X-Ops Exposed Read online

  He shook his head. “It’s not that simple. If I lose it, I could kill you.”

  “You’re not going to lose it, and you are not going to kill me. You’re going to let go of all those worries, and you’re going to make love to me for hours. And it’s going to be incredible.”

  Tanner shook his head. “I wish it could be that way, but I can’t take the risk.”

  She knew he was seconds away from sliding out. If he did that, she couldn’t imagine how this moment was ever going to happen again. The thing that had been forming between them would be gone like it had never even been there.

  She couldn’t accept that.

  She wouldn’t.

  Zarina pulled him down and kissed him so hard, his slightly extended fangs nicked her tongue and drew blood. But she didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was showing Tanner he didn’t have to be held captive by the beast inside him, that they could be together in every way that mattered.

  The kiss caught him by surprise, and in that moment of stunned confusion, she took control of the situation, shoving at his shoulder at the same time as she twisted violently beneath him. She normally would never have been able to move a guy his size, but he’d been so careful to keep his full weight off her that she was able to flip him over onto his back. She didn’t waste the advantage, keeping her balance on top of him as she drove him deeper inside her than he’d been before. Then she leaned forward and looked him straight in the eye as she began to ride him exactly the way she’d wanted all along.

  “Zarina,” he warned, his voice a soft rasp.

  She kept moving, fighting to hold in the moans that threatened to spill out of her. “I’m not going to stop. If you want me to, you’re going to have to physically move me, and I don’t think you’re willing to manhandle me that way.”

  He gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing bright red as her body clenched more tightly around his shaft. She took it as a sign he was enjoying what she was doing, even if he refused to admit it.

  “Why are you doing this?” he demanded.

  His hands settled on her grinding hips, almost as if he was trying to control—and slow—her sensual movements. She ignored them and moved faster, her breath coming now in little gasps as she felt the tremors building up inside her again.

  “Because I trust you,” she panted, tingles spreading from her center outward until they covered her whole body. “More than you trust yourself. You, and your hybrid half, would never hurt me. I know that in my soul.”

  Tanner might have argued, but Zarina didn’t give him a chance. Switching into high gear, she bounced up and down on him even faster as she felt her orgasm beginning to crest.

  That was the breaking point for him. His eyes went completely scarlet, and his upper fangs extended far enough to protrude over his lower lip. His big hands tightened on her hips, not to slow her movements this time, but to yank her down on his cock even harder so he was touching her in places she’d never known existed.

  Zarina came not in a cresting wave but in an avalanche of sensations that felt like a fireball exploding inside her. Tanner drew her climax out as far as it would go, making her scream so loud, she was sure it echoed through the camp.

  She was wondering if it was possible to pass out from so much pleasure when Tanner suddenly flipped her over onto her back, thrusting into her hard and fast. That was when she realized he hadn’t come with her. From the growls he was letting out, she knew that was about to change.

  That was when she saw the most beautiful thing she could have ever imagined. Tanner had fully shifted, his fangs completely extended as he gazed down at her with nothing but lust, love, and adoration. There wasn’t a trace of anger or rage to be seen in his glowing red eyes.

  She’d been right about him all along.

  Then Tanner’s whole body stiffened as he shoved deep inside her and held himself there. The feeling as he poured his essence inside her was enough to make her orgasm again, but this time, she kept her eyes open. She didn’t want to miss a single moment of his pleasure.

  Tanner bucked half a dozen times, drawing his climax out—and hers, too—before he collapsed against her, his face nestled comfortably in the curve of her neck.

  Zarina wrapped her arms and legs around him, holding him close. They lay like that for a long time, their heartbeats slowly returning to normal and syncing up with each other’s.

  “That was incredible,” she whispered, gliding her hands up and down his powerful back, tracing her fingers over the muscles. “And without making it sound like I told you so, I told you so.”

  He chuckled, his fangs teasing her skin. “Yeah, I guess you did.”

  She threaded her hand in his hair, urging him up so that she could see his face. He started to look away, like he was ashamed to let her see his hybrid features. She tightened her fingers in his hair, holding him still. She saw nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of. Instead, she saw an amazing man she was insanely in love with.

  That was when Zarina realized Tanner was never going to need the antiserum she’d created. While he was going to need a lot of work to help his PTSD, after making love with him—and his inner beast—she was sure that at some point, he’d gain complete control of his animal half. It would take time, but it would happen. Which meant she’d never have to have that conversation with him, the one where she described the drug’s possible unpleasant side effects.

  Putting those thoughts out of her mind, she pulled Tanner down and kissed him, unconcerned by the presence of his fangs. Neither he nor his hybrid half would ever hurt her.

  He hesitated for a moment but then gave in and kissed her. It was like he was finally letting it all go. The doubt, the worry, the fear. He kissed her like a man kissed the woman he loved.

  “So, what now?” she whispered when they finally pulled away.

  He grinned, displaying his fangs. “Now we make love for hours. And it’s going to be incredible.”

  She returned his smile. “Yes, it will.”

