Freelance: Mercenary Shifters (Mercenaries For Hire Book 1) Read online

  Wanted someone killed? Done. I don’t give a fuck who they are, what they’ve done, or anything else. Wanted someone kidnapped and delivered? Done. Wanted someone tortured? Done. No limits. No questions. I get the job done, effectively and quietly. Nothing goes wrong. Nothing can, when you’re as good as I am.

  This girl I was supposed to be going after was a daughter of someone powerful. My assumption, since she was human, was she had to be the daughter of someone on the council from the human side. I was supposed to extract her and hold her for a couple days while I waited for them to contact me again. It wasn’t my usual M.O. But it was what the client wanted, so it was what they were going to get.

  A drunken girl stumbled on too-high heels into her friend, knocking both into my path. I groaned.

  Although I was on the job, this annoyance only served to remind me what my mark would be like. It was one thing taking a sober, aware person. A drunken idiot, on the other hand, was not as easy. They didn’t get scared like they should, and they were fucking loud.

  I exhaled through my nose, letting it out as I bypassed the drunken pair.

  What I wouldn’t give to just take a fucking break and go for a fly. I missed the skies, I missed the freedom. After this mark, I would take a break from work, take a break from life. Not that I had much of a life. I thought again about the scent that set my blood on fire. Was I getting restless? Was that what this feeling was? I hoped not. The last thing I needed was a mate who would rely on me. I haven’t had anyone rely on me in a very, very long time. I liked it better that way.

  I shook my head. I needed to keep my damn mind on the job at hand. Never been so fucking distracted my whole life. Ridiculous. A tantalizing scent and I get my head in the clouds thinking about a mate? Fuck, no.

  I needed this. I wanted to keep this job. The thrill of it. The excitement. I did it because I was good at it. I didn’t think about the people I killed, about the people I tortured. These were paid jobs. I wouldn’t allow personal feelings to interfere with a little wet-work.

  I turned the last corner. The building was run-down outside, with an old industrial feel. A fucking disguise for what really lay inside.

  Club Lucky’s.

  This club was where my mark liked to go the most. Thanks to her picture, I knew what she looked like. When I was here the night before, I caught a whiff of that … never mind. I hadn’t seen her the night before. I hoped like hell I would find her tonight. This was supposed to be an easy job.

  Grab, hold, and hand off.

  I was due to hand her off in three days. Apparently the girl lived with a friend in an apartment uptown. My client most likely wanted to give the parents enough time to freak the fuck out before they made demands. I didn’t care. They had only told me to keep the heat off them for a couple days. I’d hand her off when they gave me a call. Now I just had to find the girl.

  As I slipped into the club, the bouncer gave me a once over before turning his head. One shifter to another. Neither he nor I got close enough to scent what each other was. Frankly, I doubted either of us cared. Things were rough enough for our kind.

  The club was still alive even though it was near closing time. The dance floor was crowded with drunken girls, and their slightly less drunk male equivalents. I watched as some of the men tried to get a dance from a girl or two but always turned away rejected. I guess some of the women here hadn’t lost all their sense. The designated drivers were easy to pick out, and from the annoyed expressions on their faces, they were ready to leave. More than one drunk male made a sloppy, unsuccessful attempt at flirting with them. I had to move quickly; if she had come with friends and her DD decided it was time to go, I would lose my chance.

  I slipped into the grinding crowd. Personally, I didn’t care for all the bodies pressed against mine. I wasn’t one for it. I liked a good fuck just like any other hot-blooded male, but this was uncomfortable. I hated being so enclosed.

  I glanced down at the woman in the picture again.

  A spritely little blonde, with dark brown eyes and a quirky smile. Yeah, she’ll be easy enough to spot in this crowd, I thought with sarcasm. I looked over the platinum blondes, sifted through the scents of dyed hair in the way only a shifter’s nose can. There were more naturals in this club than I had expected.

  Then it hit me.

  Fuck.

  There went my dick again.

  I rolled my shoulders. My restless wings tingled, wanting to assert their presence. Shit, I was in trouble. She was here, again.

