Overview
Alrik is determined to keep sex with Ben simple, but when wolves, shifters and bullets enter their world, all bets are off.
Dr Ben Cook has devoted his life to saving the Mexican Grey wolf population from extinction. A year after being shot while looking for a large pack of Mexican greys, he's determined to try again. When Ben's sister hires one of the C-7 shifters to protect him on his mission, he feels an immediate and undeniable attraction to the huge blond protector.
Alrik's body yearns for his client on sight, but for a shifter who prefers sex without sentiment, Ben presents a problem. Centuries earlier, Alrik learned that love was a worthless emotion that only served to trap those stupid enough to fall.
Alrik is determined to keep sex with Ben simple, but when wolves, shifters and bullets enter their world, all bets are off.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781781843666 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Totally Entwined Group |
| Publication date: | 07/05/2013 |
| Series: | C-7 Shifters , #1 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 69 |
| File size: | 232 KB |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Alrik watched the live sex show on his computer with a critical eye. Porn stars. As much as he loved their looks and bodies, he preferred to watch amateurs going at it. When the sound screwed up and the voices no longer matched the action, he gave up and exited the site. He was in a rut. His sex life was boring as hell, but after three hundred and forty-six years of fucking, it was hard to come up with new things to make it exciting.
He keyed in a site of straight porn. An image of a woman with big tits getting her pussy licked by some random dude made Alrik wince. Nope — still gay, so that wasn't the problem.
The door to his office opened. Angel, the baby of the agency and the boss's favourite, stuck his head in. "Nero needs to see you in the conference room."
Alrik's mood immediately lightened. "Client?"
Angel nodded. "Don't get too excited. It's a woman."
"Hell, as long as I can get out of this office, I don't care who it is." Alrik pulled his suit jacket off the back of the desk chair and put it on.
Angel stared at the mountain view through the wall of glass. "Could be worse. Nero worked hard to get us this building and location."
Leave it to Angel to get offended on behalf of their boss and saviour. Kiss-ass. "Don't get your panties in a wad. Shifters aren't meant to be inside all the time, especially Chameleons. That's all I was trying to say." Alrik straightened his jacket.
Despite Angel's small, five-six stature, he didn't back down. He opened the door and gestured to Nero's office. "He's waiting."
Alrik grinned as he passed. It was well known inside the C-Squad that Angel, or Mouse as most of them called him, was more than smitten with Nero. Unfortunately, Nero was either too blind or too stupid to take advantage of the hot little Spaniard.
Alrik knocked on the conference room door and waited.
"Come in," Nero called.
Alrik stepped into the room and gave the female client a slight bow.
"Alrik, I'd like you to meet Beth Cook," Nero introduced. "Ms Cook, this is one of our best C-7 agents."
"Nice to meet you." Alrik shook Beth's hand before taking a seat at the table.
"And you," she replied.
"Ms Cook's brother, Dr Benjamin Cook, received photos from an aerial photographer of a large pack of Mexican grey wolves near Logan, Utah. Because Dr Cook has devoted his life to bringing the wolves back from the brink of extinction, he wants to find and study them." Nero sat back in his chair. "A year ago, he was hot on their trail when he was shot and nearly killed." He gestured to Beth. "According to Ms Cook, Dr Cook is planning to try again, and she'd like our agency to make sure he's safe."
Alrik had to state the obvious. "Utah's too far north for Mexican grey wolves."
Nero met Alrik's gaze. "Yes, it is."
Wolf shifters. The C-7 squad had to walk a fine line when dealing with members of their own kind. The world knew shifters existed and had tried more than once to round them up for extermination and scientific research. If there were wolf shifters in the mountains outside Logan, Utah, Alrik would bet they didn't want to be discovered.
"I've already explained to Ms Cook what we may be dealing with, and she has agreed to talk to her brother about the possibilities that exist," Nero further explained.
"I won't allow them to be exposed," Alrik stated.
"My brother has spent his entire adult life fighting for the survival of the species. All he wants is a chance to study them and count their numbers."
"If they turn out to, indeed, be Mexican greys, I'll allow that. But he has to be willing to walk away if they turn out to be shifters. Until I get that promise, he's on his own." Alrik rubbed the back of his neck. There were only seven of his kind left, so he took the extinction of a shifter population very seriously and would die to protect them, even from his own client if it came to that.
