I flash my brightest smile as I head into Jackson's office. "Your coffee, sir." I walk around to his side of the desk and stand too close as I lean over like a sex kitten to deliver it. His secretary gapes in the doorway."Watch it, kitten or I'll punish you here, too," he growls in an undertone. "What?" I ask innocently. "Cancel all my appointments and close the door, Vanessa. We have a situation to deal with here," he says to his secretary as he opens his desk and pulls out a wooden ruler. He lays it on the desk between us, shooting me a meaningful look. Despite it all- Despite the lack of sleep and worrying sick over Mémé, Despite my daunting task of getting the thumb drive, a charge of pure sexual desire runs through me.Hell, yes, he can spank me again.He's going to want to do far worse when he realizes what I'm going to do. And that through sobers the lust right out of me.I hold out my palm. "Thumb drive.?"I'm really not sure he's going to hand it to me, but, after a momen
I work to get through the firewall and the infosec code. I do not allow myself to think of what will happen if Jackson come back before I've succeeded. Or if I can't get in. Or if they don't let Mémé go. I only see the characters on a screen. A puzzle to solve. Sixteen minutes later, I'm in.No time to celebrate. I grab the thumb drive and insert it into his port. "I'm sorry, Jackson. I'm so fucking sorry. It auto-launches, code unfolding before my eyes with lightning speed.I get up from his chair, pick up my things, and walk swiftly out. I don't acknowledge his secretary. I travel down the hall, like I'm headed for the bathroom, and slip into the stairwell. Eight stories then a parking lot, and I'll be in my car. Except I already know I've been had. They're not letting Mémé go. How could they frame me if an old lady is telling a story about being kidnapping?So I just committed another felony act and destroy the old company I've ever admired for nothing. Worse I've destroyed whateve
KYLIE POV:I make it to my car and peel out of the parking lot. I head in the direction of downtown, but I have no idea where to go. It's time to bail I've done this at least twenty times.I know how to erase my existence and put up a new on in another city. Another country even, But I'll be dammed if I'll leave Tucson without Mémé. So I just need somewhere to lie low. To wait for the blackmailers phone call that fear isn't coming. I drive to Bank of America, where I have a safety deposit box. Maybe I can get in before the FBI puts an alert on anything to do with my present social security number.I walk briskly into the bank, tugging the hem of my T-shirt down, wishing I'd worn the heels today.I withdraw all my saving in cash, give them my ID, and ask to have my safety deposit box. They send me to an office to wait. Three minutes go by five.Please let this one thing go right for me.The overweight manager with a nineties hairstyle return with the box.
The hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I walk to the Range Rover in the solar panel-coverd parking. I lift nose the air and snift, but all I smell is the cool spring air of the desert.The moon beckons me, makes me itchy to shift and hunt for Kylie. I reach the vehicle and stop.A dark head is visible in the passenger seat of my car. I know immediately it's her.My body surges into emergency mode, the shift upon me. I don't know what to think someone's murdered her and put her in there. Or that she's waiting to kill me. Or she's committed suicide and left her body for me to find it.I know its Kylie, and getting to her is a goddamn emergency, I rip open the door.She's not dead. She's not even hurt. And she's not holding a gun.All I find is a pale, tear-streaked face punctuated by huge, miserable eyes.Relief and fury simultaneously flood my viens. I haul her out of the car by her wrist and slam the door. I don't smell fear on her, but she's docile like she knows she deserves m
Since when?" he asks sharply, like he already knows. "Since my parents died. She's all the family I had," I modify my stomach lurching."Is she dead, kitten? Do you know it in your gut? Reach beyond the fear. Yes or No?"No.Relief slips around me like a blanket. "I don't think so," I croak. I'm fascinated by Jackson's reliance on gut instinct over logic. A man with a brain like his? if he trusts it, so do I.Jackson gives a single nod. "Then we need to crack this code and find her."I square my shoulders, the mantle of purpose returning. My brain launches into dissecting what I've seen of the malware. I pull out my computer. "Mind if I work in the car?""I'd be pissed if you didn't."We drive another ten minutes in silence with me studying the unlaunched code I copied from the thumb drive earlier. When we reach Jackson's mansion, the automatic gate swings open, and he pulls into the drive.I snap my laptop closed and shove it on my bag, looking up at the house. Jackson's black wolf
JACKSON POV :I wake up with my fangs and Kylie's scent my nostrils. No wonder I dreamed about owning her hot little body the entire two hours I slept. I must have marked her in every position in my sleep. I shouldn't feel rested, but the sexual frustration pumps me with energy. Claim.Mate.Mark.My wolf fucking loves that she's in my house.I force myself to get in the shower with the spray on ice cold so I won't go hunt her.It doesn't help I'm still ready to dominate her when I get out.Chase her up a rocky mountain, knock her to the ground, and sink my teeth so deep into flesh, she'll scream....Yeah, and that would kill her. She'd be screaming, all right, and it wouldn't be ye, Jackson.I skip the suit and tie today, opting for a button down and khakis. My employees have been up all night working, I don't need to show anyone up.Kylie's scent hits me hard the moment I walk out my room. My cock swells against the zipper of my pants. I find her in her room
