There were other things going on, other concerns, other issues that needed addressing, but none of it mattered to Bas at this moment. Nothing but her, the sound of her voice, the feel of her heat against his skin, the touch of her hands, her tongue as she leaned forward to lick a scathing line from his earlobe down his neck. Everything was about this moment and this moment was about them, this man and this woman-and the cat that lingered, hungry and ready to possess.

Bas pressed two fingers into her scorching center with a deep thrust, swirling them around so that her moistness dripped down onto his hand. Farther back, the pad of his middle finger pressed gently past the tight rim, stretching her slowly. She worked his d.i.c.k like her hands were her mouth-and yeah, Bas was thinking that her mouth would be so much better. At the same time she rocked back and forth, working each of his fingers deeper inside. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s bounced, nipples rubbing teasingly past his chin until he turned his face and with his mouth open wide, sucked one right inside. His tongue rolled over the taut bud, cheeks hollowing as he tried to pull the entire mound inside like dessert after a fine meal. She arched back and Bas groaned hungrily.

Reluctantly, he pulled his mouth away from her when the sweet torture threatened to kill him. With heaving breaths he shifted, slipping his hands from her and waiting until her fingers uncoiled themselves from around his d.i.c.k. Said body part throbbed its disapproval but Bas was sure he had something infinitely better in mind. Coming to a stand he lifted Priya up into his arms, walking slowly-because he wasn't going to be able to totally keep from touching and tasting her-and kissing her as he moved them toward the patio door.

It seemed like a long walk, but not really, as their tongues dueled during the process. Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, b.r.e.a.s.t.s pressing into his chest. Bas wanted her in the bed, he wanted to lay her down, spread her wide, and take her slow. But that wasn't going to happen. It couldn't happen, not this time, because he didn't have that type of patience.

He fell onto the couch, repositioning Priya on top of him, spreading her legs wide and aiming his thick length upward until the tip pressed into her dripping center. She grasped his shoulders, gripping him so tightly her blunt nails cut into his skin. In the next instant she slammed her hips down so hard and so fast Bas could do nothing more than let his head loll back as a growl rippled through his chest to echo into the dark room. She pulled back and sank down in rapid succession that heated every inch of Bas's body. When he finally licked his lips and swallowed, his mind wrapping around the rise in body temperature and sure-as-h.e.l.l ride to o.r.g.a.s.m, he gripped her hips and joined in the fun.

She was so slick and so tight at the same time, her scent mixing with his own to create something foreign and yet exotic. He guided the strokes now, controlled the depth, the retraction, the connection and she screamed with excitement. Her back was arched, her teeth sinking into her lower lip, b.r.e.a.s.t.s moving with their exertion. Leaning forward he licked her there, right down the center of her chest where a light sheen of sweat had appeared. The scent exploded into the air, stinging his nostrils, running in slow rivulets down his spine.

"It's too much! Too much!" she screamed, her head shaking back and forth wildly.

Bas completely agreed. The feelings soaring through him, the scent, her voice, the feel of his flesh running right alongside hers like a perfectly oiled machine was just too d.a.m.ned much. More than he'd ever experienced with anyone else, ever.

"I've got you, babe," he replied with a guttural groan, his hands moving from her hips to grip the cheeks of her b.u.t.tocks tightly.

He spread her wider, loved the feel of un.o.bstructed entrance into and out of her. Slipping his fingers through her crevice he sighed heavily at the instant warmth of her desire that coated them. He touched her there again, the tight entrance he'd explored before. His molars ached, his d.i.c.k hardening to the point of making his vision blurry.

"Dammit!" he cursed for wanting her there so badly. Needing to shift their position so he could ride her with all the ferocity he was feeling, he attempted to adjust but failed dismally as Priya's release took charge.

Her body locked over his, her head dropping so that she was staring down at him.

"Sebastian!" she said through gritted teeth. "Sebastian!"

He kissed her then, taking her mouth roughly, loving the helpless whimpers that matched the constriction of her sugar-coated walls around his d.i.c.k. When she sagged against him Bas thought again to readjust their position but his body overruled his mind and instead he speared into her deeper and deeper, holding her still by her hips, moving with frequent, powerful thrusts that rendered him speechless until his release ripped free and with it a part of that wall he'd built securely around his heart.

