AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Riccardo Gutierrez is a ruthless, vindictive, and violent man.”
“I am aware. I want someone observing the crime scene and someone listening in on Thibodeaux calls. I want to know where he goes and to whom he speaks. As far as I’m concerned, Gutierrez is a threat to my mate. He has to know she was the one Fuentes was talking to. And she saw what happened. He won’t want her left alive. He might be willing to give up the Mississippi corridor, but he isn’t going to leave her behind to tell the tale. He has no idea what she’s found. Do we?”
“The techs have finally broken Quinn’s encryption on her laptop. It looks like she has most of the supporting documentation she’ll need to write a pretty damning article. She has checked and double checked and verified everything she’s been told by everyone.”
“I suspect Fuentes had the last of what she needed. He didn’t have a laptop with him or in his car. Send someone over to his place to see what they can find.”
“I’ll see that it’s taken care of.”
“Tell Maurice and the others Quinn and I will be retiring to our rooms. I want to talk to her and spend some time with her.”
“Maybe. But what you really want is to strip her naked, toss her on the bed, get between her legs, and rut like a stag with his doe.”
Silence. “Well, that would be spending time with her, and I’m sure at some point, I’ll talk to her.”
“I’ll make sure Maurice sends up something for you to enjoy,” chortled Navarro.
“Anything will do. I intend to enjoy my mate.”
They continued on their way home. Once inside the estate, Bodie thanked his men for their courage and skill, then left the garage and headed up to his room in the house. He was tired—exhausted, really. He couldn’t remember a time he’d ever been so tired.
His people seemed to sense his mood and called soft greetings to him as he passed. Navarro wasn’t wrong. From the moment he’d detected that Quinn had somehow escaped from their home, he’d been anxious and on alert. Seeing her stand up to Gutierrez, he’d been proud, angry, and aroused—all at the same time.
Knowing she was safe had only increased the arousal part. It had been all he could do to keep from fisting her hair, dragging her to the Jeep, opening the back and pouncing on her. He’d never wanted anything or anyone as much as he wanted her.
He needed to keep his lust in check. He needed to make her understand he had to be able to depend on her to do as she was told. Her life could depend on it. He knew he was being a hypocrite. Quinn would always be in danger if she stayed with him. She made him vulnerable, and his enemies would know that, but he knew he couldn’t give her up. Not now. Not ever.
Bodie trudged up the stairs and walked down the hall to their bedroom. Donato was standing outside the doorway.
“You’ve done enough for today. Go downstairs and join the others. You did well today, and I am grateful.”
“It is my pleasure to serve the alpha and his lady. I will remain at my post.”
Bodie chuckled, remembering what it had been like to be that young. Bodie had been born old. He had been born knowing he would one day lead the clan and the syndicate. His lot had been one of privilege but also of service. He would always carry the burden of responsibility for his people. There were times it seemed like too much to ask. The one saving grace had been the knowledge that he had a fated mate waiting for him.
And now she waited on the other side of the door. He opened the door to see Quinn sprawled on the bed—naked and resplendent and looking like some kind of fucking fertility goddess come down from the heavens to serve him, to help shoulder his burdens and to offer him solace and comfort. If having Quinn meant he had to face a lifetime of obligation and duty, he would make that choice gladly. He would choose Quinn—every single fucking time.
CHAPTER21
QUINN
Quinn had felt his presence the moment he entered the house. She could have sworn she could hear him walking up the steps and coming down the hall. The look when he had opened the door and found her waiting for him had sent heat and lust spiraling along her skin, into her pores, and wrapping around her bones like barbed wire.
She’d been so angry at him this afternoon; angry that he had left her tied to his bed to wait for his return. But that anger had fled in the light of what had happened. Alvaro was dead; Gutierrez knew who she was, and worse, knew who she was to Bodie; and Bodie hadn’t hesitated to get her out of the line of fire so that she would be safe, risking his life to save hers.
In the time it took for the heart to take one beat, he had gone from angry and tired, to full of primeval lust. This was her fated mate; the tiger who had claimed her and made her one with him. She could call him a gangster and a plethora of other names, but none of that mattered any longer. He was right. She needed to trust him and them as a couple. They would find a way to make it work.
She could hear him talking to Donato, who had spent the entire drive home extolling his alpha’s virtues. She didn’t let on, but she’d already come to the same conclusions. She couldn’t hear what Donato and Bodie were saying on the other side of the bedroom door, just that they were talking. She could also tell that her mate was pleased with Donato.
He opened the door to their room, stood for a moment looking at her—she was posed ever so provocatively on their bed. For a moment she thought perhaps she’d gone too far, but as the door closed behind him, nothing but need, lust, and arousal rolled down the bonding link, not to overwhelm her, but to envelop her in its heat.
The room had been cool before, bordering on cold. It had stirred her flesh, puckering her nipples and oddly beginning to make her pussy soften and produce the slick he would need to join them together. Bodie stood looking at her for the longest time.
“Mine,” he purred with a growl-like edge to the sound. Primitive and possessive… and all hers.
“Yes,” she agreed.
“I ought to blister your backside for that little stunt.”
