Blackhearts treasure, p.9
Blackheart's Treasure, page 9
“Hard and fast.” A strange pressure built in my belly as I rode his fingers. “Need more.” The naked desire in Aiden’s eyes drove me wild. No one had ever hungered for me before.
His thumb deftly tormented my clit, until he had had me writhing and teetering on the edge. “God. Oh God. Don’t stop.”
The pressure inside me increased as his fingers powered in and out of me. My nerve endings hummed with prickles of anticipation. “That feels so good.”
“And this?” Aiden pinched my clit and a firestorm of sheer ecstasy rocketed through me. I literally saw stars. “That was… That was awesome,” I gasped.
“This is only the beginning. There’s so much more I can teach you.” Aiden claimed my mouth with a kiss so carnal it shook me. That was when I realized I was his until the end of time. I couldn’t imagine my life without him.
“Boss, we’ve got trouble,” Judd’s harsh mental voice destroyed my coital bliss.
The alpha replaced my lover. “What kind of trouble?”
“Comandante Rios just called. Twenty men in heavily armored Humvees just destroyed Vicente Morales’s mansion and every business he owned in Nogales. I’ve seen the surveillance videos. General Wilson made no attempt to hide his face. He wanted the Mexican Federales to know who was responsible.”
Fuck. Sounded like something daddy dearest would do. “The General is here to collect me.”
“Not happening.” Aiden’s grip tightened. “You’re mine now.”
“The General plays dirty. If he doesn’t do an all-out attack on the compound, he’ll go after your businesses and our people,” I shot back.
A feral smile formed on Aiden’s mouth. “He’s never gone up against werewolves or a badass badger before.”
I grimaced. “True, but never underestimate the General. Let me put some of that salve on your wound. You can’t afford to show any weakness to him.”
Aiden smiled. “Already thinking like a Luna.”
“What the heck is a Luna anyway?”
“The female version of me,” Aiden answered.
“You think I’m an alpha?”
“There’s no doubt in my mind. Only an alpha female can meet and hold a male alpha’s gaze. Your lack of fear when dealing with me and your ability to fight clenched it.”
“But I’m not a wolf. Won’t your pack object to me being their Luna?”
“They have three choices. They either accept you or challenge you or leave,” Aiden responded.
“Are you talking about hand-to-hand combat to the death kinda thing?”
“A challenge fight is with teeth and claws. After seeing you fight, I doubt anyone will be foolish enough to challenge you.”
“And you’re okay with that?” Color me appalled.
Aiden assumed his alpha demeanor. “It is the way of the wolf.”
“Okay-dokey then.” I needed some time to think about ramifications of living with a wolf pack. Could it be that much different from dealing with the trigger-happy crackpots at Fort Bravo? Probably not. But hey, I was a badass badger now. They would run screaming when I showed up. I sighed. Who was I kidding? They would take one look at my fluffy black fur and laugh hysterically. Scary, I wasn’t. My eyes widened in alarm. “What kind of ears do I have in my badger form?”
Aiden laughed. “Relax, you don’t have bunny ears. Your ears are longer than a normal badger, but I doubt anyone will notice. All your enemies will see when they look at you is a cute, fluffy animal. They won’t consider you a threat until you attack.”
“Then it’s too late,” I said gleefully.
“I’ll take a picture of your badger form the next time you morph.”
“Thanks.” Huh? Walking around in the nude wasn’t bothering me as much as I thought it would. My badger didn’t give a crap what other people thought about my cellulite. My gaze locked on a custom gun cabinet filled with an assortment of weapons. “How often is the pack on war status?”
“Too often.”
“That needs to stop,” I said.
“I agree, but there is always some greedy fool who wants control of our pack.”
“And your assets.”
Aiden nodded. “Our pack is a wealthy one.”
The thought of him dying filled me with a cold horror. Aiden needed someone other than Judd to watch his back. Like a badass badger. “Where’s that salve?”