Chapter 20.

"How many of you are there?" was Priya's first question as they lay in Bas's bed, neither of them sleeping.

He hesitated and Priya held her breath. She prayed he wasn't going to go all tight-lipped on her now. If so, there was going to be trouble. Sure, she'd not too long ago had the most mind-numbing o.r.g.a.s.m she'd ever experienced and he was the sole person responsible for said spectacular o.r.g.a.s.m. But the fact still remained that he was not human. The repercussions of her having s.e.x with him were momentarily taking a backseat to finding out everything she could about his ... species, for lack of a better word.

"There are more tribes," he said, his voice deep, but low in the dark of the room. "All across the world, but most specifically in the rainforests and we've been here for hundreds of years. We're not a threat to humans."

Well, that was good to know, sort of. Priya moved slightly, still lying on her back but pulling the sheets up higher, creasing them beneath her arms. She looked up at the ceiling only to see more darkness. The automatic blinds on the windows in the bedroom sealed the room completely from any light. Not that there was light just yet as she was thinking it was somewhere in the vicinity of three a.m.

"But you can certainly be a danger to us, right? I mean you are huge and menacing and ... and..." She paused because what she was about to say next had absolutely nothing to do with the unknown species versus the humans. Clearing her throat, she tried again. "I mean, it's obvious that you're more powerful than humans even though you look just like us."

Her words sounded as if she should be getting the h.e.l.l out of here instead of lying in this bed naked beside him. But she hadn't run. Not once she realized she was staring into familiar, yet unfamiliar eyes and that the big beautiful cat was the man she was beginning to believe she couldn't stay away from.

"We could be a danger," he replied tightly. "But we're not. At least it's not our plan to be, hence the secrecy. It's a lot easier to remain neutral in a world that's not afraid of you or misunderstands you, when n.o.body knows exactly who or what you really are."

Priya hated that there was logic to his words. Hated it so much she ignored it.

"But if someone were to tell your story, to explain why it is you're here and what your plans are..."

"We're not aliens, Priya!" he roared, sitting up straight in the bed.

She gasped but sucked it in, moving until she could sit up next to him.

"That's not what I meant," she admitted quietly.

"But that's how it sounds. And if you print that story people are instantly going to go into prepare-for-the-alien-invasion mode. They're going to stop going to work and go out and buy guns instead. They're going to take a defensive posture against everyone because they won't be able to tell who is what. Some of them, the boldest ones, are going to attempt to hunt us down, to save the earth from our kind. And that's when things are going to get really bad." Bas shook his head at the vehemence in his words. He hadn't meant to talk to her that way, hadn't meant to make things sound so dour, but he had and actually, they were.

"No, Bas," she replied quietly. "I want to save my brother's life."

Bas paused then, feeling like a total a.s.s at having momentarily forgotten how it was she came to be here with him.

"Malik is your brother?"

She nodded. "He's my drug-addicted brother who steals from my mother to get high and has never held a job in his life." She stopped, took a deep breath, and continued, "He's my older brother, the one that fixed the chain on an old bike that someone had thrown away so I could have one of my own. When I was in college and was stupid enough to go to a frat party, get drunk, and leave with one of the pledges, Malik was right there in the parking lot when the j.e.r.k.-.o.f.f. tried to f.u.c.k me right there against my old beat-up car.

"Malik's not the best guy in the world. He's not even a nice guy on his forced sober days. But he's my brother and he's all my mother has left and if she loses him she just might die of grief. And if I lose them both..." Her words halted as she blinked faster and faster, fingers clenching together before she turned away.

Bas waited a second, gave her that short span of time to inhale shakily and exhale before he touched her shoulders, turning her back to face him.

"I won't let you lose your brother, Priya. I will find them and I will make sure your brother is safe, without you having to write this story," he promised.

"Will you kill them too?" She cleared her throat. "You killed him or it without blinking. How many others have you killed?"

Her question was valid, her words true yet they still managed to make Bas feel like a monster. Standing from the bed, he reached up a hand to touch the tiny b.u.t.ton beside one of the wireless black filigree sconces above the bed. Then he was standing on the other side of the bed where she lay. He didn't touch her like he wanted to, but sat beside her instead.

