Ryder - Caveman Insticts Book Three Read online

  Glancing at my vixen she sent a smug grin my way before giving her brother an approving nod. The chuckle that escaped my lips turned into a deep belly laugh when my feisty woman went to attack me, but this time I was ready for her and blocked her. Holding my struggling woman against me I glared at the brother. “Do I call for back-up, or will you be a good boy and go to class? I promise you’ll see your sister this afternoon.”

  This time Arron seemed to actually consider what I said. Divinity pounded on my chest and my feet avoided hers in the dangerous heels. I covered her mouth with my hand and she attempted to bite it.

  Arron looked around him and saw no one was willing to intervene or help him. Sure, they were all watching, but they knew never to mess with a Silverman. “Fine.” Arron threw his hands up. “I know I’m going to regret this. But I’m telling you now if you hurt her, you’ll not just have me to answer to, but our father and a lot of Army men.” The kid gave me a glare that was pretty scary, but I’d seen much better in my line of work.

  Not bothering to reply I gave him a nod, gathered up my wild woman and left the school office building. As soon as my hand left Divinity’s mouth the obscene langue started. By the time I reached my car, even I was impressed with some of the curse words she called me but, I’d never admit it, I was going to have to look up what some even meant. What the hell was a fuck Muppet? Or her telling me I’m a cactus?

  Opening the passenger door and avoiding her body parts as she attacked me, I took the cuff hooked to me off and secured it to the door. I didn’t even try to put her in the car. I knew she wouldn’t get in yet. So I went around to the driver side and got in, put my keys in the ignition and waited.

  “If you think for one-minute fucktard that I’m willingly getting in this car, you’re dumb as dog shit.”

  I started the car, and she squealed when I put the car into gear and glanced over at her. I crept forward, careful not to go too fast. She got her arse in the car though, quick smart. I sped up as she closed the door.

  She leaned over and punched my arm. “You’re really a wanker. You know that, right?”

  “You have quite the mouth on you, don’t ya?”

  “So what if I do? I don’t know what my anything has to do with you.”

  “Oh, my little vixen, everything of yours has to do with me. Because you’re mine.”

  The snort was very unladylike, not that any of her behavior so far had been, but the hysterical laugh that came after the snort became my favorite sound in the world.

  “Oh. My. God. You’re fucking hilarious. Are you on something?” she wheezed out between fits of laughter. “Why on earth would you say shit like that?”

  “I’m not on anything. I said it because it’s true. You, Divinity Stamon, are my soulmate. The perfect woman for me.”

  “Ha, you really are a fuck Muppet. I’m not your soulmate. Trust me when I say you wouldn’t want me to be.” She sighed and was quiet for a moment or two. “Where are you taking me, ‘cause we’ve passed at least one police station and I have a feeling you’ve got a few loose screws.” I could feel her gaze on me as she seemed to access me. “You’re big. Well, I know a lot of big guys, and most are just brawn and nothing upstairs. I’m starting to think you fall in that category.” I growled at the idea of her knowing any men. “I do have to be at work in like an hour and half or so. I told my boss I’d be late as I had stuff with Arron to sort out and she said take an extra couple of hours or so. Um, before work I have to go home and change my shoes. These are not working-all-day–on-my-feet shoes. These are take-no-crap-from-anyone-while-being-super-tall shoes.”

  “Those shoes have some power,” I muttered.

  I didn’t need to turn to feel her glare on me. “Why yes, they do.” She huffed. “Are you gonna answer about where the hell you’re taking me?”

  “I’m taking you to my place. Our home.”

  “I hope you know that that kind of talk doesn’t calm my fears about you being sane. I’m sure what you’re doing falls under like, false arrest, or some such shit. So really, you’re like, kidnapping me, and you should be the one arrested.”

  I waited a moment for the, ha, I was sure would follow, but didn’t, then shot a smirk at her. “It’s good to be a cop and a Silverman. So many privileges.” I gave an exaggerated sigh and enjoyed the squeal of pure frustrated anger from Divinity. Holding in my chuckle, I turned down my street and leaned down to get the remote to open the gates, pressed it, and drove through. Shutting the gates, I didn’t bother parking in the garage. We both had to be at work. I wanted to show her her new home and explain what was going to happen.

