back to the house and found one, the better as far as she was concerned.

  The lab had everything she needed to clean up. Paper towels, a sink, a biohazard disposal can. She snickered and shot him a teasing look when she threw the paper towels she’d used in there. She liked that she could make him laugh and he got her sometimes quirky sense of humor.

  They left the building together, and this time, he was holding her hand. She liked the feeling, though she hadn’t held hands with a boy since she was a teenager. Somehow, he made it all fresh and new. Special. Just like him.

  True to his word, there were two other vehicles waiting outside for them and a few big guys at the door. He greeted them by name and nodded at them while he ushered her back to his vehicle. He opened her door and helped her get settled, stealing a quick kiss before sealing her inside the SUV. When he climbed in behind the steering wheel, the other guys piled into their dark vehicles too. Within moments, they were all heading back the way they’d come—one escort vehicle in front and one behind theirs.

  “So those guys work for you?” she asked, curious about the huge men who were even now guarding their path.

  “Yeah. They’re all good friends too. And just so you know, they were guarding us on the way here too, you just didn’t see them. I wanted a chance to explain the danger to you first, before you knew I was having us watched. It was also a good demonstration at my boys’ stealth capabilities.”

  “Wow, you’re right. I didn’t see them at all.” She looked out the window at the very big, very obvious vehicles. How could she have missed them before?

  “That was the point,” he answered, a little smug. “They’re good at what they do and you can trust them to look out for you. Quite a few of them served with your brother too,” he added, frowning.

  “My brother.” Now that was a subject sure to put a downer on things.

  “Yeah.” Steve sighed as he turned a corner, casually checking his mirrors. “We’re going to have to talk about him sooner or later. All the guys in our unit knew how he was about you. Protective in the extreme.”

  “Over-protective, you mean.” She leaned her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes briefly. “I guess it all stems from our childhood. When his dad died, it shook his world, I think. Then a few years later, Mom remarried. By the time I was born, Mom says Deke’s protective instincts had really ratcheted into high gear, even though he was only a kid. He loved his dad—followed him into the Army despite the admiral’s influence—but Deke bonded with my dad more than any of them ever expected. They’re two peas in a pod. Cut from the same cloth. Whatever cliché you want to use. They’re two very scary dudes when they’re in circle-the-wagons mode, and they’re chauvinists through and through.”

  “I didn’t realize you were half-siblings.” Steve said and then got really quiet. Maybe it was just the dark of the night closing in around them, but the mood in the small cabin of the vehicle suddenly changed from casual to alert.

  “Yeah. Does it make a difference?”

  “Not to me,” he was quick to assure her. “But it could explain a few things.”

  “Like what?” She turned to watch him, concerned when she saw the muscle ticking in his jaw.

  “It’s all part of what I need to tell you, but I’d rather wait until we’re back at the house. Your dad, was he Special Forces too? Is that what you mean about him being an influence on Deke?”

  She had no idea why he was being so mysterious and it worried her a
little, but she was willing to answer his questions. For now. But the time was soon coming when she’d demand a few answers of her own.

  “Yeah, Dad’s a Navy SEAL. Mom has a thing for military guys, I guess. Deke’s dad was Army, so he decided to shoot for Green Beret. The only thing he doesn’t share with my dad is his affinity for water. Dad swims like a fish. Deke sorta sank a lot when he was younger. He overcame it, but it wasn’t a natural skill for him.”

  “Your father is Admiral Morrow?” Steve asked, as if only just realizing the connection.

  “Yeah. Deke took his last name when Dad officially adopted him soon after my folks got married. Why?”

  “Because I’ve heard Deke deny any connection to the admiral. One time someone asked him about it and he insisted that the last name was just a coincidence.” Steven gave her that raised-eyebrow look that spoke volumes.

  “Well, I know Deke doesn’t like getting special treatment because of who he’s related to. The higher-ups must know, but he probably doesn’t want the guys he works with day-to-day looking at him differently because of it.”

