Chapter 15
Cricket
I meet Sly and Erick at the same spot I pulled over with Doralee last night, both shifters rolling up on their motorcycles. If a security team spots us, they’ll likely think we’re hardened riders out for a sunset cruise.
I slap palms with both of them, Erick pulling me in for a quick hug and then pushing me back with his lips curled. “Ugh, you stink.”
“Fuck you.” I chuckle.
“How are you doing?” Sly lights a cigarillo, the air filling with the sweet, spicy scent.
“I’m doing okay right now.” I smile. “Especially since I have a date tonight.”
“Oh yeah? That sounds promising.” Erick grins.
“I hope so.”
“Are you going to tell her about your cat?” Sly raises his brow in question.
“No.” I shake my head and stare down at my dusty boots.
Even though part of me wants to admit how badly I fucked up with Doralee last night, I don’t think two unmated shifters are the ones to commiserate with me about how hard it is to not let my animal nature take over and sink both my cock and my fangs deep inside my mate…
but I’m betting Kade and Wiley understand.
“I’ll wait until after MirMax. I’ve already planted the idea of coming home with me, but if that doesn’t work, I’ll head to DC with her. Tonight is about making sure she wants future dates.”
Sly shakes his head and blows a stream of smoke up in the air. “I’ll tell you the same thing I told Wiley when he met Geneva—give me another ten years before I have to deal with that shit.”
“Ten years? You’ll be insufferable by then.” I chuckle, a traffic noise of big vehicles rolling down the asphalt in the distance, causing the three of us to look north as a fleet of semi-trucks crest the hill. “Here we go.”
Erick takes out his phone and sets it on a tripod near the front fender of his motorcycle.
Pressing the record button, we stand in a casual circle like typical road dogs would, silently counting as four trucks pass us and exit the rural highway to enter the cattle ranch, which now has a makeshift security checkpoint.
“Sweet Fates! Four eighteen-wheelers with who knows how many people in each.” Erick growls.
Sly stares at the darkening sky, counting in his head like the brainiac he is.
“Forty-eight by eight feet is just under four hundred square feet. Let’s assume a combination of sitting and lying individuals of all ages and sizes with semi-humane conditions—we’re talking maybe fifty people per trailer, give or take twenty percent. ”
“Two hundred plus victims at just this auction?” I snarl.
“That’s if there isn’t another convoy coming tonight,” Sly adds.
“Let’s head south, in case anyone’s watching us.” Erick picks up his phone and presses pause on the recording before attaching it to an armband on his right bicep. “We’ll record the location and watch from the south for an hour before we have fun.”
I chuckle. “Roger.”
Before they hit the road this morning, I told them about shifting, attacking the vehicles, and making Asshole Number One shit his pants.
Tonight, Sly and Erick—a considerably larger bear than Pitch—will do a mad dash through the property, pulling security’s attention toward the front while I slip through the back to place GPS tags on both the semis and the trailers in places they will never find them.
It feels good to have my brothers here to support me.
And even though I saw him for less than an hour—when Colonel Packard laid my plan out like it was his own—I haven’t interacted with my actual brother Crash today. And the reality is that after all is done, I probably never will again.
After eight years of radio silence, I don’t know why that bothers me so much.
Ninety minutes later, we’re regrouping on our bikes a few miles away from the property. Erick and Sly slip their clothes on, laughing about the chaos they created while not one bullet came anywhere near them.
“If they are Special Forces, they are shit shots,” Erick says as he swings his leg over his seat.
“I don't remember them training us to defend against charging grizzly bears,” Sly points out.
“Did you get the tags in place?” Erick pulls out his phone and brings up the tracking software.
“Yep. Eight plus two more on vehicles I didn’t recognize from yesterday.” I slide on a pair of night goggles and also straddle my bike.
“Are you sure you don’t want us to stay?” Sly slips on a pair of gloves and starts his engine.
“No. Get to MirMax. You’ll watch which route they take just like we will in the morning.
I’ll call you as soon as the auction is over.
There are only two routes they can take through Colorado considering the size of these vehicles and the current road conditions in the mountains.
They need to hit I-25 and I bet money they’ll stay off the interstate for as long as possible, which means they’ll take 287 until they hit 80.
We have to keep them on 287 and grab them at the state line. ”
“Roger.” Sly fist bumps me and takes off without saying another word while Erick stares after him.
