Page 21 of Healing Creek (Arena Dogs #3)

Chapter Sixteen

Creek went from teaching Grace to the small room off the corridor to the slave hold.

The other Dogs had been questioning Patel for an hour or so.

He was late and battling a lot of frustration.

Watching Grace gain confidence had been sexy as hell.

He’d given her as much time as he could handle.

When she’d jumped into his arms, he’d had trouble remembering why it was a bad idea to claim her. She was already his.

Diablo slouched in the hallway, propped against the wall.

“Why are you not inside?”

The Dog shrugged. “Not intimidating enough, I guess.”

Creek scoffed. More like he might not be controlled enough. Or that was his reputation, though Creek hadn’t seen much sign of a temper.

Diablo smiled, showing prominent canines. “I’m only here to keep everyone else out.”

Creek lifted his eyebrows.

“Not you. The women.”

“Ah! Did anyone tell them…” Even as he asked, he knew the early hour was probably meant to deter them. Let them sleep in peace while the Dogs took care of the less savory business.

“We were surprised you weren’t first here this morning.”

“Grace needed me.”

Diablo nodded as if satisfied with the answer then waved him to the door.

When he stepped inside, the room was quiet except for the heavy breathing of the man tied to a chair in the middle of the empty space. Only a single camera mounted on the ceiling disturbed the bland whiteness of the interior.

Patel’s jaw was purple and swollen, but other than the labored breathing he looked calm. Creek strode to the center of the room and took the man’s chin in his hand.

“I see you decided to be stupid and provoke them.”

Patel winced but said nothing. His lip was split where one of his teeth had broken through.

Mercury and Carn hovered over the man, front and back.

They looked calm and content to let things play out in their own time.

They’d all seen enough death and torture to know a beating was rarely effective.

Besides, just having the Arena Dogs in the room was probably making Patel uncomfortable.

In Creek’s experience, anticipation was worse than pain.

But this man was a trained mercenary, not only as good as they were at taking a beating but also patient.

“I suppose you’ve refused to turn on your employers?”

The man shook his head. “Not at all. I simply don’t have anything to tell. They never told me where the scientist was being held.”

“But there’s always something to be shared. Hmm?”

“You already know we were working for Roma.”

“How were you to get in touch with them? Where were you to meet?”

Silence.

Creek crouched down in front of Patel. He looked him over making it clear in his eyes that he found the man contemptable. “Do you know who I am?”

Patel didn’t answer.

“Most importantly, I am the protector of the woman you tried to take.” Creek felt the words deep in his soul. “She’s my woman and your treatment of her will not go unpunished.”

The man’s breathing picked up a bit. “Do you know who she is? Why they really want her?” He clenched and unclenched his fists, straining against the plasmold bonds. “I don’t even know. But I can tell you it doesn’t have anything to do with her sister.”

“But you don’t know?”

Patel huffed and turned a little green. Probably wishing he hadn’t tried to be clever. It was a tell that the man would break. Surprising.

“Give me the room.” Creek didn’t actually care if the others left or stayed, but he thought the demand might add a little fear to Patel’s worries.

He stood up and looked down at the man. He looked small and weak in his bonds. Creek dragged the chair, and Patel, over to the wall.

“I’m Creek of House Yazzi. I tear humans like you apart, limb from limb, as a warmup.” He reached down and wrapped his finger in one of the restraints. Plasmold was almost impossible to break.

He’d had plenty of practice.

He pulled hard and fast and the stretchy substance snapped. It left a deep gouge in Patel’s now bloody wrist, but it snapped on the first try.

Patel yanked his arm up to his chest, curling over it as if that could protect him from further injury.

“I don’t fucking know anything!” The scream was ugly and laced with an edge of panic.

Creek grabbed the man’s arm, pulling it taut. He shoved one foot up to the edge of the seat and Patel’s thigh, pinning the chair against the wall.

“If you pull my arm off, I’ll bleed to death and die,” Patel warned.

“Computer,” Creek called. “Connect me to the engine room.”

“Connection open,” came the crisp, clear voice.

“Engine room?”

“Officer MacVay, here.”

“Officer, send up an arc welder to interrogation room one.”

