Nocturne 040 – Scions 02 - Patrice Michelle - Insurrection (9 page)

The sensation of her soft breasts pressed against his chest, her heart thudding against him, her thighs entangled with his, made him want to roar. His gut clenched and his groin tightened. He reached above her head and gripped the edge of one of the shelves to keep from sliding his hands down her feminine curves and claiming her sweet mouth with his. The sound of feet shuffling and a door opening outside distracted him from his lustful thoughts.

Landon tensed. If the closet door behind him popped open right now, he was prepared to fight a potential Garotter. Granted, his body springing from the closet’s tight confines would be surprise enough to give him the advantage, but he knew he would take anyone or anything out in order to keep Kaitlyn safe. He was ready.

Kaitlyn gripped his waist tighter and she pressed closer, yanking his libido to full-on attention. He scented her excitement, felt her heart rate ramp higher. Landon fought his primal urges. Flexing his jaw, he swallowed a growl. His shoulders bunched and the wood shelf dented under the pressure of his fingers.

“We need another shipment,” a man’s voice demanded.

Chairs scraped the floor and a drawer opened. The men must have sat down at the desk.

“It’s too soon. There was a female cop here today, asking for a tour of the factory. You know I support what you all do, but I don’t need this kind of shit right now,” a gravelly-voiced man responded.

“I know a cop was asking to see the facility. That’s why I’m here tonight. We’re working the government angle to allow us to purchase pulsar weapons, but you know how slow that red tape bullshit is. We’ve got a situation now, Carl.”

Kaitlyn’s body tensed against him and she whispered, “Remy.”

Her murmured comment knocked Landon in the gut. Every moment she’d dated that guy, Landon had wanted to take the man out, out of her life…

and her bed. But Carl’s rough voice broke Landon’s possessive train of thought. “I need a guarantee I won’t be investigated.”

“Done.”

“I don’t want the same scenario that happened last time. It’s got to look like an accident where some guns went missing, not a hijacking.”

A chair scraped across the floor as if someone stood. “Understood. Let us know when you’re ready. We’ll be there.”

“I don’t want to know when.” A filing cabinet opened and closed, followed by the sound of a copy machine running. “Here’s the delivery schedule and the routes our drivers take. That’s as far as I go.”

“That’ll do.”

The men’s voices faded as they walked out of the office. Kaitlyn started to reach for the door handle, but Landon grabbed her wrist, stopping her. “No, they’re still in the hall. We must wait,” he whispered in a harsh tone.

“I don’t hear them anymore.” She tried to pull her hand free of his. He had to concentrate not to squeeze too hard when he applied pressure to her wrist. She was so very breakable. “Trust me, Kaitie.”

Kaitlyn tensed as if she were going to defy him. Landon began to rub small circles along the soft skin with his thumb, hoping to distract her. The swift uptick of her pulse under his thumb told him he’d succeeded. He could see her face as clear as day. The look of sheer surprise mixed with desire in her eyes tore him apart, making his erection instantly swell with blood.

Landon cupped her head and slid his fingers through the silky hair trapped by her clip. Her smell was quickly dissolving his rigid control, crumbling his iron-fisted reserve as tendrils of violet and woman’s musk filled his nostrils.

He ran his thumb up the side of her throat until he reached her jaw, applying just the right amount of pressure.

Kaitlyn tilted her head and whispered his name as he lowered his mouth to hers.

The soft feel of her lips under his ripped down his reserve. Landon’s chest tightened and his heart rate ramped upward. Tilting her head, he groaned against her mouth and brushed his lips against hers in an encouraging caress.

When her lips parted, his control unleashed. He slanted his lips across hers and thrust his tongue into the warm depths of her mouth, reveling in her sweet flavor. She tasted like pure fantasy, and he drank in her essence, taking everything and demanding more.

Kaitlyn slid her tongue alongside his. Her full and avid participation, her complete surrender to their attraction blew him away. It was one thing to know she wanted him, but erotically intoxicating to feel her desire washing over him with its seductive, alluring pull.