“I bet he’s hungry.” He taps me on the shoulder. “Go get your mate.”
I glance down at my watch. 2130.
I’ll be an hour and a half early, if she’s ready to go. An extra hour of pleasure between her legs, if I do this right. “Yep. See you in thirty-six hours.”
Erick leaves, and I send her a text.
I should be there in an hour. Do you think that’s too early to sneak out undetected?
No. I’m ready for you.
My cat purrs and I crank my engine, hauling ass north to the compound.
I use the drive to think through a dozen different ways of introducing my cougar and the mating mark.
If I tell her she’ll pass out from orgasming every time I sink my fangs into her delicate flesh, do you think she’ll volunteer?
I drive past the Dunham Hotel where we did the meet and greet, noting that the minivan is still there.
Maybe it isn’t part of their fleet, after all.
Doesn’t matter; I wouldn’t risk grabbing a room there, anyway.
Up Main Street is another hotel, lower quality than the last one, but I’m not looking to wine and dine Doralee tonight.
But I will, eventually. I send a promise to her.
Throwing down the kickstand, I walk into the desolate lobby and find a woman at the counter who perks up when she sees me. “Hi?”
“Can I get a room?” I slap down my credit card.
“You sure can.” Her voice vibrates as she coos at me. “King bed okay?”
I nod. “Preferably at the end of the first floor near an emergency exit.”
“Room 108 is available.” She swipes my card and hands it back to me with an actual key attached to a big plastic tag. “Do you need extra pillows, towels, or company?”
“I’ll let you know if we need pillows or towels; however me and my wife don’t need company.”
Her face falls. “Damn, all the cute ones are taken.”
I chuckle. “Thanks for the room.”
Calling Doralee my wife rolled off my tongue easily, and in my heart it felt right.
I send her another text.
Ten minutes away.
I’ll be waiting outside the gate for you.
Rolling to a stop, I glance up at the two cameras in the trees and wonder who is monitoring them. Are they watching us right now, and will they be reporting this to someone important? I don’t know, and I’m not about to kill the mood by pointing it out to her.
Doralee swings her leg over the seat and glues her body to mine, her arms wrapping around my waist. “Where are we going?”
“I got us a room, if that’s okay?”
“God, yes. Please and thank you.”
I grin and make a U-turn, heading back toward Main Street.
Fifteen minutes later, I’m guiding her through the lobby without sparing a glance at the desk clerk and walking down the hallway to Room 108.
It’s antiquated, but clean—not that it matters.
I barely have the door open before Doralee pushes me forward, twisting the lock and tackling me on the bed.
“I’ve been thinking about this all day.” She sits and straddles my waist, yanking her shirt over her head. A black lace bra frames her full breasts, and my mouth waters as her sweet scent hits my nostrils.
“Me too, babe.” I pop the button on her jeans and wrap my hands around her waist, throwing her down on the mattress beside me. She gasps as I quickly take control, yanking off her slip-on boots and sliding her jeans down her legs. “Matching panties too?”
She giggles. “I brought one pair of sexy, matching underwear with me, so you better appreciate them.”
Slipping my jacket off my shoulders, I pull my shirt over my head and unfasten the buttons of my pants so they sag on my hips. “I do, babe. I so do.”
Doralee sits up and grabs my belt loops, pushing them down to my knees before yanking me down on top of her. “I’ve dreamed of feeling your body pressed against mine.”
“Oh yeah?” I smirk down at her. “What else have you dreamed about?”
Licking her lips, she challenges me with a quirk of her eyebrow. “Since I glimpsed your cock this morning, I’ve been fantasizing about wrapping my lips around you and making you come as hard as you made me do it last night.”
“Sweet Fates, woman.” Sliding a hand under the small of her back, I grip a handful of her hair with my other hand and kiss her deeply, the silky slide of her tongue mixing with her sweet scent in my nose.
I groan and roll us so she’s straddling my waist again.
She adjusts her hips and grinds down on my cock, eliciting a gasp from both of us.
“I need you, Cricket.” She pants as I trail kisses down her neck to her breasts, my hands guiding her hips to rub against my aching cock poking through my boxers.
“You have me, Doralee,” I murmur against her nipple before clamping my teeth down. “Forever.”
She cries out and reaches between our bodies, wrapping her fingers around my length. “Please, fuck me.”
“No foreplay?” My erection jumps in her hand as she uses the tip of her middle finger to spread my pre-cum around the tip.