“Uh…okay. We’ll have that to you, uh, momentarily.”

“Computer, close connection.”

The arm Creek was still holding had started to shake.

“I think that should seal it up nicely. Buy me some time to question you.”

He pulled, slow and steady.

Patel’s breathing accelerated.

A small jerk and the shoulder dislocated. Patel screamed.

And then he started talking.

Five minutes later, Creek left the interrogation room and found three Arena Dogs in the hall and one burly human nervously tapping an arc welder with one foot.

“Don’t think we’ll need that,” he said to the man. To Mercury he said, “You might want to send the medic up. I dislocated his shoulder.”

“You got what you wanted?”

“Contact codes and meet point, though the meet is long overdue so I’m not sure how much good it’ll do us.”

“We’ll see what we can do. You don’t think he has any other information?”

Creek wondered if Mercury meant information about Grace. “Unlikely.”

“All right,” said Mercury.

“I’m going to go check on Grace.”

The other men waved him off. They’d take care of any further questions for Patel. It was good to have others to rely on. He strode down the hall, both eager and reluctant to see Grace again.

The moment he stepped through the door to his room he heard her in his shower.

The room she’d been assigned only had one of those cramped ulight showers.

He was glad he’d chosen one of the more luxurious suites.

The smell of cleanser and water and her body combined to stir his blood.

His cock filled, but she was clean and he was still sweaty and carrying Patel’s stench on him.

He stood uncertain, staring at the door to the bathroom as it slid open.

Her face lit up when she saw him. She wore only a soft white towel wrapped around her damp body.

Her legs were slender and bare. The towel hid most of her curves, but her breasts made an inviting swell at the top of the cloth.

“Did things go poorly with Patel,” she asked.

He’d been scowling, he realized. “No. It went well enough. He gave me the meet location and the com code.”

“But you don’t think it will do us any good.” Her face was neutral when she spoke the words, but she had to be disappointed.

“I don’t. But Mercury will check it out for us.”

“Us. I like the sound of that.” She stepped forward, grasping his arm.

Her touch lit a fire beneath his skin. The simmering frustration and aggression exploded into intense want. She was his. He’d all but claimed her. But he wouldn’t take her like an animal. She deserved better from him than that.

“I need to shower.” He moved to step around her, but she slid her grasp to his hand and tugged, leading him to the bathing room.

When they reached the steamy shower room she turned and propped against the wall, watching him with questions in her eyes and a secretive smile on her lips.

“I need to shower,” he repeated.

“Go ahead,” she offered. “I want to talk to you.”

Half of him wanted to rip the towel from her body and bury himself between her slender legs. The other half cautioned him to be careful with her. He wanted her for more than a quick fuck. She was everything.

He couldn’t find the strength to send her away so he stripped off his clothes and stepped under the spray, hoping it would cool him down.

The water was warm. And her intake of breath was profoundly unhelpful.

Second guessing his instincts, he turned to face her, suddenly worried that breath was something other than interest.

Her gaze stroked across his heated flesh like a touch. It came to a stop on his face. She seemed to have stopped breathing, but there was no distress in it.

“You wanted to talk?” He lifted his eyebrows.

She nodded then finally took a deep breath. “Don’t waste water.” She lifted a finger and indicated he should turn around.

He complied. It took all his will to start washing his overheated body.

“I want to talk to you about the room situation.”

“What room?” He spread the lathered soap across his chest.

“My room. There’s a problem with it.”

Senses alert, he heard her shuffle her feet, shifting her weight. Nervous?

He forced his hands to keep scrubbing. “What’s the problem?”

“It’s too far from you.”

His heart thudded heavily. He stood under the spray and let the water rinse away the cleanser.

His hands slapped against the shower wall and he hung his head, wishing the water could cool his need for her.

His cock had lengthened and if he turned around, she’d have no doubt of how close he wanted them to be. “Butterfly,” he whispered.

“Creek?” Her voice shook.

Slowly, he turned, her lips pressed together, her eyes hopeful.

He flared his nostrils, taking in the moist air around them.

Her pheromones were high. She wanted him.

He shut off the water and reached for her.

