Roping Savannah Read online

  “You arrested the girls?” Krista asked.

  “I went back and staked the place out. Along comes an older girl, she’s nineteen and goes by the name Camryn, I know that now. Anyway, she’s got a guy with her who has perv radiating off him. Holland and another girl her age are outside, sharing an iPod. Camryn and the scumbag stop. There’s talking. Pointing. The sicko john gives a belly laugh and then disappears into the residential hotel with Holland and the other underage kid. To make a long story short. I call for backup and then go in. The perv’s down to his boxers. Holland’s in the bathroom. The other girl is naked on the bed.”

  Krista frowned. “And you got in trouble?”

  “It turns out Vice has been looking at an escort service these girls have some connection to. But the perv I brought in was a freelance job. Not that any of the participants are admitting anything.”

  “So what’s going to happen to them?”

  “The perv will probably get lewd conduct with a minor—if he gets that.” Savannah shrugged. “I didn’t see any money change hands. I didn’t actually catch them in the act. But there was no way I could drive away once I saw them go inside.”

  “And the girls?”

  “I don’t know. I was planning on following up. I still am as soon as I can manage it without the guys in Vice ripping me a new one. The one kid is already pretty hardened, but the other, Holland—” Savannah shrugged. “You’d think the job would toughen me up, but something about her still seems vulnerable, like it’s not too late to turn it around for her.” A waitress stopped by the table. Once she’d taken their orders and moved on, Savannah changed the topic. “So what brings you to Reno?”

  “I thought it’d be nice to get away for a while, maybe use the cabin if it’s available.”

  “Man trouble?” Savannah asked, watching as a wide range of emotions washed over Krista’s face. “Oh boy, you have it bad. Want to tell me about the asshole who broke your heart? Maybe he’s got an outstanding warrant or something and I can make sure the wheels of justice turn.”

  Krista laughed. “What you really mean is, make sure the wheels of justice roll over the guy and flatten him.”

  Savannah grinned. “That too.” Then on a more serious note she added, “Feel free to use the cabin for as long as you need to. I’m all ears if you want to talk.”

  The waitress arrived and placed their drinks and food on the table, then left. Krista cleared her throat and reached for a nacho, her face flushing with color before saying, “It’s not just one guy, it’s two. And they didn’t break my heart exactly. I want to be with them, but I can’t.”

  Savannah’s eyebrows lifted. She grabbed a nacho and dug it into a pot containing hot cheese. “Oh boy. Are you talking both at the same time, or two different boyfriends in two different locations?”

  “Both at the same time.”

  Savannah made a show of waving air onto her face. “Is this your idea or theirs?”

  Krista’s blush deepened. “We’re all okay with it.”

  “I am speechless.”

  “That’s a first.”

  Savannah grinned. “Yeah, my captain would say that too.” Her face went serious. “So what’s holding you back? Are you afraid it’d get back to your principal and you’d get canned on a morals clause?”

  “Yeah, something like that.”

  Savannah reached for Krista’s arm and gave a little squeeze. “So go on a trip somewhere and enjoy the fantasy. That’s what I’d do.”

  Surprise chased across Krista’s face and Savannah laughed. “What, you don’t think I have fantasies too?” Her eyebrows went up and down in a comical manner. “I have a very active imagination.”

  Krista laughed. “So you’d take on two guys at once?”

  “Oh yeah. And I’d bring out the lariat.”

  “No!”

  Savannah grinned. “You know how much I love to rope and tie things. Now tell me about these two guys.”

  “The word gorgeous doesn’t do them justice. They look like…” Krista laughed. “I’m embarrassed to even say this. But I will. They look like warriors, the kind you picture on the cover of a very steamy erotic romance novel. Tanned, muscled. Alike but different.” She wrinkled her nose. “They complement each other and I get the idea that they’ve been friends for a long time.”

  Savannah snorted. “Not a lot of time was spent on conversation I take it.”

