CHAPTER FOUR
Sal couldn’t quite believe she was kissing Nick the bodyguard, but yeah, she was. And she wasn’t about to feel sorry for it. On the contrary, he’d been the leading man in her dreams for the past week. Ever since they’d shared that late-night cup of tea, she hadn’t been able to get him out of her mind.
Even during the day, when he wasn’t on duty, she thought about him almost constantly. She wondered what he was doing when he wasn’t with her. She wondered what kind of music he enjoyed. And most of all, she wondered what kind of lover he would be.
Oh, yeah. This kiss told her a lot about that last, most vital question.
He was both tender and demanding as he stepped closer, bringing her body against his. His muscles were hard and unyielding, but at the same time, she knew he would let her go at the least indication. He might be bigger than her, but she was in control. He gave her that. He seemed to be doing all in his power to reassure her and let her know in silent, mysterious ways that he would never hurt her.
He was a protector to the core. She had guessed that about him from their first meeting. It was pretty obvious, of course, from his choice of profession, but there was something deeper to him. Something almost spiritual. Like he had a calling to protect those who were smaller, weaker and more vulnerable than himself.
These weren’t things most people would be able to discern. Sal accepted her differences, for the most part. At least the ones she could live with. She’d always been a little different. Like her mother.
Only Sal had rejected the writhing magic in her soul that had tried so hard to take her over—as it had taken over her poor mother. Sal had put a lid on it and sealed it up tight. The magic was something she never wanted to let free. It was too chaotic. Too dangerous.
But the little instinctual things… They were harmless enough and something she couldn’t really control. Those instincts had helped her many times. They’d helped her pick the right course of action. They’d helped her prepare for difficult times. Hell, tonight, that little voice in the back of her mind had told her to wake up and grab her gun. Just in time, as it turned out.
The knowing had helped her many times. And this time, in this man’s strong arms, it told her many things—many confusing things that she didn’t quite understand—about him. Most of all, it told her she wanted to know more.
Sal’s lips tingled where they touched his. Little zings of magic that made her wonder if there wasn’t something truly special about Nick. Her body grew warm where she pressed against him, small zaps of energy bouncing between them, making her arousal rise.
She was so totally lost in the kiss that she didn’t even hear the knock on the doorframe to her bedroom the first time. Neither did Nick, apparently, which was why the person trying to get their attention repeated the action…maybe more than once. She couldn’t be certain.
“Pardon the interruption.” A strong male voice came from the doorway, and they sprang apart.
For her part, she knew she was reacting out of fear and surprise. She wasn’t altogether sure why Nick let go of her as if she was on fire and he’d been burned. Her gaze narrowed, and her spine stiffened.
Nick could have happily killed Doug at that moment. Shot him dead, right then and there. Or better yet, Nick imagined strangling Doug with his bare hands.
Of course, he did neither.
“What’s up, Doug?” Nick asked instead, placing himself between Sal and Doug, blocking his view of the lady. It wasn’t much protection, but it was at least something to give her a moment to collect herself before facing the world—or, at least, damned Doug—again.
“Grounds have been cleared. Our guys are on their way to the hospital. Convoy’s ready to move out whenever you are,” Doug reported, barely concealing his interest in the scene he’d interrupted.
“Convoy?” Sal asked, coming up beside Nick.
He noticed she had her nine-millimeter handgun in a holster under her arm as she shrugged into a dark jacket. Easy, boy. The fact that she was packing heat and apparently knew her way around concealed weapons was making him even hotter than he’d been already. Damn.
“We’ll start out together, but there are a couple of decoy cars and escort vehicles to make sure everybody gets where they’re going without a tail,” Nick explained.
“Of course, at this time of night, there aren’t that many cars on the roads, so it’ll be easier to spot anyone who tries to follow,” Doug put in.
“You guys are the experts,” Sal replied, zipping her jacket halfway.
Nick approved. The half-zip allowed her quick access if she needed to get to the gun strapped under her arm. It also guaranteed that her jacket wouldn’t blow open in the night breeze and show the world that she was carrying.
“You got everything you need?” Nick asked her, turning to take the small overnight bag from her. He’d carry this himself, to be certain nobody messed with her stuff.
“Yeah, I’m used to traveling light.” She gave him a grin that felt like sunshine warming him from the inside out.
