Infinitely Human Read online

  “I was assured they were tourists. I trust my scouts.”

  “And now?”

  “We’ll proceed as if they aren’t, based on Marco’s intel.”

  I looked at Horse. “Grizzlies aren’t like wolves. You’re mostly loners, right?”

  “Some of us are, at least until we have our own family. Some prefer to live in a large family unit. Depends on the bear.”

  I looked at the clock — a little after nine. The meeting started at nine in the morning.

  “Are we still eating breakfast in the hotel restaurant?”

  “No,” said Nathan. “I’ll have food catered in. We’ll leave here at oh-eight-thirty, and I’ll have breakfast delivered an hour before.”

  “I’ll sleep with Kirsten tonight,” said Mordecai.

  “No. I’m sleeping alone.”

  “I told you I wasn’t taking my eyes off you until the Lugat blood wears off.”

  “You are not sleeping with me for the next week or two!”

  “Ya’ll can work out the next week or two later,” said Patrick, “but having him in the room with you tonight simplifies things.”

  We had three mini-suites, side by side, with adjoining rooms. We were in Patrick and Nathan’s room for our little meeting. Gabby and Horse had the middle room, and I was on the end — apparently with Mordecai. I’d expected to either be by myself, or for Patrick to sleep on my sofa.

  I’d insisted on putting Gabby and Horse in the middle, where they’d normally put me. I can fight. Gabby can’t. She needed more protection.

  Drake Security had the last three rooms in the corridor, with someone standing guard in the hallway. There was no reason to believe we wouldn’t be safe, and yet I was on edge.

  We left Nathan’s room, and I nodded to the guard. I’d seen him around but didn’t know him. We had a guard unit of four more supernaturals — two wolves, one lion, and I wasn’t sure what the other one was. I could sense shifter, but not the flavor.

  7

  I changed into sweatpants and a shirt, brushed my teeth, washed my face, twisted my hair into a bun, and came out of the bathroom.

  “Really?” Mordecai was under the covers, bare chest showing, leaned against the headboard. His look told me he didn’t approve of something, but I wasn’t sure what.

  I headed for the other bed, pulled the covers back, and sat on the edge.

  “What? The bun? It’s how I sleep. My hair has a decent chance of behaving the next day if I put it in bondage at night.”

  Instead of explaining what he meant, he was up and across the room in seconds. He pushed my torso back onto the bed, slid his hand into my sweats and panties, and pressed two fingers inside me.

  My insides ignited, my heart caught and then raced, my head swam, and a deep, unintelligible sound came from my throat. I was suddenly naked — with probably a mere thought from Mordecai. I didn’t care. He had me on the edge of an orgasm and held me there, on the precipice, wavering so fucking close, but I couldn’t tip over the edge.

  “Please!” Forming the word was almost more brainpower than I could manage.

  “Not yet. Arms over your head and keep them there.”

  “Fuck!”

  “Not. Yet.”

  I chuckled, despite the fact I was nearly crazy with lust, and he bent to kiss my forehead while he drove me past sanity with his fingers — in and out, spreading me wide, scraping the magical spot inside me. My eyes rolled back in my head, my hips moved — urging him faster, silently begging. Pleading. And still I couldn’t quite fall over the edge into the orgasm only millimeters away.

  His fingers came out, but he was between my legs, pressing his oh-so-fat cock into me before I could complain.

  “Yes. Fuck yes. Please.” My body lost the ability to move on its own. He sank into me. Spread me. Filled me.

  “Fuck. Shit. Please I need this.”

  “I know, Kitten. I know. Keep your hands over your head. Wrap your legs around me.”

  I lifted my legs and obeyed without hesitating, and another of those ultra-deep vibrations came from my vocal cords.

  “Look at me. Focus.” I might one day orgasm from his voice alone.

  My gaze met his and I swear it felt as if my heart chakra grew until it was larger than my body, bigger than my normal aura.

  “That’s it. Feel, Kitten. Feel me. Feel you. This is us. Joined.”