  “I guess so,” Steve replied noncommittally.

  She sighed and looked out the window, squinting her eyes as they crossed a road. There was a big pickup truck on the side street moving way too fast.

  “Red?” was all she had time to say before their vehicle was hit by the other one and spun out of control.

  Time slowed as the fact that they’d just been rammed by a truck filtered though her shocked mind. It had hit the rear of their SUV and put them into a spin. A few feet sooner and she’d have been in the impact zone.

  Information came at her hard and fast. They were spinning down the side street. The truck had pushed them across the intersection and into a much smaller industrial road. The place was deserted and the quick glimpses she got of the two escort vehicles as she spun around and around told her that they were being waylaid by two more trucks that had come out of nowhere.

  This is an ambush, she thought hysterically as the SUV started to tip over wildly.

  Then it rolled. Someone was screaming and she realized belatedly it was her.

  The sturdy SUV held together and she thanked God she had worn her seatbelt. They came to a stop on their side, her door on the pavement. Steve cut through his seatbelt even before they came to a complete stop, using a knife he’d taken from his boot. He was all action, removing weapons from compartments she hadn’t known about. He handed her a big, black handgun and silently flipped the safety off.

  “Just in case,” he whispered. He didn’t ask if she knew how to shoot. She did, of course. Every person in her family could handle weapons. Dad had made certain of that. “Stay here and whatever you see, don’t shoot me, okay?”

  He gave her a wink that made her want to smile despite the desperate situation. Then he vaulted out of the broken window on his side of the car, which was now facing the sky. She craned her neck to see out the broken window, but the safety glass of the windshield had shattered and held, for the most part. It was really hard to see anything through it.

  Trisha worked on getting herself free of the seat belt. It took some doing, but she was finally able to move. And that’s when she saw the blood. Her leg was bleeding from a long gash that had ruined her stocking. She couldn’t tell how deep it was. Her leg felt mostly numb, so the pain wasn’t really registering. Maybe it would later. But she realized she ought to tie something around her leg, just in case the gash was worse than she hoped. She wiggled out of the ruined stocking and used it to tie a tourniquet around her thigh. Now that hurt, but it was better to be safe than…well…dead from blood loss.

  As she worked, she heard a lot of strange noises from outside. Yelling and…growling? Then screaming. A few sporadic gunshots in the distance. The sound of motors revving and moving away at a fast clip. Then silence.

  She tried to see out the window but the fragmented images made no sense. She saw a cat. A really big cat. And it had blood dripping from its fangs and claws as it padded toward her. And then it…morphed. It changed as it moved into an upright, bipedal shape that was absolutely immense. It was like something out of a horror movie and then it…

  She must’ve lost more blood than she thought. She was hallucinating.

  Chapter Five

  Steve paused to pick up his pants and discarded shirt. He put the pants on and used the dirty T-shirt to wipe the blood off his face and hands. He’d had to use all his abilities to hold off the attackers until his men could fight their way free and come to his aid. They’d managed to run off their attackers, but it had been a close thing.

  Steve had taken a few bites out of the bad guys. He’d know their stink if he encountered any of those men ever again. But they’d buggered off before any of them could be captured and questioned. It was frustrating. There were a lot of questions he wanted to ask those guys, but it looked like he wouldn’t get the chance this night.

  He headed back to the ruined SUV and its precious cargo.

  “It’s okay. They’re gone,” he called out, wanting to make sure she knew not to shoot him. “Let’s get you out of there.”

  “Red?” Her voice quavered and he was surprised by her reaction. He’d thought she was tougher. But it didn’t matter. He was plenty tough enough for both of them.

  He poked his head into the driver’s door, which was now on top. And then the scent of blood hit him strong. Oh, no.

  “Are you hurt, baby?” Son of a bitch. He should never have left her alone. But he’d thought she was okay. Guilt swamped him.

  “My leg,” she whispered. “I think I’ve lost a lot of blood. I saw a cat. And then it was you.”

