Читать книгу Sexy Beast - Vivi Anna - Страница 9

“Quit that!” Laughing, Keisha slapped Xandi’s hands away from her crotch and climbed out of the car. “It’s impossible to drive when some little bitch has her hands between your legs. Now cut it out!”

“Like you want me to stop? Admit it. You love it.” Grinning like the very devil, Xandi followed her up the stairs to the front door.

“You’re a traffic hazard, woman. I probably left a wet spot on that fine leather upholstery. Explain that to the car rental agency!” Keisha opened the door and stepped inside.

“Oh, damn.” Xandi paused at the threshold. “I left the bag of groceries in the trunk. Let me have the keys.”

Keisha tossed her the keys as she leaned down to unlace her boots. Xandi closed the door and ran back down the steps.

Keisha hoped she’d hurry. She was hot and wet, her pussy so ready for more of Xandi’s talented fingers, it wasn’t even funny.

Xandi, make sure you lock the doors. You got me so hot and bothered I can’t remember if I did or not.

Hell, she’d barely been able to remember where her townhouse was, as turned on as she’d been while they drove along the crowded streets with Xandi’s fingers beneath her skirt, slowly stroking her very receptive clit.

Xandi? Did you hear me?

Xandi?

Dread curled, dark and potent in her gut. Keisha raced back to the front door and yanked it open.

Groceries lay scattered on the sidewalk in front of the steps. The rental car was gone.

So was Xandi.

“Ms. Rialto, you don’t know for certain it was Carl Burns who took your friend.”

“Who else would it be? The man’s been following me for weeks. You’ve got to find her!”

“We’ve got people working on it. If you hear anything, call me.” The burly detective handed his card to Keisha. “My cell phone’s the best way to get hold of me.”

The detective had been gone less than a minute when the phone rang. Keisha burst into tears when she heard Anton’s voice. She needed him with an almost paralyzing desperation. Needed both of them—Anton’s steady strength, Stefan’s quick humor and compassion.

After a short conversation, Keisha slowly set the phone back on the table. Anton and Stefan were already at the airport. Somehow, they’d heard her, somehow, in spite of the distance, they’d known something terrible had happened.

Her packmates were due to arrive in San Francisco shortly after midnight. They’d cancelled their morning meetings, left their luggage to be shipped later by the hotel.

They’d dropped everything to protect their women.

There wasn’t a thing she could do now but wait. Once more Keisha sent out a quick mental search for Xandi. Nothing.

Wrapping a faded afghan around her shoulders, she curled up on the end of the long couch. A heavy layer of summer fog settled over the city, muting the sounds outside, sending the afternoon into an early dusk. Keisha opened her mind, searching blindly for Xandi.

It was frightening, after so many months of sharing thoughts, to have no one answer when she called, but she kept her mind open, the plea to Xandi running in a steady litany, time meaningless, the silence oppressive.

She glanced at the clock over the fireplace. Almost seven. She’d been huddled here for almost three hours. The men would be in the air by now, completely out of touch. Sighing, she settled deeper into the soft couch, closed her eyes. Once more she silently called out.

Xandi? Why can’t you talk to me? What has he done to you?

Keisha? What…?

Stunned, blinking in surprise, Keisha leapt to her feet. Finally! Contact!

Where are you? You can’t be too far or we couldn’t connect! What happened?

I’m not sure. Someone hit me on the head. I’ve got a hell of a headache. I think I’m just now waking up. How long have I been gone?

About three hours. But where…?

Three hours! Shit…okay. Think. Smells like fish…near the ocean? I’m almost sure. I’m naked, handcuffed, tied and blindfolded. Other than a headache from where someone conked me, I’m okay. I don’t sense anyone else around. If I shift, the bindings might come off and…

Don’t shift! If it’s Burns, he’s watching you. I know he is. Anton and Stefan are on their way. They should be here a little after midnight…it’s just after seven. Keep your mind open to me. I’m coming to find you.

There was no time to consider, no time to worry if this was the right course of action or not. The fog was growing thicker, the night darker. She called the detective’s cell phone. Left a message that she’d heard from Xandi, though she obviously couldn’t tell him how. Tucked her own cell phone into a small nylon fanny pack.

Keisha took a deep breath. Damn, if only Anton were here! He’d know if she were doing the right thing. It was risky, but her senses were sharper as a wolf, her legs faster, endurance and strength multiplied. The fog would help hide her, but the risk of discovery was great.

Xandi’s life depended on Keisha. She had no other choice. Keisha could do things as a wolf she could never accomplish in human form.

