Contracted: Mercenary Shifters (Mercenaries for Hire Book 3) Read online

  My head raced. Moments ago we thought it was the McCullens family who had put the hit out. What if we were barking up the wrong tree? My hands twisted together as I thought.

  “Wait. The bounty said dead or alive, right?”

  Lucas turned to me violently. I could see the anger rising in his eyes as they started to shine with the eerie glow of his bear. The color had me melting only hours ago, but having his anger turned on me, it chilled me to my very bones.

  “Why?”

  “How do you know who to take the bounty to?”

  “I don’t like where your thoughts are going, cher.”

  “It’s the best plan.”

  “No, cher.”

  “You have to pretend that you are trading me in for cash. We don’t know if it is Ward or if it is the McCullens,” I argued.

  “I will not put you in danger!” Lucas roared. The veins in his neck bulged. Breathing hard, he shook his head. He stepped away from me and started to pace in his room, refusing to look at me. I allowed him the quiet time he might need in order to work through his thoughts. It was the only plan. I didn’t know how it would work, but it was the best plan. If Lucas and I attacked a well-known family like the McCullens, we would be sentencing ourselves to very short lives. And I had no doubts that Lucas would eliminate the threat against me.

  I wouldn’t risk him losing his life. If it was Ward, we might be able to fight our way out, but if it was the McCullens, I would allow him to turn me over. My heart sunk at the thought of losing him. In any aspect. No. I would make sure he and my sister lived.

  “It’s the only way, Lucas. We can’t go in guns blazing to both Ward and the McCullens.”

  “I will do whatever it takes to protect you. You’re my mate.”

  “And you’re mine!” I yelled, frustrated. He wasn’t the only one with someone to protect. I had two people I had to watch over now, him and my sister. Protectiveness and love surged up in my heart. There was no way I would ever have either put themselves in danger for me.

  “Mazy …”

  “Look, my animal is all in this. She has been for months, and truth be told, I have been as well. But I can’t have my heart broken by you. I need to know you are in. All the way. No more extra girls. No more one-night stands. No more … I’m selfish. I want you all to myself.”

  “I am all in.” Lucas stepped back to me; his brown eyes flashed with determination.

  Gripping my hips, he pulled me close. My breath whooshed out of my lungs and left me lightheaded in his embrace. For a moment, for this moment, it would be ours. His strong body, that held an even stronger animal inside, pressed against mine. His hard edges, against my soft ones, fit together like a puzzle. My entire body floated on a light, airy feel.

  My eyes were caught staring at a peek of chest I got from the V-neck scrubs he was still wearing. Had this really all started last night?

  It hadn’t.

  Our mating had been a slow burn. A terrible game of desire from afar, longing and determination to stay away, but also remained close. How could I have been so stupid? Our animals had decided, had known for so long. My parents had always told me to trust my instincts. Trust her instincts, my mongoose.

  I tipped my chin up, craning my neck to gaze into the powerful eyes of the male who was really mine. Lucas’s strong jaw was sprinkled with a light five-o’clock shadow. His nostrils flared a little as he breathed in deeply. This close to him, and I still couldn’t get enough of his scent. It drove my animal crazy. Drove me to the edge of unadulterated lust.

  Setting my hands on his chest, I openly appreciated my mate.

  “Mazy …” My name. A plea on his lips.

  I drew my hands upward, gripping his strong shoulders. I kept one in place, the other I curled my fingers in his hair to tug him downwards. He came easily and pressed his lips against mine.

  This kiss felt different than any other we shared before. This was a sweet desperation, a need that we had refused ourselves for so long. His lips were supple against mine, moving sensually. When he added his tongue, I was lost. I pulled myself closer; I needed more. I needed him.

  His hand tightened against my hip, and I felt the strong press of his already hard dick against my stomach. Right now. We could become each other’s right now. His tongue traced the seam of my lips.

  I wanted to be his. Needed.