He hefted the bag and grinned back at her. “You’re not kidding. Are you sure it’s enough?”
She nodded. “Plenty. I’ve got two changes of clothes in there, just in case.”
Nick shook his head, marveling at the small size of the bag for what she claimed was in there. Then, he shrugged. She knew what she was doing. So far tonight, she’d impressed him with her cool-headedness under fire, her familiarity with personal protection, and her willingness to listen to his advice. She also hadn’t thrown the least little bit of a hissy fit at the idea of leaving this lap of luxury for a condo she’d never even seen.
They accomplished the move with little fuss. Linelli had set up the decoy operation, and his guys were the best in the business at this sort of thing. Nick was on the phone with Linelli or Doug almost constantly during the ride to his place, either reporting progress or getting reports from the other vehicles and teams involved. All went off without a hitch, and Nick breathed a sigh of relief as he entered the private underground parking area below the condo.
Two of Linelli’s guys had been pre-positioned there—they had access because Halibut Security already had contacts in this condo complex and had the proper codes. They gave Nick the all clear before he opened the door to the SUV he’d been driving and went around to help Sal out.
She followed his lead, quiet and watchful as they made their way to the private elevator that led to the condo he was renting. In another setting, it might’ve been called a penthouse suite, but here, it was simply one-half of the top floor of this high-rise condo tower. Only residents of the two top floors got to use this particular elevator. There was a special key card involved, which Nick produced from his pocket as they neared the doors. He signaled to the two men who’d been watching the garage for the past twenty minutes to join him and Sal in the elevator.
Halibut might have access to the communal parking, but they didn’t have clearance for the exclusive express elevator. Normally, Nick would’ve handled checking the condo himself, but he had Sal to think of and Halibut procedures to follow. He had two trained men he knew by sight, so there was no question they weren’t Halibut employees. Linelli had been careful who he’d called in to do this late-night extra duty.
Nick would play along and let the guys clear the condo before he brought Sal inside. It was procedure, he knew. It would make Linelli happy. And even though Nick would bet his last dime that the stalker wouldn’t have figured out where they were going so quickly, it couldn’t hurt to check things out.
“We’ll just wait here a moment while they clear the rooms,” he told her. It was the first moment they had alone when he wasn’t on the phone since their kiss in her bedroom. He wasn’t sure what to say to her, but he felt like he should say something.
“It’s all right,” she answered in a soft voice, and he wondered if she meant more than just the obvious with her words. Was she referring to their kiss and the awkwardness he felt now? Damn.
“Look…” He turned to talk to her, but at that exact moment, one of the guys stepped into view and waved them into the condo. Nick sighed heavily and ran a hand over the stubble on his jaw in frustration. He changed his mind about opening a can of worms in front of the troops and gestured for Sal to precede him. “After you, milady.”
She gave him a quirky look that was almost a smile, but went ahead, into the condo. Nick closed the door behind himself, checking with the guys to see what they had to report. A quick hand signal told him what he’d suspected. The condo was clear.
Nick thanked the men on their way out then closed and locked the door behind them. Finally. He was alone with Sal. In his territory, temporary though it might be. It was still his for the duration of his stay here. He turned to watch her progress through the living room. There was so much he wanted to say to her, but he had to make sure she was okay with their kiss first.
“Sal…” he started, then his phone rang. For a moment, he fantasized about crushing the infernal device in his fist and flinging the little pieces against the wall, but he knew he couldn’t do that. Taking a deep breath for calm, he lifted the phone from its holster on his belt and picked up the call.
It was Linelli, wanting a sit rep and final report before closing down the operation for the night. He went over the plans he’d made to station guards on the condo while she was there, but since there was only the express elevator or the emergency stairs to get to that floor, it was relatively easy to cover. Nick listened impatiently while Linelli went over the details, knowing it was necessary to maintaining his cover that he worked with the humans on this.
He answered the necessary questions and responded in the places he was expected to say something. He went into the kitchen area and got a couple of cold bottles of water out of the fridge, intending to bring one to Sal. He could just see her, sitting on the plush couch in the living room. The poor woman had been through a lot tonight. He talked quietly, giving her a moment of peace, to herself.
By the time he turned back to the living room, carrying the cold water bottles, she was fast asleep, curled into the corner of the wide sofa. He would have left her there, but her neck was resting at a funny angle that was sure to cause pain when she woke up. Coming to a decision on his next course of action, Nick went quietly into the spare bedroom and cleared it of his extra gear, turning down the bed and making it ready for her.
