Jaguars' Reward [Impulse 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (4 page)

“Can you see the boat’s name on the footage?” Rafe asked.

The way his luck was going right now, Vadim figured probably not. Zayd peered more closely at the screen and punched the air.

“Bingo!
Odyssey
out of Clearwater.”

“Well, that gives us a starting point.” Rafe stretched his arms above his head. “They won’t know we have the name of the boat because they made sure you didn’t see it. That’s about the only thing we have going for us right now. Not that it’ll do us much good, I’m thinking.”

“I’ll see what I can find about it,” Zayd said. “Then perhaps we’ll get some idea who’s behind it all.”

“You probably won’t find that it belongs to anyone we know,” Rafe warned. “But we’ve got nothing else to go on, unless our guest has regained her memory.”

“I’m sorry, Rafe,” Vadim said. “We fucked up.”

Rafe shook his head. “I don’t see how. This was planned like a military operation. Besides, you saved Talia’s life. That has to count for something.”

“And brought her right back here, as planned by our enemies.”

“Well, you know what they say,” Vilas said. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

“Oh, we’ll keep her close all right,” Zayd said. “Depend on it.”

“Good-looking, is she?” Kane asked.

“Can’t say as I’ve noticed,” Vadim lied.

“Double security, Vadim,” Rafe said. “I’ll send out a pheromone telling everyone to be extra vigilant until we get to the bottom of this.”

“Why not just drive Talia out of Impulse and leave whoever’s controlling her to pick her up?” Vilas asked.

“No,” Vadim replied. “Not yet. I’d like to see what I can get from her first.”

“Me, too,” Zayd said, grinning.

Vadim shot him a look. “Her memory’s either been wiped, or she lost it due to her fall into the ocean. If it’s the latter then Mikael says she ought to regain it, is that right?”

“Yep.” Mikael nodded. “Short-term memory loss goes hand in hand with trauma.”

“So if by morning she hasn’t remembered anything, perhaps we can unblock the block, so to speak,” Vadim suggested.

“Use our powers to override whoever put the block on?” Rafe asked.

“Yeah. I know it sounds weird, but this situation isn’t exactly normal.”

“It’s never been tried, far as I know.”

“But has to be worth a shot,” Vadim countered. “It’s not as if we’re bursting with other ideas about how to deal with Talia. Besides, I think we all want to know what our enemies hoped to gain through this.”

“Are your powers strong enough?” Rafe asked.

Vadim scowled, hating to be reminded that he and Zayd were getting weaker because, unlike Rafe and Vilas, and Mikael and Philo, they hadn’t yet found the right human mate to restore their shifter powers.

“If they’re not,” he said caustically, “we know where to come.”

“I didn’t mean anything by that, buddy,” Rafe said.

Vadim relaxed. “Yeah, I know. Zayd and I aren’t yet as depleted as you guys were before you found human salvation, so I figure we’ll probably be okay.”

“She’s up,” Zayd said, cocking his head to one side. “In the shower.”

“That’d be worth seeing,” Mikael muttered.

Vadim chuckled. “You’re mated.”

“I was thinking of you guys.”

Zayd shot Mikael the finger. “Course you were.”

“I’ll give her a minute, then go and check on her,” Vadim said.

Rafe stood, bringing the meeting to a close. “Okay, you’ll double security, Vadim, and everyone in the community will be on the alert for anything unusual. Whenever an attack’s been in the planning stages in the past we’ve always managed to hear something about it before it happens.”

“Except,” Vadim said softly, “this time it’s already happening. I think we should make siege preparations, Rafe.”

Rafe nodded grimly. “So do I, buddy, so do I. I’ll arrange it.”

* * * *

Talia prowled around the room examining the doors and windows, looking for an escape route. The urge to get away filled her with desperate energy, but something even stronger kept her right where she was. The conflict raging inside her gave her a headache and she fell into a chair, temporarily defeated by the pain.

