by Susan Bliler
“Bishop, I…”
“Yeah,” he cut her off. “I know.” Hands tightening on the steering wheel, his brows speared down as he locked his eyes on the road. “You’re sorry.”
Chapter 14
Bishop knew he was being unfair. He knew it, but it couldn’t be helped. Even Jenny’s revelation of the abuse she’d suffered only served to temporarily stall out his wounded pride. He was disgusted with himself now too because he knew that’s exactly what it was. Jenny had pricked his stupid manly ego, and it stung.
Riding in silence, it grew torturous, and he tried to find some middle-of-the-ground conversation. He came up with nothing and opted to keep silent. It was hard to do considering how Jenny looked like a wounded kitten, all huddled in her seat and avoiding his gaze.
Three hours later they pulled through the front gates at StoneCrow and Jenny shifted nervously in her seat.
“Now what?” she asked.
“I called ahead and secured you a cabin.”
“I don’t need to stay at the estate, Bishop, my place in the city…”
“No,” he cut her off. “I need you close. You’ll stay in one of the cabins. For now, we’ll keep the affliction to ourselves, just like you wanted. We’ll give each other space, just like you wanted. We’ll see what happens. Just like you wanted.”
He watched her lips purse like she didn’t like any of what he said, but when she spoke, all she asked was, “An-and you? Where are you staying?”
“I have my own cabin.” He didn’t tell her that his was two down from hers. He didn’t tell her that the one cabin separating theirs from each other was vacant. He didn’t say anything else until he pulled up to a small cabin in line with others on the other side of the giant hedgerow behind the main estate house. Jerking his chin toward it, he didn’t look at Jenny when he told her. “That’s you. I had Ash retrieve some of your things from town. Your suitcase’ll be in the bedroom.”
She reached for the door handle but stopped. “I’ll…I’ll need to see you in the infirmary. We’re both overdue for injections, and I really need a blood samples.”
“Monroe has suspended you from practice.”
He could tell by the way her jaw slackened, and her eyes grew wide that she was shocked by the admission.
“What did you think was gonna happen, Jen? You get to play God in there and suffer no consequences?”
“But my patients. They need me.”
“Yeah,” he scrubbed a hand down his tired features. “You should’ve thought of that.” Turning, he leveled her with a look. “Right?” For some reason, it was important that she agree with him on that.
“Yeah,” she muttered. “I should have. I should have thought about a lot, Bishop.”
She reached for him, and he caught her wrist, his eyes going hard as he looked at her hand then at her. “Don’t. You don’t have the right to touch me, Jenny.”
She pulled her hand back and scrambled from the car, and he felt gutted when she raced into the cabin and slammed the door.
He told himself it was for the best as he drove past the vacant cabin and then parked at the next one. He got out and stomped up the front steps before going in, showering, and donning fresh BDU’s. He was gonna fall back on the one thing that had been keeping him sane. Work.
Through the mist he contacted Haka. “I’m back at the estate and ready for duty. Where do you want me?”
“Back just in time,” Haka answered. “We’ve got dignitaries coming in. You’ll be an escort, so…”
“Dignitaries?” Bishop cut him off. “What the hell does that mean? Who are these dignitaries?”
“The first family. Monroe’s parents are coming for a visit. They’ll be bringing one of their own teams, but you know Monroe. Not sure if he’s doing all this for show or because he’s legitimately worried. Regardless, he wants a full team on Elias and Fleur StoneCrow their entire visit. Report to RedKnife.”
“RedKnife?”
“Yeah,” Haka snorted. “Monroe’s given him lead.”
“Holy shit,” Bishop breathed. “Has that happened before?”
“Nope.” Haka popped on the ‘p’. “Shitty time to try out RedKnife’s social skills if you ask me, but what the piss do I know?”
“Where are RedKnife and his team now?”
“They’re heading to the main gate now to await the arrival.”
“On it.”
***
Jenny had just showered and changed when a mental nudge indicated someone was trying to contact her.
“Jen?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s Stoney. Heard you were back at the Estate. Welcome home.”
“Thanks.”
