Hunter's Moon Read Online Free Page A

he fought for calm. What was his next play?
    Victoria sighed, and buried in her voice was fatigue. With all that bouncy energy, she must have depleted her resources, and she waved a hand through the air in an elegant but languid gesture. “I’ll make sure you’re fed the finest courses, Gabriel. You will not want to leave me ever.” Throwing her plentiful head of hair about, she gave a shining bright smile and left.
    It wasn’t until the reinforced steel door closed that Kieran realized even now he and Gabriel were not alone. Cameras with microphones would record their interactions and their every move. He prayed silently that Gabriel would not try to speak to him yet. For a moment, unable to distinguish between relief and frustration, Kieran watched as Gabriel’s gaze dropped to the floor and stayed there, his whole position seemingly at ease—even in chains.
    Moving cautiously, he stared at Gabriel, who didn’t react in any way. Kieran turned to face the camera in the corner on the outside of the cell and used military hand gestures to indicate he was leaving his post and coming up to the control room. Without waiting to hear a reply through his earcom, he went up the stairs and left the room, closing the door behind him.
    The guard change would be in two hours, now less than that. Victoria’s talk with Gabriel had eaten up precious seconds that Kieran did not have. Deck led a group of twelve men, himself and Kieran included, and the Adler mansion undoubtedly had its own security forces. At the moment, though, Kieran’s main concern was his own men—who he was about to betray.
     
     
    H IS mate had disappeared up the stairs five minutes ago, and Gabe had little doubt that his message about the physical responses of the mating process had fallen on deaf ears. As he discarded the possibility his mate could help him escape, Gabe was forced to conclude that he had only his own wits to fall back on since he had been left to his own devices.
    Despite her apparent lunacy, Victoria was Gabe’s best bet. She was in love with her own image of a man, but perhaps with a little persuasion and charm he could convince her to—
    The door opened with a metallic clank, and two pairs of feet descended. Keeping his eyes aimed at the floor, Gabe wondered if it was chow time or if they had come to mock him or even hurt him.
    “See? The lock looks defective. Thank God the puppy’s still in chains, or we’d be in some serious shit.”
    Barely containing his confused frown, Gabe listened to his mate’s low cadence and his words, which made no sense. But he didn’t get the chance to ponder too long because as soon as the other man stepped closer to the lock to inspect it, Gabe’s mate grabbed him from behind, one arm wound tight across the man’s chest while his other hand was busy injecting something into the man’s neck. After groaning and flailing about for a few breaths, the man slumped, his eyes closed, and he went down.
    “Quickly,” Gabe’s mate ordered with a low hiss. He twisted the cell door keys off the man’s belt, unlocked the door, and dashed close to Gabe to unlock his restraints with a fast snap of his wrists. “My name’s Kieran, and I don’t have time to explain. Take that man’s clothes and put them on. Fucking hurry! It won’t take the rest of the unit long to discover the control room empty and the cameras turned off.”
    Practical as always, Gabe resisted the urge to pull his mate near. Every whiff of him was like an aphrodisiac, calling out to him. But he also didn’t fail to notice that Kieran veered off and intentionally avoided touching him. I guess he did notice his instinct to mate after all .
    Gabe walked closer to the unconscious guard and disrobed him. Without a word he shucked off his jeans and plaid shirt and put on the pitch-black uniform. The pants were too tight and too short, and the button-down shirt looked about ready to burst at the seams. The small boots would not fit him,