He nodded. “It was a bad one.”
“Can you…? Do you want to talk about it?”
He wasn’t sure. He’d shared stories about his team with her, leaving out the last day. He still felt unable to tell anyone about that day.
“You don’t have to,” she said softly. “I don’t mind listening if you need to talk, though.”
He took a deep breath. “On my last mission, Evan was killed.”
She didn’t show any surprise, just patted his chest.
“We’d gotten the hostages away and were almost to the rendezvous location when we ran into another group. We managed to hold them off long enough to hide in an old abandoned house. The bullets just kept coming through. I didn’t know Evan had been hit until later.”
He shuddered and choked on the words.
“It’s okay,” she soothed.
“I remember dropping to my knee to reload and looking around the room. My team had spread out to cover all the entrances and Evan was beside me with his body in front of the people we’d saved.” He sniffed. “I was so proud that even injured he’d put his life before the lives of others. I thought he would be okay. He told me he would be. Sanchez was trying to reach someone on the radio and everyone else was just attempting to cover our asses. I went back to my window to hold off the incoming enemies as best as I could.”
Tears filled his eyes. He ignored them, wanting to finish. “It was an RPG, rocket-propelled grenade, right through the wall. Evan and I used our bodies to shield them.”
“Oh, honey.” Cassie kissed his neck.
“He lived for another two hours, in pain and still trying to do his job.” It had been awful. The worst thing Max had ever been through. He hadn’t been able to help Evan. He’d held his best friend’s hand until Evan took his last breath. “I lost it. Just completely went crazy. If I hadn’t had the shifter’s quick healing, I don’t know that I would have survived the gunshot wounds. I just stood next to my team, firing until there was no one else left.”
Cassie crawled over him before she gripped his chin, making his gaze meet hers. “I’m glad. Do you hear me? I’m so glad you survived and are here now.”
He nodded. “Me too. For the first time since that night, I feel like I’m finally healing.”
She kissed him thoroughly until his cock perked up again. He ran his hands down her body, but she pulled away. “I’d like to show you something.”
“Oh, yeah?” he murmured, teasing his fingers lightly down her spine.
She laughed. “Not that. Okay, not just that.”
Cassie surprised him by rolling away and landing beside the bed. She held out her hand. Confused, he took it. She pulled him up and he went willingly, wondering what she was up to.
He did enjoy the view of her naked body.
She glanced over her shoulder and winked at him. “Save that thought for later.”
Gladly, he thought. One taste of her was not enough. He wasn’t sure why she’d insisted they leave the bed, but he was game to find out. He wasn’t surprised when she pushed open the studio door. She did spend most of her time in there.
“Listening to your stories, I felt like I knew your team,” she started to explain. “But I always picture someone, whether they are a shifter or not, I picture their animal. I hope this is okay.”
Max allowed her to grip his hand and pull him toward the canvas on the easel. His breath caught as he looked at the powerful panther. “Evan.”
“Yes, this is how I saw him.”
It was the most amazing sight he’d ever seen. It was like Cassie had read his mind and pulled out Max’s own impression of his best friend. “Cassie, this is… I…” He turned to her and urged her forward. “Thank you!”
She beamed at him. “I have more.”
Max didn’t want to step away from the painting Cassie had done of Evan, but he was curious to see what else she’d been working on. He followed her to where more canvases leaned, covered, against the wall and watched as she removed the cloths.
“Oh, shit!” he said, astonished. His entire team came alive in front of him. He had no problem identifying each member of his unit. The talent she had to bring the subject out in her art staggered him. “Oh, baby.”
Cassie held the covers while watching him. “So you like them, right?”
“I love them,” he confirmed quietly. He stepped forward and ran his finger over the snow-white wolf that somehow he knew was Matt Wallace. “I can’t believe you did this.”
“For you,” she told him. “After the show, I want to give them all to you.”
He faced her and saw the emotion shining from her eyes. Deeply touched, he moved forward and embraced her. “Thank you.” The words didn’t feel like enough to express his amazement, but he would make sure she understood. Every day of their lives, if he was able.