I want her here every morning, making me coffee while I cook her eggs. I want to watch those gold-flecked eyes peeking over the top of her mug as she tells me something brilliant. I want to earn that easy smile by saying something humorous.Record scratch, I'm not funny guy. I never say anything humorous except I had in the Elevator. I'd made her laugh then, Around her I turn into someone else. Someone better, You're not the bad guy.I dip four pieces of cinnamon raisin bread in the egg batter and drop them onto a heated skillet doused with melted butter."I'm going to head into the office after we eat. I want hourly updates. Unless you're sleeping."I whirl around to pin her with my sternest look. "You do plan on getting some sleep?" She lifts her mug of coffee in the air. "Not for a while. Don't worry I do my best work when I'm half delirious.""Not on my watch. You need rest." She rolls her eyes, and I smack her bottom as she passes by.My cock hardens at her yelp.Sam stares out
"So there's a secrets?"Sam folds his arms across his chest and leans against the doorframe. "Everyone has secrets."I try a different tack. "I never wanted to hurt him. "I'm here to fix things, not make them worse.""You're being here definitely makes things worse."Now it's my turn to narrow my eyes. "What's your problem with me?""Look, I can tell there's something special about you. Jackson wouldn't be interested, otherwise. But he can't be with you- it's not going to work. And you bring in this house is going to be a problem for him.I turn his words over in my head, but they don't make sense. The only things I can come up with is that he and Jackson are a couple and he's warning me off."Is he gay?"Sam's brows twist in puzzlement. "No. What makes you think that?""I was just trying to figure out if you and he-" Sam laughs. "No. I told you, he's my brother."Relief floods me. Down, girl. He's still not yours."How did you meet?"Sam's face sags and, for a moment he looks thirty
ONE MONTH LATER KYLIE POV:"PULL that skirt up, baby. Let me see what's waiting for me when we get home." My mate hasn't grown any less bossy since marking me. Our drive home from work together has become just one of the many pleasures of working for Jackson King. Shared lunch breaks are another one. And getting to help him with his new code. He stares over at me like a starving man. Like he hadn't already fucked me over his desk after using a rule on my ass during lunch. Like he doesn’t have full access to me every night at home."Now, kitten. Every second you make me wait will earn you a stroke with my belt."I already reached for the hem of my tight fitted skirt, but I stop now, flashing a naughty grin. "Is that so?"Now that I've switched on my shifter DNA, my body heals almost instantaneously, which means Jackson can employ any form of punishment he desires and the pain is only fleeting. It's a bit sad, really. Because now I can never get enough. Ja
JACKSON POV:THE first rays of light come up over the mountains as Sam pulls into my garage. On my orders, he stopped to pick up Jacqueline. I knew how worried her grandmother had been, and vice versa. I want Kylie to have all the support she needs, especially considering it's her first shift. While the shift was necessary for her survival, she may not know to shift back when the time comes.I carry her in. Sam tries to carry Jacqueline, but the old cat insists on walking on her own, leaning heavily on Sam. We install them both in the upstairs guest bedroom. Jacqueline shifts and curls her body up beside Kylie's, lending her purring vibrations for her granddaughter's healing.I sit beside the bed, my heart rammed up behind my chin, my fingers moving over Kylie's sleek black fur.She's fucking magnificent. A huge black Panther with golden eyes. Truly awe-inducing. It's the first time in my life anything's made sense. Of course my wolf chose this incredible
BRITISH accent yanks my hair again. "Help him."I allow my anger to show. "Okay asshole. Do you know anything about hacking? No one ever knows the way in. It's about experimentation. You just keep trying things until you make some headway. If I'm going to help Stu, I need my own computer and my fingers. Me looking over his shoulders just slows us both down.British accent–I'll call him BA, looks at Stu, who shrugs. "She's right." It's too much to hope they'll give me my computer, but he does slide the tape off my wrist and shove another laptop in my face. Despite the fact that I'm still wearing the mini skirt from days before, I prop one ankle on my knee to make a desk and flip open the laptop. I've been in Jackson's system all week through his computer, but I left an open door for myself, which is how I transferred the funds back today. I don't go in through the door, now. I go at the firewall, same as Stu."Is she doing it?" BA demands.Stu looks over my shoulder. "Yeah."I ignore
"MAY I SPEAK TO JACQUELINE?""Ah. She's been waiting for your call." He says nothing more, but Mémé voice come on. "Minette! Dieu merci. Is it safe to take?""Yes. Where are you?""I am with Tucson wolf pack. Downtown."For a moment, I simply reply her words as my brain struggles to catch up. "Did you say wolf pack?""Oui. I'm sorry, I never told you, Minette. I am a shifter–cat. Your mother too."I've had too many surprises today to take it all in. My hand drops limp at my side. "Wh-what?""Where are you, Minette?"Minette. The French word for puss. She's always called me little cat because... she's a cat. My mind topples ass over tea kettle down a slope of dawning. "My mom?" I croak."Yes, your maman, too. This is why, this wolf is attracted to you. Where are you, my sweet?""Not far from downtown. Are you hurt? What happened?""I was hurt, but I will be better soon."My engines finally start firing. "We need to leave town right away." I stand and pick my leather backpack purse."
