Discovery

DISCOVERY

Sherrill Quinn

THE PRAETORIANS:

DISCOVERY By

Sherrill Quinn

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DISCOVERY

Sherrill Quinn

© copyright May 2006, Sherrill Quinn Cover art by Kat Richards, © copyright May 2006 ISBN 1-58608-915-3 New Concepts Publishing Lake Park, GA 31636 www.newconceptspublishing.com

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

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Chapter 1 Catriona Devane crept along the deserted corridor of the scientific wing of The Foundation, a complex deep under the Sonoran Desert. Most people had no idea what lurked under this stretch of starkly beautiful land west of Tucson. They had no idea it housed an ultra-secretive organization that trained people with the powers of telepathy and telekinesis. The Chosen Ones. She held her breath and prayed no one would leave their quarters. At two in the morning, most of the staff was asleep, with a lone security guard on duty. Her contact had assured her the man would be distracted from the screens for thirty minutes. Long enough for her to get in and out without being seen. Glancing at the duty roster as she passed by, she was reminded that today was Friday the thirteenth. Not that she was suspicious or anything. After all, this was twentyseventy. Science ruled, and there was no room for ancient suspicions. She tiptoed on, knowing if it weren’t for her latent ability to mask her thoughts, she would’ve never made it past the front door. As a Sensitive, she could block her mind from anything they sent her way. Most people were psychically sensitive to one degree or another, much more so than even fifty years ago. She swallowed, even though her mouth was dry with the fear of being caught. Were she to be discovered in an area of the complex for which she didn’t have clearance, well.… She’d be in deep doo-doo. With a capital D. She could only hope her contact was true to his--or her--word. She turned the corner and stopped for a moment, trying to calm her breathing. With the Praetorians’ exceptional sense of sound, they were sure to hear her if she went on like this, wheezing down the hallway like a winded racehorse. Thoughts of the elite security force that guarded the Chosen Ones made her heart thump harder. The Praetorians, hybrid warriors, appeared to be mere humans, but the men’s DNA was spliced with that of various animals. These were men who were naturally tall and strong, but enhanced to be more. Much more. Hawkmen. Wolfmen. Lionmen. The list of hybrids was astounding. It was rumored that the experiments had begun as much as a hundred years earlier, in a topsecret military installation in Nevada. But, like the Chosen Ones, the Praetorians were kept a secret. She needed to know why. A noise from behind made her stop. With a gulp, she turned and surveyed the still empty corridor. When nothing happened, she wiped her sweaty palms on her black jeans and started walking again. Her rubber-soled sneakers made little noise on the floor, but she was so hyped up, the small squeaks she heard seemed to echo loudly.

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Her destination was the room at the end, the lab where the biogenetic researchers worked. All other staff was forbidden admittance. From conversations she’d had with other lab assistants, this was the last place Doctor Lexy Harris had been seen, just over a week ago. If she could prove to the authorities and the public that nefarious scientific experiments--unsanctioned biogenetic experiments--were taking place here, all initially engineered by Doctor Harris, she’d be on the journalistic map. Cat was determined this story would be the one to make her career. But there was more to it than that. She had a personal agenda, as well, to discover what had happened to her brother. She hadn’t heard from him in nearly five years, but she sensed he still lived. Her contact at The Foundation had hinted that Sean had gotten mixed up in all of this. She needed to find him. She had to know. This was her first undercover assignment and she was so close to the truth--all the truth--the fine hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end. Of course, that could have something to do with Max Didion, the captain of the security team here at The Foundation. Every time he was near, her senses went into overload. All she wanted to do was wrap herself around him and drink him in, his smell, the feel of his skin, the heat from his big body. One kiss. He’d only kissed her one time and she couldn’t get the taste of him out of her mouth. She wasn’t sure she wanted to. It was like holding milk chocolate in your mouth and taking a sip of coffee. A burst of bitter against the sweet. She wanted more. She was startled by another noise, this time from behind the door she’d just passed. She stopped and pressed back, palms flat against the wall. Damn. Maybe she wasn’t cut out for this undercover crap. She was about to have a heart attack. The last thing she wanted to do was to get caught and the last person she wanted to catch her was Max. Uh-huh. You know you want him, a little voice taunted. Any way you can get his big, hard body, you’d take it. She knew, if he ever found out she was not really a lab assistant but, rather, an undercover reporter, he would be angry. Actually, as she put more thought into it, angry wouldn’t begin to cover it. Her contact within The Foundation remained anonymous, although she was almost certain it was a member of the elite security team. One of the Praetorians. She was either being used to expose a highly dangerous plot, or set up to be the fall-guy. Instinct told her it was the former. Her gut twisted at the thought it might be the latter. She took one last look over her shoulder, then pulled a piece of paper from her pocket. It held the key code for entry to the room. The paper had shown up in her quarters at The Foundation one day, with instructions on how to use the keypad to enter the security combination to the lab. Following the written directions, she punched in the code. When the green-means-go light popped on, she pushed the latch to the door and slipped inside the room. Making sure the door was closed firmly behind her, she pulled a small flashlight from her pants’ pocket and flipped it on.

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From what she could see, it looked much like the lab where she worked undercover, but longer, with several examination tables at the far end. She walked down to them, touching one lightly and looking it over. It appeared much like a gynecological table from her doctor’s office, complete with metal stirrups. The biggest difference was this table also had straps where chest and wrists would be if a person was lying prone. It gave her chills, looking at it. She couldn’t shake the feeling that bad things had happened in this room, that a lot of suffering had occurred here. Looking around, she spotted a large, metal door to the left. She walked the few steps to reach it. Her fingers went to the latch and she hesitated, pulling her hand back. “Don’t be such a sissy, Cat,” she muttered. Fisting her hand, she rubbed her index finger with her thumb. Before she could lose her nerve, she quickly reached out and opened the door. Lights automatically clicked on in the small room. There was one table here, with a large metal piece curving over the top. She walked closer and saw the cylindrical piece left room for someone’s head and feet. A portable table with shiny medical implements stood next to another metal door. This door was about half the width of the others, although just as tall. Cold to the touch, it made her wonder if it was perhaps some type of refrigerator or freezer. With a deep breath, she opened door number three. Frigid air swirled and a woman fell out on top of her. Cat gasped, choking slightly on the inrush of air, and crashed to the floor, flashlight flying out of her hand. Arms and feet flailing as she tried to get out from under the body, she finally managed to push the woman off her. She scrambled to her knees and gingerly turned the body over. And stared into the dead eyes of Doctor Lexy Harris. Jumping to her feet, she clapped a hand over her mouth to hold in the scream clawing at her throat. She backed up, unable to take her eyes off the dead woman. When a set of hands landed on her shoulders, she yelled and whirled around. Max stood there, his tawny eyes dark with anger, his mouth drawn tight. He clamped his hands around her upper arms, tightening his grip when she instinctively fought his hold. “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked, his voice barely more than a low growl. Woo-boy. This was the deep doo-doo she’d been afraid of. Setting her to one side, he barked, “Stay,” and stuffed Doctor Harris back into the small freezer. “What are you doing?” she asked, grabbing him by one taut bicep. It was rockhard under the cotton of his t-shirt, and she found her hold turning into a caress. When he turned his head, his eyes darkening to a burnished gold with the stirring of desire, her face heated and she dropped her hand. “No one can know you’ve discovered the good doctor.” His voice was sarcastic, there at the end, making her wonder just what his relationship had been with Lexy Harris. As captain of the Praetorians, he had been personally responsible for her safety. Cat studied him for a moment. He was one of the tallest men she’d ever met,

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easily a full foot taller than her own five-five. He was dressed as he usually was: combat boots on his big feet, camouflage pants and black t-shirt. Several dark brown chest hairs peeked over the edge of the neckline, inviting any red-blooded woman to strip the shirt off and see where all that hair led. He crossed his arms over his chest. Her breath hitched as the motion pulled the shirt taut across his broad shoulders. His face was expressionless and she realized he didn’t sound too broken up to discover the doctor’s safety was no longer his concern. Cat’s eyes widened and she backed away from him. Maybe he didn’t sound surprised or upset because he was the killer. Holy crap. She was in a mad scientist’s lab with a murderer. She turned and sprinted, only to be hauled back after a few feet. When she opened her mouth to scream, Max clamped his hand over her lips and breathed in her ear, “We’re going to my quarters. Quietly, Catriona. I don’t want to knock you out, but I will if you give me trouble. Understand?” Managing a nod, she kept silent as he slowly removed his hand. She could feel the heat from his big body like a furnace against her backside. And something else, something hard and just as hot as the rest of him, pressing against the small of her back. She gasped, her body spasming with desire. Jerking away from him, she gasped again when one strong arm wrapped around her waist, keeping her close. “Stay put,” he whispered, his breath fanning the hair by her ear. One big hand curved under her breast. “I’ve wanted you in my arms for a week now.” A shiver worked its way through her and set up a deep strumming low in her belly. Ushering her back through to the main lab, he closed the door behind them. They walked through the large room, now completely dark. He navigated the room with ease, tugging her behind him. At the outer door, he paused. “Let me just make sure it’s clear.” She frowned at him. “I’d have thought you’d have clearance to be here.” He returned her look. “I do. You don’t. And I don’t want to have to try to explain why you were in here.” Cracking open the door, he looked cautiously around, then opened the door wider for a better look. Apparently satisfied it was clear, he took her by the arm again and pulled her through the door. Starting down the hallway, he curved one arm around her waist and pulled her close. “You try to get away from me, little cat, and you’ll regret it.” She swallowed back her fear and forced a retort. “You and whose army, badass?” Max bit back a grin at her sass. God, he wanted this woman. He’d been walking around with a non-stop hard-on from practically the first whiff he’d gotten of her. She smelled like no other: clean and sweet, spicy and naughty. She smelled like she was his. A muscle twitched in his jaw, making him realize he was clenching his teeth. Again. Something about her made him do that, too. He’d known from the first time he saw her she was no mere lab assistant. Most of the time he didn’t know if he should just blow her cover or slide her under his covers. His cock was certainly for the latter solution. The rest of him wasn’t so sure. She could end up being more trouble than she was worth. He glanced down at her. She was slender, the top of her head coming to about his

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chin, which would make her about a foot shorter and probably at least a hundred pounds lighter than him. Making it to his quarters without incident, he punched in his key code and pushed open the door. When she hesitated, he picked her up and carried her into the room, dropping her to her feet by his bed. She quickly moved away, hugging her arms around her waist, looking at him with blue eyes wide with anxiety. He saw the creamy skin of her throat move as she swallowed. While he wanted to do nothing more than toss her on the bed and claim her, he knew he had to settle her down and find out what she was up to. “Wh-what are you going to do to me?” she asked, her soft voice wavering. He sighed and dropped down onto the utilitarian Army-green sofa resting against the wall opposite the full-size bed. “I’m gonna try and keep you safe, Cat.” Looking at her, reading the fear in her eyes, he muttered, “Oh, for God’s sake. I didn’t kill her.” “But you knew she was there.” Rotating his head, he tried to loosen the knotted muscles in his neck and shoulders. “I knew she was there,” he responded, his voice hushed. “I’m the one who put her there after I found her in a storage cabinet.” “And you just … just stuffed her back in the freezer.” “I don’t know who killed her. She was late coming back from her vacation, on which she specifically ordered me to stand down from accompanying her. But before she left, she said some things that made me think she’d had a change of heart, like me. That she wasn’t convinced anymore what she was doing was right.” Max cleared his throat. “Until I can figure this out, I’m not ready for her to be found. But I’m running out of time.” He rubbed the side of his face with his hand, his eyes closing briefly. “I was her personal guard. She was my responsibility, no matter what my personal feelings toward her are. Or, were, rather.” “What.…” She cleared her throat. Her natural inquisitiveness overcame her fear and she took a couple of steps toward him. “What were your personal feelings for her?” “Not important right now.” He stared at her, feeling the anger at her incredible, foolhardy behavior boiling to the surface again. “You’re damned lucky I happened to be in the control room when you gained access to Harris’ lab. I was able to fix the video feed so it looped and showed an empty room.” She bit her lip and chewed on it for a moment. God, he should be the one doing that, sucking her lip between his, touching her, taking her. He pulled the reins on his desire. He wanted to take his time with her, not rut on her like an animal. “You’re going to stay here while I go and fix the system before someone discovers what I did. And then you’re gonna tell me everything.” He stood and walked closer to her. “Starting with who you are, ’cause I know you’re no lab assistant, who your contact is, how you got in, and what your goddamned agenda is. Capish?” A mutinous expression passed over her pretty face and left her eyes sparkling with defiance. Defiance shifted to wiliness and she said, “I understand.” That swing from rebelliousness to guile battered his control. He had to taste her. Just. One. Taste. With a groan, he hauled her into his arms and slammed his mouth onto hers.