"I killed an intruder. He and another broke into the resort and posed a danger to my staff and our guests. I did what was necessary." He purposely left out the part about doing what was natural.

She visibly gulped and then nodded. "You've done that before?"

He didn't even blink. "Yes. I'm a former United States Marine and a jaguar Shadow Shifter."

"And you'll do it again? Those people sound serious. They showed me a picture of Malik and his head was bleeding. If I don't do this story and you go after them, you'll kill them, won't you?"

"I want you to tell me everything they've ever said to you, in addition to the e-mails. I will find them and I will..." He hesitated. "I will handle them. That's all you need to know."

She looked up at him, her hair tousled, lips still swollen from his kisses and Bas knew they weren't finished. He knew that whatever this was between them was not pa.s.sing. He wasn't going to send Priya on her way and never see her again. He couldn't.

Washington, D.C.

Three sets of eyes stared at the e-mail that had been delivered to Nick's personal inbox. Each of them read those simple sentences: They know WHAT you are.

They know WHAT you do.

And now, THEY can do it too.

And it was signed, CL, Sedona, Arizona "What the f.u.c.k does that mean?" Nick spat, slapping a hand onto the gla.s.s top of his desk.

"You tracing this?" Rome asked X, who was standing on the other side of Nick.

When they'd been called into Nick's office for the second time this week, X had automatically known to bring his laptop. It still amazed Rome how fast and smooth his big, bulky fingers moved over the keyboard. X had already run a cord from his laptop to Nick's and had been steadily typing while they read the message for the third time.

"Tracing the IP address now," X replied.

Rome folded one arm over his chest, using his other hand to rub along the freshly cut goatee at his chin. "Someone's trying to tell us something," he said, more to himself than to the others in the room.

"No s.h.i.t." Nick breathed enough tension into the room to cause Rome's cat to sit up and take notice.

It was the norm, this was just how a shifter was genetically predisposed-fight now, answer the questions later. Rome, thank all that was holy and good in the world, was the exact opposite. He thought about everything, from the moment of conception to when the plan of attack was put into action. That was why he had been named the Stateside a.s.sembly Leader. It was also why, of the three friends in this room, he'd always been the one with good grades and good behavior growing up.

Rome also knew that Nick had other things on his mind that were only being agitated by these cryptic e-mails that someone had taken to sending them. Shya, Nick's three-month-old daughter, had been sick the last few days. Dr. Frank Papplin, the shifter doctor that pulled double duty at a human hospital in D.C. and at Havenway, the Stateside Headquarters in Virginia, had a.s.sured Nick and Ary that it was a simple cold, possibly brought on by the change in seasons. But Nick and Ary were still on edge, as Rome thought any good parent would be about their newborn. For what it was worth, Rome wanted Nick to be at home with his companheiro and child, but things were going on in their world that could adversely affect them all, even young Shya. And because their newfound pen pal had decided that Nick would be their contact, Rome had no choice but to require his friend be here with them instead.

"Someone's trying to tell us something, again," X added without looking up from his laptop.

Rome nodded. "Precisely."

Nick sat back in his chair, dragging his hands down his face in one of his signature exasperated moves. He took a deep breath and even without looking at him Rome knew he was calming down. It took a moment, but Rome was patient. Usually.

"This is the third message. It's from a different e-mail address but it's giving us the heads-up about something," Nick concluded.

"Something that I'm betting concerns one of our goals," Rome added.

"Goal one was to get rid of Sabar and his crazy death drug. Partial check," X said.

"Uh huh," Nick added. "Goal number two was to stop the next shipment that was coming into the States. Another partial, but still a hit."

Rome nodded again, pieces to this puzzle slowly shifting into place. "Goal three, establish the a.s.sembly and the new Stateside democracy."

They were all silent a moment.

"d.a.m.n!" X yelled, his fingers moving slowly on the keyboard. "It came from Sedona."

Nick sighed. "It says that at the end of the e-mail. Duh."

Rome knew instinctively that little bit of sarcasm was not going to go over well.

X shifted in his chair, turning his laptop around so they all could look at it. "No, jerk-off, the e-mail originated from Sedona. The Comastaz Laboratories, to be exact."