Impulse? Where had she heard that name before, why did it make her react so frantically, and why didn’t she want to be here? Hell, she really needed to remember.

When someone rapped on the door and then opened it, Talia almost jumped out of her skin. She hadn’t heard anyone approaching, but the man that walked through it blew her mind, causing her to temporarily forget her problems. He was a good bit taller than her, with thick black hair that looked mottled. He was all solid muscle and yet he moved with a lithe grace that made it appear as though his feet barely touched the ground.

He was easily one of the best-looking men she’d ever seen. How she could know that when she couldn’t actually remember what men she’d met in the past, she was unable to say. All she did know was that her body reacted in the time-honored fashion to his appearance, causing her to cream her nonexistent panties and for her nipples to harden and rub abrasively against her thin, borrowed T-shirt. Panic welled up inside her when an engaging smile lit up his eyes. Piercing golden eyes that seemed to be able to see right into her soul. She felt like asking him what he could see in there since she had absolutely no idea what made her tic.

“Hey, you’re up and about already. How do you feel, Talia?”

It came back to her in a haunted rush when he opened his mouth. That deep, melodic voice had stayed with her all the time she’d slept. He was the man who’d rescued her and told her she was in Impulse—a place where, for some reason, she especially didn’t want to be. A place that put her in danger. Even so, she wanted to trust the man who was now looking at her quizzically but knew she couldn’t afford to do that, either.

Now’s your chance, Talia. Do it now!

She shook her head, wondering at first who’d spoken with such desperation. Then she realized the voice was inside her head. She really was a candidate for the funny farm. The man walked toward her, frowning.

“Is something wrong? Did you just remember something about how you came to be in the ocean?”

Kill him! Now’s your chance. Catch him while he’s off guard.

No, he saved me.

A debilitating pain ripped through Talia’s insides, causing her to gasp and double over. The man now looked downright concerned.

“What is it?” He reached for her arm. “Why don’t you sit down until it passes?”

Talia fought the impulse to attack but couldn’t overcome it—it was simply too strong. The more she resisted, the more searing the pain became.

Do it!

Her head cleared and Talia knew precisely what she had to do. All doubts eradicated, she leapt clear of his hand and went straight for his stomach with a hammer fist, following with a middle knuckle behind the hollow part of his ear. She’d taken him by surprise, and before he could recover, she delivered a roundhouse kick to his side.

“What the fuck!”

The man’s reflexes were lightning quick. He blocked Talia’s attack by parrying it with an open palm and at the same time moved his body forty-five degrees, away from her center line and her kick. She had no idea where she’d learned to fight like this, what sort of fighting it actually was, or even why she felt the overwhelming need to attack the man. But she couldn’t seem to stop. He was clearly trying to subdue her because whatever martial art she was performing, he knew it, too, and could have easily used his superior weight and strength to finish it then and there. He probably would if she didn’t quit right now.

But Talia’s blood was up and she didn’t stop to think about the wisdom of her actions. Instinct overcame reason and she butterflied her legs into another kick aimed at his groin. Fighting fair was obviously an alien concept to her, at least at that moment. All that mattered was winning, and if attacking his most vulnerable places was what it would take to make the voice in her head go away, so be it.

“Stop it right now before you get hurt!” the man yelled.

Vadim? Yes, that was what he’d introduced himself as, and he was clearly out of patience with her. Talia didn’t blame him. She would be dead if it weren’t for him, but whatever mental force had persuaded her to attack her rescuer still drove her on.

“Okay, babe, if that’s the way you want it.”

He smiled at her, beckoning her forward, as though inviting her to take her best shot. Another brief flashback told her he wasn’t the first man to underestimate her fighting skills. This time, though, she sensed she’d met her match, but that didn’t hold her back. The desire to kill him had strengthened, smothering her feeble conscience. Worse, she was almost enjoying it. What did that say about her?