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Immediately, he was assaulted by her flavor, a blend of cinnamon and mint and something completely female. He slid his tongue along her bottom lip. With a gasp, her mouth opened under his and his tongue swept inside. He ate at her lips like a starving man, little nips here, licks there. He nibbled his way across her jaw, then down her neck. She gave a little moan and tilted her head to the side, giving him better access to the soft skin of her throat. He bit gently on her jugular, just enough to sting slightly, but not enough to break the skin. Laving the small hurt, he heard her ragged breathing and felt her quickened pulse under his tongue. Moving one hand, he placed it in the small of her back and urged her closer until her lower body fit snugly against his. He rocked his hips into hers, pressing his erection against her softness. His tongue flicked once more against her pulse, then he went back to her mouth. Another kiss, a hard hug before he pulled away. “Promise me you’ll stay here.” He put his hands on her shoulders and gave her a slight shake. “Trust me, okay?” She stared into his eyes, then looked down with a sigh. “Okay. I trust you.” He smiled, feeling a pleasure like he’d never known swirl through him. She trusted him. His smile faded slowly. He was stunned to realize her trust was important to him. He also realized she hadn’t said she’d stay put, not really. Well, he’d just make sure she did. **** Cat wiggled on the bed, pulling at her restraints. “Damned, insufferable…. I told him I trusted him.” She pulled her hands down from where they were tied to the metal posts of the headboard, and all she ended up doing was hoisting herself further up on the bed. “Dammit.” Never mind she’d had no intentions of staying put like he’d asked. She hadn’t lied, because she did trust him. He could have marched her right up to the first level and turned her over to the nameless leader of The Foundation, and he hadn’t. But she’d had every intention of following him to the security room. Her instincts told her there was a huge story here, and she didn’t want it to get covered up before she could put the pieces together. Fat lot of good her instincts had done her in this situation. She didn’t have a clue he was going to tie her up until he’d swooped down on her like some huge predator. Before she could do much more than let out a startled squeak, he’d trussed her hands together and tied her to the bed. She tugged at the cloth again. “Oh, he is so gonna pay,” she vowed, feeling her face flush with anger. “I am, am I?” With a shriek, she turned her head toward the door. Max stood there, one broad shoulder leaning against the doorframe, arms folded over his chest, feet crossed at the ankles. One brown eyebrow was quirked and his mouth wore a matching smirk. A hank of dark blond hair fell down over his forehead, giving him a bad-boy look to go with the bad-boy attitude. All he needed was a tattoo.

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“Let me go, Max.” She made her voice as firm as she could, which was difficult considering that with him staring at her with lust slowly filling his gaze, all she wanted was for him to leave her tied up and force pleasure on her more than willing body. He pushed away from the door and came over to her. Sitting beside her, his hip pressing against hers, he leaned over. His big hands planted on either side of her, he bent and took her mouth in a hard kiss. She arched against him. When he jumped up as if he’d been shocked, she blinked in surprise. “You’re not going to distract me, little cat.” He pulled up a straight-backed chair from a nearby table and settled into it next to the bed. Bending over, he untied and removed his boots. He took off his socks and dropped them on the floor. Stretching his long legs out in front of him, he laced his fingers together on his flat stomach. “You still have some explaining to do.” She dragged her gaze from his big feet, up his long legs, snagging on the bulge at his groin. His cock rode long and thick along one thigh, growing thicker even as she watched. He rubbed one hand along his stomach, then popped open the button on the waistband of his fatigues. “Talk to me, Cat.” His voice, deeply dark, brought her attention to his face. When she remained stubbornly silent, he said, “Maybe this will help. I know you’re a reporter. I know you have more knowledge than you should about The Foundation, its purpose, and those who live here. I know, when you first came here, you already knew Harris was missing.” Still, she said nothing. He was right, after all. “Who are you? Is Catriona really your name?” “Yes. Catriona Devane.” His eyes sharpened. A flicker of recognition went through them, but all he said was, “Ahh. Not Waggoner, then.” She pressed her lips together. There was no reason not to tell him. If he was going to harm her, he could have done it days ago. Besides, she had to trust someone. From her dealings with Max, she knew him to be stubborn as hell but with a sense of honor that went bone-deep. “Waggoner is my mom’s maiden name.” He gave a nod, studying her with dark, hot eyes. “Who’s your contact?” “I don’t know.” When he shifted in his chair and leaned toward her, she stuck her chin up. “I’m telling you the truth. I don’t know.” “Male or female?” “Male. I think.” At his raised eyebrow, she added, “He always disguised his voice.” Max looked skeptical. “And you’ve had no contact with him since you’ve been here?” She shook her head. “Only via typed notes.” He drew in a breath and blew it out through his nose, a loud expulsion of air that spoke volumes about the level of his aggravation. “Why did he contact you?” “I haven’t figured that out yet.” Pursing his lips, he leaned his elbows on his knees.

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She wiggled a little on the bed and his eyes grew hotter. “He either wants me to expose The Foundation,” she said breathlessly, “or he wants to expose me. I can’t figure out why someone would want to do the latter, so I’m pretty sure he expects me to blow the lid on this place.” He dragged one finger across the v-neck of her t-shirt, then dipped it between her breasts. “I can think of a few reasons why someone would want to expose you, honey.” Her nipples peaked. She held her breath as that long finger bumped over the neckline of her shirt and traced a path to one hard bud. Circling without touching the tip, he teased her. “But why you?” She was so focused on his maddening finger, it took a few moments for his question to register. “I’m sorry?” “Out of all the journalists in this country, why did your contact choose you? There are others with more experience, more public value. So, why you?” “Hey!” She glowered at him, wishing she had her hands free so she could smack him for the insult. He shook his head. “I didn’t mean to offend you, Cat.” His eyes met hers, and his finger kept circling. “But you have to admit, there has to be something else going on, something that demanded your presence.” “I don’t know….” Her breath hitched as his finger finally drifted over her tight nipple. Her clit thumped, her channel clenched, empty and wanting. “Oh. God.” “You don’t know what?” He flicked his short nail lightly against the taut peak of her breast, and she shuddered as his touch seemed to spark an answering flare in her creaming pussy. “I don’t know why.” Her words ended on a gasp as he pinched her nipple between his forefinger and thumb. She jerked against her bonds, needing to touch him. He tugged on her nipple, twisting and pulling. “I guess that’s one more thing we’ll need to figure out, then.” His fingers stilled, splaying over her breast. “You do this on purpose, don’t you, to drive men crazy?” he asked, leaning over her so she felt the warmth of his breath against her collarbone. “D-do what?” “Go braless.” Without warning, his mouth latched onto her nipple and sucked strongly through the material of her shirt. Tugging uselessly at her bonds, she arched into the heat of his mouth with a small cry. Max drew back and studied the wet spot on her t-shirt. Damned if it didn’t make his cock sit up and take notice. Rubbing his thumb back and forth over her distended nipple, he smiled with pure male satisfaction at her breathless moans of desire. What he wanted to do next might shock her, unless she was prepared. “Do you know what I am, Cat?” He moved his hand to her other nipple and pinched it through the soft cotton of her shirt. Alternately tugging and lightly twisting, he worked the peak of her breast to a hard, tight bud. “You, ah, you’re the head of security.” She thrashed her head on the pillow, eyes closed, mouth open and gasping for air.

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“But what am I?” He stopped tugging on her nipple and waited for her to understand. Blue eyes opened and studied him, slow realization dawning in their bright depths. “You’re one of the GMOs.” Her voice was quiet, but he could detect no fear. “Genetically Modified Organisms,” he said. “And do you know what that means?” God, could his gut twist any tighter? What if she didn’t know and the truth repulsed her? She chewed on her bottom lip, then drew in a deep breath. The action thrust her breasts high and drew his gaze back to her pebbled nipples. “I know all the Praetorians are GMOs, and GMOs are physically enhanced with DNA from various animals.” He flexed his fingers, but kept them splayed around her nipple, not touching it. He could tell from her expression she knew more. “And?” he prompted. “Your second-in-command, for example, has been mutated with wolf genes. He’s able to run fairly long distances without tiring, he has excellent hearing and vision, and his sense of smell is phenomenal.” “Yeah, well, O’Rourke always was a show-off,” he muttered. What she hadn’t said, and had better not know from first-hand experience, was Quinn O’Rourke had other wolfen features, as well. Like canines that elongated when he was aroused, enabling him to ‘mark’ his mate, and a cock that knotted inside his mate when he had sex. Rotating his shoulders to release some of the tension held in taut muscles, he told her, “I have cougar DNA.” “And that means what, exactly?” Her voice was calm and quiet. “I have better than average sight, especially at night. My hearing is better than normal humans, and my sense of smell is actually better than Quinn’s.” What he didn’t tell her was his cock formed backward facing barbs as he ejaculated, keeping him effectively locked inside a woman to ensure successful breeding. He could also smell his mate. And she was it.

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Chapter 2 Max morphed his index finger so it lengthened and ended in a sharp claw. “I can also do this.” With the sharp-as-a-razor claw, he sliced cleanly through her top, from neckline to hem. Drawing the soft fabric aside, he bared her breasts. And waited. She stared at his finger, then slowly looked up into his face. He knew what she saw: nostrils flared, eyes a lighter gold than normal, the pupils constricting to oval shapes rather than round. Her eyes searched his and she slowly said, “Well, that’s a nifty trick. Why don’t you bring that finger up here?” She wiggled her wrists. Max released a pent-up breath he hadn't realized he’d been holding. Shaking his head, he transformed his finger back to its human shape. “I like you just like this.” “But I can’t touch you.” He leaned over her, bringing his mouth so close to hers he could feel her warm breath puffing against his skin. He smiled, a slow, feral smile that came from deep in his soul. “Oh, but I can touch you.” His mouth brushed hers, ever so slightly, before he pulled away. Reaching out, he traced across her collarbones with his index finger, forcing himself to go slowly when all he wanted to do was slide her under him and rut on her like the animal he was. Her nipples puckered and hardened, tempting him. He wasn’t strong enough to resist. With a low groan, he bent over her and licked across one taut nub. The rasp of his tongue made her shiver and moan. Rubbing his face against her, he felt the way her nipple tightened further against the stubbled skin of his cheek. Turning his head, he captured the peak of her breast between his lips. He suckled her, gently at first, then with more force. He cupped her, pushing her ample breasts together, and kneaded them roughly. Her hips arched and she gave a keening wail. He nipped sharply at the tight bud, and moved to her other breast. Pulling her nipple between his lips, he trapped it against the roof of his mouth. She was so soft, her breasts perfect under his hands. “Max, untie me!” Cat bucked against him, more in frustrated arousal than any real anger. She wanted to run her hands over his taut biceps, his hard chest. She wanted to rip his clothes off and see if his cock lived up to its promise. He ignored her demand. His big hands went to the waistband of her pants. He thumbed open the button, then took hold of the zipper tab. The rasp of the zipper sliding down sounded loud in the room. “Lift your hips.” His voice was low and slid along her nerve endings like rough velvet. She braced herself with her feet and arched, lifting her hips off the bed. He slid both jeans and panties down and off her legs.

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He stared at her bare pussy, his face hard with need. When he lifted his gaze to hers, she gasped at the heat blazing in his golden eyes. One broad hand cupped her, fingers sliding through her slick folds. “You shave here,” he growled. His fingers probed, scissored around her clit and lightly tugged. She moaned and lifted her hips. “Wax,” she gasped. Her pussy clenched at his touch and the dark look in his eyes. When he pushed one long finger into her channel, her muscles clamped down. She felt her cunt begin to flood in earnest. His eyes sharpened, his nostrils flared, and she knew he scented her arousal. She tugged at her bonds restlessly. Moving his focus from her bare sex, he looked up, frowning. “Are your arms all right?” “That’s what I keep telling you.” She matched his frown. “Cut me loose.” “Answer the question.” She huffed a sigh. Looking into his eyes, she thought about lying, but when one eyebrow rose, she knew, somehow, he’d know she was fibbing. “They’re fine,” she grudgingly admitted. A smile quirked a corner of his mouth. “Then let’s get down to business, shall we?” He wedged his brawny shoulders under her thighs and separated her labia with his fingers. One thumb grazed her swollen clit and she jerked. Craning her head, she looked down at him, perched between her legs, his tawny eyes focused hungrily on her sex. “God, you’re so pretty here. I’ve wanted to taste this sweet pussy from the moment I first saw you.” His voice was low and filled with wicked sensuality. The first long swipe of his tongue over her sensitive flesh made her moan. When his pointed tongue stabbed between her labia, she arched in ecstasy. “Max!” Her head fell back onto the pillows and her eyes closed as she focused completely on what he was doing to her. Flicking his tongue over and around her opening, he licked a wide path, making sure each pass caught her clit. He lapped at her, licking the cream that spilled from her sheath. At the same time, his fingers molded and fondled her outer lips, pinching and pressing the swollen flesh. When he pulled her clit into his mouth, she groaned and ground her pussy against his face. His tongue made a single searing pass over her pleasure pearl, then suckled her gently. One long finger slid inside her sheath, moving in and out in a steady rhythm, setting up corresponding pulses in her sex. Sharp need spiked through her, dragging the breath from her in ragged gasps. He licked her slit, plunged his finger in and out, added another finger. In. Out. In. Out. Cat clutched her fingers around the soft cloth that bound her wrists. Her hips pumped against his mouth, onto his fingers, without any conscious direction from her. Removing his fingers from her sheath, he dipped his tongue inside and flicked the tip against the sensitive walls of her passage. Then his tongue fucked inside her with hard,