Aiden guided me into a large bedroom with rustic pine furniture and colorful Mexican rugs on the Tuscan terracotta floor tiles. The king-size bed had a brass running wolf insert on the headboard. I had to admit the tan faux leather bedspread with turquoise crosses was a bit unusual. And being a guy, the wall across from the bed held a huge flatscreen TV.
Aiden disappeared into the bathroom and came out with a jar and some bandages. He handed them to me. “Do you have any medic training?”
“The General enrolled me in an intensive three-month paramedic course.” I patted a suede leather recliner. “Have a seat.”
Aiden sat. “Why? He had to know you wouldn’t lift a finger to save him.”
“True, but he was dating Alissa at the time. He had high hopes of seducing her into giving him a big discount on sniper rifles and drones.” I carefully cleaned the wound.
“Alissa who?”
I applied the salve. “Alissa Jensen, she’s the daughter of a munitions manufacturer he met at a weapons convention in New York. He was on his best behavior at the time and Alissa’s the one who brought up the paramedic course. I think she wanted me out of the way while she played soldier with daddy dearest. Like I cared who he fucked.”
Aiden grinned. “How long did it last?”
“The General’s infatuation was short-lived. Turned out Alissa was more of a socialite than a soldier. She hated getting up at dawn. Our food was inferior. The five-mile run ruined her makeup. When she broke a nail on the obstacle course, she had a temper tantrum that got her tossed out on her butt.” I efficiently bandaged his wound. “You’re good to go.”
“I’ll let Doc Benson know we have another medic in our pack.”
“I’ll help him anyway I can.”
“Alpha, Cadwaller is at the front gate with the police. They have a search warrant,” a female voice said.
“Tell them I’m coming.”
“What the hell did he tell the police?”
“We’ll soon find out.” Aiden entered a walk-in closet and quickly put on one of his power suits.
“The General must have discovered the butthead’s plans for the coup d’état and now he’s running for his life.”
An aura of sheer menace surrounded Aiden. “Cadwaller’s desperation is going to get him killed.”
“Oh, he’s gonna die alright. The question is who gets the honor of ending him?” I reached for a tee-shirt.
Aiden stopped me. “The police can’t find you here.”
“Right. I’m just your cute, harmless pet.”
“Exactly.” Aiden thoroughly ravaged my mouth. “Shift.”
The funny yellow sparks were back. I could feel myself shrinking. I winced as my bones cracked and reformed. A howl broke from me as my innards rearranged. That smarted. Silky black fur sprouted over my body, and I was a badger once again.
Chapter Thirteen
With one smooth movement, I leapt straight up and landed on Aiden’s shoulder.
He sighed. “This is a six-thousand-dollar suit. Your nails will snag the cashmere.”
Wrapping around his neck, I nibbled on his chin. “A bit persnickety, are we?”
“I have an image to uphold.”
“Playboy wolf?” I sniped.
“A wealthy businessman who has the power to destroy his enemies.” Aiden bared his teeth in a savage smile as he walked up to the police officers.
An overweight detective wearing a cheap suit eyed Aiden like he was a murderous gigolo. “I’m Detective Evans from Marana Police Department and I have a warrant to search your compound.”
“Show me.” Aiden held out an imperious hand.
The fat detective dropped the warrant on the ground. “Ooops.”
What a rude bastard. I studied his aura and through my mental link with Aiden advised, “He’s a dirty cop.”
“I’m not surprised. The first chance you get, take the warrant.”
I mentally rubbed my hands together. “My pleasure. No warrant. No search.”
“Until they get another copy,” Aiden growled.
Billy Bob pushed his way through the officers. “We’re going to tear this place apart until I find Tammy Sue. Tell me where she is Blackheart, before it’s too late. I know you forced Tammy’s car off the road and took her. She never loved you. Never will. If she dies, you’re one dead dog.”
Now I knew how the liar got the police involved. I jumped down, picked up the warrant and ran off with the paper protruding from my jaws. We were about to make Billy Bob’s life a living hell.
