Figure of Speech (Halle Shifters) (9 page)

He didn’t need to ask. She’d already told him without words that she was ready for him.

Jim slowly eased into her body, the faint tightening and loosening of her expressions giving him clues as to when to slow down and when it was all right to move again. So slowly he thought his dick might die of blood deprivation, he forged his way inside her, never once breaking the contact between their gazes.

They didn’t need words. In this moment, they both knew what the other was saying.

Before he knew it he was fully seated inside her. He kissed her softly, both their eyes open, waiting for her nod that it was all right to move.

She gave it, so he began fucking her in slow, easy strokes that had them both on the breathless edge far quicker than Jim would have liked. He’d wanted to make this last, to bring her to ecstasy over and over again, but it was just too much. The sensations were too strong, too tight, too perfect…too Chloe.

He came, shivering as lightning rushed through him, his Wolf howling in joy. Chloe shuddered as she, too, came once again. Her gasping, wordless cry fused with his own as the pleasure raced down his spine.

God, it had never been this good before. He leaned his forehead against his mate’s and smiled.

God willing, it would be again.

Chapter Nine

Chloe felt like she was doing the walk of shame into her own living room. Her brother Ryan was sitting on the sofa, Glory cuddled close in his lap and a huge scowl on his face. Cyn was pacing and snarling at the bound Cheetah, while Julian watched her warily, ready to stop her from attacking…or to help her. Chloe wasn’t quite sure. Alex and Tabby had also shown up, Tabby so far along in her pregnancy she looked ready to blow. Chloe was pretty sure the turkey timer was about to pop any second and her couch would be toast. In fact, she was surprised that Alex had brought his mate, but from the stubborn look on Tabby’s face she must have convinced Alex to bring her. Alex’s hazel eyes were completely brown, his Grizzly close to the surface.

The Cheetah was bound hand and foot, naked as a jaybird. His dark skin was flawless, his thin, twisty dreads hanging past his shoulders. His eyes, the gold of his Cheetah, were startlingly beautiful. He looked pissed as hell, ready to claw anyone who was insane enough to get close to him.

And then there was Barney, who turned out to be that crazy. The Hunter sat calmly on the floor, petting the damn Cheetah on the head. “Who’s a good kitty? You are, yes you are!”

The snarl was loud even behind the duct tape covering the Cheetah’s mouth.

“Congratulations on your mating.” Barney winked at her. “It’s about fuckin’ time.”

“Tanks.” Chloe could feel her face heating. Her cheeks were probably bright red.

“Honey, I wasn’t talking to you.” Barney nodded to Jim. “If you hadn’t claimed her I’m pretty sure you would have found some pissed-off Bears on your doorstep.”

“Are you kidding? They got ahold of me at the supermarket.” Jim shuddered. “I thought for sure they were going to maul me in the dairy aisle.”

“Nah. I wouldn’t hurt you there. I wouldn’t risk it.” Ryan grinned. “Glory’s lactose intolerant.”

“Am not.” Glory jabbed Ryan in the stomach hard enough to make him grunt.

“I’m sorry, who was it who had a cheese sandwich and two hours later the neighbors were looking for the source of the sewer leak?”

Glory rolled her eyes and refused to answer.

Barney just continued to pet the Cheetah, his gaze bright with laughter.

“What I want to know is who this is and why is he after Chloe?” Jim crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the Cheetah.

Barney picked at the tape on the Cheetah’s cheek. “Oh, that’s easy. His name is—” The Cheetah began to kick furiously, staring wide-eyed at Barney when the Hunter slapped him on the ass. “Bad kitty! His name is Francois Prejean, from New Orleans. He’s a Hunter for the Senate.”

If Chloe had been on the receiving end of that murderous glare she would have been running for the hills.

“Wait. Senate?” Jim was behind her, but his confusion was clear in his voice.

“We have a structure that deals with shifter laws called the Senate. Each species is represented by a Senator, and together they make and help enforce those laws.” Tabby rubbed her stomach and winced. “I really wish this kid didn’t like to put his toes in my ribs.”

Alex shook his head but picked up where his mate left off. “Just like in a Pride or a Pack, the Leo is the Alpha over all the shifters. The Senate runs the day-to-day issues of the shifter world, but on a grand scale. On the local scale, those issues are dealt with by Alphas or the heads of the family groups.”

“Sort of like Alex’s father rules over the Bunsun-Williams clan.” Julian grinned. “He’s not an Alpha the way Max Cannon or Rick Lowell are, but
I
wouldn’t want to tell him no.”

“Packs and Prides have their own hierarchies, with Betas and Omegas and Marshalls, oh my.” Chloe giggled at Barney’s wink. “And then there’s the low men on the totem pole, which would be the rest of us peons.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Hunters, like Alphas, are born, not made. We work directly for the Senate, usually two to three Hunters per territory. Gabe has all of Pennsylvania, while his partners work New York and New Jersey. Gabe and I shouldn’t even be living in the same town—” Glory gasped, and Ryan hugged her close. “But I have no intention of moving and neither does he.”

