Forbidden Claim Read online

  “But what if Bram did something to the baby?” Isabelle put her hand over her lower abdomen, as if she were already with child.

  “Shit, that’s a good point,” Zane said. He put his arm around his new mate. “But, if you do get pregnant, we will have eliminated Bram as a threat by the time you have the baby.”

  Isabelle put her head on his shoulder. “I can’t believe we’re actually talking about having a baby. All I wanted to do was break up with the guy.”

  Her words were low and quiet, but Zane still heard them, and he couldn’t help but feel a little punch to the gut. He knew she hadn’t asked for this, but it still hurt.

  Quentin knew he was supposed to be paying attention to what was going on with the Isabelle and Bram situation, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off Hunter.

  The minute the big vampire, Ram, had walked into the house, Hunter’s eyes had lit up.

  The jealousy running through Quentin’s veins was inconvenient as hell. He was supposed to be working. And there was nothing he could do about how he felt.

  What he really wanted to do was march over to the two males, push Hunter up against the wall, and take his mouth. Let everyone in the room, not just Ram, know that Hunter belonged to him. Then, he would drag the vampire upstairs and push him down on the bed and show him how he made love.

  Fuck. Now, he was sporting a throbbing erection in a room full of shifters and vampires.

  Quentin looked around before he turned to face the wall for a second to adjust himself. He hoped that nobody noticed because Damien, Vance, Isabelle, and Zane were still talking.

  But, when he turned back around, Hunter was staring at his crotch.

  Quentin almost crossed his arms in front of himself to cover up Hunter’s effect on him, but at the last second, he changed his mind and scratched his leg instead. Right before he pulled his hand away, he ran his thumb down the outside of his length.

  That’s right, Hunter; look at what you do to me.

  Quentin pretended that he was paying attention to the main conversation in the room, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hunter. Quentin was practically holding his breath to see what the vampire would do.

  Hunter narrowed his eyes and then looked at Ram and said something. Ram leaned his head down closer to Hunter and smiled.

  Quentin told himself to look away because, if Hunter left the room with Ram, he might do something he would regret.

  All the other sentinels knew that he was gay. After Damien had taken over as their alpha, he’d felt comfortable with coming out. Turned out, most of them had suspected anyway. But they didn’t know Hunter was gay. Hunter barely knew he was gay. He was so far in the closet; he couldn’t even see the door.

  And, as much as Quentin hated that Hunter had broken it off with him, he would never reveal Hunter’s secret. And, right now, he might just go after Hunter if he left with another male.

  But Ram nodded toward one of the cat-shifters and shrugged.

  It was soon apparent that the two vampires weren’t conspiring to leave the room together or anything like that. When Dante walked over and joined their conversation, Quentin was sure of it.

  That was when Quentin knew he was in over his head. He had never felt unjustified jealousy over someone. He rarely ever felt justified jealousy. He had dated a guy a few years back who spoke to his ex all the time. Everyone had told Quentin that he should be worried, but he’d shrugged it off.

  It’d ended up that his friends were right, but the point was, he had never been jealous of his boyfriend’s ex, even when he obviously should have been.

  But, now, he was jealous that Hunter was just talking to his fellow Guardian. Someone who obviously liked the opposite sex by the looks he’d been giving the blonde cat-shifter and that she had been giving him in return. Not to mention that Hunter had told him that none of the other Guardians knew about him.

  Quentin shook his head and searched for the nearest wolf-shifter sentinel. Chase and Ranulf were leaning against the wall, looking bored, and Quentin headed in their direction.

  “Hey,” he said when he reached both of them.

  Chase picked up his dark head. “Hey.”

  Ranulf nodded in greeting.

  “I’m going to head out.”

  Chase narrowed his citrine eyes in concern while Ranulf just tilted his head, as if he was studying Quentin.

  “I forgot I had a department meeting.”

  Understanding dawned on Chase’s face. “Oh. Yeah, go. I’ll tell Damien you had to go to work for a little while.”

