X-Ops Exposed Read online

  Tanner glanced at her, but most of his attention was focused on whoever had screamed, or maybe an errant whiff of blood she’d never be able to pick up. Either way, Zarina knew he could be seconds away from bolting on her. If he ran, a lot of people could die. That was blood Tanner would never want on his hands.

  Knowing what she had to do but hating it nonetheless, Zarina lifted her hand and showed him the injector. His eyes sharpened on it immediately.

  “This can help you,” she said, more tears coming as she realized this was where they’d been heading for a long time. Maybe even from the very beginning. “It’s the only thing that can help you now, I think.”

  Tanner regarded her almost curiously, and she lied to herself, thinking maybe he understood what she was saying.

  “I never got the chance to fully talk to you about the antiserum, but it will reset your DNA to what it was before any of the hybrid stuff ever happened to you,” she continued. “You’ll still have the PTSD to deal with, but at least you’ll have a chance to focus on that without worrying about the claws and fangs.”

  Tanner’s eyes tracked the injector as she placed the tip carefully against the thickest, most muscular part of his left shoulder. “There might be some side effects we didn’t talk about, too.”

  His eyes narrowed as if he understood.

  She forced a smile to her lips, wanting him to be as calm as possible before she triggered the injector. The canister of the unit had a two-inch needle, and if he jerked away too quickly, he wouldn’t get the full dose of the antiserum into his system. She had no idea what a half dose would do to him.

  “The worst side effect of the drug is you might not be able to remember me when you wake up from this,” she whispered, tears running down her cheeks even though she still had that fake smile pasted on her face. “That’s not really a problem, though. It just means we can start all over again.”

  Then she shook her head, knowing things were never that simple. “But just in case it doesn’t work out the same way the second time, I guess I should tell you now that I love you. More than I ever dreamed possible. I have since the first day I met you. My only regret is that I never told you sooner.”

  She took a deep breath, starting to apply pressure to the auto-injector. She knew exactly what she was risking by doing this, but there was no other choice.

  Tanner reached over and gently wrapped his fingers around hers, taking the injector away from his shoulder. Zarina stared at his nails for at least ten seconds before she realized his claws had retracted. She lifted her head to see Tanner’s beautiful blue eyes gazing back at her.

  “You didn’t tell me,” he said quietly. “But I always knew.”

  * * *

  “If it’s okay with you, I’d prefer if we skip the antiserum,” Tanner whispered. “The idea of forgetting even one second of my time with you isn’t something I’m interested in.”

  Zarina knelt there on the stone floor, staring at him like he was a pig wearing a Rolex for so long, he wasn’t sure she heard him.

  “You’re back,” she finally breathed. “You’re really back.”

  He nodded.

  She flung her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. “I thought your hybrid half had taken over and wasn’t ever going to let you come back.”

  He hugged her back just as fiercely, inhaling deeply as he buried his face in her silky hair. “It’s complicated, but I think my other half and I have worked out our differences. I don’t fight so hard to keep him trapped away in the dark, and he doesn’t seem so interested in destroying everything he sees. It’s not as simple as saying I’m completely in control now, but we have an arrangement of sorts.”

  “Simple or not, its sounds like a good deal to me,” she said against his neck, bathing him in her scent and making his hybrid half nearly delirious with pleasure.

  “I think I have you to thank for this new arrangement,” he admitted, pulling away to gaze at her. “Everything changed the moment I finally believed you truly accepted me for what I am—a veteran with PTSD as well as a hybrid.” His mouth edged up. “It also doesn’t hurt to know you love me, too.”

  “You heard that part, huh?” She smiled. “I wasn’t sure.”

  Tanner grinned. “Yeah, I heard. I love you, too.” He gently cupped her face and kissed her. “Are you okay? Did Ryan hurt you? Or Anton?”

  She looked confused for a moment, then glanced over at the blond man she’d shot. “Oh, you mean him. No, he didn’t hurt me. I’m fine. Because of you.”

