TherianPrey (9 page)

Shapeshifters weren’t just fabled stories meant to entertain
adolescents or frighten rebellious children. They existed right here in the
Colorado Rocky Mountains. The project seemed focused on feline shifters, though
they had three wolf shifter cubs who had been orphaned shortly after their
birth.

If she could figure out a way around the damn nondisclosure
contract, she would be the most famous scientist since Madame Curie! But two of
her coworkers had attempted to leave the program and they had fallen victim to
a mysterious accident. These people didn’t bother with threats and ultimatums.
They just made their disloyal employees disappear.

She glanced at Osric in time to see him scrub his lower face
with his hand. What had the backers promised him, or with what had they
threatened him? Why would he sell out his own people? She’d never actually seen
him shift, but the only way he could know as much as he did about these
creatures was if he were one of them.

Pushing the disquieting facts to the back of her mind, Carly
returned her attention to the monitors. “I presume by your expression that you
were unable to secure the all-important twins.”

“Sarcasm is wasted when you don’t know what you’re talking
about. The Seymour twins could advance this project by years.”

“Only if they’re available for testing.” She looked at him
pointedly. “Are they?”

“Not yet.” His lip curled in a silent sneer as he glanced
away. “I still have men working on it. The situation is far from over.”

“And how long do you anticipate this process taking? You’ve
been adamant that I not proceed any further with Devon until the twins are
underway. How long am I supposed to wait?”

He looked at the monitors and snarled, “What the fuck are
you doing? No one was supposed to touch Devon until I approved the procedure.”

“They’re not hurting her, I assure you.” Carly fought back a
grin, her attention fixed on the erotic scene playing out on the screens in
front of her. Carly had known heightened libido was a side effect of the drugs
they were using to condition Devon’s mind. She had even planned to use Devon’s
desire as motivation during her training. But when Devon had spent most of the
morning frantically masturbating, Carly recruited three healthy young men from
among the guards. Each had been given specific instructions. They could touch
Devon with their hands and mouths, but under no circumstances were they to
penetrate her.

Silence descended, tense and charged, as they observed Devon
and her eager volunteers. All four were naked and physically fit. Devon’s long
black hair and slanted green eyes gave her an exotic appearance that contrasted
sharply with the military bearing of the three young guards.

“Did you anticipate this level of…sexual hunger?” Osric
whispered, moving closer to the monitors.

Devon reclined in the arms of one man, kissing him deeply,
while the other two caressed her round breasts and supple legs.

“I knew she would become sexually aggressive, but this is a
bit surprising.” Carly crossed her legs, trying to ignore the pressure building
between her thighs. If Osric hadn’t interrupted, this experiment would have
been far more enjoyable. “If frequent doses create this sort of frenzy, it will
be a serious challenge. However, if her body adjusts to the chemicals and the
demands become more manageable, her heightened appetite will work to our
advantage.”

“If she follows orders, we’ll give her access to eager young
men, but if she disappoints us, we’ll bind her hands and let her burn?”

Carly chuckled. “Basically. You warned me that she’s
stubborn. Somehow, I don’t think she’ll be nearly as challenging as you
feared.”

One of the guards knelt between Devon’s thighs and traced
her slit with his fingers. She wiggled and squirmed, rocking her hips as he
continued to tease her. Another knelt at her side, sucking one nipple as he
squeezed the other with his fingers. Carly squirmed on her stool, wishing Osric
would leave so she could give herself a good, hard orgasm. The guard between
Devon’s thighs bent her knees and leaned down, tracing her slit with his
tongue. Each time his tongue tip flicked her clit, Devon cried out and
shivered, but the guard holding her in his lap kept her relatively still.

Carly heard the distinct clicking of a metal zipper and
looked at Osric in horror. His gaze was narrowed and bright and fixed on her
mouth. “Suck me, baby, and I’ll return the favor.”

Lust clenched her inner walls. She loved having a hot,
skilled tongue moving over her folds and teasing her sensitive clit. But the
thought of having Osric anywhere near her was disgusting. The man had the
morals of an alley cat. And he wasn’t human! He’d never admitted that he was
one of these creatures, but she knew he was.