  Quentin smiled his appreciation. “Thanks.”

  Chase resumed his bored posture. Ranulf had never lost his. Quentin went to the front door. It took everything in him not to turn around and look. It was a good thing he had some solid willpower.

  After the awkward mating in front of everyone and returning to the bunkhouse from the wolf-shifters’ home, Tegan kicked off her shoes and grabbed something comfortable to wear.

  She’d worked most of the night, so she was going to try to get some sleep while things were calm and quiet in the shifter world.

  Her ears perked up as she heard the heavy tread of Ram’s boots coming down the hall. She fully expected him to walk past without saying a word to her, but the footsteps stopped, and a throat cleared behind her.

  Tegan turned. “Yes?”

  Ram had an arm braced on the doorjamb and one leg crossed over the other. He looked behind himself, presumably to make sure the hall was clear, and then looked back at her. “So, are we going to do this?”

  “Do what exactly?”

  “Fuck.”

  She wasn’t surprised he had approached her, but she was a little surprised that he had been so blunt about it. Some females might be offended by his candor and lack of romance but not Tegan. She didn’t need romance from Ram. She wasn’t looking to start a relationship with him. She just wanted to have sex with him.

  “Sure,” she told him. She tilted her head in his direction. “Shut the door,” she said and pulled her shirt over her head. Her white-blonde hair landed in her face, and she quickly pushed it away to watch Ram pull his own T-shirt off over his head as he stalked toward her.

  When he reached her, he put a finger under her bra strap and rubbed his digit up and down a few times. “Nice bra. But I think it has to go.”

  She grabbed on to the waistband of his jeans. “So do these.”

  Ram stepped back and grinned. “Ladies first.”

  If he was expecting her to be shy, he got the wrong girl. Tegan took off her bra and then pushed her underwear and pants down in one swoop. She kicked them off her legs and put a hand on her hip. “Your turn, stud.”

  Ram laughed, and soon, their outfits matched.

  Tegan reached out to grab Ram’s huge cock. She should have known, with his size, that he’d be packing something like this in his pants.

  “I want you to feed from me,” she said.

  He opened his mouth and thumbed a fang. “Whatever the lady wants.”

  She smiled at him. This should be fun.

  It had been okay. But a little disappointing.

  Tegan grabbed a handful of soap and scrubbed away any remains of Ram from between her legs.

  She felt bad for thinking the sex had been just okay, but it definitely hadn’t made her world tilt or made her want to mate with the male. She didn’t even want to sleep with him again. Whatever Phoenix had with Dante, Tegan had not experienced it with Ram.

  Sure, he had a big dick, and he did know how to use it. A fumbling idiot he was not. But there was just something…missing.

  And, when he’d fed from her, she hadn’t really liked it. It hadn’t hurt or anything, but it had almost annoyed her. She’d just wanted him to stop. It was only because she had plenty of experience in the bedroom—with a partner and on her own—that she knew her body well enough to get off. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d worked that hard for an orgasm.

  Part of her thought she
had done it more for him than for herself. She hadn’t wanted to hurt Ram’s pride.

  She winced as she scrubbed her body for the third time. She felt a little coldhearted. Thankfully, it had been obvious Ram didn’t want a relationship from her either, and hopefully, they could pretend like it had never happened.

  Tegan shut off the water and grabbed her towel. After drying off, she put on her sweatpants and T-shirt and combed out her hair. She wiped off the condensation from the mirror and inspected her neck. Two small wounds were quite noticeable, but her shirt covered them up.

  She looked at her face. Her brown eyes looked the same, except her blonde eyelashes were matted together from the shower. Other than that, she appeared normal, which was a relief. She didn’t look like she’d just had okay sex.

  She lifted her arm and sniffed. She smelled like the body wash she usually used, but it didn’t comfort her. She didn’t know why she didn’t want Ram’s smell on her, only that she didn’t.