“Look, I was told to contact you and let you know that Monroe wants you in medical.”
“Why?” Jenny was already moving. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. His parents are arriving today to tour the estate. He said he wanted you in here to greet them. That’s all I know.”
Jenny stalled halfway to the door. Elias and Fleur were coming here?
Most Walkers didn’t know that Jenny had been raised by the Dominant’s parents. Even as she opened the door and made her way to the main estate house, she wondered at their sudden appearance. Last she’d heard they were in Ireland working with the Silkies. The timing just seemed odd, and it was even stranger that neither Elias nor Fleur had contacted her to let her know they were coming.
“Jen? You coming?”
“Yeah, Stoney. Sorry. I’m on my way.”
Chapter 15
Jenny stood in the long corridor of the infirmary, her staff standing alongside her, backs pressed into the cold white-painted walls as they waited.
The sound of many booted feet preceded the doors at the end of the long hall being pushed open as Sentries filed in. It was quite a display as rows of towering Sentries, all donning their black tactical gear, escorted Monroe as he led his parents, Elias and Fleur StoneCrow, into the infirmary.
Jenny noted the proud twist to Monroe’s lips, and she got it. He’d worked his ass off to make this place into what it was, and he’d done extremely well, even if it was just recently up and running.
She remembered listening to him talk about how his Walker safe haven would be the largest, most protected compound any Skin Walker had ever seen. He’d done it, and he deserved every ounce of pride that poured from him as he showed his parents a few of the exam rooms as they made their way down the hall toward the staff.
Inside, Jenny had her own emotions warring. She was happy to see Elias and Fleur. And even though she spoke to them monthly, it’d been a long time since she’d seen either of them in person.
Her eyes drifted over Elias’ massive suit-clad frame. He looked like a slightly taller version of Monroe with sharper features and just a touch of gray marring the jet black hair at his temples. Jenny’s eyes slid down to Fleur’s more slender stature. She was elegant—as always—in a navy colored pleated flare dress and matching heels. The color was exceptional on the stunning brunette. Neither Elias nor Fleur appeared to have aged a day since Jenny had last seen them, and while it was good to lay eyes on the two people who raised her, Jenny’s eyes couldn’t help but stray to where Bishop stood near the front of the processional.
His eyes were hard, lips set in a determined line. He was all business, but Jenny’s breath hitched when his stoic gaze slipped down to her for just the briefest of moments.
“Jenny!” Fleur’s excited voice brought her attention back to the visitors, and Jenny shoved off the wall, rushing forward to bury herself in Fleur’s open arms.
Fleur hugged her hard and Jenny inhaled deeply, letting contentment settle in her bones at the familiar scent of lilacs that never ceased to remind her of home.
“Ma,” she breathed, and when she pulled back to study Fleur, it was through eyes filled with tears. Fleur was crying too, but it was the happy kind that had the woman chuffing a watery laugh as she squeezed Jenny’s arm with o
ne hand and then turned to beam, “Elias! Look! It’s Jen.”
Elias’ beamed a perfect smile as he stepped forward and settled his hands on Jenny’s shoulders. “And how have you been, young lady?”
Unsure how to answer, Jenny shrugged and smiled up at him. “Same as always.”
Elias barked a laugh and pulled her in for a hug, whispering, “So good to see you, sunshine.”
Jenny was glad she’d donned her lab coat and didn’t have to endure the painful skin-on-skin contact that came with still being afflicted.
With her head turned, Jenny’s eyes landed on where Bishop stood staring at the interaction in clear confusion. They’d talked about a lot, but never her family. He didn’t know that Monroe’s parents had raised her like one of their own. Bishop didn’t know that she thought of Monroe as an annoying older brother.
“She’s quite the asset here,” Monroe interrupted, stepping forward as he stared approvingly down his nose at Jenny. “Smarter than I ever thought she’d turn out to be.”
Rolling her eyes, Jenny pulled from Elias’ hug. “Well thanks,” she muttered sarcastically even as Fleur slapped Monroe’s chest with a disapproving, “Son!”