Cassie lifted her face and their lips brushed. Max needed more, so he pressed her tighter and nibbled on her bottom lip until she opened for him. He plunged his tongue inside her mouth, his blood pumping and his heart racing as she moaned and gripped him harder.
Inside, his wolf was frantic to mate with the woman that both man and beast recognized as their own.
He ripped his mouth away. “I want you.”
“Yes,” she hissed while he ran his fingers down her back.
They were already naked with his erection brushing against her stomach. It would be so easy to drag her down to the floor and lose himself inside her, but he knew Cassie deserved to be worshiped and for him to take his time.
“Come on.” He tried to lead her back to his bedroom.
She tugged on his hand. “Here, now.”
He was helpless to resist. He didn’t want to. His wolf clawed at him to make sure Cassie knew she belonged to them. Until now, he’d never felt this intense need to claim anyone.
Max brushed his thumbs over her nipples, smiling at her sharp intake of breath. He cupped her firm breasts, loving the fact that they fit perfectly in his hands. “On the floor,” he commanded.
She dropped gracefully, kneeling in front of him. She rubbed his palms down his stomach while bending forward to lick the bead of pre-cum from his cock.
He gasped and bucked but didn’t take advantage of her mouth like she obviously expected. Instead, he joined her on the floor and pushed her to lie back.
Starting at her neck, he ran his tongue down her body, stopping to pay close attention to every spot that made her whimper. He wanted to learn each and every place that he could use to drive her crazy. By the time he reached her glistening pussy, Cassie was begging him to fill her.
He tormented her by playing lightly with her clit and softly rubbing his fingers over her moist folds.
“Please!”
He took in her flush body and the heavy need in her features. “Turn over.”
She quickly moved to obey and get to her hands and knees.
“I’m going to take you,” he told her. “Claim you so you know who you belong to.”
“Yes, yes!”
He grasped his cock and slid up against her. He massaged her opening with the head of his cock.
“Don’t tease,” she begged. “I need you.”
Max thrust deeply, causing her to cry out in ecstasy. Her inner muscles clamped down around his cock and he moaned.
Cassie pushed back against him and Max felt the last strand of control snap. He pulled out slowly before driving back inside.
It was fast and furious and so fucking good that he couldn’t think straight. All he knew was it felt so right being buried inside Cassie.
He snapped his hips over and over as he drove himself closer to completion. Cassie threw her head back and screamed just as she climaxed. Max plunged inside, his body tightening, and he joined her, crashing over the edge.
Sweat dripped down his forehead to land on the back of her neck. She sighed deeply, the sound full of contentment and pleasure.
Max rolled them to the side and cuddled her close. “Damn.”
Giggling, Cassie nodded. “We need to do that again.”
He couldn’t have agreed more. “Yeah, but now I don’t think I can walk.”
He pulled out and pushed on her shoulder so she would turn onto her back. He poised over her. Cassie made a sight with her pink-tinged cheeks and hair tangled. “You are so beautiful.”
She snorted. “I’m sure I look it right now.”
“Always,” he told her, cupping her face.
She lifted her head to kiss him softly. “Come on, shower then bed.”
Bed. That sounded good to him. He rose, helping her along the way. He couldn’t stop running his hands over her shoulders as they left the studio. He wasn’t near finished with Cassie for the night.
Chapter Ten
Cassie wrapped the canvases up one more time so they could be taken to the gallery. The acrylic paint was already dry and ready to be picked up. She’d called James, asking him to come by this morning to set up a delivery time. He would be there any minute and she was hoping that he would be gone by the time Max returned.
Just thinking about Max brought a smile to her face.
After the night before, or early morning would be more accurate, she found herself longing to just see him. They’d spent most of the morning in bed and it wasn’t until Alex had phoned asking Max to meet him at the stables that the two had managed to actually get up.
Max was a passionate lover and she could honestly say that she’d never been with anyone who was so intent on ravishing her. She was pleasantly sore as she moved around the studio.