  She actually felt bad because he was a nice guy. They could probably be friends. And they probably would be if he was with the cats long enough and as long as they put the sex behind them.

  Judging by how quickly Ram had left her room once they were done, it would be easy for him, too. He hadn’t run out of there, but he hadn’t stuck around either.

  Tegan grabbed her dirty clothes and took them to her room to put in her hamper. She had planned to lie down, but she didn’t want to be in her bed. She went back out to the hall and went down two rooms.

  The door was slightly ajar, so she knocked.

  “Come in,” Reid said.

  Tegan slipped through the half-open door and shut it behind her. Reid was sitting at the huge computer setup that took up half of his room.

  He turned when she shut the door, and even though she’d just had sex, she felt a slight pull between her legs.

  Reid was sitting in his computer chair without a shirt, without socks, and his jeans were unbuttoned, and it was apparent he wasn’t wearing boxers or briefs. His chest was tan and sported very little hair for a shifter. His abdomen showed off his eight-pack. When he’d gotten an eight-pack, she didn’t know. She really needed to pay more attention. And the treasure trail going from his abdomen to inside his open pants was very tempting.

  “Hey, what’s up?”

  Tegan shook her head to clear her wandering mind. “Do you care if I lie in your bed for a while?”

  He shrugged. “Sure.”

  That was just like Reid. He hadn’t asked her why. He hadn’t thought she was weird to ask to sleep in a friend’s bed. He just let her do it.

  That was one of the reasons she loved him. Like a friend, of course.

  Tegan climbed into his queen-size bed and buried herself under his covers. She inhaled his woodsy smell and cuddled up with his pillow. Hopefully, by the time she woke up, she’d smell like Reid.

  She fell asleep to the sound of his keyboard clacking, feeling safe and content.

  Sometime later, she heard Reid curse. She opened her eyes to see him shake out his hand and stick his thumb in his mouth. She would have laughed, but she was only half-awake.

  As she closed her eyes, she heard the sound of clothes moving, and then Reid slid into bed beside her.

  “Do you want me to leave?” she asked him. She didn’t want to encroach on his space.

  He lay on his back. “No.” He turned his head and looked at her. “I know you need something. You’re more than welcome to stay here. I just hope you find it.”

  Tegan smiled at him. “I think I already have.”

  He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Good. Now, I’d better get some sleep in case Vance needs me to work on something soon.” He yawned and shifted. His leg touched hers. “Sorry,” he said and rolled over, putting his back to her.

  “Can I ask you a question, Reid?”

  “You already did.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Okay, another one then.”

  “Shoot.”

  “Are you naked?”

  “As the day I was born,” he said as he yawned again.

  “Okay.”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “Just curious, I guess.”

  “I’d ask more about this curiosity, but I’m tired.”

  Tegan smiled and rolled to face away from him. She wasn’t sure why she’d asked. Maybe it was to see how much he trusted her. Maybe she’d asked to see if he would answer. Or maybe she’d asked, hoping his answer would be yes, to see what her response would be.

  It was kind of crazy though. He was her friend. She’d just had sex with another male. She didn’t understand why she was thinking about Reid in a different way than how she’d known him for years.

  Maybe her early morning sexcapade had shifted something in her. Maybe she had reached a point where she couldn’t do one-night stands or casual sex anymore.

  She was in her early thirties. Hardly a teenager anymore. Maybe she was just getting older.

  She grimaced. She hoped not. She had a lot of years left to live. Hopefully, a lot of sexual years.

  Reid shifted behind her, and his breathing was deep and even. Feeling content once again, having Reid beside her, she decided she’d worry about her sex life later.

  Right now, it was time to go back to sleep.

  ISABELLE TRIED TO smile at the lady behind the counter to make it look like she was happy and excited to be applying for a marriage license, but she was nervous.

  “How can I help you today?” the clerk asked in a monotone voice.

  Zane grabbed Isabelle’s hand. “We want to get married.”