  Tanner sighed in relief and hugged her again, so damn grateful he’d been lucky enough to hear Zarina calling out Cam’s name in panic. If it wasn’t for that, he likely would have never turned around. He’d been so focused on chasing after Spencer that he’d nearly let the woman he loved die. But he’d gotten there in time, and she was okay.

  He glanced at what was left of Ryan, having a hard time finding even a small part of him that regretted what he’d done. Maybe later, after this was all over with and he’d had some time to reflect, he’d be able to remember a time when his friend hadn’t been completely evil. But not right now.

  Tanner still had his arms around Zarina when he heard a groan a few feet away. Zarina had obviously heard it, too, because she pulled away with a concerned look.

  “Cam!” she said.

  Shit.

  Cursing silently, Tanner scrambled over to check on his brother, Zarina at his side. He’d heard Cam’s pulse and rhythmic breathing, so he knew his brother was okay, but it freaked him out to think he’d forgotten him even for a second.

  Cam was already trying to stand up by the time they got there, but Zarina pushed him back down, leaning over to examine the wound above his ear.

  “Don’t try to move yet,” she said. “You could have a concussion.”

  “No kidding I have a concussion. I’m lucky I still have a head,” Cam said with a snort as he pressed his hand to the gash along his temple. “But unless that blow to the noodle screwed up my hearing, I’m pretty sure all the shooting has stopped. Which means this place is likely going to be overrun with cops soon. We need to round up everyone else and get the hell out of here.”

  Tanner silently agreed as he carefully helped his brother stand. He’d been preoccupied at the time, but he thought the shooting stopped about the same time he’d been tackling Ryan, which meant the fighting was over.

  “Before we go, there’s something I need to handle first,” he said. “Spencer.”

  Zarina bent to scoop up her revolver, then quickly came around to lend another shoulder for Cam to lean on. “We haven’t seen Spencer since we got here. I’m guessing you were chasing after him when you came this way?”

  Tanner nodded, leading the way toward the main room, then down another side tunnel that took them to a set of stone steps leading to the luxury boxes. He’d been halfway up when he’d heard Zarina’s cry. He hated to think Spencer and Lillie’s lives had been the price he’d had to pay to save Zarina and Cam, but if the total silence from upstairs was any indication, that was exactly what had happened.

  “Ryan put both of us in the cage and threatened to kill the other prisoners if we didn’t fight each other,” he said over his shoulder. “When Spencer saw they had a gun pointed at Lillie’s head, he completely lost it. The second he got out of the cage, he raced up here to help Lillie, but in his condition, I’m worried he’s just as likely to hurt her as save her.”

  Tanner’s steps slowed as he approached the top of the stairs. The stench of blood coming from the luxury boxes was nearly overwhelming. He tried his best to separate the different scents and hone in on Lillie’s and Spencer’s, but there was simply too much blood for his nose to wade through.

  The moment he got to the top of the stairs and looked down the well-lit corridor leading to the luxury boxes, it seemed his worst fears were realized. Four men lay o
n the floor, their bodies clawed and ripped apart.

  He wasn’t sure he even wanted to keep going, but he heard a soft voice he recognized as Lillie’s. Beside him, Cam lifted his weapon higher while Zarina reloaded her revolver with trembling hands. As Tanner took off running in the direction of Lillie’s voice, he hoped neither of them had to use their weapons.

  Tanner found Lillie sitting on the floor of one of the suites, Spencer in her arms. He was still in his hybrid form and covered in blood. It looked like he was one wrong move away from going into a rage and killing anyone he could reach, including Lillie.

  “He can’t shift back,” Lillie whispered, her voice choking with emotion, tears running down her face. “He’s had bad episodes before, but nothing like this. He’s always settled down within minutes of being provoked. I’ve been trying to calm him down now for nearly five minutes, and it’s not helping.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Tanner saw Cam lower his weapon and take a small step back. Tanner didn’t blame his brother. This wasn’t a problem a cop could fix, not with a weapon at least.

