ROGUE
Miss me? The mans voice was sharp with hostility, obvious even in just those two words.
The unexpected voiceand the angry questionsurprised me.
Should I miss you? I asked finally, pressing the phone against my ear.
I guess thats a matter of opinion, Faythe. My idea of what you should do obviously has little in common with your own.
Irritation flared in my chest like heartburn. Who the hell is this? I demanded, half convinced that my judgemental caller had the wrong number, even though he knew my name.
Deep Throat clucked his tongue in my ear, and I gritted my teeth against the intimate sound and feel of his disapproval.
How soon they forget, he whispered, and the enmity in his tone chilled me.
And suddenly I knew. Andrew.
Id never heard my human ex speak a word in anger before, and the rage in his voice rendered it completely unrecognisable.
Find out more about Rachel Vincent by visiting mirabooks.co.uk/rachelvincent and read Rachels blog at ubanfantasy.blogspot.com
Shifters series
STRAY
ROGUE
PRIDE
Rogue
Rachel Vincent
www.mirabooks.co.uk
This is for Number One, who puts up with me on
a daily basis. Who is patient when the line between
fiction and reality blurs. Who remembers when I
forget. And who does hundreds of little things to
keep me healthy and happy, because we both know
Id rather be working than sleeping or eating. Im
still up and running because you take care of me.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I owe more than I could ever express to my critique partner, Rinda Elliott, for the use of her eagle eyes and for her willingness to tell me when Im not living up to my potential. I only hope Im half as much help to her as she is to me.
Thanks to my Dad, for the native Texans perspective.
Thanks to Livia Rosa, for double-checking my Portuguese, and for making suggestions. To Elizabeth Mazer, for more work on my behalf than I can begin to list. And to D. P. Lyle, M.D., whose medical expertise kept my corpses realistic. Any medical mistakes in this book are mine, not his.
Thanks to my agent, Miriam Kriss, for late-night, last-minute reads, and for all those times you must wish the Easy Button really worked.
And finally, thanks to my editor, Mary-Theresa Hussey, for patience, guidance, wisdom and encouragement. Your enthusiasm is contagious, and Im so happy to have caught it.
One
Catch and release, my ass! Grunting, I shoved the stray facedown over the trunk of Marcs car, snatching back my free hand just in time to avoid his teeth as they snapped together. The bastard was half again my size, and thrashing like awell, like a scared cat, determined to shred anything he could get his hands onincluding me.
Several feet behind me, Marc watched, no doubt mentally noting every aspect of my performance so he could recreate it later for my father. So far, I hadnt given him much good to report.
Beating prowlers senseless to teach them a lesson was one thing; Id easily mastered most of the common scare tactics. But this whole chase-them-down-and-haul-them-out approach? That was bullshit. Complete and total idiocy. What was my father thinking?
The only stroke of luck Id had all evening was that the stray had fled to a deserted make-out spot on the outskirts of Dumas, Arkansas. If hed headed toward the town lights instead of away from them, Id never have caught him. I wouldnt even have tried. We couldnt risk human passersby seeing an average-size young woman like me haul around a man who outweighed me by at least forty pounds. And the truth was that if the stray had known how to fight, I probably couldnt have caught him.
Not that the capture had gone smoothly, even so. Marc had made no effort to help.
Can you give me a hand, here? I snapped at him over my shoulder, slamming the strays head back down on the trunk as he twisted, trying to break free of my grasp.
Masculine laughter rang out from behind me, unaccompanied by footsteps. Youre doing just fine, querida.
Dontfuckingcallmethat, I growled through clenched jaws. With my free hand, I seized one of the tres-passers flailing arms and pinned it to the small of his back. His other hand escaped me, clawing grooves into the paint. Not that it made any difference on Marcs oft-abused car.
Marc laughed, unmoved by my threat.
Leaning forward, I draped myself across the intruders back to hold him still. His heart pounded fiercely against the thin, shiny material of a red blouse Id had no plans to fight in.
His free hand flailed, still out of reach. I squeezed the wrist Id captured. His bones ground together. Howling in pain, he bucked beneath me. I held on, determined not to screw up my first solo capture. Not with Marc watching. Hed never let me live it down.
