Croc and the Fox (9 page)

Nothing about her resembled anything he’d ever encountered.
A prime example? Shopping with her should have gone to the top of his list of things to never do again. It didn’t. Instead, spending his money – because he bloody well insisted, knowing how cheap FUC could be – topped the list of most painful thing ever. Even worse than the time he spent in the desert, silver poisoned and parched. Seriously. He spent the afternoon in agony, tortured by the delightful curving of lips he couldn’t kiss. Suffered the fist clenching misery of seeing other men admire the curves he possessively thought of as his. Went tight jawed with the blue balled pain of helping her zip up, his hands skimming across the smooth skin of her back because even in the change rooms, he hovered nearby – to protect of course. And then, there was the mind muddling blur of a ride home where she sat on his lap, her new short skirt riding up, her bottom grinding and bouncing on his lap as she conversed animatedly with the others.
Was it wrong of him top fantasize how he’d like to slide his hand up her thigh and see which of the decadent lace confections she chose to wear?
Worse, he could see the knowing smiles on his friend’s faces, smirks and jests which Renee thankfully didn’t notice. As they dropped him and Renee off, Mason pulled him aside and with a nerve he wouldn’t long possess – not once Viktor got done with him – reminded Viktor, who’d bloody well trained him, to wear a skin on his lizard if he was going fox hunting.
Before he could retort, the gang left, leaving him alone with a victim, who looked like a delectable vixen in her new duds. A red haired temptation he wanted to wear on his…
“Supper,” he snapped, slapping the plates on the table. Startled, she jumped, and tumbled to the floor in a splay of limbs that answered one question at least. Pink lace.
Scrambling to her feet, Renee made her way to the table and slid her plate over so she could keep watching the movie.
Annoyed for some reason that she chose to concentrate on the screen instead of him, Viktor attacked his food. He speared the meatballs. Violently twirled the spaghetti onto his fork. Whipped the salad into his mouth. Chomped the bread into bits.
So intently did he demolish his food, it took him a moment to realize she stared at him. Caught mid forkful, he sucked the noodle in with a wet slurp.
“Are you mad?” she asked.
“No.” Couldn’t she see he was ecstatic? His plan to get her to realize he wasn’t the best thing since chocolate cake was working. Dammit.
“You look mad.”
“Don’t I always?” he replied sarcastically.
“No. Usually, you’re smiling at me. Or frowning. But not mad. Is something wrong?”
Did the fact he wanted her on the table, legs spread, panties shucked, primed for his version of dessert count? No, he better not mention that. She’d probably climb right onto the tabletop and give him what he wanted. Thank God she couldn’t see his hidden crotch, because he currently sported an erection that would have fed her easily with plenty left over. “I’m not mad. Just hungry.” Very hungry for a taste of a fox.
“You didn’t eat enough at lunch, which, by the way, was really yummy,” she said, waving her fork at him.
How could he eat when she groaned her way through her first Big Mac? It was all he could do to stay upright.
He changed the subject. “You did really well today. I was proud of how you comported yourself with the crowds.”
She grinned. “I did do good, but only because I knew you wouldn’t let anything happen to me. But just so we’re clear, I still don’t trust that sky.” She scowled. “It’s too big and open. The city really should think about putting a roof over it.”
The chuckle slipped from him before he could stop it. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen. Give it more time.” An eternity if she liked, because despite the laughter of his friends and what he knew was right, he didn’t mind at all the way she scurried into his lap or arms at the sight of the bright, blue sky.
I wonder if I painted one on the ceiling in here if it would have the same effect
Sick. He was so sick. Probably because he needed some action – between the sheets and sweaty. No. Physical exertion – pumping up and down on top of her. Dammit. He needed some fucking fresh air and a swamp swim.
But how could he get away to his cabin in the woods, a cabin that was only a few hundred yards from a bog he frequented?
I could bring her with me.
Under what guise? His condo was safer. He needed to stay in touch with the office. But maybe a quiet trek into the woods would help Renee. Maybe she’d get in touch with her roots, her beast. Aha.
“What do you say we take a drive tomorrow and stay at my cabin?”
“A trip? Just you and me?”
He nodded. Then almost changed his mind at the wide smile that spread across her face. Shoot. He was supposed to be distancing himself from her. So far, his plan seemed to be failing. Funny how it didn’t bother him as much as it should.
“I’d like that. What should I pack?”
He didn’t utter his first reply of
nothing
. He couldn’t say anything at all actually as she jumped out of her seat and flew at him. Hugging him tight, giddy with excitement, it was all he could do to keep his hands off her.
And like an idiot, I’m taking her somewhere we can be alone,
and naked. Because while in the boonies, he intended to get her to try and shift. Or so he told himself because certainly a devious croc of his age wouldn’t use any excuse to get a hot fox in the buff?

Skipping alongside maman, she admired, in the storefront window, her new sophisticated haircut. A short red bob that framed her face and gave her a mature appearance, unlike the wild curls of before. She looked so grown up, grown up enough, that when they went to the restaurant, she waved at her mother to sit while she went to the restroom. At twelve years old, she didn’t need her maman to watch over her as she peed and washed her hands.

