Merinus breathed out deeply. She struggled to turn in his arms, finally succeeding as he loosened his grip only marginally. Her arms went around his shoulders, her head cushioned on his heaving chest. Around them, people moved, spoke, asked questions and demanded answers.
“How were we found?” Callan suddenly jerked his head up, his eyes blazing in suspicion as he looked at those around them.
“Kane had a tracker on Merinus’ cell,” Sherra answered him coolly. “I didn’t know, Callan, until this morning when he tried to call and his readout indicated the phone had been destroyed.”
Vaguely, Merinus remembered seeing the broken remnants of the phone on Callan’s desk. Dayan must have destroyed it, thinking he would keep them from calling for help. Callan had no phones in the house. No way to track any communications he made.
Callan took a deep, steadying breath. Merinus felt his control slowly reassert itself. His body relaxed marginally.
“Callan, you need to get cleaned up.” Kane stood several feet from them, staring down at them broodingly. “We’re going to call the police in on this one, do some damage control. Uncle Sam,” he nodded to the Senator, “came out here on the midnight flight to personally escort you back to the Senate hearings on genetic altering and DNA engineering. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Callan rose slowly to his feet. His arm wrapped around Merinus, refusing to let her go.
“Merinus can stay here with us,” Kane told him forcefully.
“I don’t think so.” Merinus didn’t trust the cold smile Callan sent her brother. “Merinus stays with me, Kane. Period. You can talk to her after we both clean up.”
Merinus rose to her feet alongside Callan, watching the two men stare each other down, both intent on having his way. They were like two pit bulls getting ready to fight over the same bone, but for different reasons. Kane wanted to hoard her, keep her a child, his innocent sister forever. Callan wanted the woman he had made and he was damned determined to keep her. Kane opened his mouth to speak. Merinus knew whatever came out of it would only make the situation worse.
“Don’t start, ass**le,” she bit out, seeing the mockery that flashed across his eyes, an indication that something stupid was getting ready to come out of his mouth. He flashed her a dark look. Merinus took a deep breath.
“I need another shower, anyway, and so does Callan. Do whatever you guys have to do to get things ready to go. I can’t deal with it right now.”
Her mind was too dazed, shock and fear and fury still running through her veins. Adrenaline overload was turning into a bitch.
“At least try to hurry.” Kane raked his fingers though his short hair, impatience tightening his body. “We have to get a story together and get things started here, Merinus. I need you for that.”
He speared her with a commanding look.
“You’ll just have to wait,” she told him, accepting the arm Callan wrapped around her as her legs trembled beneath her. “I can’t right now, Kane. I just can’t.”
She was aware of the concerned, worried looks on the faces of her family. She should have been more eager to reassure them then she was to find a moment alone with Callan, to soothe the beast that still fought for release.
“Come on.” Callan turned without addressing the other man again and drew her from the room. When they reached the stairs, he didn’t make her climb them herself. He picked her up in his arms and carried her to the big bathroom off their bedroom. He didn’t speak, his expression didn’t soften. But he was hard. His c**k was like a poker, steely and hot against her hip. His eyes blazed with lust. He locked the bedroom door behind them, then with a simple jerk at her pants, bared her from the waist down.
“I can’t wait.” He backed her up to the wall, lifting her, pushing her pants free with one foot. He spread her legs then plunged his c**k deep. Merinus gasped, unaware how ready she had been for him. Her vagina clasped his erection with a hot, slick grip as tight as a fist as he buried himself inside her. Her head fell back against the wall, her hands gripping his scratched bloody shoulders as he bent, buried his head in her neck and began to pound into her. He was groaning with hoarse pleasure with each thrust. His erection was hard, scalding hot, driving her into a passion as natural and as deep as love itself. Heat and fire seared her body, pleasure rushed over her in a tidal wave of sensation, sweeping away any doubt, any residual fears left in her. His hands gripped her hips, her thighs clasped his and his c**k buried itself over and over inside her. Stretching her, he filled her, burned her with his need. This was no hormonal demand, no kiss to encourage the heat, no preliminaries, just hard, honest passion. His teeth bit at her neck in the place he had marked as his own. His rough tongue stroked her. Callan grunted harshly as Merinus’ moans rose in intensity. She could feel her cl**ax building, gathering inside her, the explosion only moments away.
Fighting for breath Callan increased the pace of his thrusts. Wet flesh slapped together, her cunt made suckling sounds as his c**k slid easily inside her over and over again. Then she trembled, shook, she fought her scream, and managed to keep it down to a loud cry when she felt the barb emerge, lengthen, harden until it locked him deep inside her. That hot caress sent her careening over the edge. Her orgasm struck hard and deep, tightening her body as she felt him spurting his release inside her, distantly wincing as his satisfied roar echoed around them. Boy, Kane would definitely have problems with this.
* * * * *
Below, Callan’s sexual roar was clearly heard. Sherra grimaced as eight men flushed with anger, glancing at the stairs, their bodies stiffening with outrage.
“She’s not a child,” she informed them all. “You may as well get used to it now.”
John Tyler turned to her with a fierce frown.
“Young lady, that is my child,” he bit out.
“No sir, right now she’s Callan’s mate,” she argued tightly. “Her life was nearly lost and his DNA demands he reassert his claim. Get used to it, get over it before he gets down here, because if all of you crowd him, with your male pride all upset, you will merely force his instincts to the forefront. He’s just claimed her, let him get used to that before he has to deal with your possessiveness.”
Sherra ignored Kane’s sneer. She had been doing that for two days now.
“We have other problems here,” Samuel Tyler spoke up, distracting brotherly and fatherly outrage.
“Let’s get our priorities straight and go from there. Four hours till the press shows, we have plenty of work to do.”
EPILOGUE