  What the hell is my mate doing in a place like this two nights in a row? Maybe she works here? All I knew was I needed to keep the hell away from her until I found my mark. If I laid eyes on my mate, I would be a goner. I would steal her away and take her for myself. I was a selfish bastard like that. And I didn’t think I would ever let another male look at her again. Let alone touch her.

  I straightened my back. No time for this. Right now I needed to find this little blonde and get the hell out of here. I think my original plan was going straight to hell. I wanted to seduce my mark and take her back to my place. If I got a fuck out of her—consensual of course, I wasn’t a complete bastard—so be it. Now I couldn’t even think of a good pickup line. Of course my go-to lines weren’t the best. Usually it went something along the lines of “Hey, wanna fuck?”

  What can I say? I’m a direct guy. I never play around, and I know exactly what I want. And I go for it. I’m not looking for long term, and the girls I went after weren’t either. There’s nothing wrong with finding pleasure in another’s body for a night or two.

  A trail of blonde hair drew me out of my thoughts. I followed the line to her face. It was her all right. A subtle shift inside of me clicked into place, my mind solidifying what my eager body and animal already knew. That scent. A sweet mixture of cinnamon and sultry pinecones. It was her.

  Fuck, of course it was her. Resolution settled on my shoulders.

  Game fucking on.

  Chapter 4

  Eden

  For the second time this week—two days in a row, in fact—I found myself at Lucky’s. I didn’t like to club, but Bonnie loved it. She also loved to get drunk off her ass and go home with random guys. Well, I’d quickly put a stop to that last night. I told Bonnie if she wanted to go out, fine, no big deal, but she needed to make sure she took a DD with her. And I had been awarded with that title.

  I hadn’t minded at first, but now I was done … so done. I headed to the bar and ordered a whiskey sour. One small, tiny drink wouldn’t kill me. It was almost closing time, and I deserved a drink after putting on heels I hated and a dress I loathed even more, all for my friend.

  I was too loyal. I shifted my weight and realized that doing so made my butt pop, further exciting unwanted male attention. But my left ankle hurt. I had twisted it the night before trying to get Bonnie to leave here at a reasonable hour. I hoped she grew out of this phase soon. As my eyes flitted over the crowd, I wondered why I’d never grown into this phase. It seemed like I had gone from surly teenager to adult in seconds flat. I enjoyed staying home with a good book. The adventures in those were enough for me.

  Sighing, I took another sip of my drink. Maybe one night I would get someone else to be the designated driver and I would be out there with Bonnie and get so drunk I wouldn’t remember a thing. Maybe I’d even find a guy. I could use a one-night stand, to be honest. I was lonely—it had been a long time since I’d broken things off with Brady, my boyfriend of two years.

  “Would you like to dance?” a darker than night voice asked behind me.

  I felt a blush steal over my cheeks. A voice like that could melt panties. And gods help the girl he was speaking to. Obviously, she was doing something right to attract the sexiest sounding guy in this place.

  Oh sure, I had plenty of guys approach me, but none of them sober enough to remember my name. Nor would they respect that I had standards. I wasn’t one to be groped in public. My ass and breasts were off limits in publi
c places.

  I had to know who the voice belonged to. Twisting around, I found a man gazing at me.

  My eyes collided with bright jeweled blue chips. Oh, he was hotter than Hades. I wanted to start fanning myself, to be perfectly honest. Dark hair that matched his dark voice, a strong, proud jaw, and killer lips. There was an arrogant hook to his eyebrows, and a sinful promise to his voice. He was like the poster boy for bad boys, but damn if I didn’t find myself twitching my legs to relieve some of the tension that had built up.

  What the hell? I never reacted so quickly to man before.

  Oh, my, he was giving me that look! He was speaking to me! This had to be some sort of mistake. When I didn’t answer immediately, he raised one eyebrow. My mouth was dry. I should speak. Say something. Don’t just stare.

  “Did I stutter?”