Then, he returned to the living room to find her still in that same uncomfortable-looking position. As gently as he could, Nick lifted her into his arms and walked down the hallway to the bedroom he’d prepared. When he lay her on the red silk sheets, in keeping with the Asian theme of the so-called Chrysanthemum Bedroom, he found it hard to let her go.
But he must. Sal was dead to the world. It wasn’t fair to paw her while she was the next best thing to unconscious.
Feeling noble, Nick leaned close to place a chaste kiss on her forehead as he tucked her in. It was hard—scratch that, he was hard—but he left the room, pulling the door almost closed but leaving it enough ajar that some of the soft hallway illumination would spill into the room in case she should wake up and not recognize her surroundings. He didn’t want her to be disoriented by darkness on top of being in a room she’d never seen before.
If she’d been a jaguar with superior night vision, he wouldn’t have worried. Of course, if she’d been a jaguar, she wouldn’t have been his mate. The Goddess knew he’d searched for years to find a mate among his own people, but after too many disappointments, he’d just about given up on ever finding the one female meant for him.
Until now. When he’d least expected it, there she was. A human, no less. He wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that, but he was a great believer in the wisdom of the Mother of All. If the Goddess meant for him to be mated with a human, then who was he to question it?
Nick put in an early morning call to Collin Hastings, hoping the man would be able to move up their planned meeting. Sure enough, hearing of the escalation in the situation and the fact that a possibly feral shifter was involved, Hastings didn’t wait for conventional transportation. Instead, he came by air.
In the darkness before dawn, a giant hawk—larger than any natural bird of prey—landed gently on the penthouse patio. Nick was waiting with a set of spare clothing—gym shorts, a new pair of socks and a sweatshirt—for the hawk shifter when he took his human form.
Nick left the folded clothing on the patio table with a nod to the giant hawk and went back inside, leaving the glass door open. They’d both been in the army. They were acquainted, but not close. Still, they had more in common than most, both being shifters trying to coexist with the human world. Even so, Nick gave the man a moment to gather himself and shift in private, just in case birds were ticklish about such things.
They might both be shifters, but cats and birds weren’t natural buddies. Werehawks and jaguar shifters, though, had come to a sort of mutual respect over the years. This would be the first time they worked closely together, and Nick hoped to create better understanding between their two Clans. Nick knew his Alpha would appreciate strong allies like the raptors, if Nick could somehow gain that sort of trust between them. Time would tell.
Nick made breakfast while waiting for Hastings to come in from the balcony. He’d flown all the way, due to the urgency of the situation and the cooperative night-dark sky. He’d probably be hungry. The least Nick could do was feed the man.
Besides, it was close enough to dawn, and normal breakfast time, that Nick was feeling more than a bit peckish himself.
He heard the door to the balcony close and then the padding of sock feet across the plush carpet. Hawks weren’t as stealthy in their human forms as the land-based predators, Nick had heard. Or maybe that was just an old wives’ tale and Hastings was deliberately making noise that a shifter would pick up. Maybe he was just being polite. Who knew with bird shifters?
Regardless, Nick looked up to meet the other man’s gaze. “Breakfast, Captain?”
“Thank you, Master Sergeant,” Hastings said, taking the high seat at the kitchen island that Nick nodded toward.
“The last time our paths crossed,” Nick said as he plated the mountain of pancakes, bacon and sausages he’d made for his guest, “we were both still in uniform.”
“Fun times,” Hastings replied, smiling fondly as Nick set one of the plates in front of him. “This looks great. Thanks. I’m a little hungry after the long flight.”
“Again, I appreciate your haste. I told you a bit about what happened last night, but I need to get the rest of the information to you before my guest wakes up.” Nick could hear Sal’s slow, even breathing. She was definitely still asleep, but that could change any time, and if she was around, they couldn’t speak as freely.
“She in the guest room?” Hastings asked, shoveling a forkful of pancake into his mouth.
“Yeah. She practically passed out on the couch. I put her in the other room, but I don’t know how long she’ll sleep. So, we should probably get the sit rep out of the way first.”
“Go,” Hastings said, eating while listening attentively.