He’d probably expect her to try another kick. But she now knew how fast he was and suspected that if she did that he’d simply grab her ankle and bring her down on her ass. So it would be safer to go for a pressure point. She lunged forward on her toes and slammed her forearm one inch below his elbow. Except, by the time she’d executed the move his elbow was no longer there. Damn, he was good! He caught her arm and tried to twist it up her back, but this time she anticipated him and sprang away before he could get a proper hold on her.

“You’ve done this before,” he said, not even out of breath.

“So it would seem,” she countered, trying to disguise the fact that, unlike him, she was breathing heavily.

They circled one another, their gazes locked.

“You don’t really want to do this,” Vadim said in a persuasive drawl.

She lunged and he countered. “I have to.”

“Why? Who’s controlling you?”

Just for a moment her determination faltered, but the searing pain that ripped through her caused her to refocus. “I wish I knew.”

The door opened and another man came in. Zayd. She remembered his name immediately.

“Our guest wants to kill me,” Vadim said in a matter-of-fact tone.

The other man chuckled, apparently unconcerned at the prospect. “There’s gratitude for you,” he said, leaning back with arms folded across an impressive chest, obviously content to watch the show.

His assumption that she wouldn’t succeed angered Talia, and also made her incautious. She went for an axe kick, forgetting Vadim’s astonishing reflexes. He caught her leg before it got anywhere near his body and they both crashed to the ground, him on top of her. The breath left her lungs as his weight crushed her. So, too, did the desire to fight. Why was she doing this? Talia shook her head but it didn’t help to explain her motivation. Her attention was caught by his eyes. They smoldered as they bore into hers, but when his lips slowly turned up at the corners she was curious about how it would feel to be kissed by those lips. Get real, she told herself. She’d just tried to kill the guy. The last thing he’d want to do would be to kiss her.

Even so, the thought persisted.

The hardness of his body pressing her to the floor, the strength in the one wrist that held both of hers above her head, sent a thrill ricocheting through her entire body. She ought to be afraid after what she’d tried to do to him. Instead she felt safe. The voices inside her head had gone and the desire to kiss him intensified. Her gaze lingered on his lips and she moistened her own with the tip of her tongue.

“Where did you learn to fight like that?” he asked in the deep, gravelly voice that so compelled her.

She was about to say she didn’t know when she had another flashback that made her gasp.

“What is it?” he asked.

She glanced up at Vadim, then Zayd. “Oh shit, you’re shifters,” she said in a hollow voice. “That’s why I was sent here.”

Vadim and Zayd shared a loaded glance.

“She knows what we are,”
Vadim pheromoned.

“
Looks that way.”

“Shit!”

“Yeah, I know. In spite of the fact that she just tried to crush your balls, you thought she was ‘the’ one.”

Vadim ground his jaw.
“Guess I was wrong about that.”

“Do you think she remembers who she is yet?”

“Not sure. That mention of shifters seemed spontaneous, but that doesn’t help much.”

“Just because she knows shifters exist, that doesn’t make her one.”

“Now who’s clutching at straws?”

Talia’s breath came in shorter and shorter gasps as Vadim kept her pinned to the floor. As their gazes locked, something inside Vadim lurched. Liquid fire illuminated eyes as clear, blue, and sparkling as the sunlit water of the Gulf just beyond the window, but even more enticing. A silent “oh” slipped past her lips as he continued to straddle her, like she’d just discovered something about herself that she hadn’t previously known.

Damn it, why did she have to be involved with shifters? In spite of his suspicions about her, something made Vadim want to go that extra mile for her. The future of the colony he’d spent his entire adult life protecting was in jeopardy thanks to her, but it no longer seemed important. She had somehow slipped past the rigid guard he kept over his emotions and homed straight in on his heart. Vadim didn’t try to figure out how that had happened. He didn’t even stop to consider that she might be using powers of her own to get close enough to finish what she’d started. Vadim’s professionalism took a hike and he simply went with his instincts.