“Hey! You can’t take that!” Billy Bob pulled a gun and fired off a shot.
A bullet whizzed by my head. Good thing he was a piss-poor shot. I took cover behind a planter and took a quick peek.
Aiden side-stepped the detective’s attempt to block him and knocked the gun out of Billy Bob’s hand. “That was a mistake.”
A laugh like a drunken hyena broke from Billy Bob. “Mistake? You’re nothing more than an overgrown Chihuahua who thinks he can play with the big boys. I’m getting that warrant back even if I have to kill the bunny to do it.”
Aiden punched Billy Bob right in the kisser. His head snapped back and down he went. Someone was going to be eating through a straw. “No one hurts the bunny. No one.”
Detective Evans took one look at Aiden’s livid expression and hollered, “Someone catch that damn rabbit. I think it’s their dinner.”
Dinner? Seriously? His officers ran toward me. I darted this way and that; dodging all their attempts to grab me and the warrant.
“Go to the left Luna,” a voice called.
Making like a bunny, I hopped to the left.
A cop tripped over his own feet and did a face plant in a hedgehog cactus.
Ouch! That had to hurt.
Another officer lunged for me.
I jumped up. As he slid under me, I bounced off his back and bolted between the legs of another cop.
“Buy us some time, Tammy,” Aiden ordered. “I’m on the phone with Tucson’s Chief of Police.”
“I’ll expect some chocolate cake with that steak.”
“German Chocolate or double fudge?”
“German Chocolate.” I led the huffing and puffing officers out into the desert and down a steep-walled canyon. The hum of thousands of bees caught my attention. I glanced up at a ledge. Whoa! The beehive was the size of a VW Bug. My stomach rumbled hungrily. I was starving, and some honey would take the edge off. Digging my claws into crevices, I climbed up the crumbling cliff wall with the soggy warrant still clutched in my mouth.
“Hey! There it is,” a cop yelled.
I looked down. Four police officers were staring up at me. The sweltering heat had them sweating badly.
“I didn’t know rabbits could climb like that,” the youngest officer said.
A pudgy cop asked, “How are we getting it down?”
“Dunno. I ain’t climbing up after it,” another cop said.
An officer with sergeant stripes on his sweat-soaked uniform, pulled his service revolver. “I’m gonna shoot the fucker.”
“But Detective Evans said not to hurt it,” the pudgy cop protested.
The sergeant aimed his gun at me. “I don’t give a fuck what he wants.”
He wanted to play rough. Game on. The bastard was about to get a horde of bees sic’d on him. Was it dangerous? Hell, yeah, but I’d rather be stung than shot. From what I remember from a nature show on badgers, they were hard to kill and could even survive a cobra bite. I hurled myself at the beehive.
A bullet pinged off the wall.
Shards of rock pelted me as I dug my claws into the waxy hexagon. I ripped out a paw full of honeycomb and stuffed it in my mouth. Yum.
The angry bees stung me repeatedly. It kinda tickled.
The sergeant glared up at me. “Rabbits don’t eat honey. What kind of critter is it?”
“I think it’s a badger, Sarge,” the pudgy cop said.
I dropped a big chunk of hive on the sergeant’s head. Honey rolled down his head and onto his uniform.
“Dammit!” The sergeant knocked the chunk off and raised his gun again. “It’s a dead whatever.”
A large swarm of bees went after the cops.
I ate some more honey and watched the shrieking officers sprint down the canyon with the pissed off bees stinging the shit out of them. The rocky obstacle course of a path didn’t slow them down at all. Color me impressed.
Aiden demanded abruptly. “Did those cops shoot at you?”
“Yes, but it’s handled.”
“Good. A Tucson Police commander is here and has the situation under control. Come on back,” Aiden said.
Hmmm. I shooed the thick cloud of bees off my face and stared down at the canyon floor below. “That might be a problem.”
“Why?”
“I’m about two hundred feet up a cliff. Getting down won’t be as easy as the climb up. Then there’s the bees.”
