Lee apparently didn’t have any problems moving forward with the topic and continued where Garren had left off. “They’d locked her in an old underground shelter that was little more than a metal box. Her air supply was about gone and she’d already used up her water and food. If we’d been even an hour later, we might not have made it in time. She was fading fast. I’m surprised she sprang back this quickly, I figured she’d be unconscious a while longer.”
“I’ve always been a fast healer.” Isi smiled. “That isn’t to say I’m not light headed, dizzy, hungry, and a host of other things, but at least I’m mostly upright and have all of my senses working properly.”
“I don’t think she should be left alone tonight,” Parker said.
“She can stay here,” Sean said. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”
“She wants to go home.” Isi narrowed her eyes. “I want a shower, some clean clothes and my nice soft bed.”
Sean ignored her. “So, will you four be off now?”
Garren shook his head. “Your payment didn’t just cover her safe delivery. We still need to figure out why she was kidnapped, otherwise it could happen again.”
“My father won’t be pleased, but consider yourselves my guests for the foreseeable future. There’s a large cabin in the middle of the village where you may stay.” He smirked. “I must warn you though, our women can be rather persistent and will no doubt find the four of you fascinating. Once you’re declared heroes, there will be no stopping them, even if you did rescue someone they hate.”
Dagan shook his head. “Why such animosity toward Isi?”
“I told you. I can’t shift,” she said.
He gave her a blank look.
“They think I’m cursed.”
Parker snorted and then it turned into a chuckle. “Cursed? You? I’d say you have rotten luck, being kidnapped and all, but that’s about as much of a curse as you have.” His gaze took in her features. “Unless, of course, it’s the curse of your beauty.”
Garren gave him a dark look and Parker shrugged.
“If the four of you will wait here, I’ll run by Isi’s place and gather some clothes for her. Then I’ll give you directions to the cabin, along with a note giving you permission to use it for as long as you have need of it. I’ll be sure to call my father as well so he will not question your presence in town.” Sean smoothed a hand down Isi’s hair. “I don’t want to let her out of my sight tonight.”
Garren frowned and Isi wondered what he was thinking. He didn’t seem to like it when someone paid her a compliment or gave her any attention whatsoever. Yet, he seemed kind and she felt that he wanted what was best for her. His dark looks and frowning countenance had her wondering if perhaps he felt she wasn’t deserving of such attention. She knew she was just a job to him. Did he, maybe, feel the same way as her clan?
Parker and the others seemed to think the whole curse thing was ridiculous, but maybe Garren put stock in it. That thought brought pain to her heart. She might not have gotten a good look at her rescuer, but after hearing his voice, she’d known Garren was the one who’d jumped into the hole, the one who had given her water and lifted her out to safety. Maybe she just had a case of hero worship, but she found that she couldn’t look away when he was near.
“We’ll stay until you return,” Lee said. “Then we’ll retrieve our gear from the helicopter and send it on its way. We’ll call Bryson when we’re ready to return home. There’s no point in his staying until then.”
Sean nodded. “I’ll return as soon as I can. Isi just lives a few minutes from here in the middle of the village. Her home isn’t far from your cabin, for that matter.”
“I’m sure Tomi is worried about me,” Isi said. “Would you see if she’s home and reassure her that I’m okay? Tell her I’ll see her tomorrow?”
Sean smiled. “I’ll be happy to. Rest while I’m gone and I’ll return soon. Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay more than one day?”
“They hate me enough around here. Can you imagine the talk if the women got wind of my staying here for several days? They’d think I tricked you into my bed.”
“As I recall, I asked you out. You told me no.”
“We both know I’m not your mate. There would’ve been no point.”
A deep rumble came from Garren, a scary sound that raised the hairs on the back of her neck. His gaze had sharpened on Sean, looking lethal. Perhaps he wasn’t as unaffected by her as she’d thought. Maybe all of his savage looks had been for the opposite reason. Could it be that the rather hunky alpha male was taken with her? She couldn’t imagine why—she was ordinary at best. And she was fairly certain she looked like road kill at the moment.
Sean glanced at Garren. Isi watched as his eyes flared, the wolf in him flashing in their depths for a moment. “I’ll return momentarily.”
Without another word, he made his escape. She’d never seen him back down from anyone, but that’s essentially what he’d done by not taking Garren to task. If he feared the larger man, she couldn’t blame him. There was something untamed about the black-haired giant. The man stood inches above the other men in his unit, and was broader by far. He was just… more.
“You mentioned going home when this is all over, where’s home?” she asked.
“Galveston. We all wanted to be near the water, but most of us are from Texas and were ready to come home when our last tour was over,” Dagan said.
“Most?”
“I’m from Atlanta originally,” Lee said.
“And you all served together?” she asked.
Garren nodded. “We’ve all been in the military at least eight years. Dagan and Lee were in a little longer. After the last tour, we decided we were ready to retire.”
“Thank you for serving our country. I can’t begin to imagine the horrors you’ve seen, the things you’ve been asked to do. Just know that you’re appreciated.”
Parker smiled. “I loved serving my country, but I have to admit I’m something of an adrenalin junky. If we hadn’t formed our current unit, taking on rescue missions and security details, I’d be bored out of my mind.”
