Ronan had been unable to take his eyes off Ivory the whole night. Her comfort level with them had grown by leaps and bounds over the past few days and although she had been easy with them, she had yet to reciprocate their obvious advances. But this evening he had noticed a definite shift in her temperament. She was always easy-going and laid back in general but he sensed she was never fully relaxed around them. But since they had returned to her apartment above the bar, she had been playful and her banter held definite sexual undertones. He wanted to grab her and kiss her senseless but was afraid this new little bubble would pop.
The past week had been one of the happiest of his life – despite the terrible and inappropriate circumstances. The more he learned about their feisty little client, the more he liked. And he knew he wasn’t alone in his crush either. Seth and Vaughn were just as interested and intrigued. She was a true dichotomy, feminine and vulnerable but also strong and independent. She had been making her own way in the world since her mother died when she was eighteen and wasn’t used to asking for help from anyone. She was always happy to talk about her past, including adventures, education, and travels, in broad terms but never specifics. It was the only blight on his infatuation. Even though they had long since stopped worrying about her being a hunter, they all knew she was still keeping something from them. He hoped this new, open Ivory would soon trust them enough to share. It was almost a full-time job keeping Vaughn’s blunt, suspicious mouth shut. The man and his panther were practically frothing at the mouth to make Ivory talk. But at the end of the day, it really wasn’t any of their business unless Ivory decided it was.
He pushed back the bowl he had practically licked clean and patted his full stomach. It was now well past one in the morning and they were only just finishing up another delicious home cooked meal. Ivory had ended up staying downstairs for another hour and by the time they completed their usual checks and Ivory showered and cooked, it made their dinner more like a midnight snack. Not that he was complaining – none of them could cook worth shit – so he was basking in all these wonderful meals.
“What’s this?” he looked askance at the bowl Ivory placed in front of him.
“Dessert,” was her prompt reply, placing an identical bowl in front of Vaughn.
Ronan picked up his spoon and prodded Ivory’s offering dubiously. It looked to be Neapolitan ice cream, which was fine, he loved all three flavours. But what was strange was the topping. It was brown in colour but he knew it wasn’t chocolate. Inhaling deeply, he picked up the salty and greasy smell of bacon. Bacon? He groaned. This strange concoction was a favourite of Vaughn’s – he had somehow shanghaied Ivory into making it for him.
Ronan moaned; “Bacon and ice cream?”
She nodded, staring at Vaughn intently, “Yes. It’s the best of both worlds.”
Desire, heady and intense started to pump off Vaughn in waves. Clearly, he was missing something here. And it was something big he thought, as Vaughn pushed his seat back from the table, paced to Ivory in two quick strides, scooped her off her feet, and proceeded to kiss the living hell out of her. For her part, Ivory didn’t push him away or slap his face or any of the things Ronan assumed she would. He sat dumbfounded and horny, watching the show until Vaughn returned a swaying Ivory to her feet several minutes later.
“We’re kissing now? Kissing is allowed? Since when is kissing allowed?” he really hoped he didn’t sound as childish to the others as he did to his own ears.
Ivory giggled – actually giggled; ‘Since now.”
That was all the confirmation he needed, surging from his own chair. He grabbed her around the waist and kissed her with all the pent-up passion he’d been bottling up since meeting her. He moaned because her lips were just as soft as he imagined, groaned because her tongue reached out to caress his, and growled because her unique flavour burst across his taste buds in an intoxicating mix of sweetness, freshness, and wildness. She tasted exactly the way she smelled. Her soft curves aligned perfectly with his hard frame and he had to fight his panther’s instinct to lay her across the table and have her for dessert.
Unfortunately, oxygen soon became a necessity and he pulled back, watching her parted lips and closed eyes with satisfaction. She ducked her head and cleared her throat, putting some space between them. Although she had been as into it has he was, she was now looking a little shy and uncomfortable. That wouldn’t do. Hoping to break the tension, he sat back down and picked up his spoon;
“Okay, it’s official. I want bacon and ice cream every meal from now on.”
His joke had the desired effect, causing a laugh to bubble in her chest and Vaughn to snort in appreciation.
They were just scraping the bottom of their bowls with their spoons when Seth walked in more than an hour before he was expecting. Ronan was surprised at how much he had enjoyed the salty and sweet treat – not that he would ever admit that to Vaughn. The man had been trying to get him to taste his weird concoction for years.
“There he is,” Ronan didn’t need to look up to see the smile on Ivory’s face. He could hear it in her voice and truly believed they had turned a corner with her this evening, “The third musketeer. We were just – what is it?”
He looked up sharply when Ivory’s tone changed from happy to guarded. Seth’s face was as serious as he had ever seen it. But there was also something else – rage, Ronan thought – standing from his seat. Seth was furious about something.
“A customer just walked up to me and handed me this envelope,” he held up a plain, familiar envelope between two fingers, “Said he found it stuck to the closed front door, saw it was addressed to Ivory and handed it in. He’s a local – didn’t seem to be lying,” he added, nodding in their direction to communicate that his panther hadn’t scented a lie. The good Samaritan wasn’t their guy.
“What does it say this time?” Ivory demanded, but Ronan could hear the nerves underneath her strong tone.