She stripped her clothes from her body. Naked, pack slung about her neck, Keisha slipped out the back door, checked to make sure no one was watching, and shifted.

Within seconds, a wolf leapt the back fence, raised her head to sniff the smells of the city and, with the small black pack hanging loosely around her neck, raced in the direction of the mental touch she’d felt just moments ago.

Xandi blinked against the darkness, praying her blindfold would slip, wishing she could see something, anything that would lead Keisha to her. She’d lost track of the time but still she worried about her packmate. Every moment Keisha searched as Chanku put the entire pack at risk of discovery.

Xandi rubbed her face against her shoulder but couldn’t reach the blindfold, tugged at what felt like handcuffs holding her wrists but only succeeded in making her wrists bleed. If she could be certain she was alone, Xandi knew she’d risk shifting. It would be so easy to free herself.

No luck. I can’t move the blindfold. Keisha? What if you link, the way we used to do during sex? Then you’ll see what I see…if I ever see anything! We’d know if anyone was watching me and you might get some idea of how to get me out.

You’re too far away for a complete link. I’m nearing the Presidio, paralleling Lincoln, heading toward the Golden Gate…I just cut through the park. Your mental signal is growing stronger. Keep feeding me anything you sense.

Xandi opened her mind, absorbed the sounds and scents around her. She drew on her Chanku heritage without shifting, delving deeper into her basic wolven instincts.

Fear hovered just beyond. She refused to acknowledge its presence.

The scents grew stronger, the sound of water lapping nearby, the roar of cars overhead.

Overhead?

Keisha? Is there any place under a bridge or overpass where he might have me? I smell fish and hear water, but I also hear lots of cars going overhead.

Fort Point!

What?

Fort Point. It’s just at the foot of the bridge, an old military base. I’m not that far away and your signal is stronger in that direction. Hang on.

Xandi sensed his presence even before she heard the door squeal on its hinges. Her body tensed. He’s here. In the room.

So am I. Not physically, not yet. But I’m getting closer.

Xandi felt Keisha’s thoughts enter her mind, the strength of the link now almost a physical presence. She almost sagged with relief, but instead, she forced herself to sit straighter in the hard-backed chair and take a deep, calming breath.

“Who are you? Why are you keeping me here? I want my clothes, dammit!”

She sensed movement, felt the brush of fingertips along her cheek and immediately recoiled. Her heart pounded beneath her ribs.

“Who are you?” It was all she could do not to scream. Heart racing faster, breath rasping in her throat, Xandi reached deep to find a calm she didn’t feel.

It’s Burns. I can feel him. But what the hell is he trying to prove? Keisha’s soft mental voice tinged with her usual steel helped quiet Xandi’s pounding heart.

She felt the man’s presence, stronger, closer. Her Chanku senses heightened with the rush of adrenaline and she smelled him, the acrid odor of unwashed body, old cigarette smoke and stale breath. Her stomach roiled and churned and she clamped her teeth tightly together to keep from gagging.

His lips brushed against her ear, dry and disgusting, and he whispered softly, “Why haven’t you shifted? I know you’re one of them. Shift. That’s all you have to do. Turn into a wolf for me and I’ll let you go.”

“You’re crazy.” Xandi practically spat the words, then had to swallow quickly to keep from vomiting. His smell suffocated her, his breath found its way into her nostrils and she drew back and swallowed again.

Quiet laughter echoed in the room. “Ah, no crazier than your friend. That little black girl’s hiding a secret that’s going to make me rich. No, I’m no crazier than your friend…or her mother. The bitch!”

Did you hear him? Keisha, could your mother shift? Xandi turned and faced the direction of the man’s voice. “What’s her mother got to do with this? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, yes you do. You know what your friend is like. She’s a tease, just like her mother. A monster. A wolf in human form. I think you are, too.”

I don’t know if my mother could shift or not. I told you, she died when I was little, but I had to get my Chanku genes from one of my parents. She’s the most likely. Keep him talking. Get him to take the blindfold off if you can. The more I can see, the better my chance to get you out of there.

Xandi raised her head and looked in the direction of Burns’s voice. “I don’t know anything about her mother. Keisha does not turn into a wolf. Are you nuts?” She shook her head and laughed. “Well, I guess that’s a given. Take this blindfold off of me. There’s no point in hiding. I know who you are, Mr. Burns.”

Her head jerked back with the force of his backhanded slap. “Ah!” Xandi tasted blood, but at least he ripped the blindfold away.

