by Lynn Howard
Brax was no longer standing on the foyer tile. And Polo was nowhere to be seen. Neither was his leash. Brax had taken Polo for his walk to save Campbell from putting any extra weight on her leg.
One more thing that made Campbell warm toward him. All those naked dreams hadn’t helped her desire to keep Brax at arm’s length.
Him showing up first thing in the morning to take her dog for his morning walk to save her any further pain really didn’t help.
Plopping onto the couch, she lifted her leg and rested her foot on the coffee table. Peeling the bandage back, she hissed when a piece of the gauze stuck to the healing gash. Stupid asshole Shifter.
Her phone rang. From her bedroom. Dammit.
With another grunt, she pushed to her feet and half limped - half hopped to her room until she could reach her phone. Dropping onto the side of the bed, she answered her mom’s call and put the phone to her ear.
“Hey,” she said.
“Why are you breathless? You okay?”
“I was in the other room. I had to hop to the bedroom to get the phone,” Campbell said, leaning forward and massaging her forehead.
“Your leg still hurt? You want me to come there?” Mom asked.
“No,” Campbell said, dropping her hand and pushing back to her feet. “I’m okay. Just taking forever to heal.”
“It’s been two days, honey.”
“Yeah.”
A beat of silence met her ears. And then mom said, “What else is going on?”
“What do you mean?”
“You usually give me a rundown of the night. You didn’t call last night. And you’re not telling me anything now.”
Campbell sighed and made her way back to the living room. She ran through the night’s events, telling her mom about Amy, about witnessing the traffickers grab her from the side of the road as she hitchhiked after her car broke down. Then she told her mom about Brax and the others rushing to her side and fighting with her.
“I don’t understand,” Mom said.
“Which part?” Campbell slid down the side of the couch and lifted her leg again. Fuck, it hurt.
“Why were they fighting their own kind?”
“I told you. I don’t think they’re like those other guys.”
“Aren’t they Shifters, too?”
“Yeah,” Campbell said. She left out the part of the story where two of the guys Shifted into panthers to fight the assholes.
“So why would they fight their own kind? Why didn’t they beat the other guys and take both of you?”
“They’re not traffickers. I really think…Mom, I think they’re doing the same thing I am. I think they’re going after the traffickers. I told you about them checking on my neighbor. And…one of the guys helped me upstairs last night and took Polo for a walk.”
“My granddog didn’t eat his face?”
Campbell chuckled softly. “I think Polo actually likes Brax.”
“That’s the guy you told me about last night,” Mom said, a whole bunch of suspicion in her voice. “You like him.”
“What?” Campbell squeaked out a little too quickly and too loudly.
“You like him. Tell me about him.”
“There’s nothing to tell.” Except he was tall, sexy, funny, smart, brave, and unlike any other man she’d ever met. And not only because he was a Shifter.
She kept all that to herself, though.
“Bull shit.”
“Mom!” Campbell released a surprise huff of laughter.
“I’ve known you your whole life. I probably know you better than you know yourself, baby girl. Your voice changes when you talk about the wolf man.”
“He’s not a wolf,” Campbell said. “He’s a panther. His group of friends are big, black panthers.”
“Wow,” Mom whispered. “I thought there were only the wolves.”
“Yeah. Apparently, there’s a whole bunch of them.”
“That’s a little terrifying.”
“Yep.”
There was another knock at her door. Brax had taken Polo out without asking for a key. He didn’t want to simply let himself back in her house, even if he had her dog.
“I’ve got to go. He’s back with Polo.”
“Give my granddog a kiss from his grandma,” Mom said.
“I will. Love you, mom.”
“Love you, too.”
Campbell ended the call and struggled across the room to unlock the door again.
But the door caught her attention. It had been locked. Brax had locked the main knob since he couldn’t turn the deadbolts in place. Even with him outside, he’d made sure she was safe in her trailer.
She pulled it open and made her way to the couch, flopping onto it with an oomph.
Brax stepped into her house and unleashed Polo who made a beeline for Campbell, slowing before he slammed into her leg. It was as if he knew his momma was hurt and didn’t want to make it worse.
“Hey,” he said when he finally looked up at her.
“What the hell are you doing here so early?”
“Not a morning person?”
She frowned at him.
“Coffee?”
She jerked her head toward the kitchen. “I haven’t made any yet.”
His smile never faltered as he walked into her kitchen. Sounds of cabinets being opened came a few seconds before the faucet squeaked on. As the carafe filled, Brax appeared in the doorway and leaned against the frame.
“How’s the leg?”
“Why are you here so early?” she repeated, not bothering to return his smile.
No. She wasn’t a morning person. She never had been. And the pain in her leg and the soreness of her muscles didn’t help.
Those had nothing to do with her suspicion and irritation over Brax’s unannounced visit, though.
“Wanted to check on you,” he said with a shrug as if it made total sense.
“You could’ve called.”
His smile faded and his eyes lowered to his feet. “I had a nightmare. I wanted to make sure you were okay. I needed to see you with my own eyes.”