  I opened my mouth to allow him in. The moment I really tasted him was when it felt all too real. He would be mine forever. But if something happened to me … he would be left alone. If something happened to him, I would be, too. But if I pulled away now, I would never have him.

  He pulled his tongue back, and I moved to follow his sensual dance. My animal burned with desire, her mind completely on making him ours. My mind’s argument of what would happen if something happened to one of us was smothered by my heart’s over flooding love.

  “Mazy …”

  How could I deny him? How could I deny myself? This past week when I was staying here, he was nothing but a gentleman. He never brought home other women. He took care of me. Protected me. I nodded with my eyes shut because for a moment it was all too much.

  His fingers tightened a fraction on my hips before he stepped forward, leading me backwards. I opened my eyes to see the bear was close to the surface. His face was covered in a light shading of scruff. Neither of us had slept.

  “I want you.”

  “You have me,” he whispered against my lips. I shook my head. I think he knew what I meant, but I had to say it out loud. I had to make this real.

  “I want you as my mate.”

  There was no denying what my mongoose knew all those months ago; and there was no denying her. Instant love had brought me to my knees without me even knowing it. Lucas was it for me. There weren’t any other men since I met him, or interest in anyone else.

  “Then you shall have me.” This time, when he dipped his head down and pressed his lips against mine once again, the desperation was fueled by our mutual hunger.

  Lucas led us to the cocoon of pillows and blankets. My heart hammered in my chest. I had been with men before, but with them it was a need, a scratch. With Lucas it would be so much more. He was it for me. And this would be solidifying that. There would be no going back because my mongoose had already fixated on the crook of his neck, how bare it looked without our mark.

  Lucas’s eyes swirled, burning with the bear before he took a step back and allowed the man to rein control for a moment. Lucas brushed his fingertips down my arms as I waited for him. He moved his hands to the edge of my shirt, toying with it, and my breathing deepened. My heart went haywire. The anticipation for him to rip the thing off pumped in my veins.

  “Lucas …”

  “Yes, mon cher?”

  “I want this. You.”

  “And I want you,” he said, never taking his eyes off of mine as he pulled my shirt up. His knuckles brushed against my skin as he bunched my shirt. I lifted my arms as he continued his travel upwards. Once I was free from the shirt, my chest was bare to him. I wasn’t heavily endowed that I always had to wear a bra. Lucas’s gaze dropped, and his eyes darkened with hunger.

  “You’re beautiful, Mazy.”

  I felt my cheeks flame. He didn’t say it to try to get us to this point, he didn’t say it because it felt needed, but because he truly meant it. Taking care of my sister after our parents’ death hadn’t left time for dating. It had been too long since anyone made me feel desired.

  My nipples tightened at his heated gaze, and my legs twitched as my desire grew steadily heavy. Stepping forward, I gave him the same treatment. The back of my hands brushed ever so lightly over his skin as I pulled his shirt over his head. The tattoos that had been so far were close to me now. They were stunning. Stories on his skin in the form of art. For a shifter to get them was extremely painful because the artist had to use a special needle and specific ink. I had briefly looked into it, before the accident, thinking Mallory and I could get matching ta
ttoos for her birthday.

  Lucas allowed me to trace my fingers over the lines of his tattoos quietly until his chest started to press harder and harder against me with his labored breaths.

  “You test my patience, cher.”

  I took a step back and blushed, not ashamed that I did but amazed. He was stunning, yet he saw me in a light I hadn’t seen myself in for years. After devoting everything I had of myself to Mallory, my confidence had faltered.

  Lucas followed and gripped my exposed chest to bring ours together. My nipples rubbed against his lightly dusted chest. My core gripped at nothing. My panties wet, I was beyond ready for him.

  His lips brushed against mine as his fingers worked the button on my pants. He popped them open and pushed down until they fell on their own. I was so caught up in our kiss that I stood in them for a second longer. I brought my hands down and did the same for him.

  He didn’t wear any underwear and his dick popped free, already erect and ready. I had already seen him naked and he saw me. Yet I felt hesitant.

  I needed to be bold.

