Twelve
Hudson watched with regret as Viviana slowly stood up and stepped away from him. She was gorgeous—a beautiful woman with a beautiful mind. He wanted to learn more about her. He wanted to delight in her body every damn day for the rest of his life. He wanted to get lost in her smile, he wanted to get lost in her expressive eyes.
He could do none of those things.
He got up and pulled on his pants, then his shirt. What the hell had he been thinking, messing around with a client? From a professional standpoint, he’d just made a rookie mistake. If he were still working for his old private security company and they found out, he’d be fired on the spot. Sleeping with clients muddied the waters and kept bodyguards from focusing on the job.
Idiot.
Viviana’s shoulders, arms, and breasts were patterned with shadows from the trees, and her skin looked soft. His hands had memorized the feeling of her body, a tactile memory that he never wanted to lose.
She gave him a shy smile. “That was unexpected.”
“Yeah,” he said, gruffly.
She tilted her head, maybe curious about his tone. He couldn’t reassure her; he was too trapped in his own dilemma.
Because not only was there the bodyguard/client issue to consider—there was also the fact that he knew how shifters worked. The whole fated mates thing? He wanted absolutely no part of that.
He should have turned this job down from the very beginning and run as far away from Viviana Corona as he could.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
He ran a hand through his hair. “We should probably be heading back to the estate.”
She looked up at the sky, then gave him one of her heartbreaking smiles. “We haven’t been out here that long.”
He shrugged. He was eager to get back, but he didn’t want to seem too eager. Crap, he’d fucked this all up. Why did she have to be so beautiful, so perfect? Why did his heart have to beat a painful argument in his chest when he thought about never touching her again?
Kicking at a pine cone, he said, “Okay. Where do you want to walk?”
Her face fell, the smile fading. She must have heard his reluctance, finally noticed that he was having regrets.
“Never mind,” she said, her voice suddenly brusque. Holding, perhaps, a hint of the chill he was feeling. “I’m going to head back now. You can come with me, or…not.”
Oh, she’d definitely picked up on his feelings. Shifters were so damn perceptive.
“Look, what we did—” he started.
“Was obviously a mistake.” Her voice was tight, small. “I can tell you regret it, so let’s just move on, okay?”
She sounded professional and cold. Hurt.
“It was…it was amazing.” He reached out and touched her arm, and she turned to face him. The pain in her eyes was well-hidden, but he could see through her defenses. He continued, as gently as possible, “But we can’t do it again. I’m your bodyguard, Viviana. I’m not supposed to be with you like that.”
She shrugged her shoulders, dislodging his hand from her arm. “Let’s head back. You’re right—we’ve been out here too long. Someone will notice.”
The entire way back, she kept distance between them. No chances of brushing up against her smooth arms or their hands accidentally bumping together.
Hudson hated every fucking step.
When they reached the pond, Viviana straightened up and cocked her head. “Do you hear that?”
Hudson started walking faster. “No. What is it?”
“There are people here—lots of people.”
They rushed toward the house together. Viviana picked her clothes up from the bench and put them back on. Hudson held the door open for her, watching her longingly as she stepped inside. Did she know what kind of effect she had on him? Even the trace scents of whatever fruity shampoo she used made him want to touch her, kiss her, twirl her long golden hair around his fingers.
That whole mate thing…he had to get away while he still could. That was it. He’d tell Marlana that after only a few days of being here, he couldn’t take the job, after all. Conflict of interest. Or…something came up. He’d explain he simply couldn’t be here in the capacity she needed, or the demands of the job were too much. He’d think of something that was at least mostly true, but not the actual truth, in order to get out of this without having to say that he’d fucked her daughter in the forest.
Except…
Viviana turned to look at him. “I don’t know what’s going on,” she whispered, “but we both need to take showers, as soon as possible. Otherwise everyone will know.”
He hadn’t thought of that. Those sensitive noses of shifters.
There was commotion in the great room at the center of the house. Furniture had been shoved aside so more people could fit in. It looked almost like it had for Viviana’s birthday party, except this time there was no music, no streamers.
He wanted to ask for details, but he had to get cleaned up. Viviana had skirted along the edge of the room. She was already rushing upstairs, so he followed her. He went into his room, locked the door, and stripped on his way to the bathroom.
Five minutes later, he was done with his shower. He dressed in fresh clothes and walked downstairs. The crowd of people was still there, and more were arriving. He found Fraze in the group, and went over to his side. “What happened?”
Fraze’s voice sounded hollow. “Chase Channing. He’s dead.”
Hudson couldn’t remember which of the lion shifters was Chase, but the grief of the pride was palpable. Chase had been well-liked. “What happened to him?”
Fraze’s eyes were bloodshot. “Looks like something sucked the blood right out of him.”
“The rogue vampire,” Hudson guessed.
“Only thing we can think of,” Fraze said. “Gracie’s been texting me nonstop since I told her about it. The rest of her court is asleep, but she’s going to talk to them as soon as everyone wakes.”
Marlana came into the room. It was obvious she’d been crying, from her red eyes and blotchy face, to the Kleenex she held bunched in one hand. Several other pride members looked as if they’d been crying. Hudson looked around for Viviana, but she hadn’t come downstairs yet. Was she friendly with Chase? How would this affect her? He longed to find her, to break the news gently, but leaving the room now would be too conspicuous.
“We don’t know exactly what happened yet,” Marlana said loudly, “but Chase is dead.”
At just that moment, Viviana came down and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Her hand went to her mouth in shock, and she froze in place.
Oblivious to her daughter’s entrance, Marlana continued, “I—I don’t know how to tell you how devastated we all are, but you don’t need me to tell you, because we’re all feeling it. We’re going to get to the bottom of this, and we will avenge him.”
Several people murmured.
“In the meantime, our pride is once again on lockdown. We can’t count on our treaty with the vampire court to keep us safe from them, and as such, we’ll need to remain indoors at night. The lockdown is only in effect from dusk until dawn; the rest of each day can be spent normally. But you must be here every evening by sundown.”
Hudson wasn’t a shifter, but he could hear the alpha power in those words. This was an order that none in the pride would be able to disobey.