Satisfying Extortion (5 page)

“If he’s carrying handcuffs, they’re probably not for their original intended purposes,” Bart muttered.

“Let’s hope not,” Suzette said, definitely flirting. A beat later, she added, “But it’s none of my business. It’s not like we’ll be spending a lot of time together.”

So much for flirting.

“I wouldn’t bet on that fact, ma’am.” Kurt turned away then, licking his wounds.

Randon sniffed. Pageant—doggone her—smirked. Bart and Blaine looked lost, which made Kurt second guess why he and Randon were working with two “former” cops in the first place.

“Randon tells me it took you a few hours to get here. Where are you from, Mr. Dandridge?”

“Since we won’t be spending a lot of time together, what does it matter?”

Lick. Lick. Lick.

“You insulted him,” Blaez told her. “He’s pouting.”

“Damn right,” Kurt bit out. After an uncomfortable silence, he added, “Outside of Atlanta. I ride with the Bold and Free.” He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, indicating his bike. “That’s me over there.”

“Yes,” she said. “I see the resemblance. Strong, sturdy, and definitely noticeable.” She moistened her mouth and added, “Just the way a woman likes them.”

“Suzette!” Bart snapped.

“Patch gave you away, Dandridge,” Blaine said nervously, slapping Kurt on the back and going out of his way to steer him away from Suzette. “How about we go inside? Place is empty. We should be able to use everything from the offices to their vehicles.”

“What do you mean by empty exactly?” Kurt eyed the white cruisers parked outside the local sheriff’s office.

“They’re all gone or leaving.” Randon provided the reply with regret strewn through his voice.

“What do you mean, they’re
all
gone?”

“Some skipped town. Some are missing.” Randon grabbed the door when Kurt swung it open. “Most of ‘em are dead, Kurt. And that’s why we’re all here. This town’s population wasn’t quite two hundred before the killings started. Now they’re at a hundred and nine. At this rate, the town will be a ghost town in a few more days.”

“I take it he’s struck more than once.” When the others looked at him with blank expressions, he added, “In other words, it’s not like Pleasant where a bunch of people were found lying on the side of the road?”

“That surprises you?” Suzette asked.

“No.” Kurt thought about the previous attacks. “Yes, actually. He—or they—are usually in and out in a few days. Unless…” He stopped abruptly.

“Unless?” Suzette leaned forward and cocked her head like she was straining to hear his reply.

“It’s nothing. Blaine’s right. We need to go on inside and put a game plan together.”

As everyone filtered by him, Kurt pressed his back and head against the glass door. “Fuck me.”

“Tell me about it,” Blaez grumbled, passing him.

“Look at it this way, you’re not alone,” Marcus said.

Marcus and Blaez entered the heart of the police station and Kurt tensed as he watched them crowd Suzette. He’d been around Blaez enough to know when he was coming on to a woman.

“You don’t waste any time, brother,” Randon teased, slapping his shoulder.

“Wait.” Kurt grabbed Randon’s arm. “What am I supposed to do here? Huh? I mean, if this entire mating bit is true and the extortionist shows up in towns where we’re bound to find our mates then that means—”

“It’s already apparent what it means,” Pageant said, looking at Kurt as if she pitied him.

“Thank you very much, Mrs. Shane. The sidebar comments are always appreciated.”

“Don’t mention it,” she said, pinching Randon’s waist before leaving them alone.

“I’ll tell you the same thing you told me once. If she’s your mate, the only way you can protect her is by claiming her.”

“How do I know?”

“Trust me, brother. You’ll know. In fact, you already do. It’s just your damned-ass stubborn nature to deny what’s right in front of you.” He took another step, but Kurt stopped him again. “I see that mind working. Might as well go ahead and ask.”

“What’s going on with Blaez and Marcus?” Kurt didn’t waste any time.

“Best guess?”

“I don’t want your worst one here.”

“She belongs to them, too.”

“What?” Kurt’s elevated voice resonated in the room and all heads turned.

Randon waved him outside. As much as it pained Kurt to leave Suzette behind with two sex-crazed individuals, he followed Randon to the parking lot. As soon as they were away from bent ears, Kurt peered around Randon. “Move a few inches to the left.”

He sidestepped. “Good?”

“Don’t be a smartass. What do you mean she belongs to them, too? Is that even possible?”

“Yes,” Randon replied.

Kurt scratched his pounding head. “Who shares a mate?”

“There are several shifters with shared mates. It’s not uncommon for trackers to share mates since they’re often gone for several months at a time.”

“I’m not sharing my mate with Blaez and Marcus.”

“I can see where that might be a problem.”

“Problem? Try impossible. The man is a sex machine. He fucks his women for hours at a time. His sex drive is always slammed up in overdrive. I can’t share her with him. I just can’t.”

“I take it you’re talking about Blaez.”

“Who else?”

“Marcus isn’t exactly known for keeping it zipped.” Randon took a deep breath. “Hate me for pointing out the obvious but I’m your friend and it’s what I’m supposed to do. If she’s your mate, Kurt, and—”

“There’s no ‘if’ to it, man. I’m pretty sure about this.”

Randon chuckled. “Yeah? Me too. The minute you saw her, your interest showed all over your face.”

“Continue.” Kurt was agitated and while Randon would probably infuriate him all the more, he still needed his advice.

“If she belongs to them and she belongs to you, there’s nothing you can do to change that. Fated mates are destined to spend their lives together and the only thing I can tell you is
suck it up
.”

“Apparently you’ve never tried to share anything with those two.”

“I have all I need at home.”

“Well aren’t you the lucky wolf?”

