Brock (14 page)

“No, actually
we’re from another realm. It’s not unlike this one, but much older than this one is.” Peter sat back in his own chair as he explained. “We left Ravengric when Lady Olivia died. It was…she was Viktor’s mate. And, yes, the name of the realm is named from my master. He and his family are rulers there. When I was made, my master was approached by his oldest brother, King Dakamon, to come here and see how accepting people would be of our kind. Also, we think now it was…it was to get us away. We never guessed that there would be some of us here, though not as powerful as we are.”

“So they didn’t come.”
Peter looked at Viktor, and Brock knew. “They did come to this realm and live here now. Your people, people from your realm.”

“Yes. We are thriving here as well as other peoples from other realms.
We have had to make some changes in our lifestyle as well as our eating habits. On our realm the ones we feed from are welcoming and ready to give us what we need. We pay them for their services and….” Viktor smiled. “I’m sorry. I digress. I would pay you and your mate well to help us. You wouldn’t even need to quit working for your family, but provide us with support when the need arises.”

“So we’d be your hit men.”
Viktor laughed, and Brock smiled. “Not a term you’re using, I guess, but it’s the same thing.”

“Yes, I suppose it is.
My kind has heard of the tiger you have within you, but has never seen it. We’ve heard tales of your strength and power, and know that you cannot be beaten by anything once you’ve set your mind to finding a rogue. Not by a vampire or any other being because of what it means. There are three to their one, and a strength that can never lose with those odds. Additionally, there is the fact that you have a matched mate. Someone who would have your back no matter what happens and love you so much that none could come between you. An invincible pair.”

“And when we’re…we will have children. What happens to them when we’re out saving your asses?”
Peter started to say something, but Viktor cut him off.

“H
e’s right to say he would be saving our collective asses. And to ease your mind, we would send others to protect them as if they were their own. You can trust me when I say that your children will be as safe as they would if you were with them.”

“Sorry
, but I don’t trust you any more than you do me.” Peter stood up, but Brock watched Viktor. When he nodded, Brock leaned back in his chair as Peter sat down.

“You’re a very astute man.
I like that about you.” Brock didn’t move, waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. When it didn’t right away, he decided to push buttons.

“So are you.
But this beating around the bush crap is getting us nowhere fast. I have a mate upstairs that is exhausted from taking care of something that, frankly, you two should have taken care of years ago. She’s been injured by one of your own, as well as had to endure all kinds of hardships that neither the two of you could even guess. What the fuck do you want?” Brock stood up. “Either say it or get out of my house. I have more important things to do with my time.”

Peter was pissed instantly.
Brock would have had to have been really stupid not to see it. But when the man stood up and reached for him, his beast reached out as well. Peter snatched his hand back so quickly it might have been comical if the growl falling from his lips hadn’t have scared him a little, too. Peter was pulled back and shoved in his chair so quickly that Brock blinked several times to make sure that he’d even moved.

“As I said before
, you’re a very astute man.” Viktor leaned back in his chair again and looked at him. Brock watched him as well. “I want you to work for us more than ever now. You’re a man who can get results and someone that I believe is incorruptible as well. A man of great honor.”

“Meaning?”
Brock knew what the word meant; he just wasn’t sure how that applied to him. He wasn’t fooled when Viktor smiled either.

“Meaning that
having a man like you working for me means that even though I pay your salary, you would have no problem making me toe the line as well. I would expect you would bring me before the council just as quickly as you might anyone. As would your mate, I expect.” Viktor pulled an envelope from his pocket and handed it out to him. Brock didn’t touch it.

“You want us to work for you doing what
? And I mean exactly what would we be doing for you? I don’t want any illusions that we’d be paving your driveway with gold or the blood of those who shit in your oatmeal.”

“You’d be doing just what you did today.
Go after and rid the world of the kind of vermin that the Coles were. There would be a contract on each person or persons you are to take care of, a list of where to find them, and all expenses paid to you of any and all out-of-pocket money you have to use to get the job done. And that would include any downtime you needed afterwards, so long as you don’t abuse the perk.” He laid the envelope on the desk and stood up. “You should also know that being a hunter like this, you’d have the…let’s just call them ‘enhanced abilities,’ that you do now, plus a few extra that would help you along the way. You call me when you and your mate have made a decision. Either way, you’re going to be paid and paid well for what you did for us today.”