“You’re playing a dangerous game, bitch.” Burns stared down at her, his sallow face illuminated by the glow from a small flashlight clutched in his hand. “How come your friend hasn’t come to save you? I know you communicate. Is it telepathy? Do you read minds? Are you aliens? What the fuck are you?”

Xandi ignored his questions. She took in all she could of her dark surroundings, hoping Keisha would grasp the images.

Burns set the flashlight down on a small table and walked around Xandi, trailing one finger along her collarbone, over her shoulder, across her back. Her nipples puckered in the cold air and she prayed he wouldn’t touch them. She couldn’t stand the thought of this disgusting creature putting his hands on her.

The narrow beam of light sent a crazed pattern against the wall, over his fleshy hand. Xandi shuddered, aware even as she struggled to hold still that Keisha fought the same battle within her mind.

Xandi stiffened her spine as Burns slipped his fingers along her shoulder, then rudely flicked one nipple with his fingernail. He chuckled and did it once more. Xandi turned her head away, unable to watch her own violation.

Frantic, she reached for Keisha. Where the hell are the police?

I left a message and I have my cell phone with me. Maybe the detective isn’t taking my calls.

Not the time for humor, m’dear. Xandi turned to follow Burns as he circled her, his hands now trailing over her arm. She had to keep him talking, keep his mind occupied. It was her only chance. “Why did you kidnap me? If you’re so convinced my friend is a wolf, why would you want me?”

“You really want to know? Might as well tell you, since your friend is taking longer than I expected.”

He squatted down in front of Xandi. His eyes were surprisingly clear, not the crazed look of a madman. Mere inches from her crotch, he stared directly into her eyes. Xandi found his calm demeanor unsettling.

“Her mother was a wolf. Yeah, you look at me like I’m nuts, but I saw her shift. We went to high school together. I worked on the school paper. It was late, the school was almost empty, and I imagine she thought she was alone. I was in the journalism room, putting the paper to bed, when I saw her in the quad outside. Just standing there, sort of staring at the woods beyond the campus. I watched her…I used to watch her a lot. She was gorgeous, so sexy. But she was black, you know?”

He stood up, paced back and forth, agitated. “I couldn’t date her. My old man would’ve had a fit. Nah, I didn’t want to date her, but damn, did I ever want to fuck her.”

He looked off in the distance, as if remembering, then licked his lips. Xandi felt a shiver run down her spine.

“She sort of shimmered, this cute little black girl. Damn, she was such a hot babe. She just…shimmered. Then there was a pile of clothes on the ground and a huge wolf standing over them. She turned and saw me. I’ll never forget that. I almost peed my pants. She snarled. Man, did that bitch have a mouthful of teeth! I slammed the window closed and locked the doors. When I looked back, she was gone, but I know she saw me.”

Keisha? Did you hear him?

Yeah. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

“I watched her after that. Followed her for a long time without her knowing it. She got married. What a mistake. The guy was a gardener, a real loser, but eventually she had a baby. I kept waiting and watching, but I never saw her shift again…not until years later.”

Did Keisha know any of this? Xandi watched Burns as he rocked back on his heels. Though he looked directly at Xandi, she sensed he was somewhere else. Somewhere in the past. Keisha’s presence was a roiling tension in her mind.

“One night in Golden Gate Park I spotted a wolf.” Burns laughed. The sound scraped across Xandi’s already raw nerves. “Like wolves were a regular occurrence in the park? I don’t think so. I followed it. It loped along without a care in the world, but right at the edge of the park, right there near Fulton and Thirty-fourth, the wolf disappeared into the bushes. It looked back, like it was checking to make sure no one was watching, but I saw it. I went back and got my car. Figured I’d look farther down the road. Suddenly, a slim, black woman dressed all in dark clothes stepped out into the crosswalk. I hit her. Didn’t see her in time and I ran right over her.”

Xandi felt Keisha’s gasp in her mind. She struggled not to react to her friend’s pain. Burns shook his head, rubbed his hand across his eyes. “Of course, I recognized her immediately. I was driving an old, beat up car already covered with dings, so one more didn’t make a difference. No one ever found out who killed her. I parked a block away and went back. I was already a reporter, so I had my camera. I waited in the bushes.”

He looked at Xandi as if everything he said made sense, as if his actions had been perfectly acceptable. She held still, kept her face passive in spite of the growing nausea, the sense of evil filling the dark room.