  Zarina holstered her pistol as well. “Will he let you touch his face?” she asked softly. “Gently caressing his jaw might help.”

  Lillie shook her head, more tears spilling onto her cheeks. “I’ve tried that. And running my fingers through his hair, too. Nothing works. It’s like he pushed himself too hard, and now he’s trapped in this form.”

  Tanner heard a commotion out in the corridor, and Cam darted out to deal with it, somehow knowing they sure as hell didn’t need any more stress in the room. Ten seconds later, he was back and looking even more worried than before.

  “Diaz says SWAT is on their way down here from the club level,” Cam said. “They’re being held up a little by the crowd, but Diaz thinks we’ll be lucky to have another five minutes before our escape routes are cut off.”

  Tanner cursed softly before stopping to wonder how the hell Diaz had gotten involved in this situation. Zarina had obviously called in for reinforcements, which had been smart as hell. He wanted to ask Cam who else was here, but there wasn’t time for that.

  “Tell Diaz to get everyone else out of here. That includes you,” he told his brother. “I’ll deal with this situation as fast as I can, then track your scents to follow you out.”

  “I’ll tell them to go, but there’s no way I’m leaving.” Cam’s mouth tightened. “You disappeared on me once. I’m not letting you out of my sight this time.”

  Tanner would have argued, but there wasn’t time for that, either. He nodded, then turned back to figure out how to deal with Spencer. Maybe he could knock him out? It wasn’t the best plan, but he couldn’t come up with anything better at the moment.

  Taking a deep breath, he started toward the hybrid, but the desperate look Spencer gave him brought him up short.

  “Kill me, Tanner,” he begged. “I can’t live like this anymore. It’s like I’m going to fly apart into a million pieces. Just end it. Please.”

  Lillie’s face filled with horror. “Spencer, no!”

  Spencer lifted his gaze to hers, tears running from his blazing red eyes. “I’m sorry, Lillie. I know I promised to stay with you no matter what, but I can’t. Please let me go.”

  She shook her head, turning pleading eyes on Tanner. “You have to help him. There has to be another way. I won’t let him die. I can’t.”

  Tanner could never kill Spencer, even if he understood why the other hybrid was asking him to do it. Hell, there’d been enough times in his recent past when he’d wished someone would have put him out of his misery because there hadn’t seemed to be any other way out. Now, Spencer was dealing with the same situation, only worse.

  But this time, there was another way out.

  Cam poked his head through the door of the suite. “Tanner, whatever you’re going to do, you need to do it now. SWAT is heading this way.”

  Tanner cursed and looked at Zarina to see her gazing at him as if she’d been thinking the exact same thing as him. Nodding, she reached into her coat pocket for the injector, then popped it out of the plastic case and held it out to Lillie.

  “I know you’d rather there was another way, but there isn’t,” Zarina said gently. “If the police find us in here, it’s not going to end well. For anyone.”

  Lillie nodded. “Shouldn’t you give it to him? You’re a doctor.”

  Zarina shook her head. “I might be a doctor, but you’re the woman he trusts and loves.”

  Lillie reached out and carefully took the injector. “What do I do?”

  Zarina talked the other woman through the process, then Lillie took a deep breath and placed the tip of the cylinder against Spencer’s shoulder.

  “After I give you this, you might forget a lot of what we’ve been through,” Lillie whispered, more tears flowing. “But I want you to remember one thing. I love you, Spencer Black, and I always will.”

  The hybrid looked at Lillie with the most trusting eyes Tanner had ever seen as she leaned in and kissed the man’s blood-spattered cheek, then pressed down hard on the injector with an audible pop. Spencer flinched, then let out a long, low growl. Tanner tensed, worried for a moment that the hybrid would attack Lillie out of pure instinct, but he didn’t.

  Unfortunately, the growl had been loud enough for the SWAT cops to hear. They were calling out to each other, trying to figure out where the noise had come from. Shit. They’d find them even faster now.