Monroe shrugged but shot Jenny a wink. She swore that when he did, she saw Bishop stiffen in her periphery.
Fleur gave her attention back to Jenny. “You’ll join us for dinner won’t you, sweetheart?” She glanced up a Monroe. “Both of you.” Fleur nodded, “Soon as we’re finished here.”
It wasn’t a request. In the Skin Walker world, Elias StoneCrow was king, which made Fleur the queen, and the queen always got what she wanted.
“Yes,” Jenny breathed, “of course.”
Monroe reached out and gripped Jenny’s shoulder. She found it odd because he wasn’t the handsy or affectionate type and he rarely ever touched her.
“Yeah,” he muttered, squeezing her arm. His eyes though lifted from hers to something over her shoulder as he said, “It’d be nice to have you for a night.”
Jenny’s spine locked. It took her all of two seconds to realize Monroe was baiting Bishop. Asshole! She jerked her shoulder from his hold but didn’t get the chance to reprimand him because he turned and escorted his parents deeper into the infirmary, talking all while he walked.
Glancing over her shoulder, Jenny noticed that Bishop’s expression had turned to stone. He looked like a pissed off gargoyle.
“Bishop,” she turned and approached to speak to him quietly, stripping out of her lab coat while the other Sentries followed the Dominant and his family down the hall. Every time she was near Bishop she was always so damn hot that it felt like her blood was on fire.
“There’s something I need to tell you about Monroe,” she began.
Bishop’s eyes were full of ice though when they lowered to hers. “You don’t need to explain yourself to me.”
His tone was so cold that it felt like an assault. After everything they’d shared, he was acting so distant that she took a step back from him and lowered her head, her inhalation sharp as she thought how to respond.
“Is ‘at my Jen?”
Jenny’s head whipped up, and she looked down the corridor to where the words had come from. A Sentry stood there, wearing all gun-metal gray fatigues and it took her a second to place him. When recognition finally registered, Jenny gasped and took a tentative step toward him. “L-Lawder,” she breathed. “Is that you?”
Lawder Cassell, the Sentry who’d saved her from her captivity, stood before her. His eyes shone with delight as they strolled down her frame in clear approval. Hell, the last time she’d seen him, she’d been just a child. A child who’d had the worst ever crush on a Sentry who was too experienced and too old for a girl her age.
“Ain’t you all grown up?”
She felt herself blush and turned her head to try and hide it from Bishop who’d just slid his heated gaze from Lawder to her.
Chapter 16
Bishop was two seconds away from punching a hole through Monroe, and then the wall, and Monroe again. He knew what the smarmy bastard was doing getting all touchy with Jenny right in front of him. He was showing Bishop that he had a more intimate relationship with Jenny than he’d initially thought.
In his head, Bishop mocked Monroe with a sing-song, “It’d be nice to have you for a night.”
Cunty little fucker!
He still saw red when Jenny turned and approached to speak to him. Keeping his eyes trained on the wall over her head he wanted to snort at the act. The woman was impossible to ignore. From the second he set foot in the damn building he knew exactly where she was. Her scent was imprinted so firmly on him that he knew it better than his own.
He fought to keep his eyes averted as she stripped out of her lab coat, sending a waft of her feminine scent lifting up to his nose even as his eyes lowered to the creamy skin of her arms and chest that was exposed by the tight fitting little t-shirt she wore.
She started trying to explain to him about Monroe, and he didn’t want to hear it. Even the thought of her in bed with that smug prick had Bishop’s hackles rising. He didn’t want to know their past. He didn’t want to know anything about any relationship Jenny had with Monroe.
“Is ‘at my Jen?”
The words drew both his and Jenny’s attention.
He recognized the uniform on the guy standing down the hall as one worn by the Sentries that had accompanied Elias and Fleur StoneCrow from their home in Ireland. The man was one of their guards.
Jenny’s shocked and breathy, “L-Lawder. Is that you?” had Bishop staring between her and the man who was letting his eyes rove Jenny a little too intimately.
“Ain’t you all grown up?”
The words had Bishop’s back teeth clenching hard.