It wasn’t until she exited the washroom that her noise twitched and the hairs on her body rose in warning. What was that smell? She knew it, yet didn’t. A shifter, no make that two shifters, had recently passed by. Not recognizing the scent, she thought nothing of it until a hand clapped over her mouth and a voice hissed, “Shh. Be quiet or else.”

As if. She fought like a rabid fox against her captor, not that it stopped him from dragging her to the door marked ‘Reserve Aux Employés’. When the portal swung open to reveal a scummy alley, panic truly shook her. Fight!

She bit the hand covering her mouth and when he released her with a curse, she let out a shriek to beat all shrieks.
“Maman! A moi! Au sec–“ She didn’t get to finish as the bad man caught her again, slinging her over his shoulder in a violent heave that forced the air out of her lungs and left her gasping for breath.
She heard the rumble of a car just as her mother came screeching to the rescue.
“Mon bébé! Appelez la police. Il a ma petite.” Her mother screamed for help while whacking the man who held her. He grunted, but didn’t release her, and the next thing she knew, her mother slumped to the ground, eyes closed, as blood seeped from her temple.
Tossed into an open trunk, she scrambled to escape only to feel the prick of a syringe entering her arm. As her eyes grew heavy and an unnatural urge to slumber gripped her, she listened as the lid to the trunk slammed shut. It muffled the sound outside but she still heard the English speaking shifters talking, and what do you know, her mother was right, being bilingual did have its advantages because she understood every scary word.
“Are we taking the girl’s mother too?”
“No,” replied a high pitched voice. “The child will be easier to brain wash if she has no reminders of her past life.”
“If you say so boss.” A strident alarm grew louder. “I hear sirens. We’d better leave.”
“To the lab!” squeaked the other. “And to success. MuaMua-Mua-erg. Damn these puny vocal cords.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she sobbed quietly.
Maman, aide moi. Maman…
Something shook her and she thrashed, crying and hitting, escaping that bad man who took her from…
“Renee! Wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”
Slowly, her mind foggy as the dream took its time leaving, she woke to realize Viktor held her, concern etched on his face.
“What happened?” he asked softly, pulling her to sit more fully in his lap, his cool skin lowering the temperature of her feverish one.
She raised her hand and wiped cheeks wet with tears. “I think I dreamt of my abduction. And my mother.”
I have a mother!
The knowledge brought her a peace and joy she’d not realized she lacked. It seemed the idea the scientist created her in a vat of goo bothered her more than she’d thought.
“Did you remember who you are?”
Her brief elation melted. “No.”
“Oh, Renee.” Viktor sighed her name, then said nothing, just held and rocked her as the trembles in her frame eased.
“Je parle français,” she said when her heart finally slowed down.
“What?”
The terror of her nightmare eased, the thrill of her memory returned. “I said I speak French. How cool is that? Do you think I’m from France? Do you think my mother might still be alive? How would we find her? Should I find her? What if I don’t like her? What if she doesn’t like me?”
“Slow down. First off, there’s a lot of countries that have French as a language. And given how long ago you disappeared, and the fact we only got the paper records into the FUC computer system recently, it won’t be that easy.”
“Oh.” She deflated again. “I guess it was silly of me to