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blistering strokes, and her body answered by spilling more heated liquid into his greedy mouth. She heard a noise above her own harsh breathing. It was vague and low. Rumbling. Muffled. It was Max, and he was purring. Lapping at her sex and purring like a giant, contented cat. Fire gathered inside her, turning her core molten. The flat of his tongue swiped a wide path through her folds. Then his mouth opened over her clit and he began to suck. Hard. His tongue pulled with steady rhythmic pulses on her clit. Long fingers speared inside her and thrust deep and hard. She felt her face flush and the world spiraled down to one focal point at the juncture of her thighs. She pushed against him, trying to bring him deeper. He purred louder and kept sucking. Adding a third finger, he plunged into her faster. Her entire body stiffened and she keened as her orgasm rushed through her. It wasn’t enough. She shuddered, staring up at him as he straightened from between her thighs. “Max, please,” she gasped. “I need you inside me.” His lips and chin were shiny with the juices from her pussy, his eyes a dark gold, hot with lust. With a low growl, he pulled his black t-shirt over his head, wiping his mouth and chin with it before he dropped it to the floor. Big hands went to the zipper of his fatigues. She licked her lips and watched as he slowly drew the tab down. Then, with economy of movement, he pushed the pants off and kicked them away. His erection bounced against his belly, the slitted tip already streaming pre-cum. She licked her lips again, imagining the tangy, salty taste of him against her tongue. “Untie me,” she pleaded, pulling against the restraints. “I want to touch you.” Max wanted to feel her hands against him. Needed to feel her fingers wrapped around his cock, but not yet. If she touched him, his control would be shot. He needed to get inside her and fuck them both senseless. Only then would he be able to bear her touch without going completely primal on her. “Not yet, little cat,” he groaned. “Not just yet.” He stared down at her, watching her as she writhed impatiently against the mattress. Her fingers gripped the cloth binding her so tightly her knuckles shone white. “Do I need a condom?” He rubbed one hand over her breasts, feeling her nipples tight and hard under his palm. He started to reach for his pants to retrieve his wallet. “I get the monthly contraceptive injection,” she said, her voice low and raspy. Her tongue slid out and wet her lips, and his eyes followed the movement. “And I haven’t….” she broke off with a slight blush. “You haven’t what?” “I haven’t been with anyone for a long time. So I’m clean.” Settling on top of her, he took her mouth in a ravenous kiss. “I’m good to go, too,” he muttered as he curved his hands under her ass and lifted her, driving his cock inch by inch into the heated clasp of her body, gritting his teeth against the pleasure. She was hot. Wet. And so goddamned tight she was about to kill him. He braced himself on his elbows, flexing his hips, thrusting even deeper, feeling

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her legs wrap around him, her heels digging into his ass. The muscles in her slick channel fluttered around him, gripping him like tiny little fingers as he began shuttling in and out. Lowering his head, he speared his tongue between her lips, mimicking the action of his lower body. She moved beneath him, hips arching against his, his mouth swallowing the strangled mewls that came from her. Slow, long thrusts became fast, hard lunges as he fucked her with the desperation and strength of the hungry lust that surged through him. Her pussy rippled around him with the beginnings of another orgasm and he fought his way through the contractions that sought to hold him in one place. He felt his canines elongate, preparing him to mark his mate. He fought the urge to bite down on the soft flesh between her shoulder and neck, fought the primal need to make her his in every way. He’d only do that once she understood fully what it meant. When he was certain she accepted him for everything he was. Even as he felt his orgasm tightening his balls, his shaft formed its barbs and he shoved against her, locked firmly in place. Shudders racked her, clamping her inner muscles tight around his cock. He threw back his head and shouted his release, flooding her with hot, thick spurts of semen. When the last spasm abated, he lowered his head and nuzzled her, keeping himself still inside her. “Wow,” she breathed. “That was … that was….” “Hmm?” Bracing himself on his elbows, he stared down into her face. Her blue eyes were slumberous, her face flushed. He leaned down and licked the sweat on her neck. “Incredible.” Her feet slid down his calves to rest on his ankles. “You’re still hard.” He reared up and met her gaze. It was now or never, to explain what it meant to have human DNA split with that of a cougar. “My cock forms barbs at the time of ejaculation. It’s a way to hold it firmly inside my mate to ensure better success of breeding.” “Barbs?” Her eyes widened. “Mate? Breeding?” “It’s the result of cougar DNA, honey.” He sighed, for the first time in his life questioning the decision to volunteer for the experiment twenty-five years ago that had spliced his DNA with that of the big cat. He’d been so sure at the time what he was doing was right, needed, in order to save the North American Federation from a war that would have devastated the continent. Now, looking into her face, confusion and anxiety replacing the desire, he wasn’t so sure. She wiggled a little underneath him and he put his hands on her hips to hold her still. “Don’t, little cat. I need to stay put until the barbs subside. Otherwise, it’ll hurt you when I pull out.” Biting her lip, she frowned. Then she asked, “Can you at least untie me?” He formed his fingers into claws and quickly sliced through the cloth. Watching her as she brought her arms down and rubbed her wrists, he felt dread seize his gut. He should have known it was too much to ask someone who wasn’t a GMO to accept this as

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normal. But she was his mate. His life. She had to accept this. Accept him. Otherwise, he would exist the rest of his days alone. Unmated and unloved. **** Cat stared at her wrists, rubbing them more as a stall than because of any discomfort. She’d known going into this that Max was a genetically altered human, but his talk of mates and breeding threw her a bit. A lot. It threw her a lot. She raised her eyes to his and was caught by the dark look of hopelessness she found in his deep golden gaze. Her heart squeezed with compassion. “Look, Max.…” She faltered, but seeing the set of his wide shoulders, as if he braced himself for rejection, she said, “This is a little strange to me. But I’m willing to see where this takes us. If you are.” She didn’t put into words what she was feeling for this extraordinary man. Deep affection. Tenderness. Love. It was too new, too raw. She needed to roll around in it for a while, get used to the idea before she could share it with him. His nostrils flared with his sharply indrawn breath. He slowly leaned down, his face inching toward hers, giving her time to turn away if she wanted. She didn’t want to turn away. Cupping his jaw with her hands, she drew him closer and met his lips with her own. His lips parted and she slipped her tongue into the hot depths of his mouth. A sudden pounding at the door broke them apart. Cat gasped and pushed at his shoulders. “Get off me,” she muttered. “Stop shoving at me, little cat,” he murmured. Raising his voice, he called out, “What?” “It’s me.” Quinn O’Rourke’s deep voice sounded through the thick steel door. “We need to talk. Now.” “His timing always stinks.” Max rested his weight on his arms, but didn’t move off Cat, even though she kept pushing at his brawny shoulders. If anything, he settled his hips deeper into the cradle of her thighs. Turning his face toward the door, he raised his voice. “Go away, O’Rourke.” “Now, Max.” There was a pause, then O’Rourke thumped the door again. “It’s about your little cat.” Max heaved a sigh. Looking down at her, he said softly, “This is going to hurt, honey.” He flexed his hips and pulled out of her in one quick, long stroke. It was like getting pricked sharply with dozens of needles the length of her channel. Cat hissed in pain and smacked his chest with her palm. “Oooowwww! What the hell!” Because it really hurt, she smacked him again. He brushed his lips against hers. “I’m sorry, Cat. God, I’m sorry.” He got off the bed and pulled on his pants, giving her an excellent view of his well-toned ass. Which she’d have been more inclined to ogle if her pussy didn’t feel like it was on fire.

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When he straightened, she saw the tattoo on his left shoulder blade. Her eyes widened as she took in the head and shoulders, the long, lean body and broad tail of a snarling cougar. It was so lifelike, her hand reached out of its own accord as if to stroke through thick fur. “Hang on a minute, Quinn,” he called. He went to the large cabinet near the door and opened it. When he turned, he held a long, slender tube in one big hand. “What’s that?” she asked. “It’s an analgesic.” He sat beside her and stroked his fingers down her stomach until they slipped into her slit. “This will take away the pain and heal your tissues.” He urged her thighs apart and uncapped the tube. When he slipped the nozzle tube into her vagina, she blushed. Almost immediately, the sensitive tissues of her pussy were soothed and cooled as he squeezed the gel into her sheath. She sighed with relief. He recapped the tube and tossed it on the bed. Smoothing his hand over her bare mound, he licked his lips and then frowned when Quinn banged on the door again. “Come on, Max.” After he threw the sheet over her, Max strode to the door and opened it. Cat sat up in bed, clutching the sheet to her chest, as Max’s second-in-command stepped over the threshold and walked with loose-hipped grace into the room. This was another of the Praetorians, those sex-on-a-stick bad boys who were a combination of the best humanity and the animal world had to offer. Quinn O’Rourke was as tall as Max, which easily put him at six and a half feet. Same lean, muscled build; same intense, direct stare. His dark hair was cut in a military style and he wore camouflage pants and a khaki-colored t-shirt that hugged the rugged contours of his upper body. He gave a nod to Cat and waited until Max had closed the door before he said, “They know.” Max stared at Quinn. Cat saw a muscle flex in his jaw. “It was you.” His voice was flat, devoid of emotion. “You brought Cat here.” “Yeah.” Quinn shrugged. “We can get into it later. It seemed like a good idea at the time.” He glanced at Cat again, his eyes taking in her just-loved look, making her blush. To distract him from making any smartass comments, she went on the attack. “Hey. You were supposed to cover for me while I went snooping in the labs.” A grin quirked one corner of his mouth. “I did,” he said, nodding his head toward Max. “Made sure the captain here was in the security room at just the right time.” When she scowled at him, his grin widened. Then he sobered and looked at Max, saying again, “They know.” “You’re sure?” Max walked back to the bed and sat on the edge. His bare back was toward Cat and she curled her fingers against the urge to pet him like a big kitty. “Yeah.” “Dammit.” Max scrubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “That’s what I said.” Quinn sat down on the sofa and stretched his long legs out in front of him. For as much as he looked calm and completely at ease, Cat sensed the

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coiled readiness in him. The same readiness she could see in the set of Max’s broad shoulders. Quinn’s gray-blue eyes glittered. “Actually, what I said was ‘fuck’.” “We need to go.” Max stood and went to a small dresser. Yanking open the top drawer, he pulled out a clean black t-shirt and shrugged into it. Picking up Cat’s clothing, he tossed it on the bed. “Get dressed.” Cat looked back and forth between the two men. “Why? What’s going on?” “The Chosen Ones know you’re here under false pretenses,” he said. “Get dressed.” She crossed her arms and scowled at him. “I am not going to get dressed with him,” she pointed to Quinn, “sitting there.” Max’s eyes muted to a dark gold and his lips drew back slightly over his white teeth. White teeth that suddenly looked a little too sharp for her peace of mind. Without taking his eyes off her, he said, “Quinn will turn his back, won’t he?” His voice was low and soft and filled with something that widened her eyes with trepidation. Quinn immediately stood and turned his back. Keeping one eye on him, Cat climbed off the bed. The thick, sticky evidence of Max’s release slipped from her core. She flushed. Stooping, she picked up her ruined top and wiped herself, shivering when the soft material rubbed against her still-swollen folds. Then she quickly drew on her panties and jeans. Holding her hands over her breasts, she said, “Um, I don’t have a top to wear.” Max stared at her with eyes heated from watching her get dressed. Silently, he turned back to the dresser and pulled out a black t-shirt, handing it to her. She took it and stared at him, standing there in his matching black shirt. “Don’t you have anything other than black?” she teased. “You don’t have to wear it.” He reached out and she jerked away with a mock scowl. “Fine.” She slid her arms through the sleeves and pulled the shirt over her head. Looking down at the baggy fit, she muttered, “Not gonna have to worry about you lusting after me in this.” “Baby, you’d better worry about me lusting after you all the time,” Max responded. She looked up to see a quick flash of teeth against the tan of his skin as he grinned. Knowing they had to get moving, she didn’t give him a big, hard hug like she wanted to. She had a feeling this man didn’t smile often and she felt giddy she could bring that carefree look to his face. But there was no time right now. So, instead, she sat on the edge of the bed and drew on socks and shoes. Putting her hands on her thighs for leverage, she stood. “Okay. I’m ready.” Max took two steps and cupped her chin in his hand. “Just one more thing. When I tell you to do something, little cat, do it. Don’t ask questions, just do it.” “Now, wait just a minumph.” Max’s mouth crashed onto hers, stifling her protest. His tongue swept between her lips, soft and hot like silk over lava. The kiss went on and on and, when her knees buckled, he lifted his head. “This is not up for debate, Catriona. It could be a matter of life and death.” He rubbed his thumb over her lower lip. “I need to be sure you do what I

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tell you, when I tell you, so I don’t have to worry about you.” She nodded her understanding. Then, just so he wouldn’t think he could away with bossing her around all the time, she said quietly, “This time. Don’t think just because I let you make love to me with me tied up….” She blushed and glanced toward Quinn. He still stood with his back to them, big hands clasped behind his back, but from the shift in his stance she had a feeling he could hear every word she was whispering. “Don’t think you get to order me around all the time.” Max swooped and gave her another hard kiss. Just as she moaned and leaned into him, he put her away from him and turned toward a gray metal locker at the foot of the bed. Quinn turned and walked over to Max. Flipping open the lid, Max withdrew a backpack. He unzipped it and quickly checked the contents, then zipped it closed and tossed it to Quinn. He repeated the process with a second backpack. Withdrawing two shoulder harnesses from the locker, he handed one to Quinn. Both men shrugged into them. Max handed Quinn a gun. Both men checked the clips, then holstered the weapons. Max stood. “All right, then. Let’s go.” Cat saw the difference in him. His face was hard, his eyes intense. She was seeing the warrior she’d met on her first day here. The Captain of the Praetorian Guard. And, just as on that first day, she shivered. It was not a shiver of fear. Quinn opened the door and checked the corridor. He took a few steps out and gave an all clear sign. “I rigged the cameras to continuously loop,” he murmured, his eyes scanning the length of the corridor. He shot a glance at Max over his shoulder. Cat gathered from his look he knew Max had done the same thing earlier. Quinn went on, “But I don’t know how long it’ll be before someone notices. We’ve gotta move. Fast.” “All right.” Max pushed Cat behind him. She grabbed his shirt and he turned his head to grin at her. “Nice to know you’re not always the tough little kitty you pretend to be.” “Oh, shut up,” she muttered, and tightened her grip on his shirt. He yanked her forward and kissed her, hard, then faced forward. “Stay behind me, little cat. I’ll take point.” “I’ve got our six,” Quinn said. They started walking down the hallway. Neither man’s shoes made any noise on the polished slab floor. Cat tried to walk as quietly as they did, but every once in a while, her shoes let out a betraying squeak. “You might try to stop making that noise there, darlin’,” Quinn said from behind, concern laced with amusement filling his quiet voice. “It’s not like I’m doing it on purpose,” she whispered loudly, glaring at him over her shoulder. When her right shoe made another loud squeak, Max turned with a muted curse. Without missing a beat, he hoisted her over his shoulder and began walking again. When she hissed a complaint, he smacked her smartly on the ass and kept moving. “Be quiet, little cat. We’re coming up on the security room. We’ve gotta get by

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without incident.” He stopped at the juncture where the corridors formed a T, and got as close to the wall as possible. Cat barely stopped herself from muttering a complaint when he banged her shoulder into the wall. Getting them caught because she couldn’t take a little knocking around would not be a good thing. Quinn moved around him and out of Cat’s line of vision. She wiggled on Max’s shoulder, levering up with her hands on his lower back, trying to look around and see what was going on. She couldn’t get high enough. When Max’s hand stroked warningly over her bottom, his fingers dipping between her legs to press against the folds of her sex, she got the message and dropped back down. She’d concede this time. But when they got out of here, it would be time for payback. And you know what they say about payback, she thought. It’s a bitch. And in this case, its name is Catriona.