“You had a nightmare,” she said rather than asked.
His head stayed lowered; he raised only his eyes. “Yeah.”
“What kind of nightmare?” What the hell would make him want to show up at her door early in the morning just to see she was okay.
“The kind where I didn’t get there in time last night and you were killed.”
She jutted her chin out a little. “What makes you think I would’ve been killed? I was doing this a long time before I met you.”
“You were outnumbered. And you’re pretty badly injured.” His head wagged side to side slowly. “I needed to see you were still in one piece.”
“You were there last night. You saw I was fine. You helped me upstairs.”
“Carried you,” he said with a hint of a smile.
“Carried me upstairs. I was fine when you left.”
“I know.”
“So…what then? You knew I was fine. And I’m not your responsibility.”
He was quiet for a minute. And then another. Dropping his eyes to the floor again, he sighed heavily. “I care about you. A lot. More than I should. More than I can even tell you.”
“You don’t know me.”
His head raised. “I know enough. I’ve never met another woman who’d go after those men alone. You risk your life every night to save women you don’t know. Women who are complete strangers. You’re funny. Smart. Sassy as hell. And…well, sexy as fuck.”
Campbell snorted out a laugh. She wouldn’t admit it, but she felt the same away about him.
There was a strange pull between them. Something that made her want to throw her arms around his neck and press her body against his. And not in a sexual way.
Okay, yeah. There was that, too. But it was more than simply sexual. There was a connection she didn’t understand and wasn’t sure she could fight.
“Is the coffee done?�
� That was way better than admitting anything to him.
His smile was back as he hurried into the kitchen and rummaged through the cabinets until he found the mugs. He carried one to her and handed it over.
“Did you want milk or sugar or cream or something?”
“Nope,” she said as she brought the coffee to her lips and took a sip. “I like it black.”
There really wasn’t anything frilly about her. Sure. She liked makeup and clothes and jewelry as much as the next girl, but they weren’t important to her.
At least not anymore.
“Did you want some milk or sugar?” she asked around a chuckle when he sipped his coffee and made a face. “Milk’s in the fridge. Sugar’s in a bag over the sink.
“Thanks,” he said, heading back into the kitchen. “So what do you have planned today?” he asked from the kitchen. The tink of a spoon hitting the sides of the mug let her know he’d found everything.
She frowned at him when he rounded the corner. “Being as someone made me promise to stay home until I’m healed, you’re looking at it.”
His smile faltered a tiny bit at the corners when his eyes dropped to her chest then darted back up. Campbell followed his gaze and rolled her eyes. She was still wearing the fitted tank top she’d slept in. No bra. Nothing to cover her pebbled nipples poking against the thin material.
Setting the coffee on the side table, Campbell crossed her arms over her chest. “You’ve seen I’m fine. Soooo…”
Brax didn’t take the hint. He moved further into the room and leaned against the wall separating the kitchen from the living room. “You hungry? Want me to make you something to eat?”
“You were literally just inside my fridge. Did it look like I had anything to cook?”
She hadn’t cooked a meal for herself in months. Simply bought frozen meals or picked something up on her way home. Or her favorite – ordered delivery from local restaurants.
“I can go get you some breakfast.”
“What are you doing, Brax? What is this?”
“Can I sit?” he asked, pointing to the coffee table instead of the couch. “I want to check your leg.”
“I’m wearing pants.”
“I’ll turn around so you can pull them down.”
She raised a brow. It she didn’t know any better, she’d think he was trying to get a peak of her panties. But that wasn’t what he was doing. He was genuinely concerned about her, about her wellbeing, about her safety. He’d rushed over to her place first thing in the morning simply because he’d had a nightmare that she’d been killed last night.
With a put-upon sigh, she twirled her finger in the air, telling him to turn. Once his back was to her, Campbell lifted her hips and shoved her sweats to her ankles, then pulled a throw from the back of the couch to cover her underwear and upper thighs.
“I’m decent,” she said after a few deep breaths.
Even though she was covered, she felt like she was baring herself to Brax. When he sat on the coffee table directly across from her and pulled the bandage back to take a look, his warm fingers felt far too intimate.
And familiar.
There were these weird zaps of energy that sent her heart racing and made her blood hot in her veins. She’d been with plenty of men in her lifetime. None had made her feel out of control of her own body with a mere touch. What the hell would happen if she let him touch her anywhere else? How would her body react if she ever felt his lips against hers?
Brax jerked back and his nostrils flared. There was a glow coming from his eyes as he widened them at her.
“Looks okay,” he said, standing and pacing back to the wall where he’d been leaning.
What the hell had freaked him out so badly? She hadn’t jumped or cried out when he’d touched her leg. She hadn’t even tensed under his touch. The only thing that had happened was…
No way.
He couldn’t possibly know she’d been turned on. Even if he had, why the hell would he jerk away from her. Unless he wasn’t nearly as attracted to her as she’d thought. Maybe he saw Campbell the same way he saw Janie, as someone to watch over and protect.
Well, she didn’t need anyone to protect her. She’d been damn fine on her own for a year.
