Shifted Temptations (21 page)

“It wasn’t your fault, you know?”

“What?”

Jordan’s body stiffened
and I rubbed his arm, trying to offer comfort.

“You have to know Layla’s death was not your fault. I heard you say she died in yo
ur arms, that someone shot her.”

I kissed
him lightly and his tongue slid across my bottom lip. Breathless, I pulled back.

“There was nothing you could have done, Jordan. I know you, and I know you want to
carry this on your shoulders, but you can’t.”

Jordan leaned in, capturing my lips hungrily. My lips parted, our tongues entwined and I moaned
, shifting restlessly in his lap. His cock hardened even more, pressing against my hip as I wiggled.

His teeth pulled at my bottom lip then released it with a pop. He kissed me softly once more then look
ed up into my glazed eyes.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you.”

“
There is so much more you don’t know, though.”

“What do you mean? You
already told me about being a shifter. What else could there possibly be?”

“So much more, Sam,” he said regretfully.

I cupped his cheek in the palm of my hand and said, “Then tell me.”

~ 21 ~

Jordan

I could not believe the amazing woman sitting in my lap. She had completely disregarded her feelings to comfort me. How had I gotten so lucky to have this angel love me? I kissed her again, not being able to help myself. Her lips were soft and plump, wet from our earlier kisses. My tongue dove into her mouth. Damn, she tasted so good!

I wanted inside her. I wanted to lay her down on the floor and drive myself into her like my tongue was doing now. My cock was about burst with need for the heavenly creature I had wrapped in my arms. I resisted, just barely. She deserved better than to be fucked on the hard floor and there was too much to discuss first.

Reluctantly, I pulled away from her tempting mouth. She whimpered and I almost lost it, my precious control. I had come to the conclusion that with Sam, I had no power. She had a hold over me and I was all too willing to follow.

I looked onto
her heavy lidded gaze. I could see the desire shining out at me and I wanted to give her what she needed. I would, as soon as we finished talking.

“You know that us being shifters is a secret, right?”

I was disappointed to see Sam’s eyes begin to clear, but I would see that yearning once again, once we were done. Her cheeks flushed as she licked her lips. I loved seeing her blush. She was strong, sexy, and wanton at times. Yet there was an innocence about her that was so appealing. The moment I saw those pretty pink cheeks, I wanted her. That still hadn’t change.

“Yes.”

“We have more secrets, Sam. You deserve to know them. I want you to know them, but you have to understand that no one else can know about this, any of this.”

She nodded her head making her hair fall over her shoulde
rs. I ran my fingers through the silky strands.

“Of course.”

“We are not just web designers. We have another job.”

“I assume it has something to do with your other form.”

“Yes. We work for the government.”

Sam raised her eyebrows. “The government knows about you?”

“They do, but they want to keep the rest of the humans from knowing. I agree. If knowledge of our kind got out, there would be pandemonium. We would be hunted like animals. The unknown is scary to most people and they will harm what they don’t understand.”

“I think so too, but hey
, maybe one day things will be different.”

She smiled and her eyes lit up. I thought she was wrong. We would never be accepted, but she was so optimistic, I couldn’t burst her bubble.

“Maybe,” I just said, shrugging.

“Okay, so what do you do for the government?”

“We are part of a military branch call the
Alpha Division.
In a way, we keep the peace for our kind. If there is any indication of a problem in a community or with a lone shifter, we go in and fix it. Trouble can bring too much attention. We have to keep our kind a secret.”

“Wow
, this all sounds very sci-fi.”

She laughed and I drank in the throaty sound. I didn’t get to
hear it often enough. She caressed my cheek and smiled. I rubbed against the palm of her hand appreciating her affection.

“Your job sounds noble.”

“No, not noble.” My eyes were sad as I gazed at her puzzled expression. “We resort to doing almost anything to gain information. That’s why I was with Layla. I used her, to gain her trust so that she would give me what I wanted.”

“Jordan,” Sam began.

“We eliminate the threat, Sam. Eliminate.”

She shook her head. “What are you saying?”

“There are no trials, no lawyers, no judges. If we find efficient evidence of wrong-doing, we take out the guilty party.”

“You mean kill them,” she stated, her brows lowered.

“Yes, that’s what I mean. We kill them.”

I swa
llowed hard. She undoubtedly knew how much of a monster I really was. Sam chewed on her lip, obviously thinking. I let her have time to process. What would she say, I wondered? Would she get up and leave? Reflexively, my arms tighten around her. She didn’t give any indication that she noticed or cared about my action and I breathed a small sigh of relief that she continued to let me touch her.

“Jordan,” she sighed. Her fingers lightly caressed my cheek
again. “What you do is noble. You help so many and I’m sure it’s hard...”

I didn’t let her finish. Loosening my grip, I reached down for her crutches and helped her stand. Her mouth opened in surprise at my abrupt actions as she stared down at me.

“It is not noble, Sam! Do you not understand what I am telling you? I fuck to get information and I will kill for as little as putting up a YouTube video.”

One minute I was happy she was accepting everything I was throwing at her and
the next I wanted her to run. I wasn’t sure what I wanted, but I did know Sam didn’t deserve to have a guy like me in her life.

Sam had flinched at my harsh words, but she had to know
whom she was getting involved with. It was better if she found out exactly how monstrous I was now rather than later.