  Chapter 12

  Tate crouched down beside Chase in the woods a quarter mile away from a gorgeous house on the west shore of Sebago Lake. The sun was just coming up over the calm body of water, burning off the morning haze. Except for the occasional bird sounds, the place was quiet.

  “See anything?” Chase asked softly, like he was worried someone would hear them out here, even though it looked like there wasn’t another living soul within five miles of the place.

  Tate looked through his binoculars, scanning first the forest and lakefront surrounding the house before focusing on the home itself. But there was nothing to be seen and hadn’t been since they’d gotten there ten minutes ago.

  “Nothing.” Tate lowered the binoculars. “If Mahsood is in there, he’s playing possum.”

  “If I had as many people after me as Mahsood does, I’d be playing some serious possum, too.”

  It had taken the better part of two hours to collect all the photos and critical data from Bell’s basement, drive into Lewiston and break into a full-service UPS store, then scan and transmit the stuff to Kendra at her house. After that, they’d had to sit in Chase’s patrol car outside the store for another hour while Kendra dug through the data and got them the address and directions for this place. It had been owned by the Brannon family for close to seventy-five years, and Rebecca used it as a private retreat when she wanted to get away from Washington politics. Or maybe hide an old boyfriend.

  The crazy thing was, the house was ten miles from Hiram and the cabin Bell had been found dead in. It made Tate wonder if the man had been heading here to check the place out and make sure it was safe for Mahsood when he’d been grabbed by the people who’d killed him. Kind of ironic if that was the case.

  “We going to go take a look around?” Chase asked. “At least see if Mahsood has been here?”

  Tate glanced at the deputy. �
�You seem to be getting awfully comfortable with this breaking-and-entering thing. First Bell’s house, then a UPS store, and now the house of a sitting member of Congress. If your sheriff hears about this, you’re toast for sure.”

  “I’ll just claim you told me you had federal warrants. Nobody up here trusts the feds. So they’ll have no problem believing me over you.”

  Tate couldn’t find fault with that logic.

  They moved slowly through the woods, using the trees for cover and coming at the house from a direction they hoped provided cover if Mahsood happened to be in there looking out a window. It took a few extra minutes, but they were able to slip all the way up to the back of the house and onto the deck overlooking the lake without raising an alarm. Tate considered that a fair trade.

  “You’re damn good at picking locks,” Chase pointed out softly as Tate opened the French doors leading into the fancy house. “Homeland teach you that?”

  “They wish,” Tate whispered before moving into the huge living room that looked out over the deck. “But I owe it all to my misspent youth. Maybe I’ll tell you about it someday.”

  Chase didn’t say anything as they spread out to search the house. The place was eerily quiet, making Tate think there was no one else there. Once again, he wished he had Declan with him. The bear shifter’s nose would have told them in a flash if they were wasting their time.

  While Chase headed toward the kitchen, Tate moved down a long hallway to a room that was supposed to be a library, then a large office. He thought “supposed to” because the floor plans Kendra had gotten for the place had been a decade old. A lot could have changed since then.

  He peeked his head into the first doorway on the left, relaxing a little when he saw that it was indeed a library. Well, their intel was right. Unfortunately, the room was empty, and there was no sign anyone had been there recently.

  He kept one ear cocked for sounds of trouble from the other side of the house as he made his way down the hall. Not that he was too concerned about Mahsood getting the drop on Chase. He didn’t see that happening.

  The office was an interior room, which made it darker than the library. But he saw enough to know there wasn’t much reason to check it out. Mahsood wasn’t in there unless he was hiding under the desk. But then a glow on the surface of the desktop caught his attention.

  He flipped on the overhead light and moved around the desk to check it out. The glow he’d seen was from the computer monitor sitting there. Specifically from the six black-and-white camera images displayed there in two even rows. Even as he watched, the images changed, showing him different views of the outside of the house, including the lake and the woods surrounding the home. One of those places was where he and Chase had been standing as they surveyed the property.

  Mahsood had been here and seen them coming. Since they hadn’t seen or heard a vehicle speed away, that meant their doctor was trying to get away on foot.

  “Shit.”

  Tate ran out of the room and down the hall. Chase was just coming out of the kitchen as Tate reached it. He motioned toward the front door.

  “Mahsood picked us up on security cameras before we even got close,” he shouted. “He’s probably hauling ass through the woods right now!”

  Tate expected the deputy to immediately head for the door, but instead, Chase shook his head and slowly walked across the living room, lifting his hands at the same time.

  “I don’t think so,” Chase said. “In fact, I’m pretty sure he’s still in the house.”

  Mahsood stepped out of the kitchen behind Chase. He was dressed in jeans, loafers, and a cardigan, a small automatic pistol in his hand, pointed at the cop’s back.

  Tate stopped to stare at Chase incredulously. “Are you shitting me? You let a guy in slip-on loafers sneak up on you? That was the marines you were in, right, not your high school marching band?”

  “Stop right there, or I’ll shoot!” Mahsood warned, shaking his weapon in Tate’s general direction, while still attempting to keep it aimed at Chase, too.

  “Hey, if you haven’t noticed, loafers can be really quiet,” Chase said angrily as he moved, putting more space between him and the doctor. “And if you think I’m going to let you badmouth the marines, buddy, you are so fucking wrong.”

