Rebecca Zanetti - Fated

He gripped her chin with one warm hand, his eyes darkening to burnt gold as he leaned down, pressing her lips with his. It was a hard, quick claim; a promise of more to come, sending a rush of heat through Cara which nearly doubled her over. She was so damn unprepared for this.

“Very well folks,” Director McKay brought Cara out of her reverie. “Talen, I need you to finish signing the new agreement in my office and Cara you need to sign your program papers with Marshal Nelson.” The director nodded toward a wiry marshal, who had arrived at the conference room in a bustle of papers.

Cara’s mind refused to focus. “Program papers?”

“Yes. We need to put you formally into WITSEC before we lose your file. That way we can explain to any family and friends that you saw a gang hit go down and needed to be relocated.” The director rehashed the cover story they had invented for her earlier. He scrutinized his watch. Probably wishing this day was over.

“All right, come on Janie.” Cara turned to go, forming a plan for their escape—after they left the secured government building. They’d take the elevator to the bottom floor and steal a car. Talen was wrong. She could keep Janie safe. They only had to get to her sister Emma.

“No. I want to go with Talen.” Janie screwed her face up in an expression promising a fight. Cara sighed. Her daughter needed a nap.

“She can come with me.” He moved forward and took Cara’s arm. “You stay with Nelson, and I’ll meet you in his office in a few minutes.” She tried to jerk her arm away, but Talen’s grip tightened on her as his eyes focused on her face. “I’m serious, Cara. From here to Nelson’s office only. The Kurjans have allies all around you.”

“Fine.” She needed to get the formalities over with so she could make a break for it. Talen released her arm. Her small daughter skipped forward and took Talen’s hand to lead him out the door behind the director. Talen shortened his strides to match Janie’s. At the end of the hall, Talen turned, giving Nelson a hard warning look before following Janie into the room.

Panic filled her at being separated from Janie. She soothed herself with the instinctive knowledge that Talen wouldn’t let anything hurt her daughter. However, she was no longer certain of her own safety with the man.

“This way, Ms. Paulsen.” Nelson swallowed and gestured her toward the elevator. “I mean, Mrs. Kayrs.”

Irritation jumped under her skin, and she yanked shields back in place. “Is there something you’d like to say, Marshal Nelson?”

“Oh, well, no.” He punched in a lower floor number, something near his left foot capturing his muddy brown gaze. “It’s just, well, they’re such barbarians. I mean, they kidnapped the director three years ago, call all the shots, and won’t even tell us where they live. They’re cavemen with superior technology. They won’t even share that technology with us!” Nelson took a breath to continue his rant and then slammed his lips together when the doors opened. Two large marshals entered the elevator, crowding the small space.

As the car descended, one of the men smiled at Cara with a perfect row of even, white teeth. She automatically returned the smile until she met his eyes. An uneasy warning trilled in the back of her mind. The feelings swirling through him contained a darkness she’d never encountered. Her shields slammed up.

She swiveled to warn Nelson just as the other marshal pivoted, shoving him against the side wall, injecting him with a small needle. She started to scream as Nelson fell to the floor and then, with a quick pinch to her neck, there was nothing.

Groaning, Talen finished signing the last of the legal papers while Janie happily colored pictures of ponies beside him. His brother Dage owed him big time for appointing him liaison to this agency. The metal building housing the secret U.S. Marshal base hoarded heat like a miser with gold, and he wanted out. The third floor was even more stifling than the lower ones with the sparse conference room. He was anxious to get his new family home and claim his mate.

Suddenly, his watch blinked an insistent green. He pushed a small button on the side.

“Why the hell do we have you traveling away from the pick-up spot at a quick rate?” Although he phrased it as a question, his brother’s deep voice sounded more irritated than curious.

“What?” Talen’s heart thumped.

“We. Have. You. Moving. Away.” Dage’s voice went from irritated to pissed in a heartbeat. He was well known for disliking surprises.

“Fuck.” Talen jumped to his feet and picked up a startled Janie, running for the elevator. The door slid open, and he wasn’t surprised to see Nelson unconscious on the floor. Talen dodged inside as the director swiped a card over a small window before leaning down to make sure Nelson was still breathing.

Talen didn’t spare a glance at the fallen man. An odd clenching of his gut caused his breath to hitch and a ringing sound to fill his ears. Fear? Brittle pine filled his nostrils, and his eyes started to burn.

“Are you on the tarmac?” he asked his brother, a rage building in his gut.

“Of course,” Dage growled. “Where the fuck are you?”

“In the elevator, heading down. I’m not wearing my cuff; my wife has it on.” Talen held Janie close as the car moved slowly—too damn slowly—down several floors. He should’ve taken the stairs.

There was a silent pause, then, “Wife?”

“Yeah, wife,” Talen confirmed as he ran from the elevator, straight at his brother in the secured landing site, the small child held safely in his arms. He passed Dage, jumping aboard the open side hatch of the sleek blue vessel. His brother pivoted and followed, setting himself in the pilot’s seat next to Talen, punching buttons before he even sat down.

“Ready for takeoff,” Dage said while the engine quietly roared to life. The military vessel had been tweaked a bit by their brother Conn.

“What the hell?” Dage muttered at him while expertly maneuvering the small craft into the air. Talen had never appreciated his brother’s ability to jump into action as much as he did right now. Or his brother Conn’s ability to take any vehicle and alter it to fit their needs.

“Here she is.” Talen’s mind focused into the cold state of killing as a small blip moved over the radar. Janie’s quiet sob against his chest had him schooling his face into a bland expression. He lifted her chin with one gentle finger, smiling at her tear-filled blue eyes.

“It’s all right, sweetheart. We’re going to get your mama back.” The wide eyes on his held a humbling amount of both fear and trust. Talen felt an age-old male instinct to draw blood. Someone had taken what was his. He pushed any thought of Cara being hurt to the back of his mind and started to coldly plan for her abductors to die.

Dage nodded at Janie. “This must be the child you were to acquire?”

“Hi.” Janie snuggled closer to Talen’s chest. “You’ve been in my dreams.”

Dage turned his full attention on the little girl, his grin of recognition matching hers. “You’ve been in mine, too.”

“’Cept for your eyes, you look a lot like Talen,” she said shyly.

“Nah.” Dage focused his silver eyes and flashed twin dimples at the little girl. “I’m a lot better looking.”

“My daughter, Janie.” Talen wasn’t surprised his new daughter apparently understood the private joke Dage shared with fate. “Janie, this is your Uncle Dage.”

Dage’s metallic eyes met Talen’s before he looked back at the small, fragile female. “My niece,” he said solemnly and with acceptance, as if only he heard the sound of fate clicking into place. Talen thought it was loud enough even humans could decipher its tenor.