He wanted to fill her body with his, rough, soft—in every position and every way possible. He thrust his tongue deeper and locked her body against the shelves behind her, barely holding back the growl of dominance rumbling in his mind.

The sensation of her hands frantically tugging his shirt out of his pants, then her palms sliding up his bare back tempted his wolf. Her fingers curled inward and her nails dug into his muscles and skin. Her arousal waved all around him, like a red flag, beckoning his beast. Primal heat arced between them—building with each swipe of their tongues against each other.

She tasted so good. She tasted…like his. The wolf part of him roared silently in his head, scratching deep grooves in his chest, demanding to get out. The need to bury himself deep inside her body while he clamped his teeth down on that sweet spot between her shoulder and her throat seized his mind, refusing to let go.

He couldn’t tear his lips away, so he put his hands on the shelf once more, trying to rein in his primal instincts. The smell of her lust nearly overwhelmed him, spiking his desire more than he could’ve ever imagined. He didn’t trust himself to control his strength around her. He’d kill her.

She rubbed against his erection, encouraging him as she babbled almost incoherently against his mouth, “The way you smell leaves me dizzy and confused and so damned aroused I can’t think straight. Touch me again.”

Her sultry tone slammed into his gut. Landon dug his fingers into the wood shelves. The hard material turned to sawdust under the pressure of his fingers. He shook deep inside, felt himself spiraling out of control.

“I can’t touch you,” he grated out against her lips.

Her soft fingers brushed his, and she pulled his hand down.

“Yes, you can,” she said in a breathless voice as she cupped his hand over her breast.

Landon fought the desire to clinch his fingers around the soft mound under his palm. He watched her face as he slid his thumb across her nipple. The peak turned hard against her thin bra and her hitching breath drove his lust straight through the roof. But her face, the pleasure reflected there almost undid him. His fingers flexed with the need to grab hold of her hard. Instead, he clenched his jaw and slowly slid his thumb across the sensitive peak once more.

She moaned and pressed her breast fully into his hand as she planted a soft kiss on his neck.

Mine! The thought echoed like a ritual drumbeat, over and over in his head, knotting his stomach, vaulting his desire to a heightened pitch like his wolf’s long howl on a moon-filled night.

His hands began a slow descent, inching toward the waistband on her pants. Landon’s body raged. He gripped the loops on her jeans waistband to try and calm himself down, but Kaitlyn chose that moment to nip at his neck, and his tight rein on himself evaporated.

She gave a small gasp when a ripping sound punctuated their heavy breathing.

Landon froze. He’d barely pulled on the loops, yet he’d ripped them both completely from her jeans.

Quickly tucking the bits of material into his jeans pockets, Landon palmed her face and laid his forehead against hers. His breathing came in ragged pants, while he tried to get a handle on his arousal. He was so on the edge, he feared he might not be able to subdue the wolf howling within him, fiercely demanding that he claim her.

Here. Now. In many various ways.

“Well, that was a first,” she said with a low laugh as her soft hands covered his. “Landon?”

He tilted his head back and squeezed his eyes closed, trying to shut out her evocative smell, her melodious voice and her heated curves pressed against him. Her ripe body, emitting its evocative, arousing scent, was locked against his rock-hard erection. Such sweet, jaw-grinding torture.

“That shouldn’t have happened,” he murmured.

Kaitlyn’s rapid pulse rushed in her ears, while her heart thumped a rampant staccato against Landon’s hard, muscular chest. She swallowed to slow her breathing and hide her disappointment that Landon had halted their heated session. She’d never been so caught up in a man in her life. His masculine scent, mixed with leather, washed over her, hanging in the air, mocking her. Making her throb from her breasts to her core.

She had no idea what came over her. Why she’d kissed him back. Why she’d encouraged him. She was supposed to be pissed at him for lying to her. And she still was…but there was something magnetic and irresistible about Landon. He exuded a primal dominance that called to her. The tension emanated off him as if he were a live wire vibrating with dangerous coiled energy.