Campbell yanked her pants up, not bothering to hide herself as she pulled the sweats up her thighs and over her ass. Of course, each movement was torture, especially when she was too rough and scraped against the gashes.
That elicited a hiss of pain.
“Shit,” Brax said, moving closer. “Have you taken anything? I know how painful those can be.”
He probably did. If he did as he said he did and tracked down and fought those Shifters every night, then he’d probably endured more than his share of scratches. More than likely bites, too.
“It’s fine,” she said between clenched teeth as she tried to breathe through the pain. “It’ll be fine.”
“You’re not going anywhere today, right? Even if some painkillers make you loopy, you’ll be safe in your home.”
She’d already thought about that. She just didn’t want to admit she needed anything from him, not after the way he’d jumped away from her last night like she had herpes or something.
And especially not if he thought he was her big, bad bodyguard.
“I can get you some.”
“You a drug dealer now?” she said. She’d meant it to come out as a tease but couldn’t help the grimace on her face as her leg throbbed along with her heartbeat.
“What? No. We always have stuff on hand in case a woman we help needs something.”
“I was joking,” Campbell said and forced a smile.
“You look like the Joker,” he said, pressing his lips into a line to hold back the laugh that was vibrating his body. “You don’t have to pretend it doesn’t hurt. I can tell you’re smiling on the inside.”
“Smiling on the inside?”
He shrugged. “I’ll go get you some painkillers and bring them right back. And anything else you want.”
“I have some,” she said, waving her hand in the air when he moved toward the door. He was ready to run out and get her…what? Ice cream? He’d said last night he’d bring her some. She was tempted to put him to the test and see if he was all talk or if he’d really go get her anything she asked for.
But she wasn’t like that. She didn’t play games. Didn’t sugar coat anything.
When she pushed forward to stand, Brax held his hand out for her to stay sitting. “I’ll get them. Tell me where they are.”
“Nightstand. Unmarked green bottle.”
“Uh huh. Who’s the drug dealer now,” he teased as he passed her and headed into her bedroom. He seemed more comfortable going in there than he did the first time.
He returned with the bottle and got her a glass of water. Then he went right back to leaning against the wall.
She popped a Vicodin into her mouth and drank half the glass of water. Then she looked up at Brax with a raised brow. “There. You can go now. You’ve seen I’m safe and took something for the pain. You don’t need to hang around.”
“Do you want me to leave?” he asked, that sweet smile he always had on his face gone. In its place was a frown. He looked disappointed and kind of hurt.
Campbell sighed again as if he was asking so much of her. “You can stay.”
“I’ll go if you don’t want me here, Campbell. I don’t ever want you to think you don’t have a choice.”
He knew damn well she could take care of herself. She’d beat the hell out of him the first time they’d met. He knew she could make her own decisions. But he was telling her he didn’t want her to think he was pressuring her into letting him stay.
“I want you to stay,” she said outright and felt her eyes go wide at the admission.
But she did. She really wanted him to stay. Even as her brain and heart warred over who was the craziest.
****
She wanted him to stay. Campbell had said those w
ords to Brax.
And now he was having a hard time slowing his damn heart rate. Good thing she didn’t have the senses of a Shifter and couldn’t hear his racing heart.
And since she didn’t have those senses, she’d had no idea he could smell her arousal when he was touching her thigh last night. He’d have loved nothing more than to act on it, to assuage her need, but it was obvious she was fighting her attraction to him, even if she’d admitted she thought he was cute.
He wouldn’t take what she didn’t offer, and that included touching her in an even remotely sexual way.
For a brief second, when the heady scent of her need hit his nose, he wanted to bury his face between her legs and make her cry out with release. Instead, he lunged away and put space between them. And then she’d looked at him as if he were either nuts or an asshole. He wasn’t sure which.
Both of them sounded shitty.
Brax wanted her to see him as endearing. And sexy. And desirable.
“You need to eat with those,” he said to her, pointing to the green bottle sitting at her elbow on the end table.
Campbell glanced at the bottle and lifted her slender shoulders in a shrug.
“What do you want? I’ll go get it.”
“I can call something in,” she said, reaching for her phone. “What do you want?”
“What?”
She raised her eyes from her phone. “I assume you’re going to stick around for a while. I don’t want to eat in front of you while you sit and watch. What do you want?”
Hope grew in his chest. She wanted him there and she wanted to feed him. Not that he’d let her pay for his food. Not a chance. She could order, but he’d pay.
Although, he was running low on money. They all were. The Pride had been living on what they’d saved up when they’d headed out of state to hunt down rogues. Eventually, they’d have to go back to work. Which would slow their efforts. Something none of them could stomach.
But Brax wouldn’t tell Campbell that. She didn’t need to know that.
What did she do for money? He had no idea what her schedule was like, but he had to assume she worked somewhere in order to pay for the mobile home.
“Order me whatever you’re getting,” he said, crossing the room and taking a seat on the cushion furthest from Campbell when all he really wanted to do was press himself against her, wrap his arm around her shoulders, and pull her closer.
