by Cecilia Lane
“Are you okay?” She crossed the room, then stopped at the foot of the bed. Her hands fluttered in front of her before she forced them to her sides.
“I’ll be fine.” He unhooked his arm and sat up more. “Sit. You don’t need to hover. I’m not on my deathbed.”
“Says the man who did a face plant due to blood loss.” She cracked a smile and took a seat on the bed, studiously ignoring the light dip that rocked his burning hot body against her. At least he was awake and speaking. She didn’t put as much faith in his denial of deathbed status. The strong, silent types did the fussing, but never accepted being fussed over. “I guess that’ll net you another hazard bonus.”
“You’ll make me a millionaire if I can keep you alive.” Seth huffed a laugh, then cut the noise short with a wince. Serious eyes focused on her again. “What were you doing there, Lilah?”
“Celebrating. We thought it was over, right? They wanted to show me a good time before I left.” She shrugged, ducking her eyes to hide her pained look. “And now there’s a bounty on me? Talk about making a girl feel important.”
Even trying, she couldn’t put anything but despair into her sarcasm.
Fuck. That was the word that perfectly summed up the day. The high of relief plunged just as low with utter defeat. How did she come back from this? How did one really ever solve a price on their head?
Seth nudged her with his knee. “We need to talk next steps—”
“Don’t worry about that.” She snapped her eyes to his face. The slick, oily feeling in her stomach returned. “I’ll leave in the morning. Jaime probably knows who to call. I don’t want you to keep suffering for me.”
“Absolutely not,” he growled.
The denial was so intense it shook her to her core and forced her attention back on the injured man.
“Who do you think she’ll call? You need someone who knows this crowd. Unless I’m sorely mistaken, there’s a pride of lions on the other side of that door ready to defend you until I’m back on my feet. You’re not going to find better protection than that.”
He met her look with a dark one of his own. His features didn’t change, but she was certain something lurked behind his inky eyes. Watching. Waiting. For what, she didn’t know. Chills ran up her arms, but he wasn’t done.
“I promised to keep you safe,” he continued fiercely. “I’m not turning my back on that because of a little scratch.”
Her heart tripped over the words and the determined glint in his eyes. He didn’t just spout bravado; he meant to keep his word even after taking a serious injury.
“Who’s out there now? Does Trent have anyone posted up?”
She gaped at him. “Just a scratch? Seth—”
“Lilah, if you don’t tell me what’s happening outside this room, I will be forced to get out of bed and find out for myself. Do you want me to tear my stitches?”
“No. No!” She let off an incredulous laugh. The fucking balls on him. She’d be impressed if he wasn’t so damned determined to be stupid. “Everything is handled. Stay in bed. Please.”
“Okay, I’m getting up.”
“You absolutely are not! Hailey told me to keep you in bed.”
He ignored her. With a wince that said his insides wanted to finish cracking him open, he maneuvered to sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Seth,” she warned.
The idiot man groaned and pushed to his feet.
Lilah rushed the few feet separating them and planted her hands on his chest. Heat flashed through her and warmed her cheeks. “You need to rest,” she insisted.
“I need to make sure those fuckers aren’t sneaking up as we speak.”
They swayed, both off balance, both trying to figure out where to step. In a tangle of feet, Seth fell back on the bed and dragged Lilah down with him.
Lilah tipped her head back and met Seth’s gaze. She saw the truth of his words, the depths of his promise, and more. So much more. Words failed her entirely.
Slowly, gently, he pressed his lips to hers.
Wrong. So wrong. He was bad for her. He didn’t listen to reason, for one. He threw himself into danger at the drop of a hat.
He’d kept her safe. From the assholes trying to kill her and from her own misguided decisions.
His mouth slid over hers, moving with an expertise that both excited and alarmed. She wanted more. Craved more. And worried how much more complicated her life had become.