Now that she was finished with the last of her series, she could enjoy a few days just to explore what was happening between her and Max. They planned to ride the horses into the canyon in the late afternoon so Cassie could share some of her favorite spots with him.
Since several of those places were very secluded, she looked forward to getting Max horny and naked.
Laughing at that thought, she squealed when someone touched her arm. She whirled around, heart beating frantically. “Shit!”
“Sorry!” James held up his hands. “You were lost in your own world.”
She blushed. Wasn’t that the truth? “It’s okay, I was just thinking.”
“Good thoughts, apparently, since you’re blushing.”
She nodded.
James grinned. “I can’t believe you got so much done in just a few days.” He took in the covered pieces around the room. “I figured it would take a month or longer for five new paintings.”
“I did too,” she confessed. “I wasn’t even sure I was going to add any more to the show. I’d only lost two pieces and we have enough to go forward, but I just…got inspired.”
James sighed. “It’s unbelievable what you can do.”
“Hey.” She didn’t like the sadness she heard in his tone. “You are just as talented. This is going to be a great first show for you.”
“No, it’s not.”
Cassie frowned, walking toward him. “James?”
“Don’t,” he snapped and held up a hand to stop her. “You know, I thought this was going to be so easy.”
Unease tingled down her spine. James was acting so out of character. “What?”
“All I was supposed to do was find out as much as I could about you and your family. I couldn’t believe it when you saw my work and thought it was good. And then Alex! He offered to show some of my pieces!”
“Of course,” she replied cautiously. “Because you
are
talented. He wanted to give you a chance.”
James shook his head as he reached behind his back. Cassie gasped, catching sight of the black gun.
“Wha… What are you doing?”
“I didn’t actually think you’d do it. I’d like to see your paintings before we leave, but we just don’t have time. I didn’t come inside until your bodyguard left.”
“James, you don’t have to do this!”
“But I do. You see, the show is never going to take place. Right now a couple of my cousins are at the gallery, and in just a little while, there will be nothing left of the building. The fire should burn pretty damn hot with all the supplies we keep in the storage room.”
Cassie started shaking. Everyone had been right about James. How could she have misjudged him?
“The fire here shouldn’t be as bad. Maybe there will be something that can be saved. I don’t figure your brother or bodyguard will be far.”
He waved the gun toward the doors. “But we won’t be here to find out.”
“Where are we going?”
“There are some people who want to talk to you. They know you are familiar with some shifters. Hell, they even tried to convince me that you were one. I told them that was crazy, but I can’t deny that there is something about your art that draws the monsters to you. I have cataloged where all of your paintings have been shipped. Several pieces have gone to known shifters.”
Of course they had. Cassie knew where each and every piece had ended up. The fact that James did too was unsettling. “You’re working with the Church for Humanity?”
James snorted. “I’ve been a member all my life. My uncle leads the division in Texas. Since Bruce Carter and the California chapter have been arrested, it is up to us to stop the madness of people actually accepting the shifters. I mean, can you even imagine someone being able to turn into a wolf or some other kind of animal?” He visibly shuddered. “Horrible.”
Cassie was shocked that James felt that way. On one hand, it was probably in her best interest that he didn’t believe she was a shifter, but she wanted to set him straight that they were not monsters.
“Anyway, we’ll stop the show. There were going to be several shifters who have already RSVP’d and we don’t want their kind in town. After you talk to my uncle and tell him what he needs to know, he’ll let you come back as long as you promise to stop supporting the shifters. They shouldn’t be able to buy your work. They’re…they’re just animals really. Your art is too good to be wasted on the shifters!”
Cassie knew damn well that if the church got a hold of her, she would not be coming back home.
“And you’re going to burn my house and gallery down?”
James nodded. “It’s the only way we can insure Alex doesn’t go on with the show. I don’t know how long you’ll be gone.” He shrugged. “But I’ll make sure they know you’re okay.
“Now, we really do have to go. My friends should be here anytime to set the fire, and we don’t want to be anywhere near here when it goes up.”