“I’m on duty, and so are you.” She punctuated the reminder
with a sharply upraised brow. “If you can’t maintain professional decorum,
please leave the room.” Her chin rose as she turned back to the monitors,
praying he’d take the bait so she could enjoy the display.

“I think you just like to watch,” he muttered as he zipped
up his pants.

There was more truth to the claim than he realized. Carly
was a confessed voyeur, and the scene before her now was a feast for the eyes.
Devon straddled one guard’s face while she pumped the other two with her fists.
She looked like a pagan fertility goddess accepting worship from her lowly
subjects. With her head thrown back, black hair streaming all around her, Devon
undulated and rocked.

Carly looked at the young woman’s face and groaned. Rapture.
Devon’s eyes glowed with golden light and her skin was deeply flushed. Her
breasts quivered as she ground against the guard’s eager mouth. She was
abandoned, unashamed, utterly sexual.

The pulsing heat of an orgasm gathered deep in Carly’s sex.
She crossed her legs and clenched her inner muscles. All it would take is one
careful pinch and she’d go off like a rocket.

“Come on. You can’t pretend you don’t want it,” Osric
growled. “I can smell you from here.”

Stubbornly focusing on the monitors, she refused to let him
intrude on her pleasure. Devon had brought two of the guards to climax with her
hand and the third was trying to convince her to suck him off. Carly grinned.
She had a much better use for that impressive erection than an unappreciative
hand.

“The exercise is over, men,” she said into the microphone.
“Dress and return to your posts.”

“But, Dr. Ides—”

“Samuels, report to my office.”

A knowing smile curved his lips and he acknowledged the
order with a subtle nod.

“I don’t have to ask why you want to see him.” Osric reached
for her breast, but she twisted away. “You really think that pup can satisfy
you better than I can?”

She ignored his rude behavior. The sexually charged
atmosphere was her fault. “Why wouldn’t Devon put him in her mouth?” The
question was meant to divert his anger, but she was interested in the answer.

“He’s not Therian. Even drugged and partially conditioned,
she instinctively rejects his seed.”

She tried not to let her fascination show, but the more she
learned about these Therians, the more she realized how much more there was to
know.

* * * * *

Reality returned in stages. Quinn’s familiar scent wrapped
around Carissa, soothing her as tangibly as any hand. Or were his hands
caressing her, patiently easing the pain? He’d kissed her so tenderly, his
tongue possessing her mouth while his lips moved and meshed with hers. She
licked her lips, hoping his mouth would descend and rekindle the magic. But she
was alone.

She rolled to her side and groaned as pain erupted in her
left shoulder. Memories rushed through her mind—Quinn’s transformation from
jaguar to man, the distant crack of gunfire and pain like she’d never imagined.
And yet she lived.

Slowly opening her eyes, she peered into the darkness,
trying to blink away the shadows. Uncertainty loomed all around her,
threatening to overtake her momentary calm. Despite Quinn’s scent surrounding
her, she was in an unfamiliar bedroom, stripped down to a baggy t-shirt and a
pair of panties. Who had undressed her? How long had she been unconscious?

She carefully sat and explored her shoulder and the upper
portion of her chest. Though the flesh was tender, and the stiff muscles
protested each movement, there was no bandage, no ragged scab or row of
stitches. Ian had gone to fetch a healer, not a doctor. Therian ways were not
human ways.

The door opened and Quinn slipped into the darkened room.
“You’re not supposed to be awake yet.” He smiled, obviously pleased by her
progress. “How do you feel?”

Her heart gave a little flutter in response to his presence,
but there was no overwhelming urgency, no breath-stealing ache. Had the healer
stabilized her hormones, or… no, she could detect the distinct scent of the
nasal spray lingering in her nose.

“I’m still pretty sore.” She tentatively moved her shoulder,
testing the accuracy of her claim. “But that’s a significant improvement from
how I was when I passed out.”