Sadness crept
into Sam’s eyes as she stared back at me. It killed me to see her so miserable, but my gaze stayed cold and hard. It was a familiar mask, like slipping on a favorite piece of clothing. My lips were thin and unmoving as she lowered her lashes, hiding those gorgeous chocolate and caramel swirled eyes and began to turn around.

She turned slowly on her crutches, her pregnant body making her movements
awkward. It took everything in me not to help her. If I showed the slightest weakness, she might not leave and leaving was best for her.

As Sam made her way slowly to the door, my eyes caught a glimpse of Alex. I had completely forgot
ten he was there. I turned to look at him and immediately wished I hadn’t. If looks could kill...I had never seen him so angry, not even when he thought I had taken advantage of Sam.

Alex’s dark br
own eyes were swirling gold. His razor sharp glare pierced into mine. His nostrils flared and I glanced down at his clenching fist. Claws were emerging from his fingertips.

There was going to be one hell of fight. I wondered if this was the e
nd of our friendship. Probably...A growl rumbled from Alex’s chest. Most definitely, I thought.

Sam suddenly stopped and turned around
claiming our attention. She began striding towards me, determination in her eyes. I couldn’t help admiring the beautiful woman who looked ready to spit nails. Her long brown hair flowing down her back had my fingers aching with the need to wrap it around my hand, to tug it hard and hear her whimper.

I thought her eyes would explode with all the sparks they were em
itting. Her pouty pink lips parted as she breathed heavily. My gaze shot down to her heaving breast. My lips tugged into a grin when her nipples beaded through her silky robe.

A growl had me
raising an eyebrow as I looked up. Sam’s eyes flared even more, but this time I could see the desire mixed with her anger.

“I know what you are doing.” She hissed.
I didn’t say anything.

“You’re
trying to push me away, but it is going to take more than that to get me to leave.”

My shoulders pulled back at her challenging tone. “You will leave when I tell you to leave.”

“Oh, cut the bullshit, Jordan. You think I will cower down, or worse run, because your job isn’t pleasant? Or do you just want me to be afraid of you, to think of you as a monster?

My eyes widen in surprise of her using my own thoughts.

“Yes, I know that’s what you are thinking. If you tell me the nasty bits, I’ll know how horrible you are. You obviously don’t know me well if you think I will scare away so easily. I am not as weak as you believe me to be.”

“You didn’t show much strength when Alex was shifting.” I snapped, angry she could read me so well. I didn’t think she was weak, but I would imply that she was if it got her to go away.

Sam snorted and shook her head. “I admit having a very large jaguar suddenly staring at me was hard to take, but I got over it quickly. It wasn’t his shifting that had me scared. It was the engrained notion in all humans that says we should run when a predator is in our sights.”

“Jordan, I can’t say I completely understand your race
, but even our own military has to kill in order save others. They protect us. It’s what gives us our freedom. You do the same. I may not agree with all of your rules, but they are there to protect the ones that cannot defend themselves.”

“As far as what you have to do in order to gain information, well, I think you told me that to hurt me. And it did hurt, painfully.” Sam’s shoulders slumped tiredly, her lashes lowered. “But you have to do whatever brings you back home to me safely.”

My mouth opened, but I couldn’t find words. This woman surprised me, yet again. Would I ever stop underestimating her? She had a strength any shifter would covet.

“Just a few hours ago you were confessing your love for me. You said you didn’t want to lose m
e. Well Jordan, continue being an ass and maybe you will.”

Sam began
turning around to leave. She wobbled on her crutches as she tried to find her balance. She was tired and had stood too long on those damn sticks. I reached out with shaky hands and pulled her to me. I threw the crutches to the floor and held her in my lap once again.

Placing a kiss to her forehead
, I gently urged her head to rest on my shoulder. She did with a sigh that had my bones melting. I loved this woman and I had decided that whether I deserved her or not, I would never let her go, I just couldn’t.

“I know,” she whispered, her warm breath caressed my neck
, sending goose bumps down my arms. “I love you too.”

~ 22 ~

Alex

Sam shoveled food into her mouth so fast I was concerned she might choke. I couldn’t help but chuckle as she closed her eyes and moaned after taking a bite of her barbecued pork. It reminded me of the little noises she made while I nibbled on certain body parts of hers. The thought had me shifting in my seat as my jeans became a bit tight.

I glanced over at Jordan. If his hooded eyes were any indication, he was thinking the same thing.

After Jordan and Sam’s heart-to-heart, Sam announced she was hungry and we rushed to the kitchen to fix her something. She had stopped us and quietly asked if we could get take out. So there we were, sitting around the small glass dining room table, having a feast of southern comfort food.

“What?” Sam asked as she looked between the two of us. I smiled as she forked in another mouthful while waiting for us to speak.

Jordan frowned. “We must not be feeding you enough.”

“Oh, believe me, I am eating enough.” Sam snorted. “Besides, I know where the kitchen is. If I’m hungry I know where to find food. Or I can yell for one of you.”
She smiled brightly at us.

“Well then
, slow down before you choke.” I laughed.

Sam stuck her tongue out at me and her cheeks flushed. It took some strong will power not to lean over the dining room table and suck that tongue into my mouth. I shifted again, as my zipper dug into my arousal.

“I can’t help it. I have been craving barbeque with all the fixings since I found out I was pregnant.”

Sam continued eating as she spoke and I shook my head. She usually had more manners than that, but I wasn’t complaining. She looked happy. That was all I was concerned about.