Breeds: Stygian's Honour Part 25

CHAPTER 11.

Liza had learned over the years the fine art of the delicate lie as she worked, first with her father in the security division of the headquarters of the Navajo Nation, then as she began training to work with the Breed Underground Network.

Breeds could smell a lie or even the intent to deceive. Learning how to lie just in case it was a Breed one was conversing with had become second nature. But she had never had to learn how to lie about her attraction to a Breed, or her need. And lying about it was suddenly imperative. Otherwise, Stygian would end up with enough power over her to 347/862.

ensure that she was willing to do whatever he asked her to do. Just as she suspected Isa- belle was willing to do whatever Malachi asked of her. Now, she understood, sort of, why her friend would stand so solidly with the man that called her "mate." Especially if he gave her the illusion of respect and a choice.

Not that she discussed her suspicions with Stygian. He would of course deny all of it.

After all, what man, or Breed for that matter, would want to admit that his woman didn't have a choice.

Or did she?

As she showered, dressed and applied her makeup for work the next morning, she had to admit that she didn't feel inclined to give Stygian anything other than s.e.x. And honestly, the need for his touch was becoming so strong, so desperate she really wasn't certain how long she would last before begging for it.

Crying for it.

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Screaming for it.

It was really rather amusing if one looked at it from the right perspective. That was, if the person wasn't the one suffering, then it would have been amusing, she told herself as they rode to the Nation's headquarters that morning.

Yes, she would have been very amused, if it wasn't her burning alive from the inside with the need to feel his touch. His possession.

She was certain she should be traumatized from it, after all, as a virgin, she should have been terrified of so much hunger for something she'd never experienced before.

"I think you should put in a request for a leave of absence as long as this situation in progress," Stygian finally spoke as the black, unmarked Bureau of Breed Affairs SUV pulled up to the front entrance of the Navajo Nation Headquarters.

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"I think you should do your job and let me do mine." She clenched her teeth and cursed herself for the quick, uncensored response.

d.a.m.n, she hadn't wanted to be quite so confrontational.

She hadn't wanted to be, but her body felt miserable. She was too sensitive, her flesh too warm, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s too swollen and her c.l.i.t far too tender.

She was too aroused and too upset and too many other things to even consider dealing with him on a less hostile basis.

Because, of course, it was all his d.a.m.ned fault.

"What did you want me to do, Liza?" He caught her arm before she could open the door. "Take advantage of the situation without giving you a chance to consider where it's going?"

And, of course, he just had to step forward and throw himself full force into that con- frontation didn't he?

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"Because I'm so d.a.m.ned stupid I couldn't possibly have known it was headed straight to one of those nice big beds," she agreed mockingly. "Why, you did the right thing, of course, Stygian. Far be it for you to allow yourself to just be male for a change. To let the situation go and have a little fun. I agree, that would be so very uncalled for."

d.a.m.n it.

Pressing her lips together tightly, she promised herself she was going to keep the smart remarks to thought only.

What the h.e.l.l was wrong with her? She couldn't hold back her need for him, her an- ger with him, or her verbal responses that she'd never had a problem keeping to herself before. For the first time in her life, she really wanted a man. Wanted him so badly that even before he shared that tasty hor- mone and this burning l.u.s.t with her, she'd ached for him. She had wanted him like 351/862.

nothing she had wanted in her life before him.

The knowledge of that was simply terrify- ing, because the reaction to him was so strong, so overwhelming that it felt as though it were coming from someone en- tirely different than the person she knew herself to be.

More than once she had felt the power of it, a surge of possessiveness and l.u.s.t that she could barely contain, mixing with a response so primal as to be more animal than human.

As though the need for him, the "mating" as they called it, made her more Breed than human.

"You're pus.h.i.+ng your limit."

"Oh, I have a limit?" Eyes wide in false in- nocence, she stared back at him as though she had never imagined such a thing. "Why, Stygian, you should have let me know before now."

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"What I should have done was bend you over that f.u.c.king bed and paddled your a.s.s before f.u.c.king you into a better frame of mind," he growled as he released her.

Before she could let loose with a scathing comeback, he was out of the vehicle and striding around the vehicle to her door.

She would have unleashed the heated comments that flashed across her mind if they weren't wiped completely away by the sight of him stalking, in a purely predatory way, his head high, shoulders back, chest as wide as h.e.l.l, as he came along the pa.s.senger side of the vehicle. The sight of his erection bulging in his jeans as the wind whipped the loose cotton s.h.i.+rt close to his body threatened to take her breath.

Her mouth went dry, then began to moisten just as quickly as her p.u.s.s.y began creaming in need of him.

Oh h.e.l.l, oh h.e.l.l, oh h.e.l.l.

Her door was jerked open.

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Stygian's lips parted as though to say something more before his nostrils flared and his eyes seemed to glaze in l.u.s.t for the barest moment.

A muttered curse left his lips as Liza stepped from the vehicle and tossed him a tight, satisfied smile. At least she wasn't the only one left aching with such misery.

She hoped it hurt him.

She hoped his b.a.l.l.s actually ached with the need to come.

"We're definitely going to discuss this later," he warned her as he took her arm and led her through the wide gla.s.s doors of Council headquarters.

"Sure we will," she muttered. "I'm going home tonight. I refuse to be locked in a tiny hotel room with you ever again."

"We'll have a suite tonight," he a.s.sured her. "That room was only temporary."

"Not happening." Jerking her arm from his grip, she turned and flashed her badge at 354/862.

the security guard on duty before Stygian did the same.