  When Tanner had been injected with the original hybrid serum, the effects had been immediate, so he’d expected much the same from Zarina’s antiserum. But after another, softer growl, Spencer’s eyes closed, and he went limp in Lillie’s arms.

  “Is he okay?” she asked fearfully.

  Zarina nodded as she hurried over to check the hybrid’s pulse. “Yes. I designed the antiserum to put the patient into a light coma as it reset the body’s DNA. It will work much slower than the original hybrid serum, making incremental changes over a period of days instead of minutes. He’ll likely be unconscious the entire time.”

  Zarina looked over her shoulder and nodded at Tanner. He quickly scooped Spencer up out of Lillie’s arms and headed for the door. Zarina might think the changes would come slowly, but the hybrid’s fangs had already retracted.

  Cam took point while Zarina and Lillie followed behind as they moved quickly down the stairs, barely avoiding the SWAT cops as they slipped into the warren of tunnels that would lead them to safety.

  Chapter 19

  Zarina pressed her hands firmly against Tanner’s muscular chest as she rode slowly up and down on him. Little electric shocks rippled through her every time she came down on his thighs, making her moan. Tanner lay on his back on the big hotel bed, blankets and pillows shoved aside to make room for their latest lovemaking marathon. His eyes glowed a soft shade of red, a sure sign he was getting close to orgasm even though he tried to act like he was fully in control of himself. But after being locked up in this room for three days making love, she was getting extremely good at reading his body language. And right now, he was on the edge.

  Zarina moved her hands from his chest and rested them on the bed on either side of his shoulders, then leaned forward and pressed her breasts against his chest. She trailed teasing kisses along his jaw, moving her hips a little faster. Tanner grabbed her hips, trying to slow her movements even as his eyes blazed brighter.

  “You keep wiggling like that, and I won’t be responsible for the noise I end up making,” he warned.

  She laughed softly. “We can’t have you making any noise, can we? Not if we want to keep a low profile. Fortunately, I have a way to help you stay quiet.”

  Before he could say anything, she kissed him hard, reveling in the sensation of his sharp fangs scraping against her tongue.

  Tanner growled against her mouth, his whole chest vibrating. He must have decided he’d
held out long enough, because he squeezed her bottom tighter and yanked her down harder on his cock.

  She willingly let him control her hips, sighing as those electric shocks joined together to become one continuous tingle. It didn’t take long after that for her climax to start, building up fast and cresting in a wave of ecstasy.

  Tanner thought he’d be noisy, but it turned out she was the one who screamed as her orgasm hit. He kept his hands firmly on her hips, pushing her pleasure higher and higher before coming himself. She dragged her mouth away from his and buried her face in his neck, muffling her cries against his warm skin.

  Her breathing had barely returned to normal when Tanner scooped her up and carried her off to the shower, where he washed all those hard to reach places for her. That led to more kissing, which led to other, more intense pleasures. Fortunately, they didn’t have to pay the hot water bill for this place, because they were in there well over an hour.

  She stayed in the shower a bit after Tanner stepped out, luxuriating in the feel of the warm water running down her skin. She only wished they could stay here in this little sanctuary forever and forget the outside world.

  Zarina heard the TV the moment she stepped out of the shower. Sighing, she dried off quickly, then pulled on jeans and a sweater. She’d planned to run out and get something for them to eat, but she wasn’t sure it was a good idea leaving Tanner alone with the television. She hated running out even for a few minutes, but they couldn’t take the chance of using room service too often. Tanner ate as much as four men, and she didn’t want the hotel getting suspicious, since she’d said there were only the two of them when she’d checked in. One thing they definitely couldn’t do right now was draw unwanted attention. While she might have gotten out of the club without getting her face plastered all over the TV and internet, the same couldn’t be said of Tanner. Now that the media had figured out who he was, his name was getting more clicks on the internet than the Kardashian clan.