Lawful Claim Read online

  “You’re mine as long as I can keep you. I’m not wasting any time we have together.” He stood over her now. The heat radiated off his body, warming her chilled skin.

  Looking up at him, she wanted nothing more than to lose herself in his embrace. “I don’t want to lose you again. I’ve dealt with losing my husband, and it almost destroyed me. Now I’m falling for you, and our chances at a happy ending are small.”

  How could this end well? A psycho with a load of resources was chasing them because her prime male specimen ran off and now she wanted all three of them.

  She’d gotten used to E showing little emotion, unlike his former self who displayed his love and dedication regularly.

  His face fell. “Ana, I can’t claim to know what you went through. I wish I could take it all away, go back to being an ignorant fuck chasing junkies and pulling over speeders. What I did learn is to cherish any moment of pleasure. Which for me, was joking around with my partner, watching you live your completely normal life every day, and raising our son into a young man any father would be proud of.”

  Ana blinked rapidly at the tears his words wrung out. Before she could respond, he continued. “Your normal life was taken away, and it was replaced by me and danger. But I’ve gotta tell you, Ana, each day since I’ve gotten you back, I’ve experienced more moments to treasure than my entire time without you. Yes, you might lose me again. I might lose you, too, and I can’t even think about living without that sleeping boy in the cave. So I will take any moment, any scrap of attention you want to give me, because that’s what’s worth living for.”

  Cupping his face, she no longer felt cold; his words warmed her completely. Her Julio, Julio Senior, would have never made himself so vulnerable to her. This man, the damaged warrior standing in front of her, existed only because of her. Even before he found out he had a child to protect, he had committed to living a nightmare for her. How could she not let herself be with a man like this for as long as she was given?

  Tracing his lips with her thumbs, she brought his head down toward hers. “Oh my darling Agent E, you are right. Let’s not waste another second together.”

  He held back, reserved, kissing her tenderly, until she pressed into him. “You’re cold,” he growled, wrapping her tightly in his arms.

  “Not anymore,” she muttered against his mouth.

  He grunted an indistinguishable word and released her so he could shrug his shirt off and drape it over her shoulders. Enveloped in his heat and scent, presented with his bare chest, she trailed kisses over his pecs and down his belly, while working his pants free and down his hips. Before she could do anything with the steel package jutting from above his waistband, he lifted her up into his arms.

  “I can’t wait,” he rasped, lifting her legs around his waist. “It’s been three days, three days, of watching that ass sway in front of me, not being able to touch you.”

  “My ass?” Ana gasped as he settled her onto his length and she slid down. “Have you seen how tight yours looks in those pants?”

  When she was deliciously filled with her mate, she enjoyed it for a moment before rising up and sliding back down. E moaned and dropped his head back, gripping her butt harder, urging her to ride him.

  Her hands were clenched around his upper arms, hanging on as he took over. His biceps flexed as he was pumping her up and down. She loved their strength, the way his umber skin defined each striation. Running her hands over them to his chest, up to his brawny shoulders, she hugged firmly into him, her impending release racing to fruition.

  He worked her faster, pumping harder. It wouldn’t take long to reach a crescendo that would have her wailing her ecstasy into the night. Instead, she bit her lip, tasting the metallic blood, knowing it wouldn’t be enough. Since she couldn’t yell out into the night and wake her son, and alert every other creature in the night to their location, she dropped her head into the crook of his thick neck. When her orgasm hit, it hit hard. Biting down, she screamed into his shoulder, muffling the sound until she was spent.

  E was still thrusting into her slick heat, grunting with the strain of keeping his climax at bay until she had finished hers. Releasing the hold her mouth had on him, she instinctively let her head loll to the side. Following her lead, he buried his face into her neck and held her close, the sting of teeth punctured her skin before another wave of pleasure rolled through her. E’s body jacked tight, lunging into her in two long, drawn out thrusts, his grip jerking as he spent himself within her.

  “Oh damn,” he said, pulling away from her neck. “Did I hurt you?”

  While not the most romantic postcoital words, his concern was endearing. “What I was feeling wasn’t pain.”

