Josh
The rumble of a stomach stirred him awake.
The sensations inside of him told Josh it could have easily been his own, but his ears told him a different story. As if to reinforce that fact, he heard Hannah’s tummy rumble again.
“I’m hungry,” she said in a tired complaint, though the smile that accompanied it told him she was just speaking.
“Me too,” he agreed. “I didn’t have dinner before I came over, and we certainly didn’t have anything filling after.”
Hannah sighed dreamily. “Well, I’m not quite sure that I can agree with that second statement.”
Josh blushed outwardly, but inside he was beaming and high-fiving himself. The first time with a new partner was always different, and he hadn’t wanted to screw anything up with Hannah. Their bond had flowed together seamlessly however, and even before he passed out at some point late at night he had known she had enjoyed herself. But to hear it again the morning after was a bonus.
Not that he didn’t suspect Hannah knew exactly what she was doing. The werewolf woman was fully confident in herself and her bedroom activities, which had allowed them to have a lot of fun throughout the night. A lot. Several images flickered behind his eyes, of things he would never have dared to try the first time around. Not that he was complaining of course.
Not. At. All.
“This place has a continental breakfast of some sort, doesn’t it?” he mused, wiping sleep from his eyes as he prepared to rise.
“I think so,” Hannah agreed, then rolled onto her side, the sheets slipping off her breasts as she did. “But there’s a problem.”
Eying the copious amounts of exposed flesh, Josh wasn’t sure he could fully agree with that comment. “Oh?”
“It’s all the way in the lobbbby,” she said with an exaggerated whine to her voice.
The big bear shifter barked a laugh, the bed shaking slightly. “Okay, okay. I give in. You promise to stay like that,” he said, drawing a finger down between her breasts and toward her hips, drawing a hiss from Hannah. “And I’ll fetch us some food. Deal?”
She grinned wickedly. “We’ll see,” she teased, then stretched languidly, stirring a response from him.
“Oh, not fair,” he growled, slipping his fingers between her legs.
Hannah gasped in surprise and pleasure, then batted his hand away. “Real food,” she told him, raising an eyebrow.
Josh laughed again, a deeper rumbling sound this time as he rolled off the bed and up to his feet, ignoring the head rush of sudden movement after lying there all night. With Hannah around, there were many things he could ignore.
“Bacon, eggs, toast, bacon, and anything else?” he asked.
“Men,” she said with a sigh. “They never learn. Always get three servings of bacon.”
Rolling his eyes, he slipped into his pants and tugged his shirt back on.
“Shit, this is gonna draw some stares,” he said at the raggedy garment with dried blood on it.
“Throw a robe over it,” she said, jerking her head to the washroom where several large plush bathrobes hung.
“Good idea,” he replied, throwing one around him and heading for the door, slipping one of the keys into the front pocket of his new garment as he passed the table at the entrance.
The elevator ride down was spent in quiet, happy reflection. About how Hannah hadn’t tried to attack him overnight, and—
Well, it might not be fair to say that she didn’t. Just not…to harm me.
Nor had there been any other hiccups that would put a hole in her story. Her brother had stayed in his room all night, not bothering them a bit, which was relieving. According to Hannah, Chad had been very strange and withdrawn all evening. It didn’t seem like the man Josh had met, but Hannah said he got that way sometimes. They had put it down to the fact that their secret had just been revealed to one of the more powerful bear shifters around. Chad was probably nervous about his well-being.
That wasn’t to say that Josh didn’t have a lot on his mind either. Even if he crossed out the fact that the majority of the shifter world thought like he did. Or had. Josh was still coming around to the fact that he saw things differently. It would take more than one night to convince him for good if he was completely and brutally honest with himself and everyone. But he also was no longer suspicious of Hannah either. It was a confusing middle ground, confounded by the fact that he was falling hard for the werewolf girl.
Which was his next problem. Sort of. It wasn’t really a problem per se, but more of a social curiosity.
In the shifter world, interspecies relationships—human/shifter aside—were rare. They weren’t necessarily frowned upon, because shifters were persecuted enough by outsiders that it was tough to ignore anything like that happening internally. But to say that they were celebrated and treated the same would be a lie as well. The biggest reason being that their children would be human. There was zero chance for them to continue their shifter lines.