  Mahsood was trying to interrupt the argument when Tate darted past Chase and knocked the doctor’s right arm—and the gun—to the side. Then he flipped the older man over his hip, ripping the weapon out of his hand at the same time. Mahsood crashed to the floor and lay there groaning as Tate unloaded and cleared the .380 auto. At least the man had remembered to take the safety off before threatening them with it.

  “Why the hell are you pointing a gun at us?” Tate demanded before tossing the empty weapon on one couch and the full clip on another. “We’re not the ones you’ve been hiding from. I’m with the DCO.”

  Chase gave him a confused look at that, but Tate shook his head. Explanations would have to wait until later.

  “How was I to know that?” Mahsood winced as he sat up. “When I saw the two of you sneaking up on the house, I naturally assumed you were with the people who’ve been hunting me for weeks.”

  “People,” Chase echoed. “Ashley Brannon isn’t the one after you?”

  Mahsood seemed a little surprised—and worried—to hear the name. “Ashley is here, too? I didn’t know that.”

  “Yeah, we ran into her a few hours ago,” Tate said. “She implied she’d love to get together with you and talk about old times, but something tells me you’re not nearly as eager for a reunion.”

  Mahsood slowly got to his feet and moved over to the couch, careful not to get too close to the empty weapon Tate had tossed there as he sat down. “Ashley is an unstable woman who believes I’m responsible for separating her from her adoptive parents and keeping her away from her mother as well. She doesn’t like me, and I do not think meeting with her would be very beneficial to me.”

  Chase chuckled. “I agree it probably wouldn’t be beneficial, but it would be entertaining as hell. Considering you held her prisoner in a mental institution for years while conducting all kinds of painful experiments on her, I imagine she has hundreds of wonderful things planned for you.”

  The doctor gave the deputy a dismissive glance. “The woman fails to understand the significant role she has played in the advancement of genetic science.”

  After hearing something like that, Tate found himself wondering how difficult it would be to let Ashley know where they were. Maybe they could give her a few minutes alone with Mahsood.

  Unfortunately, that wasn’t something they could do, even if they had a way of reaching Ashley. Landon would want Mahsood brought back to the DCO so they could question him about Rebecca and her role in his hybrid research. But before Tate could think about getting the man back to DC, there was one other issue they had to deal with first.

  “Tell me about these people hunting you,” Tate said. “Who are they?”

  Mahsood shrugged. “I have no idea who they are. I’d been safely off the grid for weeks in Quebec City, but then four men and two shifters appeared out of nowhere and tried to grab me. I was fortunate enough to escape and make my way back here, but they found me again, killing someone very important to me in the process.”

  “McKinley Bell,” Chase said softly.

  Mahsood nodded, his dark eyes filling with sadness. Tate had to admit the man seemed genuinely devastated. He supposed even demented psychopaths could have a place in their hearts for someone. It didn’t mean Mahsood was any less of a monster. It simply reinforced the old saying about there being someone out there for everyone, including psychopaths.

  “Yes,” the doctor murmured. “I’d been staying at his place, but I was worried the people who were after me would come there at some point. I knew I had to find another place to hide and decided on this house. I’d been here m
any times in the past and knew it would be empty at this time of the year. But McKinley was concerned for my safety, so he insisted he come out here first and look around. He even promised to drive a circuitous route so he’d know if he was being followed. Unfortunately, he never came back. I understand they tortured him as a way to get to me.”

  Tate had a stupid urge to say something consoling, like McKinley’s death had been painless. Before he had a chance to lie, a soft chime from somewhere in the house caught his attention.

  Mahsood’s head snapped up sharply, his wide-eyed gaze locked on the hallway behind Tate. “That’s a security alarm in the office. It means one of the sensors on the property has been activated.”

  Leaving Chase to deal with Mahsood, Tate turned and ran for the office. Several more of the chimes had gone off by the time he got there. That couldn’t be a good thing.

  He slid to a stop behind the desk, cursing when he saw the intruders moving quickly through the woods behind the house, tripping multiple alarms as they went. The two shifters were in the lead, while four heavily armed men spread out behind them. No doubt, the shifters knew they were setting off the alarms and didn’t care. They knew no one Mahsood called would be able to get here in time to help.

  Tate cursed as the team of well-trained operatives converged on the house. His gut told him they’d followed him and Chase since the fight at Joanne Harvey’s house. They’d led the hired guns right to the man they were after.

  “What’s the word?” Chase walked into the office with Mahsood. “Do we fight or make a run for it?”

  “That depends,” Tate told him. “Do you consider six against two bad odds?”

  “I can help fight,” Mahsood said. “Let me have my gun back.”

  Chase snorted and shook his head. “We run.”

  * * *

  Tanner knew he’d made a lot of stupid decisions in his life. In fact, it wasn’t a stretch to say his life—at least recently—was nothing more than a collection of one terrible decision followed by another. But deciding to stop being a moron and tell Zarina how he felt about her wasn’t one of them. It might just be the smartest thing he’d ever done.