Stolen and Seduced - Christine Pope Page 0,103

I set off to look for the rest of the team.

And, if I couldn’t find them, I could at least continue on with my own research. It wasn’t like they could kick me out of the team now that I was here. But they could make my life hell. It was already hard enough to be taken seriously as the only woman on the team. Dammit. I picked up my pace up the mountain.

Cade

The angelic voice that cried out my name in tormented pleasure morphed into Dorn’s persistent nagging.

“Cade? Cade. Check in. Reaper One this Reaper Two, check in.”

I needed a moment to ground myself and remember that I was anchored to a branch halfway up a tree.

A minute ago, I’d been inside my mate’s sweet cunt, driving her hard to say my name. The feel of her was incredible—hot, wet, tight—and that had only been a dream. My aching cock raged at me to find her and finish what was started.

“Cade? Did you die?”

I ignored my body and tried to get comfortable, but failed, and ended up in an awkward seating position and slapped my hand against my chest to activate the comms. “Checking in,” I snarled.

“What a bucket of sunshine you are, boss,” Talus said.

“Ignore him,” Dorn said. I didn’t know if he meant it toward me or toward Tal. “Jungle problems?”

It wasn’t the jungle. It was the damned dream. Solana.

That was the name that came to me when we were in our shared mind. Unity was something mates talked about, and I barely paid attention to. Why should I? Most enjoyed the company of their heart-mates. Only a rare few ever found their fate-mates.

So how in the hell did I find mine in this backwater hole in the middle of the Savage Lands? Not knowing pissed me off even more.

She could be anywhere on this desolate rock. But to have a shared dream so strong, she had to be near. In this same jungle.

I pushed my senses out, hoping to capture a hint of her scent on the breeze. No such luck. That would have been too easy. And nothing of worth came easily.

At the edge of my range of hearing, explosive sounds echoed over to me, followed by an eerie silence.

It could only mean trouble.

“Something is happening,” I reported.

“You found them?”

“I found something. Hold.”

The comms quieted. The rat-tat-tat of explosive gunfire rang in the distance.

The most unusual feeling of dread washed over me. Cold fear gripped my heart, I could barely breathe. I’d never felt anything like it.

Then I realized that it wasn’t my fear. I felt it, but it didn’t come from me.

Solana. She was afraid. The possessive need to find her and protect her strained my senses.

“Possible local trouble. I need to check it out. Whatever is happening could chase our quarry away.”

“If they do, it could be an advantage.”

Understanding dawned. “Rush ‘em, and flush ‘em.” It was a good plan. Force the poachers’ hand and get them to speed up their time table. People make mistakes when they rushed and needed to improvise on the fly.

I reeled in my anchors, and turned on my cloaking shield. “How far out are you?”

“A solar hour from your position. Tops.”

“Good. Because something else has happened. I think I’ve found my mate. Scratch that. I know I found her. And she’s in trouble.”

Solana

I traveled for almost an hour. No sight of the others. I took notes on some of the elusive jaguar’s territorial markers as I walked, but kept an ear out for the rest of the team.

I’d circled the place where they said they would be for the past hour. If they were supposed to be at these coordinates, then they were either lost or they lied about where they would be.

Dammit, I thought we were supposed to be above all this “good ole boy” bullshit.

At least the jaguars were doing fine.

A burst of gunfire echoed through the valley. It sounded way too close. A bad feeling gathered in the pit of my stomach.

I rounded a bend, and it was like a scene in a movie. My research team were on their knees. There was already a body on the ground. Other men walked around them, guns in their hands.

Just beyond them were acres of neat rows of crops.

Drugs. Somehow the team had managed to make their way to some secret territory that was controlled by drug runners.

And here I was within view of them.

I ducked behind the tree, staying low to the ground, trying to