Seth slid his hands into her hair, and all her objections vanished before they were fully formed. Hot desire spread through her veins the moment he swept his tongue over the seam of her lips. She opened for him, melting into him as he deepened the kiss.
A low groan rumbled in his chest, vibrating through her, simmered in her middle. He tightened his fingers in her hair, then ran his palms down her back. She whimpered against his lips when his fingers grazed over her ass. The noise was the permission he needed to hear because a second later, he grabbed a handful and hauled her closer.
Lilah’s breath turned to needy pants as she felt his hard length trapped between their bodies. He felt so good. So right. She wasn’t Lilah the Victim with him. She wasn’t ignored, shoved aside, thought of as crazy. He saw her, kept her safe. Made her feel normal and wanted.
Which was wrong, she tried to remind herself. Another groan—his, hers, she couldn’t tell—wiped away the thought and pulled her back into him and the feeling of his hands, his mouth, on her body.
He eased back with a final nip to her lower lip. Lilah lifted herself up on her forearms, fingers still splayed over his chest. Dark, hooded eyes watched her with an intensity that both startled her and kept the fire burning in her core.
She ducked her eyes to hide her smile. Dryly, she told him, “There had to be an easier way to get me to share the bed with you.”
“With you?” Seth snorted. “I’m surprised it only took being clawed.”
A beat. A flush spread over her cheeks. “I’m sorry. For everything.”
Seth lifted a hand to her face and stroked a thumb over her cheekbone before sliding deeper into her hair. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
Chapter 14
“Rise and shine, fuckleheads!”
Seth cracked his eyes open and squinted in the daylight. Fuck. He didn’t know exactly when he’d fallen asleep, but he sure as hell slept through the morning chores.
He turned his head to the weight on his shoulder. Lilah curled against his side, her soft hair tickling his skin in the draft from the air conditioner.
Not a dream. Or maybe the best kind, where he kept on dreaming through whatever disturbance waited for him out of bed. Either way, he tightened his grip on her shoulder and pulled her just a little closer.
Her sweet scent filled his nose and left him aching for another taste of her lips. His cock throbbed to life with the idea. It was all he could do to keep from rolling her over and licking and nibbling his way up her neck and across her jaw to claim her mouth, then retreat once he had her gasping. Retreat, but not surrender. He had more of her to explore than what he’d touched in their little make out session the night before.
With the suddenness of falling in the middle of a dream, he jerked back to the cold reality. The woman in his bed was in danger. She’d been frightened, hurt, and nearly killed. As soon as whatever concern pushed her close wore off, all her walls would snap back into place. He had her for a moment, only.
For the best. What could he offer her? A shitty single room that smelled of horses? Lions who’d somehow stayed on their best behavior, but were bound to snap in a bigger, more savage brawl the longer they held their shit together? She didn’t belong in his world, the same as he didn’t belong in hers.
The door rattled with another knock. Motherfucker.
“Who’s that?” Lilah murmured.
Seth eased his arm out from underneath her. He pressed a soft kiss to her temple, lingering long enough to draw her citrus and lavender scent deep into his lungs. “I
’ll check. Go back to sleep.”
He rolled out of bed carefully, frowning when the bunching and stretching of his abs didn’t send pain shooting through his nerves. Seth padded toward the door, ignoring the itchy discomfort that took hold under the bandage. No time. He wanted to be out the door before another round of knocks jolted Lilah out of sleep.
He threw one last glance over his shoulder. He liked her in his den and snuggled in his bed. Knowing he’d be losing it as soon as she woke made leaving difficult. He wanted to brand that image in his mind for the days after she left.
Seth yanked open the door right before Dash’s knuckles connected. Indignant anger on behalf of the woman still inside narrowed his eyes. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he growled as soon as the door closed behind him.
Dash grinned. “Someone stay over last night?”
He glared at his brother maybe a little harder than he intended. His stomach itched under the bandage, adding to his frustration. “None of your business.”
