Chapter 14

 

The soft but insistent knocking woke Kat from her dream. She sat up, pushing her hair from her eyes and staring blearily at the alarm clock. It was just after five on Sunday morning and she had only fallen asleep a couple of hours ago. She had tossed and turned restlessly for hours, hoping Ronin would call and ignoring her urge to text him. She hadn’t spoken to or seen him since Thursday and her cat was driving her crazy with its incessant yowling to go to him. She didn’t know why she had hoped he would call her Saturday night. Mavina was back in town and he was working. That thought had sent fresh anger and jealousy flooding through her and she had given up on sleep entirely and spent a few hours doing more research into Stowe Laboratories. She had finally admitted defeat around three – she hadn’t found a single bit of evidence that they were anything more then they claimed to be – and stumbled to bed. She had fallen asleep but it had been filled with jumbled images of Ronin, naked and in her bed, his raspy voice whispering in her ear as he had pinned her to the bed and pushed his cock into her aching core. She had been so close and –

There was more knocking and she groaned before climbing out of bed and grabbing her robe. She tightened the belt, staggered down the stairs and peered groggily through the peephole. Her eyes widened and her cat made a hiss of alarm as she unlocked the door and yanked it open.

“Ronin! Oh my God!” She stared in terror at him as he pushed past her and shut the door.

“Why are you – fuck – I need to call 9-1-1!” She said in a panic.

“Whoa, wait, kitten!” Ronin grabbed her arm, leaving a bloody handprint on her robe. “I’m perfectly fine. Calm down.”

“Perfectly fine?” Kat stared at him. “You – you’re covered in blood, Ronin.”

Covered was an understatement. The bird shifter was drenched in bright red blood. It coated his hair and skin and his clothes were dripping blood onto the floor.

“It’s not my blood,” he said quickly.

“Whose blood is it?” She asked in alarm.

He grimaced. “Mavina made me go to some vamp rave last night. They sprayed blood from the goddamn ceiling.”

She made a soft sound of disgust and he nodded. “Yeah, it’s pretty gross. Mavina invited me back to her place to shower and clean up but I didn’t think that was such a great idea.”

She couldn’t stop her low hiss of anger and Ronin grinned at her. “I was getting some weird looks from other drivers as I was driving home. Your place was closer than mine and I figured I’d stop and see if I could use your shower before someone called the cops.”

He ran his hand through his hair, more blood splattered to the floor, and he winced. “Sorry, I’m making a mess. I guess it wasn’t such a good idea to – “

“It’s fine,” she interrupted. “Hold on a second.”

She left the hallway and returned with a black garbage bag. “Come on, let’s get you into the shower.”

He followed her up the stairs, cursing under his breath. “I’m getting blood everywhere.”

“It’ll clean up,” she said. She silently thanked God that she had wood floors and not carpet as she led him into her master bathroom.

She helped him ease his shirt over his head and dropped it into the garbage bag as he peeled off his socks and unbuttoned his pants. He shoved them and his briefs down his legs – the blood had soaked through his clothing and his entire body was tinged in red – and she added them to the garbage bag before turning on the shower.

“Sorry to wake you up, kitten,” he said.

“I wasn’t really sleeping,” she replied.

He reached out to touch her face before thinking better of it. “You do look a little tired.”

She gave him a small smile. “I haven’t been sleeping well.”

“Me either,” he said quietly.

There was a moment of awkward silence as the small bathroom filled with steam.

“I should get in the shower.”

“Yes,” she said.

He glanced at her body before clearing his throat. “Maybe you should get in the shower with me. Wash my back for me.”

“I could do that,” she said.

Her hands trembling lightly, she opened her robe and slid it off her shoulders. She was naked beneath it and Ronin inhaled sharply as his eyes roamed over her body.

“The shower, Ronin,” she said a bit unsteadily and he nodded.

She followed him into the shower, grimacing a little when he ducked under the spray and blood poured off of him.

She handed him the shampoo and as he washed his hair, she squirted a generous amount of body wash on to the pouf before washing his back, ass and legs. He rinsed his hair and scrubbed his face clean before turning to face her. She rinsed the pouf, added more body wash and scrubbed his chest and arms until his skin was back to its normal colour. She traced the tattoos on his chest and placed a light kiss on the one that covered his left shoulder. He moaned softly and she hesitated before, using the soap and just her hands, gripping his cock. He was already erect and she rubbed and massaged him lightly before carefully washing his balls. He groaned, leaning back against the shower wall and closing his eyes, as she rinsed him clean.

