Chapter Five
Holy moly, that man is hot.
Winter had spent at least an hour staring at the rise and fall of his naked chest. It was a beautiful chest, broad and muscular with a sprinkling of silky black hair. Just the sight had filled her mind with all sorts of illicit thoughts. A few times, her fingers had crept out, seemingly with a will of their own, meaning to tug down the sheet to get a look at the rest of him. She’d resisted, but only just.
She wasn’t that pervy, but it had been a close thing.
His face lacked the perfection of most of the vampires she knew, though that would change with age. He had dark messy hair, a crooked nose, and high cheekbones. She’d spent an inordinate amount of time trying to guess what color his eyes were.
But now she knew. Green and brown and gold all mixed together. When he’d looked at her, little tingles had shot through her body.
It made her realize how long it had been since she’d actually had sex. She suspected that was something to do with her father—he scared most men off. But the truth was, she hadn’t met anyone who interested her in a long time.
John Ryan interested her.
She was supposed to keep close. Maybe she should keep very close. She’d seen him looking at her, so she didn’t think he’d be hard to persuade. More tingles.
“Are you paying attention?” Piers asked.
She jumped and tried to remember what he’d been telling her. “Yes, boss.”
He shook his head. “Don’t make me regret this.”
“I won’t.”
“First sleigh back.”
“I’ll be good. I’ll protect him with my life.”
“Don’t you dare die. Your father would never forgive me. Just stick close to Ryan. If anything happens, call for help. Graham will be around, and there’s a skeleton staff on duty. Someone will come.”
She patted his arm. “Don’t worry. We’ll be fine.”
He shuddered. “I must have been crazy. Why did I ever think this was a good idea?” He gave her a long suspicious look. “And one more thing. Ryan is an unknown quantity—we do not want him placed in situations where he might lose control. No undue excitement.”
Had Piers somehow seen into her thoughts? Her plans for getting up close with Ryan? She hoped not. “No undue excitement. Got it.” What constituted “undue” exactly? Better not to ask. If they didn’t get into specifics, then she wouldn’t be going against direct orders. “Go,” she said. “I’ve got this covered. Have a good time. And don’t worry about us.” She almost pushed him out the door. But at last he was gone, and she rubbed her hands together then headed back downstairs. She couldn’t believe how well this was going. Now it was time to get working on the plan. She tapped lightly on the door to Ryan’s apartment and entered without waiting for a reply.
She found him leaning against the counter in the kitchen, sipping on a bottle of blood. He’d gotten dressed, which was disappointing, in faded jeans which hugged his lean hips, and a white T-shirt which hugged his broad shoulders. She sighed.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said as she came in. “Perhaps we should just”—he gave a shrug—“pretend about the bodyguard thing. You can have a nice break and see the city instead. Piers doesn’t have to know.”
He wanted to get rid of her. That sort of hurt. She’d bet if she was blond with blue eyes and big breasts, he probably would have been quite happy to keep her around.
Standing up as tall as she could, she put her shoulders back and stiffened her spine. “I can’t do that. I’ve been employed by the Order to make sure you’re safe, and I mean to fulfill my duties.”
He pushed himself up from the counter, then took a step toward her. A little shiver prickled over her skin. As he stared down at her, she realized how much taller he was than her. More than a foot, she’d guess.
“I don’t mean to be rude, honey, but how do you plan to do that? I mean, what are you going to do if I’m attacked by a pack of werewolves? Big motherfuckers.”
She pulled her phone out of her pocket and waved it in front of his face. “I’ll call for help.” And then she’d kick some serious werewolf hairy ass. While she might be small, she wasn’t totally helpless—she had a few talents inherited from her mom, who’d apparently had a wicked way with ice. She almost hoped she would get the chance to use them.
“Great.”
“Anyway, that’s not likely to happen in the city. So don’t worry your little self. You just go about your business, and I’ll follow at a discreet distance. You won’t even know I’m around.”
He cast her a look of disbelief. “In that outfit, somehow, I doubt it.” He ran a hand through his hair, frustration in every line of his body. “I need to get out of here.”
She nodded. “That’s because of the wolf inside you.”
He went still. “The wolf?”