  Krista gave a small, husky laugh and admitted, “No.” She hesitated. “Do you still believe love can happen a few heartbeats after lust at first sight?”

  “Yeah. I think it’s possible to recognize someone you can spend your life with at the same time your hormones are in overdrive and you want to jump his body.” Savannah sighed. “I can only dream. So besides gorgeous, what do they look like?”

  “Both have shoulder-length hair, but Adan’s is golden and Lyan’s is black.” Krista’s expression could only be described as dreamy. “They’re like walking fantasies. It’s crazy. The first time they both touched me, I felt…like it was more than lust. And then when I was…in bed with them…”

  Savannah held her hand in front of her. “Stop. Do not pass GO. Do not collect your two hundred dollars. Tell me if they have any gorgeous friends, then find a room and lock the three of you in it!”

  Krista laughed. “I take it there aren’t any fantasy men in your life right now.”

  “Not even close. The only guys I see are cops and crooks—not exactly prime candidates in the relationship department.”

  “What about the cowboys on your parents’ ranch? The way I remember it, that’s where all the great-looking guys could be found.”

  Savannah rolled her eyes. “Now that my brothers have taken over so my parents can travel, any guy they catch looking my way gets to check fences. I’ve been told that riding the fence line with a raging hard-on is very painful. These days all I have to do to clear a room of cowboys is to walk into it! And yeah, you’re right—the Bar None bunkhouse is still full of eye candy.”

  Krista snickered. “So close and yet so far away.”

  “You’ve got that right,” Savannah said as she checked her watch and frowned.

  “Is your snitch late?”

  “Yeah, by about ten minutes. The Ferret is the nervous type. He usually arrives early, lurks in the shadows until he makes sure it’s safe then slinks out. It’s not like him to be late.” She rose from her chair. “I think I’ll check outside, just in case.”

  Krista stood up too. “I’ll go with you.”

  “No way, this is police business.”

  “Official police business?”

  Savannah shook her head ruefully. “That’s the trouble with confessions—they always come back to haunt you. Come on. These days The Dive is a pretty quiet place. I don’t really expect trouble. The Ferret probably got a better offer and that’s why he’s a no-show, but I’d kick myself if I found out later that he was hanging around outside.”

  “What kind of information is he selling?”

  “I don’t know.” She wasn’t even sure if The Ferret expected to be paid for it.

  “You don’t know!”

  Savannah grimaced. “All he said was that it was something big. Something big enough that if I break it wide open, the brass will have to give me a detective shield, and my days as a beat cop will be over.” They stepped out of the bar and Savannah said, “That looks like The Ferret’s car.”

  The car was parked down the street, on the other side of an alleyway. The brand new black Beamer was one of the expensive models. “This feels bad,” Krista said. “Why didn’t he park here?”

  “I don’t know. But there’s one way to find out.”

  “Shouldn’t you call for backup or something?”

  Savannah shook her head but didn’t say anything as she stopped at the truck long enough to retrieve her weapon before heading toward the Beamer. At the alleyway she held up a hand to signal a halt, then crouched low with her gun in the ready position bef
ore she eased around to check the alley.

  * * * * *

  Kye d’Vesti’s cock came to a rapid and throbbing attention when he saw the flame-haired woman step out of the bar with Krista Thomas, the bond-mate his cousin Lyan shared with Adan d’Amato. By the stars, the flame-haired beauty was the one. She was his mate.

  He didn’t need the Council and its scientists to confirm it. The blood pouring into his shaft, the fire racing through his veins, the need that made him want to leave his hiding place and stride over to claim her were all the proof he needed. She was his.

  She was also armed and dangerous.

  Kye shook his head as though to clear the images being transmitted from his eyes to his brain. Had his soon-to-be-mate just pulled one of their primitive weapons from a holster at her side? Was she even now moving away from him in the manner of a hunter tracking prey?

  She was.

  Kye didn’t know whether to laugh or to yell in rage as he quickly determined a destination and transported to it. Now that he’d found his mate, there was no way he would allow anything to happen to her. She was his only hope to sire children, not that the desire for offspring was on his mind at the present time—though fucking was. Oh yes, he definitely had fucking on his mind.