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Chapter 3 Cat grinned, looking down at the camouflaged ass under her hands. Her fingers itched to curl and squeeze, but she knew now was definitely not the time to distract him. But later … watch out, Badass Maxwell Didion. Max bent and placed her on her feet. One finger went to her lips, pressing them closed, then he made a gesture with his hand, palm facing toward her. Telling her to stay. She nodded, watching as he joined Quinn by the security room. On some unspoken signal, the two men rushed into the room. She heard grunts and a loud groan, then a thud. She glanced down the corridor, then sidled up to the door. Peering around the corner, she spotted a uniformed man on the floor, his eyes staring vacantly at her. She swallowed and entered the small room. Max looked up at her and his brows drew down. “I thought I told you to stay put,” he muttered, but put his attention back on the controls he was manipulating. “I didn’t want to stay out there by myself.” She stepped over the fallen man and stood between the two men. “What are you doing?” “We’re disabling the security system,” Max said and flipped a small red switch on the large console. “Cameras, alarms, sensors.” “That way we can progress the rest of the way without any electronic surveillance, at least,” Quinn commented, his tone grim. “However, that doesn’t discount the Chosen Ones.” Max remained silent for a moment, then he shrugged. “If they’ve picked up on us, there’s not much we can do about it. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” A few more adjustments, then Quinn went to the back of the console. Shrugging out of his backpack, he pulled out a screwdriver from the pack and quickly took off a panel, then pulled out a handful of wires. With a grunt, he yanked hard, ripping them from the console. Sparks flew and he shook his hand, swearing and holding the sizzled flesh at his mouth. “There. That’ll keep the system down for awhile. Long enough for us to get out.” “Let’s go.” Max stooped and threw Cat back over his shoulder. She grunted as his hard shoulder dug into her stomach. “Can’t I walk now?” “Your shoes still squeak, baby,” he said, and patted her on the rear. “As soon as we get on the elevator, I’ll put you down.” Quinn grabbed the security guard’s legs and dragged the body behind the cover afforded by the large console. Once they’d left the room, he closed the door behind them. They started moving down the corridor again. Cat lifted up, trying to keep the blood from rushing to her head. When Max rubbed his fingers between her legs again, his clear warning she should cease and desist, she smacked him on the ass. “Stop it,” she whispered. “If I keep hanging upside down, I’m going to pass out. Or throw up.” “Well, if you puke,” Quinn said quietly from where he guarded behind them,

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“make sure you give a warning. I don’t wanna step in it.” “You’re a real prince, you know that?” She glared at him, biting her lip to keep from returning his grin. “Quiet.” Max stopped so suddenly that Quinn bumped into the top of Cat’s head. With a curse, Max bent and slowly let her slide off his shoulder, though he kept one hand on her arm as she turned. Two of the Chosen Ones stood at the entrance to the elevators that led to the surface. Their faces expressionless, arms crossed over their chests, they stared at Cat and the two men. Finally, the male of the pair said, “Going somewhere, Captain Didion?” Cat stared at the two, standing there in their white robes as if they were priests of some higher order. She felt a subtle press against her mind and threw up mental barriers, satisfied when the female gave a slight wince. Cat wiped her sweaty palms against her jeans and shifted her stance. If it was a fight they wanted, they’d get one from her. She would not go quietly. Max glanced at Quinn, who’d stepped up beside him, then at Cat. She was staring at the two Chosen Ones, one eyebrow raised in challenge. Hoping she was a Sensitive, as he’d been told, he looked back at the robed figures and replied with a shrug, “We’re looking for someplace more … private than this. Not everyone would approve of.…” Breaking off, he motioned to Cat and then Quinn with his head. The two Chosen Ones looked at each other, then back at the three of them. In dulcet tones, the woman asked, “You want us to believe you are off for a romantic tryst?” He’d never seen this woman before, so she must be a new recruit. She had the look about her: deference to her male companion and the bravado of the newly initiated. As he answered her question, he kept his face expressionless and all his mental barriers firmly in place. “Well, I’d be more apt to call it a ménage a trois.” He shrugged. “There’s nothing romantic about it; it’s all just raw, hot fucking. But, yeah, that’s what we’re doing.” The woman flushed and her gaze went to the floor. The man took a step forward. “Let us into your minds so we can see if what you say is true.” He raised one hand, the long sleeve of the robe falling back to reveal a shiny Beretta in his hand. Pointing the barrel at Cat’s head, he said, “You have nothing to fear, unless you are lying.” “I’m not,” Max lied through his teeth. The man, he knew. He had been part of the ‘movement’ for nearly as long as Max, but had never been placed in any position of authority. And it ate him alive. “But I have a rule about letting people tramp around inside my head, Bob. Ain’t gonna happen.” The fact they were asking to be allowed to read their thoughts answered his question about Cat. She was a Sensitive. Bob’s eyes narrowed. Max and Quinn both stubbornly called him Bob, knowing he preferred to be called Robert. Sometimes they called him Robbie, just to really twist the knife. Max had never liked the man, but had never been able to put his finger on a reason. Now he knew. The man was a bona fide bastard. The mistake this joker had made was in putting Cat in his gun’s sights. If he’d

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bullied him or Quinn, he might have let the man live. After threatening his woman…. No way in hell. The bastard’s life was forfeit. Max let go of Cat’s arm. When he saw an opening to take these two down, he was taking it. If they didn’t get out of here now, they never would. While most of his men would support him, many were still completely brainwashed to support the goals of The Foundation. “You need a gun, amigo?” Quinn asked, his voice a low, deceiving drawl. “Why don’t you just use your mumbo jumbo on us?” He moved slightly to the left, away from Max and Cat. “Unfortunately, neither of us possess those capabilities,” the woman said. When her companion shot her a sharp look, she flushed again and looked down at her hands. Quinn took another step to the side and Bob’s gaze went to him. “Stop right there,” he said, his voice harsh. Max heard the frightened note in the tone, could smell the man’s growing fear, and slowly smiled. The bastard was right to be scared of them: they were Praetorian. Part man, part animal. All warrior. “Hey, now. Put the gun down,” Quinn said, raising his hands, palms forward, in a placating gesture. “Nobody needs to get hurt. We’re just heading out for a little fun.” “You are not taking her,” Bob said, and motioned with his gun, still pointed at Cat, “anywhere. She is not whom she claimed to be.” “So?” Quinn kept talking, keeping the man’s attention on him instead of on Max. “Doesn’t matter when you’re fucking her. So what’s your beef?” Max felt Cat’s stillness. Following her line of vision, he realized she was watching the female Chosen One as closely as he watched the male. He had a sudden vision of his little cat pouncing on the woman and beating the shit out of her. She could do it, he knew. And he was pretty sure she’d win any fair fight between them. He bit the inside of his cheek, wondering at the timing of his humor. “What’s my beef?” Bob’s voice was incredulous, drawing Max’s attention back to him. He finally had an expression on his smooth features, one of complete bewilderment. “She is a reporter who would betray us.” “What’s to betray, Robbie?” Quinn side-stepped again. The man now had to turn his head slightly to keep Quinn clearly in his field of vision. His voice soft, Quinn asked, “If what we do is right, and just, why worry if the public finds out?” “They would never understand,” the woman responded. Her face flushed now with excitement, her eyes glowed with a fanatical light. “We are the only thing standing between continuing a viable civilization and utter anarchy and chaos.” “Normal people are stupid,” Bob added, his voice holding contempt. He stared at Cat, his gaze filled with derision. “Just like this whore. She’s a threat. We must eliminate her.” Reckless bravado colored his derisive tone. Reckless, because Max was out of time. And patience. Eliminate her. Rage tore through him, brutal and hot. With the speed endowed by his cougar DNA, Max kicked out, knocking the gun from the robed freak’s hand. When his companion scrambled for it, Quinn shoved his leg in front of her, blocking her reach. She screamed with rage and launched herself at him, her fingers curled, reaching

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for his eyes. Quinn thrust out his arm and hit her square in the face with his fist, then struck her in the neck with the side of his hand. She slumped to the floor. Once he saw Quinn had pulled Cat to the side, pushing her behind his larger body, Max turned all his attention on the bastard who’d threatened his woman. He circled him, toying with him like a great cat with its prey. His lips curled back over elongated fangs and he let Bob lunge for the revolver. He even went so far as to let him pick it up, then he launched in the air from a standstill and spun, his leg cutting through the air in a swooshing arc, striking the gun out of the man’s hand with a satisfying crunch of bones. Bob screamed and clutched his hand. His eyes widened, fear leeching away the bravado. Max knew what he saw: fangs, golden slitted cats’ eyes, hair that was fuller, lifting away from his head. “I’ll give you one chance,” he snarled, his voice barely more than a growl. “Look me in the eye and swear you or the woman won’t report us and I’ll let you go.” Bob’s eyes slid to the left. He squared his shoulders and looked in Max’s eyes. Max heard the beat of the bastard’s heart pick up pace and saw the sudden dilation of his pupils and knew the man lied as he said, “I swear. We won’t report you.” Max smiled, a slow slide of lips pulling back over sharp teeth. “You should never lie to a GMO. We might not be psychics, but we make up for it in other ways.” He reached out and, with a quick, hard punch to the man’s jaw, knocked him out. He reached for Cat before the body even hit the floor. “Let’s get out of here.” He pushed the button for the elevator and waited impatiently for it to arrive. Her hold on his hand was strong. She looked over her shoulder at the bodies lying on the floor. With a shudder, she turned back, stepping into the elevator with him. “They were going to turn us in, weren’t they? That’s what you saw when you looked into his eyes.” Max nodded. “He lied. He had every intention of reporting us.” The door closed behind them and he pressed the button for ground level fifteen stories up. “But, what about them? Won’t they still report us?” Cat gripped his hand tightly, feeling the shiver that started at the back of her neck and was threatening to curl through her body. The letdown after an adrenaline rush, she supposed. “We’ll be long gone before they wake up,” Quinn said, his voice quiet and low. “It won’t matter then.” She looked at him and saw his face was closed, hard. She could feel the tension vibrating through both men, their blood still pumping from the heat of battle. A different kind of shiver started low in her belly and she clenched her thighs, trying to stem the building lust. Sharp intakes of breath had her looking at the two tall men sharing the elevator with her. Their eyes were narrowed, nostrils flared as they scented her arousal. “Damn GMOs,” she muttered, her face flaming with heat. “Stop that.” Max crowded her into the corner by the control panel and lowered his mouth to hers. A hairs’ breadth away, he whispered, “Just wait until I get you someplace safe. I’m gonna fuck you until neither one of us can move.” She moistened her lips, tracking Max’s gaze as he followed the movement of her tongue. His eyes held a look of heated lust and something else, something deeper. Just as

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she moved to close the gap between them, her mouth opened to confess her feelings for him, the elevator pinged at the top. Max muttered, “Stay put,” and crouched at her feet by the door. He drew his gun and flicked off the safety. Quinn took a similar stance on the other side of the door. Both men’s faces were hard with determination, their eyes glowing with gold fire as their animal DNA roared to life. The doors slid open. Cat heard the roar of weapons’ fire, saw Max and Quinn firing their revolvers, heard grunts and yells. Then silence. She crouched in the corner, eyes wide, breath coming fast between parted lips. They holstered their weapons. Max grabbed her and tossed her over his shoulder before sprinting out of the elevator and down the short corridor of the small building that housed the shaft. Her eyes widened as they passed the bodies of three men in camouflage. “I thought you s-said I could wa-a-a-a-lk,” she yelled as she bounced wildly on his shoulder. She could see Quinn’s booted feet as he ran behind them. “We can go faster this way,” Max said. He pushed open the door and ran out into the night, navigating his way to a military-style vehicle with no difficulty. Quinn jumped into the driver’s seat as Max rounded the vehicle. He opened the passenger door and lifted Cat inside. He tossed his pack into the back seat beside Quinn’s. Once Cat moved into the middle of the seat, Max jumped in beside her. Quinn twisted wiring together from under the steering column and the engine roared to life just as Max slammed his door shut. “Let’s get the hell out of here,” Max said, his eyes scanning the darkness around them. “Don’t have to tell me twice,” Quinn muttered, and floored the accelerator. The powerful vehicle took off with a churn of tires, spitting dirt. Quinn pulled out onto the two-lane highway, keeping the lights off until they had traveled several miles, then he leaned forward and flipped on the lights. “Doesn’t look like they had time to get a team together to follow us right away, but we’ll still need to go quite a way to be sure they don’t track us.” Quinn’s eyes flicked to the rearview mirror, then back to the road. His big hands handled the steering wheel with competent ease and Cat felt her body relax with a suddenness that was almost frightening. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against Max’s shoulder. “What a night,” she sighed. Max put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, the heat from his big body seeping into her. His gun butted against her and she nudged it out of the way. “Go to sleep if you can,” he murmured. She felt his lips against the top of her head. “We’ll be on the road a while.” She snuggled under his arm, resting her hand just above his waist. His muscles contracted under her fingers. Glancing down, she saw the rigid outline of his cock. “Men,” she muttered under her breath. “What?” Both men asked in unison. She looked at Max and saw the smirk on his face. Turning her head, she saw the same smirk on Quinn’s. She rolled her eyes. “Never mind.” She put her head back on Max’s shoulder and suddenly felt almost boneless with fatigue. Her lashes drifted down over her eyes and she yawned. “Wake me up when we get wherever we’re going.”