“Piers told me. But it’s obvious anyway. I can see him pacing behind your eyes. He wants out and you’re not letting him. Wolves hate to be trapped.”
He studied her, his head cocked to one side. “You know a lot about wolves, do you?”
“A bit. Real ones, though, werewolves, not so much. They’re just like big dogs really.” Ha—her father’s two companions, Freki and Geri, would no doubt have something to say about that. She grinned and reached into her bag, pulling out a dog lead. “But don’t worry, I come prepared. If it even looks like you’re shifting, I’ll get you straight on the lead. I wouldn’t want you chasing any cats.”
Shock flashed across his face. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Yeah.” She shoved the lead back into her bag.
He snorted. “Are you sure you’re not a demon?”
She raised a brow, then tugged at a strand of bright red hair. “Really? Do I look like a demon to you?” Time to get some information. “What are your plans over the holidays? Do you have family?” Would he mention Liam?
He gave a shrug. “None that I plan on seeing.”
“But you do have someone?”
“I have a nephew.” Did she detect a note of longing in his voice? Or was that just wishful thinking? “He lives up north. I’m his guardian actually, but I haven’t seen him since…” He snarled, showing the tips of his sharp white fangs. “It seemed for the best.”
“That’s sad.” She supposed what he was saying made a sort of logical sense. But there was nothing logical about family. Hers was big; she had a whole hoard of half-brothers and sisters. She was the youngest by a long way, and most of them thought that meant she needed looking after. But while she sometimes got frustrated with them, her dad especially, she couldn’t ever imagine being without them. All alone in the world.
Somehow, she had to make Ryan change his mind.
“I bet he misses you.”
He shrugged. “I was never the best of uncles anyway. Even before my change in circumstances, he hardly knew me.”
“But you’re all he’s got.”
“Yeah, poor kid. He’s better off without me. The only good thing I can do for my nephew is stay the fuck away.”
That didn’t sound promising. She had to find some way to change his mind. Ryan obviously had serious issues. And she suspected they went back to before he was turned into a vampire. She was wildly curious, but she’d give him some time before she probed a bit more. A few minutes at least. Lull him into a false sense of security.
She watched as he picked up a shoulder holster from the sofa and buckled it on, checking the pistol—a silver Desert Storm—before slotting it back. He covered it with a battered leather jacket from the back of a chair. The jacket was tight across the shoulders, making her think it was probably from his pre-vamp days. Vampires tended to muscle up quite a bit, and grow a few inches, though she was guessing Ryan had been pretty big, even before the change.
“Where are we going?” she asked as they headed to the elevator.
“I don’t know. Just out.” As the elevator doors closed, he glanced at her, his gaze passing over her slowly, lingering—or was that more wishful thinking on her part?—on the thrust of her breasts beneath the thin T-shirt. Just one look, and her nipples hardened. What would happen if he actually touched her? She arched her back, thrusting them out just a little. She had good breasts, big compared to the size of the rest of her. A lot of men had commented on how nice her breasts were. Then she remembered Piers’ words—she wasn’t supposed to get Ryan excited. At least, not this early on in the job. She’d have to build up to it. She hunched her shoulders and shot him a quick glance. His eyes were still on her breasts, but then he blinked and looked up into her face. “You need a coat.”
“I don’t feel the cold.”
“All the same, you need a coat. Otherwise, you’re going to stand out like a…girl in a T-shirt and mini-skirt in December. Aren’t bodyguards supposed to blend in?”
He had a point, but… “I don’t have a coat.”
The elevator opened into a large area with marble floors and lots of huge potted plants. Graham sat behind a counter across from the smoky glass doors that led out onto the street. She followed Ryan, admiring his ass in the faded denim, the long legs, broad shoulders…and imagined him naked. She was turning into a total lech.
“Have you got a coat Winter can borrow?” Ryan asked as they came to a halt in front of Graham.
“Let me look.”
He slipped through the door behind the counter and came back a minute later. “There’s this. Someone must have left it behind. Piers, I think.” He held up a black leather coat.
“Cool,” she murmured. She breathed in the familiar scent of centuries-old vampire. Yup. Piers. “I’m sure Uncle Piers won’t mind.”
“Uncle Piers?” Ryan said, his tone conveying his disbelief.
