The man squirmed, his face turning an ugly shade of puce. “You don’t know who you’re screwing with. You hurt me and you’re a dead man.”
Ice gave a shake of his head, allowing his hood to fall back. “Do I look scared?”
The man gave a choked sound of shock as he caught sight of the glow in Ice’s eyes. As if his ability to lift a grown-ass man off the ground with one hand hadn’t revealed he was more than human.
Idiot.
“Shit,” the man spit out. “You’re one of those animals.”
“Surprise.” A humorless smile stretched Ice’s lips. “Now answer my questions.”
“I just got here an hour ago—”
The man’s words broke off with an agonized gasp as Ice tightened his fingers, cutting off his air.
“Do you think I won’t snap your neck?”
Dropping the gun, the man reached up to clutch at Ice’s wrist, futilely trying to free himself.
“No. Please,” he rasped, genuine fear flashing through his dark eyes. “I’ll tell you.”
Ice eased his grip, but he kept the man dangling off the ground. A little reminder that Ice could crush his throat if he wasn’t happy with the man’s answers.
“Talk,” he commanded.
The human licked his lips. “Ward showed up a few hours ago and demanded I get a plane ready.”
“Who’s Ward?”
“He’s some hotshot in Benson Enterprises.” The man confirmed Ice’s suspicions that this airfield belonged to their enemies. “I’ve heard rumors that he’s the adopted son of the leader.”
“You mean Christopher?”
“Yeah.”
Hmm. The Pantera had hoped that when Stanton Locke had been killed by one of his own cohorts, that the betrayal had seriously injured Christopher’s organization. Like destroying Robin to hurt Batman.
Now it appeared the bastard had more than one “adopted” son.
“Who was with him?” he demanded.
“Three or four dudes. They stayed outside. I think they were his bodyguards.”
“Anyone else?”
The man started to shake his head, only to change his mind when Ice’s fingers tightened. “Wait. There was a woman,” he confessed. “She was unconscious.”
Ice clenched his teeth. It had to be Karen. “Was the woman injured?”
The man hesitated, as if afraid to admit the truth.
“She was bleeding from a cut on her lip,” he slowly said.
Ice gave a low growl, his puma restlessly pacing in frustration. His animal wanted blood for blood. His human half, however, understood the need for information. “Where were they going?”
“I don’t know.” The man screamed as Ice squeezed tight enough to threaten his ability to breathe. “Stop.” He coughed as Ice eased his grip. “Their flight plan listed a small airfield south of St. Louis.”
St. Louis? Ice scowled in confusion. “Is there a Benson laboratory nearby?”
“I don’t know.” His expression was pleading. “I swear I don’t know. I’m just a grunt. They don’t tell me anything.”
Ice believed him. This man didn’t have the brains to be given sensitive intel. With a flick of his hand, Ice sent the idiot sailing across the room.
“If I were you, I’d look for a new job. Benson Enterprises is about to go out of business,” he offered as he turned to leave the hangar.
Cammy was waiting for him beside the Jeep, her stunning eyes shimmering with a violet glow in the sunlight. Ice’s cat purred in appreciation, wanting to lick her ivory skin from head to toe.
His musk spiced the air, bringing a blush to her cheeks, but with the rigid composure of a Hunter, she kept her thoughts trained on her duty.
“Tell me what you found out,” she commanded.
He halted just inches from her lush form, appreciating her skills as a warrior as much as her intoxicating feminine temptation.
“Nothing more than the fact that they were headed to a small airfield south of St. Louis, and that they had an unconscious woman with them,” he said.
She gave a slow nod. “Which means Karen is more than likely a captive and not a mole,” she murmured.
He arched a brow. His clever kitty had clearly realized that Karen’s disappearance might not have been a simple snatch and grab. If the woman had been spying for Benson Enterprises, her ‘kidnapping’ might very well have been a ruse used to get her out of the Wildlands without burning her cover.