The moment he touched her wrist…she was a goner. She’d fallen under his spell and pressed her body full against his hard one. She wanted him with an achy need that went bone deep. Her desire for Landon held a primal intensity that went beyond anything she’d ever felt for another man.

And it really freaked her out.

Now that her head wasn’t fogged with lust, she was glad Landon had shut them down. At least one of them had some sense in his head. Damn, she needed some space and fresh air. Landon’s appealing smell was overwhelming her.

Without bothering to ask if he felt it was safe to leave the closet, she opened the door behind them and shoved him away from her. As he stumbled back and nearly lost his balance, she narrowed her gaze on him. “You’re right. That was a mistake. Let’s get out of here.”

“Kaitie.”

Landon tried to reach for her as she brushed past him, but she stepped out of his reach. “Don’t.”

Kaitlyn quickly hit the copier’s button and made another copy of Tacomi’s shipment itinerary that Carl had left in the copy machine. Folding the piece of paper, she slid it into her back pocket as she walked over to the closed office door. She placed her ear against the cool metal door. Nothing but the sound of machinery in the distance reached her.

Landon’s strong presence loomed behind her, while she cracked open the door and peered out, staring down the hall toward the factory. Once she saw the hall was clear, she opened the door and headed toward the exit. Landon made no sound behind her, but she knew he was there, protecting her back. No matter their differences, she intuitively knew he would keep her safe.

As soon as she walked outside, Kaitlyn took off running toward the fence and the oak tree. Her ankle still smarted at little, but the pain wasn’t enough to keep her from trying to put some distance between herself and Landon.

For some reason, Landon must’ve held back because she reached the fence a few seconds before he did. Since she damned well didn’t want his help getting back over, she decided to climb the fence to get to the limb.

She was about to reach for the chain link when Landon called out,

“Kaitlyn. No!”

At the same time, something whizzed past her head and hit the fence with a sizzling pop.

Kaitlyn’s stomach dropped when the charred rock landed on the ground next to her foot. The fence was electrified. Landon had just saved her ass.

She cut her gaze to his as he stepped beside her. “How’d you know?”

He nodded toward the fence. “I heard the low hum.” Bending at the knees, he laced his fingers together. “Step into my hands. I’ll give you a boost to the tree limb.”

Guilt nibbled at her conscience. “What about you?”

His intense gaze locked with hers. “I’m taller than you. I’ll make it.”

She eyed the limb a good eight feet above them and worried her bottom lip with her teeth. “I could try to pull you up once I’m on the limb.”

He gave her a doubtful look. “I’m double your weight. I can make it.”

Kaitlyn sighed and put her hands on his shoulders, then stepped into his cupped hands.

“Get ready to grab the limb,” he said.

Before she could balance herself, she was sailing through the air. Her upward momentum took her slightly past the limb, and she tensed her stomach muscles when her belly landed on the limb instead. An oomph whooshed past her lips, but she quickly grabbed the limb on either side of her to keep from sliding off.

“You okay?” Landon called.

She peered down at him. “Apparently you don’t know your own strength, He-man.”

He grinned. “Just saving you muscle strain.”

Kaitlyn straddled the limb and was careful to tuck her legs away from the fence while she scooted toward the tree trunk on the other side of the fence.

Once she reached the trunk, the limb under her jostled a bit. She glanced back to see Landon hoisting himself up on the limb just as she’d done a minute ago.

How the hell had he made that leap to get to the limb, she wondered.

“Get a move on, unless you want this limb to break with both our weights bearing down on it.”

Landon’s comment spurred her into action. She stepped onto a lower limb and began to make her way down the tree.

As soon as she let go of the last tree limb, Landon landed on the ground beside her.

The smashed bullet slug on the silver necklace around his neck drew her attention. The chain must’ve come out from behind his shirt while he climbed. She was curious as to what it meant, but personal questions were out. “How’d you beat me?”

He shrugged. “I was a tree-climbing champ as a kid.”

Exhaling a huff of irritation, Kaitlyn turned away and headed toward the haunted house.

Landon fell into step beside her, his hands tucked in his jeans front pockets. “What are you going to do with what you’ve learned?”