"Riley, why is this important?" Jack said. "You are not going after the kid. It'll jeopardize everything."
I ignored him. I was here, he was sitting in his van, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do to stop me now. And short of endangering Rhoan or Kade, I was going to do what I could to rescue that kid. "What about the scientists?"
"Six that I know of."
"You able to point them out?"
He pulled me back against him. The stallion was up and ready to go again, and I couldn't help grinning in anticipation.
"Why?" he asked.
"I need to get in there, which means I'll probably have to fuck one of them to get the information I need."
"Riley, I forbid you to do this."
"Bite me."
"Me or Jack?" Kade murmured, his teeth grazing my neck and sending shivers of delight skittering across my skin.
"Jack. And I'm not a fool, boss. I won't jeopardize the mission. I want Starr every bit as badly as you do."
He grunted. Whether that was agreement, or merely the realization he couldn't actually stop me was anyone's guess.
"So, the scientists," I prompted.
"They're a pretty motley looking lot," Kade answered.
"As long as they're male and therefore have a dick that takes over from the brain when confronted by a naked woman, I don't give a damn."
He chuckled, and slid his hands up to cup my breasts. "God, I do so love a werewolf's lack of inhibitions."
And I loved his touch. They way his large hands could cover and contain my breasts. The finesse of his clever fingers as they teased and pinched my engorged nipples. I leaned my head against his shoulder, closed my eyes and simply enjoyed.
And it was in that moment I heard it. The snap of a twig, the gentle rustle of undergrowth. Someone was coming toward us.
I tensed and sat upright.
"What?" Kade asked immediately.
"Shift shape," I murmured as I scrambled to my feet. "Someone's approaching. Jack, I'm switching you off."
"Be caref—" His warning was cut off as I flicked the com-link. Kade shifted into horse form and moved away to graze while I stepped into the icy water and began scooping it up to wash away the evidence of lovemaking. Goose bumps fled across my skin, but the cause wasn't only the chilly water. The presence of the person approaching burned across my skin, as powerful as the electricity that ran before a summer storm. Unpleasant and yet, at the same time, exhilarating.
A man stepped through the trees to my right. He was thick set, broad shouldered, with golden skin and rippling muscles. His hair was a mane of darker gold, thick and lush, and his face was almost feline. His eyes, when he looked up, were tawny. Like a cat's.
He stopped, his eyes suddenly narrowing. The electricity in the air sharpened abruptly, rolling around me in waves that left me breathless, hot. But there was an undercurrent of brutality in what he was projecting, suggesting this man was into more than just vanilla sex.
"Who are you?" he said, voice harsh, rough. He moved his hand, and I noted the gun at his waist of his jeans.
"Poppy Burns. You?"
"And who is Poppy Burns when she's home?" he asked.
"I've been employed to fight in the arena. I came in today."
"Indeed?"
His gaze slid down my body, and moisture skated across my skin, tiny beads of perspiration that had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with arousal. My nipples hardened almost painfully and the throbbing, low-down ache got stronger, especially when his gaze seemed to linger on my hips and groin. As if, even from that distance, he could see the pooling desire. His gaze completed its erotic journey, and rose to meet mine again. The lust so evident in those tawny depths just about melted my insides.
I might be wolf, and I might be so very easily attracted to a good-looking man, but what this particular man was projecting wasn't natural. It was too overwhelming. Not even a male werewolf using the full strength of his aura could create this sort of reaction in me. Not if I didn't want it to.
But I had reacted like this several times before—with Talon, who'd been lab-made by Starr's father. Obviously, given the heated desire boiling around me and his feline features, this man had werelion in him rather than lion-shifter. Shifters—even wolf-shifters—didn't possess this sort of aura. It only came with those who were forced to shift shape on the rise of the full moon. It was her gift to us, if you will.
Or curse, as many shifters and humans seemed to think.
Only I didn't actually think he was a part-breed, or a even clone like Talon, nor did I think he was he a lab-born crossbreed. I think he was something else entirely—and someone I had been warned about. A human who, while still a fetus, had undergone several procedures that involved cross-planting DNA from shifters and weres to enhance reflexes and senses. According to Misha, the experiments started by Starr's predecessor had finally been successful, but one of the side effects was an overdeveloped sex drive and an aura to match. And given Starr's lieutenants were apparently the end result of such experiments, I was betting this man was one of them. There was too much authority in his expression, and in the way he stood, for him to be just another guard.
If it was Leo Moss, I had to tread carefully. Misha had warned that Moss and his counterpart, Alden Merle, weren't exactly chummy with sanity, and the last thing I wanted was to get in their bad books straightaway. But by the same token I didn't want to seem too submissive, if only because the unattainable often held the interest longer than the easily gained. I needed to hold their interest until either Rhoan or I got Libraska's location. Killing Starr and tearing down his cartel would be useless otherwise. Someone else would just step into the breach, and keep producing nightmares.
The stranger walked toward me. I resisted the urge to step away. The nearer he got, the more my skin burned, and it wasn't just the intensity of his aura. There was madness in his eyes, in the very feel of him—as if his spirit, his soul, was infected with death and decay.
I licked my dry lips, saw his gaze follow the movement. Saw the flame of desire burn darker in his gaze. It was almost hypnotic, and it took a lot of effort to pull my gaze away, to look down.
Which is when I saw the fine down of hair covering his skin. It was silky, shiny, more like a small cat's than the coarser texture of a lion's coat. My fingers itched with the need to feel it, but I had to wonder if the hair covered all his bits. I wasn't into fuzzies when it came to that.
He stopped within arm's length. I crossed mine, feigning indifference when every inch of my skin trembled with desire and every sense was urging me to turn and run from this foul thing. "So who are you when you're home?"
A smile twisted his lush lips, but it held a hint of arrogance that provided a whole lot of reinforcement to my resistance of his aura. I might be a wolf and technically easy, but no one should ever think they could have me without at least a little effort involved.
"I'm the man you'll be spending the night with."
A shiver ran down my spine at the thought—even if that was what I was sent here to do. "Really? And why is that?"
"Because I want you."
"So? I can pick and choose who I wish to be with, and I sec no reason to do so now when I haven't seen the other goods on offer." I let my gaze run down his length. If he wanted me now, it wasn't actually showing through his pants. But then, I fooled around with a stallion, so everyone was small in comparison.
"Have you read the small print on the contract?"
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?"
"Because if you had read it, you'd know it states that while it is mandatory the winner spends the night with Starr's lieutenants, said lieutenants can also choose to spend the night with someone other than the winner, and he or she will comply."