She came into his arms easily. Their lips came together in a rush of warm, wet softness.

He thrust his tongue between her lips and stroked her tongue with his.

***

Creek ran the underside of his fingers along the damp skin of her arms. Down and then up again. She shivered. He wrapped one of his large, warm hands around her neck and used the other to pull the pin from her hair, letting it tumble down her back.

Grace’s hands found the small of his back and her mind stalled over the decision of whether to slide up and across the broad expanse of his shoulders or to slip down to the tight globes of his very nice ass.

She’d wanted him almost from the beginning. The proof that he wanted her in the same way was currently pressed against the towel covering her belly.

“Creek.” She pled against his lips.

He swung her up into his arms and carried her to his bed.

“We’ll get the bed wet,” she warned.

He grinned, showing teeth. “A problem we wouldn’t have in your room.”

“I didn’t like that room. I’m giving it up.”

He tugged the edge of her towel free, bearing her to his gaze.

His grin softened into something more serious, but even more powerful.

He crawled onto the bed, part predator, part protector.

Hunching over her, he used the back of his finger to trace a line down her nose and across her lips.

The line dipped down between her breasts, and he splayed his hand over her heart.

“I can feel it beating,” he said.

“It beats for you,” she assured him.

His breath hitched and he made a chuffing noise in the back of his throat.

Grace reached for him, pressing her own palm over his heart. She didn’t stop there though. She traced her palm over the defined muscles of his chest. She smoothed her hand down to trace the circle of his belly button with the tips of her fingers.

He sucked in a breath. “You tease me with your delicate touch, Butterfly.”

She smiled and stretched her hand farther, gripping his girth and stroking.

His breathing stopped completely this time.

He lowered himself slowly, giving her time to release him and let their bodies come together fully.

Skin to skin. Hard muscles to soft curves.

Hot cock to cool thigh. He rocked against her, breath against her temple.

This time she didn’t even have to think. Her arms came around him and stroked down the slope of his back and she reached for his ass. She gripped him with fingers spread wide as she responded to the press of him.

For a long moment they danced together among the sheets. Then everything came to a stop. They were both breathing hard.

Creek reached for her hands, placed them over her head and pulled back to meet her eyes. “I don’t think I can be gentle, Grace.”

“I didn’t ask you to.”

He took her mouth hard and fast. She met his tongue eagerly when it swept into her mouth.

They moved against each other again. This time it was less like dancing and more like they wanted to melt into each other.

Creek slipped a leg between her restless thighs, and she eagerly made space for him, wrapping her legs around him.

He pressed against her tender flesh, right where she needed his warmth.

Need pulsed through her like electricity, bowing her back and tightening her grip in his.

Her body strained for more, more of him, more of them together, but his hands, his body held her in place.

His kisses traveled down her jaw and neck.

He sucked on her skin as if the taste of her was his favorite flavor.

She could hear her own breathing in the quiet room.

Beneath that, a growl rumbled deep in his chest.

Grace rocked her hips with him. He nipped at her shoulder then raised up over her. He met her gaze, and a muscle twitched in his jaw before he spoke. “You’re sure?”

“Yes.” She didn’t hesitate and his eyes said he liked that.

Creek adjusted his position then pushed inside her, deep and sure. She’d never been so wonderfully full. All her breath left her on a sigh of profound pleasure. A rush of emotion hit her like nothing in her past ever had. Her throat tightened and her vision blurred.

She needed to move before her body caught fire and her heart melted. He lowered his body along hers and together they found a rhythm as forceful as the sea in a storm. A rhythm that made them both pant.

She was nearly at the point of begging when his hips slammed against hers with so much force it seemed like it should have hurt, but it must have rewired her brain.

Her vision went white with release, and she heard Creek howl above her.

The heat of his release filled her and left her floating.

Somehow, Creek managed to keep moving, rocking against her more gently now.

So slowly. Wringing every last ounce of pleasure from their connection.

When he pulled free he tugged her into his arms. “I am yours, Butterfly. For as long as you’ll have me. ”

She pressed her face against the hard plane of his chest. It wasn’t exactly the words she’d most wanted, but it was a start.