"The h.e.l.l it isn't. Haven't you seen yet that your home isn't secure, Liza?"

"I've seen that unless I lock myself in a box I'll never be safe again." She didn't like the surge of fear that raced through her at the knowledge.

"That's not necessarily true," he a.s.sured her as he led her to the bank of elevators.

"Isn't it?" Suddenly, a sense of weariness overshadowed the anger. "Come on, Stygian, you know it's true. Once the Genetics Council targets a victim, they disappear, one way or the other. That, or they've ended up married to a Breed and placed behind the walls of Sanctuary or Haven. They don't have little brick houses with white picket fences-"

"Not true." The elevator opened, empty for a change, and they stepped inside. "There are several couples living in residential America.

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Adapting isn't always necessary, but possible."

She shot him a knowing look.

"Tarek and Lyra Jordan don't count." She sighed. "That residential street has become yet another Breed-designated area with more than three-quarters of the homes taken by Breed couples where one partner or the oth- er is Breed."

His lips tightened.

"Tell me I can go home when all this is over and just adapt a little bit and be safe."

His jaw flexed as his expression darkened.

Liza didn't say more. There was nothing more to say, she had made her point. Her life would never be the same and they both knew it.

They arrived on the third and last floor of the Nation's headquarters with a soft ping of the elevator.

A second later, the doors slid open silently.

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And Liza nearly punched the b.u.t.ton to re- turn to the lobby.

"Liza." Her mother jumped from the settee in the receiving lounge, her expressive blue eyes filled with fear and concern as Stygian led Liza from the elevator.

Almost as though he were aware of her in- clination to run.

Jane Johnson rushed to her, her arms wrapping around her as Liza returned the embrace, her eyes closing for one thankful moment as her mother's warmth and love surrounded her.

"We came home as soon as possible." Her mother held her shoulders as she leaned back, her blue eyes filled with tears as she cupped Liza's cheek, her soft hand trembling as she tucked the side of Liza's hair back over her shoulder.

It was a habit her mother had. She would tuck Liza's hair back as though to be certain she could see her entire face. "Are you okay, 357/862.

baby? Daddy and I were terrified when Jonas Wyatt called last night."

"Mom, I'm fine." She hadn't realized how hurt she had been when Jonas Wyatt had told her that her parents had agreed to stay in New York if the Breeds provided her pro- tection. A part of her had known her parents would come running no matter their trust in her, simply because they loved her. The idea that they weren't coming home had caused a hidden ache to begin building inside her, one she had refused to acknowledge until now.

She hadn't known until this moment how much she had needed her parents.

"That Jonas Wyatt just kept talking right over your father as though he wasn't even speaking," Jane told her irritably, a frown creasing her delicate face. "So he just shut up and let the director talk and agreed to the protection, and whatever else that arrogant man was promising. Then he hung up the phone and we left. Of course, you know I was 358/862.

packing as they spoke." She laughed in de- light as she then slid her arm around her daughter's waist and pulled Liza to her affec- tionately. "As though we'd ever stay away at such a time."

"Thanks, Mom." Liza stopped and let her mother hug her again, feeling a security she'd always depended so heavily on.

Her parents were always there, and their love had always been a.s.sured. Liza realized that the past days' uncertainties had been worse simply because she had known her parents weren't close enough to touch, to run to.

"And here's your father." Jane released her, stopping long enough to give her a lov- ing kiss on her cheek before Liza saw her father moving from Ray Martinez's office.

Tall and broad, at fifty-six her father was still a handsome, powerful man.

A full head of dark blond hair was cut to a short, almost military length, while the hard, 359/862 chiseled features of his face softened at the sight of his daughter.

Liza didn't wait.

She moved quickly across the room to find herself enveloped in her father's strong arms as he bent to receive her.

"Daddy," she whispered, uncertain of what to say as his arms tightened around her.

"I have you, baby." She felt his kiss at her brow, the warmth of his love and concern.

"I'm sorry I wasn't stronger," she whispered against his chest. "I'm sorry I couldn't figure this out before they called you."

She'd never wanted the life she chose to worry her parents, and had prayed she would have the training she needed if she ever came against a situation that would endanger her life.

"Sweetheart," he chastised her gently as he cupped the back of her head and held her to his heart. "It wouldn't matter if you were my 360/862.

daughter, or my son or how strong you were, I'd come running the minute I knew you were in trouble. Don't you know that?"

She had always known it, and that know- ledge had always given her a confidence that had helped her make more than one decision in her life.

"You and Momma didn't have to come back so soon," she said, knowing that the quickly hidden feeling of loss she had felt when Jonas told her they weren't coming would have only built inside her.

"Didn't I?" He pulled back to stare down at her with one of those soft, approving smiles that always filled her with such a sense of ac-complishment. "Sweetheart, a battalion of Coyotes couldn't have kept me away." He kissed her brow again before looking over her shoulder. "I understand I have this young man to thank for your safety?"

"Well, he's not so young," she muttered, flicking a glare over her shoulder. At the last 361/862 second, her father saw the softening of that glare though, the warmth in her gaze and the way her gaze lingered on the Breed that had taken a protective stance just inside the door of the anteroom.

She was in love.

That realization p.r.i.c.ked at his father's heart even as it filled him with pride but also a fury born of fear. Because he couldn't allow it. This man would destroy his daughter's life.

He had read the report on this Breed.

Stygian Black was a powerful enforcer, but he was also one who stood by his word and his own code. He was a man-a Breed-that Audi knew would follow his daughter into any battle she chose and always watch her back, protect her too-delicate body, and guard her too-compa.s.sionate heart.