“I don’t mean to be insensitive, but I can tell you’re all shifters. Do you have a pack in Galveston? Are you wolves?” Isi asked.
Dagan shook his head. “There’s a small leap of jaguars there that we associate with at times, but we pretty much stick to ourselves. As for what we are, well… we’re not wolves, I’ll tell you that much.”
That still didn’t answer her question, but she supposed it would remain a mystery. If they wanted her to know, they would have told her. It didn’t stop her from wondering though. Garren didn’t seem like a wolf, not like the ones she knew anyway. The way he watched everyone, carried himself, he was definitely a predator, but what type was anyone’s guess. He moved with a certain grace that made her think that maybe he was some sort of large cat. He was big enough to be a bear, but that didn’t seem right.
She wasn’t sure what her fascination was with the man. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been around good looking guys before. All Isi knew was that her gaze followed him wherever he went. She wanted to breathe in his scent—and even more, she wanted to feel his arms around her again. She’d never felt as safe as she had in his embrace. When he’d held her, all had seemed right in her world. She’d known that everything would be fine, that she would be taken care of.
It didn’t take long for Sean to return, his expression grim. Isi could smell at least three female wolves on him and knew that was the reason for his displeasure. Poor man couldn’t leave his house without the women in the pack throwing themselves at him. Until he found his mate, he would go through this. There wasn’t a woman in the pack who didn’t want to be claimed by him. Well, except for her. And Tomi. Okay, there were a few others, but for the most part, the women in the pack were after a McGraw brother to claim as their own. What better way to climb the ranks than mate with one of the alpha’s sons?
He dropped a bag on th
e floor and Isi frowned. There was no way he’d only picked up one change of clothes, not with the sides bulging the way they were. Had the man not listened to her? Whether he liked it or not, she was returning to her home in the morning. She didn’t need a babysitter.
“We need to talk,” Sean said.
“Apparently we do, since you’re deaf. I told you I was going home in the morning.”
“Yeah, about that. Someone took it upon themselves to put your place up for rent, even though you were only gone a few days. Everyone in the pack knew you’d been kidnapped, but it seems your landlord figured you weren’t coming home.”
Isi cursed under her breath. The man had always hated her, but he’d been willing enough to rent to her when she hadn’t blinked at his outrageous price. She knew she paid more than anyone else in the duplexes, but to whom was she going to complain? The alpha wasn’t going to do anything. He hated her relationship with his son and wasn’t about to make her life more comfortable than it already was.
“I’ll call him and get it straightened out,” Sean promised. “But for now, I think you’re safer staying with me. There are those who aren’t happy you’ve been returned to us.”
Garren’s gaze sharpened on the wolf. “What do you mean?”
“There were a few rumblings in town. Some feel Isi should have stayed gone. It’s nothing I can’t handle,” Sean said with his jaw set. “I’ll just move her in here with me.”
Isi shot to her feet and immediately grabbed her head as she swayed in place. Garren gripped her arm to steady her.
“No, you won’t,” she said. “I’m going home, Sean.”
“You need to be under someone’s protection right now, Isi. This isn’t the usual grumblings of the pack about you being cursed. People are seriously pissed that you’ve returned. They thought they were rid of you for good.”
Parker frowned. “It sounds like maybe someone in town had something to do with her kidnapping.”
Sean snorted. “Good luck figuring out who did it. The whole town hates her, for the most part.”
Dagan rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe we should think about taking her with us. I can’t think of a safer place for her to be.”
“If you move her into the cabin with you, they’ll label her a whore. One woman and four men? Yeah, like that’s going to go over well.” Sean shook his head.
Lee frowned. “She’d have her own room. I’d sleep on the damn couch before I’d let it be any other way.”
“According to you, there are going to be rumors regardless of where she stays. I’d rather see she’s safe—and to hell with what everyone has to say—than leave her here unprotected.” Parker crossed his arms.
Sean scowled. “I’m quite capable of protecting her.”
Isi’s gaze met Garren’s. The intensity of the look he shot her way nearly melted her. If his hand hadn’t still been on her arm, she’d surely be a puddle on the floor. What did he think of this conversation? Did he want her to stay with him? Or did he not care one way or another?
“I have to agree with Dagan and Parker. I think we should take her with us, Garren.” Lee lifted Isi’s bag as if it were a foregone conclusion.
She stared into Garren’s green eyes, wishing he would give some clue as to what he was thinking or feeling. Tearing her gaze away, she took her bag from Lee, or made an attempt. The stubborn man refused to let go.
“I need to go shower.”
He glanced at Garren, but finally released the bag.
With one final look at the men who had saved her life, she struggled with the bag, trying to go down the hall to the bathroom. Sean took pity on her and gripped the handle to carry it the rest of the way. He set it down on the toilet seat lid and pulled out a towel and washcloth for her, not that she didn’t know where everything was kept. Leaning in the doorway, he shoved his hands into his pockets.
“You aren’t really going to go with those guys, are you?”
“The only place I want to go is back to my place.”
“Please be reasonable, Isi. I’m trying to protect you.”