Seth hesitated and Ronan knew it must be bad. He stood next to Ivory, placing his hand on her right shoulder. Vaughn mirrored his actions on her left side. He gave a small nod, indicating Seth should show her. It was their job to protect her but not to shield her – no matter how much they wanted to. Seth handed the envelope over and Ivory opened it up, shrugging out of their grip. All Ronan had been able to make out was that there were multiple pieces of paper enclosed.
Ivory let out a thin whine, dropping the envelope and scattering its contents all over her beautiful mahogany table. She dashed from the room and he heard the slam of the bathroom door before obvious sounds of retching reached his ears. Bending down, he picked up the images and instantly felt his canines extend and his claws explode from his fingertips.
“I’m going to kill him. When we find this fucker, he’s dead,” he snarled.
***
Ivory had spent a good ten minutes emptying the contents of her stomach. Her delicious meal of spaghetti bolognese and her new favourite dessert hadn’t tasted so good coming back up. The men had knocked on the door, asking if she was okay and could they come in. She had managed to garble a bunch of unintelligible words and lock the main bathroom door, before sliding down onto the tile and allowing herself to have a decent crying jag. Blessedly, they had let her be but not before assuring her they were finding and removing the cameras.
The cameras. She firmed her jaw again when more tears threatened to spill. She had never felt so exposed or violated in her whole life. The envelope had held multiple photos of her in her own en-suite bathroom. She was naked in every one of them – in the shower, brushing her teeth, lathering body lotion over herself. That was violation enough but what had dinner rushing up her oesophagus had been what had been done to the photos. In each and every one, there had been scratches, cuts, hacks, or lewd scribbles over her breasts and genitals. Whoever was stalking her had metaphorically mutilated her. What had started out as someone wanting a harmless date, had now devolved into someone wanting to maim her sexually.
She was in a state of shock. Who could possibly hate her that much? Or, what was worse; who could believe they loved her that much? For this much sexual rage had to stem from that fine line between love and hate.
“Ivory …” Seth’s voice reached her ears through the wooden door despite the tentative quality of it.
She scrubbed shaking hands over her face, refusing to look in the mirror and see how much of a wreck she looked like; her fair skin did not react well to tears. She opened the door to find all three of them standing on the threshold. She couldn’t look them in the eye yet though. They had all seen those photos and she felt absolutely humiliated.
“How many did you find?” she asked, knowing there must have been more than one because the photos had portrayed her from multiple angles.
“Two in the en-suite; one in the shower cubicle, one above the sink. There was also one above your bed,” Vaughn sounded like he was chewing on gravel. His voice was so low and so gruff she could barely understand him.
Looking around she saw identical expressions of rage on Seth and Ronan’s faces as well. She figured when her three bodyguards got their hands on the sick fucker doing this, he would be a dead man within seconds.
“We’re so sorry, Ivory. We know it’s unforgivable of us but –”
“Wait, what are you talking about?” What could they possibly have to be sorry for?
“When we arrived, we swept your place for bugs and anything that gave off an electrical charge. There was no sign of anything like that. But they must have already been in place. The three cameras we found were small and sophisticated. They ran on a timer or an external remote rather than being turned on all the time. It’s why we missed them. But that’s no excuse. We are so sorry,” Ronan explained, looking like someone had kicked him in the nuts. He looked positively green.
“Stop, Ronan. This isn’t on you guys. I don’t want to hear that kind of crap. There’s one person who is to blame for all this. It’s that sick –” she broke off, her breath hitching, “He’s been in my house. How could I not have known? And did you see what he did to me? He cut into –” Her words dropped off again, as panic climbed up into her throat, cutting off her airways.
Immediately and as one, the three men surrounded her, closing in from all sides, a solid wall of warmth and muscles. She let herself just lean, knowing they would support her. The thought of some stranger watching her in her bedroom – in her shower – made her feel sick. She trembled a little and felt multiple sets of hands pat at her in comfort. Multiple voices murmured nonsense words in order to soothe. Thank goodness she had them, she thought. Thank goodness they were here to protect her and make her strong, and …
Ivory stiffened at her inner monologue as much as her fearful actions. Since when did she tremble? Since when did she need a man, let alone three, to make her strong? This man, this stranger, had made her weak – made her soft. Her mother had raised her to be a strong, independent woman. Sure, she had taught her to know her weaknesses, but also to never give in to them. She had told her to rise above her weaknesses, to fight them and to turn them into strengths. She had built her business from the ground up. She had renovated her home from installing the toilet to painting the ceilings.
She was capable. She was strong. She was a frigging witch, for god’s sake! And she had allowed some nameless, faceless bastard to make her feel vulnerable – make her question herself like never before. Six months ago, if a pack of gorgeous men had invited her into their bed, she would have skipped into it singing Joy to the World. But now? She was over-thinking, making excuses, doubting herself. They knew she was keeping secrets but these men still trusted her, still wanted her. She was the one not trusting them. She was the one with the doubts and the insecurities. It made her hate her anonymous stalker even more. She had made a good start by flirting and allowing Vaughn and Ronan to kiss her senseless earlier, but she wanted more.
With her fear falling away and righteous anger taking its place, she decided it was time to stop being a puppet and turn her weakness into strength.