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Max heard her breathing deepen and held her close to his heart. God, he loved this woman. She was spunky and sassy and sexy as hell, even when she was tired and sweaty. Quinn pulled a mobile communications device out of his pants pocket and pushed a button. He held the device to his ear. With his enhanced hearing, Max heard the beep that signified to the recipient a call was coming in, and then a man’s voice answered. “We’re on the run,” Quinn said. He listened for a few seconds. Max heard the other man’s muted voice but couldn’t make out any words. “Fine. Meet us at the rock house.” Quinn ended the connection and slid the device back into his pocket. “Yankee’s gonna meet us at the cave.” He glanced at Max, then down at Cat. Looking back at the road, he shook his head and murmured, “Well, I never expected this when I contacted her.” Max rubbed his hand up and down her arm, feeling the silkiness of her skin against his palm. She was soft like this all over, especially her sweet pussy. As soon as it was safe, he was getting inside her and not leaving for a week. “Wanna tell me why you did contact her?” he asked, looking over at his secondin-command and the man who was as close to him as a brother. Quinn snorted. “Like you don’t know.” “Enlighten. Me.” Max bit off the words, giving his friend his best ‘don’t fuck with me’ look. “First, what The Foundation is trying to do is wrong. You and I both know it.” Quinn flicked a glance in the rearview mirror and then focused his attention back on the road. “The last thing the North American Federation needs is a bunch of psychics running things. Second….” he glanced at the woman sleeping against Max’s side. His voice was soft as he said, “She needed to know what they did to her brother.” Max looked at Cat and stroked his hand through her auburn hair. Keeping his voice pitched low, he asked, “And you thought putting her in danger at the heart of The Foundation would give her that knowledge?” Quinn shrugged, not fazed at all by the withering glare Max shot at him. “I’d hoped I’d be able to show her proof while she was there, rather than just telling her about Sean and expecting her to believe it.” Leaving the paved state route, he turned north onto a single lane dirt road. “Remind me to punch you in the nose,” Max muttered. “You’d never have met her if it wasn’t for me,” Quinn pointed out. He had a point. “Besides, now that she knows about them, we can protect her. And once the others join us, she’ll be constantly surrounded by GMOs. They’d have to go through all of us to get to her.” Another point. A good one. It was in the nature of the Praetorians to guard with their lives. Those who were on his side would protect Cat as if she were their own. “All right,” Max conceded. “But I’m sure I owe you a punch for something.” Quinn arched a brow. “You know they’ll send Sean after us. He’s still programmed.” “Yeah.” Max glanced down at his little cat, lying so trustingly in his arms. How could he tell her that her brother was a Praetorian and the most cold-blooded of them all?

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The two lapsed into silence as the vehicle ate up the miles. Max rested his cheek against Cat’s head, breathing in the fragrance of her fruity shampoo--some citrus blend. He sniffed. Orange and grapefruit. She mumbled something in her sleep and turned more fully into him, sliding her left leg over his knee. Her right arm slid behind him, curving over the small of his back, her thumb tucked in his waistband. Her left hand slipped off his stomach and nestled between his thighs. She sighed, her breath gusting sweetly against his neck. His cock stirred, thickening against his leg, growing under her palm. Max picked up her hand and eased is back onto his stomach. Within only a few seconds, she’d tucked it back into his crotch. He ignored Quinn’s muted laugh and tried to ignore the warm hand between his legs. After another hour and a half of him suffering exquisite torment, Quinn maneuvered the vehicle onto a road that was little more than an old wagon trail. The first bump threw them into the air, and Cat came awake with a startled yell. Her hand came down on Max’s thigh and squeezed. With the partial erection he had, her grip caught the sensitive head of his cock. He yelped and moved her hand. “Sorry,” she said, and yelled again at the next big hump in the road. They went over another bump and the top of Max’s head slammed into the roof of the vehicle. “Shit. Watch out, Quinn.” He braced his arm over Cat, trying to hold her on the seat as much as possible. “Not a lot I can do about the road.” Quinn’s teeth snapped shut on another bump and he swore. “I jush bit ma tongue.” After three miles of bumping and cursing, Quinn pulled the vehicle to a stop on a large, flagstone-type rock in front of a cave. “Get Cat inside,” he told Max. “I’ll drive out a few more miles and hide the vehicle.” Max opened his door and hopped down. Holding out his hand to Cat, he said, “Come on, honey. Let’s get inside.” Cat glanced back at Quinn and placed one hand on his forearm. “Be careful.” She put her palms on Max’s shoulders and he helped her out of the vehicle, letting her slide down his body until her feet were on the stony ground. Her blue eyes held his a moment, and he caught his breath at the naked emotion in her gaze. Longing. Need. Maybe even … dare he hope? Love. She hadn’t said the words, yet he saw it in her eyes. But she hadn’t said the words. And he needed to hear her say it. He opened the rear door and grabbed his pack, meeting Quinn’s gaze over the seat. “Watch your six, buddy,” he said. Quinn gave him a cocky salute and a wide grin. “No worries, Cap’n.” Max and Cat stood and watched the vehicle drive away until it went around a curve and out of sight. Max pulled his Glock out of the holster and then slung the strap of his pack over his shoulder. Flicking off the safety of his weapon, he took Cat’s right hand in his left and led her inside the cave. As they moved further and further into the damp recesses, it got darker and darker. Cat gripped his fingers tightly. “Max, I don’t like this. I can’t see anything.” Max squeezed her. “Don’t worry, little cat. I can see fine.” His cougar DNA

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provided him the ability to see quite well in the dark, plus he was very familiar with where they were going. Reaching a fork in the tunnel, he guided her to the left. They went a few feet and he picked up a five gallon bucket. Taking off the lid, he sprinkled lye across the floor, behind them, in a wide enough swath to confuse any noses that might come sniffing after them, but not wide enough that Quinn couldn’t jump over it. “What’s that?” Cat asked. He heard no fear in her voice, just mild curiosity and a hint of anxiety. “Lye.” He took her hand again and started walking. “It’ll get in the nasal passages and irritate them, and throw off the trackers if they get this far.” “But … won’t that just tell them they’re on the right track? That someone put lye in a cave?” “It will tell them someone was here. Not when, and not which direction they went. These tunnels branch out and go on for miles.” Max went another five hundred feet and they came to another tunnel. This time, they went right. When the tunnel split again, they again went right into what appeared to be a small chamber. Letting loose of her hand, Max pressed against a small outcropping of rock on the cave wall, and a small panel slid open. He punched in a code on the lighted keypad and a door in the rock wall opened. Light from beyond the door spilled into the chamber, illuminating the astonishment on Cat’s pretty face. He grinned and kissed the corner of her mouth. “Wait here.” He went inside and checked for intruders. A small foyer opened into a living area on one side and a galley-style kitchen on the other, a small dining area in the corner beside the kitchen. After seeing those areas were secure, he went straight through to the smaller living quarters, four in all, which each housed four sets of bunk beds, small tables with two chairs, and a utilitarian wall lamp unit. He checked the bathroom, pushing aside the shower curtain to make sure no one was in the bathtub. Then he went back to fetch Cat. Ushering her through the door, he stopped and triggered the mechanism that would close the door behind them. Once he was sure it was secure, he took Cat’s hand and led her forward to the living area. Recessed lights in the walls gave off a soft, ambient glow. “Did you really think I was going to make you spend the night in a damp cave full of bat guano?” he teased. When she shot him a look, his grin widened. “How was I supposed to know?” she grumbled. “You never can tell with men. Sleeping in a bat cave could be your idea of being in the lap of luxury.” He went to the corner of the living room and pressed open a small panel in the wall. Flipping a few switches, he activated the small infrared cameras strategically placed throughout the cave system. He checked the tunnels, satisfied there were no intruders, then looked at Cat. She wandered into the galley kitchen and poked around, then glanced at him through the opening between the two rooms. “This is amazing, Max. How is all this powered?” She swept one hand in an arc. “We have solar panels built into the rock wall of the cliffs up above. They’re

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camouflaged, so they’re very hard to find,” he assured her. “How long have you had this place?” He walked into the kitchen. “Quinn and I set it up about five years ago. We bought the property--and acreage in a couple other locations--when we first started to doubt the … efficacy of what The Foundation was trying to do.” “Which is what, exactly?” Max pulled out a bottle of beer from the refrigerator and held it out to Cat. She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. He closed the fridge with his hip, then leaned his butt against it and opened his beer. After taking a swig, he answered her question. “The Foundation trains people with telepathic and telekinetic abilities to hone their talents and prepares them to take key positions in governments all over the world. Starting right here with the North American Federation.” “For what purpose?” Her blue eyes were intense and he saw the reporter in her come to the fore. “At the risk of sounding clichéd, to take over the world.” She frowned. “Think about it, Cat.” He straightened and walked the two steps it took to reach her in the tiny kitchen. Setting his beer bottle down, he braced his hands against the counter on either side of her. “Presidents, Prime Ministers, Cabinet members … all these people in positions of power and authority who are telepathic. Not only able to read people’s thoughts, but, who knows? Maybe, eventually, able to insert thoughts into people’s minds.” His voice lowered as the full import once again hit him. “People who can manipulate objects with their minds, even objects inside of people. Like hearts. I’ve even heard rumor some of the Chosen Ones can teleport from place to place, simply by thinking of where they want to be.” She stared at him with wide eyes. Her voice soft and a little shaky, she said, “And all of them protected by Praetorians.” “Exactly.” “Max, how did you get mixed up in all of this?” She searched his eyes, her own curious and concerned. He sighed and pushed away from her, standing at the entrance to the kitchen. Looking out into the main living area, he scrubbed the back of his neck with his hand. She deserved to know his story, deserved to know what kind of man she was getting involved with. Getting involved with. Shit. If he’d bitten her, marked her that way, she’d be his mate now. And forever. “Twenty-five years ago,” he began, not turning around, “when I was in the Marine Corps, I was approached by my commanding officer. He told me about an underground movement designed to keep us from embarking on another World War, one that would have surely destroyed much of the North American Continent and Europe. Hell, most of the civilized world.” He turned, shoved his hands in his pockets, and told her the rest of the story. “He convinced me I could make a difference. I volunteered to be a lab rat. I let them splice my

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DNA with cougar DNA, because I believed them when they said it would make me a better soldier.” “Did it?” Her eyes were serious, searching. “Yeah.” He leaned his shoulder against the doorjamb. “It did. I was faster, stronger, had better hearing, better eyesight. But there were some other … enhancements they hadn’t foreseen.” “The barbs.” “The barbs.” Max shrugged and went on, needing to get through this as quickly as possible. He was uncomfortable dwelling on the past; what was done was done and there wasn’t a fucking thing he could do to undo anything. “And then I went to work for The Foundation. At first, we did make a difference. We replaced despotic rulers with benign ones. We were instrumental in making armies from around the world stand down instead of going to war.” She took a few steps closer, her locked on his as if she were trying to see his innermost thoughts. “But?” “But things changed. All of a sudden, I was hearing of behind the scenes work that removed decent, effective leaders from their positions, some of them violently. Chosen Ones were put in their place. And what we were doing didn’t seem so noble anymore.”

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Chapter 4 Cat saw the torment in his beautiful, golden eyes and bit her lip against tears of sorrow. He’d lost a part of himself, the part that believed in the innate goodness of mankind. She walked up to him and slid her arms around his waist, her hands against his strong back, holding him tight. After a slight hesitation, his brawny arms came around her and they stood like that for long moments. “There’s more,” he said, his voice little more than a low husk of sound. She tilted her head and looked at him, seeing a hint of uncertainty mingled with the pain of betrayal. “Tell me,” she whispered, putting her hand on his cheek. Closing his eyes, he turned his face into her palm and pressed a kiss against the sensitive skin. He hesitated, then opened his eyes. “I don’t know how else to tell you this, except just to say it.” He stopped, his gaze searching hers, the uncertainty in their tawny depths growing. Cat felt her eyes widen in trepidation. What was so bad this strong, capable man couldn’t articulate it? “Sean--your brother--is one of us.” Her heart lurched. “What?” Max turned, keeping one arm around her. “Come in here. It’ll be … easier if we’re sitting down.” She walked with him into the living room, where they sat side by side on the sofa, their bodies canted so they faced each other, knees touching. She stared at the dark brown leather chairs with matching ottomans across from the couch, then took a deep breath and forced herself to meet his gaze. Whatever he had to tell her, she would be brave enough to hear it. Taking her hands in his, he rubbed his thumbs over her knuckles. “Five years ago, Sean’s entire squad of eight was brought into The Foundation and forcibly enhanced.” Cat felt the shock like a cold chill to her soul. “Forcibly enhanced? You mean….” she couldn’t finish the thought, didn’t want to voice the fear aloud. “The men were drugged through their food and brought to the lab unconscious. Strapped down to that main chair you saw, in the smaller room….” He paused and she nodded, remembering the room she’d seen just before she had discovered the dead scientist’s body. “Their DNA was spliced with that of whatever animal The Foundation deemed appropriate.” “Quinn hinted that Sean … that he was part of all this.” Cat swallowed, gripping Max’s hands with shaking fingers. “He’s Praetorian.” “Yes.” “What is he?” Seeing the look that passed through Max’s eyes, she grimaced and sighed. “You know what I mean.” “I do.” With an oath, he hauled her into his lap, holding her in his secure embrace.