“All clean,” she said hoarsely.

His eyes popped open. “Maybe I should return the favour.”

She shook her head when he reached for the pouf. “Not with that. That’s going straight in the garbage.”

He smiled a little before lathering his hands with the soap. “Turn around, kitten.”

She turned and rested her hands on the wall, supporting her trembling body as his strong hands kneaded her shoulders before he ran them over her back. He washed her ass, squeezing and stroking it firmly before moving on to her legs.

Her pussy was throbbing and her nipples were hard as glass by the time he tapped her lightly on the back. “Face me, Kat.”

She did what he asked, moaning when his erection rubbed against her wet abdomen, and arching her back when his soapy hands cupped her breasts. He cleaned them carefully, lingering on her nipples and she moaned again as he pinched and pulled them. When his hand slid between her legs, she widened her legs and pressed herself eagerly against his fingers. He didn’t breach her entrance and she hissed at him.

“Let’s rinse off the soap,” he rasped.

He rinsed her quickly and they stood quietly for a moment, staring at each other through the steam.

“Nice and clean,” he said.

She nodded but remained still. “Ronin, I – “

“Kat,” he whispered, and then she was in his arms and he was kissing her and she didn’t care that they were only supposed to be friends. She wanted him desperately and her pussy was dripping wet and aching maddeningly.

“Please,” she said. “I need you.”

“I need you too,” he muttered into her ear.

“Now. Don’t make me wait,” she demanded.

“Whatever you say, kitten.” He lifted her and pressed her against the shower wall as the hot water sprayed over their bodies. She wrapped her legs around his hips and wiggled her hand between them, gripping his cock and guiding it into her.

“God, Kat,” he groaned. “You’re so wet already.”

“I was dreaming about you,” she whispered into his ear. “Dreaming about you in my bed, kissing me, touching me, fucking me.”

He thrust his pelvis against her and the bolt of pleasure made her cry out. “Fuck, yes, just like that.”

They fucked hard and fast, their tongues tangling together as he pumped in and out of her and she nipped his bottom lip before hissing, “Mine.”

“Yours,” he said immediately and she purred happily before reaching between their bodies. She rubbed her clit, her soft meows and purrs of pleasure echoing off the walls as she brought herself to orgasm.

He groaned and pumped furiously. Her wet body slapped against the shower wall and when she sank her claws into his back he climaxed with a loud shout. He groaned again, twitching and shaking against her as her pussy milked the last of his seed from his cock.

“Fuck,” he panted. “Do you have any idea how fucking better my orgasm is when you claw me like that? I seriously had no idea I was into pain during sex.”

She laughed and kissed his throat before wiggling against him. “Put me down. The water’s starting to get cold.”

She shut off the water and they stepped out of the shower. They dried off quickly and walked naked into the bedroom. He cleared his throat. “Well, thanks for letting me use your shower. I’ll talk to you later?”

She scowled at him as she pulled back the covers on the bed. “You don’t have to leave.”

A look of happiness crossed his face before he shook his head. “I should go. You didn’t sleep well last night, and I haven’t slept at all. We both should probably get some rest and – “

“My bed, little bird. Now,” she hissed at him.

A grin broke out on his face and he nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

They curled up in the bed and she purred happily when he put his arm around her and cupped her breast.

“I love your purring,” he whispered into her ear. She squeezed his arm and pressed her ass against his groin.

“Cut that out, kitten,” he said. “We both need some sleep.”

She yawned and rubbed his arm as he pressed a gentle kiss against her neck.

“It scared the hell out of me when I saw you covered in blood,” she said quietly.

He kissed her neck again. “Sorry. I probably should have called first.”

“I thought you were hurt and it made me realize that -”

She stopped before she said something that would really freak him out.

“Made you realize what?” He asked.

“That my pretty little bird may not be quite as tough as he says he is,” she said.

He laughed and nipped her lightly on the throat. “Don’t you worry, kitten. I’m plenty tough.”

It was his turn to yawn and she smiled when he buried his face in the back of her neck. “I’m suddenly very tired.”

“Go to sleep, Ronin,” she whispered.

“Hmm,” he murmured sleepily as his body relaxed against hers.

He’s ours now, forever, her cat growled happily.

She was too tired to argue.

 

* * *

 

Bishop glanced in the rearview mirror. Bren, sitting in the back seat, was talking on his cell phone and paying no attention to them.