  But first he needed to stop this foolishness of inviting danger into her life. She was far, far too valuable—to him, to his race—to one of the unmated Amato he would need to share her with. Kye frowned at the thought then pushed it away, his heart jerking in his chest as he saw Krista grab her flame-haired friend and jerk her into an alley just as the car they were approaching exploded in a blast that rocked the area and sent metal and glass and pieces of brick flinging like deadly projectiles in all directions.

  Chapter Two

  In a heartbeat Kye was there, rage and deadly resolve swirling through him in a wild rush. Until this moment, he had never felt the primitive emotions that so often overtook Vesti males. But now, as he looked down at his debris-covered mate, they poured through him, turning him into a deadly opponent. He wanted to find whoever had done this to her and make them pay—slowly and painfully. He wanted to carry his mate home and ensure her life was never in danger again.

  Kye’s eyes traveled to Lyan’s mate and love for her swelled in his heart. If not for Krista, his own mate would be dead.

  “Lyan?” Krista asked, frowning in puzzled confusion.

  “No, I am Kye.”

  Krista slowly sat up, her attention shifting to her friend. “Savannah, are you okay?”

  Savannah groaned and rolled to her side before also sitting up. “Yeah, nothing that some Advil and hydrogen peroxide won’t take care of.” She brushed a hand over her hair, sending small pieces of glass and brick to the concrete. “Man, I knew I wasn’t going to like what was in that Beamer!”

  Her grin sent a wave of fury through Kye. Didn’t his mate realize that someone had been waiting for her? Was trying to kill her?

  Krista shook her head and shuddered. “Maybe you should leave town for a while, Savannah. Somebody set you up.”

  Savannah rubbed her hands together, quelling the riot of emotions roaring through her with a show of bravado. “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. This could be my big break. What’d you see before the explosion? What tipped you off?”

  “Did you see the car pull away from the curb as we were heading toward the Beamer?”

  “Yeah.” Savannah frowned. Had she missed something obvious?

  “The window came down and then something like an antenna came out. I just had a bad feeling…”

  Shit! She’d been so focused on the Beamer… “Good thing for both of us that you did.”

  Kye’s nostrils flared with fury. The purple crystals in his wristbands swirled and pulsed as his emotions threatened his control. The need to take his woman and get her to safety was almost overwhelming. “Who wants to hurt you?” he demanded.

  Green fire flashed in his mate’s eyes and sent blood roaring to his cock. When he got her away from here, she’d feel the sting of his hand on her ass before he mounted her.

  “And you are?” his defiant mate—Savannah—had the nerve to ask in a challenging tone.

  “Kye d’Vesti, cousin to Lyan d’Vesti.”

  Savannah’s eyes grew round and her lips formed a small o. To Krista she said, “Wow.”

  Krista flushed with heightened color before her attention shifted to Kye. “Did Lyan and Adan send you? How did they know I was here?”

  “Lyan does not yet know where you are. He told me of you and I was curious so I followed you here from Las Vegas.”

  Krista stiffened. “Why were you curious?”

  Kye grinned, amusement temporarily displacing the killing fury and wild possessiveness battling inside him. “It is not every day that my fierce cousin is brought to his knees. I wanted to see the female who had tamed him.” He shook his head. “Be warned, once Lyan returns to his senses, he’ll come after you.”

  “Are you going to tell him that I’m here?”

  The range of emotions warring on Krista’s face—the longing and despair—made Kye more curious than ever as to what was going on between Adan and Lyan and their beautiful bond-mate, but he shook his head and set her mind at ease by saying, “No, you have my word that I will say nothing to him.”

  Of course, he had no need to tell his cousin. The serum Lyan injected into Krista’s bloodstream when he sunk his mating teeth into her had forged a connection that allowed him to sense where she was. Once claimed, it was impossible for a Vesti mate to escape.