  Tears filled my eyes, spilled over, and trailed down my temples. I’ve had spiritual experiences where I was one with the universe and everything in it, and I’ve had out-of-body sexual experiences after super-extreme scenes. This felt like a combination of the two. I was one with Mordecai, who’s a god, and he was inside me. It was too much. My tears came faster. Too many emotions, too much input.

  Too much everything.

  “Come.”

  Now, my screams were high pitched, and loud. Later, I learned he put a dampener around us a few seconds after they started, to keep us from getting kicked out of the hotel. In that moment, I wasn’t aware of anything except the waves of pleasure and bliss flowing through, around, and over me. I felt not just mine, but Mordecai’s ecstasy, too. He sped, his hips moving until they were a blur, hard and fast, but he didn’t let me look away. My hands stayed over my head because he’d ordered it, but I so wanted to hold him. Stroke him.

  He kept me riding that high for hours, and he alternated fucking my pussy and ass, which is ordinarily a no-no, but he could magically clean and lube himself when needed, and I trusted him not to give me an infection. He’s so damned big, I begged for relief the first time he went in my ass, but it never came, and my orgasm never totally went away. Mordecai knew when I needed pain, when I needed tenderness, and he gave me exactly what I wanted and needed.

  I honestly don’t know if I fell asleep or passed out, but when my phone woke me the next morning, I was deliciously sore.

  Mordecai was sitting at the desk on his laptop, typing away. It seemed like an anachronism — an ancient god checking his email.

  “Anything happen overnight?”

  “Nathan joined Horse and Gabby last night. He’s already up and out, scouting. How do you feel?”

  “I need time to sort through my feelings. Please don’t push me towards anything today? Just be my friend and advisor, please?”

  “It was a lot for me, too.”

  I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad one, but I needed to focus on the day. “We don’t really think a bunch of grizzly bears are going to attack us in the middle of New York City, do we?”

  “Anything’s possible. The very idea they wouldn’t dare might give them incentive to do it.”

  I wrapped a towel around my head and took a long-assed shower. There was no way to keep every shifter within proximity from knowing Mordecai had spent the night inside me, but I hoped maybe it would tone down the intensity. I had no idea if it would or not, but there was a chance.

  I didn’t want to hurt Nathan, and I hoped the fact he’d spent the night with Gabby would help. Or, maybe he truly didn’t care anymore, in which case… fuck him. He had no right to judge me. I didn’t enjoy torturing people. Yes, I’d had to learn how to pull it off, but I’d be happier if circumstances hadn’t forced my hand.

  I layered my business make-up on — earth tones most people wouldn’t notice, but lines that gave me a slightly bitchy edge. I donned a business pantsuit and added stable but slightly sexy heels, and I finally let my hair out of the bun.

  Wonder of wonders, my hair cascaded around my face like it was supposed to. I put a tiny bit of conditioner in my palms, worked it between them, and hit the very tips of my hair with it.

  I turned to Mordecai. “I’m having a good hair day. It’s a good sign.”

  “Did you hide the necklace, or is it being bashful?”

  “I put it under the shirt, why?”

  “Pay attention to it today. Moving or vibrating might warn of imminent danger. Might not, but keep it in mind.”

  “I’m not
embarrassed about being with you, but I made a lot of noise last night.”

  He looked a little too self-satisfied, but merely said, “I put a sound dampener around us when the screams started. I let it down a few times to listen to our surroundings, but for the most part, no one could hear us.”

  “Thanks. Anything else I need to know before we head to Nathan and Patrick’s room for breakfast?”

  “Stay aware of your surroundings and be careful how you fight if we’re attacked. The Concilio will take you if you use light weapons on the streets of New York and it ends up on YouTube.” He sighed and stood. He was wearing charcoal dress pants, a royal blue dress shirt, and a charcoal tie with tiny royal stripes at random intervals. “Nathan is standing in the hallway across from our door. I assume he wants to talk to you. I’ll leave the two of you alone for your conversation.”

  I shook my head. “Oh, hell no. I’m hungry. He can wait.”