AND ho-boy-kylie's grandmother is a cat shifter? Is Kylie? She can't be. Her fear when I partially shifted was genuine. But how would she have a shifter for a grandmother and know nothing about werewolves?Another thought creeps in, full of heat and tingles. Kylie has shifter blood. No wonder my wolf wanted to mate her. And it means she probably would have survived it.But that is water under the bridge. Kylie just met with Stu, proving she was in cahoots with him the whole time. Except, now that this new information has knocked me out of my stupor, doubts creeps in. Could there be another explanation for her meeting with Stu?I pull up in front of Garrett's apartment and get out, walking swiftly in and onto elevator. I stop on Garrett's floor and get off. The scent of shifters-both wolf and yes, this distinctly feline smell as well, hist me. I knock on the door and one of Garrett's housemates answers it steps deferentially aside to let me in. The old woman is on the sofa, pale and we
PAIN pushes through my heart like a nail in a coffin. Punctures straight through to the other side and leaves me wheezing for breath.Betrayed.She's been working with Stu all along? A great roaring starts up in my ears, deafens me. My body goes numb, freezing cold as it all clicks into place. She and Stu are working together on this. I was so stupid to believe all her lies. A known thief, a known hacker, I actually saw her install the malware into my system, and I didn't realize I was being played? She took me by the balls.What in the hell is wrong with me? I was thinking with my dick, not my brain, that's what. I let a pair of sexy legs and Batgirl tits lead me around by the nose. What a fucking idiot.I watch, like a dead man, as she pulls off her helmet and dismounts from the bike. She leans back against it, folding her arms across the same breasts I worshipped only last night.I can't tell what they're saying. Even if my wolf hearing could detect their voice through the window,
MY breath stutters, but I part my legs. He cups my mons. "You remember who belongs to?"I flush."It's mine. And If I was too rough with it, you'd be within your rights to pout a little, kitten. Makes me kiss it better when I get home tonight."The thought has my Nipples tightening, pussy clenching. The image of us some kind of 1950s married couple floats through my mind. I'm the sex-kitten wife, waiting for him to come home from a hard day at work. Offer him a drink and loosen his tie before I pout and make him lick my pussy as compensation for pounding me too hard the night before. Okay, I'm getting way too excited. And there's work to be done. Serious work.He pulls into his garage and insist on carrying me inside. "Your ankle is sore, and you're not wearing panties." I laugh. "So those are the two criteria for getting carried?""That's right. Now, watch the sass or I'll have to see to that pretty little ass of yours before I go. Is it sore, too?"I reach back and run my hand over
I go still, and she stiffens, seeming to realize what slipped out. "I mean...""Shhh... Don't you dare take it back," I warn. I cradle her face in my palm and turn it to look into her warm brown eyes."I love you." I don't say I love you too, because I don't want it sound less serious than her admission. I utter it like a vow. I don't know how the fuck I'm going to make things work with a human, especially if every full moon is like this, but I sure as hell have to try. I'm not giving her up for anything. And that means I need to eliminate all the threats to my female. "Kylie, I need to know what happened at the Louvre."She blinks in surprise and tries to pull away. I literally can see her emotional retreat before my eyes."Don't run," I command. "Look at me. I need to know.""Why?""You've been in hiding since then. And now you've been outed. Are you in danger?"She shakes her head. "Not for the next seven years.""Tell me.""It was my father's partner in the heist. A double- cross
"THERE are consequences for disobeying your alpha." He pushes the head of his cock against my anus and waits. I tighten against his touch, but a moment later, the muscles give. As soon as they loosen, Jackson pushes forward penetrating my tigh hole.I let out a keening cry.He stills, stretching me wide, waiting for me to calm down. The care he takes reassures me that he's in control, and I yield, willing my pelvic floor to relax. He pushes in farther and the stretch becomes more intense, then eases."There. That's the head. I'm in, baby. Now, take the rest of me."I whimper but let all my muscles go slack, arch ny back a little, and wait."Good girl," he rumbles, one hand coasting up my side, stroking my skin.The praise sends curls of warmth through me, and I arch some more."That's it, baby. Take it like a good girl, and I'll kiss that ripe pussy when I'm through." He eases in and out, giving me a tremendous senses of urgency each time he fills me.My ass is stuffed full of his c