by Vivi Andrews
“Am I in heat?”
Roman froze in the process of sitting, an expression of utter confusion flashing across his face before he schooled his features to blankness. “What?”
“Am I giving off some kind of crazy ass pheromones I’m not aware of?” she demanded. “I’m asking seriously because if my cycle has suddenly gone all wonky and I don’t know it, you need to fucking tell me now because I cannot be going on a diplomatic mission with a bunch of shifters when I’m about to become a sex maniac.” She stormed closer to him, waving an arm toward his face. “Smell me.”
Roman took a deep breath, scenting the air and sank down the rest of the way onto his chair. “You smell normal. No trace of the heat.”
“Then what the fuck is going on?” She spun away flinging up her arms and prowled back to the window, bracing her hands on the sill. “I know I’m not suddenly irresistible, so I ask you. What the fuck?”
She turned in time to see a momentary expression of masculine panic flicker in the Alpha’s eyes. “I’m not really sure what’s going on, but are you sure you wouldn’t be more comfortable talking about this with Patch?” He started to rise. “I could get her.”
“Oh, sit down, you wuss,” Grace snapped, for once not talking to him as the Alpha, but as Roman—who had trained beside her for years and knew her better than just about anyone in the pride. “You’re pretty much the best friend I have and I know we don’t talk about our feelings and all that emo crap, but I’m dealing with some seriously bazaar shit, so suck it up.”
Roman rocked back in his chair, his lips curving. “You know, you and Patch seem so different, but then you go calling me a pussy and I start to see the similarities.”
“Yeah, she’s a keeper, but we’re talking about me now.” Grace leaned back against the window sill. “In the last week or so, three different guys have tried to…you know…” She waved a hand at her face. When Roman looked blank, she grimaced. This really was unbelievably awkward with him. She needed some freaking girlfriends. “Make advances,” she said finally, settling on a euphemism that didn’t sound too ridiculous. “I’m not in heat and I know I’m no Lila. I’m no Rachel. I’m not even in the running for the hottest piece of ass in the pride, so what gives? What the fuck is up?”
Roman’s chair creaked as he shifted uncomfortably. “You’re a very attractive lioness in your own way.”
She rolled her eyes. “You sound like my mother.”
“Some men are drawn to powerful women.”
“Great. And suddenly all at once they’ve decided to profess their feelings for me?” Though with Dominec there hadn’t been much professing of feelings. More the feeling of things as she rubbed up against him.
“It’s a stressful time in the pride. A lot of shifters are realizing that life is short and we have to go after what we want. I guess several of the males have decided they want you.”
“Yeah, well, neat, but what am I supposed to do with that?”
“Pick one?” Roman suggested, with a slight edge of male desperation.
“Right.” Pick one. Like that was so easy. Grace levered herself away from the windowsill. “I’d better go. Canada waits for no woman.”
“Grace.” Roman came to his feet. “Are you going to be able to focus on the mission? This won’t distract you, will it?”
“Don’t insult me, Roman. I’d hate to have to kick your ass before we leave.”
Apparently satisfied that she was still herself after the uncharacteristically girly outburst, Roman nodded. Together they exited his office and moved quickly along the path back to where the others waited.
Pick one.
Xander was out of the question because…ew. It really would be like making out with a bratty younger brother.
Kelly was the obvious choice, but she couldn’t escape the feeling that he didn’t really know her. And that he wanted things of her she didn’t even begin to know how to give.
But Dominec…well, Dominec was crazy. Complete with the occasional psychotic-break-inspired killing spree. No rational woman would tie herself to Dominec.
They rounded a corner in the path and the group ahead came into sight, gathered around the SUV.
The Three Rocks male with his head bent close to his mate, probably trying to talk her out of her latest temper tantrum. Patch kicking back next to Kelly, laughing at something he said as he lolled against the wheel well, cowboy hat tipped back so his grinning face was in full view. Hugo hovering with his brawny arms folded, frowning nervously over the whole mission.
And there was Dominec, slightly apart, against the back bumper, the lethal cat somehow finding shadows in the middle of the sunny day.
Pick one.
It wasn’t a bad idea. It might stop her feeling like she was being tugged in multiple directions. Just pick one and be done with it. Simple.
Grace walked faster, a seething agitation rushing her steps. Her brain had gone quiet, but her instincts were filling the void. Something urgent drove her, spurring her on.
Pick one. The words seemed to echo, gong-like, in the silence of her brain.
It wasn’t even a choice, was it? Obvious. So obvious.
She made a beeline for him. He straightened away from the car as she approached, a question entering his eyes that she didn’t take time to answer. At least not with words.
She framed his face with her hands and, ignoring the curious eyes on them, she let her momentum carry her right up to his lips. He’d gone statue-still, as startled by the public kiss as she was—in the part of her brain that had suddenly woken up to what she was doing. She was almost distracted by the contrasting sensations when she framed his face—the ridges of scar tissue against her right palm—but then his firm lips softened and opened against hers and he was kissing her back and she forgot about the pain that had marked him because the pleasure of the moment took over.