He eyed Kat sitting next to him. “So, you dating Ronin now or what?”

She jerked and shook her head quickly. “No, of course not. Why would you think that?”

“Maybe because you reek of his scent?” Bishop sniffed in her direction and Kat flushed.

“He uh, he dropped by my place yesterday because Mavina took him to some kind of rave where they sprayed blood all over everyone. He was getting weird looks from other drivers and my place was closer so he stopped to use my shower.”

“Right,” Bishop said. “So he just used your shower and headed on home, huh?”

“Yes,” she lied.

What had actually happened was a six-hour nap, followed by sex, another three-hour nap, more sex and then a second shower. They had made dinner together, eaten, watched some TV, fucked on the couch, and then Ronin had showered again, dressed and left for work. He had an extra set of clothes in his car and she didn’t know whether to laugh or hiss angrily when she discovered it was because Mavina had a bad habit of slicing his clothes off his body.

A small grin crossed her face as she remembered Ronin’s low laugh at the look on her face. “Don’t worry, Kat. She’s wily and super-fast with those damn nails of hers but I’ve kept her from getting an eyeful or handful of little Ronin.”

“You know you don’t have to hide it if you’re dating Ronin, right?” Bishop said.

“We’re not dating,” she said. “We’re just friends – who have sex.” She dropped her face into her hands.

“So what? It’s no big deal.”

“He’s our employee, Bishop.”

“Mal’s having sex with Willow and she’s our employee.”

“It’s not the same.”

“It is.”

“It isn’t,” she insisted. “It’s different for men. I – I’ve worked hard to get where I am and I don’t want you and Mal thinking differently about me.”

“We don’t,” Bishop said in surprise. “Kat, we asked you to be a partner in the firm because you’re smart and really good at what you do. Dating Ronin doesn’t change any of that.”

“Doesn’t it?” She said softly.

“No,” he replied firmly. “We don’t care what you do in your personal life, Kat. It doesn’t change our opinion of you – personally or when it comes to how well you do your job.”

“You mean that don’t you,” she said.

“Yes. We’d be lost at the firm without you, Kat.”

“Thanks, big guy,” she said as Bren hung up his phone.

“How much longer?” He asked.

“We’re here,” Bishop said as he turned off the main highway. He drove for a few minutes down a winding, tree-lined, road and Kat leaned forward and studied the large grey building as they rounded a final corner.

“God, it looks like a prison,” she said.

The building was surrounded by a ten-foot chain-link fence with barbed wire lining the top of it. Wide metal gates with a small security booth blocked visitors from entering and Kat pulled out her ID as Bishop stopped in front of the gate. He rolled down his window as the security guard stepped out of the booth.

“Can I help you?”

“We’re here to see Clay Haddon,” Kat said as she passed him her identification. He studied it carefully before glancing at Bren in the back seat.

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No, but if you call Mr. Haddon, I’m sure he’ll want to see me,” Kat said.

The guard handed her back her ID before shaking his head. “Sorry, no entry without an appointment.”

“Just call him,” Kat repeated.

The guard shook his head again. “I can’t do that. Come back when you have an appointment.”

Bren rolled down the back window and showed the guard his badge. “I’m afraid we really need to speak with Mr. Haddon.”

The guard studied his badge before shrugging. “Like I said, no appointment, no entry.”

“I need to speak with him regarding an ongoing police investigation,” Bren replied. “He has information that will be helpful to the case. Why don’t you open up that gate and let him know we’re on our way? Impeding a police investigation is a serious offense.”

“Do you have a warrant?” The guard asked.

Bren hesitated and the man smiled at him. “The only way you’re getting past this gate is with a warrant or an appointment. Have a nice day.”

He returned to the booth and shut the door. Bishop sighed loudly. “Well, that was very helpful. Thank you, Detective.”

Kat frowned at him. “He tried, Bishop.”

“Yeah, I know,” Bishop said. He threw the truck into reverse and turned around before driving away.

The security guard watched them leave before picking up the phone. He pressed a few buttons and waited.

“Boss? We’ve got a problem.”

 

* * *

 

“Now what?” Bishop asked as he drove back to the city.

“I don’t know,” Kat admitted. “We can’t – “

Her cell phone rang and she dug it out of her purse before glancing at Bishop and Bren. “It’s Clay Haddon.”

She pressed the answer button and then the speaker button. “Hello, Clay.”