  Getting out of the car I went around to her side. She’d opened the door and stood awkwardly, still connected to the car by the cuffs. Standing just out of reach, I drank her in. She really was a little thing, but with curves in all the right places. Her black hair finished at her very fine arse. Her make-up was flawless and finished her outfit perfectly. She was beyond gorgeous. I knew she was going to be trouble with a capital T.

  “If I come closer and undo the cuffs do you promise not to attack me?”

  “No. I promise nothing.” She tilted her head up.

  “I’m not letting you free until I get a promise from you. I’d like to say I have all day to wait on you to agree, but not only do you have work, I do, too.” I held up my hands in surrender and took a small step towards her. “I promise I won’t hurt you. All I want to do is show you the house and explain what is going on. I promise I’ll take you to work after. I’ll even talk to your boss if you’d like so you don’t get in trouble.”

  She glanced down at her cuffed hand and then back at me studying me with shrewd scrutiny. “Okay. I won’t attack you.”

  She didn’t promise, but from what I’d learned so far of my mate, she didn’t promise something unless she meant it. Slowly, I approached Divinity and undid her cuff. As soon as she was free she bolted as best she could for the front door. I was impressed with how good she was in the heels.

  The door was locked. The momentary look of defeat that flashed over her face had my heart sinking. This wasn’t what I wanted. I hadn’t wanted to be like my cousins and uncle and scare my mate. I’d wanted to try and be a bit more rational. I didn’t want to resort to kidnapping and I hoped that because I was taking her to work in an hour or so that it wouldn’t count.

  Going to the door I flashed a smile at her and told her the security code. “I’ll also give you a key once we get inside,” I added.

  Divinity didn’t say anything. She pushed past me when the door opened and I followed behind her. “It’s not what I expected,” she muttered.

  “What did you expect?”

  She jumped, seeming surprised I was so closely following her. She shrugged. “It’s actually quite homey. I expected something this extravagant to be…I don’t know, well, a show home really. All whites and browns. Bland and…” she eyed me up and down. “Manly.”

  Puffing my chest out, I winked at her. “It’s manly.”

  The smile that spread over her face for a moment turned her from gorgeous to breathtakingly beautiful. “Oh, you look manly, but your home has been decorated to be a home. I like what I’m seeing. Whoever did this, has good taste.”

  “It’s our house.”

  Her smile disappeared and she sighed. “And there is the crazy.” She walked down the hall past the lounge room and kitchen out to the rumpus room and sat on the couch that looked over the beach. “Come on. Let’s get this talk out of the way so I can get back to my real life.”

  I went to sit next to her, but she pointed to the recliner. Sitting down on it I leaned forward and took a deep breath in and tried to think of how to start the explanation for everything that was between us without sounding crazy. “Before I start this, I want you admit something.”

  She rolled her eyes and groaned, “Fine. If agreeing to something will move this along, then tell me what you want me to admit.”

  “You feel it. The spark betw
een us.”

  Divinity wriggled back into the seat, closed her eyes and sighed loudly. After a moment or two she massaged her forehead. Her eyes popped open and she crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. She was adorable. “I’ll admit I feel something for you. Annoyance. Displeasure. And, oh I don’t know, anger. I’m not sure about a spark, but maybe my desire to Taser you ninety percent of the time is coming through our connection you ‘feel’ we have.”

  She was witty and such a smart arse. I was loving that she wasn’t scared of me. She didn’t give a rat’s arse about who I was or who my family was, and I loved it. My smile since taking her felt like a permanent fixture. “See, you’re not scared ether. I’ve kidnapped you and don’t you find it strange that you’re not scared or terrified?”

  I watched as she realized what I was saying was true. Right now, she was vulnerable and should be scared out of her mind, but she was still bossy and sassy. Her eyes scanned me before looking at her surrounding and then coming back to me. After a while I saw the realization that something wasn’t right come over her. She uncrossed her arms and threw them up in the air. “Oh all right, you’ve made your frigging point. Tell me now what the hell is fucking going on.”