Alrik stood and held out his hand. "It was nice to meet you, Ms Cook." He started to leave, but Nero called him back.
"Alrik! Be prepared to leave in two days."
Alrik nodded as he eased the door shut on his way out. He stopped by Gowon's office and stuck his head inside. "Got a minute?"
"Sure," Gowon replied, his voice so deep he was often hard to understand.
Alrik took a seat in front of the desk. Other than Seger, Gowon was the largest man Alrik had ever known, nearly topping seven feet. The dreadlocked black man's upper body was nearly as broad as he was tall. To say Gowon was an intimidating sight would be a major understatement. "Have you heard anything about Mexican grey shifters living in Utah?"
Gowon shook his head. "I thought they were wiped out years ago."
Alrik nodded. "That's what I'd heard, too, but a large pack of Mexican greys has been spotted in northern Utah."
Gowon narrowed his sharp silver eyes. "You going down there?"
"Yeah, assignment."
"Ask the Russian. He's the one with his ear to the ground on this shit," Gowon suggested. "Or Seger?"
Alrik silently cursed. Of all his C-7 brothers, Yuri was the hardest to get along with. Stubborn didn't begin to describe the Russian-born son of a bitch. Seger wasn't an option. After their failed affair, the two of them didn't speak much. It had been purely sexual on Alrik's part, but Seger had made the mistake of getting emotionally involved. "Thanks, but I think I'll pass." He glanced at the small clock on Gowon's bookcase. "Feel like grabbing a drink and something to eat?"
"Can't. I'm flying out at six." Gowon gathered his long dreadlocks and wrapped them in a strip of leather at the nape of his neck.
"The little prince again?"
"Yep. Hakem is going back to Ireland to look at some thoroughbreds for his stable." Gowon shrugged. "I don't mind — horses are funny as hell."
Alrik chuckled. Hakem had used every conceivable excuse to use Gowon's services over the last two years. The thoroughbred trick was just the latest. "Why don't you just fuck him and get it over with?"
"I'd split him in two and you and I both know it." Gowon reached down and adjusted the massive cock in his dress pants. "Besides, I enjoy his company. If I fucked him, he'd move on to another bodyguard."
"Another bodyguard wouldn't be able to talk to horses for him," Alrik reminded his friend. Sure, Hakem was a tiny thing, but he had no doubt Gowon had the heart and temperament to go slow.
Gowon stood and reached for his laptop case. "You worry about your own love life and leave mine alone," he warned as he prepared to leave the office.
"How long're you gonna be gone?" Alrik asked.
Gowon shrugged. "No idea. I guess it depends on how many horses Hakem decides to look at."
Alrik stood and gave his best friend a pat on the back. "Stay safe."
"Always. You going out to look for the greys?" Gowon asked, walking out of the office behind Alrik.
"Yeah. Leave in two days. I'll have the satellite phone, though, in case you need anything."
"I won't." Gowon knocked on the glass wall of the conference room and waved as he headed towards the elevator.
"Shit." Alrik was in the mood to get drunk and fuck someone. He decided to try Loco. "Going out tonight?" he asked, leaning on Loco's open door.
"What do you think?" Loco answered with a chuckle in his voice. The big Polynesian was known for fucking at least one guy every night, sometimes two or three if he really had his party hat on.
"I think I'll tag along," Alrik said. "Mind if we get something to eat first?"
"Not at all. I'm supposed to stop by and see Vince anyway. As long as you don't mind eating Italian."
Vince was one of Loco's regulars and the owner of one of the local restaurants Alrik frequented. "Don't mind at all."
"I'll pick you up at seven," Loco offered.
"I'll be ready."
* * *
Ben Cook unlocked the front door of his small bungalow and found his sister sitting on the couch. "Well, make yourself at home, sis." He dropped his messenger bag beside the door and made his way to the kitchen for a beer.
"I hired someone to protect you," she said from the living room.
"I told you, I don't need protection. I'm sure it was just a stray bullet from a hunter or something." He pulled a Corona out of the fridge. "Are you staying for dinner?"
"No. I thought we'd go out. My treat," she said as Ben joined her.
Ben collapsed on the sofa and put his feet up on the coffee table. "I'm too tired to go out." He took a swig of his beer. "And I'm not taking a babysitter with me to Utah."
