They were still working with John regarding exactly what kind of work they would be doing at the DCO. At that moment, everything was leaning toward training them to be a search-and-recon team. They would go all over the world, finding people in trouble and figuring out what kind of extra DCO resources would be needed to help them out. This was work Minka honestly felt she and Angelo could do.
She leaned forward and kissed Angelo, boldly finding his tongue with hers. She had to focus to keep her fangs from slipping out and nicking him. He never complained, but it was something she wanted to work on. She enjoyed kissing him and didn't want anything getting in the way of that.
Angelo slid one hand into her hair, weaving his fingers in and tugging a little as his other hand gripped her bottom. Mmm. That felt so good-especially when he thrust into her at the same time. Angelo had already proven to her many times over that her climax was always more intense when she let it build for a while.
Angelo was getting close, too. She could tell from the thundering beat of his heart and his quick, deep thrusts. She loved making him come hard, thrilled she could make him feel as good as he did her.
Angelo's gaze locked with hers, and she knew her eyes were glowing green. Minka couldn't begin to tell him how much she appreciated the fact that it didn't bother him.
She purred as she felt the first tingles of orgasm deep inside her, in that place where her beast resided. Now that she'd come to accept that part of herself and could control it, she didn't mind when the beast shared in her pleasure. They were two parts, living as one. Neither could live without the other, and now, she would never dream of denying the beast this happiness.
Minka circled her hips faster, like she did when she was dancing. Angelo groaned, his dark eyes turning molten. He liked when she did that. He called her his little feline belly dancer.
As the sensations grew stronger and Angelo's grip on her bottom tightened, Minka pressed her lips to his ear. "I love you. Forever."
Those words always sent her angel over the edge. With a hoarse groan, he plunged deep into her, bringing her to climax. She yowled and threw her head back as she came. He yanked her more tightly against him, and she splayed her hands on his chest, panting for breath. Her claws were out now, but she was careful not to sink them into his muscles. Even during climax, she was able to maintain enough control for that.
When the last whispers of her orgasm had faded away, she collapsed against him and lay there gasping, enjoying the pleasant tremors that rippled through her.
Angelo licked her neck, nipping and kissing there. "I love you, too. You know that, don't you?"
Minka pushed herself up on her hands and smiled at him. "I know. And I'll never forget."
Epilogue
John checked his rearview mirror as he drove along Highway 123 toward his home near Tyson's Corner. He didn't expect anyone to be following him, but lately, he'd gotten the feeling that something was off. Then again, spying on the Committee and uncovering secrets would make anyone paranoid.
Unfortunately, Landon and Ivy hadn't been able to hand him a smoking gun to put Thomas Thorn away for the rest of his life, but they'd definitely confirmed a lot of John's suspicions. Thanks to the information Renard gave them, he now knew for a fact that Thorn had funded Keegan Stutmeir and the hybrid program, albeit without proof, of course. But it was just a matter of time before they found the evidence they needed.
The mission to Tajikistan had also confirmed there was a second player in the hybrid game. The hard drives Trevor had taken showed that someone on the Committee had provided Klaus with technical information on the Costa Rican hybrid strain. If John had to guess, he'd say it was Rebecca Brannon or Xavier Danes.
John turned down the main road toward the high-rise complex where he lived. The third thing the Tajikistan mission had clarified was the hybrid family tree. They'd thought the different hybrids were part of the same group, but now they knew differently. The hybrids Stutmeir had created-the ones John liked to think of as the first generation-were all dead, except for Tanner. The Costa Rican variants-the second-generation hybrids-were almost all gone too, except for a few that might have escaped into the jungle. Of course, there was a distinct possibility that whoever was behind the operation in Central America still had the formula for that variant. Only time would tell on that.
Then, there was the third-generation hybrid/shifter blend made from Ivy's DNA. There was Minka, the unidentified woman Landon had brought back with them, and the unidentified male who'd gotten away. John had people out looking for the man, but Tajikistan was a rough country, and it might take a while to find him-if he was even still alive.
Finally, there were the fourth-generation variants Landon and the rest of the team had fought in Tajikistan. Zarina thought they were probably a blend of the second- and third-generation hybrids. He'd sent in another team to scout out the area to look for survivors, but they hadn't found any. That still worried the hell out of John. With the control they'd demonstrated, the creatures would be seriously dangerous if someone could find the formula and create more of them. But Klaus and Renard were dead, so hopefully their research had died with them.
John pulled into the private parking garage of his apartment complex, nodded at the security guard, then got on the elevator. He had to swipe a card through a reader, enter in a six-digit pin number, then stand in the middle of the car for a visual ID scan. That was the only way to get the elevator to take him to the top floor.
As he stepped out of the elevator, the big, muscular man sitting behind the desk outside John's front door looked up. John hated the idea of having a guard at his apartment, but if he had to have one, he was glad it was Morgan Gerard. John had no idea what kind of animal DNA Morgan had, but whatever it was, it made him strong as hell and patient as the day is long. Morgan was what Adam called a "hidden shifter," a person who had some kind of animal DNA mixed with his own but not necessarily the type that would make him useful as a weapon to the DCO. Shifters like Morgan existed in the shadows, never showing up on the DCO's radar, which was exactly the way Adam and these low-level shifters liked it.
Morgan nodded in his direction, then went back to his book. From his appearance, people tended to think the big man was some kind of dumb jock, but one look at the cover of the quantum physics book he was reading would tell anyone that wasn't the case.
John opened his door and walked into the large, beautifully decorated penthouse apartment. He was about to call out that he was home when a little girl came running into the living room, her long, shiny hair streaming behind her. John bent down and scooped her up, spinning around in a circle.
"Daddy's home!" She giggled.
"How's my Boo?" he asked, kissing her on the cheek and making her laugh even more. Boo wasn't really her name, but after seeing Monsters, Inc. a few years ago, she'd decided she liked the name more than she did her own. And his eight-year-old daughter could be very forceful when it came to getting what she wanted. Just like her mother.
John turned to see Cree coming out of the kitchen, her dark, wavy hair down around her mocha-skinned shoulders, her sometimes blue – sometimes gray eyes twinkling. God, he didn't know how she did it, but somehow, his shifter wife looked more beautiful every day.
"Good day at the office?" she asked with a smile as she kissed him.
He nodded. "I'll tell you all about it later."
She opened her mouth to say something, but Boo interrupted.
"Daddy, Uncle Adam came to visit. He's been making me laugh at all the funny faces he can do."
John glanced at Cree. "Adam makes funny faces?"
He honestly couldn't see the former assassin playing peekaboo with his daughter. But then again, he rarely ever saw the man smile, so what the hell did he know?
Cree smiled. "I guess. He's waiting in the office." She gave Boo a kiss. "Want to hang out with Milan for a while before dinner?"
John looked over to see the slender, incredibly graceful woman coming to stand near the island that separated the kitchen from the living room. She'd moved so quietly, he hadn't even heard her. A hidden shifter like Morgan, Adam's pretty, dark-haired wife smiled as she came over.
She took Boo's hand as he set his daughter on her feet. "Come on, Boo. Let's go to your room and play with your dolls while your mommy and daddy talk to Uncle Adam."
"I stopped by and visited Jayson Harmon on the way home," John said as he and Cree crossed the living room to the home office. "You remember I told you about him? The lieutenant from Landon's former Special Forces A-team who's been recovering from injuries he got in Afghanistan. I offered him a job at the DCO weapons range."