  Yes, I had her. Now to convince her of the curse and try not to have her think I’d lost my Goddamn marbles. Relaxing back into my seat, I started at the beginning.

  Ryder had a few screws loose. He’d just spent a good fifteen minutes telling me about his family back in the ‘old country’ helping a group of gypsies and them repaying the Silverman family by giving them the gift to know who their soulmate is. But, supposedly the curse is a double-edged sword, because when a Silverman finds his mate, he becomes, for the best explanation, a possessive caveman. I really wasn’t finding his story very realistic, or if it was real, anything I wanted to be involved with. I had enough alpha men in my life, thank you very much, there was no way I was going to add anymore. Ryder may be hot with a capital H, but not only was he a lunatic, he was way too alpha for me. I liked my men without that gene.

  The men I’d been involved with before, were easy going, under six feet, of smaller build, and they definitely didn’t have muscles like Ryder. Or tats. Actually, none of the guys I’ve been on a date with had any tattoos that were visible or I knew about. It wasn’t that I didn’t like tats, I’d just never been with a man who’d had them. Err, not that I’d been with many men at all. Ryder’s tats were had to miss. He’d have to wear a long sleeve turtle neck and long pants to cover his up.

  Staring at Ryder, I tried to take in everything he’d told me. As my mind was processing, my gaze devoured the gorgeous man sitting across from me. It was a pity I didn’t like my men all ‘He-man alpha,’ because, Ryder was a very yummy specimen. His head was almost shaved, expect for the dark stubble like growth. He looked as if he hadn’t shaved his face in a day or two with the dark five o’clock shadow. His eyes were the most intense dark green I’d ever seen. His cheeks were high and his jaw square. He was huge, all muscle, but in proportion to his six foot something height. He was the picture-perfect example of masculine beauty.

  I shook my head trying to expel those thoughts. I knew that Ryder was going to be trouble. He was going to be a weakness.

  “Okay, so I’m your ‘soul mate’ because of some gift gypsies gave your family. Riiiggghtttt. You’ve explained. Can you now take me home so I can change for work?”

  “For fuck’s sake. You think I’m crazy? I know that tone.” He ran his hand over his head.

  Oh, I totally thought he was looney, but I didn’t have time to debate or talk to him more about his crazy explanation. I needed to get to work. I was already a couple of hours late. Work had been amazing about the trouble with my brother, but I didn’t want to push my luck. Ignoring his question, I asked my own. “Are you going to keep your word? You said you’d take me home once you explained.”

  Ryder stood and paced back and forth in front of me. For some strange reason, I wasn’t scared of him, but I wasn’t an idiot so I knew to wait and watch him. To stay cautious. I knew about the Silverman family, but I didn’t know them. A growl sounded from him and he threw up his hands. “Fine. I’ll take you home to change your shoes.” His gaze narrowed. “I’m picking you up from work.”

  “Ah, no. I’m driving to work and getting my own arse home tonight.” I was done with all this. I was done with Silvermans. Walking towards the front door, I hoped he’d get the hint that I was done. I’d listened to him and I hadn’t attacked him. I needed time to think and Ryder just added more confusion and questions when I was around him.

  I didn’t get far before his strong arms circled my waist and flung me over his shoulder. His hand came down on my arse and I growled when he squeezed. Oh yeah, I was so done with Ryder. I could never be with an alpha man like Ryder. He would drive me insane.

  Divinity was trouble. I didn’t want to make the mistakes my cousins and uncle made by kidnapping their mates. I wanted Divinity to know I would support what she wanted and not just jump in and take control of her or her choices. I wanted to become a part of her soul, become an extension to what and who she was. I wanted her to move in with me but I still wanted her to work if she chose to and still see her family and friends. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to become her whole world, but I also understood that she needed to still be the person she was. She was different though, not something I have ever had to deal with when it came to women. I wasn’t sure how I was going to, not only handle explaining this to her, but handle her in general.