"Alrik's not just any babysitter. He's a Chameleon."
Ben almost dropped his bottle. "What the fuck, Beth? You can't afford that." Not that he wasn't interested in learning more about the oldest and rarest species of shifter in the world.
"Yes, I can, but only for a week, so find what you're looking for and get out." Beth lay down and rested her head on Ben's thigh. "Making sure you come back is worth putting my pool on hold for a while longer." She looked up at Ben. "Besides, I think you'll like him. He's about six foot three, short blond hair and devastating grey eyes with long black lashes." She shivered. "Gorgeous."
"I'm looking for wolves, not to get laid." He took another drink of beer.
"Who says you can't do both?" Beth sat up and straightened her long dark hair. "There's one condition, though. Alrik said if you discover the Mexican greys are shifters, you have to leave them alone and forget you ever saw them."
"I'm not interested in shifters," Ben reminded his sister.
"Good, then it shouldn't be a problem." Beth stood and held out her hand. "Come on. I've changed my mind. I'll let you buy me dinner as a thank you."
Ben finished his beer before grabbing his sister's hand. "What new restaurant have you discovered this week?"
"An Italian place I heard about when I was at the C-7 office," she replied with a sparkle in her eyes.
Ben had a feeling she was up to something, but then again, she was always up to something. Brat.
* * *
While Loco was in Vince's office, fucking the hell out of the restaurant owner, Alrik enjoyed several glasses of good red wine and a huge plate of eggplant Parmesan with a side of vegetarian spaghetti.
"Alrik?" a female voice asked, approaching his table.
Alrik turned to find the client from the office. "Hello, Ms Cook," he greeted.
"Call me Beth." She gestured to a table across the restaurant. "What a small world. I brought my brother here for dinner."
Alrik looked in the direction she was pointing. A handsome tanned man with shoulder-length black hair sat in one of the booths. "That's Dr Cook?" Other than the small wire-frame glasses perched on the man's long, thin nose, Alrik would never have taken him for a doctor.
"Yep, that's my brother Ben. Would you like to meet him?" Beth asked.
"Sure." Alrik glanced at his plate. "Give me ten minutes to finish dinner, and I'll stop by and say hi."
Beth clapped her hands together. "Perfect."
Alrik went back to his food and tried to keep from staring at Ben. With sex already on his mind, it wasn't hard to imagine Ben on the floor sucking his cock. Damn it! Alrik rarely got sexually involved with his clients. It wasn't a matter of interfering with his job — he was hard to please when it came to sex, and he knew it. Throw a client in the mix and it was a disaster.
Ben glanced up and met Alrik's gaze before quickly looking away again. The guy seemed shy, which meant he probably didn't have a lot of sexual experience. Not a good combination, he reminded himself. Alrik was three hundred and forty-six years old and had been indulging in sex since he'd sprouted his first erection.
When his stomach was full enough to sustain him through a long night of fucking, Alrik got up and carried his glass and the rest of the bottle of wine over to Ben's table. He was playing with fire, and if he wasn't careful, Ben would surely get burned. "Good evening."
"Ben, this is Alrik. Alrik, my baby brother Ben." Beth pointed towards Ben's side of the booth. "I've got my purse and stuff over here ... Why don't you sit next to Ben?"
Alrik was more than happy to get closer to the doctor. Ben was even hotter close up. "Do you mind?" he asked.
Ben shook his head. "Ummm, no, not at all." He scooted over and made room for Alrik.
Alrik was in the process of sliding in beside Ben when Loco reappeared, calling for him. "Over here," Alrik said, trying not to disrupt everyone in the restaurant.
"Ready?" Loco asked.
Alrik wasn't, but he knew if he said otherwise, Loco would make a big deal out of it and embarrass him and Ben. "Sure." He got back to his feet. "Sorry."
"I'm leaving Saturday morning for Salt Lake on the eight thirty flight," Ben said. "Bring only what you can carry on your back."
Alrik bristled. "I've done this a time or two."
"And tranquiliser darts only. No bullets."
"How in the hell am I supposed to protect you without a real gun?" Alrik argued.
Ben shrugged. "I've seen what bullets can do to animals and people." He shook his head. "Sorry, but I want no part of them."