  “I wouldn’t advise pushing him right now. Hear him out, Kitten.”

  He left, and Nathan walked in. He’d heard everything we’d said since he arrived, and I had no idea how long he’d been outside the door. When had Mordecai told me Nathan was scouting? At least five or ten minutes earlier.

  “Don’t even,” I told Nathan when he stalked into the room and closed the door. “You spent the night inside Gabby, which is fine, but you don’t get to bitch about me having sex with someone else.”

  He crossed his arms and stood with his feet a foot apart. “Mordecai? Really?”

  “In my defense, I really thought we were just going to sleep last night. I mean, we’ve had sex, but it isn’t…” I shrugged. “I don’t know what it is, but it isn’t monogamous. He’s a fucking god; I can’t have a relationship with him. Not that kind of relationship.”

  I don’t know if it was his stance, his attitude, or the arrogant look in his eyes, but something flew all over me. “Fuck you! I was willing to give you more of me than I have to anyone in a long fucking time, and you’re suddenly too good for me because I had to torture a few people to keep my family safe? You can take your holier-than-though attitude and ram it up your ass!”

  He was in my way, blocking my exit, so I used the nothingness to land behind him. I opened the door, slammed it closed behind me, and stormed down the hallway towards the smell of food.

  Gabby and Horse were already seated and eating, and I took the seat beside Gabby. “It looks amazing. I’m starving. Are you ready for the meeting?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be. Did you just tell the Amakhosi to ram his attitude up his ass?”

  “Yeah, and I forgot to tell him to do it without lube.”

  “You know Gavin might not be sane after three weeks with the Siabhra, right?” Gabby spoke so soft, as if she was afraid to say it but felt she had to.

  “I’m aware there’s a possibility, but I also know Abbott can go into his head and fix him, if necessary. I won’t apologize for my actions. By rights, I could’ve killed him.”

  “It might’ve been kinder to just take his head off.”

  “Possibly, but he’s lived a long time. If he comes after me again, I’ll probably have to end him, but the thoughts of having to do it makes my heart hurt.” I met Horse’s gaze. “Dawg didn’t get any grief from the club about standing by my side at the party, did he?”

  Horse shook his head. “No. Abbott has his panties in a knot, but he’ll get over it. We have a good relationship with the Master of the City — this is just a little speed bump. It’s good for us to remind people we don’t blindly follow anyone.”

  “What he isn’t telling you,” said Gabby, “is that he had to text Dawg to let him know you were okay yesterday.”

  I couldn’t help my smile. “Dawg’s a sweetheart.”

  She laughed. “He’s a player, but he isn’t an asshole about it.”

  Nathan came in, loaded a plate, and sat beside Horse. “Transpo’s been changed. We’ll be in an armored limo. Door to door service, with our four guards in another vehicle behind us. We’ll go straight to the airport after the meeting.”

  I looked at Horse. “Killian can control bears. Are you at risk? You’re like, an uber-bear, right?”

  “We believe he’ll be okay as long as he has physical contact with Gabby,” said Nathan. “We’ve taken him out of the battle plans, but he and Gabby can do a lot with their combined magics, so we have hopes he might be able to follow the connection from the bears to Killian. It’s a long shot, but stranger things have happened.”

  “He won’t have physical contact with Gabby during the meeting.” I’d been told Mordecai and Horse would stand guard outside the door, while our other four guards watched elevator and stairwell ingresses.

  “I’ll be with him,” said Mordecai. “I can block anyone who tries to control him. It isn’t ideal, because he won’t be able to follow the thread back, but at least they won’t be able to take him over.”

  8

  To an outsider, we were just six people walking through the lobby. They didn’t see the planning that led us to one side over the other, or the four guards strategically placed so we’d have advanced warning of an attack.

  The limo was where it was supposed to be, we got in, someone closed the doors, and we stared at each other. Our guards had to climb into the vehicle already parked behind the limo. Moments later, we were moving. I sat between Mordecai and Patrick, Gabby sat between Nathan and Horse. The two seats faced each other, but no one spoke.