“Hello, Kat. How are you?”

“Very interested in knowing what you’re doing to Sandra Mickelson,” Kat replied. “We were just at the lab but your guard refused us entry.”

“Sorry about that,” Clay said smoothly. “They’re a little overzealous when it comes to security.”

“We’re not far,” Kat said. “We can turn back and meet with you.”

“I’m afraid that’s not going to work,” Clay said. “I’m not at the lab at the moment.”

“Of course you’re not,” Kat said. “Where’s Sandra Mickelson?”

“She’s at our lab. We’re trying to help her, Kat.”

“Are you?”

“Yes,” Clay said. “Our doctors are already working on a vaccine that we hope will help her fight the virus.”

“So it is a virus,” Kat said.

“We think so,” Clay said cautiously. “Kat, I can assure you that we are not harming Sandra Mickelson. We suspected that she had been injured by the porcupine shifter and while I admit that our methods of taking her were a little unorthodox, it was necessary to protect my men. How is your employee, by the way?”

“Considering he was shot with a powerful sedative, he’s fine.”

“Yes, please give him my apologies. I may have panicked a little,” Clay said.

“You don’t seem like the panicking type to me, Clay. We want to see Sandra Mickelson. She’s our client and we need to know that she’s safe.”

“I told you, she’s perfectly safe.”

“Why are you doing this?” Kat asked. “You study shifter’s healing abilities, not try and cure viral mutations.”

Clay cleared his throat. “I wasn’t entirely truthful with you earlier, Kat. The main focus of the lab is to study shifter’s healing abilities but over the last few years, Dr. Stowe has also started studying mutations and viruses in shifters.”

“Why?”

“I’m afraid I can’t say.”

Kat sighed. “What do you think will happen when I go to the media over this? When I accuse Stowe Laboratories of holding a shifter against her will.”

“There’s no need for that, Kat,” Clay said quickly.

“Good, then you’ll meet us at the lab?”

“I’m out of the city at the moment but I’m back Thursday night. I’ll stop by your office Friday morning and we’ll talk, okay? If I can’t convince you that she’s fine, I’ll drive you to the lab myself and show you.”

“Not good enough,” Kat said.

“This is what I’m offering. You can take it or leave it and go to the media,” Clay said. “It’s your call.”

Kat glanced at Bishop who shrugged before nodding.

“Fine. See you Friday morning, Clay.”

She hung up the phone and stared at Bishop and Bren. “Well, that went better than I thought.”

“We need to get into that lab,” Bren said thoughtfully. “If there are mutated shifters running around and it’s their fault, we need to shut the place down before they do something worse.”

“We’ll get into the lab,” Kat said confidently. “I don’t care how Clay spins the story on Friday morning, he’s not convincing me of anything until I see Sandra Mickelson.”

“I’ll meet you at your office on Friday,” Bren said as he checked his phone.

“Probably not a good idea,” Bishop said. “Clay may be willing to let Kat and me into the lab but a detective – not a chance.”

“Bishop’s right,” Kat said when Bren started to protest. “We’ll take a look at the lab and then call you and let you know what we found out.”

Bren frowned. “Something isn’t right about this. You can feel it, can’t you? The two of you going there alone could be very dangerous.”

Bishop nodded. “Yes. But I don’t think we have much choice, Detective.”

 

* * *

 

“What are you doing, Clay?” Saul asked softly as Clay stuck his cell phone in his pocket.

“I can handle it, Saul.”

“Can you? You were supposed to kill that bodyguard, remember? If you had, none of this would be happening. We need to go to Wyatt.”

He started to stand and Clay grabbed him by the front of the shirt and threw him up against the wall. “You keep your fucking mouth shut, Saul. You hear me?”

Saul, his eyes wide with fear, nodded. “Yeah.”

Clay glared at him before releasing him. “Sorry. I’m a little on edge.”

“You can’t bring them here. You know that, right?”

“Yes. Don’t worry, I’ll think of something. Wyatt doesn’t need to know about it. I’ll smooth things over with the shifters and convince them that they don’t need to come to the lab.”

“What’s happening to you? You had very specific orders from Wyatt and since when have you not followed orders? People can’t know about this. It would have been better if you had killed the guy and – “

“That shifter was innocent,” Clay said. “I don’t kill innocent people, Saul.”

Saul gave him a searching look. “Is that it? Or are you just done with killing all together?”

“Maybe I am,” Clay said moodily before vanishing.