“You need to understand them,” Jonas warned him as Amber moved, a childish little mumble of displeasure sounding from her pouty lips.
Stygian’s gaze jerked to the little girl. She wasn’t emanating any pain, but something was distressing her.
Jonas continued to rub her fragile back, his gaze locked on the little face that came into view when she shifted position and stretched out against his chest. Her head lay in the crook of his arm before she finished maneuvering for the position she was after.
The smile that quirked the director’s lips was damned surprising.
Pure tenderness.
“This meeting is over,” Jonas stated firmly though softly. “Go back to her, keep her occupied. Once the link reactivates, I’ll meet with her. Let’s see what happens when her friends learn what we’re really searching for.”
“Is that a good idea?” Stygian had never been one to give the suspected enemy any information at all.
“She’s going to tell them anyway,” Jonas reminded him. “This way, we can track the transmission to the source and identify her shadows. That could help us figure out why they’re tailing her and why she’s working with them.”
“Have you considered they could simply be friends who are worried about her? Friends with the same paranoia and resources that you have?” Jonas’s mate and wife, Rachel Broen-Wyatt, stepped across the open door frame that led to the suite’s bedroom.
Leaning against the wood frame, one hand tucked into the pocket of her jeans, the other propped on a slender hip, love suffused her expression as her gaze settled on the man and child across the room.
No Breed could ever doubt the pure, soul-deep love that existed between the couple. The room was suddenly scented with the power of it. Sensual, yet pure, innocent and yet erotic, the emotions that swept between the two were almost too intimate for Stygian’s comfort.
“Hello, Stygian.” Rachel straightened from her position and moved slowly into the room. “I see you’re once again enmeshed in one of Jonas’s schemes.” Pure pride enveloped her despite the teasing tone of her voice.
“So it would seem,” he agreed, suddenly uncertain what to do with himself.
Shoving his hands into the pockets of his mission pants, he waited impatiently as she crossed the room to her husband, then bent to him.
Her hair cascaded over her face, hiding the greeting kiss as Jonas’s hand lifted, his fingers spreading to cup her cheek and neck.
That scent; Stygian had learned to associate it with the deepest emotions shared between mates. What Jonas and Rachel shared was as deep as that of couples mated for a decade, though.
It was rare to sense such depths of emotion after only a few years.
The kiss lasted only seconds. A true greeting kiss, but the impact of the dedication between the two sent a chill racing up Stygian’s spine.
Without one, the other would cease to exist, he thought, and such realization would be terrifying for the babe cradled between the two, should it ever happen.
Then, as the mother drew back and her attention joined Jonas’s on the child, he felt a chill of foreboding tearing through him.
Amber had awakened, and suddenly what had been shared love between two became a circle of pure emotion.
There was nothing sensual or erotic in this. It went beyond soul deep though, and for the first time Stygian could sense the enormity of what Jonas was facing if he lost the battle for the little girl’s life.
“Momma, Da sings.” Amber lay back in Jonas’s arms and clearly told a secret Jonas would have preferred she kept to herself. “Da sings purty, Momma.”
Rachel’s laughter was filled with love as she straightened and stared down at her mate. “Da sings, does he?” she asked the little girl. “What does Da sing, Amber?”
“Uh, Rachel—” There was a definite thread of amusement in Jonas’s tone.
“Da sing bad cotie go bye-bye.” Amber laughed, obviously aware she was telling a great secret. “Ba’ cotie go bye-bye, boom boom,” she suddenly sang as Jonas fought to hold back his laughter and Rachel turned a look of mock anger on him.
“Jonas, shame on you,” she chastised him, though her tone lacked anger. “I thought we were teaching Amber to be compassionate and kind?”
“To be fair, it’s called putting them out of their misery.” Jonas laughed, handing the little girl over to her petite mother. “Snitch,” he accused the little girl, but his smile and tone of voice was anything but chastising.
“Da called me ‘itch, Momma,” Amber gave a mock little pout, though her blue eyes were gleaming with childish laughter as her arms wrapped around her mother’s neck as she turned back to her da. “Don’ call me ’itch, Da.” She wagged a little finger at him, obviously mimicking his actions.
Jonas chuckled at the childish order before moving to his feet and stealing a kiss from the girl’s cheek. “Then don’t snitch on Da,” he warned her, the laughter in his voice another surprise.
Stygian would be damned if he could ever remember seeing laughter in Jonas’s gaze, let alone hearing it in his voice.
“Come on, snitch, let’s get you bathed and dressed for dinner. Do you think you and your da could refrain from the food fight tonight? Those carrots were not easy for Erin to clean…”
She continued into the other room as her voice trailed off and Amber’s laughter became indistinct, leaving Stygian to miss it more than he was willing to admit.
That moment of tenderness, of family intimacy was nearly more than Stygian could bear. And in that moment, the young woman waiting in the other room jumped into his mind.
Skin like the softest silk; eyes the sweetest, softest gray; and a body that would tempt a monk. Full breasts confined beneath the sports bra, gently rounded hips and toned thighs. Lips with the slightest sensual pout and a temper that would test even the most patient Breed.
Being next to her in the Dragoon had tested not just his patience, but also his self-control. He had wanted nothing more than to taste those sweet lips before moving on to certain other body parts.
“Control your lust, Wolf, or I’ll start thinking she’s your mate,” Jonas murmured, amused.
Stygian frowned back at him. “Hell, a Breed can’t even get horny anymore without being accused of mating.”
Jonas’s lips quirked in a hint of a smile. “True, Wolf. Very true.” Then he nodded to the monitors. “Go on out there, distract her a bit. Once the link reactivates, I’ll join the rest of you. Have the others keep their distance from her in case the skin tags she’s wearing are programmed to shut everything down once Breed body heat has been detected.”
Breeds had a body temperature that ran a degree or two higher than humans and made some electronics much easier to shut down if they were programmed correctly.
Stygian nodded, turned and headed back to the sitting room where the young woman waited.
And he started praying—
Praying she wasn’t his mate. Praying she was his mate.
And praying he could keep her alive.
CHAPTER 2
Waiting wasn’t high on her list of things she enjoyed, Liza admitted as she was forced to wait for Jonas Wyatt.
And waiting nearly an hour before coming face-to-face with none other than the big bad director of Breed Affairs himself didn’t help.
Not that she hadn’t met him before.
She had.
Just never quite like this.
And definitely not with what appeared to be the Alphas of the Wolf and Coyote packs as well as Callan Lyons, leader of the Feline Prides and acknowledged spokesperson of the Breed communities, entering behind him along with more than a half dozen other Breeds.