“Uh, it is, actually. Hailey sent me to check up on you.” Dash held up a baggie of supplies. “She wanted to make sure you haven’t bled out. I’m just obeying orders.”
Seth snatched the care package out of the man’s hands. Another bandage took up the bulk of the contents, but there were tubes of ointments, too. Maybe one of them would help the itch that was slowly building in intensity.
Fuck, if he’d just stayed asleep. He hadn’t wanted to peel his skin off while in bed, with that gorgeous woman curled up against him.
He cleared his throat. “Any updates from last night?”
Dash hesitated. “Don’t worry about it. We can handle things until you’re back on your feet.”
Seth gestured to his legs. Feet firmly planted, knees locked, he looked pretty damn upright.
“There was one scent,” the other man admitted with a scowl. Each word sounded pulled from an unwilling source. “They didn’t get close enough to make any trouble.”
A growl rattled in Seth’s throat and he spun around to face the double doors at the end of the barn. He wanted to demand to be taken to the spot they’d caught the trail, then run down the poor fool who thought it a good idea to come for Lilah while she slept. The need rode him hard enough that he pulled up short when Dash shoved him back a step.
“Easy there, tiger,” his brother laughed. The noise sounded weak and nervous to Seth. “With any luck, it was just someone from town out on a run.”
“Because we’ve been so lucky before?” Seth snarked back.
With a herculean effort, he kept his legs still. And like a punishment, the itch along his stomach doubled in intensity.
Seth dragged a finger along the edge of the bandage, then pressed his palm over the center. What he wanted to do was rip the whole thing off and go to town with sharpened claws, but he bet Hailey would twist his ear until it popped clean off his head. When she was done, Trent would probably have a word with him for upsetting his mate, and take the other ear.
Dash eyed him sharply. “You okay?”
“Fine,” he growled. He gave in and scratched a little deeper at his wound. Relief peppered his skin with goose bumps, but the itch returned far too quickly.
“Sure, sure. Let’s just see what’s under that bandage.”
“It’s fine,” he insisted, but his brother wrapped a hand around his arm and practically dragged him into the tack room. The smell of leather was usually a comfort, but not when he was bullied into taking a seat.
“Shirt up,” Dash ordered.
“Don’t you have to pay for that?” Seth grimaced, but complied. Mostly because he was certain Dash would pin him to the ground and trap him in his own clothes if he didn’t. And wouldn’t that be some brotherly bonding, he thought with a roll of his eyes.
Under a look better suited for a broody hen, he peeled off the tape around the outer edges, then pulled back the thick dressing.
“Ho-ly fuck,” Dash drawled.
Seth blinked, not believing his eyes for a solid three beats of his heart. Rusty red marred the gauze and the stitches Hailey placed were still visible, but only a thin wound and pink skin remained where he’d taken a claw deep to his gut.
“Maybe it wasn’t that bad.” Stupid words. Stupid idea. But he reached for any explanation at hand.
“Yeah, right. Because you need stitches for that little paper cut?” Dash shook his head and added, quieter, “I saw your eyes change.”
“Then you’re a blind idiot. They don’t change.”
Dash frowned. “I’ve definitely seen them change before when we fought.”
That gave Seth pause. A spark of hope lit the empty cavern of his chest before the flame sputtered out and left him in darkness. Fighting. That was all. If—big if—his eyes changed color, of course it happened in the ring. That was the closest he ever felt to having an inner animal.
And those flashes around Lilah.
He shook his head, still unwilling to believe Dash. “That’s just fighting—”
“This was about Lilah, not that little pustule who worked you over. They lit up as soon as you spotted her.” Dash grinned again, then flopped his mouth open and closed like a gasping fish. “You went all slack-jawed over her and got yourself pinned against the wall. Maybe she’s bringing out a new side of you.”
Lilah saw his eyes change, too. She’d also called out his fading bruises the morning after he picked her up. He’d just assumed it was his slightly faster healing at work. Hell, his ribs had still ached from being worked over by Zeke and his band of bungholes, so he hadn’t really thought about it. But this? This was fucking exceptional. This was real shifter healing at work.
