Skin Walkers - King (11 page)

“That you can predict?
”  Lilly’s eyes rounded.  “That’s not very reassuring.”

“
Like I said, Lilly, this is unprecedented.  Yours will be a case of first impression.”  Jenny held up both hands, “There are no side effects we can predict, but we’re basing our assumptions on research and our best educated guess.  I can’t guarantee you anything, not even that the treatment will be successful.  But it’s your only
hope for conception.”

Lilly gnawed on her lip a few more moments, her hands wringing together in her lap.  “
None of this will kill me will it?”

Jenny shook her head.  “No.  Worst case scenario is that it doesn’t work.  Other than that, we don’t anticipate any adverse reaction
s.”

Lilly nodded, “Ok,
I’m in.  Who are my candidates?”

Jenny grabbed her
e-tablet and swiped through several screens.  “Your choices are Bronco, York, Lok, Legion, Marko, or RedKnife.”

Lilly was staring through the wall
.  Disappointment was swift when King’s name wasn’t mentioned.  “That’s a helluva list.”

“Yes,” Jenny nodded, “I was delighted to have so many volunteers.”

Lilly sobered as her face paled.  “They don’t know what they’re volunteering for do they?”

“No.  This is completely confidential. 
We’ll collect the samples from each Walker and go from there.”  It was a lie.  She’d only be taking samples from King because she knew from her experimenting that he was a match for Lilly, but without him on the list, Lilly’d never know.

“Jenny, I trust you.  First things first.  I need to weed through the candidates.”  Lilly reclined into the pillows at her back. 

“Here’s the list.”  Jenny handed her a slip of paper
with the names and stats of each Walker.  “We’ll meet again in two days, and I need an answer by then.”  Two days would be enough to get Jenny more time manipulating King and Lilly’s samples.

“Before,” Lilly studied the paper without really seeing it, “you said the other couple.  They had sex.  You hinted it’d be more successful.”

“I didn’t hint.  We know it’s successful because it worked, but because you’re not mated to a Walker, we’ll try the artificial insemination first and go from there. 

It worked.
  The knowledge set Lilly’s wheels to spinning.

Chapter
18

Two weeks later,
Monroe eyed Lilly suspiciously as she stood in his office fidgeting uncharacteristically.  “Ms. Worthington?”  He tore his eyes from her to get back to signing paperwork.  “Speak.”

She’d put Jenny off for as long as she could.  Feigning weakness, she’d bought a few more weeks to heal and to think before she set her plan in motion. 
Today was the perfect day because King was currently in the surveillance room with Bishop going over recent upgrades to the security system. 

Lilly
shot straight to the heart of the matter.  “I need a favor.”

That got the CEO’s attention.  Slowly, he set his pen down and straightened in his chair.  “Money?”

Lilly rolled her eyes, “No!  I need…something…else.”

“What?”

Suddenly, she’d lost her nerve as Monroe stared at her and guilt over going behind Jenny’s back gnawed at her.  “I’ve done a great deal for you, Mr. StoneCrow.  A great deal for you and your Skin Walkers.  I’ve sacrificed my time, my weekends, my…” a hand dropped to flatten on her abdomen.  “Well, there have been personal sacrifices as well.”

His eyes narrowed on her.  “Ask.”

“Jenny thinks that with your…
healing
abilities, that a sample from a Walker might rectify what’s been done to me.”

Dark brows hiked in confusion forcing Lilly to race on.  “Well, not a sample per se.”  She felt herself blush as she wrung her hands together.

“You need to make sense, Ms. Worthington.”

Drawing in a steadying breath, she tried again. 
“Jenny is certain that the damage done to me can not only be repaired, but that I might someday successfully conceive a child.  She could try with a sample but she thinks that…
seed
from the,” she cleared her throat and was suddenly fascinated with the edge of his desk, “source would have a greater affect.  As such, I don’t want to waste my time and efforts on anything less than my best possible chance.”

“And that’s where the favor comes in?”

She exhaled in relief, glad he finally seemed to understand.  “Yes!”

A moment of silence hung between them before he finally said, “And you don’t think that’ll make for an uncomfortable working environment between us?”

Confusion hit.  “Why would that make it…”  Her cheeks seared so brightly that her eyes began to water with the dawning horror.  “Oh my God!  Not
you
!”  She was shaking her head and holding up her hands, “I wasn’t asking for
you
to be the donor!” She heard a chuff of amusement and glared at Monroe.  “I wasn’t asking for you.”