  Kye’s eyes darkened momentarily as his attention moved to his own mate. He didn’t intend to make the same mistake with her as Lyan had made initially with Krista. As soon as Savannah was underneath him, he intended to sink his mating fangs into her. She would never be able to disappear from his life after he had done so.

  A siren sounded in the distance and Savannah scrambled to her feet. “Damn, we need to get out of here. Let’s go out the alley and around. The fewer people that see us, the better.”

  Krista frowned. “Shouldn’t you stick around and make a report or something?”

  “Trust me, it’ll do more harm than good if my captain gets word of this. And until I know more about what’s going on, I’m going to play this one close to the chest. The Ferret said he was on to something big. I don’t know how long it’s going to take for them to find out who the car belonged to, but I need to get to The Ferret’s place and see if there’s something there that’ll help me make sense of this thing.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Krista said as she and Kye followed Savannah to the end of the alley and around the corner.

  Savannah shook her head. “No. It’d be safer if you didn’t. Please, go to the cabin. I’ll call you to let you know I made it home.”

  Krista’s face grew determined. “I’m not letting you go by yourself. I’m going, even if I have to wait in the car.”

  Kye’s jaw clenched. His mate would soon learn that putting herself in danger was unacceptable. Despite his promise to Krista, he sent out a mental probe to determine if Lyan and Adan were near. Relief washed through him when he found they were rapidly approaching the city. Soon they would be here to take charge of their female.

  Kye and the two women slipped into The Dive’s parking lot unnoticed. A crowd was gathered around the remains of the black Beamer. Savannah used the remote on her key chain to unlock the doors of her truck. Krista said, “I’m not letting you go alone, I’ll follow you in my car.”

  “No,” Kye said. He could not allow anything to happen to Lyan and Adan’s mate. “I will go with Savannah.”

  Savannah stiffened. “I don’t believe you were invited.”

  Kye’s attention was immediately drawn to his mate. He took her arm and tried to retrieve the keys. When she didn’t yield, he pulled her against his body. The smell of her filling his nostrils and imprinting itself on his soul.

  “Back off,” she growled, trying to escape his arms.
r />   Savannah’s struggles only served to press her hard-tipped breasts against his chest. He smiled. She was not immune to him. But if looks could kill, his mate would even now be facing charges for his murder.

  “No. We have much to discuss.” Kye didn’t bother to keep the growl out of his voice as he forced the keys from her hand then opened the door and urged Savannah into the truck. Once she was inside, he turned to Krista and cupped her face in his hand. “You have my word that I will keep your friend safe. She is my bond-mate. Those who would harm her will pay with their lives.”

  Krista’s eyes widened. Kye smiled and pressed his lips to hers, sucking and teasing until she opened her mouth to him. His tongue rubbed over hers, offering comfort and reassurance—as well as the taste and memory of him for Lyan to find—and react to. It was foolish, baiting his cousin in such a manner, but he couldn’t help himself.

  “Leave now. Do not worry for your friend,” he said when the kiss ended.

  Krista got into her car. Reluctantly. And he could feel his own mate’s hostile glare boring into his back and sending even more blood to his cock as he stood in the parking lot and watched Krista drive away. When she was out of sight he turned and climbed into the truck, feeling his control threatened by the heady scent and beauty of Savannah.

  “All right, Batman,” she said, “I humored you for Krista’s sake. But we need to get a few things straight.” She paused to look at the growing crowd of people around the Beamer. “After we get out of here.”

  A ripple of shock moved through Kye. Bat-man? Had she glimpsed his true form? His heart soared. Only those humans who carried the Fallon gene markers could see the Vesti and the Amato as they truly were.

  His mate’s frown deepened. “Get moving, or get out of the truck.”

  Kye grinned at her command. Oh yes, he and his mate definitely had a few things to get straight. Not the least of which was that from this moment on, it would be his commands that would be followed, not hers. She belonged to him now, and she would no longer put herself in danger, nor do as she pleased without regard to her own safety.