  Awkward.

  “Two blocks,” Patrick told us. We’d barely traveled half a block when my necklace jumped and vibrated at the same time Horse stiffened. I saw fog outside the car, so thick I could no longer see the traffic or buildings. Nathan’s eyes went lion and Gabby started to change. Patrick went stiff beside me and was practically vibrating.

  Almost instinctively, I put a bubble around us, in much the same way I’d learned to do when I needed to keep people out of Cora and Lauren’s heads. This was a hundred times harder, and I touched Mordecai’s leg. “Help me.” He gave me more energy, and I managed, but holding it wasn’t easy.

  And then, it was. I breathed in and back out. I had it.

  “The mists can’t cloud our thoughts or take us over in this bubble,” I told them, “but we can’t fight from inside it, either.” I looked around. Gabby was human, Nathan’s eyes were back to human, and Patrick seemed fully in control. Horse’s eyes were closed and he had his arm around Gabby. “Horse, are you okay?”

  He nodded. “It’s going to take a lot to keep them out, even touching Gabby.”

  “Kitten, take him to the woods outside the MC’s clubhouse, and then come to me,” said Mordecai. “I’ll take them to an empty conference room, and we’ll stay there long enough for you to meet us.”

  “I’ll keep Gabby safe,” Nathan promised Horse. “You’re a liability right now. I’m sorry.”

  There’s a small, four square foot area inside the MC’s compound that people can teleport into. If you try to step in anywhere else on their property, you’ll end up in a reinforced concrete bunker under their bike shop, and you won’t be able to step back out. Aaron and Duke had shown me the spot when I was there for a party.

  I unbuckled my seat belt and stood in a bent-over pose, then awkwardly twisted around so my butt was facing the other way, and sat in Horse’s lap. His arms went around me, I held onto him as tightly as possible, stepped us into the nothingness, and then into the edge of the little wooded area in the MC’s compound. He nodded to let me know he was good, and I stepped right back into the nothingness, focused on Mordecai.

  As promised, the group was in an otherwise empty conference room.

  “Are the four guards okay?”

  “They weren’t caught up in the mists,” said Nathan. “Three are out and walking this way, the other will park and take his post. We’re on our own from here to the meeting room.”

  “Same floor,” said Mordecai. “Walk casually. Stay on alert.”

  We made it
to the conference room with no problem, but the men already there didn’t look pleased.

  “We were supposed to be notified when you came through security.”

  I kept my face blank, but I panicked inside. However, I should’ve known Nathan would be ready with an answer.

  “I’m not a fan of security lines. We came in another way.”

  He’d basically just told them that we entered a secure FBI facility without passing through security. I looked down in the hopes no one would see my smile, because I couldn’t keep it off my face.

  No one spoke for at least a minute. Finally, the man at the head of the table offered his hand to Nathan, who shook it.

  The meeting started. Gabby gave her presentation, and then it was my turn to mediate the discussion.

  And the more I heard, the more I wished I could explain supernaturals to them, and gateways to other realms that allowed beings to leave Vegas and show up in Paris a few minutes later. The prevailing theory was that a group of people were using the same MO worldwide in order to confuse law enforcement, so they were trying to come up with groups who could work towards an agenda with serial murders.

  Aaron had given me detailed dossiers of all the meeting participants, so I was a little ahead of the game, but playing referee and keeping everyone on the same page was still a challenge. By the end of the meeting, I felt everyone was working with a little more of a group mentality, but they weren’t even close to where I’d wanted them. These men were all alpha types — you don’t move up to these levels of law enforcement without being a natural leader, plus they’d been trained in how to manipulate people into giving information. I enjoyed the challenge, but I was mentally exhausted when we left.

  “We’ll walk your group out,” one of the men told us when the meeting drew to a close. It seemed they didn’t want us leaving via our shortcut.

  “Of course,” said Nathan. “Kind of you to offer.” He said it with a totally straight face. I admire his ability to be a wall in these kinds of situations, but wanted to beat him about the head when he did it to me. Go figure.