Despite Loco's complaining, Alrik sat beside Ben once again. "You were shot once because you weren't prepared. I won't let that happen again, and, believe me, those wolves will be as protected as you are."
Ben adjusted his glasses. "Okay, but try to keep any guns out of sight."
Alrik nodded in agreement. When Loco started in again, Alrik knew his time with Ben was up. He got to his feet and smiled at Beth. "It was nice seeing you again."
"You, too. I'm glad you got a chance to meet Ben," Beth replied.
Alrik held out his hand. "I'll see you on Saturday morning."
Ben shook Alrik's hand. "I hope you understand how important this trip is to me."
"I do." Alrik broke away and waved once more before joining Loco.
"Jesus, it's about time," Loco grumbled.
"Fuck you. That's my new assignment."
Loco glanced back at Ben and Beth. "Which one?"
"The guy. He's searching for Mexican grey wolves."
Loco's black eyebrows rose. "That means camping."
"Yep." Alrik walked out of the restaurant with Loco on his heels.
"I swear there's nothing better than fucking by a campfire." Loco unlocked his SUV and they both climbed in.
"Maybe," Alrik replied, fastening his seatbelt. He refused to discuss his sex life with the biggest slut he knew.
CHAPTER 2It wasn't until they'd reached Salt Lake City and rented an SUV that Ben had a chance to talk to Alrik. He'd hoped the two could get to know each other on the flight, but because he'd purchased his ticket at the last moment, Alrik had been seated several rows away. Ben actually felt sorry for the bigger-thanaverage man who'd been forced to sit in the centre seat.
"Can I ask you a question?" Alrik asked.
"Sure." Ben kept his eyes on the road.
"Why are these wolves worth risking your life? If they are out here, what do you plan to do with them?"
"I don't think I need to tell you how few Mexican greys are alive." Ben wasn't sure how to explain his feelings on the wolves to Alrik. Hell, he still hadn't managed to explain it to his sister or ex-boyfriends well enough for them to understand why he devoted his life to them. "I'm used to seeing the wolves in captivity or in the designated areas where we've released them. The thought that they have somehow managed to not only survive, but thrive on their own gives me hope."
"But what if they're thriving because no one's messed with them? Aren't you afraid that you'll disrupt them?"
Ben glanced at Alrik. "I don't plan to interact with them in any way. I just want to count their numbers, identify any mated pairs and chart their location. I'm not going to lie, I'd love to tag at least one of them so I can continue to keep an eye on them, but if it's not possible without putting them in danger, I'll give up that dream."
Alrik sighed. "You get me in the area, and it won't take me long to find them."
"Because you're a shifter?" Ben had met shifters in his line of work. They weren't common, and they tended to hide their true identities, but they could be extremely helpful when it came to communicating and learning to understand animals.
"Yeah," Alrik answered.
"You're a Chameleon shifter, right? So, does that mean you usually deal with reptiles more than mammals?" Ben felt stupid asking the question, but the world knew so little about Chameleon shifters.
Alrik made a disgusted sound deep in his throat. "We're not actually chameleons, you know. They just call us that because we have the ability to shift into any living creature in order to blend into our environment. And, before you ask, yes, there are only seven of us in the world. It's some kind of genetic mutation that scientists haven't been able to figure out."
"The C-7," Ben mumbled in understanding. He'd always wondered about the highly valued organisation.
"Yes."
"Forgive my ignorance, but if you can adapt so easily to your surroundings, why do the seven of you hide yourselves on that mountain?"
Alrik reclined his seat, making it harder for Ben to look at him while still driving. "You'd have to ask Nero."
"Why him? Why can't you answer the question?" Ben knew that Nero headed the agency, but Alrik was grown and perfectly capable of making his own decisions.
"Nero was the first that we know of. He rescued the rest of us."
"Rescued? You mean found?" Ben continued to prod.
"The word I used was the correct one." With a long, drawn out sigh, Alrik returned his seat to an upright position. "Shifters come into their abilities around five years after they go through puberty. For most of us, that makes us young men by the time we shift for the first time. It's different with regular shifters — they're usually born to other shifters, so they know what to expect. Chameleons occur when more than one species of shifter mates with a human."
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Alrik"
by .
Copyright © 2013 Carol Lynne.
Excerpted by permission of Totally Entwined Group Limited.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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