Wolf Tales 11 (11 page)

Tinker turned away from the window and gave Mik a
lopsided grin. “You’re preaching to the choir, Mik. I agree with everything you say. Doesn’t mean I have to like it, and I don’t. I don’t like it one bit. I know where my woman is and I want her out of there, now. I don’t want those slimy bastards in the same state with her, much less the same hotel room.”

“Sucks, don’t it?” Mik punched Tinker’s shoulder and turned away from the window just as Tala’s voice whispered in his mind. His gaze automatically flew to AJ to confirm he was in on the link. Then he concentrated on Tala.

One of the guys just ordered room service. I heard him give the room number. Eighteen-ten. I think that’s an executive suite. Two men are out in the living area. Lisa and I are in the bedroom with one distracted guard. He’s heavy into his video games.

Okay. Are you and Lisa okay with what we’re doing? With going along with this until we can catch the ones at the top?

Damn straight we are. Lisa agrees. We’re okay for now.

Good. He glanced at AJ, caught his lover’s hesitant nod. I love you. It’s killing me to leave you stuck over there.

I know. I’m okay. AJ? You all right with this?

AJ’s stricken glance told Mik volumes more than he knew AJ would ever think of sharing with Tala. Yeah, AJ said, after a long pause.
But only because you’re okay with it. My gut is telling me to come get you now, but my head’s reminding me what we have to do to keep everyone safe in the long run. I’ll listen to my head, for now.

Don’t worry, AJ. We’ll be okay. Besides, everything will work out perfectly. Don’t forget, Anton’s got a plan.

Oh, fuck.

Luc stepped into the main room, glanced at the door, and said, “They’re here. Anton just contacted me.”

“How’s Tia?” Mik realized he was drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair and quickly folded his hand into a fist. This waiting was killing him, but they’d decided to hold off on anything until Anton and the rest of the Montana group had arrived.

Luc shook his head. He looked as if he’d aged a hundred years over the course of the day. “She’s sleeping. Pale. She’s lost too much blood.” He stared at the closed front door. “I hope I’m not putting too much faith in Logan. He’s a doctor, but Adam’s the one with the healing powers that …”

AJ slung an arm over Luc’s shoulders. “Adam’s taught Logan what he knows. She’ll be okay.”

Luc raised stricken eyes to AJ. “How can you be so calm? Those bastards have Tala and …”

AJ sighed and glanced at Mik. His jaw tightened. “Mik and I are in constant communication with her. She’s okay, we know where she is, and they’re not going to try anything until tonight. And I have the satisfaction of knowing I’m going to personally destroy every single person who’s hurt our women.”

Luc’s smile was strained. “Yeah. There’s that.”

Tinker opened the door before anyone even heard a step on the porch. Nick was just reaching for the handle. “Thanks, Tink.” He stepped aside. Keisha was the first one into the room.

She drew Luc into a tight hug, flashed a quick hello to the group, and headed down the hallway to Tia. Anton, Logan, and Jazzy entered, but it was the last man, tall, unmistakably Native American, and preternaturally beautiful, who caught Mik’s eye.

He stood up and held out his hand. “Igmutaka?”

“Yes.” He moved close and drew Mik into a warm embrace, then stepped back, still clasping his shoulders. “You are your grandfather. I feel his spirit in you, just as he exists
in your daughter. I did not feel his presence before now. I find that curious.”

Bemused, Mik stared at the human form of the guide he had known as spirit and then wildcat. He’d heard the man’s human manifestation was unusual—the body he wore so comfortably was tall and strong and powerfully shaped, with lean muscle and a stark yet almost feminine beauty, with his long, dark hair, dark skin, and dark eyes.

This was the man who had linked with his daughter, who would guide her to adulthood along with Mik, Tala, and AJ. Suddenly, the whole of his little girl’s life flashed before him. Mik burst into laughter.

The others in the room looked at him as if he were nuts. Maybe he was. Maybe he was losing it, standing here in a loose embrace with a man who couldn’t possibly exist, a man who’d walked the ancient world as a mountain lion, survived as spirit to guide many generations of Sioux warriors, and now stood here in this San Francisco home wearing faded Levis, a red plaid flannel shirt, and a pair of Mik’s old hiking boots.