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She felt his warmth, his strength, and slowly relaxed. One of his big hands rubbed up and down her arm. His breath teased against her hair just before he placed a kiss on her forehead. “He’s hyena.” She pulled back, astonishment and outrage roaring through her. “They spliced him with hyena?” “You’d rather he be spliced with … what?” “I’d rather he not be spliced with anything, but.…” She stared at Max, realizing she wasn’t scoring any brownie points with the man. First she made her own brother sound like something other than human, then opened her mouth further so she could shove her foot in. “Just not hyena,” she finished lamely, staring at his t-shirt covered chest. She shook her head and tried to wrap her mind around what he was telling her. “I’d seen the change in him. He was … brittle. Then he distanced himself and finally just dropped off the map. I wondered what was wrong.” Her eyes closed and a tear tracked down her cheek. “But I would never have thought this.” “There’s more.” Cat blinked. “More? For all intents and purposes they raped him and you tell me there’s more?” Her voice rose at the end. Max brought one of her hands to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. His eyes were dark with regret and held a look of compassion that made her want to curl up in his arms and bawl like a baby. But now was not the time to fall apart. Once they were safe … then she’d go to pieces. “They brainwashed him. Him and his entire squad.” He scowled. “He and the others really believe what The Foundation is doing is just and right. When they send someone after us, it’ll be the Hyenas.” Cat shook her head, trying to deny what he said but knowing it to be true. She could see it in his eyes. “But … Sean.” “We’ll deal with it when it happens, baby. Don’t borrow trouble.” Max cupped her cheek in one palm and turned her face up to his. “I know this is a lot to take in. God, I know.” His voice was husky as he placed a soft kiss on her lips. “And a lot to ask you to accept, but--” Cat placed her index finger over his mouth. “Please don’t take my shock and anger over what was done to my brother as anything but that, Max. It doesn’t change what I feel for you.” His eyes darkened. Taking her hand in his, he placed a kiss on the pad of each of her fingers, then in the middle of her palm. “What exactly do you feel for me, little cat?” His voice was husky, deep. Wanting. She licked suddenly dry lips, her body moistening as his gaze tracked the movement of her tongue. Max had come to mean so much to her in such a very short time. It scared her, this love that had slammed into her so fast and hard. She was afraid it wouldn’t last. But she owed this incredible man nothing less than absolute honesty without prevarication. “I think I’m falling in love you.” He went still underneath her. Every muscle absolutely without movement, except

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for his eyes. They searched hers, hope warring with disbelief. Finally, he whispered, “Say it again. Please.” Her heart melted at the vulnerability in his gaze, his voice. She took his face in her hands and pressed her mouth to his, kissing him gently. His lips were warm and soft under hers, his breath sighing from him as she drew back. Looking into his eyes, she said, “I’m falling in love with you.” From one heartbeat to the next, his gaze went from softly vulnerable to heated lust. “You’re mine, little cat.” His hand held a fine tremble as he brushed her hair behind her ear. “You make me want to believe again.” “Believe what?” Her voice was breathless, her heart hammering in her throat. He pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth. “Believe that I--we--can make a difference.” His lips moved to her cheek, then her eye, feathering a kiss against her closed lid. The rough stubble on his face sent a shiver through her. “Believe that I can be a man worthy of a woman like you.” Oh, God. Cat blinked back tears, that this wonderful man would think he had to do something more, be something more, to be loved by her. “I’m nothing special, Max,” she whispered. Her fingers skimmed over his sensual lips. “I’m just an ordinary woman.” “You’re extraordinary and I intend to prove it to you.” He raised a hand and laid it gently on one side of her face. She leaned into his touch, loving the strength in his hand, the warmth in his touch. He kissed her, his tongue licking at the seam of her lips and then dipping inside to steal her breath. Need hit her, fast and hard. Wetness pooled between her thighs. His big hands slid under her loose shirt and pushed it up, baring her breasts. A groan rumbled from him as he moved his mouth to one of her nipples, flicking it lightly with his tongue before pulling the taut nub between his lips. She arched up to meet him, thrusting more of her breast into his mouth. She felt his erection against her bottom, hard and thick, and her core softened with desire. Cream slid from her sheath to coat the lips of her pussy and she wriggled against him, trying to assuage the need. “That feels so good,” she moaned, her hands grasping his head, threading the dark golden strands of his hair through her fingers. “So good.” “It gets better,” he teased, and slid his mouth to her other nipple. He drew on it with strong suction, making her gasp. She rose against him, pressing her sex to his erection, grinding against him with wanton passion. With a bunching of muscles, Max shifted so she was stretched out underneath him on the sofa. He stripped the shirt over her head and, when his big hands went to the waistband of her jeans, she put her hands on his. “Wait,” she gasped. “What about Quinn?” “Quinn can get his own girl,” he said, his brows dipping down. She grinned and smacked him lightly on the shoulder. Her breasts jiggled with the movement and his gaze drifted from her eyes back down to her chest. “I meant, won’t he be getting here soon? I don’t want him to walk in on us.” Max bent his head and placed a soft kiss on each nipple. The feel of the silk of her skin against his lips went straight to his cock. “If I know Quinn, and I know Quinn,” he stressed, raising his head to lock eyes with her, “he drove out at least five miles and hid

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the vehicle, then is taking the long way back to throw off any trackers they may send after us. He won’t be here for at least another--” he glanced at his watch-- “forty-five minutes. Maybe an hour.” His eyes glittered as he looked at her. “That doesn’t give me nearly enough time for everything I want to do to you, but it’ll give us enough to take the edge off.” “That’s all you want to do?” She pulled his shirt from the waistband of his pants and slid her warm hands up his torso until they rested on his chest. “Take the edge off?” He drew up and tugged the t-shirt off, then came back over her and rested his chest against her breasts. Her tight little nipples poked the hard muscles of his chest. Keeping his eyes on hers, he dragged his hair-roughened chest across her breasts. She gasped and her fingers dug into his chest, while her eyes lost their focus and her tongue licked over her sultry lips. “Take the edge off now. Fuck you ’til you can’t walk later. Remember?” He rubbed his nose against hers, feeling her quickened breathing puffing against his lips, the steady thud of her heart from behind her fragile ribs. Her thumbs skimmed across his nipples, making them tighten, making his cock tighten as well. “I seem to remember you promised neither one of us would be able to walk for a week.” She plucked at his flesh and he ground his jaw against the pleasure. “Or are you reneging on that promise?” He got off her long enough to toe off his shoes and shuck his pants. Then, with a growl of pure, brutal need, he yanked off her shoes and pulled her pants down her slender legs. He stood there, his cock pointing up in the air and hard as a pike, and stared at her, lying on the sofa in socks and a skimpy pair of pale pink silk panties damp from the cream on her soft folds. The color matched her nipples. With a groan, he dropped to his knees, grabbing her hips and swiveling her around on the sofa. One quick, fierce yank, and he’d ripped her panties away. He put his hands on her knees and ran them up her inner thighs, spreading her legs. Her sex unfolded before him, the glistening petals pink and slickly moist. A hungry growl crept from his throat. Hooking her legs over his shoulders, he dove into her sweet pussy with an undeniable hunger. He could ignore it no longer. Her taste was a combination of spice and musk and like none other. The sound of her moans, the feel of her body undulating against his mouth acted as a powerful aphrodisiac. When he thrust two fingers inside her, she cried out, her hands clasping his head to her, her fingers painfully tugging on his hair. God, she could snatch him bald for all he cared. As long as she kept making those soft, mewling sounds of pleasure, kept nourishing him with the cream of her arousal, he’d willingly give up every hair on his head. He licked through her folds and drank her essence down. Replacing his fingers with his tongue, he speared into her channel. He thrust his tongue in as far as he could, twirling the tip against the soft walls, then withdrew. Back in with quick, hard force, and out. In. Out. He shifted his mouth and suckled on her clit, plunging three fingers into her wet sheath. She screamed his name, her heels digging into his back as she convulsed

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around him with her orgasm. Before the last spasm faded, Max rose up and rubbed his cock through her slick folds. He groaned at the sight of his cock covered with her juices. When she arched up against him, trying to take him inside, his groan was louder, longer. “Max, please! I need you inside me.” Grasping his erection in one hand, he pressed just the tip inside the snug opening of her cunt. She gave a soft growl, grasped his hips and pulled herself to a sitting position. The motion forced more of his hard length inside her. “Stop playing around and fuck me!” she snarled. A smile stole over his face at her ferocity. It continued to amaze him, how she could make him laugh at what should be the most serious of moments. “Or what, little cat?” he drawled. He drew his hips back, teasing her, fighting her hold. Her blue eyes narrowed and her fingers tightened around his hips, digging into his flesh. “You know,” she said, inching her fingers closer to the crack of his ass, “there is a little matter of payback for you carrying me around like you were some kind of Neanderthal.” His eyebrows rose and he pursed his lips against another grin. “Payback? For saving your life?” “For jouncing me all over your shoulder like a sack of flour and then feeling me up.” She kneaded his buttocks and he allowed her to pull him back inside, although he tortured both of them by stopping after only a few inches. “Max!” Her right hand slapped down on his ass, the sound loud in the silence of the cave room. He felt the jolt of her smack to his balls, and his skin warmed where her hand had hit. It gave him an idea. Cat’s eyes widened as she read the intent in his gaze. She put her hands on his chest to hold him off. “Oh, now, wait just a minute…!” Before she could say another word, he’d taken her place on the sofa, flipping her face down over his lap. “Tit for tat, baby.” He smoothed his hand over the shapely curves of her buttocks, one cheek, then the other. “I bet this pretty ass of yours will turn a real nice shade of pink.” He brought one broad hand down and smacked her, not enough to hurt, but it stung. His hand smoothed over the bare skin of her bottom again. He shifted beneath her, spreading his thighs, making her more comfortable. He moved his hand between her thighs, dipping his fingers into the folds of her sex. “Open your legs, little cat,” he said, stroking his hand down the inside of one thigh. “I wouldn’t want to miss something I shouldn’t.” Cat couldn’t stop the shiver that ran through her. Her face flushed with lust. She’d never had a lover spank her before and wondered at the strong reaction she had to it. She wouldn't have thought she’d want to be face down over a man’s strong thighs, waiting to be spanked. But she did. By Max. The thought made her so damned hot that if he didn’t get on with it, she’d probably do something to get herself in even bigger trouble. She licked her lips. God, to be at the sensual mercy of this big, strong, virile man … she felt like a kid in a candy

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store. He smacked his palm against her left ass cheek, then the right one. Her skin started to burn and her pussy clenched. Max continued to slap her ass, sending an unbelievable heat zipping through her buttocks straight to her core. A heavy thumping started in her clit and she wiggled against him, trying to put more pressure on her pleasure spot. “You trying to finish the party without me?” Max asked, giving her ass another slap. Cat whimpered when the smack sent a jolt straight to her clit. “God, this looks so pretty, so pink.” He stroked his palm lightly over her flushed skin, then slid his fingers into her slick folds. “And you like it, don’t you?” When she stubbornly remained silent, he slapped her buttocks again, bringing a moan from deep in her throat. “Don’t you, little cat?” He rested his large hand on the curve of one buttock, his square-tipped fingers curling toward her sex but not quite touching her where she wanted him to. “I can see how wet your sweet little pussy is.” “Yes!” she hissed, and arched her back. He held her still with a strong arm across her lower back. “Uh-uh,” he admonished. “Dammit, Max!” Cat struggled against him, nearly howling with frustration when his greater strength kept her pinned in place. Her body was tight, hovering on the edge of an orgasm. “This is great; this is fun. I enjoy it. Get on with it already.” His deep chuckle preceded a stinging slap. “You are so bad, baby.” Another smack, then two fingers slid deep into her sopping channel. His thumb flicked against her clit and a scream exploded from her throat as a violent orgasm shattered her. Turning her in his arms, Max got to his feet in one fluid move. He carried her around to the end of the couch and bent her over it. She felt the heat of his breath, then his tongue as he licked a path down her spine. He kissed his way over one buttock, the fingers of one hand roughly kneading the flesh of the other cheek. When his fingers drifted over her tight sphincter, she gasped and shivered, her legs trembling. He dragged his tongue through her slit, dipped inside, spearing her, stroking the sensitive walls. Air brushed her flesh just before his warm thighs pressed against hers, his big hands clasping her hips. She felt the broad, satin-soft tip of his cock at the opening of her vagina. He was hot and hard. He slowly pushed into her. Cat shifted her legs, spreading wider for him, gasping as his cock pressed and pressed and pressed. Damn, but he felt huge this way. Her flesh stretched, her own lubrication easing his way. She felt the tip of his cock against the mouth of her womb as his balls rested against her clit. “Ah, God,” he breathed against her nape. “This is where I want to be. I could stay inside this hot little cunt forever.” He waited a moment, giving her time to adjust to his girth, then he started to move. Slowly at first, gently easing his way in and out, stretching her. Filling her. Cat gripped the edges of the couch, catching his rhythm, thrusting her hips back against him.