She giggled. “Not a real uncle. But he and my dad are pretty tight. I’ve known Piers since I was a little girl.”
Ryan frowned. “Your dad has some weird friends. Who is he exactly?”
She shrugged, not ready to get into that conversation. “Oh, no one important. He’s just been around for a while.” She slid her arms into the coat and sighed. This wasn’t going to work. Her hands were hidden in the sleeves, and a good six inches of the coat trailed on the ground. She sniffed. She really hated being smaller than everyone else.
Ryan’s lips twitched. As did Graham’s. Yeah, she was so damn funny.
“Winter is my new bodyguard.” Ryan managed to keep an almost straight face.
“I know,” Graham said. “Piers told me.”
Ryan stripped off his jacket and held it out to her. She slipped out of the coat and they swapped. The jacket smelled of Ryan, a unique blend of the cool musky aroma of vampire and the hot feral scent of werewolf, and she breathed in deeply as she put it on. It was still too big, but she could work with it. Rolling up the sleeves, she glanced across as Ryan shrugged into the leather coat. She let out a wolf-whistle. He looked way past cool and totally badass. Underneath the jacket, her nipples peaked again. She had such appalling taste for bad men. It was one more reason why her dad was so worried about her out in the big, wide world. But she could look after herself.
And Ryan.
She shoved her hands into her pockets. “Okay, I’m suitably disguised. Let the baby—oops, again—bodyguarding begin.”
Ryan tossed her a narrow-eyed look, but then gave a nod to Graham, turned around, and headed out the door and onto the street. Winter hesitated in the doorway. He hadn’t said where he was going, but she allowed him to get about ten feet ahead and then followed.
It was just after ten in the evening. The SA International building was situated in the middle of the business district, and the streets were still busy. Lots of people wandered around in Christmas party gear, in various degrees of inebriation. One man halted in front of her and waved a bunch of mistletoe over her head.
“How about a kiss, darling?”
She smiled serenely. “How about an icicle shoved up your nose.”
When he appeared a little reluctant to move on, shaking his goddamn mistletoe over her head, she blew into his face, turning the air to ice. He flinched and stepped back, as though not sure what had happened. Then he hurried after his drunken friends.
She looked around for Ryan and found he had halted up ahead and was watching her, a frown on his face. She waggled her fingers in what she hoped was a surreptitious manner and waved him to go on.
Who was bodyguarding who here?
“Go,” she mouthed.
He turned reluctantly and walked on, moving with a grace he probably wasn’t even aware of. The people parted in front of him, as though they could sense that he was different, not one of them. Every few minutes, he’d glance back over his shoulder to check that she was still there. How was she supposed to be unobtrusive when he kept staring at her?
The next time he did it, she glared, then pulled the lead from her bag and dangled it from her fingers in a threatening manner. He grinned and carried on walking, seemingly aimlessly. She trailed him for about an hour. He didn’t stop, he didn’t look in any of the shop windows. Just kept on walking.
They passed Saint Paul’s Cathedral. A group of carolers were singing “Away in a Manger,” and she paused—she loved that song. Someone waved a bucket under her nose, collecting for the homeless. Only she didn’t have any money. None at all. She hurried and caught up with Ryan, then tugged on his sleeve. He whirled around, reaching under his new coat for his gun. Then he realized it was her and went totally still.
“Don’t do that,” he snarled.
“Jeez, you’re jumpy,” she muttered. “Do you have any money?”
“Money?”
“You know that paper stuff you buy things with.”
He frowned then reached into his jeans pocket, pulled out a wallet, and handed it to her. She plucked out a handful of notes and returned it, then ran back to the man with the bucket and tossed two notes onto the pile of coins. “Happy Christmas.”
Ryan was still waiting where she had left him. “They were fifty-pound notes,” he said.
“Is that good or bad?”
He ran a hand through his messy hair. “Are you for real?”
“Define real.”
He shook his head. “This isn’t working. I can’t relax with you stalking me the way you’re doing. It makes me twitchy.”
She shrugged. “Sorry. Can’t leave you. Orders.”
“Then walk with me, where I can keep an eye on you.”
“Okay. But don’t feel you have to talk to me.”
“I won’t.”
They walked in silence for five minutes. She cast him a sideways glance and found him staring straight ahead. “Where are we going?” she asked.