  Brushing the back of my hand against his cock, I shuddered. Gods, that would feel amazing. I twisted my grip around, cupping his balls before taking the length of him with my hand. My mind couldn’t release the image of my lips around him, bringing him the intense pleasure he had done for me before. Slowly, I moved my lips from his and moved down his body. I pressed kisses from the top of his neck until I sat on my knees in front of him. My body felt hollow, and my core kept waiting to grip him. Instead, I felt myself growing wetter by the second.

  I licked my lips right before I wrapped them around the head of his cock.

  “Fuck …” Lucas’s hips tightened in my hands, and he controlled his need to thrust forward. I smiled and dipped my head lower, taking as much of him as I could. I traced my tongue over the veins I could feel and lightly pressed my teeth until I heard him hiss in a breath. I continued my attention until I was squirming with the same desire. Dipping my hands into my own panties, I touched myself while I continued to suck. I pulled him as deep as I could and dipped a finger into myself.

  “Mazy …”

  I groaned. Gods … I never …

  “Mazy.” I peeked upwards. The bear was there now. Lucas pulled me from my task, shredding my panties with a simple rip at the seams. His eyes focused on the finger that was still inside of me.

  “Mine.” His voice was grating. I pulled out, whimpering at the emptiness. I was getting so close, and I knew he had been, too. He pressed a punishing kiss against my lips, and when he pressed one of his fingers inside of me, I gasped, allowing him. He worked fast and my body began to tighten up again.

  “Lucas … I want …” Oh jeez. My mind was muddled. I didn’t know what I wanted anymore.

  “Yes?”

  “You.”

  “You have me, cher.”

  “All of you.”

  Lucas pulled out and turned me so that I was walking backwards down toward his bedding. My calves hit the edge, and without taking my sights off of him I sat down and scooted backwards. Lucas followed.

  We were quiet as we explored each other’s bodies. He kissed, suckled, and teased my breasts until I was nothing but a panting mess. My legs hooked over his backside, fingers gripping the tattooed shoulders that kept me mesmerized. When we found each other again, he lined himself up.

  He gave me one gaze of unadulterated love before he thrust in. I gasped, my back arching off the bedding. Gods, this … this is what my body had been craving for hours, days, months even. He filled me so completely and in the way that I could hardly think straight.

  Chapter 12

  Lucas

  Mazy knew what she was asking. But as she clamped down on my cock, squeezing me so tightly that all other thoughts fled, I would have acted without thought even if she didn’t know. She knew if we did this, that there would be no stopping our animals. My bear had been ready to claim her on the rooftop, at Winnie’s house where we found them in danger, or even all those months ago when I’d first set eyes on her.

  I thrust in deeper, and she clawed at my back, trying to get closer. My beast roared inside of me demanding to get out. Her neck was tilted to the side. It would be the perfect moment to swoop in and clamp down. Not yet. I had to be patient.

  Mazy was quiet with her noises, but each one indicated to me when I was hitting in the right places. I kept up the restless pace, knowing we wouldn’t have long.

  Her noises became higher pitched, and her inner walls clamped. She was getting closer, and I was ready to burst almost the moment I entered her. Her eyes met mine, her mongoose at the surface, and she dropped her gaze to my neck. Fuck, I felt my spine tighten at the base. This was it. If she bit me, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself.

  She leaned forward, pulling herself up, nose brushing up my neck. Her soft tongue lapped the second before I felt her small canines scrape against my skin.

  “Do it,” I whispered.

  It was all the encouragement she needed, and she bit down, drawing a roar from me. Merde. This. It had been everything, and it still wasn’t done. I twisted my head, pulling at her hold as I felt my canines punch through my gums. Now she would be mine as I was hers.

  My teeth touched fragile skin, and sunk deep. With a final thrust both of my teeth and cock, she was mine. She exploded around me, but her animal refused to release her grip on my neck and mine refused to do the same. Love flooded through me. She was everything ma mere had told me stories about, and more. Mazy was my mate.

