CHAPTER ONE

There was nothing Jake Kismet enjoyed better than having a beautiful woman by his side—one who was willing to flirt up a storm and engage in intelligent conversation at the same time.

Of course, there was also nothing Jake enjoyed better than doing missions, where adrenaline rush and power surged through him and made him want to unleash the animal within. Since that wasn’t an option at the moment, he settled for the other thing that would end up with the same intense adrenaline rush.

Well, not necessary that intense, but it was still a rush all the same, especially if the woman screamed out his name in pleasure.

This particular woman who’d come on to him a few minutes ago was just his type: tall, fit, and exuding sex appeal in spades. Best of all, she was here looking for fun and not any kind of commitment that he—or to be honest, any other guy in the bar—couldn’t really provide her now. So he responded to her slow seduction, waiting until she got to the part about his orange-colored hair.

They never did fail to mention the bright color of his hair.

“Is that dyed? Your hair is the most fascinating color,” the woman, Lydia, gushed, leaning closer to inspect it. The action had her low-cut top sliding down further, resulting in a fairly huge amount of cleavage being exposed. Being the man that he was, Jake took a quick peek before returning his gaze to her eyes. A satisfied gleam entered them, and he realized she’d meant for him to look.

He smirked. “Yes. It’s my natural color,” he murmured, taking a sip of beer. “Why do you ask?”

Lydia giggled, her hand running up his arm. “Well, I was just wondering something.”

“What were you wondering?”

Here it came.

“I was just wondering if you were…orange all over.”

It was the same come-on, every single time. Jake stifled a laugh, settling for grinning at her and letting his mouth touch the corner of her ear.

“Would you like to find out?”

“I sure would.”

“Why don’t we go to my place and—”

“Jake Kismet?”

The male voice abruptly pulled Jake out of his thoughts and interrupted his words at the same time. He glanced at the side, where he found a teenage boy staring at him in concentration. It was like the boy was purposely avoiding Lydia’s gaze. He looked quite out of place.

He also looked extremely uncomfortable.

“Yeah?” Jake replied after a while, reluctantly pulling away from the warm woman beside him. He knew this boy—knew him by name and reputation being the running messenger in case shifters were needed immediately for meetings or missions. Jake had been a messenger once, and it was the most boring job ever.

It also took him places and situations he didn’t want to be in—like interrupting a man and a woman about to get it on.

“Adam, right?”

The boy nodded, then shuffled on his feet. Jake glanced at Lydia staring at the boy with slight interest. Before questions could be asked, Jake got to it.

“What do you want?”

“The boss wants you,” Adam replied.

“I’ll be there in…one hour.”

One hour would get Jake two rounds, at least. One round, if the foreplay was heavy.

As if the boy knew exactly what Jake was thinking, he turned beet red. Then he shook his head, showing the first sign of stubbornness.

“The boss wants to have a meeting now,” Adam insisted, tilting his chin up. The pointed angle clicked into place, and Jake realized what kind of shifter he was.

Fox.

And foxes were the most stubborn lot on earth, second only to bear.

Jake sighed.

Beside him, Lydia leaned forward again. “Jake? What is this about? Are you some kind of navy?”

“Something like that,” Jake muttered. He couldn’t exactly tell the woman his real identity, so he settled for a grin. “Looks like I’ve got to work. Rain check?”

Lydia grinned back. “Of course,” she said with a wink. Then she leaned forward and initiated a kiss, one that was playful and pretty much guaranteed that he was going to be horny for the rest of the night.

Adam cleared his throat, apparently having none of it.

“Are you free?” Lydia asked playfully.

The boy stammered a no, then was out of there before anyone could blink. With a chuckle, Jake waved at the delectable woman.

Then he followed the boy back to headquarters.

*****

It had been years since Jake was a rookie, and in those years, he’d learned to be less reckless and more in control of his own personality—his explosive, sometimes volatile personality. He also learned how to be frugal, saving up his earnings until he was able to get a place of his own—a tiny house half an hour outside Manhattan. It gave him the privacy he needed, especially when he felt the thirst and needed a warm body to help slake it.