  I made a sound of disgust and disbelief in the back of my throat. Ooh, there it was. He was an asshole. My chest deflated at the realization. I didn’t do assholes … even if he was built like a god, and tasty as sin. Too bad, but he was nice to look at for even a few seconds.

  “You didn’t stutter, big boy. I just didn’t answer.”

  I didn’t like the predatory smile spreading across his lips. Too many teeth were showing, and his canines looked deadly long in the club light. Something akin to desire and dread twisted and knotted in my belly. This was foolish. I wasn’t bringing this jerkarous home with me. He took a step closer to me and my back was pressed against the lip of the bar, his big, big body crowding me in the most delicious way.

  “I will take that as a yes, then. Must have been rendered speechless.”

  He brought his hand up, tracing my bare arm, leaving trails of heat behind. His fingers brushed against mine until he hooked them into his hand. The grip was oddly gentle where I was expecting it to be tight. Yet it was also domineering. I snorted very unladylike, but he also hit it almost right on the dot.

  “You didn’t render me speechless. You made me throw up in my mouth. I was just trying to be a lady and choke it back down.”

  He never lost that shit-eating grin as he tugged me closer. I kept my eyes shifted in his direction the whole time, unable to look away. When he slipped his head next to mine, I shivered.

  His tongue touched my ear. “I can think of one thing in particular I’d like you to choke on.”

  What did my body even want at the moment?

  Torn between being turned on and completely offended, I jerked back from his hold and slapped him so hard that his face jerked back from the impact. The people who’d stood beside me at the bar started to slowly back away. My heart pounded in my chest, but it wasn’t out of fear. No … it was something else.

  My hand still stung with the force of my slap on his thick head. Slowly, he turned to face me again. A light red imprint of my tiny hand stood out like a brand on his lightly whiskered cheek.

  Cold blue eyes settled on me. Shouldn’t I be terrified right now? Instead, only tepid anger and an ever awaking desire flushed through me.

  “I will cut off your dick if you ever speak to me like that again,” I snapped, uncaring that I had hit him. He could take it.

  A slow smile curved his lips, making my insides burn a little hotter.

  My chest heaved with my ragged breathing. Why was I so angry? Why was I acting on it? I never did stuff like this. Why was I even still here? I should have stalked off by now. Actually, that was exactly what I needed to do. With a parting narrowed eye glare, I stalked away from him searching for Bonnie. It was time to go. Like now.

  Even as I walked away, my mind was still caught on what had happened. My goodness, I’d implied I would be speaking to him again! Why had I said that? Furthermore, why did the prospect of talking to him again get me all tingly inside again? I tucked my chin close to my shoulder; I could just sneak a peek to see if he was still there. Watching me walk away. A shiver of anticipation skated down my spine. No! I defiantly stared forward, searching for Bonnie.

  Maybe being alone since Brady had effected more than I thought. Eventually I would need to find some relief, but not tonight. Not with him. Not when my cheek still burned with a fierce blush.

  It didn’t take too long to find my raven-haired friend. She was wrapped around some frat boy. I rolled my eyes. She was twenty-four and still going after college boys. We had graduated and I thought she had been over this phase. I found them annoying. I did when we were in college, and if possible, I found them even more obnoxious now.

  I attempted to take a step forward, but an arm banded around my waist, gently tugging me backwards.

  “If you wanted to meet on the dance floor, you just had to say so,” the familiar sexy voice said. His soft lips brushed against the shell of my ear and I melted into him. My eyelids fluttered shut for a moment as his warmth seeped into me. I felt tiny compared his enormous size. And I was five feet, seven inches. Nothing to mess around with, especially in the three inch heels that Bonnie had wrangled me into wearing.

  Sensing my resistance slipping, he pulled his arm back and captured a hip in one huge hand. I covered it with my own; his hands were a little dry, rough. Sexy. The music hummed through the floors, up into our bodies. A hazy fog clouded my mind. His body swayed gently with mine, his hand leading my hip in a slow rhythm, so different from the blood-rushing pounding music that surrounded us. He was making the quick beat into something sensual.

  My mouth was dry, and for a moment I indulged because … well, even with a mouth that needed to be cleaned out with probably ten bars of soap, he was making my body hum.