Let me go, bitch, the stray growled, his words distorted with his face pressed into the car.
Behind me, Marc chuckled again. I think he likes you, Faythe.
Either help or shut up. With my free hand, I dug into my back pocket for my new handcuffs, fresh out of the package and still shiny. It was time to break them in.
Metal clinked against metal as I opened the first cuff, and the strays thrashing intensified. He threw his head back and tossed his free arm up at an awkward angle. His hand smashed into mine. My fist opened.
For one agonizing moment, the open half circle of metal dangled from my index finger, the other end swinging like a pendulum. Then the cuff slipped from my grasp and landed across the toe of my prisoners left shoe. Tightening my grip on his wrist, I bent to grab it, hauling him backward in the process. He kicked out. The cuff sailed beneath the car, skidding across the gravel.
Damn it! So much for shiny and new. I jerked us both upright and slapped the back of the strays head. He growled. Marc laughed. I barely held back a scream of frustration. This was not how my first catch-and-release was supposed to go.
Shoving aside my irritation, I slammed the stray back down on the trunk, but it was too late to regain the upper hand. Id screwed up, and hed rediscovered his balls.
Grunting, the stray threw his elbow back, into my left side. Pain tore through my chest and abdomen. My breath escaped in a single, harsh puff. His arm slid through my fist, and I nearly lost my grip.
Screw this. Hed blown his shot at nice-and-easy, which only left quick-and-brutalmy favorite way to play.
I sucked in a deep breath. Fire raced up my newly bruised side. I shifted my weight onto my left leg and slammed my right knee into his groin.
The stray made a single, pain-filled gulping sound, as if he were swallowing his own tongue. For a moment, I heard only Marcs steady breathing at my back and the crickets chirruping all around us. Then my prisoner screamed. He hit notes that would have made Steven Tyler wince.
Satisfied that he couldnt stand, much less run, I let him go. He crumpled to the ground at my feet, shrieking like a little girl.
Well, thats certainly one way to do it. Marc stepped up to my side. He looked a little pale, and not just from the moonlight.
I smoothed more hair back from my face, eyeing the pathetic form on the gravel. Give me your damn cuffs, I snapped at Marc, not the least bit ashamed of myself for dropping my opponent with a knee to the groin.
Marc pulled his own handcuffs from his back pocket. Remind me not to piss you off, he said, dropping them into my open palm.
You still need to be reminded? Kneeling, I pulled the strays arms behind his back and cuffed them. He was still whimpering when I hauled him up by his elbow and half dragged him to the passenger side of the car. At the door, I spun him around to face me. Whats your name?
Instead of answering, he leered at the low neckline of my blouse. It wasnt the smartest or most original response, but it was a definite improvement over the guy whod tried to take a taste. Still, I was in no mood to be ogled. At least, not by him.
I let my fist fly, and my knuckles smashed into his rib cage. His eyes went wide, and he clenched his jaw on an oof of pain.
This is the last time Ill ask, I warned, focusing on his closed eyelids. Then Ill just knock you out and call you Tom Doe. Your choice. Now, whats your fucking name?
His eyes popped opened, staring into mine as if to determine how serious my threat was. Whatever he saw must have convinced him. Dan Painter, he said, the end of his own name clipped short in anger.
Mr. Painter. I nodded, satisfied that he was telling the truth, based on his expression and the steady, if quick, beat of his pulse. To what do we owe the displeasure of your visit?
His eyebrows rose in confusion.
I rolled my eyes. What the hell are you doing here?
The wrinkles in his forehead smoothed out as comprehension spread across his face. Just doin my civic duty, he insisted. Chasing a piece of ass, not that it matters now. Bitch gave me the slip.
Marc stepped forward. That must have been some piece of ass, to tempt you into south-central territory.
Groaning inwardly, I held my tongue. It would have been poor form to yell at my partner in front of the prisoner. Again.
You got no idea. The stray looked at Marc over my shoulder. Or maybe you do. His eyes slid back to me, and I ground my teeth as his gaze traveled down my blouse and snug black slacks. This ones kind of plain in the face, but shes got it where it counts, huh?