“Bees?”
I munched on some bee larvae. “They’re not happy I ate a bunch of their honey and they’re swarming me. It’s kinda hard to see. One misstep and splat.”
“I’m coming.”
“Not a good idea. The bees will attack you too,” I warned.
“Too?”
“How do you think I got rid of the cops?”
There was a long silence. “The officers just showed up at the front gate. They’re in bad shape. Looks like they’ve been stung more than a hundred times. Good thing the paramedics are here.”
“Did you break Billy Bob’s jaw?”
“I did.” There was a note of satisfaction in Aiden’s voice.
Sounded like Aiden had his hands full with the police and paramedics. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll figure something out.”
“Badgers can die from bee stings too,” Aiden shot back. “You no longer have to face everything alone. You belong to us now and we won’t let you down.”
“I think I could love you.” The words popped out of my mouth. Ugh. Maybe the bee venom was affecting me.
“You are my heart. Without you I am nothing. Never forget that.” Aiden added with a growl, “I need you to live for me. Don’t fall or do anything stupid.”
“Define stupid.”
“Anything that will get you maimed or killed.”
“Yes, Alpha.” I brushed the bees off my face and looked for a way out. There! A series of step-stones led to the top of the canyon. Gathering my strength, I leapt for the first rock. It wobbled violently as I landed, and I almost took a header off the cliff. My heart pounded in my chest. That had been too damned close. Thank God badgers had good balance and sharp claws.
The bees buzzed angrily around me, trying to crawl into my nose, and mouth; making it difficult to breathe. I hurled myself at the second stone, then the third and fourth. Once I was at top of the canyon, I took off running.
Aiden demanded, “Where are you?”
“I went up not down. I’m heading back to the compound with the honeybees in hot pursuit.” The determined little buggers kept stinging my face.
“I’m coming for you.”
“You’ll get stung.”
“Werewolves are hard to kill and I’m faster than you.” A ginormous black wolf appeared in the distance.
Putting on a burst of speed, I fixed my gaze on Aiden and ran as fast as I could.
Aiden sprinted up, grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and raced off. Within a mile we had lost most of the bees.
Exhausted, I hung in his grip. “Are Detective Evans and his goons gone?”
“They are. Commander Mendez had a long talk with Detective Evans about falsifying evidence to obtain a search warrant and that Internal Affairs would be contacting him about accepting a bribe,” Aiden answered.
“And Billy Bob?”
“Commander Mendez arrested him for discharging a firearm, assault, bribing an official and perjury.”
“Who did he assault?”
Aiden chuckled. “Detective Evans. When Cadwaller found out the search warrant wasn’t any good, he went nuts and tried to strangle the detective.”
“Not a smart move, but then again, Billy Bob’s not too bright.” A bee flew into my mouth. I ate it. “I’d loved to have seen him get his ass kicked.”
“It wasn’t much of a fight. I took him down with one punch. He’s now in the back of a patrol car that’s headed for county lockup.”
I laughed. “Good. Did you break his nose too?”
“I did. What did you do with the warrant?”
“I ate it. With a little honey, it wasn’t bad.”
Aiden’s laughter echoed in my mind.
Chapter Fourteen
I licked the last of the chocolate cake off my fork and sighed. “Your chef is amazing.”
“I stole him from the Stalker pack in New Orleans.” Aiden held up the bottle of wine. “Want a refill?”
“Sure.” I held my glass out and let my gaze roam over the dining room. Aiden was big into the southwest motif. The pine table was covered with a pristine white tablecloth. The comfortable leather chairs had a Native American design on the cushions. Instead of dishes, the pine China cabinet held a collection of Indian pottery and jewelry. “Do you collect Native American antiquities?”
“I have a friend who’s an archaeologist. He got me interested in Native American history and I now fund his expeditions.”
“Do you go on his digs?”
“I do. I want to learn as much as I can about my heritage,” Aiden said.
Huh? We had more in common than I thought. “You’re Native American?”