  “I think I drew blood.” Leaning back down, she felt him sensually lick along her collar line. “Mmm, most definitely.” He gave her a few more licks, hardening within her again. “Maybe I’m more vampire than I thought. I could drink you dry.”

  God, his tongue plus teeth at her throat equaled hot. “I might be vampire, too. I think I bit into you pretty hard.”

  “Good.” Abruptly, he withdrew from her and still holding her, gently kneeled down, positioning her on her hands and knees in front of him. “I know you need to get some rest. Just give me one more time.” Pushing into her, she closed her eyes and leaned back into him.

  “All right. Only once or twice more.”

  His deep chuckle was all she heard before getting lost in pleasure under the canopy of leaves.

  Chapter Twelve

  Languidly stretching, E realized it had to be nearly sunset. Shit! He popped up, but remembered to stoop before knocking himself out on the roof of the cave. A dart of fear hit him in the chest as he realized he left his family alone and undefended.

  Blinking in the fading daylight, he didn’t relax until he saw Ana and Julio sitting at the base of a large tree, playing tic-tac-toe in the dirt. Or it looked like maybe it started that way, but now his boy was drawing a crude outline of a castle, spewing theories of what the best defenses would be, and how an army of trolls could still breach said defenses.

  Ana’s eyes twinkled with amusement when she glanced up, and her face broke out in a knowing smile. What they’d done before he let her get some rest had been explosive, spectacular. It was even better than their mating frenzy, because the need was all for her and not a way to cement their bond. Likewise in the way she responded to him. She’d been wet and ready for his entrance with no preparation, her explosions had been nearly instantaneous. It made a man feel powerful.

  Since she had spent herself completely, he had stayed awake for when Julio woke up in the morning and just hung out, chatting with the boy until Ana had risen. Then it was E’s turn for a short rest. Today would mark the best day of his life.

  Julio glanced up. “Oh, hey Dad.” He went back to his diagram. “See Mom, if they’re not giant trolls, then a moat would work and maybe it could be stocked with, like, piranhas, or…or acid.”

  E marveled over his son’s imagination. When he was a kid himself, he was into jumping ramps with his bike, playing soccer, or maybe a game of marbles once in a while. Ana had been all toy microscopes and threading bead bracelets. But this kid was something else, collecting cards and fantasy worlds. Was Star Trek still playing? Because Julio was a prime demographic to Trekkie the hell out. For a brief moment, E mused at how it might have been different had he been around, if the outcome would have been better or worse. Or just different. No matter what, his kid was fucking fantastic. Maybe there was still time to get him interested in soccer.

  Three short yowls, followed by a long howl broke out off in the distance. E stilled, a pit forming in his stomach.

  Ana’s demeanor instantly became cautious, rising to a stand, bringing Julio with her.

  “That was Irina.” E scanned their campsite, looking for anything needing to be packed before they took off.

  “She must’ve been on her way back and sensed Agents. How did they find us so fast?” His ma
te’s voice was strong and steady. She was a hell of a woman.

  Cursing that his enhanced abilities didn’t include telepathy, he could only conclude that Irina was following their previously arranged warning system: three barks for three Agents, and from the yowl, they were vampires. Madame G knew they were on the run and sent two vampires to take care of him, and an extra to finish the job and deal with his wife and son.

  “The mating must not have worked. Madame G can still sense me, and she sent vampires willing to risk the distance. Get in the cave, push Julio to the back, and arm yourself.”

  Ana and Julio were scrambling past him when his son pulled up short, squinting through the shadows. “Your nose. It’s bleeding.”

  “Again?” It hadn’t bled more than the tiny trickle the day after they had mated. Bringing his finger up, yep, the kid was right. Fuck! It would be like spraying eau de parfum all over their campsite. He might as well hang chemlites all over to light it up, too. Hell, why not start a fire and roast marshmallows? The fangers already had an approximate location to start hunting, now they could pinpoint him and be there within minutes.