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In, out. In again, his balls hitting her clit with each slow thrust. She pushed against him, forcing him deeper. He reached around and long fingers plucked her tight nipples, pinching, rolling the turgid buds between them. She moaned, bumped her hips back against him. “Max,” she gasped, trying to straighten. It was too much, it wasn’t enough! He leaned over her, keeping her in place with his greater bulk, his chest hard and hot against her back. She felt the crisp feathering of hair rubbing over her back. He squeezed her nipples, hard, making her gasp, then rubbed away the pain. Another moan was dragged from her and she tilted her hips higher, taking each deep thrust, taking him deep. With a low growl rumbling from his chest, his hands came to rest beside hers, tanned and big next to her own pale, slender ones. He groaned, his thrusts coming faster, harder. “You’re so fucking tight.” His cock was thick and hard in her slick sheath, slamming into her with rough, brutal force. She took him, all of him, giving a moan as she felt another climax begin to build. She felt his breath against her shoulder, his mouth sliding up to the tender joining of neck and shoulder. Then his teeth pierced her skin, a sharp, stinging pain that catapulted her into her orgasm. She threw her head back, a scream erupting from her throat as the muscles in her vagina clamped down, wrapping around his cock. He rammed into her with fierce power, his balls slapping against her sensitive flesh, his cock hard and thick. Releasing her shoulder, he shouted with his own release. Suddenly, he filled her even more, the barbs on his cock flaring to hold him tightly within the clenching confines of her pussy, locking his body close against hers. His cock spurted rich, hot jets of semen, splashing against the mouth of her womb. With a deep groan, he collapsed over her, wrapping his arms around her breasts and cushioning her against the arm of the sofa. “It gets better each time,” he breathed against the side of her neck. Cat shifted against him, trying to get comfortable. “You bit me,” she said, still trying to come to terms with what she knew that meant. “You’re my mate, Cat.” His arms tightened around her, then relaxed. “It’s as natural a thing for me to do as fucking.” “Speaking of fucking,” she said, pushing her ass against him, “could you please move? This isn’t all that comfortable.” “Stop wiggling around, little cat. I’m not going anywhere for at least half-anhour.” She stilled. “Half-an-hour?” she screeched, twisting her head to look at his face. He wore such a heavy-lidded, sated look, she couldn’t help but smile. “That’s how long it’ll take before the barbs deflate.” He nuzzled her cheek, then lightly nipped her earlobe with strong, white teeth. Fighting back a shiver, she said, “But, Quinn’s supposed to be back…” “Hmm.” With a lazy twist of his wrist, his chin resting on her shoulder, he glanced at his watch. “We might be cutting it a little close.” A little panicked at the thought of being caught in flagrante delicto, she squirmed against him. Hearing his throttled moan made her smile again, pleased beyond

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description at being able to push such a sensual reaction from him. “Well, hell,” came a deep voice from behind them. Max straightened at the sound, but immediately relaxed and didn’t turn to face the newcomer, which told Cat he knew the owner of the voice. She, however, did not. She grabbed his hands and put them on her breasts, then covered her more private parts with her own hands. “Looks like I came in just a few minutes too late.” There was rich humor in those low tones and Cat tensed. “Missed the show.” “Damn it, Yankee,” Max muttered. Cat turned her head to see a tall, handsome man standing just to their right, and slightly behind Max. Keeping a respectful distance in spite of his lustful tone and stare. “What? Is it my fault ya’ll are doin’ the deed out here in the main room?” His light blue eyes sparkled, a grin edging his lips upward. “A fella might think y’all wanted to get caught.”

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Chapter 5 Max heaved a sigh and briefly closed his eyes. He was never going to hear the end of this from Yankee, he knew. Thirty goddamned years from now he’d still be listening to the telling and retelling of this story. “Make yourself useful,” he gritted, pointing to one of the black t-shirts on the floor. “Hand me one of those.” The other man walked forward and picked up a shirt, then turned and took the three steps that would bring him close enough to hand it to Max. Blue eyes stared with a mixture of envy and lust at Cat. Max waited until his friend’s eyes came up to his. “Turn your back,” he said, his voice hard and brooking no argument. A muscle twitched at the side of Yankee’s mouth, but he remained sober-faced, gave a brief nod and turned around. “Lift your arms, honey,” Max said to Cat. Once she’d done so, the movement plumping the breast under his palm and not helping his cock–or the barbs--grow flaccid in the least, he slipped the t-shirt over her head and arms. Smoothing it over her belly, he pulled the shirt as low in the front as he could get it. The shirt fell to the top of her thighs, barely covering the folds of her sex. From the side, her sweetly curved bottom was visible. He felt her body begin to shake and he wrapped his arms around her. “Baby, I’m sorry,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her temple. She snorted and gave a weird little grunt, then a howl of laughter erupted. Within seconds, she was folded over the couch, laughing her ass off. Max looked at Yankee, who looked back. Max glanced down, seeing his cock still snugly held inside her cunt, her buttocks lightly bouncing against him as she continued to laugh. A reluctant grin curved his mouth as he realized the sight they presented to Yankee. “Oh, God,” she gasped, and snorted again. “Something like this could only happen to me.” She straightened, wiping tears from her eyes. Catching sight of Yankee standing there with a slightly bemused expression on his face, she started giggling again, clutching her ribs. Max knew exactly how the other man felt. Bemused, bewildered and bothered. Of all the reactions he might have thought Cat would have, hysterical laughter wouldn’t have been one of them. When he’d felt her body begin to shake, he thought she was crying. Which he certainly wouldn’t have blamed her for--being stuck with your lover’s cock crammed inside your pussy had to be one of the top ten reasons for ultimate embarrassment. But here she was, laughing and giggling like a loon. He’d never understand women as long as he lived. “Catriona Devane, meet Yankee.” Max tried to ignore the renewed tightening of

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his cock at the feel of her body wiggling around him. “Yankee?” Cat sobered for a moment and looked at the other man with curiosity luminescent in her eyes. “But … you sound….” “Yeah.” Yankee stepped closer. “I’m from Texas. Derek Champion, ma’am. My friends,” he paused, cocking a brow at Max, “call me Yankee ’cause I’m not.” She frowned, then shook her head. “Whatever,” she muttered. She pushed her rear against Max, apparently deciding it was time to dislodge him. “Honey, if you don’t stop shimmying against me like that, we’ll never get unattached.” He slid one hand around her rib cage and rested it just under the swell of one breast. She stilled and looked at him over her shoulder. Then her gaze moved to something behind him and she rolled her eyes. “Oh, this just keeps getting better and better,” she muttered. He turned his head to see Quinn standing there, one hand on his hip, his face wet, sweat staining the front and under the arms of his khaki-colored t-shirt. His chest rose and fell with his harsh breathing. “Man, I missed the party?” he pseudo-whined, winking at them. “If I’d known you were going to be going at it like bunnies again, I would’ve picked up the pace.” “Shut up.” Cat turned her head and looked away from them. “Max, isn’t there someplace more private we can go until your stupid cock decides to do its thing?” There was the reaction he’d expected. Her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. He shot a look at Quinn, who held up his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry, Cat,” the other man said, his voice soft. “I was only teasing.” She sighed. “I know, Quinn.” She glanced at him, then her eyes met Max’s. “I’m sure I’ll find the humor in this again. At some point in time.” Her lids drifted and she put her hand over her mouth, covering a yawn. “Man, all of a sudden, I’m really tired.” “I know, baby. As soon as we get … disengaged, you can lay down for a nap.” “Can’t you just take me to a bed now?” She yawned again, and he heard her jaw pop. “Walking with you attached to my cock like some kind of lollipop on a stick is not going to help matters.” Max smoothed his hand down her side. “I’ll just get hard again and we’d have to start this all over again.” A frown covered the sweet face turned toward him. “Don’t you think you should’ve thought of that earlier? Before you boffed me?” His brows shot up. His little cat was getting feisty and flexing her claws. That was fine by him. She was cute when she hissed at him like a kitten. Besides, his claws were bigger. “If you had behaved, sweetheart, we would have boffed sooner.” Her cheeks pinkened again, but she rallied and stuck her tongue out at him. Heaving a long-suffering sigh, she said, “Fine. Just … detach yourself. Please.” “The barbs aren’t fully deflated, baby,” he murmured against her face. “It’ll hurt you.” “I. Don’t. Care,” she muttered. “This is getting really embarrassing. Just how many more men are going to show up?” His lips quirked. “This is it, for now.” He looked over at the other two men, doing

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his best to ignore their matching grins at the byplay between him and his lover, and motioned toward the sleeping quarters with a nod of his head. They understood his unspoken signal and moved with quiet steps through the living room and down the hallway. “Okay, cougar-boy. Do your worst.” “You’re just asking for another spanking, little cat. You know that?” Max rubbed his hand over her right ass cheek. When she shivered against him, he ground out a curse as his randy cock thickened. “This is going to sting.” He started to ease out of her slowly, but stopped when she gasped and her sheath tightened around him. “You have to relax, baby,” he murmured, smoothing his hand over her shoulder. “Or this is never going to work.” “Let’s stick a cactus in your rear and yank it out,” she said, her voice tense. “Then you can tell me to relax. Not before.” Max shook his head. Feisty may have been too tame of a word to describe her. “You want me to do it fast, then?” She sighed and leaned forward slightly, bracing her hands on the sofa. “Just like ripping off a Bandaid. Yeah, do it fast.” Hands on her hips, he held her still and pulled his cock out of her snug channel in one quick stroke. “Shit!” She turned and smacked him on the shoulder, then bounced away from him and clapped her hands between her legs. “Shit.” She winced and bit her lower lip. He was chagrined to see tears in her eyes. He took a step toward her, but one slender hand came up, palm out, holding him off. “You just put your pants on there, cowboy. Ain’t gonna be no more ridin’ this pony for a while.” She hopped from foot to foot, muttering curses. He picked up his pants and jerked them on, stuffing his nearly full erection behind the zipper and carefully easing up the tab. Grabbing his t-shirt, he shrugged into it, leaving the hem loose over his waist. He walked to Cat and pulled her into his arms, holding her gently. When she slid her arms around his waist and leaned into him, he closed his eyes and tightened his arms. “Please tell me it doesn’t always hurt like that,” she muttered. He heard the deep fatigue in her voice. “’Cause, I gotta tell you, as much as I like making love with you, I’m going to have to rethink things if it’s always going to hurt.” “It doesn’t always hurt like that,” he said softly, and pressed a kiss against her temple. At this moment, she felt small and fragile in his arms. It made him feel big and awkward. “As long as I can give the barbs time to subside, it doesn’t hurt at all.” He shifted his weight, bending to pick her up. She laughed and curled her arms around his neck. “Well, at least you’re not tossing me over your shoulder this time.” “Not unless you want to flash your pretty behind to Quinn and Yankee.” He walked out of the living room and down the hallway. He caught Quinn’s grin as he walked past the bedroom where he and Yankee had gone. Reaching the last bedroom on the right, he pushed open the door with his foot and walked in. He placed Cat gently on the bed and sat beside her, one arm over her, his hand

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braced on the mattress. With his other hand, he smoothed over her hair, tucking several strands behind her ear. This woman, in such a short amount of time, had become more important to him than anything in the world. Her smile was his sun, her love his air. “I love you, Catriona Devane,” he said, his voice husky with love and need, awed he could even feel those things. He touched her cheek with the back of his hand. “You know we’ll be on the run now.” “I know.” She reached up and took his hand, twining her fingers with his. “But we have to do this. We have to stop them.” He inhaled and exhaled heavily through his mouth. “They’ll send Sean, baby.” He felt her fingers tighten around his. “We’ve got forty-eight hours, at most, while they put together a strategy and pull his team together.” Her eyes filled with tears and her lower lip trembled. “Unless.…” he trailed off, his mind racing with possibilities. “Unless what?” “We catch him first. They won’t expect us to go after their tracker. The last place they’d be looking for us is at The Foundation.” The more he thought about it, the more he was sure it was the only way. “I can reach Sean. I know I can. And if for some reason I can’t, he’ll have you.” He leaned over her, burying his face against her neck, gently biting the tendons there. “I need to do this. For him. For you. For us.” She raked her fingers through his hair, her nails scratching against his skull. “I want Sean here, where it’s safe. I want him whole. But I don’t want to lose you.” He kissed her, feeling her soft lips under his, her breath mingling sweetly with his, and knew himself to be the luckiest man in the world. “You won’t lose me. Quinn, Yankee and I can navigate that place in the dark.” “Just don’t take any unnecessary risks, all right?” Her beautiful eyes searched his and he carefully masked his thoughts. She had discovered the secret of The Foundation. Now her life was in danger, as was his and any of the Praetorians who chose to follow him. He would protect his woman with everything he had, his life if need be. If that meant taking risks, necessary or not, he would do it. She was everything to him. His reason for being. “I will take only those risks I think are necessary,” he said in agreement. He sealed any argument she might have had with his lips. When he pulled away, she looked at him with such love and affection, he knew he would do whatever necessary to keep her safe, to make a life for them free of danger from The Foundation and the Chosen Ones. He would spend the rest of his life trying to be the man he saw in her gaze when she looked at him. When he saw her stifle a yawn, he kissed her again and rose to his feet. “Get some rest, baby,” he said. “I’ll wake you once we’ve thrown something together for dinner, all right?” She nodded and her eyes drifted closed. Max stood there a moment longer, watching her, then turned and left the room, closing the door softly behind him. Walking back into the living room, he dropped down onto one of the chairs opposite the sofa where Quinn and Yankee sat. They were silent for several minutes, then Quinn said, “You marked her.”