With shifters tending to stray closer to their animals, breeding and reproduction had a much bigger part in their society than in a pure human setting. Carrying on their legacy with another group of shifters was expected of everyone. The shifter who decided to actively forego children was the closest thing to an outsider their culture would ever have.
Josh could only smile internally at the grief he knew he was likely to get, for not only pairing with a woman who couldn’t carry his bloodline, but also a werewolf woman.
Oh well. I like her, and that’s that. They’ll have to be happy for me, or they’ll be out of my life.
It wouldn’t be that bad. The shifters of Genesis Valley and their families were much more forgiving, outgoing, and accepting than anywhere else Josh had heard of. He had a sneaking suspicion that they would welcome Hannah with open arms. Even after the truth about her being a werewolf and what that really meant was revealed. They were a tough, honest bunch.
And if they didn’t, his bear would be there to show them the error of their ways.
A satisfied look spread across his face as he strode briskly from the elevator, white robe flapping around his feet. He knew he looked odd with his jeans and thick black combat boots showing from beneath it.
He was six foot eight or so in height and draped in muscle. Josh was used to being looked at strangely.
If anything, this is actually going to be a refreshing change behind the reason for the looks.
He smiled at the thought and followed his nose toward the scent of delicious, delicious bacon. His path led him past the front door, and he almost bowled over another tall, fit-looking man as he came flying through the big revolving door.
“Hey!” Josh said in surprise as he spun to avoid taking the man down.
“Watch it!” the other man snapped, his head turning to glare at Josh.
The two sets of eyes met, and Josh felt his jaw drop open in surprise.
“You were there last night!” he said, stunned at the coincidence.
A growl from the man’s throat thrust another conclusion upon Josh. The man was also a shifter—how had he missed that?—and he was angry.
Josh was still off balance from spinning out of the shifter’s way when the first blow landed, the superhuman strength of it savaging his sternum and bowling the big man over. He went down, rolling up and over his shoulders from his back and rising to his feet, robe billowing crazily from the motion as he counterattacked with a slick combination of moves that should have allowed him to land one blow.
The man blocked all of them.
Josh’s eyes went wide. This man was trained in combat.
His attacker took advantage of the momentary hesitation on the Sentinel’s part and snapped his arms up, around, and then drove both of them palm-first into his chest in a well-timed blow. It threw Josh from his feet and tossed him five feet through the air, slamming him into a chair. The faux-leather-covered piece of furniture practically exploded as the huge man crashed into it.
With a snarl Josh leapt to his feet, discarding his robe, but keeping it in hand. He needed to deal with this man, and fast. If he was here, so were his friends, which meant Hannah might be in danger.
Part of him knew she wasn’t exactly helpless herself, but that didn’t stop him from feeling a huge surge of protectiveness when it came to her well-being. Nobody could stop him from feeling that way, and he was damned if he wasn’t going to act on it. She could deal with normal assholes on the street and guys who tried to talk down to her. This was a real life-or-death situation, and Josh intended to see to it that they both chose life.
Not that he felt the same about his attacker.
His eyes focused and a businesslike look formed upon his face as he stalked across the distance to where his attacker waited for him. The fact that he was dragging the fight out by not coming toward Josh told the bear shifter that his friends must be nearby. Had they somehow found the hotel that Hannah was staying at? Or was it a huge coincidence that they were staying there too?
That seemed a little farfetched to Josh, but it wasn’t something he could completely rule out. Either way, it was time to stop reacting and start acting. He took the robe in both hands, snapping it tight between them. Dodging a right hook, he saw what he was waiting for coming next.
The shifter let loose with a left jab aimed at Josh’s face. He planted his weight on his forward foot, stopping his forward momentum. The fist came at him and he jerked himself backward at the same time his hands whipped up and around the now neatly outstretched fist, wrapping the robe tight.
Now Josh spun away and dropped sharply to one knee as he pulled the robe tight to his chest. This had the effect of yanking the attacker’s arm out and around until it landed on Josh’s shoulder at the elbow. He growled and shot back up, at the same time pushing his arms from chest to waist.