“You say ‘us
.’ Who are the others?” Viktor smiled and glanced at Peter, who nodded. There was something going on here that he wasn’t sure about, but he wasn’t going to say anything just yet. He needed to speak to Em, and until then he wasn’t saying a word.

“The council that the two of you would be working for is a group of all beings, shifters of every species
, as well as every realm. We’re called simply the Holders of the Realm.”

Brock watched them leave the room.
Holders of the Realm he knew about, as did most shifters and anything else that could become something other than their human side. He was still sitting there holding the sealed envelope in his hand when he felt Em wake. He went up the stairs three at a time and watched her stretch. She looked at him and smiled.

“
Are you feeling better?” She nodded. “Good. I’ve missed you. And I need to talk to you about something.”

“And on that note
, I’m leaving.” He looked over at Bronwyn, who he’d completely forgotten about. “You two should turn off your cell phones, lock up the house, and have wild monkey sex in every part of your house. Oh, and you need to buy more furniture. I have a feeling you’re going to be entertaining more now.”

Brock nodded
, not having a clue what she was talking about. He stood in the doorway until he heard the door close in the kitchen and knew that she was gone. He looked at Em.

“I want you.” She nodded.
“I mean right now and anyway you want. I’ll even let you take my cock into your mouth if you want.”

She nodded again
, and when he moved toward her, she held up her hand and he stopped. She was smiling so big that he found it hard not to smile back at her. When she swallowed several times, he thought she was choking until she spoke.

“I love you
, Brock Golden.” Good Christ, she could speak.

Chapter 1
4

Alistair looked over every page of the contracts and found nothing that would come back to bite his brother in the ass. And he’d tried very hard to find something. It was the most beneficial contract for the person it was being issued to that he’d ever seen. It gave them everything and asked for only one thing in return…to kill the bad guys and do it quickly and quietly. Alistair picked up his phone to call his brother when he and Em were suddenly in the doorway.

“If you don’t sign this
, I will.” Brock laughed and kissed Em’s hand. “They are paying you extremely well and giving you pretty much anything and everything you want. The Realm is providing you with insurance, household help such as nannies and other services, a limo is at your disposal as well as a jet. That alone will save our company more money than you make now from us.”

“And the job
, is it what I told you he said it was going to be?” Alistair wasn’t really happy with his brother and his mate being called hunters as the contract called them, but they were suited to the job better than anyone he knew. Especially after they were given the gifts that were listed in the contract.

“
It is. I’m only concerned about what will happen to any children you have after all this is given to you, but according to Peter it will pass on to your children as well. The best part is you can quit at any time and everything you’ve been given as part of your job is yours to keep.” He looked over at Em and decided there was something different about her. “And as you said, if you have children, they will be cared for by a number of trusted guards until such time as you return.”

Brock nodded and looked at Em.
When he nodded, Em looked at him and smiled. Alistair felt as if she’d touched him with her smile, and it went through his entire body. There was something definitely different about her.

“We have something to share with you.”
Alistair just knew his brother was going to tell him they were going to have a baby and waited, excited more than he could say. Just that morning Ally had told him that she was pregnant as well.

“I actually have something to share with you.”
It took Alistair several seconds before he realized that Em had spoken to him. He stood up and then flopped back down in his chair twice before he found his own tongue.

“You can talk.”
He flushed when he realized how his voice had squeaked. “Can you hear as well?”

“Yes. It’s my gift for helping them with the Coles.”
Alistair had noticed that she no longer called them her family, and she no longer referred to any of them as her brother or dad. They were just “the Coles.”

“I don’t know what to say. Congratulations
, of course, and you…Christ, love, I’m so happy for you.” He looked at his brother, who nodded, and Alistair came around his desk and pulled her into his arms. “I can’t think of a more fitting gift to give to you.”

Alistair
let her go and sat on the edge of the desk as Brock asked him about the contract. He assured him that it was a good bet and recommended that they sign it. Em asked about the enhancements they were going to get once the contract was signed.