  She sounded hurt, confused and frightened. He grimaced. The last thing he’d wanted to do was make her afraid of his inner beast.

  “It’s okay, sweetheart. The cat’s gone. I’m here. I’ll take care of you.” He reached in and lifted her out by placing his hands under her arms. She helped as best she could, but she was weak. And from the strong scent of her blood, she really had lost quite a bit.

  He pulled her up and out and into his arms, noting the nylon tourniquet she’d fashioned out of her stocking. Good girl. The bleeding had slowed, but wasn’t quite stopped and that worried him.

  “Rory, get Kate on the phone and have her meet us at the Pack house,” he ordered one of his men, moving as quickly as possible toward one of the cars that had been escorting them. They’d sustained minimal damage and one was a large SUV that would easily fit him and Trisha in the back seat. “Get us out of here, quick as you can. Trisha’s hurt and has lost a lot of blood.”

  “Emergency kit’s in the back,” Rory quickly reminded him as they all piled into the big vehicle.

  Rory was a good man to have around in an emergency. He was a man of few words, but those few were exactly the ones you needed to hear. In this case, Steve was glad to know they had supplies and he could start fixing Trisha up even before they made it to the safety of the Pack house. Rory also drove like a bat out of hell. Which was just what Steve wanted right now. The fastest, safest route, and a competent would-be race car driver.

  Steve took a closer look at Trisha’s leg as they drove. He’d laid her across the bench seat and taken a position by her feet, raising her legs and letting them rest on his thighs. Feet up was a good position for shock and it might slow the bleeding.

  He took a look and was surprised by the jagged gash that was way deeper than he’d thought.

  “I’m glad you got this tourniquet on here, baby,” he whispered. “Don’t worry. We’ll get you fixed up in no time.”

  “Is it bad?” she asked. “I couldn’t really see the wound in the dark.”

  “I’ve seen worse.” Not often, but he had. “It’ll be okay.” He sent prayers heavenward that he wasn’t telling a lie.

  Steve looked out the window to get a read on where they were and realized they had a closer alternative. Making a quick decision, he reached for his phone even as he spoke to their dr
iver.

  “Go to my place, Rory. It’s a lot closer. I’ll call Kate.”

  Putting actions to words, he dialed Slade’s number, knowing Kate would be with him. Slade agreed to the redirect and said they’d meet him at Steve’s house. He’d even send around some of their men to secure the location before they got there. One less thing for Steve to worry about.

  He dug into the supplies in the emergency kit and found a couple of units of saline. He put those aside. He didn’t want to be inserting needles into her veins in a moving vehicle, but it was good to know he had fluids on hand if she needed them.

  “How you doing, Doc?” he asked her, watching her closely for signs she was in trouble.

  “I’m okay. The leg is starting to burn. Do you have any water? Did you bring my bag? I always have a bottle in there.”

  He had snagged her pocketbook on one arm as he took her out of the mangled SUV and had thrown it onto the floor of this vehicle. He dug around until he located it and fished inside until he laid his hands on the cool plastic bottle inside. Sure enough, it was a water bottle. He unscrewed the cap and handed it to her as she tried to push herself up.

  She took the bottle from his hand and he moved to support her back so she could rise up enough to take a few sips. And then, as she started to drink the water, the strangest thing happened.

  Where she’d been on the verge of passing out, suddenly she seemed to gain energy right before his eyes. She stopped trembling. As she downed the water, her color returned. And when he looked at her wound, it seemed to look a bit better than it had just a moment ago.

  Water had done that.

  And then he realized what she was. Or what one of her ancestors must have been. Some kind of water nymph. Judging by the way she drew him, maybe a sea siren.

  Steve had to smile. Sea sirens were said to lure sailors to their death. Well, he wasn’t a sailor and he had a little magic of his own. She definitely lured him to her, but he didn’t think it was to kill him. Unless he could die from pleasure.