“Erin’s amazing.” He sat on the edge of the bed, his
expression tense and watchful. “But you owe Ian your life. Without his wings,
Erin would have been too late.”

She studied his face for a moment, fascinated by the
conflict twisting beneath his calm exterior. “And you don’t want to owe Ian
anything.” It was a statement of fact. Resentment and hostility crackled in the
air every time they were in the same room. “What’s with you two? What caused
the bad blood?”

His gaze narrowed and his lips thinned. Not a good sign.
“It’s a long, involved story that I have no interest in getting into right
now.”

In other words, “butt the hell out”.

“All right.” As soon as she agreed to drop the subject, he
scooted closer and reached for her hand. She was curious to see how her body
would react to his touch, so she allowed his fingers to close around hers. His
skin was warm and she was undeniably aware of the fact that they were alone in
a bedroom, but the burning was banked, smoldering, easily controlled. Thank God
for Erin’s rebellious streak! “What’s going on with Ava?”

“Nothing new. Kyle would have called if she’d been found.”

She pulled her hand out of his grasp. That wasn’t what he’d
told her before. “Why does she need to be found? I thought Osric had her.”

“She gave him the slip.” His gaze shifted from her face with
the admission.

Carissa caught her bottom lip between her teeth. Ava was out
there, alone, being chased by God knew how many determined hunters. “Where’s my
phone?”

“Her calls are still going to voicemail. Calling her is a
waste of time.”

She knew he was right, but it didn’t ease her trepidation.
“They said Osric can sense us because he’s our father.” Actually they’d said
Osric could sense his daughter, as if only one of them was actually his child.
The detail didn’t matter right now. She needed to focus. “Can I sense Ava,
maybe contact her telepathically?”

“Have you ever sensed what she was thinking or known
instinctively where she was?”

Had she? Their lives had always been routine. She’d never
needed to guess where Ava was. She was either at the store or at home. Their
mother had strongly discouraged any sort of a social life, and since Willona’s
death, there hadn’t been time for one. “I don’t think so. I know twins are
supposed to have a sixth sense or something. We’ve always been close, but we
were never like that.”

“Are you identical or fraternal?”

“Fraternal. We still look a lot alike, but we’re not
identical.”

“The full scope of your abilities will be released when your
animal nature is defined. Until then, you need to concentrate on regaining your
strength. You lost a lot of blood last night.”

“Last night?” She tossed back the covers and crawled out of
bed. The t-shirt only came to mid-thigh, but she was too upset to care. “It’s
not still night. It’s night again?” She opened the blinds and looked out at the
moon-bathed yard. “Are we still at Ian’s?”

“Unfortunately. Erin put you in a healing trance. It was
supposed to last through this night as well, but apparently it wasn’t quite
strong enough.”

Questions pelted her mind, each a detail needing her
attention. “What about our store? We have employees and suppliers. Breckenridge
is a small community. People will notice if we just disappear. Reality isn’t
going to stop because we’ve—”

“This
is
reality, Carissa. You need to accept it.”

“That’s not what I meant.” She released the plastic wand
that controlled the blinds, but remained by the window. “What if one of our
employees reports us missing? I thought you didn’t want the police involved in
this.”

“Good point. So call them and give them some excuse for why
you’re closing the shop for the next few days.”

“I need my phone.”

“It’s two o’ clock in the morning, sweetheart. We’ll come up
with something believable and you can make the calls in the morning.” He came up
behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Do I need to carry you back
to bed and find a way of keeping you there?”

A tingle dived down her spine and the soft cotton shirt felt
rough against her sensitive nipples. Even without hormones commanding her
responses, she found Quinn dangerously attractive. It would be so easy to tune
out the world and pick up where they’d left off in his truck. His kiss had been
like nothing she’d ever experienced before. She’d been desperate and wild, yet
he’d held himself back, refusing to take advantage of her vulnerability. He’d
been noble and selfless, so why were the others so suspicious of him? Either
the others had misjudged him…or she had. And they had known him for years while
she had only met him a couple of days ago. Damn it. How was she supposed to
make sense of this jumble?