Ryland (12 page)

“Where did you get this?” He
told her that he’d gotten it from his brother. “I thought that it’d been
destroyed. I did it; all of it was gone.”

She left the dining room
only to return and sit down. She looked around the room and then at Sindy. The
two of them were talking and he wasn’t happy to be left out. When he touched
her arm she looked at him.

“I need a map.”

Nodding, he took her to the
office and pulled out one of his dad’s county maps. She stood over it with the
picture, moving in different directions until she looked at Keith.

“I can’t find…is there a way
for you to see if there have been any building permits issued in the last…I
would say, in the last year. It would be for a big building, a lab.” He nodded
and she watched him sit at his laptop. “It might be under a different guise. Maybe
foods or additives.”

“There are two. One is now
defunct called
Better Future
. They had a horrible fire fifteen years ago
and…” He looked at her. “You know this one. And one that is under the name of C
& C Enterprises. It specializes in enhancement formulas.”

She nodded and looked at
him. “I’m sure they do. It’s the same place. Different name, but the same
place. Ryland, I need to talk to you. There’s something you should know.”

“We all want to know.” She
looked at Sandra when she spoke. “If it involves you and something that might
get you hurt, then I think we all want to know. If Ryland doesn’t mind letting
us in on it, that is. But you’re a part of our family now and—”

“If what I think is going on
again is, there might not be a family.” Bronwyn looked at him again. “He’s
experimenting on cats. Not just cats, but all species. When I was there…when he
held me captive the last time, he was messing with DNA and shooting it into me.
He’s trying his best to come up with a super animal that he can sell to a
militant force. He doesn’t even care who so long as they have the money.”

“And the picture? What is
that?” She handed it to him and bent it so that the opposite corners were
touching. The picture popped out at him so starkly that he nearly staggered.

“It’s special photography
programming that was developed for secret shit. It’s a mongrel. What he called
the ones that didn’t make it. He has been trying to make something like me so
that he could sell them for cash. It’s not his primary goal, but the one he
figures is going to make him the most money so that he can focus on his own
project. He is trying to come up with a drug that will be lower in cost, but
more the punch. He thinks it will be his ticket to being a long term millionaire.”
She looked around the room. “He is taking big cats. He makes them masturbate
until they’re dead or their sperm proves to be no longer valid. It’s why
Crawford is working for him. When he goes in to raze a streak or as he calls
them, an ambush, he takes only the strongest. The children are killed because
he doesn’t want to wait on them to grow up to use them. It’s cheaper, he said,
to get the adults for quicker results.”

Ryland pulled her onto his
lap and, for once, she didn’t struggle. He needed to think. This was beyond
what he’d thought the man wanted her for. He knew he probably wanted her for
breeding purposes, but not like this. He pulled her tighter against him as he
asked questions.

“You destroyed the first lab
then?” She nodded. “I’m assuming that you thought it was over and that he was
done. Because when the lab went up, everything went with it.”

“Yes. And it wasn’t easy to
do for me either. There were a few animals there. Most of them were beyond… Those
that could speak begged me to leave them. They’d been abused so horribly that
it was hard to tell what they were any longer. And the few that could leave,
they’re now hidden away.”

“I’ve been helping her find
them places.” Sindy spoke for the first time. “Some of them, about five, went
to another country after I was able to get them to a point where they could
move. The rest, the ones that couldn’t travel far, have new identities and jobs
that suit their new lifestyles.”

“Mrs. Wentmore, the lady at
the library. She’s one of them, isn’t she?” Bronwyn and Sindy both nodded at
his mom’s question. “Oh my goodness. That poor woman. She told me that she’d
been in an automobile accident.”

“She thinks she was.” Bronwyn
pulled away and started pacing. “All of them think that they were in an
automobile accident of some sort. I didn’t want them to ever think about it
again so I helped them.”

“She also gave them a new
outlook on life. Had them think about how lucky they’d been and that they were
going to live their lives to the fullest.” Sindy smiled sadly at him. “Bronwyn
said that no one should remember that place, just her.”

Ryland stood up and went to
her. When she backed up he took her to him anyway, the need to hold her more
overwhelming than her need to run. He had to help her; he would. Looking around
the room again, he spoke to all of them.

“We’ll need as much
information as we can get on the lab and anything that we can get on the
comings and goings. Keith, see if you can find anything on Cunningham. No first
name, but that shouldn’t be too hard for you. Alistair, see what you can figure
out about Crawford and his mercenaries. There has to be something on them
somewhere. Mom has some old newspapers that might help.” He lifted Bronwyn’s
chin up and looked down at her. “You’re going to give us as much information as
you can on the old lab. People’s names if you knew them, some of the tigers or
other weres if you know them as well.”

“I want to help.” Sindy
flushed. “I can help. I’m not working now so I would like something to keep me
busy. I’ve never been idle before.”

“Good. I have a project that
I want you to work on that has nothing to do with this one.” At her crestfallen
face, he smiled. “Don’t worry, you’ll be plenty busy. I want you to set up a
clinic for us. A place where we can go without fear of being found out. And if
the shit hits the fan like I think it’s going to, then we might have need of it
sooner rather than later.”

“I can do that. I would love
to do that.” She laughed. “I’ll even put in some supplies for babies that might
be coming around soon too.”

She went away laughing and
Ryland looked at Bronwyn. She had the most terrified look on her face. Before
she could say whatever was on the tip of her tongue, he kissed her. Hard and
fast, he pulled her to him so there was no doubt to her that he too was excited
about the thought of babies being born.