“Hmm.” Barney eyed Ryan. “It is odd, come to think of it. Not one of the Senators has mentioned removing you from Halle, at least not that I’m aware of. And you
should
be reassigned. They wouldn’t be at all sympathetic to your mate’s needs.” He tilted his head. “Come to think of it, no Senator has mentioned you at all. I wouldn’t have known you were a Hunter if I hadn’t already been here, looking into…” His lips clamped shut.

Like Chloe cared about all of this. “Why would a Bunter be interested in me?” She hadn’t done a damn thing except get her ass kicked to hell and gone.

“I have no idea.” Barney snapped his fingers and sat straight up. “I know! Let’s ask him!” He then ripped the tape off the Cheetah’s mouth.

The howl sounded almost wolf-like. “Fucking asshole!” The man’s Southern accent was different from Tabby’s, the drawl longer and somewhat sharper.

“Aw, I wuv you too, cupcake.” Barney patted the Cheetah’s cheek. “Now, tell me why you’ve been harassing Miss Chloe here.”

Prejean clamped his lips shut.

“You know, I have more duct tape.” Barney picked up a silver roll of tape that had been hidden behind him, twirling it on his finger. “I could do this
all day
.”

“I say we just rip his arms off one by one until he tells us what we want to know.” Alex flexed his hands, his hazel eyes the deep brown of his Bear. His five-inch claws scraped against his jeans with a
schrick schrick
sound Chloe knew all too well. She’d grown up around Grizzlies, understood how they thought. Alex was about to go postal on the Cheetah. If that happened, there wouldn’t be enough left of the cat to fit into a peanut butter jar, let alone answer questions.

Prejean swiveled his head until he could see Alex. His eyes went wide, and he gulped. “I was told to bring her in, dead or alive.”

Every male in the room except for Barney growled at the Cheetah’s answer. Barney simply tilted his head and asked in a childish voice, “Why?”

Prejean rolled his eyes. “Because she’s rogue.”

Chloe felt faint. “Who…what?” She gulped, swaying. If she’d been declared rogue by the Senate, then…

“Oh fog.” She turned to Jim. “Go. Now.”

He glared at her, his hazel eyes dotted with dark honey brown. “No.”

She whimpered and turned her gaze to Ryan, who would surely understand. “Peas?”

He shook his head reluctantly. “You know he can’t. He’s your mate.”

Chloe spoke slowly, determined to get the words to come out right. “He’ll. Die.”

“Sweetie, they’ll go after him anyway just for being your mate. You know that.” Barney flipped the duct tape into the air and caught it. “So. When was Miss Chloe declared rogue, hmm? Because
my
orders were to watch her, not harm her.”

Prejean glared at Barney. “Seems like we got different orders.”

“Sure does.” Barney bopped the Cheetah lightly on the head. “Why did you attack Cyn?”

“She’s also wanted.”

Barney scowled. “She wasn’t a Bear when you almost killed her. She was human.”

“I wasn’t trying to kill her, just bring her in,
as ordered
. But the Wolf interfered.”

“Is Tabby on your list?” Alex’s voice had become gravelly, fangs sprouting in his mouth. The possibility that his mate and unborn child were being threatened was driving his Bear even closer to the surface.

“She is now.” Prejean smirked. “And so’s her kid.”

Alex roared, his back hunching as fur sprouted on his arms. If he changed now there would be no stopping him from killing the Cheetah.

“Down, sugar.” Tabby put her hand on Alex’s shoulder. Her Georgia drawl was thick with worry. “I need you to stay calm for the baby.”

Prejean sighed. “If you think I’m the only one watching and waiting, you’d be wrong. We will bring in the Senate-declared rogues as ordered.”

Ryan scowled. “I thought…” He glanced at Barney. “We can sense rogues, right?”

“Yes.” Barney snapped his fingers under the Cheetah’s nose. “So. Who in this room is rogue?”

“The Fox—”

Barney made a buzzing noise. “For the love of little green shifters, use the senses the spirits gave you, boy.” He leaned forward until he and the Cheetah were nose to nose. “Who. Is. The. Rogue?”

The Cheetah opened his mouth to respond, then slowly began to frown. “I…”

Barney began to hum the
Jeopardy
theme song.

“You’re an ass.”

Barney finished his little song. “Well?”

The Cheetah lowered his head. “There are no rogues in the room.”

“Ding ding ding! We have a winna! Give this kitty some nip!” Barney patted him on the head.

“Wait.” Chloe held up her hands, confused as hell. “Why would bey declare me vogue if I’m rot?”