“You find me funny?” Igmutaka frowned.

Mik just shook his head. “I’m thinking of something Tala said the other day, how it’s going to be almost impossible for our daughter to ever go out on a date with me and AJ looming over her. Now she’s going to have you, too? The poor little girl won’t have a chance.”

Igmutaka slowly shook his head from side to side. “I disagree. She will have every chance.” He glanced over his shoulder at Anton.

Mik realized Logan and Jazzy were no longer in the room. They must have gone immediately to Tia’s room with Luc and Keisha, but he noticed that Anton observed the dynamics between him and Igmutaka with a thoughtful smile on his face.

After a moment, Anton turned and focused directly on Mik.

“Igmutaka’s right. She’ll have every chance because she will survive today, healthy and alive, with memories of her mother’s bravery, two fathers who love her, and the spirit guide who protects her. As will your son, AJ, and Tink, your daughter. And your mates. I applaud your bravery, yours and your mates, for not taking the easy way out and going for the quick rescue. You’re giving us a chance to end this threat here and now.”

Mik crossed his arms over his chest. He felt Tala’s presence in his thoughts along with AJ, knew Tinker was linked to Lisa. “So, Anton.” He cocked one eyebrow. “What do you propose?”

Baylor stepped out of the shower, dried off, and wrapped a towel around his waist. He dug around in his overnight kit, in search of his razor. “Son of a bitch.” He jerked his hand out of the bag and glared at the perfect little parallel slices on his fingertip. Hopefully Manda wouldn’t notice. She was always telling him to put the stupid plastic cover on the blades, which seemed like a fucking waste of time.

Grumbling, he set the razor on the counter and stuck his bloody finger in his mouth. Damn but he hated it when she was right, though it was almost worth admitting he’d screwed up, just to see her gloat. She really loved the occasional gloat.

He glanced at the bathroom door, comforted by the fact she slept just on the other side of it. He didn’t even want to think about what Mik and AJ were going through right now. And Tinker? How was he handling things? Tinker lived and breathed for Lisa, and he was so fucking excited about the baby.

His sisters had found damned good men and he was glad for them. They’d lived lives of pure hell. They sure didn’t deserve what had happened. None of them did.

Bay stared at the mirror and lathered up his face, but it was Tala’s smile he saw, Lisa’s soft laughter that he heard.
He hated feeling as if he was too far away to help, and even though they had their instructions from Anton, he couldn’t see what good they could do. Not from clear across the country.

He’d failed them when they were little, when their parents had done their best to screw up their kids’ lives. He couldn’t handle it if he failed them now. Didn’t know if he could survive if anything happened to either Lisa or Tala or the babies they carried. It was too much. Too fucking much.

He glanced at a small clock on the counter. It was almost six—their dinner reservations were for seven, and then they needed to be on the zoo grounds by nine or so. For what? So they could overhear something from someone without knowing what they were supposed to be listening for, and then go off in the trees and fuck like bunnies?

“Crap.” He stared at his image, dark amber eyes rimmed with red from worry and the lower half of his face covered in white foam, and wondered what the fuck Anton was trying to do. None of what he wanted made sense. Thank the Goddess the girls had been able to tell their mates they were all right, at least for now. Knowing they’d finally made contact had taken some of the worry off his mind.

Now if his stupid finger would stop bleeding …

Double crap. He’d feel a lot better if the guys would just go in and free the girls and worry about their damned plans after everyone was safe. Instead they were all dicking around with some convoluted plan that required him and Jake and their women to fuck their brains out while someone tried to kill the president of the United States. Stupid. Just plain stupid.

Except he didn’t have any other ideas. Nothing at all that would help them figure out who the hell was after them this time. Why someone in his old agency would be plotting against the commander in chief. Bay whipped the
blade across his chin and then caught the last few whiskers under his nose, rinsed himself clean, and ran his hand over his smooth jaw.

Cursing under his breath, he dried his face and tossed the towel in the hamper. He was still silently seething when he stepped out of the bathroom and saw Manda, curled up under the heavy down comforter. One shoulder peeked out from beneath the thick blanket. Her hair, still damp from her shower, lay in tangled streaks of gold and honey across the pillow.