“Tell me what you want, Ms. Worthington.”

“I want…” she swallowed hard.  “I’d like for you to get King Mulholland to…
donate.”

“King?”  Monroe leaned his elbows on his desk, a smile spreading across his features.  “
Get King Mulholland to donate.  And by
get
do you mean
ask
or
tell
?”

Lilly lifted her chin defiantly.  “
Make!
” she challenged.  “I’m not asking for a relationship, and if it works I won’t seek child support or anything else.  I won’t even tell my child who the donor was.  I’m not looking for a lifelong commitment from him.  I just want the chance at having a child.”

Monroe’s grin spread and the sight of its rare appearance was chilling.  “You want me to
make
King have sex with you in the hopes that his semen will repair and impregnate you?”

When he put it like that it sounded horrendous.  “Yes.”

The smile left his lips and his head titled to the side as he regarded her.  “You’re a beautiful woman, Lilly.  You could have your pick of any number of Walkers here.  Why not date one of them?”

“I don’t want to date.  I want the damage that was done to me repaired, and if I am so fortunate, I’d like the chance at motherhood.  No strings attached.
  I want it done now, not in six months or three years.  I can’t live without knowing if I’m beyond repair, or if I’m destined for a childless future.  I need to know.  I have to try.”

“And you don’t think King would object.  That if he sired a child that he’d want to a part of that child’s life.”

“He doesn’t want to stay here at StoneCrow.  You know this.  He’s going to put in his year and be gone.  It’s already been a few months.  By the time his year is up—assuming I eventually become pregnant—he’ll be long gone before the child is born.”

Dark brows speared down and Monroe folded his hands over his desk, “Tell me again why you think I can make this happen.”

Lilly was done playing games.  She closed the distance to his desk and planted her hands on it, leaning forward.  “You and I both know that you can make just about anything happen.  You owe me, and I’ve earned this.”  She righted herself, “I’m asking you to make this happen for me, Mr. StoneCrow.  I’ve never asked you for a damn thing, but I’m asking for this.”

His steady eyes stayed locked on hers
, and after a few tense moments he finally blinked and unfolded his hands, relaxing back in his chair.  “I’ll get you King, but I’m not promising anything else.  If it doesn’t work, if you don’t heal or conceive, it’s not on me.”

“That’s all I’m asking.”  Lilly turned and exited his office, not stopping in her own reception area, but heading straight for the ladies room where she locked the door behind her, buried her face in her hands
, and slid down the door to the floor. 
I can’t believe I just did that!

**
*

Sitting behind her desk at nearly five o’clock, Lilly tucked t
he last bit of filing into her cabinet and stood.  Stretching, she was relieved that Monroe hadn’t summoned her back into his office all day to tell her how absurd her request had been.  She’d thought on it all day long and the more she replayed the conversation in her head, the more embarrassed she became. 

She’d just retrieved her purse when Monroe’s door open and he poked his head out.  As was typical for five, his jacket had been shed, his tie was missing and the sleeves of his crisp white shirt were rolled to the elbows.

“I ordered your dinner,” she offered as she pulled her purse over her arm.  “It’ll be delivered shortly.”  She turned and was heading for the exit.

“Good.  I just wanted to let you know that King’ll be by your
cabin tonight.”

Lilly stopped in her tracks. 
TONIGHT!
  She turned and attempted a casual tone that came out sounding too thin even to her own ears, “Oh?  So soon.  I thought you’d need to discuss it.”

“You of all people know that I don’t discuss.  I command.”  When Lilly didn’t move, Monroe took a step out of his office.  “You of all people should also know better than to ask me for something if you
’re not certain it’s what you want.”

Lilly blinked and met his eyes.  “I haven’t changed my mind.”

“Good,” Monroe turned and entered his office throwing over his shoulder, “He’ll be at your place at seven.”  Then his office door slammed closed leaving Lilly thunderstruck.

The room seemed to spin and her belly dropped. 
Seven?
  She turned to eye the clock.  Five on the dot.  Lilly spun to race to the parking garage, doing a mental checklist:  shower, scented lotion.  Lingerie? Music?  Wine? 
Definitely no to the music and wine, this isn’t a damn date.
 

Lilly hurried
back to her cabin to make preparations even as fearful butterflies flitted an equally excited dance in her belly.  She was about to kill two birds with one stone.  She’d find out if a Walker could in fact heal her, and her persistent attraction to King would finally be sated…she hoped.