  I didn’t get my way, which was unusual for me. I wasn’t picking Divinity up from work. She was shifty. I should have known with how the Silverman name meant nothing to the Army. I wasn’t allowed onto the base. I’d taken Divinity there assuming I’d go with her to her house when she changed her shoes, but I wasn’t given access in. They’d known me at the gate entry and they weren’t impressed with my last name. Divinity enjoyed how they treated me and as she got in a golf cart she yelled in a singsong voice, “Sucker. Good luck, next time Silverman. I hope I don’t have the pleasure to see you again.”

  I hated to admit it, but I did have a begrudging respect for my soulmate. She was cheeky. I was eager to see my woman again, but I intended to give her a night or two before I came at her again.

  Work wasn’t happy with me. I had been slacking since I found Divinity. I was supposed to be working on the new drugs that were killing people. I had to go into work and pick up my occasional partner Holden. I usually worked alone because I didn’t work well with a partner, or so my boss told me. But some projects I needed a partner and Holden was one of the men I got on with. If they made me take a partner permanently, I could take Holden without issue. I knew on this case I was going need help, especially when my morning calls had been about more people overdosing. It was time to go speak to the biker gang, The Devil’s Queens. They were well known for their dealings with drugs, and they were definitely not a fan of my family. I needed back up if I had to talk to them and with so many people dying I knew I couldn’t put it off.

  Holden waited for me outside of the precinct. I left my car at work and got in with him. We drove towards The Devil’s Queens club house, stopped a couple of blocks away and put on our bullet proof vests and all our safety equipment. The Devil’s Queens despised my family and had shot at me and my family members, so I wasn’t taking chances of not covering myself. Jade, my cousin’s wife, had put away some of their members and another cousin had put away even more. The Devil’s Queens were the reason why my cousins still had so much security.

  “I do love that there are people out there that don’t fall at the Silvermans’ feet.” Holden chuckled.

  I shot a glare at the middle-aged man, who was supposed to be a friend. He knew I wanted to go into the club house about as much as I wanted to walk on fire. The club house was in the warehouse district and surrounded by a huge fence. Security cameras were visible and I knew that the bikers already knew Holden and I were coming.
I wasn’t an idiot. The bikers had insiders in the force feeding them police information.

  The acting president, Jericho, came out and greeted us at the gate. Jade’s and Bailey’s testimony had put the previous president and a bunch of other club members in jail.

  “Silverman. You’re not very smart coming here. You have a death wish?”

  I couldn’t show fear. They would eat me alive if I did. I was heading into a lion’s den, walking towards people who had tried to kill members of my family. I had my vest on, but a shot to the head would end me. I could feel eyes on me and had no doubt that someone had a weapon trained on me. Firearms were illegal in Australia for civilians, but there was a black market. I had a gun that was registered for my job. I also had a police issued weapon, but I handed that one in with each end of my shift.

  Holden nudged my side and I knew he felt the weapons on us too. It was also his way of telling me we weren’t going any further.

  Raising my brow, I smirked at Jericho. I’d dealt with him many times before. He was a piece of work who cared for no one but himself. I ignored Jericho’s question. “You know why we’re here Jericho. Wanna cut all the bullshit and just answer my questions?”

  The smile that spread over Jericho’s face had me biting back a curse. The arsehole was up to something. “Sure, Detective Silverman.” His mocking tone grated and I resisted the urge to clench my fist. I couldn’t show how they got to me. “What questions would those be?”

  “Where is your new supply from?” I narrowed my gaze. Jericho knew what I was talking about without going into more detail.

  Jericho shrugged. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Six people have overdosed. I’m told it’s your shit that’s doing it.”

  I saw a slight reaction of anger flash in Jericho’s gaze before he put the cold smile back in place. “Your info is wrong Silverman. If I was you, I’d watch who you accuse, because there are already targets on you and your family. The Silvermans are becoming a problem and if business keeps declining…” He trailed off and I didn’t need to hear the rest. I got the picture. “I’ll give you something, but I expect you to stay away from The Devil’s Queens.” He raised his brow waiting for my answer.