Burns shrugged his shoulders. “I thought she might turn back into the wolf when she died, but she didn’t. She just lay there in the center divider, her body all twisted and broken, caught up in the landscaping. She might have looked like a woman, but I knew better. I knew she was just an animal. Made me think of road kill. That’s all she was. Road kill. A dead wolf on the side of the road.”

Burns turned around and walked away, disappearing into the shadows. His voice echoed out of the darkness. “Of course, that wasn’t the end of it. I knew she had a kid. Figured, like mother, like daughter, right? But I never could catch the little brat shifting. All those years…the pictures and story could have made my career.”

Oh my God.

Keisha’s agonized cry echoed in Xandi’s head. Keisha, it’s okay. He’s nuts. Totally nuts. Where are the police?

I don’t know. He killed her. He killed my mother!

Honey, hang in there. We’ll get him. Just hang in there.

You’re the one tied up. I need to get you out of there, need to…

No! Just wait. Please. Just wait. Frantic, Xandi tried to follow Burns’ movements in the shadows while she silently begged Keisha to stay out of sight.

“I finally figured it out. Decided that she could turn into a wolf, just like her mama, but she didn’t know it.” Burns wandered back into the narrow beam of light. “I waited for years, waited and watched. I was real patient.”

He squatted down in front of Xandi once more and rested one fat hand on her knee. She backed away, as far as the chair would allow, but she couldn’t escape the clammy feel of his palm against her bare skin, the twitch of his fingertips emphasizing each word he spoke.

“I got to thinking, maybe she was like the Hulk, ya know? Remember that show, where the guy had to feel really strong emotion to change? I figured, why not? It wouldn’t hurt to try. I hired two losers. Not sure where the third guy came from. They were only supposed to scare the crap out of her, not rape her. Scare her good enough that she’d shift. I figured there might be sort of a ‘fight or flight’ reaction, ya know? Like the Hulk? I was there. I watched it all. It was pretty ugly, got totally out of hand, but it worked. I took some pictures when the little bitch shifted but then she killed them. God, she just tore those poor bastards to pieces. It was awful. What’s worse, I panicked.”

He stood up, brushed his hand across his face. “I am not proud of myself for that, believe me. God. I was so damned stupid. Would you believe I actually burned the film? I was so afraid someone would connect me with the murders…with her rape. That film could have made me a fortune and I panicked.”

Burns whirled around, his eyes wide. “Where the fuck are you? I know you’re here somewhere. Show yourself, damn it. Shift!”

No! Keisha, no!

Xandi sensed Keisha’s outrage, her unleashed anger, and knew there’d be no stopping her. Xandi jerked at the handcuffs binding her wrists, tugged at the cords holding her to the chair, but it wasn’t enough. She heard a loud crunch against the door. The sound of scratching and panting. Another loud cracking noise.

“I knew it!” Burns grabbed a camera off the floor and slipped the strap over his neck, then yanked a knife out of his pocket and slashed the rope holding Xandi to the chair. With her hands still cuffed behind her back, it was all she could do to rise without stumbling. Burns looped another rope around her neck and dragged her to a door at the opposite end of the room.

The door behind them creaked, wood splintered. The hinges groaned.

Keisha? Don’t let him see you!

Sensing only blind, animalistic rage, Xandi tripped over her own feet. She tried to drag Burns to the floor with her, but he caught his balance then twisted her around, holding tightly to her cuffed wrists and tugging on the rope cutting into her throat. Even if she wanted to shift now, Xandi couldn’t risk it. He literally had her leashed.

Burns grabbed a bulky camera bag in his free hand and slung it over his shoulder, then shoved the door open. With a final curse, he pushed Xandi out into the darkness. She tumbled to the rough gravel surface, scraping her knees and falling hard on her shoulder as Burns slammed the door behind him.

She felt the rope cut into her neck as he yanked her upright, then shoved his forearm against the middle of her back. Pushing and pulling, Burns forced her across the parking lot to the stolen rental car. Rocks and broken glass cut into her bare feet.

The twisted strands of rope sawed at her throat. Gasping, choking, she struggled for each breath. The noose around her throat tightened and black spots danced before her eyes. She had no choice but to follow Burns when he yanked on the rope and dragged her across the rough gravel.

A loud crash echoed from the far side of the building. Burns shoved Xandi into the front passenger seat. She landed on her side, one leg caught beneath her, but the noose around her neck loosened when Burns released his end of the rope. Gasping for breath, twisting around, she raised her head in time to see a large wolf leap over the retaining wall at the back of the building.

Burns snapped one quick shot with his camera before throwing his equipment in the back seat and speeding away.