***

King sat staring, slack-jawed, at the monitor’s in the estate’s hidden surveillance office.  Beside him, Bishop Arkinson had no idea that King was no longer paying attention as the Walker Sentry rattled off a list of upgrades he’d made to the equipment earlier that day. 

No, King’s thoughts were on more savagely carnal thoughts.  Sitting in the desk chair, his knee began to bounce
rapidly of its own accord.  His eyes darted to the clock.  Two hours, twelve minutes, and…twenty-seven seconds until he deployed on the greatest mission he’d ever accepted.  That’s what Monroe had called it when he’d summoned him through the mist to tell him of Lilly’s request.  At first, he’d thought it a ruse, but at Monroe’s insistent tone, King’s shock was devoured by his pride that Lilly had summoned him!  But why she’d felt the need to go through Monroe, he didn’t know. She had but to ask.  His eyes darted to the clock again, and to his chagrin, a fine sweat broke out over his body as his beasts within pranced excitedly, nipping, and whining for him to go now. 

“King?”

His eyes snapped to Bishop and he realized the Walker must have been trying to get his attention for quite some time.

“You alright man, you look all…flushed.”

Under his hands, the wooden arms of the chair creaked and King had to force himself to release the arm rests and still his leg.  Even his iron control couldn’t keep him from smiling like an idiot.  “I’m good.  You got this?  I gotta run.”  He didn’t wait for an answer as he propelled himself out of the chair and hurried from the office.

He rushed to the lobby of the manor and bypassed the elevator to take the stairs three at a time.  Ear-to-ear grin still in place, he hurried to his
cabin to shower even as he tried to place the emotion that kept bubbling to the surface.  At his door, he stopped and chuffed a laugh. 
Giddy.
  The Chief of Security for StoneCrow Estates, and its most lethal assassin, was kid-before-Christmas fucking giddy!

Chapter
19

Lilly had showered, shaved,
lotioned, and donned her sexiest lingerie.  Practically pacing a track in the carpet, she downed another drink of her wine.  At first, she’d opted against it, but her nerves were too on edge to go through with what she was about to do without a little liquid courage.

Glancing at the clock she ground her teeth in frustration.  It was ten
minutes to seven and her nerves grew more taut with each passing second.  Setting her glass down she tromped back to the bedroom to check her make-up in the mirror for the hundredth time.  Her hair was down and her golden locks, fanned about her shoulders, shone brightly from repeated brushing.  She didn’t want to look as if she’d gone to great efforts, so she’d opted to reapply her make-up in the exact fashion that she wore it daily for work.  Her eyes slid down her frame to the white satin robe that covered the lace negligee she wore underneath.  She still couldn’t decide if the outfit was too much, but in the end she simply didn’t know what one wore to a prearranged sex session with a sexy ass Walker that was ordered to fuck her.

The realization of what she was about to do sent another punch of anxiety to her belly.  The
closer it got to seven, the more she talked herself out of going through with it. 
I could date.  Find another Walker and see what happens.
  Untying the sash on her robe, she peeled it back to stare at her ensemble.  A cream-colored bodice pushed her breasts high while cinching in to make her waist look incredibly small.  A matching thong was paired with thigh-high nylons that tapered down statuesque legs to feet encased in tall high heels.  Drawing her attention back up to her face Lilly blanched, “What in the hell am I doing?”

She ripped the robe off even as she kicked out of her heels and eyed the clock on the wall of her bathroom. 
Shit!  Four minutes! 
She raced to her room tearing one stocking down a leg and slowing to hop to her dresser as she simultaneously peeled the stocking off and yanked a drawer open looking for her typical night attire of t-shirt and shorts.

One hand dove into the
drawer and grabbed her favorite, worn, Oakland A’s, t-shirt that had become sheep-skin-soft from too many washes.  She tossed the shirt on the bed and pulled free a plaid set of women’s boxer shorts she bought for sleeping in.  Boxers still fisted in one hand, she peeled the thong from her thighs and tossed it on the floor before both hands reached to the back of the bodice to begin unfastening all the damn buttons she’d fantasized earlier King would enjoy popping open one-by-one.  Her hands stilled when there was a knock at the door.  Eyes shooting to the clock she cursed King’s early arrival.  A minute or not, she needed the damn time. 

One foot kicked the thong, heels, and stockings under the bed as her fingers
faltered with the buttons on the back of the bodice.  “
Shit!
  Come on!” 

Impatient knocking sounded again just as the bodice came free.  Naked, Lilly reached for her t-shirt when she heard the front door to the cabin open. 
NO!
  Forgetting the boxers and t-shirt, her hand seized the satiny robe she’d only just discarded and she shoved her arms into the garment before hastily tying it tightly at the waist.