It wasn’t a long kiss. She was trying to make a statement of clarity, not put on a public display of sucking face. She kissed him only long enough to make sure they were both on the same page and then pulled back, dropping her hands.
Her gaze found his and though he didn’t smile there was a glittering satisfaction in his black eyes that said as much as twenty of Kelly’s broad grins.
Remembering the other night, she found herself giving a short little nod and murmuring, “Right.”
Then she turned to face half a dozen faces with varying degrees of confusion. “Load up,” she announced into the shocked silence—which got everyone moving again.
Without a word, Dominec moved around to the driver’s side to climb inside, willingly relegating himself to the third row of seats, where he settled himself sideways to compensate for the lack of legroom. Tyler opened the rear passenger door for Zoe, who hopped in as soon as Dominec was settled and slid over to make room for her lover beside her, leaving shotgun for Kelly, since Grace had already claimed the first driving shift.
In a fit of cowardliness, Grace avoided Kelly’s stare and turned to meet the Alpha’s startled look as Kelly climbed in. Patch’s eyes were dancing, though her face was carefully expressionless.
“Dominec?” Roman murmured under his breath, falling in beside her as she rounded to the driver’s side.
“You said pick,” she replied blandly.
For a moment she thought he would say more—out of concern or plain old shock—but Roman just gave a slow shake of his head and murmured, “Okay.”
She supposed she should have given him more credit. He and Patch hadn’t exactly been the kind of match that obeyed convention.
She hopped behind the wheel—where Kelly’s gently accusatory gaze was waiting for her. The laughing lion was somber now, eyes edged with hurt. Shit.
She’d thought it would be like ripping a bandage off—a quick flash of hurt that would let him heal better in the long run. She’d though
t it would be kinder to show him she’d picked someone else and let him move on.
Okay, that was bullshit. She hadn’t thought. Not of how it would hurt Kelly.
She was a selfish bitch and he was better off without her—but that didn’t stop the guilt that burned like bile in the back of her throat when he turned his silent, recriminatory gaze toward the windshield.
Stuck in a car for sixteen hours with the man who insisted he wanted her even when she proved how awful she was, the absolutely cracked man she seemed to want against all her better judgment, the Bossy Brat of West Texas and the Bossy Brat’s adoring mate. Joy.
Maybe she could speed.
A lot.
Grace cranked the key to start the engine. Fuck it. The personal shit could take a vacation day. They had a job to do.
Outside, Roman, Patch and Hugo backed away.
She threw the car into gear. “It’s seven-hundred-and-twenty miles to Black Lake, we’ve got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark, and we’re wearing sunglasses.”
In the back, Tyler frowned, visibly confused. “I don’t smoke.”
Dominec glowered. “It isn’t dark.”
“And no one is wearing sunglasses,” Kelly finished.
But Zoe snorted. “Hit it.”
Grace hit it.
She might have to reevaluate her position on Zoe. The girl knew her Blues Brothers.
Chapter Nineteen
Grace had always found driving soothing. The countryside was gorgeous, the lack of traffic was heavenly—though the road conditions sometimes left something to be desired—and before long all the tension in the car seemed to evaporate.
Dominec fell asleep—or pretended to. The stiff set of Kelly’s shoulders slowly relaxed until he was his usual boneless self, sprawled in the shotgun seat, with his hat hooked over one knee and a small smile curving his lips as he gazed out the window, occasionally glancing over at her with an affectionate look—which was almost disconcerting considering he really ought to hate her right now.
And then there was Zoe and Tyler.
Grace had been prepared to hate every second with them, but the couple were actually sort of fascinating. From the first, Zoe had been bossy and verbal and obviously dominant, but Tyler wasn’t submissive, for all his silence. He gave as good as he got when they bantered in the backseat and Grace felt her lips twitching more than once. She hated to admit it, but Zoe was actually funny.
And when she mentioned that Thor was clearly the hottest Avenger—Tyler did bear a certain resemblance to the muscle-bound blond—Grace found herself defending the unspeakable deliciousness of Tony Stark’s sexy wit and any tension that might have remained in the car vanished into a spirited debate on the relative sexiness of superheroes. Even Dominec stirred himself to join in, muttering something about Black Widow being sexy as hell before resuming his soft snores.
Grace could barely contain her shock that Dominec knew who Black Widow was. Though she supposed a vengeful mercenary with a dark past would be right up his alley.
The mood in the car was downright cheerful by the time they pulled into a roadside diner just after one to grab some lunch and switch drivers.
Zoe bounded out of the car as soon as it stopped, Tyler moving more sedately at her heels. Kelly and Grace opened their doors to follow when Dominec called lazily from the back, “I’ll take a burger with everything and fries to go.”
Kelly shot a dark look over his shoulder. “Do I look like your personal waiter?”
Dominec stared back impassively. “Without me you could be any four tourists. You think the waitress in there isn’t going to remember Scarface? That everyone in there isn’t going to stare the entire time? Trust me. You want any hope of incognito, you get me the fucking burger.”