“Does it say how we’ll get them?” He told her no
, but he had a call into Peter and Viktor to have that answered. “I would also like to know if we will have time to get married first before we’re assigned any hunting.”

“I asked that
, and you have three months before they’ll call on you. He said that he didn’t foresee any problems now, but wanted me to ask you if there was an emergency could you please help them out. He said that you would be given a bonus for helping them if the need arose.”

His phone ringing had him going to the other side of his desk to answer it.
He asked Viktor if he could put him on speaker phone as both Brock and Em were in his office. The man was happy to say yes, but then said to wait. Seconds later he was standing in his office with another man.

“This is the
Holder of the Realm’s attorney, Rafael von Drakon. Though he would like to have a word after we have finished here, that has nothing to do with this contract. His is a more personal matter.” Alistair nodded, and Viktor looked at Brock and Em. “So you are ready to sign? I have answers to your questions now, too. When you sign the contract, your enhancements will be given to you immediately. And you will have instructions on each of them that will be simple enough to understand.”

Brock looked at him
, and he nodded and then at Em. She, too, nodded. The contracts were given to Rafael first, who went over it, making sure that he’d made no alterations. Then he showed them where to sign. Then as a witness, Alistair signed as well. Viktor smiled and shook his hand.

“I will leave you now.
You have your three months, but as I have requested, if you are needed we would appreciate it if you were to help us out.” Both nodded. “Good. Then I leave you.”

“Wait.
I don’t know….” Brock glanced at Em. “We need to know about the extra things. When we’ll get them and how to use them, I’m not sure....” Viktor smiled.

“I nearly forgot to give you the instructions.”
He held out his hand and looked at the two of them. “You understand that with this comes great power. And with this power comes great responsibility. Taking my hand now will give you the knowledge you need to be everything you’ll need to do the job.”

Brock took his hand first and staggered
slightly when he let go. When Em hesitated, Viktor only smiled at her until she took it as well. She was helped gently to the chair by Brock, who still looked a little winded. Alistair asked what happened now.

“Nothing. They are fully ready to help us. I would suggest that you practice your new found powers a little
, but you should have no problems.” He nodded at them both and disappeared. Brock and Em were still sitting in his office when he took Rafael to an empty office.

“I am impressed with your abilities as an attorney.”
The man had barely sat when he spoke. “I am in need of an assistant that…oh bother and humbug. What I want is to retire. I have been the Realm’s attorney for nearly a thousand years and, frankly, I would like to see the world, this world, again.”

“I can help you find yourself someone to either assist you or even to take over when you—
” He was shaking his head before Alistair finished. “You don’t want my help?”

“Yes and no. I need help
, but not with finding anyone. I have found someone to take my place…if he wants to take the job, that is.” Alistair was still lost. “You’ll help me, won’t you?”

“Of course.”
The man beamed at him and stood up. Alistair took his hand and staggered back a little at the surge of power that danced over him. “What was that?”

“You’ve made me a very happy man
, Alistair. I’ll make sure that your contract is sent to you immediately so that you may read it over.” Before Alistair could say
oh bother and humbug,
the man was gone. He was still standing in the empty office when Ryland came in.

“Are you a
ll right?” Alistair told him he wasn’t sure. “You look like someone hit you with a ball bat in the nuts and you’re still trying to decide if you want to fall over or work through it. I usually fall over. I tell myself I’m going to work through it, but it never hap—”