But it was doubtful they would have gone to the trouble of knocking her unconscious. They couldn’t have suspected they’d be followed to the airport.
“Yeah, it appears that way.” He shrugged, sharing a glance with Cammy that assured her he intended to stay on guard.
He wasn’t taking anyone’s innocence for granted.
She nodded in silent agreement, rounded the back of the Jeep and climbed back into the passenger seat.
Ice crawled into his own seat behind the steering wheel, glancing toward the female at his side.
He’d known that he lusted after her lush curves, and that his cat was intrigued with her clever mind and loyalty to her pack. Now he had to add another reason to want to claim Cammy as his own.
They worked as a perfect team.
***
It was one of those kinds of dreams.
Cammy released a soft sigh, enjoying the sensual sense of anticipation that shivered through her. She was in a strange room, but she felt perfectly at home as she walked across the soft rug wearing nothing more than a short black robe. It didn’t even bother her to know there was a heated gaze watching her from the shadows.
Hell, she preened with the knowledge that she was driving the male crazy with need.
With a sexy twitch of her backside, she moved to crawl onto the chaise longue that was covered in a crimson satin that felt cool against her skin. With a catlike motion she rubbed her cheek against the smooth fabric, the air scented with a familiar male musk.
Raw heat spread through her.
She’d waited for this moment for so long.
Perhaps her entire life. Now she was anxious to lure the predator from the shadows.
“Do you intend to watch, or are you going to join me?” she murmured in a husky voice.
There was a low, male chuckle. Then, with a magic that could only happen in the world of dreams, a hundred candles flickered to life.
Ice prowled into the golden circle of light. “So you want to play, kitty?”
He was wearing nothing more than a loose pair of faded jeans that rode low on his hips. Her mouth went dry as her cat brushed against her inner skin, aching for the touch of his hand.
He was so gorgeous.
Not pretty like Rage. No. He was too raw. Too savagely male.
But he inflamed her senses in a way she’d never dreamed possible.
Which was no doubt the reason she’d tried so hard to keep him at a distance.
Her attraction to Rage had felt safe. Comfortable. Like a well-worn blanket she could wrap around herself.
Certainly it’d never made her heart race or kept her awake at night.
This need for Ice was increasingly wild, threatening to burn out of control.
Thankfully, there was no reason she couldn’t indulge her innermost fantasies in her dreams.
Right?
As if she’d abruptly lowered some mental barrier, Ice was moving with fluid speed. She shivered as he perched on the edge of the chaise, his hands braced on each side of her shoulders, trapping her in the corner.
Not that she cared. She wanted to be trapped by this male. Sucking in a deep breath, she savored the exotic spice of his musk.
“Cat got your tongue?” he teased.
Her hand reached up to mold the hard planes of his chest. The heat of his skin seared her palm, making her puma purr in delight. “You were the one to claim that fewer words were better.”
A slow, wicked grin curved his lips. “So I did.”
Enough.
<
br /> This was her dream and Cammy was done waiting for what she wanted.
Jerking his head down, she sighed in relief as he claimed her mouth in a fierce kiss. Heat sizzled through her, making her toes curl. Her cat hissed, pressing beneath her skin in wicked pleasure.
She heard him release a low growl as his tongue swept between her lips, thrusting in a slow rhythm that clenched her stomach with an aching need.
Instinctively she arched closer to the hardness of his body. She needed more.
She needed his hard length deep inside her.
“Ice,” she breathed as his lips burned a trail of kisses down the curve of her neck.
“Is this what you want?” he murmured, his fingers skimming down her body to grasp the belt of her robe. With one tug he had it undone and was pulling aside the silky material, and with a blatant possession he was cupping her breasts.
“Yes,” she encouraged, her heart pounding as his thumbs teased her nipples to tight buds.
“How about this?” His lips traced the line of her collarbone, moving down to nuzzle the curve of her breasts.