“We’ll get it,” Grace said before Kelly could reply, climbing out and slamming her car door. She had gotten so used to the pride where even those who were new to Lone Pine understood the origin of his scars. Out here, he would be a spectacle for strangers. Dominec didn’t have the luxury of forgetting that.
Kelly slammed his own door as she rounded the hood and fell into step beside her as they approached the diner Zoe and Tyler had already disappeared inside.
“I get it now,” Kelly said.
She slanted him a sideways look. “What?”
“Dominec. The kiss. I admit it threw me. I didn’t know what to think, but the more I thought about it, the more it started to make sense, and I just wanted you to know I got the message you were sending. Loud and clear.”
She should leave it alone. Thank God for small favors and let it go, but intuition was screaming Kelly’s interpretation of her message was miles off base. She had to ask. She stopped walking, pausing three feet from the door. “What message?”
Kelly stopped with her. “At first I didn’t know what that little display back there was about, but you obviously aren’t interested in Dominec. I mean look at your body language after the kiss. You both just walked away. Hardly lover-like. So I considered what else you might have been trying to prove and now I get it.”
“You do?” The words rang with skepticism. Because she was pretty sure she didn’t get it.
“You wanted to remind me that I’m not here as your lover. I’m here in a professional-only capacity. If you need to make out with someone else in front of me for the sake of the mission, I need to remember that I can’t react as I would if we were back at the pride. Hands off.” He lifted up his hands, all innocence. “I get it.”
Grace mulled that one over, only realizing she was glowering when Kelly frowned.
“What?” he prompted.
“You decided all that had to be true because there was no way I could possibly be interested in Dominec?”
Kelly’s eyebrows flew toward the brim of his hat and he released a short bark of laughter. “Seriously? The guy lurks around the pride being sinister, revels in pushing buttons and has no off switch on his crazy. He doesn’t really seem like your type.”
“How do you know my type?” She held up a hand to stop him when he would have answered. “Don’t answer that. It doesn’t matter. Because I don’t know if he’s my type or not, but whatever he is, he doesn’t deserve to be dismissed as too crazy for anyone to want.”
“I didn’t mean…” Kelly began placatingly, but she didn’t let him finish.
“No. I’m sick of people calling him names. Myself included. I’d be no better if the Organization…” She trailed off, looking back toward the dark SUV where Dominec waited.
She realized she didn’t know what all had happened to him at the Organization. She knew his family had been killed, but no details. She knew he’d been scarred, but not how. She didn’t even know how long he’d been held captive.
Those were his wounds, and if he chose to keep them hidden, that was his right. But they were going to Black Lake for him to talk about the dangers of the Organization and she needed to know if he was going to be able to talk about it. And what he would say.
She turned back to Kelly. “Get me a burger too. No onions.”
“Grace.” An irritable edge sharpened Kelly’s lazy drawl.
“I need to talk to Dominec about some details for the mission,” she said, trying to keep the bite out of her own tone. “You were going to be professional and not possessive, right?”
“I’ll get those burgers,” he said, albeit a bit grudgingly.
As Kelly went inside, Grace returned to the SUV.
Dominec was pretending to sleep in the back. She knew he was only pretending because there was no fucking way the tiger wouldn’t wake up when she opened the door. She climbed into Zoe’s spot, closed the door behind her, and turned sideways, hooking her elbow over the back of the seat.
“Your fake snores are pretty good,” she commented.
The light, snu
ffling snores stopped instantly. Dominec opened one eye. The left one. The one surrounded by scars. It was minor miracle he hadn’t lost the vision in that eye when he was mauled. Either that or he’d been injured by design, the Organization careful to keep his vision intact.
“I owe you an apology.”
That opened his other eye. A single eyebrow quirked.
“I wanted you to come along because you know the Organization, but I didn’t ask if wanted to come or if you minded talking about what the bastards did. If the wolves ask.” And the wolves would ask.
He straightened slightly out of his sprawl across the back seat, half sitting up. “I wanted to go with you,” he said softly. “I would have followed if you tried to leave me behind.”
There was a curious weight to the words that made a flush rise to her face, but she ignored the heat. “So you don’t mind…”
“Being used for my scars?”
“They aren’t the only reason I wanted you along.” Not even the main reason, though she didn’t add that.
He rubbed at the left side of his jaw and she realized it was the first time she’d ever seen him touch his face. He was always drawing attention to it with angling his head and catching the light, but he never touched the scars. Now his fingers coasted along the edges. “They are the first thing anyone sees,” he said softly. “And they make a good shield. Few people ever bother to look further.” His eyes met hers. “What do you see?”
She owed him honesty, but it was hard when he was watching her so seriously. “I see a tiger who has always been the fastest, the fiercest and the least predictable.”
A sly whisper of a smile teased his lips.
“How did you get them?” she asked, the words coming out in a whisper.
He held her gaze steadily. If she hadn’t been looking directly into his eyes, she might not have seen it—the flickering of his eyes from feline to human and back again, so fast she would have missed it if she blinked. It was disturbing—she’d never seen a shift so fast. And then they flickered again. Animal. Human.