“Lilly?”

King’s voice was unmistakable.

“Be right there!”  The tightness of her voice sounded suspicious even to her own ears, but it was too late now.  Dashing to the mirror, she finger-combed her hair and spun as the bedroom door was pushed open.

“Lilly?”  King’s mesmerizing green eyes locked on her.  “Everything okay?”

“Fine!”

***

On his way to the cabin, King had designs on talking Lilly out of her crazy request, but seeing her now…well, that plan was out the fucking window.

She was leaning back against her dresser, her arms braced behind her on the table.  Chest heaving from some exertion, her cheeks were bright pink—whether from embarrassment or that same unknown exertion, King didn’t know.  She was wearing a skimpy little satin robe that was hiked high on her thighs because of the way she leaned on her dresser.  One leg was partially hiked up as if she’d been contemplating sitting on the piece of furniture.  Legs slightly spread, the satiny robe split to flash creamy inner thigh.  King’s eyes devoured the sight of her and not surprising at all, his cock instantly jerked to life. 

Soft blonde hair tumbled around her shoulders.  King’s eyes slid down those shoulders to the robe that was thin enough to reveal that his little-Miss-Prim-and-Proper was naked beneath the article.
  Budded nipples strained against the silken fabric, demanding attention.  They didn’t need to demand.  Hell, they didn’t even need to ask.

Mouth suddenly dry and palms sweaty, King felt like an untried adolescent, and it was Lilly’s fault. 
She looked like sex.  Chest heaving, hair tousled, cheeks flushed, lips slightly parted, legs in the same state, and aqua blue eyes bright with fear and excitement in equal measure.  She looked like he was already inside her.  The thought sent a punch of lust shooting through him so hard that he doubled over.  A growl slipped free and he clutched his stomach. 
Shit!
  Could desire so strong hurt?  Pain hit him again and he took a knee.  This time, he knew what it was.

“King!”
  Lilly rushed to him and gasped when his halo flashed with an ethereal light and sang with a high-pitched whine that was almost inaudible.

Sucking up the pain of the affliction, King’s hand shot out so fast that he knew it startled Lilly by the way she jumped.  Before she could protest he had
her pinned on the thick carpet.  Quickly adjusting until the cradle of his hips rested inside hers, he ripped his shirt free with a fierce snarl.  Reaching back he shucked one boot then the other before turning possessively male eyes on Lilly.  He was acting crazed and he knew it, but he couldn’t control himself.  Not with her looking as she looked.  Finally pinned beneath him with nothing but a whisper of satin standing between him and his claiming, she looked like his salvation.  Permission had already been granted.  Fuck granted! She’d asked for him specifically…for this!  Still, he tried to calm his breath and retract the elongated incisors that he knew peeked from his parted lips.  She had just found out about Walkers and if he frightened her away now, he’d never forgive himself.

“A-are you okay?”

The question seared him with guilt.  He was acting like an animal and she was asking if
he
was doing okay.  Sucking in a deep breath he tried to settle his beasts.  Another nose full of air and…  The scent of Lilly’s desire hit him like sledgehammer between the eyes, almost painful in its gratifying glory.

One hand reached down and ripped open the front of his jeans.  Then he ripped off the sash that hid Lilly’s sensual body from his view.  When he parted the robe, his eyes drank in the sight of the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen and he wasn’t even humiliated when a whimper escaped his lips.  If it was possible for his cock to get any harder it just had.

“Lilly,” the word sounded pained as his eyes, dark with lust, found hers.  “If you don’t want this, tell me now.”

Splayed naked beneath him, her chest heaved with each labored breath, thrusting pert nipples into the sky.  Her body looked smooth as alabaster and equally as perfect.
  She gnawed on her bottom lip in uncertainty and King’s heart thudded to a halt.  He stopped breathing. 
Don’t deny me.  Please, my queen!  Do not deny me!

Slowly, Lilly lifted a hand and smoot
hed a palm over his chest, the muscle beneath spasmed under her touch.  King leaned over her, bracing one arm on a flattened palm beside her head.  The move brought him closer, hovering over her, and his cock rubbed against her wet folds.

The scent of her blossomed and filled the room and
, thank the Gods, Lilly whispered, “I want you.”  If she hadn’t, Kind didn’t know how he would have walked away.  Now, he’d never have to suffer that agony.