Of course, shifter headquarters would always be one of his permanent homes, but all the macho testosterone and huge heads clashing there were sometimes too much to take. Like Simon, one of his few wolf shifter friends in the wolf clan, he preferred being alone than being part of the pack, something that deeply puzzled the others.

Adam, the teenage fox shifter, was pretty quiet as they walked the road and entered headquarters via a side door. Shifter headquarters was located in the center of Manhattan, a huge building that was low-rise but extended to the very back. It looked pretty ordinary from the outside, with subtle signs of some law office and printing press service. But inside was a different story, as it opened up to floor after floor and room after room of stately furniture and polished wood and tiles. Wealth-wise, the shifter clans were probably just as crazy rich as the vampire clan, though the former were subtler about it. He hadn’t exactly been to vampire headquarters yet, but word of mouth indicated that it was extravagant in all aspects—probably to compensate for those creatures’ cold, contained personalities.

“How long have you been a messenger, kid?” Jake asked to break the silence once they reached the second floor. The place was still rife with shifter energy, which meant everyone was still awake at this time of the night—midnight, to be exact.

“A couple months,” Adam mumbled.

Jake tilted his head. “You excited to get some missions soon?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, enjoy being a messenger for now. Missions tend to disillusion you quicker than most, and you’ll soon learn it’s not all about the glitz and glamour.”

He’d certainly learned it the hard way when he’d tagged along on his first few missions and almost had his life ended then and there. It was only thanks to certain shifters and witches that he was still alive today, though with too many bruises and scars riddled all over his body that he couldn’t exactly call himself unscathed.

They reached the main office, and Jake winked at Adam and told him to take things easy. Then he left the boy staring after him as he slipped inside.

Each clan shifter had different leaders—wolf clan leader, bear clan leader, fox clan leader and all the rest. But they all had one ultimate shifter leader: a wolf shifter named Dylan Masters, who was pretty much the most powerful in the lot at the moment. No one contested his authority, and that probably had a lot to do with his fair judgment and sharp intelligence. While there were plenty of shifters hungry for power, they weren’t as bloodthirsty as vampires about it—at least, not yet.

He looked at Dylan now, who was seated in front of a polished wooden desk. Dylan looked up at his footsteps, and Jake nodded and stood at attention.

“Ready for your new mission?” Dylan asked without preamble.

Jake nodded. He puzzled over the fact that no one else was in the office with them for a few seconds before realizing that he was the only one called. A solo mission, then.

Excitement surged through his veins.

“There is a wealthy heiress from a prominent wolf and fox clan who will be attending an international business affair. It’s a very important social event for the shifter community, and she will be our representative. You will be the bodyguard.”

And just like that, the excitement died.

Dylan continued with the mission details, stating a name that Jake didn’t recognize—but a family name he did recognize. It was a family name connected to one of the biggest businesses in the fashion industry, and one that was known for its extravagant fashion statements. Jake could care less about fashion, but this one was connected to another business and its family—a hotel one.

And this hotel business was owned by someone from his past that he would rather forget.

A few years ago, Jake had made the mistake of falling in love with a fellow wolf shifter—the wealthy heiress of said hotel business. He didn’t know how it happened, but his mind and body had dictated everything for him, telling him that he found his mate and there was no turning back.

Except the heiress had decided to stomp on his heart and turned her back first.

He’d been young, but he hadn’t been stupid. He didn’t force himself on anyone who didn’t want him—and so he’d steered clear of her or any other heiresses ever since, not wanting the reminder.

And he’d gone after women who were more in his league and wanted nothing but a good time.

Because time had passed, Jake was pretty sure he was over it. But he couldn’t help the wariness in the connection, especially when Dylan mentioned that this heiress now had already been a victim of kidnapping twice, with her old bodyguard dying in the process. It sounded so damn familiar. Still, when Dylan finished speaking and asked Jake if he had questions, he only shook his head and took the file.

Heiresses and spoiled brats like her acted all innocent and nice until they didn’t get what they wanted—or until they no longer wanted anything to do with you. Then they left you in the dust without a backward glance.

Lucy Marlow did.

Jake was just going to have to deal better with this new heiress.