“I think I just
got a job working for the Holders of the Realm as their attorney.” Alistair sat down and put his head between his legs. “I work for the Holders of the Realm as their attorney.”

~~~

Brock was sitting in his home office when Em walked in. He thought her more beautiful every time he saw her. And now that she could speak to him, he couldn’t believe his good fortune. She sat in the chair across from him and looked upset. He wanted to ask her what had happened but she hated when he did that, so he waited.

“Were you aware that we can will ourselves from one place to the other?” He
knew that but didn’t like the way she’d asked. “Apparently, we can transport others, too, if we want.”

“Who did you transport
, and how pissed are they going to be when we bring him back?” She smiled. “Oh God, I don’t like that look.”

“
It was Roland, but I already brought him back. By the way, we’re going to go out to dinner tonight because he is too upset to cook, and I have to go shopping with him tomorrow. Do you think we can afford an update to the kitchen? Like the entire kitchen?” He smiled. “Oh, and we need to redecorate his room. He wants a bigger television and cable, too.”

Brock leaned back in his chair.
He’d been thinking of the kitchen and it needing a complete overhaul for some time, and he was going to offer Roland the pool house because they never used it for anything other than storage. But this was just too intriguing not to find out what happened.

“Where did you take him?” She looked away. “Emma, where did you take our cook that has him so upset that we’re going to go into debt to fix?”

“He said that he would like to have some fresh salmon and some warm baguettes. I needed to practice, so I took him where those things are the freshest.” She flushed. “For the record, I had no idea what a baguette was, so France wasn’t any place I thought we’d end up, and as for the fresh salmon?”

He was almost
afraid to ask. When she turned a brighter shade of red, he asked her where they’d ended up. She mumbled, and he was sure he’d heard her wrong and asked her to repeat it.

“I said we ended up in the middle of
Alaska in a wide river. The salmon were fresh, all right. They were jumping all around us as we got wetter and wetter.” She looked at him. “Did I tell you that I’m sorry?”

“No
, you didn’t.” He stood up and walked around his desk, trying his best not to laugh. “So you took him to France to buy baguettes, then to Alaska to catch salmon from the middle of a river. And now it’s going to cost us an untold amount of money to pay off our wonderful cook and buy him an expensive car too.”

“He said he’d forgo the car if we gave him a raise.” She flushed again. “I guess I forgot to mention that
, too, huh?”

Brock put his hand over his
mouth and grinned. This was just too much fun, and he knew that he’d have to give into his humor soon or hurt himself. He lifted her from the chair and held her away from him.

“I’ll do
anything you like if you don’t punish me.” Her voice had gone husky, and he felt his cock thicken in his jeans. “I might even be persuaded to let you tie me to the bed if you feel that would be punishment enough.”

She
knew. When she smiled at him, Brock pulled her to his body and settled her between his legs as he leaned back more. She’d played him, and he loved her for it.

“Did you really take him on that trip?”
She told him that she had and he really was mad, but she also knew that he had been planning the remodel anyway and it was a good bargaining chip. “You vixen.”

She leaned into his throat and nipped at his shoulder.
When she moved her mouth up and over his neck to his ear, he moaned. Her hot breath was making his skin heat all over. He looked up when the door closed and the lock turned.

“I’ve been practicing that one for an hour.
I think it’ll come in very handy when the…urge…hits us to have sex somewhere we shouldn’t.” He cupped her ass and brought her closer to him. “Not to mention if we’re being chased by the bad guys.”

“I doubt we’ll have time to have sex when we’re being chased by the bad guys
, but it’s a nice trick.” She moaned when he rocked her over him. “Of course, we might use it more on our honeymoon when we’re about to go out and the maid comes to our door. We can simply lock her out.”

“I love the way you think.”
She nipped her way down his throat to the top button on his shirt and opened it. “But that’s not all I’ve been practicing at. What if I told you I could have us in our bed naked before you could say yes?”

He opened his mouth to tell her to do it when he felt the bed beneath him, sheets
silky and cool pressed against his hot back and her body warm and soft over his. Rolling her to her back, Brock moved down her body, kissing her, loving her with his mouth. When he reached her hips, he slipped his hands beneath her and lifted her to his mouth and tasted paradise once again.

Her hissed yes had him suckling hard at her clit as h
is fingers entered her. When she rocked up to his mouth, he rewarded her with deeper thrusts, curling his fingers inside of her and touching her sweet spot. Every time she shuddered, he took more because she was giving him more. Each time he brought her closer, he wanted more, all of her. Finally, when she started to beg him, he opened her nether lips and pressed his thumb over her clit while he drank her nectar, gorged himself on her juices, and became drunk on her scent. Her climax poured over him, her screams, the first he’d heard since she’d been given her gift, were like music to his ears. Brock loved every part of this woman.

When she was
lying limply on the bed, he kissed her navel, then her breast. Moving his body up hers, he skimmed over her, touching her with the barest touches as he feathered kisses over every part of her. When he touched her mouth with his, he didn’t take but gave her all his love, showed her how much he cherished and needed her.