The Cheetah stared at her in confusion, but the others, used to her speech by now, figured out what she really meant.

“That’s my question.” Ryan exchanged a glance with Barney. “There might be more than one reason this area has so many Hunters in it.”

“The Senate is up to something, but what?” Julian scowled, exchanging his own look with Cyn. “I mean, they have no reason to go after any of us.”

“That’s my question.” Barney sat back, playing idly with the tape again. “None of you have done anything that would warrant arrest, let alone a dead or alive order.” Barney stared at the Cheetah. “Who did your orders come from?”

Prejean went limp, his defiance completely swamped by confusion. “The usual source.”

“Who is the usual course?” Chloe needed to know if the whole Senate was after her or just one Senator with a grudge.

But again, who would have a strong enough grudge against a college student that he ordered a beating so severe Chloe was handicapped for life?

Jim pulled Chloe back against his chest. His warmth seeped into her, calming her. She hadn’t even realized how badly she was shaking until he took hold of her.

Barney and the Cheetah exchanged a glance. It was the Cheetah, surprisingly, who answered. “Vaughn Clark.”

“Is Vaughn Clark one of the Senators?” Jim tightened his hold.

“No, he’s the Hunter liaison. He gets the order and passes it on to us.” Barney began unwrapping the Cheetah’s wrists. “We need to find out who gave him those orders and why.”

“Agreed.” The Cheetah…no, Francois, sat up and rubbed his wrists. He shot Barney an absolutely evil grin. “And I know just the people to help us.”

Barney actually paled. “You don’t mean…”

“Yup.” And Francois laughed, the sound so wicked Chloe shivered in fear.

The big, bad Barney looked like he’d rather swallow tacks than deal with them. She just hoped Halle was ready for whoever it was that made the brash Hunter so afraid.

“All right. I want some answers from you.” Ryan, Chloe, Barney and Francois the Cat were busy in the living room, discussing whatever the hell they were planning. Jim had decided to take this opportunity to get some answers of his own, so he’d dragged Julian away from the rest of the group. “Tell me about this bond you and Chloe have.”

Julian sighed. “You might want to sit down for this.”

Jim settled at the small dinette set Chloe had squeezed into her postage-stamp kitchen and waited for Julian to sit across from him. Julian grabbed two bottles of juice from the fridge before sitting down, opening one and handing it to Jim. “Well?”

“Has anyone told you about Spirit Bears?”

Jim blinked. “I know they call you Super Bear, and that Bears can heal little things like headaches and paper cuts, but that’s about it. I also know you did something that helped Chloe, but you weren’t able to heal everything.”

Julian winced, cradling the juice between his palms. “Spirit Bears are the level sixty versions of normal Bears.”

“Excuse me?” Jim had no idea what the hell Julian was talking about.

“Guess you don’t play video games.” Julian chuckled.

If only Julian knew. Video games were one of Jim’s guilty pleasures.

“Look. We’re…amped up. We’ve got healing powers far beyond those of normal Bears. So when Chloe was hurt, I felt the pull of someone who was close to death and arrived to find the paramedics getting ready to code her.”

Jim glanced into the living room. He couldn’t help himself. Part of him needed to see her, whole and talking and laughing, to prove to himself that she was right there, safe and sound.

“I healed her enough to get her on the ambulance alive, and once in the hospital I did…more. But she was in a coma and they didn’t think she’d wake up.” Julian’s expression turned apologetic. “The price a Spirit Bear pays for having our ability to heal is that we’re
compelled
to heal. Being in a hospital is sheer hell for any of my kind, so trying to take care of Chloe was difficult.”

“But you did it anyway.” And for that, Jim owed him big time. “Spirit bear. I’ve heard that phrase before. You’re a Kermode.”

Julian grinned, looking tickled pink that Jim knew exactly what kind of Bear he was. “Yup.”

“I thought they were all in Canada.” The Kermode, or spirit bear, was a species of black bear whose fur was creamy to white instead of black. They were an endangered species that roamed from Princess Royal Island to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, on the coast, and inland toward Hazelton, British Columbia.

“The rest of them are. I’m currently the only one living in the US.” Julian took a sip of juice. “Anyway, Chloe wasn’t waking from her coma, and her family asked if there was anything more I could do.” He shrugged sheepishly. “I would have done it anyway, but I had to warn them that she’d be a little bit different when she woke.”

“The white fur?” Jim sat back, the juice bottle sweating cold water between his palms.

“That, I admit, was an unexpected side effect, and not one I’ve seen before.”

“So you’ve never heard of a shifter’s fur suddenly turning white?” Jim was confused. He’d thought it was a side effect of what Julian had done to save her.

“Nope. Not once has a Spirit Bear saved someone only to have them turn white.”

“Huh.” Jim rubbed his chin. “Are you sure about that?”