Forever Is Not Enough [Council Enforcers 2] (Siren Publishing Classic)

could only imagine a daughter with the dark chocolate hair and thick eyelashes fanning her cheeks. He hoped she would have her mother’s violet eyes as well. Ben could imagine himself and all his friends standing around growling and glaring at any male who thought he was worthy of dating his daughter.
    Smiling, Ben decided that was what he wanted. He wanted to go out on missions and then return home to his mate and pups waiting for him at the door. In order to do that, he needed to eliminate Percival. “Okay, guys, we need to figure out Percival’s next move. I have a feeling he is going to stop at nothing to get his top chemist back, and I can’t let that happen. I’m not letting my mate go without a fight.”
    His wolf agreed. She’s ours. Nobody can have her.
    “You know we’ll do anything we can to help.” Mitch looked him directly in the eyes. “You protected my mate without question when I needed you to. I would do the same for you in a heartbeat.”
    Ben nodded. Mitch was known as a notoriously selfish bastard in the shifter world, but there was no one else Ben would have rather had by his side. Ken and Ryan were a close second. “Okay, first off, we need to find out if we can track Percival to where he’s hiding now. He’s more than likely moved from the bunker he held me in by now because he wouldn’t risk me coming back with more enforcers. Ryan, do you think you can get on the computer and pull up any records of land he owns or bought recently? The file from all the information I found on him should still be there.” When Ryan nodded, Ben continued. “Mitch, I need you to go through the information in Jacqi’s bag. She said she had flash drives in there with all of her work saved on them and files from Percival’s computer. See if you can find out what his next big plan is.”
    Ben looked at Ken. He was more of the silent warrior type. He never said much, but the man was a genius. If anyone could do this next task it would be him. “We all know there is no way Jacqueline is Percival’s daughter. The question is how did he get her? Something tells me we aren’t going to like the answer, but I still need you to find out what you can.”
    When Ken nodded, Ben stood with his mate in his arms. “I’m going to go put her in bed. When I get back, we will come up with a plan to take this bastard down.” He carried her up the stairs, amazed at how small she felt in his arms. Compared to him she was tiny, but she fit perfectly. If he had his way, he would never put her down.
    Instead of taking Jacqi to the bedroom he had found her in earlier, Ben took her to his room and placed her in the center of his bed. He stood back and admired the way her long dark hair fanned over his pillow. When he went to bed that night, he would be surrounded by her sweet scent. Unable to resist touching her, Ben eased himself on the bed and stretched out beside his mate. He ran the tips of his fingers across her smooth jaw, admiring how soft her skin was. At his touch, Jacqi moaned and rolled over on her side. When she curled into his chest and sighed, Ben’s cock went from semi-hard to fully erect in an instant. It seemed, even in sleep, his mate recognized him. She was beautiful, and Ben felt a swell of pride that she was all his.
    Laying an arm across her waist, Ben pulled Jacqueline closer until their bodies were molded together. He ignored his cock and just lay there enjoying the feeling of having his mate next to him and being able to hold her. For three months, he hadn’t been able to touch her. Her scent had teased him each time she had stepped into his cell to inject him with drugs. Her scent had meant betrayal, and he had been disgusted with himself that he still looked forward to that scent, even after what she had done to him. Now that they were safe, and he realized his mate had been trying to help him, there was nothing stopping Ben from doing what he had wanted to do all those lonely nights in his cell.
    His intention was to hold her for a few minutes before going back downstairs to work on the plan with the guys, but Ben must not have been as fully recovered as he’d thought. Almost three months of captivity and then the injury to his side caught up with him as his eyes slowly shut and he drifted off to sleep next to his mate.
     
    * * * *
     
    Jacqueline snuggled deeper into the heat surrounding her, not wanting to move. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she had slept deeply.