She licked her lips. “At what expense, Sean? You know they’ll think there’s more going on between us if I stay here. Our relationship has always worked because they knew we weren’t more than friends.”
“I’ll do whatever I must to keep you safe.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she demanded.
Sean shook his head and sighed. “Don’t worry about it right now. Just get cleaned up and we can talk about it more later. I’ll send these guys on their way and figure out something for us to have for dinner. I know you’re starving.”
Her stomach chose that moment to rumble and she felt her cheeks heat. Honestly, she only hoped she could stay standing long enough to shower. She wasn’t feeling all that steady at the moment, but she was way too filthy to take a tub bath. The lights over the large mirror left little to the imagination. She looked like she’d been in a horror movie. Streaks of dirt tracked her face and arms; her hair had dried, half of it plastered to her face and neck. Grimy didn’t even begin to describe her PJs. They would probably need to be thrown out, not that she really wanted to hang on to a reminder of what had happened to her.
After Sean left, she turned the shower on, sighing in pleasure at the hot water that rained down on her hand. It was just what she needed to ease her tense muscles. It only took her a moment to strip out of her clothes and step under the spray. She closed the shower door behind her and wet her washcloth. Lathering it generously, she began scrubbing her skin until it glowed with health again. Sean kept a bottle of mango shampoo just for her, for the few times she’d crashed at his place after a late night of watching movies. She used a large amount of it now to wash her hair, really digging in until the strands were squeaky clean.
Even though she was clean, she wasn’t ready to get out yet. It felt too damn good to just stand under the spray, but she knew her legs wouldn’t hold her up much longer. She tipped her face up for another moment before shutting off the water. She staggered out the shower door and grabbed the towel Sean had left for her. Wringing the water from her hair, she dried the thick mass as best she could before running the towel over her body. She’d just barely wrapped it around herself when her legs finally gave up the fight and she tumbled to the ground, taking her bag with her. The loud thump brought booted footsteps down the hall at a near run.
Garren flung the door open and scanned the room before settling those gorgeous green eyes on her splayed form. She covered herself best as she could and pushed up into a seated position before grabbing her head as the world spun. He entered the room, crouched beside her, and with gentle hands, lifted her against his chest.
“What happened?” Sean asked, hovering in the doorway.
“Back up and close the damn door,” Garren nearly growled.
Sean wore a mutinous expression. “I’m not leaving her here with you. Not while she isn’t dressed.”
“I said get out!” Garren roared, and it was definitely a roar. There was little doubt that he was some sort of cat. A tiger maybe? There had been a flash of gold in his eyes for a moment, as if he were having trouble containing his beast.
Sean didn’t look pleased, but he backed away and closed the door. When she was alone with Garren once more, she just stared at him, not knowing what to say or do. Why had he reacted so swiftly when she’d fallen? For that matter, why had he sent Sean away? It made more sense for her friend to help her than it did for this brooding, silent man to come to her aid.
His hands gently caressed her. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
She shook her head, not sure if she trusted her voice just yet.
Garren rose with her in his arms and she hoped her racing heart didn’t betray her. She wanted to place her nose against the warm skin of his throat and breathe him in, to nuzzle along his jaw and feel the rasp of his whiskers against her lips. Her cat had never been interested in anyone before, but the beast wanted to sce
nt-mark Garren in the worst way. Just the thought of the women in town getting their claws into this fine specimen of a man had her cat yowling in her head.
He settled her on the lid of the toilet and reached for her bag. He rummaged around a bit and then pulled out two white lacy scraps of fabric. Her cheeks flushed as he studied her thong and bra for so long that she thought the wisps might burst into flame. His heated gaze met hers and he handed the garments to her.
“Do you need help?” he asked, his voice low and gravelly, his beast obviously close to the surface.
She dropped her gaze to the material in her hands. If she could stand, she could dress herself. But that was the million-dollar question. Could she stand on her own? It was one thing to have Garren help her take her clothes off but another to have him help her put them on. Isi didn’t like feeling needy and wimpy.
Taking the decision out of her hands, he lifted her to her feet and kept his hands around her waist. When she looked up, his gaze was burning into her. If she’d thought he was going to be a gentleman and look away, she just knew now that she was going to be sadly disappointed. His nostrils flared and she knew he was taking in her scent, had no doubt that he could smell her arousal. Just being near the man made her wet, not exactly something that had ever happened to her before. Oh she’d had an infatuation or two over the years, but she’d never had such a primitive reaction to a man before. For the first time in her life, she contemplated the positives and negatives of tackling the man, taking him to the floor, stripping him naked and having her wicked way with him. She’d read enough books to figure out what went where, even if she hadn’t had the opportunity to practice before now. After all, no one wanted the retard of the pack. Just one of the many delightful names she’d been called since that first shift, or in her case, non-shift.
Her tongue darted out to dampen her bottom lip. He tracked the motion and made a chuffing noise, but he didn’t move any closer. Nor did he move away. He held perfectly still, as if waiting to see what she would do, almost as if daring her to take what she wanted. Was that the kind of woman he liked? The kind who took charge and went after her heart’s desire? She wasn’t sure she was that brave.
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