Hostages aren't really my style, but if she's telling the truth about Smyth and Santiago, she's my closest link to them. That, and the data drive burning a hole in my pocket.
Taking her has nothing to do with the fact that my wolf is howling for me to protect her. Afraid she won't get out before my explosives blow the place.
The lights flicker on and my hostage comes alive, twisting her body in an attempt to free herself from my grasp.
I curse, not wanting to bruise her. She rears her head back and nails my nose with her forehead in a move both surprising and sexy.
My nose cracks, hold slips. She wrenches free, taking off down the corridor.
My wolf thinks it's a goddamn game and before I can temper my response, launches for her. I tackle her to the ground in a skidding tumble. Her little oof makes my cock harden against the soft curve of her ass. A drop of my blood falls on her neck and I have to bite back the apology that springs to my lips.
She's the one who broke my nose, for moon's sake.
I throw myself off her, more afraid of losing control than I am of her getting away. I can always catch her again. Thanks to my shifter healing abilities, my nose has already stopped bleeding, bones finding their way back into place. I'm grateful for the miracle of healing every fucking time, only because I remember all too well what it's like to be too weak for my wounds to regenerate.
Layne surges onto her hands and knees.
I grab her ankle and pull her back. She takes me by surprise again, twisting and throwing her body at mine, like she wants to tackle me to my back. Of course, I don't go over because of my shifter strength, so she ends up straddling my lap, arms tangled around my neck.
Well, helloooo Layne, my wolf purrs. My boner presses up against the heat of her crotch. I feel her hand in my pocket, grabbing for the data drive.
Clever woman.
I catch her wrist to stay her hand, wrap one arm around her waist. I don't mean to yank her hips tighter against mine, but it happens. Okay, maybe I did mean to.
Because I'm losing the fight with my wolf.
Fates, I wish she didn't look so damn appealing. Her high cheeks flush with color, and fuck, are those freckles sprinkled across her nose?
My wolf pants, bringing my nose right up to her neck. It takes every ounce of my control not to flick my tongue out and taste her skin.
"Dr. Zhao, I'd love to do the horizontal mambo with you some more, but we don't have time. We need to get out of this building before it blows."
Tears pop into her eyes and it does something terrible to my insides.
My wolf backs down, aggression dampened.
"But my research." She sounds absolutely broken.
Seriously?
Wow. This woman cares more about her research than her own life. Which is... fascinating.
"If you want your research preserved, you'll have to stick with me, then, won't you?" I wave the data drive in her face. It's dastardly of me, since I have no intention of returning her research, but I need to get her the hell out of this building before it blows. I lift her from my lap and scramble to stand, hauling her back down the corridor.
She seems to agree with my logic because this time she hurries along beside me. "Where are we going?"
"Out of here. I'm trying to keep you safe, doctor."
"Safe from whom? You're the one with the gun and explosives."
I choose not to answer. We really don't have time for me to explain how she's on the wrong side of ethical research right now. I don't think she has any idea what's really going on in these labs.
"Who are you? Why are you doing this?"
Lots of reasons, sweetheart. Justice. Rescue. Revenge.
"These men you're working for? They're bad guys."
Her brow wrinkles at my cliff notes version.
"I'm an honorable man," I tell her. If she was a shifter, she'd know by my scent I'm not lying. She peers up at me as I hustle her through another hallway. Some humans trust their instincts when judging character. I hope Dr. Zhao is one of them.
Of course, it's also possible she has those instincts along with a predisposition to being turned. Knowing Smyth, he chose her as an employee for just that reason. Waste not, want not. Classic Smyth.
"I'll make you a deal. You help me locate your boss, and I won't blow this lab."
"I told you, he's not here anymore. He left after our meeting."
"I mean give me any information you have to help me find him."
Her eyes narrow. I can practically hear the gears whirring as she analyzes her options. A sharp inhale and she nods.
I'm surprised how relieved I am to have her consent. How much I want her to trust me. Not that it matters, as long as she does what I say. But my wolf hates when I threaten her.
"Deal?"
"Deal," she agrees, and I tuck the tranquilizer gun into the back waistband of my jeans. I stop to disable the explosives I set up earlier and take them with me. I'm reserving the right to come back and blow this place up later, after she's told me everything she knows.
Not while she's in it, of course.
"Come on."
At the security check point, Dr. Zhao stops short at the sight of the two human guards I left unconscious.
"Keep moving," I growl. I'd never hurt a woman, but she doesn't need to know that. Hand on her back, I push her past the limp bodies. My fingers curl into fists at the worried look on her face. They don't deserve her sympathy.