  “Sorry to disappoint, but that wasn’t an invitation.”

  I broke away from his seductive hold and felt my lusty little mind clear a little once I took my hand away from his. Bonnie wasn’t far from me; once I snagged her, she and I could get the hell out of dodge. Refusing to get caught in those dangerous blue eyes, I took a step forward away from him.

  This time both his hands gripped my hips, his fingers pressing deep into my fragile skin. He held with enough force to keep me in place, but not enough to really bite with pain … yet. The fear I should have felt earlier started to creep up on me now.

  “Now, now, Eden,” his voice was gruff, “you don’t want me to hurt your friend, do you?”

  His lips were at my ear again. His breath was warm with hints of mint.

  I went stiff in his hold. Any lingering feelings of desire washed away with a settling of fear. For myself, but mostly for Bonnie. She would fight to protect me, it was part of her job and she cared about me. Still, whoever hired this man had to be an enemy of my father’s. Maybe all shifters and I happened to be the lucky target? My father was well-respected on the council; it made sense to target the weak link. But the predatory smile he gave me, the build of his body, everything about him to me screamed that there was animal buried under the human façade.

  I tried to calm my racing heart, but it didn’t do any good. I had been lucky in the time I spent away from the compound—the couple years in college, no incidents. When we moved into the city, there were protestors; we had been spat at, threatened but nothing had ever been acted upon. This is what my father had been trying to protect me from.

  Bonnie’s eyes met my own. They were no longer glazed over with lust, but shone with worry. Alert.

  “How do you know who we are?” I whispered. My blood had run cold. I could feel my heart trying to race out of my chest. His nose pressed against my exposed shoulder and ran up my neck. I wanted to be disgusted by the movement, wanted to say the shiver I felt run up my spine was due to fear. It wasn’t though. And the urge to lean back was intense but avoidable.

  “Doesn’t really matter, does it?” he replied.

  “It matters to me.”

  Bonnie untangled herself from her date and was moving toward us. His grip tightened and his nails dug into my skin. My eyes went wide. His grip was dangerous.

  Little gusts of his laughter puffed at my hair.

  “It’s not my firs
t day on the job, little girl. Call off your friend or I will kill her.”

  Meeting Bonnie’s eyes, I shook my head ever so slightly. I didn’t know what else to do. I was scared to call too much attention to us. I didn’t want him to do anything too rash. I also didn’t want her to get hurt. I would guess that he was some type of shifter and this wasn’t an accidental meeting. Someone was looking for a way to get at my father. Through me.

  Dad would be pleased as punch, too, when he found out about this. I wanted to groan. Right now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that though. I had to find a way out of this current mess.

  “Just let me go. I can pay you at least double whatever you were offered.”

  I was getting desperate. I couldn’t afford to pay him, but I didn’t think my dad would be letting me out of his hands after this. Back to my sheltered life where the only prospects of adventure, again, would be inside of my books.

  “That isn’t how this works, doll.”

  As we spoke, the music thrummed and the crowd pulsed. The song was about to end and shift to a new one. In a stroke of luck, I knew the DJ. I knew the remix. And knew there was going to be a deafening finish. It might be my only shot. Twisting in my captor’s grip to face him, I gazed at him from under my lashes and let them flutter a little.

  “I could offer you so much more.” The desire in my voice wasn’t entirely fake. The strong muscles that bunched under my touch helped my acting skills immensely. I slunk closer, feeling the firm ridges of muscle beneath the fabric of his shirt.

  Lust lit his eyes, and a smooth smile graced his lips, exposing sharp canines and pearly whites. His grip on my hips loosened as he dragged his hands upwards to the side of my torso. One hand touched the underside of my breast. Even through the fabric of my dress, his heat penetrated and the sensation muddled my mind for a moment.

  Wasn’t I doing something?

  Oh … right. I blinked, surprised I had lost my train of thought so quickly, but enticed him with a slow smile as I rotated my hips against him. The evidence of his arousal, which had been pressing into my back, now fit snuggly against my tummy.