One strong hand captured her chin and a finger traced her lip.  He was shocked when she lunged forward and clamped soft lips around his finger all the way to the knuckle before staring into his eyes as her mouth slid down to the tip of his finger before releasing it with a faint kiss.

He nearly came right then and there.  “Lilly,” he growled the name and couldn’t be denied any longer.  His lips found hers and the taste of her kiss was his undoing.  She tasted like she’d smelled that day in the cafeteria.  Like a much awaited, magical, Christmas day. 

She parted her lips and to his delight, returned his kiss
as the thick length of him probed for entrance and then slid through the satiny bliss of her of honeyed cunt.  He started with just the tip, working slowly before pulling out.  Each push going a little deeper, forcing her to take a little more each time.  Unable to resist the banquet of offerings laid out before him, King broke their kiss to lower his head and nuzzle the side of his cheek against one large breast.  Lilly arched and moaned, “King!”

He turned and locked his lips over the pink peak and sucked hard as he drove his hips home.  A feminine gasp filled the room and when short nails scored his shoulders, King grinned with the knowledge that there’d be proof in the morning that this wasn’t a dream.

Hard tugs on her nipple had Lilly begging.  “King!  Please!”

He froze.  “Am I hurting you?”

“No!  God no, just keep moving!”

He rose over her.  Strong hands gripped her hips as he began to work into her, sawing in and out as the sounds of wet sex filled the cabin. 
“I’m sorry, my queen,” his hips worked faster, “this won’t last long.” 

She reached for his chest,
faster!  Harder! 
Please!

His
hands left her hips to capture her wrists and pin them over her head.  He fucked her hard and fast, like a wild animal.

Lilly cried out
as his hips worked faster, coming in shorter and shorter thrusts even as she spread her legs wider to allow him to penetrate deeper.  She arched and her body convulsed, clamping onto the thick length of him as he continued to work.  “KING!” she screamed as her pussy clenched and shuddered, needing something to salve the need burning deep within her.  Her back bowed violently with her orgasm, and then he came.  King thrust hard and deep one last time, his body jerking to a halt as his cock pulsed within her, shooting his jets of semen deep into her pussy and quenching that aching need, giving her pussy something to milk.  She devoured every drop as her channel convulsed around the solid length of him.  Swallowing his cock and seed deep inside her. 

“Sorry,” he apologized
, crumpling to the side, and pulling her into the cradle of his body.  He soothed a hand up and down her back, stopping only to smile down at her.  “I thought I could control myself, but when I came in and saw you looking like that…”  He peeked down in time to watch as indignation flared to life on her expressive features.

“Like what?”

A laugh rumbled from him as he pulled her tighter.  “Like you were mine.”

The words had her stilling in his embrace, her face buried against his chest.  “
Did Mr. StoneCrow discuss the parameters of this venture?”

King tensed.

“This isn’t a relationship, King.”  Lilly gently pushed at his chest and he eased his arms just enough for her to peek up at him from under the veil of her lashes.  “I’m not…yours.”

In his arms
, she felt so slight.  It was different then what he’d expected.  At the office and with Monroe, her formal demeanor made her seem larger, more commanding, than she actually was.  But here in his arms, she was the smallest, most fragile thing he’d ever had the pleasure to hold.  She needed him.  She needed his protection.  Now he knew the truth of it.  She was his.  “Don’t push this now, my queen.  Let’s enjoy each other before you have to face the reality of what’s happened.”  It was too late.  She was his, and his scent on her…
in
her only confirmed it.  He felt such an overwhelming sense of pride in ownership.  How had he gotten so damn lucky?

Lilly’s eyes rounded and she shoved hard at King’s chest, her tone laced with panic
.  “What’s happened?”  He pulled his cock free of her pussy.

“Lilly, please.”  His eyes were imploring, “Allow me to mate you properly first.”

She pushed at his chest again and scrambled to get away, jerking her robe closed and holding it in white-knuckled grip in front of her chest.  “Mate?  What are you talking about, King?  What do you mean ‘before I have to face the reality of what’s happened’?” 

When he reached for her, she recoiled and
it was a mistake.  The beasts within, too close to the surface, surged forth excited that their most prized prey was…
running?

“Lilly,”
the word came out as a warning, and his eyes shifted from their lust-filled intent to determined purpose.

Ignoring his words she tried to get to her feet, but he was already on her.  Pinned beneath his weight, she pushed at his chest and when there was no result, she slapped him
and began to fight.  “Get off me!”  Her legs kicked as she attempted to wrestle free.