  Any daylight left peeking over the horizon was rapidly fading, hindered even more by the thick trees, hence the reason why the vampires could get an early start hunting. Flashing through the trees would limit their exposure to the sun’s rays. But as daylight was becoming a memory, the vamps would be able to utilize their speed and reach their location easily.

  After urging Julio into the cave, Ana turned back. Her eyesight having sharpened since mating him, she said, “E, your eyes look bloodshot. Are they bleeding?”

  What the hell? Touching a fingertip to the corner of his eye then rubbing his thumb over the pad, foreboding filled him.

  “Why now?” he muttered.

  “Was it something we did last night? I mean,” she lowered her voice so Julio wouldn’t hear, “we both bit each other.”

  “And drew blood. Son of a bitch! We had a mating ceremony and mated like shifters, then last night we mated like vampires.”

  “What’s going to happen?” She sounded terrified, like she had complete faith in E, but if he became incapacitated, all would be lost. And it would be. She wasn’t a wimp, but would be no match against vampires.

  “We follow our plan. Make sure Julio has sharpened sticks to use for stakes and his knife. You defend the cave, I’ll defend you.”

  He gave her his back to gauge their surroundings. That was when his ears tickled. Oh hell, was he leaking from every orifice? Deftly touching the inside of one ear answered his question. He paced, tearing a portion of his shirt to use as a rag so he would limit the blood spread. What bad fucking timing. One more day was all they needed. He could’ve bled his little heart out, and hopefully survived and recovered. Then they could’ve made their way to another site to camp, and Madame G wouldn’t have been able to hone in on their position. They could’ve just waited. Waited until she lost interest, gave up, or even better, got killed by X and the Guardians.

  The Agents were close. His belly tightened, and maybe it was nerves from anticipating the fight.

  Nope. Cramps were building in pressure until waves of nausea rolled through his gut. Perfect.

  “Get ready,” he snarled, sensing the impending arrival. Ana drew her gun in her right hand and pull a knife into her left. If his ears weren’t ringing, he could probably even hear the hammer of her heartbeat.

  “Agent E!” boasted one of the Agents who was first to arrive. “I must say, you smell delicious.”

  What was his letter? Z? No, R. Z was further back in the trees, staying out of sight with the third, a female. O was her designation and she was a flat-out bitch.

  “I’m going to look forward to this,” she taunted from her hiding spot.

  “Come get some, bitch,” he shot back.

  “Oooh look,” Agent R said, crouching to spring on him, “he’s already marinating for us.”

  Sadly, the Agent was right. E was now bleeding profusely from his nose, and the cramps were increasing in pain and power until he wanted to crash to his knees and curl up in a ball to ride out the excruciating twisting in his gut.

  Oh hey, that’s pretty much what he did. Doubling over, he heaved with enough force that he expected to see his liver sitting on a crusty pile of leaves on the ground. Heaving again, he spit out mouthfuls of thick, red mucus. Dropping to the ground, he gave himself over to the retching.

  Agent R was taken off guard by the turn of events and Ana took advantage of the lull.

  A shot rang out and rage crossed the vampire’s face as red bloomed across his chest. He bared his fangs, hissing toward where Ana was hidden. “You’ll regret that, little human.”

  The vampire used his unnatural speed to get around E, who, heaving, tried to reach out and trip up the Agent before he reached Ana. His reflexes were too slow and sluggish, he missed, but a light-colored blur sped by him and tackled the Agent. Growling and scuffling, Irina and the Agent rolled and ripped at each other with their fangs.

  Nut up. E heaved himself to his knees. Let the blood flow. Blinking his vision somewhat clear of the bloody haze, he yanked a gun out with each hand. His eyesight was shit, his hearing dulled, his nose was worse than a leaky faucet, and the cramps threatened to make him face-plant again, but he’d take down as many of these bastards as he could so Ana and Julio could get away.

  Through the curtain of red, he saw a lithe form appear on his right. Agent O stalked him, taunting him. “You’re not doing too well, Agent E. You should rest. Let me help you out.”

  Raising his arm to fire at her, a sudden sharp prick stung in his side.