  “Great,” Monotone said. She slid a packet of papers over to them. “Fill these out.”

  Zane grabbed the packet. “Thanks.” The two of them turned to find a place to sit and fill out the paperwork, but Zane paused and looked back. “How long do we have to wait for the license?”

  “It should be in the mail in about a week.”

  Zane spun around. “A week? I thought it would be, like, thirty minutes.”

  The clerk laughed, her first sign of any real emotion. “Sorry, but this isn’t Vegas.”

  Zane sighed with frustration and walked past Isabelle. She ran to catch up to him.

  Once outside, he pulled out his phone, hit a couple of buttons, and put it to his ear. “Boss, we have a problem. We have to wait a week for a marriage license. That gives Bram way too much time to find Isabelle.”

  “That’s not good,” Vance said on the other line. Isabelle was close enough to hear everything. “I forgot about that.”

  “Yeah, well, shifters don’t get legally married that much.”

  “Let me talk to Damien, and I will get back to you.”

  Zane looked at Isabelle, and his mouth dropped open as his eyes widened.

  “What?” she asked.

  He pulled the receiver away from his mouth. “The clerk said this wasn’t Vegas.”

  She shook her head. “So?”

  Zane brought the phone back to his lips. “Boss, Isabelle and I are going to Vegas.”

  “What?” she said in a high voice.

  The other side of the line was silent.

  “Boss?” Zane asked.

  “I’m thinking,” Vance said. “That isn’t a bad idea, but there will be a ticket in Isabelle’s name.”

  “Shit,” Zane said. “Bram could track her.”

  “But the marriage license is going to be in my name. Couldn’t he track that, too?”

  Zane hit the heel of his hand on his forehead. “Damn, how did we forget about that?”

  Isabelle narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t forget. I just assumed it wasn’t something you were concerned about.”

  Zane scowled back. “Next time, say something. Don’t just assume.”

  “Zane.”

  “He could have tracked you here, Isabelle. We’re not ready for him.”

  “Zane.”

  Zane ran a hand over his face. “I don’t even want to think abo
ut that.”

  “Zane!”

  He pulled the phone away from the side of his head and looked at it like he’d never seen a phone before. He put it back to his ear. “Sorry, boss. What are you thinking?”

  “This Vegas thing might be for the best. You can fly there and be back home before Bram would even discover Isabelle went. Also, this way, he won’t know where Isabelle is staying. With the marriage license, he could narrow it down by county.”

  “Won’t he know where she is because we’ll be flying in and out of here?”

  “Hmm,” Vance said. “I think that is less of a concern. The Minneapolis-St. Paul airport is an international airport. People drive from out of state to fly from there. I think we should be okay on that angle.”

  “Okay.”

  “Take Isabelle back to the shifters. I will talk to Damien, and we’ll figure out who we’re sending with you.”

  “How many?”

  “I’ll let you know after I talk to Damien.”

  Zane nodded. “Sounds good.” He hit End and looked at Isabelle. “We’re going to Vegas, baby.”

  “I’ll go,” Quentin immediately volunteered.

  They were having yet another impromptu meeting since Isabelle had shown up.

  Damien shook his head. “I can’t have you going to Vegas. I need you at your job here. You’re the only one who can legally access the police department database. If we’re going to stay one step ahead of Bram, you can’t go to Vegas.”

  Fuck.

  Quentin gritted his teeth in frustration. Not at Damien. His alpha was right. He was needed here. He was frustrated because he’d thought going to Vegas would be the perfect opportunity to get away from Hunter. Instead, there were going to be less shifters around as a buffer.

  “Who’s going?” Raven asked. Her eyes lit up.

  “Not you,” Damien said.

  Raven grimaced. “Damn it.”

  “I need you here, too. I need your nose. And you and slot machines don’t get along.” Damien tilted his head. “I take that back. You and slot machines get along too well.”

  “Not true.”

  “I practically saw dollar signs in your eyes a second ago.”