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Max looked over at his second-in-command. He sat with his long legs sprawled in front of him, his fingers laced together across his flat stomach. “Yeah.” “Sure that was wise?” “She’s my mate,” Max said, his voice hard. “Whether or not I marked her wouldn’t have changed anything. They’d still be after her, trying to silence her for what she knows.” “You know they’ll send Sean.” Yankee crossed his legs, resting his ankle against the opposite knee, his arms outstretched along the back of the sofa. “He’s the best tracker we’ve … they’ve got.” “We’d already come to that same conclusion,” Max said, nodding at Quinn. “But I’ve got a plan.” Max sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands together between his legs. Meeting their gaze, he told his two most trusted friends, “I want to go after him first.” “What do you mean, you want to go after him first?” Yankee sat up, his arms dropping to his sides, hands on his thighs. “They won’t expect us to go after him.” Max stood and began to pace. “They’ll expect us to be running, putting as much distance between us and them as possible.” “And you’re thinkin’ to just waltz back into The Foundation and … what? Kidnap him?” Yankee stood as well and crossed his arms over his chest. “Something like that.” “You’re out of your fuckin’ mind. Captain, sir,” he tacked on at the hard glare Max sent his way. “It could work,” Quinn said from his relaxed position on the sofa. “You still have viable security codes, Yank. They don’t know you’re one of us.” Yankee narrowed his eyes, then threw up his hands and plopped back onto the couch. “Fine. Yeah. All right.” He shook his head. “I think you’re both crazy, but let’s hear this plan.” “You send a message to Sean, getting him to one of the less secure areas. Then you and I go in and get Sean, and bring him back here for deprogramming.” Max watched Yankee, sure the other man was going to give him lip. Again. Yankee was silent for a minute, which stretched into two. Then he grinned and slapped on palm on his knee. “I love this plan,” he crowed. “This is a great plan. The best plan I’ve ever heard. Let’s do it.” Quinn rolled his eyes at the blatant sarcasm in Yankee’s tone. “What about me?” he asked, his gaze meeting Max’s. “I need you to stay here with Cat.” Max swallowed back the fear, always present at some level when he thought of the multitude of things that could go wrong, the many ways Cat could be discovered. “I need you to protect her.” Quinn gathered his legs under him and stood in a fluid movement. “Count on it, Captain.” Max nodded. “We’ll grab a few hours’ sleep and leave at dusk tonight. We’ve got a limited window of opportunity here, guys. We’ve got to make this work. For Sean’s sake.” “And for Cat’s,” Quinn murmured.

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“And for Cat’s,” Max agreed. He was about to take one of those unnecessary risks Cat had talked about. But he had no choice. He’d never be able to live with himself if he left Sean in the clutches of The Foundation. He had to try. For himself. For Sean. For Cat. For all of them.

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Chapter 6 Cat paced behind the sofa, hugging her arms and swiping at tears that insisted on sliding down her cheeks. “They know what they’re doing, sweetheart.” Quinn looked up from the paper he was reading. His big body was sprawled in one of the leather chairs, long legs stretched out in front of him, big feet resting on the ottoman. He’d angled both chair and footrest so he could view the security monitors on the wall. “Max has been doing covert operations for a long time.” “I know.” She walked around and sat on the sofa, curling one leg underneath her. She dangled her other foot, swinging it back and forth in agitation. “If anyone can bring Sean back, it’s Max.” “I know.” She put both feet on the floor and bounced her knees up and down, far too restless to sit still. Restless, and angry. He’d promised he wouldn’t take unnecessary risks, yet he and that damned Yankee had marched right back into the bowels of The Foundation to snatch her brother from under the very noses of the people who wanted to kill them. Dammit. When he got back, she just might strap him to the bed to make sure he stayed put. See how much he liked it. A vision of him, his big body naked and tied to the small bed, made her body go taut with need. Her nipples tightened and she clenched her thighs at the slide of cream along the lips of her pussy. She caught Quinn’s knowing look and stood. “Shut up,” she told him, and again paced behind the sofa. His eyebrows rose. “Did I say anything?” “You were thinking it.” She turned toward the kitchen. “I’m going to get some wine. Want some?” “Nah. Never drink the stuff.” He shrugged. “Don’t want to erode my senses.” Cat went into the kitchen and pulled a bottle of peach zinfandel out of the refrigerator. Sorting through cupboards until she found the glasses, she pulled a small juice glass out and filled it partway. She took a sip, then filled the glass to the top. She drank enough to keep it from sloshing over the sides and carried it back into the living room. Sitting on the sofa, she crossed her legs and sipped her wine, holding the glass with hands that shook. “They’ll be all right.” Quinn stood and walked to the monitors. She stared at the black-and-white screens. They were as blank as ever. No movement. No Max. No Sean. “You don’t know that,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “They’ve been gone so long.” He glanced at his watch. “They’ve only been gone ten hours. It’s three hours to get there, three hours to get back.”

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“I know.” God, she was starting to sound like a parrot, repeating herself. I know. I know. She took a big swig of wine. “Thought that stuff was supposed to be sipped, not guzzled.” “Shut up. I’ll drink it anyway I want to.” Cat started swinging her foot again. He laughed. “You sound like my sis.…” Trailing off, he pressed a couple of buttons and leaned forward to peer at one of the screens. Cat placed her glass on the end table and slowly got to her feet. “What is it?” “They’re here.” He strode to the door and opened it, holding it as Max and Yankee walked in. Sean lay draped over Max’s shoulders in a fireman’s carry. Cat hovered behind him as he carried her brother to one of the bedrooms. Once he was laid on the bed, she sat beside him and brushed dark hair away from his face. “What happened?” she asked, her voice a mere husk. Max stood beside her, one big hand on her shoulder. “He’ll be all right, honey. He wasn’t exactly … cooperative.” She looked up at him, seeing for the first time the bruise high up on one cheek and a cut on his full lower lip. “Oh, Max.” He shook his head. “It’s nothing, little cat. Believe me, I’ve had worse.” Cat didn’t want to think about that, about him having injuries other than a few contusions and abrasions. Turning her attention back to Sean, she stroked one hand down his lean jaw, the prickle of his days’ old beard rasping against her palm. “What happens now?” Max sighed and moved to the head of the bed. Bending, he looped restraints around the posts of the bunk, giving a sharp yank to test them. She bit her lip, watching as he drew Sean’s arms over his head and fastened the padded cuffs around his wrists. “Is that really necessary?” she asked. “Yes.” He walked around her to the foot of the bed. Once he’d removed Sean’s boots, he repeated the process and fastened restraints around his ankles. “When he wakes up, he’ll want to be anywhere but here. Plus, he’ll try to kill us. That’s what he’s programmed to do.” He drew her to her feet, clasping his hands at the small of her back. “This next part isn’t going to be easy, little cat. Or pretty.” “What do you mean?” She looked down at her brother. His face bore the signs of a fight. Blood crusted his nostrils, his jaw was bruised on both sides. One eye was swollen, with a large black circle underneath. “I told you he’s been brainwashed. He firmly believes that what The Foundation is doing is necessary to keep us from another world war.” He exhaled heavily and shrugged. “Hell, I don’t know. Maybe it is. But I can’t imagine a world under the rule of what is essentially the mind police would be any better.” Cat stared at Sean. He’d always been so strong, so sure. To think of him being betrayed, his free will taken away from him … it broke her heart. “We’ll just have to make him see the truth.” “Yeah.” Max unclasped his hands and moved around Cat to sit on the edge of the bed. One hand fisted on his thigh as he stared at her brother. “One of our deprogrammers is on the way. He should be here late tomorrow.” He rubbed the back of his neck and his

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shoulders slumped. “We tranquilized Sean, so he’ll be out for a few more hours yet. Then….” Cat lightly touched his shoulder and he looked up. His tawny eyes held a dark look of deep regret. “Oh, no you don’t, Max.” She squatted by his leg and gazed up at him. “None of what happened to Sean was your fault. There wasn’t anything you could have done to stop it.” He shook his head. “How can you know that, Cat?” “Because I know you. If you’d have been able to do something, you would have.” She stroked his hard thigh with her fingers, then stood and coaxed him to his feet. She lightly touched his injuries, resting her left hand on his right bicep. “I’m okay.” He slipped his arms around hers and kissed her, drawing back almost immediately with a soft, “Damn.” His fingers probed around the cut on his lip. Cat pulled his hand away. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s get you patched up.” She bent and cupped the side of Sean’s face. “Oh, Sean,” she whispered, blinking back tears. Her big brother. Her hero. “Come on, little cat.” Max took her hand and pulled it through the crook of his arm. “We need to get something to eat, and some rest before the … fun starts.” “First, we’re going to get you cleaned up, then Sean.” She took a last glance at her brother, then led Max out of the room and to the bathroom. The other two men were there. Yankee stood in front of the toilet, shirtless, his brawny arms raised above his head while Quinn sprayed white foam around his ribs. As she watched, the foam cleared and hardened, forming a polymer-based casing. When he saw Cat, Yankee’s frown deepened, drawing her attention to the scrape on his chin. “That damned brother of yours broke a couple of my ribs.” “Yankee,” Max said, his voice full of warning. Cat patted him on the shoulder. “It’s okay, Max. I can handle this.” She propped her hands on her hips and, looking Yankee up and down, said sweetly, “Looks like he took a chunk out of that stubborn chin of yours, too. Although, I will admit, I’m a little surprised a big, tough guy like you would be such a baby.” Quinn’s cheeks sucked in as if he were biting down on the inside. He put the can on the side of the sink and moved out of the way, making an exaggerated ducking motion as he walked past her. Yankee’s lips twitched. “Who’re you callin’ a baby, darlin’?” he asked, the sternness of his voice belied by the beginnings of a twinkle in his eyes. “If the shoe fits, darlin’,” she murmured, raising her eyebrows. “All snarly over a broken rib or two.” “You ever had broken ribs before, kitten?” he asked. He shrugged into his t-shirt, wincing as his movements rattled his ribs. “No.” “Hmm.” He shook his head, but let it drop. “Well, we’ll get out of your way so you can patch up lover-boy here.” When he walked toward her, a grin on his face, she put her hands on his shoulders to stop him from leaving. “Wait.” Standing on her tiptoes, she put one hand on the back

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of his neck and bent his head. She kissed his cheek. “Thank you. For Sean.” He cupped her head in one big hand. “You’re welcome, Cat.” Giving her a wink, he left the bathroom and went down the hall, followed by a grinning Quinn. “Lover-boy,” Max muttered, following her into the small bathroom. She grinned and pointed to the toilet. “Sit.” He plunked down the lid and obediently sat. Cat slid open the door to medicinal unit and pulled out a large cotton swab and a bottle of disinfectant. She glanced around the small storage area and then closed the door. “You keep a well-supplied medicine cabinet,” she remarked, opening the disinfectant. Max shrugged. “We built this place knowing we’d be getting into a fire fight. We anticipated there would be injuries.” She dipped the swab into the mouth of the bottle, wetting the cotton with the solution. She dabbed the swab gently at the cut on his lip. When the disinfectant hit the open wound, he sucked in his breath but otherwise didn’t move. She gently cleansed the area, then grabbed a clean wash rag from a rack above the commode. Wetting it with cold water, she washed his face, being particularly careful over his bruised lip and cheek. “I’m glad to know you’ve got bigger balls than Yankee when it comes to getting hurt,” she murmured, grinning at him. He shifted on the commode and pulled her between his legs. “You can theorize about the size of his balls all you want, little cat. You’re not ever going to see them.” “Eew.” She smacked him on the shoulder. “I don’t want to see his balls.” “It’s good to know that.” Max drew her down onto his thigh, his arms holding her around the waist. He rested his head against her breasts and she couldn’t resist touching him, threading her fingers through the thick, silky strands of his tawny hair. He sighed deeply and rubbed the uninjured side of his face against her. “It’s going to be a long, hard road from here, honey,” he said. His voice was dark and low, the weight of the upcoming battle heavy in his tone. “We’ve got to get through Sean’s deprogramming, and stay one step ahead of The Foundation.” “I know.” She sifted his hair through her fingers and felt his chest move against her in a deep sigh. “They’ll throw everything they’ve got at us, and they’ve got a lot. Resources that are nearly unlimited. We can pretty much plan on having Trackers on our trail from now on.” “Trackers?” “Either Praetorians specially trained to track fugitives, or Chosen Ones using their psychic abilities.” His head moved up and he placed a kiss in the hollow of her throat. “In our case, probably both. It’s not going to be easy, baby.” “I know.” She combed his hair with her fingers, scraping her nails along his scalp, sensing it was helping him relax and come down off the adrenaline rush from Sean’s rescue. Or kidnapping, depending on which side of the fist you were on. She was sure Sean wouldn’t exactly be grateful, not at first. But they’d get through to him. They had to!

DISCOVERY

Sherrill Quinn

49

Max suddenly stood and swept her into his arms. Twisting so he could get out of the small bathroom without banging her into the door, he left the room and went into sleeping quarters across from the room where Sean lay. He kicked the door shut with his booted foot and placed her on the bed. Coming down over her, he rested his weight on his elbows. “We still don’t know who killed Dr. Harris, honey,” he said, his voice low and raw. “My gut tells me Sean’s involved somehow.” She swallowed. “You think he killed her?” “I don’t know, little cat.” He sighed, his tawny gaze warm with love, dark with worry. “But if they’d caught wind of her plans … well, they would’ve set the dogs loose on her.” Max rolled to his side, drawing her close on the small bed. His arms were strong around her, his love heating the coldness of the threatening storm to come. Cat knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Nothing worthwhile ever was. But she knew it would be worth it. She had her brother, she had the man she loved. The man who loved her. Together, they would prevail. She couldn’t believe anything else. As he leaned down and kissed her, his mouth moving softly, sweetly over hers, she knew, one day, the world would be free of the Chosen Ones. And she and Max would be together. Always.

THE END