With a muttered sound of pleasure he lapped at the tip of her nipple. Cammy’s pussy clenched at the rough rasp of his tongue over her sensitive flesh.
Dear Goddess. She was ready to orgasm.
“Please.” Her nails dug into his chest. “I want you.”
“I know, Cammy,” he muttered, abruptly moving until he was off the chaise and kneeling between her legs.
Cammy tried to pull him back, but evading her hands, he was quickly stripping her out of her robe. Okay. She liked where he was going with this.
Shrugging out of the sleeves, she allowed him to tug aside the flimsy material. Then, studying him with half-closed eyes, she groaned in encouragement when his clever fingers traced her naked body with gentle care.
Oh yeah. He obviously knew precisely what he was doing.
Was he this skilled in reality?
She was betting he was. Ice was a male who appreciated being the best.
At all things.
“Christ, you’re beautiful,” he breathed before he was leaning forward to tug one hardened nipple into his mouth.
Cammy’s breath hissed between her clenched teeth. She’d had a variety of sexual fantasies. She might have thought she was destined for Rage, but she liked to imagine a variety of males in her dreams.
But not one of them had ever aroused the savage hunger that was making her squirm beneath his touch.
Who could ever have suspected the badass Ice could be the one to set her on fire?
Her fingers clutched at his hair as she felt the rasp of his whispers against her sensitive flesh.
“I’m glad this is a dream,” she whispered.
“Why?” He moved his lips to her other breast, teasing the hard bud with his teeth before closing his lips over it.
Cammy moaned as he leaned heavily against her, his body pressed to the juncture of her legs. With every movement he brushed against her tender clit, sending jolts of electric excitement through her.
Her hands restlessly moved to stroke over his shoulders, delighting in the feel of his hard, rippling muscles beneath her fingers. He was so solid, so strong.
So real.
“You terrify me.”
“Cammy,” he moaned, lifting his head to bury his lips in the curve of her neck. “I would never hurt you.”
His breath whispered against her skin even as she felt his fingers stroke down the tense plane of her stomach and over the curve of her hip. Cammy shivered, a shocking heat streaking through her.
“No, but you would consume me.”
He chuckled. “Oh yeah, kitty. Awake or asleep, I’m going to consume you.”
She nearly jumped off the sofa as his searching hand at last reached the bare skin of her thighs. Yes, yes, yes. She was on fire. As if her blood had turned to molten lava.
Claiming her lips in a devouring kiss, Ice continued his soft caresses. His fingers stroking higher and higher. And abruptly he found the moist heat of her pussy.
Cammy cried out in delight a second before he was covering her mouth with a deep, possessive kiss. Her cat roared with furious pleasure, the dark hunger threatening to overwhelm her.
She grasped at his arms, her fingers digging into his flesh as she instinctively arched against his invading touch.
With a slow thrust he pressed his finger deeper, using his thumb to rub against her sensitive clit. Pressure was building deep inside her as his finger slid in and out of her. A delicious, aching pressure that was threatening to shatter at any second.
“Ice…please,” she husked. She desperately wanted to feel his hard body covering her as he thrust deep inside.
With a wicked expertise, Ice trailed a path of searing kisses down her neck. He used the tip of his tongue to trace the line of her collarbone. The rhythm of his finger quickened as she moaned. And dipping his head downward, he latched his mouth onto the tip of her breast and sucked with sweet insistence.
Oblivious to everything but the sensations that seared through her, Cammy wrapped her legs about Ice’s waist, her entire body arching. She was hovering on the crest of paradise.
His thumb pressed just right on her clit, and for a heart-stopping minute the world came to a halt. A perfect moment out of time. Then with a magical stroke of his fingers she was hurtled over the edge and a cry of startled bliss was wrenched from her throat.
Oh hell.
That had been glorious.
Still shaking from the force of her climax, Cammy did her best to ignore the persistent sound of her name being whispered in her ear.