He stared at her, loving her so much he ached, and all the fight went out of him.

Those poor bastards,
Mik and AJ. Tinker.
How the hell were they coping with this nightmare? He didn’t know if he could handle it if something were to happen to his mate. They’d had a few close calls, times when guys had come after Manda, and thinking of those times still made his blood run cold.

She rolled over and opened her eyes, those beautiful amber eyes that sometimes looked as if they’d seen more pain than any one person should ever have to witness. She didn’t say a word. She just lifted the covers, held out her hand, and reached for him with a smile on her perfect mouth.

Groaning, not even trying to explain the emotions twisting him apart, Bay clasped her fingers and let her tug him lightly into bed.

He stopped his fall forward, supporting himself over her body. Close, but not nearly close enough. Looking down at her, he kissed her quickly on the end of the nose, keeping things light. Holding his body in check even as his cock rose hard and ready against his belly. “We don’t have time. It’s late. We have to …”

“Shush.” Smiling, she pressed her fingertips to his mouth. “I need you. Now. I can’t do what Anton wants of
us if I’m as tied in knots as I feel right now. Make love to me, Bay. Just you and me, making love as if there’s not a care in the world. The way we’d planned to when we left for Freeport this morning. Remember those separate hotel rooms we had waiting?”

He chuckled and kissed her again, though he still held his body above hers. He was so afraid to turn himself free, to let the need for her take over, take him. What she said was so true, though. He loved Jake and Shannon, but they’d fallen into such a comfortable routine with them, all sleeping together in that big bed of theirs, sharing thoughts and hearts and minds without really concentrating on the one they loved most.

He’d actually been lusting after his mate, wanting her to himself, all by himself. The way he wanted her now. And she was right. There was time if he’d just quit wasting it.

He lowered his hips until the towel tangled between them.

“That’s cold!” Laughing, sucking her belly in close and curling up against his chest, Manda ripped the wet towel off his hips. Then she eased back against the sheets, looped her arms over his shoulders, and drew him close.

The tight curls between her legs brushed the sensitive underside of his cock, and he sighed, nestling against her. She looped one long leg around his hips and rested her thigh on his butt, and it was such a simple thing to slide between her damp folds as she opened for him.

Such a simple thing, and yet rife with so much emotion, so much meaning, that every time they loved, it seemed more intense than the time before, every time they touched, it felt as if they conveyed a deeper meaning.

He propped himself up on his elbows and stretched his fingertips out to brush the tangled hair back from her beautiful eyes. Jerked his hand back and stuck his bloody finger in his mouth.

She grabbed his hand and looked at the tiny cuts. Eyes twinkling, she kissed the small wound. It had finally stopped bleeding. “Did it to yourself, did you? Again?”

He nuzzled the soft skin where her shoulder curved into her smooth neck. “Go ahead. Gloat.” He kissed her smile. “I know you want to.”

She licked her lips. “Later, maybe. Now I’d rather make love. Hot, nasty sex in the afternoon.”

He gazed into her sparkling eyes and fell for her all over again. “I will never, if I live to be a hundred, get enough of you. Of this. I love you, Manda. It scares the crap out of me when I think how much I love you, what it would do to me if anything were to ever happen to you.”

Her lips curved in a slow smile. “I promise to be very, very careful.” She wriggled her hips. “Now, are you just going to lie there, worrying about things that aren’t going to happen, and wasting what little time we’ve got, or do you think you could get this show on the road?”

He rubbed his nose against hers. “Bossy little thing, aren’t you?”

“Someone has to occasionally light a fire under your delicious butt.” She encircled his neck and pulled him close for a long, slow kiss. Her lips roved over his, teasing, tasting, nipping. He ran his tongue along the seam, slowly breached it with the very tip until he could brush across the smooth surface of her teeth, inhale her breath, absorb her into himself.

Manda.
His. From the moment he’d first seen her, misshapen and frightened and yet alight with her own special inner beauty, somehow he’d known.

He rolled his hips, thrusting deep and smooth, in, out, and filling her again. Her body rippled around his, the sleek muscles holding him, reluctantly giving way as he withdrew only to plunge deep inside again. He kept the rhythm slow, easy and loving, a mere prelude to what they saved for later this night.