Chapter 14
DOMINIC
S amaira had been driving us out of the city for about an hour in her sedan.
By now, we were far enough outside New York City that I hadn’t seen another car for over half an hour.
With every turn she took, we moved deeper and deeper into what felt like a dense forest. The road had turned to dirt, flanked by trees on both sides—so close that branches scraped across the windshield and scratched against the car's sides.
It was so lush I couldn’t see anything in the side-view mirror except for the dense growth of trees and the rays of the setting sun glimmering through them.
When Samaira asked me if I wanted to watch her on a mission, I’d been equally surprised and elated. To watch this woman do anything felt like a treat in itself. I’d have agreed if she’d asked me to come watch her file her taxes.
But watching her work? I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
I’d said yes to her before she could even blink. Before she could rethink her offer and retract it. I had sent away Maxim before she’d even turned around to walk to that ugly sedan of hers.
With the way she kept glancing my way and pursing her lips, I was pretty sure she was rethinking her decision. “You think your friends will be mad at you for bringing me along with you?” I asked her, wondering if she might be worried about that.
Her eyes flashed at me for a second before she turned her gaze back to the road. She shook her head with an arrogant smile. “Nobody gets mad at me, Dominic. They’ll be surprised, for sure.”
“Because you haven’t brought a man to your safe house before?” I asked, prodding the beast.
“ Nobody has brought a man to our safe house before. It’s too risky, and none of us trust men enough to show them our back, let alone something that could destroy everything.”
The gravity of her action was starting to dawn on me, and I felt compelled to reassure her. “I promise, I would never speak a word of it to anyone. Wildcats’ secrets, locations, existence, everything is safe with me.”
She looked at me with a genuine smile and nodded. “I know. For some reason, my mind has decided to put my trust in you. So don’t make me regret it because neither of us would like it if you do.”
A sliver of fear and danger slithered down my spine, making me hard as a rock at the warning in her tone.
Something was insanely attractive about the way she threatened me.
Her threats, her words, her warning seemed to wrap around my cock and squeeze it to the point of losing my sanity.
I took in a deep breath to tamp down the roaring arousal I felt in her vicinity. “I won’t.”
Her lips curled in an excited smile as she banged on the steering wheel twice. “Great. Now, let’s have some fun.”
With that, she turned a corner. The dirt road and the trees opened up to a large, two-story house, surrounded by about a hundred yards of open space, with trees sprawling across the area.
Four cars lined the parking space toward one side of the house.
Two of them were huge trucks, one was a large van, whereas the last one was a smaller sedan.
We parked our car right beside it and got out.
Just as we reached the entrance of the house, the main door burst open and a large black form jumped on me, almost pushing me to the ground.
“Shadow,” Samaira screamed. “Down, boy. He’s a friend.”
The huge figure was pulled off me, its growling sound chilling me to my core, only to discover that it was a large, muscular Doberman, currently trying to get out of Samaira’s hold on its leash.
“Tara, you need to come get your child,” Samaira shouted.
She looked at me as she tightly held the leash of the giant dog currently eyeing me like a piece of meat. I usually loved dogs, and I was sure I could befriend him. I was gonna have to bring some treats with me next time.
I was about to extend my hand to let him sniff me when Tara, dressed in all-black tactical gear—just the way I’d seen the Wildcats dressed the day I met them for the first time—came rushing to the door, half of her face covered by a mask.
She grabbed the leash from Samaira. “You’re late. Where have you been?”
Her voice tapered off the moment her eyes fell on me. Her lips curled into a teasing smile, and with her eyes trained on Samaira, she shouted, “Lena, look who’s here.”
Samaira grumbled low in her throat, “Watch it, Tara.”
She gave Samaira a delightful smile and turned around. “C’mon, Shadow baby, let’s go.”
Samaira led the way inside the house as I followed her, taking it all in. The entrance was like any other two-story house, with a small foyer and a staircase going up, and two rooms on either side of the foyer .
The moment Samaira turned to the room on the right, my feet froze on the spot.
Rows of large machine guns hung on one wall, another row of large, deadly knives and axes directly underneath the guns. All the Wildcats, except Samaira, stood around a large wooden table, their eyes trained on us.
I met each of their eyes and gave them a small smile. “Ladies. Good evening.”