  ***

  Fatigue took us both. We fell asleep in each other’s arms, but a sweet sensual touch woke me. Mazy was tracing designs on my arm. We were spooned, my cock already hard for her again, nestled against her back. A quiet beeping interrupted my thoughts of slipping between her wet folds.

  “It’s been doing that for a couple of minutes,” Mazy whispered, rolling over so that she faced me. Her straight lined face with her mussed hair drew me in like a moth to a flame. She was mine, but more importantly, I was hers.

  Mazy’s hand swept over my chest. The feel of her skin against mine made me hunger for more. Once hadn’t been enough, but for the time it would have to do. As soon as we were done with this mess, I wasn’t letting her out of my sight for a month straight. Then we would visit ma mere. She was going to kill me for waiting so long; my ma mere would have wanted to meet Mazy immediately. But I had no doubts that ma mere would love her.

  “Mazy …” I mumbled, very unmotivated to move out of bed.

  “You should answer that.” She pulled away, her voice turning serious as she came back to reality. With her change in tone, I did as well. Mallory was important to Mazy, and she worried more of her sister’s safety than her own. If it was Apollo or the person who put the hit on Mazy, then I needed to get the phone call.

  “Soon, mon cher, we will not be interrupted like this.”

  “I look forward to that,” Mazy said with a sleepy smile, though it didn’t reach her eyes. The worry that filled them had become all consuming. I swung my legs out of the nest I made in the basement. I had never brought another woman down here, and now that Mazy’s scent was everywhere, I was glad for it. This place would always be ours. Never anyone else’s.

  I walked over to the computer.

  Merde.

  “He is ready to collect you within the hour,” I said, looking over my shoulder at Mazy. She pulled the blanket up her body as if to use it as a shield. The fear that had been chased away returned and she dropped her gaze down. When she looked back up at me, the fire that existed in her and in her animal shone through.

  “Then let’s go kill this fucker.”

  My chest puffed with pride at my mate. Strong mate.

  Mazy and I both showered, separately even though I had offered it would be being green to take one. She politely declined, saying that we didn’t have time to fool around and there would be no stopping her if we took the shower together. Or perhaps I said the last part.<
br />
  I gathered her clothes that I had picked up from her apartment and set them in the bathroom with my toiletries. I hadn’t thought it beforehand, but now I was glad for the oversight. It was possessive and egoistical of me, but she would still carry my scent now even after she showered.

  I was sitting on my chair after showering in a different bathroom waiting for her. Mazy couldn’t stop pacing the moment she got back downstairs. The gears were turning up in her head, and while she thought she might have been hiding her worries, I saw them as clearly as a brush stroke on a canvas. She was a beautiful piece of art that couldn’t hide her secrets. She would shoot her worried glance to me, then drop her gaze when she was thinking of something she was ashamed or scared of. Her pace would quicken when she was onto a good plan and slow when it crumbled in her mind.

  “The instructions just say to bring you to the location attached and the time to drop you off. We don’t have much time, cher. My plan will work.”

  My plan was to drop her off, wait for them to come forward, and let the bear free. The small nap she had managed to get in still didn’t give her the boost she needed—the dark circles under her eyes evidence of that. I hated that I couldn’t take care of her the way I should be able to. I should tell her not to worry and that she should get sleep. Mazy wouldn’t want me to say those things, though. She wanted to be done with this as much as I did.

  Draw them out and eliminate the problem.

  “Where’s the meeting place again?”

  “It’s a secluded and abandoned gas station on the edge of the city.”

  She nodded. This man who refused to disclose himself, which wasn’t unusual in this sort of drop, didn’t know what was going to hit him. A drop like this had never bothered me before; rarely did I take one with women involved, though. Money was important to keep my family safe, but ma mere would kill me if she knew how I was supporting her and the children she took in.

  Ma mere took in orphaned shifter children; the human system didn’t work for shifters. I should know, I had been in it for the first decade of my life. Humans wanted to try to be parents to shifter children, but some shifters were born with brawlers, like me. We couldn’t be raised by a normal catalog human family.