family out there, we’ll find them. It might take a few weeks, or months, but I’ll get the FUC team on it right away.”
“You’d do that for me?”
“Yes.” The pad of his thumb, rough like sandpaper, yet welcome, rubbed the tears still staining her cheeks. “Don’t cry. I don’t like it.”
“Why not?”
“Because it makes me want to hurt things, but I can’t fight a memory.”
“Why would you want to? It’s not your problem. I’m just a mission,” she sassed, throwing his words at him. She didn’t take offence, not with the knowledge she possessed from Miranda that everything Viktor had done thus far for her was completely out of character, which meant he did it because he wanted to,
for me.
“My mission is to keep you safe.”
“So you would protect me from my own nightmares?”
“I would erase them if I could.”
“I thought you’d never say that.” She leaned in and pressed her mouth against his.
He froze, his lips pressed shut, his breathing halted. She leaned back, wondering if she’d misjudged.
“What are you doing?” he whispered.
“Distracting myself by using you.”
His soft chuckle tickled across her mouth, even better, he didn’t move away. “You don’t give up do you?”
“I would have died if I had.”
She regretted her words as soon as they left her lips. She expected the reminder of her past, the fact he saw her as a victim, to make him run away. It was what he did every time she got too close. Affected him.
This time though, he stayed. And he kissed her.
Her whole world exploded in to a whirl of sensation. *
Viktor knew he should walk away. Run. Hide from this minx who called forth a tender side he never knew he was capable of. But how could he leave her? How could he deny her request to forget something that pained her?
She’s a mission. A victim. Too young.
She was a woman looking for new memories. Looking for acceptance, whose life experiences gave her a wisdom and outlook on life that made her older than her years.
I can’t say no.
Didn’t want to. He wanted to give her the comfort and distraction she searched for. Him and only him.
He kissed her. A light embrace. A touch of his lips to hers in soft exploration. His world tilted as the rightness of it slammed into him and left him reeling. Before he knew it, he lay atop her, her lush frame cradling his, his lips devouring hers with a hunger he couldn’t control.
Reason tried to assert itself. He should slow down. She was new to this. An innocent…a seductress in disguise who wound her arms around his neck and nipped his lower lip when he tried to pull away.
A groan left him at her rough antics and she paused in her embrace. “I’m sorry, did I do something wrong?”
“No.”
If only she knew how right she felt.
“Oh good.” She went back to sucking on his lower lip, and when he teased her with the tip of his tongue, she mewled in surprise before thrusting hers into his mouth, a sensual attack that had him grinding his lower body against her. Inexperienced, and even clumsy, despite her lack of skill, she aroused him in ways he’d never imagined. Roused every protective instinct he owned. And at the same time, all the tenderness he was capable of.
Bells went off as his hands stroked up and down her sides. A ringing tone he couldn’t shake that went well with his addled mind.
Wait. Ringing. A phone.
He pulled away and she let out a sound of protest. “What are you doing?” She regarded him with a pout. He glanced away. “I need to answer that.”
“I need you.”
Three little words, and yet they almost undid him. But years of dedication to his work held sway – barely. He rolled off of her lush, welcoming body, every inch of him protesting. He made the mistake of looking back at her, her golden eyes at halfmast with passion, her lips swollen from the kiss.
He started to understand the attraction of dereliction of duty. For the first time ever he didn’t want to do the right thing. He wanted to do a dirty thing.
The phone rang again.
With a curse, he exited the room and with angry strides, made his way to the kitchen where he’d left his cell phone charging.
“What?” he barked into the receiver.
“I’m sorry. Is this a bad time?”
“Who is this?”
“It’s Doctor Manners, the physician assigned to one of the groups of recovered shifters from the raid on the lab. Am I speaking to Viktor?”
“You are.”
“Nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard great things about your work.”
“I’d be a lot happier to meet you if it wasn’t three o’clock in the morning,” Viktor growled. It would have also helped if the bloody doctor didn’t interrupt him from his sensual exploration of the woman who haunted his every waking and sleeping moment.
“We’ve got a problem at the safe house.”
Some of his ire died down at the serious tone. “Why are you calling me then? Shouldn’t you have contacted the emergency switchboard for reinforcements?”
“Not that kind of problem. I spoke to Kloe and she told me I should call you. She mentioned one of the rescued victims is in your care.”
“Yes.” Anxiety gnawed him at the mention of Renee. “What’s this have to do with her?”
“One of the subjects we were monitoring went into convulsions and died about an hour or so ago. We can’t figure out why. He seemed stable. And then…” The doctor tapered off, but his meaning was clear.
So a shifter with health problems died. It didn’t mean anything. Delayed shock, a weak heart, any number of reasons could have led to the poor man’s death. “What do you want?”
A heavy sigh hummed through the line. “To warn you? Have you watch her more closely? I don’t know. I just thought you should be informed in case you noticed something.”
“Like?”
“As I said, we didn’t get much warning. But then again, it was nighttime, so we weren’t monitoring as closely given the patient slept. Keep an eye on the basics, temperature, skin color, dilation of the eyes, sudden changes in mood.”
Icy cold and not because of his reptile blood, but out of fear for his fox, he snarled, “I’m not a freaking nurse.”
“I understand that. I can look at her if you prefer. Why don’t you bring her in for some tests?”
“You won’t hurt her?”
“No!” Judging by his tone, the doctor seemed taken aback. “Just some basic blood work. A physical exam. Nothing intrusive. Until we find out what killed the patient, I won’t even know what to look for, but the more information we have the better. I should have had her in before, but I’ve kind of had my hands full and FUC didn’t want to bring in more doctors than necessary.”
Of course not, because then the shifter world might know FUC hadn’t entirely done its job in protecting them from the forces of darkness.
“I’ll be there first thing in the morning with Renee for the tests.”
“Thank you.”
Viktor hung up and turned at a small sound.
“Tests?” Fear tightened Renee’s face and his heart lurched in response.
“Nothing that will hurt. I promise.” Or he’d punch the good doctor in the snout.
“You won’t leave me with them?”
“Not even for a second.” He’d even hold her hand if he had to. And shoot anyone who said anything smart about it. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.”
The tension in her shoulders eased a little. “Can we still go on our trip?”
“Later than I originally intended, but yes.” He led her back, not to her room, but to his. And not to continue where they left off, not with that fearful look in her eyes and tremble in her limbs. He took her to his bed, and tucked her in before sliding in behind her. Only a gator with no heart would have sent her off to worry alone. Crocs had more class than that. But he didn’t have enough will power to stop himself from drawing her into his arms, spooning her in to him, and laying his chin on the top of her head.
However, while her breathing ended up evening out into the smooth cadence of sleep, he couldn’t help but worry, worry that perhaps a bomb ticked inside her, one he couldn’t disarm that could take her from him at any moment. It seemed no matter how many times he reminded himself she deserved better, that he needed to stay away, he couldn’t fight the allure of his fox. But it was a battle he gladly lost.