Rome looked from one computer screen to the next. "CL, Sedona, Comastaz Laboratories. Dammit!" he swore.

"Those crates Bas pulled out of that tunnel were postmarked from Comastaz," X stated.

"Coincidence?" Nick asked.

"No such thing," Rome replied.

"h.e.l.l no," X added. "Something's definitely going down out there, something we should probably find out about before whoever 'they' are prove what this message says."

Rome let his arms fall to his sides, fists clenching and unclenching. "Get Bas on the phone right now! I want someone in that lab, someone we trust without any question."

"I'll go," a voice sounded from the doorway, surprising the three shifters as they turned to see its owner.

Sedona "This came for you."

Palermo turned around slowly. He'd been standing on the balcony of the cheap-a.s.s hotel they'd booked in the small town just outside of Perryville. It was still early, not even noon yet. Black and Sye, the younger rogue he'd sent into Perryville, had still not returned.

Their a.s.signment had been to sneak inside, find out where the drugs and guns were, and get his s.h.i.t back. Palermo had a sinking suspicion that had not happened. In fact, he had a lump in his stomach the size of a sizzling hot lava ball. Bad mojo for G.o.dd.a.m.ned sure.

"What the h.e.l.l is it?" he asked looking down at the box Rube offered him.

This was another young rogue, one of the recruits he'd made to help execute this part of his a.s.signment. The instructions he'd been given were clear. While Darel Charles sat in D.C. building his drug empire and dishing out orders under false pretenses, Palermo's job was more serious and much more dangerous. He was dealing with a madman and a s.a.d.i.s.tic shifter, both of whom had their own agendas, prime reasons why securing the rest of this shipment was so important.

Rube shrugged, thin shoulders slapping against earlobes stretched by some round object to the point where the shifter looked almost alien with the two gigantic holes on each side of his face. He had other piercings, bars through both eyebrows, one through his lower lip and chin, and when he talked a ball and ring were visible from the center of his tongue. His nubby fingernails were painted black, with silver rings on each finger. To say he blended in with some of the humans Palermo had seen since he'd been back in the States was an understatement.

"Don't know. Sye just came back with it."

Palermo's head jerked up, his gaze moving from the box to Rube in one quick motion. "Sye's back and you didn't tell me?"

Rube blinked, confusion clear on his thin face. "Just did."

"Where is he and where's Black?" Palermo asked, moving past the stupid-a.s.s rogue and the box he still held to pull the door open.

He looked up and down the hall but didn't see anyone. "Where the f.u.c.k are they?"

Rube shook his head. "Sye just said to give this to you. He didn't look too good. Like he'd took a beatin', limping and s.h.i.t, bleeding from his lip."

Palermo slammed the door, turning back to face this guy he'd willingly put in his employ. He'd have to come up with a better way of running background checks.

Moving quickly, Palermo ignored the other questions rumbling through his mind, for the first time inhaling deeply and picking up a scent. It wasn't a good scent, not at all. He s.n.a.t.c.hed the box out of Rube's hands, dropping it onto the bed before ripping the top off.

"f.u.c.k!" He roared at the sight. "f.u.c.k!" Repeat, rewind, and repeat again, because once or twice just didn't seem like enough.

Rube came over to the bed, looked down, and made a heaving sound. He covered his mouth, which might have been the smartest thing the a.s.shole had done so far today.

"What else did Sye say when he dropped this off?" Palermo asked, taking one final look at the pile of ashes that reeked of shifter scent. On top of the ashes was a sheet of paper and the big-a.s.s diamond ring that Black always wore on his pinky finger.

"Said those shifters told him to give you that box and that the leader guy said to come and get him yourself."

"Pick that s.h.i.t up," he told Rube as he pointed into the box. "Now!"

"Really? Man, there's dead-a.s.s ashes in that box. They burned his a.s.s good," Rube complained, still inching his way back from the bed.

Palermo reached a hand behind his back, pulled out the .45 he kept in the band of his pants, and pointed it directly at Rube's temple. "Pick up the piece of paper and read it or die right this f.u.c.king minute, you p.u.s.s.y-a.s.s punk!"

Rube swallowed, the sound loud in the quiet of the room, the scent of fear almost overtaking the scent of dead burnt shifter. Almost.