The man’s arm broke cleanly, the grisly sound right next to his ear causing him to feel slightly queasy, but he didn’t have time for that. Josh spun, planted his left foot, and kicked out hard with his right. The sole of his boot hit the man directly in the chest, throwing him back toward the entrance and through the glass to outside.
“Stay down,” he growled as the man popped back to his feet, tugging on his broken arm to set it in place so he could begin to heal, and then charging after Josh.
Hannah.
He darted toward the stairs, knowing the elevator would take far too long.
“Put it on my card!” he shouted at the front desk manager who was looking at him wide-eyed.
“O-Okay,” the young man said with a jerky shake of his head, Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed nervously. “Wait!” the screechy voice called after him.
Josh, for some reason he couldn’t fathom, slowed slightly in his mad dash. “WHAT?” he shouted when the man wasn’t coming.
“What room?”
Laughter broke out among the other people who had been in the lobby and had seen everything.
“It’s 816,” he shouted back after a hesitation. He had almost given Hannah’s room, instead of the one he had been assigned.
Stay in her room one night and you’re already getting confused? Get it together!
He berated himself with a smile as he flew up the stairs.
“Fuck!” he shouted as another shifter flew out of the second-floor door and collided with him.
Josh thudded against the landing, his head cracking hard against the glass. The hotel was an older building that had been recently refinished, but they hadn’t removed the huge glass windows on the landings between floors in the stairways. The multicolored stained glass cast a reddish tinge over the beige-painted floor and walls, as if foreshadowing the blood Josh would have to spill if he were to make it back to her.
“Who are you people?” he snarled, going on the offensive immediately.
A flurry of blows drove his attacker back up a set of stairs, past the second-floor door and then to the landing above it.
Then it came to him. Most shifters wouldn’t fight others, except for one reason. “You’re mercs, aren’t you?” he guessed.
The other man only smiled, but it confirmed his suspicion. Great. Hired guns, and good ones, too. They know how to fight and not just brawl.
He ducked a spinning leg kick that he barely saw in time, as if to put an emphasis on his point.
Josh had a trick of his own, however, and as he ducked he let his arms fall to the floor and support his whole weight. Then he drew back both his legs and flung them at the man, who was now off balance for that split second of recovery needed from his own kick.
Size fifteen custom-made combat boots connected with the man and sent him flying backward. It would have been no more than a painful blow to the chest normally.
But normally there wasn’t a giant floor-to-ceiling fragile glass window behind the man.
The shifter mercenary screamed as the force of the blow sent him through it and into a three-story plunge below.
Josh turned and darted up the stairs, but he paused at the next floor when he heard a sound from outside that didn’t sound like a body hitting concrete. He glanced outside and then cursed under his breath as he raced up the rest of the stairs.
The pool would be right there.
With an angry scowl he burst into their room. The sudden violent moment flung Hannah from the bed as she dropped into a crouch, prepared to defend herself. He raised an eyebrow at both the reaction speed and her nakedness.
He hadn’t even opened his mouth before she began to hurriedly pull on clothing.
“I’ve lived a life on the run,” she said. “I know what that entrance and what that look means. Now watch the door until I’m ready.”
“I’ll get Chad. I’ll shout if I see anyone,” he said, spinning and going to the room next door, where he hammered repeatedly on the door.
There was no answer, so he pulled back and drove his shoulder into it, splintering the frame as the door gave way under his blow.
Chad wasn’t there.
“He’s not here!” he shouted.
“I’ll call him,” Hannah said as she came from the room, cell phone already in hand.
“Elevator,” he said.
Hannah looked at him like he was crazy.
“We go up a floor,” he explained. “They won’t be on it going up, and they’ll still be searching for us here.”
She shrugged and followed him to the far stairwell where they went up a floor and punched the button to summon the elevator.
“This seems insane,” she remarked as soothing jazz music played softly from the speaker above their head.
“Which is why it’s going to work,” he said.
“He’s not picking up,” Hannah snapped, shoving her phone back into her pocket after sending him a text message.
The door opened to reveal an empty car.
Josh smiled and waved her inside. “Ladies first,” he said with an over-the-top formality to it.
Hannah smiled and walked in, using the two steps to let her hips sway wildly.
“You minx,” he purred as they pushed the button for the first floor parking garage together.
Hannah just held his hand in response, her fingers entwined in his.