I felt Marc tense just behind me, and heard his knuckles pop. He was forming a fist. But he was too late.
Consider this your only warning to stay out of our territory. My fist flew in a beautiful right hook. My knuckles slammed into the strays left cheek. His head snapped back and to the side. And for the second time in four minutes, he collapsedthis time unconscious.
Already flexing my bruised hand, I let him fall. What did I care if he scraped his face on the gravel? He was lucky I hadnt broken his cheekbone. At least, I didnt think Id broken anything. Except possibly my own knuckles.
Behind me, Marc made a soft whistling sound, clearly impressed. Thats not standard procedure, he said, his tone entirely too reasonable as he leaned over the strays body to open the back passenger-side door.
Yeah, well, Im not your standard enforcer. The rest of my fathers employees had more respect for the rules than I had. They also had much more testosterone and two fewer ovaries. None of them really knew what to do with me.
Marc grinned, pulling my injured hand into the light from the cars interior bulb. I wont argue with that. He tilted my wrist for a better view, and I winced. Its not broken. Well stop for some ice on the way to the free zone.
And some coffee, I insisted, already dreading the hourlong drive east to the Arkansas-Mississippi border, where we would release Dan Painter in the free zone on the other side of the Mississippi River. I need coffee.
Of course. Bending, Marc grabbed the strays shirt in his left hand and the waist of his jeans in the other. He picked up the unconscious werecat and tossed him headfirst onto the backseat. That was one hell of a right hook. Marc produced a roll of duct tape, apparently from thin air. He tore off a long strip and wound it around Mr. Painters ankles, then bent the strays legs at the knees to get his feet into the car. I dont remember your father teaching you that.
He didnt.
Marc slammed the door and arched one eyebrow at me in question.
Smiling, I knelt to look beneath the car. Ultimate Fighting Championship.
He nodded. Impressive.
I thought so. On my hands and knees in the gravel, I felt around beneath the car, searching for my handcuffs. Id lost my first pair diving into the Red River in pursuit of a harmless but repeat offender a month earlier. If I came back without the new set, my father would have my hide. Or dock my paycheck.
My fingers scraped a clump of coarse grass growing through the rocks and skimmed over the rounded end of a broken bottle.
Need some help? Marc reached down to run one hand slowly over my hip.
I grinned at him over my shoulder. Youre not going to find anything there.
Thats what you think. His hand slid up my side as my fingers brushed a smooth arc of metal. I grabbed the cuff and backed out from under the car, and Marc pulled me to my feet. He turned me around to face him as I slid the cuff into my back pocket, then he pressed me against the side of the car. Lets take a break, he whispered, leaning in to brush my neck with his lips.
Like youve been working, I said, but my hand reached automatically for his arm. My fingers brushed the lines of his triceps, my nails skimming the surface of his skin, raising goose bumps. I loved drawing a reaction from him. It gave me a sense of power, of control. And yet the feeling was mutual; I couldnt say no to him, and he knew it.
So why dont you put me to work? he purred against my ear, pressing closer to me. His fingers edged between me and the car, moving slowly to cup my rear, his grip firm and strong.
I leaned forward to give him better access. Do we have time?
All the time in the world. Unless you have a curfew I dont know about.
Im grown, remember?
Oh, I remember. His tongue trailed lightly down the side of my neck, hesitating slightly at the four crescent-shaped scars, leaving a wet trail to be caressed by the warm September breeze. Youre very, very grown. His tongue resumed its course, flicking over my collarbone before diving into my cleavage. The sweet spot, he called it. With good reason.
What about our unwilling guest? My fingers trailed over his chest, feeling the hard planes through his T-shirt.
He can find his own date. Marcs words were muffled against my skin, his breath hot on the upper curve of my breast.
Im serious. I pulled him back up to eye level. What if he wakes up?
Hell be jealous. Marc leaned in to kiss me, but I put a hand on his chest. Breathing an impatient sigh, he glanced through the car window over my shoulder, then back up to meet my eyes. Hes out cold. Besides, we never have any privacy at the ranch, anyway, so what does it matter?