Nick filled him in on what he had seen, heard, and smelled the night before at the mansion. He also gave Hastings his impressions of the situation, including the file Linelli had put together that had police reports, photos and diagrams of the animal mutilation crimes.
“Nasty stuff,” Hastings observed, looking at the photos of the decapitated squirrels. “Rodents are more my people’s thing, but I guess some land-based shifters hunt them, too, right?”
“Wolves, foxes, some of the smaller cat breeds, and a few others, I guess,” Nick replied. “I hadn’t really thought about the perp being a flight shifter, though. That would cause a whole new set of problems.”
“Which I can handle,” Hastings was quick to say. “I wouldn’t be happy hunting my own kind, but if he’s gone over to the dark side, he’s got to be put down, regardless.”
Nick sighed and sat back, stuffing the gruesome photos back into the paper folder. He didn’t want to leave them lying around, just in case Sal came out of the guest room.
“He didn’t scent like a bird,” Nick mused, placing the folder back in his laptop bag and digging into his own breakfast. “The scent was wild. Unwashed. Hard to place because of the stench, but I’d go with canine, if I had to pick a species. Wolf, probably. Or maybe fox…but I’d bet on wolf.” Nick chewed thoughtfully for a moment. “Whatever he was, he didn’t smell sane. Nobody lets themselves get that rank—and the worst odor was from his human side. I don’t think he’s shifted in a long time.”
“Or maybe just to battle form and no further,” Hastings commented, naming the in-between form where a shifter was still upright like a man, but with the animal’s attributes. It was painful for shifters to hold the battle form, and only the strongest Alphas could manage it for any length of time. “Stopping the shift halfway every time—or getting stuck, for some reason—could drive the animal half-mad.”
“Could it be some kind of magical attack on the perp? Someone made it so he couldn’t complete the shift?” Nick asked, frowning.
Hastings shrugged. “Anything is possible, I guess. But we have to deal with the problem we’re faced with. A feral shifter with a jones for Sullivan Lane.” Hastings sat back and sighed. “Well, at least he has good taste. Sullivan Lane is a babe.”
Nick growled. He couldn’t help it. The sound just came out. A challenge, and an expression of acute displeasure. Hastings looked at him sharply.
“Sorry, Captain. She’s my babe,” Nick admitted, his inner cat wanting to yowl in triumph as his human side admitted it out loud for the first time. “She just doesn’t know it yet.”
“Yikes,” Hastings said, his eyebrows rising in surprise. “I don’t know whether to congratulate you or offer condolences. I will, however, wish you luck.” Hastings extended his hand across the table, and Nick took it for a strong shake, and a sign of Hastings’ good wishes.
“Thanks, Captain,” Nick replied, grinning.
“Call me Collin,” Hastings said offhandedly. “We’re out of the army now.”
“Then, I’m Nick,” he told the werehawk in just as friendly a tone.
It looked like they were going to be able to work well together, and Nick was relieved. Sometimes, officers were asses, and Nick hadn’t really been around Hastings enough to know whether he was a jerk or not. So far, it looked like he definitely wasn’t a jerk, which boded well for their mission.
They spent the next thirty minutes discussing the particulars of the security coverage. Nick went into detail about Sal’s schedule, and what they had planned to keep her safe while she made her public appearances. Nick didn’t, however, tell Hastings about the fact that Sal might still have damaging evidence of a jaguar shifter transforming on video. No, that was a secret he could not share with just anyone. Not yet.
If he managed to defuse the situation, then okay. If it turned out she didn’t have video, or if she had no intention of talking to anyone about what she had seen, then fine. He could chalk up the incident as a non-problem, and they could all get on with their lives. If, however, she managed to somehow make the alleged video public, then he was up shit’s creek already anyway, and it didn’t matter if he’d told Hastings or not.
For now, Nick was just going to keep that particular problem to himself. He’d either find the video and erase it or have a heart-to-heart with Sal about her intentions. Of course, if she was as attracted to him as he was to her, and she agreed to be his mate, then it wouldn’t matter if she had video evidence or not.
Human mates were allowed to know the secret. Their love for their mate and children would keep their silence on the subject, as it had for millennia. The mate bond was stronger than anything humans had, or felt, for each other. It was sacred. Special. Soul-deep.
If Sal was his mate, she wouldn’t expose his people. She couldn’t do that and truly be his mate. It was…unthinkable.