“Nowhere.”
“Where’s that?”
He stopped, turned to her, and stared down. “I just like to walk.”
“Aw, you have nowhere to go. That’s sort of sad.”
“No, it’s not.”
“You really should think about visiting your nephew.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
Oh, yes, it was. She just hadn’t worked out how to make it happen yet. But she had to come up with a plan soon. They didn’t have that much time. It was clear that Ryan truly believed his nephew was better off without him. She had to find some way past that. It would come to her. But likely not tonight.
“Don’t you have any friends we could go see?”
“No.”
“Maybe we could, uh, sort of pretend we were friends and…you know…do something… friendly.”
He snorted. “Like what?”
Hmm. She wasn’t used to this. “You could buy me a drink.”
“Can you drink?”
“Why shouldn’t I be able to?”
“Some people can’t. Or shouldn’t, at least.”
“You mean demons. How many times do I have to say it? I. Am. Not. A. Demon. Not even a little bit.”
“Okay, a drink then.” After a quick glance around, he headed off at a fast pace, Winter trotting along beside him. He paused beside a bar then moved on. Then another. Gosh, he was fussy. Finally, he stopped at the Drunken Pony. “This should do,” he muttered.
“What was wrong with the others?”
“I used to work around here. They’re cop bars. I didn’t want to risk running into anyone I know.”
“Are you ashamed of me?”
“Yeah.”
He pushed open the door and she followed him inside. The hum of conversation stopped, and all attention focused on them. Ryan seemed unaware of the atmosphere, but Winter’s skin tingled.
The room was dark and crowded and smelled of too many people, too close together. And other things.
“Why this one?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. It seemed…” A frown tugged his brows together. “Welcoming.”
She guessed there was some sort of spell on the place. A sort of welcome-all-supernaturals spell. The clientele had gone back to their drinks and conversation. She relaxed once she saw that they were no longer the center of attention.
“What do you want to drink?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Pick something.”
She stuck close to Ryan as they made their way to the bar, but despite spotting a couple of werewolves, a lone fae, and a group of lesser demons, she felt no sense of a threat.
After taking the glass of red wine Ryan handed her, she followed him to a small booth a couple of witches had just vacated, and slid in opposite him.
He was still frowning. It had taken him a while, but he was at last sensing the presence of others. Rolling his shoulders, he sniffed the air. “There’s something not right about this place.”
“You’ve never been in here before?”
“No. Hey, Piers has been sticking to me like glue for the last year, and he wouldn’t be seen dead in a dive like this.”
She grinned. “No, probably not.”
He was staring across the room at the two werewolves. “Are they…?”
“Yes. Don’t stare.”
“What the hell?”
“It’s a supes’ bar. There’s a spell. You recognized it, even though you didn’t know what it was.”
“Are we safe here? Maybe I should get you out.”
Aw, that was sweet. He was worried about her. “Actually, we’re probably safer here than anywhere else. Supes’ bars tend to be neutral zones. So relax.”
He blew out his breath and sat back, forcibly relaxed his shoulders, and took a sip of his drink. A pint of beer. “What else is here? Can you tell?”
She pointed out the witches and the demons.
“How come you know all this? What are you, Winter?”
She was saved from answering when a man stopped by the booth. Tall and skinny and slightly stooped. He appeared old, in his seventies. But Winter was pretty sure it was a glamor.
“Welcome. I am the owner of this establishment.” He studied Ryan for a moment, then shook his head and muttered something under his breath. It might have been along the lines of “abomination,” but she was sure he didn’t mean it as an insult. She thrust out her hand and he took it a little warily. “Hi, I’m Winter. Lovely place you have here.”
“Thank you. You’re new in town?”
“Sort of. We’re working at the Order.”
He went still. “I will see you are not bothered.” He made to walk away and then turned back. “And of course, the drinks are on the house.”
“Are you sure it’s safe?” Ryan asked, once they were alone.
“Don’t worry. Your fearless bodyguard is here to protect you.”
He smiled at her then. He had a nice smile. Slightly crooked, it made him seem more real. And her icy-cold heart melted just a little inside her.
And in that moment, she decided: she definitely wanted him. He didn’t stand a chance.