Dammit, she was enjoying the moment. Why wouldn’t Ice leave her in peace?
Slowly the fog of pleasure began to fade and Cammy realized it wasn’t her dream Ice whispering in her ear, but a very real Ice.
Wrenching herself awake, she opened her eyes to find that she was snuggled into the passenger seat of the Jeep, with Ice leaning close enough she could feel the brush of his warm breath over her cheeks.
Her face flushed with a sudden heat.
Not embarrassment at being wakened from a sex dream, but by a flare of primal desire. It was as if her erotic fantasies had only intensified her need for a male.
No. Not a male.
For Ice.
Unnerved by the realization, Cammy abruptly straightened in her seat, desperately trying to put space between them.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” she muttered, turning her attention to their surroundings. Anything to avoid his piercing blue gaze.
“You didn’t miss anything,” he murmured, his voice oddly husky as he reached to tuck a loose curl behind her ear.
She refused to glance in his direction. There was already the risk he could catch the scent of her arousal. She didn’t want him to see the heat of her cat in her eyes. “I could have helped to drive.”
Turning off the engine, he shoved open his door. “Do you think I’m a male who ever rides in the passenger seat?”
Her tension dissipated as he deliberately lightened the mood, clearly aware of her unease and hoping to make her comfortable. The knowledge allowed her to turn and send him a teasing smirk.
“See, I told you…an arrogant ass.”
He laughed, climbing out of the Jeep and waiting for her to grab her backpack and join him at the front of the vehicle.
“I need to stretch my legs,” he said. “And if I don’t get something hot in my stomach I’m going to pass out.”
On cue, Cammy’s stomach rumbled with hunger. While she’d been sleeping, the entire day had passed. Now she realized she was starving.
“Where are we?” she demanded, glancing around the dense woodlands that surrounded a large, rustic cabin with a sloped roof and wraparound porch.
He waved a hand toward the trees. “We’re in the middle of a wildlife refuge in southern Missouri.” Placing a hand on her lower back, he urged her up the narrow pathway. “The cabin belongs to Beli
se. I called her to see if we could use it to rest for an hour or two.”
The name sent an odd stab of annoyance through Cammy. Which was ridiculous. She barely knew the female Diplomat. Well, she knew that she was beautiful. And sophisticated. And that most of the males were making idiots of themselves to attract her attention whenever she spent time in the Wildlands.
Did that include Ice?
Climbing onto the porch, she stepped to the side, dislodging his lingering hand. Ice sent her a puzzled glance, then turned his attention to the electronic pad where he punched in the private code.
The door swung open and Cammy stepped inside, her eyes widening at the sight of the elegant furnishings and the priceless antique ornaments displayed in glass cases.
“Wow,” she breathed.
“Yeah,” Ice agreed, stepping in behind her. “My cousin enjoys the finer things in life. She was based in Paris before returning stateside.”
Cammy blinked in surprise. “Cousin?”
He brushed a hand down her back. “You didn’t know?”
She shook her head, and with a smug chuckle that should’ve pissed her off, he moved toward the door leading into the kitchen.
“I’m not sure I know anything about you beyond the fact you traveled with your parents, and that Parish considers you to be one of his most trusted Hunters.”
His fingers cupped her hip, subtly drawing her closer to his hard body as they came to a halt in the center of the tiled floor.
“I assumed you weren’t interested,” he murmured, his brooding gaze sweeping over her face. “Has that changed?”
Cammy shivered, sensing that something had changed.
She just didn’t know what the hell it was.
“I…” Her words trailed away as she bit her lip.
Thankfully he sensed her distress, and with a wry smile he urged her toward the nearby breakfast bar.
“Belise promised the freezer was fully stocked,” he said. “Have a seat at the table and I’ll cook us a couple of steaks.”
He cooked?
With a sigh, Cammy took her seat and watched as the luscious male moved around the kitchen with a competent ease. She was in trouble.
Big, big trouble.
CHAPTER 4