The guy, Lawder, was jogging down the hall now, rushing Jenny. She lifted a hand, but before the guy could see she was trying to stop him, he had her squeezed in a giant bear hug, her feet dangling from the ground as he spun her around.
It took all of one breath for Bishop to scent Jenny’s agony. This fuck with the dumb accent was hurting his mate.
Two large strides closed the distance between them, and he reached them just as Jenny cried out.
Bishop ripped Lawder off Jenny and shoved him hard in the chest. It sent Lawder stumbling backward even as Bishop snarled, “Keep your fucking hands off her!”
The staff that remained in the hall gaped at the scene.
Lawder regained his footing and went after Bishop, but slammed to a halt. His head whipped around and his rounded eyes landed on Jenny as his nose flared. “Did…did I huut you, Jen?” He scanned her body.
Jenny was rubbing her arms where he’d made skin-on-skin contact and sent an electric pulse of pain buzzing through her. “It’ fine,” she whispered shaking her head and trying to wave it off.
Lawder reached for her, but before he could grab her arm, Bishop locked his hand around Lawder’s wrist and leaned down to go almost nose-to-nose. “I said. Don’t. Fucking. Touch her!”
Jenny stepped into Bishop’s frame and turned until her back was pressed into his big body. She shuddered like just that small amount of contact soothed her, so Bishop shoved Lawder’s hand away and lowered his own to rub at Jenny’s arms.
“Bishop,” Jenny spoke quietly. “This is Lawder Cassell. He’s…he’s the one who saved me.”
Bishops hands stilled on Jenny, and he was back to wanting to punch things starting with this Lawder fuck.
What kind of name is that anyway? Lawder! Seriously? Fucking douche.
The guy was shorter than Bishop, but not by much. He was just as thickly muscled though, and that’s where the similarities ended. Where Bishop was all long blonde hair and full beard along his jawline, Lawder had his dark hair shorn short on the sides and just slightly longer on top where it looked gelled and then combed like he’d spent too much time on it. Lawder’s face was clean shaven too, and Bishop couldn’t figure out of it was a style choice or simply because the prick
lacked the testosterone to actually have the ability to grow a beard. He was betting on the latter. It’d make sense considering Lawder was one of the prettiest men he’d ever seen. His skin was flawless, no scars at all from battle, and his lips were fat like two worms stuffed full of shit. He supposed women could find Lawder attractive if you were into that whole soft looking, fat lipped, Tom Hardy kind of thing.
“Law,” Jenny’s sweet voice drew Bishop's attention down to her. “This is Bishop Arkinson.”
It stung that she didn’t tag on, “my mate”. He deserved it though, he supposed. It was his idea to give them both space and to keep their affliction a secret. Still, when Law’s eyes dipped to where Bishop was rubbing Jenny’s arms, Bishop smoothed one hand up Jenny’s satiny skin and rested it on her shoulder, so his arm was bracketed across her chest in an openly possessive gesture.
Law slid his gaze from Bishop’s arm up to his face, and then he licked his lips and held out a hand for Bishop to shake. “Seems we got off on a wrong foot, mate.”
With no good reason not to shake the guy’s hand—regardless of how much he didn’t want to—Bishop heaved a sigh and dropped his possessive hold on Jenny. He gripped Law’s hand a little too firmly, and his eyes glinted when Law met him tight grip for tight grip, power for power.
Unable to break his staring contest with Law, Bishop kept up the pressure on the handshake even as he felt Jenny’s head move against his chest before she hissed, “Jesus!” Then more loudly, “Knock it off you two, before you break each other’s hands!”
Bishop sure as shit wasn’t going to be the first one to break the staring contest/handshake challenge, so he kept right on squeezing, eyes intense as Law met him glare for glare, pressure for pressure.
“LAW!” A voice boomed from down the hall.
Without looking, Bishop assumed it was Elias because Law instantly pulled his hand from Bishop’s and turned to race down the hall. He skidded to a stop though to turn around and jab a finger at Jenny with a wink. “Ain’t leavin’ ‘ere wifout ’aving a drink wif you, woman. Make time for me, yeah?”