  Tranqed. He was an easy target in his condition, but if they tranqed Irina, then Ana and Julio would be in trouble.

  A sudden gasp from Ana, followed by the thud of her gun, made E even sicker to his stomach. The Agents’ aim with their tranq guns rang true. He swooned on his knees, straining to focus through the trees and take out more Agents before they got to his boy.

  “Mom!” Julio’s terrified voice rang out. “Mom!”

  “Stay down son,” E said, or at least tried to, his words coming out in a slur. What came out was some blood-tinged spittle and guttural noises.

  Struggling to stand, E squinted through a red haze to make out his son draped over a sleeping Ana. His eyes darted around to find Irina, only to see the shifter fall away from the Agent she was battling, a red dart in her flank.

  With one final heave, E almost cleared the ground, but he was no match in his condition against the powerful drugs. His body seized and he fell forward, the red haze turning to blackness.

  *****

  “Stand down, Dane.” Commander Fitzsimmons crossed his arms over his broad chest and stared down the frantic male.

  “Easy for you to say, Rhys.” Dane Bellamy ripped his stare away, ran his hands through his salt and pepper hair, and stalked back and forth in front of the lodge. “It’s not your mate they captured.” Back and forth. “It’s not your mate they’ll torture and humiliate.”

  The commander kept his arms crossed, saying nothing, waiting for Dane’s own words to sink into the male’s thick skull.

  Dane stopped, blowing out a gusty breath. “Fuck, Rhys. I’m sorry.”

  It wasn’t exactly a well-kept secret within his pack that Agent X should’ve been his mate. His fellow Guardians had mostly figured it out, seeing evidence of how territorial he’d become in his dealings with the infuriating female, and his declining-to-nonexistent visits to the club most shifters went to deal with their pent up sexual aggression.

  Dani had discovered the picture of X, and that’s when the reality of who she was, what she’d been put through, and how much they both had to lose in the battle with Madame G had sunk in. If they could get through all that, and Rhys could somehow free X and mate with her—a near impossibility by itself—they would have an even bigger problem to face.

  She was a hybrid. A hybrid who would have to orchestrate the power stru
ggle between vampire leadership and his Lycan Council. A female who would refuse to be ruled by either governing body, not after her years with Sigma, and would die to keep her family free of domination, or worse, eradication, by either governing body.

  “The twins are on their way,” Rhys assured his longtime friend. “The dawn after they arrive, we attack.”

  “When the vampires are at their weakest?”

  Rhys nodded grimly. They needed the numbers, so he called the twin Guardians back from their unofficial investigation into the leading body of the shifter species.

  Boss, Dani says we have a visitor asking permission to enter. Mercury’s voice floated through his mind. Says the name’s Demetrius.

  “What the fuck?” Rhys blurted out, before his mind warned him he was saying it out loud. Dane raised his eyebrows, but remained silent.

  Tell her no and give me his location. I’ll go meet him.

  This Demetrius claims to have Irina. Once he’s done meeting with you, he’ll give you her location. Think it’s a trap?

  Doubt it. He and Demetrius had a history, sort of. The other shifters weren’t as familiar with the vampire who was supposedly Madame G’s partner. The vampire leaders had sent him to Freemont to keep tabs on the dark mistress, but all he did was party and chase tail.

  Rhys met him one night when he’d been pursuing a suspected Agent in a local club. He had stopped short, Agent forgotten, when he ran across the vampire because that fucking male had carried her scent, which meant one thing—sex. He almost went into a rage, intending to kill the vampire. But the Agent he’d been chasing, nailed him in the shoulder with a bullet, slowing him enough that the laughing Demetrius flashed away.

  That wasn’t the only time he’d smelled his mate on the vampire, and then the bastard had to go and hint as to the reason behind his relationship with X, a claim recently supported by Agent E.

  Rhys hated Demetrius. But he didn’t. In a way, the party-boy vampire helped his should-be mate. Unfortunately, he did it with his body and that made Rhys’ fangs throb. He wanted to rip out the arrogant vampire’s throat, tie the trachea around Demetrius’ dick, and tighten it until the vile thing fell off.