“I’m just saying,” Dash said in the continued silence, “maybe you have a little more shifter in you than you think.”
Seth grunted. “All the more reason to stay away.”
“Or all the more reason to stay close.” His brother shrugged. “Trying to fight your instincts is a losing battle.”
“Fuck, if only it were that simple. Let me just grab a fistful of faeries and wring out some magic dust. I’ve never shifted, Dash. If it hasn’t happened by now, it ain’t happening ever.” He shoved to his feet and yanked his shirt back down. He stopped dead in his tracks when he felt a faint sensation brush against his mind.
Mate.
The word rang through his head like the damn starting bell of a match. He’d called her his mate when he fought to get to her.
“She can’t be my mate,” he muttered, mostly to convince himself.
The door creaked open and Lilah poked her head out. Immediately, that urge to rip himself apart for his denials calmed down to nothing.
Dash clapped him on the back. “Maybe you’re not the only one getting a little shifter in you,” his brother teased.
Seth punched him hard in the arm.
Chapter 15
“Are you sure this is safe?” Lilah asked, worrying at her lower lip. She scanned the crowd milling around the collection of tables and chairs set between houses. Any one of them could be incentivized to see her dead.
Not that she expected that from the Crowleys. But there were other faces from the ranch next door. She tried to give them the benefit of the doubt. Seth’s people likely wouldn’t associate with a bunch of murderers, but who knew what other curveballs waited to nail her in the face.
A bounty. A real life, murder for hire plot, and she was at the center. Never in a million years would she have expected the shy girl from small-town Oklahoma to feature so prominently in a story better suited for a movie.
She wished her life was a movie. At least then she’d be a strong, powerful heroine capable of squaring up to the assholes sent to kill her. She’d overcome all the obstacles they threw at her, too, and find her way to the final scene where she rode off into the sunset. That all sounded better than worrying she wouldn’t make it to dinner and jumping at her own shadow.
“It’s not a fortress built into a mountain, but it’s
safe.” Seth tilted his head to eye her briefly, then turned back to watch the group already animated in their trash talk and pulled punches. “The Ashford clan are good people, but if anyone tries anything here, you’ll have the entire Crowley pride at your back. We take care of our own.”
Lilah frowned at her feet. There were the inclusions again. We. Our. He paired those words that reeled her in with actions that set them apart, like returning to sleeping in the hay and not lingering after he gave her updates.
She didn’t know what she’d expected. One little kiss didn’t change what she’d done to him or the reality of their situation. He was paid protection. The moment she wasn’t in immediate danger, they’d part ways. End of story.
She set off with determination, not daring to acknowledge the growing hole in her middle. Today was supposed to be for fun and relaxing. There was something to be said for a happy gathering to forget the knives coming for her in the dark.
“Lilah,” Seth called after her.
She heard him curse under his breath before jogging after her, but she didn’t stop. She didn’t turn, either, when he caught up to her a second later.
“Fuckin’ finally!” Dash grumbled as they neared and hopped off a table. The others were already cracking open coolers and laying out a spread of snacks to go with the drinks and food meant for the grill. “We’ve been waiting to fire up the grill for hours.”
“One. One hour,” Colette corrected. “Everyone just started arriving.”
“Days!” Dash continued, throwing his arms wide. One of the Ashfords gave an exaggerated roll of her eyes. “Fighting off hordes of bears desperate to steal our food. Taking cover while they tried to whine us into submission. Dodging their outstretched hands while we prove once again, we’re the better ranch. As if there was a question.”
“Again,” Colette said blandly. “One hour.” She gestured to another couple. “Lilah, this is my brother Ethan and his mate, Tansey. That’s Liv and Alex. Nora and Jesse. And may I reintroduce my idiot mate, who can’t even count? We’re still missing a few people.”