“Yes, I am.” Randon howled out his laughter. “And by the looks of things, you’ll soon count yourself as pretty darn fortunate too.”

“Anyone feeling the devil’s breath on the back of their necks yet?” Blaine closed the file on the table and clasped his hands over it.

“Not yet,” Kurt mumbled, sulking like a spoilt child.

Marcus should’ve taunted Kurt but given the fact he was fighting a hangover, he opted for Plan B. He turned to Suzette and casually draped his arm over the back of her chair, aware of the others pounding Blaine with questions.

“So tell me about the school,” Marcus said, never acknowledging Blaez when he left the table. Like most trackers, Blaez couldn’t be confined for long periods of time.

“What would you like to know?” Suzette asked, propping an elbow on the table and turning sideways in her seat.

“Someone said you used to work there before the extortionist started staking out the place.”

“I still work there,” she said, seemingly pleased to tell him as much. “I was forced away from my home once, Marcus. The extortionist took my family, my husband, my life. I relocated because the memories in Pleasant haunted me. Now, look at what’s happened? This thing is back. He’s returned with a vengeance, terrorizing young children on playgrounds and taking their parents from them. Most educators have left town. There are only six qualified teachers left at the elementary school and even less at the middle and high schools.”

“You’re quitting.” It wasn’t even up for debate.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You heard me,” he said, gripping her wrist and staring into her eyes. “I don’t want you to work there.”

Clearly alarmed, she jerked her arm free. “That’s not your decision.”

“You’re right,” he said, rebounding. All eyes were on him then, thanks to the scene Suzette caused. He thinned his lips and tried to think of the best way to persuade her. She didn’t need to teach. If she wanted to teach, then she could homeschool her own children.

Qualified
or not, she would not return to her job anytime soon. He’d restrain her if he had to and there were a few ways that came to mind. A smile tugged at his lips. There was more than one way to convince a woman to see things his way.

“I need to go,” she said, standoffish. She pushed away from the table. “I don’t know what you and your Bold and Free brothers think I am, but I need to be clear on something. I’m not on the market.”

“I’m not following you.”

“I’m not available, Marcus.”

“You’re not.” It wasn’t a question.

From the moment he’d met her, he’d known she belonged to him. She also belonged to Blaez and apparently Kurt had some sort of connection to her as well. He smiled and patted her hand. “See there? We agree on something.”

“I’m a mother with school-aged children. They’re my whole world. My life revolves around them. I don’t have time for dating.” Apparently she understood what he was implying.

Randon and Pageant glanced up from the documents they were reading. Bart slapped a file against his chest and grinned. “I could’ve told you she was frigid.”

Marcus ignored Bart and tossed aside the folder. He hadn’t asked ex-husbands or boyfriends for permission to bang their broads when he was a single man playing the field. He damn sure wouldn’t ask now.

Suzette stuck her hand out and said, “It was nice meeting you, Marcus. And while I do appreciate your concern, it really isn’t necessary.”

As soon as his warm hand wrapped around her much cooler one, a zap of possessiveness charged through his system and nearly knocked the breath out of him. She immediately jerked away from him and rubbed her fingers.

She’d felt their connection, too. The color drained from her cheeks and she quickly hurried away.

He caught up to her as she was saying farewell to the others. “I’ll walk you out.”

“It isn’t necessary.”

“Are you leaving already?” Pageant offered her a warm smile.

“Yes. It was good to see you, Pageant. I’m sure we’ll be seeing one another again soon.”

“I hope so,” Pageant said, worry crinkling her brow as she glanced around the room.

Randon nodded once at Marcus and he nodded in return. He felt the curious gazes at his back as he escorted Suzette down the hall toward the exit. Two doors from the main entrance, he noticed an open space, an area suggestive of a break room, given the vending machines.

Without one word of warning, he clasped his hand around her wrist and dragged her inside and slammed the door.

“What the—” Her nose twitched. Her eyes narrowed. “What do you think you’re—”

He held up one finger and then planted his palm against her middle. “Give me a second to explain. At least give me that, Suzette. Then you’ll understand everything better when I’m done.”

“I need to go,” she said, her wild eyes as dark as hovering clouds in the middle of a storm.

She didn’t move or try to fight him. He had his green light.

He felt the softness in her belly and his cock throbbed in his jeans. Suzette wasn’t like the women he typically shared at the club. She had womanly curves, a natural body. Nothing about her suggested she’d enhanced or tucked this part or that. His heartbeat and pulse seemed out of sync. His mouth went dry and his breath fell out in spurts. “All my life, I’ve waited for you.”

Where the hell had
that
come from? He’d meant to talk about the dangers the extortionists represented. He hadn’t meant to open up his heart and bleed all over the place.

“What?” She attempted to break his grip. She gave him a halfhearted push and glared at him as if he were her enemy, maybe even a significant threat. “You don’t know me.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

She grabbed his biceps and tried to physically move him aside, but he didn’t budge. In fact, he was a little turned on by her effort.

He held her against the door, one hand flat against her stomach and the other wrapped around her wrist. She gritted her teeth and her full lips sealed in obvious frustration.

Good Lord, had he ever seen a more beautiful woman?

A soft curl rested against the fullness of her breast and he locked his finger around it and whispered, “You’re
his
type.” And that fact drove him mad. “That’s why I can’t let you go back to work. He’ll come for you.”

“What do you mean, I’m his type?” Her despondent act drove him. She seemingly didn’t feel anything significant for him.

Marcus knew better. He didn’t know why or how, but he truly believed the mate lust became a two-way street after the weres touched their mates. A simple touch. That’s all it took.

“It’s true. You’re what he wants.”