Sloane, with her pink hair tied in a braid, snorted loudly.
All four women turned their heads to look directly at Samaira, who actively avoided eye contact with them.
Instead, she walked to the large lockers lined along the opposite wall and started pulling out her gear.
When her ignoring didn’t work and all four ladies kept staring at her, she turned around with her gear in hand and huffed.
“He was curious to see what we did and wanted to come along. Stop acting strange.”
I absolutely did not tell them that it was Samaira who had offered to let me join them.
Lena gave me a quick smile and, with a sass that only a leader of the group could exude, looked at Samaira. “Oh, didn’t know we were the ones acting strange.”
Samaira muttered something under her breath and turned to me. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be back in a bit.”
Before I could respond, she turned and ran to another room, disappearing out of my sight.
Sloane, also dressed in her gear, walked over to me, holding a pink-and-black cheetah mask. “Dominic, how was your interrogation with Thomas and Brian today?”
“Pretty productive. Samaira installed the recording devices under their desks, so we should be able to listen to them. Big job today?” I asked her, looking around at the way all four of them were ready.
She gave a tiny shrug. “Not too big. Pick up a guy, torture him, get a confession. Easy peasy. You coming with us?”
“To kidnap a man? Sure,” I replied .
“Absolutely not.” Samaira cut in simultaneously.
My attention snapped to her, and all coherent thoughts left my brain.
She stood there in all-black tactical gear, the material clinging to the hard lines of her muscles.
Black leather gloves covered her hands, and my mind instantly flashed an image—those gloved hands working my cock.
My heart hammered against my ribs as arousal surged, a hot tide rushing through blood and muscle, tingling along my skin, as she moved closer.
Raw power and strength radiated from her. She was a tigress, poised to hunt.
“Isn’t that why you brought him here? To join us on our mission?” Sloane asked, shattering the spell Samaira held over my thoughts and my body.
I pointed my thumb at Sloane and looked at Samaira. “What she said.”
Samaira stood between the two of us, her arms folded across her chest. “No. I brought him here so he could watch us handle our operation from here , with Naomi and Lena. He could stay and watch us get the confession from the two scumbags. He doesn’t need to join us in the kidnapping. He’s a public figure.”
“C’mon, let me join you guys. I could stay in the car and be the lookout,” I argued.
A deep V formed between Samaira’s eyebrows. “Sloane is going to be our lookout.”
“Even better. I can stay with Sloane.”
Sloane instantly piped in, “I don’t mind the company.”
Samaira turned to Lena, who was watching us argue.
Lena raised both of her hands. “He’s your guest. It’s your call.”
“You’ll distract me,” she said, turning to me.
“How?”
“I’ll be worried about you.”
I bit my lip—hard—to stop the idiotic smile from surfacing on my lips. I was almost forty, dammit. A woman being worried about me shouldn’t please me so much.
“I’ll stay in the car and not even talk to Sloane. You won’t even know I’m there.”
“Oh, I’ll know.”
I was ready to beg more, but she sighed. “Fine. You can come with us.”
Then she turned to Sloane and looked at her with such authority that my blood turned to molten lava. “Not one scratch on him.”
Even Sloane lost the gleeful smile she had on her face. “I promise, Sami.”
Samaira nodded and turned to walk to her locker.
My eyes were hooked on her as she opened the locker and pulled out—no way—another mask just like hers.
I heard a sharp intake of breath beside me, but all my attention was focused on the tigress walking toward me, a determined look on her face and fierce protectiveness gleaming in her eyes.
Nobody had ever been protective of me before. I’d always been the protector of the family. The way Samaira looked at me, as if she would hate if something were to happen to me, tightened something in my chest.
She stood in front of me and held out a black-and-crimson tiger mask to me. “Wear it during the mission. We don’t want anyone to catch your face.”
As I took it, my fingers brushed against hers, leaving behind electric sparks where we touched. Her eyes darkened, a dark red flush rising to her cheeks. I loved that my touch affected her as well, because the slightest touch from her shot ecstasy through my veins.
She cleared her throat, gazing around at the others. “Everyone ready?”
The atmosphere shifted. The women’s expressions hardened as they formed a huddle around Samaira. Banging their masks together in the center with a sharp clap, they shouted, “Go Wildcats.”