Chapter 10

Bronwyn was in the bathroom
when she heard the door open. Not bothering to look, she figured it was Sindy
as she said she’d bring her some of her clothes to put on. Bronwyn knew she was
going to have to go out soon and get some. She was seriously tired of the two
shirts she was wearing all the time. When she came out she was just going to
ask her which web sites to shop from when she saw who was there.

“Sindy said to give you
these.” She took the shirt and panties from Ryland. “She said to tell you she’d
see you in the morning. She was downloading something.”

Nodding, she pulled the
clothes to her chest. “What are you doing in here? I thought that this is where
your mom said I could stay now.”

“It is. It’s my old room.” He
toed off his shoes and then started on the buttons of his shirt. “I have to go
to the office tomorrow. Would you like to come with me? We can stop by some
shops if you need something.”

“I do.” She tossed the
clothes on the bed and put her hands on her hips. “What are you doing? You
can’t think you’re sleeping in here. With me.”

“I do. Though I doubt we’ll
be getting much in the way of sleep.” The shirt came off and he wore a white t-shirt
under it. It was tight and molded to his muscles like it had been painted on
him. She could see the tufts of hair peeking up from the top. When he reached
for his belt she moved toward the door. There was no way she was sleeping with
this arrogant ass, no matter how sexy he was. He stepped in front of her before
she got there.

“I’m going to find another
room. Maybe I can bunk with Sindy.” He shook his head and pulled her toward
him. “Ryland, this isn’t going to happen.”

He molded her body to his
and she felt that not only did he look muscled, she could now feel them. All of
them. And his mouth was wonderfully warm and wet against her throat. She tried
again to tell him she wasn’t sleeping with him.

“Okay. But I can do this to
you, can’t I?”

She wanted to beg him not to
stop, but he was moving his mouth along her throat to just behind her ear.

“And this. You have the most
wonderful taste. Like strawberries. No, that’s not quite right, more like wet,
warm strawberries.”

“Ryland, you can’t do any of
that.” Her hands moved to curl into his hair to jerk him away, but when they
got there he nipped at her tender flesh and he held on. “Please stop now. This
is only going to get us into trouble.”

“Christ, I certainly hope
so.” He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around him. He cupped her ass
tight, pulling her over him until she was riding him. The wall behind her felt
wonderful and supportive. As soon as she moaned he tore her shirt from her.

“I don’t have any more
clothes.” She thought he said good but wasn’t sure as he took her breast into
his mouth through her bra. Everything seemed to fade away. It was just him and
her, and she wanted it all.

She heard her bra tear and
moaned. She really was going to be without anything to wear if he kept this up.
When he pushed her legs down from his hip and stepped back, she reached for
him. But before she could pull him back to her he dropped to his knees in front
of her.

“I want to eat you.” Her
pants were ripped down both sides and he tossed them away. “Christ, you smell
delicious. I want to eat you as you come.”

She was panting so hard she
was dizzy. Her body was tight with need for him, of what she knew deep within
her only he could give her. While she watched him he slid his hands under her
panties, the only barrier left between his mouth and her, and tore them from
her body.

He ran his hands up and down
her thighs, watching her as he did so. She trembled and he smiled at her as he
spread her legs wider for him. He moved slowly toward her and she knew that the
moment he touched her she was going to come. She held her breath. His tongue
darted out and teased her; her breath hitched.

“Ryland, please stop this
teasing and take me.” He grinned and told her to beg. “I’m begging you. I’m
pleading with you, please give me release.”

“When I do, I’m going to
finish. There won’t be any going back after tonight. You know as well as I do
that this thing between us won’t be denied.”

She looked away, afraid.

“Bronwyn, I won’t ever hurt
you. Not ever. I’m falling in love with you.”

“He’ll come for you. The
moment he knows that he can get to me through you, he’ll come for you too.”

“Let him. I’m more than
ready for his fucking ass.” He leaned in, took her clit into his mouth, and
sucked. She screamed out his name as her climax consumed her. And he didn’t stop,
didn’t slow as he brought her to peak over and over. She was weak with it when
he finally sat back again.

Moving up her body, he
nipped at her flesh. Never to the point of real pain, but enough to know that
he wanted her to be marked by him. When he made it to her navel he swirled his
tongue there, suckling at the flesh until she had to hold on to him or fall. Begging
him now, for what she had no idea, he stood up and took her nipple deep into
his mouth as he pulled his snap and zipper out of his pants, freeing his cock.

He was thick with need and a
stream of his cum dripped from the end. She wanted to drink from him, take him
into her mouth, feel him come down her throat, but he stopped her by wrapping
his hand around hers.

“Too close. You touch me
anymore and I’ll spill all over you. I need to be inside of you.” He guided her
to the bed and, when it touched the backs of her calves, she felt him lift her,
his mouth doing incredible things to her breasts the entire time.

When she was laying back, his
body over hers, she looked up at him. His cat, the beast deep within him,
seemed to stare back at her. She touched her fingers to his cheek and she saw
him snarl.

“He wants you.” She nodded.
“Are you giving him permission to take you? He wants me to claim you for both
of us.”

His cock nudged at her
entrance. She felt her pussy gush more cream for him. She was hurting; her need
was too tightly coiled in her. When he asked her again, the thick head of his
cock moved into her. She arched up and her body tumbled over the edge. She
screamed out her consent.

He snarled at her and she
tilted her neck, giving him what no other man would ever touch. As soon as he
slammed into her to his hilt he sank his teeth into her shoulder. She held him
to her, wrapped her legs around him as he took her. Hard, deep strokes that she
felt at the back of her throat. When he stiffened, his body arched up and she
looked at him.